Normal Cultivator Quest 3

DrDragonfagQM

A world where might makes right. A world of Jade and Gold, of Phoenix and Dragons, of Pills and Talismans, of Martial and Spiritual arts.
A world where diligent training yield strength, meaning freedom. A world where loneliness means death, meaning social chains.
A world still unfair, as the ones reaching the heavens are most likely born rich - be it political riches of the aristocrats, power of secret knowledges and hidden realms of clans, or lucky enough to be born one-in-a-thousand genius.
This is not the case of Quiet Word - that is, (You). This is the case of your friends Dhundan Kepa, the brooding dark intimidating and secretive young boy and Ai, which is stuck too deep in her inner world.
However, you might be one-in-a-hundred genius. The fear of falling behind made you push your boundaries times and times again, leading you to overtake from a slim margin the two geniuses by a combination of luck, hard work, and burn out.
You also motivated the other "gifted but not great" kids - the monkey-bound Yi Norm, the Horse specialist Sin Din and her twin jack-of-all-trade Man Din to follow along.
You have also fairly good relationship with other members of the sect : Kyo Ko, a 11 year old girl extremely secretive of her skills and Bathias, a 15 year old boy that took the role of Hawk Master after the older one got promoted.
Last, Ryota, the Branch Master at the Inborn Realm (Fourth Stage), is personally tutoring you.

In the end, you know a fair amount of technic for such a young cultivator, but your strength lies in the impressive amount of Bonded Spiritual Beasts - A Hawk spirit, a Horse spirit, a Snake spirit and a Wolf spirit.
Speaking of that last one, you didn't told a world about him to anybody. As a scion of the Primordial Wolf spirit, its father warned you of its worth and how people could want to rip it away from you...
You recently discovered that the Hawk Spirit is an embodiment of the mythical element of Growth. Speaking of, you had an unique opportunity to visit the Growth realm, coming back with insights, an unique movement technique and a teapot, hidden in cloth and wore at your belt.
Despite the amount of self-inflicted pressure, you know you're pretty loaded and progressing at a more than acceptable rhythm - having broke through the second of the five minor realms of First stage, the Eye Aperture.

Character sheet : https://pastebin.com/FQqQDEa9
Last thread : https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.<wbr>com/qstarchive/2024/5930179/

>>5969851
However, you simply didn't had time to work on the new movement technique, appraise the teapot (Ok, you mainly lack tea leaves), or bring your Fighting techniques to the level of your cultivation - and you can always cultivate more.
Before you even have the time to mentally list what you have to do, and prioritize among those - an impressive, almost impossible feat for an average 6 year old, a thing as normal as breathing for a sect-trained cultivator - Ryota calls upon the best students of the sect.
Of course, none among the new crop of 5 years old kids is chosen - none of them has finished the Hundred Days of Foundation Building, and you didn't feel the same potential in any of them than in Dhundan, Ai, Kyo Ko, Gro Ta or Bathias.
The rooster is similar to the one sent to the Tamers of Thousand Beasts gathering - the tournament your both your team and your sect failed and finished second.
"Stable Lotus Venerable, thanking us for the recent gift of Lotus-aligned spirit beast, invited our best elements for a Fortuitous encounter.
In truth, he search to help his pupils more than anything. It seldomly matter. Benefit as much as you can for the opportunity."

All of you are given one precious Spiritual Bead - those blue pearls used to catch and bind spirit beasts. Your group moves from the compounds, North-West of the city, to the center of Stable Lotus Harbor, the Stable Lotus sect itself.
In the big plazza, delegations of other local sects are waiting - Military Youth, Versatile Harmony, Buddhist Temple, Sun Adorators, and Abyssal Waters.

You're greeted by an older man - everybody bows when he gets out of the Stable Lotus compounds, with the disciples of the Stable Lotus quest - among them LienWen YanEr. You guess he's the namesake Stable Lotus Venerable.
Start an awfully long ceremony where every master gives face to all the other masters, then a long speech celebrating the alliance of powers of this town and this goodwill from the Stable Lotus sect.
You quickly grasp you will visit a Secret Realm. In teams of 3. Basically, the various sects will lend members to assist the Stable Lotus Sect member in their exploration of the realm completely tuned to their strength.
You are first splitted in several courtyard according to your realm. You and your squad are among the strongest of your courtyard. Now, you will have to approach a Stable Lotus disciple...

>Team up with LienWen YanEr - after all you owe her your breakthrough
>Team up with another Stable Lotus Disciple - and show the young Mistress you're better than her!

Next, you can influence who the third member will be. An other Beast Whisperer will be redundant - but you know a few other kids. You can also settle for someone just based on their sect
>Recruit a Military Youth Kids [Unknown, Ster Ling, Xiao Niar]
>Recruit a Versatile Harmony Kid [Unknown, Ping Jun]
>Recruit a Buddhist Monk Kid [Unknown]
>Recruit a Sun Adorator Kid [Unknown]
>Recruit an Abyssal Waters Kid [Unknown]

Anonymous

>>5969857
>Team up with LienWen YanEr - after all you owe her your breakthrough

>Recruit a Military Youth Kids - Ster Ling

>>5969857
>Team up with Lienwen
>Recruit Ping Jun

When in the martial world, trust is a rare resource. We must rely on that trust and build the connections into strength.
Plus, both of them are here to catch spirit beasts and I want to help out our friend/rival in other sects.
Who knows, maybe making a power trio with these two is easier than Dhun and Ai in our sect.

>>5969857
>Team up with LienWen YanEr - after all you owe her your breakthrough

>Recruit an Abyssal Waters Kid [Unknown

>>5969857
>Team up with LienWen YanEr - after all you owe her your breakthrough
>Recruit a Versatile Harmony Kid [Ping Jun]

DrDragonfagQM

>>5969915
>>5969921
>>5969925
>>5970013
>>5970109

The answer is obvious : you will visit a realm, a bit like the one you reached in your meditations, with ample spiritual energy and ressources - and maybe spiritual beasts, weapons, and other treasures?
Teaming up with LienWen YanEr, without a doubt the most attuned to the incoming realm is the best course of action to reap the most reward, and that's not taking into account the strengthening of your bond.
"You want to team up with me? Alright, I'll show you the worth of the Stable Lotus unique daughter if that's so!"
She seems relieved - strangely, it seems no one approached her to start with - and she is too proud to take the first step.
"So, who would be the dead weight to round up our squad?"
You take a second to think.
You don't know what you will face in there. You were advised to learn to fight better - so maybe Ster Ling, the Archer, would be a good choice?
However, the kid is insufferable from the little you interacted with him. Ping Jun, on the other hand, is easy to talk to. Oh, there he is.
"Hey Ping Jun. Wanna join us?
- Oh, it's you. Of course. By the way, did you find a spare spirit?
- Sadly, no. Didn't had any opportunity lately - but there is both this time and something a bit later"
His face break down from overjoyed to slightly disappointed.
"I understand. After all, spiritual beast are rare and hard to capture, right?"
He plastered a polite smile, that merged quickly enough into real appreciation seeing you.
"Anyway, what's next?
Our team is complete, let's proceed. The sooner, the better."
She confidently walks toward the supervising member of the sect observing the courtyard - they don't look happy.
"Careful. The one assigned to logistics and organization are denied a dive in the Stable Lotus realm. They're bitter about it."
You're walked through the maze of buildings and bridges over lotus-filled canals. You feel the quality of spiritual energy is improving.
"The wait and the walk makes me all tingly in the belly.
- Me too buddy.
- Me three. I am usually forbidden to go there."
Security is indeed tight, and getting tighter - adults and elders with impressive presence weight you down only by one stare. You are allowed there, but don't feel welcome.
Inferring on what you know, it looks like the city's sect alliance and their choice to nurture promising disciple is made at the expense of the mediocre bulk of said sects.
Not all elder or disciples are liking this politic.
A building's entrance is covered in long and wide cloth. Your escorts wait, while the young mistress eagerly spread them. You step in a buffer zone, a couple meter longs, which is similarly covered in cloth.
Spreading them reveal a courtyard filled with a pond with a huge teal lotus flower half-opened in the middle.
"What now?
- Well we go in dummy!"

She dashes toward the middle of the pond. You wait for her to make a big splash - she seems to literally run on water.
"Follow me! Step on the lotus!"
Looking clother, she indeed is - each plants easily holding up her weight. You follow in her wake, Ping Jun in tow.
This impressive feat of speed and balance is literally child's play for cultivators such as you three.
The three of you steps in the heart of the flower, which petals coil back, then open again.
You are of course on a lotus flower, like the one that took you there. Other flower are everywhere - especially over your head.
Except this time, you are in another realm. Spiritual energy is denser - but not aligned to any of your techniques in any way.
>Entered the realm of Growth
That last though was false : in addition to the two most dominant energies of the place, hints of Growth are present in the spiritual energy mix.
Two of your Pendants feel it too : the Hawk spirit is particularly awoken, and the mysterious teapot seems to buzz in contentment.
"Alright. We're in the realm as long as we don't fall in the water. The higher we go, the higher quality of energies and treasures. The farther we go from the center, the most likely we are to find treasures.
- So we go high, then sideways?
- Sounds smart. Maybe we can recover from fall if we're high enough?"

The three of you join acts to words. The fourth layer is reached without any kind of effort - the young mistress being unsurprisingly more swift and nimble than the two of you.
"Hold on. that last jump was quite hard."
Upon your heads, layers and layers and layers of flying lotus leaves.
>Opened Eye Aperture
Layers distance between each other increase with height, but the density of flowers remains similar. You focus, and count a total of a hundred layers. Good to know you guess.

What's next?
>Keep climbing the layers
>Go explore sideways

Anonymous

>>5970296
>Go explore sideways
But keep an eye out for any leaves that would provide an easier opportunity to gain some extra height

>>5970296
>Climb the layers at least another bit higher.
>This is the realm attuned to growth, at least somewhat. We can use some of our tricks in the "true" land of growth to assist in at least another leap higher.

Like turning breath into a wind.

>>5970296
>>Keep climbing the layers
Greedmax

DrDragonfagQM

Rolled 95, 18, 18, 60 = 191 (4d100)

>>5970300
>>5970335
>>5970364
>>5970612
Alright, bone-clicking time.
>2 anon roll 1d100

Currently rolling for your teammates

Anonymous

Rolled 28 (1d100)

>>5970870
Call for rolls?

DrDragonfagQM

>>5970890
Yes.
Let's hope the next anon roll better

Anonymous

Rolled 27 (1d100)

>>5970870
Jump around. Jump! Jump!

>>5970891
>>5970896
Well, that was false hope

DrDragonfagQM

>>5970890
>>5970896
>>5970900

"Ping Jun, do you think you can hold on? I think we should press on and move up."
Yeah, give me a couple seconds..."
The boy starts shining in a golden hue. He seems faster, and his subsequent jumps reaches the higher level easily.
"I won't let you show off in my family's secret realm!"
The nimble young mistress follows, and you feel like the lotus are moving around to help her. It's unfair.
Maybe the growth realm techniques will work here? You breath, but no wind rise.
Luckily, your friend haven't seen you acting weird. Thus, in a more traditional way, you follow in their wake, gathering your energy and propelling your movement technique.
You gather Qi and Blood in your leg, pulling energy for the Unlimited Ground-contracting Kick - every centimeter will matter in your jump...
>28 : Failure.
You overshot by two handful of centimeter. Realization downs you : you're not much familiar with that technique - you haven't had time to practice it after all - and it seems empowered in that realm, resulting in your miss.
You already see yourself plummeting humiliatingly out of the secret realm...

>95 from Young Mistress
"Fellow Daoist Quiet Word!"
The lotus moved, catching you before you fall.
"Are you okay? Hold up I'll help you!"
The condescension stings more than half as much as the humiliation you would have suffered falling out of this realm.
"Camon, you beat me in the Stable Lotus tournament, I chose you first in my group, give me some face!"
You felt like your pride was hit by a double technique akin to your double talon strike.
Anyway, with the help of the Young Mistress, you reach Ping Jun up to the 9th layer.
"You Okay? Scared me!"
Before you can answer, a movement down makes you glance : another team of disciples. 10 or 11 year old. None that you know.
You realize it means you're the first group in the secret realm.
"Alright. Either we try to climb some more, or we stay at that level looking for treasures."

>Keep climbing the layers
>Go explore sideways

Anonymous

>>5971352
>Sideways

9/100 seems like a pretty good spot to go for.

>>5971352
>Sideways
Best not to get any greedier.

>>5971352
>Go explore sideways
Agh, them bones didn't click good
Now we owe her even more

>>5971848
>>5971844
fug
At this point I wish we were average

DrDragonfagQM

>>5971371
>>5971416
>>5971447
>>5971501
>>5971616
>>5971697
>>5971844
>>5971848
>>5971850
>>5971867
>>5971868

You pick a direction, and hop away from flowers to flowers.
"Let's try to cover the most lotus flowers - treasures of this realm can be find only by being at the right place!"
So you do. Covering ground, hoping from flower to flower, you find nothing.
You can't help but find this secret realm a bit boring - Growth realm was an amazing experience, and that's without taking in account the serpentine labyrinthe of Snake realm or the brief view of the Wolf realm.
But those realms are not as easily reachable - the ritual you had the fortune of joining the Snake Mistress in looked expensive with the amount of materials spend, more materials from the mystical plane than your group bringed back - and prompter to kick you out.
The older kids overtook you - they're twice as high for now. More child enter - all in the older side. Three groups entered the realm under you - 2 groups of older kids, older even than Bathias, and one other group around Kyo Ko's age.
In front of you, lotus are getting sparser.
"So what should we do?"
>Onward, braving the sparser lotus Field
>Circling around the "pillar" of dense flowers above the input pod, keep looking for treasures
>Maybe it's a good time to climb again?

Anonymous

>>5971904
>Onward, braving the sparser lotus Field

>>5971904
>Brave the sparser lillies.
>Deploy our hawk, We've taught it to Caw on command, so have it serve as a scout for us.

>>5971904
>>Onward, braving the sparser lotus Field

Rolled 76 (1d100)

>>5971997
We can do it, I believe in ourselves

DrDragonfagQM

>>5971997
>>5972002
>>5972009

"So what should we do?"
You raise your head.
"If there was anything worth something near the middle, it would have been picked up by the older ones. Let's try our luck further?"
You directly translate words in action, and jump.
>31 <s>for a DC of 60</s>
Too short. you plummet - maybe you can catch a lower leaf?
Yeah, no. Your trajectory is directly sending you in water.
>LienWen YanEr failure
You're overtake in your fall by the teal-clad silhouette of your friend.
You fall in a big splash. Cloth drag you down, despite your empowered cultivator physique.
A hand grabs your collar, and pull you out - you're back in the pond where people are queuing to enter the pod.
"First in, first out, Uh?"
You can feel the disdain coming from the teenager. The deck leading to the pond is crowd with various kids - hey Ster Ling and Dhundan are in the same group; the archer is taunting you by slipping his index under his nose - you get the meaning "the opportunity slipped right under your nose loser".
Another splash - it's Ping Jun. He suffered several cuts, turning water around him crimson. The haughty teenager quickly fish him out of water, and rush to bring him to first aid.
LienWen is staring down at her feets, feeling obviously bad for messing up that opportunity.
>Do you say something to her [Write-in]?
>Or join her in brooding [blaming what? Lack of luck, talent, training?]

Anonymous

>>5972049
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have insisted we climb higher."

>>5972049
>Do you say something to her [Write-in]?
>"It's not your fault, LienWen, is mine and you know it. It was my fault from the start where I was just slacking from going to a higher realm, not only that but I also made the call of going sideways when I wasn't obviously qualified to do so. I was just a deadweight making the calls, and I'm so sorry for it"

A mix of consoling her and also fervently brooding about ourselves in a short rant-

>>5972049
>Ask her what we could have done better, then listen.

>>5972049
>Do you say something to her [Write-in]?
Find some way to salvage this

>>5972049
>Support >>5972084

>Make a very sincere, Some may say Insistent, suggestion that we go and have some tea away from the rest of the prodigies.
Yes its our secret, but also self loathing and self blame plus people we kinda owe/Wanna get close with. And she has to have tea.

>>5972126
>>5972096
>>5972060
So do you guys not want to get SOMETHING out of this debacle?

>>5972338
What part of 'salvage' implies walking away with nothing? We could attempt to re-enter or something through meditation while we are still relatively attuned to the energy of the realm.

>>5972345
We can't enter again, or we would have already.

The lack of ideas to the contrary was the main contribution for "walking away with nothing".
I say instead we comfort our rival and friend by showing them a treasure and using it with/on them getting us two things.

One, We now know how to use the damned thing.
Two, securing this political alliance.

Potential drawbacks include people we have tenuious hold over blabbing about our treasure but I consider that a worthwhile risk.

Do you have any other ideas?

>>5972354
yeah sure, tea party
We have been able to enter realms with less, I don't thing it's impossible

DrDragonfagQM

Dutiful notice : my permanent IP might change

>>5972060
>>5972084
>>5972096
>>5972126
>>5972137
>>5972338
>>5972345
>>5972354
>>5972381

"It's not your fault, LienWen. It is mine and you know it.
It was my fault from the start where I was just slacking from going to a higher realm, not only that but I also made the call of going sideways when I wasn't obviously qualified to do so.
I was just a deadweight making the calls, and I'm so sorry for it.
- Yeah, you're right. But I hold responsibility too - our realms are similar so that's mean I'm slacking too and didn't even realized it.
And it was really comfortable hiding behind your choices...
- What could I have done better, except not chosing the obviously wrong choices?
- I lack the insight..."

You'll need to salvage this. And you might have just the thing for it.
"I might have a secret to show you. But for that I'll need a quiet spot, tea leaves and two cups...Oh, and boiling water, too."

Capitalizing on the perks of owning the place, LienWen YanEr gather the things in a turn of hands, then lead you to an empty room.
She present a teapot, and take a handful of dry leaves.
"Wait!"
She stops, hand over the normal teapot.
You unfurl your Treasured Teapot, ask her to put in the dry leaves, and fill, for the first time, the teapot with water.
You wait the required time for the hot drink to brew.
Progressively, the claystone seems to shine in a white and gold hue, the characters are especially bright.
You feel the timing to pour the tea in the cups. The drinks seems brimming with energy.
Your teapot can currently serve water to two people - no more, and you intuitively know that less would be wasteful.
Both of you drink. It's a bit more bitter than you expected but you thouroughly enjoy the high-quality herbs : you're more used to the common variant.
The teapot dulls. The once-colorful character now appears grey.
"So... What does the teapot do?
- Honestly? I don't know. Maybe help with our future cultivation?
- Oh. It felt special. That might be it so."

And with that, you regain the courtyard, waiting for other kids. Most have pulled some materials from the secret realms, lucky ones met spiritual beast and treasures. Stable Lotus Clan members are delighted, other are invited to the sect's treasury for trading. This reminds you harshly that you missed out on that encounter.

And that concludes the day. You head for the sect, sympathizing with the Young Mistress who would certainly get a hard time following your collective failure.
Now, all that remains for you is diligent cultivation. However, you hesitate about pills : are they a good call this week? Won't they interract weirdly with whatever the teapot have done?
Or, contrairwise, would they let you increase the benefits of the tea drinking?

