As in, said trash are the equivalent of trash in a Cyan's household. Their junk would be like Yellow to Green.
Threads Of Destiny(Eastern Fantasy, Sequel to Forge of Destiny)
- Thread starter yrsillar
- Start date
- Original Users' Choice!
Voted best in category in the Users' Choice awards.
- Location
- Cali
It'd make sense for very high level cultivators to have powerful cleaning staff to both deal with unwanted random object spirits and to carefully prevent new ones from forming. Actually, now that I think of it, household trash might not even have a chance to become spirits, since the first household spirit to form would likely be the house itself, considering how important the home is. I would imagine that a house spirit would manage the trash/low level spirits in it carefully. I can't imagine something like the Bai Ancestral Home permitting trash to even exist in its presence, and it'd probably be Cyan or something in its own right.
Yrs made a really good choice in having the story start in an area that had great upheaval within the past 40 years, it'd be a huge pain to start a story out in a place where everything might be old enough and intact enough to have its own spirit.
notanautomaton
I've got 99 quests, I've finished one
Man, can you imagine being a baron-level clan devoted to doing nothing but cleaning the Zheng main house?
- Location
- Cali
I'm not sure a Baron-level clan would be good enough. Zheng's Sublime Ancestor is the Reveler, so there must be some WILD parties going on in their territory, and I don't see one baron clan being capable of fielding enough Green cultivators to handle washing the dishes after those. There's probably an entire graveyard filled with people who died in the line of battle because they didn't take things seriously enough, riddled with chopstick-related injuries.
Bit delayed but here goes:
Granted we know it happens with the stones used for cultivation, no reason why it can't happen with everything else.
As in Stormlight Archive Soulcaster style, just go out there and transmute a plot of unused land into a quarry or mine?
That sounds incredibly expensive in either the time of high level cultivators(since I'm guessing that you need something like a tier above the material quality[noting that we already know that bronze is itself mystically potent, and so any comparable material will be too] to create it from scratch), or looking for natural places of power to convert into the needed mine.
Theres also leaving the old settlements used to process the minerals to wither, to be refocused around a different purpose(a tough job, given that a mining settlement usually has tailing pits, deep holes, and generally no longer fit for agriculture land for a while) or to uproot everyone to the new mine site.
On the other hand rejuvenating a site means a lot of downtime to regrow the minerals and could likely be done with lesser cultivators than making a whole new mine from scratch.
Make a new settlement, dump your dissidents there so they make noise far from the court and are too far from the halls of power to influence things.
Surprised_Pikachu.jpg when a generation down the line you have entire micronations concentrated with the views you were trying to get rid of, too isolated to have their problem views dissolved in the mix.
And with no oversight so most of them basically turn bandit lord.
To BE a powerful cultivator requires taking risks, frequently at that. If you internalize risk aversion, you stall. If you internalize risk seeking, you extend that to other parts of your life.
Consent matters.
The one taking the risk must be able to have a say in their fate. Gambling with the lives of lessers is...uncouth.
She's just wandering around blindfolded with Luck A.
Every past ruler had simply expanded their way out of the problems they had.
Wealth? Expand and loot the new territory.
Politics? Expand, get the dissidents killed claiming the frontier and dump their heirs where they're grateful for land and out of the way.
Legitimacy? Expand, great war of conquest validates your position.
But overexpansion means you simply lack the garrisons to even detect when an outside force is rampaging, lack the oversight to prevent internal raiding(because what better way to cover mismanagement than looting a rival?) and lack the control to make them do anything else.
And Bao Qian doing a hint hint at "my family history has Music too, and seduced spirits with it."
He's usually the one taking hits!
Must have made for early urbanization. One of the biggest difficulties to making early cities was how hard it was to supply enough food to feed people without massive land holdings.
With the Xuan they could just fish all the time and do culture the rest.
Also he's Wood element, so I'm reasonably sure he canswim wade, though the water is going to be warm and ashy.
...if I'm not mistaken snakes probably WOULD enjoy warm water.
BestSon Little Brother.
Think it might help with his feeling of being unable to contribute in combat much.
Six is saying what we're all thinking.
Excellent filler though.
If its an old manor that sounds like looking for a nexus of power or natural resource it might have been built on. Or a forgotten vault?
The kids are adorable.
Mineral scarcity problem solved.
Granted we know it happens with the stones used for cultivation, no reason why it can't happen with everything else.
Create new sites?
As in Stormlight Archive Soulcaster style, just go out there and transmute a plot of unused land into a quarry or mine?
That sounds incredibly expensive in either the time of high level cultivators(since I'm guessing that you need something like a tier above the material quality[noting that we already know that bronze is itself mystically potent, and so any comparable material will be too] to create it from scratch), or looking for natural places of power to convert into the needed mine.
Theres also leaving the old settlements used to process the minerals to wither, to be refocused around a different purpose(a tough job, given that a mining settlement usually has tailing pits, deep holes, and generally no longer fit for agriculture land for a while) or to uproot everyone to the new mine site.
