Threads Of Destiny(Eastern Fantasy, Sequel to Forge of Destiny)

Voted best in category in the Users' Choice awards.
Joking aside, Renxiang understands that 'Too much Purity can warp things', but she doesn't want to compromise the idea of trying to make things better.

What you put into your Domain Weapon is not your Way, so much as it's a 'Feeling' you intend to take with you. In her case, I imagine the idea is to help discourage even the slightest possibility of letting corruption sink in, as well as preventing her from just deciding 'Good enough' unless it actually is 'Good'.
 
threads, I understand that the Yin/Yang bonus to female and male cultivators is real, it's just additive instead of multiplicative, i.e. not remotely definitive. So you can 100% cultivate either and based on your individual personality either can match you better, but when you take 100 boys and 100 girls from the same family with a distribution of personality all over the spectrum cultivating the same one, you'll see power skewed to some degree towards the 'matching' gender.
It being additive is right, but the Yin/Yang thing is personality based and that is really much more due to upbringing and cultural expectations.

Yin absorbs, attracts, and reacts to things happening to it. Yin is real and grounded.
Yang generates, repels, and does things to others. Yang is spiritual and imaginative.

Other than the physical sexual element where the phenomenon is literal, the only gender association is that they are considered sensible behaviors for the associated gender.
And of course, either one of them on its own is kind of useless. One is a rock and another is a daydream.
 
It being additive is right, but the Yin/Yang thing is personality based and that is really much more due to upbringing and cultural expectations.

Yin absorbs, attracts, and reacts to things happening to it. Yin is real and grounded.
Yang generates, repels, and does things to others. Yang is spiritual and imaginative.

Other than the physical sexual element where the phenomenon is literal, the only gender association is that they are considered sensible behaviors for the associated gender.
And of course, either one of them on its own is kind of useless. One is a rock and another is a daydream.
Huh... Maybe I am misunderstanding you, but a big part of the issue with current Gu clan is that Xiulan's dad is trying really hard for a son as men have a statistical advantage for yang arts, the same way Bai women tend to be stronger because they have an statistical advantage for Yin art.

It's not set in stone obviously (Xiulan is yang as fuck in many ways), but it's not just due to cultural expectation in this story, there is a real "Women tend to lean toward Yin, men tend to lean toward Yang" in affinities.
 
It being additive is right, but the Yin/Yang thing is personality based and that is really much more due to upbringing and cultural expectations.

Yin absorbs, attracts, and reacts to things happening to it. Yin is real and grounded.
Yang generates, repels, and does things to others. Yang is spiritual and imaginative.

Other than the physical sexual element where the phenomenon is literal, the only gender association is that they are considered sensible behaviors for the associated gender.
And of course, either one of them on its own is kind of useless. One is a rock and another is a daydream.
Huh... Maybe I am misunderstanding you, but a big part of the issue with current Gu clan is that Xiulan's dad is trying really hard for a son as men have a statistical advantage for yang arts, the same way Bai women tend to be stronger because they have an statistical advantage for Yin art.

It's not set in stone obviously (Xiulan is yang as fuck in many ways), but it's not just due to cultural expectation in this story, there is a real "Women tend to lean toward Yin, men tend to lean toward Yang" in affinities.

What Arkeus said. I also suspect the 'inborn' 'personality-agnostic' yin/yang affinity is tied to psychological gender, not physiological sex, I.E. trans people - like CRX's core disciple ex-nanny who made dress-chan - have the affinity matching what they end up as, not what they are identified as at birth.

Non-binary people would presumably have their inborn affinity neutral between the two, which coincidentally matches Sixiang well - their Yin/Yang tendencies seem pretty balanced.
 
What Arkeus said. I also suspect the 'inborn' 'personality-agnostic' yin/yang affinity is tied to psychological gender, not physiological sex, I.E. trans people - like CRX's core disciple ex-nanny who made dress-chan - have the affinity matching what they end up as, not what they are identified as at birth.

Non-binary people would presumably have their inborn affinity neutral between the two, which coincidentally matches Sixiang well - their Yin/Yang tendencies seem pretty balanced.
It's an interesting theory but there seems to be so little evidence to support it. For one Yin and Yang currently is a way for the imperial system to help two very board types of arts, and thus personalities. This raises the question for me if Yin and Yang affinity can even be 'inborn' that would imply that such a thing would apply towards the entire human species. Do the cloud barbarians also use Yin and Yang to help divide their arts? Do the Not!Indians past the Red Garden? Or the Not!Pillermen?