Potential
>Investigate the teapot and its power [How? Write-in what you think it does]
Friendship
>Attempt to mend things between Dhundan and Ai
>You never paid attention to older kids - the 7, 8 and 9 year old seems lacking talent, but still.
>Catch up with Dhundan, Ai, Yi Norm, Man Din and Sin Din - did they got anything special from the Stable Lotus Hidden Realm?
Foundation
>Work on your Foundation [Pills available]
>Work on your Mental Energy with Dhundan
Weapon skills
>Work on your Windy Cavalier's Halberd [Pills available]
>Work on your Spear style : Blood-Shadow Wolf Painful Assault [Pills available]
Spiritual Beasts
>Investigate on the Scion of the Primordial Wolf Spirit[How?]
>Investigate on the talking Spiritual Beasts[How?]
The sect
>Continue to learn how to read
>Help the new kids
Strengthening the Jar
>Slack off [this will be bad for your mental health]
>Carve out a secret spot for yourself somewhere
And, as always...
>Write-in allowed!

Anonymous

>>5973068
>Work on our foundation
>Carve out a secret place for ourselves.
>Help the new kids.

We can use the excuse of moping for our new sancutary. But we should focus on foundation, since the teapot signals the foundational realms apatures.

Its a growth teapot. . . Now while I think that should be complimentary with the pills, it is still its own aspect. So I vote
NO PILLS.

>>5973087
+1

NO-PILLS GRIND, TEAMAXXING

>>5973087
Support. Need privacy to commune with wolf spirit.

>>5973068
>>Attempt to mend things between Dhundan and Ai
>>Carve out a secret spot for yourself somewhere
>>Work on your Foundation [Pills available]

>>5973068
>Carve out a secret spot for yourself somewhere
>Work on your Foundation [Pills available]
>Attempt to mend things between Dhundan and Ai

>>5973068
>There's a wolf, in my heart, who's just lying around doing nothing. Stop being lazy brother wolf. Run and play with me in the dreamtime. Though play does the young pup test his limits and grow stronger.
>Work on your Foundation [No pills, focus on tea and chi]
>Continue to learn how to read

>>5973335
>Actually, we're trying to grow and open our eyes, so I guess when focusing on tea and chi, focus on how caffeine opens the pathways of energy and alertness. Tea has many properties, caffeine being one. It'll also help us be more alert during the day and have crazier dreams due to sleep deprivation at night.

>>5973068
>Work on your Foundation No pills
>Carve out a secret spot for yourself somewhere
>You never paid attention to older kids - the 7, 8 and 9 year old seems lacking talent, but still.

DrDragonfagQM

I realized I forgot an important option in the vote, unlocked by discussing with Kyo Ko last time
>Ask Bathias about Eye Skills

So, if you want to amend your vote...

Anonymous

>>5973469
Part of me wants too. The eye skill is a talent inheretence of foundation buildihg, which the treaure seems to be focused on.

But it is better to get some other shit done. Maybe not better better but we can't delay forever

DrDragonfagQM

Since you opened the twin balls of eye aperture, your sight is better - you can clearly see from far away, able to focus and remember thing you've seen more vividly.

The day after that Stable Lotus fiasco, Wolf Mistress picks you among the disciples working on the Eye Aperture - You, Dhundan and Ai have it opened, but as the first to have open the realm, you're also the first that had it stabilized.
"Eye aperture is a twin hourglass. But now it's filled and open, you can work on your Nose Aperture.
It is pear-shaped, with the narrow side leading to a wall. At this stage, cultivators usually experience their first Bottleneck.
However, you're young and ahead in your cultivation, so as long as the sect keeps helping you you're expected to break through while your mouthful of Inborn True Qi you received at birth haven't dissipated yet.
This True Qi means no bottleneck for around two more years for you."
Following the mistress' instructions, you locate the Nose Aperture. It's still and wonderful mystery why Aperture does not appear before you're ready - and seems only visible by seeking them and knowing their locatoins.
Having a sect and instructors is more than mere techniques and leaving you on your own while raking in ressources and work - it could easily have taken you a month or two just to locate the Nose Aperture correctly, despite knowing it's the next step.
Circulating your technique, you generate Qi and Blood threads, and pull them in. Despite a more-than-ample amount of energy gathered and pull in, you feel it's a mere drop in the Nose Aperture.
The early free time dedicated to cultivation is over. Daily chores are starting. But the Wolf Mistress still have something to tell you.
"Keep your eyes open for a Wolf spirit. It won't be immediate, but transplanhumance is coming in 3 months after all.
Although... It's been a while I've not seen your pup, is he fine?"
You answer a non-commital "yes", and abscond.
Over the two weeks, you diligently spins your energy threads. Energy is higher than your pill-enhanced sessions of Eye Aperture stage, but filling speed is a crawl.
You're not able to pinpoint wether the higher energy comes from the teapot or your higher level.

Your daily chores still involve taking cares of the mundane beasts. You take some time to observe the batch of newcomers.
They seem plain. Their potential : poor, deficient, inferior or weak. As a comparison, Dhundan and Ai are somewhere between Excellent and Incredible, not impossibly higher.
This bad potential is on par to the twenty-or-so other kids your age you've left in the dust, none having opened the Heart Aperture yet.
Yourself? Cutting yourself a bit of slack and not wallowing in angst, you have to admit to yourself you're at least Fine.
However, The twin sisters and Yi Norm where in your first impression Average or Mediocre. But the competition burning you out and your focus on group growth pulled everyone up, turning them at least Decent.

Maybe the same could be told about newcomers? Thus, you try quite hard over the next weeks to bond with them. But they're ininterresting and interchangeable in your eyes.
Still, the fact you're spending time with them is making a good impression on them and on the Masters.

There's a third endeavor you're overtaking this week. One running in the back of your mind for a long time.
You go for Horseback runs everyday, to find a remote spot. Something that could be turn in your own, small, Immortal Cave : a spiritually-rich remote secret spot but still easily accessible for you, where you could practice in secrecy.
You don't find one - obviously. Good spot might already be taken and hidden by higher level members of the sects. You then decided you'll make your own.
There's a suitable location at a bit more than half an hour of horseback riding. A hill with a majestic, tall tree.
Sending Horse patrolling, Snake slithering in tree and Hawk circling in the sky with the instruction to Neigh, Hiss or Caw if they see anything or anyone approching, you release the Wolf.
It look like a plain, normal wolf.
It's still a spiritual beast, but if you didn't knew any better, you'd say it's a soul of an average common wolf that have been shoved in a bead.
There must be more to it - and that's why you need this quiet, remote spot. You order him to dig among roots.
However, despite plain it still shares your soul and thus the spirit is at the level of opened Eye Aperture Realm.
This is way more than enough strength to efficiently remove dirt and soil. The week is enough to dig a small cave with an entrance hidden by a couple bushes.

It's been one year and one month since you joined the Eastern Province branch of Tamers of Hundred Beasts.

Potential
>Investigate the teapot and its power [How? Write-in what you think it does]
>Ask Bathias about his Innate Eye Ability
Friendship
>Attempt to mend things between Dhundan and Ai
>You never paid attention to older kids - the 7, 8 and 9 year old seems lacking talent, but still.
>Pick up a few of the new kids under your wing
>Catch up with Dhundan, Ai, Yi Norm, Man Din and Sin Din - did they got anything special from the Stable Lotus Hidden Realm?
Foundation
>Work on your Foundation [Pills available]
>Work on your Unlimited Ground-contracting Kick
>Work on your Mental Energy with Dhundan
Weapon skills
>Work on your Windy Cavalier's Halberd [Pills available]
>Work on your Spear style : Blood-Shadow Wolf Painful Assault [Pills available]
Spiritual Beasts
>Investigate on the Scion of the Primordial Wolf Spirit[How?]
>Investigate on the talking Spiritual Beasts[How?]
The sect
>Continue to learn how to read
>Help the Poor-talented batch of new kids
Strengthening the Jar
>Slack off [this will be bad for your mental health]
>Improve Immortal Cave [How?]
And, as always...
>Write-in allowed!

Anonymous

>>5973631
>Ask about Innate eye Talent
>Foundation with Pills
So I was completely wrong there. Looks like.

>Ground contracting kick
Transplanace in 3 months. Lets prepare for that. So work on our movement to catch em and our ability to see them.

>>5973631
>Work on your Spear style : Blood-Shadow Wolf Painful Assault no pills
>Work on your Unlimited Ground-contracting Kick
>Continue to learn how to read

>>5973631
>Ask Bathias about his Innate Eye Ability
>Work on your Unlimited Ground-contracting Kick
>Work on your Spear style : Blood-Shadow Wolf Painful Assault

DrDragonfagQM

Alright guys this seems like a small engagement vote.
I'd appreciate a couple more inputs.

I'll take the opportunity to ask about notification : how much does it help you to be directly answered to?

Anonymous

>>5973631
>Work on foundation (use pills)
>Work on kick
>Learn reading

>>5973631
>Work on ground-contracting kick
>Continue learning to read
>Ask Bathias about his Innate Eye ability

>>5974506
>I'll take the opportunity to ask about notification : how much does it help you to be directly answered to?
? Not sure what you mean by this

>>5973631
>Improve Immortal Cave: Stabilize the walls with stout branches.
>Attempt to mend things between Dhundan and Ai
>Work on your Mental Energy with Dhundan

DrDragonfagQM

>>5974906
When directly answering to an anon like I'm doing, the exclamation mark in the top of the window turns red and not white. Some prefer it that way, meaning there's something to check.

Alright, seems a bit tied.<br>I'll start writing the Unlimited Ground-contracting Kick practice. The rest will depend if we get a tiebreak or not; I'll might roll for it.

Anonymous

>>5975004
>>5973778
Change innate eye to learn 2 read

DrDragonfagQM

Over the next couple weeks, you keep your basic cultivation practice to a minimal, following the daily morning sessions and not pulling more energy on the side.
Still, the trickle gathered this week should amount to something, right? Dhundan and Ai, which finished stabilizing the new realm, are in result a mere inch behind you in term of raw cultivation.

>Practice the Unlimited Ground-contracting Kick Movement Technique
You can't help but feel like you would have performed better in the Stable Lotus Hidden Realm if you had a better grasp on your Movement technique.
Thus, you put your focus on the secret skill you acquired over the next couple of weeks.
The practice goes extremely well, and you're soon able to leap a bit more than a couple meters : a bit less than twice your height, not bad for a 6 year old.
You feel like a good deal of the technique is too theorically complex for you and out of your reach - not that you have a good theoretical knowledge base about Cultivation to start with.
Still, this is what you infer of your instictive mastery of the technique :
Your Qi and Blood threads are sent in your lower body, and consumed by your legs's muscle, tonifying them and demultiplicating their output.
You feel your Qi is trying to do something else - somethingS else - but fails to transform. Once again, you think the effects will be tremendously different once your Qi will turn in True Qi
Overall, your grasp of the technique is impressive - good enough for Breakthrough! is that an effect of the Teapot-enhanced tea?

>Breakthrough! Chose among :
Rock-breaking roundhouse-kick : Instead of gathering energy in your legs to jump, strengthen shins for a devasting blow.
Fall-contraction : a technique using the underlying principles of the Unlimited Ground-contracting kick to fasten a fall, resulting in lesser fall height and thus reducing risk of injury.
Technique Advancement : create a new technique based on this one. You can add or replace one keyword in the technique name.

However, your technique strength remains under the Opened Heart Aperture for now.

>Practice of the Spear Style : Blood-Shadow Wolf Painful Assault
Second point : improve your fighting abilities. You feel like you've lagged behind, and pick up the spear practice.
It feels well - probably thanks to the amazing pills, supplying you with a perfect mix of energy allowing you to work twice as hard with half the effort.
The practice session went well - extremely well. You're starting to understand there are wolf-related spiritual arts hidden in the technique.
They eluded you by a very small margin - did the enhanced tea helped for that too?
In the end, you now feel stronger using a spear than an halberd - not even factoring in the Cosmic Spear Snake.
Your weapon practice haven't catched up yet to your full cultivation level though.

>Reading comprehension
Last, more time spent with Ryota in his off-time (more available than a couple weeks ago). You infer the sub-par crop of new kids is not worth a time investment from him.
This might be the harsh reality of this world : there is a double-demultiplicator to potential. Gifted ones will progress faster, and thus get invested in more easily than struggling kids.
Thus, the talented thrive twice as much.
In the end, you double your amount of known characters : your improved visual memory is certainly a part of your success.

Potential
>Investigate the teapot and its power [How? Write-in what you think it does]
>Ask Bathias about his Innate Eye Ability
>Focus on the secret Technique hidden in the Spear Style![Requires to also take Spear Style Practice, improves chances of Breakthrough]
Friendship
>Attempt to mend things between Dhundan and Ai
>You never paid attention to older kids - the 7, 8 and 9 year old seems lacking talent, but still.
>Pick up a few of the new kids under your wing
>Catch up with Dhundan, Ai, Yi Norm, Man Din and Sin Din - did they got anything special from the Stable Lotus Hidden Realm?
Foundation
>Work on your Foundation [Pills available]
>Work on your Unlimited Ground-contracting Kick
>Work on your Mental Energy with Dhundan
Weapon skills
>Work on your Windy Cavalier's Halberd [Pills available]
>Work on your Spear style : Blood-Shadow Wolf Painful Assault [Pills available]
Spiritual Beasts
>Investigate on the Scion of the Primordial Wolf Spirit[How?]
>Investigate on the talking Spiritual Beasts[How?]
The sect
>Continue to learn how to read
>Help the Poor-talented batch of new kids
Strengthening the Jar
>Slack off [this will be bad for your mental health]
>Improve Immortal Cave [How?]
And, as always...
>Write-in allowed!

Anonymous

>>5975079
>Eye talent.
>Grouneld contracting kick.
>Foundation

I would like to get a message to Jun, and hope that doesnt take an action. We kinda need to know what animal affinity he has if we want to get him a suitable veast from the transhumance, either directly or via trading with the sect.
So if he can come tell us, or get another message sent, that'd be great. Maybe we can write a letter!

DrDragonfagQM

>>5975085
You can get that as a free part of the "learn to read" action - in the shape of writing a letter.

Anonymous

>>5975079
>Improve Immortal Cave [How?]
Make enough room to start practicing martial styles, then
>Investigate on the Scion of the Primordial Wolf Spirit[How?]
by summoning/channeling while we
>Work on your Spear style : Blood-Shadow Wolf Painful Assault [Pills available]
so that we can hopefully
>Focus on the secret Technique hidden in the Spear Style![Requires to also take Spear Style Practice, improves chances of Breakthrough]

As for our movement style breakthrough, what would happen if we replaced 'ground' with 'space', or with 'sky'?

>>5975078
I forgot to vote for a breakthrough. I am retarded.

I will add
>Fall contraction move
For the breakthrough.

And in light of >>5975094
>I will change >>5975085 Foundation for reading
So we can get these things done properly. I wanna help Jun, to make up for our fuckup.

Hmm. After transhumance, I think we need to sit down and hammer out a set primary objective. We are on a timer with that true Qi, so we cant ignore foundation forever.
And we have been neglecting windy cavalier

DrDragonfagQM

>>5975103
>Wondering about earth and space
thanks to that write-in, you realize that one of failed elemental transform must be related to earth, while the other seems like an energy you've already been exposed too, an energy in the signature of the Cosmic Spear Snake Spirit.
The "Contracting" Keyword of the technique is related to Space, while the "Ground" Keyword is related to earth.

>>5975103
also, that's 4 option out of the 3 allowed.

Anonymous

>>5975105
Well we have high affinity for earth so we should be able to get good use out of our movement style, and it is good to know it will become more useful as we grow in skill. Would changing 'kick' to 'leap' be meaningful?
>>5975106
If I can't squash those 4 together then I will drop immortal cave expansion, it is more important to develop our spiritual links and abilities to bolster ourselves so we won't get bottlenecked.

>>5975079
>Fall-contraction : a technique using the underlying principles of the Unlimited Ground-contracting kick to fasten a fall, resulting in lesser fall height and thus reducing risk of injury.
>Work on your Mental Energy with Dhundan
>Work on your Foundation [Pills available]

>>5975115
>Improve Immortal Cave [How?] Expand it for martial arts practice. Its a good idea.

DrDragonfagQM

>>5975108
>Kick to Leap :
It will remove the "Leg" keyword of the technique, and simplify it. However, with the underlying mechanics, it would actually make the test harder as you have a great affinity with Leg techniques, but quite poor affinity with Movement techniques (not that paradoxal I swear), mixed with the special mechanical effects of the growth keyword.

Anonymous

>>5975104
With my own reminded of our true qi time limit, I am again swapping my options around, so the TRUE AND ONLY VOTE, IGNORING >>5975104
>>5975085

Is
>Ground contracting fall

>Reading/Write a letter to Jun
>Eye ability
>Foundation [With pills]

New theory is that the next breakthrough will trigger the teapot. Its energy that enhances/opens new options on a break through.
This is my called shot.

DrDragonfagQM

>>5975119
>Theory
I have expressed different concepts with similar words. Care to reformulate with "Realm breakthrough" and "Technique breakthrough?"

Anonymous

>>5975121
Yeah, alright.

So Growth is kinda Change. It's not. . .incrimental change, since sufficiently slow change is indistinguishable from stagnation.

So the theory then goes that Realm Breakthroughs are what is depicted on the side, so unless the maker was just trolling us with deliberately obtuse/misleading directions, then a realm breakthrough is what will trigger the sudden "Growth" as we leap from one realm to the next.
Little Er even said "once the nose apature is open, every breath will feel like cultivating". That's a significant change from generating Blood threads which is inherently different from being able to see spiritual animals and such.

>>5975078
> Fall-contraction : a technique using the underlying principles of the Unlimited Ground-contracting kick to fasten a fall, resulting in lesser fall height and thus reducing risk of injury.
>Focus on the secret Technique hidden in the Spear Style![Requires to also take Spear Style Practice, improves chances of Breakthrough]
>Continue to learn how to read
>Work on your Foundation [Pills available]

>>5975134
My man, did you ignore the option you posted that said "requires spear practice"?

>>5975078
>Fall-contraction : a technique using the underlying principles of the Unlimited Ground-contracting kick to fasten a fall, resulting in lesser fall height and thus reducing risk of injury.
>Focus on the secret Technique hidden in the Spear Style![Requires to also take Spear Style Practice, improves chances of Breakthrough]
>Work on your Spear style : Blood-Shadow Wolf Painful Assault
Help the Poor-talented batch of new kidsnful Assault

>>5975105
I don't know if what I'm about to say is what I'm supposed to say to pass the test, but I'll still make a try

From Thread 1:
>You hold on a few seconds, until a more potent spiritual snake awoke - made of a blinding pure light. You turn on your heels, and flee.
Mind numbing pain. Your leg have been stabbed, a fang completely traversing your left thigh. You fell. In your back, the Horse - when did he appeared? - charges the Light Snake, get dispelled in a tail whip-motion. The Hawk charges for your sake, and is dispelled in a blast of light.

We already know that there's a link in the Space keyword with out Cosmic Spear Snake, and the Ground one is related to Earth, but there's a extra element/energy. It came to my mind that the "Principal escense" is "Snake", and that forms a link with the "Light Snake" even if we weren't directly attacked (I think) by the Light Snake, our Spirits indeed where attacked and we've been exposed to it. So my guess is that the final element/energy is Light or something related to it. If there's a need to give it some name, then I would call it something like

"Unlimited Rising Star Kick" I don't know if it works like this, but what I try to give with the name is how the "star" instead of falling to Earth, defies logic to get back to the Heaven/Space, and at the same time Star make reference to the Light Energy.

>>5975135
Darn you got me anon, I infact did skip past it.

DrDragonfagQM

>>5975298
Nice effort.