On the other hand rejuvenating a site means a lot of downtime to regrow the minerals and could likely be done with lesser cultivators than making a whole new mine from scratch.
Classic colonialists.
Make a new settlement, dump your dissidents there so they make noise far from the court and are too far from the halls of power to influence things.
Surprised_Pikachu.jpg when a generation down the line you have entire micronations concentrated with the views you were trying to get rid of, too isolated to have their problem views dissolved in the mix.
And with no oversight so most of them basically turn bandit lord.
Thats a differential many cultivators would have trouble with: Risk is not absolute.
To BE a powerful cultivator requires taking risks, frequently at that. If you internalize risk aversion, you stall. If you internalize risk seeking, you extend that to other parts of your life.
Consent matters.
The one taking the risk must be able to have a say in their fate. Gambling with the lives of lessers is...uncouth.
Ling Qi meanwhile is neither risk adverse nor risk taker.
She's just wandering around blindfolded with Luck A.
More info on Shenhua's activities. Backfill on several thousand years of neglect. Reconnecting isolated fiefs, and many MANY new baronial seats as a result.
And the Emerald Seas root problem revealed.
Every past ruler had simply expanded their way out of the problems they had.
Wealth? Expand and loot the new territory.
Politics? Expand, get the dissidents killed claiming the frontier and dump their heirs where they're grateful for land and out of the way.
Legitimacy? Expand, great war of conquest validates your position.
But overexpansion means you simply lack the garrisons to even detect when an outside force is rampaging, lack the oversight to prevent internal raiding(because what better way to cover mismanagement than looting a rival?) and lack the control to make them do anything else.
All the old clans have some nice romance huh?
And Bao Qian doing a hint hint at "my family history has Music too, and seduced spirits with it."
Oh wow, Gui, shots fired.
He's usually the one taking hits!
They're basically a living ecosystem. The Xianxia version of generation ships I think. Living on a Xuanwu means you always have food easily at hand, cultivation resources grows and in turn they lure in all the predators of the region seeking a snack and THOSE can be hunted too by the Xuanwu, eaten up and then pooped out as more vitality in their immediate space. Great place to rear the ever-hungry young Xuanwu too.
Must have made for early urbanization. One of the biggest difficulties to making early cities was how hard it was to supply enough food to feed people without massive land holdings.
With the Xuan they could just fish all the time and do culture the rest.
I'm wondering if it'd be more or less awkward if she DID ask.
Also he's Wood element, so I'm reasonably sure he can
...if I'm not mistaken snakes probably WOULD enjoy warm water.
Zhengui: "Getting paid to have a walk, eat snacks and poop all over?!"
:3
Best
Think it might help with his feeling of being unable to contribute in combat much.
His SOP might be simply charming his way in with a direct frontal assault to build bonds, but Ling Qi is too skittish and will flee if he does that.
Its cute that Suyin can detect that at a distance.
Six is saying what we're all thinking.
Nerrdddssss.
Excellent filler though.
Ling Qi: "But Hanyi, you come with preset clothes!"
What ARE they looking for anyway?
If its an old manor that sounds like looking for a nexus of power or natural resource it might have been built on. Or a forgotten vault?
:3
The kids are adorable.
Mmm, it's also starting to highlight more ways that good geomancy is important if you want to be successful.
I'm pretty sure large chunks of the Sect aren't natural, and similarly if we want our lands to be both productive and good cultivation resources for us then we'll be having to deal with these kinds of issues as well.
Also of course one of the big advantages the established nobility have.
- Location
- United States of America
I don't think it's like the Stormlight Archive Soulcaster style. It sounded, given the caveat that there are always more lands to exploit, that the clans would go find more of the material (metal, stone, minerals, etc.) and start mining in that new location.
Arkeus
Crazy cat guy
- Location
- France
I read it as "create a new site, but you need the place you are creating the site from to have good foundation". So, overharvested site can't just be scrapped with a new site put up, you need to find a place with healthy life and then make a site there.
- Location
- United States of America
I don't think that's the case. The cost of hiring a cultivator of sufficient cultivation for a sufficient amount of time to make enough of the material for mining to be worthwhile would be substantial. And only worth it if the value of the material being transmuted exceeds the cost of hiring the cultivator, the cost of setting up the infrastructure to mine said material, the cost to pay the workers to mine, and the cost to protect the workers.
However, the cost of setting up infrastructure, paying workers, and security would probably be the same for a mining site that was prospected, which makes a cost analysis simpler. Would it be cheaper to hire a cultivator to prospect an area and find an area of sufficient value for mining operations, or to hire a cultivator to transmute such a site? It would seem to me that a green can do prospecting just fine while I don't think that a green could transmute enough material, in a short enough time, to compete with the prospector.
And that is in addition to the idea that a transmuter would need a site of sufficient foundation to conduct the transmutation. Which would require finding such a site, which would mean hiring someone to go out and find said site. This is another cost for the transmuter which is similar to what the prospector is doing. All in all, it just seems cheaper to hire a prospector to locate the materials, and then create the mining site by setting up the infrastructure, establishing security, and conducting mining operations.