Since there are multiple cultivation systems calling a method that one system uses to talk about itself as 'inborn' to a person is a going to be a tough sell to me. Perhaps the empire had a great spirit ascend which made that true, but we have had no indication that such a spirit exists.
 
It's an interesting theory but there seems to be so little evidence to support it. For one Yin and Yang currently is a way for the imperial system to help two very board types of arts, and thus personalities. This raises the question for me if Yin and Yang affinity can even be 'inborn' that would imply that such a thing would apply towards the entir human species. Do the cloud barbarians also use Yin and Yang to help divide their arts? Do the Not!Indians past the Red Garden? Or the Not!Pillermen?

Since there are multiple cultivation systems calling a method that one system uses to talk about itself as 'inborn' to a person is a going to be a tough sell to me. Perhaps the empire had a great spirit ascend which made that true, but we have had no indication that such a spirit exists.
I mean, the singular cultivation system that the Empire uses interacts with a person's psychological gender (presumably inborn, but I honestly understand fuckall about gender and it doens't need to be for this) in a way that makes this person better/worse at cultivating particular arts this specific system offers, as also heavily influenced by personality.

Soccer is a made up human game, yet someone born without legs would have what one migh say an "inborn" difficulty with playing it.
 
relevant exchanges from back when the topic was discussed in discord:
Yrsillar05/13/2020
Sexism isn't really very strong in the empire, and tends to take different forms than in rl

Mr.Mouse- always correct05/13/2020
Power does

Yrsillar05/13/2020
Or rather, there is sexism in that you'll be damaged socially for not performing your gender, but what performing your gender means is different than rl
heretical naths05/13/2020
like, the Bai traditionalists valued women in leadership positions. and didnt CRX explain that imperials usually valued men for leadership positions?

Yrsillar05/13/2020
Yes
and the Bai political scene is only getting tetchy about a man in charge because there's been two in a row

Mr.Mouse- always correct05/13/2020
MEN. Disgust

Yrsillar05/13/2020
so if Xiang's successor is also a woman, people will probably start getting a bit pissy

Mr.Mouse- always correct05/13/2020
They have snakes in their trousers

JowKeen, Conspiracy Cactus05/13/2020
weak soft scale-less snakes that don't even have fangs. Basically the shittest snakes

The 8 eyes demon05/13/2020
Tbf the last 2 bai clan heads had to deal with a somewhat tumultuous period :V

Mr.Mouse- always correct05/13/2020
Imperial prob values men in leadership becuase you know...they had the emperor

Yun05/13/2020
That presumes the issue with a third male clan had has to do with actual belief in the tradition, and simply not making an opportunity to gain political advantages, or whatever else the Bai intrigue battles get up to.

heretical naths05/13/2020
clearly a sign that men are less suited to leadership! a strong woman would never have fucked up as much. (perfect Bai logic)

Yrsillar05/13/2020
It's not the only factor, but it is an actual factor
Yrsillar05/13/2020
It is generally accepted that men are more suited to Yang arts, how this plays out in actual practice is more debateable
Yrsillar05/13/2020
> Might be self reinforcing; I'd expect yin/yang affinity to depend a lot on temperament which is influenced by culture
@Black Noise ding ding ding

Black Noise05/13/2020
And if culture has gender norms, you get a bias
 
Thanks and no worries! I guess it makes sense to want to keep it as open as possible, since there must be an infinite number of Ways open to cultivators




Thanks you!



Thank you for taking the time to write this very informative answer! I'm just really curious about the spiritual side of the story, and the nature of Qi would help me figure out the answers to a lot of questions I think.

For exemple, the fact that humans can affect the nature of a great spirit kind of implies that they were born from the collective psyche of "sentient beings" in the first place, instead of being natural phenomena, right?

But those same great spirits have types of Qi tied to them (though I am not sure if that's true for all of them) and now it kinda seems like a "chicken/egg" situation, with one answer implying that whatever the source of Qi is, it's reactive to sentient beings beliefs/aspirations/emotions.

And since Advanced Qi seems to be a combination of relatively simpler types (Like Death, Entropy, and Endings for Cold) how crazy do you think it would be to assume that there might be an "absolute" type combining them all at the very end of the spectrum?

