Its also worth noting that a Green Baron like Ling Qi can support the cultivation of her mother as a rounding error since she no longer really uses red stones. (Quite literally)
It wouldn't be that hard for Ling Qi to support the cultivation of multiples of her servants. But most won't have the Talent to get anywhere.
The existence of servant clans suggest that it isn't that hard to get a significant portion of a family to Red if someone is footing the bill.
Once we get to Cyan we might well want some Red servants anyway so we don't accidentally hurt them (its that or actually develop relationships with them)
Not dead, I think. But she may have ended up lost in the mist, trapped and alone. That's more in line with FVM and Ling Qi's domain of loneliness.
If LQ had made FSS her domain I could see her accidentally killing, but LQ's current domain isn't really structured for that. Furthermore, LQ's increasingly been taking insights that broaden the people her domain applies positively to, and the domain has taken on more protective aspects, so I think it's becoming increasingly unlikely that LQ could accidentally hurt someone. Not every cultivator is Shenhua.
FVM does end with the traveler dead, keep in mind.
But I'd agree with you it's not exactly fast, so I think Ling Qi would require a much higher difference in Realm before killing someone she's paying attention to.
(Killing someone she's not paying attention to, now... well, hopefully the protective traits blunt things further. And HDW might just give her a way to notice whenever someone gets lost in her mists.)
If LQ had made FSS her domain I could see her accidentally killing, but LQ's current domain isn't really structured for that. Furthermore, LQ's increasingly been taking insights that broaden the people her domain applies positively to, and the domain has taken on more protective aspects, so I think it's becoming increasingly unlikely that LQ could accidentally hurt someone. Not every cultivator is Shenhua.
Well, has Shenua's domain accidentally killed anyone? I can't remember.
The idea that our domain can be made pleasant to outsiders all the time contradicts RR bonus interlude about a scribe in an elders' meeting. I doubt all elders had agressive domains that can't distinguish enemies, but the scribe was being "crushed" by everyone present. By Jiao, Zhou, Ying - everyone. Or even Xiulan's mother - her domain was a lake in the desert, and it still gave LQ a horrible experience. Having a "docile" domain concept doesn't help one bit.
Cultivators are their domains, so when a cultivator startles or is angry or upset, domain lashes out against everyone present. And because it's lashing out it projects its most unpleasant qualities. For Ling Qi that's the feeling of cold, lonely, drawn-out death without hope; they don't get the Hearth.
Our domain already has a hostile effect: it can drain qi. Right now the qi drain isn't that big and it takes effort on our part to do but I wouldn't be surprised if a Cyan LQ could knock out a mortal stranger unintentionally. I'm not sure how strong that has to be before it causes lingering damage but presumably there's a point where that happens.
Close friends and family will be far more resilient because our domain also gives large spiritual defense bonuses to them and losing control means they get those too. However strangers don't get those effects.
That said our domain is unlikely to ever get to the point where it constantly does so. Shenhua does not hide her own glory away but Ling Qi has been practicing restraint already. Imagery wise it would be something like "the rest of the world fades away into the freezing mist, with ominous shapes lurking in the corner of your vision".
Its also worth noting that a Green Baron like Ling Qi can support the cultivation of her mother as a rounding error since she no longer really uses red stones. (Quite literally)
It wouldn't be that hard for Ling Qi to support the cultivation of multiples of her servants. But most won't have the Talent to get anywhere.
One Red at maximum stones, sure. Once you get to the tens it'd actually start becoming visible, and hundreds(a village could be dealing with a population of thousands) would actually start eating into her Green Stone budget even at minimum stones.
And an important element here - Ling Qi is getting her current stones at sponsored rates. She doesn't provide work or resource gains anywhere close to the amount of production value she's eating up. If the books are to balance I believe she'd need every subordinate under her to generate more resources than they consume at the least.
The lives she saved at the fight we just had undoubtedly add up, especially since at lower talent they cost more to reach their level than Ling Qi did.
In retrospect, are sect cultivation sites artificial? Made by elder cultivators? Does cultivating there drain it somehow and it cost a shitton to regenerate?
Alsp that they are bordering "The Wilds" thus have comparatively less exausted natural resources, which I assume they ensure doesnt run out possibly through that Spirits something position in the Sect (like Zequing and those fruits).
The lives she saved at the fight we just had undoubtedly add up, especially since at lower talent they cost more to reach their level than Ling Qi did.
