- Location
- Staring into the void
You merely adopted ASA, I was with it from the beginning, cultivating it with my tears.
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.
That is not how it works. You do not average the points, you average the ranks. A+C=B.
Yep. This was Qingge saving girls from a deplorable fate.
I wonder if when Ling Qi gets her territory if she we will be given choices in investing into social programs to diminish such circumstances?
...Though given Yrsillar's habit for divisive choices we would probably have to choose between a specialized cultivation complex or an effective welfare system.
Last edited:
LucidProp
Pocky Eating MafiaDoka
Our domain is Home so maybe establishing a Effective Welfare System also counts as Cultivation?...Though given Yrsillar's habit for divisive choices we would probably have to choose between a specialized cultivation complex or an effective welfare system.
EPC delivers!Our domain is Home so maybe establishing a Effective Welfare System also counts as Cultivation?
- Location
- Chicago
- Pronouns
- She/They
It occurs to me that in the long term, providing an example of a loving familiy to Cai Renxiang might be the most consequential outcome. Followed by setting our little sister up to be a peer competitor with ducal heirs when she joins the sect.
I like the idea of humanizing our liege.
I also like the idea of recruiting Sun and Rong for Cai's squad in the junior inter-sect competition, but I'm not sure the required level of empathy, interest in an enemy's motivation, and win-win thinking would be in genre.
But it would be cool to try and heal wounds between the Bai and Sun, at least between our peers. And we still need to find best snek a waifu- only Sun and Cai are at the level she deserves. (Sun presents some dsyphoria that may or may not be linked to queerness, while Cai was edited by her mother, who seems to be implied to be sleeping with her minister. So I think IC there is a chance one or both *could* return bai's feelings.)
I like the idea of humanizing our liege.
I also like the idea of recruiting Sun and Rong for Cai's squad in the junior inter-sect competition, but I'm not sure the required level of empathy, interest in an enemy's motivation, and win-win thinking would be in genre.
But it would be cool to try and heal wounds between the Bai and Sun, at least between our peers. And we still need to find best snek a waifu- only Sun and Cai are at the level she deserves. (Sun presents some dsyphoria that may or may not be linked to queerness, while Cai was edited by her mother, who seems to be implied to be sleeping with her minister. So I think IC there is a chance one or both *could* return bai's feelings.)
I really want to see him use this now.
Say, while people considered the combat applications of this already, the roots are permanent right?
You could use this to anchor weak slopes with instant roots for building on.
Also I wonder if they're fire resistant or if they counteract fire by just growing even faster?
Just in time for Hanyi to ride without being burned.
Does anyone recall the range increments? How big is it compared to FVM at full blast?
That helps a bit with Hanyi's squishiness.
I'd note that this doesn't include Hanyi yet. A rank damage explosion tho.
Zhengui:
-Dexterity: F
-Stealth: D + Innocuous Hill
-Wits: D
-Perceptiveness: D + Blooming From Ash(he can make his own 'heavy plant life')
Hanyi:
-Dexterity: C
-Stealth: E
-Wits: E
-Perceptiveness: D
...it occurs to me that Zhengui is going to beat Hanyi at Hide and Seek basically all the time.
Arkeus
Crazy cat guy
- Location
- France
Zhengui has F + D => E rank stealth, D with Innocuous hill. Hanyi has C+E=> D rank base. So they are equivalents there. However:
zhengui said:
Hanyi is really bad at percepton, and isn't rank 4 with Ling Qi.Hanyi said:
Arkeus
Crazy cat guy
- Location
- France
Anyway, Zhengui is a good Boi- though a bit smoll.
He has now a lot of syngery with stealth or ambush allies thanks to both Ashfall and Rolling Forest Regrowth, and he is also really well rounded. Not that he is good at everything, but he has a good enough tech suite to work. He might not have even rudimentary avoid, but his defence focus include armour and regen, including armour regen, which seems to be "counters armour debuffs", so you can't abuse his weak avoid to bypass his armour easily.
Offensive wise, not only does he have the capacity to attack both with Zhen and Gui at the same time, but he has counters against both attacks on himself and his allies, and his actual physical offensive stats are now fairly good (B8 or so), while his spiritual ones are at least not awful (C23 or so).