Diomedea
A piece of the continent
- Location
- The interblag
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Could also be a sort of combo thing. Like you find a nexus of earth and wood qi, and then instead of totally transmuting it, you just kickstart what would be a natural process into forcing it to be the type of site you want to exploit (limited to earth and wood variants that are supported by what's there). So first you prospect for an area with several clusters of the type of qi you need, kickstart the sites towards being what you need, and then move an extraction camp from an old area to a new one.
Given that this is a done thing, I doubt it's usually a single powerful cultivator doing it. Wide area effects like this could be offloaded to minions if you can craft/buy reusable formations/talismans for the purpose, particularly if it uses a portion of the area's own qi to power themselves.
Given that this is a done thing, I doubt it's usually a single powerful cultivator doing it. Wide area effects like this could be offloaded to minions if you can craft/buy reusable formations/talismans for the purpose, particularly if it uses a portion of the area's own qi to power themselves.
- Location
- Finland
Considering the death world nature of the setting.
The cost of opening a new mine may include clearing a lot of not very friendly monsters and spirits from the area, periodicly.
On top of finding such a site, guarding it from outside threats, moving stuff to/from it, getting workers in there...
A mining site that is not the best, but is conveniently located, might be worth having it replenished and keeping the output low enough to not exhaust it.
Or maybe do it like farming trees, have several locations you keep working on, and while one is being mined, others are being replenished so you can just move to already existing site to start over once a mine is low enough to need renewing.
The cost of opening a new mine may include clearing a lot of not very friendly monsters and spirits from the area, periodicly.
On top of finding such a site, guarding it from outside threats, moving stuff to/from it, getting workers in there...
A mining site that is not the best, but is conveniently located, might be worth having it replenished and keeping the output low enough to not exhaust it.
Or maybe do it like farming trees, have several locations you keep working on, and while one is being mined, others are being replenished so you can just move to already existing site to start over once a mine is low enough to need renewing.
- Location
- The United States
- Pronouns
- He/They
I don't really think so.
Formations seem fitting for that sort of thing, additionally the house would have a lot of leverage over their spirits.
If the spirits want to get stronger they need a partner, so they have to play ball.
Additionally, you just need to let the spirit know that they're useful as scraps, and they'll be more amicable for fear of being sold down river.
Ah the chilling and terrible implications of owning sentience.
- Location
- the internet
@yrsillar I have some questions if thats okay. For the omake I'm writing, I need to confirm some facts. What's the average age for most people to reach Cyan? You know, like if they do reach Cyan. And what age do most cultivators reach Indigo? Violet? I'm trying to get an idea of what's a typical age per realm.
I think the concept is fundamentally flawed. Like, compare someone in the sect to someone outside it. The variance in how long it would be "expected" to reach yellow or green is so massive that the idea of an "average" just doesn't make sense as a description.
- Location
- Staring into the void
Due to the way talent works, as you climb higher the time required for each stage starts to vary much much more. As what is a small advantage at red becomes a massive one in green+
This doesn't even take personal discipline or drugs/cultivation aids into account. Both of those also induce variation in growth speed.
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- Location
- UK
Also, as there are more people of less talent then high talent for effectively the entire talent spectrum, the age of breakthrough for the greatest fraction of people in a realm should be as late as possible, so either the end of the prior realms lifespan or some age where it basically says "if you haven't broke through by now then you probably aren't breaking through."
Which I imagine would be pretty low for red cultivators, prob still teen years as if it takes to adult it's prob not worth the spirit stone cost to bother, but for say yellow most cultivators likely broke through ages 50-80, green cultivators mostly 100-200, cyan 200-300 etc.
The sect is really the vast minority of most talented cultivators and absolutely shouldn't be taken as normal.
Which I imagine would be pretty low for red cultivators, prob still teen years as if it takes to adult it's prob not worth the spirit stone cost to bother, but for say yellow most cultivators likely broke through ages 50-80, green cultivators mostly 100-200, cyan 200-300 etc.
The sect is really the vast minority of most talented cultivators and absolutely shouldn't be taken as normal.
I think the average and median age for reaching certain levels of cultivation could still be common knowledge. At what age the top ten percentage reach Cyan is definitely something nobles would know to take note of high achievers with future potential. Everyone at the outer sect were progressing at different paces before dropping off but the speed they cultivated at should certainly allow the sect and noble houses to determine medians even if there are plenty of outliers. And even the outliers could still be measure with statistics and the human ability to see patterns.
- Location
- Staring into the void
Yes and no. You can learn arts faster at higher cultivation levels, so slowing that down is counter productive. This is offset by the more arts you know when you breakthough, the better you bonii from it.
EternalObserver
eYe Gaze baCk
- Location
- The Void
The reason BSM is not being considered isn't the case of little domain xp but rather it doesn't give us Domain xp at all, aka it is incompatible with our Domain.
