Actually that leads to a question: What does our sister want? Like, I get the sense that she…. Maybe doesn't have have the best intentions, but does want to help?
She doesn't feel like an enemy is what I'm saying.
Actually that leads to a question: What does our sister want? Like, I get the sense that she…. Maybe doesn't have have the best intentions, but does want to help?
She doesn't feel like an enemy is what I'm saying.
-Drag MC off to a monster filled abyss.
-Leaves him to defend himself against waves of monsters while she takes out the boss.
-Comes back and gives him a monster heart full of Lunar Qi.
-Refuses to elaborate.
-Leaves.
Only after the next 1~2 turn or after the major trouble clock is deal with, right now we already lacking actions to deal with tons of issue so far. At most we can do [ ] Go on an Adventure (Goal: ??)
Or ? [ ] Brew Flowing Ivy Elixir (Goal: 3/5 Repeatable) (1/3 Stress Free)
It's always good to have some healing elixirs on hand. You already have the recipe so it shouldn't be too hard to brew a few elixirs. You will gain 1 elixir for each five points of progress.
Not clear about '1/3 Stress Free' part, is it mean it a action that free of stress for 3 time, when we max it mean it will begin to add more stress here ? Or it actually help us reduce stress since we do the thing we like and already familiar with ? (there are such thing as Stress baking or similar where we move our anger into the task, though this type likely only work if we have more than 3 or 5 stress out of 10, the rest will need other type of fun-calm or relax activity instead ?)
Aside from that, are there even any active way to reduce stress without rely on event for random actions ? (like the abyss mine hunting where we could help people and get reduced stress from that)
It means you can do it three times before you take stress for it. I have decided that I personally get bored of writing of the same action all the time. So mechanically the MC will get tired of doing the same thing all the time as well. Keep things fresh.
To actively get rid of stress you need to go on vacation, give into your vice, or find some way of fulfilling your virtue. I'll add actions for those if people want them.
The omake I finish 2 day ago ? (though it seem you already see it with the like notify).
Though with his 'Kind' traits and the heal potions we can made, can we use the 'go on an adventure' with focus in 'doing charity' by go into village and town like the abyss mine to help heal people for free ? (that I think as a guarantee way to reduce stress through kind or 'sadness' trait here ?).
If lucky then we could have event like meet and even make friend with random friendly cultivator in the region here, especially 'hidden expert'.
Going on an adventure is more about going into the wilds, fighting monsters, and exploring ruins. You would not spend much time in mortal villages except incidentally. You might meet a hidden expert if you got lucky though. Or unlucky depending on their mood.
To actively get rid of stress you need to go on vacation, give into your vice, or find some way of fulfilling your virtue. I'll add actions for those if people want them.
It means you can do it three times before you take stress for it. I have decided that I personally get bored of writing of the same action all the time. So mechanically the MC will get tired of doing the same thing all the time as well. Keep things fresh.
To actively get rid of stress you need to go on vacation, give into your vice, or find some way of fulfilling your virtue. I'll add actions for those if people want them.
Going on an adventure is more about going into the wilds, fighting monsters, and exploring ruins. You would not spend much time in mortal villages except incidentally. You might meet a hidden expert if you got lucky though. Or unlucky depending on their mood.
Thank for the answer, more stress relief actions is nice !
A suggestion (it fine to not use it or just use the minimal version), what about not get any stress in making any potions 1~3 time a year as long as he make it once before (and at least not the same recipe last year) ? That would be more in character for the mc habit without make author repeating same 'possible boring' actions as often here (while leave room for characterization or interaction with other characters while the mc is making potions, that way it less boring), of course if there are nothing interesting then just summary on potions makings is fine if we already make it before.
Hope my edited Omake is checked and fine to be post here. The cliche' depressing xianxia world need more sunshine like this happy trickster-troll girl ! (expy version. Small note: She may use rapier-dagger or similar for duelist-ninja rather than two sword like this, it unwieldy for the job here) View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sp9k_cTop40
Dragon Horses
The most prized spirit beasts of the Zhuge clan are their famous dragon horses. A mix of horse and reptile their strong frames can run for days and they have sufficient power in their claws to fight along side their riders when facing attacks in the wildnerness. In fact well trained dragon horses might even be the main protectors of smaller caravans. They are for the most part not particularly intelligent for their size, and the occasional exceptions are even more highly prized.
