that is interesting but ... doesn't seem to be worth the time and cost. I mean, at best we have around fifteen training actions available per turn, spending one AP to gain 1.5AP is nice, but only if it doesn't cost sect points. I mean, spending two AP to cover the sect points cost and one AP on the lesson itself to gain ~1.5AP is ... <censored>.
Even if that was true (I do not think it is), I am pretty sure lessons are, free, tutoring is what's costly), you forget that we need to go after certain missions to increase our rank anyway. That means we would get sect points anyway, so the question wouldn't be "is this worth it compared to not gaining sect points and training instead" but "is it worth it compared to other things we can buy with sect points"
There's being confident in one's capability and then there's hubris.
While our build has the potential for it, the gap between LQ and Meizhen (and by extension Liling) was and still is around 3-5 months. The reason we've been catching up is largely because we're picking lower hanging fruit, both in cultivation and in stats, which creates an impression we're catching up faster than we actually are (if we are at all).
In practical terms, the current gap is not just the already substantial extra few months of cultivation time, but it's also one of skill. We're growing fast but it will be a while before we've fully grown into peak performance by mid-Green standards, but the ducals are already there, the equivalent of professional athletes.
The same also applies to our spirits; while they have potential to be top tier, none of ours are even G3. It will take a lot of training and time for our spirits to match LQ in the way the ducal spirits match their companions. SSC should help with that a lot but that's gonna take time.
So a current match up would be LQ with g3 arts vs Liling with fully g4 arts, g4/g3 spirits, domain C or even B, and about a rank across the board higher than us in attributes and a lot of skills. That's for a match up that would be difficult if we were matched in cultivation and stats.
Yeah no, ducals kick our ass.
An adult has higher chances against a master than a newborn baby against one. It doesn't mean that the master is being slowly "overtaken", it's just the adult is actually a capable person now.
Many things to answer here.
Firstly and most importantly, I never claimed we wouldn't get our ass kicked, just that a fight wouldn't be hopeless anymore. Big difference. I agree that the matchup is harshly disfavorable, I am just claiming we are catching up.
And I am basing that on several reasons.
Firstly, we are a genius. Yes, most ducals are boosted into being geniuses anyway, but I am not sure their talent is equal to ours based on their progress. Considering npcs can have talent values that aren't whole numbers, I think we are 0.1-0.3 talent points faster than the ducals. And unlike Ji Rong, we have the money to take advantage of that.
Secondly, even if their talent is equal or better, we have the advantage of the math cabal, which in universe translates to Ling Qi being a calculating cultivation freak that makes the most out of everything. By comparison, Ji Rong doesn't seem as dedicated to the time consuming stuff (I could be wrong here), Cai lacks time, and Sun is in relatively dire straits and Bai ... Bai we may actually not manage to overtake.
Thirdly, we have started performing some major feats. We may be underestimating Ling Qi.
Fourthly, we have more spirits (each spirit grants several bonuses) and high tier ones to boot, especially Zhengui. Their spirits may be higher level, but each has 1 and none higher than Zhengui (they may be equal, but not higher), so we got the advantage there.
Fifthly, our moon path is sponsored by an insanely powerful spirit, and every technique that came from it is of ducal quality or greater, its just that we do not have enough of those to go solo moon.
Sixthly, the higher one goes in green, the less quality differences between techniques matter.
And seventhly, we have been getting insights granting B and A rank skills pretty fastly. Yes, each of the ducals likely has at least an S rank, which is why I think we ain't winning, but we are getting stronger and more well rounded fast by the way of danger, which in universe is the often the great bridging.
So no, this is very different from an adult vs a master and we are NOT actually going against the low hanging fruit, as proven by the fact that we trash pretty much anyone at our level that isn't a ducal or a genius. If we went after the low hanging fruit, we should be weaker than Xiulan. Are we even gonna reach the ducal monster height of fruits? Debatable actually, which is why we are debating this, but you guys are underselling Ling Qi's talents and efforts. However, it is both in tropes and in universe precedented for someone to become a monster from a commoner background, especially since family techniques matter less and less the more one goes up.
I also do not understand why this thread is always either "we'll definitely win" or "we'll definitely lose" and balks at a more nuanced assessment. It does that both here and with the Ji Rong situation. This is a story, things change, fights can be even or even low probability possible.
So Shi has several attributes that make him think he's not a "neckbeard".
Biggest is his competence. A neckbeard talks about how studied the blade and shit and then goes down hard with a straight left to the face or a front kick to the thigh. Shi takes a hit from someone far above him in cultivation then throws it back ready for more.
Second, his diction isn't him "milady"ing, it's a cultural thing. He's on the other side of a massive continent.
Really depends on one's definition of neckbeard. If it means literally people who are unkempt, musky and have a beard in their neck, then there are plenty of those that are actually skilled and not bad people who get hated unfairly. If it means manchildren and people stuck in their own world and disregard everything else, then you are right. If it means people who feel entitled to women because they behave like nice guys, those have a different name ("nice guys") although the demographic often overlaps. I think each person means something different with that word tbh.
).
