Oliver_Twister
Idea-Man, He Who Shits Ideas
- Location
- West Africa
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Next turn. I'm going to fight for Bastion SO HARD next turn.
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.
The problem with Void-as-canvas is
For LQ the source of ripples is in each other, not when they cease to move. Void is thus either endless abundance (which is awkward but not impossible for Lake Hei) or a terrible canvas upon which to make your mark.
This would be why the final End is final: with everything exhausted there is no abundance from which to create more and the world finally grinds to a halt.
However
There can be beauty in cessation.
Man, this is so different from Cradle (the only other Xianxia story I've got experience with). There, everyone but the protagonist only has one Art, with half a dozen techniques at most. Here every character can have a bunch of Arts. Feels much harder to keep track of.
- Location
- E
Right, this is a bit of a stretch but I think all of these jive with a somewhat quantum mechanical description of nothingness (the vacuum state). Instead of it being truly empty it's full of virtual particles popping in and out of existence. Analogously, Void could be understood as a source of endless potential. "If nothing exists, anything is possible" type of mindset. This abundant potential could then beget reality, which would only persist if a necessary will was exerted, like Greater Spirit type entities.
It'd be an interesting way to turn the traditional concept of nothing on its head.
Its definitely harder to keep track of. I've been arguing that we need to have fewer and the current system encourages that by not giving us the actions to pursue tons of different Arts.
I still think we could go further but people want each Art to fulfill a purpose. As such we need an offensive Art, a movement Art, a defensive Art, and a sensory Art at the bare minimum. However we also are likely to want a formations Art and a support Art. Fortunately our movement Art doubles as a stealth Art. Taken together that's six Arts.
- Location
- UK
I wonder if a system of hybrid arts might be better, with only 3-4 at use but each art can have 2 to 3 specialties and themes, so for a future LQ we might have Music/Mist/Frost art as damage+control, Dark/Wind art as movement and stealth, Music/Dream art as movement and control or support and maybe a divination/formations art of some stripe.
It would greatly simplify things but would still provide effectively infinite varieties of builds with some creativity. I also worry if we go with more focused but purposeful arts all build will end up effectively the same, each cultivator has one attack, one defence, one movement, one sensory art etc and specialisation is only due to how good your specific arts are, as opposed to the above LQ example where we have an emphasis on control and movement with 2 arts for each but less so for other facets, then you might get very extreme with say each of Meizhens arts being defence/attack, defence/movement, defence/sensory to really emphasise the defensive nature of the build.
From a more thematic character/storytelling standpoint it would make each one very significant too, I'm picturing them as each being sort of like an aspect of the cultivators build or Way. Allows complexity but much more easily understood, you can introduce a character and just go oh, these are the impressions of their aspects, though how each interacts and functions specifically is still unknown.
Moving on to using Shen will hopefully see some kind of art squish or equivalent whatever happens. I quite like the complexity of the various concepts and the way that works, seeing them focused on a few more comprehensive aspects of ones build sounds excellent.
Oliver_Twister
Idea-Man, He Who Shits Ideas
- Location
- West Africa
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Well, we're going to make personal arts during G7/G8. So after master our arts and their successors, we can consolidate all of them into a small art suite then so I'm not really worried.
I just hope we master all the relevant arts.
Edit: It's why I'm okay delaying some FSS+ projects. We'll have more time to focus on other arts
I just hope we master all the relevant arts.
Edit: It's why I'm okay delaying some FSS+ projects. We'll have more time to focus on other arts
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How long do you think that's going to take? I read an old comment from someone who thought we'd only get that in an epilogue to the whole story, but hell, we're halfway through Green already.
Oliver_Twister
Idea-Man, He Who Shits Ideas
- Location
- West Africa
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Ling Qi is 16/17 rn. She'll reach Cyan by 20-22 iirc. But there'll be time skips after turn 18/19+ so I'm not worried.
And she's going all the way to the top!
And she's going all the way to the top!
