Heretic Cultivator Quest 22

Our-Grandfather

Previous chapters: https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.<wbr>com/qstarchive.html?tags=Heretic%20<wbr>Cultivator%20Quest
MC info Pastebin: https://pastebin.com/x5rCdZpq
Sect/ disciple info Doc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/<wbr>1A0Yghkqs4WxALnnlVJ2uPpphQk9NQ4ME32<wbr>DzC1qWp7Q/edit?usp=sharing
Folklore: https://pastebin.com/AnbsrDcd
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You are Huanliuxue (欢流血, Happy Bloodshed/ Happy to Shed Blood), She who touched and dyed the moon red, the rightful ruler of and most impressive amongst all beasts, the heir to the primordial throne of true primordial nobility, an popular amateur writer, the founder and first and current grand master of the palace of natural laws sect (宫殿的野生彝宪, Gōngdiàndīyěshēngyíxiàn) and creator of the cultivation technique following the dao of ghosts and grudges, there heretical art of the Ruler of the Great Wheel's Law(统治者的这重大轮回法律, Tǒngzhìzhědīzhèzhòngdàlúnhuífǎl), and you are also the rightful monarch of the kingdom of the buried army of those who dared oppose the order of the heavens, the aggressors and only victims of the bloodless war, a kingdom of graves, tombs and quiet catacombs filled to brim with vengeful spirits, hungry ghosts and ancient warriors turned phantom calamities.

However, the king who has lost his name and been forgotten by all outside of his cursed followers and soldiers trapped beneath the now split mountain you claimed and marked as your own years ago, still holds most of the lands of one of your rightful domain. And while it is but one of the many kingdoms and titles that are rightfully yours, the forgotten king and his toadies have earned your ire and enmity through all the wrongs they have committed against you and yours. They tried to attack you while you were in deep meditation and refining the ghostly essence saturating the tomb kingdom, and during your student's valiant defense of your cultivation chamber, one of those brute's cursed one of poor Qiang's eyes, forcing her to tear it out herself! And since everyone, men and beast alike, mistake her for your daughter, you may as well pay them back for that injury as if she truly was from a litter of yours! And that isn't to mention the insults the governor of his that you've been using like a caged canary and footstool has spat your way. And still is. Even though Yin Zhao has been your prisoner for quite some time, he hasn't once wept or wailed pathetically with the other loyalists you keep caged to sing you pretty and sorrowful songs while you hold court and appease your subjects by alleviating the agony of their wretched and cursed existence trapped here beneath the earth. Not quite in hell, but certainly not alive.

Subjects who are now braying and barking for "blood" and vengeance, the fury they feel towards their former leader for getting them trapped in this sorry state driving them all into a frenzy, even those who are usually cool headed, composed and mostly sane after the long centuries confined here by the heavens' spite.
Cont

>>5976698

Lounging on your throne, dressed in your demon spider silk armor, you listen to all of your generals, allowing them each and audience and chance to put forward their own plan of attack and strategy to pull down the rule of the forgotten king. The beetle generals do so with their miniscule "Soldiers", using them to detail how they expect the enemy formations to move and how you should counter them, a very passive strategy that sounds both boring and ineffective. The warrioress with axes suggests to throw their peasants into an uproar with multiple raids, exhausting the forgotten king's men by retreating whenever they try and fend off your aggression. Which isn't your style or to your taste at all. It isn't the commoners fault they have a shitty lord. The general who forgot his name, along with other ghosts of older gentlemen, suggest a more intricate and well thought out plan of attack, striking from multiple entrances into the lower levels of the catacombs that does sound sound.

However before they can explain how the multi pronged assault would be sustained, A certain greedy pig spirit is sent rocketing into the chamber, thrown bodily through the door. Yi Zhu squeals as he gets back onto his wobbly trotters, and sees Fu bedecked in his morbid, skull styled armor, the evolved form of Yujijiao, and Huili chomping down on the leg bone of one of your guards, which is still attached to the rest of the fiery skeleton.

He stammers, blubbering as he scuttles past the generals and clings to your thigh pathetically. Qinxin moves to draw his blade, but Ping stops him

"That is one of her creatures, Bright heart" He explains as Qiang glowers menacingly at the fat headed pig as your stare down disdainfully at him, before kicking him half way back to the door with a flick of your foot. All you understood in his blubbering and crying was that he "tried to stop him". And the booming footsteps that shake the foundation of your graveside palace makes it blindily clear who is the He he tried to stop.

"Xiongji! If it isn't my favorite absolute lunatic and bloodthirsty dog!" You declare happily, sitting up straight and energetically greeting the broken skulled general as he boots the door to the throne room open, and trailed by some trouble makers you recognize as the most violent amongst your ghostly servants besides the rooster general himself, swaggers in, his dull axe dragging behind him spitting up parks.

Your ladies in waiting, scribes, scholars, tax collectors and guards all turn into ghost lights and flee as the infamous rampaging monster casually strides up to you. The nameless general remains, glowering at him, looking truly offended he interrupted his tactical discussion and proposition. He only runs away behind you when one of the other hungry ghosts following Xiongji like a duckling flicks out a long, split tongue and howls, his face turning into a demonic mask as he bounds up to kneel at Xiongji's side.
Cont

>>5976699

"Cur! Impudent dog!" The ghost that forgot his name shouts as Fu stands firm before the taller ghost, his chest pushed out and shoulders lifted imposingly

"Nice axe" Fu says to the mad ghost, who only then notices his presence and flashes a toothy, blood grin beneath his dented helmet

"Nice axes. You one of our descendants, boy?" He chuckles, politely kneeling down "You certainly smell like you've got a bit of ghost in you, brat! Out of my way, need to talk to the princess"

Qiang's scabbard rattles as she grips the hilt of her sword

"Xiongji, don't pick a fight with him" Ping warns "He's about as difficult to kill as you restless dead"

"Ohoho? Sounds fun!" Xiongji exclaims "Wanna tear each other apart, boy! Come on, you only have your life to lose, you piece of"

"Stop" You command with a lazy wave of your hand "You seem calmer than usual Xiongji, which must mean you're about to blow your lid and go berserk, so lets be quick about this. You want to attack the forgotten king head on, without any concern for any strategy besides pummeling and mauling anything or one that gets in your way, am I correct?"

"My my, you speak what I think!" He laughs, his cheerfulness and well spoken demeanor starting to creep you out "Let me kick down the gate and teach those dogfuckers a lesson! That shit eating piece of shit has kept me trapped down here for generations! It was his damnable pride that ended my glorious life and cut my family tree short! I'll rip them all apart, from asshole to skull! What are we doing just standing here! Vengeance! Blood! I will have both! I'll kill those fuckers for what they did to me, dammit!"

"Ah, he's going berserk already" You chuckle tenderly, nodding your head as he starts swing his axe around and stomp craters into the floor of your throne room, shouting profanity that curdles the bowls and curses that start to actually manifest and fly about searching for victims to latch onto "Hmm. You know, old geezer, this rampaging moron has given me a genius idea. A really wonderful one. Qiang"

"Yes, Master?" Qiang asks, leaning closer to you as she watches Xiongji's usual ramage warily. Yi Zhu is stepped on and gives a sound like a deflated balloon as he runs away with a boot print on his back, and one of the hungry ghosts that was following Xiongji gets its head lopped off mid laugh as the general rages and howls madly, lost to his all consuming rage against...well pretty much everything beneath the heavens

"Take command of the quietest and most somber of my soldiers, and scout ahead into the layer of crypts directly beneath the last floor under our control" You say coolly and completely calm as a pillar is sent flying across the chamber and crashes against the wall with a loud bang, causing the black horned skull you were palming to hop up and start chattering, which sets all of the other clattering and jaw snappy skulls to start yapping and yipping like over excited lap dogs
Cont

>>5976700

"And?" She dully question as she bows her head lower, as Fu starts clapping half heartedly in mocking approval of Xiongji's violent temper

"Pick out your targets, prioritize officers and generals of course, weaken their defenses in preparation for my arrival" You gleefully answer, gesturing with your thumb towards Xiongji "And then we'll send this strutting rooster ahead, to soften them up a little more and create a distract for you, if you need one"

Qiang's eye turns to a chip of ice as a cold gleam overflowing with killing intent flashes inside of it as she grips her sword and completely serious, answers "I will not"

"I didn't think you would" You sneer, lounging back in your throne of star jade, kicking one leg over the other "Now, get going and bring me some spectral heads and skulls, Mm?"

 Underling stealth trial. DC 65. Best out of three

Anonymous

Rolled 81 (1d100)

>>5976701
Go Qiang, Kill

Our-Grandfather

>>5976711
Fine success. 10 over DC, Update will arrive shortly

https://youtu.be/hG6ZNNWLb6U
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In the land of the cursed souls bound to their own moldering bones, all was silent and still, as the ethereal prisoners caged beneath the god placed mountain wallowed in their misery and anguish, those with enough of themselves left cursing the gods as they stalked the crypts, caroling and herding those who had completely lost their minds to the arduous passage of time, beating bone gnawing ghouls back and directing the harmless lunatics away from vaults of burial offerings or parchments and scrolls so old the language written upon them had been forgotten. Soldiers, bones wearing armor and towering monstrous spirits, marched and patrolled the few entrances to from the upper levels of the catacombs down, keeping any of the weaker phantoms from sneaking through and opening the gateway to the usurper above or her traitorous servants.

The silence was broken.

Four clashes of two swords and a sigh of relief, of decades and centuries of torment and madness released all at once as a soul corrupted by resentment and hate was given reprieve and returned to the great wheel of transmigration. Spectral soldiers ran back to their barracks, furious and jealous at being denied the chance to escape this hellish existence, trapped in their own graves. Only to find a helmet split down the middle, resting atop the breastplate of their commanding officer. An alarm was sent down the line, security were raised, guards were stationed.

Four more times, steel striking steel rang out like a funerary bell. The officer leading the effort was found, fading away with a smile on his face, a red slash of light across his torso as his soul disintegrated and returned to the cycle of reincarnation. The organized response turned panicked and frantic. The officers and their men remembered what had happened the last time their king had ordered them to advance on the cat's lair. One of her disciples, who should've died from their malevolent energy and curses, was making a tally of their leaders heads.

Guards were pulled from their station by the order of the general assigned to the floor, a search was conducted deeper into the catacomb, starved phantoms were used as scent hounds, heretical sages chanted and performed profane rites to draw out or strike dead the intruder.

The silence was broken. By a knocking at his door.

"We've found the assassin!" A voice called out, frantic and wild, excited yet regretful. In winning, they'd lost the chance to escape their confinement and be reborn in a better life than this half existence.

"Bring them to me, I shall present her head to her mother" The general relished, tapping his blackened talons of bone the table, tearing the map laying out the defenses he'd been prepared and a missive sent to him from one of that fool Yin Zhao's spies, pleading with him to launch an attack to free him from the new prisoner he found himself in.

The door opened with a shimmer of green flame.
Cont

>>5976750

The general gasped, and drew his dao.

A flash of red hair ducked under the arm of a stranger, holding to their mouth the lower jaw of one of his soldiers.

One, two, three. The girl assassin struck with the speed of falling lighting strikes, moving like a blur, though her heart beat slowly and her expression remained as still as a corpse's. The only sign of life was the flickering black flame of killing intent flaring in the empty pit where one of her eyes had been before.

Four, five, six. Sparks flew, lightening up the long dark chamber, revealing the earthly remains of the general, lain across the wall where his legs had been crushed by the mountain collapsing on top of him. His pale skull glowed in the light of unearthly grey flames as the general roared and poured his ghostly essence into the saber in his hand and struck back, forcing his would be banished on the defensive, pushing her back

Seven, eight. Their blades sung as he forced her against the wall, grinding the edge of his blade down the edge of her blade, catching it at the hilt.

Nine.

The girl slumped backwards. The flame in her eye flying out, the grave cold air growing colder as her blade pulled itself from her hands, paper talismans waving along its edge like carp streamers as a spectral copy of her appeared at the general's side.

"Ten moves" She said bitterly, brow creased as the air whistled. The general blinked and looked down, a silver white light was traveling up from his midsection, where his spider like bundle of legs had been cut from his bleeding body.

"How sloppy. It should've ended in one less" She sulks, as she grabs onto the plum of his helm, and plunges her blade through the back of it

Silence.
Chaos

"I'VE COME TO BUTCHER ALL OF YOU! YOU BLACK BELLIED CURS! YOU TWO FACED BASTARDS! ARROGANT WHORESONS! FACE ME! FACE MY FURY"

Xiongji had arrived. There was no silence. Chaos had turned to anarchy and desperate combat against the most crazed and wild of the hungry ghosts that had once been noble and honorable men.

Qiang frowned, and made her escape silently, only turning back to watch spectral arrows pin two guards who had been drawn by the sound of her duel with their leader. She smiled, seeing her underlings float down from the ceiling, and pin the other ghosts against the wall with another volley of ghost flame lined arrows.
_

"Xiongji and the other rampaging spirits have broken through the enemies' defensive line, their forces are in utter disarray" The old, nameless general exclaims, as his peers and fellow military advisors cheer and shout with joy "They've been scattered and crushed, and one of their four walls has completely crumbled. Surely the other three will support the remaining defenders to oust the rooster general and his men, but their commander is nowhere to be seen"
Cont

>>5976752

"And I don't need to hear your report to know why that is" You snicker, as a breathless scout, whose resentment had turned partially beastial, giving them the upper head of a wolf and long sickle like talons appears, their old face appearing through their monstrous guise as they grin ear to ear, their face split into two from a sword strike that killed them centuries ago, black blood dripping down their lips

"Qiang!" You shout, and as you do, Qiang walks forward, her sword levitating in front of her as she puppets it with one ghostly hand as she keeps the rest of her soul inside of her body. She's showing off? That's a rare sight.

"It took three kills, and eighteen strikes" She answers dryly, pouting as she shrugged her shoulders and sighed "Unfortunately, they didn't leave any heads for me to bring to you, master. And I only succeeded in reaching the last target because one of the scouts knew how to mimic voices"

"Good, you're a terrible liar, but you certainly knew what qualities to look for in your assitants" You praise, clapping your hands as Qiang bows hers, looking rather sheepish and adorable.

"It should've only taken one execution to finish the job, It took three because of my inexperience. Ghosts are harder to sneak around than living men" She says sourly , clearly ashamed even though she'd succeeded beyond your expectations "My blood ran too hot, I guess"

"We ghost can sense the presence of life, that you overcame that obstacle, even with medicinal aid is...incredible" One of the scouts you sent with her praises, smacking her on the back with a boney hand wrapped in ethereal fire.

"You, excited?" Ping asked curiously "How peculiar for such a brooding soul."

The short, red haired swordswoman kicked the exorcist with the cursed arm in the shin.

"It can happen. Qiang usually doesn't get a chance to fight past the first four steps" Fu says with a smile, as Qiang beamed with pride, which, hey! you can actually see a resemblance between that smile and your own! Is that why people keep mistaking your for mother and daughter? It isn't just because both of you are red furred or haired or have a similar ghastly presence and ghostly aura.

"Hmm" You sigh through your nose, pushing the thought of why exactly people keep mistaking her for your kid into the back of your mind, as the fun was about to begin, as you now had an open route to push into the forgotten king's territory.
Cont

>>5976754

And how do you do that, Huanliuxue?

>Wait until something that can stall or beat Xiongji appears, saving your and your disciples energy for as long as you're able to.

>Order Fu to take your ghostly guard and ferocious hungry ghosts to attack the defenders from their flank as Xiongji brutalize their front, to complete crush any resistance on that floor (Underling Command/ Martial trial. DC 55)

>Send Baifenchi and Yujijiao down, entrusting them with Ghost Empress Melody, to support the charge of the rooster general and gather "Local support" (Underling Magic/ Necromancy trial. DC 72)

>Allow Ping and Qinxin to lead the actual, organized march into enemy territory (Underling Command/ Magic trial. DC 55)

>Enter the field yourself and start subjugating spirits

>Write in

Anonymous

>>5976755
>Order Fu forward
>Allow Ping and Qinxin to lead the actual march forwards

This is for their training. The actual fight is when WE get to show off.

>>5976755
>Allow Ping and Qinxin to lead the actual, organized march into enemy territory (Underling Command/ Magic trial. DC 55)

>>5976755
>>Send Baifenchi and Yujijiao down, entrusting them with Ghost Empress Melody, to support the charge of the rooster general and gather "Local support" (Underling Magic/ Necromancy trial. DC 72)

>>5976755
>>5976760
I'll support this, I predict the dead king has a plan to divert the rooster general away from the fight so sending our own forces will throw a wrench too large into their plans for them to deal with.

Baifenchi and Yujijiao can stay at our side , maybe try to see how well we can empower our ghost friend with ghost empress melody and Baifenchi aid?
We could even have them fight some strong ghosts for exp, if not the ghost king himself.

>>5976760
Support. Let's see what the ling dog is capable of.

>>5976755
>Send Baifenchi and Yujijiao down, entrusting them with Ghost Empress Melody, to support the charge of the rooster general and gather "Local support" (Underling Magic/ Necromancy trial. DC 72)
While their forces aren't concentrated, we should start growing our own for the greater confrontation to follow.

>>5976975
I like the general strategy of this but I really don't want to give GEM to anyone, even temporarily to our underlings.

>>5976755
>Send Baifenchi and Yujijiao down, entrusting them with Ghost Empress Melody, to support the charge of the rooster general and gather "Local support" (Underling Magic/ Necromancy trial. DC 72)

>Allow Ping and Qinxin to lead the actual, organized march into enemy territory (Underling Command/ Magic trial. DC 55)

>>5977407
I don't see why not, it's a powerful tool.

Also, these updates are making me feel like we're playing a strategy RPG, very nice writing there, Grandfather.

>>5976755
>>Allow Ping and Qinxin to lead the actual, organized march into enemy territory (Underling Command/ Magic trial. DC 55)
Show us your fangs, Ex-Ling dog.
>>5977415
I think it might be due to the sentimental value it carries.

Our-Grandfather

Ending the vote and tallying its result now.

Order Fu to take your ghostly guard and ferocious hungry ghosts to attack the defenders from their flank as Xiongji brutalize their front, to complete crush any resistance on that floor:4

Allow Ping and Qinxin to lead the actual, organized march into enemy territory:7

Send Baifenchi and Yujijiao down, entrusting them with Ghost Empress Melody, to support the charge of the rooster general and gather "Local support":4

So you'll order Ping and Qinxin to lead the organized march into enemy territory, while having Fu lead a smaller force to act as the hammer to their anvil.

Update will arrive shortly

>>5977415
Your praise is like an injection of chicken blood to my veins, junior. I am very happy you enjoyed it

"Ping" You command, voice low and resounding with imperial authority as you lift your half lidded eyes and gesture with your hand as you sprawl out atop your throne, a confident and clever grin on your face, with moon and star light glittering in your eyes as your white haired exorcist lifts up his head, eyes stony with determination yet lively and bold. His eyes meet yours and the air between the two of you becomes dense with ghostly yin qi as he stands at attention, waiting to hear your orders. He blinks, stunned and baffled as you break the lock of your gazes and glance over to Qinxin, who has been kneeling obediently since he had been allowed entrance to your throne room, constantly circulating Qi through his meridians and pulsing internal energy through his body to remain comfortable and at ease in the center of such potent energies of death

"Qinxin. The two of you shall lead the real march into the forgotten king's territory, following the path made by the rooster general's disorganized rabble" You order sternly and powerfully, voice booming and echoing in the hollowed silence of the grave as you sit up straight and rest your head against the knuckles of your fist as you droop your head to the side and drawl, a flicker of amusement passing over the ethereal beauty of your features as you add "Heh-heh, this is a chance for you to show me your fangs, former dog of the Ling! Don't disappoint me by showing me they've dulled. I know, Haaah, what do you call him? Rejungui? Right? Can fight like a tiger when cornered, but you? You're an unknown quality, Heh-Heh. I wonder, will you force me to pay attention to you, or prove my indifference was well given, pup"

Flames flicker in Qinxin's eyes as Ping shuts his eyes and gnashes his teeth.

"I will not squander this opportunity, nor waste the chance to distinguish myself" He says with an unwavering conviction "I'll prove the conviction that lead me to your door, and reaffirm my purpose for choosing real righteousness over the false heroism preached by my former masters"

"A dog that barks loud doesn't necessarily know how to bite" You snicker, testing his composure to see if the insult will provoke him, but he remains respectfully kneeling, eyes affixed to you still aflame with resolve. You lean back and adjust your posture, shifting your chin to rest on the back of your hand

"Heh, Well, we'll see the quality of your fangs soon enough" You chuckle as he nods and Ping sighs in relief, shoulders slacking and head hanging limply "Fu! Take my guard and what soldiers Ping and Qinxin can spare. You'll strike the defenders from their flank, as they and Xiongji's forces attack from the front. We'll crush the resistance of the first floor with a single move! Sweeping them aside like dust with a brush of our hands, Heh-heh!"
Cont

>>5977572

"As you command!" The three men shout in response, all of them fired up and eager to prove themselves. Qiang clicks her tongue.

 Roll 2d100. 1st dice is for Ping/ Qinxin's march, 2nd is for Fu's flank. DC for both is 55. Best out of three for both

Anonymous

>>5977590
Ah clutch save for the first two

Our-Grandfather

>>5977590
Success for ping and Qinxin

>>5977582
Great success for Fu, 30 over DC,

Update will arrive shortly

https://youtu.be/qLu9KQ5rWvs
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Graves were burst open, Tombs were sundered, where air had been allowed to grow stagnant long ago and fill with dust and mold spores, movement and chaos reigned. Fires, ghostly and real, were lit and consumed all in their path, burning ancient tapestries and old bones together as the movement of two spectral armies lifted the ash into the air that experienced for the first time in living memory and the fragmented recollections of the dead movement and activity. Sparks flew from rusted swords and stones covered in the grime of corpse crease, now further sullied by black soot and dense, burning smoke.

And through this storm of spectral swords and monstrous spirits clashing in a festival of violence, walked two living men, who walked fearlessly into the smoke and the flame, leading a much more professional force of phantoms than the rampaging wraiths and starved, hungry ghosts. One walked with a dead arm, wrapped in prayer beads fashioned from bones and yellowed teeth, with mantras written and spells taught to him by the dead winding along the pale flesh of that cursed arm, issuing forth black smoke and other signs of malevolent energy while in his other hand he held aloft a lantern formed out of fire and filled with butterflies born from embers.

And ahead of him, bellowing, shouting and crying out to tell all of the hateful and vengeful dead that he was a live, that his heart beat and the blood in his veins flowed and burned, was the other man, who faced all challengers without fear, his saber shrouded in bright red fire that roared and spat in defiance to the malevolent energies and deadly miasma and cursed air that surrounded him. In the center of his chest, the heart of Qinxin burned like the name he had taken first as a mask and then embraced as his true self, a single bright red star blazing in the gloom and lifelessness of the crypt.

The two of them could not have looked more different than the other, the ghoulish monk with billowing white hair and a corpse's arm attached to him at the shoulder, muttering prayers that were half mantra and half curse, and the hero wreathed in light, his cloak fluttering like an army's standard as he stood atop a mound of defeated enemies, his saber shining brightly as he struck back against the evil that rallied to smother his flame and the life it embodied.

And ahead of them, crowed a rooster that rampaged and stomped every crypt or building that got in his way, leading a host of foul tempered ghosts and berserk spirits ahead, breaking open the defenses that the ghostly monk and shining hero crushed as they marched through the battered and scattered phantoms.

But they fought for every step they took, side by side, ethereal butterflies gliding around the bright blade like a cloud of blossoms as its wielder cut through any monster or demonic specter that opposed him.
Cont

>>5977659

Soon, already overwhelmed by the fierceness of Xiongji, the defenders began to retreat and run away from the exorcist and swordsman, as the soldiers they lead began to chant their names like a funeral dirge

"Rejungui!"
"Qinxin!"
"SMILING GHOST"
"BRIGHT HEART"

Their art names they had given to the other warily as strangers, that they embraced as friends and sworn brothers, became a battle cry, as Qinxin fell to one knee, gasping and wheezing, as the burning star in his chest began to fade as he released the technique he'd been using to strengthen himself, having expended a large portion of both his life force and inner energy to empower himself and blaze as brilliantly as the sun against the darkness before him, fueling both his strikes and exorcist arts. Ping leaned against a wall, wincing as he clenched at his ghoul arm, black veins bulging against its skin as he fought to expel the Deathly Yin Qi he'd absorbed to empower his spells and exorcising techniques. Qinxin smiled, pride, joy and relief intermingling as he propped himself up, lungs burning and head swimming as his whole body felt as though it had been immersed in the warmth of the sun. The pain and exhaustion was proof he was alive, and lived as brightly as the morning sun. This fight, felt real, felt like it had purpose unlike so many others. Panting, he turned to see Rejungui looking his way, proudly, amazed by his performance, to see him fight against the type of opponents he was meant to fight. Not fellow daoists or cultivators from other sects, but remorseless evil souls and demons. Qinxin smiled back, tears in his eyes. But he couldn't find the right thing to say. He'd fought so hard and risked death at least a dozen times, he could only hope it was enough, that the two of them had succeeded together.

Their soldiers ran past and in some cases through them as they chased after their enemies who retreated for a more defendible location, away from the existence hating Xiongji and the frighten duo of exorcists from two different schools.

However...
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https://youtu.be/xzohNwQ4rgs
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 As the dead fled in fear of death, pursued by their fellow resentful souls who've chosen to vent all of their bottomless rage and undying enmity upon them. There were walls that were still intact, forces that still hold against the rampage of the most crazed of all the calamities chained beneath the earth here, and the terrifying combination of ghostly magic and righteous conviction, the breath of the dead and unbearable warmth of life working in tandem to destroy them

But there was no sanctuary to be found, no walls to hide upon. They found their reinforcements scattered, reduced to flickering ghost flames or fading away as they were exorcised and freed from their long interment.
Cont

They did not find salvation, only a single warrior who wore the grudges and spite of dozens of ghosts like the crow feather cloak he had fastened to his soldiers, he stood, the eye of a storm of pure enmity and resentment spite and rancor roiling off of him like waves of heat from a furnace, an avatar of malice

A demon of vengeance and retribution

Manifested grudges poured from the breathing holes of his skull shaped helmet, his eyes cold be seen, bulging and half insane as spectral hands lifted from the shadows he wore on his back, their boney fingers pointing the way of the retreating army, dragging an pulling at his shoulders, face and the bandages that rose in the air from his arm as he growled, spat and panted like a rabid animal

He turned, a wave of killing intent formed from the combined murderous urges of violent and vengeful ghosts that he had willingly allowed to possess him and his battle-instincts washed over the ghosts and for a moment, their hundreds remembered what it was to be mortal and afraid.

With a voice made from many, that reverberated through the ground and darkened the already gloomy tomb, the twin axed wielding warrior snarled "You who dare stand in my master's way, I'll grind your bones to powder and drag your worthless, ragged souls to hell with my own two hands!"

His wrathful promise become a roar of rage that shook the ground as he hefted up his axes and flew down from the broken wall, followed a wall formed of the very essence of abyss and ghosts that did not join their hands in wielding his two axes

"I am her hammer! Her will! Her punishment!" He cried out, showing that even though he looked completely insane from being possessed by several willful and strong spirits, he was in complete control of himself and his temper.

And he fell like an axe upon a tree, cleaving through the spectral army and trapping them between himself and the other ghosts they had fled from, and the two strong men who lead them.

They chose to run, back towards the exorcists

But that was a choice they made far too late.

As crow feathers fell to the ground, Two Axe Fu finished off the army with his axes forged in hell.
__

"See how quickly your old king's kingdom falls? We've only just started this battle and he's already losing ground!" You howl with laughter, slapping your knee and grinning ear to ear as you hear of Ping, Qinxin, and Fu's victory. Turns out that ling dog still had fangs to bare, and guts to! He used himself, his own lifeforce, as kindling for his attacks and nearly burnt himself up doing it. But the results speak for themselves. He and Ping forced the remaining defenders of the floor in a full retreat, right into Fu, who had just crushed their backline and then finished them off himself with a little help from the soldiers who the two exorcists had lead into battle behind Xiongji

Every ghost in your court was cheering, congratulating you for your brilliance and your students for their martial skill.Morale was high

>>5977664

There was a little issue with Xiongji's rampage heading towards the pockets of resistance that had surrendered soon after seeing how Fu demolished their former comrades in arms, but that was a minor problem. Xiongji beats the crap out of the rest of your court regularly anyways, so it could be considered a kind of an initiation.

With three assassinations and one charge, you'd taken an entire floor from the forgotten king's unworthy hands. To say you were in high spirits would be a ridiculous understatement, you were almost drunk on the rush of easy victory.

But you knew better than to get cocky, even if you had half a mind to roll out a carpet and gloat directly in the rotten face of the forgotten king.

"Your orders, empress?" one of your generals asks giddily.

What do you command, Huanliuxue?

>Order Fu, Ping and Qinxin to corral Xiongji and direct him away from your prisoners/ new subjects and use him as a unliving battering ram to proceed to the next layer of graves (Underling martial trial. DC 80)

>Take advantage of this momentum, and have Yujijiao and Baifenchi "re-invigorate" the ghosts that would otherwise fade away from their injuries, and add them to your forces in a show of mercy, and flood the next floor's defenders with their own former allies (Underling magic/ necromancy trial. DC 65)

>Use the windfall of your victory and confusion in the enemies ranks, to send Qiang head hunting again (Stealth trial. DC 70)

>Give Huili the task of leading the next wave, and order him to strike like lightning and blitz through the enemy positions (Underling Command/martial trial. DC 65)

>Decide to join the fun yourself

>Write in

Had a lot of fun writing both parts of this update.

Anonymous

>>5977667
It was very fun to read.

Using your lifeforce is a bit dumb Bright heart, but eh, we've got medicines. Maybe we'll start calling you by a name.

>Take advantage of the momentum, Reinvigorate the 'wounded ghosts' and add them to our army.
>Huili, Attack.

>>5977667
>Take advantage of this momentum, and have Yujijiao and Baifenchi "re-invigorate" the ghosts that would otherwise fade away from their injuries, and add them to your forces in a show of mercy, and flood the next floor's defenders with their own former allies (Underling magic/ necromancy trial. DC 65)
We are here to take his kingdom.
>Give Huili the task of leading the next wave, and order him to strike like lightning and blitz through the enemy positions (Underling Command/martial trial. DC 65)
Huili, I choose you!

>>5977664
>"I am her hammer! Her will! Her punishment!"
The Empress protects.
>>5977667
>Take advantage of this momentum, and have Yujijiao and Baifenchi "re-invigorate" the ghosts that would otherwise fade away from their injuries, and add them to your forces in a show of mercy, and flood the next floor's defenders with their own former allies (Underling magic/ necromancy trial. DC 65)
>Give Huili the task of leading the next wave, and order him to strike like lightning and blitz through the enemy positions (Underling Command/martial trial. DC 65)

>>5977667
Good job Qinxin, you've impressed us. Though you probably should learn some vitality boosting (or stealing) techniques for longer fights.
>Take advantage of this momentum, and have Yujijiao and Baifenchi "re-invigorate" the ghosts that would otherwise fade away from their injuries, and add them to your forces in a show of mercy, and flood the next floor's defenders with their own former allies (Underling magic/ necromancy trial. DC 65)
Time to increase our forces

>>5977690
We shall call him "Shiny Organ". If he does really good in the future it may be upgraded to "Glowing Blood Pump".

>>5977667
>Take advantage of this momentum, and have Yujijiao and Baifenchi "re-invigorate" the ghosts that would otherwise fade away from their injuries, and add them to your forces in a show of mercy, and flood the next floor's defenders with their own former allies (Underling magic/ necromancy trial. DC 65)
>Give Huili the task of leading the next wave, and order him to strike like lightning and blitz through the enemy positions (Underling Command/martial trial. DC 65)

>>5977667
>>Take advantage of this momentum, and have Yujijiao and Baifenchi "re-invigorate" the ghosts that would otherwise fade away from their injuries, and add them to your forces in a show of mercy, and flood the next floor's defenders with their own former allies (Underling magic/ necromancy trial. DC 65)

Bright Heart is probably a good candidate to learn Pure Blood Qi I say that should be our reward to him. Craft him a cultivation camber for it as well as a bonus. I wouldn't want to turn him into a mystic tho I feel a different pathway would suit him better.

Ping wants muscles so research the pill and give that as a reward.

Qing... Hm New eye?

For Yujijiao and Baifenchi no idea. Maybe giving them each a floor of the the temple lower floors.

>>5977667
Brothers I may be an idiot, but how long has Ping and Qinxin been a Yin/Yang duo? Enh anyway.
>Take advantage of this momentum, and have Yujijiao and Baifenchi "re-invigorate" the ghosts that would otherwise fade away from their injuries, and add them to your forces in a show of mercy, and flood the next floor's defenders with their own former allies (Underling magic/ necromancy trial. DC 65)
No sense in Risking our best fighters dealing with Xiongji. Though I do worry having him behind us won't cause.. troubles.

>>5978143
Always have been.

>>5978129
I still think we should use the drug ourselves. Muscles are always useful.

anyway, Bright heart with pure blood? I don't think so, but some varient of blood Qi, aye. Something aspected to living qi, rather than pure blood qi.

>>5978149
We should give all of our disciples that show proper discipline for training the muscle pills. But for that we'd need to figure out how to make them ourselves. Reward those who reward themselves with their own diligence.

>>5977667
>>Take advantage of this momentum, and have Yujijiao and Baifenchi "re-invigorate" the ghosts that would otherwise fade away from their injuries, and add them to your forces in a show of mercy, and flood the next floor's defenders with their own former allies (Underling magic/ necromancy trial. DC 65)

>>5978149
Well, I say pure blood Qi because it's profound in life energy. I know Huanliuxue touched on it in the past that is basically what it is.
Blood Qi is Life Qi, but I get what you are saying. Wanting to not add the blood aspect.

It's just that Huan usually burns blood to make explosions and this guy is burning his life energy, if he's going on that path then he needs ways to recover it hence the blood qi that the old Sanguine Blood Peach Sect method was before Carmine Mystisim took over.

The demons(Or is it devils) corrupted all known sources of pure blood Qi I assume fearing Cultivators knowing of its true meaning as Life energy. We can consider the ancient past that there might have been more then one Sanguine Blood Peach Tree as we found a second and life qi might have been a more common type of cultivation at the time. Before something happened(Demons) and Corrupted Blood Qi became known as a Demonic technique. It's just that Life Qi is addicting you feel as if a shot of adrenaline hit the heart from the short examples of Huan using it. Those without a strong will, will be controlled by their desires because of it.

We can also consider that blood and wood qi are quite similar in life energy from that old man who turned himself into a tree. Take that as you will

>>5978190
yeah, it's that I want to give him a more suitable but less broad Qi so that he isn't troubled with "devil magics". Giving him some aspected qi like. . Recovery breath Qi or something. Something which won't trouble his Dao heart.

Also yeah, we've backdoored our way into the Wuxing. Unlike old five colours, we handle Yin/Yang directly and work backwards onto the wuxing.

I think we've got everything except earth on lock?

>>5977667
>Take advantage of this momentum, and have Yujijiao and Baifenchi "re-invigorate" the ghosts that would otherwise fade away from their injuries, and add them to your forces in a show of mercy, and flood the next floor's defenders with their own former allies (Underling magic/ necromancy trial. DC 65)

>>5977667
>Use the windfall of your victory and confusion in the enemies ranks, to send Qiang head hunting again (Stealth trial. DC 70)
>Give Huili the task of leading the next wave, and order him to strike like lightning and blitz through the enemy positions (Underling Command/martial trial. DC 65)

I think these can be combined for maximum terror. I'm somewhat hesitant to enlist turncoats into our ranks, they'll turn right back on us if they see an opportunity.

Our-Grandfather

Ending the vote and tallying its result now.

Take advantage of this momentum, and have Yujijiao and Baifenchi "re-invigorate" the ghosts that would otherwise fade away from their injuries, and add them to your forces in a show of mercy, and flood the next floor's defenders with their own former allies:10

Give Huili the task of leading the next wave, and order him to strike like lightning and blitz through the enemy positions:6

Use the windfall of your victory and confusion in the enemies ranks, to send Qiang head hunting again:1

So you'll have Yujijiao and Baifenchi heal/ re-invigorate the ghosts that would otherwise be reduced to ghost flames, adding them to your forces in preparation for your assault on the next floor

Which Huili will lead in a wildfire fast assault.

Update will arrive shortly

"Yujijiao, it is time for a royal presence to grace the battlefield" You answer, leaning forward and flashing a cat's smile as all of the triumph swells as pride in your chest and the starlight in your eyes and trapped within your hair glimmers in the dark, a delighted chuckle rising to fill the still air of the chamber as you turn from your ghostly generals to address the slain serpent, who is wearing a slit mouthed smile, stretching the cuts along her lips to the point the string and nails holding her jaws together begin to stretch and groan "And Baifenchi?"

The white moth with skulls on her wings appears, fluttering from behind one of the urns containing the soul and cremated remains of one of the toadies of the forgotten king, who has gone oddly silent when they had been raging and spitting all manner of hurtful and crude insults, curses and slurs. Odd. She lifts up her head with a quiet curiosity

"You finally have a chance to play around with corpses, and mingle with the dead. Follow Yujijiao's lead, even though you're stronger than she is" You command bluntly, leaning back and kicking one leg over the other as Yujijiao's smile shrinks and dies at hearing your candid words. But them being hurtful doesn't change that they're true.

"And" Your dead junior starts, before twitching as the muscles in her body and in her head fire out of synch with eachother "And what am I leading the little creepy brat to do?"

"Battlefield medicine! raise morale and bolster the spirts of our stalwart spirit soldiers" You snicker, tapping your nails against the arm of your star made throne "Re-invigorate them, give them all an injection of deathly or ghostly yin Qi, re-empower them. And extend this care to our fallen foes, show them my mercy and beneficence. I have a feeling the next floor is going to be harder to take and we need every cold body we can find on the front, the flood and drown them in a sea of phantoms, Heh-Heh"

"Oh! We'll be altering their essence, refining their ghostly existences and strengthening their tethers to this bleak illusionary world!" Baifenchi cheers, far too cheerfully for what she said. Well to most, you find her enthusiasm for such macabre work to be endearing, though you don't know where she got the last bit about an illusionary world from. It'd be best if she stuck to skulls and gloomy decor, instead of whatever that is. Though it did sound kind of buddhist, maybe you'd need to introduce her to Shoushan and Yongzheng?

"You don't need to speak something so obvious outloud!" Yujijiao snaps and blusters, holding her head up proud "Of course that is what we're going to be doing. Huanliuxue obviously is counting on my ability to transform ordinary souls into hungry ghosts to turn the fodder into elite troops"

"But that would be so simple, is that all we're expected to do?" Baifenchi ponders outload "A ghost can be transformed many ways, if one knows which tethers to pull and which to allow to fall slack?"
Cont

>>5978420

"Hah?! Of course we'll need to do more than make a few hungry ghosts! It just didn't need to be said you dull girl!" Yujijiao shouts to try and cover for the fact that the moth knows more about ghosts than she does, when she has spent most of her "Life" as one and is practicing a ghostly cultivation centered around evolving and transforming ghosts.

Though how Baifenchi came to learn the maturation of earthbound souls, is a mystery to you. You're certain she couldn't have read that crummy diary. You keep that particular cursed book under lock and key and heavy surveillance.

"And who will lead these newly raised regiments?" A general with an arrow through his eye and skull asks, flicking out his split tongue like a snake

"Huili" You say plainly, lifting up your eyes to see the wolf is still terrorizing your guards who chose to puppet around their moldering bones "You'll go, and lead them on a lightning raid, blitz through their defenses before they can fortify. Put that speed of yours to good use"

"Hmph, as if I need to be instructed! I'll show you how skilled I am. Just a shame my pal couldn't be here to share the glory!" He all but brags, like his victory is certain and all that's left to do is gloat.

'Well, we'll soon see if that cockiness is earned' You decided, tenting your fingers as you slouch back in your throne, allowing your legs to slip off it and splay out as you watch your three disciples leave to carry out their orders

"What an unseemly posture" Qiang teases, smirking as she crouches at the bottom of your throne, tapping her sheathed sword on the ground

"Fu, Ping, and Qinxin can retreat if they wish" You raise your voice to add to your commands, ignoring her comment "Or they can join up with Huili's assault if they still have energy to fight"

 roll 2d100. 1st dice is for Yujijiao/ Baifenchi, 2nd is for Huili.. DC for both is 65

Anonymous

Rolled 1, 80 = 81 (2d100)

>>5978421
Gather the hoards

Our-Grandfather

>>5978435
>>5978451
Failure + a crit fail, oof for Baifenchi and Yujijiao

>>5978436
But Huili succeeds with 20 over dc, nearly 30.

Update will arrive shortly

Anonymous

>>5978453
This Junior shall commit self-annihiliation

Our-Grandfather

The process of regenerating two armies worth of bested and beaten down ghosts is an arduous and lengthy one. Bolstering and strengthening ties to a world they are constantly being pulled from and drawn away, to return to the cycle of rebirth, even when they are cursed to remain and suffer for their crimes by the god's themselves beneath a mountain they placed to seal them beneath the earth, hastening their recovery from figments and flickering, false balls of fire floating listlessly in the gloom takes either living breath, time or a surplus of negative energy and deathly yin Qi. And when half of the spirits needing treatment run away from their would be saviors, the process is slowed even further and quickly turns irritating. And it is further delayed by a brute smashing and beating the ghosts back into the dreary, weakened state they were found in.

And while a moth that is attracted more to the scent of decay than she is light of any kind, has the patience to deal with these numerous troubles and obstacles in her way, blithely enjoying the time she gets to spend amongst the dead and their decay without a care that the task she was given is expected to be completed on schedule for the next offensive against their enemies lurking beneath their feet, her partner and leader has less patience. Royal pride is easily wounded and in haste to prove herself superior to the morbidly cheerful and careless moth, the slain princess of the oasis tries to make up for lost time and force the problems they face to fix themselves, abandoning Baifenchi in her haste to get the work done and flawlessly to show up the demure, death obsessed moth. And this proves to be a mistake that would've been fatal if she had not been already dead. As Yujijiao flies through the cramped corridors between crypts and connecting tombs, pouring out her excess ghostly energies and the Qi she stole from weaker ghosts outside of the catacomb, blanketing everything and infusing it all with malevolent Qi, she is caught unaware

"Isn't that the stray cat's regent?"

The scuffle is fierce, though it is over in a matter of seconds, as the scouts the boss of the lower floor came prepared to capture prisoners of their own. And had the good fortune of finding the one disciple who could be sealed like any other ghost, away from any help or fellow cultivators.

 Yujijiao has been captured!
__

"Hah? That stupid worm wandered off and you haven't been able to find her? Did she let her ego get to her head or something?" Huili growled, circlets of flame ringing his legs as he sat, waiting for the horde of hungry ghosts and monstrous spirits he'd been promised

"She was getting impatient and wouldn't listen when I said it was delicate work" Baifenchi sighed, antenna shifting awkwardly "I was sure she was just storming off in a huff, but, I found this red string"
Cont

>>5978484

Huili frowned, tail curled around his side as he sat on his haunches

"This is one of the one's keeping her head attached? I can still smell her rotting flesh on it" He said with a grimace "Did she run into that maniac ghost? the one master calls chicken"

"No" The moth answered plainly "She slithered through the walls towards where the last of the fighting took place. Uncle Xiongji wandered off in the direction our elder brothers were"

Huili closed his eyes and sighed.

"And her presence grew dim, not long before I discovered this string" Baifenchi continued "I think..."

"She's been captured because her pride got her because master told her to obvious, that you, a stage higher than her, were stronger in spite of her transformation" Huili groaned "And, I'm guessing, she left you to try and do all the work herself, to prove our master "Wrong". When she has that uncanny ability to tell exactly where you are in your cultivation?"

"That is what I'm guessing, yes, though I could be incorrect, Yujijiao is prone to sulking. Maybe her death trauma gripped her and she thrashed around?" She said chipperly as Huili gnashed his fangs

"Unlikely, and master will skin me if she finds out" He whimpered, flames flaring up "She'll go easy on you, because you and her are the same kinda freak"

"I'm going to tell her you said that"

"Tch! Do what you want, I need to get what soldiers I have and get that idiot out the mess she made for herself" Huili raged, running off and turning into a blur, the only sign of his presence an echoing howl, a wordless call to arms

"I should tell master" Baifenchi mused outloud, head tilted to the side and wings pressed flush against her body as she skittered back towards the surface.
__
https://youtu.be/RvYJfqs_TJo
__

A light like a torch or lantern burned in the black expanse of the lightless kingdom of the cursed dead. The smell of ash filled the stagnant air, as two more lights joined the larger one, two beads of amber flecked red and gold like sparks spitting from a hungry flame. A blur of grey singed and charred black at the edges flew through the bleakness, followed by mindless phantoms and bestial ghouls that lopped and sprinted after him, some carrying their more sane counterparts.

While his soldiers fought and scuffled with the forces they encountered, who'd been sent to fortify the new border and prepare for the inevitable attack, their leader, a wolf the size of an ox with an ashen hide and an ethereal lantern held betwixt his jaws, didn't pause or join in the fighting, leading one group of ghosts to another and then flying past them as his side began fighting and kept the other from catching him or grabbing hold of his tail.
Cont

With a steely glint in his eyes and smoke curling around his saber like fangs, the ash gale flew into the lifeless realm, weaving a trail of discord as his army, separated from him and occupied the would be defenders, allowing him and his remaining soldiers to thrust deeper into enemy territory, causing more isolated scuffles and battles away from the would be front line.

But instead of turning around and encircling these pockets of resistance or rushing to fight the reinforcements sent to break up the zig zagging web of raids and strikes that made no sense even the most lucid or deranged amongst the officers present at this staging ground, he ran in the direction of the governor of this layer.

"I'd kill you myself, Yujijiao, if you weren't already dead!" Huili snarled through his teeth, as he leapt over the heads and spears of the latest speed bumps between him and his idiot of a martial sister "No wonder you were the only one of us to die! Stupid, stupid girl!"

Paws touching back to the ground, her lifted his head, caught her scent again and dashed after it, a few flaming butterflies escaping his lantern and igniting as the touched the spectral hands reaching out towards him. A cocky grin bared his fangs, as he realized, how much prestige he'd gain, saving this foolish snake from her own arrogance. If only Chuandapo was here to share in the glory!

With spirits high and blazing, the ash gale howled and resumed pursuit of his martial sister's kidnappers
__

"Where the hell is that mutt running off to!" You rage, slamming a fist into your throne, making Ping, who knows how much work went into making it and the rarity of its materials, wince as Fu shrugs as if you thought he knew and Qinxin shakes his head "He was supposed to wait for reinforcements! Now the battle's started before we could replenish our forces!"

"Xiongji's been spotted moving deeper down the catacombs, and whatever that dog is doing, he's caused quite the stir and disrupted their defensive line, even if he took most of our men down with him to raise hell"
"He's a hot headed youth, shouldn't have been given command, glory seekers like him are always trouble makers"
"Maybe he misunderstood her orders, he is an animal who hasn't learned human wisdom yet?"
"We'll need to divert our other forces to support his troops..."
"I forgot how irksome war can be, I forgot the luxury of obedience..."

"Want me to go scold the haughty hound?" Fu asked curiously "I think his spine needs weakening, if he's gone wild like this"

"Calm yourself, brother Fu, Huili might be proud but he isn't a fool" Ping tempered, eyes closed as he counted his prayer beads

"He isn't like the otter" Qiang agreed. Qinxin remained silent

"Master" Baifenchi said meekly, fluttering into the chamber as you tapped your foot impatiently, having half a mind to go and grab Huili by the scruff of his neck and drag him back yourself "Yujijiao, she was...taken while we were separated, to more quickly raise you new soldiers"

>>5978490

the silence that falls cannot be called deathly or grave like. There is far too much fury and wrath radiating from you for it be so, the air becomes crazed and crackled with bolts and lances of spiritual energy, as your irritation with Huili peaks, twists and becomes a dense and murderous rage that travels out and cracks the floor and shakes the ceiling, pulling the air towards you like the moon does the tide as destructive energies roil from your finger tips and begin to buckle and crack the walls around you

"She's been what!?" You roar, spitting and rising from your throne, snarling furiously as you clench your hand into a fist and pound it into the nearest solid object.

Fu's flight is stopped by a particularly sturdy pillar, after he broke through four other, less well constructed supports.

"That is what Huili thought!" Baifenchi cries as Fu curses and picks himself back up, no worse for having been struck besides a large dent in the breastplate of his armor "And before I could stop him, he ran off, without considering she could've been having a mood swing"

You sigh heavily and collapse back into your throne, hand pressed firmly over your eyes

"Fu, get up so I can hit you again, you're more durable than my throne room!" You snap angrily, needing to vent your rage at something.

It had all been going so well, dammit!

Now you had one student rushing off to save the other!

"L..look on the bright side my liege, the enemies' defenses are currently overwhelmed dealing with the wolf's run through them, and he did obey your command, they are entirely unprepared to repel a more organized and better prepared assault!" One of your officials says to try and calm your temper

And you perk up, smiling as Fu loyally takes a defensive stance and prepares himself to get smacked across the room again.

"That's right" You mutter, rubbing your chin in thought "Hm"

What do you do, Huanliuxue?

>Send Fu with the rest of your forces to stop the enemy from rallying and get a foothold on the next floor before they can oust Huili's forces (Underling command/ martial trial. DC 65)

>Send Baifenchi back to do the job you gave her, and have Ping help her while you bide your time to see if Huili succeeds or not (Underling magic trial. DC 65)

>Give Qiang the task of saving Yuijiao, with or without Huili's help (Stealth trial. DC 70)

>Enraged by this offense, get off your throne and go save Yujijiao yourself.

> send Qiang to recruit some mercenaries from the underworld, using your wealth of souls to hire them

>Write in

Anonymous

>>5978491
>Send Fu with the rest of your forces to stop the enemy from rallying and get a foothold on the next floor before they can oust Huili's forces (Underling command/ martial trial. DC 65)

>Send Baifenchi back to do the job you gave her, and have Ping help her while you bide your time to see if Huili succeeds or not (Underling magic trial. DC 65)
attempt #2 + Fu Boogaloo

>>5978491
>Send Fu to secure the floor.
>Entrust Baifen to finish the job you gave her.

You get one shot at redemption Baifen.
And Huli gets to have his shot at glory or failure. We should be securing the 6th floor of 9, I think.
After this point, it might be the time for us to enter directly.

>>5978491
>Send Baifenchi back to do the job you gave her, and have Ping help her while you bide your time to see if Huili succeeds or not (Underling magic trial. DC 65)

>>5978491
>>5978507
>>5978516
I'll support this, no need to smack our boy through when he did nothing wrong.

Also we should really need to find a solution to reincarnate Yujijiao because being a hungry ghost clearly doesn't suit her regal self...
At the very least she needs a puppet body made of gold.

As for Quixin we should look if his dao would mix well with cosmic to turn into sun or a star to our moon, I feel he may be the one we could try this on.

>>5978491
>Send Fu with the rest of your forces to stop the enemy from rallying and get a foothold on the next floor before they can oust Huili's forces (Underling command/ martial trial. DC 65)

>Send Baifenchi back to do the job you gave her, and have Ping help her while you bide your time to see if Huili succeeds or not (Underling magic trial. DC 65)

>>5978491
>Send Baifenchi back to do the job you gave her, and have Ping help her while you bide your time to see if Huili succeeds or not (Underling magic trial. DC 65)
Yeah it's about time for our entrance onto the battlefield.

>>5978491
>Send Fu with the rest of your forces to stop the enemy from rallying and get a foothold on the next floor before they can oust Huili's forces (Underling command/ martial trial. DC 65)
No use letting the breach Huili made go to waste, might as well capitalise on their weakness.
>Send Baifenchi back to do the job you gave her, and have Ping help her while you bide your time to see if Huili succeeds or not (Underling magic trial. DC 65)
Normally I would advocate to run in and rescue our disciple, but Yujijiao is kinda dead already so they can't really do much to her besides holding her captive.
She is unlikely to have a fun time of course, but I doubt her captors can eat/destroy ghosts.
With that in mind, I'm fine with waiting to see if Huili can rescue her. On paper, he rushed ahead like an idiot, but if he can salvage this, then let him reap the rewards. Otherwise he will be wearing the dunce hat along with Yujijiao once we are done here.
<s>Besides I feel like it's been ages since Huili has had a chance to shine</s>

>>5978675
>spoiler
Honestly we stop at our base so infrequently (mostly due to having large threats to deal with and general MC shenanigans) that a lot of our disciples haven't had a time to shine outside of our main lot.

Our-Grandfather

Ending and tallying the vote now.

Send Fu with the rest of your forces to stop the enemy from rallying and get a foothold on the next floor before they can oust Huili's forces:6

Send Baifenchi back to do the job you gave her, and have Ping help her while you bide your time to see if Huili succeeds or not:8

So its a landslide victory for having Baifenchi and Ping continue the re-invigorating work, and also having Fu go with the ghosts who didn't follow Huili to prevent the enemy from linking up and pushing back your forces that are already fighting on the currently contested floor.

Update will arrive shortly

Anonymous

>>5978491
>Send Fu with the rest of your forces to stop the enemy from rallying and get a foothold on the next floor before they can oust Huili's forces (Underling command/ martial trial. DC 65)
We wanna do the shock and awe thing we really need to keep on pressing. I don't know why we ever called back Qiang either, she should just keep doing what she does best behind enemy lines until we're at our target.

Our-Grandfather

Snapping your fingers, you jab a finger towards Fu, who lets out a great sigh at seeing you've calmed down enough to no longer need to use him as a punching bag to vent your frustrations.

"Fu, take the soldiers that didn't follow Huili in his rush to save Yujijiao and support the ones who did, prevent our enemies from rallying and pushing us back, you'll be acting as the reinforcements for the isolated ghosts, just follow the path he made and join in on the fighting that's already going on" You command quickly, hand still raised in the air as Fu nods, punching the side of his armor to force the demon spider silk to reform and remove the dent you made in his breastplate with one, wild swing mid tantrum.

"Understood. Should I try to help him save Yujijiao or focus on getting a foothold on the contested floor and conquering it completely?" He asks just as quickly, one axe resting over his shoulder and the other held to the ground, his eyes shining with confidence as he speaks to you. He probably could outright take the floor himself, with how big of a boost all of the grudges and Qi of the ghosts down here have given him, plus the steroid he took early this morning

"Let Huili claim his glory, if he can. If he can't and fails, well that'll temper his pride. However we can't let the breach he created go to waste" You explain with a nod and frown, impatiently tapping a finger on the arm of your throne as you circle around it, still too incensed to even think about sitting down and relaxing "Strike when they're weak, don't allow them the chance to recover their strength and organize. Mercilessly slaughter them, Fu, drink deep their grudges and turn their own spite against them. Go. Do not delay, the opening won't remain for long"

And with that, Fu takes his leave, rubbing his back with one hand as he marches out of the room.

"At least you didn't rip his head off this time" Qiang comments taciturnly, still crouched by the side of your throne, regluing the paper talismans and exorcist slips she wrapped around her sword to fight ghosts with

"That poor boy" Qinxin mutters under his breath, laid out a top of coffin to recover from using so much of his life as fuel to impress you, which is actually a pretty nice gesture even if it was stupidly suicidal.

"Fu can take a lot of abuse" Ping idly muses, stroke his chin where a beard would grow if he had one "Honestly it is a little frightening how much damage he can take before showing any signs of slowly down or weakening. I stopped my heart, and I'm not certain I could survive some of the punishment he's taken without so much as flinching"

"Besides his strength and ferocity, his durability is his greatest quality in a fight" Qiang butts in, leaning against your throne as you pace around the other side in deep contemplation

"I wonder if his body thinks its already a corpse" Baifenchi ponders outload, sounding excited by the idea, which is admittedly a very fun idea.
Cont

>>5979228

"Baifenchi. Get back to work. Take your senior martial brother Ping with you to oversee and assist you. We'll wait and see if Huili succeeds or not and if Fu needs any backup himself" You declare, clenching a fist while staring into the palm of your hand, drawing two drops of blood with your nails and willing them to dance and spiral from the small scratches like two dragons in flight "The rest of you, remain here, depending on how the tides of battle shift, I may need to send any of you three back into the fray unexpectedly..."

 roll 2d100. 1st dice Baifenchi/ Ping, 2nd Fu. DC for both 65

>>5979229
best out of three, of course, second time I've forgotten to put that in. if there's a third I'll kowtow and break my arm as penance

Anonymous

Rolled 76, 77 = 153 (2d100)

>>5979229
>>5979230
Don't worry, as both with pass on the first roll anyway!

Our-Grandfather

>>5979235
>>5979246
Fair success for both, 10 over DC. Update will arrive shortly

Also what are the chances of that second set rolling exactly 100?

Anonymous

>>5979248
Fu puts up with so much shit.

Is he our favorite because he can endure the most fickle whims of ours? Or can he endure the most fickle whims of ours because he is our favorite?

Either way we take good care of the second best boy, so nobody can complain.

Our-Grandfather

https://youtu.be/O9eHRiaTuL4
__

Moth and Monk both dance through the ruin sepulchers and vaults, rousing the masters of the old bones that spill out from them and waking the sleep souls reduced to mere flickering flames in the gloom, they move close together, with the thankful spirits escorting them from crypt to crypt, speaking words of encouragement to the next patients, praising the two of them for their work in revitalizing the dead and increasing their essence and grip on the living world with injections of ghostly and deathly yin qi in its purest forms, and rituals and chants that had been outlawed and branded as apostasy most foul generations past. With the work already partially done and with some ghosts already energized and soothed by the rotting breath of the serpent princess, the second duo to attempt the task had a far easier time completing it. Not only because the spirits they tended were more open to their care and tender mercies, but also because the two worked together and the disparity between their magical power and cultivation bases were much shorter than they had been when Yujijiao was leading the effort.

Forbidden rites and heretical spells were performed and casted as the battlefield of the dead became lively, and a troupe of ghostly dancers followed the white haired monk and the white winged moth.

And experiencing the relief of having their excess negative energy drained away the turmoil of their bitter and poison emotions released even momentarily, convinced many of those ghosts who fought back against the invader sent into their still lands by Huanliuxue to switch their allegiances and offer their services to her army, joining the supply lines marching into the deeper portions of the catacombs held by their forgotten king, singing songs about saving snakes from traps and freeing princesses from unwanted arranged weddings.

Their marching tunes clashed with the severe and somewhat frightening silence of the specters that they joined, following the relentless march of the man who earned his fame with his two axe style and the villains he chopped down like so much old timber. What once had been a grim procession turns into a cheerful festival and dance of the dead, whose boisterous and bawdy songs were only silenced by the grinding of axe heads across stone floor as Fu of the two axes stomped forward and lead their charge into the lower crypts, knowing failure was not an option nor a possibility with him leading the march.
__
https://youtu.be/BgQ8sa0HPtQ
__

The second wave arrived with cheerful songs and lively faces that shouldn't be worn by the dead. Instead of war horns and mournful cries, the arrival of the skull faced general came with stomping feet and lively music as the axe wielding whirlwind moved from battleground to battleground.
Cont

>>5979310

Fu swung his axes in time and rhythm with his back up dancers and musicians who had seemed to realize they'd only get in his way and instead served by feeding him their ghostly breath and resentment, pouring their grudges on his back and drenching him in their deathly essence and rotten Qi, each drop of spiritual dripped into his shadow growing his power and making him fight more and more ferociously as spirits fought for the right to possess him and lend him their strength in a more direct and dangerous way.

