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

Voted best in category in the Users' Choice awards.
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Love the insight. It's both relevant to the moment, with LQ orchestrating the battle as well as the summit, and fits her philosophy which leans towards social. The fight was great but I wonder what's happened to Shu Yue? Their presence is not really noticeable, though I guess that's their MO.

Huisheng whispering in our heads is probably not a good sign. Would be cool if we woke up in the gallows or wherever he is since we're overdue a talk but it'd probably interrupt the flow of the summit too much.
 
Speedrunning some regular Arts after taking the time to clear out some of the more interesting locales in Winterblossom shouldn't be too much of a challenge

Speaking frankly, these are absolutely bonkers-tier insights and opportunities for Ling Qis Way. You can really see why the Xuan and Zheng go all in on that Adventurism schtict of theirs.
 
Nice to know that Meng Dan and Xuan Shi are working together to stabilise the Meng. Sad we didn't see Renxiang, GG, Xia Lin, or Jaromila doing anything though.

I guess Soaring led to a hype scene, though. This tribulation has so many things to follow up on. The ugliness of Community (Xuan Shi, setup up), Boundaries for Boundaries Untrodden next section????, the limits of Want and caring for family, etc.

Can't wait for more!!!!
Mr.Kittens said:
Love the insight. It's both relevant to the moment, with LQ orchestrating the battle as well as the summit, and fits her philosophy which leans towards social. The fight was great but I wonder what's happened to Shu Yue? Their presence is not really noticeable, though I guess that's their MO.

Huisheng whispering in our heads is probably not a good sign. Would be cool if we woke up in the gallows or wherever he is since we're overdue a talk but it'd probably interrupt the flow of the summit too much.
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I'm guessing they'll come in the next update to finish SWD off and rescue LQ.

Edit: I wonder what concepts the new advanced insight feeds on. Power, Casaulity, Motion?

Also, I just realised. LQ has faced two tribulations involving Violet+ spirits/cultivators within 2-3 months. That's absolutely bonkers, and I hope people recognise that in-setting.
 
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TehChron said:
Speedrunning some regular Arts after taking the time to clear out some of the more interesting locales in Winterblossom shouldn't be too much of a challenge

Speaking frankly, these are absolutely bonkers-tier insights and opportunities for Ling Qis Way. You can really see why the Xuan and Zheng go all in on that Adventurism schtict of theirs.
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I don't think it's a generally recommended strat to follow, getting directly involved in a fight between Sovereign Cultivators.
 
I hope SWD gets in at least a few good blows against General Genocide. So far the fight seems really one-sided.
She's still got her faded tattoos so there could be an angle there for him to exploit.
 
yrsillar said:
The world is never still. Power is change. In every soul sleeps that spark. There is power in stoking that, enflaming that. Power that may move mountains and gods alike.

…
……
………

Advanced Insight Acquired
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So last vote was a "Decide the shape of your Advanced Insight Vote".
As always, I'm extremely curious about how the unchosen "skulking" option would have looked like, but I'm convinced we took the right choice. The Soaring Advanced Insight is awesome.
I especially like the "In every soul sleeps that spark" bit. Really in line with Ling Qi's mindset that even small changes and actions matter, that it isn't just the great actors who determine the future.
Ling Qi will change the future by compelling others, inspiring them to act.

Meng Diu said that the Meng mantling technique required anchoring to places of power for it to work over long distances. Those must be what Zheng and Cao Chun are hitting.
Is it possible that SWD main body is actually back in Meng lands?
In that case Meng Diu will also have a fair share of work on her plate.
 
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Karthak Urzak said:
I hope SWD gets in at least a few good blows against General Genocide. So far the fight seems really one-sided.
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Might be difficult to bring the whole of himself to bear since they are fighting away from his main seat of power and as explained his nature is that of a defender.

Though, a few good swings would be reasonable.

I also didn't realise how many Meng were infected and that potentially some did not need to be infected to be acting against the summit.