It'll take that long for her to get to Cyan? She got through the first half of the third realm in only one in-story year.
Speaking of, I finally found what I was looking for.
Chapter 54-Cooperation 1 - Forge of Destiny
“Let’s take a break, Li Suyin,” Ling Qi said, releasing her friend from the hold she had pulled her into when Suyin overextended. The two of them had been (...)
www.royalroad.com
Chapter 62-Simmering 3 - Forge of Destiny
Darkness had not been among the elements described in her lessons with Elder Su. Ling Qi had often wondered, while practicing her related arts, what the (...)
www.royalroad.com
There are rewards for reaching third realm quickly, and for reaching the fifth and sixth realms at all. Is there anything for achieving the fourth realm, especially at a really young age?
Oliver_Twister
Idea-Man, He Who Shits Ideas
- Location
- West Africa
- Pronouns
- He/Him
It'll take that long for her to get to Cyan? She got through the first half of the third realm in only one in-story year.
Speaking of, I finally found what I was looking for.
Chapter 54-Cooperation 1 - Forge of Destiny
“Let’s take a break, Li Suyin,” Ling Qi said, releasing her friend from the hold she had pulled her into when Suyin overextended. The two of them had been (...)
Chapter 62-Simmering 3 - Forge of Destiny
Darkness had not been among the elements described in her lessons with Elder Su. Ling Qi had often wondered, while practicing her related arts, what the (...)
There are rewards for reaching third realm quickly, and for reaching the fifth and sixth realms at all. Is there anything for achieving the fourth realm, especially at a really young age?
Well, I think the reason why she got through the first four stages is that the Math Cabal (TM) broke the system, so Yrs changed it so that Ling Qi won't break the system. Cyan by 20 is still prodigious levels of talent with good backing, so I think it's okay. I'm not sure what the in-verse reason is, but I like to think that it's because Green is when you're building your Domain, so rushing it is ill-advised because after it's set you can't change it. Or that each stage gets progressively longer because past G4 you need to actually contemplate the lessons and concepts hidden in each art to actually cultivate them.
As for the Cyan at a young age? No, there's no reward. But, as a baron/baroness, your clan is secure once you hit Cyan because you can multitask and create arts for scions Plus, you're officially a player, if not a valuable piece, on the board once you're in the 4th realm.
What is this Math Cabal sect of which you speak?
- Pronouns
- He/Him
It isent even that LQ is slowing down, the secound half of green is just longer then everything before combined and then some.
Just looking at the XP
For Green 1 to were LQ is now it takes 14.400 XP
From now to peek Green it will take 35.400 XP
and then we have the great gates of
1. Personal Successor Art
2. Domain Name
sooo that will take some more years.
Edit:
Math Cabal broke the system back in Forge (first thread).
Here is one of their monsters they unleashed upon the system and made it surrender all the loot
Threads of Math
Last edited:
Oliver_Twister
Idea-Man, He Who Shits Ideas
- Location
- West Africa
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Well, I wasn't here during their reign, but the previous system for Forge and Threads was very number-heavy, so there was a group of mathemagicians who optimized the plans for everything to get the most cultivation XP with the power of spreadsheets and pills (so many pills). Others here probably know more.
And after all that the breakthrough is more difficult and more dangerous for each successive realm, while breakthrough medicines are rarer, more difficult to make because they need to be personalized, and more expensive.
Well, I enjoyed reading about characters going
at Ling Qi's rate of growth, so I have no complaints.
Turn 16: Arc 1-1 Grudge
"Ling Qi," Cai Renxiang's voice was deeply exhausted, her brow furrowed, her nose pinched between her fingers. The tea cup set before her on the fine tabletop was forgotten, the faint trail of steam rising from it drifting unnoticed.
"Lady Cai, I can't possibly be blamed for this one," Ling Qi replied primly, blowing softly on her own cup, the fog that drifted off of the impossibly cold cider parted, leaving her free to drink. Rimefruit extract was very expensive, but frankly, Ling Qi was sure that she had earned a treat at this point.
