If it works that way I'd think that making merging less dangerous has a chance to piss off all the higher tier cultivators who view merging cultivators as more important then perfects because of how they were willing to face danger that can't be bought away.
Money and Power: A Xianxia Merchant Quest
- Thread starter Mr. Prokosch
- Start date
If it works that way I'd think that making merging less dangerous has a chance to piss off all the higher tier cultivators who view merging cultivators as more important then perfects because of how they were willing to face danger that can't be bought away.
Roth963
If I become inactive with this massage, I died
This should be offset by higher number of merged cultivators to use, even if they are lower quality.
Edit: That was a completely different point which wasn't at all relevant to your point, my bad, your argument has a point in that the greater numbers of cultivators empowered to merging would have an effect. The question is if we can empower enough people to make that difference. The secret ritual of true spirit refinement runs off of a limited and expensive resource in items that can be used to craft with heaven's energies. Given both it and the item would be destroyed is the process fails. Is that something that we can afford to burn for cash when it's more useful for trump cards like refined armor?
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Roth963
If I become inactive with this massage, I died
I wonder, can we make those tiny sub realms that sometimes pop in xianxia.
Tiny worlds with accelerated time to get more training time, or keep things secret and such.
Probably best to wait until our sister is ready to merge and take notes, or find the saint so we can say a saint said it would work, so we have better idea in character it could work beyond gut feelings.
Tiny worlds with accelerated time to get more training time, or keep things secret and such.
I thought about having people pay us to do it, although we might need to prove ourselves first, or do it free of charge (beyond the costs of the process) as favours to our lord and duke (ti theur family members.
Probably best to wait until our sister is ready to merge and take notes, or find the saint so we can say a saint said it would work, so we have better idea in character it could work beyond gut feelings.
We can do it for family and probably should if it's a measurable success on them not dying especially since by the time they are interested in going for a breakthrough most of the damage would be reversing but as far as I can tell we wouldn't have a market for anything large scale.
I went to hunt down this post and from what I can tell better then new is using heavenly refinement once.
There might have been changes since this post but given the material cost for buying the raw materials would be between one and ten per item without price increases from the sudden increase in need and what it would sell for and I can't see how buying heaven touched objects to create refined material to boost a person's chances is cost effective.
Roth963
If I become inactive with this massage, I died
I am not saying let's make self replicating anti abyssal robo sharks controlled by a magical skynet, but you know, self replicating magic robots are cool.
Or maybe some kind of plague, can we make a diamond plague to destroy their non transformation population.
Making the self replicating robots will likely require heavenly junk though, don't know about the plague, can we make diamond plague?
The post about cost is under the assumption the guy is buying a weapon, not significantly improving the chances for his children to live.
The cost of the creation can probably be covered as part of the selling point.
If we are selling our services like it, I can easily imagine high profile people using it, especially if it improves on the endpoint too (a refined object being better).
The Froggy Ninja
The Blade Will Never Die
Probably not for cash, but being able to get Transformation indentures would be awesome.
Keep in mind that we get the majority of our heaven touched items from mortal markets for peanuts.
@Mr. Prokosch, am I correct in assuming many Perfects would be willing to join our faction in exchange for double or triple refining their prospective Conduit?
It would be a great incentive for unaligned perfecting cultivators, but you would need to prove its not snake oil first, even Chachi isn't sure about that.
Roth963
If I become inactive with this massage, I died
Our sister will be a good first experiemnt, I doubt she can find a better thing to merge with than her armour.
Although she didn't seem all that hyped about her armour, so we might need to convince her.
What about my questions in regards to making pocket dimensions (best idea as for how to improve faster in cultivation, a room of accelerated time), diamond plague (to hit the abyssals in their homes when they carry it back) or self replacating things to make an army against the abyssals?
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Pocket dimensions, and more generally the manipulation of space/time tends to be at the Saint level of power.
Diamond is conceptually opposed to plagues, even plagues against the impure.
Self-Replication is a tough nut to crack but Chachi could try it with Forge experimentation.
Diamond is conceptually opposed to plagues, even plagues against the impure.
Self-Replication is a tough nut to crack but Chachi could try it with Forge experimentation.
Tet's Return?