He has now a lot of syngery with stealth or ambush allies thanks to both Ashfall and Rolling Forest Regrowth, and he is also really well rounded. Not that he is good at everything, but he has a good enough tech suite to work. He might not have even rudimentary avoid, but his defence focus include armour and regen, including armour regen, which seems to be "counters armour debuffs", so you can't abuse his weak avoid to bypass his armour easily.
Offensive wise, not only does he have the capacity to attack both with Zhen and Gui at the same time, but he has counters against both attacks on himself and his allies, and his actual physical offensive stats are now fairly good (B8 or so), while his spiritual ones are at least not awful (C23 or so).
- Location
- The Temple of the Winds
Amusingly he loses his arguably biggest ambush bonus with Innocuous Hill not working on unaware targets.
- Location
- Chicago
- Pronouns
- She/They
So, two quick thought:
1) Life after Cai- what happens if we lose our vassalship due to Renxiang's mother? Can we just say fck it and go treasure hunting in the deserts? Maybe not such a huge loss. Especially since we don't have a drive to change the world- our motive for getting to white is ultimately defensive. Still urgent, but not something that demands power uber alles.
Plus it feels like the lack of focus in our build is driven by a need to be able to win challenges, as separate and distinct from supporting allies, as separate and distinct from art and theft. Unless we can harmonize the requirements of our trials, we won't be able to optimize our build. (Either accept losing duels to stay politically optimized, or drop core pieces of identity to try and get face punching numbers up. I'm in favor of accepting unoptimized and trying to have it all.)
2) How do we get an IC reason for Qi to get curious about Sun's motives? We know, as this is a quest, that there is a protagonist-worthy storyline her group is pursuing. And we are getting stronger and stronger indications that the real threats we have to face are external to the empire, so it is very much in everyone's interests to be able to be allies. This is going to be impossible without work: we'll end up repeating the larger situation- an empire fractured by grudges between the families, opening the empire up to conquest. Setting up the new generation to offer something different and stronger has been well-started by the reproachment between Bai and Cai, but the hard part starts now.
1) Life after Cai- what happens if we lose our vassalship due to Renxiang's mother? Can we just say fck it and go treasure hunting in the deserts? Maybe not such a huge loss. Especially since we don't have a drive to change the world- our motive for getting to white is ultimately defensive. Still urgent, but not something that demands power uber alles.
Plus it feels like the lack of focus in our build is driven by a need to be able to win challenges, as separate and distinct from supporting allies, as separate and distinct from art and theft. Unless we can harmonize the requirements of our trials, we won't be able to optimize our build. (Either accept losing duels to stay politically optimized, or drop core pieces of identity to try and get face punching numbers up. I'm in favor of accepting unoptimized and trying to have it all.)
2) How do we get an IC reason for Qi to get curious about Sun's motives? We know, as this is a quest, that there is a protagonist-worthy storyline her group is pursuing. And we are getting stronger and stronger indications that the real threats we have to face are external to the empire, so it is very much in everyone's interests to be able to be allies. This is going to be impossible without work: we'll end up repeating the larger situation- an empire fractured by grudges between the families, opening the empire up to conquest. Setting up the new generation to offer something different and stronger has been well-started by the reproachment between Bai and Cai, but the hard part starts now.
- Location
- scrabbling
that is not how vassalship works
Ling Qi would lose a close special retainership, but would still be a baroness sworn to the Emerald Seas.
Temple Treasure
EternalObserver
eYe Gaze baCk
- Location
- The Void
The Treasure? A book of risque love poems.Here some more Xuan Shi art, this time on what may happen in his SL (keep in mind, this is AU)
shiny bright light being the treasure, to be continued on part 2
gonna work on part 2 tomorrow
@yrsillar another one!
Spiritual Avoid is a massive problem. There's nothing to stop Zhengui from being debuffed into irrelevance. We need to bully him a lot with our disablers in training to fix this. I sense a lot of dancing tortoise in our future.
EternalObserver
eYe Gaze baCk
- Location
- The Void
I don't think what you're suggesting is gonna work out. Especially considering at the last thread's relationship chart, Ling Qi hates Liling at the same intensity that she likes Meizhen.