"Hm, I don't know. Perhaps if you had followed my advice," Bai Meizhen said lightly, cradling her own tea cup close.
Together the three of them sat in Cai Renxiangs sitting room, drinks and light snacks arranged neatly across the table. Xiao Fen had insisted on doing the settings and even now lurked in the shadows, ready to dart out and replace anything missing.
Ling Qi thought she should join them, but the idea had seemed to cause the girl almost physical pain.
"And probably have gotten myself locked out of the Sect, and you almost certainly punished as well," Ling Qi pointed out dryly. "Come on Meizhen, even I know you were overreacting to what that worm had done at the time."
Meizhen turned up her nose haughtily, taking a drink. She didn't contradict Ling Qi though.
"No you cannot be blamed, not in any rational sense," Cai Renxiang agreed, her eyes squeezed shut.
"Are you saying that you are afflicted by irrational thoughts my lady?" Ling Qi said, tilting her head.
Cai Renxiang let a long breath through her nose, but did not rise to her bait.
Not quite there yet, Ling Qi supposed.
"There was no comprehension that such an attack would occur. It is disturbing for everyone to acknowledge that we still do not fully grasp the tactics of the Ith-ia," Cai Renxiang said instead. "I commend you, Ling Qi on uncovering this, even through such…. Circumstances."
"I am just glad I was able to keep the damage low," Ling Qi said, the sweet rimefruit was a balm on her throat after so many hours and days spent in conversation. The way the cider turned to slush on her tongue was pleasantly cool as well. "The attacks that followed…."
"An ugly business, deliberately targeting mortals," Bai Meizhen sniffed. "Barbarian filth."
"It is unforgivable," Cai Renxiang agreed. "It is certain at this point that the next great campaign will be against them."
"Something to prepare for, after the summit," Ling Qi said, considering the now serious atmosphere in the room. "Really, Lady Cai I did everything as responsibly as I could."
"I am aware," Cai Renxiang replied, finally taking up her tea. "Please excuse my moment of… bewilderment."
"It is rather adorable," Meizhen said airily. Cai Renxiang glared at her, Meizhen smirked back.
"Less adorable is that animal you dragged back," Meizhen added glancing toward her.
"Zheng Fu?" Ling Qi asked, tilting her head. "He hardly came with me. He has a message for the Duchess from the Ebon Rivers I guess?"
"Which is why it is most amusing that her Grace returned to Xiangmen for a short time, even if it is to deal with whatever plots the Butcher is making," Meizhen sniffed.
"It has been circulating that the Zheng are releasing their scions across the Empire in unusual numbers, so this is not too surprising," Cai Renxiang said.
"Hmph, butting in where they are unneeded, that is the way of the Zheng I suppose," Meizhen replied.
"Well he seemed nice enough in the passing, but I suppose we'll see what he wants," she'd been wary due to the wanton reputation the ruling family of the Ebon Rivers had, but the veiled man didn't seem particularly bad in that regard during their brief acquaintance. The family probably just didn't want to be left out of something their traditional rivals, the Bai were doing.
"Yes, hopefully he wishes to observe matters. We can use every scrap of legitimacy in this," Cai Renxiang murmured into her teacup.
"I wonder if Jaromila is dealing with the same thing," Ling Qi mused, draining the rest of her cup. "Members of their other… confederations wanting eyes on what the White Sky are doing."
"If they are half as civilized as you insist they are, I imagine so," Bai Meizhen. "Such is the way of politics."
"We shall see soon. I trust you've arranged your schedule Ling Qi?" Cai Renxiang asked.
Ling Qi closed her eyes, considering the packed month ahead of her. There were many things, some very serious and personal. She considered the taste of the Rimefruit cider, and the last time she had it, up in her Master's home on the mountaintop. A full year had passed. "I'll be ready. Though on that note, I should be going. I have a lesson scheduled with Shu Yue."
