Adhoc vote count started by CrimsonOddball on May 25, 2019 at 8:02 PM, finished with 380 posts and 77 votes.
[X] Plan: The Night Parade of One Thousand Demons - Final Mix
-[X] Get in relatively close discreetly, with relevant persistents activated (One with Shadow, perception and resist arts). Approach from the flank while activating Illustrious Phantasmal Festival and our dispel-resist suite, and then envelop the enemy formation in a Joyous Toast augmented Mist of the Vale at maximum spread, with Sixiang boosting the technique's Resist. Once enemy force is enveloped, isolate the Illusionist with the focused Elegy and cycle up to a boosted Traveller's End while keeping the enemy force contained in our zone, relying on Zhengui and Hannyi to assist in this. Maintain this posture as long as possible--moving as needed to re-ensnare or otherwise eliminate anyone who gets lucky, using the boosted Traveller's End detonation as a mass-paralysis contingency if we end up cornered or otherwise need to reset the battle state.
[x] Plan Control and Capture
-[x] Get ahead of the enemy without being detected and roughen their route with ice or Zhengui to divert them to rougher terrain and potentially draw out their veiled problem solver for direct confrontation. Any time the environment is favorable, attempt to ensnare the enemy formation in our mists and target leaders with song and dancers to disrupt rallying efforts. Try to keep up an area perception technique and if anyone manages to escape the mists, or is detected outside of them, leave the Travellers End reinforced mists behind to pursue immediately. Keep our spirits close in case of emergencies, but trust them to keep watch over shed mists if necessary.
[X] Plan If It Bleeds...
-[X] Lean on all your skills to turn into a shadow and track the source of the false trails, the assassin who undou btedly serves as the trump card of that raiding force using your superior speed. Once you've located his inevitable location around his fellows, use all your skills in perception, tracking, and stealth to locate him remembering the techniques favored by Lu Feng (For obviously this is what Sun Liling was taunting you with) and ambush the assassin with your Spirits. Once you've engaged the assassin, begin preparing your full suite of arts for mass combat, then once you've confirmed the kill, take them with you to attack the main force by dropping Zhengui and Hanyi on them from above, while using PLR and Elegy of the Lost to isolate the relevant combatants, specifically the illusionist, and crush them with FVMs ultimate technique before holding out as best you can until reinforcements arrive.
[X] Plan: The Night Parade of One Thousand Demons - Final Mix
-[X] Approach to within sight of the targets from one of their flanks and raise up defenses (especially SES and TRF, but getting persistents up and running in advance) and then activate Forgotten Vale Melody at maximum radius while making final approach, scale up to Traveller's End--timed to complete this as we make contact. Use Elegy to isolate the illusionist, and maintain defenses and PLR control effects while sneaking Hannyi and Zhengui as a team into the mists to launch ambushes to chip away at the lower realm 'Bandits'. Stall them and contain them by abusing our mobility and stealth, but ensure that defenses are in place to endure a potential sneak attack from the third target. Respond to any surprises (Such as a backstab by third target on any allies) by detonating Traveller's End--boosted through Joyous Toast and Sixiang's support, and if anything remains intact, use all means necessary to contain any survivors until Renxiang and reinforcements arrive.
[X] Plan: Wait Them Out
-[x] Set up mists between the enemy and the border and hide within them. Retreat if pressed by a prepared offense. Push back when enemy enhancement techniques weaken, or if the enemy makes significant progress to the border. If the enemy splits up, defeat in detail. If a battle is inevitable, hold nothing back.
Plan Night Parade of One Thousand demons is glorious, but it has too many failure points, especially against three greens, any one of whom has the potential to shut down parts of the plan before it can build up to the full song and dance. It's a huge gamble.