No matter how many opponents were in his way or what kinds of monsters were sent against them, the skull helmeted menace cut them down like dried lumber, leading his lively dead troops in literally stomping over their enemies as they surged from one scuffle to the next, pushing aside the defenses that had been constructed in time and slamming into the next encampment of enemy forces while they were occupied battling the isolated pockets of the first, blitzing assault through their territories and the fortifications they'd placed throughout it. He moved like a whirlwind, destroying like a wildfire and conquering like a dragon.

And having heard reports of his massacre on the upper floor, the sight of the crow feather cloak wearing, axe wielding warrior cloaked in grudges and draped in shadow was enough to terrify the monsterous spirits and twisted ghosts that existed in the lower levels of the catacombs of the bloodless war. And no matter how many of his troops they subjugated, sealed or beat back, Fu did not stop fighting or take a single step back. And the army behind his back never did seem to shrink, only growing more and more the longer he fought and the longer the ethereal performers behind him sang and danced jovially to the drum beat of the ruthless beating her gave to the hungry ghosts who still served the forgotten king.

Butterflies made of embers and spark fluttered through the air the deeper the advance pushed. Fires, real fires, rather than ghost lights bobbing in the air, began to scorch the air as they used the old bones and rags as kindling. Fu paused, and smiled, resting his axes in the back of a towering, bull headed ghost as he stood atop it.

The fires were growing larger and higher the further ahead they burned.

And in the distance, there was loud roar as a great conflagration erupted with an explosion of hot air and whipping flames.

"Seems your bark isn't worse than your bite after all, Huili" He remarked, before stomping the head of the bull headed spirit beneath him through the floor and continued pummeling the struggling ghost into the ground of the floor he broke into using his own body like a hammer.
Cont

>>5979311
__
https://youtu.be/62lpLoCX4aI
__

An ash hued bolt of lighting illuminated the bleak abyss of the catacombs that have never been touched by the warmth of the sun, a bolt of flame that pounced, ran and flew, surrounded by a flock of burning butterflies as he fought against the fiercest rival he'd met since he foolishly thought to bare his fangs towards the cat who'd become his master.

The ghost, terrible and ancient, bellowed with laughter, the scouts who'd brought him back his prize floating around him as dim balls of pale white fire, having already had their throats torn out by the wolf whose fangs glowed from within as spiritual flame burned, like the red hot embers of smoldering wood or the glow of freshly heated metal. With a night lantern held firmly between his slavering jaws, the wolf who ran along an ash gale snarled, as cinder butterflies flew from his mouth and burst, becoming gouts of flame beneath his feet as he put everything he had into his speed.

A bladed whip struck, a serpent hissed inside of the bird cage she was trapped in and the two opponents became a blur of motion so quick, the wind they churned up cut through stone and gouged in the floor

"It has been too long since I've hunted wolf! How hot the meat was, as the blood steamed on my tongue, torn from the fresh kill" The ghost general brayed with laughter, long fangs dripping with cursed energy and raw malice as Huili padded in front of him, eyes focused on the cage he held in one hand, spreading a mist of famine around himself.

"I can say the same of human flesh, nothing tastes quite as good as the meat of another predator" He spat back, smashing his latest lantern on the ground, creating a cloud of ghost butterflies beneath him, that exploded into a pillar of flame that sent him soaring.

The bladed whip cackled as its wielder twitch his wrist, pulling the spine that served as its grip, the skull that the whip sprung from laughing as it moved around unnaturally and struck like a scorpion tail at the back of the ashen wolf. But Huili drifted through the air, using the flames at his paw as propulsion to fly past the jagged edges of metal and tusk like teeth that jutted from the whip. Blood wept in the air and then was set on fire as he used the larger of the butterflies as stepping stones as he zigged and zagged through the air like red lightning.

The ghost general was still laughing as his saber like teeth cut through and crushed the armor on his shoulder. Planting his paws on his chest and digging his claws in, he bit down harder as the ghost grabbed hold of his head with his third arm and began to apply pressure to crush his skull.

His teeth, sanctified with fire from the night lantern and blessed with its sutra, sliced through the ghost's armor and shoulder blade, chomping through the "meat" of his arm and severing it in a gush of oil black blood, as he felt his own skull crack and blood dribbled out of his eyes.
Cont

>>5979313

He dropped to the ground, and grabbed the severed limb in his mouth, bounding away as the ghost general roared and gave pursuit, lashing out with his thirsting whip as Huili tried to rapidly plan his next move. Escape? Flight? Battle? Fight? His bestial instincts fought against his pride and the vicious urge to take revenge for the deep, bleeding gashes marring his fur across his side, back and haunches.

He turned on his heel, leaping in the air and smashing the arm and cage on the ground

"BROTHER HUILI!" Yujijiao wailed, with oil black tears streaking down her serpentine face as she appeared in a puff of smoke, patches of snake skin torn off and bruised "YOU SAVED ME~"

"Off me!" He barked as she coiled around him "Can you fight?"

"My hero, my savior! I knew you weren't someone to look down on, even when you were meek, you have a warrior's heart!" She cried out, blubbering as she slithered around him, weeping

"Enough! Can you defend yourself or not?" He snarled, not liking the way the deranged snake spirit was looking at him, it almost looked hungry "There's no time for your foolish bleating"

"They only captured me because I was taken off guard!" The ghost blustered, spitting and barring her fangs

"Then fight with me!" Huili roared, and gone in a flash as sudden as the spark of lightning in the night sky, he charged his opponent and leapt for his throat

And was followed by a hissing serpent large enough to swallow a man whole. A vortex formed in her maw, drawing on the ghostly energy from the general, devouring them as he stood, defiant and with whip whirling through the air.

He was the second general to fall in battle that day, bested by a ill tempered wolf and his swift movements, as well as the surprise assistance his new admirer...

 Huili has been injured, but has reached Foundation establishment rank 2 after emerging victorious against a strong foe
__

"The floor was taken? Already?! Wasn't the general still well behind enemy lines? Was Fu truly that frightening, or did our recruitment drive really give us that big of an advantage" You marvel, laid out on your back, strumming ghost empress melody as it hangs in the above your head

"Apparently, according to reports, fires were lit deep in enemy territory, and there was an explosive conflagration that scorched the ceiling. Something about cinder butterflies?" The breathless and lifeless scout says as Ping laughs, one arm tucked in his robe

"Seems Huili knew what he was doing, he must've tracked Yujijiao's presence or scent or something right to the general's hiding hole!" He exclaims

"He did mention smelling her rot on the piece of string I showed him" Baifenchi said sweetly, sucking on a bit of water from a severed skull, donated to her by one of your treasurers

"Too flashy to be called an assassination, but still, that pup had guts to pull off something like that" Qiang chuckled, still fiddling with her sword and writing new talismans to place on it.

Cont

>>5979314

"Then he must've saved Yujijiao as well" You say happily, shoulders relaxing as relief washes over you "I'll admit, I underestimated him. I'll have to congratulate him when he returns. But first"

'What are my next orders?' you wondered, pouting as you played a tune Qiang called "Depressing"

And what were your next orders, Huanliuxue?

>For Fu to continue leading your forces, including Xiongji if he could find him and break through into the next layer of the tomb (Underling Command/ martial trial. DC 80)

>Have Qiang slip into the next floor and see if she exorcise a few officials and officers (Underling Stealth trial DC 75)

>With Yujijiao back, use her abilities as a Hunger Incarnate ghost to soften up the next floor's defenders (Underling Magic trial 85)

>Whittle away at the next floor by continuously assaulting it with wave after wave of ghostly soldiers, waiting for an opportunity to arrive to break the stalemate

>The next floor might be too much for your disciples to handle on their own, so enter the stage and show the forgotten king's men the majesty and terror of a true monarch!

>Write in

>>5979290
Hehehe, He really does. This makes me want to see a picture of Fu going "Nah I'd win"

Anonymous

>>5979315
All our disciples have had their chance to shine and their chance to glow.
Only ONE needs a chance to redeem herself before we stop playing and take to the stage ourselves.

>Use hunger incarnate ghost to soften up the defenders.
>Wave tactics.

>>5979315
>The next floor might be too much for your disciples to handle on their own, so enter the stage and show the forgotten king's men the majesty and terror of a true monarch!

>>5979315
>>For Fu to continue leading your forces, including Xiongji if he could find him and break through into the next layer of the tomb (Underling Command/ martial trial. DC 80)

>>5979315
>Have Qiang slip into the next floor and see if she exorcise a few officials and officers (Underling Stealth trial DC 75)
>>5979328
I do think letting her redeem herself is great but an 85 DC is not an easy thing to beat in a 1d100
>The next floor might be too much for your disciples to handle on their own, so enter the stage and show the forgotten king's men the majesty and terror of a true monarch!
No need to waste manpower needlessly.
Our disciples had the chance to shine, but who says we can't shine alongside them?

>>5979315
>The next floor might be too much for your disciples to handle on their own, so enter the stage and show the forgotten king's men the majesty and terror of a true monarch!
Our disciples have all had a good showing. *cough*exceptYujijiao*cough*
I think this is a good time to step up ourselves. For the most part I expected us alone to be enough to crush everything down here anyway, but we managed to conquer two floors without revealing what we could do, I would say that is pretty good. I imagine that from now on we would be throwing our disciples in the face of even stronger enemies who were probably busy plotting countermeasures to them, so I would rather we start getting our hands dirty.

Huili did a very good job, we will need to heal and reward him with something. Ideally he would tell us what he wants, but I'm also curious on how well the mountain bending rose drug works on animals.

>>5979315
>Have Qiang slip into the next floor and see if she exorcise a few officials and officers (Underling Stealth trial DC 75)

>>5979315
>The next floor might be too much for your disciples to handle on their own, so enter the stage and show the forgotten king's men the majesty and terror of a true monarch!
Sorry Yuji, you can get your honor back in a moment, it is time we flex. Probably can get some Cosmic Qi practice down here since no one would detect it.
Also, really enjoying the musical accompaniments. Did you have these preselected or were they simply what you were listening to while writing.

>>5979315
>With Yujijiao back, use her abilities as a Hunger Incarnate ghost to soften up the next floor's defenders (Underling Magic trial 85)

>>5979315
>The next floor might be too much for your disciples to handle on their own, so enter the stage and show the forgotten king's men the majesty and terror of a true monarch!

Write-in
>Show our disciples the power of Ghost melody and empower the ghosts with our playing and our qi. as we take the stage

>>5979615
Supporting the write-in. This should boost not only Fu, but Yujijiao as well once she's in range of our music.

Martial brothers and sisters, the qst contest thread conducts IP registration for voting. If you didn't stake an IP before, please produce an art of Huan (of any quality or absence thereof) and post there, to avoid our Empress being disgraced by a lack of votes.

>>5979315
>>The next floor might be too much for your disciples to handle on their own, so enter the stage and show the forgotten king's men the majesty and terror of a true monarch!

>>5979315
HUILI getting a ghost snake admirer gonna be funny.

At least Yujijiao will have a new reason to become stronger.

Oh right, are those two ghosts still following our newest disiple?

Also been thinking about if we should heal our disiple who is blind. I'm sure we can create some medicine ya know. Or train him to see the world in qi.

Our-Grandfather

Ending the vote, tallying the result now. Had another dream I was running a touhou quest, if I was more superstitious, I might've taken it as a sign lol.

With Yujijiao back, use her abilities as a Hunger Incarnate ghost to soften up the next floor's defenders:3

Whittle away at the next floor by continuously assaulting it with wave after wave of ghostly soldiers, waiting for an opportunity to arrive to break the stalemate:1

The next floor might be too much for your disciples to handle on their own, so enter the stage and show the forgotten king's men the majesty and terror of a true monarch!:7
-Show our disciples the power of Ghost melody and empower the ghosts with our playing and our qi. as we take the stage:3

For Fu to continue leading your forces, including Xiongji if he could find him and break through into the next layer of the tomb:1

Have Qiang slip into the next floor and see if she exorcise a few officials and officers:2

So realizing the trials ahead might be too much for your disciples to handle, you'll enter the battlefield and show the forgotten king's man the terror and majesty of a real ruler.

Update will arrive shortly

>>5979435
I am glad junior is enjoying them, and sometimes I pick them out, or spend a little while looking for the right song, but I always listen to them while I'm writing the part they're connected to, so the writing and music synchronize better.

>>5979972
I expect it to be, lol

Yes

Hong? remember one of his focuses is perception, but you can heal him if you want to of course

Anonymous

>>5980543
Darn, the GEM write-in came too late to get backers.

>>5980543
If you were to run a Touhou quest once Huan's adventures come to an end, Grandfather, I would gladly play it. Touhou already operates on wuxia/xianxia principles anyway, so it would kind of fit.

Our-Grandfather

But the next thought that rises unbidden from the multitude of them that fill your mind, is brilliant in how simple it is

'Do I really need to give another order?' You ask yourself, your pout turning extra cat like as you lean forward 'It was a surprise we were able to take the second floor so easily, and desperation was part of the reason we did. Huili is a bit weaker than Fu, Qiang, Ping and Qinxin, and while he won the fight he had with the ghost general, I can sense he took quite the beating, judging from the off rhythm beating of his heart, so far below this throne of mine'

Leaning back, you cross your arms and close your eyes, deep in thought as you weigh all the options and consider what to do, but once again, the nagging thought pushes itself to the front of the line and demands your attention

'Is this really the time to be lounging on my throne? My beloved students might not be able to handle the monsters beyond the next set of seals' You worry balks and forces your eyes open as quickly as you shut them 'The ghosts we've been facing have only been getting tougher with every step deeper we take into the catacombs'

Brow creased, nose scrunched and lips parted in half a scowl, you adjust your posture in your throne of star fallen jade and groan angrily, as flashes of what could happen to your disciples, some of whom you count amongst your favorite people, if you command them to march into the deeper darkness of the crypts. Fu might be able to survive a decapitation, Ping may be half a ghost, and Qiang might be the heiress of your personal cultivation technique, but the things powerful ghosts are capable of unleashing, their dread powers and vile curses, might be too much even for them to endure and fight back against.

'Besides, all of them besides Yuji have had their chance to shine brilliantly and stand proud' You tell yourself as you push yourself out of the throne 'it's time that their teacher takes the stage to dazzle our audience, and to show the forgotten king's troops the majesty and terror only possessed by true royalty, such as myself'

"But first it is time for this seat to make her entrance!" You declare, to loud and approving cheering of your toadies, underlings, peons and officials, officers, logicians, mystics and generals. The reactions of your students are more mixed, though they're all positive and supportive of your choice to enter the fray personally and start hunting the mice they were struggling so hard against

"Time for a slaughter" Fu bellows loudly, a vicious grin beneath the bandages wrapped around his face "They've gone too far kidnapping one of our own!"

"They won't survive, even if they're dead" Qiang says with a sagely nod

"I've caught my breath, I can fight by your side, sect head!" Qinxin protests, lifting himself up with his dao as a crutch
Cont

>>5980634
"I'll support you from here, master!" Baifenchi promises, and she doesn't need to say how she'll support you, since it is pretty obvious how she would.

"I shall, if it is not presumptuous of me, take command of the ghostly army" Ping says excitedly, though you're uncertain if his excitement is for the chance to command his own underlings or to see you let loose and glimpse the full, unrestrained power of a peerless golden core stage cultivator.

Grinning excitedly, you grab the helmet of your armor and place it atop your head like the crown it resembles, the skeletal hands on its sides pushing forward to cover your face, as the rubies set in the eyes carved in along the band glittering like wet blood in the ghostly glow cast by your court of the dead. The fine polish of your silver armor shines, its mirror like surface catching shadow and making the images bones, crow feathers and cats etched into its surface seem alive as the fur skirt shifts with your stride. If it wasn't for the helmet, breastplate, clawed gauntlets, vambraces, shoulder pads, and armored leggings and boots, your armor would appear to be extravagant imperial dress.

The perfect outfit for facing a rival noble in any kind of contest.

Gliding out of your throne room, moving ethereally like your ghostly subjects, the moment you reach the entrance of the chamber and step out, you release your spiritual pressure and allow your aura to be fully revealed in all of its grandeur.

And the moment you do, in your mind's eye, in a darkened throne room with a thousand blades stuck in the ground and walls, and with a throne made out of fused, black skeletons, the shadow of a man lounging atop the pile of corpse's flashes an enthused grin, matching your own excited expression. And though he's leagues further beneath the ground, for a moment, it feel as if your eyes meet with his. Two spheres of blood red malevolence with swirls of black and gold and pale white pupils, meeting your amber hued and star filled eyes from across the battlefield. You cannot see his face, just his smile and eyes floating in the darkness, and the ancient, rust spotted armor he wears, with a massive hole in the place his heart would be. That feral smile, those wild eyes, that broken armor.

Without speaking a word, the illusion of the forgotten king issues a challenge and with a gesture of his hand, bids you to try to reach him to fight him in the way only ghosts can.

-
https://youtu.be/3wUvLJkxjDI
-

Your immense auras clash, and your excited smile turns twisted and crooked as you realize the forgotten king is able to match your spiritual pressure. He isn't a weakling, but why would he be? When he was alive, the gods themselves intercede to stop his conquest.
Cont

>>5980636

The meeting of two mass graves, their boundaries spilling over and the corpses beneath their soil blurring the line as they rot together, with a blood moon floating forebodingly over one side of the battlefield and fresh corpses and the soon to be dead bleeding out their lives into the soil, the steam of their final breathes rising to become mist in the night air, and on the other, Chrysanthemums of white and red sprout across the long abandoned graveyard, the colors of grief and of celebration and the flower of longevity.

That is what you envision it as, at the line where your ghostly, bloody and moonlit aura meets his dread and deathly aura.

The ground buckles, black lightning arcs through the air, as a sea of grudges pours out from your finger tips, crackling with enmity and choking the air, the sickly sweet aroma of decay and blood fills every space and the mysterious twinkling and unknown feeling of space blankets the darkness that surrounds you.

"Come. Face me" The very stones beneath your feet whisper.

And then you take your second step out, the sound of chattering teeth, vomiting and wailing breaking the silence as your disciples get hit by edge of the forgotten king's pulse of Qi, and even just that brief glancing blow is enough to put them on their knees and knock them out completely.

Now more excited than ever, you rush through your newly attained territories, switching between forms when it suits you and to get to the frontline quicker, skipping as a human girl, bounding as giant cat, you rush past your soldiers marching to join the fight, and leap over the heads of the ones standing guard at chokepoints and entrances leading further down into the catacombs. And judging from how they've changed, and the ethereal fire burning in the walking skeletons and rotting corpses is raging like they've been doused in oil, your and the forgotten king's initial clash has invigorated all of the prisoners here as much as it is has thrilled you. And with your aura subsuming and spreading to fill the catacombs, it is long before there is another clash and spark between the king's presence and your own.

The mountain itself trembles, and the air becomes hazy with miasma and stardust as pure death strikes against the mysterious and tantalizing blend of grave dirt, spilled blood and moonlight. Some ghosts scream in agony from being crushed beneath such pure life essence, others stand like opium addicts with guileless smiles as they're washed with your and the king's ghostly breath, and other's stand frozen, eyes filled with star light as you run past and in a few instances right through them.

The fires lit by Huili, still burning before you stepped on the second new floor to your kingdom, are snuffed out with a gust of cold, shivering wind and their light is replaced with the crimson glow of the blood moon.
Cont

>>5980639

Each step you take becomes a splash as the dripping water filtering through the mountain through the roots that break into the crypts are transmuted to blood that begins to crawl after you, clinging to your legs as you run, faster and faster. But soon that light is blotted out by billowing clouds of grudge energy, that flow out of your mouth like smoke from a funerary pyre as the excitement for the fateful meeting to come grows and grows in your heart, turning the rush before a fight into a heat like a fever as you relish the chance to prove your superiority against a rival.

Something that is instinctive for both beasts and nobility.

Standing atop a pool of blood, darkened by the miasma of resentment, you reach the entrance to the level below the lowest layer of your kingdom. One of the gateways that prevents stronger ghosts from crawling up closer to the surface. Something that never really was an obstacle in your way, due to have refined your Qi control was, you could masquerade as a weaker spirit and slip back up through, where as the actual ghosts down here would be trapped. Except Xiongji, who has at some point in your excited run down into the crypt found you and joined you, though you never figured out how a ghost as vengeful and strong as him managed it as well.

"No matter" You scoff, and raise up a foot. The gateways have never troubled you, even when you were much weaker than you are now.

Now

They're just like any other door, even if they were carved by the gods and enchanted by them.

And as you lift your leg up, your realize exactly how Xiongji moved so freely through the catacombs, without ever getting stuck or trapped, to rampage to his hateful heart's content

He just forced the gates open. Like you're about to break this one to pieces.

"YES!" The rooster general roars, as you stomp sheathed with destructive yin Qi, shatters the divine barrier, and a rush of malevolent Qi washes out against you. He...waits

He doesn't push his way past you, he just stands there, staring into the open space, politely waiting for you to go in first.

Which you do with gusto, and the moment you do, your rooster and all of the other ghosts who've pledged themselves to you rush in like water through a crack, lifting you up and carrying you on an ethereal tide.

"IMPOSSIBLE! SHE'S BROKEN THE SEAL!" One of the unfortunate soldiers sent to guard the frontline of the forgotten king's territory cries out, before they're dragged under the tide of ghosts and mauled by the ravenous dead as you laugh and laugh, eyes set and focused on the gloom in front of you, where you can, from the pressure you feel behind your temple, sense where the forgotten king is sitting, even though he's still far away from you.
Cont

>>5980642

Now that you've entered the fight, what do you do, Huanliuxue?

>Leap off from the backs of your soldiers, and cut a bloody swathe through the fleeing soldiers with Moon Collapse and your claws, shifting between forms like a shadow in fire light (Martial trial. DC 85)

>Lay back on the tide of the wrathful dead, and play for them while breathing out as much grudge smoke as you can to drown the tombs with your gathered resentment (Magic trial DC 95)

>Perform the demon art: Blood Rain, Chaos Mist, and see how effective it is against the dead (Magic trial. DC 120)

>Unleash a barrage of destructive yin spheres, and shooting star darts and blast apart and destroy anything in your way! (Magic trial DC 90)

>write in

Anonymous

>>5980645
>>Lay back on the tide of the wrathful dead, and play for them while breathing out as much grudge smoke as you can to drown the tombs with your gathered resentment (Magic trial DC 95)

>>5980645
>Blood rain

Lets see what this does.

>>5980645
>Lay back on the tide of the wrathful dead, and play for them while breathing out as much grudge smoke as you can to drown the tombs with your gathered resentment (Magic trial DC 95)

>>5980645
>Lay back on the tide of the wrathful dead, and play for them while breathing out as much grudge smoke as you can to drown the tombs with your gathered resentment (Magic trial DC 95)
I am starting to see why Grandfather was looking forward to us challenging the forgotten king. He seems... fun.
In retrospect I should have suspected that a man who makes Xiongji into his general instead of locking him up like a rational person would is going to be some shade of badass.

>>5980645
>Leap off from the backs of your soldiers, and cut a bloody swathe through the fleeing soldiers with Moon Collapse and your claws, shifting between forms like a shadow in fire light (Martial trial. DC 85)

>>5980766
If we play our cards right, we might be able to recruit this guy. We've had our differences, but if his main beef is with the gods, we might not be that different on a fundamental level.

>>5980838
Personally I would definitely like to try and recruit him.
Between us both being royalty, both having a strong affinity with the dead, and both of us hating the gods, we have a lot in common. Hell, judging by this short exchange we just had we are both pretty hot-headed so that's another plus.
The only question is whether or not his pride will allow him to serve under someone else, or if his hatred of the gods is even stronger. I like our odds personally, considering all the shit the gods put him through, but you never know.
Ultimately we will need to meet him first anyway, for all we know he enjoyed murdering kids for fun, so we may not want him at all.

>>5980645
>Perform the demon art: Blood Rain, Chaos Mist, and see how effective it is against the dead (Magic trial. DC 120)

>>5980645
>Lay back on the tide of the wrathful dead, and play for them while breathing out as much grudge smoke as you can to drown the tombs with your gathered resentment (Magic trial DC 95)

I am curious about Blood Rain Chaos Mist, but I gotta keep my loyalty to good music.

>>5980645
>>Perform the demon art: Blood Rain, Chaos Mist, and see how effective it is against the dead (Magic trial. DC 120)

>>5980645
>>Lay back on the tide of the wrathful dead, and play for them while breathing out as much grudge smoke as you can to drown the tombs with your gathered resentment (Magic trial DC 95)
The Huan special of opening up with a buff. Also,
>and on the other, Chrysanthemums of white and red sprout across the long abandoned graveyard, the colors of grief and of celebration and the flower of longevity.
I'm guessing a wood Qi for our eventual fight with the nameless king?

Our-Grandfather

Ending the vote and tallying its result now

Lay back on the tide of the wrathful dead, and play for them while breathing out as much grudge smoke as you can to drown the tombs with your gathered resentment :8

Perform the demon art: Blood Rain, Chaos Mist, and see how effective it is against the dead:4

Leap off from the backs of your soldiers, and cut a bloody swathe through the fleeing soldiers with Moon Collapse and your claws, shifting between forms like a shadow in fire light:1

So you'll lay back and play ghost empress melody, and expel as many grudges as you can, strengthening your frenzied ghosts and drowning the lower tombs with your collected resentment

Update will arrive shortly

The flow of the ghostly warriors beneath you, in their frenzied charge, bucks you and throws you back as if you were an unbroken and wild stallion. Laughing now from both how fun it is being thrown around so wildly and the rush at seeing the terrified faces of hungry and monstrous ghosts fleeing before you like rats and mice scattering from piled game, the clashing of ethereal blades and the bellowed roar cries reverberate through you, shaking you to the marrow of your bones your silver armor rings while the folds of your imperial dress ruffle in the stagnant air as you're carried atop the flowing river of vengeful spirits that have lifted you nearly as high as your own spirits are soaring! Throwing your head back, you summon ghost empress melody from the air above your head, tugging on the unseen, intangible strings to pull the floating Guqin down to your finger tips, as billows and gouts of grudge energy and raw enmity and resentment burst from your lips with your cackling howls of laughter, painting all before you in deep shades of black like some unseen hand has, in a childish tantrum, splashed all of the world with writing ink!

Leaning back, you allow yourself to be carried on top of your army, some of your soldiers lifting up their hands to hold you aloft and all that's missing from the scene is a litter made of femurs and ribcages for you to sit in as they lift you and bring you closer to your rival for the dominion of the dead.

Branding that mental image into your thoughts, holding onto it tightly and jealously, you swing one leg over the other as you swing your head side to side, throwing and spilling your collected grudges everywhere, little voices muttering and whispering inside the clouds black as pitch, repeating their curses and animosity as the air begins to sting from just how much condensed spite has been released into it. The air itself has become venomous with resentment~ Heh-Heh! How fitting an atmosphere for your arrival to the battle.

Composing yourself, calming your heart, you swing one leg over the other, adjust and stiffen your posture to sit like a proper noble lady, serene, distant and mysterious as you close your eyes, stretch out your fingers and using the clawed ends of your armored gloves, test the tuning of your enchanted Guqin by running two fingers from each hand over the strings, hearing almost hiss like tone shrilly cry out and pierce through the deafening sounds of the battle raging between two armies of vicious and hungry spirits.

Satisfied with the sound your dearest treasure made, you take a deep breath, puff out your chest, settle your hands on either side of the Guqin, and start strumming a song that is compose from both your heart and the most potent and enduring of your collection of grudges.

 roll 2d100. Best out of five. DC 95

Anonymous

Rolled 34, 68 = 102 (2d100)

>>5981810
You wanna see a magic trick? 14 and 71.

Rolled 79, 28 = 107 (2d100)

>>5981810
Fellow Juniors, please allow me.

>>5981836
This Junior is now on suicide watch

Our-Grandfather

>>5981836
Nice success. 10 over DC. Update will arrive shortly

https://youtu.be/oiSS5ML6y3s
-
The music flows with the streams of resentment, the bitterness that has preserved these wrathful spirits for so long after their death, the spiteful grudges that have driven them crazy and turned them deranged, it issues forth from the nigh imperceptible space between Ghost Empress Melody's strings and your finger tips, a sorrowful lament that travels through the air, its vibrations visible through the dust and fog of undying enmity that spills out over your carefully painted lips to seep through the skeletal face guard hiding your beautiful face from the denizens and serfs of the forgotten king's unchanging and maddened kingdom. The cursed that has sealed the spirits here reacts to the music, just as the ghosts carrying you are empowered and strengthened by its melody and tune and the spirits they clash against are weighed down by the resentment crackling and crazing through the black clouds of manifested grudges you vomit out over all of them.

The air turns sour, bitter, spicy, the flavors of life intermingling with the aromas of death as the accompaniment you provide acts as the procession for a funeral and the welcoming of a new monarch. You roll your head, back and forth, purposefully making your sitting self look like a hanged corpse propped up with a Guqin set over her legs, in a form of mockery or perhaps a show of mourning and respect. The waves of sound ripple out as your hands dart, moving up and down the body of the magic Guqin, as the roars of the berserk specters beneath you become horn blows and trumpet blares to your ears, and their charge into the enemy formation becomes the heady beat of a drum.

With your mouth hanging open, more and more of your store of grudges spills out, lending their own unique bodies and flavors to the atmosphere of this lamenting song, the sort that should be played in graveyards as the ethereal bodies of your soldiers, sane or not, human looking or twisted and disgusting to behold change, as they become more terrifying kinds of spirits and all of them grow more powerful from both the grudge energy you unleash upon them as they sally forth by your command to crush your enemies and from the sorrowful music you play, mourning their distant passing and their senseless torture here for centuries beneath the soil, wailing and raging at distant, apathetic gods in the darkness, their agony and descent into mindless rage and lunacy all overseen by their forgotten king, whose name was stripped from history until only his arrogance and defeat were remembered.

The fate the gods would gladly deliver to you if you do not surpass them and rewrite the mandate of heaven yourself. Tears crawl down your cold cheeks, as your roll your neck and allow your head to hang forward as you hands move faster and faster, drawing ever more of your power and Qi to imbue into the music, strengthening the ties and tethers and the hate that keep your army bound to this world
Cont

>>5981965

And bolstering its numbers as you rouse and wake up those unfortunate souls who have gone so far as to burn away and expend as much of themselves and their essence as they can to try and create a false oblivion just to escape the torment of their cursed existence, as well as those who were predated upon and beaten until they willingly gave up their own Ghostly Qi to empower their bullies and subjugators.

Opening your eyes a sliver, looking half dead or half asleep, you lift up your head just enough to observe the progress of your army and smile, as you see the foes that were foolish enough to stand against you are falling back, fleeing away from the clouds of concentrated resentment and the raving ghosts that stalk through it, looking for victims to vent their frustrations and centuries of built up anger.

Seeing now reason to do much more than lift a finger, you lay back, relax and continue playing, passively empowering your army so they can crush your enemies so you don't have to do anything tiring or waste energy that's better spent against actual worthy opponents.

Until, a curious whistling sound interrupts the mournful melody, and screams pierce through the silence as you pause your strumming for a moment to wait and see what exactly is ruining your music. Arrows, fletched with phoenix feathers and the plumage of some ghostly bird, rain down from the skies, burning with pale blue flames whose tongues shift from white to black as they fall and scatter amongst you army. The ghosts that are struck by the strange, burning arrows begin writhing, mutating and transforming as they are overwhelmed with ghostly essence and deathly yin Qi and seem to loose their human sense and reason, turning to the same kinds of mindless feral ghosts that like gnawing on bones that make their dens throughout the catacomb. Except these unfortunate transformed souls look, terrible, made of mismatched body parts and stitched together skin, like they've been changed to feel more agony than their true forms would allow.

You frown, and flick your eyes up to see the ghost strong enough to harness such a cruel curse, and spot them on galloping atop a line of stone graves, their hooves wreathed in the same ethereal flames they light their arrows with. Their lower half is a skeletal horse, and their upper half is a woman with her guts spilling out of her belly and a metal mask covering the upper half of her face. Her mouth has been sliced open from ear to ear, and she has four arms, three of which are holding the gargantuan and oversized bow, while the forth which has been turned into blackened bone, draws the string of guts and sinew back as she notches another dozen or so arrows.

You rise to stand on one knee and lift ghost empress melody up sideways as she unleashes her barrage.
Cont

>>5981967

Kicking your Guqin, you stride forward, hands held behind your back. And with feline and ghostly grace, slither through the hail of arrows, and shoot out your left arm to catch the last arrow between two fingers, snapping its shafter with a twitch of your hand.

"And whose the arrogant bitch who dares step in my way, Huuh~?" You ask as you crush the rest of the arrow in your fist and lean forward, glowering at the half horse ghost as she stands atop a tomb large enough to hold a giant, three of her arms flicking behind her back to grab bushels of arrows from the three quiver lashed to her back with hooks and nails "Don't you know who I am? I'd ask if you have a death wish but, Heh-Heh, well, we both know how foolish that'd be, don't we?"

"Happy Bloodshed" She says calmly, lifting up her head "Though this wretched place erodes my sanity and robs me of my wits, I am under no illusion that I can stop you from intruding into my king's throne room. But, while I know you will defeat me, I believe I can stall you, and keep you from interrupting his meditation for some time"

"For a few moments?" You tease, crumbling the arrow in your hand, before spreading it open and blowing away the ashes

"For however long I am able to retain this form. The King must not be disturbed" She replies with gritted teeth "Hopefully, you'll be stopped at the gate and will not have to long relish the satisfaction of taking this section of crypt as your own"

"That's quite the vain hope you're cherishing there, pony" You cackle, as you pull Ghost Empress Melody back to your side, and take up a fighting stance as the woman with the lower half of a horse bowers her head, and notching one arrow, gallops towards you as you stand amongst the mewling and crying mutated phantoms she created "Though, I guess I have be mean and crush it anyways, Heh-Heh"

How do you attack the half horse archer, Huanliuxue?

>Take a step back, and hurl Ghost Empress Melody at her head, using her speed against her to try and crush her skull [Strength/ Accuracy trial DC 155]

>Close the distance between her, with the blood red lightning cat step and try to cripple her with the Shooting Star Stampede [Martial Trial. DC 165]

>Disdainfully send her next volley of arrows away, by tearing a rift in the space in front of yourself with one hand, and use the other to cast the Phantom Cat Waltz [Magic Trial DC 135]

>Transfix her with Hypnotic Eyes and lovingly rip out her heart [Blood Sorcery: Carmine Mysticism Trial DC 108]

>Write in

Anonymous

>>5981970
>Transfix her with Hypnotic Eyes and lovingly rip out her heart [Blood Sorcery: Carmine Mysticism Trial DC 108]
Vampire tricks lets go.

>>5981970
>Transfix her with Hypnotic Eyes and lovingly rip out her heart [Blood Sorcery: Carmine Mysticism Trial DC 108]

>>5981970
>>Take a step back, and hurl Ghost Empress Melody at her head, using her speed against her to try and crush her skull [Strength/ Accuracy trial DC 155]

>>5981970
>Transfix her with Hypnotic Eyes and lovingly rip out her heart [Blood Sorcery: Carmine Mysticism Trial DC 108]
Time to use our new carmine moves.

>>5981970
>Disdainfully send her next volley of arrows away, by tearing a rift in the space in front of yourself with one hand, and use the other to cast the Phantom Cat Waltz [Magic Trial DC 135]

>>5981970
>Transfix her with Hypnotic Eyes and lovingly rip out her heart [Blood Sorcery: Carmine Mysticism Trial DC 108]
Pretty cool that our vampire shit works on ghosts? Not sure how effective the heart-ripper will be, but... it's worth a try.

Rolled 74, 77 = 151 (2d100)

>>5981970
>Transfix her with Hypnotic Eyes and lovingly rip out her heart [Blood Sorcery: Carmine Mysticism Trial DC 108]

>>5981970
>Transfix her with Hypnotic Eyes and lovingly rip out her heart [Blood Sorcery: Carmine Mysticism Trial DC 108]
Shame you chose to fight for the wrong ruler horse girl

Our-Grandfather

Ending the vote and tallying its results now.

Transfix her with Hypnotic Eyes and lovingly rip out her heart :9

Take a step back, and hurl Ghost Empress Melody at her head, using her speed against her to try and crush her skull:1

Disdainfully send her next volley of arrows away, by tearing a rift in the space in front of yourself with one hand, and use the other to cast the Phantom Cat Waltz:2

So You'll attempt to transfix the half horse archer ghost with your mystical eyes, so you can tear out her heart at your leisure.

Update will arrive shortly.

>>5983567
The blue flame wrapped hooves thunder over the stone floor strewn with bones, the ground shaking as the half horse archer charges you head on, drawing and pulling the string of her bow further and further back, her three fleshy arms straining as her gruesome skeletal arm creaks and cracks as the bow itself, massive beyond reason, bends like it was a reed rather than a fossilized hunk of wood nearly thicker around than you were. The guts and sinew begin to tear, and wisps of ghostly blue light escape them. But you do not make a move to defend yourself or get out of the way or even to attack, instead you stand them, the very image of a proper and well raised beauty.

With pouted lips and half lidded eyes, you demurely tilt your head, frowning sadly as you draw upon the natural weapon of women as transcendentally beautiful as yourself, even though you're surrounded by ugliness and suffering. Fluttering your eyes lashes, you part your pouty lips to sigh sadly while wearing a disappointed and judging look on your gorgeous face, even as the ground trembles and you can feel the air peeling apart as it is burdened with the strong essence of this impudent girl's ghostly qi as she, as loyal as a well trained horse should be, does not stray or hesitate in trying to trample over you or allow her bowstring to slacken so as not to launch an arrow that could shoot straight through you and continue piercing through the gravestones at your back for sometime. Sharpening your eyes, lifting your shoulders, straightening you back, you lift the back of your hand in front of your mouth and turn disappointment to disdain as you focus the mystical energy in your alchemically altered blood to surge into the veins of your amber eyes, performing carmine mysticism, an unspoken hex whispered created within the roiling of your blood.

You can see the veins glowing in your eyes, as they burn at the edges of your vision as the whole world takes on a blush like, pink hue as you concentrate the magic inherent to your enchanted blood into your eyes. Their polished amber turns the same hue of pink that can be found in sunsets, as you lift up your chin and settle your gaze directly where the half horse archer's eyes would be behind her helmet. And parting your lips, cast the spell glowing in your eyes with a handful of hurting words.

"How can you be so heartless, threatening the beautiful me so brutishly? I'm frightened! I'm frightened~" You cry out, your voice sounding even to your ears alluring as your eyes flare with mystical light, as you try to hypnotize the ghost and force them to stop from guilt alone so you can make them well and truly heartless with you own bare hands, Heh-Heh.

 roll 2d100. Best out of five. DC 108

Anonymous

Rolled 22, 67 = 89 (2d100)

>>5983590
Look into my eyes. Tell me, what do you see?

>>5983629
Well shit thats a failure of ovwr 10.

Can none of us roll fucking decent.

Is this ghost truly without any guilt?

>>5983633
We still have 1 more roll, but I am half blaming >>5982465 for stealing our luck

>>5983699
Truly this was a trial of our faith in our and Huan's luck.

Our-Grandfather

>>5983699
Good Success. Exactly 20 over DC. Had me scared for a second, but Huan succeeds by a whisker's breadth!

Update will arrive shortly

https://youtu.be/ewkDZfoodZE
_
Behind that iron mask, two pits of cold fire blaze as the hungry ghost's will lashes out and fights back against your own and the hypnotic suggestion to feel a heart crushing guilt for daring to threaten an existence as beautiful and resplendent as yourself. You do not take a step back, break eye contact or tremble as she lowers her head like she was a charging bull and had horns to gore you, and instead of moving to avoid being trampled beneath her hooves or struck with that barbed and hooked arrow notched on her bow, you stand firm and unmoving with the posture and elegance of a flower of the imperial court, sedated and calm as if you were not staring down a giant skeletal horse with metal hooves wreathed in cursed flames.

The veins at the edge of your vision swirl as the pink sunset haze grows heavier and thicker, blotting out the rest of your vision until only the blank expression the half ghost archer remains, and the turmoil in her expression, the doubt, the self hatred, the slowly rising disgust and guilt. A bead of grey sweat bubbles out from where her helmet has been fastened and locked over her skull. Her hands, even the one made out of bone, tremble as your eyes lock and remain locked, hers transfixed with the unearthly beauty that stands before her, like a delicate porcelain doll and the mind numbing tenderness of your eyes. But she is fighting you for every string your worm through her already rotten brain, struggling to throw off your will and the oppressiveness of your beauty and the illusion of a harmless, frightened maiden you've planted like a seed in the holes of her musty brain.

She thunders closer, smile split down the middle between a determined snarl and a weeping grimace as she lowers her bows and lifts up the arrow she had notched to use it instead like a spear. You do not move and just lift your head up a little higher, with a little more authority, acting like you were looking down at her even though she easily towered over you. Narrowing your eyes, you take a single step forward, all softness, delicateness and gentleness vanishing from your expression as you stamp down hard on her defiant will and push the illusion and enchantment burning in your eyes through her skull by turning your frightened stare into a commanding glare, exchanging the mask of a princess for that of an empress and demanding she bend to your will.

She reels, rearing up on her hind legs as if you'd just slapped her across the face. Xiongj, you can hear, stomping forward over his broken and twisted comrades as you take another step forward and tilt your head to the other side, looking up at the ghostly warrioress with a pleading look.

Her ethereal flames flicker. the hands holding her bow slacken, while the one gripping the arrow trembles and holds it against your neck. You press your neck against it, feeling the cold steel against your warm flesh, with a pleasant smile beneath hypnotic and dominant eyes.
Cont

>>5983745

"Frr" She struggles, voice raspy and dry as she lowers her front legs, upper body drooping as she goes slack like a puppet who has had its strings cut "For...give..me. My L..lady, I.."

She kneels, bending her front legs as she forfeits her will and is drawn into the false world promised by your mystical eyes, drooling as her mind buckles under your assault.

"I...what was I doing?" She drones, bowed like a horse waiting to accept a ride onto its back as you clear the remaining distance between you in a single stride and place a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"You were offering your heart to me" You cheerfully answer, grinning wickedly from ear to ear as you duck closer to her and press the fingers of you right hand as tightly together as you can "Don't you remember?"

"Of course" She mutters to herself in a trance, unbuckling the armor covering her chest "of course, if you desire my heart, I'll give it to you, My lady"

"Then, I graciously accept this offering" You purr softly, tightening your grip on her shoulder as you thrust the claws of your gauntlet through her moldy skin and through her decaying flesh. She cries out, just as much out of pleasure as in pain as black, coagulated blood spurts over your arm as you hum and purr, digging your hand through her bosom and under her ribs to lovingly wrap your fingers around her heart.

The ghost general gasps, the trance breaking as you reach further into her chest. But its too late for her to struggle and escape. Mustering all your strength, you hold her giant body down and hold onto her with a vice grip as her delighted moans turn to gasps of confused panic and agony, as her thrashing splatters your face with her ink black blood. How striking you must look, your delicately affectionate expression marred with black blood dripping down your chin and arm as you viciously bury your claws in her torso, snapping her ribs as you reach up and grasp her heart.

"My my~" You coo sweetly, savoring her struggles as you smile exactly like your mother, eyes half open as you rub your thumb over her still heart, which weakly beats even though she's been dead for centuries due to how terrified she's become "How adorable~ You were so welcoming of my touch a moment ago, so confident in giving yourself over to me, now you're squirming and whimpering so much~, How Cuuuute!"

"Let go!" She cries out, spitting blood in your face as her boney hand grips your wrist and tries to force your arm out of her chest as she leans against you, not out of choice, but because her powerful legs have given out. Probably because you've just tightened your grip and started crushing and squeezing her heart.

"Hey? Didn't you offer this to me? It's rude to take back a gift, and its a death sentence to refuse my whims" You cackle cruelly as you push your arm deeper and rub your cheek against hers.
Cont

>>5983747

She slips for a moment, the trance washing over her and lulling her towards obedience, before she suddenly roars in rage, and with her helmet breaking as two antlers erupt from her skull, she pulls her head back and hammers it against yours. The headbutt stuns you long enough for her to get another hand around your wrist, and she actually manages force and wrench your arm an inch and a half out of her body.

"You naughty girl" You titter and tease, thrilled that she's managing to fight back. You might not play with your prey as often as other cats do, but you still can delight in their squirming beneath your paw!

 roll 2d100. Best out of five. Strength Trial DC 145

Anonymous

Rolled 7, 53 = 60 (2d100)

>>5983748
Silly ghost, pulling our hand out won't save your fluttering little heart. If anything it'll just make this whole thing hurt a lot more. Gotta hand it to her for determination though.

Rolled 97, 28 = 125 (2d100)

>>5983748
Gonna Steal her heart with our cat like charm

>>5983779
can another junior please roll a perfect 100 100 to save us from our hubris?

>>5983803
I mean technically this one is Huan's hubris, not ours. She should have just crushed it but she's being extremely kinky and damn.

Our-Grandfather

>>5983779
>>5983814
Oof, failure by exactly 20. What are the odds of rolling exactly over or under 20 of the DC and rolling the exact same result as well? Weird

Anyways

Update will arrive shortly

The ghostly general struggles to free your arm from her chest, but you stubbornly refuse to cede any more ground, digging the claws of your gauntlet into the meat and veins of her fluttering heart. The muscles and veins in your arm bulge as you pour as much blood Qi as you can to increase how much strength you can possibly muster, straining as they scream in pain and start to burn from the effort of just holding on. With her eyes revealed, blazing blue again, the half horse ghost snarls, and wraps a third hand around your wrist, but she isn't trying to pull you arm out anymore. You tug you hand back, and don't feel it move beneath her rotting flesh as the ribs you just punched it under jab and poke into the parts of your arm that are currently stuck inside of her torso. She grins, a glint of determination flashing in her malevolent blue eyes as you stare up at her, eyes widening as you realize what she's trying to do as you shake, wiggle and squirm your arm to try and pull it out of her chest before its too late.

"Detonating yourself? You know you don't have enough resentment or deathly yin Qi to do much damage, all you'll do is blast this body of yours to bits, I'll still be standing here while pieces of you rain down! Perfectly intact!" You shout up at her, gnashing your teeth in frustration as you plant a foot on the part of her where her human body meets the neck of the skeletal horse, pushing and kicking as hard as you can to try and get a little extra pull on your side to pop your arm out from her sucking flesh and stabbing bones. If her grip was just a little looser, you could crush her heart, but with how tightly she's holding on, the muscles of your hand just can't move, leaving it locked around the organ, unable to squeeze harder or release it so you can flee.

"Perhaps or perhaps not, I won't know unless I try. And you have no reason to tell the truth. Judging from that look in your eyes, you're less durable than you'd want me to believe" She sputters, black blood oozing from her knife widened mouth as more and more of the stinking liquid oozes out of the hole in her chest that your arm is stuck in.

Your eyes meet hers again, but with your redirection of blood Qi to your arm, which you now need to keep up to prevent her from crushing and pulping the limb out right, the hypnotic gaze that had subdued her is begin to fade away as the mystical blood in the veins of your eyes drains down to your rigid arm.

"Is that a chance you want to gamble on? If this was a game of dice I wouldn't trust those odds. Think about how foolish you'll look when I walk away from you, barely even smoking!" You spit back, furious now, as you put your other foot against her and start pushing with both of your legs and your other arm
Cont

>>5983921

"Self sacrifice is something to be applauded. Even if it fails, a suicidal attack is always praiseworthy" She says, closing her eyes with a satisfied expression, relaxing as the fear, panic and rage at being humiliated fade away.

"You're fucking crazy!" You shout, making one last effort to pull yourself free from the trap she's made in her own body.

"NO I'M FUCKING CRAZY" Xiongji bellows, as both you and the ghost general look up, she looking just as surprised by his entrance as you are, meaning she forgot he was standing nearby just watching your struggle play out.

"You?!" She growls, as the towering mass of rage, hate and lunacy sprints towards her, grinning sadistically as black plumes of smoke and blood red flames wreath his outstretched hands

"HOW DARE YOU MAKE A MOCKERY OF HER, AND TRY TO TAKE BACK WHAT YOU GAVE EVER SO WILLINGLY TO HER HAND! DON'T YOU KNOW HOW FUCKING RUDE THAT IS, YOU PIECE OF SHIT DOGFUCKER?!" Xiongji rages as he lunges, becoming a blur as with her last hand, the ghost general flips around her arrow and stabs it towards him.

The moment of impact moves in slow motion, and you're not certain if that's because of adrenaline filling your veins and coursing through every part of you, or because you instinctively activated your Youling-Qinggong. The arrow drags across Xiongji's smiling face, blood blossoming across his cheek and revealing his fang like teeth as his burning hand wraps around the ghost general's throat as all of him slams into her side.

Your arm is freed with a wet pop, and you fall to the ground, rolling around to land on your hands and feet, heart hammering in your chest as you push off of the ground and launch yourself up onto your feet. Shaking your numb and trembling hand, you watch as Xiongji lifts and carries the half horse ghost and lifts her from the ground as she grabs hold of the arrow stuck in his face with all four of her hands and pulls it down his neck until it gets stuck half way through his battle-scarred breastplate. Kicking him with her hooves, she presses it down and into his torso, but he's laughing as he swings his arm and slams her bodily into a stone coffin, falling to one knee as both of them disappear in a cloud of dust.

And a moment later, a sphere of writhing blue flames erupts with a deafening boom, as a wave of force spreads out and knocks over anyone and anything that is standing and isn't you. As strong as the explosion was, it only forces you to take a step back and shield your eyes.

Stepping to the side, you avoid Xiongji's axe by a hair as it is sent rocketing into the air, as pieces of debris fall all around you as the dust begins to settle and your teeth stop rattling around in your mouth.

"Ow" Xiongji groans from the newly formed crater, torched black and with most of his armor either blown off or evaporating into tendrils of ghostly smoke "That really hurt"
Cont

>>5983923

"Idiot! What are you doing fighting for her?!" The ghost general, who is looking a lot smaller now, with most of her horse half splintered and spread across the floor and walls as boney shrapnel, the gaping hole in her chest as well as her bare chest exposed for all to see as she wheezes and hacks up a cloud of smoke and fire "That attack took most of the breath I had collected to unleash!"

"Which means you can't even get in my way anymore" You say, stepping through the clouds of smoke and bones reduced to dust "And crushing you will be as easy as turning over my hand now. Surprised to see you in so few pieces, Pony, guess you were more durable than I anticipated you to be, Heh-Heh"

"Har har" Xiongji laughs mockingly from the pit you're standing on the edge of, as the now much more human looking ghost general glares up at you and smirks

"Wipe that smug smile off of your face, you were scared" She says with a vicious look as a pulse of killing intent "I can still act as an obstacle in your way, for a few moments longer at least"

"Tch" You click your tongue, glaring down at her as you buckle and crush the ghosts who rushed to see what had happened with a wave of your own killing intent. That little stunt she tried to pull has really, truly pissed you off.

The black heart in her chest beats, the print of your hand bruised onto its surface and four deep scratches cut through its surface. You wiggle the fingers of your aching hand, rubbing its wrist as you look down at the insolent bitch in front of you, as she presses two fingers together on each of her hands and draws them through the air, blue fire sprouting from her finger tips, as she forms two bows out of the same flames and notches them with the index and middle fingers of her upper hands.

'She's too stubborn for her own good' You think annoyedly tapping your heel on the ground 'She's far weaker than I am, but she's putting up more of a fight than I expected her to'

Groaning, you close your eyes and sigh.

How do you deal with this stubborn worm who refuses to be squashed, Huanliuxue

>"Xiongji, I know you can still stand. Keep her from getting in my way, I'm tired of playing around with her"

>Show her what a real explosion looks like and respond to her defiant stringing of her bows by creating a super massive destructive yin sphere, and teleporting directly in her face with a bit of Cosmic Qi (Magic trial. DC 135)

>See if your blood control works on ghostly organs and attempt to pop her ghostly heart from a distance (Magic trial. DC 160)

>Flick Moon Collapse out of its sheath and send it flying into her heart (Martial Trial. DC 120)

>Leap out her, change forms mid pound and crush her neck between your fangs (Martial trial. DC 175)

>Write in

Anonymous

>>5983924
>Show her what a real explosion looks like and respond to her defiant stringing of her bows by creating a super massive destructive yin sphere, and teleporting directly in her face with a bit of Cosmic Qi (Magic trial. DC 135)

>>5983924
>>Show her what a real explosion looks like and respond to her defiant stringing of her bows by creating a super massive destructive yin sphere, and teleporting directly in her face with a bit of Cosmic Qi (Magic trial. DC 135)
Thank you for keeping her from damaging our clothes, Xiongji, you're a real one. Now please vacate the crater for your own safety. And so no one tries to steal your axe.

>>5983924
>Flick Moon Collapse out of its sheath and send it flying into her heart (Martial Trial. DC 120)

>>5983924
>>Flick Moon Collapse out of its sheath and send it flying into her heart (Martial Trial. DC 120)

>>5983924
>Show her what a real explosion looks like and respond to her defiant stringing of her bows by creating a super massive destructive yin sphere, and teleporting directly in her face with a bit of Cosmic Qi (Magic trial. DC 135)
I think this is a good time to bust out the heavy ordnance. We should probably hurry, given how desperate this ghost is to buy time, I'm assuming being quick is in our best interest.

>"That attack took most of the breath I had collected to unleash!"
This is interesting info. I'm assuming the king has also been gathering "breath" for a good while, which might explains his strength. But does it also mean we could theoretically bait him into wasting his power and beat him via attrition? Maybe not, but worth considering.

>>5983747
What the fuck
This is horrifying
>>5983874
Aaand we get the karmic punishment. Deserved.
>>5983924
>Flick Moon Collapse out of its sheath and send it flying into her heart (Martial Trial. DC 120)

>>5984140
>What the fuck
>This is horrifying
You telling me you didn't need a pillow to cover your lap?

Our-Grandfather

Rolled 2 (1d2)

Ending and tallying the vote now. Somehow I still have enough vigor to despite their being three parts of last nights update

Show her what a real explosion looks like and respond to her defiant stringing of her bows by creating a super massive destructive yin sphere, and teleporting directly in her face with a bit of Cosmic Qi:5

Flick Moon Collapse out of its sheath and send it flying into her heart:5

Oh hey a perfect tie! How rare. I'll tie break for once, and the one who loses the coin flip will be Huan's second attack if the first flounders. That seems fair to this old master.

1: Super Massive Destructive Yin Sphere.

2: Moon Collapse Heart Shot.

>>5984245
Junior has been consumed by his heart demons...

>>5984613
So you'll throw Moon Collapse at the ghost general's exposed heart. Nice. Update will arrive shortly

But you concentration is broken before you can think up how to approach the defiant ghost general as you don't expect the high ground advantage to last long enough for you to actually make use of it. That attack she is charging looks troublesome, even if it isn't enough dent, scratch or unravel your spider demons silk armor. But your planning is interrupted, however brief it might've been, from a distinct chime at your hip. Moon Collapse (Yuèqiú tāxiàn, 月球塌陷) is singing to you, humming in the sheath you stuck it in to keep it hidden from prying eyes. It is humming so loudly it is vibrating, its blood red edge shimmering through the leather you had Feiqing cut and shape to fit it.

Reaching down, you stick a finger through the ring at the bottom of its pommel, stretching your hand over its rabbit fur grip and with a flick of your wrist, free it from its sheath. You pull your hand back, allowing the dagger to float freely, unconstrained by the gravity of the world as it hovers over your open palm, bathing you and the rest of this lightless place in the carmine glow of a full blood moon. The Ghost general takes a step back, sensing the brief flicker of your aura roaring and blazing higher than its already massive and oppressive size as the moondust in your veins reacts to the light stored in the moon glass dagger and the ill omen power of the blood moon surges from your twin cores. With the red glow washing over your face, the pupils in your eyes turn to crescent slivers as a hail of starlight falls within them as the moonlight rippling through your hair glows dimly through the gaps of your helmet and armor as the moonlight escaping the straight and serrated edges of your knife spread out in thin, unnatural beams of light that illuminating the tombs with their first touch of moonlight.

"A treasure? Another artifact?" The ghost general says, voice wavering as their eyes focus intently on the dagger rotating slowly above and orbiting around your outstretched hand "How many weapons have you brought, you who was born with sharp claws and sharper fangs"

"Why should I tell a corpse anything?" You ask in response, flicking your other hand to brush a stray lock of hair away from your eyes "And some tools are simply better than what nature has provided. I'm sure moles would prefer to use shovels than their paws, if they were given the chance"

"You won't be able to hit me from there, not before I loose my arrows" The no longer half horse ghost boasts, but the tremble in her voice tells you that is a bluff.

Probably. No reason to give her a chance to prove it.

Grabbing hold of Moon Collapse, you pull you arm back and wish you had whiskers in the moment before you throw it, to help you with aiming the dagger.

 roll 2d100. Best out of five. DC 120

Anonymous

>>5984634
>145
Someone's laughing at us.

Rolled 85, 15 = 100 (2d100)

>>5984613
>Junior has been consumed by his heart demons...
I must admit, I love a woman that will actually brutally murder me.

>>5984625

>>5984636
The dao itself is laughing. Dang Dao.

Our-Grandfather

>>5984660
Nice success. 30 over DC and nearly 40 over. Update will arrive shortly

>>5984647
>>5984651
>>5984660
Though it is pretty weird three out of the five rolls all had 85 as one of their die.

On a whim, and for a reason you don't really know yourself, you bent your knees and lower your shoulders, half crouching as you adopted the stance Qiang tends to use when she's about to quick draw her sword from her side and cut whatever was in front of her into several pieces. The air was silent except from the crackling flames and the sound of breaking ice, and Xiongji's pained coughing. You locked eyes with the ghost general, who was looking much less confident that her boast of being able to shoot her bows before you launch Moon Collapse into her heart than she was a few mere moments ago. Flashing a confident grin of your own, challenging her to test her reaction time against your own feline reflexes, time seemed to grow sluggish as if you had expanded your specter lightness skill to encompass the whole layer of crypts and collection of tombs that made up this layer of the catacombs. You'd never seen a ghost sweat so much, or shiver as if they to could feel the cooling of the air their presence caused.

It become a staring contest, who would twitch and make the first move, giving the other an opening to counter with a fraction of a second longer to line up their shot and steady their arms.

Her composure broke before yours did, and with a defiant shout, she loosed four burning arrows. The flames spread out, taking on the shape of wings as a keening cry pierced through the silence as the four burning arrows began to move oddly, three spinning around one like their bird shape fire's were in a mating dance. The flames from the three dancers fed into the arrow in the center of the flock of four, and burned to nothing as its fire bloomed and became a skull shaped conflagration of icy fire infused with a curse you could almost see written in the darkness that eclipsed its halo of light.

Turning one foot to the side, you bowed lower and flicked out your hand, copying the motion of Qiang's draw as you sent Moon Collapse soaring. It's humming song became an unearthly wail, as the blood red moon light pouring from it snapped and formed a aurora like river of light for it to travel across and slice through.

The blue flame skull evaporated, as the flying dagger pierced through its forehead and cleanly split the arrow that was its core, and as if the only thing that had gotten in its way was cold air, it continued its flight unimpeded, picking up more speed as its chiming turned into a shriek as it moved so quickly its edge began to spit out silver, pink and crimson sparks.

The Archer lifted up her head, eyes shining in the moonlight as her jaw dropped open in blatant despair at seeing her defiant last shot so easily overwhelmed.