"Then I will not keep you. Fare well for now Ling Qi."
"You're suddenly a whole lot more popular," Sixiang mused. They floated upside down before her, glimmering rainbow hair waving and shimmering in the breeze. "Well more folks are definitely taking you seriously at least."
"I would hope so," Ling Qi replied, scanning briefly over the cover page of the correspondence in her lap.
+1 Reputation in the Central Valley
"But I do have to wonder why we're doing this now," Ling Qi added, glancing to her left.
There was the salt lake, with the crystals and twisted fungus sprouting on its shores, and on the smooth blue black surface was Shu Yue. They did not stand or sit, but rather crouched, the voluminous robes not concealing the inhuman bend of their legs, nor the way their spidery fingers traced strange shapes on the rippling surface of the pool, leaving patterned violet shimmers that hurt Ling Qi's eyes to look at. Their masklike face was tilted almost at a full right angle, and their dark hair hung down nearly to the water.
When she spoke, the elder cultivators eyes lazily opened, blackness oozing away a half second behind their eyelids to leave dark but human eyes. "This place is good for my planned lesson. So is your work in cultivating your ears here."
"You feel my correspondence will relate to your lessons on perception then?" Ling Qi asked.
"In it's way. You recent adventure is also useful."
"I'm not sure I deserve so much credit," Ling Qi sighed. "You would have solved it if things had gotten truly dire."
"No. I would not have."
Her head snapped up, eyes widening in surprise, "But…"
"I was not there, you are important, but not my only business," Shu Yue explained, righting the angle of their head, there was a faint scraping sound like bone on carapace.
That… made sense. "Of course, I shouldn't let myself come to rely too much on the idea."
"It is a good lesson, Elders always come to fail their juniors," Shu Yue said, cracking a toothless smile. "Rely on those who stand beside you, not behind."
"Ling Qi's just fine," Sixiang dismissed. "You didn't even think about spooky here being around till after. Fobbing things off never crossed your mind."
Ling Qi dipped her head, taking the muses chiding in mind. They were right, the idea had only come in the uncertainty after, when she had time to sit and let her mind spin.
Shu Yue inclined their head. "Regardless, I feel that your encounter will have given you some insights into my lesson."
Ling Qi turned to fully face her teacher. She had an inkling of what they meant but she decided to be sure. "And what exactly is your Eye of Grudges Art, Shu Yue. You haven't explained yet."
They hummed, their hunched back straightening, things cracked and rasped as their legs straightened and they stood to their full height, droplets of water clinging to their fingertips as they fell to the tall elders sides. "The Eye of Grudges is an art of understanding people and the things that bind them, to insert yourself behind another's eyes, immerse yourself in their woes."
"That sounds… very intrusive," Ling Qi said cautiously.
"For you, it would be," Shu Yue said, rubbing their chin thoughtfully. "When I was young, I found it easy to become another. You cannot intrude or invade if there is no self to shove theirs aside."
"Why is everything you say ominous," Sixiang said flatly.
Shu Yue ignored them. "You understand, Ling Qi, the truth of us. Press us, starve us, isolate us. We become animals, things of panic and fear and hate. Even the most virtuous of men, if pressed hard enough, will find their humanity peeling away like a thin skin on a fruit. I do not judge this, it simply is. Perhaps there is one in a million, or ten million, who truly cannot break, but this is not a standard mortals can be held too, nor indeed, most who cultivate."
"The point of a society, a community is to keep people out of that state," Ling Qi said quietly.
"As you like," they said neutrally. "My Eyes then, see the splintered threads of pain and hurt. They see fear and the chains of resentment it forges. Tell me true, are there none who you hate?"
"I don't have time to keep grudges," Ling Qi responded automatically. "But…"
"Some remain all the same," Shu Yue said. "Humans remember hurts more strongly than help. Pain more clearly than pleasure, Failure more starkly than success."