Right, but generally speaking, Ling Qi would not expect a hundred Reds to produce as much wealth as she huffs over a month, unless they were exploiting a particularly rich natural resource.
This, I think, is what gates the Stable Barons at Cyan, other than the more metaphysical concerns, simple cashflow - any Baron who made it to Cyan has found some way for their fief to support the cultivation of a peak Green and entourage for decades, in addition to paying taxes and maintaining the legal requirements of armed forces and other facilities. Unless they were looking at a Heavenly Peaks sized motherlode of spirit stones, they couldn't even be doing an extractive economy, it has to be sustainable for decades.
A Cyan Baron is an endorsement of economic competency, high level connections or ridiculous luck
This, I think, is what gates the Stable Barons at Cyan, other than the more metaphysical concerns, simple cashflow - any Baron who made it to Cyan has found some way for their fief to support the cultivation of a peak Green and entourage for decades, in addition to paying taxes and maintaining the legal requirements of armed forces and other facilities.
Here's a fun bit: during wartime, any given Green is in a much more capable of covering their own costs, because there are so many more ways for them to acquire resources - being a critical piece in a battle means you've just saved a massive amount of value means you're rewarded proportionately by any lord who wants their people to keep fighting for him. More value isn't actually being created in wartime - it's probably being destroyed, net - but it greatly increases the social mobility of people who couldn't otherwise reach Cyan.
And that means there's probably a large faction in the empire that always wants more war.
Almost every nation has its warhawks, so that is undoubtedly true. But I doubt its the Green Barons who want war. They are just barely above mook-tier and will die like flies in any serious conflict.
This may be a bit rude to do, but I'm getting fewer votes on my new quest than I would like, and I would appreciate it if some of the readers here would give me a chance, or at least help me get a more balanced chargen vote. Hopefully, those who like Forge/Threads of Destiny will like my quest...
That hasn't been what was stated, it's simply that commoners with "only" Talent 3-4 are not picked up by the Sects on scholarship due to not having a good enough return on investment.
The Imperial Average still remains talent 4-5 per Yrs' prior statements it's just that the only people in the Sect at that level of Talent are people able to at least partially fund their own Tuition.
You are not, but keep in mind that everyone else suffers from lower talent, average is 4-5, below average is three. Most folks don;t get nearly as much success as Ling Qi even with a greater number of dice.
Going through your holdings to poke around for talents then giving them some starting resources and education isn't exactly a huge innovation, I should point out. That's just kinda how you build up your lower ranks. Like the reason that the highest talent starting characters were commoners isn't because there's bunches of talent 6/7 random street kids around, it's because only the ones that talented ping the MoI divination arts for sect recruitment.
commoners who are talent 3-4 just don't get nabbed by the sects, 5's are borderline, so you won't exactly be stealing from the Sect's plate by running a training camp to get your cultivator infrastructure up to snuff.
That hasn't been what was stated, it's simply that commoners with "only" Talent 3-4 are not picked up by the Sects on scholarship due to not having a good enough return on investment.
The Imperial Average still remains talent 3-4 per Yrs' prior statements it's just that the only people in the Sect at that level of Talent are people able to at least partially fund their own Tuition.
Your first quote is referring to the average talent in the sect (that is, the people Ling Qi was cultivating against at the time and surpassing), not the general population. Your second quote acknowledges that talent 3-4 commoners are often recruited locally because they're not being picked up via MoI, but is entirely tangential to the average talent of the general population.
Your first quote is referring to the average talent in the sect (that is, the people Ling Qi was cultivating against at the time and surpassing), not the general population. Your second quote acknowledges that talent 3-4 commoners are often recruited locally because they're not being picked up via MoI, but is entirely tangential to the average talent of the general population.
It was a fairly general statement within the context of whether we were the only persons guzzling down pills, though I suppose I should have included this quote:
It was a fairly general statement within the context of whether we were the only persons guzzling down pills, though I suppose I should have included this quote:
"Even for Nobles" shows that it is the general average not the exception.
Again, this is in the context of cultivation peers that Ling Qi is being compared to (i.e. People in the Sect), not the general population which includes mortals who never cultivate (which means they don't get cultivation resources like pills, because they do not cultivate).
The new quote is in response to some people starting to estimate viscount/count/ducals as being average 6/7 talent based on the people we could see and their comparative progress (that is, people in the inner sect we know), to which Yrs replied that no, the [sect] average is 4-5 even for nobles.
Each statement was solely about cultivation peers of Ling Qi at the sect, and not in anyway a statement about the general population of the Empire at large.