... As I'm sure you can guess, I really like the story's worldbuilding.
By the way, I believe no one has mentioned yet that Dream Qi is a thing as well. FYI :p
 
Is the empire today more of a matriarch ?
How many ducal clans where founded by female cultivators and have female leadership tradition like the bai and *Stone monkey clan* i forgot the name
Is this empress the first empress of the empire?
 
Nah it's a bloodline succession via you kill it you bought it so long as you have royal blood which at this point is virtually anyone that can take the throne
 
Two hour warning.

As to empire succession its a mixed bag gender wise. The imperial throne itself runs off a quasi elective system with the electors being somewhat mutable.
 
Huh... Maybe I am misunderstanding you, but a big part of the issue with current Gu clan is that Xiulan's dad is trying really hard for a son as men have a statistical advantage for yang arts, the same way Bai women tend to be stronger because they have an statistical advantage for Yin art.

It's not set in stone obviously (Xiulan is yang as fuck in many ways), but it's not just due to cultural expectation in this story, there is a real "Women tend to lean toward Yin, men tend to lean toward Yang" in affinities.
What Arkeus said. I also suspect the 'inborn' 'personality-agnostic' yin/yang affinity is tied to psychological gender, not physiological sex, I.E. trans people - like CRX's core disciple ex-nanny who made dress-chan - have the affinity matching what they end up as, not what they are identified as at birth.

Non-binary people would presumably have their inborn affinity neutral between the two, which coincidentally matches Sixiang well - their Yin/Yang tendencies seem pretty balanced.
To add on/sum up what Black Noise said above

This is essentially the same mistake the Empire is making regarding the issue
It is true, on average women lean Yin and men lean Yang, the Empire looks at this information and concludes that Yin/Yang leaning is determined by gender
In doing so they neglect to consider deeper underlying factors, namely the cultural norms regarding gender
Men generally lean Yang on average because they are culturally expected to exhibit Yang temperments and personality traits, similarly women lean Yin on average because they are culturally expected to exhibit Yin temperments and personality traits
Xiulan would not be any more suited to Yang arts if you were to keep everything else about her personality static but just swap out her chromosomes, nor would Yanmei

Though there is a real effect that Yin/Yang has on gender, which probably further leads to the Empire's misconceptions regarding it
It's at least partially responsible for disparate gender ratios among families that lean heavily in either direction in their cultivation, families with more Yin will birth more daughters while families with more Yang will birth more sons
The Bai (whether it's all Bai or just the White Serpent caste is a bit unclear) have a 70/30 gender ratio in favor of women, due to all the Yin they cultivate
The Zheng have a less drastic 55/45 gender ratio in favor of men
The Gu's exact ratio is unknown, but papa Gu is really defying the odds by managing to have a bunch of daughters and no sons
 
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Adventures of Gu Jun
Adventures of Gu Jun

A small flame danced in the palm of Gu Jun's hand. Sweat beaded down his neck as he stared at it, grimacing at the effort. Just a little more. A little more. The flame froze for a second and then popped like a bubble, sparks dancing away as Jun lost control. He groaned and leaned his head against a support pillar of the porch. Around him, mist curled like shifting silk sheets. His feet dangled off the edge of the porch and didn't quite reach the vibrant, blooming flowers that made up the majority of the garden that stretched off into the distance. It was a lovely garden, Jun thought absently, colors burst forth as the mist drifted past different sections, hiding some yet revealing others.

For all the beauty before him though, Jun wanted to be anywhere else. This side trip that his sister had surprised him with was to be three days long. Three days of limited training. Three days of lost progress. How much further would he get if he had three more days of training? Reaching Late Red Soul and Late Gold Body was good. Very good, but it left him more to do. More pills could be safely taken. Better training grounds had been unbarred. Arts revealed their secrets. He loved it. The rush of figuring out a qi pattern. Of seeing new things. Of being better than he was with each day. His blood boiled at the idea of the challenges that the sect would offer him. Both Yanmei and Xiulan had proven themselves in those mountains. What would those mountains offer him? He couldn't wait to find out.

But instead of spending time at the new training grounds that had opened with his progress or arriving at the Sect a little early, he was here. Jun sighed and tapped his head against the carved pillar behind him. He didn't have anything against Lady Ling and he knew he was being a little petulant, but he had been really looking forward to seeing the new training grounds before leaving for the sect. Xiulan said they weren't anything special, but she was cyan, of course they weren't special to her. Leaning forward he stretched his leg down and brushed against the petals of the flowers below him. There, a little bit of childish revenge.