Arkeus
Crazy cat guy
- Location
- France
Eternal Roots being 'armor regen' at least means armour debuffs are severely limited against him. It's not optimal, and really what he needs is a tech like Heaven Scarred Trunk, but it's better than nothing. Oh, and yeah, he does need a anti-grapple. We can make do for a while with TRU, but really Zhengui shouldn't be juggled so easily.
I feel like his personal counter tech should extend to opposing many kinds of physical grapple techs, tbh. Or a branch of it, in the future. Ninjas can't catch you if you're on fire, after all.
- Location
- Chicago
- Pronouns
- She/They
Yeah... Closes off a lot of potential routes. I think there most practical would actually be Bai herself- almost the entire beef we've had with Sun is based on the hostility between these two, a hostility which seems driven by familial rather than personal reasons. So we hate Sun as loyalty to Bai. The most IC way I can think of for Ling to soften would be to support an attempt by Bai to reach out. ...which could be a gracious victor thing, or a push from somewhere to keep a lid on this grudge before it turns to civil war again. (Ministry with the Owl? We know very little about them, save they were supposed to keep a lid on things. Cai would probably do it too, to prevent further tears in the fabric of the empire, but I think she's too caught up in having an enemy.)
The problem is we don't really know what is driving the conflict. Old grudge on the Bai's side, desperation and doubling down to get out of a debt to a bloody goddess on the Sun's side are the hints... But this does have the shape of a story where the Sun are unwilling pawns of the jungle who are shown mercy and saved by their old enemies . Idk.
But the external enemy scenario remains most likely. In which case we've got the cloud nomads on deck, followed by the gnawing demon-worshiping cloud nomads right behind them (and how interesting the use of "gnawing" to tie together the demon in the deep South, the worms Yan Renshu uses, and the not-quite-qi creatures we just encountered on our cave-diving expedition), followed by the hungry jungle goddess (implication being that whatever Sun's grandfather did, it is wearing off/assimilating that clan).
Biggest advantage is that both Bai and Sun seem to be drifting from family policy- Sun was warned to keep focus on Bai and not let the conflict become her vs Cai, which seemed to be her personal preference; Bai has grown much kinder than her family and tbh has very little loyalty to any individuals in it except her aunt- which may become strained as boys are pushed at her.
Anyways. I have hope, because the conflicts and enemies in the inner sect are to a degree imposed and artificial. Something big enough to flip that game board is bound to come along, I just want to be in a position to take advantage.
- Location
- foraging for beans
For part 1 here, if we fail Shenhua, she'll give LQ one chance to redeem herself, like she gave one to Gan Guangli. If LQ fails there, she's probably getting exiled to some frontier barony somewhere and will never get the resources to get past cyan.
The reasoning here has two parts:
1. If LQ fails, Shenhua is still her liege, so she can't just go off adventuring somewhere, or work out some sort of marriage deal, or whatever, if Shenhua decides she's not up to her standards.
2. Cultivation takes enormous resources, resources that an new baron like LQ won't be able to obtain on her own. And Shenhua isn't going to give resources to a failure.
These reasons are what's behind all the fearmongering about failing Shenhua, by the way. Cai path was the "win big or fail hard" option, and if LQ does fail, aside from the one chance that Shenhua will give that'll be even harder than the original task. If LQ fails that task, that's it. She's going to wind up as some obscure cyan baron on some frontier somewhere.
Froyo Baggins
Sock Puppet
- Location
- NYC
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Froyo Baggins
Sock Puppet
- Location
- NYC
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@yrsillar We consider Bai Meizhen a sister, which includes her in household time right?
- Location
- United Kingdom
It's in the informational threadmarks.
Turn 4: Arc 1-4 End
That night wouldn't be the last time Ling Qi tarried longer at home, she promised herself, but for the moment it would have to be. She would have to change some of her plans and half formed schedules but… she believed that she could accomplish her goals and spend more time at tasks aside from cultivation. Her liege certainly managed, even if she was starting to strain under the workload.