She stood still, not able to react beyond realizing her defeat

Moon Collapse shot through the hole you tore in her chest, just beneath her exposed breasts and into her blackened heart,burying itself to the hilt inside one of the claw marks your gauntlets left behind before Xiongji so helpfully tore you and her apart
Cont

>>5984711

 The ghost general stumbled back, before growing rigid as her physical body started to crystalize and turn into the same sort of glass that dagger in her heart was made out of. Her eyes became black pits, windows into the astral chaos that you'd made your stomping ground.

"The view is beautiful isn't it?" You snicker, taunting her as you skip down to her and reach into her chest cavity as her body turns into a prison for her soul, the physical form she'd managed to create being reduced to a sculpture of moonglass with a pale blue flame trapped in its breast, flickering weakly as it realized it was trapped and caged like a pretty little song bird "The view of the stars from the surface of the moon I mean"

The soul inside the glass statue doesn't answer as you flick the black blood stinking of decay off of your knife

"A bit overly theatric. Want me to shatter the arrogant bitch?" Xiongji coughs, hacking up a cloud of black smoke as he sits up, already recovering from being at the center of an explosion that must've shaken the whole mountain "Or should we drag her back up to join the other stupid bastards who remained loyal to that lowest of shit-eaters, Uh...Can't remember his name"

"No one can, that's the point of your shared punishment. You don't remember your own name, remember" You snort, amused as Xiongji smacks both sides of his head and vomits out more thick smoke

"Xiongji is who I am, who I was doesn't fucking matter" He says sagely despite the profanity "All that matters is making them pay for my suffering"

Them being everyone and thing besides a very select group of people the ghost who hates everything is, for one reason or another known only to him, was fond of. Smiling, you nodded your head and leapt out of the crater, to find to your relief your soldier's forced transformation had been undone with the defeat of the ghost general, and where they're had been squirming mounds of flesh and stitched together limbs, were once again ghostly soldiers, who would still look rather frightening to most but who were once more their usual ghastly selves.

Smiling a bit more, you started giving orders and directing them as Xiongji crawled his way out of the pit.

And what were your orders, Huanliuxue?

>To march on the next layer of the catacombs, you weren't going to waste any time or momentum in claiming what was rightfully yours

>To secure this level and search it for anything useful and to garrison the defenses they'd just overwhelmed

>To wait for your signal as you confront the first defenders of the next portion of the catacombs by yourself.

>To parade the general turned to moon glass in front of the entrance to the next part of the crypts you'll be taking, just for fun.

>Write in

Anonymous

>>5984712
>March army forwards
>Have our students secure this level and search it for useful shit.

>>5984712
>To wait for your signal as you confront the first defenders of the next portion of the catacombs by yourself.

I don't want to lose momentum but I want to test the waters before we send in the grunts. Would also like to again send Qiang ahead for espionage and sabotage.

>>5984712
>To secure this level and search it for anything useful and to garrison the defenses they'd just overwhelmed

>>5984743
This and parade the general too.

>>5984712
>>To march on the next layer of the catacombs, you weren't going to waste any time or momentum in claiming what was rightfully yours

>>5984712
>>5984743
+1
If the king is plotting something time sensitive, it only makes sense to hurry down there. It seems he has some dangerous generals under him, but if this is roughly the level we can expect, then he is the only real threat here.
It's possible that the general's comments were a plot to make us rush forward and expose ourselves, but if I had to guess whether or not the general/king had the guile to execute such a plan, I am willing to bet on no.

>>5984712
>To parade the general turned to moon glass in front of the entrance to the next part of the crypts you'll be taking, just for fun.
She was a fine foe, and will be an excellent murder present.

>>5984712
>To march on the next layer of the catacombs, you weren't going to waste any time or momentum in claiming what was rightfully yours

Also maybe pat Xiongji in the back to replenish a bit of his yin qi, he spared us from having to scrub horse entrails from our armor.

>>5984712
>>To parade the general turned to moon glass in front of the entrance to the next part of the crypts you'll be taking, just for fun.

>>5984712
>>To parade the general turned to moon glass in front of the entrance to the next part of the crypts you'll be taking, just for fun

>>5984712
Supporting >>5984743. Letting the ghost-king complete his breakthrough, or whatever he's doing will likely tilt the scales hard in his favor. The difference between a low Nascent Soul and a peak Golden Core is much bigger than the gap between Qi-condensation and Foundation Establishment cultivators. Necessity compels us to be swift.

>>5984712
>To parade the general turned to moon glass in front of the entrance to the next part of the crypts you'll be taking, just for fun.

Our-Grandfather

Ending the vote and tallying its result now,

To march on the next layer of the catacombs, you weren't going to waste any time or momentum in claiming what was rightfully yours:7

Have our students secure this level and search it for useful things:5

To wait for your signal as you confront the first defenders of the next portion of the catacombs by yourself.:1

To parade the general turned to moon glass in front of the entrance to the next part of the crypts you'll be taking, just for fun.:5

So you'll order your army to march forwards, and have your students secure and search this part of the catacombs for heavenly treasures, divine tier artifacts, forbidden manuals and demonic scriptures and other useful things.

"March on! Don't waste any time looting or torturing, we've got them reeling!" You shout boisterously and regally, the helmet you're wearing adding a tinny quality to your voice as it lifts up and grows louder and more booming "You, rooster, you to! I know you're slavering at the chance to get back to the thick of it! One more push should be all it will take to get them stumbling and falling over! Don't waste any of MY time taking what is rightfully Mine! Our momentum can't be stopped, so lets act like a landslide and crash and rumble over them all!"

Taking in a deep breath, you puff out your chest and raise up Moon Collapse above your head, fracturing the blade so it appears vaguely like a shattered sword whose pieces are held together an invisible force, like magnetism or unusual gravity, its pale red glow illuminating your silver armor and making it glow like a passing falling star or mist of blood sprayed from a wound as it is made.

"That is my command! March and crush them beneath your feet! Lift them up upon your spears and hold them aloft like they were standards, don't hesitate, do not delay. March! And March quickly!" You shout joyfully, commanding them all with a flick of your blade "We'll break into the next layer like a bolt of divine retribution cracking the earth, splitting open the graves and scattering their ashes to the four winds! Come on! Rally to your queen's lovely voice and obey her will, and march! MARCH!"

Grinning beneath your crowned helmet, you cross you arms and tuck your hands under your armpits as you watch the newly reinvigorated army of specters, phantoms, cursed spirits and hungry ghosts move like a rapid river through the spaces between the tombs and burial chambers, some of them shouting orders, others singing a macabre and gloomy marching song, and the craziest and stupidest amongst them repeating the word march like a Mantra as they lop and gallop after their more mentally balanced comrades.

Xiongji wrenches himself up over the lip of the pit, snapping his jaw that had been blown to wisps of smoke back to place and adjusting his helmet with a gross, sloshing sound as the dented metal dug into his broken skull.

"Out of my way! You plodding curs! You're marching too slow! Let me through or I'll trample you all! Get out of my way dammit!" He roars, whipping his head back and forth as he stomps of and makes good of his threat a couple of times before the other soldiers of your army of the dead wise up and part to let him pass. Which doesn't stop him from taking a swing at a few of them who drew his ire for reasons only known to the rooster general.

Reaching out, you catch a straggler who'd been fighting further up this layer of crypt and had only just heard your command and rushed to join the others in their lightning quick march to the next layer.
Cont

>>5986236

"You. I have a different use for" You say excitedly, patting him hard on the shoulder and causing his misty form to dissipate briefly as your hand swings through him "Return to my throne room, inform my generals and advisors of what's going on, and tell my disciples to travel to this area and begin searching through it and turning it upside down for any treasures the forgotten king might have ferreted away here"

"Understood, your deathly majesty!" He barks back like a loyal dog, and turning to a sickly green ghost light, zips back through the wall he was passing through when you caught him.

And wasting no time yourself, you bite down onto the fur wrapping of Moon Collapse, and shift your form, holding it tightly between as you sprint on four legs again with Ghost Empress Melody lazily drifting behind you as you pull on your connection to the Guqin with your claws. Sheathing your muscles in blood Qi and making good use of both the Blood Torrent Rush and the Blood Red Lightning Cat Step, you zoom past you army and reach its head, to take your rightful position as a good ruler at its front, further inspiring your already near frenzied with zeal troops with your imperial presence at the front lines.

Flicking your tail, you gather destructive Yin Qi at its tip, and after running ahead of the rest of your army a short ways, clearing the remaining levels of this level of the catacombs, you run into another, more imposing sealed gate preventing all but the strongest and most monsterous of ghosts and spirits from passing.

'But I've broken through a heavenly gate before, this might as well be a curtain of beads to me, Heh-Heh' Is the only thought you have as you disdainfully approach the entrance to the next layer of tombs, which must be the not so final resting places of the Forgotten King's most loyal and valuable underlings and servants, and with a few flicks of your tail and a few more oversized destructive Yin spheres, the doorway to this graveyard of the honored is blasted to pieces, leaving only dust behind.

With a yell, Xiongji leaps over your head, nearly clipping your ears as he bounds and clears the distance to the next layer of the catacombs in a single jump and lifts his axe high over his head. The ghosts who were insane or confident enough to be close behind him, cry out with their own warcries, most of them unintelligible, but a few can be understood.

"For the rightful empress of us ghosts!"
"For the wild grave jumping princess!"
"For the queen of crows and cicadas!"
"For the Happy Bloodshed!"
"For Huanliuxue of the four titles!"
"I'M COMING TO KILL YOU AGAIN YOU RAT FACED FUCK!"
"MURDER! DEATH! KILL!"

And so the assault on the next layer of the catacombs of the bloodless war begins!
Cont

>>5986239

And in the deeper darkness of these lower crypts, you can see ghosts on the other side of the battlefield, clashing with Xiongji on equal terms and tossing your lesser soldiers aside like handfuls of funeral ash, that look closer to demons than human souls, even twisted and grudge drowned ones!

What do you do as the fighting starts up again, Huanliuxue?

>Fly off to assist Xiongji in fighting those particularly scary looking spirits, and try to ambush one of them from behind while they're distracted with fighting him [Stealth/ Martial trial. DC 120]

>Keep your distance and launch volley after volley and barrage after barrage of Destructive Yin Spheres and Chasing Stars [Magic trial. DC 110]

>Turn human again and lazily drift through the air, playing ghost empress melody to strengthen your troops, and also to attack any ghost impudent enough to try and attack you [Magic Trial. DC 135)

>Do not participate in the fighting, and just sneak by and attempt to slip deeper into the catacombs while you army keeps its defenders occupied [Stealth Trial. DC 85]

>Write in

Anonymous

>>5986241
>Turn human again and lazily drift through the air, playing ghost empress melody to strengthen your troops, and also to attack any ghost impudent enough to try and attack you [Magic Trial. DC 135)

>>5986241
>Do not participate in the fighting, and just sneak by and attempt to slip deeper into the catacombs while you army keeps its defenders occupied [Stealth Trial. DC 85]
The fighting rages on outside,
but our duel is with the king alone.
Monarch Vs Monarch

>>5986239
>"I'M COMING TO KILL YOU AGAIN YOU RAT FACED FUCK!"
Keep an eye out for a rat-faced-fuck. Someone called dibs.

>>5986241
>>Do not participate in the fighting, and just sneak by and attempt to slip deeper into the catacombs while you army keeps its defenders occupied [Stealth Trial. DC 85]
C'mere you old bag.

>>5986241
>Keep your distance and launch volley after volley and barrage after barrage of Destructive Yin Spheres and Chasing Stars [Magic trial. DC 110]

Pew! Pew!

>>5986241
>urn human again and lazily drift through the air, playing ghost empress melody to strengthen your troops, and also to attack any ghost impudent enough to try and attack you [Magic Trial. DC 135)

>>5986241
>Keep your distance and launch volley after volley and barrage after barrage of Destructive Yin Spheres and Chasing Stars [Magic trial. DC 110]

>>5986241
>Keep your distance and launch volley after volley and barrage after barrage of Destructive Yin Spheres and Chasing Stars [Magic trial. DC 110]
Let's keep up the momentum.
What better way to do that then mobile cat artillery?

>>5986241
>Keep your distance and launch volley after volley and barrage after barrage of Destructive Yin Spheres and Chasing Stars [Magic trial. DC 110]

Kinda torn on this one. On one hand I kinda see our ghost army as expendable cannon fodder, on the other hand that kinda clashes with our whole bleeding heart ruler persona...

>>5986678
Seems like being a ghost is a tortured existence who isn't easily extinguished unless one uses forbidden techniques.
So think of them as online players who will eventually respawn.

>>5986241
>Keep your distance and launch volley after volley and barrage after barrage of Destructive Yin Spheres and Chasing Stars [Magic trial. DC 110]
FIRE EVERYTHING

>>5986241
>>Keep your distance and launch volley after volley and barrage after barrage of Destructive Yin Spheres and Chasing Stars [Magic trial. DC 110]

Our-Grandfather

Ending the vote, tallying the result now.

Turn human again and lazily drift through the air, playing ghost empress melody to strengthen your troops, and also to attack any ghost impudent enough to try and attack you:5

Do not participate in the fighting, and just sneak by and attempt to slip deeper into the catacombs while you army keeps its defenders occupied:2

Keep your distance and launch volley after volley and barrage after barrage of Destructive Yin Spheres and Chasing Stars:7

So you'll send volleys of spells and barrages of magic at the enemy army, while keeping your distances

Update will arrive shortly

Though you recognized their exact breed of monstrosity and horror, from the pages of the record wraiths and phantoms, even though you hadn't studied that particular manual for sometime, your memory was sharp. Especially when concerned with potential threats that may be faced. And while the not so living night-terrors you could glimpse through the dark that even your feline eyes adapted for night had difficulty piercing were something that might've frightened you if you'd met them without a golden core nestled beside your beast core, and while their might and deadly and deathly powers were still not something to be trifled with lightly, you were confident your the magic you've taught yourself and learned and the mystical and spiritual powers you've cultivated would be more than their match if you were to face them one on one in single combat or all together by yourself. And they were busy dealing with a particularly rowdy and terrifyingly powerful ghost themselves. Though Xiongji was closer to their equal, the sight of him facing all those ghastly and ghostly monsters head on and actually managing to fend them off and put up a decent fight, did make you wonder for a moment why he had evolved into so advance a form of hungry ghost and remained, while shockingly dangerous when his mind was in the right place and his rampage was directed with purpose, a more or less standard Hungry Ghost even taking into account his bulk, literally raging fire and inhuman amount of strength.

But that curiosity did not linger long, as you watched the rooster general get tossed into the air by a spade of a hand and whacked against the wall by a spectral dragons tail. Shaken from such idle wonderings, you shackle your more whimsical thoughts and focus, narrowing your eyes as your tail flicks behind your back.

Breathing in, you gather the negative spiritual energies and refine the dense yin qi surrounding you and permeating everything around you into its most destructive aspect, creating the essence of pure destruction. One of your favorite types of Qi and best weapons, it rings and surges from the tip of your tail down to your spine in barely contained rings of crackling, lightless lightning. And breathing out, the vapor your breath forms sparkles, as you also draw up the cosmic qi sleeping in your meridians and twinkling within the moondust resting in your blood, and begin to channel it as well to cast an array of spells, a barrage of magic that would make siege artillery and comet showers seem small and pitiful in comparison!

 roll 2d100. Best out of five. DC 110

Anonymous

Rolled 16, 7 = 23 (2d100)

>>5987063
Nin! Nin! Wait, no I mean, Yin! Yin!

Rolled 20, 36 = 56 (2d100)

>>5987063
This doesnt look good.

Rolled 75, 82 = 157 (2d100)

>>5987063
In the interest of getting an update out soon, and 3 hours having passed, I elect to roll again.
You may call me a fag at your own leisure.

Our-Grandfather

>>5987105
Junior is no cut-sleeve. Fantastic Success. 40 over DC. Update will arrive shortly

https://youtu.be/aR_hqv_V2QU
_
With a twitch of your whiskers, a raising of your ears and many flicks of your tail that would appear random to an observer that stood in for complex sequences of hand signs, you summoned your Qi and began to cast the first spells signaling the beginning of your mystical barrage. But as you applied the finishing touches and last preparations to will the first handful of attacks into being, an idea as cruel as it was whimsical and cunning as it was amusing wormed its way into your mind like a worm through a corpse. Seeing the ancient and archaic armor worn by the both the ghosts marching under your banner and those crypt sealed monsters they fought against by your command, brought a passing thought to the forefront of your mind. A sympathetic and stray musing as the fact of how long these souls had been trapped here was once more thrust in front of your eyes.

'How long has it been since any of them have seen starlight?'

Biting down hard on the thought, the idea grew and became rather wicked and underhanded as you realized you had the order of your spells all wrong in the ground arrangement you'd mentally prepared for you most probably unwilling audience! Sure destructive yin spheres had a way of demanding attention and tossing anyone they didn't disintegrate high into the air, in one piece or many, but that kind of attack, as devastating as it was basic, wouldn't do anything besides reduce whatever it hit to dust or pieces so miniscule it might as well be dust. Certainly the perfect offensive spell to begin a barrage, but you weren't flinging the spheres at flesh and blood targets, ghosts are intangible unless they're possessing something or are strong enough to create a new vessel for their wandering spirit to inhabit. Sure the ones Xiongji was scrapping with were probably mostly solid when they wanted to be, but many of those fighting under them were not or at least not quite to the point the archer ghost general had reached before you trapped her in a cage of your own design. Or maybe they just thought it was more effective to fight as mist and ethereal light? Didn't matter

They'd be easily able to avoid the opening volley of destructive yin spheres, even if you poured enough Qi into them to make them too massive to avoid. Not only that, but they might've been from a time when movement techniques were much more commonly taught, trained and used in battle. The initial surprise would knock a few of them out of the fight, but it wouldn't decimate them. At least not as much as you wanted them to be.

But if you lead with the chasing stars, the only spell you've really made that uses cosmic Qi, the sight of them alone will get them so stand still from the sight of the stars so long taken from them? Or at least that's the plan.

Swiftly reorganizing your thoughts and motions, redirecting the flow of Qi through your meridians, a rainbow sea of miniaturized stars twinkles into existence arounds you.
Cont

>>5987121

A massive cluster of Qi bolts.

Then, prancing forward, you send the first row of star-light summoned in the gloom to fly forward like shooting stars. Which is something you do not only to provide an eye catching light show, but to send them out in search of targets while keeping an array of exactly sixteen stars floating around you, to serve as protection as you saunter forward through the fighting with casual feline apathy, waiting for the first of your homing attacks to become the center of attention, as you continiously cast the chasing star spell over and over again, while whipping and swinging your tail, keeping the destructive Yin Qi gathered in its end in preparation for the the real barrage to begin.

It doesn't take long at all for the rainbow colored lights to catch the attention of the dead, who have become so used to the dank and gloom of the catacombs, that they freeze as they spot so much color and light, and several of your own soldiers join their former comrades in picking up their jaws from their ground as they gape and star at the brilliant lights plucked from their long faded memories of night skies.

"Are those....stars?" One of the towering brutes Xiongji has been keeping occupied by selflessly using himself, mostly his face, as a shield towards their aggression asked ponderously to no one in particular, his tusked lips parting in a frown a second away from a whimper that would've been heart wrenching if it weren't so terribly pathetic.

And, by lifting his head up to admire the false stars, he put it directly in the radius of the invisible sphere that the chasing stars used to decide if something was within range for them to give chase and cut to pieces with their tails of sparkling and twinkling light.

All you had to do was focus. His eye seemed like the perfect target.

A orange star followed by a pink trail of even smaller stars turn, and locked onto the target you set for it, as all the others in its flight picked out their own victims.

Reaching towards it, with a longing look in his tearful eyes, the half boar mouthed brute's wonder and wistfulness turned into screaming agony and howls of pain as the star shot straight through his eye socket and out the back of his skull, the trail of qi it leaves behind slicing off half of his face as he howls and moves to shield his face

"FUCKER! PIECE OF SHIT COWARD. LET ME STAND AND FIGHT YOU DAMMIT!" Xiongji rages, spewing a gout of fire into his face as he leapt up, and wreathed by predatory stars, slammed the squealing pig ghost to the ground, slamming his head against his as more and more stars chose a portion of the hungry ghost and sliced him up like he was on a butcher's block. Besides Xiongji's howled profanity, ever soul in the high walled chamber of stacked tombs went deathly quiet.
Cont

>>5987123

And then the screaming started, as sixteen beams of cutting light shoot out from your entourage of floating stars, and the hundreds of more mobile star light you've sent flying through the mass burial site shoot off, moving faster than anything that flies in the sky, ruthlessly seeking out and pursuing their prey that had been admiring their beauty and twinkling light just a few short moments ago.

Waltzing serenely through the havoc, beams of rainbow light creating a suitably impressive light show around you as Xiongji's cursing drowns out some of the screams of fright and confusion as he begins chopping the star-light cut apart bodies of his opponents before they can pull their ghostly bodies back together between his assault and the hounding of his chasing stars. Whose number only grows as you create more of them, while flicking arrays that shoot out a stream of Yin Spheres, to direct fire and pummel any placement of enemies that looks fortified and sturdy enough to endure a few stars slicing their way through their positions.

Humming one of the jauntiest and most merry songs you know how to play with a Guqin, you rain destruction and ruin all about you, plumes of smoke and ethereal mist and ghost lights shooting up where ever your toss a large yin sphere Qi, direct a pack of chasing stars, focus your sixteen guardian's wrath upon, or just set down a destructive yin sphere shower producing array right in front and wait a second for it to be reduced to atoms or less.

You spot one of the mean ghosts who were bullying Xiongji, who had somehow crawled out of the pit they were all in, being ponded by angry stars or the angrier general himself. The one with the dragon tail attached to their spine, stitched in place and secured with iron plates and bolt, dressed in a princely raiment and wearing antlers on their helmet with a long flowing white mustache further aping the look of the elegance of dragon kind.

Wheezing, flickering and twitching as they struggled to maintain their imposing form between breaths, they heard your humming and turned, silver flecked ice blue eyes wide with dread.

"Please no" they gasp, raising one hand in a plea of mercy, holding a chunk of axe stuck in their side, straight into where their lungs would be if they still had their living body "Mercy"

"Hmmm, No" You purr, smiling as you tilt your head and your sixteen sentries and about a dozen more stars unleash themselves upon the shambling ghost general as he cries out in pain, hunks of his chest being lopped off by the beams of light, limbs being blasted off by stray yin sphere explosions, as his ghostly body miraculously and impressively regenerates and stitches itself back together again and again after you tear it apart.
Cont

>>5987124

When you get bored of pounding him with spells, he's twitching on the ground, one arm scaled and tipped with a claw larger enough to wrap around your whole body in either forms, the other a wispy stream of light vaguely in the form of an arm, and his legs twitching and splayed, spread out over a wide area, their cuts glowing the same color as the stars the cut them apart.

Sitting on your haunches, you daintily lift up a paw and begin grooming it, as the explosions rocking the floor and the screams echoing beneath their booms begin to die out as the massive barrage of your destructive and cosmic Qi begins to take its toll, along with Xiongji, who made good use of the distraction of dangerous star light to fight dirtier than you thought possible to overcome the generals who ganged up on him. Who judging from the beating they were meting out to him, where each about as strong if not a little stronger than he was. But encountering an unknown type of spell fueled by an unknown type of Qi made them misstep and get their asses beat. Though being in several pieces by time Xiongji was standing over them with axe in hand, probably also helped to secure the rooster's victory over the mighty and monstrous spirts.

"I probably shouldn't use anymore force, if I want to make any use of these floors" You sigh, slowly setting down you paw as the dragon mocking ghost in front of you groans and whimpers, half their face silvery fire as they struggle to retain their humanoid shape and not return to being a particularly dazzling ghost light.

"I yield, I yield" He cries out, tears dripping down his cheeks and turning to smoke before they drop "You have my surrender, star witch! I speak for my fellows, cease your attack, call off your war-dogs, we surrender and throw down our swords"

"Are you trying to order me around or something, Huh?" You snap and snarl, plodding over and placing a paw upon his neck, before cackling and lifting your paw off of his back with a smug smirk "But very well, I accept your surrender, though I think a few more of your troops could use a battering, just to be certain..."

"The king would have audience with you" He hisses through his teeth, one eye that isn't ethereal flame blazing with shame and hatred "There is no reason to continue your rampage, beast"

"There is one" You snicker, patting your paw on his head a few times to tease him "It is really fun to let loose and rampage around every now and again, isn't it?"

"Hrrrn"He snarls, eyes shut firmly and brow furrowing with impotent anger "My master waits for you in the final chamber, the final tomb in this inverted tower of graves. We shall not attack or otherwise harass you along the path that leads to it. No one has opened the seal since he was struck down by the spiteful heavens"
Cont

>>5987125

You frown, considering the offer before the ghost beneath your paw chuckled.

"Though, where you dug that raging idiot out of, is a mystery I'd like to hear" He cackles, smiling viciously up at you "That is, if the king leaves any fragment of you behind after he's finished with you, you arrogant bi..."

A crack of lightning, infused with blood Qi shoots through his back, making him scream louder than he ever did while being cut apart by your chasing stars. Lifting you smoking paw, leaving him to suffer for his impudence at threatening you on his king's behalf, you trot over him, still contemplating the words before he had the incredibly stupid idea to try and intimidate you.

"You...this...was...a show of..ressspect" The batter ghost hisses, crawling after you. But his babbling annoys you, so you shut him up with another bolt of life infused lightning

What do you do about the Forgotten King's offer of an audience, Huanliuxue?

>Accept it and cut to the chase, you came down here to steal his crown, so this will just make it happen quicker.

>Not trusting it for a moment, tell your soldiers to finish up capturing the floor and lead them forward

>Dragon the dragon mocking general down with you, to use as a hostage in case it is a trick.

>Send Xiongji ahead of you, the protection should also apply to your followers, and it'd only be polite to send a messenger of your own back to the forgotten king,

>Write in

Anonymous

>>5987126
>He may have his audience. But I will take this floor first, Your forces will surrender and mine will occupy my new territories.
>Once we have the floor secure, go to meet the king

I see no reason to refuse. But I also see no reason to not take the floor while We're at it. What's he gonna do, keep resisting?

>>5987126
>Not trusting it for a moment, tell your soldiers to finish up capturing the floor and lead them forward

>>5987126
>Accept it and cut to the chase, you came down here to steal his crown, so this will just make it happen quicker.

Monarch Vs Monarch

>>5987126
>Accept it and cut to the chase, you came down here to steal his crown, so this will just make it happen quicker.
>Write in
>>Use the Phantom Cat Waltz to leave a false ghost light outside the Forgotten King's tomb, in case it really is a trap. The false ghost light should meld easily into the surroundings, and will make for a convenient getaway if we need it.
It definitely smells like a trap, but at this point reaching the king is just a matter of time, and everyone here knows that.
If the King genuinely wants to try to and make peace, or some kind of deal, then this is the only chance we have of at least hearing him out with proper decorum.
Personally, I would like to recruit him, so I want to give him that chance. In the worst case, we could just beat his ass or evacuate as needed.
The idea of the Huan invading Heaven with an army of furious ghosts with an ancient grudge to settle is too cool for me not to at least make a token effort towards making it a reality.

>>5987126
>>Accept it and cut to the chase, you came down here to steal his crown, so this will just make it happen quicker.

>>5987126
>Supporting >>5987234. As long as we have a means of escape in the event he tries to double-cross us, no sense in not hearing him out.

>>5987234
>>5987173
changing my vote to suppor this

>>5987234
>Reaching towards it, with a longing look in his tearful eyes, the half boar mouthed brute's wonder and wistfulness turned into screaming agony and howls of pain as the star shot straight through his eye socket and out the back of his skull, the trail of qi it leaves behind slicing off half of his face as he howls and moves to shield his face
>"FUCKER! PIECE OF SHIT COWARD. LET ME STAND AND FIGHT YOU DAMMIT!" Xiongji rages, spewing a gout of fire into his face as he leapt up, and wreathed by predatory stars, slammed the squealing pig ghost to the ground, slamming his head against his as more and more stars chose a portion of the hungry ghost and sliced him up like he was on a butcher's block. Besides Xiongji's howled profanity, ever soul in the high walled chamber of stacked tombs went deathly quiet.
>Cont
>>>
> Our-Grandfather !!x2Y5mWD7k6q (ID: 4W2lY7RM) 04/26/24(Fri)06:42:16 No.5987124▶>>5987125
>>>5987123
>And then the screaming started, as sixteen beams of cutting light shoot out from your entourage of floating stars, and the hundreds of more mobile star light you

>>5987431
Idk why this happened ignore this post

Our-Grandfather

Ending the vote now, tallying its result.

He may have his audience. But I will take this floor first, Your forces will surrender and mine will occupy my new territories.
+
Once we have the floor secure, go to meet the king: 1

Not trusting it for a moment, tell your soldiers to finish up capturing the floor and lead them forward:2

Accept it and cut to the chase, you came down here to steal his crown, so this will just make it happen quicker.:7
-Use the Phantom Cat Waltz to leave a false ghost light outside the Forgotten King's tomb, in case it really is a trap. The false ghost light should meld easily into the surroundings, and will make for a convenient getaway if we need it.:6

So You'll accept the invitation, but leave a false ghost light floating outside of the forgotten king's tomb, in case the offer of an audience is indeed a trap

Update will arrive shortly

Snorting, you turn away from the twitching ghost laid out on the ground, and scratch a claw across the stone floor in thought, frowning as you consider your options. The offer certainly reeks of deception, instinct and common sense both warn that it is most likely a trap. A gamble to separate you from your army and then spring a deadly ambush. But then again, even to a lunatic or noble brat given command of an army to play soldier with, it would be clear that you reaching the King's throne room is just a matter of time with how successful your march through his kingdom has been so far. Successful and swift. There is a chance, a slim chance, that the offer for a meeting between you two monarchs is genuine and given in good faith. Who knows, maybe he has enough sense and sanity left rattling around in his skull to realize defeat is as inevitable as death at this point, and means to offer you his terms of surrender.

'It would be nice for the forgotten king to present and offer his crown to me willingly' You think to yourself with an indulgent fantasy of what that'd be like, for a figure of myth and legend and a common character in old ghost stories to kneel and kow-tow before you, holding out his crown for you to take graciously out of his hands, but the day dream wavers and washes away as good sense and caution prevails 'but even if sometimes my cautious self may be a little paranoid, even the most naive child would find this offer suspicious'

Frowning, you look back to see the fighting that is still going on behind you, as the evolved ghosts that had endured your barrage of exploding spheres and slicing stars stubbornly fight on, even though their leaders have already surrendered and cried uncle after receiving the brunt of your sorcerous assault.

'However, my subjects in these crypts already suffer enough just from existing, anytime I or one of my ghostly Qi cultivating students aren't around, they're in agony' You sigh, as your gentler and more caring side raises a good point. Continuing the fight needlessly would only just make those under your protection suffer further, even if this outing is giving them a chance to vent their frustration and rage and appease the madness that afflicts them, they're still being injured and weakened and reduced to ghost flames.

But as that worry struggles against your good sense and survival instinct, a revelation dawns on you and gives you the answer to appease both your benevolent and pragmatic natures! If it is a trap, there is an easy way for you to slip from it.

Cat's court: Phantom Cat Waltz (猫 法院: 幽灵猫圆舞曲, Māofǎyuàn: Yōulíngmāoyuánwǔ qǔ), one of the techniques you learned during your jaunt through the nine heavens, and proof that desperation leads to innovation and that a prodigy is capable of overcoming any obstacle in their way, even if that means forming a new technique or creating a new move on the fly. Yes...YES! That's what you'll do!
Cont

>>5987955

 Leaving a few false ghost lights outside of the forgotten king's tomb to serve as a easy means of escape if this audience turns out to be a trap. It's a sound plan, won't require much work and is a scheme only a genius like yourself could come up with. So you'll do it and no one will know you were planning on running away if things don't go your way, since no one knows this technique exists. And it might not even be necessary if this is a trap you're walking into or the audience goes poorly, you can always just beat the forgotten king to a pulp and forcefully subjugate him if he pisses you off or tries to murder you first. But as the saying goes, Man preposes, heavens disposes. So it is always wise to have a few back-up plans in case the first doesn't work out.

This old ghost will regret luring this tiger from her mountain, if he is planning on tricking you.

"Stop, the fighting is over!" You shout as loudly as you can, making up your mind "You're generals have surrendered to me, and I command you to stand down and secure this floor, and guard it until you're told to do otherwise"

"Huh?" Xiongji grunts, gnawing at the neck of another hungry ghost, who has buried their curved and serrated blade through his gut

"We're done fighting, I'm going to meet with the forgotten king" You say bluntly, locking eyes with the berserk spirit, all but challenging him to refuse the order and go against your will

"I need to beat that son of a bitch to death for what he's done" He snarls, through the other ghost "He's the one whose responsible for everything, that got me trapped here, ended my lineage!"

"He's already dead" You dully reply and Xiongji huffs in annoyance, eyes narrowed and flames flaring around him

"I'll just kill him again!" He declares loudly, dropping the other spirit like a dog retrieving a ball "And you'll need at least some protection, I'd never forgive myself if I let you get hurt, princess"

You blink, shocked that Xiongji is showing an emotion that isn't anger. That almost sound affectionate, if it wasn't half growled and spoken with a face like a demon's.

"Don't cause any trouble" You say sternly, nodding your head as you decide there's no harm in allowing Xiongji to tag along, at least as far to the door to the forgotten king's chamber. A queen needs an escort, if only for appearances sake.

"Do you think me a simpleton? I'm perfectly in control of myself" Xiongji snarls, one eye twitching as he swings his axe up, laying it across his shoulders as he stomps after you with a warrior's swagger and boisterous stride. Well, if he does go out of control, the guards around the forgotten king should be able to put him back under control before he causes any problems for you or ruins the meeting, if it isn't just a trap. If it is, well, even if he gets defeated with a flick of the forgotten king's sleeve, he'll be useful in a fight.
Cont

>>5987957

The battered, still sparking dragon mimicking ghost general shows you and xiongji the hidden path to the deepest part of the catacombs, hatefully glaring at Xiongji the whole while. The rooster general meets his glare with one of his own, and asks him why he's making such an ugly face at him, but the dragon tailed ghost doesn't give him an answer and with a disdain scoff, simply says that he should remember why he's earned his enmity.

Which makes Xiongji start guessing what he's done to earn such hostility, as if it isn't obvious why someone would loath him when all he does is scream, rage, curse and rampage around, attacking anything that gets near him. Even though you're an exception to that rule and are fond of the rooster general when he isn't going berserk and causing you problems, you aren't blind or self absorbed enough to miss why most of the ghosts who've been trapped with him hate him, or that if he got out of the catacombs he'd quickly become a threat to the world, no matter how loyal or useful he's been to you.

He doesn't get the hint from either you or the beaten general's meaningful looks, and spends the rest of the trip down to the earth rattling off guess after guess, often repeating them thinking it was the first time he said them, which quickly becomes annoying though you don't waste your breath. The next floor of the catacombs, nothing living that isn't you can enter, you can tell that from the full body shiver you experience the moment you step down the stairway leading to it. The deathly yin qi here is so dense and pure, so refined, that merely entering this layer of the cursed catacombs would strike even those with strong, health physiques stone cold dead. Qiang, Yujijiao, could've followed you here, if the former left her body behind and the latter because she's already dead, but even Monu, who is the most resistant besides yourself to Yin energies even if she hasn't trained her body to resist ghostly air, would stop misstep and fall over and rise up again as a fresh ghost.

The thought of your beautiful and loving mother becoming a corpse so easily, sends a second shiver down your spine and up your tail. Imagining something so awful makes your stomach twist into knots and your blood feel like its freezing in your veins. Shaking your head, you pushing the dreadful thought out of your mind before it can make your guts curdle, and look ahead, as the way forward is lit by ghost lights of all colors, that float down from the ceiling to take their place along the road leading to the forgotten king's chamber.

The path is extravagantly decorated, looking more like an underworld palace, lined with trophies taken from wars long forgotten and art work depicting historical scenes that no one remembers. And as you walk by, admiring the elegance around you, you begin to realize that Xiongji might be hated by these lower generals for a reason besides his habit of rampaging.
Cont

>>5987958

The archer seemed surprised to see him, and not just because he tackled her after she broke out of a spell of hypnotism. And several of the paintings and murals here, have a figure standing besides who you can only guess is the forgotten king before he was forgotten. And everyone of them has the figure at the king's side's face scratched out or painted over with ink. Xiongji, of course, is too busy threatening and trying to goad the austere guards standing at attention around you into a fight to notice how they're looking at him or the numerous signs pointing to him having been far more important that he remembers himself being.

You keep your mouth shut, and walk forward proudly with your head held high as you walk through a gallery of history that no one recalls, feeling a strong sense of sorrow seeing just how much had been lost. The forgotten king had lead a glorious life of renown when he was alive, and now all that anyone remembers is that he was forgotten, and everything he'd achieved and all he attained had been forgotten. Within one generation of a god taking offense to his existence and dropping a mountain on top of his head.

Suddenly, your mouth becomes bone dry and your throat tightens. Snarling, you push back against the dread rising up from your belly

'No, this won't be my fate' You definitely declare to yourself, glaring fiercely and moving a bit quicker towards the chasm ahead, that has a single rail thin path of stairs leading down into it, even as the air around you grows colder and colder.

Xiongji sighs, stopping at the path leading down to the last tomb in the catacombs, scratching his chin as he looks down and them up at the tattered, dust covered banners flapping slowly as if there was a breeze down here so far beneath the surface.

"If you need me, call my name" He growls, shaking his head as he turns on his heels, leaving you to descend into the pit alone. He sits down, and scratches around the hole in his head, looking like he's struggling to remember something as he looks around at the hall of lost glories that he'd ignored to threaten and try to bully the ghosts who respectfully welcomed the two of you to the lowest layer of graves and guided you towards their kings final resting place.

"Maybe you'll remember, rooster" You sigh sadly, shaking your head as you slowly walk down the stairs leading to your rival. For a long time, maybe even hours, all you see is darkness and frigid mist that is only a little warmer than the air in the underworld. But suddenly, you see a great stone square, a block of granite suspended in the air above nothing, with the peak of a mountain stabbed through its top. It is held in place by thousands of golden, glowing chains. And it is entirely unadorned and undecorated. It is a stark prison cell, plastered in heavenly and divine talismans.
Cont

>>5987960

The jail cell of a soul the heaven's hated so greatly, they refused to allow it to reincarnate. Refused to allow any who followed him to be reborn.

Swallowing hard, you walk up to the chamber, and find that the final sealed door isn't like the others of its kind in the rest of the catacombs, that one one side only open for ghosts stronger than the rest on the level and on the other only open for the opposite, those weaker than the rest on that side or who willingly expel some of their ghostly essence and reduce their spiritual power to climb higher.

It is, a large door of jade and gold, wrapped around with a dirty, blood stained rope, with a lock hanging from it.

There are trace amounts of divine Qi within, the spiritual energy of the heavens. And an inscription, carved in a ring across its surface.

"When living breath touches this door, the occupant of this prison shall be released"

Holding your breath, not willing to risk your breath not being ghostly enough to not open the door and release the forgotten king, you place a false ghost light outside of the door, and walk closer. There is one more way you could get through the door. Faith. Something gods cultivate. And if the faith put into you by your worshippers in to Chuan isn't enough, you do have another source of divine essence to force the door open without allowing the forgotten king to break free.

Fortunately, that proves unnecessary, as the faith of your mortal worshippers proves to be enough to trick the door, and as you expected, it becomes intangible to let you pass through. After all, the god that locked him down here had to get out of the prison they made for him.

Walking in, you find a bare, white space. Not of stone, but of...well nothing. There is nothing here. No fine furniture, carpets or other things you'd expect in a throne room. Just nothing. No floor, no ceiling, and no walls. No gaudy treasures or forbidden scriptures or wealth or anything. There's nothing here.

Except bones. A pile of them. Bones you recognize from the old armor still attached to them. You've seen who these corpses belong to, up in the catacombs. They've been dragged and placed together, in the center of the white nothing, so many of them they had to be piled together.

And atop the throne. Are two more skeletons, one who is painfully familiar.

Wait a second

No!

The bones weren't dragged there, you realize with a chill. That is the position they were in when they died. They all tried to shield the mortal remains of their leader, whose corpse is sprawled out a top of them, armor rent asunder and spear still held definately in his boney grasp. And behind him, with a broken open skull, are the remains of Xiongji, his skull split open from a falling rock and his hands held up to try and catch...no, to hold something back

And that something is the peak of the mountain, that was slammed into the chest of the forgotten king, shattering his black armor and crushing his heart.
Cont

>>5987961

Xiongji, in his final moments of life tried to save him, as did every other powerful ghost that still exists in the catacombs. Or, tried to retrieve his body and then starved to death around it. Such loyalty. It is a true shame that all of them have gone insane.

"Hmm" A voice calls out, to your side. Acting on reflex, you spin around and hiss, hair raising as a ghost dressed in simple daoist robes, their color ghostly and bone white walks up to you, heavy chains hanging from his wrists, ankles, neck, with chains wrapped all over his body.

His willow leaf eyes are red, with black swirls, with the pale white pupils of a corpse. He is wearing no regalia, finery or even a single ring of jewelry. He has a handsome, though very sad, face with a troubled brow and short black hair, shaved short in a militant fashion, with a beard around his strong jaws and sharp chin, a thin mustache connecting to it. His hands, the only part of him visible besides his head and neck, are covered in scars and calluses. He has the presence of a dangerous predator, not a starving dog or wolf, but of a tiger or bear. Even his resting posture speaks of strength and ruthlessness in battle. He has a dangerous aura, and radiates with power. He is the strongest ghost you've ever seen

And he's standing there, casually, as if you've just woken him up from a nap. Looking like a regular person, the sort of man you could find in any military camp. Scratching his arm as he looks at you straight on in fascination, moving his hand from scratching at his arm to instead scratch his neck as he squints, and steps closer, then around you, leaning down to inspect you more closely as you stand, frozen and terribly confused as the forgotten king circles around you like you were a decorative statue.

Stepping back he snaps his fingers and laughs

"A demonic beast!" He exclaims excitedly "AND a carmine mystic of sorts, how curious! I thought you were dead for a moment, with how much like a ghost your presence is. How curious indeed. Did you steal from my collection of forbidden texts? I was certain those would've been burned or sealed away by the gods after they"

He pulls open his robes, revealing a muscular chest and a deep, gaping hole that goes all of the way through him, his heart missing as he looks at you, a charming grin on his face as you look at the gruesome injury and wince, imagining it happening to you.

"Well, killed me" He laughs, before frowning and creasing his brow "Ah, it is rude to display such horrific injuries to others right"

"I don't mind" You say, baffled and stunned. This...this isn't going how you thought it would, none of this is what you expected.
Cont

>>5987962

"It has been a long time since I spoken to any one face to face, I can only talk through that blasted door when my old followers get right up against it, and even then I can barely hear what they're saying, assume its the same for them" He rambles on before blinking and laughing, clapping his hands "AH! Forgot demonic beasts could talk, memories bleed together over the centuries. But, I apologize for any trouble my friends have given you, they haven't been themselves for a"

He frowns, his cheerful expression vanishing as he lets out a deep and sorrowful sigh

"A very long time. Souls that don't move on to hell or reincarnate, who remain attached to the living world, suffer terribly, and eventually start to forget their mortal lives" He explains, as if you didn't know that "A process which is quickened if they gather more of the substance of death or ghostly essences, I wonder if that process is how daoists learned to cultivate spiritual energy, long ago"

"Uh" You say, head swimming as he the forgotten king rambles on and on about the process of how ordinary souls turns into hungry ghosts, one you're well informed about

"Oh yes, I told my friends to bring you here, since I realized you were strong when you unleashed your aura" He continues on "When you were cultivating higher in the mountain, an incredible amount of progress. You must be a natural talent. Shooting from....hm, foundation establishment to golden core in a single effort. A core of abnormal quality at that! Incredible"

"Uh?" You grunt again, eyes wide as he smiles pleasantly and sits down on the ground in front of you

"Even for a genius, you must've been well prepared, with many marvelous treasures and experiences to draw upon" He says fondly, like you were old acquaintances "But they told me there were difficulties, something about resistance, I don't know what they did to you, but then you left for awhile, and I was worried you ran away. Then, suddenly, you show up, and all of them get agitated, more agitated than they usually are, and I sensed an unusual spiritual presence, A type of Qi I've never encountered before"

You blink, dazed and flop onto your side, overwhelmed by the real forgotten king's talkative and cheerful nature, you expectations completely crushed as he rambles on excitedly.

"And I was hopeful, even if you were just a very powerful ghost of a companion I'd forgot, that Qi could've thrown open that damn cell door and let me out of this hellhole" He chuckled, manically, eyes frantic now "Didn't expect you to be a demonic beast though, and since you're alive, that door should've opened, but you just appeared through it. Hmm, that must me your existence is ever so slightly divine. Hey, tell me, can you take on a human form, boy? The old scriptures I studied spoke of that being an ability of the beasts of yore"

"I'm a girl" You groan, snapping back to reality to feel offended as you pick yourself up and the forgotten king tilts his head to the side

>>5987964

"That you are" He says with a nod "Forgive me, I barely heard you speak the first time. It has been so, so very long since i've had any company besides"

He waves his arm towards the pile of skeletons

"them" He says sadly, shaking his head "But can you turn human? I know you demonic beasts used to be much more common place and accepted, before the practice of beast raising and cultivation were outlawed by heavenly mandate"

How do you reply to his request, Huanliuxue?

>Turn human, going along with the flow and just wait for him to remember WHY he offered you an audience

>"Why aren't you as crazy as the rest of the ghosts here. You should be stark raving mad! You seemed so much...more imposing in the vision I had when our auras clashed!"

>"I should've expected you to be scholar when I found your collection, I'll show you my human face, once you tell me why you called me here, it can't be just to free you, after all the trouble you've caused me!"

>"Shut up for a second. Forgotten King, if you think this ignorant act is going to fool me, you're mistaken. Surrender your crown to me nor or get ready to fight, bastard!"

>Write in

Anonymous

>>5987966
You will ABSOLITELY need to pay reparations for interrupting our Breakthrough you bumbling fuck.

Juat because I have a fondness for rambling and excited old ghosts, you will not get off scot free.

>I should have expected to find a scholar.

>>5987966
>"Why aren't you as crazy as the rest of the ghosts here. You should be stark raving mad! You seemed so much...more imposing in the vision I had when our auras clashed!"

>>5987966
>"I should've expected you to be scholar when I found your collection, I'll show you my human face, once you tell me why you called me here, it can't be just to free you, after all the trouble you've caused me!"
>"Why aren't you as crazy as the rest of the ghosts here. You should be stark raving mad! You seemed so much...more imposing in the vision I had when our auras clashed!"

>>5987966
>Turn human, going along with the flow and just wait for him to remember WHY he offered you an audience

>>5987974
Part of me is willing to accept that the ghosts are retards and misinterpreted his order of "bring the strong one here" as "GRAB THAT BITCH" instead of "Hey, go tell her I want to talk to her". The other part of me is saying this guy is a great actor and he just does or says anything he thinks will get him what he wants. We'll definitely have to ask him why the god hated him this much. If his response isn't villainous enough I wouldn't trust him. If his response is comically evil I wouldn't trust him then either.

>>5988328
A subordinates ineptitude is the leaders responsibility.

Regardless of anything else he has to pay up, and THEN he may bow his neck and join our court.

>>5988016
Support but this guy seems like a warrior scholar based on his appearance. Must have been a very wise king.
>Write-in
>"So I have to ask if it won't throw you into a fit. Why did those asshole gods strike you down anyways?"

I mean Xiongji is a bro that lost his memory from getting brain damage before he died.
Protecting this man with his final breath means he truly believed in this man. Along with all the other ghosts. He must have been a well-loved king to show such loyalty. And he loved his people seeing how sad he is for them dying. Even calling them his friends, which is closer then saying subjects. Must've seen them as family. So no doubt a first generation kingdom or 2nd generation.

He also must've been a heretic from him saying forbidden texts.

I think depending on his further answers we'll know him better. But he seems alight, prob communication errors and ghosts going insane don't really pan out well is my bet.

Idk make ghost disiple?

>>5988551
Ooor maybe he's just really good at pretending.

>>5988562
He may want to see if we have a human form so he could try and possess us to get out of here.
Gives me the vibes of a manipulator.

>>5987966
>"Shut up for a second. Forgotten King, if you think this ignorant act is going to fool me, you're mistaken. Surrender your crown to me nor or get ready to fight, bastard!"
We can figure him out once we've made him submit.

Who knows, if he proves amenable we could open a portal to hell for him but no fucking way we're releasing him back in the mortal world.

>>5987966
>"Shut up for a second. Forgotten King, if you think this ignorant act is going to fool me, you're mistaken. Surrender your crown to me nor or get ready to fight, bastard!"
>"The gods in this age are capricious and fickle, but perhaps they were not in the time where you and your army were buried. They throw a mountain on you and keep you on a special cell, and it's just going to be a endless white room? And suffer no side effect nor the direct effects a soul unable to reencarnate goes? You attacked me when I was trying to cultivate, and when I unleashed my aura you gladly responded with yours. You say you don't hear your allies from the other side of the door and vise verse, but magically this time one of your generals understand perfectly that you wanted to meet? And what about the attack to my territory, what was the original order? "Send a gift with high regards and this personal, perfumed letter to the priceless cultivator that's on my realm"? And what about the horse girl general? She already gave your plan, the plan was keeping me distracted or occupied so you can finish whatever attack your preparing... If my deductions are right, then I hope your not as much of a coward as you are deceitful, so you can drop whatever this over complicated illusion this room has and face me, perhaps I would consider putting you in a cute flask and keep you in it, so when I eventually go for my revenge against the heavens, you can have your own fun on that glorious day... So decide, either fight me now, or give me your crown and surrender.

>>5987966
>Turn human, going along with the flow and just wait for him to remember WHY he offered you an audience

I'm fond of just continuing flabbergasted.

>>5987966
>Turn human, going along with the flow and just wait for him to remember WHY he offered you an audience

I really like this guy. First serious husbando contestant we've encountered so far if you ask me.

>>5989081
Do not fuck a corpse.
And Yinying has a shot, I think. Will take him a long while to line up a shot but I can see it.

And hey, its China. Not like we have to be monogamous when the matter comes down to it.

>>5989104
Eh, it would fit our original concept as both a graveyard -dwelling goth cat and a heaven-defying heretic. Going harem would mean following in Monu's footsteps and I kinda feel Huan would not like giving herself to a man so far beneath her.

>>5989963
She is kinda gonna have to at some point.

She will not stop her meteoric rise, and nobody else can keep up. However minimum requirements are a thing. Golden core, tier 5 perhaps.

Our-Grandfather

Ending the vote and tallying its result.

"I should've expected you to be scholar when I found your collection, I'll show you my human face, once you tell me why you called me here, it can't be just to free you, after all the trouble you've caused me!":3

"Why aren't you as crazy as the rest of the ghosts here. You should be stark raving mad! You seemed so much...more imposing in the vision I had when our auras clashed!":4

Turn human, going along with the flow and just wait for him to remember WHY he offered you an audience:6

"So I have to ask if it won't throw you into a fit. Why did those asshole gods strike you down anyways?":1

"Shut up for a second. Forgotten King, if you think this ignorant act is going to fool me, you're mistaken. Surrender your crown to me nor or get ready to fight, bastard!":2

"The gods in this age are capricious and fickle...etc": 1

So you'll acquiesce to the forgotten king's request, going with the flow of his curiosity, waiting for him to remember why he offered you an audience to begin with

Update will arrive shortly

Also I need to say, I met a very handsome cat over the weekend at another sect's retreat. A long furred boy with a black coat with an undercoat of vivid red that practically glowed in the sunlight, the most striking coloration I've ever seen in a house cat. Never seen a cat with fur like his, and he was a very friendly feline, came right up to me and demanded pets despite me being a stranger.

Not really knowing what else to do in these circumstances, confused and flabbergasted by the innocent request and the earnest curiosity of one of your heritage and one of your proudest accomplishments achieved in spite of the will of the heavens, you dumbly nod your head and realize only after you've done so what you've agreed to. The forgotten king flashes a toothy grin so manic it looks half feral, claps his hands and leaps back, as if he expects the transformation to be explosive or in some other way dangerous to him, or maybe he just wants to be further away to see all of you as you change? You're so confused you don't bother trying to figure out why he did what he just did, there's nothing you can do besides getting caught up in the flow and matching the pace he sets until he remembers why he invited you into his prison or reveals he's a crazed villain. You almost hope he'll reveal himself to be the evil, demonic sort of heretic, simply because that would be easier to understand and deal with instead of whatever this is. Still, you can't help but to get caught up in and feel strangely touched by his enthusiasm.

"Very well" You state, lifting your head proudly, trying to take some form of control over this ridiculous situation and not get swept away by the forgotten king's strangely innocent excited curiosity "Bare witness to what might be considered my gravest crime and affront to the heavens' so called natural order, Heh-Heh-Heh"

Flicking your tail, you're surrounding by carmine, vermillion, emerald and forest green lights as your feline body is partially transmuted to blood and the rest of it is reduced to glowing spiritual energy that reshapes in a flash of light, accompanied flashes like passing stars in the night sky. Standing on two legs now, you reach up to your helmeted crown and take it off, and whip your hair around, smiling smugly as the forgotten king looks at you with eyes filled with wonderful. It's strange, usually men look at this form with hunger or desire, but he's staring at you oddly, like you were a rare manual or interesting book instead of a heavens overturning beauty.

"So the legends are true, and it wasn't just metaphor for attaining further enlightenment, magnificent" He states, suddenly at your side, half crouched as he paces around you, eyes piercing as he inspects you, far closer than your comfortable with as he circles around you a little too much like a vulture waiting for a wounded animal to die.

You bare your teeth as he reaches towards your hair, and he wisely pulls his hand back as you snap "No touching"
Cont

>>5990079

"Ah right, I got caught up in the moment and carried away like a leaf in the wind" He laughs as he steps back "But what a rare coloration, if I hadn't seen your fur through your armored barding, I'd have been stunned into silence by its vividness. And that mysterious light that emerges with movement and parting, that moonlight like radiance, that sparkling. How unique! I assume that is a reflection of a demonic beast evolution, translated into your human form?"

"You'd be correct" You answer, but are unable to say anything more before he starts rambling again

"Just as your bestial strength or size are clearly carried over, judging from your musculature, particularly in your long legs , lithe, svelte, yet clearly containing great power. A cat's natural athleticism, slimness and wiry strength, revealed in the human form" He describes, complimenting some of the features your proud of, and you lower your shoulders as you realize you subconsciously lifting up your chest, trying to show off two of the other features you're proud of

"Why, even your face has a feline mien, though those eye brows remind me a red panda" He continues on, not noticing you're blushing as he creeps back closer, smiling warmly "And your pointed ears..."

He frowns and forgets touching is forbidden as he reaches out towards your notched ear

"That's a trophy I got when I was still a stupid animal, a scar I proudly wear" You boast as his eyes focus on your shorter ear "Scuffs and cracks only make porcelain more lovely? Even jade has its imperfections, but those scratches just make it more beautiful"

"I see, so that is your view. But that is another mark of your true nature, I wonder why your ears are tapered like a demon's, instead of being rounded" He says, making a circular motion with both of his hands around his own ears, as you lean closer, examining them like you haven't seen hundreds of pairs of human ears into your time, rubbing your full ear between your thumb and forefinger

"Maybe because it isn't my original body?" You guess "Like demons, they need to work to attain a human form, just like us magical beasts. I wonder if Dragons have the same kind of ears, if they deign to appear human"

The forgotten king blinks, looking at you with his big curious eyes, as your eyes meet by happenstance

"You do not have demonic qi, so the heretical texts were truthful" he gasps in amazed realization "In deed, you have a few drops of divine qi in your cultivation base"

"Heh" You snort, cover your mouth with the back of your armored hand "This and that happened, and I ended up the idol of a heretical cult in the mortal realm of Chuan"

"Chuan?" The forgotten king asks with a scrunched grimace "Where is Chuan? Outside of the continent? That'd explain why your human disguise retains your fur's peculiar coloration"

You blink and are for a moment stunned and breathless before remembering the forgotten king was trapped under this mountain a long time ago
Cont

>>5990080

"It is a province or, well it was a province, before the emperor fragmented and the local lord declared themselves a king in their own right, with my blessing Heh-heh. And that fragmenting is a little bit my fault, since i had a hand to play in the emperor's death, but he was a piece of shit..." You start before the forgotten king laughs

"So one of my criminal interests is now accepted, how fickle the heavens are in rewriting their old mandates" He laughs bitterly, drawing out a sigh from you as your smile sours into a frown

"No" You gloomily answer, with a shake of your head, and his own eyes soften with understanding "In Chuan, I am, but well, that's because my charismatic self is worshiped by the commoners and mortals, and I convinced my fellow daoists that my existence is as natural as there's. And one of the pieces of your collection helped me get those stubborn old fools to understand that I am not a demon"

"How could they think such a lovely young lady could ever be a devil?" He asked, offended on your behalf

"I did eat quite a few people before being welcomed into the world of cultivation" You say, cheeks flushing from the compliment "And I do practice some rather unseemly techniques and sorceries"

"So do I, a cultivator shouldn't allow the opinions of their lessers to halt them in their pursuit of power" He laughs as he circles behind your back again, gliding around you "Nor should they allow strength to slip from their fingers because they refuse to grasp it. Glad to see common sense hasn't died out in the, oh, it must be...seven or eight generations since I was buried here"

"Didn't that way of thinking get you sealed here to begin with?" You ask, wondering if he's starting to show his true face and remembering the sort of demonic scripture you found in his collection, besides other, much more harmless texts

"Oh no, it was because I had ambitions to conquer the world" He admits with a charming smile, his eyes narrowing into dark slivers, pure red with curls of black "I'm certain the heavens didn't think fondly of me before then, with how hungrily I sought out what they had forbidden and how often I broke their stifling laws, but what got me damned was...well, actually"

He frowned, and rubbed his chin, plopping down at your side, crouching down as he closed his eyes in thought
Cont

>>5990082

"I'm certain I'm at fault for what lead me down the road of conquest, actually. I've had centuries to meditate on my life and its many transgressions. But sufficed to say, a god's enmity is not as easily earned for a man as it is for a beast who dares to stand as one" He laughs, like he's remembering a funny mistake he made while drunk instead of the action that insighted the wrath of the nine heavens "Hah, that damn bitch of a rain god. Just because I robbed the tomb of his mortal descendent, he refused to allow it to rain over my homeland for years. I imagine he still hasn't forgiven my people for my "Arrogance", Hah! If he didn't want his descendant's rest disturbed, he should not have had him buried with so many treasures and high quality cultivation aids. Cultivation is a struggle, you must no, if one doesn't muster every advantage they can, they might as well start writing their final will, Hah!"

You remember the history lessons your mother gave you, back when you the two of you were still just teacher and student. The forgotten king lead his army from the barbaric north. and what lies North of Chuan, is the desert where Yujijiao was born and died. You'd always thought it strange there was such a dry land so close to the fertile and wet lands of Chuan, though you never had much interest in learning geography to know if it was unusual or not.

"So that was your doing?" You chuckle, having always thought that the forgotten king tried to take Chuan as his own because his own lands were garbage, though it is weird how he remembers a rain god, you've only heard of rain goddesses and fairies. Maybe he got so old he reached the end of even his immortal lifespan?