Also currently people are on the hunt for social arts (which we've just got from archives)
Black Noise
Curious
- Location
- About 1AU from Sol
ENM is being trained this turn, and BSM doesn't actually do combat stealth properly; the 1st tech seems like it's more suitable for snooping around in social gatherings than combat stealth proper where others will know you're there but won't be sure where you are.
Plus a major part of why ENM is getting trained is so we have an actual Fade art, and this one benefits from being Wind for Sixiang synergy.
EDIT: and like the social arts archive dive returned with options that fit what we want for LQ so much better than BSM does.
Plus a major part of why ENM is getting trained is so we have an actual Fade art, and this one benefits from being Wind for Sixiang synergy.
EDIT: and like the social arts archive dive returned with options that fit what we want for LQ so much better than BSM does.
Black Noise
Curious
- Location
- About 1AU from Sol
Fade B (or rather the softcap between C and B) is gonna be around 12xp away after this turn, which is about a turn of training.
Do note that Fade skill training is a comparatively small benefit compared to having a Fade Art, which is the bare minimum needed to narratively not suck at something.
Do note that Fade skill training is a comparatively small benefit compared to having a Fade Art, which is the bare minimum needed to narratively not suck at something.
Turn 6: Arc 2-4
There was no hurry in her search either, so when Ling Qi took to the air, she flew at a lazy pace, rising up past the tree tops with the hems of her gown gently fluttering in the wind. Soaring up into the sky, she took a moment to enjoy the feeling of the wind on her face, and the sound of Hanyi's joyous laughter in her ears. The young spirit was light on her shoulders, a far cry from the immense weight she had carried the last time they had done this.
Glancing back , she took in her companions. Li Suyin and Du Feng had produced camp chairs and other sundries from somewhere, and she could feel the heat of boiling waters. Bao Qian had gone off with his own spirit to walk around the ruined foundations. He looked up as her gaze passed over him and waved. Zhengui on the other hand was still, but she could feel his qi beneath the earth, spreading through the root network of the nearby trees.
"C'moooon, don't stop," Hanyi complained. "Let's fly!"
"You've gotten so impatient," Ling Qi laughed. "But fine, if that's what you want."
Yes, she should definitely take the lessons of the last few weeks to heart, and simply relax. With that in mind, Ling Qi tried not to laugh out loud as she darted forward, spinning in the air and drawing a startled shriek from Hanyi. In her thoughts however, Sixiang laughed enough for the both of them. Taking off into the clear blue sky, Ling Qi began her search.
It made for a relaxing afternoon, the region they were in was thickly forested comparatively flat, so from above the trees seemed almost like an unbroken carpet of greenery, if one did not look to closely. Faeries of wind and water fluttered and danced through the air around her barely visible wisps even to her sharp eyes. Below, the spirits of wood and earth lurked among the branches and leaves, following their own slow paced and inscrutable whims.
She saw and felt the passage of many beasts below her, but none dared challenge her path, some hid or fled from her, while others ignored her entirely. It was, in fact entirely peaceful, and almost dull, or it would have been, if she were alone. Hanyi was not one to let silence linger, ironically enough.
"So what do you think of that Bao guy Big Sis," Hanyi chirped. "He seems kinda boring to me, but I think he likes you!"
"I would doubt the Bao clan's competence if they sent someone who couldn't give that impression," Ling Qi replied dryly as they flew lazily over a babbling brook, the faintest hints of gravel and a regular path marked some remnant of civilization, and so Ling Qi shifted her course, following its direction.
"Ugh, you're no fun sometimes," Hanyi complained. "And you better not spin me again cause I said that!"
Ling Qi hid her smile behind her sleeve, innocently pretending that she hadn't considered doing just that. "Why so interested anyway. Usually I have to fight to get you to pay other people any mind."
"Hmph, I'm trying to follow your advice you know," Hanyi huffed, tightly gripping Ling Qi's shoulders as she banked sharply in the air to follow the curve of the old road. "...I guess I'm worried about you Big Sis."
Ling Qi glanced back over her shoulder with a raised eyebrow. "What are you talking about? I'm doing fine."
Hanyi pouted back at her and looked away. "Big Sis takes care of me when I get sad or worried or whatever, so I was just thought that you needed someone who could do the same for her."
"Hmm, maybe I don't give the squirt enough credit," Sixiang mused.
'Hush,' Ling Qi thought back at Sixiang. "I can handle myself Hanyi," she said aloud. "That's not something you need to worry about. Besides, why would you latch on too a stranger for that."
"Well, he wants to marry you right?" Hanyi asked innocently. "He just can't say so cause of weird human things. Husbands and wives are supposed to take care of each other and make each other happy right?"
There was so much wrong with Hanyi's words that Ling Qi wasn't even sure where to start. It made her wonder just what things had been like in Zeqing's household, given what she had seen of her mentors 'husband'. It wasn't like she was going to bring that up to Hanyi though.
