See for example the sect promotional for the alchemy sect (under informational). She is supporting things like better healthcare.
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
- Europe
I think some people are misreading what's going on here.
The Sunflower Goddess seems pretty unenthused with adopting Liling but way into the old grandpa.
It seems he's essentially prostituted himself to the spirit of the jungle in return for it adopting his family as it's own.
The Sunflower Goddess seems pretty unenthused with adopting Liling but way into the old grandpa.
It seems he's essentially prostituted himself to the spirit of the jungle in return for it adopting his family as it's own.
- Location
- New Brunswick, NJ
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
Jensaarai is talking about the greater works of Emperor An.
The only one I can think of is the Ministry of Integrity. I don't think we know much else about An's agenda.
I think Ji Rong is probably enough support to stabilize Sun Liling if she's "only" being spiritbloodified here. The two seem pretty alright with each other, and if they are both coming back for the intersect tournament, I can't see much else changing with her for now. I wonder how this is going to change her, exactly. Cultivating blood stuff probably gets a bonus, but how would a jungle spiritblood look? Dharitri 2.0?
Exhibit A on why cultivators cremate the bodies of their dead comrades cause you can do nasty thngs with them. Also why doing everything for family can make one a nasty individual.
The Great Sects. The get every talented child like LQ and JR into sects. Centralize the Empire and break the old clans.
- Location
- The Space Between
"Family is everything," Sun Shao said as he approached the map. "It is unfortunate that my nieces and nephews, and their children in turn, scorn this. The Sun clan is troubled, Liling."
"If only the might of ancestors is to be respected, then our choices are few," Grandfather said softly. His voice was sad, defeated
It was a bared blade, stained with dragon's blood.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
There is a problem in the Sun clan. Not all of Sun Shao's nieces and nephews are following the motto "family is everything.". This was his Way that borderline forced him to carve his way into the jungle. This is why Bai Fuxi was willing to furnish Shao's expedition, but warned against going further than the river.
Sun Shao clearly felt his family would never be safe so long as the Barb menace was not exterminated, and in his arrogance or due to his Way, he pushed on beyond the River. Worse than dying though, he met the Sunflower Goddess, the bared blade stained with dragon's blood. The Blood of the Sage Emperor. She understands that the Bai might do the xianxia "exterminate whole line" because (apparently) a clan that follows "Family is Everything" might do some extremely stupid and dangerous things like go past the river.
Sun Shao also understands this, and decides to make a deal. He will be the goddess's in death, his death will fuel her garden. In exchange, he wanted power enough to punish the Bai that had not done this work for 12000 years and gotten Sage Emp and countless others (including Sun Shao's Wife) killed for their lack of proper exterminating reprisal. He would chop the head off the snake and perhaps with all the other provinces also hating the Bai they would crush them and allow the Sun to live as the new Ducal line of Thousand Lakes. Family is Everything after all, and it would be much preferable for the Empire to have a blood relative Ducal line with such a motto at their side than the treacherous Bai.
Again, through Way or through Arrogance, he is wrong. Lilling's loss in the tournament might have sped up the timetable, but I would expect this to have occurred before she was in Cyan because this seems like the exact sort of trauma that will mess up your Way if you're too far along.
In any case, he is wrong because the Bai are the family of the Empire. One of the 4 original ducal houses, and only one of two that have survived. They and the Zheng are old enough to have wisdom about "This World is a Death World. And humanity is often fighting anti-reality non-human threats. Grudges can wait and be patient and settled in ways that are not suicidal." Zheng are strong and rambunctious and adventurous and chaotic, but they are not so wild as to not show up for Humanity when the time comes.
He is wrong because the Bai are full of loyalists. Even if the head is cut two more shall rise in their place. A hydra of infinite heads and ancient wisdoms, the loss of the Bai would be a severe blow to a myriad of studies and Ways, and as stated a loss of one of the 2 remaining founding lines.
He is wrong because Grandmother Serpent's retaliation could be more disastrous than the Purifying Sun's self sacrifice. The Purifying Sun was attempting to do good. Grandmother Serpent may just annihilate as much as she can and presume that some of her brood will survive it. Apparently the effects of the Sun's explosion were so far reaching that even places in Heavenly Peaks were doused with a sort of radiation sickness (as learned about in the Medicine Saint interlude).
Having been hoping for a better outcome politically, he once again falls short and comes to bargain with the Sunflower.