Your technique is currently
Movement technique : Unlimited Ground-contracting Kick (Growth, Movement, Leg, Space, Earth)

Turning it into
Movement technique : Unlimited Rising Star Kick
would be a valid move (and incredibly Kino as a character development).
This would be aligned to the elements (Growth, Movement, Leg, Space, Earth, Light)

Also,
>Tally status

>>5975298
Also,
what have been wounded is your Astral Self. This had physical repercussion on yourself and still bear a two scars emitting a faint light on your thigh where the fang entered and exit after completely piercing your leg - it took you a good while to recover.

Anonymous

>>5975431
Fuck it, I'll support Unlimited rising star if you guys will.

I'm happy with ground contracting and Rising star either way

>>5975431
+1 Unlimited Rising Star Kick
Also change >>5975103 to
>Spear style (with pills)
>Spear style secret technique
>Work on foundation (no pills)

>>5975115
>>5975117
Me - I'll change to Unlimited Rising Star.
We'll have to do Fall Contracting eventually but not today.

>>5975431
I'll support Unlimited Rising Star Kick, it sounds cool and I'm curious how it will change.

DrDragonfagQM

>>5975445
>>5975470
>>5975643

>>5975835
OK.
Do you also intend to fix your vote (focus on secret technique can't be chosen on its own)?

As >>5975298 is 1pbtid without other inputs, I'll assume it's one of you guys phoneposting or something.

Anonymous

>>5975879
Oh yeah, I'm >>5975298 >>5973093 and >>5972084
 The last one was from my pc and the other two I was phoneposting while I was out doing stuff. I mostly lurk on a thread if I don't feel strongly influenced to vote, so I either do it from my pc or my phone when I feel like it. And Speaking off

>Unlimited Rising Star
>Foundation (With pills)
>Continue to read/Mail Ping Jun to help him with the spiritual beast he asked

I would've love to help the batch of struggling kids, but I guess we could do that in the next update unless something else comes up

>>5976067
Wait hold on, I have a last one vote, right? In that case
>Improve Immortal Cave [How?]
I say expanding would be cool, and if it's possible make a little room to a side where we can meditate. If we're going to use our Wolf spirit to dig, then we also help with the digging, it would be some good physical training and maybe give some more insight on our Wolf Spirit if we're working together this way.

DrDragonfagQM

Being a cultivator means standing like a sore thumb, a metal pike upright amidst a storm, defying the heavens.
You've been lucky to see a falling star in the way back from the Conclave of Beast Tamers. Could you improve your technique to emulate such a thing?
Only, defying the natural order, your own shooting star will rise.
>Breakthrough : Technique advancement - Unlimited Rising Star Kick
Ok, this feel like mad hubrys. But after all, this technique is unique and come from your own visit to the Growth Plane, that you further refined and adapted.
You can't feel much about the light element contained in the new technique. This is a bold choice - light is after all an element you know have a really low affinity for.
Still, you heard that mixing low affinity elements to high affinity element in a technique is a way to overcome said weakness.
The scar of the wound inflicted around half a year ago by the Light Snake have been a daily reminder of your vulnerability. Never again.

>Improve Reading abilities
Over the course of the week, you memorize a hundred more characters.
You ask Ryota to orient this week's practice toward writing a letter - a letter to your friend Ping Jun.
"That's a great idea, and a good way to build up your writing and reading skills."
First, you wish him well and ask if he made a recovery from the unfortunate encounter in the Stable Lotus secret realm.
Then, you come to the point of the message : asking him if he knows his affinities toward beasts, so that you can try to pick up something specially tuned for him.
It took you a little while to write a readable version of the letter - Caligraphy is hard. The message leave the sect at the middle of the second week.

>Foundation + Spear Style [With Pills]
Another day, another opportunity to practice the Hawk's Wide Ballet. There are still hidden techniques in your body cultivation technique - it's a shame you found only one in a whole year.
This have been bothering you for month, piling up on your insecurities. Speaking of, the insecurity of being overtaken is the one currently bothering you.
How did Ai's cultivation speed doubled or tripled? Your bad faith say you just blinked and she changed dramatically; in truth you might have more answers if you just bothered talking to her. In the end, you didn't let them tread on you and your effort like a mere stepping stone; This week was extremely fruitful.
You generate an ample amount of Qi and Blood threads - a single session of practice yields thrice much threads as the best week while you were still working on opening your Heart Aperture! All those threads are caught, sent to to the Nose Aperture, where they reinforce your body, making you brim with energy.
Your work on your Spear Style is not as smooth; but still bountiful - by your estimate, your theoretical fighting prowess with a spear is at the level of the peak of Eye Aperture Opening realm. The combination of movements, and the way to circulate your energy while working on the style, have a deeper meaning that still eludes you.
Paradoxally, while mulling over all these points on your last session of Body Cultivation practice...

>Breakthrough! Chose among :
>Gliding Waltz - A Movement Technique. A way to gracefully step and covering much movement than would appear to the eye.
>Hawk's alacrity - a partner beast technique. You can now provide spiritual energy to a partner beast to fasten it.
>Technique Advancement : create a new technique based on this one. You can add or replace one keyword in the technique name.

Also, a letter came back with Ping Jun's answer. Sadly, you're still not proficient enough to read it - too many unknown words in that answer.

It's been one year and two months since you joined the Eastern Province branch of Tamers of Hundred Beasts.
The grind doesn't stop : chose 3 among
Potential
>Investigate the teapot and its power [How? Write-in what you think it does]
>Ask Bathias about his Innate Eye Ability
>Focus on the secret Technique hidden in the Spear Style![Requires to also take Spear Style Practice, improves chances of Breakthrough]
Friendship
>Attempt to mend things between Dhundan and Ai
>You never paid attention to older kids - the 7, 8 and 9 year old seems lacking talent, but still.
>Pick up a few of the new kids under your wing
>Catch up with Dhundan, Ai, Yi Norm, Man Din and Sin Din - did they got anything special from the Stable Lotus Hidden Realm?
Foundation
>Work on your Foundation [Pills available]
>Work on your Unlimited Rising Star Kick
>Work on your Mental Energy with Dhundan
Weapon skills
>Work on your Windy Cavalier's Halberd [Pills available]
>Work on your Spear style : Blood-Shadow Wolf Painful Assault [Pills available]
Spiritual Beasts
>Investigate on the Scion of the Primordial Wolf Spirit[How?]
>Investigate on the talking Spiritual Beasts[How?]
The sect
>Continue to learn how to read [Decipher answer letter from Ping Jun]
>Help the Poor-talented batch of new kids
Strengthening the Jar
>Slack off [this will be bad for your mental health]
>Improve Immortal Cave - Home Expansion
And, as always...
>Write-in allowed!

Anonymous

>>5976234
>Catch up with Dhundan, Ai, Yi Norm, Man Din and Sin Din
>Work on your Unlimited Rising Star Kick
>Continue to learn how to read [Decipher answer letter from Ping Jun]

+ Hawk's Alacrity

>>5976234
Seconding >>5976254. We've neglected our friends too long. Knowing Ai made a big breakthrough also makes me want to try to patch things up with her and Dhundan before that festers.

>>5976234
Support
>>5976254

I do want to train our mental energy too, but the foundation is important.
We can apologise for moping, like the self hating slob we are.

>>5976232
>TECHNIQUE ADVANCEMENT: Gliding Fall
Feather Fall

>>Continue to learn how to read [Decipher answer letter from Ping Jun]
>Work on your Unlimited Rising Star Kick
>Work on your Foundation [Pills available]

>>5976232
>Hawk's alacrity - a partner beast technique. You can now provide spiritual energy to a partner beast to fasten it.

>Catch up with Dhundan, Ai, Yi Norm, Man Din and Sin Din - did they got anything special from the Stable Lotus Hidden Realm?
Especially Ai who seems to have had a recent breakthrough

>Work on your Unlimited Rising Star Kick

>Continue to learn how to read [Decipher answer letter from Ping Jun]

>>5976232
>Hawk's alacrity - a partner beast technique. You can now provide spiritual energy to a partner beast to fasten it.
>>5976234
>Catch up with Dhundan, Ai, Yi Norm, Man Din and Sin Din - did they got anything special from the Stable Lotus Hidden Realm?
>Continue to learn how to read [Decipher answer letter from Ping Jun]
>Attempt to mend things between Dhundan and Ai

DrDragonfagQM

>>5976254
>>5976276
>>5976282
>>5976343
>>5976358
>>5976516
>>5976521

Moving like your bounded totem, you understand better and more natively how energy circulate in the body of the mundane beast.
Curious, you try to gaze in the blood stream of the Ascendant Golden Flame Hawk - it's easy to peek, after all he is part of you.
Your gaze confirms your hypothesis, noting the similarities of Qi flow and differences - some due to the avian nature instead of mammal, like you expected; some due to the Golden component, and some to the Fire elements. Instructive study.
Wait. He IS part of you - proven by your gaze in its structure. What happens if you just supply Qi to him?
Like for yourself : the Qi and Blood thread supplied to the Spiritual Beast empower it, demultiplicating its muscular output, resulting in a burst of speed.
Does it work with other spirits? You summon the Horse, and indeed.
This turn your mount fast - less than yourself under the influence of your Unlimited Rising Star Kick, of course, but more economical in the long run.
Assuming you have Qi and Blood pills to supply your energy back - and generic ones, it would be a waste to use the specifically tuned ones - you now have a speedy long-range movement option.

Speaking of, you still need to improve your short range movement option. More effort is devoted to the Unlimited Rising Star Kick, leaving your foundation aside for the time being.
Of course, said foundation is once again reduced to a crawl - an occasion for Ai and Dhundan to catch up to your current cultivation.
>Failure
The technique is hard - too hard for you to make progress, despite being the creator of it. Maybe pills fine-tuned to the technique could help you?
Speaking of pills, halve of the Hawk/Dance and the Astral Self have been consumed so far; 4 of the Spear/Wolf/Blood/Shadow remains and all the Wind/Horse aligned ones.
Your consommation of pills is impressively low. By supplying exactly what you need, at concentration adequate for your level, they are a tremendous help for your practice, and most certainly the reason why you had so many breakthrough recently - be it Technical Breakthrough or Realm Breakthrough.
However, your failure send the wheel of insecurity back spinning : are your recent "success" only due to the pills?
After all, you couldn't win the Tamers of Thousand Beasts gathering squad nor army mock-battle. You completely fail the excursion in the Stable Lotus secret realm.
Both of those were pill-less trials and tribulations; or maybe the factor is other people? After all, your various fortuitous enconter went quite well when you were on your own - is your cause of failure spectators?
Maybe, all this time, you were misguided and made a dire mistake when relying on other?
No. That can't be it. After all, friendship is one of your Big Rocks.
Still, that failure shatter the confidence that have been arrogantly growing back after the Stable Lotus Realm fiasco.

>Catching up with the other kids
Over the course of the week, you take time to catch up with each and every of your friends - separately, for quality time to each and every of them.
Dhundan's run in Stable Lotus Realm was even more desastrous than your own : his team was made of Ster Ling and a wuss of Stable Lotus Harmony.
The Stable Lotus disciple failed early on, then Dhundan and Ster Ling fought - both being immensely skilled in the art of diplomacy and such social butterflies, such an issue was, in hindsight, unavoidable - and fall.
"And your eye Aperture? Did you get an innate skill?
- Of course I do! But I won't reveal my trumps like that!"
Yi Norm had a more expected run : a lot of kid over him, he went sideways, and found a couple precious materials.
The twins, however, had fortuitous encounter. Symetry being a part of Stability, both of them had the same insight, stopped and meditated on mirror positions.
Their cultivation rised sharply, bringing the twins on the verge of opening their Eye Apertures.

But the most impressive one is Ai : She stumble upon a Spirit Beast - she show you her Hare, made of Crystal. Then, she found a rainbow-colored lobster spirit in the Stable Lotus secret realm - and as she could keep it, it means she helped the stable lotus disciple to catch an even juicer prize.
"Also, since I opened the Eye aperture, I'm seeing more things!
- more... things?
- Yeah. Nothing crazy I think, it haven't been really relevent. But I'm seeing Shiny Wiggly lines under ground and stuff."
You wonder what this is, but have no decisive answer

>Letter from Ping Jun
A few days after your expedition, Ryota calls you after calisthenics.
"An answer came back from Versatile Harmony Sect."
He hands your a piece of paper rolled and bearing a wax seal shining with all colors of the rainbow.
"This seal is the personal seal of Sovereign Versatile Harmony. It bears his personnal signature. Versatile Harmony Sect is giving you a lot of face : the letter is adressed to "Disciple Quiet Word, Genius Prospect of Tamers of Hundred Beasts""
You're at least a bit reassured : Ping Jun doesn't seems to harbor negative feelings after being hurt by your fault.
You open the letter. Of course, too many characters still elude you.
Each day, you select a few of them, and Ryota teach you their meaning as well as the order of the strokes to write the character in the future.
The writing is neat, tidy, clean. Cleaner than yours anyway. Until you can read the whole thing :

"To Disciple Quiet Word, Genius Prospect of Tamers of Hundred Beasts, from Disciple Ping Jun of Versatile Harmony Quest, writen by Sovereign Versatile Harmony.
Hello Fellow Daoist. First, I wish to thank you for you letter. Despite my own shortcoming, my wounds were not grievous, and i'm making an hasty recovery.
Your concern and intent to find me a Spiritual Beast deeply moves me. I cannot answer your question directly. Let's just say my sect's technique will allow me to make the most of anything.
However, I'll just let you know I've a strong affinity with the Gold material. No doubt a spirit associated to that element will help me tremendously in my cultivation.
If you manage to acquire such a spirit, we will of course invite you and your master to a proper reception at Versatile Harmony Quest compounds.

Yours truly, Ping Jun."
"Quiet Word. I have a request for you."
Ryota address you after your last reading class.
"The branch have issues with several federated villages missing payments. At the same time. Right before Transplanhumance.
I'm sending several strike team to investigate and send a message. Those villages are remote, skill-less settlements - 5 to 10 thousands; less than a hundred cultivator among them, with less than five person over first stage.
With your open Eye aperture and your extremely young age, sending you will be an humiliating reminder we can crush them. But a dangerous one. You won't be on your own though; a discrete ally with enough strength to quash rebellion will be among your group.
If you're succesful, you'll be of course rewarded. But if you go, you'll most certainly miss Transplanhumance. Departure in less than 10 days. So what do you say?"

On one hand, disappoint Ping Jun and risk your life. On the other, fail your sect and Ryota. Both choices feel wrong.
>Accept the mission
>Refuse the mission

Anonymous

>>5976997
What's the disappointment here?
>Accept the mission

Just pass along that the only reward we ask for, is a gold aspected beast. Doesn't really matter the quality or the animal. And even if Ryota refuses, then we can make the request of Dhun and Ai and the others.

A leader's power isn't in doing, it's in getting other people to do things for him.
We just have to not fuck up the villages.

>>5976997
>Accept the mission
Hell yeah humiliating mortal scrubs

DrDragonfagQM

>>5977046
>What's the disappointment
Me and my horrible formatting at 1 in the morning that I didn't even saw until now.
More seriously, you're getting back in the "bad mental state" debuff because of this turn's rng

Anonymous

>>5976997
>>Accept the mission
For the sect.

DrDragonfagQM

>>5977046
>>5977222
>>5977368
>>5977471
>>5977487

"ll accept. For the sect.
-Good. As the first one to chose, you can pick your mission's location : "
>Mistrock Lake Village
>Golden Skystone Village
>Water Bushes Cove
"Each of this village is a barren, stranded land. They survive essentially on the food we provide - in exchange for the rare materials bought at a discount for the sect."

You still have a bit of time before leaving...
Chose 3 among

The Mission :
>Ask Ryota if there is anything more you should learn to prepare for the Mission
>Recruit friends your age for the mission[Unlocked by spending time with the other kids]
Potential
>Investigate the teapot and its power [How? Write-in what you think it does]
>Ask Bathias about his Innate Eye Ability
>Focus on the secret Technique hidden in the Spear Style![Requires to also take Spear Style Practice, improves chances of Breakthrough]
Friendship
>Attempt to mend things between Dhundan and Ai
>You never paid attention to older kids - the 7, 8 and 9 year old seems lacking talent, but still.
>Pick up a few of the new kids under your wing
Foundation
>Work on your Foundation [Pills available]
>Work on your Unlimited Rising Star Kick
>Work on your Mental Energy with Dhundan
Weapon skills
>Work on your Windy Cavalier's Halberd [Pills available]
>Work on your Spear style : Blood-Shadow Wolf Painful Assault [Pills available]
Spiritual Beasts
>Investigate on the Scion of the Primordial Wolf Spirit[How?]
>Investigate on the talking Spiritual Beasts[How?]
The sect
>Continue to learn how to read - Cram as much words as you can before going into mission
>Help the Poor-talented batch of new kids
Strengthening the Jar
>Slack off [this will be bad for your mental health]
>Improve Immortal Cave - Home Expansion
And, as always...
>Write-in allowed!

Anonymous

>>5977497
>What should we learn about the mission
>Spear training
>Find the wolf technique within the spear style.

>Golden skystone village.
We may even get a bribe. This sounds like the best placew to be bribed by.

Its a shame that the windy cavalier style is less convenient than our spear style. But hey, when we run out of pills, We will focus down on it.

>>5977497

>Golden Skystone Village
I like gooooooold!

>Ask Ryota if there is anything more you should learn to prepare for the Mission
>Recruit friends your age for the mission[Unlocked by spending time with the other kids]
>Improve Immortal Cave - Home Expansion

>>5977497
>Water Bushes Cove
>Ask Ryota if there is anything more you should learn to prepare for the Mission
>Work on your Spear style : Blood-Shadow Wolf Painful Assault
>Recruit friends your age for the mission[Unlocked by spending time with the other kids]

DrDragonfagOnPhone

>>5977512
>>5977518
Should have precised : the friend selection is a write-in : who are you bringing, how do you convince them to join, and depending on your answer some might accept, some might deny

Anonymous

>>5977512
>>5977600
>Dhundan . "Oi mate, I bet you want tboss some people around and get some extra credit with the sect? It'll be easy, and if something more trecherous comes up that people get selected for, we can say we did our partthis time. We can get out and about and stretch our legs, or better yet, my horse spirit can do all the leg stretching and we can just enjoy the ride."

>>5977658
Dhun wpuld probably be convinced by saying we have an actual mission for the sect to demonstrate our power and test iur skills in the real world.

Ai wouldnt. Though if we can convince her to go to the transhumance, we can make request that she keeps an eye out for a gold beast, in exchange for a favour.

>>5977497
>Work on your Foundation [Pills available]
>Work on your Unlimited Rising Star Kick
>Continue to learn how to read - Cram as much words as you can before going into mission

If the sect dissappeared next"year" what skills would be most valuable?
Literacy
Speaking with Spirit Beasts
Friends in Other Sects
Mending the Relationship between Ai and Dhundan
Emergency Supplies in the Cave

What do you guys think?

DrDragonfagQM

>>5977763
Ah yes, doomsday prep, perfect for a 6year old depressed kid

Anonymous

>>5977497
>Golden Skystone Village
>Work on your Foundation [Pills available]. Best to build a foundation while young.
>Ask Bathias to teach us how to test elemental affinities. Then we can test our affinities before and after drinking tea from the teapot and see if anything changes. It will also help test other things in the future.
>Work on your Unlimited Rising Star Kick, but drink some tea from the pot before hand. If both of these are growth aligned, maybe the teapot will nurture our growth.

DrDragonfagQM

>>5977804
>Drink tea from the teapot before growth-element technique
this is a really smart idea anon - you'll only need tea for that, but that nice write-in mean you'll get some free samples to test it out.

Anonymous

>>5977497
Supporting >>5977804. The more use we get out of our teapot, the better.