...That said, Ling Qi had never actually asked just what all that paperwork she so often saw Renxiang going through was for or just what it was that took up so much of her time. When she had realized that, on her way back up the mountain, Ling Qi had felt briefly uncomfortable. Cai Renxiang had never offered to share the information… but Ling Qi had never really asked either. When she thought about it, their relationship was still pretty distant, wasn't it?
Unfortunately, Ling Qi would not have time to act on that realization in the short term though. Not only was she moving to more advanced lessons under her senior brother in the Scouting core, in preparation for live exercises next month, but she had the first of her sessions with Bai Meizhen's cousin schedules for the afternoon after said lesson, and the evening was set out for cultivation. Plus, if she recalled correctly, Cai Renxiang was going to be busy herself for some time… She had taken up a major sect duty, assisting the Core Disciple that had made Ling Qi's gown with a project.
It seemed that the slowing of cultivation with age was not just a matter of decaying talent and the nature of qi… Staying engaged with the people and the world around her was quite a time sink. She couldn't afford to just play hermit or space out and cultivate whenever it suited her anymore, she had to consider so many other things.
Ling Qi was still contemplating that problem by the time afternoon had rolled around and the time for her first meeting with Xiao Fen had arrived. In her letter confirming the tutopring, she had picked out a mostly barren spot a good distance from the town. It was the site of a clearcutting, the Sect was overseeing an expansion of the fields around the settlement, it looked like. Still for the moment it remained empty, and was thus good for her purposes.
Ling Qi sat atop a small, stony hillock as she waited for her 'junior sister' to arrive, idly playing a contemplative tune on her flute as her thoughts wandered. Sixiang hummed along in her head, and Hanyi was back at her sect lodgings soaking up argent qi at the Ling Qi's vent… she had been a little frustrated, apparently her transformation and breakthrough had left her unable to use some of her channels properly and it hadn't cleared up yet. As for Zhengui…
Ling Qi perked up a bit as she felt Xiao Fen enter the range of her senses. The younger girl's aura had not changed much at all since their last meeting three months ago, though she had advanced well into the mid stage of the second realm in both forms of cultivation. It was only a few moments later that she caught sight of Xiao Fen, picking her way through the rolling stump strewn landscape at a dignified pace.
She had switched out the basic argent uniform for a new gown, black in color and simple in cut. The second layer of the gown shimmered silver however, as did the trailing sash around her waist and the pins and ties in her hair. Like the threads of sharpened metal woven into her braids, Ling Qi could tell that the sash was a weapon too, she could see the faint gleam of needlepoints on its trailing hem.
It seemed impractical, but then again, Ling Qi hit people with concentrated artistic expression, so who was she to judge. "Hello junior sister!" she called cheerfully, lowering her flute and raising a hand to wave. Senior Brother Ruan was right, being able to say that was fun. "Come on up and have a seat."
She watched as Bai Xiao Fen peered up at her from the bottom of the slope with narrowed eyes, and then glanced around, seemingly unsettled by something. Ling Qi hid the little grin that tried to surface as she stared down at the other girl.
Xiao Fen gave their surroundings one last distrustful glance and then began to ascend the hill. "Greetings, Senior Sister Ling," she replied with stiff formality. "Shall I assume this… site is a gift?"
"Something like that," Ling Qi replied, keeping her expression straight. "How have you found the Outer Sect so far?"
"Mildly stifling, this place is both too dry and too cold, and my simpering peers are an irritant," Xiao Fen replied, reaching the top of the hill, glancing around briefly before finding a flat spot to kneel, like a retainer at attention. Ling Qi raised an eyebrow, glancing down at her own informal seating on a raised boulder. Well, whatever made the girl comfortable.
There was also that reply. "Are you alright Junior Sister? I don't really mind, but that is a little rude isn't it?"
"Bai Meizhen has asked that I speak plainly in private with her, and that I should treat you with the same respect I do her," Xiao Fen seemed to twitch uncomfortably at the admission.
This girl was very literal, Ling Qi thought, bringing a pulse of amusement from Sixiang. "You know, it might not be my business but… what exactly is the relationship between you two?" Ling Qi found herself asking
"I am here to serve her, members of the Xiao branch are raised to devote themselves to a member of the main Bai house. It has been my honor to be selected so early for that duty," Xiao Fen replied proudly, though Ling Qi could feel the a seething ember of discontent at the core of her words. That was the real root of her problem with the Sect Ling Qi suspected.