Given that Cloud Barbarians have all non-cultivators grow sick and die as children, yet having that only bring up their infant mortality rate to historical levels, that suggests around 70%-80% of humanity could get to Red if given the resources.
Of course the Empire doesn't have the resources to support that many Reds. This suggests a huge market for non-spirit stone based resources for awakening but the MoI probably stamps down on that hard.
I imagine most actual Viscounts and Counts have talent around the same as ours but their scions are generally worse off.
That would be amusing if the Sect actually did send out report cards to parents.
Retention: C
Excels at recalling the rote basics of spiritual identification and cultivation theory but displays a concerning lack of awareness in peers of a tertiary level. Recommend enrollment in the archery club for social reinforcement.
Ling Qingge stares in silence at the unfurled scroll.
She lets out an audible sigh before rolling up the scroll and picking up the next report emblazoned with the seal of Cai.
Ling Qi Closed her eyes as she caught her breath. The dirt of the training field was warm under her feet, and the crackle of the small fires and patches of ice throughout the field loud in her ears. She was no Gan Guangli, but there was a certain peace in physical exertion. There was a comforting simplicity to it.
"Ho there, that last attack wasn't too much, right Miss Ling?" Wang Chao's voice boomed in her ears.
Ling Qi stood and smiled, idly brushing dust from her gown. She stood at the bottom of a crater, with the fading ripples of black lake water fading around her in the air. Zhengui stood beside her, ash streaming from both of his mouths. "Not at all Sir Wang!" she called to the top.
"The growth of your resilience is nothing short of absurd!" Wang Chao called back down, tapping the butt of his spear against the dirt. "I don't think any here will doubt tales of your exploits!"
"Hmph, who would dare call the sister of I, Zhen a liar," her little brother scoffed.
Ling Qi chuckled as the smoke and ash rising from the dirt under their feet began to form back into the wispy figures of dancers. The world blurred into a smear of conflicting color, and she stood on level ground once more, Zhengui beside her.
There were more people at the training field than there had been last month. Ling Qi recognized some of the new faces, people who had been in the caldera with them. Others had been brought along by those disciples. Ling Qi smiled politely to those looking their way.
"Hah, few enough," Wang Chao laughed, resting the haft of his spear on his shoulder.
"Lets not worry about rats in the corners during fun occasions, Sir Wang," Ling Qi said dismissively. "I hope you received some insights during our spar."
Wang Chao nodded agreeably. He was honestly not a complicated guy. Ling Qi wouldn't call him a friend, but she didn't dislike him either. "Your growth is a bit daunting Miss Ling. To think that you have already reach the Green Threshold," he shook his head, looking frustrated. "Perhaps I need to seek permission from the family to take on more dangerous Sect duties as well!"
"I am sure the Sect would appreciate it," Ling Qi said, resting her hand on Gui's blunt snout. She couldn't bring herself to recommend it though. The image of the list in the Medicine hall flashed through her thoughts. "I think you are making good progress toward Bronze Formation."
"Sparring you does offer some insights," Wang Chao said thoughtfully. "How does one break through the surface of a lake, when the waters only close behind your strike?"
There were plenty of pithy replies, but Ling Qi could recognize the tinge of internal philosophical dilemma.
"Gui thinks Mister Avalanche is doing good at trying," Gui said helpfully.
"Ha, perhaps," Wang Chao said. "In any case, do you wish another round Miss Ling?"
Ling Qi glanced up at the sun, noting its position, and put on an apologetic smile. "Not today I'm afraid. I have an appointment with Core Disciple Lin about a talisman commission."
When she had returned from the court to find that man's seal stamped on her request, she hadn't quite been surprised.
Wang Chao's eyebrows rose. "Well, don't let me keep you then!"
***
On the path leading up to Lin Hai's home and workshop, Ling Qi stopped and blinked in surprise.
"Looks like Mr. Tailor double booked your appointment," Sixiang said in amusement.
There are on the porch which surrounded the main building, stood Li Suyin and Su Ling, the latter of whom stood with her arms crossed, looking suspiciously at everything around her.
"Ling Qi?" asked Li Suyin looking down at her from the porch. "What are you doing here?"
Ling Qi let out a huff, glancing at the closed door of the workshop. "I have an appointment. What about you? I'm surprised that you would be commissioning a talisman Li Suyin."
Her friend liked making her own things.