Plan Night Parade of One Thousand demons is glorious, but it has too many failure points, especially against three greens, any one of whom has the potential to shut down parts of the plan before it can build up to the full song of dance. It's a huge gamble
I disagree, tbh. There is a difference between not being a caring mother, and setting up your child to commit murder. I could see CRX witnessing some violence, but I would be surprised if Shenhua was quite as bad as you make her out to be, here.
I'm not sure it even counts as that bad. In a setting where violence is normalised and where CRX is going to face pressure to appear flawless it could be argued that murder in a safe and controlled environment is better than a first experience out in the field where trauma may negatively impact safety. It's more coldly practical than bad which fits what we've seen of Shenhua, in my opinion.
Especially with her sending CRX out on such a high stakes mission where death is likely, having her prepared for it seems reasonable even if some forms of preparation are callous.
Adhoc vote count started by 1986ctcel on May 26, 2019 at 11:32 AM, finished with 397 posts and 82 votes.
[X] Plan: The Night Parade of One Thousand Demons - Final Mix
-[X] Get in relatively close discreetly, with relevant persistents activated (One with Shadow, perception and resist arts). Approach from the flank while activating Illustrious Phantasmal Festival and our dispel-resist suite, and then envelop the enemy formation in a Joyous Toast augmented Mist of the Vale at maximum spread, with Sixiang boosting the technique's Resist. Once enemy force is enveloped, isolate the Illusionist with the focused Elegy and cycle up to a boosted Traveller's End while keeping the enemy force contained in our zone, relying on Zhengui and Hannyi to assist in this. Maintain this posture as long as possible--moving as needed to re-ensnare or otherwise eliminate anyone who gets lucky, using the boosted Traveller's End detonation as a mass-paralysis contingency if we end up cornered or otherwise need to reset the battle state.
[x] Plan Control and Capture
-[x] Get ahead of the enemy without being detected and roughen their route with ice or Zhengui to divert them to rougher terrain and potentially draw out their veiled problem solver for direct confrontation. Any time the environment is favorable, attempt to ensnare the enemy formation in our mists and target leaders with song and dancers to disrupt rallying efforts. Try to keep up an area perception technique and if anyone manages to escape the mists, or is detected outside of them, leave the Travellers End reinforced mists behind to pursue immediately. Keep our spirits close in case of emergencies, but trust them to keep watch over shed mists if necessary.
[X] Plan If It Bleeds...
-[X] Lean on all your skills to turn into a shadow and track the source of the false trails, the assassin who undou btedly serves as the trump card of that raiding force using your superior speed. Once you've located his inevitable location around his fellows, use all your skills in perception, tracking, and stealth to locate him remembering the techniques favored by Lu Feng (For obviously this is what Sun Liling was taunting you with) and ambush the assassin with your Spirits. Once you've engaged the assassin, begin preparing your full suite of arts for mass combat, then once you've confirmed the kill, take them with you to attack the main force by dropping Zhengui and Hanyi on them from above, while using PLR and Elegy of the Lost to isolate the relevant combatants, specifically the illusionist, and crush them with FVMs ultimate technique before holding out as best you can until reinforcements arrive.
[X] Plan: Wait Them Out
-[x] Set up mists between the enemy and the border and hide within them. Retreat if pressed by a prepared offense. Push back when enemy enhancement techniques weaken, or if the enemy makes significant progress to the border. If the enemy splits up, defeat in detail. If a battle is inevitable, hold nothing back.
Omake for the omake god, ink for the throne of Khorne!
==THREADS==
Once she had been whole, but then her former mistress had rent her from her greater self, and spliced her to a vessel so inferior it was akin to comparing hemp to silk. The entity beginning to call herself Tuòqì was resilient however. She had found a new mistress, whose spirit was much more accommodating to spirits than she had known whilst whole, and was refashioning herself from the skeins and scraps of awareness that had remained. And her mistress made for such a welcoming loom.
Tuòqì had to be careful however - Mistress had three other spirits already bound to her, and the newest one was every bit as jealous and proprietary as she herself. Carefully she had attached herself to the mistress with gossamer thin threads for Mistress' past experiences had taught her that great predators are ever watchful for competition.