Ling Qi had done a little studying before this, so she had known the answer. Of course the history she had read had couched the relationship in terms of a story about the eldest and youngest of the eight daughters the Bai's founder, Yao the fisher. Basically when the eight daughters of Bai had fallen to feuding and civil war, only the youngest sister had stuck with the eldest and supported her rightful claim to clan headship from the very start, and they had decided that their descendants should always be side by side. She just… didn't feel like that was enough, for the sense of honest devotion she got from Xiao Fen whenever Meizhen's name came up.
She had expected there to be something more like their mothers being friends, or that they were childhood playmates or… something. "It might not be my place to say but… if you really want to serve Meizhen well… duty won't be enough I think. There's more to family than that."
Xiao Fen gave her a singularly unimpressed look. "You are right, it is not your place, even if my cousin thinks so highly of you, what can you know…"
"I know Meizhen is a lonely person, and she closes others out easily," Ling Qi replied bluntly, her aura stirring as she spoke. "I know that her mother is gone, and for whatever reason she doesn't interact much with her father. When our time in the Sect ends, she's going to need someone to support her, and I'm not talking about cultivation or combat."
Xiao Fen stared at her for several long seconds, and Ling QI could practically see the twin motivations of pride in her clan and obeying Meizhen's words warring in her head. "I will take your advice into account Senior Sister," she finally said, her voice dull.
"I'm not saying that your clan is wrong or mistaken, or even that your performing your role badly, I don't even know you," Ling Qi replied, hoping that she wasn't speaking in vain. "Just… think about why she asked you to speak plainly to her, you know? Meizhen needs more friends more than she needs a servant."
Xiao Fen regarded her silently again, some of the indignation slipping away. "I understand your intentions, Senior Sister," she replied, briefly dipping her head.
Ling Qi let out a sigh of relief, and pressed on. "Any luck on following our advice?"
Bai Xiao Fen frowned and glanced away, her indignation draining away, looking faintly shamed. "There were several… set backs. However, my current sparring partner did not crumble under the cultivation regime I set him after I informed him of our friendship. I believe I have acquired an acceptable friend."
Ling Qi stared at her blanky for a fraction of a second, but it was Sixiang who gave voice to her thoughts.
"...There are so many things going on between those words, I'm not sure where to start," the spirit said dryly.
"That is… good," Ling Qi replied slowly trying to find a polite way to ask her question. "What is your friend like exactly?" She finally settled on asking.
Xiao Fen paused, considering the question "Liu Xin is the son of mortal cobbler from the Lower Rootways of Xiangmen, before his talent was discovered. He is appropriately ruthless in combat, and neither cried when struck in the groin or other pain centers, nor hesitated to attempt similar effective techniques on me," here the younger girl paused again. "...I find his wit and capacity for cutting retorts in the face of unearned pride amusing. He enjoys a light White Branch Tea."
Ling Qi took a deep breath and then let it out. She wasn't going to judge. Still a commoner from the capital of Emerald Seas. She had to wonder what it was like in a place that had so much cultivator presence. "Well, I'm glad that's coming along," she said with a nod. "How are things with the other matter?"
"My intelligence is somewhat limited, given the division between first years and the others, but it appears Gan Guangli has organized a successful faction from the remains of your liege's project. There is a lesser Jin scion among my peers, as well as several…" the younger girl faught down a sneer. "Nobles from the western territories. The information I have so far is here."
Ling Qi accepted the tightly rolled scroll that the other girl offered, and upon drawing it into her ring, drew a storage ring from between the layers of her gown. "Here, Lady Cai has put together dossiers on all the first year disciples from Emerald Seas, and the plans to convince them to cooperate or stay on the sidelines. There are also a tidy supply of cultivation resources in here, for Gan Guangli himself as well as any lower realms he wants to dole them out too. You can tell him that she'll have some talismans ready for next month too."
Xiao Fen nodded once sharply, accepting the ring. "I see, and our… tutoring?"