It is actually fairly rare for cultivators to bond with dragon horses as they are used communally whenever groups need to travel through the province. As such they also serve as an important export for the Zhuge clan.
Spirit Wolves
Spirit wolves are nearly ubiquitous throughout the crownlands. They lurk in the forests throughout the empire and range from relatively weak wolves that are barely more than mortals to power wolf lords that lead devastating packs through the land. So it is no surprise that they are also well represented in the Zhuge stables. Most spirit wolves are aligned with earth qi, but finding ones that are attuned to other elements is relatively common so they make popular choices for both cultivator bonds and general purpose guarding of Zhuge clan properties.
Fire Fowl
The humble fire fowl is a very common sight in the Zhuge stables as tens of thousands are kept at any time. Unlike most spirit beasts they are kept explicitly for their meat and as such fire fowl makes up most of the meat available in the Zhuge province. In terms of their actual abilities fire fowl are relatively weak for their size, but make up for it in aggressiveness and the willingness to flock in huge numbers to attack their foes.
Azure Owls
A relatively recent addition to the stables is a colony of Azure Owls. They were acquired by Zhuge Jiang to aid in his techniques of divination and battle. Mostly water and ice aligned they are treated with great care, and are mostly used as scouts by the Zhuge clan. In general the owls are reserved only for higher ranking Zhuge clan members or retainers with particular favor.
Moss Deer
A variant of the more common leaf deer the Zhuge clan have domesticated this variety and bred them for excessive fur. This is harvested by mortal workers and used for textiles throughout the Zhuge clan. The cloth made in this way isn't particularly fine. It has no special qualties and only mediocre ability to absorb and store qi, but it is perfectly adequate for most clothing. Thus it is useful for reducing textile imports from other provinces.
Other Animals
The Zhuge stables are quite extensive and thus there are numerous other spirit animals in the stables. However these are usually in much smaller numbers or even lone individuals. Their origin is varied as while most are captured in the wilds the Zhuge clan has also purchased quite a few interesting specimens from surroundings lands and travelling merchants for one reason or another.
Scheduled vote count started by Arcanestomper on Mar 5, 2025 at 3:53 AM, finished with 57 posts and 15 votes.
[X] Plan We Do Actually Have Staff
-[X] Select a technique to boost with 3 TP. (Cultivation)
-[X] Discuss Clan Matters with your Brother (Automatic)
-[X] Cultivate: +.2 TP for every point on the roll (Stress: +1)
--- [X] Administrator
-[X] Assign the Silver Grass Pavilion a Task
--[X] Research the Bountiful Lotus Elixir Recipe (Goal: 18/50)
---[X] Subgoal: Find a source of Rust Qi (0/20)
Sorry for the late Omake, yesterday and today get me real tired here, so I will see if I can write one Omake for that two character in tomorrow or not.
Edit: While waiting, here is a possible music for the daughter character a bit (water theme with quite a feel of 'quite lost among the way to live', a bit of obsession for revenge on the source of her pain, but got help managed by the uncle a bit, unlike the one in music video. So she can focus in happy aspect instead to cope, even with rage or 'grudgefull' under it on certain thing ?).
For the look she could be a bit like the second video for inspiration (but have cloth more subtle for stealth work. Not sure if there are 'demi-human' in this setting ? But I'm fine with human version) View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygA_AbjyPRE
Chen Xing Yue POV
When the whole drama with the Kasjan clan started a year ago, the matriarch had to use most of her remaining favor with us (after she helped hide us, as former refugee survivors from the enemy clan) to figure out what happened. I got excited that we would soon have more free time to stay and rest in the clan soon and to return teasing with certain cute bookworm, at the Expense of my uncle who is still quite overprotective.
At first, we sneakily checked on Zhuge merchants to see if the accusation was true or not. Sadly, they were corrupt as they said, but the way some of those Kasjan clan members were suspiciously blowing things out of proportion over minor goods that had lower quality tickled my trickster sense. So, after their second meeting with the Baroness failed, I followed some of the minions who were with those guys in this possible scam, and it confirmed that they had prepared fake evidence to make it look worse, likely out of greed.