"She's getting a reward," Su Ling grunted, tapping her foot as Ling Qi mounted the stairs to join them on the porch.
"Really, it's too much, taking time from such an esteemed craftsman when I am not even spending my Contribution points," Li Suyin mumbled, plucking nervously at her gown.
"Oh come off it Suyin," Su Ling replied, rolling her eyes. "You're the one that kept the initiation ceremony going after the Elder and the core disciples got dragged into a fight."
Ling Qi's eyebrows rose as she turned to look at Suyin, whose fidgeting only got worse. "Suyin?"
"I was just the one who happened to be there," Li Suyin said, looking away. "I was only following Elder Jiao's instructions. Anyone could have done the same."
She yelped as Ling Qi rapped her knuckles against the top of the girl's head. "Quit that," Ling Qi said, rolling her eyes. "I thought you'd moved past that kind of false modesty Suyin."
"That's what I told her," Su Ling grumbled, eyeing the doorway.
"...It's just too much," Li Suyin murmured. "I-There were so many other stronger, more experienced disciples about. And… so many didn't make it, when someone like me did."
Ling Qi's expression softened a little. She knew that Suyin hadn't really seen a fight like that before, or its consequences. "Even so, saying you don't deserve a reward at all is too much Suyin."
"It's not just the talisman," Li Suyin said glumly.
"She's getting promoted into the upper five hundred," Su Ling said flippantly. "Can't think of anyone who deserves it more though."
Li Suyin huffed at her, it seemed that they had repeated this conversation several times already.
Before Ling Qi could reply further however, the door of the workshop slid open.
"Master Lin will see you now," Ling Qi's eyes fixed on the figure in the doorway as they spoke. She had glimpsed them before last time she had been here. The spirit wore the shape of a curvaceous woman with golden hair. She wore a gown of pale pink with a darker red underlayer.She had an air of deliberate dishevelment, her hair mussed and one side of her gown hanging carelessly off of her shoulders. Her feet were bare.
Five thick and fluffy golden tails waved lazily in the air behind her.
Su Ling was glaring again. The spirit didn't even glance at her.
Ling Qi bowed her head politely to the fox spirit. "Thank you Miss, is Sir Lin going to deal with both of us at once, or should I wait?"
"Master Lin will see you both," the fox spoke over her shoulder, she was already turning to lead them back inside.
Ling Qi shot Su Ling a quelling look and the girl huffed and turned her eyes away. Li Suyin gave her a concerned look but hurried to follow as Ling Qi followed the spirit inside.
"I do not think I received your name at my last visit," Ling Qi said politely. Glancing around at the darkened halls, it seemed as if the layout of the building had changed.
"You may call this one Luli," said the fox, not looking back. "It is as good a name as any for this one to wear."
"Tch, can't even give a straight answer to that," Su Ling grumbled under her breath.
The woman's gold furred ears flicked irritably. "Do not concern yourself little nightkin, you are certainly no kindred to the children of Dawn. It would please this one if we could exist in mutual silence."
Su Ling almost missed a step, but simply grunted and looked away when Li Suyin rested a hand on her shoulder.
The rest of the trip through the halls passed without words.
Soon they reached a room that Ling Qi found familiar, the wide chamber with the sliding doors at the rear. Luli vanished in a whirl of sunlight motes as they entered, leaving her friends looking around the room, searching for their host. Ling Qi remained quiet. She wasn't going to ruin Lin Hai's fun.
She had her grin behind her hand as the doors at the rear of the room jumped open with a bang, and her friends startled. Four beams of prismatic light shot forth from the dark interior, rays of light dancing across the room, and thick and colorful fog poured across the floor. The beams swept back, and they lit upon the figure in the center, casting him in stark relief.
Lin Hai stood there, one hand thrown out, the other splayed open in front of his face. He wore an open chested tunic of crimson silk, split down to his navel to show off his slim chest, a feathery black pibo wrapped around his shoulders, floating on unseen winds. He was also, fortunately, wearing much less tight pants, instead going for flowing silk that flared widely about his ankles and pointed slippers.
"Greetings to you, O seekers of beauty!" said the flamboyant man, lowering his hand to show his grinning face. He had a bit of color to his lips this time. "Lin Hai, weaver of the Dawn, welcomes you to his sanctum!"
"I wonder if I could pull off something like that," Sixiang mused.
Ling Qi brought her hands together, applauding politely politely as her friends stared blankly ahead. "It is good to see you again, Senior Brother Lin."