"So cruel," said a voice next to Jun, causing him to twist sideways in surprise, "what did those flowers ever do to you?"

At some point Lady Ling had crouched beside him, balanced on the balls of her feet. Her hair glimmered with shards of starlight and her glacier eyes held no expression, even though her lips held a faint smile to them. Jun's heart pounded. He had made a terrible mistake. Quickly he stood up and offered a deep bow, "I can only offer my sincerest apologies for my disrespectful behavior," he said.

Lady Ling laughed, a light chiming sound, and waved off his apology. "It would take far more than that to damage the garden," she said as she stood up, "I just wanted to say hello to Xiulan's brother. We might have greeted each other when you arrived but that was horribly formal."

Jun nodded along with the words and straightened from his bow, but otherwise didn't move. Lady Ling sighed and stood up before motioning to Jun to follow her and starting to walk around the porch. It was an odd kind of peace, Jun thought, as he followed his host. Mist both seemed drawn to Lady Ling and expelled from her, flowing away in all directions. Music hovered just at the edge of his hearing, it seemed familiar but remembering what it was familiar to hovered just out of thought.

"I know you are somewhat frustrated at having to come to my home," Lady Ling said, breaking the peace that had fallen over the two as they walked, "You seem to be the driven sort and having to take a break to visit someone you don't know grates on you. Time you could spend training now being time spent making nice."

Jun bowed his head at that. There wasn't much point in lying to Lady Ling. She was a Cyan and he a Red.

"So I have decided to open up a training ground that should be a good match for you."

Jun blinked in surprise and looked up at Lady Ling. A training ground that was a good match for him? There was a chill to the air that promised a deadly cold. Ice crystals decorated vast portions of the Lady's house. Even the food Lady Ling ate seemed to be chilled far below what could be considered normal. From the conversation he had with Xuilan before arriving here he knew that Lady Ling was an ascended Baron. An older house might have had the resources and time to build training grounds for different members of the clan, but why would Lady Ling have a training ground suited to him? A training ground with fire?

Jun stayed silent even though he knew Lady Ling could feel his slight doubt. Eventually they took a path through the garden. The path twisted and turned through the garden, but seemed to be heading towards the large hill that dominated the center of the estate. The fruit trees got thicker and taller, while the colors of the flowers dazzled Jun's mind as they got closer and closer to the hill. Soon, he felt it. Fire qi. First it was just a light addition to the other qi that filled the garden. But it quickly grew in potency. Jun was amazed that there weren't fires just bursting into existence around him the fire qi was so thick. The wood qi that had grown just as quickly might be protecting the garden, but still, why would Lady Ling have such a potent fire site at the center of her home?

Even as Jun marveled at the fire qi that filled this part of the garden the path split in two. The two of them descended downwards into an underground path beneath the hill. Then great stone pillars carved with glowing formations blocked their path. Lady Ling rested her hand against the pillars and then motioned for Jun to step past. As he stepped past the pillars, Jun spun up the oldest defensive art the Gu had. A simple art designed for reds just learning to control fire. It granted increased resistance against flames and heat preventing a slip of control from turning dangerous. And Jun needed that resistance. Heat billowed around him, causing the air to shimmer. Each breath felt like it drew in more fire qi than it did air. At the edges of the cave great pillars of rock stood like wax candles, slowly melting from the heat in the very air. Jun could even see the rock inching down the pillars as the very heat in the air kept the rock from being fully solid. The floor of the vast cave was slanted downwards and at the center a pool of magma bubbled. Strands of rock flowed away from the pillars and fed the pool at the center creating what looked like the spokes of some great wheel.

"What is this?" Jun wondered out loud as he took in the impressive training ground.

"Juju, you're smarter than that," said Xiulan as she stood up from a small bench unable to be seen from the entrance, "It's a training ground."

Jun nodded as he turned towards his sister and Lady Ling who had entered behind him. "Thank you very much. I will strive to make the most of the opportunity you have given me."

Xiulan nodded, "It is an opportunity, but this training ground is beyond you so I will help you while you are down here."