After reporting to a certain mother hen Forest Shadow, she felt that things weren't simple since she did have a decent business relationship with their leaders, so she decided we should see if that was the case or if there was another inner clan struggle here... Ughhh, I hate senseless, short-sighted clan politics! But two of us need resources and can't be lazing around while my former home is getting stained by that scum!
Annoyingly enough, the Kasjan clan is quite tight on security most of the time. Despite my attempts to be patient in finding a hole in their security, they seem to allocate a considerable amount of manpower and resources to monitor their compound, especially around those record rooms and value storage. My shadow technique is good enough to slip in from time to time, but I can't fully commit to it without knowing the exact book or item of interest for their fake evidence.
Fortunately, my uncle has already set up some schemes over the years that will distract the clan for a while; otherwise, we would have run out of time in a few more months with the deadline closing in. A bit of tips for some crime cultivators so they could raid the Kasjan clan's valuable storage when it is least guarded (so they have to move their guards out), and set up a false flag operation where rival clans of Kasjan have an excuse to 'bother' them or out of misunderstand,.... Of course, we need to avoid damaging them too much if it turns out the leader had nothing to do with these greedy plots.
When I got bored over waiting, I helped my uncle set up an embarrassing 'misunderstand' with wrong mail, cause the mail guild they tried to send through to invite the arbiters ended up at the wrong address instead. So one of those clan guys had to explain why the clan had a group of musicians coming to help 'Momma's Boys' overcome their breakup here.
Among those incidents and times observing in my second year, I managed to drug some of their guards with the illusion that I was their colleague, friend, or higher-up asking questions (it's easier to trick their minds if I stay consistent with familiar questions to avoid tripping their alertness).
Due to that, I found a chance to take out their new mortal servants and disguise myself as one of them (with some application of shadow or 'mirror' technique to make me look 'normal' just for safety; my element is harder to detect by normal monitoring systems, after all. Unless you're rich enough to buy those expensive ones calibrated for every element, including the rare shadow). Of course, I paid some gold to bribe that servant away from the city to close any potential leaks.
Why a mortal servant? Because average silly cultivators tend to be arrogant and look down upon them in the first place and don't consider them a potential information security threat, which I took my uncle's advice to full effect.
After staying and working for a few months to familiarize myself with their schedule and the layout of their place (while my uncle continued to create more distractions and sometimes met up to exchange ideas), I managed to eavesdrop on their gloating about defaming the clan leader, who is the true culprit, and where they likely placed their fake evidence.
"Well, at least the clan leader isn't aware of this scheme then."
Thanks to that, I began to sneak in whenever I had a few chances to check it, so I could know what they were about to either sabotage or replace subtly.
After checking the record book and using uncle's tricks to find evidence of 'false records' from that year's incident, I began to copy down details with my uncle to replace them with a fake one that only someone careful enough to recheck previous records would notice.
'Why the heck is this book so thick? My brain feels like it's dying over all these boring numbers already! I hope Zhuge Liang has potions for my poor brain after this.'
After confirming what type of fake evidence they were trying to use, I planned to steal some of their items and spirit crystals for the trouble after escaping, while ensuring it was not worth enough for the clan to notice.
So what to choose? Make the fake evidence turn out to be a prank trap so those guys lose face over it in court, or make them have nothing to show while I profit from their misfortune? I hear the new 'The Forbidden Beauty Scissors' book is being released this year!
While preparing to extract, my uncle sent a message back to our host so she could decide her approach to this situation, though I think she will likely use this blackmail to make both sides drop it since our merchant did prove to be corrupt, after all. No point in turning it into a lose-lose situation when imperial arbiters are involved in a petty incident.
Edit: move the video into new comments to make this omake more cleaner, since it isn't relevant to the video topic right away
[X] Plan We Do Actually Have Staff
-[X] Select a technique to boost with 3 TP. (Cultivation)
-[X] Discuss Clan Matters with your Brother (Automatic)
-[X] Cultivate: +.2 TP for every point on the roll (Stress: +1)
--- [X] Administrator
-[X] Assign the Silver Grass Pavilion a Task
--[X] Research the Bountiful Lotus Elixir Recipe (Goal: 18/50)
---[X] Subgoal: Find a source of Rust Qi (0/20)
You wait until later in the day when you know your brother is usually resting in the gardens. You are more nervous about this than you would like and you hope it doesn't show on your face. You are not so distant from your brother that you need to request an appointment. You should be able to just drop by and chat.