>>5977498
Changing this to support

>>5977804
Feels kinda obvious when you say it like that. Supporting.

>>5977497
>>5977804
>supporting
We will be tea master.

>>5977600
>>5977672 +1
Also Dm, you forgot to include the tally in >>5977767

DrDragonfagQM

>>5977838
>>5977847
>>5977853
>>5978142
>>5978167

Alright won't lock it right now, but your protag knows your sect doesn't have a affinity grad-o-meter from 1 to 100 and instead relies on qualitative testing - something that will have difficulties to evaluate a potential increase.

Anonymous

>>5978223
Zen ve vill build it ourselves.

My proposal is a bunch of sticks with little platforms holding rocks. Put some sort of known spiritual lodestone in the basket at the bottom of the apparatus. As the attraction/repulsion pushes/pulls the lodestone in the bucket it will lift rocks of increasing size. This could be made more sophisticated with metal weights or something, but young boy has big stone energy. This assumes that spiritual lodestones exist for each of the elements. One could build a tree with a bunch of lodestones and swing the test item under and over them to see what happens when first testing the item. Should also work for spiritually powerful beasts/people/things if they push/pull the spiritual lodestone. What is a spiritual lodestone? Anything that exerts force to try and move towards or away from a source of a particular type of spiritual energy. Kind of like how the spirits tried to bond to us (although that would require spirit thread to hold them and some sort of spirit weights to accumulate. If attraction was too strong for all your bindings I guess you'd lose your lodestone, but that's the price of being at the cutting edge of soul-science.

In the case of 'jump better', I guess we just see if we jump noticeably higher post-tea.

>>5978684
Genius, wuxia Dexter's Laboratory lfg

You decide to make the most of the week by working on your fundamentals. First, the most fundamental of fundamentals.

>Foundation
Every day, you circulate your Body Tempering Technique - two or three times thanks to the pills resplenishing your spiritual energy - then circulate your Meditation Technique.
Diligent practice leads to consistent results, letting you pulling more threads in your Nose Aperture. Progress is consistent you're a bit less than a third of the way to fill said Nose Aperture.
Your pill stockpile is dwindling - you still have enough to work seriously on your foundation one or two times.

>Drink tea + Unlimited Rising Star Kick practice
Frustrated with last weeks struggle and lack of progress, you kept your practice's focus on your movement technique. And there is something else you want to try.
At first, you still make no progress. Then, you try out your strategy : using the seldom coins of spare change remaining from your first city trip, you ask one of the older kid to fetch tea for you.
The boy's back with a small poach, only enough to brew one teapot. You didn't expected much with so few money, but still.
In the end, the greatest challenge turns out to boil water - you achieve so by volunteering for dishwashing, taking a pot with you one day, and bringing it back the next day.
You boil water, take it out of the small fire you lit up, and wait. Wait a bit more. Now. You pour water in the teapot, and drop the few leaves in the incorporated metal mesh.
You take a couple breath while the tea is brewing. Once it's been long enough, you pull out the metal mesh, and throw away the infused leaves, then pour yourself a cup.
As your hunch told you, your comprehension of the Unlimited Rising Star Kick seems better after drinking from the Teapot.
Also, your progress in comprehension are fast, faster than other techniques. One more session should be enough to bring the technique's level up to your cultivation level.
Maybe it is linked to the Growth part of your technique? Or linked to your affinities?

>Affinity evaluation
Speaking of affinities, you just add an idea. you'll just need a few rocks, plates, and something like shelves.
You use some string with just enough slack to let one plate lift a millimeter up before pulling the next one.
>Built Soul Affinity Measurement Contraption prototype!
Now, the difficult part : you'll need a lodestone, that will pull everything while a soul resonnates nearby.
And you remember how the master of the main branch tested you - yeah that, that could work.
Not consuming anything, with a wide array of spiritual beasts, you could average out affinities using a similar group of beast to control for other elements.
And if you luckily stumble into a lodestone at some point, it would even be more straightforward.

DrDragonfagQM

"Hey Bathias.
- Oh, Quiet Word. You're coming for advice related to your incoming trip? Or you're finally coming for proper guidance?
- No, it's not that. Not today at least - maybe another time. I'm interrested into methods to evaluate one's potential... A master of the main branch ran a test involving captured spiritual beasts and I had an idea to improve on it...
- Yeah?
- And I wondered if we had some kind of string that could work as a link to the spiritual world and physical world...
- That is oddly specific... Hang on."
He leaves you here and there, standing for a good hour - which you diligently spend working on your foundation, before coming back.
"Here you go.
>Obtained Spiritual Thread!
You can bind the spiritual thread to a Spiritual Beast captured in a Spiritual Bead.
For now, you stockpiled the work in progress in your Immortal Cave. You don't have much more time to refine it or presenting it to anyone.
Of course you still need to calibrate your device. And there is that whole matter of fighting and absorbing a spiritual beast you'll have to be wary of.

>Departure to the Golden Skystone Village
Those days have come and pass in a snap of fingers. You're called again by Ryota, which hands you two pieces of papers.
"Take this. Third Realm-level Spiritual Blade Talisman and Spiritual Armor Talisman. Spin your energy inside to activate them.
Think of those like life-saving insurances.
- What's an insurance?
- Something's that's good to have but bad to use. We're waiting for someone else... There she is."

You have the surprising pleasure to learn you're leaving with Kyo Ko. Bathias is going on his own to the Mist village, while Gro Ta, the Poison Whale kid is going to the Water Cove.
The five of you stands in the courtyard while Ryota takes out three wood swords, with a scroll tied to the hilt.
"Inborn Technique : Sword Control art - Coordinate acquired - Launch!"
One by one, Ryota takes the sword, focus, and hurl them in the sky at a frightening speed. the three swords rise, then turn and shoot forward to their destinations.
"Messages says they'll be honored by the visit of a cultivator from the main branch. Now let's try to find out what's happening there.

A few fasting pills packed, and you're on the road with Kyo Ko.
"So I hope you have something better to move around than the Horse from last time?
- I do."
You summon said Silver Warrior Horse. Under the circumspect gaze of your elder sister...
"Hawk's alacrity!"
Pulling in your reserves, the Horse run. This is slower than the burst of energy from your Unlimited Rising Star Kick, but more sustainable.
Wait, Kyo Ko is sitting behind you?
"That... that will do."

>Write-in : you have a fair bit of travel time. What do you want to do in your stops? Anything you want to ask/tell Kyo Ko?

Anonymous

>>5979659
>Ask how the training has been. Clarify if she is the one that is to act as a backup "Insurance"? If she is then does she want to hang back or act as a subordinate while we distract them through more overt displays of intimidation or actions, like we did in the interbranch games. Establish a signal for trouble.
You know, Plot and plan our approach.

>On our stops, keep an eye out for places, learn names

DrDragonfagQM

Author blog's :
Sorry for update's delay.
<s>Made the double mistake to buy FF7 AND starting a Pokemon Soul Link with a friend of mine</s>

Anonymous

>>5979659
Woah is she freeloading off our ride

>Ask if she’s done this before and if so, how it normally goes

>>5979707
+1
Maybe bring our letter for reading practice along the way? there were some big words.

DrDragonfagQM

>>5979707
The "Insurance" is clearly the talismans.
Your character knows it's a one-use spiritual art bound on a piece of paper. You have heard of the Great Sect Talismans of the Sound Blade - crafting and selling such consumables.

Anonymous

>>5980382
I was referring to "we are sending one person able to crush the rebellion with you". Just making sure that was her.

DrDragonfagQM

The following days are monotonous. On the road, using fasting pills to save on time, and a short rest at night - you still need to sleep, but around one hour less than a non-cultivator kid your age.
Passing the fields close to Stable Harbor, villages get sparse and sparser while the ambient spiritual energy dwindles and dwindles.
Once every couple days, a place stands out amidst hamlet of poor farmers and hunters.
Lotus Grove Town, with what you feel is a normal amount of spiritual energy - aligned to what you now recognizes as Lotus element energy.
Soul-Blade Camp, with tents bearing the sigil of the Military.
You're currently in an affordable and cheap inn of Jade Thunder Village. Perfect time to discuss organization.

>Does she want to hang back or act as a subordinate while we distract them through more overt displays of intimidation or actions?
"That's exactly the plan. You are the gifted-but-arrogant Young Master of the Stable Lotus branch. I am your non-cultivator maid.
- They won't see your realm?
- Can you? This will let me mingle with their domestics while the Village Elder will try to dupe you by playing on your young age.
- Dupe? No chance they are good-faith?
- Thinner than slim. They would have sent a message excusing for the bad harvest, and maybe sent one of their most promising kids in last recruitment test as a goodwill gesture.
They didn't. That mean they're taking us for fools. This is an affront. And three village at the same time? There's something underlying. The most important thing is to find what. But that's my job. You're the distraction.
- I guess it's not your first mission so?
- First time with such a stake. This is more of a Master's responsibility. But new kids to train (a pretext) and transplanhumance incoming (true reason, this is a guaranteed monetary windfall).
- So what are we doing exactly?
- You parade around, let them all see you. Ideally, you need to display a flashy art. Do you have any technique I would find impressive? Something like that would rock their certitudes and make them reconsiderate.
You might be invited to a hunt or something - where they will try to set up something humiliating but not dangerous per se, this can be a good opportunity to let your flashy move out.
Don't directly antagonize or kill anyone : there are only two of us : we won't win an open fight against them. And killing a patriarch leads to disorders, so even if it's tactically sound as a way to intimidate the ruffians, I hope we won't have to do this.
- What if I'm in trouble? How can I signal you?
- Flare your Hawk spirit. Unrelated subject : your Horse Spirit let us make incredibly good time. We should be there in a bit more than 3 days.[/b]"

On the road again, Kyo Ko sitting behind you. Your belly full from the broth, meat and noodle - tastes better than the fasting pills, and feel better to be naturally fulfilled than medically supplemented, you fight against dowsiness.
The trail sinews among grassland with the occasional hills and forest. Looking same as your sect's proximity, same as yesterday, same as the day before. You're definitely nodding of.
"Stop here and there. Your money and your horse, or your life then we take said money?"
Four adults are barring the way, jolting you in an awaken state.
"Wait, a lone kid?"

They are a bit surprised. This might be your chance.
>Negociate [What say?]
>Attack!
>Flee (on the right direction, hoping your mount run faster than them)

Anonymous

>>5980887
>Attack
Aaaah bandits
If only they had human rights

>>5980887
>1st, Assess - Are they armed? What strength do they seem to be relying on? Any obvious weaknesses? Obvious power level? How long would it take us to kick them into submission? Do any of our spirits react to any of them? Are they wearing clan colors or a uniform or have identifying tattoos or something (ie. who are they and who are they with)?
>2nd, Guilt them - "Four grown men? Would you kill a child for the penny in his pocket and a soul bound horse who will die when he dies? Would the Universe reward such an action? What circumstances have led you to such an action?"

>>5980887
>[Negotiate]"Pweeese don't huwt me mister. PWEEEEEEESE!" Draw their attention to you while sizing up the situation, waking up fully, and taking a a breath. KyoKo is surely rotating around to flank.

>>5981027
Support. They said "lone kid", which means Kyoko is already circling. We are the flashy distraction in this operation after all.

Maybe uh, get too into the role by crying about our woes, thinly disguised.

>>5981027
>Support
Use the wailijg begging to try and get a read on their stances. Once Kyo kyo drops one, we can charge em

>>5981285
We for sure got some talent for acting, it seems

DrDragonfagQM

>>5981263
>>5981271
>>5981285

The cogs of your brain are turning at triple speed, while you act surprised and flabbergasted - giving you a couple second to completely assess the situation.
Four of them. Knife, Sword, Axe, Bow. Confident pause, and twenty-to-thirty old.
That means danger : they aren't emaciated - meaning they eat well, meaning they're succesful in their trade.
The question of their Cultivation Realm remains - you have no way to ascertain this upon meeting someone. The best you can do is educated guess.
So they're not complete weaklings - else they would be dead. Probably not that great either : they would be, by what you know, respected members of their community if they were True Masters.
So that means first realm. Probably on the higher scale of said first realm - somewhere between opened Nose Aperture and opened Mouth Aperture.
They would be scoffed at in Stable Lotus Harbor - grown men, still in first stage? But you're not in Stable Lotus Harbor. You're seemingly alone in a small country road.
So four of them, higher level of raw cultivation. This is balanced by your Techniques - transmitted by masters, bringed to the level of your cultivation - and your bounded beasts.
So slight advantage for you in a duel. You might pull it of against two of them.
By your own, fighting the four would be suicidal. Good thing you're not alone.
>"Pweeese don't huwt me misters. PWEEEEEEESE!"
You loudly wail. Any distinctive feature? Yes. A necklace with a itched plate of metal, you can't quite see what's on it.
"Now, no, don't cry. We don't have to HURT you, see? Just hand us the Spiritual Horse, and the money your parents gave you before letting you go by your own."
That axe guy is surprisingly gentle. Too bad for him. You feel the explosion of energy more than you see it, and the markswoman fall.
The bandits turn in perfect sync, as a single man driving several bodies toward a blood-soaked fist Kyo Ko. An opening for you.
Summoning from Astral world to Material world your Cosmic Spear Snake spirit, your arm leaps forward like a pouncing wolf following your practiced again and again movements of the Spear style : Blood-Shadow Wolf Painful Assault
Your hit lands, the spear literally bites deep in the shoulder of the swordsman. Not enough. He turns around, with an horizontal slash.
Your Qi and blood ablaze, you nimbly spin your spear and pierce his throat before his sword chart half of the course to your head.
However, the dagger-wielding one and the Axeman are still standing - and reacted almost as fast as the swordsman. A mighty cleave strong enough to split you in half is blocked by your Horse Spirit - dispelled.
You fell, which in turns turns the nasty stab in a miss. And you think you've seen Kyo Ko behind the dagger wielder. Your full attention is on the Axe man.

Another cleave, horizontal. You jump out of range. Your left arm hurts.
"Still standing even after the Wind Blade hit you? You're the real deal, aren't you? "
>97 + secret element : blood
You're spinning your energy into your never-used and seldolmely trained Vengeful Spear. Until you see something : the drops of bloods outside of your body are still perceptible to your Astral Sight.
This is the breakthrough you've been tiptoeing and yearning for. Of course blood was the missing thing.
Instead of striking, your redirect your energy in the blood's drop, which spins, expands and coalesce into a vulpine form.
>Learned Hidden Technique : Summon Blood-Shadow Wolf.
Said Shadow acts on a thought, and leaped to the throat of the Axe-wielding bandit, subduing him. On the other side, Kyo Ko bloodied her left fist in addition to her right one.
You've won. At the cost of a gash, but won nevertheless. More important, both your talismans remains.
"Well done. It's not every day a first stage won against a True Master. Now what about your capture?"
>Kill him, here and there. Can't take any risk [Immediate threat neutralized. Future consequences]
>Interrogate him first - then you'll see [Risk of him doing shenanigans]
>Let him go - [Add something to say?] [Risk of him immediately re-engaging the fight. Future consequences]

Anonymous

>>5981334
>Which town are you from?
>Kill him after he answers that question.

Just have to be sure.

>>5981334
>Interrogate him first - then you'll see [Risk of him doing shenanigans]
What's the deal with the metal plates? Who do you work for? What do you know about Golden Skystone Village?

>>5981334
>Make sure the wolf moves a little of his bite to have the fangs at munching distance of his jugular veins while we point at him with our spear.
>Interrogate him first - then you'll see [Risk of him doing shenanigans]
>Where do you come from? What's your village?
>How long have you being doing this bandit job or when did you start posting on this road?
>Do you have a boss or something? Or are you just independent?

I'm tentative about the idea of bounding him and bringing him with us, but idk if we have a rope, and if Kyo Ko have a mounting beast fast enough to follow our Horse with the alacrity buff (Tho I guess we're going to walk for a good hour before we can summon it again.)

Also I GOT AN AMAZING IDEA FOR OUR FIGHTING STYLE AND A NEW TECHNIQUE.

Because we have the Snake Spear, an AMAZING spirit for not only our preferred fighting style and affinity with Snakes, it occured to me that maybe we can get a little bit funky with it: We strike with our Snake Spirit, it bites our enemy, and IF IT'S POSSIBLE We command it to stop being as still as a spear, and we use it to slam our enemy to the ground, or perhaps we can use it like a constraining technique where it bites the enemy and doesn't leave him, so we can move him around or stop his movement. Imagine this like that fight scene of Kung Fu Panda when the goose goes to where Shen Long is trapped, and correct me if I'm wrong, but I kind of remember the Rhino guards having like a kind of stick where in the end it has a shackle? We can use out Snake Spirit like that, either make it so it's more flexible and throw around or enemies or control their movement

Now the Technique idea: In a world where everyone born is a Daoist and it doesn't matter how bad you are at it, there should be a Daoist equivalent of a Lawyer. If we meet one, and maybe learn some kind of "truth telling Technique", if we're good with the Blood Element, we can maybe sense through the Blood of our enemies or rivals if they're saying the truth, just imagine this exact scenario, right after a fight and we can interrogate someone, and know if they're lying or not to us, because where using either the Blood-Shadow summon or our own spirits as a mean to detect the lies.

>>5981334
>Interrogate him first - then you'll see [Risk of him doing shenanigans]

>>5981334
>Interrogate him first - then you'll see [Risk of him doing shenanigans]

Lets see if these guys have a boss or know about the village rebellion politics.

DrDragonfagQM

>>5981402
I'll answer a specific point out of character

>The matter of dispelled Horse
You'll have to gather back Spiritual Energy, which is Energy of Soul for getting the Horse Spirit to coalesce once again.
For that, several options : you can wait. However, this feat is a matter calculated in weeks, not hours - for instance, in the dense environment of the Main Branch, it would had taken you one week to get it back.
Luckily, you also have the option of consuming your Spiritual Energy Pill, part of the gift bag of the Main branch.
There might be other options, [for instance, your character doesn't knows about it but one of the treasure option of the main branch was a Gourd of the Astral Self, an item stockpiling spiritual energy allowing 1 charge of resummon on a 1-hour rest]

>>5981339
>>5981345
>>5981402
>>5981407
>>5981813
>>5981963
>>5981972
>>5982100

>Make sure the wolf moves a little of his bite to have the fangs at munching distance of his jugular veins while we point at him with our spear.
"I have more than a few questions.
- And I might have more than a few answers. You bested me - despite your greenness in age and cultivation - thanks to your strong potential.
This LuoBin SenLin yields. Now, I can only ask one thing : I'll answer truthfully. Then, you'll take the loot of my comrades and leave me there, unscathed, so that I can bring their bodies back. This LuoBin will have a Karmic debt toward Young Master.
>Which town are you from?
- Originally, a far village, Rice Rock Village, in the west. Right now? Difficult to say... Elusive Wind Village? Town? Campment?
>What's the deal with the metal plates?
- Let's just say we're not the most rigidly structured sect, so it's a token of identification among ourself.
>Who do you work for?
- The mythical man himself, Master Elusive Like Spring Wind!
- Never heard of him.
- That's a testimony to his elusiveness.
>What do you know about Golden Skystone Village?
- That's what? 6 days by foot from here? They gather gold, skystones and even skystones made of gold for their master sect - an hour ago, would had tell I had no clue which one is it among Stable Lotus, Versatile Harmony and the Military, but you're probably from that beast-lovin sect, and you are the one doing business with them right?
Anyway, no idea what's happening there. No news. Nothing unusual came this road last couple months regarding to last couple years."