"You don't have to be like that though," Ling Qi pointed out, though she couldn't truly say Shu Yue was wrong.
"It is good to strive, those who wallow can only bring ruin," they said, tapping their fingers together thoughtfully as they strode onto the shore. "Nonetheless, to understand a person, you must understand their grudges. You cannot judge how a person will act without their baser urges. You have seen an example now, of a truly deep grudge."
Ling Qi grimaced something ugly twisting in her chest. "You're talking about the traitor. How in the world can he…"
She trailed off gritting her teeth. That news had its own uproar, a simmering rage that spread with the communication. The Sect was furious. With that knowledge, the failure of the wardings in the advance base and the many deaths it had caused were laid in a new light.
If Yan Renshu ever stood openly on the surface again, she had no doubt his life was forfeit.
"I have not observed him, only memories of him," Shu Yue replied clinically. "But there is a type of man for whom pride is more precious than their own heart's blood. Indeed they are very common, if not usually so severe in their transgression."
"It is this that I aim to teach you."
Ling Qi held back a retort, she didn't want to understand a mind that would think that way. But Shu Yue was right, she understood, even if she didn't want to.
"You cannot understand people, without understanding their fears, their resentments, their hates," Shu Yue said, putting it into bland but undeniable words. "Or succinctly, their Grudges."
The air in the clearing stilled alittle the soft sounds of nature dying away before ablack pressure that pressed down on Ling Qi from all sides.
It vanished quickly enough, and Sixiang flipped themselves face up to glare at Shu Yue. The elder cultivator looked back at them without expression.
"It's fine Sixiang. I know what being consumed by that looks like. It's no different from scouting an enemy to learn how they work."
"It is not only your enemies grudges that you will need to look upon," Shu Yue interrupted.
"Okay, yes," Ling Qi agreed reluctantly. It still felt… bad.
Shu Yue nodded, tilting their head back to observe the crystals glittering on the roof of the cavern. "Good let us begin then. Yan Renshu, what is his drive, his grudge?"
Ling Qi nearly said something pithy but she understood where Shu Yue was going with this. It wasn't about the obvious surface answer, it was about digging down into the ugly, tangled roots. So she frowned and thought of everything she had ever learned about the vile little toad.
His family were perpetual underachievers, ever just below the mark for gaining nobility. He was hostile to them as well, going by his interaction with his uncle. In his first year at the sect, he so offended a noble scion that they inflicted an outright crippling injury on him.
He resented the mighty and had contempt for the weak. He had no qualms about tricking and exploiting others into false and ruinous contracts. He always seemed to feel… owed. She remembered once, that he had even implied that by trying to frame her and drive her away from her noble friends that he was doing her a favor.
[ ] His grudge is against community itself. He thinks it's contracts and strictures as false and hollow as his own dealings. That he is superior for seeing this, where others do not. (+1 Community XP)
[ ] His grudge is against the world. He is alone, and wears his isolation as a crown. He deems this strength. Every time he is proven wrong, his grudge grows. (+1 Isolation XP)
"Lady Cai, I can't possibly be blamed for this one," Ling Qi replied primly, blowing softly on her own cup, the fog that drifted off of the impossibly cold cider parted, leaving her free to drink. Rimefruit extract was very expensive, but frankly, Ling Qi was sure that she had earned a treat at this point.
"Hm, I don't know. Perhaps if you had followed my advice," Bai Meizhen said lightly, cradling her own tea cup close.
Together the three of them sat in Cai Renxiangs sitting room, drinks and light snacks arranged neatly across the table. Xiao Fen had insisted on doing the settings and even now lurked in the shadows, ready to dart out and replace anything missing.
Ling Qi thought she should join them, but the idea had seemed to cause the girl almost physical pain.
"And probably have gotten myself locked out of the Sect, and you almost certainly punished as well," Ling Qi pointed out dryly. "Come on Meizhen, even I know you were overreacting to what that worm had done at the time."