"It was the rain god's doing. They had no problem with me collecting outlawed texts and demonic scripture, besides a few tribulations I overcame with ease, but once I united the sects of my homeland and started waging war as the ignorant masses did, suddenly I had crossed a line. Though I suppose, what I had done before I annihilated that weeping whelp of a king who begged me to seek forgiveness from that arrogant old sodden fuck, would have be branded a villain. Hah, but the only opinion that matters in the world is one's own, if they can make their voice heard" He answers brazenly, arms crossed "Though you being a house cat does make sense, if I remember correctly, cats get most of their hydration from their prey, yes? So you'd be better equipped to flourish in a land denied its rain"

"Chuan is called the land of a thousand rivers and lakes" You answer, giving him a scrutinizing look as for some reason you begin to wonder if one of the villainous deeds he seems so proud of included the consumption of souls, one of the lines you refuse to cross even to refine your own cultivation and power
Cont

>>5990083

"Makes sense, my honored rival did originate from the lands that became my grave. Tch, if he was anyone else but himself, I'd be ashamed, humiliated that my first and final defeat came from a farm boy" He chuckles warmly, fondly remembering the man who dropped a mountain on his head "I imagine he didn't have any trouble reaching the entrance to the nine heavens, when we were both considered the pinnacle of strength in our time, though some of my...less than wise endeavors had reduced my lifespan to a fraction of what it should've been"

"Is that why you collected so many alternative means of immortality, like the history of the peerless sanguine jade shrine sect?" You ask curiously yourself

"Perhaps. I still had more than enough years left to challenge the heavens. Since they'd scorned me, I was going to kill every immortal that dwelled their, as a matter of principle for insulting me and inflicting punishment on my countrymen for so petty a transgression" He laughs, relishing in his past crimes and glories "I don't believe in trusting everything in one, unchanging plan, you see. It is best to be fickle and adaptable, like a cat, and take whatever comes your way. And what has come your way, I cannot imagine, what is that Qi that makes your eyes twinkle with star light? How do you breath yet possess the legacy of those blood-drinkers? You are fascinating, girl, even without taking your attainment of a human body. Hah, the heavens must've been furious the day you achieved it! And how did you? The texts I had spoke of the subject, but not the means. Did you find some guide I had missed? I had hunted down scholars of the subject, and slaughtered the great beast taming sects to plunder their repositories, but I couldn't find a treatise on how to turn a speaking beast into a human. So how did you? It won't be as sweet as figuring it out myself, but it is a mystery that has been gnawing at my mind for centuries

You begin to answer him, smiling happily before you remember that you'd come here for a reason besides pleasant though meandering conversation and chatting up an evil king of ancient history. But what is that reason. You don't know it! You were just going with the flow and hoping that the forgotten king would remember he'd invited you here to do more than compliment and admire you. You frown, suspicions bubbling up in your mind as you look at his pleasant smile, admiring eyes and welcoming demeanor.

"Well, perhaps I'll tell you, but first, I need to know. You didn't summon me hear just to shower me with praise and see if I'm a legend realized, or entertain me with stories of your life" You say cordially though with a sharpness to urge him back towards the actual reason he called you here for an audience, even if you were having fun being praised and hearing exactly what he'd done to earn more enmity from the gods than even you have yourself.
Cont

>>5990084

"Oh, I was getting carried away. That you were a beast cultivator distracted me, and I admit that you being actually capable of becoming human made me forget, as did the questions that ability raises. That you were pretty and a good listener, just made it impossible to focus on anything else" He laughs and you glare, so you don't smile at his sweet words "Well, to be blunt, I think we can strike a deal, girl. I don't want to remain here, you clearly desire something from my tomb, and I do not discourage tomb robbing"

"As pleasant company as you are, I can't imagine you'll turn over a new leaf if I unseal you, from what little I've heard, I can't imagine you living a selfless life of charity" You answer simply. He doesn't blink and still crouching next to you, motions you to sit. You do, lounging back and supporting yourself with both of your hands

"No reason for me to deceive you. I will not shave my head and turn Buddhist. To be a cultivator, is to be ruthless and ambitious. I might've failed to reach the heavens and attain immortality, but a set back like this isn't enough to dissuade me from trying again" He admits with a respectful nod, balling one of his hands into a fist, as he stares into its palm, black blood dripping as he buries his nails into his hands "And, I admit, I have one regret in the life I lived, and that is...well actually I have two"

"Uh huh" You grunt, unable to not be fascinated with what the second regret is, despite needing to hear what he plans to do if you agree to bust him from his prison

"The second is not managing to take the eye of my honorable rival before he slammed a mountain on top of me and crushed the life out of me, but the first, which I've only started feeling after centuries of meditation and introspection, is that my ambitions got my followers to share my fate. Sure they were the first to throw torches into the rain god's temples and they probably earned a stay in the yellow springs just as I did, but just for being my friends, they've been made to languish and go insane. Doesn't seem fair" He laughs, eyes glinting as they narrow to dark slits again "And, I can tell you've made use of their ghostly existence to benefit yourself. You must follow a dao of ghosts or vengeance of some kind, judging from your aura and breath"

"You're quite perceptive for a man whose spent centuries in a featureless void with nothing but his own thoughts to keep him company" You remark, confirming his suspicions with a nod while keeping your own close to your chest

"I cannot allow that to continue. They will be released or destroyed, either way, they must be allowed to return to the wheel of transmigration, and to be reborn to whatever life fate ordains them. I reward loyalty and" he pauses, sigh longingly as he looks at his throne of bones, that were once his loyal friends and follows "There are no men more loyal than them. So when I walk free, they shall be released from their suffering"
Cont

>>5990087

"There's more you desire than just the mercy killing of your old army" You point out, jabbing a finger rudely at him as you half roll onto your side

"Hmm, you're canny, for a good dooer. I can tell you have more scruples than I had in life, from the way you reacted and the faces you made as I talked of my history. You wondered just how far I went to achieve the power I attained before I was snuffed out, yes yes?" He snickers, jabbing a finger at you and lifting his hand as he miscalculates the difference and nearly jabs it somewhere no man can touch without losing the offending hand and arm "You have principles, lines you shall not cross. I had a few, I think, but to answer your unspoken question, insanity gets boring after the first century of howling madness and rage, meditation tempered my fury and while I wouldn't be opposed to an alliance, I WILL walk free and end my long confinement today. And, well, you should expect this but"

He hops to his feet and offers you a hand.

"Even if you give up MY soldiers you've been using as cultivation material, and I must admit, I'd have suspected you were eating them, if you hadn't marched ahead of an army of them" He rambles for a moment before twitching and smiling maliciously "But, even if you decide to be my new friend, one of us need to be the boss. It's only natural right? It is common sense when to cultivators of near equal strength meet, I might've lost much and regained less of the power I had when I was at my zenith but....well I have a good instinct for these things. Between you and I, one of us needs to be the superior. It is the way of the world of immortals, the strongest leads"

You grin a ferocious and wild smile and float up onto your feet by your own power, spinning your helmet atop your finger

"You're speaking my own thoughts. The weak are prey to strong. But I wonder if you actually know what that means" You answer proudly, eyes narrowed, flicking from his still outstretch hand to his gentle smile, as he makes no moves to attack you or defend himself

"How can I claim to know the mind of a cat? or of an ambitious young lady?" He asks "Though, I did learn a few possession spells when I was playing around with the idea of preserving my life through stealing bodies, so there is a very easy way for me to have learned either or both. Say, can you possess people? That body is clearly a mirror of your true form, and not one that had been stolen, unless it was transformed by your adoption of it or you spent a long time searching for a similar host to..."

"Tell me, if I come out on top and beat you, would you obey me, do whatever I say?" You interrupt loudly
Cont

>>5990088

"If we don't go our separate ways" He says, his teeth morphing into fangs as a single horn appears from the wisps of his white hair, growing as teal and turquoise flames roil from the edges of his now more threatening smile "and you don't do something as foolish as refuse to release me, that would be the agreement. If you're stronger than me, I'll follow. That is the logic of the wild isn't it, girl?"

"I have a name" You hiss, his smile widens, the hand he's holding out wreathed in ethereal flames and partially turned into a draconic talon

"So do I. We should exchange them once you've agreed to my terms. Even if you subjugate me, I expect my friends to be returned to the cycle of reincarnation" He cheerfully replies, seemingly blithely unaware that you started taking offense to him referring to you as girl, or not caring that you are. It's hard to tell when he is simply careless and when he's being arrogant

"Even if my cultivation and absorption of their breath soothes their pain and their madness?" You ask curiously. He frowns and smirks

"Well, perverting the natural cycle of death and rebirth does sound fun, I'd prefer if my friends are allowed to live again, their own lives, free of my ambitions. If its fated to be, our paths will cross. and I'm certain you've had to say goodbye before" He says tenderly, head bowed, even though half of it has turned into some perverse mix of an imperial dragon and ogreish devil "Either I slaughter them and vanish into the night, you and I fight and figure out who is the strongest between us, or you "kill" me, I reincarnate and no longer remember my friends and their plight"

"You're making an awful lot of demands for someone who is only offering treasures that are already within reach to me, while I'm the one who can choose to free you" You reply smugly. He keeps smiling

"Well, if you refuse to release me, as sad as it is, since you seem like a very interesting person, I will have to try to kill you, I refuse to remain in this void for any longer" he says tensely, every word terse and sharp "And if it comes to that, well, your only choice is to release me in another way, not my favored choice, but living another life is preferable to this hellish existence, even if I'm reborn as a softshell turtle or mayfly for the first dozen or so reincarnations. Or, if I misread the contents of your heart, devour me as is the way of beasts. But I shall not allow myself to remain sealed here, even if we do come to unfriendly blows. And I think I like my odds of winning a fight to the death"

"But if I didn't want to let them go, and I win our bout?" You question, choosing to ignore the threat for the time being
Cont

>>5990090

"I'll insist" He answers with a shrug "If they decide, in their right minds, to remain, who am I to toss them into their next life? But I'd prefer them to be given the chance to become new people, free of my tarnished destiny. So, tell me you'll break that seal, give me your name and I shall give you mine, and either I begin saving my friends or I get to see what this new era that awaits me has produced in you, a clear prodigy of this age. Hell, I might even fight you if we decide not to have a struggle for dominance, just for the thrill of facing the strongest this world without me has produced!"

what do you choose to do, Huanliuxue?

>Ask him a few more questions, like, who his honored rival is and what sort of villainous acts he did in his life besides grave robbing and collecting naughty books

>Agree to release him, confident you can beat him into submission and stop him from causing trouble [Boss fight]

>Tell him you'll let him go, and tell him you'll let him release his subjects, if he travels to the kingdom next door and becomes Ling's problem [Negative and Good karma]

>Stick your tongue out at him, and switch places with the ghost light you left outside of his prison cell.

>Distract him by asking what exactly makes you so interesting, while you try to make up your mind

>Write in

Anonymous

>>5990092
>>Agree to release him, confident you can beat him into submission and stop him from causing trouble [Boss fight]

>>5990092
>Agree to release him, confident you can beat him into submission and stop him from causing trouble [Boss fight]

>>5990092
"Stick your tongue out at him, and switch places with the ghost light you left outside of his prison cell."

This would be so funny.
However
>Agree to release him, confident you can beat him into submission and stop him from causing trouble [Boss fight]
MONARCH
VS
MONARCH

>>5990092
>>Agree to release him, confident you can beat him into submission and stop him from causing trouble [Boss fight]
Honestly even if we gave up the ghosts <s>what an amusing turn of phrase here</s> we still have that yin skull from the crow king's vaults, right? That would probably make up for it a bit. Not for the army of the dead we'd be losing but the yin qi necessary to meditate on it for us and our students.

But we all know Xiongji is not going to want to go back to the wheel. He still has asses to kick and a world to spite.

>>5990092
>Agree to release him, confident you can beat him into submission and stop him from causing trouble [Boss fight]

If we get close to losing we can always teleport away.
But also what if, once we decide to let him out, we didn't break the seal but switch him out with the ghostlight?
That would probably avoid whoever sealed him there knowing his enemy is free.

>>5990150
>some goofy god's face when he comes down to taunt the trapped king and all the ghosts are gone and the CUBE is empty
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tu_<wbr>wTvstWcw

>>5990092
>Ask him a few more questions, like, who his honored rival is and what sort of villainous acts he did in his life besides grave robbing and collecting naughty books

>>5990092
>Ask a few more questions
>Agree, confident we can beat him into submission

Once we develop the Ghostly court power we can take them all with us

>>5990141
We are. You know. Not giving up the army.

But it will require a little bit of trickery on our part.
We can make the offer to them, that they are due to be released from the mountain. They either go to the yellow springs. Or they can come with us on our crusade against the gods, either way they are leaving the tombs soon.

Those who refuse to follow us, we sell to pay for crap in the underworld. Our promise kept.

>>5990213
Yeah what the other guy said.
They are our subjects, not our tools. If they wish to pass we will let them, if they wish to stay we will still let them.
The best we can do is use our cultivation style to make sure they are of sound mind to make the decision.

>>5990219
>>5990217
I refuse to let them leave before we use them even ONCE to drain them of their Yin Qi.

Can you FATHOM of how much energy is right there for the taking. If they don't want to be our subjects, fine, they don't have to be. They will be the resources we exchange for the benefit of ourselves and our kingdom.
I have no compulsion to hurt our own interests for no gain.

>>5990238
Calm down they probably have just a fraction of the qi that is freely floating at the lowest level of the mountain anyway.

>>5990092
>I have an image, some foolish idea of what the future would be... I accept, but the difference is that your loyal soldiers and you stay a little longer. And when the day comes, you will walk again on the land of the living, and find that you're not alone. In these lands, other ghosts walk, from soldiers to villagers who either decide to stay to be close with their loved ones or defend their lands, souls from the modern and old world living their new unlife, a side effect from my cultivation.

>And once you all see the green grass, the countless stars and the ever burning Sun, we march to the Heavens themselves. Our march is one of defiance, of revenge and justice, we climbs the clouds, seeking for the first steps of the Heavens, and every one of your soldiers that are taken down by the Heavens defences go to the yellow springs or the great Wheel.
>And yet, we are many, were an endless tide of change, we bring war to those who deserves it for going after my people. At the end, after both sides pay their costs, after the dust is settles, the sun will rise in a new age, the karmic debt is paid, you'll be reincarnated as a worm, all your followers and mine will be on the wheel, and those who are still on my side and myself will weep for years until that deep wound is healed.
>At the end, we both get what we want, at the cost we get to pay... Will you accept and we change names, or are you stubborn enough that you will demand we stick to the options you give? As a bonus, if you accept, I'll give you part of a juicy gossip on the cultivation world.

>>5990092
>Ask him a few more questions, like, who his honored rival is and what sort of villainous acts he did in his life besides grave robbing and collecting naughty books

Why is no one voting for the lore option all of a sudden?

>>5990092
>>Ask him a few more questions, like, who his honored rival is and what sort of villainous acts he did in his life besides grave robbing and collecting naughty books

>>5990585
We can ask all the questions we want when he's groveling at our feet.

>>5990585
He began posturing? And stating he was gonna kick our ass or get his ass kicked? I mean he's getting ready to throw down right this second.

>>5990092
>Ask him a few more questions, like, who his honored rival is and what sort of villainous acts he did in his life besides grave robbing and collecting naughty books
There’s just one thing we need to know; did he hurt children? This determines how violently we’re going to beat his ass.

Our-Grandfather

Ending the vote now and tallying its result.

Agree to release him, confident you can beat him into submission and stop him from causing trouble: 7

Ask him a few more questions, like, who his honored rival is and what sort of villainous acts he did in his life besides grave robbing and collecting naughty books:5

I have an image, some foolish idea of what the future would be...etcc:1

So, confident you can beat him in a fight, you'll agree to free the forgotten King and tell him your name.

Update will arrive shortly

"Very well, though I do have one question to ask before I give you the honor of hearing my honored name" You say politely, smiling genially though ready to bare your fangs if the forgotten king's answer isn't to your liking, and secure in knowing you can always just leave him to molder if he is the kind of piece of shit you despise most in the world "Forgotten King do your crimes, amongst your many misdeeds, those you admit, embrace or hide away, include child murder?"

"Hm? What purpose would there be in harming children?" He asked, sounding deeply confused as he rubbed his chin with his still human hand "My cruelty and villainy has always had a purpose, an end goal, a result or prize that necessitated me to act with. as others would say, with wickedness and sadism. I am not the kind of evil who relishes in villainy for its own sake or embraces foulness for no reasons besides the taste of atrocity"

"That didn't answer my question" You sharply reply, eyes narrowed as his frown deepened and he looked up the the "Ceiling" of his prison, looking like he was reflecting on his life or had gotten distracted by a daydream

"Of course I haven't" He answers with a chuckle, shrugging and rolling his shoulders as he adjusted his posture, shifting one foot in front of the other "What's the point or thrill in bullying the weak? Slaughtering the defenseless? I admit, I found enjoyment in massacring my foes, but it'd be pitiful if I counted children amongst my rivals. And no child held anything I felt the need to steal or rob from them, nor did they possess any worthwhile insights or lessons for me to benefit from"

"So, in fewer words, you have never hurt any kids or thought to abuse them, because there was nothing for you to gain?" You question as he smirks

"Well, when I was a child myself, I did spar with other children of my age" He chuckles, his more monstrous features fading back into his ordinary, ghostly appearance "But as an adult man, I rarely had reason to be in the presence of children. My character is ill suited for a teacher, being a master is more fitting for a man of my demeanor I feel. Besides, sparing the children of a clan usually meant in a few years time you'd have enemies with a strong conviction to do battle with, and worthy opponents are an excellent resource. The amount of my insights I gained through fighting for my life eclipses those I gleamed through meditating upon the marching lines of ants...Sorry, what were we talking about again"

"Oh I was just making sure you could be my friend is all" You answer, feeling strangely relieved as you reposition your own feet, adopting a loose fighting stance "Well, lets get our much delayed introductions out of the way. I am Huanliuxue"

"Happy bloodshed? What a fierce epithet, I cannot imagine it was one given to you by your mother or father. But a lovely name, no matter who it was who gave it to you " He says politely, cupping his fist and bowing as you "Descriptive, somewhat poetic"
Cont

>>5990768

"And yourself?" You ask, returning the gesture with a bow of your own

"The name I was given at birth is Shi Jié (士 杰, , She = Surname (soldier), Jie = given name (Hero), but I was more widely known and preferred the art name my first master gave me when I surpassed them and ended their life, Àodàshèng (Proud Great Sage, 傲大圣), and you are the first to hear either of these names in centuries"

"What an honor, to know the erased names of the forgotten king" You laugh as you rise from your bow. Though there is an gnawing sense of familiarity with the second half of the forgotten king's art name, you've sworn you've heard the title of great sage given to someone else somewhere else but can't remember where you did, but you're certain it was historical or maybe fictional and from some book you read and mostly forgot about.

"I can say the same, knowing the name of the beast who defied the heavens and lived to tell the tale" He says, complimenting you in turn, though how fast he said it, told you he was starting to get impatient waiting to be freed from his centuries of confinement "We can save our titles for after our spar, let us delay no longer. Please"

He lifts up his wrists, presenting the golden chains that have been bolted through his arms and wrapped around his entire body

"Break my chains" He asks demurely, eyes locked on the manacles nailed to his wrists.

"How cute~" you tease as you reach out, gripping the radiant chains, their divine glow dimming at your touch as you take in a deep breath and infusing your lungs with blood Qi, breath out over his hands. The metal tarnishes immediately and begins to crack and break apart.

Aodasheng begins to giggle, then chuckle and then howl with crazed laughter as he watches the dozens of chains locked around his limbs and body begin to flake away into rapidly fading light, rusting off of him as life rich breath breaks down his seal at a much hastened pace, his eyes glowing turquoise and teal as the relief and joy of being released brings a half mad look to his face as he shifts between his human form and his more monstrous, draconic appearance. And he keeps laughing, as he pulls his hands away from yours and lifts them up skyward, coughing and choking on his own glee as he allows the chains to fall away as he punches his fists into the air triumphantly. And still, he's laughing, half choking as tears stream down his face and he hunches over, nearly sobbing as he falls to his knees, voice turning hoarse as his booming, victorious laugh turns to weak gasps and choked cries as he starts to wipe and rub the tears from his eyes.

The ground begins to shake, and a wave of black spiritual energy ripples from him, a strong current of deathly yin qi that could turn even the most fertile of fields fallow and cause a dragon to drop from the sky like a dead fly. He weeps into his palms, overwhelmed by his release.
Cont

>>5990769

The ground continues to quake as the void retreats, nothingness replaced with plain stone as you feel the stone room begin to drop as the chains that held it up fall apart, no longer locked or fastened to anything after you removed them from Aodasheng's wrists.

"Thank you. No matter what the outcome is, I am indebted to you, Huanliuxue" He says as he rises to his feet, solemnly showing his respect to you with another bow of his head as he claps his hands together, ignoring the holes bored through his wrists and...

You leap backwards, to avoid the pulse of Qi he unleashed, wincing as your struck by his killing intent like a slap across the face as he throws his arms back, and the teal flames form into a mask in the shape of a dragon's skull as they wrap around him to become armor forged from ghostly fire as he pulls is arms back in front of himself to draw a circle of ethereal blue, taking on a fighting stance as the chamber your in plummets into the pit. Both his hands open, one held out like a spear and the held back over his shoulder, wagging as he stares at you with fierce eyes without any sign of mercy or his previous friendliness in them.

"BEGIN!" He roars, sounding cheerful even those his eyes scream "murder"
_
Fateful Encounter: The Forgotten King, Aodasheng
Enemy Aura: Overwhelming Malevolence. Effect: Critfails reactivated. Range raised from 1, to 1 to 10. Counter effect from Huanliuxue's Aura: Ill Omen. Enemy Aura effectiveness reduced by half. Critfail range for duration of the fight, 1 to 5

https://youtu.be/Vr8xrrKrO7w
_

The spear in his corpse's hand flies into his the hand he held back, as the other bones began to rustle and piece themselves together.

'He's fast' you realize with a gasp, as in the time it takes you to raise your defenses, he's already flying at you, spinning the head of his spear in a circle defensively as he lunges at your aggressively. A fraction of a second. Ghost Empress Melody and Moon Collapse are out of your reach. There's no time to cast even your fastest spell. All you can rely on is your speed and martial arts!

 roll 2d100. Best out of five. DC 175

Anonymous

>>5990773
So we need 83 on both rolls or higher to beat his DC.

Man, this guy wasnt fucking about.

>>5990770
We are starting off in his environment, dont forget.
Nonetheless, cats are known for chasing off ghosts!

>>5990784
>>5990789
For what its worth, if he received any reports about us, he knows we fought via buffing our army, long range bombardment and whatever bullshit we pulled with the centaur.
Its only logical that a scholar would conclude that the best way to fight us is to rush us down and beat us to death in melee ASAP.
In other words, he is likely throwing everything he has at the wall right out the gate, which coming from some as strong as him, is not a pleasant experience.
We just have to hope we have some intact bones left over and counter with something good.

Our-Grandfather

>>5990773
failure. 40 under dc. Update will arrive shortly

The next moments move like a shadow show, still images pieced together to form a sequence. Aodasheng thrusts his spear out, twisting his shoulder to face you and further extend the reach of his strike, his free hand carrying a spell diagram on the tip of each finger. You twist around, pivoting on your heels as you lift a hand to brush and push the spear head away, aiming for the tussle of black fur just behind its split head. The ghost king's eyes flare, expression hidden behind his dragon mask. There's a clicking sound, bone popping from its socket. With a twitch of movement, he dislocated his shoulder His spear arm goes loose and instead of simply stabbing it forward, with the force of his leap and his full weight behind the strike, he rotates it along with his arm. And you learn the purpose of the strange, bramble and thorn like protrusions running down the length of the spears haft. And to your surprise, learn that whatever they're made out of is sharp enough to slice through spider demon silk!

Yowling in pain, you recoil, blood spurting from the palm of one hand and the back of the other as you throw them up into the air and away from the metal thorns that had just dug through your gauntlets and deeply into the meat of your hands. The spear tip buried in the ground at your side, threaded between your arms. The forgotten king lands and sweeps his legs out, using his spear as an anchor. You're thrown off the ground, loosing your footing as he moves like a blur, repositioning himself behind you as he retrieve his spear with a single tug and resets his shoulder with another harsh click. Looking over your shoulder, you roll forward and land on your hands, flipping around as he spins and jabs his spear at your back. But he thrust too short to land a hit, or that's what you thought, before the other end of his spear's haft slams into your stomach and sends you hurtling backwards through the air as the air is forced from your lungs.

Then he closes his spell casting hand into a fist and.

The world spins, you're slammed into the ground, your brain bouncing between your ears as your head swims. A large, skeletal hand is latched around your skull, flames sprouting between the spaces of its boney fingers.

"Xiongji!" Your snarl and spit, wrapping your legs around the skeletal remains and holding on for dear life as the mortal remains of the rampaging general lift you from the ground, and rather than flail around helplessly, you intend to do something about this predicament. Sticking one foot through the gap in the bones of his forearm, you lock yourself in place as the puppeted corpse tries to burn you alive, as you twist and turn your hips violently until with a satisfying pop, the arm falls off, as you dislocate his shoulder from his socket.
Cont

>>5990862

Squirming free, the puppet Xiongji hefts up his axe as you fall flat on your back. You roll out of its path, eyes wide and heart pounding as, moving even faster than Xiongji's ghost can, the axe rises and falls, chasing you as you roll again, somersault onto your feet and lean back until your balancing on the balls of your feet. The blade of the massive axe the skeleton is swinging around kisses your stomach and...

The world becomes a flash of white. Something smacked you on the back of your head. Vision returning, your twist around and see Aodasheng standing half crouched, spear held backwards and the blunt end of it thrusted out where the back of your head was a moment ago. And with your head throbbing, feeling like it has just been about cracked open, you realize you're still on fire from when the puppet Xiongji grabbed you by your skull and slammed you into the floor. The air ripples with heat and you curl, reorienting yourself midair to just barely avoid a scything swing from the corpse of Xiongji's axe, by diving between it and the crescent swing of the forgotten king's stupid spear!

It isn't an elegant landing, but you land on your feet, bleeding palm holding your slit stomach, fingers probing and checking the depth of the cut, cold silk sending shivers up your spine as you quickly make sure you haven't been disemboweled and to your great relief, the armor you wore took the worst of the axe strike. The wound, while painful and frightening, isn't imminently lethal or crippling. It just hurts, more than the fire currently licking at your cheeks. Which you put out with a shake of your head, stepping back and trying to find your stance again as the Aodasheng crouches on the tips of his toes, the Xiongji's corpse's upper body spinning around, the axe in its hands becoming a blur as you decide it'd be wise to take another step back. Hearing a whistling sound behind your head, you dart your head to the side, dodging the arrow launched at the back of your head by leaning away at the last second.

Snarling, you see a familiar set of bones standing. In fact you see several skeletons whose armor and weapons that are very well known to you.

"Loyalty beyond death" Aodasheng says cheerfully "A treasure that cannot or found, only cultivated and earned"

You bite the inside of your cheek to keep yourself from complaining, loudly, about how unfair and dirty a trick it is to use corpses to turn a one on one fight into an ambush! Only the thumping of your heart stops you from stomping your foot in frustration. Well, that and the fact this is a very dangerous situation you're now in.

"A weapon far more deadly than even the finest spear!" He declares, and with a snap, orders the skeletons he's puppeteering and through some forbidden magic, making use of their powers as if they were his own to surround you.
Cont

>>5990864

Screwing your face and gnashing your teeth, resisting the urge to whine and yowl in protest about the cheap tricks being thrown against you, you try and figure out a way out of this mountain of blades and sea of fire you've found yourself in! Blooding dripping from your fingers.

And what is your plan, Huanliuxue?

>Use Enmity Incarnation, Devil of Grudges, and give Aodasheng the taste of his own poison by taking on the role of and wearing the mask of Xiongji and going berserker [Martial trial DC 140]

>Even the playing field by creating a wall of blood puppets around yourself, and force the fight back into a one on one [Magic/ Puppeteering trial. DC 125]

>Use your internal gu to spray Sinner Bone Centipede venom all over the bones menacing you [Magic/ Alchemy trial DC 110]

>Hold your ground, fighting defensively and wait for an opening, using both your feline martial arts and dying grudge shield's attached the your hands and arms [Magic/ Martial Trial. DC 160]

>Escape from the chamber and the gang up by swapping yourself with the false ghost light, giving yourself a few vital seconds to prepare and compose yourself

>write in

Anonymous

>>5990867
>>Even the playing field by creating a wall of blood puppets around yourself, and force the fight back into a one on one [Magic/ Puppeteering trial. DC 125]
Well, we can see why people may have thought less of him when he asks for a spar and IMMEDIATELY turns it into a gangstomp. He plays for keeps if nothing else, man has zero shame.

Maybe we should turn back into a cat. He probably has way less experience fighting beasts than men. Considering how he talks about them like ancient history to his own ancient history.

>>5990867
>Even the playing field by creating a wall of blood puppets around yourself, and force the fight back into a one on one [Magic/ Puppeteering trial. DC 125]

That was one hell of an opening but we're not down yet.

>>5990867
>Even the playing field by creating a wall of blood puppets around yourself, and force the fight back into a one on one [Magic/ Puppeteering trial. DC 125]

>>5990867
>Use Enmity Incarnation, Devil of Grudges, and give Aodasheng the taste of his own poison by taking on the role of and wearing the mask of Xiongji and going berserker [Martial trial DC 140]

This is always fun.

>>5990867
>Use your internal gu to spray Sinner Bone Centipede venom all over the bones menacing you [Magic/ Alchemy trial DC 110]

That's acidic like predator blood right? Should work well against undead.

>>5990867
>Use your internal gu to spray Sinner Bone Centipede venom all over the bones menacing you [Magic/ Alchemy trial DC 110]

>>5990867
>Even the playing field by creating a wall of blood puppets around yourself, and force the fight back into a one on one [Magic/ Puppeteering trial. DC 125]

Very tempted to fall back and compose ourselves to surprise him with a guns blazing assault when we pop back in.
If we fail this next DC, we teleport, gather our selves, and go back in.

>>5990867
I would call this a bitch move, but there are no rules in a fight like this
>Even the playing field by creating a wall of blood puppets around yourself, and force the fight back into a one on one [Magic/ Puppeteering trial. DC 125]
>Use Enmity Incarnation, Devil of Grudges, and wear Monu's mask to take advantage of her knowledge of puppet making
This is probably going to be our roughest fight yet, so best to snatch any advantage we can.

>>5990867
>>Hold your ground, fighting defensively and wait for an opening, using both your feline martial arts and dying grudge shield's attached the your hands and arms [Magic/ Martial Trial. DC 160]

Our-Grandfather

Ending the vote and tallying its result now.

Even the playing field by creating a wall of blood puppets around yourself, and force the fight back into a one on one:6

Use Enmity Incarnation, Devil of Grudges, and give Aodasheng the taste of his own poison by taking on the role of and wearing the mask of Xiongji and going berserker : 2

Use your internal gu to spray Sinner Bone Centipede venom all over the bones menacing you:2

Hold your ground, fighting defensively and wait for an opening, using both your feline martial arts and dying grudge shield's attached the your hands and arms : 1

So you'll weaponize your own spilt blood, create a wall of blood puppets and try to force Aodasheng to fight you one on one.

Update will arrive shortly

Your blood, pooling and forming drops that the fingers and claws of the silver gauntlets spun from spider silk over your hands, trembling in pain and outrage. Dripping, falling, sparkling like cut and polished rubies, the aroma nearly as intoxicating as its sheen and the distorted reflections they cast within their carmine depths. And immediately, just from turning your eyes down to admire the flow of blood from your hands and belly, you realize exactly how you can turn the tide of this battle and take the advantage Aodasheng has taken so firmly and quickly into his hands for yourself and force him to fight you one on one like you'd expected when he requested this supposedly friendly spar. But, you can't really fault him for using every advantage and trick he has, its just common sense in a fight to do all you can to win, even if it has really pissed you off. It's just good sense to fight with everything you have, especially when it is a deadly bout, which this isn't. Or shouldn't be. But if it was you'd still be offended that he dared to use such a cheap trick, even if you're about to do the same now. But all is fair in a fight between cultivators, especially two almost equals.

Raising up your hands, you will the blood to pool in your palms, and draw back some that has poured out of your cut open palm back inside of your hand, as the smears, splatters and puddles of blood begin to ripple and rise up. Pearls and droplets of blood stopping to float in the air, like they've been suspended in oil. The skeletons stop mid-step as one, and you hear Aodasheng make what you can only describe as a "Fascinated noise", and you can almost see him rubbing his chin in intrigue even though he's standing behind your back. Shit, does he know about blood control? Well if he does, you'll show him what a master of it can perform with just a few cups full of blood!

Clicking your tongue, you flatten your hands, and slowly lift them in front of yourself, drawing the blood under your control to rise up higher itself. The skeletons finish their step, and continue their advance around you, the circle tightening around you like a drawn noose.

 roll 2d100. Best out of five. DC 125

>>5991553
Great success! 40 over DC. Update will arrive shortly

Anonymous

>>5991554
Where there is a Yin, there is a Yang.

Get fucked Ghostie.
Also, I'm PRETTY SURE it's the buddhists who said "Great sage equalling heaven" from journey of the west that this guy reminds us of.

Our-Grandfather

https://youtu.be/nBAE3AECbCI
_

But you aren't concerned in the slightest. With a twitch of your right wrist and by clenching your left hand into a fist, digging the claws tipping your gauntlets into the slash across your exposed palm, you separate a portion of the blood gathered at your feet into a cloud of beads, pearls and spheres of floating blood as the rest of it rises up as crude, human and feline figures, dripping and sloshing through the pool of collected blood, lifting up swords and axes or throwing their head back in silent yowls. Turning your right hand up and stretching out your fingers, you shape the balls of blood into a thousands of nails and dozens of flying swords, none as crude as the ones wielded by your puppets, each one looking like a real sword worthy to be held in the hands of a royal guard.

"I knew it!" Aodasheng shouts excitedly "Blood refinement and control! One of the forbidden demonic arts! I could never find a source of blood Qi pure enough to practice it myself"

Rolling your eyes, and ignoring his comment, you implant a command into the blood puppets as you rotate the swarm of bloody nails and swords around yourself. A simple directive, but it doesn't need to be more complex than "Protect me", and not having to directly control their movement is a prudent choice. Since it could become distracting puppeteering them to fight the possessed bones, while also clashing with a foe as dangerous as the forgotten king has proven to be.

A storm of nails and flying blades slams into the skeletons as they charge you, the blood made weapons exploding outwards as you open up your clenched fist and the blood puppets surging outwards as half a battle line and half a wave, counter charging and crashing into the mortal remains of Aodasheng's most loyal followers.

Spinning on your heel, you pull the remaining blood up your back, turning it in a long, hanging cape that splits at the bottom to spread outwards like a pair of clawed wings. The forgotten king hasn't wasted a moment, and is rushing towards you, a blood sword caught under his armpit and a dozen or so nails stuck into his arm.

Lifting up an arm, you turn the veins inside of it into a spiked whip, launching them from the cut in your palm as the forgotten king pulls his spear arm back to throw it at you with enough force to split a mountain.

"Expelling and moving your veins independently of your body?!" He exclaims, almost cheering as he sees them fly out of your arm and writhe through the air like giant parasitic worms escaping their dying host "I though such tales were an exaggeration! To further demonize the original practitioners of..."
Cont

>>5991597

He stops talking as he realizes your veins are too durable to be easily torn or ripped apart, as his spear arm is wrapped up and sealed by them, holding it in place as he's now stopped dead in his tracks, unable to throw his spear and with his back up dancer corpses kept from attacking you from behind by your own puppets formed out of your own blood.

Smiling viciously, you pull him closer, dipping your other hand into the insides of your false wings and smearing it all over with a fresh coat of blood. Clicking his tongue, Aodasheng plants his heels into the ground, as the falling chamber starts to pick up more speed and he tries to stop himself from being pulled closer than he can fight with that long spear of his.

But its a vain effort, because you place a slick of blood under his feet, and the moment he trips, you tug and pull him through the air as you form the blood covering your hand into five, dagger sized blades. Wrapping your veins tighter around his arms, cutting through his ghostly armor and digging into his skin, you lunge at him as he's dragged up to you and slam those five blades of blood directly into his face, peeling off half of his draconic mask, revealing his grinning face. Which is now freckled with teal and turquoise scales

"Magnificent" He declares, exposed eye becoming a ball of teal fire as he grabs hold of your shoulder as he turns being dragged through the air into an advantage, slamming into your bodily and as the chamber is in free fall, both of you remain air born as the flesh of his cheek and neck splits from the five deep slashes you gave him, exposing muscle and bone.

However, with your veins wrapped tightly around and locking one of his arms in place, and your other hand now clawing into his face, he isn't able to force you into a contest of strength by grabbing onto and grappling with you. Lifting your head up, you counter a headbutt by reducing the distance between his forehead and yours, and lock gazes with him, grinning almost as excitedly as he is now that you're fighting him one on one, without any mortal dust to get in either of your ways from tearing the other to pieces. And that you've drawn just as much if not more blood from him than he has from you, certainly makes that grin you're wearing a little wider and happier.

"Show me more! More of the lost arts you've taken as your own!" He demands, fangs sprouting from the five gashes oozing blood along his face and neck.

The sinking feeling that the prison is going to slam into the bottom of the pit any second now, does little to quash the thrill of fighting someone who can actually keep pace with you after finding nothing but weaklings after you emerged from the meditation that forged your golden core!
Cont

>>5991598

How do you attempt to break or take control of the grapple, Huanliuxue?

>Boil your blood, and while you grind and crush his arm with your veins, inject and spray it with your burning blood! [Alchemy/ Strength trial. DC 152]

>See if your paralyzing bite works on ghosts, and turn into a demon cat again to put more force behind it [Strength/ Carmine Mysticism trial. DC 180]

>Wrap your legs around his midsection, and try to flip him and slam his head into any solid ground you can find [Martial Trial DC 136]

>Breath a torrent of grudges into his face [Magic trial. DC 160]

>use the eye stealing grasp! [Martial Trial DC 148]

>write in

Anonymous

>>5991601
>Wrap the legs around his midsection
>Distract him by feinting with the eye stealing grasp.

He can pick which attack he suffers, or he can take both.

>>5991601

>use the eye stealing grasp! [Martial Trial DC 148]

>>5991601
>Turn into a cat and employ the Cat Escapes Cuddles technique

>>5991601
>>Wrap your legs around his midsection, and try to flip him and slam his head into any solid ground you can find [Martial Trial DC 136]

>>5991601
>Wrap your legs around his midsection, and try to flip him and slam his head into any solid ground you can find [Martial Trial DC 136]
Best not to get too greedy

>>5991601
>>Boil your blood, and while you grind and crush his arm with your veins, inject and spray it with your burning blood! [Alchemy/ Strength trial. DC 152]

>>5991601
>use the eye stealing grasp! [Martial Trial DC 148]

Look carefully now! I stole this technique from a demon.

>>5991601
>>use the eye stealing grasp! [Martial Trial DC 148]

>>5991612
Supporting, time for some trickery

Our-Grandfather

Ending and tallying the vote now.

Wrap your legs around his midsection, and try to flip him and slam his head into any solid ground you can find:6
-Combo:4

use the eye stealing grasp!:7
-Combo:4

Use your people's ancestral technique: 1

Boil your blood, and while you grind and crush his arm with your veins, inject and spray it with your burning blood! :1

So you'll use a bit of misdirection, wrapping your legs around Aodasheng and using with the eye stealing grasp as a feint, though you'll still aim to pluck out his eye, as you try to flip the ghost around and dash them against the nearest solid ground you can find.

Adjusted DC will be revealed at the end of the intermediary update, which will arrive shortly

But the face of the weakling that gave you the most trouble, the contemptible Xue Laohue, flashes in your mind's eye. And you recognize the exact moment the memory of his wide eyed, half frozen expression was taken from. It was when you plucked out his eye, blinding him and quickening his demise, though it was already inevitable before you jabbed your fingers into his skull. He was doomed the moment he slaughtered your sister and crippled your mother, after all, even if you weren't yet born to hold a grudge against him when he did those awful things. However, even as you reflexively tense your first two fingers of the hand gripping Aodasheng's skull, you hesitate for a moment as an unpleasant thought sours the delicious memory of tearing out that old bastard's hateful eye. What if he recognize the eye stealing grasp? In his collection were some books that could've only been found in hell or the possession of devils or their toadies. And Aodasheng has enough fighting instinct that he certainly possess some level of foresight. He might have already seen two steps ahead and already seen that your next move is going to be trying to rip out his flame wrapped eye.

However, that battle precognition could be turned to your advantage. You can't predict what he'll do to counter having his eye torn out, since you have absolutely no idea what sort of style or techniques he uses or what he's capable of outside of your general insights of ghostly abilities, but you don't need to have a completely grasp of how he fights to know that he'll flinch or lean back when two fingers jab towards his eye, with sharpened and hardened blades of blood still attached to the back of the hand they belong to. Its instinct. Having your vision damaged is a death sentence in the wild, so avoiding it is something every creature born beneath the heavens does intuitively. A reflex. And he might be too long dead to have a functions survival instinct or any self preservation at all, but even without his body, his spirit will remember the danger of losing sight.

Moving to pluck out his eyes will be a feint. A quick distraction to allow you to take control of this struggle and slam him head first on the ground or ceiling, whichever is closest. And if he's able to resist being swung against the nearest solid surface, well, you'll just thrust your fingers into his eye anyways! If he avoids one attack, the other WILL land, and if he can't dodge either of them, well that's his misfortune and not yours!

 Trickery/ Martial Trial. DC 142. Best out of five. If you fail by ten or less, the attack will still deal reduced damage

Anonymous

Rolled 58, 45 = 103 (2d100)

>>5992205
Whoops, here we go again.

Our-Grandfather

>>5992216
Success! Update will arrive shortly

Pulling your hand off of his face and pulling it back to the side of your own, you narrow your eyes, acting like you were calculating and judging the distance between you two tensed, and tightly pressed together fingers and the ball of fire the forgotten king's eye has turned into. There's a flicker of recognition in his ordinary eye, and his manic grin twitches at its corner. Quickly reinforcing the muscles, sinew and bone in your hand and its wrist to keep any of them from breaking or snapping if you miss or if his skull is sturdier than expected, you thrust your arm forward with all of your might and and speed. As you anticipated, Aodasheng expected you to go for his eye, and using his grip on your shoulder, forcefully twists the both of your around in the air, hoping to throw off your aim and dodge the jab through rotation. However, you'd come up with a counter to his counter as you were throwing your fingers forward to poke out his eye. Shifting the blood coating your hand, you gather it beneath the two fingers and quicker than you can throw a punch, sharpen, harden and extend it into two long needles.

The forgotten king wails in agony, the sound a familiar one of ghostly suffering, the same cries that piece through the nights by the yellow spring or echo up from the depths of these catacombs themselves, a cry of a tormented soul. His grip on your arm slacks, as he squints his now bleeding eye, as tear drops of teal fire drip from it, cooking the edges of the needles of blood still attached to your fingers. A chant begins to whisper in your ear, even though his lips aren't moving and he isn't saying anything. He's unleashing a curse on you.

Wrapping your legs around his midsection, locking them in place by folding them behind his back, you pull yourself closer until your chest is pressed against his, and with a flick of your fingers, make the tips of the needles spin, burrowing them deeper into his intangible eye. He howls again, wincing, but the chanting continues. And your gouging has failed to tear that blazing orb from its socket. Snarling, you decide to see if hammering his skull on the top of your needles will pop it out, and swinging your hips, twisting your waist violently, you throw your weight around and swing both yourself and the ghost king around, spinning rapidly through the air, the world blurring as the curse crawling into your ears continues to speak itself and you continue shoving and twisting the thin blades of blood into his skull, unable to force them any deeper than the surface of his eye of flame.

Seeing a mass of grey taking up the edge of your vision, you whip your hips again, and feel the crash of your opponent's skull against thick stone before your hear it. The vibrations ripple from down his neck to your legs, shuddering up your own spine until it shakes the skull and.

The sight of skeletons and puppets of blood fighting and the rest of the drab, featureless prison vanish.

Cont

>>5992233

You and Aodasheng are now falling freely outside of the chamber, which quickly plumets out of view, leaving the two of you floating in the darkness of the pit.

The force of the impact from slamming him head first against a stone wall at least a few feet thick, has bent the blades of blood you'd jammed into his skull and sent them through the side of his head. But you can still see his eye, weeping and bleeding black, rotten blood and radiant, teal fire.

"That's a crow devil technique" He hoarsely says, grabbing hold of your wrist as you stare in wonder at the hole through the side of his face and the deep gouge through his eye and the flesh around it "Now, what is a principled lady like yourself doing learning from scavengers like them?"

"Right or wrong, are what I decided is good or bad!" You proudly answer "I only follow my own morality and ideals!"

"As you should!" He says just as proudly, voice half between a snarl and chipper approval of your approach to morality. He tightens his grip on your shoulder, you push your fingers closer to his eye, retracting the blade and deciding your own hand will be better suited to pulling it out.

Your ears start ringing, blood dribbles from your nose. The curse he's chanting is nearly complete. You can feel its roots slithering through your skull already, moving like greasy worms. Summoning all of your will and spiritual power, you push back against the hex before its too late to resist it

 roll 2d100. Will/ Resistance trial. DC 150. Best out of five

Anonymous

Rolled 7, 33 = 40 (2d100)

>>5992239
and i dropped my dice

Rolled 24, 71 = 95 (2d100)

>>5992235
Heh. Is this what it's like to face an equal? Not even the Ogress has given us such a thrill!

Rolled 56, 17 = 73 (2d100)

>>5992235
CRITICAL SUCCESS INCOMING

These are the worst rolls I’ve seen in a LONG time, 50 below is going to hurt

Our-Grandfather

>>5992242
Ouch, failure by 50. Update will arrive shortly

Anonymous

>>5992248
Okay guys,
I think its time to make use of the ghost light,
we need to tap out real quick and recover so we can go for a round two.

>>5992254
Don't be a pussy, this is FUN

I also think we lost our safety net with the throne room being thrown out

Our-Grandfather

But the moment you begin to focus on your spiritual and magical defenses and bucking the curse off before it can sink into you fully, Aodasheng shoves the flat of his palm against your face with enough force to rip open some of the veins still wrapped around his spear arm. The face guard of your helmet dents, and presses against your nose. There's a wet sound, a cracking sound, and the blood dribbling out of your nose turns into a river and you start choking on it as you gasp for air, your vision filling with stars as your head rings, from the sudden strike that feels like it broke your nose and the curse nestling itself into you. Your legs go limp, and Aodasheng frees himself from their embrace and pulls his legs up to his chest as, panicking, you begin to decode the exact type of curse he's whispered into your ear.

It is a physical hex, a demonic mantra as much meant for the heat of battle as it is for subjecting someone outside of it to suffer a messy, prolonged death. Sparks fly in your vision as your thoughts become sluggish and labored, as your knowledge of the curse slips through your fingers like so much sand as you struggle to grasp what it is doing to you. Words like decay, fester, spoil, rot and wither roll around your skull as numbness washes over you, centered somewhere inside your head. Wincing, you reach up and touch your head.

But before you can think any more, Aodasheng kicks you full force with both of his legs, directly in the center of your stomach where the skeletal corpse of Xiongji had tried to chop you in half with his axe. He presses his heels down on the wound, and sends you rocketing deeper into the pit, the veins wrapped around his arms snapping one by one, each tear sending a jolt of pain piercing through the shroud of numbness and confusion. You free fall for awhile, spinning head over feet, blood and bile filling your helmet, as black sludge impurities ooze out of your eyes and ears and every thought you have eludes you. Unable to think or react beyond groaning in pain, there is only thing you can do.

Stepping out of your body and freeing yourself from whatever is afflicting it. And the moment you soul separates from its vessel, and the clouds in your mind lift, it dawns on you that you do in fact recognize the curse, the exact curse that Aodasheng spoke to you without moving his lips or speaking with his own voice, even if its name still escapes you.

Your body jostles, every limb limp as you hold it in the air through ethereal tethers like a spider's web and almost laugh at the audacity of it.

"A brain rotting curse?! If it was anyone else but me, that'd have been lethal!" You angrily shout up at him as you quickly set about repairing the damages done to your body as Aodasheng snickers and drifts down like it was a friendly joke instead of one of the deadliest curses still recorded in history.
Cont

>>5992267

"I wouldn't have spoke it if I expected it to kill you, and this proves my theory that your body and your soul are not fastened together as firmly as they should be" He explains with a shrug of his shoulders, rubbing the tatters of his the arm that had moment ago been bound and wrapped up with your serrated veins, watching you curiously as mend your mortal flesh with a few patches of scarlet healing armor directly pressed against your injured brain. Your body shudders and starts twitching and thrashing as the decay that seeped into it is purged and flushed out, black oil pouring from your mouth as you mutter angrily to yourself.

"Asshole!" You snap, glaring at him as he smiles warmly "Who rots someone's brain during a spar?"

"Who tries to gouge out someone's eye during one? Also, this shows me that you're capable of healing yourself mid-battle, valuable information" He laughs, and you realize the eye you nearly tore out is firmly shut "I'll allow you to recover, as this is a friendly spar, just to decide who between us is the strongest! So neither of us should be holding anything back anyways!"

Somehow that pisses you off more than him having just turned a portion of your brain to moldering mush, that he's giving you a chance to catch your breath instead of pressing his advantage.

What do you do, Huanliuxue?

>Take the chance to recover, undo the damage the curse cause and square off against Aodasheng again, and fight defensively, knowing how vicious of a fighter he is now [Martial trial. DC 140]

>Toss your still empty body at him, knowing you've fixed the worse damages already and use it as an improvised projectile [Martial Trial. DC 116]

>Teleport your body back to the false ghost light, and tell him you'll fight him as a ghost for a time, after you've poured enough Qi into your spiritual body from your physical one's cultivation base to actually fight him, and start by throwing a few destructive yin spheres at him [Magic trial DC 128]

>Using your torn veins as puppet strings, attack Aodasheng with your soulless body, teaming up on him with yourself! [Martial trial. DC 160]

>write in

Anonymous

>>5992269
>>Toss your still empty body at him, knowing you've fixed the worse damages already and use it as an improvised projectile [Martial Trial. DC 116]

>>5992269
Hmmm.

I've got another idea. We lack a lot of things to deal with him specifically, but we've got a physique and a very very annoying enemy ahead of us, with the general trend being that we can each hit like trains, and can't defend so well.

>Toss our body at him, use it as a missile.
>Place a Dying grudge shield on the reverse of the body, so it's impact is multiplied. Especially if he tries to bat it aside.

We might want to try a few exorcist tricks from the night lantern sutra.

>>5992276
The idea I had is infecting him with some sort of forgeign Yin QI and then swapping it for yang Qi through out usual shinanigence to make a sun.

Poison him with life, as it were.

>>5992276
Supporting. I doubt anyone'd expect someone to fling their own body
Thinking for a second, Aodasheng is kind of a mirror for some of our skills, his corpse puppets versus Enmity Incarnation or that brain melter and our Weeping Scar Curse. No matter the outcome I can see us learning some new ways to use our skill set. As for the immediate issues, I wonder if Spiteful Blood Legacy might be a hidden ace against him, seeing as he created grudges not just with those of the earthly realm but of the heavenly realm too. We've only used its ability to temporarily give lingering resentment physical form in the past, but the other two uses (a buff and a grudge miasma) are potential ways to level the playing field.

>>5992344
You know what would be funny? If the legacy curse brought a twisted shade of Xiongji out. When the real one is right over there still trying to work through his cranial destruction to figure out what the walls are trying to show him. Old book boy would be so fucking confused as to why his top lad is mad at him when he's the only one there that shouldn't be pissed off.

We were totally gonna give him his eye back after we took it though. Totally. Too bad it was in there so good! It makes me wonder, would he have used the eye stealing technique on his rival when they were both living back in the day? He did mention wanting to take his eye. Something to chat with him about. We can even tell him that we got OUR white whale's eye with that technique even. So stealing the eyes of people is something the two of us have in common kek

>>5992269
>Toss your still empty body at him, knowing you've fixed the worse damages already and use it as an improvised projectile [Martial Trial. DC 116]

Wait guys, I have an idea... What if we use Grudge Enmity focusing on Qiang? If I remember correctly, Qiang has a special Perk which let her secure to either cripple or damage someone even if they're realms higher than her.

Could this translate to our fight? Would it give us advantage if we put a ton of grudge miasma on the air to obscure ourselves and make an "attack" that lets us use that perk?

>>5992269
>Take the chance to recover, undo the damage the curse cause and square off against Aodasheng again, and fight defensively, knowing how vicious of a fighter he is now [Martial trial. DC 140]

Do you all really want to throw your soulless body at a bodyless ghost and expect him not to possess it?
Are you all for real?

>>5992453
That's an idea to look into after we've mended our body.
Breathe an obscuring cloud of grudges and then incarnate the enmity of Qiang for the eye she lost.

>>5992455
Oh shit you're right
>>5992269
Changing to
>Teleport your body back to the false ghost light, and tell him you'll fight him as a ghost for a time, after you've poured enough Qi into your spiritual body from your physical one's cultivation base to actually fight him, and start by throwing a few destructive yin spheres at him [Magic trial DC 128]

>>5992270
>>Teleport your body back to the false ghost light, and tell him you'll fight him as a ghost for a time, after you've poured enough Qi into your spiritual body from your physical one's cultivation base to actually fight him, and start by throwing a few destructive yin spheres at him [Magic trial DC 128]
changing vote

>>5992269
>Teleport your body back to the false ghost light, and tell him you'll fight him as a ghost for a time, after you've poured enough Qi into your spiritual body from your physical one's cultivation base to actually fight him, and start by throwing a few destructive yin spheres at him [Magic trial DC 128]

>>5992269
>Teleport your body back to the false ghost light, and tell him you'll fight him as a ghost for a time, after you've poured enough Qi into your spiritual body from your physical one's cultivation base to actually fight him, and start by throwing a few destructive yin spheres at him [Magic trial DC 128]

I told you all we will need to teleport back.
>>5992254

>>5992455
Let him try it. It will be hillarious.
We have far better control and more tricks of what to do with it than he does. Dont step into the iron maiden if you dont want to get stabbed.

>>5992269
>Toss your still empty body at him, knowing you've fixed the worse damages already and use it as an improvised projectile [Martial Trial. DC 116]

I like the grudge shield idea but it's lacking support unfortunately.

>>5992583
He's already as strong as Huan without a body, hilarious for him maybe if we give him a flawless golden core body to inhabit.

>>5992269
>Take the chance to recover, undo the damage the curse cause and square off against Aodasheng again, and fight defensively, knowing how vicious of a fighter he is now [Martial trial. DC 140]

>>5992610
Goig into our ɓody would be a really dumb move for him.

Our connection is stronger than his and we know our secrets.
Getting rid of our body to fight as a ghost is removing at least half of our toolbox. Blood qi, stellar qi, Primordial qi, physique, treaures.

Thats a foolish act.

>>5992269
>>Take the chance to recover, undo the damage the curse cause and square off against Aodasheng again, and fight defensively, knowing how vicious of a fighter he is now [Martial trial. DC 140

>>5992929
We give our body time to heal,
Meanwhile we engage with him.
Once we exchange blows,
we can bring back the body via ghost light, all healed up, and go back into it.
Our spirit has yet to falter, our body is only briefly wounded

>>5993034
It's defenseless without us. The only possible way to play this that I see would be to lure him in and explode our body to take him out. We can recreate it from a blood pool after all.

>>5993034
My big concern is that damage to our soul is far harder for us to fix than our body, and with our luck recently I can’t say I have high hope for us to avoid getting hurt.

>>5993418
Outside the chamber should be safe.
>>5993421
This is fair, we only need to go an exchange or two before popping back in our body.

Our-Grandfather

Ending the vote, tallying its results now. Needed a day to recharge after writing another three part update, no idea why this one drained me more than the last but eh.

Toss your still empty body at him, knowing you've fixed the worse damages already and use it as an improvised projectile:4
-Place a dying grudge shield on your back:2

Take the chance to recover, undo the damage the curse cause and square off against Aodasheng again, and fight defensively, knowing how vicious of a fighter he is now:3

Teleport your body back to the false ghost light, and tell him you'll fight him as a ghost for a time, after you've poured enough Qi into your spiritual body from your physical one's cultivation base to actually fight him, and start by throwing a few destructive yin spheres at him:6

So you'll teleport your body, switching it with the false ghost light you placed on the stairs outside of the sealed chamber (that is currently plummeting to the bottom of the pit), after placing enough of your living Qi into you spectral body to still be able to fight him on equal footing, while the scarlet healing armor works its magic and heals the remaining damage from the curse

and you'll fight Aodasheng by tossing a few destructive yin spheres at him

However, just because it upsets you and feels almost insulting, isn't going to stop you from taking full advantage of the ghost king's sense of fairness while you still can. Ghosts, like cats, are fickle things after all. So, bobbing close to your body hanging in the empty expanse of somewhere in the middle of the seemingly bottomless pit, you change the shape of your spirit from its natural, ghost flame form into one resembling a spectral copy of you feline self, black mists of resentment wrapped around your paws and neck like a divine raiment. Placing a paw atop your physical body's lower dantian, you draw on your cultivation base kept within both of your cores and sluggishly churning through your meridians, working hard to expel the corruption still trapped inside of your still body. While the fading splotches of decay on your cheeks and neck have a certain prettiness to them, the stinking black oil that is dripping from those green purple bruises, the impurities that your Qi circulation is expelling as part of the healing process, certainly are not so bewitching and are certainly not as charming as the quickly vanishing patches of corroded flesh.

"The appearance of your ghost flame is unlike any spirit I have encounter, in life or death" Aodasheng suddenly speaks up, though you don't turn to face him as he rambles about your ghostly looks "Like a baleful red eye cursing the world, melting into vermillion blood and evaporating into bone white star dust, Yin and Yang in balance. A beauteous expression of yourself and your life journey, the essence of death mingled with the energy of life and the quintessence of the stars, more radiant and enduring than most souls of men. Transient and fleeting as they are"

"I won't be distracted by your rambling or your compliments, Aodasheng" You scoff, glancing at him as you continue filling the pool of spiritual energy you've created inside of your spectral form, transferring living Qi into and hiding it inside your ghostly existence, which even with how hastily you're absorbing the Qi from yourself and how much, is taking awhile. Even though you've drawn off enough Qi to sicken or cripple lesser cultivators, any difference in the amount of Qi inside of your body's cultivation base is so negligible you're pretty sure any change in its level is just your mind trying to trick itself into thinking its made an impact. And you don't know how long Aodasheng is going to give you to recover, or how much Qi you'll be able to implant into your spirit before he gets tired of waiting and launches another, sudden attack, manners and fairness be damned.
Cont

>>5994152

"My apologies, it was not my intent, I simply can't help but to admire such a mysterious existence as yourself, and tend to speak my idle ponderings outloud" He replies with a friendly chuckle, and as if your thoughts had become prophecy, he changes his tone to take on an air of menace as he impatiently asks "How much longer will you require to recover to fighting strength?"

Clicking your tongue, you barely stop yourself from cursing, somehow feeling that thinking about Aodasheng growing impatient somehow made him lose his patience. But you aren't upset or worried that he has lost his patience and grown bored of waiting, even if it is kind of cheeky and very much rude to rush a lady, especially when she's making herself presentable, and you aren't concerned that he'll attack you before you're ready, because you've managed to create a free floating pool of your Qi, still tethered to your body's cultivation base, within your wandering soul.

And changing the shape of your spirit to face him, you smile and place back paw on your body's chest and with a thought, exchange the Yang energies rallying inside of it as your beautiful body's lifeforce goes into overdrive as it burns out the last of the curse energy, malice and decay infecting it, and replace it with the false ghost light you left on the steps outside of the prison that is still hurtling down towards an unseen floor.