There will be a big house cleaning in the Meng Clan in the near future. Especially if the Duchess deems it prudent to pay a visit.
 
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yrsillar said:
Cai Renxiang was right, the general was not a sword. She was something far more terrible. But even if she was not a sword, she was still a thing. Still a weapon in another's hand. Her Way was hollow, hollow as the crucible she claimed to be, but it was not brittle for it. There was no goal, no vision, only the endless present full of resistance to crush. The unity she claimed did not come from within herself, was not thought or conceived there.
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yrsillar said:
Because the vision, the ambition, the drive was elsewhere, embodied in another. Xia Ren was incomplete, but that was because she had subsumed herself totally to another's ideal.
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Xia Ren is a tool for all that she holds Sovereignty. Kinda like Jiao but in a way even worse.

yrsillar said:
The searing pain renewed. That was fine.

She would not be as the General, she would not lose the ability to feel.

Because she was wrong. Power was not so simple as that. The world was not simply a game of domination. Power was required for action, it was not required for respect.

She was a gnat to the Still Waters Deeping, she was still one of the primary artists of this moment. She clung onto that like a child holding onto the last piece of driftwood in a flood.
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Nice to see Ling Qi not getting swallowed up by Xia Ren's way. Ling Qi is right that Power isn't just domination and isn't required for respect.

yrsillar said:
She had made this, and so she had no right to refuse to witness it.
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Love that Ling Qi is taking responsibility for her choices.

yrsillar said:
Community, family. Holding kin above all else, before all else. She still though Cai Renxiang had been wrong, to call family the root of corruption. There was a mote of truth in it though.
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Good that she's staying aware of the downsides of her Way and values.

yrsillar said:
Was that the truth of Sovereignty then? The Polar Nations thought so certainly, and so guided those who wished for it to give up their desires and become conduits for the land and community.
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The Polar Nations have a good point.

yrsillar said:
Just as easy as ceasing to feel pain. The easy way is not the only one.

The whisper crawled across her thoughts like a cold ripple of water, a cold, dead but good humored whisper.

Look then, you are not the only small one making their will known in a battle of little gods.
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Ghost Mentor coming in to give his two cents.

yrsillar said:
The world is never still. Power is change. In every soul sleeps that spark. There is power in stoking that, enflaming that. Power that may move mountains and gods alike.
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This is such a cool Insight and really fitting for Ling Qi and her way.

yrsillar said:
Advanced Insight Acquired
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Not surprised that it's an Advanced Insight because this is pretty crazy.
 
Doramas said:
So last vote was a "Decide the shape of your Advanced Insight Vote".
As always, I'm extremely curious about how the unchosen "skulking" option would have looked like, but I'm convinced we took the right choice. The Soaring Advanced Insight is awesome.
I especially like the "In every soul sleeps that spark" bit. Really in line with Ling Qi's mindset that even small changes and actions matter, that it isn't just the great actors who determine the future.
Ling Qi will change the future by compelling others, inspiring them to act.

Meng Deming said that the Meng mantling technique required anchoring to places of power for it to work over long distances. Those must be what Zheng and Cao Chun are hitting.
Is it possible that SWD main body is actually back in Meng lands?
In that case Meng Deming will also have a fair share of work on her plate.
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You mean Meng Diu, Meng Dan's Grandmother (Grandaunt? Something like that)
Meng Deming is the 5th Rank Meng Conservative send to the Summit, presumably controlled/aligned with SWD.
Agreed on all the other stuff.
 
yrsillar said:
The world is never still. Power is change. In every soul sleeps that spark. There is power in stoking that, enflaming that. Power that may move mountains and gods alike.
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I was right to switch my vote. Goddamn! That last line is poignant to what Ling Qi does and aims to do. It might give our domain more tools against stronger foes.

Ok, so we need 3 insights (also fixing that one we stressed) and a shit-ton of xp. Its crazy how fast we blew through most of the major roadblocks in the Green Realm. We probably aren't 50 years to White fast, but goddamn! No wonder people are scared of us.