Meizhen turned up her nose haughtily, taking a drink. She didn't contradict Ling Qi though.
"No you cannot be blamed, not in any rational sense," Cai Renxiang agreed, her eyes squeezed shut.
"Are you saying that you are afflicted by irrational thoughts my lady?" Ling Qi said, tilting her head.
Cai Renxiang let a long breath through her nose, but did not rise to her bait.
Not quite there yet, Ling Qi supposed.
"There was no comprehension that such an attack would occur. It is disturbing for everyone to acknowledge that we still do not fully grasp the tactics of the Ith-ia," Cai Renxiang said instead. "I commend you, Ling Qi on uncovering this, even through such…. Circumstances."
"I am just glad I was able to keep the damage low," Ling Qi said, the sweet rimefruit was a balm on her throat after so many hours and days spent in conversation. The way the cider turned to slush on her tongue was pleasantly cool as well. "The attacks that followed…."
"An ugly business, deliberately targeting mortals," Bai Meizhen sniffed. "Barbarian filth."
"It is unforgivable," Cai Renxiang agreed. "It is certain at this point that the next great campaign will be against them."
"Something to prepare for, after the summit," Ling Qi said, considering the now serious atmosphere in the room. "Really, Lady Cai I did everything as responsibly as I could."
"I am aware," Cai Renxiang replied, finally taking up her tea. "Please excuse my moment of… bewilderment."
"It is rather adorable," Meizhen said airily. Cai Renxiang glared at her, Meizhen smirked back.
"Less adorable is that animal you dragged back," Meizhen added glancing toward her.
"Zheng Fu?" Ling Qi asked, tilting her head. "He hardly came with me. He has a message for the Duchess from the Ebon Rivers I guess?"
"Which is why it is most amusing that her Grace returned to Xiangmen for a short time, even if it is to deal with whatever plots the Butcher is making," Meizhen sniffed.
"It has been circulating that the Zheng are releasing their scions across the Empire in unusual numbers, so this is not too surprising," Cai Renxiang said.
"Hmph, butting in where they are unneeded, that is the way of the Zheng I suppose," Meizhen replied.
"Well he seemed nice enough in the passing, but I suppose we'll see what he wants," she'd been wary due to the wanton reputation the ruling family of the Ebon Rivers had, but the veiled man didn't seem particularly bad in that regard during their brief acquaintance. The family probably just didn't want to be left out of something their traditional rivals, the Bai were doing.
"Yes, hopefully he wishes to observe matters. We can use every scrap of legitimacy in this," Cai Renxiang murmured into her teacup.
"I wonder if Jaromila is dealing with the same thing," Ling Qi mused, draining the rest of her cup. "Members of their other… confederations wanting eyes on what the White Sky are doing."
"If they are half as civilized as you insist they are, I imagine so," Bai Meizhen. "Such is the way of politics."
"We shall see soon. I trust you've arranged your schedule Ling Qi?" Cai Renxiang asked.
Ling Qi closed her eyes, considering the packed month ahead of her. There were many things, some very serious and personal. She considered the taste of the Rimefruit cider, and the last time she had it, up in her Master's home on the mountaintop. A full year had passed. "I'll be ready. Though on that note, I should be going. I have a lesson scheduled with Shu Yue."
"Then I will not keep you. Fare well for now Ling Qi."
***
The sharp scent of salt in the air was becoming familiar, Ling Qi found. She sat upon a flat stone instead of the ground now. A boulder Xia Lin had helpfully sheared in half for her, leaving a perfectly flat surface for her comfort. Moss was already beginning to creep up its sides, just as dyr fungal caps were beginning to grow in the space between the formation lines of the focusing circle."You're suddenly a whole lot more popular," Sixiang mused. They floated upside down before her, glimmering rainbow hair waving and shimmering in the breeze. "Well more folks are definitely taking you seriously at least."
"I would hope so," Ling Qi replied, scanning briefly over the cover page of the correspondence in her lap.