But this is Zhuge Jiang. The clan heir and your mother's right hand. From your youngest recollection he has always been important. Someone you don't want to bother with your trivial concerns. You interacted during training and clan festivals. You only have a few precious memories of him taking the time to play with you when you were very young or casually chatting when you were older.
Looking at the entrance to the garden you straighten your robe and school your expression into a polite smile. This is important. You want to help the clan. You are strong. You are worthy. Making your way into the garden you pass by the carefully tended flower beds the private pagoda your brother favors. Its open sides let you see him reading a scroll. A tea cup sits on the table in front of him, but he doesn't even appear to have touched it.
You reach the entrance of the pagoda and give a small bow, "Brother Jiang."
He raises an eyebrow and puts the scroll down, "Liang, it is good to see you in one piece. I was afraid Xin's trip might have been too hard for a new knight, but clearly I was worried for nothing."
You puff up a bit, "It was nothing. The beasts of the abyss fell before my blades." You pull out the tablet he lent you. The formation on it has been exhausted, but it is still a fairly valuable treasure, "Here is the tablet you lent me. It was quite useful in hunting down the beasts. I am grateful for your aid."
He waves it off. "I couldn't let my little brother go into the abyss unaided could I. Keep it. Perhaps you can find some use for it." He gives you an appraising look, "It seems your skills are improving rapidly. I will talk to mother about your cultivation. I believe you will be ready to take the next step soon."
You nod, "Thank you brother. But I was actually here on another matter. I hear that the issue with the Kasjan clan is going poorly. I was hoping I could offer my services in some manner. Perhaps brewing some elixirs to serve as a gift."
A small scowl graces your brother's face at your words, "Ah yes the Kasjan clan. Your offer is appreciated. Though I would hope such a gift will not be necessary." He stands up and gestures for you to follow. "What do you know of the issue?"
The two of you begin to stroll through the groves of the garden. The trees are flush with verdant leaves and you pass by plants that lesser cultivators would kill for, but neither of you pay attention to them. You have seen them a thousand times. "Only that they are claiming our merchants are corrupt and stole from them. Is it true?"
"Perhaps. Perhaps. There is certainly some compelling evidence to that effect. But not all is as it seems. It is simply too sudden. If our merchants were as corrupt as they seem they certainly haven't been giving us a cut. It was quite a surprise when the Kasjan launched their dispute. But that is something you can help with."
You look at him in surprise, "Me, but I am no merchant?."
"But you are experienced with records. I have noticed how diligent you are with the Silver Grass Pavilion. Our shadowmaster has recently acquired a copy of the Kasjan records that we believe to be more shall we say faithful. But going through it will be a challenge. Something you could work on."
You grimace. You aren't looking forward to more paperwork. "If that is what the clan needs, then I will gladly assist, Brother."
He laughs, "I doubt that, Liang. But there is still something else. We need someone to go to the Kasjan clan to deliver our latest round of arguments. We could send an envoy of course, but your presence would add some additional weight."
"I am not a diplomat either." You frown. You are feeling increasingly out of your depth.
"Don't worry brother. I would send some of our people to argue with their clerks. It would be like how you handled the Iron First clan. You just need to provide a certain amount of respect to the proceedings."
You grimace again. That was not your finest moment. Your brother laughs and claps your shoulder. "Don't worry brother. If you want to stay in your pavilion and make elixirs that is fine too. Or do nothing at all. This matter is frustrating, but it is no crisis. The clan will survive. At worst we will just need to pay the Kasjan off. It is just money. You are still young. You can leave this to your elders."
You nod and the two of you exchange a few more pleasantries before you head back to your own quarters. You have almost arrived when a tug of qi yanks you into a shadowed nook. Your sister's face is immediately in yours and she gives you an unsettling grin.
"Hey little bro. I heard you were talking with big brother about the Kasjan. I bet he had all sorts of ideas right." You manage to nod. "Well I have an idea too. I think we should show them who they're messing with. I've refined some new poisons out of the cave mother's corpse. Let's go test them out."