Thank you for the manual tally. You won't see an immediate impact for these decisions, but they will matter. You will have a meeting with Lady Chalchiuhtlicue later this quarter.
Some time ago you hired a third party to help investigate Tet. Here's the result. The Bull-Frog costs $5 a quarter.
The Bull-Frog had a reputation as immaculate as his mustache. It had to be, or he wouldn't see the next sunrise. He traveled the span of the Empire working as a private investigator, an odd, rare, dangerous profession in a land where secrets were valued more highly than lives. His worn travelling clothes, thick and practical in the Volcanic Mountain style, stood in stark contrast to the sterile efficiency of the high security brewery where they met.
Chachi favored him with a miniscule bow, appropriate for a superior meeting with a respected contractor, it was a good bow, she'd been refining it lately. It was important as a Matriarch to show respect without harming the status of the clan. She was surprised he'd asked for this meeting so soon, and so suddenly. He must have found something important.
"This location is secure?" he asked, eyeballing an entirely harmless evaporator, "not just to casual scrying, but to invisible stalkers? Long-Sight? Mechanical spying? You trust that these devices do not hold tiny traitors in their innermost workings?"
Chachi rolled her eyes, "This is our most secure facility. Its defenses are elaborate."
"High security has its own allure. Your rivals may have already compromised it to steal your trade secrets and stumble on something even more damaging, but I suppose nowhere is perfect. If you trust this location than I must as well. I have information that could not wait."
"I assumed so, speak." Chachi commanded in her new imperious voice. She'd been practicing with a recorder.
"I interrogated your brother and found him to be… difficult. Remarkably so. I subjected him to a full barrage of techniques that a cultivator of his strength should be unable to resist. These are not some beginner's dabbling, my methods are powerful and subtle."
"It is illegal in this region to invade the inner mind of another…" Chachi warned.
"That prohibition is not seriously enforced by Lord Tlaloc, nor is it a violation of imperial law," he dismissed the protest with an irritated wave, "considering what's at stake, you should not concern yourself with such a miniscule violation."
Chachi accepted the rebuke, "what did you find?"
"Nothing. No trace of treachery is in his mind."
"So he's innocent?" Chachi asked, surprised and embarrassed. Did she arrest her brother for another's crimes?
"Not in the slightest!" he raised his voice theatrically, "his mind was suspiciously empty. He used a technique to erase pieces of his own memory. You will find its use among spies and commandos, that sort, in case they are captured. To train it you must sacrifice some memories, and using it too much is damaging. The mind is a nest of interconnection, the wrong snip and it can unravel. A death of the self, only marginally better than actual suicide. But then that raises the question…"
"Who is he protecting?" Chachi finished for him.
"Precisely. My first guess was his family. Would you be willing to let me interrogate your brother's husband and children?"
Chachi frowned, "I gave you permission to investigate this matter thoroughly, you don't need to ask at every step."
"I need access," he frowned back, his eyes scanning hers. Confusion gave way to a spark of understanding, and then concern, "you don't know? They disappeared on the same day you arrested your brother. I got pushback from your people when I tried to find them. Should I be discussing this matter with someone else?"
Chachi sighed, "I will speak to my… My people about it. So you think when he was captured he erased incriminating evidence from his own mind to protect them?"
"No," he grinned at Chachi's frustrated expression, "that was my first guess. They are still worth interrogating, but after further investigating his spiritual composition I believe it was an act of self-preservation. This is also why I wanted to meet as soon as possible. You see, the man you have in that cell is a homunculus."
"What's a homunculus?" Chachi had never heard that word before.
"A clone. Specifically one made with an Abyssal Ritual. Forbidden, of course, like all Abyssal techniques. It functions much like the more common Elixir Clone, but with fewer drawbacks. Or, perhaps we should say different drawbacks. No risk of damaging your core and more common ingredients. All you really need is an Abyssal Heart, and a human sacrifice."
"If we have a clone in the cell, then the real Tet is still loose!" she nearly shouted. Chachi understood the urgency now. She thought the threat was contained, she just needed to know who was guilty. She could be sure the culprit was Tet now, but he was still free, had been free this whole time.
"We have to find him," she insisted.