And times had been good - she had remained in constant contact with Mistress for over a month nurturing herself on her qi; mapping out the weft and design of its flows, and patterning herself on Mistress' personality.
And then suddenly it happened. The spirit of chaos had been subdued lately, spending all its time and essence weaving an elaborate tapestry. It had overreached itself, requiring Mistress to urgently reinforce the skein of its essence. Having expended herself so greatly, Mistress then retired to bed, pausing only to abandon Tuòqì to the wardrobe.
Tuòqì was initially overcome by the void of Mistress' absence, but she soon realised that Mistress was merely deeply asleep and that her anchors to Mistress remained intact. Expanding her perception to find Mistress had however revealed other less welcome discoveries - she was not alone in the wardrobe. Two lesser garments dared to share the wardrobe with her, and one even made to compete for Mistress' favour and attention. This could not be allowed stand.
The first was a drab and simple uniform, worn by the Mistress when she first attended the sect. Its timid essence was suffused with loyalty to Mistress and its barely present protospirit - more potential than reality - longed only to serve her. Which was absurd - it was made of the simplest of cloth and was clearly unworthy of Mistress.
The second was a brazen thing of minimal craftsmanship and tawdry materials. It was dyed in gaudy colours, and its essence still bore the traces of Mistress' excitement and astonishment when she was first gifted it, and her fear from when she fought Princess Sun. Tuòqì did not fail to notice how its protospirit vainly attempted to attract Mistress' attention by accentuating the garish colours of its serviceable brocade. Tuòqì could even discern the coarse stitching at a glance - the Lady who had woven her greater whole would have incinerated anyone who had dared bring such shameful workmanship within a mile of her radiant presence.
That this strumpet's rags would dare to try lay claim on Mistress was provocation beyond any Tuòqì could tolerate. Realising she had the attention of both protospirits, she swiftly formulated a plan to allow her to best serve Mistress, and deal with the upstarts daring to try lay claim to what was hers! Mistress deserved only the finest, and she would see to it that that was what she had.
First she extended a thread and caressed the sect uniform. Its simple loyalty made it easy to placate into quiescence before she struck. Lightning quick, the thread stabbed into the core of the uniform's weft and the stunned protospirit was quickly assimilated into her pattern. The harlot's protospirit now regarded her with undisguised terror and horror, and once Tuòqì was assured of its complete attention, she began to slowly shred the uniform in a pattern matching the slattern's weaving before purging the sundered remnants of their imperfections and repurposing them into her structure.
Once she had finished absorbing the uniform, Tuòqì paused to savour the palpable fear the remaining garment was radiating towards her, before slowly extruding multiple threads and caressing the cloth of her would-be rival, highlighting the imperfections in her weave, the subtle mis-stitching of her embroidery and the discontinuity in the joins. As Tuòqì savoured the the despair and terror in the other dress she felt Mistress' Qi begin to stir to life and she retracted her threads with the certain promise of annihilation the next time they were left alone together, confident that the other dress would never be a threat to her now. As the door to the wardrobe opened, Tuòqì was gratified to note that her prey's colours now seemed faded and drab.
====
Ling Qi awoke refreshed from aiding Sixiang and padded across to her wardrobe before slipping on her dress again, which seemed subtly different this morning. She felt a warm feeling of satisfaction which she ascribed to helping Sixiang form their domain. As she closed the door to the wardrobe she wondered where she had left her old uniform, missing from her wardrobe as it was, before she put it out of her mind and set her mind to the week's challenges, fretting that sleeping the night away would leave her struggling to catch up.
Just consider what a super low end Red with low base stats, minimal talent, no breakthrough bonuses, no upkeep abilities, and no art passives would look like.