"If only the might of ancestors is to be respected, then our choices are few," Grandfather said softly. His voice was sad, defeated
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Liling, give respect to your Great Grandmother."
Sun Liling's mouth went dry at the implication. They used barbarian arts, tamed barbarian spirit's but…
The figure was before her, and Liling felt her heart thundering as the spirit's disapproval fell upon her. Grandfather's hand tightened on her shoulder. Whispers of song battered against Grandfathers power.
"You accepted my proposal," Sun Shao, King of the Western Territories ground out, and the earth trembled. "I am yours, but my granddaughter is your granddaughter. The bargain was struck."
The figure before her shifted and Sun Liling shivered as she felt the touch of a bloody scarf, a talon and a sharp blade all in one.
"Sun Liling," Grandfather said. "Give respect to your Great Grandmother."
She could only obey. She brought her fists together, and bowed her head to the Goddess of the Red Garden. In her head, Dharitri laughed.
"At last, I did not trust myself not to ruin the surprise! Oh how wonderful it is, to be sisters in truth!"
"Your adoption will be painful, as all births are. You will be strong enough to survive it," Grandfather said softly as something wrapped around her, a vine or a scarf or a jungle serpent she knew not. "Everything for family."
Sun Liling could only scream as thorns erupted from her skin, verdant diefic qi overrunning her channels.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Sun Lilling has been forcibly converted into a Spirit Blood. We know she was stripped of the Heiress status. It seems likely to me that she will be the Spirit Blooded Founding Matriarch of the New Ducal Line. A Branch of the Sun that will eventually supercede the non-spiritblooded. Given that the Sunflower and Sun Shao both have a strong element of Death Qi, and converting Death into new Power . . . this is very bad for the original Sun clan.
I would expect that her Great Aunt's death is going to allow for a bevy of materials and cultivation for Sun Liling's newly established clan . . . .
War between Bai and Sun was always inevitable. But with this, Sun Shao ensures that his beloved Granddaughter, the one that stuck to the motto "Family is Everything", the one that was talented and martially unparalleled even amongst titanic ducal talents . . . .
was still defeated by a Bai, because the Bai's blood allowed for Meizhen to develop and inject a toxin through a bite.
Because the politics were too old, too entrenched, and too difficult to navigate when one is attempting to grind the martial excellence necessary to beat a Ducal Spirit Blood.
Because for all that everyone complains and "hates" the Bai, to all of them the Bai are family. There is kinship there deeper and older than Sun Shao can gain for his line.
And so it will no longer be his line, alone. It will be the line of the Sunflower Goddess as well. Because there will never be a return to occupy the Bai provinces. There will never be a moment he can replace the Bai as the duchy of Thousand Lakes. His people will need to live in the jungle, but living in the jungle is Dying in the jungle.
and the Jungle is the Goddess's. And if there is to be a fate beyond his own, the sacrifice of all that he is for the Jungle to devour, there will need to be a new accord. A new deal struck.
His Granddaughter will be the rebirth of the Blood Priestess' rule of the Jungle. May their proclamations and rule always remember,
"Everything For Family"
You remember that line earlier? That his nephews and nieces have forgotten? And how the dead are fuel for the power of the Jungle, of Sun Shao, and now of both halves of Lilling's lineage?
There will almost certainly be an internal reckoning. There will almost certainly be members of the family that have strayed from the motto for so long that they would rather die than break their way in such a manner.
And we all know what the dead are, to sunflowers.
Everything For Family
"If only the might of ancestors is to be respected, then our choices are few," Grandfather said softly. His voice was sad, defeated
It was a bared blade, stained with dragon's blood.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
There is a problem in the Sun clan. Not all of Sun Shao's nieces and nephews are following the motto "family is everything.". This was his Way that borderline forced him to carve his way into the jungle. This is why Bai Fuxi was willing to furnish Shao's expedition, but warned against going further than the river.
Sun Shao clearly felt his family would never be safe so long as the Barb menace was not exterminated, and in his arrogance or due to his Way, he pushed on beyond the River. Worse than dying though, he met the Sunflower Goddess, the bared blade stained with dragon's blood. The Blood of the Sage Emperor. She understands that the Bai might do the xianxia "exterminate whole line" because (apparently) a clan that follows "Family is Everything" might do some extremely stupid and dangerous things like go past the river.