"Does brother know about this?"
She snorts, "Of course not. He needs deniability you know. But he didn't tell me not to go poison them. That's as good as permission."
You narrow your eyes. That doesn't sound as good as permission to you. "What if we get caught?
"Pfft as if. Give me some credit little bro." She lets you go and straightens your robes, "Think about it."
She walks away and you are left considering her plan. It is certainly audacious, and she could probably pull it off. On the whole the Kasjan are as powerful as the Zhuge, they have to be to be willing to pull this off, but the clan gossip is that their young master is somewhat lacking cultivation wise. Even if you're spotted you and your sister should be able to deal with it. And there is an unspoken agreement among clans that as long your elders don't get involved neither will theirs. And that's even if anyone notices. Your sister can be very sneaky. Of course even without proof the Kasjan would know it was her. She is the Poison Phoenix after all. But then that's the point of intimidation.
You are the master of the Silver Grass Pavilion, but sometimes it doesn't feel like it. You give orders for your alchemists to find a source of Rust Qi, and you are immediately bombarded with excuses. "There's no such thing as Rust Qi." "We have other potions to make." "I need to visit my cousin's wedding."
It feels like you are constantly stamping out problems rather than getting anything done, but you remind yourself that that is the point. Your job here isn't to research yourself, but to manage the alchemists so that they perform that task themselves. Little by little you deal with all the administrative headaches that actually assigning them a task has caused.
It takes a month, but you do eventually get most of your alchemists on board with the project. There are unfortunately a number of setbacks that hamper the overall progress of the project, but you feel you have a better grasp of those too.
The first is the limited number of actual alchemists in the pavilion. Between this task and the potions they absolutely must finish for the clan you have stretched your resources to the limit. There simply aren't any more alchemists to go around. Fortunately all of their equipment is of excellent quality so they shouldn't suffer any impediments from cauldrons leeching impurities into the qi or furnaces exploding.
Overall their quality of work is slightly disappointing. They are not as skilled as you of course, but even taking that into account they still make mistakes with irritating frequency. They are also somewhat lax. Many of your alchemists put only moderate effort into their tasks and take frequent breaks to relax and socialize. Still you note that the pavilion is improving in both these areas.
The worst area of course is loyalty. Many of your alchemists are simply disregarding your instructions to work on their own projects. Or even taking the ingredients you are providing and selling them off as samples of exotic herbs to supplement their income. Not of course where you can officially see it. They all have their excuses. But you can track the levels of stock in the herb pantries and they are falling faster than they should.
Overall you would say that the Silver Grass Pavilion is probably working at about half of its official capacity. Though you do note that the first batch of apprentices trained with your new manuals is showing promising results. So hopefully that will increase the overall efficiency of your underlings sooner rather than later.
Pavilion Assigned: +5 Progress/Turn
You spend some time meditating on Jade Bell Forest. You focus your thoughts inward concentrating on filling your dantian with qi and expanding your meridians. It is quiet steady work with no flashy improvements or outward changes, but it is required if you are to build a stable foundation for your future path.
There's only so much qi you can take in every day however so you spend the rest of the time reading over the reports that your underlings have submitted. You do this sort of paperwork all the time of course, but now you take extra care to consider the more minor details that they are reporting, and also what they aren't telling you. By comparing reports from different alchemists you piece together more of the hidden feuds and under currents running through the pavilion. It hasn't quite coalesced into anything concrete yet, but you think you are getting a better understanding of how exactly you can actually lead your subordinates rather than simply order them.
New Trait
[ ] Inspired
You feel as if something is subtly leading you down the paths of cultivation. Even when you encounter bottlenecks there always seems to be a handy scroll or rumor that shows you the way forward.
(I will provide explicit actions to clear up cultivation bottlenecks.)
[ ] Impart the Fundamentals
Between teaching your apprentices and considering how best to write fundamental alchemy techniques in an inspiring and easily understandable way you have gained some insight into how best to translate your knowledge into simple concepts that can be quickly grasped by your juniors.
(Passively improves knowledge of retainers two realms or more below you.)