Sixiang made a sound like a person sucking in air through their teeth in her thoughts. "Yeah, that's prolly not an explosive you wanna poke."
"...I appreciate it Hanyi, but things don't actually work quite like that," Ling Qi finally said. "Bao Qian is just here to work out some business. Anything else is a consideration for a long time in the future."
"If you say so," Hanyi replied dubiously. "Big Sis is weird sometimes," she muttered under her breath.
"Ah I see something ahead!" Ling Qi announced, pleased to have a distraction from this uncomfortable conversation. Up ahead, the canopy changed, there were wide gaps, and the trees seemed to grow in an oddly regular pattern. As she grew closer, she found herself look at something unsettling.
Across a sprawling section of the forest, she found herself looking down at a badly overgrown grid of what could only have been streets. The paving stones were long gone, but she could sense the lingering qi of the builders in the dirt, suppressing the growth of plants through the packed dirt. Dotted all through the streets were deep and regular holes, the partially collapsed remains of cellars and such she assumed. Yet there were no other ruins, a deep trench ran around the site, and its nature was only made clear by a handful of foundation stones for the settlements wall she saw scattered about. There was no other wreckage to be seen.
"Well I guess this must have been the main settlement," it was certainly big enough. "Did all the materials get carted off though? The sect did that, why did we have to search?"
"OH, I know this one!" Hanyi announced excitedly. "Momma told me a story once, that when the big storm came north, it was so big and so strong that it sucked all the trees and little houses and walls and people right up into the sky, and it rained rocks and wood and frozen bits for a week after!"
Memories bubbled up, and she recalled Elder Jiao's trial last year. She remembered ushering people away from a besieged city and the sight of a vast wind funnel descending upon the settlement. That put Hanyi's story in context. She probably should have expected that, given that she knew they were looking for a site destroyed during the invasion. Morbidly curious, Ling Qi banked in the air, flying over the ruined site, it was possible she would find another road going out to the quarry they were looking for.
There was little to find however, only the lingering work of the old settlements roadbuilders on the earth had kept the site recognizable as anything but an oddly pitted field. There was nothing here, and nothing to find, the paths leaving the settlement swiftly faded beyond even her ability to perceive. Having searched it thoroughly, Ling Qi rose back to a higher altitude and began to fly back. She figured that she may as well report what she had found.
Returning to the clearing they had started in, she descended from the sky to find Li Suyin and Du Feng chatting amicably over tea and Zhengui off to one side, feasting on a fallen log.
"Big Sister!" Zhen greeted as he spotted her descent, drawing everyone's attention. "I, Zhen have succeeded in our task!"
"I did all the work," Gui grumbled, through a mouthful of bark and softwood. "But kind, humble Gui will let bragging Zhen take credit."
"Is that so," Ling Qi said curiously as she descended to his level. It looked like her own search had been unnecessary. "Good job little brother, how did you do it?"
"I, Zhen was able to perceive the big holes that were dug by the gaps in the roots," Zhen said proudly. "The jewel man and his fuzzball were able to search the quarry out with Zhen's instruction."
Ling Qi rested a hand on the giant serpent's smoking scales with a sigh. "...Please refer to people properly Zhengui. Still, I am proud of you."
"Hmm, I guess he can be useful when he's not stuffing his face," Hanyi teased.
Descending the rest of the way to the ground as Zhengui preened under her praise. She hadn't found anything herself, but that was her little brother needed more successes under his figurative belt. After Hanyi had hopped down from her shoulders, she accepted a cup of tea from Du Feng with a polite smile and sat down in one of the camp chairs to drink. The tea was a bit bitter for her taste but she hardly minded.
She passed the rest of time chatting with Li Suyin and her… friend. Teasing Suyin about her physical cultivation was fun, but the girl was working hard to prepare herself for that breakthrough as well, stockpiling medicines and getting projects into stable states. Du Feng's eagerness to ingratiate himself to her put her off a bit, but she found the boy sincere, if kinda foppish. It helped that Sixiang agreed with her assessment. She wished him luck on his own breakthroughs in the coming months regardless. She deflected Li Suyin's own questions of concern regarding her workload. She was still doing fine and advancing acceptably.
Soon enough though Bao Qian returned from his task looking pleased. It seemed that the jade quarry was in a recoverable state after all. After a bit more tea and relaxation, they were soon ready to begin heading back. However as she began to make her way over to Zhengui to hop onto his shell, she found herself called back.
"Miss Ling, might I speak with you for a moment," Bao Qian asked, standing back from the others.
She glanced around, Suyin and Du Feng were a short distance away, packing up the camp furniture and tea set, and her own spirits were a short distance away, bickering and talking back and forth. Aside from Sixiang of course.
"I've always got your back," Sixiaing chuckled.
"I don't mind Sir Bao," Ling Qi replied aloud. "Is there some problem?"
The young man regarded her thoughtfully, his arms crossed loosely over his broad chest. "I would not necessarily call it such. However, I am told that you appreciate a certain degree of bluntness, so perhaps I should just state my thoughts."