Sun Shao also understands this, and decides to make a deal. He will be the goddess's in death, his death will fuel her garden. In exchange, he wanted power enough to punish the Bai that had not done this work for 12000 years and gotten Sage Emp and countless others (including Sun Shao's Wife) killed for their lack of proper exterminating reprisal. He would chop the head off the snake and perhaps with all the other provinces also hating the Bai they would crush them and allow the Sun to live as the new Ducal line of Thousand Lakes. Family is Everything after all, and it would be much preferable for the Empire to have a blood relative Ducal line with such a motto at their side than the treacherous Bai.
Again, through Way or through Arrogance, he is wrong. Lilling's loss in the tournament might have sped up the timetable, but I would expect this to have occurred before she was in Cyan because this seems like the exact sort of trauma that will mess up your Way if you're too far along.
In any case, he is wrong because the Bai are the family of the Empire. One of the 4 original ducal houses, and only one of two that have survived. They and the Zheng are old enough to have wisdom about "This World is a Death World. And humanity is often fighting anti-reality non-human threats. Grudges can wait and be patient and settled in ways that are not suicidal." Zheng are strong and rambunctious and adventurous and chaotic, but they are not so wild as to not show up for Humanity when the time comes.
He is wrong because the Bai are full of loyalists. Even if the head is cut two more shall rise in their place. A hydra of infinite heads and ancient wisdoms, the loss of the Bai would be a severe blow to a myriad of studies and Ways, and as stated a loss of one of the 2 remaining founding lines.
He is wrong because Grandmother Serpent's retaliation could be more disastrous than the Purifying Sun's self sacrifice. The Purifying Sun was attempting to do good. Grandmother Serpent may just annihilate as much as she can and presume that some of her brood will survive it. Apparently the effects of the Sun's explosion were so far reaching that even places in Heavenly Peaks were doused with a sort of radiation sickness (as learned about in the Medicine Saint interlude).
Having been hoping for a better outcome politically, he once again falls short and comes to bargain with the Sunflower.
"If only the might of ancestors is to be respected, then our choices are few," Grandfather said softly. His voice was sad, defeated
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Liling, give respect to your Great Grandmother."
Sun Liling's mouth went dry at the implication. They used barbarian arts, tamed barbarian spirit's but…
The figure was before her, and Liling felt her heart thundering as the spirit's disapproval fell upon her. Grandfather's hand tightened on her shoulder. Whispers of song battered against Grandfathers power.
"You accepted my proposal," Sun Shao, King of the Western Territories ground out, and the earth trembled. "I am yours, but my granddaughter is your granddaughter. The bargain was struck."
The figure before her shifted and Sun Liling shivered as she felt the touch of a bloody scarf, a talon and a sharp blade all in one.
"Sun Liling," Grandfather said. "Give respect to your Great Grandmother."
She could only obey. She brought her fists together, and bowed her head to the Goddess of the Red Garden. In her head, Dharitri laughed.
"At last, I did not trust myself not to ruin the surprise! Oh how wonderful it is, to be sisters in truth!"
"Your adoption will be painful, as all births are. You will be strong enough to survive it," Grandfather said softly as something wrapped around her, a vine or a scarf or a jungle serpent she knew not. "Everything for family."
Sun Liling could only scream as thorns erupted from her skin, verdant diefic qi overrunning her channels.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Sun Lilling has been forcibly converted into a Spirit Blood. We know she was stripped of the Heiress status. It seems likely to me that she will be the Spirit Blooded Founding Matriarch of the New Ducal Line. A Branch of the Sun that will eventually supercede the non-spiritblooded. Given that the Sunflower and Sun Shao both have a strong element of Death Qi, and converting Death into new Power . . . this is very bad for the original Sun clan.
I would expect that her Great Aunt's death is going to allow for a bevy of materials and cultivation for Sun Liling's newly established clan . . . .
War between Bai and Sun was always inevitable. But with this, Sun Shao ensures that his beloved Granddaughter, the one that stuck to the motto "Family is Everything", the one that was talented and martially unparalleled even amongst titanic ducal talents . . . .
was still defeated by a Bai, because the Bai's blood allowed for Meizhen to develop and inject a toxin through a bite.
Because the politics were too old, too entrenched, and too difficult to navigate when one is attempting to grind the martial excellence necessary to beat a Ducal Spirit Blood.
Because for all that everyone complains and "hates" the Bai, to all of them the Bai are family. There is kinship there deeper and older than Sun Shao can gain for his line.