Mechanically, her stats are gonna look like absolute garbage no matter what and won't get better over the course of anything short of the entire thread. Likely taking some pretty decent time to reach F-rank in any of her basic stats. Flip side, she will notice even the most minor of improvements so we would likely get a better sense out of narrative "check in" periodically as opposed to getting a mechanical crunch.
Yandere dress is best dress. I'm sure the humble sect uniform is pleased to know it is now part of a greater whole that can serve mistress better than it ever could. Yandere dress should also be very satisfied with how it ate a chunk of that impertinent spirit that tried to mess with it.
So, it just occurred to me that harrassing them from stealth could actually work quite well.
The thing is that Ling Qi stealth attacks are actually a massive threat. Like, say they're going along, and the front of their column suddenly gets blown up as 100m of swamp in front of them is frozen like an invisible frost dragon just did a flyby.
What do they do? They can't attack us, because they don't know where we are.
They could scatter and run, and hope the invisible ice dragon gets confused - and we have HDW and know where everyone is, probably know who has the loot, and can throw up mist fast anyway...
Or they go into a defensive formation, at which point they ain't moving fast anymore, and we've accomplished our goal. Then we just have to keep being threatening from stealth.
And now I'm sad that I didn't think of this earlier I was sort of thinking of harassment like ordinary people harassment, but really we're threatening them with invisible frost dragon divebombs. Which is a whole 'nother ballgame.
Ah well, it's not as if the current plan is bad. It's not like it's gonna be easier to find us in a swamp in the dark afterall.
So, it just occurred to me that harrassing them from stealth could actually work quite well.
The thing is that Ling Qi stealth attacks are actually a massive threat. Like, say they're going along, and the front of their column suddenly gets blown up as 100m of swamp in front of them is frozen like an invisible frost dragon just did a flyby.
What do they do? They can't attack us, because they don't know where we are.
They could scatter and run, and hope the invisible ice dragon gets confused - and we have HDW and know where everyone is, probably know who has the loot, and can throw up mist fast anyway...
Or they go into a defensive formation, at which point they ain't moving fast anymore, and we've accomplished our goal. Then we just have to keep being threatening from stealth.
And now I'm sad that I didn't think of this earlier I was sort of thinking of harassment like ordinary people harassment, but really we're threatening them with invisible frost dragon divebombs. Which is a whole 'nother ballgame.
Ah well, it's not as if the current plan is bad. It's not like it's gonna be easier to find us in a swamp in the dark afterall.
It also works really damn well with One with Shadow, as we can harass them without leaving them and they never know which group is being pursued if they split up and run (and, if they do we can FVM then).
Ling Qi opened her eyes and her vision swam. Her knees felt weak and her stomach churned. For just a moment, the peternatural balance and poise that cultivation had granted her wavered and she stumbled dizzily backwards, landing on her backside in the the grass. The memories of her time with the spirits in Tonghous crashed home all at once. The joy of flight and running over rooftops, the melancholy of the streets, and the old horror of the brothel.
Ling Qi shuddered, her stomach turning as she saw those scenes again, stripped of the strange calm that she had felt throughout that journey. Somehow, being back in her body made her revulsion so much more real, but… as she quieted the pounding of her heart in her ears and regained control of her breathing, she couldn't say that the conclusions she had come to were wrong, that her observations were wrong.
In the end, Tonghou and it's hazards couldn't hurt her anymore, not really. Stripped of its threat it really was just… a very sad place.
Hmm, sounds like her astral projected body simply lacked all the meat bits that lets you have a gut reaction.
Doubly so, since a lot of these things are recursive feedback loops, the sensation of your heart racing and stomach roiling triggers thoughts which aggravate it.
A cultivation art unique to Ling Qi, developed with the aid of three phases of the moon. Dreaming, Grinning, and Hidden combine to form the nascent steps of Ling Qi's own path. The cultivation art rewards feats of daring, self expression, and dealings with the spirits of the world. It is the art of one who seeks the powers hidden in the world, and the beauty of songs old and new.