So yeah, that covers what you have in mind. Now, should you kill, capture, let him go? You look at Kyo Ko. She had a small head movement - your call.
>Kill him. Bandits are scums that forfetted their right to live [Future consequences]
>Capture him. If he's been on that road for several year, you could get a bounty or use him as a diplomatic present to Golden Skystone Village [travel complications]
>Let him gather the body of his dead troup after you looted them and leave [Future consequences]

Anonymous

>>5982117
>>Kill him. Bandits are scums that forfetted their right to live [Future consequences]

Nobody makes me bleed my own blood.

>>5982117
>Capture him. If he's been on that road for several year, you could get a bounty or use him as a diplomatic present to Golden Skystone Village [travel complications]
I love travel complications

>>5982117
>Let him go with the bodies.
>Go and sin no more.

Connections are power.

>>5982117
>Let him go after you loot the bodies
Let's be nice.

>>5982117
>Let him gather the body of his dead troup after you looted them and leave [Future consequences]

>>5982117
>>5982312
>Let him gather the body of his dead troup after you looted them and leave [Future consequences]
Tell him we wish to meet Master Elusive Spring Wind.

DrDragonfagQM

>>5982147
>>5982219
>>5982312
>>5982415
>>5982716
>>5982877
>>5982966
Locking the letting him go road.
I need a few more input :
>4 anon can roll 1d100 to loot each bandit. You get something on 50+, the more you roll the best you get.

>Do you want to take a week of walking (regen completely Horse spirit naturally) or pop your only Spiritual Energy Pill (faster travel, you'll arrive the village mounted)

Anonymous

Rolled 42 (1d100)

>>5983042
Come on big money.

>Save the pill. Its our ace in the hole.

Rolled 90 (1d100)

>>5983042
>Take a week of walking

>>5983066
Yes and no.
Your unlimited rising star gives insane speed burst, but is not a good option for sustainable travel.

Rolled 32 (1d100)

>>5983042
>>week of walking
>Can we use unlimited rising star kick?
>Yes and no
I think we should use it as much as we can without getting exhausted
<s>sry I wanted to roll</s>

>>5983059
Kinda cool roll. What do you want to find?
It will be good/great but not busted.

Money sounds good and makes sense.
A short recurve bow and some arrows with some quality that jives with us would be cool too, we have some decent potential there we never explored that could be handy.
Some poison aspect stuff might me cool like a jar for preserving poison.
Any of these, really.

>>5983111
I, being as it is my roll, would quite like a good/great Quality bow or Spear.

More skills to learn

>>5983250
Damn, you being 1PBTID made me get baited by >>5983171 and started writing with Money.
Skills and Spear are out of the question, bow might be on the table - but it's a bow suited for an adult, not a 6 year old.

DrDragonfagQM

>>5983043
>>5983059
>>5983070
>>5983090
>Let him gather the body of his dead troup after you looted them and leave [Future consequences]

"Alright. Can you loot them? Don't forget to search him too."
Kyo Ko does so. You mentally order the hound to release the pressure, and you step away.
"You wait here. Get your comrade and get away.
- This Luo Bin will remember Young Master's mercy.

You two are wary, but nothing much comes out of the defeated bandit, which sits, turning his back to you. Once he's out of sight...
"Here's your share."
So... three bandit-itched plates, and a few strings holding a more-than-fair amount of coins.
You pocket it. Then ask the question burning your lips :
"I wonder... Gold is precious, right? So is it worth anything near a village with gold literally coming down from the sky?
- Alright. So the age of gold coin being worth more than an iron one is a thing of the past - from a time where cultivator where as rare as four-leaves clover.
So first, money was of Intrinsic value - gold was rare and could be melted in jewel.
Then, Mone was of Extrinsic value - cities minted iron coins worth something because the Local Big Guy said so.
However, with the spread of cultivation and everybody being some kind of cultivator, we're back at Intrinsic value. You can't see or feel it, but those coins are actually made of spiritual-rich materials. Some of those Iron or Copper coins are easily ten or twenty time the worth of this gold coin.

>Using Unlimited Star Rising Kick to move around
You spend one more week on the road. A week walking, with a few uses of your movement technique. Alas, the local spiritual energy is poor, too poor to let you gather your strength as much as when you're practicing in the sect. It doesn't help you much moving around.

It's been one year and three months since you joined the Eastern Province branch of Tamers of Hundred Beasts.
And you're just a couple hours away from the village you've been sent to investigate.
How do you plan to make your entrance? [Showing off with Unlimited Rising Star Kick won't work, sorry]
>By riding your Spiritual Horse, Kyo Ko sitting behind you
>By walking
The first expected questions will be who are you and who's Kyo Ko. Of course, you'll answer you're the cultivator of the local branch. How will you introduce Kyo Ko?
>She's your... handler [Make them wary of Kyo Ko, increase pressure]
>She's your Nanny [Makes you appear Clueless, her weak but with greater influence over you]
>She's your Maid [Makes you appear Assertive, makes her appear harmless]
Among the expected questions, they will likely ask how was the road. You'll answer...
>Boring and uneventful
>You killed a bunch of bandits [show their Id plates? Downplay it or tune it up?]
>Lie and brag about how great you were
Of course, you can always...
>Write-in

Anonymous

>>5983329
>Riding
>Maid
>Killed a bunch of bandits, play it up. [They are all near the second to last appature, which we bested with superior mobility]

We are the local strong man. And we are here to take census on taxes. Ignore the maid who wanders around unsupervised.

>>5983329
>By walking
>She's your Maid [Makes you appear Assertive, makes her appear harmless]
>Lie and brag about how great you were
ten thousand bandits slain every hour

>>5983329
>Riding, with Kyo Ko walking behind you
She's your Maid, which is why she's walking. Her walking is also why it took so long for us to arrive, in case anyone tries to connect the dots related to the bandit attack.
>You killed a bunch of bandits, downplay their danger but ask what the locals know about banditry in the area. The bandits seemed successful what with being so fat, so they've probably been around long enough for the locals to hear about them. If bandits are hurting our subjects, we'll put an end to their anti-social ways.

DrDragonfagQM

>>5983575
>>5983607
>>5983653
>>5983754
>>5983851
>>5984000

Tally Status

I like it how half my votes are hyperconsensual, half are split all the way across the options.

Your choice, of course, is an expected and consensual one : Enter the village riding the Spiritual Horse, with Kyo Ko in tow.
Of course, with the village knowing of the visit of a main sect cultivator, a child scouts away as soon as he sees you on the road - that is, half the length it took you thanks to your opened Eye Aperture.
You keep walking at a composed pace. The landscape is desolated, arid, yellow ochre. Dry, so dry that the earth is cracked, shaping the flakes like the scales of an humongous reptile.
Most of the locals are blond with a tanned skin, on the shorter and scrawnier side; a few dark-haired people.
As expected, this lead to the ideal timing : you are calm and collected when you make it to the center of the village. The rulers of the village are waiting for you.
The Patriarch is a bulkier, taller version of the tanned, blond people you crossed while entering the village.
He looks calm and collected, but you don't know how much comes from the inhumane charm you associate with the cultivators above your Major Realm.
On his side, two sons - one is adult, the other looks a bit older than Kyo Ko - and a daughter - one, maybe two year older than you.
The younger son and daughter are obviously impressed by your Spiritual Horse mount - ostensible sign of riches.
"Welcome. You two are the Cultivators from the esteemed Beast Tamer sect?"
>I am. She's my maid."
You muster all the assurance you can in your voice. The realization of the branch's affront of chosing you dawns the sons. Younger one seems angered, older is surprised a split second before donning again his cordial mask.
The Patrician is unfazed.
"I hope Young Master from Tamers of Hundred Beasts had a pleasant journey to our humble lands.
>Wouldn't said so. Met a few bands of bandits. Dispatched them, but the second group took the maid's horse down. Else, we would have been there a week ago.
- Liar!"
The youngest son, a teenage with a face wider than tall exarcebated by protruding ears, just had an uncontrolled outburst. You gaze him down from your mount.
"You? Killing the bandits plaguing the High Way? Stop adding leg to a snake painting and calling it a dragon!"
You give him a death stare, and drop the three plates looted on the bandits.
>"I didn't took all of those - didn't want to clutter my bag after this first few ones."
That shut him up good, earning the teen a glare from his father and earning you an aknowledging glance from the older brother, while the daughter looks a bit up to you before recomposing a haughty face.

"I hope the young master will forgive my son's complete lack of social graces. Come on in, I'll have the servants spin up a welcome feast. Among reasonnably matured participant.
That's the least I could do : I prepared a fair girl - and a fair boy, after all one can never know! - to warm your bed, but it looks like this... won't be necessary."
The first comment was definitely aimed at the second's on.
You don't quite understood last comment, and if it was a barb aimed at your age or implied something about Kyo Ko - which quietly picked the dropped brigand plates.

In the end, you share a meal with the Patriarch, the older son, nine women looking best than the one you saw in the village - but middling at best for your referential.
One sports a wide face and protruding ears, anothe a long face with a bigger nose, like the first son.
The meal is made of a stew - passable, but lacking any hints of spiritual energy.
Kyo Ko advised of the rudeness of bringing the visit's purpose during welcome's meal, so you abstained. A suited have been setted up for the two of you - this impress you more, as it's the first time you have a door-closed room with propper bedding.
After a night of quiet rest, your hands are free to carry on your mission. What will you do?
>The village is renowed for the fields where Golden Skystones are found. Mandate to visit it
>Spend time just walking in the village and surrounding, letting you and Kyo Ko investigate
>Directly confront the Patriarch about the visit and its purpose
>Someone else will be a weaker nut to crack [First son/Second son/Daughter] [Write-in approach]

Anonymous

>>5985247
>>The village is renowed for the fields where Golden Skystones are found. Mandate to visit it

Let's size them up a little more before picking someone to approach. Lets see how they react to this request.

>>5985247
>The village is renowed for the fields where Golden Skystones are found. Mandate to visit it

>>5985247
>Spend time just walking in the village and surrounding, letting you and Kyo Ko investigate

>>5985247
> Ask the Patriarch to give you a tour of the village, including the fields, and ask him to tell you about current events and the status of the village.

>>5985247
>he village is renowed for the fields where Golden Skystones are found. Mandate to visit it

DrDragonfagOnPhone

>>5985381
>>5985413
>>5985459
>>5985549
>>5985681
>>5985683
>>5985702
I can squash together the write-in with the fields visit. I'll take 2 rolls of 1d100 for investigation

DrDragonfagQM

With the sun rising, so do you. First thing first, debrief with Kyo Ko.
"Alright. I'll stay here to investigate, could you drag the attention of the Patriarch meanwhile? Preferably dragging him away?
- I had in mind a visit of my own in their ressource fields. I can spin somthing to make the big guy tour me around.
- Great. He'll feel in control that way.
A food tray have been left in front of your Suite. So far, it seems to you the Patriarch is treating you well enough, despite the blatant insult of sending the young you there.
After eating and cleaning up, you go directly in the great hall where the Patriarch is waiting for you.
"Greetings, young master.
- Hello Fellow Daoist Golden Skystone Patriarch. I wish to visit the Golden Skystone fields. Care to lead me there? We can use the opporunity to discuss the difficulties you faced."
The strong man nodes, and you head outside where both of his sons are waiting for you.
"The Golden Fields are North-West. They're both a blessing and a bane : the numerous materials found there allowed my Clan to thrive for years and years.
Until the tutelar skystone vanished, letting an environment overwhelmed by spiritual energies gold skystones, where nothing grows; nothing thrives."
The environment is indeed barren. However, you feel like last assertion might be false - a small tug in your soul indicate both your Ascendant Golden Flame Hawk and Cosmic Spear Snake are tuned to the local energies.
You've got the hunch that this environment would be quite suitable to train your Movement technique.
"What about the bandits? Are they part of your troubles?
- Of course. Stealing the few of our exports, attacking merchants thus rising price of inports, and as you never received my letters, intercepting messengers too...
It's a real good thing you cleaned up a bit the region."
He seems sincere, but you catch a hateful glance from the first son. Jealous of the praise? Angry at you pointing out their inability to keep the bandits in check?
Anyway, once he see you staring at him from the top of your horse, he pulls back a calm and collected expression.
"I could have beaten those bandits myself! You were just lucky to be on the right time at the right place!"
That's the second son. Your presence is definitely flaring his competitive spirit.
"So, Fellow Daoist Golden Skystone Patriarch, you have no objection at me looking for such skystones?
- If dad says there aren't, no chance an outsider could find some!
- Oh? Then I'll take your word on it. Two hours. Who finds the most have to call the other one "Esteemed Senior Brother".
- As if I'll lose to you on my own turf! "
The Patriarch doesn't seems quite happy at that development.

>>5986516
>87 + 1 week sooner than expected :
In the end, both of you abscond. You have a quite fruitful harvest - finding a grand total of 3 skystones of various size and spiritual energy stockpile, the biggest of which you find really impressive.
Based on what you've seen in the cultivator's market, this one would be enough by itself to pay a few months worth of the due taxes.
You've also found something else; more like a small trinket. A gold marble that seems lowly attracted to you when you flare your Spiritual Energy. Exactly what you've been looking for.
Of course, you pocket it. You can't wait to work again on your Soul Affinity Measurement Contraption prototype.
>Obtained a Gold lodestone!
You ride back to the acknowledged meeting point, finding an overtly happy kid.
"Get ready to call me Big Brother! Not only I found two skystones, but they're at the very least 2nd realm and 4th realm!"
Good. His smaller stone is roughly comparable to your middle sized one. But his 4th realm one is definitely at least one realm under your big one.
"Looks like I won this bout, both in quality and quantity, young Golden Skystone."
The harvest is clearly proof enough the Patrician have been overtly bullshitting you : such a boon of treasure in a couple hours? Fetched by two kids, although maybe lucky and promising?
The two adults are silent, their face unreadable.
>Play stupid - "So few rewards? I understand your difficulties to pay taxes"
>Stay silent for now
>Directly confront the Patriarch, in the middle of the barren lands with no witness except his sons to his loss of face.
>Write-in

Anonymous

>>5986517
>Play stupid
But let's not mention the taxes, let's just make use of being a 6yo who might still be naive or not that bright
>Nad without wanting to insult you or your village... This is almost nothing! From the few things my master told me I was expecting at least 10 stones! Minimum! I was even asking myself how I would carry all those good stones back here."

Let's let loose some of our kid nature and exaggerate, like a little mask slip so they think we're not fit for the task

>>5986520
>>5986529
ah, No, we shouldn't exaggerate how much the sect wants.

He'll take that shit serious, and probably consider an armed rebellion if we inflate it too much.

Might be better if we act confused at the small amount of stones, and ask if this is a little or a lot.
Be confused at the value, not the amount.

>>5986540
Okay yeah, that makes sense, in that case I change >>5986520 so it can be more like what >>5986540 is saying

>>5986517
>Directly confront the Patriarch, in the middle of the barren lands with no witness except his sons to his loss of face.

We're playing dumb, but nobody is THAT dumb. Also, he loses little face being confronted here.

>>5986517
>Directly confront the Patriarch, in the middle of the barren lands with no witness except his sons to his loss of face.

>>5986517
>Directly confront the Patriarch, in the middle of the barren lands with no witness except his sons to his loss of face.
He's a cultivator with a higher realm than us, he'll see through silly acts.

DrDragonfagQM

>>5986540
>>5986544
>>5986552
>>5986617
>>5986650
>>5986673

Alright this looks tied.
Any lurker can tiebreak? I might have time to write that update tonight if so.

Anonymous

>>5986552
>>5986650
>>5986673
If you don't wanna play dumb that's cool, but confronting him in a remote location without Kyo Ko, someone who's also higher in realm than us while we're outnumbered by 2 it's dumb too. Plus Kyo Ko is investigating and maybe she could find something to acuse the elder on top of noy paying to our sect

>>5986690
Is he gonna kill us if we ask him the question he already knows we were sent here to ask?
What does that do for him?
I don't think he wants sect reinforcements to come wipe his village off the map
He's not dumb, he knows why we 're here. If he's planning on killing us he's going to do it whether we confront him or not.

>>5986552
I'm this guy,
>>5986520
I'll switch to this. I'm not too genre savvy here, and the write-in is pretty neat.

>>5986685
fuck it, I'll break. On condition that we actually get him by himself. Maybe ask his kids to fuck off and look for more stones.

If we're saving him face, might as well save him proper face.

I am >>5986529

>>5986699
Well, ain't you made me a fool.

Retract this >>5986702

DrDragonfagQM

"To be honest... I'm a bit confused. Is it a big reap? Or a small one? How much are those worth? What about our taxes, and how much you need to live?"
The Patriarch face goes from tense to paternalizing.
"Of course it's much! I had a great haul, but Estimed Senior Brother? That's impressive!"
His father smack the back of his head.
"It's not that much. Great in the eyes of a child; not worth enough for your really relevent questions.
To be completely frank, it's still better than what we found those last months. Maybe luck is coming back?"

The trip back to the compound is made in a relaxed atmosphere - although the smallest child is sulking.
You don't know enough yet. But maybe you had the right attitude, the right choices and the right luck to defuse the situation?

Anyway, you're back to the compound. You pretext a need to meditate and retreat to your quarters, where you detail to Kyo Ko the events of the day.
"I wasn't idle too. I found the accounting's secret books. In short, they never had a shortage of materials or troubles to sell them. Just, they bypassed the sect.
Don't ask to who - they weren't stupid enough to leave the paper tray. So, what now?
- Well, leaving it as is is begging for the situation to continue... I think..."
>You feel you don't have enough informations for now - continue the investigation [write-in how/your angle]
>You feel you know enough. Patriarch is really appeasing, so a confrontation where you voice a stern warning should be enough to solve the issue
>You feel you know enough. Patriarch is guilty of treason - you'll execute him using your Attack talisman as a reminder of their vassal status, and to solve definitely the issue.

Anonymous

>>5986789
>>You feel you don't have enough informations for now - continue the investigation: you'll try to find who they are selling to: the adults might be too smart about their buyers but what about the older children. Literate but impulsive. A secret search of their things before they know to destroy the evidence may prove fruitful. Let's play the fool a little longer and gather what info we can while they think us fools.

DrDragonfagQM

>>5986809
So the "older children" is adult and didn't pipe a word. The middle one is the red-text you tricked into material gathering contest to show they CAN find ressources. And there's also the girl, kept out of the wasteland visit and the meal.

Anonymous

>>5986789
>Continue the investigation.[We will try and bond with the younger kid, And get them to relate as to what we've found/what they know. If we really get a good rapport going, we can ask him to directly spy for us. Kyo Kyo herself is to continue her quiet subversion]

So we need who, what, where, why, how and when.

We have the What, They are cutting out the sect from their trades.
We need the Who are they selling to.
When did it happen?
How did it start/How is it done?
Why? What pushes a man to betray their leiges. Maybe we can ask about the recent troubles of the villages, perhaps under the guise of needing to set them right.
Where are the stones all going, related to the who.

Once we have this, we'll have concluded our report.
Executing the patriarch seems rather. . hasty. But we can devise a punishment later.

>>5986820
Younger kid and the daughter.
Our big strength as a cultivator is our capacity to form connections. This should be no different.

>>5986789
Huh, he's not as smart as I thought

It seems like the second son is too stupid/young to have been told anything so that's probably a dead end, and the first son doesn't seem like he'll leak info. Daughter is the only avenue left.
>You feel you don't have enough informations for now - continue the investigation [write-in how/your angle]
We could also try capturing and interrogating more bandits. Just because Luobin hadn't noticed anything unusual doesn't mean there was nothing to notice. Kyo is sure they've been selling the stones, so they must have had some unusual visitors to sell them too.