[ ] Oak Heart
Your stint in the Night Tide Abyss has left you changed. Fighting for so long while steeped in the dense qi has stimulated your tempered heart. Fused with vast amounts of wood qi it has mutated into an Oak Heart capable of constantly replenishing your body and increasing your vigor.
Alchemist Bonus
--- [ ] Select a technique to boost with 3 TP. [Cultivation, School of the Jade Cauldron, School of the Iridescent Toxin]
Turn Actions
You may personally lead 3 actions without penalty.
Remember that you can also write omakes for other members of the clan to deal with issues you can't.
The Kasjan Dispute
[ ] Orchestrate a Mass Brewing (Goal 30/50) (Alchemy)
With your brother's mandate you would take over one of the larger, but less reputed medicine pavilions and direct their efforts to making many elixirs for the purpose of compensating the Kasjan Clan. This would not be enough by itself, but with your efforts organizing the rapid production of elixirs you could certainly lessen the impact on the clan.
Downgrade the clock to Medium/Minor
[ ] Look through Kasjan Documents (Goal 10/30/50) (Administrator)
The shadows of the Zhuge clan have gotten their hands on some of the Kasjan clans' more private documents. You and a team of clerks would examine it for discrepancies and see if you could find out what exactly they are up to. At worst you can likely turn up enough to keep the dispute going for a few more seasons. At best you might be able to resolve the whole thing.
Reduces Clock by 2/Downgrade Clock to Medium/Remove Clock
[ ] Represent the Zhuge Clan (Goal 10) (Diplomacy)
You are not the Zhuge Clan's finest diplomat by any means, but your presence in the party sent to the Kasjan clan would show that the Zhuge clan is giving them a certain amount of Face. Perhaps not as much as if an Elder or your brother went, but then again the Zhuge clan can't afford to give so much away that it admits fault. Your presence wouldn't resolve anything by itself, but you might be able to push the matter off.
Reduces Clock by 1
Face Test possibly gives additional benefit
[ ] Give them a Poisonous Lesson (Goal 20) (School of the Iridescent Toxin)
Your sister wants her to help refine her poisons and then infiltrate the Kasjan clan to deliver a very toxic warning. The goal here is not to kill anyone. At least no one important. Just to teach them a harsh lesson to show them who they're messing with.
Downgrade the clock to Minor
Increase Kasjan Hostility
Cultivation (+11) [Cultivation + Qi]
[ ] Cultivate: +.2 TP for every point on the roll (Stress: +1)
--- [ ] Select a trait, skill, or technique to boost with the XP gained.
------ [ ] Who benefits from this boost?
[ ] Plant the Seed (Goal: 50)
Nurture your spiritual core by providing it with plenty of wood qi. Prepare a space in your soul to accept it by obtaining enlightenments as to your path. You will need to have a firm conviction and understanding of yourself in order to provide sufficient insights for the core to take root.
Your mother has asked you to wait before doing this.
[ ] Watering the Roots (Goal 100)
Locked
[ ] Pruning the Sapling (Goal 150)
Locked
[ ] Breakthrough: Eating the Fruit (Goal: ??)
Locked
Administration (+3) [Administration]
[ ] Recruit More Alchemists (Goal: 0/10) (Spirit Stones: $1)
Send An Lia out into the city to hire more alchemists for the pavilion. There are always small alchemist shops and loose cultivators that can be recruited by a large clan like the Zhuge. They won't be the best or most loyal, but that can be fixed with time.
Size: +1
[ ] Request More Alchemists (Goal: 0/10) (Reputation Test)
Request that the clan elders assign more alchemists to the silver grass pavilion. Despite your low clan influence this is still likely to be accepted simply because it isn't a very large demand. There are thousands of alchemists scattered among the various pavilions around the province.
Unless you happen to catch the clan elders in a bad mood these will likely be better than the alchemists you can recruit on your own.
Size: +1
[ ] Clean up Corruption (Goal: 0/20) (Stress: +0.25)
It will be rather difficult, but you can track down all the cases of corruption in the Silver Grass Pavilion and put an end to it. Many of the alchemists likely just need a warning, but some will need to be removed entirely. But it should get easier as you weed out the worst of the bunch.
