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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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Dreaming for the trifecta. Then we have a moon for each of the aspects that Ling Qi likes doing.
 
Yeah, I think we should go dreaming. This seems to be a 'doubling down' part of the cultivation art, except that Ling Qi having so heavily pushed into music means she has Dreaming opened to her.

And, well, Ling Qi IS a Music/Sneak/Explorer bard.
 
Humbaba said:
[] Grinning Moon

Let's not forget how it all started.
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We already chose Grinning Moon way back at the start of the Moon quests.

Plus the progression of EPC and the Moon quests is a narrative. Moon sempai went Bloody and then Reflecting in order to symbolise how he wanted to stop evil by reforming evildoers or nudge them away from their paths.

We cunningly sneak>discover secrets with our curiosity>?
 
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You know, I somehow completely forgot that Xuan Shi knew time magic. That sounds awesome and ripe for exploitation, if painfully expensive.

Also, I'm now picturing Xuan Shi as a Nasu fanboy who just found out the whole series started with hentai games.
 
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yrsillar said:
"And what is that point?" Ling Qi asked, speaking before her mind could catch up, she didn't blame Xuan Shi for bringing her here. He was a poor enough liar that she was sure that he genuinely hadn't intended something untoward.

Yuan He gave her a look, and Ling Qi felt an unpleasant prickling on her skin, like he was looking through her. "Young lady, I think you will find that the men and women of this world can take most anything and make of it a horror. This place was however, built to bring young men and women together in joy and comfort, away from judging eyes."
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:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

Gotta love that obliviousness

Makes me wanna know the outcomes of the other choices (Maze and river)
 
Not too upset by the voting mix-up, I did think it was weird that Mr. S Class Armor wouldn't be on Defense, though getting an advanced skill out of it feels weird now.

yrsillar said:
Perceptiveness C
-Intensive Focus: B
Advanced skill born of one who focuses best on a trial directly before her eyes. The attention of one with this skill is not easily shaken off.
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As advanced skills go, it is nowhere near as great as Sable Grace or something like that. I suppose it will super help with piercing security arrays, which is probably the bets part of this.

yrsillar said:
Then Ling Qi heard a rumbling battle cry and a mighty crash as a massive weight smashed against the statues shins. Zhengui, charging forward, with his shell aglow with magmatic light, sent the statue tumbling, and over it's falling shoulder, she spied Xuan Shi standing atop his shell, seemingly unbothered by the smoke rising from his feet. His ringed staff was raised over his head horizontally. As she watched, she felt the qi around the staff distort, and very suddenly, the weapon went wholly still, even as Zhengui's forward momentum tore it from Xuan Shi's hands.

It hung there in the air, impossibly still, even as the statue fell upon it, and remained there hanging still in a cloud of dust after it had carved clean through the fallen constructs neck. For a moment, as the echoes of the statues fall faded from the temple, Ling Qi hung silently in the air, staring down at the unmoving ruin they had wrought.
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Damn, you can Clockblocker objects as just a Green. What goddamn shenanigans can a White Time cultivator get up to?

yrsillar said:
"Without it's time, there is no brute might which could budge an an object," Xuan Shi replied. Raising his hand, he gestured and the staff shimmered before spinning back to his hand. As it did though, Ling Qi saw one of the jade rings which hung from its head shatter. "...Time cannot be held back forever however, and the price must be paid. Time arts incur great expense."

Ling Qi eyes the remaining rings, all made of the very highest quality white jade, which even the richest mortal could not dream of owning so much as a fragment of. "Just how much did it cost, last year to restrain Ji Rong like that."

Xuan Shi looked aside, seeming embarrassed. "...Too much. This one somewhat regrets the ostentatious display."

"Only somewhat?" Ling Qi asked, raising an eyebrow.

"The punishment was excessive, not unwarranted," he replied shortly. "But… this one should not have let the ruffian's words affect his temper so."