+1 Reputation in the Central Valley
"But I do have to wonder why we're doing this now," Ling Qi added, glancing to her left.
There was the salt lake, with the crystals and twisted fungus sprouting on its shores, and on the smooth blue black surface was Shu Yue. They did not stand or sit, but rather crouched, the voluminous robes not concealing the inhuman bend of their legs, nor the way their spidery fingers traced strange shapes on the rippling surface of the pool, leaving patterned violet shimmers that hurt Ling Qi's eyes to look at. Their masklike face was tilted almost at a full right angle, and their dark hair hung down nearly to the water.
When she spoke, the elder cultivators eyes lazily opened, blackness oozing away a half second behind their eyelids to leave dark but human eyes. "This place is good for my planned lesson. So is your work in cultivating your ears here."
"You feel my correspondence will relate to your lessons on perception then?" Ling Qi asked.
"In it's way. You recent adventure is also useful."
"I'm not sure I deserve so much credit," Ling Qi sighed. "You would have solved it if things had gotten truly dire."
"No. I would not have."
Her head snapped up, eyes widening in surprise, "But…"
"I was not there, you are important, but not my only business," Shu Yue explained, righting the angle of their head, there was a faint scraping sound like bone on carapace.
That… made sense. "Of course, I shouldn't let myself come to rely too much on the idea."
"It is a good lesson, Elders always come to fail their juniors," Shu Yue said, cracking a toothless smile. "Rely on those who stand beside you, not behind."
"Ling Qi's just fine," Sixiang dismissed. "You didn't even think about spooky here being around till after. Fobbing things off never crossed your mind."
Ling Qi dipped her head, taking the muses chiding in mind. They were right, the idea had only come in the uncertainty after, when she had time to sit and let her mind spin.
Shu Yue inclined their head. "Regardless, I feel that your encounter will have given you some insights into my lesson."
Ling Qi turned to fully face her teacher. She had an inkling of what they meant but she decided to be sure. "And what exactly is your Eye of Grudges Art, Shu Yue. You haven't explained yet."
They hummed, their hunched back straightening, things cracked and rasped as their legs straightened and they stood to their full height, droplets of water clinging to their fingertips as they fell to the tall elders sides. "The Eye of Grudges is an art of understanding people and the things that bind them, to insert yourself behind another's eyes, immerse yourself in their woes."
"That sounds… very intrusive," Ling Qi said cautiously.
"For you, it would be," Shu Yue said, rubbing their chin thoughtfully. "When I was young, I found it easy to become another. You cannot intrude or invade if there is no self to shove theirs aside."
"Why is everything you say ominous," Sixiang said flatly.
Shu Yue ignored them. "You understand, Ling Qi, the truth of us. Press us, starve us, isolate us. We become animals, things of panic and fear and hate. Even the most virtuous of men, if pressed hard enough, will find their humanity peeling away like a thin skin on a fruit. I do not judge this, it simply is. Perhaps there is one in a million, or ten million, who truly cannot break, but this is not a standard mortals can be held too, nor indeed, most who cultivate."
"The point of a society, a community is to keep people out of that state," Ling Qi said quietly.
"As you like," they said neutrally. "My Eyes then, see the splintered threads of pain and hurt. They see fear and the chains of resentment it forges. Tell me true, are there none who you hate?"
"I don't have time to keep grudges," Ling Qi responded automatically. "But…"
"Some remain all the same," Shu Yue said. "Humans remember hurts more strongly than help. Pain more clearly than pleasure, Failure more starkly than success."
"You don't have to be like that though," Ling Qi pointed out, though she couldn't truly say Shu Yue was wrong.
"It is good to strive, those who wallow can only bring ruin," they said, tapping their fingers together thoughtfully as they strode onto the shore. "Nonetheless, to understand a person, you must understand their grudges. You cannot judge how a person will act without their baser urges. You have seen an example now, of a truly deep grudge."