Jun's mouth dropped open before he could control himself. Private training with his sister! Was this a dream?! He collected himself even as he felt his face redden from the knowing smile Lady Ling had. "I will not waste your time sister." Then he felt a brush of fear. Xiulan had wanted to visit Lady Ling. Had his attitude ate into that time? "Of course, I would not wish to impede on what time you two have."

Lady Ling laughed. "There is a hot spring right above this training ground," she explained, "Xiulan and I are enjoying that as well."

Jun dropped his head. Of course, Xiulan wouldn't devote all of her energy to him. She was a cyan she could do more than one thing at once. Still this was an opportunity he didn't think he would have when this side tripped had been announced. He had to make the most of it!

"Well," said Lady Ling, "I am sure you will want to practice some private clan matters here, so I will take my leave. Please enjoy yourself." With that she vanished into a gust of wind.

Jun shook his head a little even as he walked up to his sister. What followed was a grueling series of exercises stretching him to the limits of his control. Down here fire responded well, too well. Every lash he created twisted about like a living thing once it got far enough away from him and he had to fight to control it. Soon, even with all of the fire qi he could want, his reserves dipped low enough that Xiulan called a stop to the training.

"Do you know why Lady Ling would have such a potent fire training ground, Sister? She doesn't seem to use any fire qi herself." Jun asked as they climbed back into the garden.

Xiulan turned her head and smiled. "Her spirit beast enjoys the heat," she said.

"Her spirit beast?" Jun asked. "I didn't see any spirit beast when we were training. What's it like?"

Xiulan twisted, her gown fluttering through the mist, and pointed towards the hill. "It is quite the impressive spirit beast. If you look closely where I am pointing you might be able to see it."

Jun stared at the hill intently. What kind of spirit beast would enjoy fire but also be the companion of Lady Ling? Some strange fire and ice creature? Yet, the more he looked at where his sister was pointing the more he began to notice the strangeness of the hill. The rocks and boulders that littered the hill were strangely uniform in size and distance. Lines that seemed to be cut into the hill were connected and divided creating an illusion of scales. Hills shouldn't look like they had scales. Hills shouldn't have boulders evenly placed around them. Jun turned towards his sister, his mouth falling open. "Is that hill the spirit beast?" He asked.

Xiulan nodded crisply. "Yes," she said, "A Xuan Wu egg was discovered by Ling when she was at the Sect and she has raised him ever since. He is quite powerful, but spends most of his time in slumber." Xiulan sighed and flicked her hair to the side. "I was hoping to get a chance to spar with him, not this visit it seems."

Jun's eyes flicked back to the hill. How destructive would a duel between those two be? He shook his head. Such a thing wouldn't happen during this trip. Perhaps he could ask Sister about it later.

Jun and Xiulan walked for a while more. Sometimes in silence, sometimes commenting on a piece of the garden they were looking at. Soon enough Xiulan bid him farewell and reminded him to get some sleep. Just because one could stay up all night and train didn't mean one should apparently. Then Jun was alone. As he walked back towards his sleeping quarters his mind drifted. Stars twinkled above. Jun reached his hand upwards and gripped them tightly. How long had it been since the Lu had ruled the golden fields? How long had it been since the blood of the phoenix was respected? He dropped his hand to his side and looked around. He might never see the Gu reach the glory they deserved. After all, he was just a pebble in the mountain the clan was slowly building. Looking around at all that Lady Ling had built for herself though had shown him that a great deal could happen in the life of a single cultivator. As long as they were strong. Would he find similar strength at the Argent Sect? He hoped so.

There was still time to train tonight. He better get to it.
----
A.N
@yrsillar Omake for the Omake throne
I wanted to do a piece exploring what the Ling Manor might look like ever since we voted to work on the garden with Zhengui. This is what came out. Please critique as it helps me become a better writer.
 
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How many ducal clans where founded by female cultivators and have female leadership tradition like the bai and *Stone monkey clan* i forgot the name

Bai were founded by Yao the Fisher who decided to marry a the most murderous thing he could reasonably find who was Grandma Snake.
Zheng were founded by Zhu the Conqueror who was a female disciple of the Stone Ape that beat him in a fight and requested marriage.
Weilu were founded by the Diviner and the Horned Lord, but they did so my marrying their offspring together
The old Golden Fields Ducal Clan named Lu was apparently Matriarchal and the current one the Guo have an Ancestor called Grandfather Fortress
We don't have much info on the Xuan or the Jin/Jing though.
 
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