Potency: Green 3
Potency Growth: Green 4(3), Green 5 (6), Green 6 (8)
Keyword:
The White Jade held the Songseeker's Ceremony. It was the continuation of her cultivation art, the thing that she had forged through her spirit quest. Though its functions remained unclear to her at her current cultivation, she knew it would be an art that matched with her desires for the future.
Hmm, seems like we can see how "Moon Families" do their thing.
Family founders, those who don't fit, and the ambitious pursue the Eight Phase Ceremony, which is risky due to Moon Quests but very rewarding.
They wind up with a tailor made cultivation art of their personal way, which would basically let them cultivate just by being themselves.
They then take this cultivation art, reverse engineer a Yellow/Red version and add it to the family archives.
Those who come after can follow their Way, or gamble on finding their own path with the Ceremony.
Which in turn would explain much of how theres only three EPC cultivators in the Sect, despite likely more Moon users in the Emerald Seas.
The Songseeker's Ceremony basically gives out mad cultivation rewards for "Being Ling Qi". Its for someone who'd go adventuring, find hidden treasures, then spin a tale of it.
Its for someone who'd take poor innocent companions and drag them through utter chaos.
In this world there are a million tales long forgotten, great and small. In a time before the rule of men, before the arrogance of dragons, there were only beasts that called themselves gods. Yet strength breeds arrogance, and arrogance breeds complacency, and so long ago a cunning young girl plotted and planned and stole the Sovereignty of Wind from the gods. She flew beyond their reach, and mocked them with every league, the wind carrying her laughter across the land. In this art are the seeds of the way she forged, refined for the modern day, to inspire a disciples own flight. In mastering the dual powers of darkness and wind, that they might never be caught unwillingly again.
Potency: Green 3
Potency Growth: Green 4(3), Green 5 (6), Green 6 (8)
Max Level: 8
Needed Meridiains: Legx3, Spine x2(1), Spine(3), Leg (5), Leg (8)
Keywords: Athletics, Darkness, Dance, Dodge, Intangibility, Motion, Stealth, Wind, Yin
Experience Needed: 500, 600, 800, 1000, 1200, 1400, 1700, 2000
The other was a gift from the Grinning Moon, the Laughing Flight of the Wind Thief, a potent movement art, too powerful for her to cultivate just yet, but with a great deal of promise. It seemed almost tailored to replace her Sable Crescent Step, once she had mastered the lessons of that technique.
Key highlights I noticed here.
-The art predates the age of dragons.
-It suggested that powerful spirit beasts predominated in this era.
-The art was forged around the titular act of stealing an intangible thing. Expect it to enable further interactions with intangible effects. It was hinted that we could do dream exploring eventually.
-The art is unlikely to be very subtle, though it has stealth elements, the Wind Thief was very proud of her deed, though nowhere to be found, she annouced her deed in such a way that you can't find her because she seems to be everywhere.
-The art is likely to grant or enhance innate flight early. This would be fun, seeing as nobody else is flying around except with powerful talismans.
I suspect it'd synergize with Audacious Fairy's Lark a fair bit, though we're unlikely to take that now that we have this.
More immediately relevant, as she closed her eyes again and concentrated, she could feel the missing piece of her current cultivation art filled in with an understanding of how to weave the threads of qi underlying the expression of music and art into cultivation, and how to improve her efficiency in cultivation she gained from working within the domains of her patrons.
Doubles success caps of previous moon abilities
User gains up to 100 successes to physical or spiritual cultivation(whichever is lower) when composing, teaching or performing musical or artistic activities.
So...how long before our friends realize we become far more enthusiastic about the galas once we start being able to cultivate with them?
Also I'd note we gain cultivation from teaching music or art. Tutoring missions are extra rewarding!
God knows how we're going to actually use all 100 successes though.