And so it will no longer be his line, alone. It will be the line of the Sunflower Goddess as well. Because there will never be a return to occupy the Bai provinces. There will never be a moment he can replace the Bai as the duchy of Thousand Lakes. His people will need to live in the jungle, but living in the jungle is Dying in the jungle.
and the Jungle is the Goddess's. And if there is to be a fate beyond his own, the sacrifice of all that he is for the Jungle to devour, there will need to be a new accord. A new deal struck.
His Granddaughter will be the rebirth of the Blood Priestess' rule of the Jungle. May their proclamations and rule always remember,
"Everything For Family"
You remember that line earlier? That his nephews and nieces have forgotten? And how the dead are fuel for the power of the Jungle, of Sun Shao, and now of both halves of Lilling's lineage?
There will almost certainly be an internal reckoning. There will almost certainly be members of the family that have strayed from the motto for so long that they would rather die than break their way in such a manner.
And we all know what the dead are, to sunflowers.
Everything For Family
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- Location
- Third planet from the star named Sol
- Pronouns
- He/They
The Great Sects themselves are so prominent now because of An's support, and the Ministries in general are stronger as well.
- Location
- UK
So, moving on from the horror that is the Sunflower Goddess and Being Liling at the moment, taking into account the general features of the Bai ruling clan did anyone else find the description of this spear really fucking ominous?
News from the Discord:
[4:09 PM]
holy shit
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- Location
- Canada
I give full credit to @Xepheria for noticing this but
Holy fucking shit
More than that, Shao's body is composed of his victims
Sun Shao took the corpses of Fuxi and the Bai he killed and made them into a weapon
Holy fucking shit
More than that, Shao's body is composed of his victims
I doubt that Sun Shao is doing this because he wants to increase Lilings power. The political situation has shifted so much that he thinks his family will not survive him without an Ancestor level spirits backing. Given that his way of cultivation seems to put great importance on family, he won't abandon his old family to sire a new one with the Sunflower Goddess, so he has to resort to letting them get "adopted" by her. Given that the Sunflower Goddess seems to have aspects of fertility and love, it seems likely that she would stand by a Sun family that carries her blood in the future.
This also has to be a new development, if he already had such a deal with the Sunflower goddess from the moment he invaded the Red Garden, he would already have offered Lilings parents or grandparents to be adopted by her, and Liling would be spirit blooded already. Presumably he thought that he could wipe out the Bai in his lifetime, because once they are gone his family doesn't need Ancestor backing to survive.
- Location
- New Brunswick, NJ
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
No, that's not it.
The Great Sect system was put into place under Emperor Si, not under Emperor An.
- Location
- United States of America
I do wonder if Liling's adoption will give her some measure of authority over the Jungle itself. Is this the long term plan of Grandpa Sun? If you can't beat the jungle, join it in a position of authority so you can still have some measure of control over the land.
If she does, she is going to be nearly unstoppable should she get to the higher realms. Fighting in the jungles would be like fighting the Bai in the lakes and swamps, or the Weilu in the forest. It is just going to be a really bad time for everyone else involved.
If she does, she is going to be nearly unstoppable should she get to the higher realms. Fighting in the jungles would be like fighting the Bai in the lakes and swamps, or the Weilu in the forest. It is just going to be a really bad time for everyone else involved.
Check that timeline. Notice that the MoI was also established then? Si was a weak emperor. Unless you are saying that the MoI was Si´s idea.
- Location
- New Brunswick, NJ
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
Please fix your formatting and also consolidate this into a single post.
EternalObserver
eYe Gaze baCk
- Location
- The Void
Holy shit, he made a weapon out of Bai corpses. His domain is basically everything he killed.
The Butcher King indeed
The Butcher King indeed
- Location
- United States of America
And I thought our domain was creepy. He... takes it to another whole level.
Man, every white level cultivator must be their own special brand of horror. But this... this so far is taking the cake.
Man, every white level cultivator must be their own special brand of horror. But this... this so far is taking the cake.
I feel like this isn't the first time we've seen a domain like this actually. The bai aunt had one similar I bet. Her domain was filled with the skulls of dead animals and people. I bet that those aren't just phantoms or something, but the actual skulls she yanked out of her dead enemies. It would feel pretty Bai to use defeated enemies like this. But yeah this is pretty horrible.
Personally i feel that what Sun Shao is doing here is actually incredibly smart, and probably the best way possible to deal with a hostile White spirit entrenched on the borders of the Empire.