"Ohoho! What a curious technique! I've never seen anything like it! Your body vanished without a flash or shimmer! It simply disappeared, how cunning a spell, to teleport without a trace or sign! Or so it would seem, but I've seen similar tricks in dice games, You've swapped your body with that ball of yin Qi like a cheat would fair and loaded dice. When the fight is over..." Your opponent begins to marvel, rambling on as he manages to figure out the basic concept of the phantom cat waltz moments after witnessing it in its pettiest form, but you cut him off

"Only if you beat me" You churlishly interrupt, knowing he's going to ask you to explain and teach the technique to him, though if you completely misread the situation...well that just gives you another reason to be the victor and win this friendly though increasingly dangerous spar, since then you'd have made a promise without knowing what you were promising to do "Now...BEGIN!"

"Hahaha! I suppose I deserve this"

 roll 2d100. DC 128. Best out of five

Anonymous

Rolled 11, 95 = 106 (2d100)

>>5994153
Man, the gang is going to hate this guy. Just because he talks without heed of anyone around him. The perils of getting used to talking to your own bones for ages.

>>5994172
Welp had a feeling I'd roll a nat 1.

Rolled 94, 21 = 115 (2d100)

>>5994153
>Enemy Aura: Overwhelming Malevolence. Effect: Critfails reactivated. Range raised from 1, to 1 to 10. Counter effect from Huanliuxue's Aura: Ill Omen. Enemy Aura effectiveness reduced by half. Critfail range for duration of the fight, 1 to 5
Well that's bad news, gotta hope we make to just a mischief and not a full on critfail

>>5994173
Then why'd you roll? You must trust your instincts, anon.

Our-Grandfather

>>5994202
Failure, ten under dc

and

>>5994172
a critfail. Oof

Update will arrive shortly

Anonymous

Damn. Huan's actually gonna lose this fight.

Our-Grandfather

Shifting between your cat, human and true ghostly appearance, you flit through the air like a shooting star, a shadow out of the corner of the eye, separating pieces of the qi you've gathered inside of your phantom body to create an opening volley of destructive yin spheres to restart the spar with a bang, casting the spell with a mixture of tail flicks, ear and whisker movements, hand signs and flares of your ghost flame as you dance around Aodasheng, changing the appearance of your free flying soul like you were nothing more than the shadows cast by a sputtering, dying flame.

Aodasheng keeps laughing, leaning against his spear as he stands on empty air, finding humor in the fact now he's the one falling victim to a sneak attack, not seeming at all concerned about the rolling, crackling balls of the raw energies of destruction flying towards him like a hail of arrows or tossed knives.

And you soon realize why he isn't making any moves to defend himself or dodge the volley, when his scaled arm shoots up from his side, shrinking in size and turning human again as he reaches out and grabs the first of the destructive yin spheres to reach him. It spins in his hand, but it doesn't warp or contort it or twist the arm attached to it. Instead, the ball of destructive forces begins to slow as you see that the skin of his palm has a thin layer of ghostly yin qi sheathing it. Qi he uses to transmute the Yin qi of the sphere from its destructive aspect to its ghostly and deathly form. And then, plucking it up by two of his fingers, opens his mouth wide and drops the sphere of Yin Qi directly onto his tongue and swallows it with a loud gulp. You pause mid step, blinking, completely baffled and utterly confused as to how he did that so quickly or why he chose to swallow the condensed ball of Qi instead of tossing it back at you after he clearly took control of it with his own spiritual energy. And the moment you begin to stare, wondering what the hell he's doing, that you realize exactly what he's doing.

He's healing himself. He's healing himself by defanging your spell, turning it harmless and then absorbing the Qi to regenerate his own ghostly essence. Your ears droop and you hang limply in the air, watching helplessly as he continues to pluck your destructive yin spheres out of the air with two fingers, like he was picking berries from a bush, and one by one, places them on his tongue and swallows them down, the gashes and tears on his ethereal flesh starting to knit and mend back together beneath a phantom like teal light as he continues to make a snack out of your attack.

And disbelief and humiliation turn to fury as the sight of it offends you so greatly you nearly fly into a rage that would make Xiongji's rampages seem like the mewling of a hungry kitten.
Cont

>>5994246

But before you can carry out your retribution and satisfy the anger bubbling up inside of you, Aodasheng spins around and wreathing his spear in destructive yin energy, hurls it your way!

 roll 2d100. Reaction/ Agility or Magic Trial. DC 120

Anonymous

Rolled 46, 14 = 60 (2d100)

>>5994249
The earth quakes, but the skies are quiet.

>>5994259
God, it really is so over for us with no chance of coming back, huh.

Rolled 83, 26 = 109 (2d100)

>>5994249
Hey guys what if we eat his sphere like he ate our balls? Guys why are you laughing?

>>5994280
So what's the plan, yoink or return to sender? kek. Damn what a roll.

>>5994246
I don't wanna roll that 190 is gold

Our-Grandfather

>>5994280
Heavens shattering success! 70 over DC. Update will arrive shortly

Anonymous

>>5994327
I demand this scene: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=a5OPC<wbr>zVjvL8

Our-Grandfather

https://youtu.be/KS13XGG8rAY
_

You narrow your eyes, focusing on the split in two tip of the spear wrapped in iron thorns, and the anger welling up inside of you refines itself, turning from a searing heat to a deadly, calculating cold. Survival instincts and any alarm you might've felt numbed from the distance between the danger fast approaching and your body and the knowledge that the spear will only dissipate and not destroy your soul, which would be painful and cause any number of problems, both within and without out your body and while it would be a challenge to regather and condense your spirit and heal any damage done to it, it wouldn't impossible nor do you think it'd take someone of your talent and towering intellect long to achieve.

So, confident that the spear hurtling towards you, writhing with enough destructive yin Qi to blast a hole in the side of the moon, black sparks and arcs of lightning roiling down its length and off of it like it was the core of a world shattering storm, you instead quickly run through the options at hand to reflect rather than deflect or avoid the spear, rage refined into razor edged wiliness without any panic or self preservation to hold it back. Judging from how much force Aodasheng put into his throw, and how fast the spear is moving as well as the amount of destructive yin qi he redirected from his gullet and poured into the treasure in the moment before he spun around and hurled it at you, it will arrive and pierce through you in a blink of an eye, faster than even the most perceptive of eyes could track. However, time has become something you hold power over. The initial form of the specter lightness skill wouldn't be enough for you to react in time to the spear, let alone enough for you to counter it or grab it and throw it back with a smile smug enough to make the gods seem humble. It would, if you move as quickly as you possibly could, allow you to avoid being skewered like a piece of meat, but you know you won't be able to move quickly enough to avoid being hit entirely.

But the awakened form of the Youling-Qinggong, the "True" Specter Lightness Skill: Broken Clock (真实-幽灵-轻工:破 钟 , Zhēnshí-Yōulíng-Qīnggōng: Pòzhōng), would allow you to do whatever you please with the spear, leap out of the way, grab it, or kick it back.
<https://youtu.be/KwGNDJfSmFk>
The empty gloom of the pit turns grey, all color draining out of the world around you, the colorful ghostly fire surrounding Aodasheng and the scales of the parts of him that have turned partially into a dragon-looking monster bleeding to the bleakest and most dreary shade of gray imaginable as even the pitch black spiritual energy wreathing and rippling his spear is reduced to simply a darker shade of grey.

Time slows, quickly, as you draw upon the well of Qi you implanted into your wandering spirit and the dense yin qi filling the pit at the center of these ancient tombs.
Cont

>>5994429

 Normally, you'd hesitate to use this secret art, for fear of one of your trump cards being figured out by your opponent, and Aodasheng has enough fighting sense to be able to comprehend and thus counter it. If he was allowed a glimpse of it. If. Rather than gradually dragging the flow of time itself to a halt, you place your paw down in front of it, an exerting all of your spiritual power and force of will, command it to stop immediately. Aodasheng freezes, arm still outstretched in a throwing stance as the spear digs through the stopped sphere of time, stubbornly refusing to obey the laws of reality itself until it to halts and freezes in place. Glowering, still angry with the ghost king for making a fool out of you and happily slurping down your attacks, and not only that but then having the audacity to replenish himself with them, you can tell your ghostly form becomes a little more monstrous, though you don't throw a fit of pique, even if your also frustrated at how much Qi and effort it took to cast this spell as quickly as you did.

If there was an audience of this fight, surely they'd declare it as the feat it was and applaud it as show of your peerless and unrivaled genius and mastery. But no one's watching not even the dead. Trying not to puff up with pride too much, you count the seconds you'll be able to keep time stopped, and create several layers of Dying Grudge Shields (垂死怨怼㕹,Chuísǐyuànduìfá), around the tip of your foot as you change the shape of your soul to mirror your human self. Carefully folding them, one over the other so that when they break and shatter, their force will be directed into the next layer and further multiplied until one of the protection spells lasts long enough to return the attack and spear to its sender!

Pulling your leg back, you slam your heel against the tip of the spear, and immediately the two sources of destructive yin Qi react to one another. Time begins to sluggishly flow again, as one, two, and then three layers of magical barriers shattered immediately. The fourth cracks, the fifth buckles, the sixth and seventh dent, the eight pits, but the ninth and last dying grudge shield stands firm and unbroken. the Forgotten King's fingers twitch, as time begins to slip from your hold on it and move freely once again as great arcs and pillars of pure destructive energy erupt from the space between your foot and the destruction imbued spear head until, as color slowly returns to the world, the protection spell around your heel spits back out all of the gathered destructive potential.

The air itself waves and ripples, and then cracks appear in the gloom as for a moment, the fabric of reality is cracked by the sheer power of the attack you countered and reflected back with a kick.

Time resumes in full as you finish the kick, your leg lifted over your head, smoke rising from its heel.
Cont

>>5994431
"DAMMIT!" Aodasheng curses, eyes wide as he sees his spear rocket back towards him in the center of roiling vortex of destructive Yin Qi, shaped crudely into spinning lance centered on the space between its split tongue head. He shifts to a defensive stance, trying to erect a protection spell of his own, eyes bulging as he tries to match a cat in reaction time.

Needless to say, he fails. as the spear and all of the magnified force behind it rip through the space between the two of you, destroying even that as it cuts through the air and flies through Aodasheng, leaving a gaping hole in his side that extends up to his shoulder, leaving it hanging in a formless mist of black blood and malicious energy. His expression remains locked in place, eyes wide as torrents of rotting blood and decaying spiritual energy pour out of the wound, the hole in his chest widened, his ribs and spine revealed in full as his viscera and internal organs spill out and float freely.

You maintain your current posture, leg lifted over your head as Aodasheng slowly looks over his shoulder, and your eyes follow his gaze to see the spear continue its flight at an upward tilt. Higher, higher it soars until it flies out of sight, leaving only a trail of distorted space in its wake

A moment later, there is a loud boom, and then another, as the chamber the forgotten king was sealed in hits the ground, and as his spear cuts through the catacombs and pierces through the mountain. A bright stream of light drips through the hole it bored through the earth, and Aodasheng's look of shock slowly inverts into a peaceful smile as he feels sunlight wash against his face for the first time in centuries

"Even chilled by the ghostly mists of this tomb, that is a feeling I had missed, the sun against my cheeks" He laughs, eyes flaring as both of his arms turn into dragon's claws and large, whipping tail erupts from his cracked spine as he turns to face you, looking thrilled as a wave of killing intent and bloodlust washes over you. It is enough to kill a dragon and make a martial god flinch. You just lower your leg and flick an out of place lock of hair out of your eyes as he starts to cackle and snarl

"And I've also missed this feeling! The feeling of a true challenge!" He bellows, several eyes bursting through the scales of his arms, all bearing the cold gleam of a killer within them as he bares his fangs and his claws, and holds out his hand.

From the bottom of the bit, a sword flies up to his palm as he, half a dragon, adopts another defensive stance, legs bent at the knees and shoulders lowered as he leans forward, sword arm held back and an open palm beckoning you to come forward and bury your own fangs into him.

"Aren't you worried about your spear?" You ask smugly, feeling much better after you put a massive hole in him and the mountain that killed him
Cont

>>5994433

"The spear of mortal death ( 矛的会死死亡 , Máodīhuìsǐsǐwáng)always finds its way back to its master, and I urge you to return to your body, for I shall hold nothing more back" Aodasheng says, barely able to contain his excitement even as you can hear the pain in every word he speaks, his blinded eye wincing as he moves with a giant, bloody hole through his side that nearly tore him in two "Though, it may just reach the heavens, with how forcefully you kicked it away!"

"Lets hope it doesn't" You say with a click of your tongue as you readopt your own, ethereal stance, hands raised up like paws reaching for a passing bird as you watch the sword in Aodasheng's clawed and scaled hand as he tests its weight with a few swings.

"I hope it will. What better way to announce my return to the world of the living" He says, the cold, murderous intent in his eyes softening to almost be warm, though their jolliness looks more deranged than pleasant.

What do you do, Huanliuxue?

>Return to your body and leap into the pit, aiming to land the shooting star stampede directly on top of Aodasheng's already cracked skull [Martial trial. DC 165]

>Suggest a change of battle grounds, since it feels like a waste for no one else to witness your clash with such a powerful opponent

>Summon your own treasures, and combine the powers of ghost empress melody and moon collapse to strike against Aodasheng with a maddening melody [Magic trial. DC 145]

>"Hah, if only the blood moon was out, then I could match you step for step, but alas, the blood seeking flower cannot blossom in this gloom, Heh-Heh" Then attack him by using his own blood to fuel a swarm of vein draining fangs and retrieve one of the swords of blood you created [Magic+Martial Trial. DC 150]

>write in

Anonymous

>>5994435
>Channel the frozen bastard and his impenetrable defense

>>5994435
>Suggest that we battle high in the sky, so that all may see!
>Channel Qiang and attack him with a sword of blood.

>>5994454
A grudge against beasts and all heresy beneath the heavens, a self-hating state on two counts facing an even more renowned if forgotten heretic. That would be a very strange mindset to get into. But this overwhelming amount of Yin Qi would probably make some seriously unbreakable ice.

Could we even emulate the icicle enough to pull it off, though? Even Huan couldn't possibly be as self-righteous as that cold bastard, right?

>>5994435
>>5994454
+1

>>5994480
She just needs to embody them, which she can totally do.

>>5994491
But I dont think she ever would.

The old fossil is. . The thing she hates most about the modern era, distilled and refined. Why would she ever wish to be that cunt.

>>5994501
Is it not a complete affront to his beliefs to have someone like Huan use his mien for their own ends? I think he'd be pretty inwardly angry at the impersonation, spitting on his grave in a way.

>>5994507
Its also a complete affront to Huan to pretend to be a child murdering, self rightious dog of the Heavens who takes an active pride in killing thinking, feeling, confused young souls because they violate a mandate set in place to erase the history of noble beasts.

Dressing up as a child killer is not an insult to the child killer, its just gross.

>>5994435

If he wasn't serious until now I don't want to underestimate him.

>>5994477
I support this but also add that we retrieve our body on the way.

>>5994435
>"Hah, if only the blood moon was out, then I could match you step for step, but alas, the blood seeking flower cannot blossom in this gloom, Heh-Heh" Then attack him by using his own blood to fuel a swarm of vein draining fangs and retrieve one of the swords of blood you created [Magic+Martial Trial. DC 150]

>>5994435
>Suggest a change of battle grounds, since it feels like a waste for no one else to witness your clash with such a powerful opponent

>>5994435
At least the big hole in his chest might have leveled things out for us, though if we ever decide to "spar" again we'll probably need a whole new bag of tricks with how fast he picks understands techniques.
>Channel Qiang and attack him with a sword of blood.
>Return to our body
Embodying Xue Laohue is an interesting idea, but feels out of character in my eyes. Besides, I feel Monu or even Fu's masks could take advantage of this situation better.

Our-Grandfather

Ending and tallying the vote now.

Enmity Incarnation, Devil of grudges Xue Laohue's dying grudge *Gross*: 2

Enmity Incarnation, Devil of grudges, Qiang's grudge over losing her eye, and attack with a sword formed of blood: 3
-And return to your body:2

Suggest a change of battle grounds, since it feels like a waste for no one else to witness your clash with such a powerful opponent:3
-Suggest that you move the battle to high in the sky, so all may see:2

"Hah, if only the blood moon was out, then I could match you step for step, but alas, the blood seeking flower cannot blossom in this gloom, Heh-Heh" Then attack him by using his own blood to fuel a swarm of vein draining fangs and retrieve one of the swords of blood you created: 2

Very close round of voting, but since the two with three votes, activating the grudge Qiang holds for having lost her eye and a change of scenery, can be easily combined, and two out of those three votes also ask for returning to your body and changing the battlefield to the sky (Stylish), those sub options will be included as well

SO

You'll wear the mask of somber Qiang, returning to your body and creating a sword from your blood, and suggest moving the fight to the skies, so all may witness the awesome clash between the empress of beasts and the Forgotten King

Update will arrive shortly, and DC will be revealed with it.

"Heh, I can appreciate that level of arrogance and audacity" You say with a chuckle, shaking your head as you try not to let the worry that your clash with Aodasheng might attract the attention of the gods show on your face or voice "But, if you're going all out, we'll have to pause the fight for a few more moments, so I can repossess my body and be able to use all of my attributes and abilities, natural, miraculous or cultivated to put you on your back and bury you again, Heh-Heh"

"Even a fraction of your full cultivation base contains enough spiritual energy to outlast some sects, that abnormally formed golden core you possess is truly awe-inspiring. Not even the stars of my era possess a core so refined, and of such supremely high quality" Aodasheng says, dropping his stance and relaxing, rubbing his head and starring at his insides as they spill outside of him "Do hurry, I really am fired up and don't think I can hold back attacking and restarting the fight on my own terms just to keep my hands from trembling from excitement"

"Well, you'll need to be patient a bit longer than a few seconds, since I've decided it is grave waste that now one is watching our bout, that there's no witness to our awesome clashes and no audience to applaud this incredible duel except for the dead. Isn't it a shame? That there's no one to cheer us on or run in terror, fleeing from our battleground like mice from grain? It's kind of pitiful and sad, isn't it? It is isn't it! That there's one to be amazed about our power as we clash, again and again and shake the earth and the skies!"

"Hmm, I was thinking you wouldn't trust me enough to let me leave the tombs before one of us stands over the other as the victor, but if you are willing to allow me to meet the sun and breath in fresh, living air before then, well I will not complain at being given a chance to relish the morning sun and feel the breeze against my face after so long" He says, sounding truly touched as he pulls a handful of his guts back into his blasted open stomach "And I won't let the chance to show off and display my power to the masses who have forgotten my name and the terror and respect it once instilled in them to slip by. I assume, you have a new arena in mind, as I am not exagerating, if you keep me waiting, I might go a touch mad"

You grin and jab one finger up towards the sky, cackling as Aodasheng flashes a truly wicked looking smile, his face tearing at the seems as fangs as thick as your thumb push through his cheeks and they eyes sprouting with the scales on his arms squint in amusement

"The sky?" He laughs, clearly enjoying the thought as much as you are excited by it, since turning the whole of the sky into your battleground just sounds like it'd be entertaining, and what better theater to show off your awe-inspiring power and martial and mystical prowess than high in the sky for all the world to see
Cont

>>5995451

"Where better to show off our might to the worms crawling below us?" You snicker, though there are a few reasons besides vanity and pride that made you want a change of scenery, some more pragmatic than others. You cultivate and use a variety of types of Qi, and while the dense deathly and ghostly air down here is as much of an advantage to you as it is Aodasheng, the forgotten king himself is a ghost and has shown he can heal his ghostly body by devouring ghostly yin Qi. He hasn't done it outside of showing off the ability to humiliate and piss you off, but it would still be wise to get him out of the place where Deathly Yin Qi gathers the thickest and purest in anywhere outside of the underworld itself!

And also, with how strong he's proving to be, just to be safe, you want to get him the hell away from your adorable students and precious temple sitting in the upper reaches of the catacombs. If you keep fighting here, the whole mountain might collapse on top of the two of you, along with everything and one inside of it.

"I accept these terms, but don't keep me waiting, Lady Huanliuxue" he says with a firm nod, as, with a red string, he starts stitching himself back together, humming like he was a girl weaving silk threads to make a dress. And not wanting to waste the massive damage you dealt to him, you do hurry and return to your body, finding Xiongji crouched before it, poking your rosy cheeks flushed with life with a finger, checking to see if you were dead or not.

"You win?" He grunts, as you sit suddenly up in front of him, and drool out a grey mass of mold that had been left in your mouth when all the other impurities and gunk had been expelled

"Still fighting" You answer, as you roll onto your feet, and slice open one of your wrists with your nail, since the cuts across your hand had stopped bleeding and dried up "Don't have time to explain"

And with that, you dive off of the ledge of the stairs, leaving Xiongji to scratch his head as he watches you vanish into the darkness.

Closing your eyes, you think about Qiang, the only inheritor of the ruler of the great wheel's law. The somber swordswoman, the brooding former assassin, the dour one eyed girl. How terrible of a liar and actor she is, the pride she has with her swords work, her firm loyalty to you and Fu. She might share most of her powers with you, since you've taught her and she practices your self taught law, but she has talents and skills that you just...don't. And while she dealt with most of the grudges herself, there is one she fosters that is so fresh that it stings even your tongue adapted to the venom of enmity and the burn of resentment.

She doesn't mention it, but she despises the ghosts who cursed her eye, even though she's already avenged herself upon them. Some grudges persist beyond death, and some remain even after they've been satiated with the sweet liquor of revenge.
Cont

>>5995453

Qiang's is one of the second types, and if you'd had to guess, the source of her contempt is not that she lost her eye or had her beauty marred by the injury, but that she had to re-train her swordsmanship to account for her loss of depth perception and the frustrations of having to relearn what she's already mastered.

And while it certainly isn't the strongest grudge you keep locked up in your lungs and belly, Qiang natural talent as a killer and swordfighter are more than enough to make it worthy for you to collect and store away. And since you've never embodied this grudge of her before, who knows, maybe it holds some secret power that will make it your rumored daughter one of the masks you often put over your own beautiful face.

Reminding yourself that Qiang rarely smiles, you instead force yourself to frown and look gloomy, making your eye lids droop as you plummet through the air as you stiffen up your posture and droop your shoulders to make yourself look as short as Qiang is, while holding your sliced open wrist at your side, treating your arm like a sheath as you use your other hand to pull out a copy of Qiang's own sword made out of your moondust infused blood. It shines in the light.

Sighing heavily, you try to imagine what Qiang thinks like and what she thinks about. Somber and Serene thoughts about refining a single strike in a sequence of twelve, about polishing and sharpening blades, annoyance at being mistaken for your master's daughter again, Irritation towards the loud and boisterous, worries about being cooked in a demon's pot, where to cut, slice and stab to kill someone in one blow, the vital organs and veins of men and beasts, detailed sketches of exactly where these lay inside of a targets body. As your frown deepens, you close one of your eyes and seal it shut, ghostly white mist crawling around you as your untamed mane of scarlet red hair is pulled straight and then tied into a neat ponytail, sparkling in the gloom that surrounds you as the white mist pulls around you and obscures your silhouette as the shadows darken around you.

Qiang's enmity is unlike Xiongji's, Monu's, or Fu's. Neither blazing hot or cold, nor as heavy as your first disciples. It is the resentment of a shining sword used to cut down innocent lives, of a blade chipped in battle, of watching the wealthy and corrupt flourish as others starve. It is the shade of her past, when she was used as a tool by those who could afford to hire her, towards the masters who reduced her to little more than a pair of hands wielding a sword, it is gloom that hovers over her pride in her skill wielding a sword and the anger at having that talent threatened. The quiet disgust of a killer who dreamed of being a hero, and through shedding more blood and ending more lives, became just that.
Cont

>>5995454

There is no guilt or shame in killing villains, unlike how Fu is driven by the victims of evil to seek it out and chop it to pieces, Qiang simply finds where it exists and cuts it down without pity or remorse. More duty than passion. Qiang's grudge, is not a belly full of burning oil, a mouthful of freezing air, or a cloak of vengeful spirits whispering in your ear. It is trudging through a mire made of blood and soil, with blade in hand and a sense of responsibility and guilt driving you forward to cut more throats and take more heads to make the world a better place, while sinking deeper and deeper into the sludge and filth that spreads with every death without complaint or distaste for the work, head held high knowing you're making a difference with every life you end.

Interesting. A much more refined and calm type of grudge, rather than the seething hatred of Xiongji, the cool enmity your mother holds, or the righteous fury of Fu. Qiang's grudge is quiet, subdued and lethal.

And her one eyed mask falls over your face, as you wrap your hand around the hilt of your blood forged blade and steel your heart to once more soak yourself in the blood of the wicked, hidden in the gloom and dark, stalking them unseen, cool and composed.

And as you fall through the air, cloaked by foreboding mists and ready to quick draw your sword just as Qiang does, you see a glint in the darkness ahead and smirk, without breaking character, as while a smile is a rare sight on her face, Qiang does smile from time to time.

Aodasheng is flying up to meet you. Lifting your chin, you flip yourself to stand in the air, sensing through his killing intent that he intends to fight you all the way up through the sky. And somehow, just thinking about the ringing of clashing swords makes the smile on your face stick around longer than it should. And it is part of your role to test yourself against other's swordsmanship. And you know exactly why Qiang strives to improve her bladework and whose head she's aiming to for with it.

Breathing out, you crouch down, slowly your descent through the specter lightness skill, your body becoming less substantial as you calculate your fall and when you'll cross blades with Aodasheng and what you see as he closes the distances makes your eyes pop wide open.

Glowing dots placed around his monstrous form, like a diagram of the meridians or acupoints. Lines drawn across his limbs and neck and laid over certain other parts of his body. And you realize that each dot and line is showing you a vital place to strike or a cut to make that'll sever a arm or cut an artery. Something Qiang must see in her mind's eye whenever she looks at someone, a subconscious assassin's guide to lethal blows and decisive strikes.
Cont

>>5995458

But more than techniques like the Vein Hunting Eye (血管猎-眼睛, Xuèguǎnliè-yǎnjing), this instinct outline of where to cut someone, shows you sequences of slices to make or the order of the organs to target, instead of just showing the flow of blood and life as the vein hunting eye does or Qi as its inspiration, the hunter deity eye does.

And, as your opponent flies up and gets closer to you, you can see faint images of the possible moves he might make and the possible responses or counter to them, formed out of the mist and gloom around you but hidden from his view.

'Ah, so her grudge has made her instincts mine!' You realize, forcing your smile down as you nearly grin very unlike Qiang would and instead make your face look solemn and stern 'A lifetime's worth of training with the sword, earned in a flash, Heh-heh-heh! How amusing! Better not tell Qiang though, it might upset her to know her how quickly I "learned", Heh-Heh-heh'

And as one of the visions in the mists hiding you grows more and more detailed and visible than the others, you can't but help to wonder if this cheat will be enough to let you come out on top as you clash your blade with Aodasheng all the way up to the sky and...OF COURSE IT WILL BE! This is your student's style of swordsmanship, after all!

 Martial/ Stealth trial. DC 115. Best out of five

>>5995460
roll 2d100 of course. accidentally deleted that part as I hit post, forgive me juniors

Anonymous

Rolled 95, 1 = 96 (2d100)

>>5995460
Second best girl mode let's GOOOOOOOOOOOOO

>>5995485
lmao shit. Well this is gonna be interesting. I guess the fact Huan never really has had a proper swordfight with someone is gonna come out?

Rolled 72, 68 = 140 (2d100)

>>5995460
Qiang really just got Eyes of Death Perception. I wonder if they provide the power to kill concepts too.

>>5995485
5 degrees of success but we've got a mischief in coming, guess Qiang's grudge comes bundled with her comedic bad luck

>>5995485
Dammit, the probability to roll 100 and 1 is the same, so WHY????

>>5995498
>inb4 the sage asks "Why do you look like you if you had a daughter?" and we headbutt a wall

Our-Grandfather

>>5995468
Fantastic success, 50 over DC. However

>>5995485
This will make things interesting

Update will arrive shortly

>>5995498
>>5995503

Heh.

https://youtu.be/hG6ZNNWLb6U_

Confident in your borrowed sword skills, and with a plan of attack laid out before and put into your eyes, you breath out, a cloud of vapor rising from your lips to join the obscuring mist that hides the string of sword moves, stance changes and agile movements to bring Aodasheng to his knees in the quickest way possible, you flick your sleeve, tilt your swords blade as you change to a double handed grip and with a clear and calm mind, lunge, kicking off a dying grudge shield you created behind your foot as you moved your hand that had served as the "sheath" for the sword of blood a moment ago to its hilt. The barrier spell shatters immediately, and gives a boost to your momentum as you match the spectral copies only your eyes can see, and smirk as you see Aodasheng unknowingly stepping into the exact position and posture Qiang's instincts predicted he would.

You pass by him like thunder, moving like wind as you swing and catch him under his arm as he raises up his blade. He thrusts it down, making use of the mutability of his soul to change his position, stepping to your side as mist, and once more stepping to fill an outline of himself as you press your heel down on a basic protection spell, using the barrier as solid ground to anchor yourself to as you turn and flip your blade around, crouching as you turn its edge upwards and swing it up in a long crescent, and taking one step forward midswing, catch Aodasheng's wrist instead of the guard or edge of his own blade.

His severed hand flies off into an arc, but remains connected to him and under his control. it spins around, and making use of its new found freedom of movement detached from its arm, flies down as Aodasheng lashes out with his free, clawed hand, which stretched out and distorts as he moves exactly as you foresaw in the foggy gloom you're hiding in, making avoid the wild lunge a breeze as you slide under his legs and cut open his back as you rise back up. And then block his sword as his hand flies at you from the side. The ghost king arcs his back, wincing, snarling as gouts of teal and turqoise fire drip from his now much more draconic looking face, as a horn sprouts from his brow and, in a fit of frustration at being unable to catch you and finding out how adept you are at sword fighting, tries to plant his foot in your chest as his hand flips around over your head and repositions for a plunging attack.

And both the hand and body step into the spaces you saw, as the lines you'd been following and tracing with your sword tighten and line up to become a point of light in the center of Aodasheng's mouth. And that makes you realize, that the kick is just a feint, he's actually going to try and chop down on your throat! Maintaining a cool face and demeanor, you step back, crouching low and drawing your sword back to your side, sheathing it inside of your wrist and maintaining its shape and cohesion with a fresh supply of blood.
Cont

And, following what Qiang's instincts predict, like repeating the steps of a dance, you lunge upwards, unsheathing and flicking your blade up as you nearly leap up over Aodasheng, as the two of you continue to climb higher and higher into the air, and strike the sword on its guard, sending it spinning away as he finally realizes the effort of clashing swords with you is wasted and he steps forward, arms held out as his neck extends and he opens his mouth wide to snap down, not on your neck as you expected, but your arms. Smirking, you step forward, sword held over your head, and trusting the vision of the plan, stab it down and thrust it through the bottom of his mouth, pinning it open as he groans in pain, pushing you back as he steps forward, eyes wincing as he grasps out his throat, unable to close his jaws around your arms even though you've nearly shoved both of them down his throat and

Something brushes the back of your neck, and you nearly leap out of your skin as it felt like you've been branded. Seeing the chain of moves changed before your eyes, you step out of line and break the sequence, tearing the sword out of his jaw and leaping back, and higher towards the skylight you made by kicking his spear through the mountain.

And just like your own instincts had warned, your lip splits, a shallow cut through the middle of it. Another curse, you were so focused on the last step of the string of sword strikes that you stopped paying attention to his disembodied hand and its place in the prediction.

"You're a woman of many talents" Aodasheng slurs, holding his jaw as his hand floats at his side, a curse written in black blood in a circle in its palm and climbing up its first and middle finger "And good instinct, though your demeanor has changed and I do not expect that face you're wearing to be your own, is it voluntary possession? A secondary personality? or is this like actors and priestess do, taking on another's persona and character, channeling them and becoming them?"

It is almost creepy how quickly he's able to comprehend techniques after seeing them once, even if he hasn't figured out Enmity incarnation, Devil of Grudges (敌意具人形, 魔鬼的恩怨, Díyì jù rénxíng, Móguǐdeēnyuàn) entirely, that he was able to come so close to its basic and foundational principles on his first guest is a little unnerving and

"FUCK!" You shout out, having gotten completely off guard as he started attacking again, and nearly drop Qiang's mask as you raise up your sword to block his next strike. There's no opening in the predicted sequence of clashes, and so you just remain on the defensive, blocking his strikes and waiting for an opening to present itself as his tongue hangs between the two halves of his split into two jaw, as the burning sensation on the back of your neck grows hotter and hotter. And that tells you why there's no opening, the curse connects your body and his, any injury you do to him, will be reflected on...Oh no!

>>5995549

You wince, and cover your eye, using the healing property of your blood that's smeared all over your hand to counter act what he's about to do as he realizes he can't beat you in swordsmanship and the vision changes to him shoving a clawed hand into his eye.

"That's an unusually accurate level of foresight" He says, in a calculating and curious tone as the stab of pain you were expecting never comes and burning on your neck vanishes with the curse he placed on the back of it "I think I've figured out how you've been able to anticipate my every move, with such incredible accuracy"

You blink, looking through your fingers just in time for him to spit a glob of rotten blood directly into it. You shriek, in disgust and surprise, and try to rub it out of your eye quickly before he can hit you while you're blinded and unable to see his next move so clearly.

Your sword hand lifts up on its own, your body instinctively moving to defend itself from an attack you cannot see, and the ring of steel meeting blood so densely compacted and held together its nearly as tough as steel reaches your ear. With daylight much closer and warmer than it was before, you see Aodasheng, smiling triumphantly with his split, fang filled smile, a different sword in his still severed hand. With no vague outlines of where he'll be next or fog or gloom obscuring you from him. Your hair falls back into its naturally, fluffy and untamed look.

"I see. So if you don't act as who or what you've taken on the role of, you lose the benefits granted the mimicry technique. That might be the most amazing act of copy catting I've ever seen. It is truly an astonishing exchange, from just changing your bearing and using another as a guise, you're granted their expertise. Or something like that, I assume" He says excitedly as you feel your cheeks blush, warmth spreading just as quickly as the embarrassment of being found out, and you still have some of his putrid blood stuck in your eye, stinging it and making it water, which makes it look like you're crying because he figured out the secret of the technique so easily! Dammit!

"Lady Huanliuxue?" One of the ghosts you left to guard the lower levels gasps, as you and Aodasheng float next to eachother, blades locked

"Oh what has happened to you?" Aodasheng laments, frowning as he sees the disfigured face of that particularly ugly hungry ghost

And fearing that he'll change his mind about waiting to begin his mercy kill...er, banishing of his old followers, you punch him in the face to get his attention back on you and you alone.

He grins beneath your fist, and grips your wrist with his still attached hand, as the other flits over to float above the wrist you cut it from. Rotten blood ooze from his cut open jaw, spilling over your hands as he starts to grow, snake like neck coiling as he's cramped into the chamber the two of your flew into.
Cont

>>5995551

Leaping back, you hold up your sword to the side of your head and squint, the blood he spat into your eye still bothering you even though you thought you'd scrubbed most of it away, and even with your other eye open again, you can barely see with how much the irritation is making both of your eyes water and your ability to actually use the sword in your hand has plummeted since Qiang's mask fell off, and you don't have enough time to put it back or embody one of your other grudges before the now almost entirely a dragon Aodasheng can lash out at you again.

How do you keep fighting, Huanliuxue?

>Defensively, trying to keep away from him as you rub the last of his blood out of your eye, blocking and dodging and retreating towards the sky [Agility+ martial trial. DC 135 ]

>By charging him head on and vomiting a river of grudges imbued with sorrow down his throat, to weaken him and slow him down [Magic trial. DC 145]

>Changing shape and latching onto his serpentine head and neck with your claws and fang [Strength Trial. DC 152]

>Don't try and fight him while half blind, and instead, fly away at high speeds before he can catch you his jaws or claws! [Haste trial. DC 115]

>Write in

Anonymous

>>5995553
>Defensively, trying to keep away from him as you rub the last of his blood out of your eye, blocking and dodging and retreating towards the sky [Agility+ martial trial. DC 135 ]

>>5995553
>>Defensively, trying to keep away from him as you rub the last of his blood out of your eye, blocking and dodging and retreating towards the sky [Agility+ martial trial. DC 135 ]
No way he's getting to first base in the first ten minutes of knowing him. Monu DID try to raise that kind of girl but it ain't us kek

>>5995553
>>By charging him head on and vomiting a river of grudges imbued with sorrow down his throat, to weaken him and slow him down [Magic trial. DC 145]

>>5995553
>By charging him head on and vomiting a river of grudges imbued with sorrow down his throat, to weaken him and slow him down [Magic trial. DC 145]

>>5995500
The gods have found the best way to indirectly mess with us
>>5995553
>Defensively, trying to keep away from him as you rub the last of his blood out of your eye, blocking and dodging and retreating towards the sky [Agility+ martial trial. DC 135 ]

>>5995553
>Changing shape and latching onto his serpentine head and neck with your claws and fang [Strength Trial. DC 152]

Aren't tigers the natural enemy of dragons?
An ox sized cat is surely up to the challenge of eating an oversized snake!

>>5995553

>Defensively, trying to keep away from him as you rub the last of his blood out of your eye, blocking and dodging and retreating towards the sky [Agility+ martial trial. DC 135 ]

But Write-in

Remember you fought someone who you blinded yourself.
Do not use your eyes to sense the Qi in the air you are the empress of ghosts.

>>5995918
That;s a great call.

I'll add
>Use our spirit sense not eyes
to >>5995719

Our-Grandfather

Ending the vote, tallying the result now.

Defensively, trying to keep away from him as you rub the last of his blood out of your eye, blocking and dodging and retreating towards the sky :8
-rely on your spiritual sense instead of your physical sight: 4

By charging him head on and vomiting a river of grudges imbued with sorrow down his throat, to weaken him and slow him down:2

Changing shape and latching onto his serpentine head and neck with your claws and fang:1

So you'll fight defensively, keeping your distance while trying to clear your eyes, fighting by using your spiritual/ Qi sense, blocking, dodging and retreating towards the sky

Clever write in, DC reduced

Update will arrive shortly

>>5996051
I also have this meme, junior

Taking another step back and dodging the whipping of his serpentine neck and the lashing of his claws that slice through the light streaming in from above, which spit out a shower of pale silver sparks as they glide down the front of the breastplate of your spider demon silk armor, as you're too occupied scrubbing and pawing at your stinging, blood filled eye, wiping away tears and clots of black blood and decaying meat out of it to effectively dodge. And the glow of the sparks, illuminating the shocked faces of the ghosts now watching the fight and the fangs and antlers of Aodasheng, tell you that you can't keep fighting like this. You knew you couldn't, fighting blind is a challenge, but against a foe as excitable and volatile as the forgotten king, it is all but impossible. You claw your cheek, furious at yourself for harboring such defeatist and puny thoughts for even a second! You're Huanliuxue! So what if you can't see through all the tears filling your eyes and are being driven mad by the stinging in it! Fighting blind is barely a handicap to one as great as you!

Hong lives his life in darkness, charting his way through the world by sensing Qi and vibrations! Xue Laohue, that scumbag, for all that you hate him, he still had confidence and conviction enough to fight back after you tore at his shitty eye, instead of just giving up and offering his neck to you! You're not even completely blind, and you're treating it like its a crippling setback!? Bullshit! The forgotten king's malevolent aura must be messing with your head or else some of your brain is still a little rotten! He could cut out and boil your eyes in oil and you'd still be able to match him blow for blow and step for step! What's a few tears and a little blood to you who has spat in the eyes of the heavens and gone against their will just by staying alive and thriving.

"Fuck it" You snarl under your breath, and draw a line of blood across your eyes, shutting them firmly and sealing your vision entirely to strengthen your already profound spiritual senses. You'd pop your ear drums and tear out your tongue if you didn't think you were perspective enough to tell the difference from the forgotten king's roiling ghostly qi and the deathly spiritual energy surrounding him. Lesser cultivators might miss his overwhelming presence and violent intentions to the gloom of the tombs, but not you.

You can see him clearly. A deeper, finer shade of black etched across the sea of darkness and misery. Grinning crookedly ear to ear, you flip your blood formed blade around, adopting a reverse grip and completely abandoning Qiang's style of swordsmanship in favor for one that is more suitable for feline and ethereal movements.

"BRING IT ON! AODASHENG!" You roar, as you take another step back and beckon him forward with a quick twitch of your hand
Cont

>>5996744

"GLADLY! HUANLIUXUE!" He answers, just as ferociously, his voice trembling the mountain, the earth beneath it and the sky far above it, and flies towards you, claws outstretch and sword singing through the air every time he swings it
 Roll 2d100. Best out of 5. DC 125

<https://youtu.be/FZD9YomwdUA>

Anonymous

Rolled 23, 45 = 68 (2d100)

>>5996745
Ghost versus cat. A story as old as 4000 years old chinese martial arts.

Our-Grandfather

>>5996772
failure by a whisker's breadth and

>>5996787
Okay now this is really interestering, a crit success and fail? I feel like I've been injected with chicken's blood

Anyways. Update will arrive shortly

Anonymous

>>5996734
Mine is in better quality, gramps

>>5996794
Interesting wonder how you'll rule the crit

>>5996794
Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

>>5996787
>mfw

>>5996794
A natty versus an unnatural crit. Perhaps Huan and Aody are truly peers in this moment. This must be the most exhilarating moment of his unlife thus far! WHAT A FIGHT!

Our-Grandfather

>>5996804
>>5996807
>>5996809
If the crit was natural, and was a 1 instead of a 2, you'd have met a special condition with that roll, actually

Anonymous

>>5996812
Aww man, close but no cigar kek.

Our-Grandfather

https://youtu.be/qT2aDX0bfOQ
_
And it is a song you add your own melody to eagerly. Though you can only see the clashes of your sword of blood and his ancient relic through the outlines of spiritual energy radiating from both of them, making a light show of Qi like a firework's festival burst out and explode in your spiritual senses, you match him and keep up with the pace he sets even if he cuts your hands, fingers and arms as you lag and trail behind by a bit and more often than not, it is your sword that his hits rather than you. He pushes you back, further through the sinkhole you made by kicking his divine treasure of a spear skywards and towards the heavens, and you can't keep from smiling under your helmet, only seeing him in the vague darker splotch in the greater sea of negative and ghostly Qi but you can tell he is smiling just as innocently as you are, relishing the challenge of an equal and friendly rival as your swords ring and clash again, again, again, and again! Splatters of blood and splinters of steel fly, pulses and flares of Qi lending color the black world you've immersed yourself in as he pursues you higher and higher towards the sky, both of you flying like reversed lightning bolts from the roots of the mountain the clouds above!

But he is pressing you back, you'd meant to retreat, but, well it is just too great a thrill to throw yourself against him, clash after clash, even as he cuts into your hands and stabs into your shoulders, searching for a weakness in your armor or trying to unravel it completely as you fight, striking, blocking and dodging in constant moving as both of you scale the mountain through the tunnel tore out of it. The clouds of deathly yin Qi grow thinner as the fight climbs and takes the both of you higher and higher through the catacombs, any ghost that is foolhardy or loyal enough to try and join in blown away or cut down the moment they get in range of the two clashing and flying blades, as a sphere of impassible space has been created just from your swinging, his sword light and air pressured and compressed into the shape sickle blades. But their shouts and cries might as well be silent, compared to the roars of a beast and cursed ghost tearing into one another's flesh with gusto and smiles on their faces.

Not caring for your wounds, or that you're not blocking or dodging more attacks than land on you, you fight wildly, like you were fighting another cat over territory or over a meal, but rather than snarling, spitting or yowling, your purring contentedly, even though it hurts and you feel the warmth of your own blood oozing down your arms. They might be trembling, but if they are, its from excitement rather than pain or weariness!

Cackling like the witch who raised you, you infuse your blood with the poison you keep hidden and locked away in your body and transmute it, curving your blade and turning it into the shape of an especially long and dangerous claw.

Cont

>>5996834

And as your swords meet, blades gliding and spitting sparks, blood and bolts of free flying qi, you feel your heart beat in sync with Aodasheng's own as the two of you press and fight against eachother, trying to emerge the victor of the latest in a series of blade locks.

Your eyes shoot open, pain screams and spread out across your face, as talons rake through your helmet and into your flesh. And you see nothing but a sea of green and your mountain beneath you and wispy clouds. Aodasheng has changed forms again, adapting a comfortable equilibrium between a mockery of a dragon's grace and human ferocity, your blade caught between his teeth as moves to impale you you through the stomach with his now freed, and still severed sword hand.

And as the blood dripping from the slash across your brow dyes your vision the same shade of red as your hair and the one over your lip fills your mouth with the coppery taste of blood, you stunned expression cracks in a smile of the sort you've only seen the maddest of specter's wear. Throwing your sword of blood, you impale Aodasheng's severed sword arm through the palm and send it flying into the clouds, throwing you arms out and leaping at him, half a pounce and half a tackle.

Colliding with him, forsaking defense entirely, you sink your human teeth into his throat and in the excitement of the moment, tear out a chunk of meat from it before he can toss you off, laughing himself as you hold the piece of his throat between your lips like a mouse you've caught.

And growl, lifting up your hands to defend against his next assault, only to see something strange attached the wrist of your hands. Red string, that is connected to another string on Aodasheng's wrists as well, and a shock of spiritual energy travels down both ends of the string. He's casted a spell while you were busy tearing your teeth through his throat. But what sort is it? But before the realization can settle, Aodasheng holds up two fingers, still scrawled with curses written in black blood and politely asks, with blood pouring from his torn open throat, as if he were a living man

"Don't think too hard, but if you could be anywhere in the three realms at this very moment, where would you like to travel? One word will suffice"

And before you can stop yourself, your mentally answer the question on reflex! And the air around the two of you begins to warp....

 Aodasheng is bleeding severely and will gradually take damage/ suffer penalties until it is here
 You're being warped somewhere else

What was your answer, Huanliuxue?

>Home

>Scared

>Stellar

>...Tasty

>write in

The crit success applied bleed to Ao, the crit fail+failure let him use one of his own secret arts

>>5996837
*Until it is healed.

Also messed up the bold on the "You're being warped somewhere else". And Aodasheng is being transported wherever you end up as well

Anonymous

>>5996837
>>Stellar
Above the skies. Above the gods themselves. Where the entire world can see this joyous battle. A place where the living cannot tread. But an empress without peer and a king long dead? Why that's a different story. Let's show him something over heaven.

>>5996837
>>Stellar
Time to dance upon the blood moon.

>>5996837
>...Tasty
What on earth could this be, I am curious

>>5996837
>Stellar
FURTHER BEYOND
EVEN
THE
STARS

>>5997010
A room full of Ling, probably.

>>5997237
I considered the joke answers of "Disestablishantarianism" for some sort of emperor's palace. But I also wanted to channel Augus.
"Right here, In the fight!"

>>5997243
I mean, it's the best fight we've ever had. A true peer, a fellow heretic raging against the heavens. Where else would we want to be?

>>5997245
Biting off the necks of the five sages.
Slaughtering the Ling to their very roots.
Sitting in our rightful place as the head of the Magical beasts kingdom that we are sure to raise.
On our mother's knees, being pampered, massaged and preened like the best and most deserving existence we are.

But lacking any of that, this is a perfectly acceptable 5th option.

Ah fuck it, I change from >>5996877
to >>5997237

Our-Grandfather

Ending the vote and tallying its result now. Meant to do so quite a few hours earlier, but I drank a jar of pickle brine and got sick off of it, so yeah.

Stellar:3

Home:2

Scared:1

Tasty:2

Here!:2

A very competitive round of voting, but the thought, Stellar, wins in the end. Update will arrive shortly.

Also make sure to check out the Queen of /qst/ thread to register to lend your support to Huan in the running, and prove she is unrivaled beneath the heavens. You know, if you want to.

You can't help but smirk, amused as you recognize and realize the one thought that the heaven's defying magic Aodasheng cast over you in the moment your teeth parted the skin and sunk into the flesh of his partially scaled neck. It was the word Stellar. You aren't entirely sure why you thought the word, it wasn't really in response to the question he asked, of wherever in existence you'd rather be that fighting him above the world and clouds high in the skies. Or you're pretty sure it wasn't, you're only certain that it came from a both exasperation at being caught in another spell of his and also amazement as you, in the moment between him asking the question and the spell progressing to its next phase, grasped the nature and effect of the sorcery that wrapped around both of you and began to warp you both to a different space.

But it could've also been an instinctive response. You have always admired the moon, even more so now that it is covered in your scent and colored in your blood from time to time. Well, you guess it doesn't matter why it was the answer you give, because out of all the possible random thoughts that could've been taken as an answer by the space warping technique, Stellar has to be counted amongst the ones that are most beneficial to you. For, no one, not even the heavens, can claim to be more at home amongst the stars than you yourself! The astral chaos is your dominion! and the moon is your throne and stomping ground.

Like creased fabric, the empty air and space between you and the forgotten king begins to fold in on itself, crumpling as the somber blue and whites of the morning sky are replaced with the multitude colors and abyssal expanse of outer space. An icy tail of comet creates a river of pale blue between you and a distant cloud of stardust dies the horizon bruisy plum and vermillion while glittering stars of gold, jade, amber and silver fleck the darkness without end while clouds of moondust, like powder snow dyed pink with a sprinkling of blood floats around the two of you as you stretch out your arms, flashing a truly smug smile at the confused and amazed Aodasheng who looks around and nearly has his jaw fall off as he realizes where he's transported the two of you.

"The stars" He says with a gasp, holding his throat as bubbles of blood drip and float between his fingers "The astral realm! The space beyond the heavens~! The stellar field of stars! This...How? This spell is only supposed to...transport us to some place you've...already been! Oh! OH!"

"I'm no ordinary housecat, though you already knew that, Ao. Heh-Heh! I'm a Lunar Cat! The herald and avatar of the worst of ill omens, the blood moon! The only cosmic natured beast in history, forgotten or not!" You exclaim, flicking out your tongue as the blood dripping from the fresh claw marks across your face rises as bubbles and blobs in front of you, sparkling and looking like new born stars as Aodasheng laughs himself sick.

Cont

>>5997958

"So full of surprise! If only we were contemporaries, Huan, we would've created legends through our rivalry!" He proclaims, thrusting out his sword, still chuckling to himself as you spot a familiar tassel rippling behind a spear and nearly bite your tongue as you realize it is none other than the spear you had kicked through the mountain, the Spear of Mortal death. An all its owner has to say as he notices it as well is "Huh, so that's were you ended up, old friend"

"Dammit" You growl, gnashing your teeth as you hope your own two treasured artifacts made the trip to outer space as well, since their magical abilities would be very helpful in the fight, now that Aodasheng has his preferred and most power weapon back in his hands.

But before you can check, or think to kick the spear out of his reach again, you hear a gasp, that came neither from you or the ghost king's empty lungs.

Pouting, you look away from the awed ghost king and see, much to your surprise, a few little goddess with baskets and bushels filled with star light and moon rocks, looking at the two of you with faces so pale you thought they were corpses when you first saw them. Oh! they're the shepherdess of stars! The very same deities who you gave the fright of their immortal lives when you first flew past the heavens and reached the stars. The younger one's hide behind the eldest amongst them, who looks the most frightened out of all of them, even as she tries to look threatening by pretending her crook is a spear. But with how much she's sweating and crying, and her hands are trembling, makes the effort much more cutely pathetic than it is intimidating

"The..the happy bloodshed and the nameless king!" She cries out, as if it wasn't obvious who the two of you were to her shaking juniors, who seem more scared of you than they are of the half mad ghost king who has just reclaimed his demonic artifact, and whose attention she just drew to all of them.

"Oh, Star fairies. You were the ones who took down my destined, fateful star" He says, amiability tinged with threat as he flashes his teeth and his fangs in a bitter scowl "And are so mannerless you will not refer to me by my name! While interupting another fateful battle of mine! Unforgiveable"

"HEeee!" The head of the star guiding goddesses shrieks, cowering and tyring to make herself look small as you snarl and step forward

"Oi! Get out of here! Where ever moonlight touches is my turf! Scram! Before I really get upset and test my claws on ya!" You thuggishly drawl, stomping closer to scare them away before Aodasheng can decide to draw much worse attention from the heavens below and knowing that, even if they're gods, they're terrified of the remorseless "Demonic Beast" Huanliuxue, and will scatter and run away scared out of their wits rather than challenge you or think to tattle to gods with enough sense to realize you pose little threat to them.
Cont

>>5997959

"Aw. I wanted to rob them of those stars and vent my frustrations of my mistreatment by the gods" Aodasheng performatively pouts, stepping to the side and twirling his spear, as you watch to make sure the rabble of goddesses won't get in the way as they push and shove eachother, each of them trying to just be faster than their friends and soon vanish in the nothing of space. Smirking, you step to the side and readopt your ethereal and graceful stance, walking with the elegance only a cat can reach as Aodasheng stretches his legs and then, with little warning, flings his spear at you, using a passing comet as a stepping stone and anchor to put truly every ounce of his strength into the toss.

"Thank you for showing me such glorious sights!" His voice echoes through the stellar expanse as you, still with one eye on the fleeing deities, are almost caught off guard.

 Defensive Magic or Agility+ martial roll 2d100. DC 145. Best out of five

Anonymous

Rolled 44, 57 = 101 (2d100)

>>5997961

>>5997984
It keeps happening. All of a sudden. With such frequency.

Rolled 66, 47 = 113 (2d100)

>>5997961
4 1s to a single 100. The rng god harez us with passion.

Our-Grandfather

>>5997992
Ouch, failure by 30. But hey, Special condition met!

>>5997984
With this fourth nat crit fail in a single combat!

Update will arrive shortly

Anonymous

>>5997994
I did suspect that a special condition was ok the horizen.

>>5997992
Clearly the gods cursed Aody with all of the misfortune of the entire world for thousands of years. Now he's just spitting it out all around himself. If it weren't so frustrating I'd be impressed with those odds.

>>5997984
3 Critfails in a row, we’re about to be Fraudliuxue, The Washed Bloodshed

Our-Grandfather

You take a step back, turn your heel and move your body to twist around and lean out of the path of the spear that is flying through star and moondust and piercing through the strange clouds of colorful dust. But even as you move to dodge and avoid its point, you see the spear move strangely, as if it were alive and with a mind of its own. It turns sharply, changing direction and moving in a zig zag between the glittering, miniature stars the fleeing goddess dropped in their hurry to get away from the spooky demonic beast and frightening calamity ghost. Aodasheng isn't even flashing hand signs or using any sort of spell or magical tool to control the spear, it is simply moving of its own accord, tracking you and adjusting its trajectory on the fly without losing any momentum to keep you in its path no matter where you move!

Realizing immediately that this isn't a weapon that can be dodge, you adjust your stance, spreading your legs apart and spreading your arms, half crouching as you get ready to catch or just bash away the spear, hoping that it won't be too fast for you to catch it in either the advance form of your specter lightness skill, since it is moving too quickly for its original form to be of any use since you just can't move fast enough to counter it without truly slowly down time or outright stopping it. But the moment it reaches the edge of your Qinggong's radius, it flips up perfectly straight and shoots upwards. Tracking it, you change your stance again, standing swaying like a reed or willow in the wind or a ghost standing on the edge of a lantern's light as you watch the spear soar and then as quick as it flew up, turn completely around and rocket towards you from above.

Keeping it in the center of your eyes, you trace two circles with the heel of one foot and the toes of the other, and position yourself between the two lines you trace to be always at the side of the spear as you slide between the two circles, constantly changing your position and keeping the spear in sight as it actually begins to slow trying to constantly adjust itself to track your movements and

"Mroaw?" Comes out of your mouth as suddenly, even though you were already floating in the ether, you slip and tumble backwards, arms flailing as you see the perpetrator that caused your fall.

One of the crooks the goddesses dropped in their frantic flight away from you and Aodasheng, laying abandoned along with the unharvested starlight.

"Oh you have to be kidding..." You hiss furiously, regretting chasing away those cowardly girls away as, weightlessly, you float up and flip around, kicking your legs and flailing your arms to try and get control over your own trajectory now before its too late.

A spray of fresh blood across your face tells you it is already too late, as the spear of mortal death pierces through your stomach, buckling and then unraveling your spider demon silk armor and stabbing through your navel and out your back.

Cont

>>5998033

And due to reflexively activating your lightness skill, you see all of this in slow motion. The pin prick sized hole widening, guts peeking out through the formless pool of blood pouring out from your belly, as the spear widens the cut that was already there and the positions of the stars in front of you change as you're pulled downwards closer to the heavens. The world becomes silent except for your frantic heart beat and the rapidly cooling warmth of your blood washing over you.
[ https://youtu.be/IyJsY4438Rg ]
'Ah. This is the closest I've ever been to death' You realize as you free fall, one second feeling like minutes and then hours as you get a very intimate and up close look of your insides and can't help but think you're just as beautiful inside as you are outside, your organs and bowels are very healthy looking, no discolorations or abnormalities. And that sure is a lot of blood you're losing. And it's mingling with the clouds of grudge miasma and clouds of resentment freed from where ever inside of your body you store it

And a shadow you've seen before falls over you as the cosmic dance between the moon and the sun places the former in the center of your vision. A glimpse of the great wheel of reincarnation, and the shadow of death or the divinity in charge of transmigration and rebirth or Old Granny meng, once again chooses to reveal themselves as you, momentarily, hover between life and death.

"I see. I see. My place in the world, is at this boundary" you mutter, as this is revealed to you as this brush with death brings you a deep understanding and more intimate, personal comprehension of the nature of death and dying, as an insight only someone swaying between life and death could glimpse, a piece of the dao that is only found on the thin fog between living and dying. Enlightenment that is only reachable in the moment between the heart stopping and the last breath being taken.

But you take a second breath and grab hold of your guts and shove them back inside of the hole in your stomach.

"I am meant to exist here, to straddle this border. This is my natural environment, my rightful throne. The threshold between the living world and that of the dead. My domain, between blood and ghosts, the shadow cast by yang and the light of Yin, the in between place between existence and non existence" Your tongue rolls and flicks, speaking fragments of the enlightenment you found in the fear and rush of dying, your calm expression slowly regaining vigor and liveliness as this new insight of the Dao and nature of existence and death itself give you a second wind.

Sure, being impaled through the stomach wouldn't have been lethal for some one of your level, but you've brushed death so often today, that it could've well been the last strike needed to put you down for good if circumstances had been different, and it is the closest to death you can recall straying towards.
Cont

>>5998035

And as the encroaching chill of death is washed and chased away by this new found understanding of death and the process of dying and your now blazing conviction to win the fight, Aodasheng slowly claps his hands.

"A breakthrough in the heat of a battle, as you hover between life and death and teeter on the edge. As expected of one as talented and gifted as yourself" He exclaims, sounding almost as happy as he is relieved as you flip around to "stand" on your feet, even though you're still holding your entrails inside and have a "tail" of blood, flowing out of your back and, as you get a grip and center your thoughts, find you also are dribbling blood down your chin, as you coughed up a mouth full of it.

 Special condition met. Roll 4 critfails in one combat, without dying or fleeing. Secret Art Unlocked: Cat's Court: Dancing across the border between life and death (猫 法院: 舞蹈对过边境介于人生 和与死亡, Māofǎyuàn: Wǔdǎoduìguòbiānjìngjièyúrénshēnghéy<wbr>ǔsǐwáng). A passive technique, that increases the practitioner's vitality/endurance, physical attributes and mystical abilities the closer to death they are, unlocking new abilities and techniques as they draw closer to the end and evolving their ordinary techniques/ spells, flourishing as they die like a flower that blooms only as it wilts. First use, unlocks the ability for the living to attain ghostly evolutions & perform ghostly transformation techniques . And if the practitioner has one use/ charge available of Cat's Court: One of nine lives (猫 法院: 一 的九生活, Māofǎyuàn: Yīdíjiǔshēnghuó) when they attain this secret art, they receive a second use of that technique!