Ling Qi's eyebrows rose. "...If that is what you wish," she replied noncommittally.
He let out an amused chuckle. "I find you difficult to approach. At times you seem terribly skittish, and at other times quite confrontational. It is a bit confusing," he admitted frankly.
"Is that so," Ling Qi replied, keeping her expression blank.
"I won't ask you not to take insult," he chuckled. "My, this is an interesting sort of challenge."
"I am glad I can entertain you," Ling Qi replied blandly.
"Hm, yes. I think I like this you considerably more," Bao Qian offered a brief, low bow. "Miss Ling, I am an ambitious man. I will be honest, matters of marriage are a distant concern, there are far too many things that I need do yet before settling is an option, cultivation not the least of them."
"I could say the same," Ling Qi replied carefully. "Why then did you come here?"
"For the reasons I have stated. There is opportunity in the south, opportunity in you," he replied without a hint of shame. "We Bao have a nose for investments. I think you are a good ally and contact to make. You in turn, need to expand your connections among the Emerald Seas, and there are few better than the Bao for that. Even those crotchety swamp hermits out west grudgingly deal with us."
"You're not wrong," Ling Qi admitted, giving him an assessing look. "So the marriage pursuit is just a cover?"
"Not at all. You are lovely, talented and ambitious. You are a musician of unmatched skill for your age as well as a fierce and canny duelist. Let the old birds at court cluck their tongues about your origins, I am pleased by what I see."
Ling Qi stared, her thoughts briefly grinding too a halt, only a sharp prod from Sixiang got her mind moving again. "...And if I cannot say the same of you?"
He laughed. "Then I would hope that you will look into my history as I have yours in the future, and pay a mind to my accomplishments in the coming years."
"You are awfully confident," Ling Qi replied dryly.
"I am a Bao, it is in the blood," he replied. "But all this aside. I do hope we can work together for our mutual prosperity in the future. Even with the support of the Cai, raising a new house is difficult."
"And that is what I do not understand," Ling Qi replied in frustration. "Many sons or no, you are the scion of a count clan, why put yourself in such a difficult position?"
"Bah, what good is inheritance alone?" He dismissed. "Let my brothers and sisters squabble over my father and mothers great works. I have the blood in my veins and the arts of our archives, my advantages are already vast, I neither want or need anything else. I will make my own fortune and my own great works."
Ling Qi met and held his gaze, searching for sincerity in his eyes. It was such a weird mindset that she had trouble grasping it. "...Alright, I'll believe that," Ling Qi said after a moment. "If you just want to work together, that is fine." She could think about the rest at a later date.
"That is all I ask for now," he said graciously. "But we should not hold up our companions any longer."
Ling Qi nodded, turning away, looking to where Li Suyin and Du Feng waited. She still wasn't sure what she thought of Bao Qian but… she needed more resources, she would always need more resources, if she wanted to climb to the impossible heights that people like Cai Shenhua had. Having someone around who could help her acquire them could only be helpful. For now though, she needed to get back to the Sect and return to her cultivation.
+20 Sect Points
Bao Qian Bond Gained Rank 0
AN: And this will be the end of this arc, no vote to be had unfortunately, but we'll be moving on to cultivation and stuff after this
Glancing back , she took in her companions. Li Suyin and Du Feng had produced camp chairs and other sundries from somewhere, and she could feel the heat of boiling waters. Bao Qian had gone off with his own spirit to walk around the ruined foundations. He looked up as her gaze passed over him and waved. Zhengui on the other hand was still, but she could feel his qi beneath the earth, spreading through the root network of the nearby trees.
"C'moooon, don't stop," Hanyi complained. "Let's fly!"
"You've gotten so impatient," Ling Qi laughed. "But fine, if that's what you want."
Yes, she should definitely take the lessons of the last few weeks to heart, and simply relax. With that in mind, Ling Qi tried not to laugh out loud as she darted forward, spinning in the air and drawing a startled shriek from Hanyi. In her thoughts however, Sixiang laughed enough for the both of them. Taking off into the clear blue sky, Ling Qi began her search.
Roll 1d100 for encounter
1d100=3
…
Womp womp woooomp
1d100=3
…
Womp womp woooomp
It made for a relaxing afternoon, the region they were in was thickly forested comparatively flat, so from above the trees seemed almost like an unbroken carpet of greenery, if one did not look to closely. Faeries of wind and water fluttered and danced through the air around her barely visible wisps even to her sharp eyes. Below, the spirits of wood and earth lurked among the branches and leaves, following their own slow paced and inscrutable whims.
She saw and felt the passage of many beasts below her, but none dared challenge her path, some hid or fled from her, while others ignored her entirely. It was, in fact entirely peaceful, and almost dull, or it would have been, if she were alone. Hanyi was not one to let silence linger, ironically enough.
"So what do you think of that Bao guy Big Sis," Hanyi chirped. "He seems kinda boring to me, but I think he likes you!"