"We can get started now," Ling Qi said lightly before slapping the stone she was sitting on. "Up you go little brother, nap time is over."
Ling Qi very carefully did not grin or otherwise react to the startled quickly choked off shriek of surprise that rose from Xiao Fen's lips as the entire hillock heaved upward, dust and stone falling away to reveal her little brother, and Zhen slithered free of their shell to loom over the both of them. "Big Sister is cruel, making us wait so long, then accusing us of napping. I had to put up with foolish Gui's humming for an hour."
"I'm only teasing. Thanks for playing along little brother," Ling Qi said lightly, resting her hand on Zhen's burning hot scales. She then glanced over at Xiao Fen, who was doing her best to look wholly unruffled. "Ah right, Xiao Fen, this is Zhengui, he's not a cultivation site, but he will be taking us to one." She had cleared it with Gu Xiulan already, but the siite that Gu Yanmei had shared with her last year was their destination.
Xiao Fen shot her a look of frustrated irritation. "This Xiao Fen greets the honorable… Zhengui," it looked like saying the name physically hurt her. Ling Qi thought that she really need to lighten up. "Senior Sister, what are your plans?"
"Well, I thought I would follow Elder Jiao's example," Ling QI mused as they began to move. They would get running soon, but for now there was no point in returning Zhengui. "So we'll start with some hide and seek in the caves at the site, and then I'll assign you some tasks. It might not be my best skill anymore, but I am pretty good at stealth still."
Yes, inflicting Elder Jiao's lessons on someone else, insofar as she could, would certainly be appropriate tutoring, after all, she was passing on the wisdom of a Sect Elder!
AN: and that brings us to the end of this arc, and with it brings us to the first s-link vote.
[] Xuan Shi: For once, the odd boy has called in your offered favor. He wishes for your aid in penetrating the interior of an odd little temple full of traps and puzzles.
[] Shen Hu: The taciturn boy has approached you for once. He has found the abandoned lair of an underworld dragon, but is not confident that he can face the scavengers that fill it unopposed.
...That said, Ling Qi had never actually asked just what all that paperwork she so often saw Renxiang going through was for or just what it was that took up so much of her time. When she had realized that, on her way back up the mountain, Ling Qi had felt briefly uncomfortable. Cai Renxiang had never offered to share the information… but Ling Qi had never really asked either. When she thought about it, their relationship was still pretty distant, wasn't it?
Unfortunately, Ling Qi would not have time to act on that realization in the short term though. Not only was she moving to more advanced lessons under her senior brother in the Scouting core, in preparation for live exercises next month, but she had the first of her sessions with Bai Meizhen's cousin schedules for the afternoon after said lesson, and the evening was set out for cultivation. Plus, if she recalled correctly, Cai Renxiang was going to be busy herself for some time… She had taken up a major sect duty, assisting the Core Disciple that had made Ling Qi's gown with a project.
It seemed that the slowing of cultivation with age was not just a matter of decaying talent and the nature of qi… Staying engaged with the people and the world around her was quite a time sink. She couldn't afford to just play hermit or space out and cultivate whenever it suited her anymore, she had to consider so many other things.
Ling Qi was still contemplating that problem by the time afternoon had rolled around and the time for her first meeting with Xiao Fen had arrived. In her letter confirming the tutopring, she had picked out a mostly barren spot a good distance from the town. It was the site of a clearcutting, the Sect was overseeing an expansion of the fields around the settlement, it looked like. Still for the moment it remained empty, and was thus good for her purposes.
Ling Qi sat atop a small, stony hillock as she waited for her 'junior sister' to arrive, idly playing a contemplative tune on her flute as her thoughts wandered. Sixiang hummed along in her head, and Hanyi was back at her sect lodgings soaking up argent qi at the Ling Qi's vent… she had been a little frustrated, apparently her transformation and breakthrough had left her unable to use some of her channels properly and it hadn't cleared up yet. As for Zhengui…
Ling Qi perked up a bit as she felt Xiao Fen enter the range of her senses. The younger girl's aura had not changed much at all since their last meeting three months ago, though she had advanced well into the mid stage of the second realm in both forms of cultivation. It was only a few moments later that she caught sight of Xiao Fen, picking her way through the rolling stump strewn landscape at a dignified pace.