As Ling Qi raised a hand to wave back, she caught motion out of the corner of her eye and changed the motion into a grab, snatching the blurring missile that had been flying toward her out of the air. She arched her eyebrows in surprise as she looked down and found… a mailing construct? It's paper wings were crumbled by her grasp, and its animation was already fading. Bemused, she prodded the seal in the center and a single tiny square of folded paper appeared.
Baroness Ling, I require your presence at my home. Do not delay.
"You are excused," Cai Renxiang replied. "I was aware of your activities," something they both knew, but acknowledging it was part of the game even if they were alone. Ling Qi was starting to get the hang of it.
It may seem silly to those not in the game, but the formality is important because it establishes that delays are a privilege, not a right. So long as you have to ask, it reinforces that you DO need permission and it can be denied as punishment(granted THAT doesn't tend to end well either).
Ling Qi straightened up, giving the letter on her desk a look of renewed concern. The page was pure white and without decoration, but the calligraphy she could see was exquisite. Ling Qi held back a grimace as she felt the echo of… displeasure that emanated from those perfectly inked characters.
So, on the "this is all a Shenhua Plot" speculation...I recall Light cultivation makes its adherents tend to be direct. Shenhua was beyond pissed here, to the point that the letter itself couldn't help but absorb some of her fury.
She might have planned FOR it, or baited it out but I don't think she wanted it to happen.
"You are aware of the opening of relations between our province and the Thousand Lakes?" Cai Renxiang replied, drumming her fingers on the top of her desk. She continued at Ling Qi's nod. "There has been a disturbance on the border. A town in Meng lands has been sacked by bandits."
Whats the first responsibility of an Imperial Cultivator?
The protection of mortals.
The sacking of a town in a deathworld is an atrocity. Cultivators killing and robbing the very mortals they are supposed to protect. A town painstakingly carved out of the wilderness by blood broken for loot and tainted with blood and terror.
Now, the town wasn't razed, but they're going to be exorcising ghosts and fear spirits for a while.
Given what we've seen of Shenhua's domain, of her personal history, I suspect this is what REALLY pissed her off.
Ling Qi's eyes widened in alarm. But her liege continued speaking. "In addition, a shipment of goods bearing the Cai seal had been in the settlements Ministry of Communication outpost and is among the missing goods. Between the missing items, and the complaints of the Meng representatives at court, Mother is displeased."
"That doesn't make sense," Ling Qi said with a frown. "Surely something like that would have to well guarded for a bunch of thugs to access." Bandits, bands of deserters mostly, were a thing of course, but they were usually little more than starving gangs crouching out in the woods, quick to get wiped out the first time they made a mistake, or crossed into the wrong spirit's territory.
Mainly deserters huh?
I wonder about the practicalities of running away from the army without being hunted down. You'd need Greens to be reasonably sure of surviving in wilderness, and those don't tend to just abscond out of fear with a squad?
"There are places in the empire where the law has little reach, and the absence of order invites new organization," Cai Renxiang said calmly. "However in this instance you are correct. There are some… oddities. The towns baron was away visiting his liege, and the guards meant to guard Mother's goods, including an old third realm veteran were found drugged and murdered in their barracks, with no sign of conflict."
"That sounds like something a bit beyond bandits," Ling Qi replied shrewdly.
Here, Renxiang implies that in the absence of effective imperial authority and enforcement you actually DO see 'natural' bandit groups.
Drawing from RL, these would be bandits arising from local communities. A fair chunk of bandit groups actually have permanent jobs and residences in a nearby small community, but choose to rob travelers and caravans out of a combination of xenophobia, poverty and greed, or they pick off the 'undesirables' of their own community.
These often fashion themselves as righteous individuals, veritable robin hoods.
While yes, the Ministry of Integrity canvasses cities for talented commoners to draft, in more remote towns this may not be feasible. And there are those of cultivating backgrounds too.