>>5986789
>You feel you don't have enough informations for now - continue the investigation
Secretly find and meet with the some of these accountants, maybe they can tell us more. Follow the money, as they say.

DrDragonfagQM

>>5987041
>Accountants
You know they have not dedicated paperwriter and the Patriarch is doing the managing and accounting himself, as is the tradition of small sects

Anonymous

>>5987069
Maybe approach the younger sister, see what her side of the story is?

>>5987167
Sister surrounded by brothers, no Mother around seemingly. We gotta ask about that. . Target the sister., she is likely dissatisfied with the situation.

>>5987189
>No mother around
More like 8 or 9 : the patrician have an harem which contains the different mother of the two older boys

DrDragonfagQM

"We have the What, They are cutting out the sect from their trades.
We need the Who are they selling to, which will indicate Where are the stones all going.
When did it happen?
How did it start/How is it done?
Why? What pushes a man to betray their liege.
- We have some answers already. The When? Revenue started to dwindle down around half a year ago, came to a stop one month and a half ago - in synchronicity with where Gro Ta and Bathias are.
The Where? Well, this village is crossed by a road. Further where we came from, bandits didn't heard of them or their merchants - probably meaning it's going the other way around.
I didn't researched enough the villages further in lands - they're countless and meaningless, like sand grains in the river. About as poor as this one.
- So, probably too poor to afford buying them out?
- More likely than not. Three possibilities : we're backstabed by another Stable Lotus Harbor sect, or a village wants to get some relevance and are backed by a major Sect or the Empire itself, against us.
Last option, the bandits are the buyers. It's not likely - everybody seems relieved the scum have been cleaned. Bandits have families and a place to live, and they've been in activity before the issues started."
- Right. We need to know more. The bigger brother won't talk. The younger one knows nothing - however he remains easily controlled by his Ego. The younger girl remains. Maybe I can get her to talk?
- Take this."
Kyo Ko hands you a few thumb-sized ornated bottles, each containing a thick grey liquid. You can almost taste the pungeant herbal smell once you uncork one to confirm what you already know.
- Body Tempering Liquid?
- Really, you should have requested some for the mission. An amazing bargain chip for people working on their Heart Aperture. Works as a pill up to the second stage.
And if it is not consumed, well, you can just pocket it. This is your way in with the little girl.
- She's not little, she's older than me!
- Your point, little boy? Anyway. The sect records say we sent the village some Body Tempering Liquid upon request for both of the patriarch's son. He didn't asked for his daughter.
Of course, this was a favor. A favor he didn't want to repay for her."
You feel you missed something.
"Wait. Not opened her heart aperture? How do you know?
- Well, I can see it silly! You should really have taken some time to work on some Eye Aperture skills.
Anyway, the girl is working on her Hundred Day Foundation. The elder son is better than I expected from a remote place like that : True Master, opening the Dragon Claw Dantian.
The patriarch is Battle King, First Meridian. The second boy is on the verge of opening is Mouth Aperture - but their village techniques seems to be sub-par. That means you could maybe hold your ground against him in a real fight. I'd advise to avoid though."

The only thing remaining is finding a way to spend time with the girl. And you have just the right idea for that. You can't simply walk to her and pretend to play to ask her those questions - not after building that carefully crafted image of competent, but naive, young master
You'll approach her father, and...
>Say you want to train in the golden waste, and you can help the daughter - after all, the lord have to nurture the vassals
>Say that as the luck is coming back, it could be auspicious to reiterate the clan's affiliation to the sect by the bonds of a wedding, and you wish to court the daughter
>Write-in

Anonymous

>>5987195
>Say that as the luck is coming back, it could be auspicious to reiterate the clan's affiliation to the sect by the bonds of a wedding, and you wish to court the daughter
lol
lmao

>>5987195
No. Absolutely not. No.

>We want to train, train the girl at the same time.
We can let the aptriarch draw whatever conclusions he wants. But no. Thats a cruel lie.

>>5987195
>Ask Kyo Ko to go to the girl and tell her we're going to train, and we wish to meet her because she looks shy and maybe she can benefit from it. Tell the girl that if she wants, ask her father to let her go with a nanny or something to go to the spirit stone waste and we will go there as if it was a "coincidence" some time later.

This might be hella suspicious, but for how clunky it is maybe the dad will think we actually find her daughter cute and we're getting carried on the mission. Hell, when we go to tell the Patriarch were going to train there bring Kyo Ko, and let her plant that idea in the Patriarch head, like her trying to tease us like some older sister going like "Sorry Patriarch, but the young master here seems like somewhat interested in your daughter, don't believe him when he tell you he found the Spirit Stones place 'interesting'. But dont worry, he's some shy kid and I'll be there to make sure he doesn't try something suspicious just like my master told me to, after all, young master Quiet Word is a kid."

We MachiavelliMAXXIN on this bitch, except we're not going full on making the daughter fall in love with us to manipulate her, Quiet Word is not like that

Also, holy shit, when we get back or on the way back, we need to learn this eye skill.

That sort of information is nigh fucking vital.

>>5987194
>Inform the Patriarch that we wish to take his only daughter to the wastes alone and assess her skills and potential.
>>5987231
>While we discuss our desired date with the Father, let Kyo Ko entice the girl and play up her interest.
>Once in the wastes, first test her gold potential and call it a 'test of soul'. Then have her do some acrobatics or dance or something. Then test her intelligence/observation skills by asking the questions. Then I guess let her pet Horse and Hawk and see if she's good with animals. Might as well see if she really is a secret genius or something. Finally tell her we have a more complete test at the Sect, and if she's ever there we'll look to see if she has any hidden talents. Give her some hopeful thoughts towards us.

This isn't a promise of marriage, and it isn't a promise that we will take her back to the sect. It's a bit coy, a show that she has caught our eye. Discuss this with the patriarch in the evening so he has time to give his daughter instructions, presumably on how to charm/impress a young boy. And hey, maybe we'll get lucky?

>>5987546
Oh, and be careful to be polite and respectful. We've got a reputation as an arrogant prick, so treating her nicely will make her feel special.

>>5987194
>>Say you want to train in the golden waste, and you can help the daughter - after all, the lord have to nurture the vassals

We need to look into Eye skills asap.

>>5987195
>Say you want to train in the golden waste, and you can help the daughter - after all, the lord have to nurture the vassals

DrDragonfagQM

So looks like you're going back to the Golden Skystone Waste desert for more training, and daughter-involving shenanigans.

Of course, you'll keep your eyes open and go for zones of the desert you haven't seen before. And as such...
>One anon roll me 1d100!

Anonymous

Rolled 74 (1d100)

Random dice generator go!

DrDragonfagQM

After plotting with Kyo Ko, you set the plan in motion.
First, you request to the Patriarch the permission to go train in the wasteland. And you're graciously allowing her young daughter to join you, under your personnal supervision.
"Is that so?
Yeah, he doesn't care. At all. It fits the record about not requesting ressources for her; the "Why does he behave differently for the girl than the boys" question remains.
Thus, you spend most of the following days in the wastelands, working on your foundation and your Rising Star Kick - and tutoring the girl.
She comes in the waste with one of the woman of the Patriarch's harem, woman which stays watching you the whole time.
"I heard you wanted to meet me, stranger?"
Haughty, not pretty. That doesn't start well. You can feel the disdain oozing from that last word.
"I'd advise Little Sister not to act so rash against someone with gifts.
- Little Sister? How dare you?
- Well, your big brother calls me "estimed Senior Brother", so that makes you automatically my little Sister.
- I didn't came in my family's land to get insulted!
- And I don't want to gift this to someone so rude."
The Body Tempering Liquid splashes in the jar, and the girl's gaze gets glued to the grey mixture.
"Now that I have your attention... I see you know what is it - meaning you most certainly knows a Body Tempering Technique and a Meditation Technique.
At least you've been teached the basics. But it would be a waste to give that elixir to someone doomed to failure. So I'll test you before."
You don't have much in that aspect - your bonded spirit are unusuable for that purpose (and you don't want to reveal your trump to potential ennemies so easily).
Thus, you resort to philosophical question you make on spots, cultivation trivia, and (your ace in the hole) the gold lodestone.
Her affinity is weaker than yours, but seems existing.
The impression she makes to you... Is not bad. Her talent is not world-genius, nor even gifted. A bit above average - miles above the half-bake batch of talentless kids, with a bit on effort and enough ressources she can be an average practitionner of the sect.
That is, if she get access to good techniques. It is definitely not a waste to give her the Body Tempering Liquid.
"Ok, now get away - I can't show you our clans technics after all.
The audacity. Still, you respect that and put a bit of distance while you work on your own, sect-secret and personal-secret techniques.

This becomes the routine for the next four days.
Your Unlimited Rising Star Kick progressed well, thanks to the fitting energy - you're close to the limit of your Foundation. To avoid that bottleneck, you also work on it without expecting much.
Surprisingly, you make bigger progress than expected.
>74 : found something... Inside you and your techniques!
it clicks together. The Hawk's Wide Ballet. It is an introduction to Spacial-element techniques.
You're not sure the past Hawk Master was even aware of that - Space is said to be a wondrous element, reserved to absurdly high level cultivators, allowing them to cover whatever distance they want in one step.
You have the hunch it is more nuanced. But you can't do anything before you have access to True Qi.

Despite her Haughtiness, the young girl seems to appreciate the opportunity you're giving to her.
And that's good, because Kyo Ko haven't found much more on her side, and the Patriarch start to display flicker of impatience at your permanent imposed presence at his house and table.
That, you can understand. You'll have to officially breach the subject of your visit quite soon - in order to find an agreement, and then leave. That is, if you wish to follow a diplomatically appeasing route.
But you might need more informations for that. Informations his daughter might have already supplied to you.

>Write-in the questions you asked the girl while training her!

Anonymous

>>5989219
>What other strangers have come to see your dad. [We can give the furthest timeframe, half a year ago, then month and a half ago. See if they know the uniforms.]
>Why's your Dad not put much stock in you, your aptitude is about the same as mine, if not a little better.
Some flattery and seeding a bit of underestimation. Little did she know our talent was autism and selfharming levels of motivation.

>What's the value on these rocks like
>Do any of your mothers help with the running of the town or is this the patriarchs job alone?
>How's your family been these recent months? Happy, stressed, forgetful?
>Hey so what ARE these stones anyway? Have you ever seen how they are used?

Weed in some mildly interested questions to distract from the fact our focus is on the stones and trade. Stuff that portrays a general interest about the town and the family shouldn't be too suspicious.

>Where have the rocks that you villages has been mining gone?
>If you don't know, who would know?
>Is you father afraid of someone other than the Sect.
>Why hasn't your father asked for help dealing with the bandits?

>>5989219
Am I the most important person in your village in years?
>Why's your Dad not put much stock in you, your aptitude is about the same as mine, if not a little better.
>What's the value on these rocks like
>How's your family been these recent months? Happy, stressed, forgetful?
>Hey so what ARE these stones anyway? Have you ever seen how they are used?
 >Where have the rocks that you villages has been mining gone?
 >If you don't know, who would know?
 >Is you father afraid of someone other than the Sect.
 >Why hasn't your father asked for help dealing with the bandits?

>>5989218
>Am I the most important person in your village in years?
>Why's your Dad not put much stock in you, your aptitude is about the same as mine, if not a little better.
>>What's the value on these rocks like
>>How's your family been these recent months? Happy, stressed, forgetful?
>Hey so what ARE these stones anyway? Have you ever seen how they are used?
>Where have the rocks that you villages have been mining gone?
>>If you don't know, who would know?
>>Is you father afraid of someone other than the Sect.
>Why hasn't your father asked for help dealing with the bandits?

DrDragonfagQM

Family
>How's your family been these recent months? Happy, stressed, forgetful?
-Same old? Haven't seen much changes.
>Do any of your mothers help with the running of the town or is this the patriarchs job alone?
-He rules. He can delegate, his wifes have some weight - some more than other.
>Why's your Dad not put much stock in you, your aptitude is about the same as mine, if not a little better.
-Remember when I said some more than other? My mother, well, she's one of the other. Low on the list.
Actually, the most favored one fell in disgrace for the mother of the first son; then a few year later the mother of the second son rise in grace.
My own mother was the lowliest of the wives, before my birth. Still, Father favor most his first wife and the two son's mother. There's another younger wife before my mom.
In the end, with already two talented cultivators as descendents, I'm seen as a spare. Good to have, not good enough to use.
>Is you father afraid of someone other than the Sect.
-Father is not the coward kind.
>Why hasn't your father asked for help dealing with the bandits?
-Bandits are a plague. They come, they go. Kill one, three replace them. It's costier to comb through the whole country than to just take the occasional hit on supply and sales.

Village Visit
>What other strangers have come to see your dad.
-I recall a visit from your sect, a few years ago. A great feast, I was gifted some Body Tempering Liquid. Some kids of the village where taken away - given a chance at cultivation, they said.
There was also some friends of Father, coming from time to time. It's been maybe 5 months since I haven't seen them? Oh, I think I wasn't supposed to talk about them.
>Am I the most important person in your village in years?
-I'm not allowed to say more about Father's friends. He made it very clear they are his secret friends.

Golden Skyrocks
>What's the value on these rocks like
-Enough to get food and clothing for the whole village.
>Hey so what ARE these stones anyway? Have you ever seen how they are used?
-Well you call yourself a cultivator? They're of course precious materials charged in Spiritual Energy! You can use them as craft ressources for treasures, ink for talisman, grind them for pills.
>Where have the rocks that you villages has been mining gone?
-To your sect? That's like our deal?
>If you don't know, who would know?
-Dad, of course. Man Cong, certainly. Dan Rold, perhaps?

That's as much informations as you'll get safely.

>Push the Patriarch's Hospitality, keep looking for answers [Write-in how]
>The Patriarch is clearly guilty of irredeemable betrayal. Execute him using your 3rd Realm Attack Talisman.
>The Patriarch is fishy, but a stern warning will be enough. [Write-in your demands. Suggestions - increased taxes in the future, payment of what was redirected, taking a child in totally-not-hostage-custody-trainin<wbr>g]
>There's nothing wrong about this village and its management. Tell the Patriarch you expect payment to come back with the returned luck, and leave.

Anonymous

>>5989941
>The Patriarch is clearly guilty of irredeemable betrayal.
Demand a full tribute immediately, that he also send additional tribute to make up for what didn't arrive, and the second son be offered as a student, or else immediate death.

>>5989941
>Ask the patriarch to come and speak with us out in the fields alone, bring Kyo Kyo, and pass it off as 'found something out here of fortune to your economy' or something.

>Inform him why we came, That he has been fucking off his taxes, and selling them to his secretive allies who we absolutely know about, and giving us the run around.
>To save him face, We are doing this quietly. You will give us your backpay of taxes in a timely manner, You will reveal the specific name and titles of who your buyers are, and then you will cooperate with the Sect of a hundred beast tamers to remove them from the equation, or you will be replaced. As a show of good faith, we will take your second son as a guest of the sect. And before you start to feel a little blood hungry, I've had my maid draft a letter for me and send it along back towards the sect yesterday with my findings and proposed conditions. I hope you find these conditions reasonable, for they are the best that the sect can spare for a traitor.

Maybe dangle a carrot of "when your buyers are removed, the official retelling may recount on your foresighted revealing of these menaces rather than your greed in dealing with them."
But that seems beyond our power to grant.

>>5989971
Naturally if he starts to power up, Execute that motherfucker.

>>5989941
>>Push the Patriarch's Hospitality, keep looking for answers. This could be the village, we're from. Spend the day in the village, watchful for anyone paying too much or different kind of attention to us. Do some shopping for tea as cover.

>>5989941
>The Patriarch is fishy, but a stern warning will be enough. [Write-in your demands. Suggestions - increased taxes in the future, payment of what was redirected, taking a child in totally-not-hostage-custody-trainin<wbr>g]
Payment of what was redirected + another 50% for the trouble, and all information he has on his alternative buyers.

>>5990045
You are being a bit easy on him.

>>5990059
It's the same as what you wanted, except I asked for more money instead of taking the idiot son along.

>>5990134
You also missed out on his cooperation wiping his secret friends out.

Im also taking the idiot son for two reasons.
The first is as a hostage.
The second is to force him to promote the sister to a viable heir. Which we may remind her of later, and before we leave. Creating a debt.

>>5990214
I want the information first on these buyers before we decide what to do with them, and I'd rather get the money than a debt from some backwater villager. It'll keep our sect a lot happier with us if we bring back money owed + extra rather than a kid to babysit.

>>5990319
So we bring the Patriarch out into the field alone with our maid and ask him about it. We know that they haven't been selling us what they've been digging up. We know that other people have come here since the last time the Sect came. Who are they? What have they been doing? What are the terms of the Patriarch's deal? The sect expects the people of this village to honor their deal, and when our expectations are violated we either learn and grow into the new reality that we have discovered, or we take corrective action to remove the obstructions to our goals. Which do we need to do here, and why? Surely you knew that we would notice the decrease in sales? What was your plan for when we came to investigate?

Leave the attack spell with our maid. She's quicker than us, and she can kill the Patriarch if he won't play ball. Violence isn't the ideal solution, but it is an option, and we're offering the Patriarch a chance to talk his way out of execution.

>>5990355
Sounds pretty good - only thing I'd note is we weren't buying from them, we were collecting the stones as taxes. They stopped paying tax so they could sell the stones, presumably.

DrDragonfagQM

So if I merge your inputs :
>Call the Patriarch in the wilds alone
>Say to bait him "Found something out here of fortune to your economy"
That point is important. You can support, or change the phrasing
>Confront him. Give him face, but request :
- Taxes
- Sell out the other guild
- Second Son hostage
>Kill him if he does anything funny
>Give Attack Talisman to Kyo Ko
That point is important. You might want to keep that on hand, or bait and get an unsuspected Kyo Ko to sneakily use it.

Last chance to chime in/get buyer remorse.

Anonymous

>>5990604
Buyers remorse happened.

Perhaps to bait him something like "I'd prefer to discuss the reason of my visit amongst the fields."
Something that doesn't raise his guard enough to. .. bring guards.

I can support giving Kyo ko the talismen. With instructions to sneak murder the fucker if he tries being aggressive.
Him runnning off home is fine, since we can just call the sect down on his head.

DrDragonfagQM

Let's turn this in a properly tallied vote for my sanity.

How to bait Patriarch?
>Found something out here of fortune to your economy
>I'd prefer to discuss the reason of my visit amongst the fields
>Write-in

About the 3rd realm Attack Talisman...
>Keep it
>give it to Kyo Ko

Anonymous

>>5990697
>How to bait Patriarch?
>>Found something out here of fortune to your economy

>About the 3rd realm Attack Talisman...
>>give it to Kyo Ko

>>5990697
>Discuss the reason

>Give to Kyo Ko
The sect head thinks that she can surpress the rebellion herself but adding more to the fire is. . . good strat.

>>5990697
>I'd prefer to discuss the reason of my visit amongst the fields

>Keep it

>>5990697
>Discuss the reason for my visit in the field in private away from loose lipped women and children. The walls have ears. Gold doesn't care who you are.

>Keep it I guess. That way Kyo Ko won't waste it trying to protect us.