"The difference between living and dying is but an illusion, a lie we tell ourselves. The more one lives, the quicker they die, and the closer to death one is, the more they live" You titter, swaying in place from both the pleasant, fluffy feeling of losing gallons and blood and the clarity and serenity brought about by realizing this truth "The nearer one gets to their grave, the further they excel, the more they grow and learn. For most, this is a gradual process, called aging, but if one is rushed towards their doom, this wisdom can be reached much more swiftly"

"Are you high from blood loss, or are you even able to breath up here. Asphyxiation can cause vivid hallucinations and befuddle the mind" Aodasheng asks as you stare ahead with a relaxed, contented smile nearly dripping and oozing on your face
Cont

>>5998038

"To linger at the boundary of death, to straddle the line between it and living, is to be blessed with knowledge and empowered, living to your fullest as you lean over and court death, Heh, more directly than that saying usually means" You continue to explain the insight you've just reached, knowing even a fellow genius has no chance of understanding it unless they experience it themselves "As the flame of my life sputters, it rages and grows again, in defiance, and admiration of the unavoidable fate of all that lives. The destiny all life shares. Even you and I"

"Do you make make a living as poet?"

"Death" You say, grinning as pale white flames dance over your face "And life. Like beasts and men, there is little difference between them. And by dancing between these two opposites that are so very, very close, where others would perish I can thrive by embracing what they fear and dread, and struggle to understand. Death, is simply the next step in life. It gives purpose and meaning to this transient existence, this mortal red dust we put so much value and significance into. And without it, life would be little different than a dream! Life is only truly lived on the edge of death! Reality is defined by the threshold between dying and living! Don't you see! Don't you understand"

"No, I unfortunately do not, but judging by how your life force is surging, you've reached a stage of enlightenment I can only jealously observe from a distance, because all of this, in truth sounds like the ramblings of a girl who just had a near death experience and found profoundness in the strange visions she saw" Aodasheng answers with a smile.

"Well, perhaps I can just beat it into you, and teach you what I know" You cheerfully reply, with a smile of your own, as you crack your knuckles, black and white flames crawling over your hands and up your arms, transforming into ethereal claws, a mixture of human and feline, made out of the same kind of fires one can find burning in hell.

"Ohoho? A transformation technique? An innate transformation technique, activated by instinct! Seems your close brush of death has given you an advantage, Huanliuxue. Let us see if this new peculiar insight of the dao will be enough to change the tide, you've taken quite the beating" He says with a friendly guffaw, summoning his spear back to his hand, which is only now re-attaching to his wrist, as more blood oozes from his throat down his chest

"So have you, I've nearly broken your skull and torn you in half!" You snap back, growling as the underworld flames reach your legs, turning them into half animal claws as a tail split down the center between back and white curls at the end of your spine, just above your buttocks and judging from the fire crawling along the sides of your head, it has also made your already pointed ears look more feline with a mask of black and white spiritual fire.
Cont

>>5998041

"The difference is, for all your rambling about life and death being intertwined, I am already past the boundary and cannot die in anyway that matters" Aodasheng says, wagging a finger "I will stop before you cross over, but there is no shame in..."

"I'm going to show you how wrong that statement is, Asshole!" You giggle, bowing like a lady would, making yourself blush with blood control jus to mock him

"Oh, I dearly wish you and I had been born in the same era. Well, I suppose we are now in the same era but, you know what I am trying to say" He says, voice low and threatening as he steps back and pulls his arm back to launch the spear of mortal death at you again.

How do you prove this asshole wrong, Huanliuxue! (Huanliuxue is currently strengthen by moonlight AND Cat's Court: Dancing between the border between life and death)

>Slashing and cutting through space to avoid the spear of mortal death and claw Aodasheng from several angles at once, making use of your current combination of Feline and Human physiques to use the strengths of both to your advantage! [Magic+ Martial Trial. DC 85]

>Using gravity and nearby celestial bodies, sling shot yourself and launch yourself at him, out speeding the spear with a bit of help from the Blood Torrent Rush [Intelligence+ Haste trial. DC 75]

>Scoop up a handful of the stars the goddesses dropped, and use astrology and star magic to cast a spell by creating a miniature constellation of yourself beating up Aodasheng [Magic+??? Trial. DC 115]

>Create a vortex of moonlight, with Aodasheng at its center, and create a spell on the fly, using the whirlpool of moonlight as a multi stage mystical array! [Magic+ Creativty trial. DC 125]

>Write in

>>5998013
lol. Funnily enough, the Fraudulent One Satoru Gojo, heavily inspired me this update. Namely his awakening after Toji beat the shit out of him.

God. I love Toji. And yes, homosexually. In the most cut-sleeve fashion possible, even

Anonymous

>>5998044
>Create a vortex of Moonlight.

We may just have to try and win through attrition. He is suffering DOT bleed.

>>5998044#
>Scoop up a handful of the stars the goddesses dropped, and use astrology and star magic to cast a spell by creating a miniature constellation of yourself beating up Aodasheng [Magic+??? Trial. DC 115]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?=YxrEa<wbr>g0bg9Q

>>5998044
>>Slashing and cutting through space to avoid the spear of mortal death and claw Aodasheng from several angles at once, making use of your current combination of Feline and Human physiques to use the strengths of both to your advantage! [Magic+ Martial Trial. DC 85]

>>5998044
>Scoop up a handful of the stars the goddesses dropped, and use astrology and star magic to cast a spell by creating a miniature constellation of yourself beating up Aodasheng [Magic+??? Trial. DC 115]
He said they rob him of this star, lets give it to him after all these years
>>5998070
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yxr<wbr>Eag0bg9Q
your link broke I think

>>5998044
>Scoop up a handful of the stars the goddesses dropped, and use astrology and star magic to cast a spell by creating a miniature constellation of yourself beating up Aodasheng [Magic+??? Trial. DC 115]

Bonus points if we manage to hang it in the heavens and piss off the gods afterwards

>>5998044
>Scoop up a handful of the stars the goddesses dropped, and use astrology and star magic to cast a spell by creating a miniature constellation of yourself beating up Aodasheng [Magic+??? Trial. DC 115]

>>5998044
>Scoop up a handful of the stars the goddesses dropped, and use astrology and star magic to cast a spell by creating a miniature constellation of yourself beating up Aodasheng [Magic+??? Trial. DC 115]
My god, this fight is one giant clusterfuck of a rollercoaster.
Its glorious.

>>5998044
>>Scoop up a handful of the stars the goddesses dropped, and use astrology and star magic to cast a spell by creating a miniature constellation of yourself beating up Aodasheng [Magic+??? Trial. DC 115]

>Write-in
>Call forth the blood moon.
>Bleeding on the moon once again must be fate. A childish lingering that is etched upon thy soul.

Well if we can.

Our-Grandfather

Ending the vote and tallying its result now.

Create a vortex of moonlight, with Aodasheng at its center, and create a spell on the fly, using the whirlpool of moonlight as a multi stage mystical array!:1

Scoop up a handful of the stars the goddesses dropped, and use astrology and star magic to cast a spell by creating a miniature constellation of yourself beating up Aodasheng:7

Slashing and cutting through space to avoid the spear of mortal death and claw Aodasheng from several angles at once, making use of your current combination of Feline and Human physiques to use the strengths of both to your advantage!:2

Call forth the blood moon:1

So you'll scoop up a handful of dropped stars, and use your innate knowledge of astrology and star magic to cast a spell using them as components in a tiny new constellation of yourself, thrashing Aodasheng

Update will arrive shortly

>>5998731
Bloodmoon light is the + version of Moonlight , and besides just giving a stronger boost for what base moonlight does (and its various abilities+ altering them), it also empower Carmine mystic abilities, miscellaneous blood magic and refinement/ control

You duck down and dive forward into a flower field of twinkling stars that were left unpicked or else spilled out of the baskets from the goddesses you scared off. They're glowing every color you can imagine and some you cannot, hues and shades that wash over you as cool light, coloring the white and black ghostly flames coating your arms, legs and ears all colors of the rainbow as you greedily and hastily scoop scoop up and gather as many of the miniature stars into your arm as you can in the moment it takes Aodasheng to step back and pull back his arm to wind up to throw his enchanted spear again. Allowing your self to be swept up in a stream of moonlight, you move through the pond of starlight, plucking and cutting more stars from where they bob and float serenely in the stellar field of emptiness to add them to the ones held between you arms and chest, which are now overflowing and spilling out from the top and bottom.

Some of the stars have curious shapes and strange mixes of color, some are more like vapor than light and others are solid like smooth jade and others are sharp edged like broken glass or porcelain. Aodasheng turns on his heel, tracking you and following your swim through the newly ignited starlings as the spear of mortal death tugs at his arm, pulling him along like it were a starve dog wishing to take you in its jaws and shake the life out of you with them. The way it shudders in his grip, almost looks like growling. How creepy~.

Sliding on your back, half buried under a mound of newborn stars of every color present in the cosmic chaos surrounding you, you redirect and move the moonlight you're being carried by in an upwards arc and loop it its stream over Aodasheng's head, forcing him to look up as you're carried up at blistering speed. Your eyes meet, his narrowed with curiosity, trying to discern what exactly you're doing gathering tiny stars like flowers and what you intend to do with them, while your own are squinted with a mixture of glee and malice as you open up your arms and drop the dozens of stars over his head.

 Your existence as a cosmic beast allows you to call upon the power of constellations and the magic of their stars, but none of the one's already hoisted up in the night sky are worthy of being held as magic tools or weapons by your hands. And what better first test of a cosmic beast's form of astrology than creating a constellation of yourself in miniature mauling a depiction of Aodasheng? It is one of the cosmic spells you've already taught yourself, though you haven't had a chance to practice it outside of coming up with it, so you are really curious how it will work in practice and a real fight!

the stars fall like snow or pyre ash, before they shudder and stop in the air, thin lines of blood red light connecting them as they begin to form a human sized constellation above you and the forgotten king.
Cont

>>5998831

"What tradition of sorcery is that from..." He mutters before, with a click of his tongue, he release the spear of mortal death and lets it fly again

 roll 2d100. Best out of five. DC 115

>>5998837
Nice success. 20 over DC. update will arrive shortly

>>5998915
It is, sadly it isn't a special condition unlock

But he that rabid hound of an artifact go just a second too late, as the last line connecting the stars of the constellation is drawn, painting the dragon and dotting its eyes. A doppelganger of yourself and Aodasheng appears, made out of moon and stardust, yours carmine and crimson and his grey and silver. The spear of mortal death pierces through the cloud of cosmic dust surrounding the newly made constellation, and the moment the tip of its split head passes into the stardust, the constellation begins to move. Your double slashes Aodasheng's across the face with the ghostly claws and metal nails of her gauntlet, repaying him for the slashes he made across you beautiful face. And the real Aodasheng recoils, reaching for his face in shock as his flesh splits, reflecting the damage his star made copy just took. And before he can realize what has happened, you kick off the now hardened river of moonlight and take advantage of the opening in his defenses to whip your leg around and smash your knee hard into the side of his head. He stumbles, his starlight doppelganger now reacting to him and copying his movements, as your own double lunges, taking advantage of her opponent's stumble to grab hold of his middle and lift him from the ground before slamming him back down and clawing at his face. Lifted by unseen hands, the actual Aodasheng is thrown onto his back, more claw marks appearing across his chest and throat as ghostly, black and white flames erupt from his fresh wounds. You step up to him and stomp on his stomach, channeling a burst of Destructive Yin Qi down your leg and into the sole of the foot you just planted on his gut. His own ghostly armor made of ethereal teal flames peals away, scales of ripping off from him as you send him rocketing down towards the nine heavens and the world beneath them.

Like a cat chasing a mouse, your mimic formed from stars pounces, chasing after him, kicking off and bouncing between ribbons of moonlight and lonely stars with her arms drawn over and crossed over her chest as the claws of ghostly qi and steel covering her hands extend. She shoots past the stunned Aodasheng like a coment, lashing out with the claws on her hands and legs to tear into him before he can recover. You grin, and electrify your other leg with a mixture of metal aligned qi, cosmic spiritual energy, while enveloping its muscles in blood Qi. Your veins bulge and glow as the muscles you've sheathed with Blood Qi tighten and grow harder as you quickly rip a hole through space and appear directly in front of Aodasheng, ready to punt his head off.

But he reaches up, his hands scaled and taloned, his arms bulging with anamalistic strength as he grabs you by your heel and spins around, using the momentum of his descent to throw you like a hammer towards the moon. And as he does, his reflection in the constellation adopts an unmovable stance, and hammers their fist in your duplicate's stomach.
Cont

>>5998942

You wince at the unexpected jab of pain, but it isn't enough to make you lose your breath let alone drop your guard. Flipping around, you cockily beckon the forgotten king to throw everything he has at you with a wag of both of your hands as the gravity of the moon latches onto you.

Wincing, Aodasheng holds his hand out and summons the spear of mortal death back to his hand, grabbing onto the bottom of its haft and allowing its flight to carry him up to where you wait.

 Roll 2d100. DC 122. Best out of five. Martial: Redirection Trial

Anonymous

Rolled 63, 92 = 155 (2d100)

>>5998946
Time for the double bingo.

Our-Grandfather

>>5999020
Great success! 30 over DC. Update will arrive shortly

But there is a key difference between now and the last time he's thrown that contemptible spear at you. He's slower, and you know the limits of the artifact's flight speed, having experienced its maximum acceleration straight through your stomach. And there are few creatures beneath the heavens that have better reflexes than a cat. You aren't certain about the beasts that exist beyond and above them, but you're confident you're quicker to react than most of them are to! You don't even need to exert yourself exerting your will over and controlling time, though the illusion of time growing sluggish with the basic form of your specter lightness skill certainly adds a bit of suspense as the spear and its passenger slow as they get closer to you. Not that it matters, even though you're unencumbered by the false perspective, that spear is still moving as quickly as it was before. So the slowing effect really on serves to cause your heart a little more stress as it pounds in your chest as you dare to reach out, probing your fingers past the metal thorns wrapped around the spears haft as you hop to the side of it, narrowly avoid it as it twists and turns to adjust for your sudden dodge.

Aodasheng, not even looking bothered by the illusionary slowed time, swings himself around, using his own weight as a counterbalance as you push your arm down the length of the spear and grab onto it tightly. Then, using your own weight as a counter weight, you spin around and take advantage of both Aodasheng and his flying's spear momentum to bodily pull both of them into the gravitational pull of the lunar surface! Building torque by twisting your hips and shoulders in sync, you use your own body, strengthen by moon light and bolstered the nearness of the shadow of death, as a fulcrum, hardening it with bodily enhancements through circulating blood qi through your bones and muscles and perform a hasty bit of blood alchemy to fortify your arms and spine, wrapping them with a mesh of your veins as you take full control of the momentum of The spear of mortal death and its rider.

And then, with a single swing of your arm and whip of your shoulders, separate the two and send the forgotten king hurtling down towards the moon, a river of black blood and ghostly teal flames marking the path of his decent as you tighten your grip on the spear of mortal death as it bucks and thrashes like it had a mind of its own, trying to grind its barbs against your arm or rip out of your hand to flip back around and stab into you.

But, you stubbornly keep hold of it as you kick your legs in the air as you to are pulled towards the moon, Aodasheng's blood spraying against your face as you fall through the stream of it he left behind.

Through the bloody stream, you can see him frantically performing hand signs, his mouth stretched and tearing open as he chants four cursed, demonic mantras at once and his physique turns more dragon than man again.

Cont

>>5999063

How do you follow up tossing Aodasheng to the moon and stealing his spear, Huanliuxue?

>Blink and teleport behind him and try to use the rowdy spear to impale him through the back with a variation of Cat catches star [Martial trial. DC 145]

>Create a "Lure" out of your blood and breath and attach it to the tip of the spear, and let it loose, launching it at Aodasheng as it chases after your false presence [Magic+ Alchemy trial. DC 112]

>Chain Aodasheng with ribbons of moonlight, and hold onto the spear as tightly as you can as you spin with it, using the force of its struggle to build up speed and momentum, aiming to slam and drill both of you rfeet into him [Martial trial. DC 115]

>Create cover through breathing out a huge grudge cloud, switch your forms while your hidden inside of it, and while dodging the spear of mortal death, grab Aodasheng in your paws or jaws and slam him as hard as you can unto the lunar surface [Trickery+Haste+Strength trial. DC 125]

>Attempt to make use of your latest insights [??? trial. DC 165]

>Write in

Anonymous

>>5999066
>>Chain Aodasheng with ribbons of moonlight, and hold onto the spear as tightly as you can as you spin with it, using the force of its struggle to build up speed and momentum, aiming to slam and drill both of you rfeet into him [Martial trial. DC 115]

>>5999066
>Chain Aodasheng with ribbons of moonlight, and hold onto the spear as tightly as you can as you spin with it, using the force of its struggle to build up speed and momentum, aiming to slam and drill both of you rfeet into him [Martial trial. DC 115]

>>5999066
>>Create cover through breathing out a huge grudge cloud, switch your forms while your hidden inside of it, and while dodging the spear of mortal death, grab Aodasheng in your paws or jaws and slam him as hard as you can unto the lunar surface [Trickery+Haste+Strength trial. DC 125]
From the top rope, bah gawd that man is broken in half!

>>5999066

Pardon the lunacy but...
> Write in
>Life and Death are two sides of the same coin. Slip into Death while at the same time forcing Aodasheng into Life, causing the Spear of Mortal Death to betray him!

>>5999066
>Create a "Lure" out of your blood and breath and attach it to the tip of the spear, and let it loose, launching it at Aodasheng as it chases after your false presence [Magic+ Alchemy trial. DC 112]

>>5999066
>Blink and teleport behind him and try to use the rowdy spear to impale him through the back with a variation of Cat catches star [Martial trial. DC 145]

>>5999066
>Attempt to make use of your latest insights [??? trial. DC 165]

>>5998041
Huanliuxue breakthrough and conversation with Aodashen it's literally this whole skit lmao, I love it
https://youtu.be/w-eJSHoH9Fs?si=s45<wbr>qJLcqQWwBHeqX

>>5999066
>>6000054
Switching to
>Create a "Lure" out of your blood and breath and attach it to the tip of the spear, and let it loose, launching it at Aodasheng as it chases after your false presence [Magic+ Alchemy trial. DC 112]

As I don't see the teleport gathering enough support but I really want to skewer this smug asshole with his own spear

Our-Grandfather

Ending the vote and tallying its result now. Didn't mean to take this long, but I had a nasty migraine yesterday

Chain Aodasheng with ribbons of moonlight, and hold onto the spear as tightly as you can as you spin with it, using the force of its struggle to build up speed and momentum, aiming to slam and drill both of your feet into him:4

Create cover through breathing out a huge grudge cloud, switch your forms while your hidden inside of it, and while dodging the spear of mortal death, grab Aodasheng in your paws or jaws and slam him as hard as you can unto the lunar surface:1

Life and Death are two sides of the same coin. Slip into Death while at the same time forcing Aodasheng into Life, causing the Spear of Mortal Death to betray him!:1

Create a "Lure" out of your blood and breath and attach it to the tip of the spear, and let it loose, launching it at Aodasheng as it chases after your false presence:5

Blink and teleport behind him and try to use the rowdy spear to impale him through the back with a variation of Cat catches star:1

Attempt to make use of your latest insights:1

So you'll attempt to trick the spear of mortal death into impaling its master with a lure mimicking your Qi/ Aura.

Update will arrive shortly

>>6000561
Hilarious.

But at the back of your mind, through the pain, rush of adrenaline, fighting spirit and strange combination of anger and joy, a question takes root. An idle curiosity that you latch onto, as you immediately realize its line of thought could prove more valuable than even the most accurate intuition or most refined martial skill. How is the Spear of mortal death tracking and chasing after you? Its pursuit resembles that of a living, hungry predator, but it has no Qi or life force of its own besides what was deposited inside of it by its wielder or poured into it during its forging oh so long ago. There is at least nothing you recognize as essence or lifeblood inside it, even if it is thrashing in your hand like a rabid dog you've caught by its scruff. So if it doesn't have any instincts or the intelligence of a mindless, hungry animal, than how does it give chase and so accurately hunt you down?

If it is an enchantment or spell, it is one that'd be counted amongst the most complex ever invented or at least recorded in history, no branded as demonic sorcery or else hidden away by jealous old fools. And it can't be puppetry, your encounter with those damned stone statues and Monu's own puppets and experience creating and controlling your own crude marionette taught you the tell tale signs of something being controlled in such a manner, and besides the aerial turn and corners the spear performs and how fast it moves would make Aodasheng one of the finest masters of puppeteering techniques in or out of the world of cultivation.

But the resemblance the spear's apparent self willed actions to a slavering hound chasing after a hare or cat, does draw your mind to another theory. Not that it is intelligent but feral or possessed by some poor soul or that Aodasheng had a secret hobby playing with dolls, but that it's apparent sophisticated magic is actually really plain and simple, at least the enchantment that allows it to control its own flight and trajectory to the point of flying out of the wielders hand once it has been given a target to chase after. It certainly contains more magic than just that, since the moment it pierced your skin you felt your soul shudder inside of your flesh. If you hadn't already cut the strings tying them together, it might've just torn your spirit out of its vessel entirely.

But if the guess you've made in the heat of the moment is, that the process it uses to track and hunt, is a simple Qi locating spell. The same sort commonly used in much more basic and much less frightening magic tools, like border alarms or the various devices used to check and open meridians and search for the hidden potential to cultivate Qi.

A spell that is so basic that most novices abandon it the moment their spiritual senses awaken enough to unfog, since old fashioned intuition and experience are just as if not more accurate than it.
Cont

>>6001062

If that is what is guiding the spear of mortal death, its crafter is a genius, because it takes a genius to sharpen trash into a dragon slaying blade. And that would explain why it impaled you around the location of your golden cower and lower dantian, where most of the spiritual energy in your body is gathered, but there is nudging feeling at the back of your mind that warns you it is probably more complex than that and with a name like the spear of mortal death.

'It is pursuing life itself! like my vein hunting eye (血管猎-眼睛, Xuèguǎnliè-yǎnjing)!' You realize with a gasp as you grab hold of the spear with both of your hands to keep it from slipping out of your grasp 'And not just blood or breath, by the quality of "being alive", the concept of life itself. A more elegant expression of one of the simplest kinds of magic. Even when I'm outside of my body, my soul is still living. He had to have marked me as its target, and my essence only, when he smacked me with the bottom of its haft which means'

Grinning triumphant, with mischief glittering in your eyes, you understand exactly how to turn the spear against its wielder, and by drawing out the blood soaking and spilling out of you, you create a free floating cauldron of boiling blood and hot breath at the tip of the spear's split head, refining the lifeforce in both your blood and breath and the qi contained in both, condensing the sphere down to a pearl and then further adjusting the bead of blood, so its presence would be indistinguishable from that of your heart. Making it throb and beat in sync with your own heart's beat, you pull you arm back, to throw and put your theory to the test and see if such quick and dirty alchemical alterations will be enough to fool the magic powering such a high quality artifact!

 roll 2d100. DC 112. Best out of five

Anonymous

Rolled 30, 43 = 73 (2d100)

>>6001063
>the spear as it starts seeing something to kill constantly touching it

>>6001091
 That 99 feels like a slap in my face, the dice gods are cruel

Our-Grandfather

>>6001078
Nice Success. 30 over DC, but

>>6001091
Another critfail?! Jesus. And so close to that special combination.

Anyways, update will arrive shortly

>>6001071
I see at least one junior got the reference.

Crimson, scarlet, carmine and vermillion bolts of spiritual energy, splitting like lightning racing across the sky or veins seen through skin, erupt from the places your palms meet the steel of Aodasheng's spear, the dried blood of your cut open palm flaking off and lifting into the air where it ignites, burning to cinders and twinkling out into ash in the night sky like the most briefly lived of stars. Aodasheng looks stunned for a moment, before his expression softens and his fang filled glower shifted instead into a smile that looked almost admiring as you stepped forward, pursuing him down to the surface of the moon as you shifted your weight, leaned forward and put all of your strength into throwing the spear of mortal death at him, and away from yourself, so the "False heart" you created and floated in front of its twin tips would have its attention and trick whatever sorcery powered its flight into chasing after it rather than your true self.

"I see. I see" Aodasheng mutters, closing his eyes as his hands continue performing hand seals and signs and three other voices mimicking his own continue chanting their curses as he plummets and the spear, crackling with deathly yin qi and blood qi in conflict with one another, roars down to him, piercing through the airless space like a bolt of divine retribution. But as you stand back up and recover from your toss, the taste of blood fills your mouth. Crimson bubble at the corner of your lips, lifeblood escaping and spurting from your throat as the organs the very same spear you just through pierced through and damaged ache terribly in your stomach.

"Ow" You whine, wincing and choking on another mouthful of blood, stumbling another step and nearly fainting as, even with the fresh insight that makes closing closer to death than even you are comfortable with strengthen and energize you rather than weakening and making you frail, the hole in your chest and the blood you've lost start to take its toll and you struggle to keep your eyes open, gulping down the latest spurt of blood that shot up your throat, rubbing your mouth and smacking your face to stay conscious and in the fight.

But as you take another step to keep from falling and plummeting right alongside Aodasheng, you find that you've been transported somewhere else than where you were a second ago. The red string wrapped around your wrists pulled taught, black smoke rising from its fraying twine as you blink and see that you didn't get teleported or moved through any mystical means.

Aodasheng just pulled you closer to him

"Now, we're both in its path" He snickers, as you feel the spear approach, and can sense the curses he's chanting are close to being completed and spoken into existence.

'Need to shut him up. Need to get out of the spear's way' You think tiredly and faintly, hardening your glare as you choke on another mouthful of blood that gurgles in your throat.

 Trickery Trial. DC 130. Best out of five

Anonymous

Rolled 80, 19 = 99 (2d100)

>>6001100
I have a recommendation.
We spit acid in his god damned mouth, and use the motion of ejected fluid to flip up around.

Rolled 58, 85 = 143 (2d100)

>>6001095
>I see at least one junior got the reference.
I don't see the connection with our Gae Bolg and this spear of mortal death. Especially since it's acting more like the Gae Assail is said to behave. Perhaps I am just too autistic about naming conventions kek

>>6001100
EZ spin slap attack

>>6001110
Other suggestions include.

Put a ghost light on our hand and the hand behind Ao. And then yeet ourselves with Phantom Waltz.

Or use our Physique and do the qi equivalent lf a flashbang to shut up his chanting

>>6001100
Can we not roll 5 times? At this point it only increases the probability of a critfail

Our-Grandfather

>>6001121
This is supposed to be a very, very hard fight. So no, you may not. Have courage, junior

Anonymous

Rolled 54, 15 = 69 (2d100)

>>6001100
The probability of a crit success is also increased. Theoretically.

>>6001129
Indeed, but a critfail in this instance is five times more likely than a crit success. His apprehension is well founded. As should be obvious from the direction this fight has taken. That being every which way all at once!

Rolled 13, 83 = 96 (2d100)

>>6001100
Please be kind this time

Our-Grandfather

>>6001113
Fair success, 10 over DC. Update will arrive shortly

Anonymous

>>6001137
The fight has literally gone to the moon.

This has been incredibly profitable thus far, and when it ends we will have a new subordinate!
And he will pay reperations for fucking with our breakthrough!
And also probably have given us a massive inspiration boost, due to fighting an actual peer. Doesnt it suck all our equals are older than mortal dynasties.

Our-Grandfather

But ah, how strangely, through the fog of agony and sleepiness somehow coexisting in your belly and head, your mind retains clarity of thought, a calmness comparable to that of the quiet dead. Even though it feels like their are thorns growing inside of your flesh and digging into your organs, the pain doesn't distract you or tangle your thoughts into a senseless mess. There are two problems in front of you in needing of solving, two obstacles to overcome. And with the odd clearness of thought, like a beacon burning through the night, the answer and means of doing both reveal themselves. Instinct tells you, to shut up the buzzing noise in your ear and stop the dread curses being uttered in your direction, all you need to do is stop swallowing your blood and to instead...

Spit it out on his face.

Aodasheng winces, face painted red with the splatter of your saliva and blood, a glob of it landing in his mouth as the rest of it falls over his eyes. And in the same motion as hacking up the mouthful of blood inelegantly, like it were a hairball, you reach out with both of your hands and grab hold of the string connecting you to your opponent. The blood red rope is already pulled tight, and all you need to is swing it around. And even though your teetering on the edge of unconsciousness, and maybe even death, so close to the moon and so close to demise, your already impressive strength has grown enough for you to be able to lift up a mountain.

You manage to see Aodasheng's expression as he, choking and sputtering, burns off the blood blinding him, and see that you and he have switched positions. Black blood sprays from his mouth, as the split down the center spear head of the spear of mortal death strikes between his shoulders and pierces through him. Acting quickly, you wrap your hands with the string tying you together and give them a tug, trying to snap them so you can allow yourself fall to the side and avoid the spear still thirsty for your blood.

Black veins crawl around the corners of the forgotten king's eyes as he reaches out towards you, pointing two fingers at you, one human and the other a dragon's claw. The iron thorns wrapped around his spear dig through the skin of his back, as a ripple of destructive yin qi is summoned at his fingertips.

You lean your head to the side, as the first qi blast, a onyx black shaft of rotating destruction, shoots past you and drills through the side of your cheek, a glancing blow that was only an inch or two from hitting something vital, like your eye. He lifts up his second finger, as the spear of mortal death builds momentum, driving itself deeper into his spine.

Time is flowing weirdly, and you can't help but wonder if it has something to do with your injuries interfering with your more magical and bizarre techniques. And as you ponder that, a second black vortex appears at the tip of Aodasheng's claw, way too close to dodge it like you did the first.
Cont

>>6001156

But, once again, he's made the mistake of trying to match a cat's reaction speed.

 Reaction + Magic trial. DC 120. Best out of five

Anonymous

Rolled 41, 65 = 106 (2d100)

>>6001157
The finishing blow! Probably.

Rolled 96, 6 = 102 (2d100)

>>6001157
Oh man, not another critfail

Rolled 93, 19 = 112 (2d100)

>>6001157
Will this be the closing act in this bloody brawl?

We have a 87% chance of making this roll and yet we will fail it.

Our-Grandfather

>>6001169
failure, but less than ten under dc and

>>6001174
a sixth crit fail. damn.

update will arrive shortly

Anonymous

>>6001185
I thought crit fails and successes were just 1 and 100. Is this from the same trait that gives us 5 rolls?

Our-Grandfather

>>6001187

>Enemy Aura: Overwhelming Malevolence. Effect: Critfails reactivated. Range raised from 1, to 1 to 10. Counter effect from Huanliuxue's Aura: Ill Omen. Enemy Aura effectiveness reduced by half. Critfail range for duration of the fight, 1 to 5

Huan is getting a taste of the kind of bullshit anything/ one that has fought her sense she earned her golden core had to deal with.

You arm, covered in white and black, half transparent, ethereal flames shoots up, fingers parting inside the gauntlet covering it to quickly cast a dying grudge shield directly in the way of the incoming Qi Dart. But it locks, stopping as you lift it and let the string you'd wrapped around and gripped with it slack and fall from your hand. And the same pain surging and stabbing in your gut, has shot up along your spine and down that arm. Black, metal thorns burst through your armor, blood oozing out from the places they just as the same sort of iron brambles wrapped around the spear of mortal death erupt from the inside of your arm. And you can feel them binding the bones from your ribs, to your shoulder, down your arms, grinding and carving through the muscles and skin above them. The Qi flowing down the meridians of your arm grows stagnant and turbid and as a few thorns rip their way through the clawed fingers of your gauntlet, you feel the spiritual energy surging through the limb come to a complete halt. The pieces of that damnable spear have sealed the meridians in the arm.

flicking up your other wrist, half of your vision is consumed in a blot of blackness and the white hot agony surging through your body numbs the sensation of fresher pain. The pain of one of your eyes being violently destroyed, the bone around its socket cracking and shattering as the angled beam of destructive yin Qi bursts out the side of your head, richocheting off a barrier, a humble, standard protection you managed to slip behind your eye as it was torn apart and vaporized, by clenching your own hand into a fist at the last possible moment. The spear head vanishes completely into Aodasheng's back, iron thorns crawling over his back and wrapping around his outstretched arm as his rotting black blood drips and intermingles with the warm, red blood flowing from your mouth and the other head injuries you've sustained.

Dimly, you recognize the latest of those injuries is nearly exactly same as the one you dealt to your opponent when you bloodily gouged out his eye. Your consciousness slips away, for a moment, as you and Aodasheng plummet together, both having lost far too much blood and taken far too many wounds.

But just before your eyes shut, they snap back open and you see that Aodasheng has just fought his way back into consciousness as well, the thorns wrapped around him, extending from those wrapped around his spear dragging him with it as it shoots towards the moon in pursuit of your "False heart", While you simply fall like a rock, exhausted from blood loss even as new surges of vitality course through your veins with every drop of blood you lose and every labored breath you take.

A cowardly voice whispers, there is a chance both of you will pass out at the same time, rendering the brutal spar a draw. But that is unacceptable. And judging from how Aodasheng is glaring at you, the ghost king thinks so as well.

Cont

>>6001194

Using blood control to force the muscles in your nailed and sealed arm to stretch and pull even if they tear, you clench the hand there into a fist, as he extends his talons even as they flake apart like ashes flitting away from a corpse on a pyre.

And as you pass each other as you fall, you both notch back your arms, as you get ready to throw a nail lined fist into his temple and he prepares to flick his claws across your throat. But with only one eye intact at the moment, its pretty difficult measuring the distance between his head and your knuckles.

'If only I had my whiskers'

 Martial/ Strength trial. DC adjusted due to injuries and buffs applied, lowered due to moonlight + dancing across the border between life and death + Feline Pride, Reduced to grievous injuries, extreme blood loss. Final DC 95. Best out of five

A calculator was required to figure out the DC with all the negative and positive modifiers that are being applied to it.

Which is, surprisingly, a first for this quest.

Congrats!

Anonymous

Rolled 24, 11 = 35 (2d100)

>>6001195
I actually am somewhat curious how you come up with the DC for trials.

>>6001208
YOU ABSOLUTE BUFFOON.

GAH, HEAVENS. FUCK
 YOU.

7 BETTER BE A FUCKING TRIGGER, BECAUSE IT IS TRIGGERING ME!

Our-Grandfather

>>6001202

Well, in terms of DCs in combat.

I consider the combatants and their capabilities, environmental factors/ effects, the difficulty against the reward of success (though a higher or lower DC doesn't always mean one choice is more effective than the other, half the effort twice the results and all that), injuries sustained, Buffs...etc

 some more specific determining factors include if the technique, move, spell....etc being used is known or familiar to the target, or if Huan has a ploy/ gambit in mind, or if the enemy will have a harder time dealing with one attack than they would another for one reason or another. Though I do often with my gut instinct and will raise or lower a DC until it feels right to me.

Which I also do with non combat, skill trials. Though the simplest of those is training students, since generally, each student adds a set number to the trial DC, though what that number is can vary (usually doesn't cause Huan has a knack for teaching). Though, like with combat, I tend to give higher DC on trials if I consider the reward/ result to be better, though as I said before this certainly isn't always the case, since some trials I just can't justify being above a certain DC. And the opposite is also true, other trials just don't feel like they should have a DC lower than the one I set for it in the end, irrespective of the results of succeeding it would be.

A good bit of the time I spend writing updates consists solely of me fiddling with and taking into consideration what the DCs should be and what feels right for each trial difficulty wise. This one was just had too many factors for me to do quickly do it in my head, so I needed to use a calculator to expedite the process.

Direct modifiers are more simple, and really the only deciding factor is if what is giving Huan a bonus to her roll is a one off bonus or not.

As for DoS I tend to do them in tiers. An example is this fight, unless you rolled 3 DoS or higher, Aodasheng would usually get a chance to force Huan on the defensive/ counter attack immediately. Which happened quiet often.

Anonymous

Rolled 15, 93 = 108 (2d100)

>>6001195
The Great Wheel Turns

Our-Grandfather

>>6001211
Fantastic Success. 50 over dc and

>>6001208
A mischievous crit fail, but not a complete one, due to the success

Update will arrive shortly

>>6001212
....eight crit fails would've been. Since four is the unluckiest number and eight is very auspicious.

>>6001221
Spooky...

Anonymous

>>6001188
I've just calculated a bit and we have a 40% chance of rolling a critfail.
This is indeed bullshit.

Our-Grandfather

>>6001223
4 is the number of death, and Aodasheng had been submersed in the raw essence of it for two centuries or so.

Anonymous

And to think this is all the result of us being bored while setting up a tournament. But hey, we’ve at least seen we can go toe to toe with some of the stars of the past eras.

>>6001230
I'm sure everyone on this thread have heard a cat owner's story on how their cat went missing and it came fuck'd up because their cat fight another one on the street or some shit like that.

This is just like this but at catastrophic *Wink wink* levels

Our-Grandfather

https://youtu.be/aKvhgl2Udmw
-
Pushing that complaint out of your mind, you focus on connecting your fist, with pieces of jagged metal sprouting from it to any part of Aodasheng, though you're aiming for and would be happiest to hit his head. He lunges, extending his arm and growing it out as the skin upon it evaporates into ghostly, unearthly teal mist, his talon hand looking like a glimpse of a dragon's claw seen through a mountain's fog. All other sensation fades away and flees from you as lash out with you arm as it continues to be bound tighter and tighter from the shrapnel splintering throughout it, as you see all of Aodasheng eyes except for the one you damaged turn serpentine and encircled by halos of gold and turquoise flames as the path of both of your falls intersect and you each take the chance to launch one last final, defiant attack against each other. Advance techniques, secret arts, forbidden spells, unique physiques and refined martial styles and vast insights and deep, sagely wisdoms forsaken for the crudest and most basic kind of striking.

A balled fist and extended claws. The beast using the method of the man, and the man practicing the way of the beast. How amusingly ironic.

However, while you might be hitting him like a clawless and fangless human, he is well aware of the true power contained within your deceptively wiry muscles and must've noticed how it has been further increased since you've been bathed in moonlight and were enlightened about the reality of living and dying. So tries to block the strike with the palm of his other hand, ignoring your free, unburdened hand that, slicked with blood, you wrap around his taloned arm as it stretches out disturbingly long and making use of his fall and lunging strike both, redirect his momentum and pull him directly into your outstretched fist, grinding its thorn wrapped knuckles in his cheek before ripping it back out and slamming it hard, once, twice, thrice and four times directly into his forehead, denting his temple by the third strike as his free hand grasps out blindly to grab onto something as he stretches out his claws.

Somehow, as your continue beating and pummeling his face with the blind fury of an injured and cornered animal, the two of you end up tangled together, with his unclawed hand hanging onto the hanging threads of your chest plate and his clawed on gripping on your waist while you continue unleash flurry after flurry of skull shattering punches directly to his face. And by time you realized you can't wiggle out of his accidental grapple, the surface of the moon is right under you and before you can even shout in surprise, you ram into it wit enough force to crater the impact site as both you and Aodasheng, completely unprepared for the fall, crash into bodily, slammed harder and faster by that stupid fucking spear!
Cont

>>6001273

Fortunately, you lose consciousness before you can feel anymore pain in what has to be one of the roughest landings in history, only being aware long enough to realize you've crashed to the moon, still tangled up with Aodasheng in the crater the impact of both of your bodies made, and to watch him pass out with a satisfied smile on his punched in face before you yourself drift away into dreamless sleep...

 Legendary deed achieved: Defeat the fateful foe: The forgotten king, Aodasheng, proving yourself the rightful ruler of the catacombs of the forgotten king and bloodless war and the monarch of the dead, taking his crown as your own. This is a victory that shall be remembered for generations to come, immortalized in story, myth and legend! There are heavens beyond heavens, and this is a growth further than even those unknown lands, from this pinnacle, mount tai appears as a mole hill. This old ghost has been humbled by the proud house cat! +1000 to cultivation/ training roll. Current total +1551. + a yet to be decided, additional reward...[Result: Victory by a whisker's breadth!]

 Huanliuxue has been knocked unconscious, and suffered 3 severe wounds over the course of the battle. Trait: Living source: Blood Qi and Dao: Ghosts, reduces this to 1 severe wounds. Healing and recovering from these will take more effort than rest and ordinary medicinal pills and healing magic...

 double vote!

What is the severe & lasting injury have you sustained

>Lost eye (Eyes are a wood aligned sensory organ)

>Scarred face

>Damaged stomach (stomachs are earth aligned yang organ)

>Damaged kidney (Kidneys are water aligned yin organs)

>Sealed meridians in left arm

>Lingering Curse

>Yin imbalance: Overabundance

>Write in (Must be something that could've been believably damaged from the wounds Huanliuxe sustained in the fight)

And what is the bonus reward of your legendary deed, Huanliuxue?

>Further evolution as a demonic beast (Leads to a second vote)

>A ghostly evolution (leads to a second vote)

>A dream(?) of the distant past (???)

>An additional spirit root slot (For a total of four, current three, Ghostly, Blood and Cosmic)

>Living source (Ghostly Yin Qi)

>Secret art: Supreme monarch of the phantom butterflies: All but the mightiest of the dead recognize you as their rightful ruler. Any ghost equal or beneath you, can be bound to your will and made loyal beyond death, including non human spirits.

>Secret Art: Red Dust Revival: A ritual capable of returning ghosts and hungry ghosts to their physical forms and life,

>Write in

This was a very close fight, and nearly ended in a loss or a draw. And you were very, very close to suffering 2 severe wounds, even after the reduction due to being a fount of life energy and practicing a ghostly cultivation method.

Anonymous

>>6001277
>Lingering Curse
>Secret Art: Red Dust Revival: A ritual capable of returning ghosts and hungry ghosts to their physical forms and life
Second choice is a no brainer in my eyes, Yujijiao, Xuebai, and maybe even Xiongji if he decides to stick around all massively benefit from this, though I won't lie the "dream" really piqued my interest.

>>6001277

>Lost eye (Eyes are a wood aligned sensory organ)
Eye restoration road trip with Qiang? Matching injuries to stir further rumor she's our daughter? I can't pass that up.

>Further evolution as a demonic beast (Leads to a second vote)
I'd like to truly become the guardian spirit of Chuan.

Whew, these are some seriously tough choices though.

>>6001277
>Lingering Curse
A curse, one that we shall devour in the future.

God damn these rewards are hard to pick from
im between
Further evolution as a demonic beast (Leads to a second vote)
An additional spirit root slot (For a total of four, current three, Ghostly, Blood and Cosmic)
Living source (Ghostly Yin Qi)
Secret art: Supreme monarch of the phantom butterflies: All but the mightiest of the dead recognize you as their rightful ruler. Any ghost equal or beneath you, can be bound to your will and made loyal beyond death, including non human spirits.

We are a living source of life, so I feel like becoming a living source of death would also work.
Evolution is the mystery box as we don't know what our options are.
However, I posit that if we await and accumulate more power before we evolve, our options for when we do will be greater and more benefical.
While having an Art to make us a lord is excellent, there is no need for some trick or technique to announce our lordship. Is in innate to our being that all worship us, this would only be supplementary.

Therefore its between living source and additional spirit root slot.
>An additional spirit root slot (For a total of four, current three, Ghostly, Blood and Cosmic)
>Living source (Ghostly Yin Qi)
Both of these are things I am fine with.
One will be an asset that would mix well with our current spirit roots and skills (living source), the other would expand our potential to another field of mastery if we so choose.

>>6001277
>Lost eye (Eyes are a wood aligned sensory organ)
We need t oget an eye for Qiang anyway, and whatever we pluck it from will likely have more than one.
>Secret Art: Red Dust Revival: A ritual capable of returning ghosts and hungry ghosts to their physical forms and life

>>6001277
>Lingering Curse
>I'd like, just asthetically, to have a scar up the arm that the spear went in the shape of Proud Sage's name. He's just that good.

Scarred face would be pussying out. This fight deserves CONSEQUENCES.

>Red dust revival
Supreme Monarch is so much more fitting, but "Hey, we literally beat death. Have your body back" is so much better. I'm fine with either but my first pick is red dust.

>>6001277
>Damaged kidney (Kidneys are water aligned yin organs)
Eh, we have two we can live without one.
Just stay clear of alcohol.

>Secret Art: Red Dust Revival: A ritual capable of returning ghosts and hungry ghosts to their physical forms and life,
This is so useful for both our sister and the serpent princess, and Aodasheng too i guess...

>>6001277
>Damaged kidney (Kidneys are water aligned yin organs)
>Secret Art: Red Dust Revival: A ritual capable of returning ghosts and hungry ghosts to their physical forms and life

>>6001277
>Sealed meridians in left arm
I say since sealed meridians shouldn't be too hard to heal. Unlike the organs which I assume we'd need to track down a treasure to heal the others.

>Secret Art: Red Dust Revival: A ritual capable of returning ghosts and hungry ghosts to their physical forms and life,

With taking the mountain and subduing the king our home is safe. We can chill and heal our meridians while the tournament is going on.

And then I consider that we head to the moon to finish healing and leave the ghost king as a dao protector of the sect to train. After a few months to a year of training and creating new skills and refining our battle techniques. We could come back once in awhile to check up on the sect and give disciples advice but mainly focus on self improvement. It's time for a training arc.

This fight was exhausting. Seven critfails, the majority of which were natties. And for a "friendly" spar he actually would have just killed us were we anyone else on several occasions. Meanwhile he's just fine once he has a minute to wake up and dust off and we're actually really hurt because he's already dead so causing any long term harm to him is basically impossible since we didn't attack him in such a way that would be able to leave a lingering mark on a spirit.

Can't even vote to do anything super mean and spiteful to him because Huan's actually a very sweet person.

My god, this fucking fight.
Between the absolute madlad savant Aodasheng, the dicegods going for blood and an epic finish on the bloody moon, (literal) this fight was an experience and a half.
My hats off, Grandfather

>>6001277
>Scarred face
I like this one because for someone as proud of their beauty as Huanliuxue to have an ugly scar would be a fittingly devastating blow indeed.
And the idea of Huan going on a quest to restore her beauty just sounds like an excellent setup for a moral lesson of some sort.
Though frankly I don't mind most of the injuries, they all sound interesting. We are probably going to make the effort to heal from it quickly anyway.
>Secret Art: Red Dust Revival: A ritual capable of returning ghosts and hungry ghosts to their physical forms and life
No brainer.
Between Yujijiao, Xuebai, and now potentially the entire army of the forgotten king to revive, this is far too valuable to pass up. I imagine we can't just spam it but the ability alone is easily worth it.
Besides, doesn't this mean we can revive any disciple of ours who dies? They would have to become a ghost, which is not part of everyone's skillset, and they need to avoid getting their souls destroyed, but otherwise this is a massive safety net to gain.
Maybe we can even poach dead people from hell! Probably a quick way to piss of King Yama, but hey, options.

Though for what its worth all the other options are also very tempting.
We really need to finally pick up Supreme monarch of the phantom butterflies at one point, its been a long time coming.

>>6001431
Remember that the gods no-diffed Aodasheng. We may be a very big toad but we still inhabit a well.

>>6001479
I'm not really worried about that. I'm just miffed with the ghost king for being a bit of a dick about this whole thing.

>>6001277
>Lingering Curse
The most interesting choice narratively, I want to see what bullshit we end up with and how we brainstorm with Monu on how to break it

>Secret Art: Red Dust Revival: A ritual capable of returning ghosts and hungry ghosts to their physical forms and life,
No-brainer as mentioned

Damn, no contest for the reward it seems.

>>6001578
Interestingly, I think this might be the first time no one has gone for the mystery box option (unless you count the curse as a bad mystery box)

>>6001277
>Lost eye (Eyes are a wood aligned sensory organ)
>Secret Art: Red Dust Revival: A ritual capable of returning ghosts and hungry ghosts to their physical forms and life,

>>6001611
Among all the Juniors present,
I alone shall stand against the tide.

also we had one guy go for evolution, he was the second to vote on this. I didn't go for mystery box because of the reasons I outlined
>>6001292
here.
Its not that mystery box = bad, its just mystery box can be better latter on I think.

>>6001647
By mystery box I more meant the dream of the past

>>6001647

Red Dust Revival was a stronger contender for I, Evolution Anon, as well. I actually veered away from it because I'm a little concerned about the impact it could have on the story. The transition from worrying about her own safety to worrying about the safety of her students has been a good shift for the plot, and I'm concerned that having a resurrection button removes that narrative tension.

Whereas becoming guardian of Chaun just gives us more to worry about. But yeah, I can't exactly blame people for choosing what Huan would choose.

>>6001709
I maily veered off of it because i thought that Haun wouldn't have felt bad for the dead in the sense that there is no difference, even if they are ghosts, they aren ot diminished in any way.

>>6001709
There's probably going to be very specific or strict conditions to use it. But also a lot of ghosts and spirits are stronger dead than they were alive. I can't imagine Aody could get fucked up nearly as hard as a man than he can as a ghost. Even considering how tough daoists can be. And the other, stranger abilities ghosts possess, like possessing, or incorporeality in general.

If it weren't for the soul shattering madness of being killed or long-dead inflicts on people, it might actually be an upgrade to die and persist as a spirit than to remain living. Even the dead can cultivate, after all. It's just a lot harder I imagine. But with enough time that isn't really a problem, and they have all the time in the world.

>>6001786
I think it depends on how the system works, which varies a lot between stories. To the best of my understanding, it isn't that being dead is advantageous, so much as that the world Huan lives in is in decline, and means to deal with ghosts are uncommon. Other than the Ling, and their weird ability to inflict True Death, demons, and various heretics like Huan herself, soul magic is pretty uncommon at this power level. I don't know how crazy Grandfather intends to get, but we're only at Gold Core. Once Huan reaches True Immortal, or even gets up past Nascent Soul, I expect that will no longer be the case. At that point, we'll probably want insight into one of the bigger power sets, like evolving our Dao of Life and Death into Samsara. Grandfather only knows how Intent is going to work, if it gets introduced.

>>6001277
>Damaged kidney (Kidneys are water aligned yin organs)

>Secret art: Supreme monarch of the phantom butterflies: All but the mightiest of the dead recognize you as their rightful ruler. Any ghost equal or beneath you, can be bound to your will and made loyal beyond death, including non human spirits.

>Votes:12
ueHTT6rQ
Yz+yBMSY
e/99WtC7
eaWPLolb
Vdyz6rMK
ehrTkBAt
IKvjil9g
HsWg3Jiz
7P4IsFo8
hNhirTco
uJWV2QeW
5G4JrNX6

First Choice
>Lost Eye:3
Yz+yBMSY
eaWPLolb
uJWV2QeW
>Scarred Face:1
7P4IsFo8
>Damaged Kidney:3
ehrTkBAt
IKvjil9g
5G4JrNX6
>Sealed Meridians:1
HsWg3Jiz
>Lingering Curse:4
ueHTT6rQ
e/99WtC7
Vdyz6rMK
hNhirTco
>Scarred arm from the spear of mortal death:1
Vdyz6rMK

Second Choice
>Further evolution as a demonic beast:1
Yz+yBMSY
>Additional spirit root slot:
e/99WtC7
>Living source (Ghostly Yin Qi):1
e/99WtC7
>Secret art: Supreme monarch of the phantom butterflies:1
5G4JrNX6
>Secret Art: Red Dust Revival:9
ueHTT6rQ
eaWPLolb
Vdyz6rMK
ehrTkBAt
IKvjil9g
HsWg3Jiz
7P4IsFo8
hNhirTco
uJWV2QeW
Second choice is a landslide, but the first is still up for argument and late stragglers to flip.

>>6002233
Fellow Juniors, I will not attempt to convince you of the latter, but for the former. If we have a wound like the rest, at worst we have an injury we recover from. However, if we have a curse, we can turn it into a strength by devouring it in the future.

>>6001277
>Lingering Curse
>An additional spirit root slot (For a total of four, current three, Ghostly, Blood and Cosmic)

Our-Grandfather

Ending the vote now.

>>6002233
Thank you junior for taking on the duty of tallying in my stead. And with >>6003143
this vote

You're suffering from a Lingering curse and have attained the secret art of Red Dust Revival
Update will arrive shortly

>>6001476
Your kind words are much appreciated junior

>>6001431
I was worried it was going to last until the next thread, myself

Dreamless, yes, but not uneventful. Instead of an impenetrable sea of black like a starless night sky, instead what greets you in the realm of unconsciousness is red. Not blood red, or vibrant red, not the red of sunsets or weeping wounds or fresh apple skin, but the red of rust and cinnabar. It moves and shifts around your languid mind and still spirit like sand, each grain perceivable but meaningless as you're carried along it like a corpse floating belly upon the river. But even though your eyes are closed, they feel as though they've been opened, for even if all you can see is this red dust, in your ears, scratching like gnawing rats or pens scratching parchment, you can hear hoarse voices dry as crypts whispering things in dialects unfamiliar and strange but somehow you know they are ancient. They are repeating, like mad men desperate to hold onto the last threads of their frayed sanity, a process, partially alchemical, partially religion ceremony, partially occult. A forbidden act, a heretical sorcery, a ritual array that was one of the first of those branded as demonic cultivation when the five wise immortal sages took power in heavens.

And when you realize this, your eyes shoot open, and you start clawing your way out of the red mortal dust, afraid of the secret being slipped into the folds of your mind, like a reverse pickpocket, but the old bones of the original sinners hold on tightly to your wrists and shoulders and coo as they whisper the secrets they were killed to keep through their sewn shut lips, their chopped tongues wagging, dried like meat jerky. Hissing and spitting, you're dragged, soul and mind, to witness the rite as it is performed. And the necromantic array, an afront to the natural order of life and death. A gruesome altar, with a soiled white silk cloth set over its blood and fat smeared surface delicately, with rare treasures that make unicorn horns and phoenix feathers seem as common and everyday as Ox horns and sparrow feathers.

"The ritual is personalized. A portion of the original body must be present and made as an idol, enshrined and made the conduit and vessel of prayers and curses, blessings and maledictions" One of the skeletons, whose voice you remember, you remember all to well, hearing it sends a cold chill down your spine. That is the voice of the demonic cultivator, the worst heretic, who wrote in his diary the mysteries of devouring other souls to strengthen your own.

"And then, when the even the stars have fled the skies and the winds have died, when there is no light and even the crickets and crows fall silent, the idolized corpse part must be presented with a sacrifice as great as they were in life. Though certain treasures must be present, to trick the gods of death, to cheat King Yama and to twist the great wheel of reincarnation backwards, for but a single life" They continue on, voice as monotone and dead as the bones they stand before, dusting them with corpse ash and dried blood
Cont

>>6003345

"That is the price to truly cheat death, to prevent transmigration. An affront and offense to the judges of mortal life, to take this red mortal dust we are all fated to become, and allow it to sprout anew. To return life to the dead, is to stand against the river of life and push back against its rapids" They explain to the terrified jade beauty, bound and gagged, tied like a roasted duck, laying senseless before the bones laid out as if they were an earthly god, dressed in the finest silks and jewelry, atop a throne of skulls, ribcages and femurs "To use these earthly treasures, these heavenly gifts scattered across the world in unison with these cursed tools and vile substances, forcing the divine and demonic, painting yin and yang through the abomination of it all, as a form of celebration to the one whom Yama shall be denied to judge. Such fine treasures, such magnificent tools. But a bribe is needed, a sacrifice in both material and spiritual wealth, and life. This is where you come in. the currency of souls is odd, demons know it well, but you cannot exchange any life for any other. They must be equal, in the ways judged by the king of hell, to fool his scales for but a moment to exchange one soul for another, do you understand?"

The trapped girl whimpered, squirming in her binds as the faceless shadow of the soul eater drifted across the room, floating over the lines of the ritual array drawn in the ground with bonemeal and dried blood

"At the threshold between death and life, the line between them blur. Depression, liveliness in the last days of life, ghosts satiating their hunger, fathering children. All expressions of this cosmic hiccup" The continue on, reaching towards the skeleton hoisted up onto the throne, staring deep into they empty space of its eyes "But, to force the appearance of this boundary, between death and life, one must be able to create the gate. And when lines blur, when night becomes day and day night, the Yama can be cheated and the wheel turned back around, for one, pitiful little soul. Isn't exciting? You and I shall be the father and mother of a new age, one where the laws of life and death themselves are..."

The shadow turns and looks at you, tilting their head to the side curiously as they hold up a very familiar diary, jotting down notes in an deranged scrawl, with the profane away they've placed a living woman at the center of, surrounded by strange artifacts, holy relics and malevolent looking magic tools.

"Who....are you?" They ask, looking at you "Who reeks of death, yet burns with life? Are you the gate or merely an illusion? Are you to be my teacher or student? Somehow, I feel like, I've seen you before somewhere?"
Cont

>>6003347

And the vision fade as breath fills your lungs, and you pull yourself out the past and the river of life and of death made of the red dust of the mortal world, eyes searing as the images within the diary, the exact amounts of each component and the types of vessel treasures and conduit artifacts and tools required to perform the heathen ritual. That perverted both Daoism, Buddhism and surely a few other religions you haven't heard of. And no matter how much you rub your eyes, of which you now have two of again, you can't wipe the images from your memories and mind's eye.

For better or for worse, The forbidden Red Dust Revival (红尘复兴, Hóngchénfùxīng) is something you've now inherited and in the world of the present day, something you alone own. The ability to cheat death, exchanging one life for another, to return ghosts back to living flesh and soul. And it is exciting as it is terrifying. Mostly because, from the notes you saw in the diary and the words of its creator, you've come to realize now that the terror meeting the repugnant bastard face to face has passed, that you are both more suitable and better equipped to perform the red dust revival, as you hold both the purest expression of Life and the truest expression of death inside of your cultivation base, and with effort, surely you could blot the stars out of the sky for a few hours. Its almost like the art was intended for you to one day take as your own. But not wishing to dwell upon the creepy vision or jaunt into the past of one of the worst monsters ever produced by the world of cultivation, you rise up from the hole in the moon you've found yourself in, everything aching and hurting, the taste of blood coating your tongue, ringing in your ears, stiffness in every limb and joint, throbbing pain in all of your organs and viscera and guts beneath your ribs, prickling pain in your arm and

 Lingering curse revealed. Specter Starvation (幽灵饥饿, Yōulíngjī'è). An unearthly hunger for Living breath/ Life-force/ Living essence and souls. A curse that effects the most depraved, monstrous and vile of hungry ghosts and Jiangshi, and can be transmitted by the malevolence of powerful ghosts upon the living. If the hunger is not satiated, the afflicted will gradually waste away and take on a ghoulish countenance, mirroring the effects of starvation on a physical, mental and spiritual level

Feel a pit in your stomach, a hunger worse than starvation, that forces you to slump over and wince in agony as it gnaws and chews at you, until your gasping for air. The tides of this strange craving pass, and you're able to stand, wobbling around and cutting your tongue on your human teeth, finding that your armor had managed to repair and weave itself back together, and that Aodasheng is sitting, cross legged, in front of you, watching you with a look somewhere between guilt and fascination.
Cont

>>6003348

"You talk in your sleep, and say such interesting things, I didn't know you'd read that curious old diary, but I didn't recall reading an section detailing any ritual called the red dust revival" He says simply as you furrow your brow, wrinkle your nose, and wonder if returning to your cat body will make everything hurt less, before you remember you and him had just been in the throes of a supposedly friendly spar

"Which of us" you start before he smiles and cups his fist and bows

"You did" He humbly answers, head still bowed "And thus, I am subjugated, and it is Huanliuxue who has proven herself the master and Aodasheng the underling"

You frown, and look away, struggling to find words, conflicting emotions battling out for dominance in your heart until, all you can say is "It was a close match, and a tough fight"

"Indeed. But now, I must ask, what will you make of me? And where will you lead me?" He asks excitedly "I haven't been someone's follower in ages, you see, since I killed my first master I believe, so I'm curious if it will be to my liking, being a follower"

"What do you mean by what will I make of you?" You ask, wincing as the hunger wells back up just to remind you it is there

"Am I to be a servant. A student. A friend. An advisor. A second in command. A Guardian. An attack dog. A pet. A trophy" he lists off rapidly, eyes rolling this way and that "There are many kinds of underling and master relationships, as you as royalty are no doubt aware, though I warn you to not make me a maid. I've always been terribly unorganized and something of a slob, if I must be honest"

Well, what will you treat Aodasheng as, Huanliuxue?