"I would doubt the Bao clan's competence if they sent someone who couldn't give that impression," Ling Qi replied dryly as they flew lazily over a babbling brook, the faintest hints of gravel and a regular path marked some remnant of civilization, and so Ling Qi shifted her course, following its direction.
"Ugh, you're no fun sometimes," Hanyi complained. "And you better not spin me again cause I said that!"
Ling Qi hid her smile behind her sleeve, innocently pretending that she hadn't considered doing just that. "Why so interested anyway. Usually I have to fight to get you to pay other people any mind."
"Hmph, I'm trying to follow your advice you know," Hanyi huffed, tightly gripping Ling Qi's shoulders as she banked sharply in the air to follow the curve of the old road. "...I guess I'm worried about you Big Sis."
Ling Qi glanced back over her shoulder with a raised eyebrow. "What are you talking about? I'm doing fine."
Hanyi pouted back at her and looked away. "Big Sis takes care of me when I get sad or worried or whatever, so I was just thought that you needed someone who could do the same for her."
"Hmm, maybe I don't give the squirt enough credit," Sixiang mused.
'Hush,' Ling Qi thought back at Sixiang. "I can handle myself Hanyi," she said aloud. "That's not something you need to worry about. Besides, why would you latch on too a stranger for that."
"Well, he wants to marry you right?" Hanyi asked innocently. "He just can't say so cause of weird human things. Husbands and wives are supposed to take care of each other and make each other happy right?"
There was so much wrong with Hanyi's words that Ling Qi wasn't even sure where to start. It made her wonder just what things had been like in Zeqing's household, given what she had seen of her mentors 'husband'. It wasn't like she was going to bring that up to Hanyi though.
Sixiang made a sound like a person sucking in air through their teeth in her thoughts. "Yeah, that's prolly not an explosive you wanna poke."
"...I appreciate it Hanyi, but things don't actually work quite like that," Ling Qi finally said. "Bao Qian is just here to work out some business. Anything else is a consideration for a long time in the future."
"If you say so," Hanyi replied dubiously. "Big Sis is weird sometimes," she muttered under her breath.
"Ah I see something ahead!" Ling Qi announced, pleased to have a distraction from this uncomfortable conversation. Up ahead, the canopy changed, there were wide gaps, and the trees seemed to grow in an oddly regular pattern. As she grew closer, she found herself look at something unsettling.
Across a sprawling section of the forest, she found herself looking down at a badly overgrown grid of what could only have been streets. The paving stones were long gone, but she could sense the lingering qi of the builders in the dirt, suppressing the growth of plants through the packed dirt. Dotted all through the streets were deep and regular holes, the partially collapsed remains of cellars and such she assumed. Yet there were no other ruins, a deep trench ran around the site, and its nature was only made clear by a handful of foundation stones for the settlements wall she saw scattered about. There was no other wreckage to be seen.
"Well I guess this must have been the main settlement," it was certainly big enough. "Did all the materials get carted off though? The sect did that, why did we have to search?"
"OH, I know this one!" Hanyi announced excitedly. "Momma told me a story once, that when the big storm came north, it was so big and so strong that it sucked all the trees and little houses and walls and people right up into the sky, and it rained rocks and wood and frozen bits for a week after!"
Memories bubbled up, and she recalled Elder Jiao's trial last year. She remembered ushering people away from a besieged city and the sight of a vast wind funnel descending upon the settlement. That put Hanyi's story in context. She probably should have expected that, given that she knew they were looking for a site destroyed during the invasion. Morbidly curious, Ling Qi banked in the air, flying over the ruined site, it was possible she would find another road going out to the quarry they were looking for.
There was little to find however, only the lingering work of the old settlements roadbuilders on the earth had kept the site recognizable as anything but an oddly pitted field. There was nothing here, and nothing to find, the paths leaving the settlement swiftly faded beyond even her ability to perceive. Having searched it thoroughly, Ling Qi rose back to a higher altitude and began to fly back. She figured that she may as well report what she had found.
Returning to the clearing they had started in, she descended from the sky to find Li Suyin and Du Feng chatting amicably over tea and Zhengui off to one side, feasting on a fallen log.
"Big Sister!" Zhen greeted as he spotted her descent, drawing everyone's attention. "I, Zhen have succeeded in our task!"
"I did all the work," Gui grumbled, through a mouthful of bark and softwood. "But kind, humble Gui will let bragging Zhen take credit."
"Is that so," Ling Qi said curiously as she descended to his level. It looked like her own search had been unnecessary. "Good job little brother, how did you do it?"
"I, Zhen was able to perceive the big holes that were dug by the gaps in the roots," Zhen said proudly. "The jewel man and his fuzzball were able to search the quarry out with Zhen's instruction."
Ling Qi rested a hand on the giant serpent's smoking scales with a sigh. "...Please refer to people properly Zhengui. Still, I am proud of you."
"Hmm, I guess he can be useful when he's not stuffing his face," Hanyi teased.