"Fair enough," Ling Qi replied, wondering what Ji Rong could have said that would actually lead to Xuan Shi losing his temper, while mentally batting away Sixiang's insistent nudging.
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Good to see Xuan Shi acknowledging that he was far too harsh. Ji Rong was kinda fucked over a lot by that move.

yrsillar said:
He nodded, and jabbed his staff forward, pushing the door open. What lay on the other side however, left Ling Qi unsure what to think. Beyond the door lay a dimly lit room hung with streamers of silk. In one far corner, their bubbled a pool of clear, clean water, with flower petals floating on its surface and in the other was a long couch, wide enough for two people lying side by side. Faint streams of soft, airy music floated on the air, carrying strains of contentment and affection.

Stepping through the door beside Xuan Shi, she glanced left and right, taking in the mostly empty shelf that still had dusty cups and a single bottle of sweet wine, and then back to the full length mirror on the other wall. "What," she said dully, for the second time this day.

Xuan Shi sank his face into his free hand. "...This one apologizes."
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And the final prize is a secret sex cave. Absolutely wonderful.

yrsillar said:
"Just what kind of books do you read?" Sixiang said in a delighted, sing song voice.

"The Voyages of Yu Long are tales of romance and adventure," Xuan Shi said defensively. "Not this… tastelessness," he said a bit too quickly, gesturing at the room in general.

"Only because the old goat could not get his original manuscripts published," said a voice from only just behind them.

Ling Qi nearly jumped out of her skin as she spun around. How! She hadn't felt anything at… all.

Behind her stood a figure she had only seen briefly before. Staring down at her with serene gray eyes, Yuan He ran his fingers through his beard, an expression of faint amusement on his ancient face. Or… no, it was just an image of him, she thought, or else he was simply so far above her that her senses could not discern the difference. Either was possible.
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Motherfucking Yuan He. I think he was forecasted as being the Elder most linked to this place, since the books were kept in his Sect. But it's still a little surprising.

yrsillar said:
She coughed into her hand, still keeping her head respectfully low. "...Sect Head Yuan, I- could I ask you to explain please?" she asked haltingly.

He glanced her way, and ling tensed her shoulders. "Hm, I suppose it must be difficult to imagine," the old man mused. "But once, the Sect was a much smaller and less ordered place. My Sect Uncle Lang was a good man, but one with opinions on propriety and certain forms of openness that made him… unpopular."

Xuan Shi had a terribly conflicted look in his eyes. "Do you mean to say that his works were meant for only…"

The bottom of a steel shod cane cracked against the floor, and thunder rumbled. "Young man, if my Uncle's work spoke to you, then does it matter that it might have been planned to include some illicit content?" The old man asked blithely.

"...No," Xuan Shi replied after a moment.

Ling Qi didn't know that she agreed. Such things were kept well out of public for a reason, she had seen what it looked like when things like that were not handled with care, far, far from everyday life.

"Ling Qi," Sixiang sighed.
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Gooooood shit, Yuan He. The fact that a work includes sexuality does not degrade it, does not lessen its artistic value, doesn't automatically turn into value-less fetish material. Sexuality is an aspect of human life that deserves attention just as much as any other, and shunting off to the side to be mocked as low-status and crass is just puritanism.

yrsillar said:
"Well, my thoughts on the matter aside, I can hardly allow this place to remain open in this day and age," Yuan He sighed. "Still, the two of you have reminded me of good days. Even if the both of you rather missed the point of the place," he said with a bark of laughter.

"And what is that point?" Ling Qi asked, speaking before her mind could catch up, she didn't blame Xuan Shi for bringing her here. He was a poor enough liar that she was sure that he genuinely hadn't intended something untoward.

Yuan He gave her a look, and Ling Qi felt an unpleasant prickling on her skin, like he was looking through her. "Young lady, I think you will find that the men and women of this world can take most anything and make of it a horror. This place was however, built to bring young men and women together in joy and comfort, away from judging eyes."