"A difficult task. I was deep in the clone's mind, and partial and broken though it was, what I found was impressive in its way. Your brother's cultivation is flawed, but he has motivation, intelligence, and flexibility. He now has access to Abyssal Cultivation, which more than compensates for his spiritual deficiencies. I am convinced with the time you have allowed him unchecked, he could hide well enough to never be found."
Chachi struggled with the alarm squeezing at her throat, "I'm not worried that he's hiding, he can curl up in a cave for the next century for all I care! I'm worried that he's acting against the clan!"
"Yes!" the Bull-Frog's voice rose and lowered dramatically, "Yes, but that is how you can catch him! Attachments are the doom of a fugitive."
"So you suggest we bait him somehow, with an opportunity to, what, take over?" Chachi considered it for a moment. Publicly Tet was still a member of the core family, and merely in closed cultivation. If he could assassinate Chachi and Teo, he would be the clear heir. He might see Oku's tournament as an opportunity, or the Beast Lands. Better to lay a trap during the tournament than leave her back undefended during the larger expedition.
He nodded, "That could work, or find his information pipeline, whatever he is using to watch you, and track it back to him. If I had access to his family, we may be able to use them as well."
Chachi's mind was still spinning, she stuck on another detail, "What about his Abyssal Cultivation? That requires access to Abyssals, right? Abyssals can't just move freely in the empire, he'd need to be somewhere in the Turtle Islands or the Paradise Hills."
The PI shrugged, unimpressed, "perhaps, yes. That rests on a number of assumptions. He could have a stockpile, or he could merely be partnered with an Abyssal Cultivator, and not one himself. It's where I would start a manhunt if I had too, but I don't know if you can cast a net that wide discretely.
What is the gist of your plan for catching the real Tet?
[] Trap
Bait him into revealing himself
[] Track
Find his informants and track them back
[] Exploit
Confront your mom about Tet's missing family and use them against him
[] Hunt
Begin a full scale manhunt for Tet
[] Write In
Keep it to the gist
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DangerKitty
shoddy writter
- Location
- lala land
I forget, what are the consequences if its discovered tet is an abyssal cultivator. Even if we are trying to kill him?
How many Heaven touched items do we find each year? I seriously don't know because I was under the impression that that heavenly junk is a limited resource that needs to be used carefully or we would run out.
Update drop and I had wondered why he went down so easily when he was one of the main characters in the clan. I guess he was already working with them before the game started. I think we are fucked here but given the investigator already knows enough to fuck us over is there a reason to not give him full access.
Hunt is a mistake it's to public and damaging to our status given how risky everything is. My first impulse is to turn the clone against the original to help find him. I'm not sure how though maybe release the clone and pretend the investigator found nothing to draw him back in but I need to think trap does feel like the best option but maybe we should have killed him the same days.
He wants to take revenge and overthrow Teo who he's resented and sees as the power behind the throne maybe we could use that somehow as he wants to take over the clan not overthrow it. He's probably going to be a merging equivalent when we run into him.
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Clan Extermination by the Emperor. Not everyone actually dies, but the core members will be publicly executed and the more ancillary members who are willing to go through a full mind-invasive interrogation to prove their innocence will still have their names stripped alongside all clan property.
Roth963
If I become inactive with this massage, I died
Even if we hunt him, damm, the empire is cruel.
Is outright casting someone out of the clan and declaring they're not a member possible and meaningful here?
Anyway, with Clan Extermination on the line, I think it's probably worthwhile for Chachi to spend the time to make something to track him down and remove him.
Also, further thought: I wonder if the Abyssals have a way of making Abyssal honunculi of other people that they can program into making advantageous decisions for themselves. That might explain the Emperor's policies regarding them
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The Froggy Ninja
The Blade Will Never Die
Unknown. I know we have 27 Heavenly Conduits left, and we can probably offset some of the costs onto the client (for example, have them bring enough Heavenly Conduits to get it done assuming we get it perfect first try). Considering we'll probably be experimenting with 1st or 2nd refinements, we're unlikely to waste any input materials, and we'll be learning more about Heavenly Power and cultivation in the process.
@Mr. Prokosch, what would be the normal cost of hiring a Transformation realm (merging at time of hire) for, say, a century be?