She had switched out the basic argent uniform for a new gown, black in color and simple in cut. The second layer of the gown shimmered silver however, as did the trailing sash around her waist and the pins and ties in her hair. Like the threads of sharpened metal woven into her braids, Ling Qi could tell that the sash was a weapon too, she could see the faint gleam of needlepoints on its trailing hem.
It seemed impractical, but then again, Ling Qi hit people with concentrated artistic expression, so who was she to judge. "Hello junior sister!" she called cheerfully, lowering her flute and raising a hand to wave. Senior Brother Ruan was right, being able to say that was fun. "Come on up and have a seat."
She watched as Bai Xiao Fen peered up at her from the bottom of the slope with narrowed eyes, and then glanced around, seemingly unsettled by something. Ling Qi hid the little grin that tried to surface as she stared down at the other girl.
Xiao Fen gave their surroundings one last distrustful glance and then began to ascend the hill. "Greetings, Senior Sister Ling," she replied with stiff formality. "Shall I assume this… site is a gift?"
"Something like that," Ling Qi replied, keeping her expression straight. "How have you found the Outer Sect so far?"
"Mildly stifling, this place is both too dry and too cold, and my simpering peers are an irritant," Xiao Fen replied, reaching the top of the hill, glancing around briefly before finding a flat spot to kneel, like a retainer at attention. Ling Qi raised an eyebrow, glancing down at her own informal seating on a raised boulder. Well, whatever made the girl comfortable.
There was also that reply. "Are you alright Junior Sister? I don't really mind, but that is a little rude isn't it?"
"Bai Meizhen has asked that I speak plainly in private with her, and that I should treat you with the same respect I do her," Xiao Fen seemed to twitch uncomfortably at the admission.
This girl was very literal, Ling Qi thought, bringing a pulse of amusement from Sixiang. "You know, it might not be my business but… what exactly is the relationship between you two?" Ling Qi found herself asking
"I am here to serve her, members of the Xiao branch are raised to devote themselves to a member of the main Bai house. It has been my honor to be selected so early for that duty," Xiao Fen replied proudly, though Ling Qi could feel the a seething ember of discontent at the core of her words. That was the real root of her problem with the Sect Ling Qi suspected.
Ling Qi had done a little studying before this, so she had known the answer. Of course the history she had read had couched the relationship in terms of a story about the eldest and youngest of the eight daughters the Bai's founder, Yao the fisher. Basically when the eight daughters of Bai had fallen to feuding and civil war, only the youngest sister had stuck with the eldest and supported her rightful claim to clan headship from the very start, and they had decided that their descendants should always be side by side. She just… didn't feel like that was enough, for the sense of honest devotion she got from Xiao Fen whenever Meizhen's name came up.
She had expected there to be something more like their mothers being friends, or that they were childhood playmates or… something. "It might not be my place to say but… if you really want to serve Meizhen well… duty won't be enough I think. There's more to family than that."
Xiao Fen gave her a singularly unimpressed look. "You are right, it is not your place, even if my cousin thinks so highly of you, what can you know…"
"I know Meizhen is a lonely person, and she closes others out easily," Ling Qi replied bluntly, her aura stirring as she spoke. "I know that her mother is gone, and for whatever reason she doesn't interact much with her father. When our time in the Sect ends, she's going to need someone to support her, and I'm not talking about cultivation or combat."
Xiao Fen stared at her for several long seconds, and Ling QI could practically see the twin motivations of pride in her clan and obeying Meizhen's words warring in her head. "I will take your advice into account Senior Sister," she finally said, her voice dull.
"I'm not saying that your clan is wrong or mistaken, or even that your performing your role badly, I don't even know you," Ling Qi replied, hoping that she wasn't speaking in vain. "Just… think about why she asked you to speak plainly to her, you know? Meizhen needs more friends more than she needs a servant."
Xiao Fen regarded her silently again, some of the indignation slipping away. "I understand your intentions, Senior Sister," she replied, briefly dipping her head.