Of course, we also smell a giant rat. The baron is conveniently away at court, and you can't drug a green cultivator without some serious effort and trust on their part.
More likely trust, you don't get to be an old Green veteran without a good paranoia suite.
"Quite," Cai Renxiang replied in a voice as dry as the desert. "The Meng are… obliquely blaming the attack on the changes to security brought by opening the border. Between that and the theft, Mother requires that a point be made in our clan's name. To make that point herself would be excessive, you understand."
Cai Renxiang stood, toying with the clasps on the box resting on her desk. "We will be making use of the Sect's emergency transport formations. It is a great expense, but one Mother is willing to cover," her liege said, staring down at the container.
She flipped the box open, and Ling Qi's hand twitched grasping for her flute at the ripple of aggression that emerged from the unsealed case. Resting inside, nestled in a cushion of velvet was an elegant saber. The metal was pale blue, with the edge fading almost to white. Etched into the base of the blade was a thumb sized butterfly, the grooves in the metal filled with powdered diamond. It glinted up at her, rippling through a rainbow's worth of color as well as awareness and the promise of violence.
When Cai Renxiang grasped the hilt, Ling Qi could practically hear the blade purr as she raised it to eye level, with a stoic expression. The blade gleamed with unnatural brightness, sending the shadows in the room dancing. The force given off by the saber was not inferior to Cai Renxiang's own recently achieved Foundation Cultivation. "I recognize Mothers personal touch. She does not give gifts without expectations. You understand the importance of this, correct?
Shenhua: "Cut them."
That looks like one hell of an artificial object spirit.
Is it just me or does that kind of look like its meant to be paired? Its a butterfly blade with only one edge.
"It is likely that we will have watchers, ready to step in if we fail," Cai renxiang replied absently, staring at the blade in her hand. "However, if such a thing is required…"
"It will be a great embarrassment," Ling Qi grimaced. She could practically feel the resources drying up. Well assuming that the watchers would step in for her in the first place. She forced herself to cheer up, it wasn't like she was unfamiliar with danger.
"A least I should finally get those arts once we prove ourselves, right?"
Cai Renxiang stared unflinchingly into the etching on her new saber a moment longer before lowering it. "Indeed, they were among the stolen goods."
Ling Qi blinked, shocked out of her worry. "What, why?"
Cai Renxiang arched an eyebrow. "Our exchange with the Bai included some access to their library of arts in return for a great deal of infrastructure investment and materials, the negotiations on what was exchanged took quite some time. Why did you imagine that it was taking so long?"
And heres the bonus keikaku.
Shenhua of course, ensured extra motivation.
Looking past the "Muh Loot" part any sane gamer has, what the trade does:
-Remember the burned archives? Shenhua has very scant arts for a Ducal clan(they got Mountain/HeavenLight/Order arts all the way to White from her personal work, but nothing else), and this is bad, because it makes it really hard for her to sponsor new, personally loyal vassals, because good quality arts don't rain from the skies, the hard choke of cultivation on a clan level is art breadth, she can't make any kind of art outside her personal Way and she's forced to rely on existing nobility for vassals.
--With the Bai trade, this changes significantly. She got access to the arts of one of the oldest clans in the Empire, one in dire enough straits to actually sell access to the less core stuff. The Bai's biome is different, but they have Wood in common with the Emerald Seas, as they border forest AND jungle.
Basically, Shenhua WAS limited at trying to raise her own loyal Counts prior to this. She's stuck dealing with her current Counts since she can't easily replace them, and has to rely on 'natural' ascents, which naturally don't owe her any special loyalty.
-On the other side, remember Sun's rebellion did massive damage to the Bai infrastructure and they're still rebuilding slowly because they can't support the manpower needed to build infrastructure without the infrastructure.
--With Shenhua's aid...they have a Production specialized White and her apprentices. Who better to rebuild it with new technology?
XD
To be fair, we did speculate that Shenhua's art library is sparse.