I wonder how connected to him the clone is. Divination often benefits from having something like hair or possessions, and I'd bet the clone would be a very good focus for that kind of thing. The real question is if the risk of hiring another contractor is worth gambling on him not setting up sufficient scry wards anticipating that exact strategy.
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It might be an assumption but I don't believe he could have made the clone after he was captured. It's to much time and effort in a secure area when he was under watch.
If we had killed him with Oku we would have never noticed the clone at all and would have been fucked over by surprise and If we had called in the authorities we would have been fucked when they found out he'd already worked with them.
I think this plot is a huge reason to drive for diamond mind. It's way more important then dying in the beast lands. We need to clear out any sympathizers or spies leaking information and the contract ability would help with information security on a vital threat.
I'm thinking we give the investigator full support in anything he asks for. He's already gotten enough to fuck us and we need this dealt with now asap.
I wonder if we get caught depending on the timing do we have to admit Tet made the clone. Could we get away with pretending that Tet was kidnapped or assassinated by the Abyss and the clone was the one that set up the deal probably as part of a long term operation to create clones to divert resources towards them by copying people who fall for the scam.
The Froggy Ninja
The Blade Will Never Die
Of note, Diamond Mind wouldn't have worked here, because Clone!Tet wouldn't have known he was a clone or intending to deceive us.
I absolutely agree, I'm just contemplating investigative methods.
- Location
- Canada
For a second I thought the Bull-Frog's life depended on his mustache, lol.
People can turn invisible? That's both awesome and has horrifying security implications
What a cinnamon bun.
Shit.
Did we we capture a clone in the first place, or did Tet somehow manage to preform a human sacrifice in his cell and still escape without anyone noticing?
@Mr. Prokosch Any way to tell the age of the clone?
Straight up try to convince the clone that he is a now different person and draw him to our side? Promise him that influence he craves? We would probably need to pair this with Diamond Mind to trust him.
I'm guessing that we can't simply use our Cleansing touch ability to restore the clones memories?
I'm inclined towards Trap using Teo's clone as bait, but not really sure.
Yes this, can we somehow blame everything on the Abyssals? It's not our fault Tet was replaced by an evil body double, we are the victim here.
I think he would notice the large gaps in his memory? If he doesn't know he is a clone, I'd say it's another point in favor of trying to recruit him against his "evil abyssal double"
The Froggy Ninja
The Blade Will Never Die
He's severely brain damaged and his cultivation ain't shit without Abyssal cheats.
- Location
- USA
What the fuck. Shit just keeps getting worse, huh. Are we having bad luck on background roles or something?
Either way we just gotta roll with the punches as they come. Things look like they still hinge on the expedition to me after all. This just adds a worry to the future in the event we succeed.
Either way we just gotta roll with the punches as they come. Things look like they still hinge on the expedition to me after all. This just adds a worry to the future in the event we succeed.
Roth963
If I become inactive with this massage, I died
How big is the empire, to give a sense of scale, how many dukes and lords are there, how big we are on the food chain.
If we asked for marriages from the female lord with another lord, what can we expect, I am guessing we will be one of many spouses (and probably can expect Chinese harem politics if we go for it, which is bad), what are the advantages to such a match, since disadvantages are likely other wives who want to kill us, more control by said lord because we will be close to him, meaning the mind manipulation will be worse than with our lord and likely annoying our lord.
What are thre thoughts about divorces in the empire, can we pick a husband to marry up, and replace hin at some point.
Edit, I do imagine that being under the control of a few lords might make us contested like territory, say we have island in the turtle islands under that lady, we also live in the rivers and married to another, might counter the mind control if it is because their authority over us.
If we asked for marriages from the female lord with another lord, what can we expect, I am guessing we will be one of many spouses (and probably can expect Chinese harem politics if we go for it, which is bad), what are the advantages to such a match, since disadvantages are likely other wives who want to kill us, more control by said lord because we will be close to him, meaning the mind manipulation will be worse than with our lord and likely annoying our lord.
What are thre thoughts about divorces in the empire, can we pick a husband to marry up, and replace hin at some point.
Edit, I do imagine that being under the control of a few lords might make us contested like territory, say we have island in the turtle islands under that lady, we also live in the rivers and married to another, might counter the mind control if it is because their authority over us.
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