Ling Qi let out a sigh of relief, and pressed on. "Any luck on following our advice?"
Bai Xiao Fen frowned and glanced away, her indignation draining away, looking faintly shamed. "There were several… set backs. However, my current sparring partner did not crumble under the cultivation regime I set him after I informed him of our friendship. I believe I have acquired an acceptable friend."
Ling Qi stared at her blanky for a fraction of a second, but it was Sixiang who gave voice to her thoughts.
"...There are so many things going on between those words, I'm not sure where to start," the spirit said dryly.
"That is… good," Ling Qi replied slowly trying to find a polite way to ask her question. "What is your friend like exactly?" She finally settled on asking.
Xiao Fen paused, considering the question "Liu Xin is the son of mortal cobbler from the Lower Rootways of Xiangmen, before his talent was discovered. He is appropriately ruthless in combat, and neither cried when struck in the groin or other pain centers, nor hesitated to attempt similar effective techniques on me," here the younger girl paused again. "...I find his wit and capacity for cutting retorts in the face of unearned pride amusing. He enjoys a light White Branch Tea."
Ling Qi took a deep breath and then let it out. She wasn't going to judge. Still a commoner from the capital of Emerald Seas. She had to wonder what it was like in a place that had so much cultivator presence. "Well, I'm glad that's coming along," she said with a nod. "How are things with the other matter?"
"My intelligence is somewhat limited, given the division between first years and the others, but it appears Gan Guangli has organized a successful faction from the remains of your liege's project. There is a lesser Jin scion among my peers, as well as several…" the younger girl faught down a sneer. "Nobles from the western territories. The information I have so far is here."
Ling Qi accepted the tightly rolled scroll that the other girl offered, and upon drawing it into her ring, drew a storage ring from between the layers of her gown. "Here, Lady Cai has put together dossiers on all the first year disciples from Emerald Seas, and the plans to convince them to cooperate or stay on the sidelines. There are also a tidy supply of cultivation resources in here, for Gan Guangli himself as well as any lower realms he wants to dole them out too. You can tell him that she'll have some talismans ready for next month too."
Xiao Fen nodded once sharply, accepting the ring. "I see, and our… tutoring?"
"We can get started now," Ling Qi said lightly before slapping the stone she was sitting on. "Up you go little brother, nap time is over."
Ling Qi very carefully did not grin or otherwise react to the startled quickly choked off shriek of surprise that rose from Xiao Fen's lips as the entire hillock heaved upward, dust and stone falling away to reveal her little brother, and Zhen slithered free of their shell to loom over the both of them. "Big Sister is cruel, making us wait so long, then accusing us of napping. I had to put up with foolish Gui's humming for an hour."
"I'm only teasing. Thanks for playing along little brother," Ling Qi said lightly, resting her hand on Zhen's burning hot scales. She then glanced over at Xiao Fen, who was doing her best to look wholly unruffled. "Ah right, Xiao Fen, this is Zhengui, he's not a cultivation site, but he will be taking us to one." She had cleared it with Gu Xiulan already, but the siite that Gu Yanmei had shared with her last year was their destination.
Xiao Fen shot her a look of frustrated irritation. "This Xiao Fen greets the honorable… Zhengui," it looked like saying the name physically hurt her. Ling Qi thought that she really need to lighten up. "Senior Sister, what are your plans?"
"Well, I thought I would follow Elder Jiao's example," Ling QI mused as they began to move. They would get running soon, but for now there was no point in returning Zhengui. "So we'll start with some hide and seek in the caves at the site, and then I'll assign you some tasks. It might not be my best skill anymore, but I am pretty good at stealth still."
Yes, inflicting Elder Jiao's lessons on someone else, insofar as she could, would certainly be appropriate tutoring, after all, she was passing on the wisdom of a Sect Elder!
AN: and that brings us to the end of this arc, and with it brings us to the first s-link vote.
[] Xuan Shi: For once, the odd boy has called in your offered favor. He wishes for your aid in penetrating the interior of an odd little temple full of traps and puzzles.
[] Shen Hu: The taciturn boy has approached you for once. He has found the abandoned lair of an underworld dragon, but is not confident that he can face the scavengers that fill it unopposed.