>A Servant

>A friend

>A advisor

>A Second in command

>A Guardian

>An attack dog

>A pet

>A trophy

>A Maid

>A write in

Anonymous

>>6003350
>Advisor and Guardian.

You do not get to be a Second in command, Yet.
You will teach, you will learn, You will protect my Sect.
But you were a worthy foe, and I will not demean that.

>Moving on, You did leave a rather nasty curse on me, I'll need to figure out a way to siphon Life force to sustain me while we deduce how to break it. That can wait, Lets go see who wants to join my sect!

We can absorb life essence from plants, no? that may be a method.
Anyway, lets see if he can spot any talents in the show, and we can preen ourselves a little bit.

And apart from material costs. . . the sacrifice doesn't seem to be that bad for NOW. Since big sis and the snake are pretty weak.
But Ao and rooster general. . may be harder.

>>6003350
>A friend
Even now, he calls the members of his dead army his friends.
He clearly values their loyalty highly, and I think it would be wise to do the same here.
Besides, this guy fucking rules, he will make a great friend.
And partner in crime, I suspect.

It appears we are likely not going to spam the Red Dust Revival very much, maybe not at all, and definitally not enough to ressurect an entire army, but maybe just Xuebai and Yujijiao should be fine?
...is Unimportant still alive? Would he be roughly equal to Yujijiao, at least in strength? Might be worth looking into.
<s>The Ogress may just be strong enough to bring Aodasheng back to life...</s>

This curse is bad news... can we satiate it by eating the life force of lifestock or something? I hope so, cause otherwise this is going to get ugly very fast.

>>6003348
Hmmm, a curse like this... Perhaps we should go to hell to find our cure.

>>6003350
>A friend
>A Servant

The Power of friendship is unparalleled under the heavens and beyond them... Just don't forget we are also the one in charge as well.

>>6003350
>An advisor
>A friend
The harsher the submission we force him into, the sourer things will turn if Aodasheng does grow strong enough to escape us one day. He is the first cultivator of relatively equal strength Huan has triumphed over, and our relationship with him should reflect that-- out of respect for him as a fellow heretic, if nothing else. He is just a hair weaker than us, and seems like a pretty cool dude besides.

>>6003350
So we already have big sis's corpse and we could probably use her pet as the sacrifice, but I think what's left of Yujijiao's body is what the Ogress turned her corpse into (convenient since she's the last of the potential MCs we have to deal with). Curse is gonna be rough, but I could imagine we could maybe learn how to use if once we overcome it. Just need to find a suitable method of eating besides going back to how we were when we started.
>An Advisor
Knowledge is power, and Ao has more than plenty to offer us and potentially our students. For being the first person to ever challenge us on even grounds (I'm not counting the bitch gods sneak attacking us) I have respect for him.

>>6003350
>A friend
Keeping it simple. A friend can be many of those things.

>>6003426
idk, they say the life has to be the equal to yama. Would her pet be anywhere near her value?
Unless we can use our life energy as a substitute since its a wellspring, this basically requires us to kill another for it to work. It's certainly not something we can apply willy nilly.

>>6003348
Taking the ritual was a mistake.
Taking the curse was a mistake as well.

>>6003350
>A advisor

>>6003487
With this price, the ritual is significantly less useful than an additional qi root, for example. And a wound would not come with a need to eat lifeforce.

>>6003491
Knowing how to control the flow of souls, flesh and blood, and bringing people back to life is way more valuable, since it's a coalescence of all our previous understandings, and greater understanding of the Dao. That's worth way more than another spirit root for now. I can maybe agree with the lifeforce, but I'm sure Huan can come up with an ingenious way to make it work out for herself.

>>6003476
We fought a spirit of calamity, now we eat lifeforce.

CONSEQUENCES!

>>6003350
>A lover
I just think we should give it a try

>>6003491
A wound would, if my understanding of Chinese medicine is correct, impact our ability to use that element. Losing an eye means verdant Carmine mysticism is compromised, and the kidney I think influences some of our blood stuff and certainly Monu’s grudge. I slightly prefer the curse over our fighting abilities getting limited

>>6003350

> A guardian
A powerful protector
> An advisor
A wise teacher

>>6003364
Support.

My thoughts on the revival is that it isn't that bad.

Mainly the soul exchange no doubt we'll find some asshole who will try to mess with us.

And if we're gonna kill them we might as well trade a ghost for a living person. Meaning we'll need to learn some sealing arts to contain such people.

Ironically we have a living flesh soul that's still alive. Now Grandfather I'm curious about a few things. Namely, do they need to be of the same strength or is it the potential of the soul.

Cause the flesh soul had the fate of a protagonist so his worth should be about the ghost king's worth.

Can you go into a bit of detail on that? Since we'd prob exchange the ogress for Ghost King.

>>6003579
Also shouldn't have taken the curse much harder to get fid of then the other choices.

>>6003538
We have such a variety of fighting abilities that losing some of them wouldn't compromise us much. Now, on the other hand, we need to eat people. Just after we barely convinced people we aren't in fact a demon.

>>6003579
I highly doubt some slayer is anywhere near the equal of a man who the heaven themselves needed to smite.
Another way to put it is, most of the trades anons are willing to make to bring back someone else aren't trades between two equals lol.
>>6003476

This Junior will humbly take the chance to say
I TOLD YOU ALL.
no brainer decision, more like no brain decision makers baka. (I just wanted to get the other two I really wanted).

>>6003581
Curse will pay itself off tho, trust. The others aren't hard to remove, but that's why they bear no tributlation. The trial of overcoming this curse will bring with it far greater reward then any of the other decisions.
Temper our soul and steel, we shall be resolved to face the heavens.
>>6003588
If we go to hell, we can put this curse to rest in the land of demons, this junior thinks. (that or at least sate it with the lives of the unjust battlefield looters). Two birds with one Haun.

>>6003350
>>A friend
>>A advisor
You know shit, and besides forgetting that you can actually really fucking hurt people you've been pretty rad.

>>6003579
I knew the dusty trick would cost some serious shit kek. What does "equal worth" really mean though? Especially to the eyes of a buddhist? Does an enlightened man have an infinite worth? But to a daoist is there any worth other than strength? Does an old crippled master have the same value as a young learning prodigy? Is a decadent emperor worth the same as the humble peasant?

Worth is an entirely subjective concept. Meaning only what one is willing to give in recompense for. I think Yama's scales measure on some hidden metric we don't know about. A much deeper understanding of souls than Huan has. But that psychotic and vile heretic of the past most certainly knew about, he was very acquainted with souls, after all.

>>6003350
> A Qi battery and an observer (probably similar to servant)
We will bind him to our body like Lei bound the demon to his. He will probably witness us toppling the heavens. We promise to set him and his willing fellow ghosts free the latest after 90 years (three generations) or after toppling the power structures within heaven. "Free" means either of rebirth-cycled, "ghost free", or if both a child-killing exchange partner of enough potency and a body part are available: restored to life (each ghost's own wish). We will be a relatively benevolent slaver and have all ghosts drained of their grudges regularly.

He is too dangerous to operate without supervision.

>>6003588
But we can simply eat bad people, probably including bad demons! We know where to find a few. A different way would be to just squeeze a few drops out of the obscenely tough flesh-soul of Jingyu now and then. It will probably regenerate.

>>6003633
Or even simpler than that, non-magical animals as there’s nothing specifying it needs to be human. We have a base in the middle of a giant forest, hunting or rearing livestock should not be an issue.

>>6003350
>A friend

Bet he didn't have many in his past this no-life no-name nerd king.

>>6003350
> For now a guardian and advisor, in time maybe a friend as well

Our-Grandfather

Ending the vote and tallying its result now.

Advisor:8

Guardian:4

Moving on, you did leave a rather nasty curse on me...:2

A friend:8

A servant:1

A Lover?!:1

A student:1

A teacher:1

A Qi battery and an observer:1

So, you'll treat Aodasheng like an advisor and try to be his friend, and since the only votes for Guardian are as an addition to advisor, I'll treat it like a sub-vote for advisor, and include it as an extra since it has half the total for advisor as well and I'm counting this

>>6004301
as a vote for all three

Anyways

Update will arrive shortly

"An Advisor to me, a Guardian to both myself and those following me, and hopefully a friend as well, but a cat's affection has to be earned and can be rather fickle, though I would like to count you amongst my friend, Aodasheng" You answer, after pondering the question for a moment, and tapping a finger on your lips thoughtfully "Fighting you was rather fun, even if this was a lot more extreme than I expected from a friendly spar"

"Any clash between cultivators should be brutal and violent enough to make the heavens weep, has this changed in this era?" He answers, after nodding along to show he agreed to the terms you set "And I will try my best to serve you well in all three roles, giving good, wise council, guarding you from all who'd bare their teeth in your direction, and doing my damndest to earn the privledge of your friendship, Huanliuxue. I owe as much to you who is both my savior and the only one to best me in battle besides my honorable rival, even if our battle was far closer than my last encounter with the farm boy. But besides that, I'm fond of those with well placed pride in themselves and the fearless fools of the world as well, Hah!"

"Closest fight I've ever been in, I'm much too cautious to join battles I think I have a chance of losing if there's no other choice" You answer with a chuckle, as you take off your helmet and move you jaw, stretching it to work out the kinks and aches in its muscles, hearing it click as a foul taste fills your mouth and you spit out a glob of decay that you didn't vomit up earlier, head ringing. Taking a stumbling step forward, clutching your head and feeling close to vomitting, you find yourself in Aodasheng arms as he looks at you with honest concern for your well being

"Master!" He cries out, wincing like the word pains him to say and you can imagine why, there is only one person in the world you were willing to call the master...er, well two, if old five colors started treating you like his disciple, you aren't vain enough to argue with the one god you can tolerate.

"That word sounds like filth in your mouth" You chuckle woozily, ears ringing loud and head spinning as a pang of hunger worsens both already terrible feelings, mixing with the nausea, which must be an after affect of the quick treatment you gave your brain and the rest of your head after the man now fretting over you planted a curse in their that rapidly started turning all of it to rot. A sure kill move that only failed because it was used against you, though this latest pang of hunger made you realize it feels different from normal hunger, and a creeping worry that the two are connected is all but confirmed when Aodasheng looks over you carefully, looking shocked and then guilty as he hovers a hand over your temple and waves it over your body, glowering as he does so.

"Of all the curses I uttered against you in our bout, that is the one to break through your immense imperial aura?" He says with a bitter laugh.

Cont

>>6004538

"Is that the reason I feel like I haven't eaten for half a year and you're looking tastier than rotting human corpses usually look?" You ask bluntly, now somewhat regretting adding friend to his job alongside your personal advisor and guardian "Also I thought you only managed to place a single curse on me"

"I can speak them silently, only the strongest require me to speak them verbally" He says, sticking out his tongue and lifting up his palm to show another mouth formed on it, revealing exactly how he was casting so many curses at once, something you would've been curious about if you weren't all but fighting for you life against the lunatic "When the first broke through your spiritual defenses, I just began listing them off to see which could penetrate your soul's armor and dignity. I thought most of them bounced off or were absorbed by your meridians, it really is peculiar this one resisted long enough to settle...truly peculiar"

"You're a real bastard of a calamity, you realize" You growl, waving your hand as the fainting spell passes and you feel well enough to stand "Do you have any idea why it endured and reached me when the others didn't"

"Yes, I do. I'm not a good man, but I do feel bad that I did harm to you that I didn't mean and left a scar that didn't heal in a friendly spar, I must've gotten sloppy or lost myself in the thrill of the fight" He says with a shrug and roll of his shoulders, his soft eyes sharpening like a falcon's as he strokes his beard, solar winds whistling through the hole in his chest where his heart used to be and he reaches out and taps your head "One of the places it targets is your brain, the other is your stomach"

You brush his hand away in annoyance

"Both of which you injured in our vicious beatdown of each other" You mutter, pouting angrily "Well, at least its just a curse, I can probably find a way to "Digest" it quickly, losing an eye or my left arm would've been...

"Ah, funny you say that" He says, with a nervous laugh, scratching the back of his head as he turns away "The curse is specter starvation, have you heard of it? Surely you have considering you practice ghostly cultivation..."

"Dogfucker!" You shout, slapping him hard in the cheek. And unlike most would be, his head whips to the side instead of all of him being sent flying

"I deserved that" He says, rubbing his darkening cheek, a drip of black, rotten blood dribbling out of his nose
Cont

>>6004539

"Of course I know about it, its one reason the weaklings of this era don't use ghost's breath to cultivate and keep far away from the Qi produced by corpses!" You shout, stomping a foot and pulling your hand back to smack him again, but stop when he leans in and turns his unslapped cheek to be struck, since that makes it feel weird and uncomfortable, so instead you huff and turn away, grinding your teeth "They fear spiritual sicknesses, not realizing that what they dread are actually curses and absorbing the spiritual energy of ghosts is completely safe, so long as you do it slowly at first and give your body time to adapt"

"So you understand why it is kind of funny?" He titters, still leaning down, making himself exactly as tall as you are.

"Yes...If it happened to someone else!" You shout, stomping your foot in frustration, mostly to ignore the growing pit in your stomach, bored by both mounting dread and deepening hunger "I just convinced the other sects of the Chuan kingdom I wasn't a demon, and to look past the people I ate when I was younger! Do you know how difficult that was! they tied me up in an immortal binding rope, and one drooling inbred shit eater groped my ass when I was restrained"

"Should've just killed them" Aodasheng says bluntly, acting as an advisor "And I'm surprised there are still ropes strong enough to bind you"

"I needed to act the part of the tearful, helpless and stunningly beautiful girl, to make them see me as another human rather than a rampaging monster" You answer quickly "And I very nearly killed that piece of shit, but his suffering needed to be greater"

"Ah torture!" He cheerfully replies "Good choice, death is too god for ani...filth like him"

"I wouldn't have taken offense, he was lower than even shit eating maggots" You grumble, shaking your head, now angrier at remembering the dishonor and shame you swallowed to just to speak cordially with your fellow daoists "So you can understand why I don't find the humor in ME being cursed with a hunger for the living essence of souls"

"Cats are said to steal breath in some parts of the world" Aodasheng chimes, as if you'd somehow change your mind if he explained the "joke" from another anger and you think about taking back your word of trying to be friends with him but think better of it, since that does make it funnier until it makes you more pissed off.

"I know. But my reputation will be ruined if they find out I've been eating souls or draining people of their life force to keep myself alive. Sure" You continue, walking with Aodasheng across the lunar surface, changing forms since most of your aches in your human body have been worked out, but the different arrangement of muscles and ligaments in your feline body will mean it is still probably stiff and sore "Being hexed with a curse with no known cure or counter could make them pity me, but I don't want or need that"
Cont

"Could be a valuable tool, make them underestimate you or more willing to overlook behavior their dogma would find unacceptable" He says quietly, getting somewhat distracted by the alien landscape around him, looking around like a spoiled noble gawking at the rice paddies and farms of the poor "Sympathy would keep them from returning to their old beliefs about you"

"But giving into the hunger WILL make them slip back to their old view of me and ALL other ascended beasts, something I cannot allow to happen as their rightful ruler and guardian" You snap back, mid lick of one of your paws "So WE need to find a cure, if we want to become and stay friends'

Aodasheng looks amused

"Ah, I just recalled, you did mention it was without treatment, I thought that was odd. In my time the cure was well known" He says blithely and cheerfully "So this should calm your ire somewhat, Lady Huan. Just consume the lifeforce of a dragon, or something or someone with equally refined Qi or profound spiritual power. And the curse will be satiated"

"I'm friends with a little dragon, I don't want to eat her relatives souls" You say without really thinking, more astonished that the solution was just handed to you, you were willing and almost a little excited to have to turn over heaven and earth to find a way to tame this roiling hunger in your belly "Especially since I ate someone who ate their flesh, and their meat was disgusting"

"Human or Magical beast?" Aodasheng asks, completely overlooking the fact you told him you were close with a dragon, since apparently your diet is more interesting to the former ghost king

"Awakened toad. I ate him on principle, I despise those who hate children" You answer, caught off guard by what your new advisor and body guard finds interest in

"Hm, might've been bodily poison then. But even if I don't think it will be too difficult for you to cure yourself without betraying your own morality and self chosen virtues and personal ideals, this is still my fault. Unarguably so. So I will strive to make up for this folly of mine" He says with a serene smile as he kneels down and picks up a moon rock "Say, do you think we'd find rabbits if we searched hard enough up here"

"Dunno, didn't see any on my first trip here, saw one in heaven" You say and jump as a sudden noise nearly makes you leap out of your fur. Aodasheng had crushed the rock in his hand

"So that's how you reached the stars! How audacious! Now I hope our new found friendship works out despite these early obstacles in front of it!" He exclaims, before his expression darkens and his eyes becoming glooming "Both the curse I placed on you and the fate of my old comrades and friends"

"I was wondering when you'd bring them up" You sigh, hanging your head before flopping down on your side as Aodasheng sits down in front of you, so as not to stand above you, though you snap at his hands when he starts idly sprinkling moondust on your fur, seemingly just to entertain himself.

Cont

>>6004545

"I will accept your answer, whatever it is, though what you say may hurt my feelings, or even break my heart" he says seriously, a somber twinge to his words "I will be your loyal advisor and guardian no matter what, but I do not know if I could easily be your friend if you refuse them their deserved, eternal repose. At least, concerning this incarnation of them. but their next lives would be free of both our wild ambitions, Huanliuxue, unless fate decides otherwise"

 Double Vote~!

What do decide to do with the ghosts Aodasheng's old friends

>Allow him to free them and allow them all to reincarnate and return to the cycle of life and death, even if it will deprive you of your prime cultivation site [Extreme good karma]

>Tell him they will decide for themselves, individually, those that wish to suffer to serve him and you will be allowed to do so [Good Karma]

>"They can be given another chance at life, we just need to perform the red dust revival with villains as the fodder, Heh-Heh"

>Tell him on no uncertain terms, they will remain in your ghost courtyard until you have no more use of them [Bad karma]

>Write in

And what is the first job you'll give him, Huanliuxue?

>To follow you back to earth, and guard you as you check on Monu, Siwang and Feiqing's preparations for the Tournament at the garden of the wild empress

>To put on a grand and public display of being subjugated by you, to raise your reputation and intimidate any fools in Chuan who think they can get in your way still.

>To investigate the beast stampede that's been going on and find it sources.

>To hunt for some moon rabbits with you [Perception+Luck trial. DC variable]

>Write in

Anonymous

>>6004548
>Tell him they will decide for themselves, individually, those that wish to suffer to serve him and you will be allowed to do so [Good Karma]
>To hunt for some moon rabbits with you [Perception+Luck trial. DC variable]
I just want them as pets, I swear.

>>6004548
>Tell him they will decide for themselves, individually, those that wish to suffer to serve him and you will be allowed to do so [Good Karma]

>"They can be given another chance at life, we just need to perform the red dust revival with villains as the fodder, Heh-Heh"
The red dust option only for Xiongji though.

>To hunt for some moon rabbits with you [Perception+Luck trial. DC variable]

>>6004548
>"They can be given another chance at life, we just need to perform the red dust revival with villains as the fodder, Heh-Heh"

>To put on a grand and public display of being subjugated by you, to raise your reputation and intimidate any fools in Chuan who think they can get in your way still.

>>6004548
>Tell him they will decide for themselves, individually, those that wish to suffer to serve him and you will be allowed to do so [Good Karma]
>To hunt for some moon rabbits with you [Perception+Luck trial. DC variable]

>>6004548
>Tell him they will decide for themselves, individually, those that wish to suffer to serve him and you will be allowed to do so [Good Karma]
Frankly, part of me wants to just agree, its hard to do otherwise when faced with a sincere request like this... but damnit all I still want that heaven invasion force of vengeful ghosts.
This is a decent compromise, and one I hope he will be happy with.
>To hunt for some moon rabbits with you [Perception+Luck trial. DC variable]
...well now Im curious too.

>>6004548
>Tell him they will decide for themselves, individually, those that wish to suffer to serve him and you will be allowed to do so [Good Karma]
Willing servants are more trustworthy and easier to control after all
>To hunt for some moon rabbits with you [Perception+Luck trial. DC variable]

>>6004548
>Decide for themselves. [Good karma]
>Some may earn new life again with Red dust revival.

>Hunt moon rabbits.
>Put on a grand display.
We have already made things very clear in the sky. Now lets make it ABUNDANTLY CLEAR that we are in charge.
Then
>Investigate the beast stampede, when he has recovered. Reclaim what newly awakened beasts you can.

Yes, Do all of the things.

>>6004548
>Allow him to free them and allow them all to reincarnate and return to the cycle of life and death, even if it will deprive you of your prime cultivation site [Extreme good karma]
Honestly I think it's high time we found a new location anyway. Maybe build a temple on the moon, or among the stars.

>To investigate the beast stampede that's been going on and find it sources.
Someone should probably track that down.
>To hunt for some moon rabbits with you [Perception+Luck trial. DC variable]
I mean, how could we not?

>>6004548
>"They can be given another chance at life, we just need to perform the red dust revival with villains as the fodder, Heh-Heh"
>To hunt for some moon rabbits with you [Perception+Luck trial. DC variable]

>>6004548
>>"They can be given another chance at life, we just need to perform the red dust revival with villains as the fodder, Heh-Heh"
>>To put on a grand and public display of being subjugated by you, to raise your reputation and intimidate any fools in Chuan who think they can get in your way still.

>>6004562
I think the ghost deer-centaur girl might be nice to give a second shot, too. Just so Aody has a toady of his own like Xiongji. But He'd definitely tell her to pass on and she almost certainly would if he ordered it.

>>6004548
>Tell him they will decide for themselves, individually, those that wish to suffer to serve him and you will be allowed to do so [Good Karma]

>To investigate the beast stampede that's been going on and find it sources.

>>6004635
Now that we finally have the full mountain under control until the gates of hell you want to jump ship? A multi-layered dungeon of spooky ghosts and bizzare monsters is as fitting a lair as it gets and we haven't really begun delving into Aoda's library. Which is not to say we shouldn't also build a base on the moon, however this should be reserved as a retreat for our most advanced students since all others will die.

>>6004981

Sure, it's no fun once it's been conquered! Onward!

>>6004548
Okay so I'm guessing Ao fought, killed, and ate a dragon for his transformation abilities? Also never had to think if all dragons count as magical beasts or if they also fall into the "only a select few have the potential to cultivate".

>Tell him they will decide for themselves, individually, those that wish to suffer to serve him and you will be allowed to do so [Good Karma]
>To hunt for some moon rabbits with you [Perception+Luck trial. DC variable]
Now I'm curious, if we roll badly we are never going hunting with him again

>>6004548
>>Tell him they will decide for themselves, individually, those that wish to suffer to serve him and you will be allowed to do so [Good Karma]

>To hunt for some moon rabbits with you [Perception+Luck trial. DC variable]

>Write-in
>Will a drop of god blood work?

Wait guys I figured out how to cure the curse. A drop of god blood. Ha. HAHAHAHAHHA.

>>6005398
Would a single drop really be enough though?

>>6005404
I believe so as this is a cultivator whose ascended mortality. A single drop could be used as a blood cultivation chamber and sanguine blood peach tree.

Maybe, need some confirmation from Grandfather.

Huan couldn't do anything to the guard and almost lost her life. Only escaped by gaslighting the guy mentally.

This means he's way more powerful and the god that guards the great fat god. So the amount of life energy in a drop of blood should be frankly ridiculous. Might even have to dilute it to not explode from taking so much energy in.

But this is Grandfather's world so need some confirmation.

>>6005398
Honestly that would be so fucking funny.

>"We need to find you life essence of extraordinary quality, the search will likely be arduo-"
>"Got some."
>"Ah, you, h'wat?"
>"God blood."
>"HUH?"

>>6004548
>>Tell him they will decide for themselves, individually, those that wish to suffer to serve him and you will be allowed to do so [Good Karma]
>To follow you back to earth, and guard you as you check on Monu, Siwang and Feiqing's preparations for the Tournament at the garden of the wild empress

>>6005398
Nooo! This blood is too valuable. All the time Anons vote against growing stronger, which probably now contributed to this injury and curse. We shouln't block our cultication any further or our next injury will be even worse. A cultivation quest without actual cultivation means doing it wrong. We should go along with the curse and enjoy the grudges coming along with it at least for the time being. One drop to boost our Carmine Mysticism, one drop for our Qi cultivation and one drop for our followers so that they arent helpless again when we are unavailable.

>>6005438
How is one of them going to help our students? Only thing I can think of it trying to make a bloody fountain.

we got god blood to fix this curse so I say we use it

>>6005398
Grand Father I also want to see if God Blood would work.

>>6005730
No shit it would work, but fuck no!
Do you comperehend A, how hard it is to digest without getting ANOTHER injury [180 dc] and B, how much else we can use it for. Just eat a Ling golden core.

>>6005760
I feel like this is something we might even find on the market in the yellow springs.

>>6005760
We are quite literally masters of blood and flesh.
and a Ling Golden Core is just cultivator flesh. I don't see it curing us. Only satiating our hunger. Something as "pure" and "clean" as god blood? Surely it has a better chance of helping us. If we really wanted a solution, the Yellow Springs would have a closer answer.
Also was digesting the god blood 180 DC? I don't remember seeing that.

>>6005760
We do not even know that it would be a "severe and lasting injury" like with the last choice we had to make. Grandfather seemed to indicate that it would be more temporary than that. We should use the god blood for our Qi and physical cultivation and (this is an OOC argument) not let this wonderful chance to roleplay a conflicted character go to waste.

Maybe there are really some people that totally deserve getting eaten? Maybe some others deserve just getting eaten a bit? Maybe some have an unnecessary appendix? This curse is similar to the Carmine Mystics, maybe there are even some insights to be gained by looking at things from their perspective for once? We shouldn't curse this curse yet! The only extremely good reason for us to worry would be if we felt like a threat towards children or similar innocents.

Same poster as >>6005438 and also the one who made the write-in to pick up the divine blood back in the heavens.
>>6005441
Qiang is practicing a blood aligned law. But my tendency would also be more along a blood fountain or pushing the growth of a blood tree or something similar.

>>6005800
It says "a dragons soul, OR something or someone with as refined qi or spiritual power"

I think they are equal to a dragon, given it is said any dragon would work.
Yes, it is that high. You can check just before icy bastard attacks, I vored to eat it and grandfather replied with "due to cultivation levels, its gonna require about 180 dc" and stated failure would injure us. Because it is gods blood.

>>6005815
See above.
So no, Qiang, in fact nobody can have aome blood to eat. Its too dangerous currently.

Anyway, I'm fine with a much less expensive, much less eyewatering price to fox the problem.
Needs to be soon too. We already hungry.

A shopping trip to the Yellow springs with Aodasheng seems cool but I worry his presence may get King Yama to send a representative to collect his soul directly and I don't want to run afoul of the underworld just yet.

>>6005844
We don't need to bring him with us, we can just grab a few of our other disciples like Qiang and ded snake or go it alone.

Our-Grandfather

Ending the vote and tallying its result now, loving all the discussion being had, and yes, the god blood would cure the curse

Tell him they will decide for themselves, individually, those that wish to suffer to serve him and you will be allowed to do so:10

"They can be given another chance at life, we just need to perform the red dust revival with villains as the fodder, Heh-Heh":5

Allow him to free them and allow them all to reincarnate and return to the cycle of life and death, even if it will deprive you of your prime cultivation site [Extreme good karma]:1
___

To hunt for some moon rabbits with you:10

To put on a grand and public display of being subjugated by you, to raise your reputation and intimidate any fools in Chuan who think they can get in your way still:3

To investigate the beast stampede that's been going on and find it sources.:3

Will a drop of god's blood work?:2

To follow you back to earth, and guard you as you check on Monu, Siwang and Feiqing's preparations for the Tournament at the garden of the wild empress:1

So you'll tell Aodasheng his old friends will make the choice for themselves (Brining Huan's total good karma actions/ points to 11 I think) and decide that his first "Order" will be to hunt for moon rabbits with you. How whimsical.

Update will arrive shortly

"Your soldiers and old friends will decide for themselves if they want a mercy killing or if they wish to persist to suffer in your service or sever their destiny from your own" You answer with true imperial authority, though the commanding voice you use does soften with gentleness the longer you speak "I'm sure many of them will pass on if you order them to, but I believe you yourself said something about true loyalty, the kind that goes beyond death, is a treasure that cannot be found only made?"

"I...I can find new followers but, I can accept this. I can more than accept this, I can appreciate it, well and truly. Perhaps they've come to enjoy being dead more than they loved being alive. I've not spoken to most of them since I've been entombed, not even through a thick stone wall" Aodasheng says after letting out a great, big sigh of relief that sounded like a gale wind blowing through mountains and rushing over valleys, with tears shimmering in his eyes in the moonlight as his smile becomes heartfelt and so warm you can feel its gratitude even in the cold nothing of space "This is perhaps, the best choice. Though, they will make their choice in their right minds"

"Of course, I'll drain their excess deathly and ghostly yin qi, clear their minds, then you can present them with the choice of a peaceful grave or an exciting, er, life" You say with a cheerful cackle "See, no hurt feelings or broken heart. An empress need not be cruel"

"But they must be proud, for how else will the commoners know they are in the presence of one so regal" He nearly shouts back, in spirits higher than the heavens or hapinesses almost as vast as them "To think, after so long, I would be freed and my followers and friends would be released from the fate they were rewarded with for being loyal and true. Damn the heavens, want to go leap down into them and cause some havoc? You must know how to enter it and escape if you've reached these stars once before on your own power, hm?"

"I do" You mutter, grimacing and repressing a shudder, partially from the lingering fear and tension still left over from that close escape and partially born from the hunger still gnawing a hole in your stomach "But I only got out with my head attached because I fooled them with the bit of faith I've been given by those who had enough good sense to call me a divine guardian spirit. Even just reaching the gates nearly killed me. Had my arms cut off, and the five wise immortal sages themselves showed up to chase after me and try to grab my tail!"

"Hah! That just proves you had wits enough to fool deities and make them scramble to catch you" He praises easily as breathing, shrugging his shoulders "And those skittish star shepherdess ran at the first sight of us, we could..."
Cont

>>6006042

"They're probably crying to their big, scary fathers that the terrible beast Huanliuxue and the devil lord of two centuries past have teamed up and formed a gang together" You mutter ruefully, and maybe a little bit paranoidly "Ao, We should keep our heads down and not stick our necks out for mountain tossing deities to wring them"

"I think it'd be fun, Lady Huan. Brushes with death are always exhilarating, and are great sources of insights and inspirations. As you've just proven with that white black transformation of yours" He says blithely, hopping to his feet and looking around, taking in all of the lunar landscapes. His willow leaf eyes sharpened as he searches for something. Something that is probably lunar hares.

"Hunting for rabbits would also be fun" You chirp as you float up and stretch out all four of your legs and your back, yawning as Aodasheng's grins like a monkey at hearing that "And much safer than rampaging through the nine heavens. Not sure why your idea of fun seems so, suicidal"

"Being dead makes it easy to not fear one's demise. Its already happened once before" He answers, cracking his neck as he turns completely into a spectral dragon "Though if we see those star shepherds..."

"We can give em another fright" You titter, nodding as you touch your feet back down to the moon and start sprinting, looking for moon born rabbits

 roll 2d100. Best out of five. DC variable

Anonymous

Rolled 67, 8 = 75 (2d100)

>>6006044
LO, A RABBIT ON THE DUSTY PLAINS!

Rolled 8, 14 = 22 (2d100)

>>6006044
Hare hare come out come out wherever you are...

Isn't the "average" result on a 2d100 somewhere between 90-110? Jesus. The dice have been absolutely hating us lately.

>>6006044
Man we are not hunting wabbits

Our-Grandfather

>>6006061
111

A successful hunt for the mystical lunar hare! A jade rabbit has been caught!

Update will arrive shortly

Anonymous

>>6006063
Clearly Aodasheng forgot to turn off his aura of misfortune and we are suffering as a result.

>>6006044
Damn it Ao, this is what got a mountain dropped on you the first time.

Our-Grandfather

And for awhile, the two of you just run across the moon, bound and floating over craters and kicking up and leaving behind clouds of moon dust with your worries of any gods dropping from the sky to make trouble or the curse afflicting you, laughing and caterwauling happily as Aodasheng's voice booms in the void with thrilled laughter and unearthly wails and roars as he coils through the air in flight, stretching out his talons and whipping his tail as he soars above you. And with how carefree he's flying, you can't help but wonder if he's forgotten that the two of you are supposed to be looking for a jade rabbit to hunt down and capture.

And once the fun of running wild and freely and the pleasant burn of excersize begin to dull and fade away, and the worry that there might not be any rabbits to be found, you spot a sign of them. Footprints that are far too small to be yours or the ghostly dragon fly overhead. Sliding to a stop, you inspect the tracks. And Aodasheng descends, changing shape back to a man with a hole in his chest as he kneels down besides the tracks and runs his hand over them.

"A rabbit's" He says, like you need to be told, you'd recognize a rabbit's tracks even with your eyes closed and nose stuffed "And fresh to, judging by the definition of their shape"

"No time to waste then" You say, and begin sprinting after the tracks, and only know Aodasheng is following you by his distinct and kind of creepy laugh as he leaps and soars behind you, each time he lands shaking the surface of the moon and sending ripples of moondust into the air, crashing through the airless space like great, ship swallowing waves. Which doesn't make it any easier for you to sneak up on the moon rabbit that made this track.

Panting, you reach a cliff side, that Aodasheng leaps over and off, kicking his legs as he vanishes from view as you saunter over the edge and look over it, and your eyes bulge as you see in the empty valley below, some spots of moondust that are moving. The camouflage of moon rabbits is so effective, it nearly tricked your feline senses, but due to Aodasheng flying off the cliff with a wail that could've put a chill down the spine of even the most firm and willful of exorcists, they were frightened into hopping around and into fleeing for their burrows wherever they may be.

'Of course there'd be rabbits on the moon' you smugly mock the part of yourself that had lost confidence you'd find your quarry, that had even start to question if the moon was where you found moon rabbits with how long you and Aodasheng had been searching for even one.

But knowing every second spent gloating was a second of distance further the rabbits ran, you didn't think too much about this discovery and instead leapt after aodasheng, increasing your speed with the blood torrent rush and using it with the phantom cat step to perform the blood red lightning cat step.
Cont

>>6006097

And then, as you zoom across the lunar plain, you realize that you have nothing to catch a rabbit with besides your fangs and claws. And you don't like the odds of a rabbit surviving either, even if they are special moon rabbits. So taking into account your current pace and the variables that you might run into by doing what you're about to do, you change into a human girl, leaping into the air to keep from stumbling, pulling your legs to your chest and rolling as you launch yourself ahead of the hare you'd been chasing.

Landing on your fleet, you stretch forward and fall to your hands and knees and shoot your hand out to grab the bouncing bunny by its ears.

'It looks just like I imagined Piao Tùzi to look' You think cheerfully as it hops, trying to change direction or leap over your head, but you grab its ears and find it to be nearly weightless, its coat an exact match for the lunar soil, except for a few dots and patches of lighter whites and darker greys across its fur, that give it the appearance of having craters.

It stares at you, with silent and majestic composure, showing now signs of the fear you can smell roiling from it. Its black nose twitches as you hold it up, smiling very smugly, covered in moon dust as you look it from tail to ears. Which are what marks it as separate from ordinary rabbits. Its ears are longer, and you wonder if that is a trait all cosmic beasts share, since your ears also grew a bit when you adopted a cosmic nature, and its tail is fluffier than the cotton balls most rabbits have, and larger.

"Heh-Heh" you sneer, smiling as the rabbit tilts its head, and a change in the pressure of the surrounding emptiness tells you to duck. And a moment later, a buck rabbit flies over your head, legs aimed for your face as it flies. Whistling, impressed by the boldness of the creature, you turn to face it, seeing the fiesty beast has a scar across its eye and front right paw and, its flopped on its side

"Caught ya, little bastard" Aodasheng snickers, gliding up to it as you realize he nearly crushed the poor thing with his deadly present, only relenting when he's grabbed it by its ears "Seems we've caught a breeding pair, Lady Huan"

"That was cruel" You reprimand, pouting as you hug the doe to your chest, cooing and patting her as she trembles in fright.

"It was effective" he corrects with a wag of his finger as the buck glares murderously at him, kicking its hind legs and trying to sink its buck teeth into the palm of his hand "Hope Chang'e doesn't mind us stealing two of her helpers"

"Now you're cautious?!" You try not to shout so as not to frighten the doe jade rabbit

 Two jade rabbits have been captured. Sadly, the divine beasts were carrying not elixir of life. 1 doe, 1 buck, a breeding pair!

Cont

>>6006098

With the success of the moon rabbit hunt, what do you do now, Huanliuxue?

>Name the doe, and allow Aodasheng to name the buck, since he caught it (Can be taken with other choices)

>Tell Aodasheng about the strangeness of your first visit to the moon, and ask him what it could mean

>Transport yourself and Aodasheng back to the mortal world, and let him begin sorting through his army, and declare your triumph against him and complete control of the cursed mountain to the world!

>Keep your subjugation of the ghost king a secret for now, and see how much supplying the new temple and its tournament has cost Siwang and Monu.

>Tell Aodasheng to watch for any gods or unidentified flying objects while you meditate on the moon, to deepen your connection to & understanding of it or to see if you couldn't attain a second cosmic evolution [Choose which you focus on, will determine the trial type and DC]

>Write in

Anonymous

>>6006103
>Name the Doe.
You are now called Piao Tzui. Do not resist. You will be adored, the world over, second only to us.

>Keep the subjagation of the ghost king a secret for now.
We gotta get back, we have a sect to build and a tourinment to go. Ao is also a new trump card.

>Send Ao to investigate the beast stampede, after sorting his army.

>>6006103
>>Transport yourself and Aodasheng back to the mortal world, and let him begin sorting through his army, and declare your triumph against him and complete control of the cursed mountain to the world!

>Name the doe, and allow Aodasheng to name the buck, since he caught it (Can be taken with other choices)
>Moon Step
月步
Yuè bù

>>6006103
>Name the doe,
鈴仙 (Líng Xiān), the only proper name for a pet female lunar rabbit.

>Tell Aodasheng to watch for any gods or unidentified flying objects while you meditate on the moon, to deepen your connection to & understanding of it or to see if you couldn't attain a second cosmic evolution [Choose which you focus on, will determine the trial type and DC]

>>6006103
>Name the doe, and allow Aodasheng to name the buck, since he caught it (Can be taken with other choices)

>Tell Aodasheng about the strangeness of your first visit to the moon, and ask him what it could mean.

>>6006103
>Name the doe, and allow Aodasheng to name the buck, since he caught it (Can be taken with other choices)
We could name them after the Hare and Hunting Hound...

> Go find out what sort of treasures were found in our new domain!

>>6006103
Supporting >>6006138. Of the two options, I'd rather lean towards deepening our connection than trying for another evolution.

>>6006103
>Tell Aodasheng to watch for any gods or unidentified flying objects while you meditate on the moon, to deepen your connection to & understanding of it or to see if you couldn't attain a second cosmic evolution [Choose which you focus on, will determine the trial type and DC]
UNITED
STATES
OF
HAUN!!!!!!

>>6006103
>Tell Aodasheng about the strangeness of your first visit to the moon, and ask him what it could mean

>>6006138
Ling is bad.

>>6006311
It would be nice to get sun killer. But I think those paths are mutually exclusive. We are two evolutions down, 9 is the theorised max.

Evolving as a princess into an empress should occupy 2 more levels. Blood moon deepening could be cool too.

My fellow disciples, please support Huan in the queen tournament if you haven't yet: >>5997910

>>6006127
Supporting, but with the name from >>6006138 because <s>We love a cheeky Touhou reference</s>

>>6006654
>Ling is bad.
Correction, there is one good Ling.

>>6006666
He was adopted and YOU KNOW IT!

>>6006103
>Name the Doe Piao Tzui
>Keep your subjugation of the ghost king a secret for now, and see how much supplying the new temple and its tournament has cost Siwang and Monu.
>>6006654
I don't like the princess/empress evolution that much. They are relatively generic and have no mystic feel to them. Imagine meeting a low level cultivator with dubious spiritual roots that has the same evolution you're trying to be proud of.

I liked the undeath-themed ones that we didn't take before deciding to go to space through heaven. I'm almost sure we could have combined the Lich-themed and the Ghoul-themed evolutions in a similar way we combined Ghost- and Blood-Qi in our Dao. On the other hand, our latest evolution was extremely cool! We might consider visiting other obscure places in order to find even weirder things or consider a spiritual evolution.
>>6006666
....
6 0 0 6 6 6 6
In some quests, quads give something extra, is it like that here?

>>6006691
>Imagine meeting a low level cultivator with dubious spiritual roots that has the same evolution you're trying to be proud of.
Should we not acknowledge Ali's boxing prowess just because there are others who have a similar style? Should we look down upon a daoist who has placed all of his focus onto martial arts and physically enhancing cultivation just because he can only kick-punch good? Should we revere a crazy old man in the woods because he does something no one else has done, which is throwing hot bear piss as a weapon? Nay says I, sir. My hyperbolic argument full of nonsense and melodrama stands against you. Huan is a cat, and she should be the BEST CAT that has or ever will CAT.

>>6006691
Anyone with three evolutions is at lwast golden core. Which is a thing of difficulty, despite us effortlessly outpacing it.

Our-Grandfather

Ending and tallying the vote now. Meant to do so yesterday, but some cursed scriptures enchanted me with their stories.

Name the doe, and allow Aodasheng to name the buck, since he caught it :8
-Piao Tuzi:3
-Yue Bu:1
-Ling Xian:3

Keep the subjugation of the ghost king a secret for now:3
-and see how much supplying the new temple and its tournament has cost Siwang and Monu.:1
-Send Ao to investigate the beast stampede, after sorting his army.:2

Transport yourself and Aodasheng back to the mortal world, and let him begin sorting through his army, and declare your triumph against him and complete control of the cursed mountain to the world!:1

Tell Aodasheng to watch for any gods or unidentified flying objects while you meditate on the moon, to deepen your connection to & understanding of it or to see if you couldn't attain a second cosmic evolution:3

Go find out what sort of treasures were found in our new domain!:1

Tell Aodasheng about the strangeness of your first visit to the moon, and ask him what it could mean.:2

So You will decide between the names Piao Tuzi and Ling Xian for the doe, decide that you'll initially keep your subjugation of Aodasheng a secret (AKA you aren't immediately announcing it the moment right after you've woken up after the fight), since keeping it under wraps or revealing it later for dramatic effect could both be beneficial.

And you'll tell the ghost to keep watch for any gods or unidentified flying objects while you meditate on the moon, to deepen your connection to and understanding with it, or see if you couldn't evolve your cosmic nature further.

Update will arrive shortly

>>6006655
She's progressed past her first round, that's made me as happy as if a meat pie has fallen onto my lap from the heavens!

"I might be somewhat reckless, but I know better than to purposefully earn the ire of a figure from myth, though curiously, the moon looks little like the old stories said it would be, and while there is no air up here, I can almost pick the aroma of freshly spilt blood in the substance that is not air" He explains with a sneering smile as he lifts up the moon rabbit he nearly pressed and crushed into paste with the sheer intensity and weight of his ghostly aura, examining the buck closely, before flicking his eyes towards you, his smile losing its harsh and cruel qualities, replacing them with a fondness that reaches his eyes and turns them almost gentle. But their red and black tint makes it impossible for them to not look at least a little diabolic when they're placed on a human face.

"I presume that look of extreme concentration is because you're pondering what to name your new pet, rather than why the moon is the way it is, as you've clearly have left your mark here already" He says with a chuckle, that you more hear in your head since sound doesn't really travel through the void of space without air for it to travel across

"I'm stuck between two names. Piao Tuzi and Ling Xian" You say with a nod, as you pet the top of the doe's head gently, delicately pressing down her springy ears as she wiggles her nose and chews on a stray thread of spider demon silk with gusto, like it was a freshly cut blade of grass "But that isn't what is making me this face"

That is somewhat a lie, as you are thinking really hard about what to name her. the Piao Tuzi in Hare and Hunting Hound is named like that, because Xie Songer isn't as creative as he likes to think he is, and while the name would also fit this Doe, you like to think you have a better naming sense than the fictional beast hunter, even if the name would be cute. Though naming her that would give you another reason to brag about being a surprisingly popular author, considering how many bookstores you've seen Hare and Hunting Hound being sold in.

Ling Xian, is your second choice. Little Bell Immortal. And even if it is pronounced the same as the clan that produced that war-mongering bastars who slaughtered innocent children for the sake of his vanity and ego and that sword-Maniac who at least has been killing people you don't care for or who want to see you dead lately, it is spelled with a different character, meaning little bell rather than tomb and while you don't know if Jade Rabbits can become Magical Beasts, you'd like to see if the Doe could become one, or at least make people think she could be, just to spit in the eyes of the heavens below

Sighing, you shake your head and adjust how you're holding the still nameless Doe. And speaking of what others might think and how you can use it to your advantage or change their views entirely, it might be advantageous to keep your conquering of Aodasheng a secret. At least for a while.

Cont

>>6007898

If no one knows he's connected to you, you can use him to do unpleasant and unseemly work without it affecting your reputation or the standing of your sect. You could even fake his defeat to earn the favor of one sect or another, or use his presence as a tool to make them more willing to work together with heretic like yourself or Kowtow to you. And even if you don't prop him up as a menacing villain or use him to say, kill a few cheeky sand sages without dirtying your own hands, revealing his defeat and subordinance to you at more dramatic moment, could be more beneficial than declaring it the second you return to the mortal realm.

'Though its not like I can keep him a secret for long, there are a lot of ghosts wandering Chuan, and they're as like to gossip as their living counterparts' you tell yourself as you sigh, and lift up the doe, as Aodasheng curses, as the buck wakes up and bites into his hand

"Ao, leave the buck with me, and fly up and keep watch for any passing gods or unidentified flying objects. You might as well think about what you're going to name the feisty boy while you're up there" You say with a pleasant smile, as you tuck the docile doe under your arm, she only squirms and tries to kick her way free for a few seconds before she goes limp, accepting whatever fate you have in store for her "I'm going to meditated for awhile, maybe only as long as it takes to eat a meal"

And that's when you realize you're drooling from hunger, as some of it dribbles down your chin and wets the moondust at your feet. Wiping your mouth, your stomach growls and you stomp away in a huff, hoping the ghost didn't see you drooling, you might just drop dead from embarrassment if he did.

"Then I shall not disturb you, Lady Huan" He says, cupping his fist and bowing "Though I might just name this hare little bastard for that bite he just gave me, I think he hit bone"

And so he flies away, rubbing the bleeding palm of his hand as the angry buck bounds after you, to keep close to its mate though making no attempt to thump or kick you. Probably learned its lesson when Aodasheng nearly smeared it across the lunar surface with just the pressure of his presence, Heh-Heh

Finding a nice crater to sit down in, you cross your legs in the lotus position and use your hands to keep hold of and pet the Doe to make her settle in your lap as the buck bounces around you fretfully, trying to look threatening as you slow your breathing, until you're scarcely breathing more than a corpse dose and empty your mind, extending your perception and spiritual senses across the crater, bathing in the glow of distant stars and warming sunlight as cold solar winds break against your face and lift up your hair, making it stream out behind you like blood spilt into a flowing stream.

Cont

>>6007900

 Double Vote!

What do you name the Moon Rabbit Doe,

>Piao Tuzi

>Ling Xian

And what do you meditate on, Huanliuxue?

>The moondust in your veins and the moondust outside of them, their resonance and the connection between yourself and the moon (Mental: Comprehension/ Magic Training Trial. DC 155)

>The cosmic rays radiating from your beast core, the Lunar Qi surrounding you and the other cosmic spiritual energies and anomalous forces flowing in the "Sky" over your head (Instinct/ Perception/ Spiritual Sense Training Trial. DC 160)

>Try to access that "Other Moon", the strange and kind of creepy spirit realm you traveled to be for with so many strange sights upon it, meditating on your memories of it (Magic: Moonlight/ Will Trial. DC 75. DC Staggeringly reduced due being a Blood Moon Cosmic Beast)

>The warm, fluffy and adorable rabbit sitting on your lap (??? Trial. DC 140. DC Significantly reduced due to Trait: Living Source: Primordial Beast essence)

>Write in

Anonymous

>>6007901
>Ling Xian
Insult the immortals, always
>The connection between us and the Moon.

Cosmic rays may open up other transformations, but lets deepen our power here.

>>6007901
>Piao Tuzi
>The warm, fluffy and adorable rabbit sitting on your lap (??? Trial. DC 140. DC Significantly reduced due to Trait: Living Source: Primordial Beast essence)

>>6007901
>>6007901
>Write in
>A Flag of Red, White, and Blue! The Dao of universal freedom and liberty, coherent with the proper fate of all divine beasts under heavens. Of another realm beyond the comprehension of those Orthodox today.

JUNIORS
THE DAO OF FREEDOM AWAITS!

>>6007936
Don't want it, see no value in it, it's a meme and not a terribly amusing one.

Sun Killer is much, more appealing.

>>6007901
>Piao Tuzi
>Try to access that "Other Moon", the strange and kind of creepy spirit realm you traveled to be for with so many strange sights upon it, meditating on your memories of it (Magic: Moonlight/ Will Trial. DC 75. DC Staggeringly reduced due being a Blood Moon Cosmic Beast)

>>6007901
>Ling Xian
I stand by my ridiculous choice.
>The warm, fluffy and adorable rabbit sitting on your lap (??? Trial. DC 140. DC Significantly reduced due to Trait: Living Source: Primordial Beast essence)
I hope to nab control over waves from this.

>>6007901
Ling Xian

>The moondust in your veins and the moondust outside of them, their resonance and the connection between yourself and the moon (Mental: Comprehension/ Magic Training Trial. DC 155)

>>6007901
>Piao Tuzi

>The moondust in your veins and the moondust outside of them, their resonance and the connection between yourself and the moon (Mental: Comprehension/ Magic Training Trial. DC 155)

>>6007901
>>Piao Tuzi
>Try to access that "Other Moon", the strange and kind of creepy spirit realm you traveled to be for with so many strange sights upon it, meditating on your memories of it (Magic: Moonlight/ Will Trial. DC 75. DC Staggeringly reduced due being a Blood Moon Cosmic Beast)
Anything below a DC of 120 has a low chance of achieving a Great Success. We won't topple the Heavens by accumulating mediocre Success after mediocre Success.

>>6007901
>The warm, fluffy and adorable rabbit sitting on your lap (??? Trial. DC 140. DC Significantly reduced due to Trait: Living Source: Primordial Beast essence)

>>6007901
>Ling Xian
>The warm, fluffy and adorable rabbit sitting on your lap (??? Trial. DC 140. DC Significantly reduced due to Trait: Living Source: Primordial Beast essence)

>>6008064
I wrote a small and inefficient Monte Carlo script in Python to illustrate my point that the odds with a DC of 140 are that we might just surpass it by ten:

import numpy as np

oned100 = np.arange(100)+1.

twod100=np.zeros(len(oned100)**2)
for y in range(len(oned100)):
 for x in range(len(oned100)):
 twod100[int((y*len(oned100))+x)] = oned100[x]+oned100[y]

runlist = 5
MCsize = int(1e6)
ret2 = np.zeros(MCsize)

for MC in range(len(ret2)):
 val = 0
 for run in range((runlist)):
 val = max(val, np.random.choice(twod100))
 ret2[MC] = val
quantlist2 = [(q, np.quantile(ret2,q)) for q in np.round(0.05*(np.arange(20)+1.),de<wbr>cimals=2)]
print(quantlist2)

it returns [(0.05, 33.0), (0.1, 46.0), (0.15, 56.0), (0.2, 64.0), (0.25, 72.0), (0.3, 78.0), (0.35, 85.0), (0.4, 90.0), (0.45, 96.0), (0.5, 101.0), (0.55, 106.0), (0.6, 112.0), (0.65, 117.0), (0.7, 124.0), (0.75, 130.0), (0.8, 138.0), (0.85, 146.0), (0.9, 156.0), (0.95, 169.0), (1.0, 200.0)]

Rolled 1 (1d2)

>>6007901
>Ling Xian
And I'll let the dice decide the second because I am dying at the moment between
>Try to access that "Other Moon", the strange and kind of creepy spirit realm you traveled to be for with so many strange sights upon it, meditating on your memories of it (Magic: Moonlight/ Will Trial. DC 75. DC Staggeringly reduced due being a Blood Moon Cosmic Beast)
and
>The warm, fluffy and adorable rabbit sitting on your lap (??? Trial. DC 140. DC Significantly reduced due to Trait: Living Source: Primordial Beast essence)

>>6007936
Alright seeing how the dao of freedom has DIED among our juniors, I will instead advocate for that which remains among the options.

>>6007901
>The cosmic rays radiating from your beast core, the Lunar Qi surrounding you and the other cosmic spiritual energies and anomalous forces flowing in the "Sky" over your head (Instinct/ Perception/ Spiritual Sense Training Trial. DC 160)
When the sun sets, the moon and stars reign upon the night sky, The moon is within our graps, so too must the stars feel our pull.

>>6007901

>Piao Tuzi
>Try to access that "Other Moon", the strange and kind of creepy spirit realm you traveled to be for with so many strange sights upon it, meditating on your memories of it (Magic: Moonlight/ Will Trial. DC 75. DC Staggeringly reduced due being a Blood Moon Cosmic Beast)

>>6007901
>>The warm, fluffy and adorable rabbit sitting on your lap (??? Trial. DC 140. DC Significantly reduced due to Trait: Living Source: Primordial Beast essence)

Our-Grandfather

Not ending the vote right now, I might later today depending on how the day treats me and if anything comes up that keeps me from writing (Or if light reading turns to heavy enough reading to make me too tired to write, again).

Just making an appearance before I leave my immortal grotto for a few hours to remind you juniors to vote for the lunar rabbit doe's name as well, because several of you haven't and the vote is currently tied there and I'll be very sad if it remains tied when I do the final tally, since it'd be a repeat of last round and tie breaking it would make me sadder. Though I suppose that the two names have remained neck and neck in two votes, shows that they're both wonderful choice.

 I've been excitedly watching this voting and am excited to write whatever wins in terms of meditation, since that remains a close contest.

Though I will state, while I'm here, the warm and fluffy option, if the roll is a success, will further humiliate a certain tiger. What the other moon option could lead to, should be fairly obvious, as are the other options besides pet the bunny, the moon connection giving more lunar themed insights, and the cosmic rays broader cosmic ones, though both have interesting results I think, especially if you roll well (Or spend some of your 1551 cultivation/training bonus to boost your results)

Anyways, that's all I wanted to say, hope the day treats you well. The junior in charge of the pastebin and googledoc should probably see about updating them soon, if they would be so beneficent.

Anonymous

>>6010112
Thank you grandfather, It is time for the entire cosmos to fall under the reign of the great wheel that is life and death, the court of Haun!

Our-Grandfather

Bad news, juniors. Even if the tie between Piao and Ling is broken, I won't be able to write an update today, since while I was out doing errands I stepped directly onto a piece of broken glass and am currently in too much pain to so much as think of writing. Hoping it will subside by tomorrow or at least stop hurting too much for me to focus.

So, as you can see, the day didn't treat grandfather well at all.

Anonymous

>>6007901

>Piao Tuzi
>The moondust in your veins and the moondust outside of them, their resonance and the connection between yourself and the moon (Mental: Comprehension/ Magic Training Trial. DC 155)

>>6010471
Hey man, buy some shoes. Also make sure to disinfect the hell out of your foot. Owie.

>>6007901
>Ling Xian
We're better than that idiot's naming sense.

>>6010471
The Qm curse strikes again, good luck Gramps

>>6010471
You should wipe out the sect of that glass shard for such impudence.

Our-Grandfather

Rolled 1 (1d2)

No longer in excruciating pain, so, I'll end the vote and tally its result now.

Piao Tuzi:6

Ling Xian:6
___

The moondust in your veins and the moondust outside of them, their resonance and the connection between yourself and the moon:4

The warm, fluffy and adorable rabbit sitting on your lap:5

Try to access that "Other Moon", the strange and kind of creepy spirit realm you traveled to be for with so many strange sights upon it, meditating on your memories of it:4

The cosmic rays radiating from your beast core, the Lunar Qi surrounding you and the other cosmic spiritual energies and anomalous forces flowing in the "Sky" over your head:1

So it seems the only way to end the stalemate between Piao and Ling is a tie breaker, regrettably.

And this was a very competitive round of voting, but Warm and Fluffy wins by a whisker's breadth. Exciting

anyways, time to roll the dice! https://youtu.be/8k6o6EgesIY

1= Piao Tuzi

2= Ling Xian

>>6010482
The piece of glass was a dragon amongst men, cause it actually pierced the sole of my shoe to stab my foot. Not sure what sort of beer bottle it came from, but they need to repurpose the glass for military uses. At least it wasn't a rusty nail

>>6010671
Thank you junior

>>6010710
I shouted 108 curses as I hobbled my way back home, I will one day avenge this slight.

>>6011016
Alright so you'll name the Doe after the heroine of Hare and Hunting Hound. Sorry Reisen, you aren't getting referenced today

This isn't intense meditation you're performing, at least not to one as experienced and talented at meditating continuously as you are. Maybe for the common cultivator of this day and age, it would considered extreme or an enormous effort. Every cultivator who isn't named Huanliuxue would have difficulties meditating on the surface of the moon, because unlike you, be they men or be they beasts they still need oxygen to breath and the vacuum of space would kill them in a manner that even the most ill mannered and sadistic of devils would struggle to find a form execution or torture as equally as painful, terrible and terrifying.

That vacuum is what you try to focus your spiritual sense and consciousness on, while bathing in the cool light of distant stars, surrounded by a sea of moondust and stranger elements, solar winds whispering through your flowing scarlet hair to brush against your pointed ears, the gentle ringing echoing in pace with your heartbeat as the moonlight surging through your veins sings with the lunar light all around you crying out to the blood you poured and soaked deeply into the surface of the moon. Cosmic Qi, Stellar spiritual energy all swirls around you, thick and dense and purer than any Qi to be found beneath the heavens. It might even be purer than the Qi of the Heavens, untouched not only by human hands but only scarcely polluted by the presence of divinity.

It seems no one ventures to the moon, besides you and now Aodasheng, and besides the rabbits on it, it is lonely and desolate. Even if it does contain a doorway to a secret realm that you have a creeping feeling is inhabited, even if you couldn't see the denizens of it. They touched you, petted you head, like you're petting the rabbit in your lap, who is still scared as still as a cadaver, even as you delicately and loving stroke her warm and fluffy ears.