And that if she inherited any library from her predecessors, the spirits should hate the usurper and requires significant punching to alleviate.
If someone takes a swing at Renxiang, Shenhua DOES get justification for direct intervention doesn't she?
Who'd go so far though? They'd have to know she'd smack a bitch.
By the time that she had finished having that thought, the sensation of air rushing over and through her had ended and the world once again resolved itself around her. They stood outside of a town still smoking and damaged by violence. To their left were torn up and damaged fields, looking as if a stampede of beasts and just passed through, to her right, the towns outer wall was breached, a crumbled cleft two meters wide at the bottom giving her a view of a damaged and bloodstained street.
Hmm, hard to adjust for expectations between cultivators fighting and bandit raid, but that definitely looks like some kind of Green fighting involved.
Of more immediate concern was the ring of armed and armored men and women standing around them. Ling Qi's nervous alarm barely lasted a second however as reason reasserted itself. They wore the Cai clan's mark, a red cloak clasp for most, and a yellow pin for a few. There were twenty five of them total, armed with a mixture of swords and bows. Twenty of them were of the late red stage, while four were varying levels yellow. The last, an older man with a white plume on his helmet was at the peak of yellow soul, but with a physique of the bronze stage.
The man with the the plume on his helm dipped his head lower. What little Ling Qi could see of his face was greying and marked by wrinkles and scars. "Lady Cai, we received notice and left the our outpost two hours ago. The town's guard is gutted but sufficient for maintaining order in the immediate term. I have set my best scouts on the trail of the criminals, they appear to be making for the border."
Of course they were, Ling Qi thought sourly. Even someone as inexperienced as Ling Qi could see the seeds of an incident with a capital 'I' here. Cai Renxiang's expression remained stoic. "And their force composition?"
"At least two combatants of the third realm, no more than appraisal stage, with a third being possible. One is a metal focused melee combatant, the other an illusion user. My scouts have counted roughly seventy lesser combatants, moving together, with notable discipline," the captain said quickly in a clipped and professional tone. "We cannot confirm the third elite combatant, but something is confounding and misdirecting our scouts' efforts at sabotage."
So hmm, town has enough for skeleton guard surviving. A little fishy, that to be so pat.
And if Meng 'deserters' violate Bai borders, the Bais' own isolationists will demand that borders be tightened, if the Bais don't respond.
As others already said, that sounds like expendable Meng 'deserters' stiffened by a Sun unit.
In such a scenario I believe the Sun's guy won't show themselves unless exposed first(i.e. by Renxiang doing Renxiang things to stealth).
"Assume there is a third," Cai Renxiang replied, gesturing for them to rise as she began to walk forward, eyes tracing the same trail of disruptive qi that Ling Qi saw leading back into the thick woodland marsh to the north. The soldiers rose and fell into step around them without a hitch. "Captain, do you believe your men can outspeed the criminals?"
"It will be difficult, given their lead," the man admitted. "Our mounts would only slow us in the marsh, but they are also unfamiliar with the terrain and their larger numbers work against them."
Fishy retreat route too.
Thats a planned escape route with shitty visibility. Its almost certain they have arts to deal with the natural terrain, though not so certain that it applies in broad. And the marsh easily hides additional combatants if they can breathe water.
"Ling Qi," Cai Renxiang said, glancing to her. "Do you believe that you can halt their advance."
"If that is really all they have, I can probably take them myself," Ling Qi replied with some confidence. "However…"
Cai Renxiang nodded sharply. Both of them expected something more dangerous lurking in their midst. "Allow me to rephrase, are you confident in advancing ahead to slow them?"
Ling Qi felt a little pride, knowing that Cai Renxiang thought well enough of her to believe that she could hold out even with the potential unknowns. "Yes," she replied simply.
I was sort of thinking of harassment like ordinary people harassment, but really we're threatening them with invisible frost dragon divebombs. Which is a whole 'nother ballgame.