Ling Qi looked away unable to hold the old man's gaze, what a surreal conversation this was. Still… she supposed it wasn't impossible. Her experiences aside… she had glimpsed things in Sixiang's memory, something so fundamental to the human experience couldn't be wholly awful. It didn't make standing here in this room make her skin crawl any less.
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Qi grew up around sex, and not in a very healthy way. Not when the prostitutes are near the bottom of the social ladder and can be abused and denigrated by their socially superior clients. And then she was in the very precarious position of a female street rat with no one to protect her from thugs for years. We've seen her fear of intimate physical contact, having someone more powerful than her break her personal bubble without permission.

yrsillar said:
"What happened to the author?" Xuan Shi asked quietly, breaking the silence.

"Sect Elder Lang fell in the final battle with Ogodei, like many others," Yuan He replied, taking another glance around the room. Once again he rapped his cane against the earth, and very suddenly they were back outside the ruin, and Ling Qi could hear Hanyi and Zhengui's cries of confusion behind them. "In any case, for bringing this to my attention, I will see the two of you rewarded, now, get you gone. Sealing off this valley is going to take some time."

Together, Ling Qi and Xuan Shi bowed and turned to leave. It was an odd end to an odd adventure. Still, up until it's end… she had had fun. Now though it was time to get back to her duties. Cai Renxiang's next social gathering was coming up, and she could feel the insistent tugging of the hole in her cultivation arc, demanding that she decide which phase to empower
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And so ends our little adventure. No SL upgrade with Shi, sadly enough.

yrsillar said:
+10 Contribution Points
+60 Sect Points
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Hot damn, that is sooo many saved AP. I think the estimate was like 7-9 AP. So good.

yrsillar said:
[] Grinning Moon
[] Hidden Moon
[] Dreaming Moon
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Definitely not Hidden for me. Grinning goes all the way back to her prayer as a kid. And Dreaming embodies her music.
 
Currently, in the Xuan Shi Negaverse:
Nega!Yrsillar said:
Unflinchingly face a shocking revelation about your favorite stories has unlocked an Advanced Insight!

Choose one of the following:
[] Death of the Author. The value of a Work is derived from the uses it is put to, not the intent of the creator. Aesthetics and utility both are decided thus.
[] Deeper Depths. The world always finds ways to surprise us. Any work, no matter how familiar, has more in store if you can examine it from a new perspective.
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I think I have to go Dreaming for Sixiang, our Music investment, and the fact that Cai wants us to pivot to diplomat.



PrimalShadow said:
Currently, in the Xuan Shi Negaverse:
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The Insight these are evolved from:

Though the Earth does not sleep, it may still dream
-:You may count reading a book for purposes other than research or reference as napping for the mechanics of any other art.
 
yrsillar said:
I'm sorry guys. Apparently I fucked up on the vote
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Don't worry too much, I'm pretty sure that there would've been a lot more offense votes if people knew which skills would get upgraded. Perception is arguably the most important stat narratively anyways, since there's not much you can do about stuff you can't perceive.

So from this one social action, we got a perception uncap/upgrade, a pip in Xuan Shi SL, and at least 7 AP worth of Sect Points (according to others). It seems like social actions can be worth far more than AP, and we should try to seek out more.
 
ParticipantAward said:
Don't worry too much, I'm pretty sure that there would've been a lot more offense votes if people knew which skills would get upgraded. Perception is arguably the most important stat narratively anyways, since there's not much you can do about stuff you can't perceive.

So from this one social action, we got a perception uncap/upgrade, a pip in Xuan Shi SL, and at least 7 AP worth of Sect Points (according to others). It seems like social actions can be worth far more than AP, and we should try to seek out more.
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Oh I voted for defence regardless of the Perception upgrade. Apparently the difference would either be a different kind of perception upgrade or maybe a stealth upgrade (aarrgghh my poor heart)
 
yrsillar said:
"Do calm down, disciples. As you have likely guessed, this is less a trial and more an attraction. I suppose it had slipped this old man's mind that it still stood," the Sect Head said, looking around with… fond reminiscence? Ling Qi tried very hard not to think about that.

She coughed into her hand, still keeping her head respectfully low. "...Sect Head Yuan, I- could I ask you to explain please?" she asked haltingly.
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Sect Head Yuan: Am I really the best person to ask? Ah, very well. You see, when a man and a woman like each other very much...
 
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