If you can't beat them without unsustainable amounts of collateral damage, have them join your family. That will of course result in some level of mixing of cultures and arts, but that doesn't necessarily have to be a bad thing and it strengthens the Empire as long as it survives the culture clash.
If you can't beat them without unsustainable amounts of collateral damage, have them join your family. That will of course result in some level of mixing of cultures and arts, but that doesn't necessarily have to be a bad thing and it strengthens the Empire as long as it survives the culture clash.
Ugh, I don't understand the discord quotes at all.
Fascinating update.
Anyway, if I understood correctly.
Sun Shao and his army apparently conquered the Red Jungle, broke the Barbarian Tribes and occupied the territory.
Later on, Bai launched a punishment detail, Sun made a pact with the Sunflower Goddess, and ambushed the Bai.
From then to start of the quest, due to Emperor's support, the situation was not rosy but manageable, despite losing some kin.
Finally, Shao loses a lot of imperial support due to Empress' apathy and Cai-Bai pact, which forces him to make another, more punishing, deal with Sunflower Goddess, in order to make her a Sun Sublime Ancestor.
Fascinating update.
Anyway, if I understood correctly.
Sun Shao and his army apparently conquered the Red Jungle, broke the Barbarian Tribes and occupied the territory.
Later on, Bai launched a punishment detail, Sun made a pact with the Sunflower Goddess, and ambushed the Bai.
From then to start of the quest, due to Emperor's support, the situation was not rosy but manageable, despite losing some kin.
Finally, Shao loses a lot of imperial support due to Empress' apathy and Cai-Bai pact, which forces him to make another, more punishing, deal with Sunflower Goddess, in order to make her a Sun Sublime Ancestor.
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Seeing how fucked up the Cai, Bai and Sun are is making me kind worried about the Guo, Zheng and Xuan.
He's talking about breaking the power of the Old Clans. Or at least their stranglehold on the upper ranks of cultivation.
The Ministry of Integrity and the sponsorship of the great sects where both intended to help create a check against the current political situation, where one Ducal clan (minus Cai and Golden Fields who don't have divine ancestors) can just go "Yes I murdered that dude/city/your favourite wife. What you gonna do about it? Huh?"
By all indications, the Emperor believed in justice, rooting out corruption and misdeeds. The current paradigm can make high nobles essentially immune to justice if their clan doesn't want to cooperate, and since they control the best cultivation resources (see the rarity of prism/white stones) no one was going to get up to the height to challenge them without joining someone. He also believed that his hands/house's stewardship were best to correct this too (he was Emperor after all).
If you look at Shao as part of that, he's a White who challenged the Bai and won. He also (going by this update), wasn't enthused about passing the "blessing" of the sunflower goddess on to continue this eternal status quo powered by MAD. He's a great fit for An.
Presumably with the Bai the plan was to keep kicking them just enough to try and enact change, whilst also building up the Emperor's own powerbase (sects/ministy) to keep them from wanting to escalate. Also, getting to crack corruption is something a lot of people (including An) really, really approve of.
The plan collapsed after An ascended. Jiao realised he'd based his way far too much on An's desires over his own, and the Minstry's possible White vanished. Meanwhile the Empress stopped funding the sects heavily enough to make them imperial power centres and other nobles stepped in. Finally there is every indication that the Emperess simply isn't as skilled a political operator as her father and is becoming less interested in his plans.
So since his "allies" are too worried about Grandmother Serpent to keep kicking in Bai teeth and seem set to leave house Sun to the horrific revenge of the Bai he picks what he sees as the best of a very bad bunch of options to guarantee his house's survival. Making his own MAD device (Sunflower Goddess) multi-generational.
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deadcrystal
Slaaneshi Cultist
- Location
- The Warp
Remember that Sun Shao was Prism when he went on his punitive expedition, and made it to White *somehow* during the invasion. Guess we know how now.
Also the Sunflower Goddess has lost fucking *nothing*. She controlled a sizeable region when the barbarians were there, and now all that has happened is that the barbarians have been replaced with different people, except she now owns a White level cultivator and is able to extend tendrils into the Empire which was previously inaccessible to her. No doubt her plan is to subsume the entire empire until everyone is her. All will be one.
Also the Sunflower Goddess has lost fucking *nothing*. She controlled a sizeable region when the barbarians were there, and now all that has happened is that the barbarians have been replaced with different people, except she now owns a White level cultivator and is able to extend tendrils into the Empire which was previously inaccessible to her. No doubt her plan is to subsume the entire empire until everyone is her. All will be one.