Li Suyin managed to bow as her brain caught up. "S-Senior Brother Lin, it is an honor to be allowed to make use of your time."
Su Ling's face was blank. It was the same sort of face she wore when Ling Qi invited her to do things.
Lin Hai chuckled, brushing the blue frosted tips of his hair out of his eyes as the light and fog faded away and more normal lighting filled the room. "No, no, it is always the honor of the craftsmen to perform his work," he reprimanded lightly. "Raise your head young lady, I'll have no bowing and scraping here."
"Ah, as you say senior brother," Li Suyin said, raising her head. She was trying so hard to retain her composure, but Ling Qi could tell that she was having a hard time categorizing Lin Hai. "Um, how precisely are we going to handle…"
Lin Hai blurred, his silhouette stretching, before snapping apart into two separate but identical figures. He raised a carefully manicured eyebrow.
"Try to relax a little huh?" Ling Qi nudged her friend's shoulder, before starting after the simulacrum on the left.
Su Ling shot her an unamused look as she followed after the still fidgety Li Suyin.
"What a good girl that one is," Lin Hai mused as she fell in beside him and they moved into his work shop, between skeins of cloth, tables and tools.
"Too good sometimes," Ling Qi sighed.
"Hm, hmm, no such thing I think," Lin Hai said. "It seems I must congratulate you young Miss, you held up quite well under your first experience at court."
"Did I?" Ling Qi asked. She remembered barely being able to keep her composure under the Duchess' scrutiny.
"You did, or so I had heard," Lin Hai mused. "It is not easy to deal with Master's interest, and you certainly gave her an opportunity."
Ling Qi frowned a little. She still wasn't sure how she felt about that. The Duchess having a dealing with the shishigui. Negotiating with barbarians was one thing, but monsters like that…
"Our clothes and finery are most important, young Miss, they show the world what we wish to be. It is not good to forget that more lies beneath," Lin Hai said.
Ling Qi blinked at the non sequitur.
"He's reminding you not to get too caught up in appearances," Sixiang whispered, and Ling Qi found a memory of a disturbing mundane town, deep beneath the earth, intruded into her thoughts.
"Still, while your words pleased many, it has not pleased the Sect," Lin Hai said softly. "I understand your reasoning. First Impressions are so terribly important, and if these foreigners of yours had been reported by the Sect's messengers first, things may not have gone so smoothly."
"Do you think I'm being foolish or naive?" Ling Qi asked quietly. She had been trying not to think about it much yet, but the Duchess had put a great deal on her shoulders with this assignment. If she was wrong…
"I think it costs us little to try, save for pride," Lin Hai mused. "And the Empire certainly has a surplus of that."
Ling Qi laughed a little.
"Now young miss, what sort of piece are you looking to commission today?" Lin Hai said as they arrived at a part of the workshop filled with jewelers tools.
"It looks like you already have an idea," Ling Qi said wryly. "But… I was thinking, some ear rings maybe?"
Lin Hai eyed her critically. "Hm, hm, I see some designs perhaps. Silver naturally, or mayhap platinum. Sapphire for highlights…"
The designer trailed off and shook his head, but she could still see his mind working behind his eyes. "And the desired effect?"
"Sense enhancement," Ling Qi replied immediately. She still remembered those dancers, still so easily able to slip out of her sight. She disliked being on the receiving end of that.
"Ah well, simple enough then," Lin Hai said, clapping his hands, tools, jewels and flasks filled with liquified metals began to float off the shelves and tables to whirl around the craftsman.
"Take a seat here, if you would," Lin Hai said, pointing to a softly padded stool.
Ling Qi took her seat and held still as tools began to take measurements of her ears, and around her head. "Senior Brother Lin, do you think there is anything I can do to prepare?" She honestly had no idea how she was going to handle this.
"You must sew your own success here," Lin Hai chuckled. "For it is your project, but… perhaps seek out those who have knowledge of dealings with foreigners? They do exist, here and there."
Ling Qi recalled her conversation with Cai Renxiang, hashing out her speech. Hadn't she mentioned that the Xuan dealt with foreigners? Xuan Shi certainly seemed like the sort to be interested in that sort of thing.
Well, that was an idea.
[] Speak with Xuan Shi when he comes to finish the work on your Mothers house. It will be the most comfortable for you both.
[] Xuan Shi could use more friends and contacts, he had met Suyin before too. Perhaps you could him a favor and introduce them again before asking a favor in turn?
the trauma is real if ling qi whas cyan the maid would be dead