DrDragonfagQM

You wait alone in the barren fields, where you won your bet with the second son.
Kyo Ko was in charge to let the Patriarch knows you're waiting for him to settle things in a quiet way.
Kyo Ko said she was coming back and lay low ready to strike in support if need arise. So your brain tells you you're not alone. Your heart feels very so though.
Here they are. They? You expected only the Patriarch. First son is not that surprising - but the second one?
You're extremely wary.
"Here I am.
- I asked you to come alone.
- The matter of the clan and its future concern my sons as well as me.
- Very well, if you desire so much losing face in front of your sons. Daoist Golden Skystone Patriarch, you've been found guilty of betraying the Tamers of Hundred Beasts sect.
Instead of paying your dutiful tribute, you have embezzled the precious Golden Skystones and sold them to your own gains.
- Nonsense! Father would never...
- Oh shut up Dan Rol. Everything's right.
- But...
- Look at Father's reaction. He's right. Now, you keep your trap shut and listen. You might learn one thing or two.
- Are you two over? Good. As I said, you've been found guilty. We're settling things here and then. You played, you loss.
First, of course, I want the name of the guild attacking us by your proxy.
Then, the late taxes, as well as something I deem enough for the time I lost for getting here solving your little delusion of grandeur.
Of course, enough for the sect to reconsider their want to turn the village in a smudge on map.
Last, I'm getting back with him." You point your "esteemed little brother", to his greater dismay.
- Bold demands. Riddle me this : why shouldn't we just off you here and now?"
The situation immediately get tenser. Your hand shifts toward the Talisman - just in case - while the older kid raise his guard...
- And now you're the one overstepping, Man Cong. Think. The boy is here, on his own. Why didn't I off him myself at the second he stepped on the village?
Have you seen the poweful Spirit he was riding when entering the place? Do you know what happens when you kill a cultivator bonded to a spirit?
The spirit gets free. And angry. Can you deal on your own with that Horse Spirit? Because I don't know how confident I would be, assuming it's the sole surprise offing him would reveal.
Your terms are broadly acceptable, except on two points :
First, this would put us too much on spot - our long term partners which recently turned exclusive customers will seek revenge.
So I want the sect's help in defending the village.
Second, you can't get the boy. Take the girl."

>"I, in the name of the Tamers of Hundred Beasts, accept."
>You're in no position to negotiate, old man
>Write-in

Anonymous

>>5991470
>"The very fact that you offered the girl at all is a reason to refuse. The point of a guest of the sect is that you are not so easily willing to cast them aside. As you just did with the girl."
>"The Village is naturally befitting the sects protection, it is the basis of this partnership after all. We shall get our taxes, and you shall get your protection, and the guild which attacked us will get their just recompense. All ends well for everyone present."

Do you think we're fucking stupid patriarch? There's a reason to pick the boy. It's to discincentivise your backslide. What reason do we have to think you give two shits about the child you keep as a spare?

>>5991470
"Forgive me, Golden Skystone Patriarch, I misspoke. Your 'partners' are already as good as dead, for they are enemies of the sect. Even if we don't use you as bait, they will be hunted down and destroyed, so there is no need to concern yourself with our attitude to thieves, there is only death for them.
The lost taxes is simply a matter of bookkeeping, for the sect would never allow a Patriarch who does not profit us to stay for long, and one who costs us time and effort to stay even less.
Your son might be an appropriate tribute of apology, seeing how serious your error is, which is why I suggested so. If you feel you don't need the forgiveness of our sect so badly, perhaps you should contact those customers of yours, I'm sure interesting times await you after you flee with your family and whatever they can carry into the hills in the company of bandits."

>>5991470
>"I, in the name of the Tamers of Hundred Beasts, accept."

>>5991470
>Fine, keep your son. I however will be staying to personally see to the defense of the village for when retribution comes from our rival. Speaking of which: name them.

Time to find our parents.

It seems strange to me that you would deny your son the opportunity to train in a place dedicated to such things when you clearly favor him over her, especially considering her younger age and greater potential. I had thought to leave your most valuable child here to protect you, but if you would willingly surrender her, then so be it. Also you now have two sons. Send one to learn in the city, and one remains to aid you. Fight the sect and there will be none, as you know.

I do not fault you for protecting yourself from the most imminent danger. Few would choose death today over life today and a difficult decision in a few years. However, you could have told my Sect about the difficulty so that we could have properly prepared and dealt with it on our own schedule instead of wasting time on investigations. Failure to inform us of the situation has eroded trust and made the sect question the current level of independence of the village. Thus the plan of teaching a future leader both how to defend the village physically, but also to know the names and faces in the sect and that he could rely on us to solve problems larger than himself. If I take the girl now, then it will be she who will likely rule here later. So too with the local bandits. There are many bored guards in the city who would enjoy a vacation to come and eliminate banditry. Instead they harass gifted children with a hundred questions to salve their boredom. If you don't have time or strength to deal with evil on your own, let us know, and we will come when the timing is good for us.

Of course, we will help to defend the villages which provide us our resources. You are not farmers or shepherds, so perhaps you do not think on this, but it is the poor shepherd who does not protect his flock. The sect desires the resources that you provide. It is not in our interest to allow you to perish, even if we defied heaven and ignored our duty to defend our wards.

>>5992101
>There are many bored guards in the city who would enjoy a vacation to come and eliminate banditry.
You know this is false. Bandit hunting is extremely ungrateful and boring job - you patrol, they scamp. Most can read the traveler's power level and pick their fights accordingly, with a perfect knowledge of terrain, and some spotters among the village all around their strike zone.

DrDragonfagQM

>Tally status

looks like a consensus is rising. Not locked yet.

>>5991534
>>5991602
>>5991618
>>5991633
>>5991664
>>5991833
>>5991901
>>5992101
>>5992129

>"The Village is naturally befitting the sects protection, it is the basis of this partnership after all.
>I do not fault you for protecting yourself from the most imminent danger. Few would choose death today over life today and a difficult decision in a few years.
>However, you could have told my Sect about the difficulty so that we could have properly prepared and dealt with it on our own schedule instead of wasting time on investigations.
>Failure to inform us of the situation has eroded trust and made the sect question the current level of independence of the village.
>We shall get our taxes, and you shall get your protection, and the guild which attacked us will get their just recompense.
>Your son might be an appropriate tribute of apology, seeing how serious your error is, which is why I suggested so.
>If you feel you don't need the forgiveness of our sect so badly, perhaps you should contact those customers of yours.
>I'm sure interesting times await you after you flee with your family and whatever they can carry into the hills in the company of bandits.
- I don't like it. But this is not like I have a choice in the matter, is it?
Fine. Your terms are acceptable, Young Master.
The one that approached us... They are the Symphony of Gilded Waters Sect. The Gold aspect of our precious material interests them in their crafts.
> - Thank you for being more than reasonable.
- We have a couple details to settle. As you can imagine, I can't just pull out the payment for our mistake from thin air.
I'll beg for Young Master patience, and to use the spoils of your and Dan Roll treasure hunt as a down payment in the wait of us gathering the proper Payment.
I'll write up the proper letter adressed to your Sect Master; I expect to be able to invite you again in a handful months.
> I'm more than glad all ends well for everyone present. But if you allow me the indiscretion of a personal question...
> It seems strange to me that you would deny your son the opportunity to train in a place dedicated to such things when you clearly favor him over her.
- Economics. The tallest barrier to train more cultivators is the amount of available Body Tempering Liquid.
Pills are expensive too, but they're merely ways to hasten one on a road full of bottlenecks. Body Tempering Liquid is a bridge over an uncrossable river.

ride back to the village, keeping a cordial discussion with the Patriarch. Dan Rol is dumbfounded - especially by learning he have only a couple hours to pack his things, bid his farewell, and share a last feast with his family.
The next day, the Patrician gives you a bag, containing a chest. In the chest, a sealed letter for Ryota, the spoils of the treasure hunt, and a hefty sum of money.
Coins are made of stone, bone, gems, scales, wood, metals, or even intangible materials like ribbons of mist or a disc of mystical water, holding up by its own energy.
After all, the coins are an intrinsic store of value. You're pretty sure the most mundane looking coin in that chest is worth at least as much as a whole string looted on the bandits.
You ride away, with Kyo Ko and Dan Rol walking by your side. Direction : South-East.
The first day of travel is silent. Your totally-not-hostage-new-little-big-<wbr>brother-disciple is brooding; you wanted to talk with Kyo Ko about how to shorten the travel time, but she haven't dropped the maid role yet. Thus, you hold on to avoid blowing her cover.
That give you ample time to think.
>Both (You) and Kyo Ko are unscathed
>(You) didn't used the precious third stage Talisman of Attack and Armor
>(You) discovered who your sect ennemies are
>(Your) sect ennemies are clueless about your actions in Golden Skystone Village
>(You) are heading back around your expected time of arrival
>(You) might even have a chance to make it back in time for Transplanhumance
>(You) feel this whole adventure is an opportunity for creating a real bond - a strong, durable one, not based solely on extortion and mutuably profitable - with the Golden Skystone village.
This is as close as you could get to an utter, spotless and complete victory, both on short and long term.

On the ebony lining, there was that reveal about bounded spiritual beasts. You weren't aware you could release three beasts around 2nd-to-3rd stage upon dying. And that's not even factoring in the wolf.
>How do (You) feel about knowing your death will release Weapons of Local Destruction?

About the travel and Kyo Ko's disguise
>Keep your mouth shut
>Ask her discretly about speeding up (Any idea?)

About your travel companions
>Any questions or desired interractions?

Anonymous

>>5992184

>How do (You) feel about knowing your death will release Weapons of Local Destruction?
>A new weight of responsibility has settled on your shoulders.

About the travel and Kyo Ko's disguise
>Keep your mouth shut.

About your travel companions
>Any questions or desired interractions?
>Ask about his village cultivation techniques and cultivation aspirations.
His name is Dan Roll?

>>5992184
>How do you feel about it?
Well it's not gonna be our problem. But it WILL be our problem when our allies get downed and their beasts are released. We're going to need to plan around such a disruptive event in the future, But it's a useful threat.

>Discreetly ask Kyo Ko if there are any routes or methods she is aware of to get us back in time for transplanhumance.

>Cheer our new Little-Big-brother up with discussions of the sect and things to do. Maybe share anecdotes about the Transplanhumanance we did last time [avoiding Kyo ko's mention, other than maybe a 'respected senior's intervention'.]

Connections are power, Our power at least. And him being miserable isn't doing anyone any good.

>Thank Kyo Ko for her diligent service in the town [And quietly say that until we are back in home territory, it's best to keep the role up. A bandit attack again could make Dan slip up].

It's not a flawless victory, but it's damn near close.

>>5992213
oh and ask Kyo ko if that trick she knows with the eye analysis is the trick that she suggested we learn from our senior brother.

If not, can we learn this from her?

>>5992184
>How do (You) feel about knowing your death will release Weapons of Local Destruction?
This will not be anything new to the sect, they will know much about the issue.

>Keep your mouth shut.
Let her vibe,

>Any questions or desired interractions?
Ask our new sect brother what he knows, what his style is.

DrDragonfagQM

>>5992300
Of course. But you've never been told this directly. What else could they hide?

Anonymous

>>5992184
>How do (You) feel about knowing your death will release Weapons of Local Destruction?
A bit uneasy about the fact that we were sent as a living bomb. This smells of "either you can be a useful diplomat or a useful bomb".

>Ask her discretely about speeding up (Any idea?)
Just excuse ourselves for a bath where our maid is expected to help us. Be hilariously confused and naive if the hostage thinks we're getting busy with Kyo Ko. Maybe we can channel some energy from the golden stones to our hawk and... use space magic to shrink the distance? Ok, I got nothing.

>>5992345
Dont be a fool. We were semt to groom us as leaders and diplomacy/managing a vassal is part of that.

Us being a walking bomb isnt a factor of the equation worth speculating over.we arent disposable to the sect.

Also I second bath as an excuse, because it is very very funny to make quiet word confused. Even funnier if Kyo ko joins in on the teasing.

She is respecred big sister. She is allowed to tease her juniors.

>>5992213
+1

and also +1 to >>5992345 with the idea of talking privately with Kyo Ko with the excuse of taking a bath

>>5992184
>How do (You) feel about knowing your death will release Weapons of Local Destruction?
Consider that this means that the spirits are likely unbound upon the death of the binder. This means that another can capture them, which means that people may kill us to capture Wolf Friend, but also that if we are in a war we should bring beads with us to return the spirits of fallen friends to the Sect.

>Any questions or desired interactions?
Explain the roles at the sect, the basic aptitude testing, the basic schedule, the names of some of the sect members, and the basic duties that he will be expected to perform upon arrival. Ask what is his favorite color and favorite animal?

>How to move it - move it?
Try flying with Hawk friend, infuse with growth essence and see if Hawk friend gets bigger. If needed 'leave the maid behind so that we can get back in time for the festival' and let Kyo Ko run on ahead with the treasure while we fly. If we can't figure out flight, then go to no-sleep mode and run through the night, carrying the boy in a backpack if we need to.

>>5992620
Also, I support bath idea. It's a good idea. We can talk with our hands if we need to, assuming we know Sect sign language. Otherwise just let our beast-souls touch and do some kinky soul-talk.

>>5992184
>How do (You) feel about knowing your death will release Weapons of Local Destruction?
Based, we should lead with that and no one will dare kill us

>Ask her discretly about speeding up (Any idea?)
Send the idiot to go get firewood or something
Maybe we can juice up our horse with extra energy, or improve the compatibility?

>>5992184
Supporting the kyo kyo bath excuse

>>5992620
>Infuse with growth Essence
That would require (guess it...) True Qi to try out

>>5992345
About Spatial magic to shrink the distance...
See >>5992846

DrDragonfagQM

The slow day spent riding a walking horse while Dan Roll is doing his best to keep up without looking bad in regard to the definitely-not-cultivator-Kyo-Ko-pa<wbr>ce let you ample time to think. Why haven't the sect told you about what happens to a bounded spirit at a cultivator's death?
You immediately ruled out the possibility of being sent as a disposable keg of black powder - you know you're more valuable than that to the sect.
You feel this news is as a new weight of responsibility settled on your shoulders.
On one hand, it's not like it's going to be your personal problem, although you'd prefer as much as possible to avoid dragging bystanders or friend down with you in the event of your demise. It will be said personal problem however if - you refuse to think when - one of your ally get downed and mayhem ensues.
You're going to need to plan around such a disruptive event in the future - more soul-binding beads will be necessary. At least, you can exert it as an useful threat.
There's another implication : if spirits are unbound on death, another can capture them, which means that people may off you simply for a chance to capture the extremely valuable (but mostly useless to you) Scion of the Primordial Wolf Spirit, echoing with the warning of said Primordial Wolf Spirit.
A shiver runs on your back while remembering the story of Fairy Wise Crane about her friend that disappeared after acquiring a precious Shark spirit.
Still, why haven't they told you about that? Are there other things they omitted to tell about bounded spirits?

Your thoughts are spinning when you realize you reached the next town at nightfall - what took you around two days of walking, on your own short legs. Perks of riding, even at a low speed.
You dispel the Horse spirit, and go book a chamber at the village's inn, requesting one with a bathroom and a copious dinner.
You're sick of the stew of the Golden Skystone village. You know it's probably the best they could do, and a luxury for them, but you yearn for something else. Shrimps would be ideal, but you're too far from the sea to even dream about their delicious chewy crunchy iodized savour - aaaand you're already salivating.

"Alright I'm going for a bath. Kyo Ko, I'll of course require your assistance. Dan Rol. Wait here.
- Assistance? For what?
- Certainly not bathing. She winks.
- This cannot mean...
- Mean what?
- You can't possibly be developped enough!
- Don't you know physical development is directly linked to cultivation? After all, the greatest cultivators are... bulkier...
- What? For real? I'll cultivate twice as hard if that's so!
- I'm afraid it might be too late for you - for the gains to occur, you still need to be young and have the potential to grow where it matters."
You have absolutely no clue what your esteemed senior is talking about. But seeing how fluttered Dan Roll is makes you nod, acting wise and silent while you enter the bathroom, Kyo Ko in tow. The bathroom is powered by a couple Spiritual Formations to pump water and heat it, as well as a Wind one to dry - letting the innkeeper charge atrociously more for the room, but a rare and luxury sight : you Novice don't have such a good facility in the sect, but it is similar to the one in your room back at the Main Sect's compound during the turnament.

You pull a lever, and hot water rise in the bathtub, covering partially your voices - apart from Kyo Ko loud outburst.
"First, thank you for your diligent services back in the village.
- My, you've grown even more in the past week!
- I too think it's best to keep the role up. I'd love to see Dan Rol's reaction to a travel trouble, like the bandits of last time.
- Mmmmh yes! Right There! - keeping her charade for Dan Rol. You feel it's weird.
- Now, I have two questions. First, your Eye skill, that let you assert the power level of peoples. Was that the one you advised me to learn from Bathias?
- Not really. Bathias thing allow to see from his bounded Hawk's perspective. The skills you mention have been taught by Ryota.
AH THAT'S SO GOOOD! - you really don't understand what's going on, except a gut-wrenching feeling of it being very, very wrong.
- Second... second thing is... Our travel time. Can we somehow speed up?
- We might cross the bandit ambush site in three to four days, with our current speed. We'll see after crossing that point. Our speed is actually far from bad : by riding, and me casually holding up we have Dan Rol speedwalking. I am pretty sure he doesn't have any movement technique, you pushed him enough today for forcing him to show his hand.
So we lack better options - as long as you keep access to this mount of your.
Yes Yes Yes Yes YES YES YES YEEEEEES!"
Her high-pitch screams hurt your ears. She expertly splash some hot water in her face, mess up a tiny bit her hair, making her look slightly sweaty and out of breath, as if she just had to run two thousand meters for her life, then leave the bathroom.
"I'll leave Young Master alone. But next bath turn is for me."

What just happen? It was a joke at Dan Rol expense, of course. An innocent one - nothing BAD happened, just play pretend.
So why do you feel slightly sick about the implications? At least, your gash on your left forearm is healing nicely, forming a clean scab.
You're quite lucky. Cultivator-inflicted wounds are notorious for the long-term ache they might cause, sometimes causing the demise of a winner unable to quench the wound's burn.
Why were you so disturbed by Kyo Ko's act? Weirdly, this reminds you of the day of the ability test - your first memory - and the blindfold-and-spanking room you disliked very, very much - at least as much as the dark water room where you almost drown.
Once cleaned, you step out of the room where Dan Rol have an interesting complexion.
"Should have not doubted Esteemed Senior Brother. Such experience, in so many fields. Better than me for finding treasures in my home turf, handling complicated political matters,
and utterly destroying me on this race I didn't even believed he could possibly partake..."
You let your lips curl in a cryptic smile, conveying you know better than him despite having absolutely no idea about the meaning of what happened, and still feeling a bit sick.
Well, looks like your incomfort at least asserted domination over the older, more advanced cultivator - he's older than Kyo Ko, but of the three of you, this little stunt confirmed him as the lowest of both the official and real pecking order.

After sharing a meal, and a bad night of sleep agitated by bad dreams of tormenting specters in heavy make up turning face white as snow, exageratingly large lips red as cherry and white wide eyebrows, you get back on the road. Today, you chat with Dan Rol.

"I hope Little-Big-brother will like it at the sect. As you know, we're heavily focusing our practice on Spiritual Beasts.
- Do you think I can get soul-binded spiritual beasts? It would be great for the Village when I'll get back!
- Honestly? Depends on your luck and talent. I had the Horse gifted to me to bolster my chances as a promising disciple for the upcoming Stable Lotus Harbor City tournament.
- So a good showing at the Tournament could be rewarded? Of course, Esteemed Senior Brother won, right?
- More or less. I've been undefeated. I surrendered in half-finals. My opponent was a friend, he displayed fewer techniques than me, so stepping back improved the sect's chances.
My fondest memory of the tournament is getting two new friends from different sects. So I hope you can participate, the tournament would be held roughtly two month after our return.
Speaking of, the main chances for Disciples to get a spirit is through Transplanhumance, which is happening around these days.
- What? No opportunity for me for one year! Speak about bad timing!
- Or excellent if we make it back fast enough. But a risky one - Spiritual Beasts are dangerous by nature. The Horse spirit was trusted to me because I caught a Dormouse Spirit for the sect."
Better to keep the Kyo Ko involving details out, as well as the Ascendant Golden Flame Hawk - you're not sure how much you can trust Dan Rol, and better to keep your trump cards hidden.
Similarly, you won't ask about his clan cultivation techniques - that is an extremely big Taboo thing to ask, even among Dao Companions.