Edit: Can we get more Advanced Insights or nah? Do we even need them? How can we further overachieve?
 
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yrsillar said:
Difference breaks men from beasts; marks the chosen, defines the People and the lessers.
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This is interesting rhetoric, because one of the tension points between the Weilu Meng and the Imperial Hui, as expressed in the Legacy of the Horned Lords sidestory, is that the Imperials disdain spirit beasts as lesser than humans. Whereas the Weilu Meng conceive of their spirit beast companions as blood relatives, kin and family.

However, Meng Delun expresses similar disdain as the Imperial Hui when he declares beasts are lesser than humans in a similar fashion as non-believers are to adherents of the Meng's Dreaming Way. Probably this is a cleavage from the Pure One's actual teachings; the Pure One sought to convert the Horned Lord to not!Buddhism and succeeded by Huisheng's account.

(There's also that the Thousand Princes' religion, from which the Pure One's teachings derived, also disdain spirit beasts as incapable of achieving Transcendence, as expressed in the Radiant Serpent sidestories. This is probably why the Pure One wandered in the Emerald Seas, being a heretic who believed in equality of beasts and humans. Lucky him, since he was eventually proven true, as the Horned Lord seemed to have Transcended.)

Despite his screeching about preservation, Meng Delun has forgotten the teachings of both his great ancestors.

yrsillar said:
One of the winding towers of the temple crumbled inward and fell with a scream of sundered stone, untouched by the General's blade.
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Ah, so this was the route we could have gone on if we voted to chase the parasite bombs or to not carry the General. Mantles are a two-way street: as the disciple can wield power beyond themself, so too can they empower their patron. By hunting and removing Meng Delun's disciples, we weaken Meng Delun.

…Gosh, I sure hope Huisheng doesn't use Ling Qi's mantling to go [Nightmare of Burning Grove] on her family.
 
Shenhua wanted them to excel when handling the summit. If Ling Qi bringing down the treasonous elements of a Count clan and throwing down directly with a Sovereign doesn't qualify in her opinion then I'm going to pay Yrs to write a commission where I throw moldy towels at Shenhua and call her bad names.
 
For her first advanced insight Ling Qi blew up a Cyan spirit.
For her second she mantled a long-dead Sovereign and clowned on the Prism nightmare of the entire province.
And now for her third she's directly helping kill a Violet in a clash of at least three Sovereigns.
I want Zhi to be watching this all with Great Spirit popcorn and making excited noises.
 
Karthak Urzak said:
If Ling Qi bringing down the treasonous elements of a Count clan and throwing down directly with a Sovereign doesn't qualify in her opinion then I'm going to pay Yrs to write a commission where I throw moldy towels at Shenhua and call her bad names.
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Thing is, I think they believe they are doing the Duchess a favor by removing foreign elements from the province and thereby correcting her wayward daughter's deviance.

They wouldn't think of it as treason but just poper and just action to save the spirit of the province.

Probably a lot of rationalising of why they aren't going to get splattered by the Duchess if they do this on the sly.
 
Lol.

Lmao.

They are literally defined--politically--as "Our idealized version of the Height of the Weilu was the best part of history, and we should go back to being a bunch of tribal houses that don't bother each other and everything will be perfect"

I'm pretty sure lying like that is impossible in Shenhua's presence.
 
yrsillar said:
The world is never still. Power is change. In every soul sleeps that spark. There is power in stoking that, enflaming that. Power that may move mountains and gods alike.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
My hope was for this kind of power insight to show up in Soar, because this is character growth.

I'm pretty sure, due to the set up, that both options would have been character development on the front of Mason's War (otherwise known as the most beautiful mistake of the quest), the parallels were just too strong. And I'm almost certain that it would have positive in both cases (as I said, Ling Qi is helping execute a traitor, the fundamental tension of that failure isn't being replicated, but it is being called back to). But this is the kind of resolution I was hoping for when I read that event.
 
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