Ling Qi grimaced something ugly twisting in her chest. "You're talking about the traitor. How in the world can he…"
She trailed off gritting her teeth. That news had its own uproar, a simmering rage that spread with the communication. The Sect was furious. With that knowledge, the failure of the wardings in the advance base and the many deaths it had caused were laid in a new light.
If Yan Renshu ever stood openly on the surface again, she had no doubt his life was forfeit.
"I have not observed him, only memories of him," Shu Yue replied clinically. "But there is a type of man for whom pride is more precious than their own heart's blood. Indeed they are very common, if not usually so severe in their transgression."
"It is this that I aim to teach you."
Ling Qi held back a retort, she didn't want to understand a mind that would think that way. But Shu Yue was right, she understood, even if she didn't want to.
"You cannot understand people, without understanding their fears, their resentments, their hates," Shu Yue said, putting it into bland but undeniable words. "Or succinctly, their Grudges."
The air in the clearing stilled alittle the soft sounds of nature dying away before ablack pressure that pressed down on Ling Qi from all sides.
It vanished quickly enough, and Sixiang flipped themselves face up to glare at Shu Yue. The elder cultivator looked back at them without expression.
"It's fine Sixiang. I know what being consumed by that looks like. It's no different from scouting an enemy to learn how they work."
"It is not only your enemies grudges that you will need to look upon," Shu Yue interrupted.
"Okay, yes," Ling Qi agreed reluctantly. It still felt… bad.
Shu Yue nodded, tilting their head back to observe the crystals glittering on the roof of the cavern. "Good let us begin then. Yan Renshu, what is his drive, his grudge?"
Ling Qi nearly said something pithy but she understood where Shu Yue was going with this. It wasn't about the obvious surface answer, it was about digging down into the ugly, tangled roots. So she frowned and thought of everything she had ever learned about the vile little toad.
His family were perpetual underachievers, ever just below the mark for gaining nobility. He was hostile to them as well, going by his interaction with his uncle. In his first year at the sect, he so offended a noble scion that they inflicted an outright crippling injury on him.
He resented the mighty and had contempt for the weak. He had no qualms about tricking and exploiting others into false and ruinous contracts. He always seemed to feel… owed. She remembered once, that he had even implied that by trying to frame her and drive her away from her noble friends that he was doing her a favor.
[ ] His grudge is against community itself. He thinks it's contracts and strictures as false and hollow as his own dealings. That he is superior for seeing this, where others do not. (+1 Community XP)
[ ] His grudge is against the world. He is alone, and wears his isolation as a crown. He deems this strength. Every time he is proven wrong, his grudge grows. (+1 Isolation XP)
Dammit. I can't decide which option more accurately describes Yan Renshu.
- Location
- Leeds
FTFY
Really at some point LQ is going to have to accept responsibility for how ridiculous things occur at an improbable rate around her.
Frankly the sect should be studying this to develop a new xp grinding technique.
Oh no they've developed the Teasing Tongue technique. It's super effective.
Its her domain.
Oliver_Twister
Idea-Man, He Who Shits Ideas
- Location
- West Africa
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I...Ican't decide too. I'm leaning towards the first option, but I think I'll have to reread the chapter where he sabotaged the formation before I choose since that's the only interlude I remember that's from his POV.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Look at what we get from his POV in the RR update of Summer's End:
He believes, rightly or wrongly, the Imperial system is against him and simply a tool of the powerful, abused at their whim.
This is why I can't see him as being against the world, because he is clearly distinguishing the Empire as just one part of a wider world, and because the Ith-ia seem to recognize his abilities, he thinks they're sympathetic and fairer. He certainly doesn't feel alone.
He believes, rightly or wrongly, the Imperial system is against him and simply a tool of the powerful, abused at their whim.
This is why I can't see him as being against the world, because he is clearly distinguishing the Empire as just one part of a wider world, and because the Ith-ia seem to recognize his abilities, he thinks they're sympathetic and fairer. He certainly doesn't feel alone.
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