Descending the rest of the way to the ground as Zhengui preened under her praise. She hadn't found anything herself, but that was her little brother needed more successes under his figurative belt. After Hanyi had hopped down from her shoulders, she accepted a cup of tea from Du Feng with a polite smile and sat down in one of the camp chairs to drink. The tea was a bit bitter for her taste but she hardly minded.
She passed the rest of time chatting with Li Suyin and her… friend. Teasing Suyin about her physical cultivation was fun, but the girl was working hard to prepare herself for that breakthrough as well, stockpiling medicines and getting projects into stable states. Du Feng's eagerness to ingratiate himself to her put her off a bit, but she found the boy sincere, if kinda foppish. It helped that Sixiang agreed with her assessment. She wished him luck on his own breakthroughs in the coming months regardless. She deflected Li Suyin's own questions of concern regarding her workload. She was still doing fine and advancing acceptably.
Soon enough though Bao Qian returned from his task looking pleased. It seemed that the jade quarry was in a recoverable state after all. After a bit more tea and relaxation, they were soon ready to begin heading back. However as she began to make her way over to Zhengui to hop onto his shell, she found herself called back.
"Miss Ling, might I speak with you for a moment," Bao Qian asked, standing back from the others.
She glanced around, Suyin and Du Feng were a short distance away, packing up the camp furniture and tea set, and her own spirits were a short distance away, bickering and talking back and forth. Aside from Sixiang of course.
"I've always got your back," Sixiaing chuckled.
"I don't mind Sir Bao," Ling Qi replied aloud. "Is there some problem?"
The young man regarded her thoughtfully, his arms crossed loosely over his broad chest. "I would not necessarily call it such. However, I am told that you appreciate a certain degree of bluntness, so perhaps I should just state my thoughts."
Ling Qi's eyebrows rose. "...If that is what you wish," she replied noncommittally.
He let out an amused chuckle. "I find you difficult to approach. At times you seem terribly skittish, and at other times quite confrontational. It is a bit confusing," he admitted frankly.
"Is that so," Ling Qi replied, keeping her expression blank.
"I won't ask you not to take insult," he chuckled. "My, this is an interesting sort of challenge."
"I am glad I can entertain you," Ling Qi replied blandly.
"Hm, yes. I think I like this you considerably more," Bao Qian offered a brief, low bow. "Miss Ling, I am an ambitious man. I will be honest, matters of marriage are a distant concern, there are far too many things that I need do yet before settling is an option, cultivation not the least of them."
"I could say the same," Ling Qi replied carefully. "Why then did you come here?"
"For the reasons I have stated. There is opportunity in the south, opportunity in you," he replied without a hint of shame. "We Bao have a nose for investments. I think you are a good ally and contact to make. You in turn, need to expand your connections among the Emerald Seas, and there are few better than the Bao for that. Even those crotchety swamp hermits out west grudgingly deal with us."
"You're not wrong," Ling Qi admitted, giving him an assessing look. "So the marriage pursuit is just a cover?"
"Not at all. You are lovely, talented and ambitious. You are a musician of unmatched skill for your age as well as a fierce and canny duelist. Let the old birds at court cluck their tongues about your origins, I am pleased by what I see."
Ling Qi stared, her thoughts briefly grinding too a halt, only a sharp prod from Sixiang got her mind moving again. "...And if I cannot say the same of you?"
He laughed. "Then I would hope that you will look into my history as I have yours in the future, and pay a mind to my accomplishments in the coming years."
"You are awfully confident," Ling Qi replied dryly.
"I am a Bao, it is in the blood," he replied. "But all this aside. I do hope we can work together for our mutual prosperity in the future. Even with the support of the Cai, raising a new house is difficult."
"And that is what I do not understand," Ling Qi replied in frustration. "Many sons or no, you are the scion of a count clan, why put yourself in such a difficult position?"
"Bah, what good is inheritance alone?" He dismissed. "Let my brothers and sisters squabble over my father and mothers great works. I have the blood in my veins and the arts of our archives, my advantages are already vast, I neither want or need anything else. I will make my own fortune and my own great works."
Ling Qi met and held his gaze, searching for sincerity in his eyes. It was such a weird mindset that she had trouble grasping it. "...Alright, I'll believe that," Ling Qi said after a moment. "If you just want to work together, that is fine." She could think about the rest at a later date.
"That is all I ask for now," he said graciously. "But we should not hold up our companions any longer."
Ling Qi nodded, turning away, looking to where Li Suyin and Du Feng waited. She still wasn't sure what she thought of Bao Qian but… she needed more resources, she would always need more resources, if she wanted to climb to the impossible heights that people like Cai Shenhua had. Having someone around who could help her acquire them could only be helpful. For now though, she needed to get back to the Sect and return to her cultivation.
+20 Sect Points
Bao Qian Bond Gained Rank 0
AN: And this will be the end of this arc, no vote to be had unfortunately, but we'll be moving on to cultivation and stuff after this