And despite trying to keep a clear mind, touching the doe and running a hand down her back to bounce on her fluffy tail, brings to mind an early scene of Hare and Hunting Hound. And that thought ruins your focus, which begins to disintegrate as you think back to that warm and cozy bit of writing. But, you know how to correct and recenter your thoughts before they can tarnish and end your meditation.

"I shall call you Piao Tuzi" You chime cheerfully, with a voice like shattered glass musically scattering across the ground, as, with the distraction cut at root and stem, you're able to refocus and resume your meditation without further delay or any more stray thoughts acting as a hurdle.
Cont

>>6011045

But, while your hand subconsciously strokes and pets the Piao Tuzi in the real world, the warmth radiating from her tiny body, the strangely pleasant silken dustiness of her fluffy coat of fur, and the cute distressed noise she makes as you continue to pet her, a little less gently than before, remains in the foreground of your contemplative meditation even as you ponder the song singing in your veins and the lunar surface and the stranger expressions of cosmic Qi radiating around you in rays, beams and auroas.

So soft. So flurry. So warm.

A chime sounds somewhere in your hungry gut, as your beast core reacts to the attention and consideration you're giving the Moon Rabbit, accompanied by the percussive bounces of the still nameless buck who hasn't stopped circling you since you sat down and began meditating. Chimes, drum beat and breaking glass.

The Primordial Beast Essence Contained within your Beast core starts to leak out and spill forth onto the moon and into the night sky....

 roll 2d100. Best out of Five. DC 140

Anonymous

Rolled 89, 86 = 175 (2d100)

>>6011046
I think we should spend some accumilated training to get about 3 or 5 dos. If we dont match it already.

Our-Grandfather

>>6011053
...JUNIOR HAS PRACTICED HIS PRECOGNITION TECHNIQUE!

Anonymous

>>6011053
I say. . Qell we have 1551, spending 5 gets us another dos for 4.

Why not do 45, 8 dos.

Cant see a good reason not to.

Rolled 89, 88 = 177 (2d100)

>>6011046
Well, I shan't make it worse

>>6011059
Well a good reason was if we were getting another, more broad scale magical beast transformation.

Like sun killer. Which I will continue to want and scream about, because of fire immunity alone.

>>6011061
Junior upstages me, and reduces the proposed expense to 43.

>>6011062
We'd need to be able to go into the alternate moons to do that, since we already used up the arrow.

>>6011065
Nothing but the thread timer and Anon bickering to stop us doing that after!

Our-Grandfather

>>6011061
Great success! 30 over DC. And since this is a kind of training/ cultivation even if the trial is still ??? and some of you are considering it, If you want to, you may spend some of your accumulated training/ insights

So I'll do a flash vote real quick

Do you wish to add a bonus to boost the result?

>1 additional DoS, spend 3 points for 180, remaining bonus 1548

>2 additional DoS, spend 13 for 190, remaining bonus 1538

>3 additional DoS, Spend 23 for 200, remaining bonus 1528

>4 additional DoS, Spend 33, for 210, remaining 1518

>5 additional, DoS, Spend 43, for 220, remaining 1518

>11 additional DoS, Spend 103, for 380, remaining 1448

>Do not increase DoS, do not spend any of you accumulated training/ cultivation bonus

>Custom amount

Anonymous

>>6011083
>11 additional DoS, Spend 103, for 380, remaining 1448
Why not.

>>6011083
>11 additional DoS, Spend 103, for 380, remaining 1448

>>6011083
>11 additional DoS, Spend 103, for 380, remaining 1448
I'm surprised you have additional rewards planned for that many DoS, Grandfather. I am compelled to see what the biggest prize is.

>>6011083
>>11 additional DoS, Spend 103, for 380, remaining 1448

Our-Grandfather

>Spend 103 for 11 DOS and a final result of 280, 140 over DC:6

>spend 43 for 5 DOS, and a final result of 220, 80 over DC: 1

Very clear winner here in this quick, 1 hour vote,

SO!

Heaven's defying success! 140 over DC, a result so profound it hides the sky, covers the earth, and turns the blue sea into mulberry fields.

Hands are trembling with anticipation to get writing SO, update will arrive shortly

Anonymous

>>6011147
Nobody pets a bunny like we do! NO ONE!

>>6011147
Throughout the heaven and earth, we alone are the rabbit-taming one.

Our-Grandfather

https://youtu.be/XqG9DC6ajFg
_

And where you sit becomes the eye of storm of that most profound primordial and bestial essence, the breath of the untamed and uncharted nature, painting the sky of endless night with emerald whirls and verdant auroras, turning the canvas of the void with the unconquerable energy that is found within the steaming blood of every wild animal. The spark of undomesticated strength and endurance, the flickering flame that drives all beasts in their day to day struggle of survival. The universal force shared between all creatures, predator and prey. The hot wind of an ancient time before there was history, when men lived as beasts did, when the world was uncultivated and had not been subjugated to the stomping march of civilization and its fires and its armies and its axes and its bowstrings.

The condensed and refined primordial energy lurking inside of your beast core erupts forth like a geyser and for a moment eclipses the cosmic energies flowing freely around you. And as they begin to mingle, through the savage instincts and gnawing hunger, you still can't help but to admire how soft Piao Tuxi's fur are and how adorable the frightened squeaks she makes are!
_
[Meanwhile, atop a certain beneath the heavens]

"Hohooo, I told you there was nothing to worry about, juniors" Monu the toad witch cackled, only after she had released a great sigh of relief in the night sky, that all of the palace of natural laws had gathered to gaze up at, alongside a number of savage and starved spirits the more ghostly, gloomy and grim disciples of the heretical sect had been waging war against in the roots of the mountain the day prior "My precious Huan can't be beaten, even by ghastly legend like the forgotten king, even calamities bend their knees in her presence! All of you should kow tow immediately and apologize for slandering your teacher's good name and reputation, muttering about how she..she might be dead"

"My little sister truly has a talent for building suspense, I've been dead for decades and even I was waiting to see any sign of her with baited breath" Xuebai, Monu's beloved elder daughter snickered, curled around her mother's feet, shifting back to a more adorable form after having spent the whole night in her most monstrous mien "But I didn't doubt her for a second, it'd take more than a moldering sack of bones to best Huan-er! All of you should feel ashamed for doubting her"

"The entire night sky, turned into a sea of jade, rent asunder to reveal a past unremembered. So that is what a true storm of primordial beast essence looks like" Ping remarked with scholarly interest, wrapping his prayer beads of teeth and knuckle bones around his grotesque arm "Magnificent. It reminds me of that fateful lightning storm, sworn brothers"
Cont

>>6011249

"When you stuck out your neck and tried to save a "Demon's" life?" Feiqing chuckled, covering his eyes so none may see that he was crying as he towered over the other human daoists gathered on the peak, his and Ping's mute brother Lei nodding with an agreeing grunt "And I never doubted her, Grand Elder and Elder Sister, I was just worried for my savior, gravely"

"Haaah, I'm certain that branch family are happy they threw their lot in with the blood red "Devil" now, even if they'll probably still complain to me she's taking too long to faceslap the main branch on their behalf" Qinxin said with a chuckle, smirking as he gazed up at the sky bathed in primordial dreams

"Tch, Hag, we didn't doubt her for a moment, you were the one one tearing at your clothes and hair with grief. I would've flown up their myself if" Fu balked before Monu cackled

"If you could fly, but you're still just a frog in a well, Fu-xiao" Monu mocked, good naturedly, which turned the scarred axe man's glower into a snarl of impotent anger

"She wouldn't have died if she died anyways. We'd just need to find her a new vessel, after we ran away from that...monstrous force she threw herself against" Qiang spoke up, alerting the other star watchers to the fact she was awake in her body once again.

"I probably wouldn't have make it if it came to running, not because I wouldn't want to die tired, but because I'm slow on solid ground" Chuandapo snickered, rousing Huili from his nap, and making his pack begin to howl, rousing the small army of demon cats that Yinying had caroled to "offer their prayers to their mistress"

"Then we'd die together" The ashen gale mumbled tiredly "I actually saw the monster she was fighting, running wouldn't have helped if it got it in its mind to attack us instead of our master"

"His aura was so soothing, I hope he hasn't been crushed into dust by her" Baifenchi chirped, spreading her wings and fluttering over the heads of the gathered sect

"You're a freak, white wings, and if we're sure red fur is alive, I need to get training to close the gap between her and me already!" Tiexingege barked, shaking her head "Come on one, two, three, four, five, we need to get back to training"

"Those poor children" Lanfen sighed, with tired bags under her eyes, drawing the ire of the black iron army ant princess, who began to shout at her for the slip of her tongue

"Oh my daughters will be so happy to hear their auntie is alright" Jionghuagege said weakly, having exhausted herself with crying and worrying for an entire day "Come on Tie-Tie, don't be a bully"

"Thank you, princess, for calming your sister" Liu said, as he stood between the cowering Lanfen and the furious Tiexingege

"Damn, wish I could see it, but I can feel the waves of her roar all the way down here" Hong snickered, patting the still snarling Fu on her back "Our master really is something, huh, Fu?"
Cont

>>6011250

"What a beautiful show of triumph, Lady Huanliuxue truly is without peer, the austere night sky dyed in the ancestral memory of our people" Siwang practically wept

"My people. The visions in the tides of primordial beast essence are all from a feline point of view" Youzaiwang chortled rudely, picking a fight with the owl

"Oh my queen, I knew you'd not be slain so easily!" Yinying cried, to overcome with emotion to join the argument the tiger started with his rival in philosophy and most other things

"Ribbit, the sky has been cleansed, as our minds have been of doubt, ribbit" Yuanquan croaked besides the buddhist colored deer Zheren

"As I spoke when I comforted you, our master is not so easily over come, and now the sky speaks of her success" The bone chewer said serenely

"Huanliuxue is tough, that's why she's the boss" Houmogui drawled, trying to sound tough as Jiangliehuo woke up from all the commotion and talking and complained that he'd missed a fight none of them had been able to perceive

"What are you all babbling about still! It was obvious this was no fight to the death, merely a heated argument between two rulers, why are you acting like her life was on the line" The pig Zhurou huffed and grunted, repeating the wild claim he'd made and stuck firmly to since the moment he'd heard of Huanliuxue picking a fight with a calamity spirit

"Honestly, the pork chop might be right" Bo grunted, half asleep

"How could he be?" Niu cried out, nearly lunging at him, her nerves more frayed than most "You saw how vicious their clashes in the sky were, they tore through the mountain"

"It was an amazing fight" The creepy ghost with a hole in his head chuckled, more bruised and battered than he was before they'd taken up vigil of the night sky

"So pretty" Mao Yue marveled

"Oi! Grand Elder, can we get into your reserve of Kaoling wine?" The usually meek Wang Wengcheng impudently asked

"Surprised the blood moon hasn't come out" The weird doll like girl Huanliuxue had been teaching alchemy remarked off handedly to her exotically and femininely dressed companion

"No need to hunt a rabbit with an army" The flamboyant man laughed as between them, the heiress of the thousand lotus hall stared silently at the emerald hued whirlpool in the sky

"I'll do the same some day" She said, her quiet ambitions unnoticed by the seniors around her, except for the two living jiangshi carmine mystics, who dotted upon her quite happily
_
[Meanwhile, in the former Ling Province of the fallen and dissolved celestial empire]

"You know, I was certain I'd told you useless old bastards to deal with her no matter the cost" Ling Yongzheng muttered as he stood atop the ancestral temple of his line, surrounded by scrapping and sniveling old men and women, wearing jade masks "Or were you too busy chasing my traitorous cousin to skin a cat'
Cont

>>6011253

"Young master, we cannot be certain that is the work of the demonic beast Huan..." One began and were in the next breath taken by the collar and tossed off the roof with a squeal, the patriarch of the immortal branch of the Ling clan not bothering to see which of his ancestors he hurled off by the color of their jade mask

"It is always her! The entire Chuan region being filled with ghosts, demonic beasts and disgusting beast kin hybrids was the result of her simply cultivating! I'd hoped the sects there would get slaughtered, but from what the few exiles that came our way have said, she's convinced them to live in the stables with the animals!" He raged, swinging his open hand and shattering the purple mask worn by one of the junior elders, wishing that his bloodthirsty relative hadn't slain the crimson masked jack ass so he could've throttled the life out of him himself! He'd said they'd killed the beast terrorizing the land, but that ogress brought back a snake head rather than a cat's! That might've calmed those mourning Meng, but now those same voice were raised in outrage that his replacement Laonan had gone rouge and started killing indiscriminately! A whole branch family had betrayed them over that little bitch's murderous nature.

"Should we redirect the beast stampede to Chuan, young master?" The black masked elder shouted to stop Yongzheng from striking them dead with just his killing intent

"No. Keep it focused on the other regions" He said, suddenly growing deathly calm, reaching his hand down to the dagger sheath on his belt, gripping the magic tool that had created the "False Beast Wave" "It'll give us allies to work against those arrogant asses in Chuan, who've chosen a beast of us, their obvious betters. And if we send those monsters to her door, she might recruit them, and send them with that cultist Lord Chuan to continue blazing a path through our mortal kinsmen's holdings..."
_
[Meanwhile, outside of the head martial god's palace]

"Fuck me" A guardian spirit groaned, bowing his head, knowing he'd get the brunt of the blame from the five wise immortal sages for not cutting down that tricky beast down that day "I should warn my lord and master, before he guts in his cups and dons his armor or throws one of those snot nosed brats to skin a kitten"

He leaned against his halberd and sighed, as the younger deities were panicking about the light show going on over their heads
_

You were in a field of blue grass and white grey flowers, chasing rabbits. They bounded and they leapt and they hopped to get away from you. No matter if you pounced at them as a cat, or sprinted after them with only two legs, they eluded you.

"That ghostly transformation" You realized through the illusion of instincts and ancient air "Aodasheng...It might've just been flames for me, when I was on the brink of death, but he is able to turn into a dragon from a man, and every stage between the two"
Cont

>>6011258

You looked down at your hands and past them, further down, at your feet

"So why can't I?" You asked yourself tilting your head as you clenched your hands into fists, and smiled as your nails extended like claws, and a familiar weight settles behind your back as you feel you spine stretched out into a tail, and brilliant crimson fur sprouted over your arms and legs "Of course I can! My form is already mutable, why should an empress don only two robes!"

And with that, as the dream began to shift, you chased after the rabbits, intent on catching them even in illusionary world!

 Chimeric/ Partial transformation unlocked

But as you ran after them, in pursuit of their soft fur and bouncy ears and fluffy tails, a thought passed your mind. A bunny's body isn't so different from a cat's. And how they run and how they hop, couldn't you take inspiration from their movements and turn it into a new technique? Strengthening the muscles in your legs with blood Qi or training, make them larger and increase your kicking force and already impressive jump height? You give it a try, turning your legs in a mixture of feline and human as your legs and thighs bulge and bursting the seams of the pants of the white tang suit you're wearing for some reason in this vision. Smirking, you try hopping like a rabbit and find the bouncing movement to be not only quiet enjoyable but the perfect foundation for a new move to incorporate into your martial arts! Imagine legs like these performing the shooting star stampede.

With your newly refined and improved control over your body's shape and its exact rations between cat and girl, learning transformation techniques as simple as this, which is no where near as complex as the white and black fire one you used against Aodasheng instinctively or the bloodsucking flower you bloomed into and still don't know how or why you did, is much more easily done.

"I think I'll call it the Tùzijiǎogǎibiàn (Hare Foot Change, 兔子脚 改变)" You declare to no one but yourself and the illusionary rabbits, but as you hop between your feet and admire the thickness and musculature of your rabbity legs and thighs, you spot a strange figure amongst the rabbits, who you realize from just a glance they were running towards. You freeze, as the figure, robed and dressed in moonlight, reaches up her hand and makes a beckoning motion that looks suspiciously close to the movement you'd make with your hand when scratching behind a pet's ears.

Fur on your legs, arms and tail standing on end, you make to snarl, as you start to notice how bizarre the field of blue grass actually looks, with strange puddles of multi colored glass flowing over your head in place of clouds and four moons hanging in the sky instead of one or the sun.
Cont

>>6011259

"What, this isn't just a vision" You realize, noticing the difference between this and the reveries you saw while your star glowed its brightest and you went from foundation establishment realm to the golden core state in a single step

The figure shook her head, long black hair curling into a crescent behind her back with the gentle movement

"Then what is going?" You ask, taking a step back, feeling like you're standing before something much larger and more frightening than a hazy outline of a woman.

Who just shrugs her shoulders, as if she is just as confused as you are.

You frown, and turn to face her directly, as the blue grass ripples like water. Emerald light pulsing somewhere in your belly, along with the cursed hunger that's settled and burrowed its way into your stomach.

You lift up your hand, watching the pulsing ring of Primordial Beast essence travel up from your core to your arm, vanishing into the flesh of your wrist. And you realize you're controlling it, that you're wielding Primordial Beast Essence as if it were Qi. That it is pulsing with the beat of you heart.

A distant clapping sound breaks your concentration, and you see the faint figure of the strange woman is the source of the sound.

"I've used Primordial Beast Essence in spells before, I brought ancient skies over Suiqi and turned a chunk of forest into a temple with it" You mutter, as you ponder exactly what you can do with the stuff that creates magical beasts like yourself and smile as you comprehension of ascended beasts, grudges and life itself mingle and come to a single conclusion.

"A transformation" You exclaim, grinning like a lush as you hold up your fist "But against whatever I strike. And knowing how emotion can be carried through grudges and blood, It doesn't need to be physical. Body and soul hm?"

You look to the stranger, as if she'll provide criticism or give a helpful comment, or speak at all, but alas, she remains silent, standing there like the worst kind of ghosts, the ones who just stand there and stare.

"Awakening instincts long buried and bred out, turning part of them in some kind of animal. I can do a lot with internal blood alchemy, already, but bodily changes and evolutions take time unless I want whatever I'm changing to die in agony" You say with a huff that might be slightly offended as you stare at your fist "And if I target acupoints and meridians with Primordial Beast Essence, I could turn anyone who picks a fight with me into beasts, in body or mind, or even soul. Heh-Heh-Heh, and if I make constellations with their bruises and wounds, I could unleash the power of the zodiacs against them. "Wild Beast Disorder (Yěshēngshòuwěnluàn, 野生兽紊乱)" is a good name for this school of techniques, right? Say nothing if you agree"

You giggle to yourself, as expected, the hazy stranger that ripples like a reflection of the moon on a lake, remains as quiet as the dead.

Cont

>>6011262

But it wilts and dries in your throat, as you finally see her eyes through the haze surrounding her. Like the harvest moon, bright in the night sky. And as you feel the vessels in your eyes contract and surge with blood Qi, as the weight of moon madness presses down on you, and waves of lunacy wash over you, you realize for the first time what you can do with the moonlight in your veins

"My eyes are so beautiful they can be hypnotic. The moon is also beautiful" You mutter to yourself "Lunacy descend from the moon, moon glass or at least Moon Collapses transmits madness to what it cuts. My eyes shift like the phases of the moon. And is their captivating beauty not already close to maddening?"

 2nd tier Carmine mystic magic unlocked. Lunatic Eyes. Able to drive those transfixed by your eyes or exposed to their glow quite mad. Carmine Mysticism: Lunar path can now be created and shaped at your discretion and . Moonlit, red eyed Jiangshi. You're understanding of moonlight and Lunar magic has also improved.

The woman closes her eyes, but, still, says nothing. You snort, and shake your head, tapping one of your half paw feet on the ground like a rabbit thumping dirt.

"Who are you anyways?" You dare to ask, tilting your head to the side and glaring at the stranger. And then you see her smile, like the crescent moon and see that you aren't in an ordinary field of blue grass at all, but rather some strange, alien landscape, stranger than clouds of molten, multicolored grass.

"Ah" You gasp, blinking as you see such strange sights that even for one as learned and verbose as yourself, you don't know enough words to describe what you're seeing, even in your own thoughts, all radiating and spilling out from her crescent smile "That explains nothing at all! Absolutely nothing"

She smirks and shrugs her shoulders.

And then she is gone, and the strange place the two of you stood in is gone, along with its illusionary rabbits. But the warm, fluffy feeling in your hands isn't

But the weight on your lap has increased greatly, as have the trembles ontop of it. You open your eyes and see, that instead of a rabbit, a little, frightened girl is trembling in your arms, as you weave and comb your fingers through her moondust grey hair, her eyes wide and shiny blue like the full moon on a cloudless night. But strangest of all, are the two rabbit ears sprouting from her head

"What?" You dully ask, lifting her up by her armpits. She must be younger than Luli is, maybe Ju to, but as you stare into her big eyes, you recognize her "Piao Tuzi?!"

She moves her mouth, but doesn't speak, like she doesn't know how to.
Cont

>>6011268

You blink again and look around, and see that the crater you were meditating is filled with blue grasses and trees and bushes with jagged leaves of moon glass, the same sort Moon Collapse is made out of, except blue rather than read. There's even a calm stream of pale water flowing next to you. And a very angry boy, stomping his foot and trying to gnaw a hole through your leg with a scar on his cheek and one of his arms.

"Oh" You quietly gasp, realizing what happened as you glance up and see that an aurora of primordial beast essence in the sky, all around the moon, and you can almost feel a bit of air as you breath in, and see a few other curious, moondust haired and moon eyed children creep out of the grasses, looking so painfully confused that it breaks your hurt.

"Oh!" You gasp, louder, as what happened truly settles into your mind "I've turned your warren into rabbit people!"

The loud noise causes the moon rabbits to suddenly turn back into ordinary jade rabbits with a poof of moon dust as they run away, except for the boy, he keeps trying to reach your artery with his surprisingly sharp teeth.

"But you aren't magical beasts. You're just rabbits" You say, sensing something that is close to Primordial beast essence inside both Piao and the buck trying to kill you, but it isn't right "Ordinary moon rabbits, but you can turn almost turn completely human? What's going on here? What is that inside of you"

You hold up Piao Tuzi with one hand, and place the other just above her navel and frown, now even more confused.

"Natural cosmic beasts?" You ask, both amazed and a little insulted "That core there isn't just primordial beast essence, there's Lunar Qi mixed in, all throughout it! How did this happen, huh?"

Piao Tuzi blinks, shivering as you frown, and your aching heart demands you pull her close to her chest, just as your consciousness keeps you from shaking off and punting the brat chewing on your leg.

"Oh why am I asking you, you're just as confused as I am, but also scared to death" You coo as you continue petting the rabbit eared girl, who stiffens up, probably thinking you're planning to eat her "Did I release enough Primordial Beast Essence while I was obsessing over your fluffiness to turn you into a new breed of magical beasts? Because that is kind of insane, even considering all the supposedly impossible things I've accomplished with my short life"

"Lady Huan!" Aodasheng shouts "A forest has appeared on the moon! I'm not sure what you were trying to do, but you opened a secret realm, and whatever was inside tore off one of my arms. Now, before you accuse me, I wasn't trying to steal what was inside the sealed realm for myself, I was merely curious and investigating it to see if it posed a threat to you!"

And as he approaches, the boy vanishes into a cloud of moondust, and is replaced with a rabbit buck laying on his side, stunned by the ghost kings approach

Cont

Aodasheng frowns as he finds you in the small patch of lunar woodland, still stroking and trying to calm the trembling in fear Piao Tuzi. He strokes his short beard

"That is a child. A child with rabbit ears" He says with a monotone voice, pointing at the now even more frightened little girl.

"And you're scaring her" You say, glaring daggers at him, holding the squirming rabbit eared girl closer against your chest, nearly burying her face in your bosom "And she is special, all of the hares around me now are. She's a new kind of magical beast. She isn't evolved at all, but she and I both are cosmic natured. Isn't that strange"

"Certainly, but I assumed that occurred because you released a massive swell of primordial beast essence, and the moon also expelled as mass amount of the strange spiritual energy it contains in its every rock" He says, crouching down and lifting up one of Piao Tuzi's ears "And thus, the admixture of the beast essence and lunar essence, created a moon beast. Much like yourself, but less, bloody"

"I was pretty sure that's what happened" You sigh, as you try rocking the now crying rabbit eared girl to calm her mortal terror.

"And also created a lunar ecosystem" He adds, plucking a blade of grass and turning it into a whistle. You roll your eyes, and bite your cheek to stop from mockingly claiming to have not noticed the willowy trees with glass leaves and silvery bark all around you.

 Double Vote

What do you do about Piao Tuzi and the other moon rabbits

>Take her, the buck and a few more home with you, so you can figure out what makes them different from "Earth" Magical Beasts at your own pace.

>Decide she's too cute to not adopt and take her home with you, with the buck Aodasheng caught, so you can raise her, teach her, and show her off to your fellow terrestrial ascended beasts.

>See if a piece of candy or some grass will calm her down and convince her you're not going to eat her.

>Put her down, marking her with a simple tracking spell, so you can come check on her and bring her home with you some other time

>Write in

And what do you do now that your meditation is done, Huanliuxue?

>Show off what your, er, meditations on the nature of beasts has produced, starting with a partial transformation to Aodasheng

>Force Aodasheng to name the boy and not call him little bastard (Can be taken with other choices)

>Travel back to earth and drop Piao Tuzi off at Yuyi's house Since she already has four daughters with cat ears and tail, a girl with rabbit ears and tail shouldn't cause her any problems

>Decide to make a show for your sect, and descend to wherever they're watching you since they have to be watching you in awe, leading the ghost king by a leash

>Tell Aodasheng to stay on the moon, and watch and protect the moon rabbits, while you check to see if Monu, Siwang, Feiqing are done preparing for your tournament

>Figure out what else you can do, with your newly refined transformation powers!

>Write in

Anonymous

>>6011273
>Taking them with us.
You are being adopted, do not resist.

>Figure out what else we can do
>Send Ao to investigate the beast stampedes and recruit who he can.
>Go and get the tourniment started, and lets look for talent.

That Ling motherfucker. He has OUR property.
And his lifeforce should he good enough for our tastes.

>>6011268
>Lunatic Eyes. Able to drive those transfixed by your eyes or exposed to their glow quite mad
Heheh. You lied in the end. She got referenced.

>>6011273
>Decide she's too cute to not adopt and take her home with you, with the buck Aodasheng caught, so you can raise her, teach her, and show her off to your fellow terrestrial ascended beasts.
>See if a piece of candy or some grass will calm her down and convince her you're not going to eat her.

>Force Aodasheng to name the boy and not call him little bastard (Can be taken with other choices)
>Decide to make a show for your sect, and descend to wherever they're watching you since they have to be watching you in awe, leading the ghost king by a leash

>>6011273
>See if a piece of candy or some grass will calm her down and convince her you're not going to eat her.
Tame the bunny
BUT DO NOT TAKE IT AWAY FROM THE MOON
they are obviously connected to it somehow. Seperation may be fatal.

>Force Aodasheng to name the boy and not call him little bastard (Can be taken with other choices)
>Tell Aodasheng to stay on the moon, and watch and protect the moon rabbits, while you check to see if Monu, Siwang, Feiqing are done preparing for your tournament
The heaven's may seek to slaughter the rabbits, a new realm may draw even their greed, a defender is needed while we seek out others.

>>6011341
>>6011345
Why not?

We have river bastard, now little bastard

We can have a whole bastard line!

Well hey, the art from the Queen of /qst/ tournament is now accurate
>>6011273
>See if a piece of candy or some grass will calm her down and convince her you're not going to eat her.
>Decide she's too cute to not adopt and take her home with you, with the buck Aodasheng caught, so you can raise her, teach her, and show her off to your fellow terrestrial ascended beasts.
Calm her down before we give her another shock.
>Force Aodasheng to name the boy and not call him little bastard (Can be taken with other choices)
>Decide to make a show for your sect, and descend to wherever they're watching you since they have to be watching you in awe, leading the ghost king by a leash
I want to practice some more, but also get back so we can see how that other sect did with their beast students and fuck up the Ling who stole our Knife of Counting Errors (name pending). Maybe we can get our students to work together and try and take us down for two way training.

>>6011411
>Well hey, the art from the Queen of /qst/ tournament is now accurate
Chest still too small. Where are Huan's jade beauties?

>>6011273
>Take her, the buck and a few more home with you, so you can figure out what makes them different from "Earth" Magical Beasts at your own pace.

>Travel back to earth and drop Piao Tuzi off at Yuyi's house Since she already has four daughters with cat ears and tail, a girl with rabbit ears and tail shouldn't cause her any problems
Doctor "I just want a normal life and this shit keeps happening to me" Yuyi is on the case!

>>6011273
>See if a piece of candy or some grass will calm her down and convince her you're not going to eat her.

>Force Aodasheng to name the boy and not call him little bastard (Can be taken with other choices)

>Figure out what else you can do, with your newly refined transformation powers!

>>6011273
>See if a piece of candy or some grass will calm her down and convince her you're not going to eat her.

>Decide to make a show for your sect, and descend to wherever they're watching you since they have to be watching you in awe, leading the ghost king by a leash

>>6011273
>>Decide she's too cute to not adopt and take her home with you, with the buck Aodasheng caught, so you can raise her, teach her, and show her off to your fellow terrestrial ascended beasts.

>Force Aodasheng to name the boy and not call him little bastard (Can be taken with other choices)
>You can't be like my sister who names her daughters 1,2,3,4, and 5.

>Figure out what else you can do, with your newly refined transformation powers!

After that, I say we can go back to the sect and fix our curse.
I still suggest diluted god blood should deal with it.

>>6011747
It will deal.with it, its just so god damned wasteful and hazardous.

Lets just eat that bastard who runs the Ling immortal branch.

>>6011273
>Decide she's too cute to not adopt and take her home with you, with the buck Aodasheng caught, so you can raise her, teach her, and show her off to your fellow terrestrial ascended beasts.

>Force Aodasheng to name the boy and not call him little bastard (Can be taken with other choices)
>Tell Aodasheng to stay on the moon, and watch and protect the moon rabbits, while you check to see if Monu, Siwang, Feiqing are done preparing for your tournament

I'm wondering, do these rabbits even know how to eat? Obviously they know how to bite and kick, but what exactly are they supposed to be eating up here? Is there cheese under the surface of the moon or something? I feel like they subsist on just lunar energy and whatnot.

>>6011273
>>Decide she's too cute to not adopt and take her home with you, with the buck Aodasheng caught, so you can raise her, teach her, and show her off to your fellow terrestrial ascended beasts.
>Figure out what else you can do, with your newly refined transformation powers!

>>6011273
>See if a piece of candy or some grass will calm her down and convince her you're not going to eat her
>Decide to make a show for your sect, and descend to wherever they're watching you since they have to be watching you in awe, leading the ghost king by a leash

>>6011273
>Decide she's too cute to not adopt and take her home with you, with the buck Aodasheng caught, so you can raise her, teach her, and show her off to your fellow terrestrial ascended beasts.
Hopefully Huan showing up with yet another cute little girl to train doesn't start weird rumors.
>Force Aodasheng to name the boy and not call him little bastard (Can be taken with other choices)
>Decide to make a show for your sect, and descend to wherever they're watching you since they have to be watching you in awe, leading the ghost king by a leash
The leash is a bit much for a friend, but it will avoid any misunderstandings as to who is on top. Make the whole "I am the boss now" pill go down easier for all the ghosts in the peanut gallery.

I gotta say, its always fun to see Huan pulling weird shit out of her ass and confuse the shit out of everyone, but man, now even *I'm* getting confused.
What the hell is Huan even doing anymore? Even she doesn't know!
<s>It's great</s>

>>6011879
Its what Lanfen does to her sworn protectors, its common fashion of the new era. Obviously.

But damn, im really excited to eat that Ling fuck, take our porperty, and end the beast stampede, AND COMMENSE THE REIGN OF HUANLIEXUE! EMPRESS OF BEASTS, SUPREME RULER OF CATS, GREATEST HERETIC IN ANY GENERATION!

Can someone give me the full physical description and characteristics of Huanliuxue's human-like appearance?

>>6012016
Taken from https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.<wbr>com/qstarchive/2022/5454402/
<s>>Your hair, the same gorgeous shade of scarlet as your fur, framed your face. It wasn't straight, and certainly wasn't in any way tamed or brush. Locks of it rose on the sides, slightly curled, making it seem like a waterfall or wave of blood falling over your shoulders and down your back, just a bit over halfway down it, nearly reaching your buttocks. Your human hair was nearly as fluffy as your coat, and had a lot of natural volume and puff. Though it didn't cover your forehead, with the way it naturally grew. Which allowed you to see that your eyebrows were just as bushy as the rest of the hair on your head, and more rounded than they were sharp or arched, thick and wild.

>[Eyes] were still yellow, like two chunks of petrified amber, and cast in the light dancing along the surface of water, they glowed as if they were showing their nightshine. They were like limpid autumn water in the orange red light of lit lanterns. And the shape of your eyes, that held these precious pools of yellow amber, were round and large and almond shaped, wide open with how intently you were staring. They were not Phoenix eyes, by any definition, but they exuded as sort of playful innocence and wonder that was more attractive than the striking alure of phoenix eyes, though they shared the same upward incline of their outer corners.
>red eyelashes

> tender, plump lips, ... without any expression they naturally shaped themselves into a very cat like smile, smug and mischievous.
>how soft and smooth your fair, skin was. Your face was beautiful, awe inspiring even. Small, with a pointy chin, with a tall imperial nose. The very image of youthful beauty, fairy like in every aspect or value. Your face was the sort that would come to mind when men or women with particular tastes dreamt of a ethereal jade like beauty. Soft in all the right places, sharp in all the right places. </s>

>>6012043
It went over the character limit!
<s>>pronounced, desirable collar bone
> white skin
>you would probably be the target of the envy of quiet of few girls, and the lust of many men and boys. You'd have to bind your chest if you wanted to hide the size of your breasts. Robes and tunics alone couldn't conceal them. All in all, with your experience in the subject of human teats, you'd categorize your own bosom a bit above standard and ordinary. There were larger busts than it, but there were plenty more smaller ones in the world.

>The muscles underneath your pale skin were tightly compressed, like coiled wire, hiding your strength behind a veneer of leanness. Your body as a whole was athletic, not bulky or pudgy, as a woman martial artist should be, built for running, leaping and climbing. Feline! Slim, but certainly not fragile
>[fingers] were dexterous, graceful, elegant, but not dainty. Huanliuxue was no delicate flower who would fall apart from too hard a touch! But a thorned, robust beauty!
>There was little fat on your tummy, and a subtle signs of the musculature beneath

>Your hips weren't too wide, completely the svelte form and look of your body, which to your great satisfaction and relief shared your true forms feline grace, and wasn't bulky or dainty. Though your buttocks were just slightly too plump and round for your liking, but by no means fat or rotund. Certainly, you looked healthier than most women who would be called fairies or jadelike beauties and less likely to break with just a bit of pressure. A natural, wild beauty!
> long, elegant legs, finding that you got quiet of a bit of your human height from them. Your thighs were well shaped, not fat or too large, and like your arms, they and your legs were lean with cat like muscles, easily overlooked and missed.</s>

Our-Grandfather

Ending the vote and tallying its result now. The injury on my foot has stopped hurting entirely now.

Take her, the buck and a few more home with you, so you can figure out what makes them different from "Earth" Magical Beasts at your own pace.:2

Decide she's too cute to not adopt and take her home with you, with the buck Aodasheng caught, so you can raise her, teach her, and show her off to your fellow terrestrial ascended beasts.:6

See if a piece of candy or some grass will calm her down and convince her you're not going to eat her.:6
___
Figure out what else you can do, with your newly refined transformation powers!:4

Send Ao to investigate the beast stampedes and recruit who he can:1

Go and get the tournament started, and lets look for talent:1

Force Aodasheng to name the boy and not call him little bastard :7
-You can't be like my sister who names her daughters 1,2,3,4, and 5.:1

Decide to make a show for your sect, and descend to wherever they're watching you since they have to be watching you in awe, leading the ghost king by a leash:5

Tell Aodasheng to stay on the moon, and watch and protect the moon rabbits, while you check to see if Monu, Siwang, Feiqing are done preparing for your tournament:2

Travel back to earth and drop Piao Tuzi off at Yuyi's house Since she already has four daughters with cat ears and tail, a girl with rabbit ears and tail shouldn't cause her any problems:1

So You'll decide Piao Tuzi is too cute not to adopt and take her and the buck Ao Subuded home with you, so you can raise them, teach them and show her off to your fellow earthly magical beasts

And

You'll also force Aodasheng to name the buck something else besides little bastard, and show off a little to your sect, descending to wherever they are, leading the Ghost King by a leash, Heh-Heh.

Update will arrive shortly

>>6011341
I didn't expect you to aim for the stars and push for 14 DoS, to be fair.

>>6012137
Oh, and I forgot to mention, you'll see if Candy or grass will calm the rabbit down and convince her you aren't intending to eat her up

However, jeering at the ghost king for pointing out the obvious, when you're still recovering from the spar you had with him, is of far lesser concern than the little rabbit eared girl shaking in your arms. The poor thing is nearly scared to death, and you don't need to activate the vein hunting eye to feel how quickly her heart is thumping in her chest, and you can practically smell the adrenaline surging in her veins on her breath. And are very uncomfortable with how delicious that aroma is now and how tantalizing her hot breath seems, but at least you know that hungering desire within is born from a curse rather than any real yearning for her life on your part and as fresh as the hunger is, sealing the craving away is as easily as turning over your hand. But thinking about how tasty even a mouthful of Piao Tuzi's breath would be, even for just a shameful moment, does give you an idea of how to calm her down.

Since if you try to take her back home with you, with how scared she is right now, with her little heart thumping a marching beat in her chest, she might just drop dead from shock. And she is just too adorable not to take home with you and adopt. And since you already caught her and the buck that Aodasheng is currently prodding with his heel, checking for life signs after his mere presence caused the rowdy boy to faint and instinctively feign death, no one can balk or complain or accuse you of villany if you take guardianship over both of them. And besides, they need to be taught many things and raised properly, so they can one day teach the other transformed moon rabbits, and besides making Piao and the buck that is so selflessly and also violently protective of her presentable to society and capable of surviving both on and off the moon, you really want to show them off to your fellow earthborn magical beasts.

But since little Piao is showing all the signs of a prey animal being caught and going so far into shock she can't even think to bare her fangs or try to struggle and save herself, you need to convince her that you don't intend to make a meal out of her. And there's no better way to earn someone's trust than to give them food. But you aren't certain what moon rabbits like to eat, before you meditated and resonated your beast core with the moon, there wasn't any sort of grass or plant life on the moon. Do they even need to eat.

Reaching into your dimensional gourd, you pluck out a piece of hard divine blood candy, and hold it over Piao Tuzi's nose. She lifts up her head, and wiggles her nose, some color returning it as she sniffs the candy and then adorably tilts her head, frowning exactly like a rabbit would as she stares at the confection held in front of her like it was something mysterious and unknown, still trembling even as she eyes it suspiciously.

'Don't know why I tried candy first' You lament silently, pouting as Aodasheng kneels down besides you, weaving moon grass into rope for some reason

Cont

>>6012251

And that gives you a another idea of what sort of treat a moon rabbit might like, and holding her against your chest with one arm as she slumps back, morosely accepting her imagined fate of becoming your dinner, you reach over and pull out a handful of blue grass and offer it to her, holding your open palm under her face.

Her eyes light up and she struggles to lean forward, and you hold your breath, strangely excited to see her munch on the grass, but instead she daintly sticks out her tongue and grabs a few grass blades covered in dew and starts lapping at them. She looks fairly content and pleased, her nose wiggling and her ears drooping as she takes nearly a whole minute to drink a single drop of dew, flicking her tongue out more like a butterfly or honeybee than a rabbit.

And that when you understand what Jade rabbits eat and how they survive on the moon.

"Moon Dew. Of course, where else would it be plentiful except the moon" You marvel, as you hold crush the grasses in your palm and separate their juices from the dew, which Tuzi eyes hungrily "It only forms in places abundant with spiritual energy, balanced elements and good feng shui, where moonlight becomes dew as it settles to the earth. And the moon is overflowing and surrounded by cosmic qi and is the SOURCE of moonlight"

"We could make a killing gathering it" Aodasheng suddenly adds, a greedy glint in his eyes "Moon dew is prized for medicines, cultivation drugs, some poisons, artifact crafting, sorcery..."

"Mostly because its rare, I'm pretty sure my sweat could be sold as Moon Dew" You joke, but before you can laugh about it, you notice the greedy look in the ghost king's eyes has only grown more intense "No. No!"

"We could market it as Sanguine Moon Dew, the mysteries surrounding it, the supreme rarity and high quality of its spiritual essence would make it a luxury item for even wealthy sects" He tries to argue the benefit of selling your sweat as a alchemical ingredient or cultivation material, the idea of which, while kind of funny, also makes your skin crawl.

"No" You repeat, grinding your teeth as Piao Tuzi kicks her legs carelessly, humming happily and buzzing as she licks up more Moon Dew. Aodasheng frowns but relents with a casual shrug of his shoulders.

"Oh but think of the profit" He titters, and you wonder if he was never serious about the proposition or if he's covering his ass after seeing how disgusted the idea made you

"I think you should be thinking of a name for that poor buck you keep bullying, besides little bastard. I'm taking him back to my temple with Tuzi here" You say grumpily, glowering as he continues snickering, hiding his mouth with his sleeve.
Cont

>>6012254

"Night Warrior (Yèwǔshì, 夜武士)" Aodasheng says, in a very serious way in a tone like the name he's given the boy is profound and the act of naming him is a momentous moment in history, when it sounds like what an overly imaginative kid would call themselves after first being accepted into a martial arts school and they think they're the heavens only blessing on the world, destined for greatness and a life of adventure. Though, you can't bring yourself to make fun of him for it or complain how lame it actually sounds, since you did name the girl in your lap after a character in a story you wrote, whose name was purposefully both uncreative, overtly formal, and cutesy.

"It's humorous, you see, that the girl called white rabbit, is protected by a fearsome warrior" Aodasheng explains between fits of laughter, holding up two fingers "With a name as foreboding as Night Warrior"

"I...I guess" You strain to say through your teeth, noticing that the ghost king is still holding a leash in his hand, and while you're pretty sure he made it to put around Yewushi's neck as payback for biting his hand, it also gives you a somewhat mischievous idea. What better way is there to show you subjugated the great evil under the mountain than leading him around by a collar and leash.

And as if sensing your intentions and reading your thoughts, Ao takes a cautious step back

"Ao, can I see that leash for a moment~?" You ask sweetly, purring as you gently set Tuzi down on the ground, having to wiggle you hand out of hers as she's focused and determined to drink all of the Moon Dew gathered in your palm "I just want to admire your craftsmanship is all"

"I know what you're thinking, because I've done it before" He says with a wide smile "But, my pride dictates that I first ask who you intended to parade me before"

"Family and sect" You admit plainly and shamelessly, smirking as he considers his options

"Should we make it look like you mauled me first, so you may drag my battered self before them?" He suggests, a little too enthusiastically, and noticing you wariness caused by his apparent excitement to be beaten up, he explains "To make it clear we fought fiercely, since both of us have already recovered from, er, most of our wounds"

"No?" You say slowly "We're trying to be friends, remember? Why would I beat you up? My disciples are not so dull witted"

"Hah, and hear I wanted to make a terrifying yet pitiful entrance into their lives" He says with a giggle, eyes gleaming with mischief, now seeming more thrilled by the leash idea than you are

"You're terrifying just standing around, you don't need to be bloody and mangled to frighten others" You say with a roll of your eyes, deciding to hurry along the plan before Ao gets anymore strange ideas "Just put on the leash"

"As you command" He says, still snickering under his breath, mirthfully smiling as he widens the noose he made of braided moon grass to fit over his head

Cont

>>6012256

Traveling back to the world with three passengers, is surprisingly easy, the Moon Rabbits don't require any special care or preparation to be taken with you on the jaunt from space back to the ground, which you realize is the same for anything on the moon, from its rocks to its newly sprouted grasses. Presumably, anything you can carry, you can take from space back to the earth when you step back down to it. Aodasheng just uses the red string trick he used to transport the two of you to space during your fight.

And its easy to see, even from the night sky, that the entirety of you sect had gathered atop your split mountain to watch and wait for you return.

"Hm. This doesn't look like the region I lead my army to. Much has changed over the centuries. And the air is rich with ghostly miasma and beastly and bloody scents. How exciting! The air itself feels lively, what a world I've awoken to!" Aodasheng declares as he, with a rope around his neck, takes in the view of the land of a thousand rivers and lakes from above it "So many new temples, some many new....is that Suiqi?~! I thought for sure that den of scoundrels would've been put to the torch long ago, and should have been and, why is there a giant tree sprouting out of its center?"

"Oh? I cleaned up the sparrow's nest with a little, just minded bird, and the tree is also my handiwork" You answer his questions as you skip down the sky, leading him along, with the two Moon Rabbits, who you've put into a basket and are keeping happy with a bowl of chilled moon dew.

"I suspected as much, must've been bloody work scrounging out the filth from its streets" He admires, as the mountaintop comes into view as the clouds part, and you can see your sect, and your mother...

Rapidly approaching! And also flying up to you is the all too familiar smell of Kaoliang Wine!. Scrunching your nose, you squint as a cold breeze washes up as your mother soars up from the mountain top, dressed in the red and pink robes of your sect, with a loose sash and the upper robe opened to show off her "Jade beauties" as she some times calls them.

"Oh? is that an ice witch? I'm surprised that tradition has survived" Ao mutters under his breath as your mother gets closer and closer, with frozen tears falling from her cheeks and sparkling as they fall back to the earth

"She's my mother and she calls herself a witch. She prefers it, even. Monu" You explain quietly as she gets nearer and nearer "It's even branded on her forehead"

"What an odd fashion choice" He remarks.

And soon you can make out the two lines of three moles on her cheeks and her tear filled eyes as she rushes to embrace you
Cont

>>6012258

"Huan~Liu~Xue?" She starts crying out, arms half around and pulling you to her chest when she notices Aodasheng and starts, a shiver visibly traveling down her back as the ghost king observes her emotionlessly, like she was a curious optical illusion in a painting. Monu blinks, swallows dryly, and with a trembling lip, lifts up her hand and points at the ghost king, whose eyes are scanning and flicking over her, studying every piece of her but not in the way men usually do.

"That is a fine collection of internal Gu, Madam, I'm shocked their creation is still permitted" He politely greets her, complimenting her self taught poisoning technique

"He's still alive?" Monu asks, pulling on your ear to whisper into it, sounding actually frightened, which she didn't get even when faced by an army lead by her murderous ex

"Him and I got along after we fought, and he's surprisingly reasonable" You answer a little smugly, smirking as Monu glances back to the calamity level spirit, who gives a coy wave her way, and then her eyes light up with understanding when she sees the leash around his neck and the lead you're holding in your hand

"Ara ara, I see, you've tamed the wild beast" She cackles "Heh-Heh, how amusing! Of course, it is more impressive to capture your enemy than it is to cut them down! And he's quite the impressive catch"

"Thank you" The ghost king answers with a bow

"Just making sure, but you heard me when I said I beat him in a fight, right?" You say, knowing how your adoptive mother's mind tends to work

"Oh I'm not some lewd woman" She pouts, tugging on your ear a little harder, saying one of the more outrageous lies ever spoken beneath the heavens

"Hey, hey! Just making sure no weird rumors spread, between me and my new friend" You whine, as Monu smirks and gives your ear another tug, before her nose twitches and she turns towards the basket on your back "And advisor and guardian"

"Are you certain it is a good idea to be so close to...well, a villain so infamous his name was erased from memory?" She asks, slinking around to peer into the basket, and her worries melt away as she coos "Daaw, what adorable little children"

"That's why, for now, I'll keep him and my triumph over him a secret, Heh-Heh-Heh." You cackle, before starting, blood running cold as you see which of the rabbits Monu is reaching toward "Wait not that..."

"OW! YOU LITTLE BASTARD!" Monu wails, pulling back her bleeding hand as Yewushi glares at her, and a sleepy Piao Tuzi peeks her head out of the basket, nose wiggling as she gets her first whiff of real air

Aodasheng holds up his own hand, commiserating with your mother's pain.

"Well, lets introduce the terrifying monster to the rest of the sect, if I can't convince you not to keep him?" She sniffles, sucking on her bleeding finger as you, her, Ao, and the rabbits descend to the mountain
Cont

>>6012266

"Holy shit" Qiang says breathlessly "You...you've actually subjugated the devil at the bottom of the mountain"

"And she's leashed him like a dog" Huili mutters, scratching at his neck

"Oh! I have much to learn from master in the ways of subjugating ghosts! Mister, is that leash enchanted to control ghosts?" Baifenchi cheers vibrantly, sounding much more lively than she usually does

"So you aren't just a legend, uncle" Fu says with a whistle, looking Aodasheng up and down "Handsome for a corpse"

"Eh. I've seen prettier bodies" Qiang Jokes as Ping stares, frozen in shock

"Should've expected this" He mutters

"Your shit stain servants put me in a cage!" Yujijiao shouts furiously

"So you take after mother a little more than just her laugh, Huh?" Xuebai titters

"My old friend, is that you..." Aodasheng gasps, spotting Xiongji, but before he can say his true name, Xiongji slams his fist into his

"Fucker" He growls, wincing and reaching for his head "Just because I remembered, doesn't mean I didn't forget. The heavens might've killed us all, but you still..."

Xiongji pauses

"Well fuck you, even if I can't think of why I should be angry with you, leader. Should've at least sent a letter" He huffs and stomps off, as the other mighty spirits from the catacombs just stare at Aodasheng in awe, wheeping and crying with joy, so happy to see him freed they don't even see the leash you're dragging him around with.

"Guess I deserve that" He sighs, rubbing his jaw and clicking it back into place "I thought I saw more students when we were descending to this peak"

"They all ran off, we're the ones used to dealing with ghosts, and just getting done with fighting thousands of them prepared us better for your crushing pressure" Fu answers

"I didn't!" Yinying shouts, from a particularly dense patch of shadows

"Just breathing in the air around you feels like it could be deadly" Qiang adds "If that killing intent doesn't stop our hearts"

"You produce a lethal amount of deathly yin Qi, forgotten king" Ping remarks with a nod

"You're one scary bastard" Huili whines

"How did it feel to die?" Baifenchi asks cutely as she flutters around Aodasheng's head

"Hey, stop paying attention to the stinking corpse" Monu says, hoisting up the now docile Piao Tuzi "Look what else she brought back from the stars"

"A kid?" Fu grunts "With rabbit ears? There are beasts out beyond the heavens?"

"It isn't breathing, not air at least" Qiang notices, her dull voice sounding a little unnerved by that realization "But they aren't dead, at least as we'd recognize death"

"Moon rabbits are real?" Ping gawks, slapping his ghost arm on his chest as he reels and stumbles back

"Hm?" Baifenchi hums

"The moon has rabbits on it?" Huili asks, suddenly much more interested in the rabbit girl than the terrifying ghost king

"Hey! You need to answer for your followers' afront to the majestic me!" Yujijiao whines
cont

>>6012268

"Don't get his attention" Xuebai snaps at her, saving you the trouble of scolding her for courting death, and then a streak of pink and red passes by your side

"Hey don't just run off with her!" You yell, running after your mother, whose sprinting down the mountainside with Piao Tuzi under her arm "She just calmed down! You'll make her think we're going to toss her in a cooking pot if you act like that"

"Forgive me daughter, but it is vital that the rest of the sect see this adorable little baby!" Monu shouts back, you chase her down the mountain path, Aodasheng skipping down behind you, acting like he'd be pulled along by the leash around his neck if he didn't.

Once you've caught up to your mother, and Tuzi's been dotted on by the ladies of the palace of natural laws, what do you do, Huanliuxue?  two choices can be taken

>Ask if the preparations for the tournament are finished, and how much it has drained the sect's and your personal coffers

>Dote on Piao Tuzi and try to temper Yewushi's temper, as you teach them how to speak and the common sense of the world, and see how strong they are naturally

>See if you can teach your students who attained human form, how to partially transform, by trying to explain the self realization and insight that allowed you to figure it out [Teaching trial. DC 165]

>Tell your allied and friendly sects you're granting them the privilege to have a few of their students join the tournament without going through the qualifiers, a benefit of their friendship with the palace of natural laws

>Send Aodasheng on a covert mission of some king (Will lead to another vote, if you don't include what mission you send him on)

>Ask Monu if she knows of any cure for Specter Starvation besides consuming a powerful life.

>Experiment with and find the limit of your newly refined transformation powers

>Summon Ruolan and Renshu, check their progress, and have them bring you some of their stored blood so you can refine your carmine mysticism (Carmine Mysticism training. DC 118)

>Write in

Anonymous

>>6012271
>See if you can teach your students who attained human form, how to partially transform, by trying to explain the self realization and insight that allowed you to figure it out [Teaching trial. DC 165]
>Summon Ruolan and Renshu, check their progress, and have them bring you some of their stored blood so you can refine your carmine mysticism (Carmine Mysticism training. DC 118)

>>6012256
I know, the real reason the gods smote Ao is because his cringiness threatened the very fabric of reality itself.

>>6012271
>Ask if the preparations for the tournament are finished, and how much it has drained the sect's and your personal coffers

>See if you can teach your students who attained human form, how to partially transform, by trying to explain the self realization and insight that allowed you to figure it out [Teaching trial. DC 165]

>>6012256
>"I know what you're thinking, because I've done it before"
Damn. Bro's kinky.

>>6012271
>Ask Monu if she knows of any cure for Specter Starvation besides consuming a powerful life.

>Summon Ruolan and Renshu, check their progress, and have them bring you some of their stored blood so you can refine your carmine mysticism (Carmine Mysticism training. DC 118)
I'm interested in all the bottom three options, but this feels more pressing. Aody has been stuck in that box for ages without access to new information. There very well may be other methods to "cure" the curse of a Jiangshi after so long.

>>6012271

>Ask Monu if she knows of any cure for Specter Starvation besides consuming a powerful life.

>Summon Ruolan and Renshu, check their progress, and have them bring you some of their stored blood so you can refine your carmine mysticism (Carmine Mysticism training. DC 118)

A training DC that low is begging to be worked on. And I suspect we'd be foolish to ignore this curse.

>>6012271
>>See if you can teach your students who attained human form, how to partially transform, by trying to explain the self realization and insight that allowed you to figure it out [Teaching trial. DC 165]
If we succeed we gain more points for later.
>Ask Monu if she knows of any cure for Specter Starvation besides consuming a powerful life.
>Ask if the preparations for the tournament are finished, and how much it has drained the sect's and your personal coffers

Questions shouldn't be too major.
ALso guys remember we got a beast tide to attend to. That may be a high priority, bc the moment we break ling's control on them, they become ours, and we can use them on the ling after to fulfill our promise to the break away clan. Before or after that we need to hit up hell for dealing with the curse.

>>6012473
I'm gonna keep saying it untill people start listening.

EAT. THE LIFE BREATH. OF THAT LING. FUCK HEAD. IN CHARGE OF THE FAMILY.

EAT. HIS. LIFEFORCE.

HE IS STRONG ENOUGH. TO EAT. EAT HIS LIFE FORCE.

>>6012271
>Dote on Piao Tuzi and try to temper Yewushi's temper, as you teach them how to speak and the common sense of the world, and see how strong they are naturally

>See if you can teach your students who attained human form, how to partially transform, by trying to explain the self realization and insight that allowed you to figure it out [Teaching trial. DC 165]

I need to learn what Aodasheng named his techniques, surely he can't be THAT bad right?
>>6012271
>Summon Ruolan and Renshu, check their progress, and have them bring you some of their stored blood so you can refine your carmine mysticism (Carmine Mysticism training. DC 118)
These two don't pop up often, so lets check how they are doing
>Ask Monu if she knows of any cure for Specter Starvation besides consuming a powerful life.
Might as well get a second opinion on our condition

>>6012480
see: all of our effort into not looking like a man eating monster.
Yeah its the easy way out, but then we have to deal with a bunch of other bullshit. Might as well go to hell and deal with it there, Grandfather knows that anything we do there would still be A-okay by the standards of the demons.

>>6012507
You know how some things you did in highschool weren't considered lame at the time? It's just changing sensibilities that paint it that way? I'm sure for his era none of his techniques would have cringey names.

>>6012271
>Tell your allied and friendly sects you're granting them the privilege to have a few of their students join the tournament without going through the qualifiers, a benefit of their friendship with the palace of natural laws
>Ask Monu if she knows of any cure for Specter Starvation besides consuming a powerful life.

>>6012271
>>See if you can teach your students who attained human form, how to partially transform, by trying to explain the self realization and insight that allowed you to figure it out [Teaching trial. DC 165]
>>Summon Ruolan and Renshu, check their progress, and have them bring you some of their stored blood so you can refine your carmine mysticism (Carmine Mysticism training. DC 118)

>>6012271
>Ask if the preparations for the tournament are finished, and how much it has drained the sect's and your personal coffers
Its about time we get this tournament underway, finally.
>Ask Monu if she knows of any cure for Specter Starvation besides consuming a powerful life.
Gotta see if we have any other options to take.

Man, we have so much shit to do. Being a sect leader sure is busy, huh?

>>6012043
>>6012045
Extremely helpful, but I forgot to ask about her clothing options like a dunce. Mind filling me in on that as well?

>>6012271
>Ask if the preparations for the tournament are finished, and how much it has drained the sect's and your personal coffers

>See if you can teach your students who attained human form, how to partially transform, by trying to explain the self realization and insight that allowed you to figure it out [Teaching trial. DC 165]

>>6013183
Daoist robes in red and pink are the uniform of her sect.
She also has a demonic spider-silk armor, described here: https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.<wbr>com/qstarchive/2023/5663384/
<s>>could be mistaken for a extravagant dress if it were not for the pieces of it that were clearly armor.
>The gauntlets were also clawed, but more obviously with blades long and curved, being able to be used like claws while worn in your human form or as claw guards in your natural shape, a design that is shared with the armored foot ware. The armor is silver and polished to a near mirror like finish in the places but is vivid bloodred everywhere else, with an interesting design of bones, crow feathers and cats all over it. The vambraces are decorated with two carvings of sleeping cats on each, the leggings are designed to look somewhat like a cat's paws and the "Skirt" is designed to look like a fur wrapped around your waist. The breastplate looks like the fangs of a yowling cat, the shoulder pads look like crow skulls, but the helmet, looks like a crown, with rubies woven onto the band on its forehead in the center of eyes carved onto it, with two skeletal hands clinging to its side.
>Trying the armor on, you find it fits perfectly in both your forms, and even changes a bit in design to accommodate your feline body, losing its dress like quality's to become like a second hide of steel. Anjing also teaches you that the skeletal hands on your helmet can be made to move to cover and protect your face, a very important feature of course</s>

Our-Grandfather

Ending the vote, tallying its result, this update will be the start of a new thread.

See if you can teach your students who attained human form, how to partially transform, by trying to explain the self realization and insight that allowed you to figure it out:7

Summon Ruolan and Renshu, check their progress, and have them bring you some of their stored blood so you can refine your carmine mysticism:6

Ask if the preparations for the tournament are finished, and how much it has drained the sect's and your personal coffers:4

Ask Monu if she knows of any cure for Specter Starvation besides consuming a powerful life.:6

Dote on Piao Tuzi and try to temper Yewushi's temper, as you teach them how to speak and the common sense of the world, and see how strong they are naturally:1

Tell your allied and friendly sects you're granting them the privilege to have a few of their students join the tournament without going through the qualifiers, a benefit of their friendship with the palace of natural laws:1

SO you'll see if you can teach your students who have already attained human form, how to partially transform, summon ruolan and renshu to check their progress as carmine mystics and cultivators, and try to refine your own carmine mysticism, and also ask Monu if she knows of any cure for specter starvation besides consuming a powerful life force

New thread will arrive shortly