Size: -1
Discipline: +1
Alchemy (+10) [Leaf Cauldron + Core]
[ ] Brew Flowing Ivy Elixir (Goal: 3/5 Repeatable) (1/3 Stress Free)
It's always good to have some healing elixirs on hand. You already have the recipe so it shouldn't be too hard to brew a few elixirs. You will gain 1 elixir for each five points of progress.
[ ] Research a new Recipe (Goal: ??)
--[ ] What kind of elixir are you trying to make?
You can try to figure out the recipe for a new pill or elixir. You are quite talented in alchemy so you can try to make nearly anything, but more complex and potent recipes will be harder. They may also require more exotic ingredients.
[ ] Research the Bountiful Lotus Elixir Recipe (Goal: 18/50)
--[ ] Subgoal: Find a source of Rust Qi (5/20) (+5/Turn)
--[ ] Subgoal: Find a source of Lotus Qi (0/20)
You've made some progress and know your next steps, but you still have much work to do to replicate the Bountiful Lotus recipe.
[ ] Use a Flowing Ivy Elixir (1 Elixir)
-[ ] The Target
Use 1 elixir and your wood qi to fully heal a cultivator of the Knight realm or below.
[ ] Assign the Silver Grass Pavilion a Task
-[ ] Elixir or research
You are the head of the pavilion. You can assign the pavilion as a whole tasks to complete. Even in its current state the alchemists will still carry out your orders. Though their output will be limited.
Automatically carries out a task.
Will continue every turn until stopped.
[ ] Purchase New Equipment (Goal: 0/10) (Spirit Stones: $5)
You can purchase some better pill cauldrons from the markets in Fragrant Lotus City. This won't be cheap. You'll need to save up for some time, ask the elders for more stones, or find another way to make money. But it should noticeably improve the output of the pavilion's alchemists.
Facilities: Fine -> Good
[ ] Lead a Grand Project
-[ ] Write in Goal
In order to increase the loyalty of the alchemists in the Silver Grass Pavilion you need to prove that you are a capable leader who can provide them with benefits in the future. You aren't sure how exactly to do that at the moment, but you can start by proving that you are a capable alchemist.
The best way you can think to do that is to marshal the entire pavilion into a grand working producing a rare pill of high grade and realm. This will be a complex endeavor. So your first step will be figuring out what you want to try and make.
Quest (+5) [School of the Iridescent Toxin]
[ ] Go on an Adventure (Goal: ??)
You probably shouldn't be heading out to explore ruins and look for treasures on your own, but you don't have anything else particularly pressing to do. Take some time off to go slay monsters, search ancient palaces, and roam the wild lands looking for fortunate encounters. (Depending on the roll you can find useful locations, harvest rare materials, loot treasures, tame spirit beasts, increase your cultivation, and possibly reduce stress.)
Learning (+5) [Sage]
[ ] Teach Senior Alchemists (Goal: 0/10) (Face Test) (Stress: +1)
You are the best alchemist in the silver grass pavilion, and you could teach even the most senior alchemists in the pavilion a thing or two. Unfortunately many of them are significantly older than you and unlikely to listen well. You'll have to force them to accept your teachings.
Expertise: +1 Grade
[ ] Consider Other Promising Apprentices (Goal: 0/20)
The last batch of apprentices weren't terrible, but it is beneath your dignity to continuously teach apprentices every year. Not to mention you lack both the time and inclination to do so on a regular basis. Still the idea has merit. You just need to find some competent teachers to handle the majority of the work. There will likely be some pushback from the alchemists who prefer to handle their apprentices on a personal basis, but you aren't looking to teach every apprentice like this anyway.
Organize an apprentice teaching system.
[ ] Monitor Maple Cadre (Goal: 8/20) (One completion per year) Locked until Turn 13
You don't want to spend all your time on your chosen apprentices. They aren't personal disciples or anything, but you shouldn't leave them entirely to their own devices either. You can take some time every so often to check on them. Ensure that they have what they need, answer their questions, and make sure they aren't getting in trouble.
Maple Cadre Progress: +1
Diplomacy (+0) [Diplomat]
[ ] Request a Larger Budget (Goal: 0/20) (Reputation Check) (Stress: +1)
The clan elders are unlikely to grant the Silver Grass Pavilion more money, but you can always ask.
Budget: +?
[ ] Request a Personal Stipend (Goal: 0/20) (Face Check) (Stress: +1)
You could also ask the elders for a personal allotment of spirit stones. You'd be free to use these spirit stones in any way you wish. If they agree to grant your request of course.
Spirit Stones: +?
Personal [Automatic success]
[ ] Spend Time with your Family (Automatic)
You could try to spend some time with your siblings, or even your mother. You don't know who would be available so it would be up to fate who exactly you can pull away from their duties.
[ ] Take a Vacation (Costs $1)
You can take some time off from clan matters to wander the city or journey to a neighboring province on a sightseeing tour. You spend your time carousing and flaunting the wealth and status of a Young Master such as yourself.
Stress: -1
Vacation Cost: +1
[ ] Perform Charity (Costs $3)
You can spend some money on the local mortals or even down on their luck loose cultivators. Forgive a few debts, fund some orphanages, perhaps supply elixirs to a clinic or two. Nothing too grandiose, but still enough to make a noticeable impact on your people's lives. There is unfortunately a good chance this will give you a reputation for undue mercy.
Stress: -1
Face Test
[ ] Ponder Existence
You spend time in the library reading philosophy and trying to find the point of all this cultivation. What exactly is the purpose of life? Is it to gain power or to do good? Is a life well lived one of decadence and pleasure, or should you focus on nature and understanding the world. The cycle of history seems never ending. What exactly is the point of it all?
[X] Helping Progress Things
-[X] Select a technique to boost with 3 TP. (Cultivation)
-[X] Cultivate: +.2 TP for every point on the roll (Stress: +1)
--- [X] Administrator
-[X] Look through Kasjan Documents (Goal 10/30/50) (Administrator)
-[X] Research the Bountiful Lotus Elixir Recipe (Goal: 18/50)
Okay, so, I'm not super pleased with some aspects of this, but I do think we need to complete the level of Admin we're working on at the very least, and we asked to help with the dispute...so we should help. Looking at the options, they all take a lot of time and the only one that buys time by reducing the clock is the admin option, so that's the one we should do.
I'd also really like to reduce Stress, but I think we have to keep working on our big alchemy project as well. We can do a vacation when we take a turn off from cultivating, which we should do soon-ish. Speaking of which, in terms of stress reducers, we should start with a Vacation or two, then transition to Charity once we have more money and more Face to stand off the consequences. I'm reluctant to Ponder Existence except in emergencies.
I've been out of things for a while now, so I'd just like to make sure I'm caught up. We have options to handle the Kasjan Dispute, but what's our plan to deal with the Accusations of Inexperience? Research the Bountiful Lotus Elixer and make it a Grand Project? What other objectives are we looking to do at some point? Besides the basics like 'cultivate more' and 'improve our pavilion'?
I've been out of things for a while now, so I'd just like to make sure I'm caught up. We have options to handle the Kasjan Dispute, but what's our plan to deal with the Accusations of Inexperience? Research the Bountiful Lotus Elixer and make it a Grand Project? What other objectives are we looking to do at some point? Besides the basics like 'cultivate more' and 'improve our pavilion'?
I've been assuming a successful grand project probably does a lot to deal with the accusations yeah. And I don't think we have a lot of other goals directly right at the moment.
So of the traits, it seems like 1 fixes potentially major future problems but doesn't do much for us now while 2 and 3 give better action economy through either reducing the actions needed to get the alchemists sorted out or reducing the time we need to spend healing. For now I prefer the improved action economy. I personally lean towards Impart the Fundamentals but would be happy with either.
Well that only affects Tempered Peasants at the moment. :|
Way more useful when Liang advances to Core Lord, but that is a long way off.
Still, the teaching focus is nice.
[X] Impart the Fundamentals
Passive healing would be quite useful, but potentially less so later on when brewing healing elixirs in batches becomes much easier.
[X] Oak Heart
Not sure how [ ] Represent the Zhuge Clan (Goal 10) (Diplomacy) works. As Liang has no skill, we'd have to roll a 10 or above? That is super unlikely. Or would it be spend two months visiting them to reduce the clock by 1. That doesn't seem like a great payoff. Unless we get a lucky roll for the extra bonus.
Although maybe we could work on Diplomacy and then do this after we've reached the first goal in Look through Kasjan Documents for more time to complete revealing the plot.