A couple days later (meaning 4 days since you left Golden Skystone Village, and 10 days since you came around that place the first time), something worth of note happens :
Luo Bin is waiting in the middle of the road, with a new ragtag bunch of misfits.
"Damn it. Should have offed him."
You might had spoke too fast : he's waving his arms, and he and his group have left their weapon on the ground.
"That's... new. What does they want?
- Young master, this LuoBin is glad to meet you again. I have an humble demand : I'd wish to get my slain comrade's plates back."
>Excellent opportunity to get the countryside rid of a handful more bandits.
>"No" and ride away - you're on a schedule, but you didn't spared him to slay him.
>Agree, hands him the plates.
>"Depends on how much you pay for them."

Of course, and as always,
>Write in accepted and encouraged (discussion with LuoBin included)

Anonymous

>>5993142
>And what value do the plates hold to you Luo Bin? If they are just indentification, surely you can just make more in an afternoon.
>But regardless, They are good to show to my sect head the good that is done by curing a bandit problem. What would you exchange for them?
I'd like him to stop being a bandit, but that's probably not on the cards. So what's he got.

Other than that.
>Your wounds have healed up well then? I hope your sect didn't trouble you for being the returning member.
>You lead this group now then? I'm sure it will go well if you are apt to the changing winds.
>Has any news gone about?

I'm thinking we can probably use em to help out with the Golden skystone village, but that may be a misuse.
Anyway, it's best to keep cordial and if the value's just sentimental then I'm inclined to hand it over. But if it's a material good, he can cough up something.

Also, yes, that joke was hillarious Kyo Ko. Quiet Word's discomfort is even funnier when note viewed through his eyes.

DrDragonfagQM

>>5993151
>Also, yes, that joke was hillarious Kyo Ko. Quiet Word's discomfort is even funnier when note viewed through his eyes.

I quite don't get if you're first degree or sarcastic.

Anonymous

>>5993210
First degree tismisc.

The joke was Hillarious. Her execution was well planned and done.
His increasing instinctive discomfort and later torment over the fact is even funnier to me as a disembodied reader even though when I empathise it is viscerally discomforting. Good job Dragon.

Anyway, >>5993151
I wish to amend this. A better plan is after asking the first value question, follow with.
>Of course, have them. By the way this is Dan of the skystone village, I hope you will not make difficulties for his families village or my sect with their tithes.

He gets his friends shit back, we decrease a bandit trouble along a road with our taxes on it. We preserve his life because oh boy, our taxes are getting here one way or another.

>>5993142
>Excellent opportunity to get the countryside rid of a handful more bandits.
No second chances. Get LuoBin to show us what he can do.

>>5993142
>LuoBin, I spared your life because I didn't wish to kill without no need, I expected that you would leave and I wouldn't see you again in years, that maybe you started to live like a honorable person, but that was so naive so I thought you would still live the life of a bandit and we wouldn't cross paths again.

>I showed you mercy and you owe me for it. But instead, you come asking for your comrade's plates days later and with a new group. I will give you another chance, and I will ask you to leave us alone and let us walk the roads without a problem, and if you don't want to, and want to make trouble again, I won't commit the same mistake twice.

>>5993328
>>5993360
I dunno, I don't think you guys are making them most of this opportunity.

One of you wants to kill a guy in our debt and with an In to a notable bandit sect.
And the other wants the same but via threat.

Kinda nothing to gain there. I don't think quiet word is motivated by the harm a bandit group does to a region, or travellers.

>>5993142
>>Excellent opportunity to get the countryside rid of a handful more bandits.

These guys are a bane. LuoBin had his chance to change his ways. Killemall.

DrDragonfagQM

So looks like we have a small lead.<br>Would feel dishonest to wrap the vote as is, I'll let it run a bit more

>>5993805
Alright, I'm wrapping the vote.
Writing.

>"And what value do the plates hold to you Luo Bin?
- Well, our clan's tradition is to hang those plates on the tombs of the warriors. They would appreciate, and this might avoid their spirits to linger."

A part of you wants to take your weapon. Slay him here and there. Cleanse a bit more the countryside's road.
But you spared him. Let him run last time. You really should have told him to sin no more, but you didn't.
You take a deep breath. Those plates could grant you more clout with the sect.
But you have Kyo Ko and Dan Rol as witnesses. You can do without those plates. And there is something smarter to do about the situation.
Breath in, breath out. A second-long circulation of your internal energy. You regain your calm. After all, your path to greatness is built on connections.

>"Here. Your wounds have healed up well then? I hope your sect didn't trouble you for being the returning member.
- They were glad at least one made it. And your mastery was good enough to let me away with merely scratches. Nothing serious.
>- You lead this group now then? I'm sure it will go well if you are apt to the changing winds.
- This is what I must do for things to go well. Said Wind will blow for us Elusive Freemen.
>- Or death. By my hand if I learn that you and your men attacked some Tamers of Hundred Beasts, or my new brother Dan Rol's village members.
Same goes for trade.
- Alright, after all if I owe my life to Young Master, that mean I owe my life to his sect that raised him to be so virtuous.
I thought you would negotiate for it... Take this as this LuoBin's sincere gratitude."
The man sends you a small leather poach.
>Obtained 9 Qi&Blood pills
That's, to be sure, a pleasant surprise. You pocket the leather pouch, bids a stern farewell to the bandit, and go on your way.

A few minutes later, an awfully quiet Dan Rol hurries along, and ask you with a low voice.
"You know, we were pretty sure you just grabbed those bandits plate from your sect coffers or something.
That bandit is a weakling? What's his deal?
- 2nd stage. I beat him and his little group, slayed his men, let this one go.
- "I"? I'm pretty sure I did half of the work."
Kyo Ko have done that thing again. Nowhere to be seen during the interraction with the bandit - you even saw him glancing around in stress when you leaved, probably fearing for his life despite his easy-going attitude - and she appeared out of nowhere. This always startle you a bit, but Dan Rol was clearly not ready.
"AAAaahhh! You... Your... You're a cultivator? Not a maid?
- True Master Kyo Ko, Dragon Foot Dantian. If my cute little brother Quiet Word is your esteemed Senior Brother, you'll have to call me Dearly esteemed Senior Aunt?"

While Dan Rol is having a small mental breakdown, you unmount.
"I guess you're finally trusting him? Good. What's the plan?
- Transplanhumance should happen around 20 days from now, give or take one month - it might already be in progress.
We keep the current rhythm : I'd say 18 days to get back. You load Dan Rol on the horse, we split those pills you just get : 7 or 8 days.
Speeding up improves our chances to catch transplanhumance, but doesn't guarantee it.
Your pills, your choice."

>Conserve the pills
>Consume the pills

Anonymous

>>5994147
>Consume the pills
We didn't had them before for our personal stash, but if we use them there's a possibility we participate in the Transplanhumance, capture something really good with our recent cultivation level, and exchange some spirits for something even greater than these pills.

>>5994147

>Conserve the pills

I don't trust these pills until they get checked out.

>>5994147
>Conserve the pills
What >>5994337 said and also we have other, better pills. <s>And we can see if we have an aptitude for alchemy when we sidequest to find out what these pills do.</s>

>>5994147
>Consume the pills
A few pills are nothing compared to this opportunity

>>5994372
>Other, better pills
Good for cultivating, less so to provide untainted energy using the Hawk's Alacrity skill which require raw energy mix - according that the pills you have on hand are what the label say they are

>>5994386
Well, I'll defer to Elder Sister then.

Change >>5994372 to
>Consume the pills

>>5994147
>Consume

Even if not, getting back in a week is good for us

>>4884147
>Consume the pills
Also, bathtime with Kyo Ko made me wonder if we can take on the physical attributes of our bound spirits such as eye of hawk or claws of wolf.

>>5995213
Unfortunate doesn't begin to describe your luck.
Locking; update incoming in the next few hours.

>>5995224
Yes we do!

Anyway, welcome to addiction/Poisoning.
I just really really hope we get back to the sect.

>>5995265Did we ever test for poison attribute?

>>5995224
Pills are a cultivators best friend. Them and hyper violence.

DrDragonfagQM

"Wait. Can we at least trust those pills? What if they're laced with poison?
- That bandit friend of yours seemed too simple to pull something like that, but good call.
Send one... Mmh mhh... Jey are glean, regular bills - Kyo Ko spit back the hard ball of medicine.
I don't predict a great Bandit career to that LuoBin."

With that settled, you devote the next week to an insane speed - burning all your obtained pills (Okay, mainly Kyo Ko burning through your pills to keep up on the long range).
A bit better than expected, you made it back to the sect in one week. The only thing in your mind while closing the remaining distance in familiar land : Bed, bath and something other than fasting pills to eat will surely feel amazing tonight.
But first thing first, you must debrief with Ryota.
Sun settled, most Novice and Disciple are in their dormitories. You catch a few master, capitalizing on the end of their daily duties and their lower need for sleep.
"Luck seems to be on our side... Here's the Sect Master."
You wave. That was unnecessary - you feel he was waiting for you. When did he spot you?
"You two look well. And this is?
- Our esteemed guess for a little while, to strengthen the bond between our vassal and the sect.
- Of course. Liu Feng? Can you show our new esteemed guess around? As the Golden Skystone Patriarch Son, of course he have a private guest room."
The Fox Master takes Dan Rol away, while you follow Ryota to his office.
"The two of you are early - more than early. Didn't expected you for almost a month.
How did it went?
- We didn't purged the Patriarch and his village. They tried to double us, but we ruled it more as a vital necessity than a heinous backstab.
Basically, they sold the goods to the Symphony of Gilded Waters Sect. Quiet Word settled things quietly and nicely.
- Here's a down payment for the late taxes - money and a few materials - a letter adressed to you from Golden Skystone Patriarch, and the two talismans.
-I see. Great work you two. Let me read that... Looks like you'll have to get back to the Golden Skystone Village in a few months.
- Quick question : we made our best to come back before Transplanhumance. Did we?
>The roll was for the day of Transplanhumance start
- Missed it by 12 days."
Rats. Those perfectly fine pills where munched for nothing : time was already up around the time you left the Golden Skystone Village.

"Kyo Ko, anything to say about Quiet Word's performance?
- He seemlessly slipped into the role. Despite his yonug age, he can skillfully navigate tense social situations and turn things to his advantage.
Not afraid to stand his ground, but still capable of compromising. Got himself respected by a 2nd stage bandit and the 3rd stage Patriarch. I was only there as discrete back-up.
he is a perfect team-mate for my sets of skills, and I think our duo is working well : bringing more members with us was more likely to hinder the mission.
However, he's still young and very inexperimented. We were lucky things went well, I'm not sure how much I would have been able to do in the case of a severe blunder or bad luck.
I know this is why you gave him talismans, but it kept me anxious until the mission's end.
- Very well. The sect owes the two of you. From what you told me, brought back, and I read, you could difficultly have done better.
The sect will be generous in your reward. I'll give you a bit of time to think about what you want."

>Write-in your desired reward for the mission. You can ask for something fairly big

It's a shame you missed Transplanhumance. There is still cultivation - your fundamental have been held on hold for too long.
>Choose 2 :
Potential
>Ask Bathias about his Innate Eye Ability [Unchosable, Bathias is not back from his Mission]
>Ask Ryota about his Read power level Eye Ability
>Improve your Potential Estimation Contraption with Gold lodestone [You'll need other cultivator to go under test for calibration]
Friendship
>Catch up with your fellow disciples
Foundation
>Work on your Foundation [Pills available]
>Work on your Unlimited Rising Star Kick
>Work on your Mental Energy with Dhundan
Weapon skills
>Work on your Windy Cavalier's Halberd [Pills available]
>Work on your Spear style : Blood-Shadow Wolf Painful Assault [Pills available]
Spiritual Beasts
>Investigate on the Scion of the Primordial Wolf Spirit[How?]
>Investigate on the talking Spiritual Beasts[How?]
>Investigate Spiritual Beasts Fight; Spiritual Beasts Absorption
The sect
>Continue to learn how to read
>Help the Poor-talented batch of new kids
Strengthening the Jar
>Slack off [this will be bad for your mental health]
>Improve Immortal Cave - Home Expansion
And, as always...
>Write-in allowed!

Anonymous

>>5995345
>Catch up with your fellow disciples

>Investigate Spiritual Beasts Fight; Spiritual Beasts Absorption

>>5995345
>Ask power level eye skill
>foundation

>Gold aspected beast for Ping and some tailored pills for foundation.
>maybe a treasure examiner

>>5995363
To clarify.

I'd like all three but if they are only going to accept one, pr two, I put it in priority.

Gold beast.
Tailored drugs.
Private treasure examiner (for the tea pot) since I feel that working this crap out ourselves is not going well for our productivity.

>>5995345
>Write-in your desired reward for the mission. You can ask for something fairly big
hold another transplanhumance just for us
haha jk...unless...?
>Ask power level eye skill

>Work on your Foundation [Pills available]
>Catch up with your fellow disciples

>>5995345
>Ask for a golden spiritual beast for Ping Jun.
>If it's not too much of a bother, ask for a supply of growth aspected Lotus Tea

>Train Foundation. Always be foundationing.
>Train Body Shifting: Vision of Hawk, Smell-Sense of Wolf, Virility of Horse. Think on Kyo Ko's statement that a child's body is more mutable than an adult's, so if we're going into shapeshifting it's best to do so now while we are young. We won't need Bathia's ability so much either if we can fly in hawk form ourselves.

I don't think that we need Ryota's eye skill right now, and Kyo Ko can teach it to us if Ryota's not around, so it isn't a priority.

>>5995434
She was pranking Dan bro. We cannot shape shift.

>>5995345
>>Catch up with your fellow disciples
>Ask Ryota about his Read power level Eye Ability
>>Work on your Foundation [No Pills]

Oh look at that we waited too long and the option to make peace between Dhundan and Ai dissappeared. Not ominous at allll.

>>5995469
Eh, not everyone has to like eachother.
All that needs to occur is that they like us.

>>5995469
>>Write-in your desired reward for the mission. You can ask for something fairly big
>Ask for additional protection for Golden Skystone village. All they owe us is for naught if they get wiped out.

>>5995431
>Treasure
Another Transplanhumance is Impossibru.
The power level eye skill is a waste of a reward ask.

>>5995456
And she was implying diligent cultivation at a younger age implies big gainz for the pecker. Still, Body Shifting with parts of your spirit beast is a valid write-in.

>>5995472
>Additional protection
It was already accepted by Ryota in the debriefing - implied by saying you will personally go back to the village in a few months

Anyway,

>Tally Status

Fear not, I won't have time to write before at least 14 hours

>>5995472
I'm this guy. Changing to
>Special tea plus gold beast.

>Ask for Golden spiritual beast for Ping Jun.
>If it's not too much of a bother, ask for a supply of growth aspected Lotus Tea

>Ask Ryota about his Read power level Eye Ability
>Investigate Spiritual Beasts Fight; Spiritual Beasts Absorption

>>5995345
>Write-in your desired reward for the mission. You can ask for something fairly big
MAGIC SWORD MAGIC SWORD MAGIC SWORD
<s>Can we get a magic spear/halberd/jin pls</s>

>Work on your Mental Energy with Dhundan
>Ask Ryota about his Read power level Eye Ability

DrDragonfagQM

Tally status

Winning votes :
>Ryota Eye Skill
>Spirit beast fight investigation
>Special tea + Golden Spiritual Beast as reward

>>5996190
I'll take a good old Bo3 d100 for the investigation.
DC is 70 - Accepting write-ins and hypothesis, good ones WILL decrease DC.

>>5996220
More informations from last thread :

>A piece of information comes to mind : a bounded spiritual beast can absorb another, as the greedy Beast Master let slipped. Maybe this is a way to release the shackle of a level-bound beast?

Exact words of said master :
>""I need to see your spirits to avoid them fighting or absorbing the spirits I have over there"
Thus, this can be known beforehand.

Anonymous

Rolled 55 (1d100)

>>5996226
It must be that spiritual beasts are composed purely of qi, and by consuming and dominating the qi of another spiritual beast, they gain power far faster than a person could through dutifully cultivating.

DrDragonfagQM

>>5996263
>It must be that spiritual beasts are composed purely of qi,
-1 to DC (69)
>and by consuming and dominating the qi of another spiritual beast,
Good global direction; not exact enough. No credits but this can be a good direction to dig.

>they gain power far faster than a person could through dutifully cultivating.
No credit

Anonymous

Rolled 40 (1d100)

>>5996220
Let me see if I can make the theory more specific, here.
>Spiritual beasts are composed purely of Qi.
>Qi is fundamentally just a type of energy, which is present in everything
>The basic process of cultivation is ultimately about absorbing energy and converting it into your own (from potions/pills/food/the environment)
>Spirit beasts are able to directly metabolize energy because that's all they are. It's like rain feeding a lake and changing the water level; it's just nature.
I would even go so far as to suggest...
>Omnivorous/Carnivorous spirit animals may have higher overall potential because they're specialized into devouring other spirit beasts, the same way real carnivores get nutrition from eating herbivore animals.

Rolled 78 (1d100)

>>5996220
Hmm, My theory then.

The beasts are like magnets, or like our loadstone. When they dominate the beasts that come into place and consume the qi, they do it by converting it to qi like theirs.

Ergo, the better Qi to feed them is like their element. Feed a sun animal fire qi, not a earth element.
However further, different animals have grades and the grade will determine their potential, and that potential probably determines their ability to fight and consume. So if we want to do it safely, we should use our highest quality animal, wolf, and feed him a wolf spirit of any sort but of lower potential.

Or using our growth aspected animal a mid range or low tier beast.

>>5996362

>The beasts are like magnets, or like our loadstone. When they dominate the beasts that come into place and consume the qi, they do it by converting it to qi like theirs.
>Ergo, the better Qi to feed them is like their element.
-5 to DC
>However further, different animals have grades and the grade will determine their potential, and that potential probably determines their ability to fight and consume.
-1 to DC

>Feed a sun animal fire qi, not a earth element.
Sun is not related to Fire in the setting though.

You scored Quiet Word a triple win.
First, the insights.
Second, your roll of 78 beating the DC by 15.
Enabling turning that roll upon your "normal" cultivation into a meditation-crit and acting immediately upon the insight your roll and writes-in unlocked.

>>5996373
Fine, feed a fire beast a heat beast or something.
You get my meaning

DrDragonfagQM

You're really happy to be back home. The familiar faces of your friend, the caring and considerate gaze of the masters.
You also feel better in the spiritual-rich environment of the compound. Lower than the main branch's compounds energy, higher than the Golden Skystone village - wait that's not true : the wastes where energy rich. More balanced, thus more easily to pull from?
It feels good to pull more energy in your Nose Aperture. It feels right. You push aside the thoughts of losing time while on the sect's duty.
Your loyalty to the branch is well-earned, and you chosed to go.
This week is taken slow on the cultivation side - the travel's been exhausting, you have your daily duties of care of the mundane animals.
First, you asked [b]Ryota[/b] to teach you the power-level estimation skill.
"[b]This surely is one of the most fundamental skill to learn for a cultivator.
The process is simple. Let me draw you the diagram of the spiritual art... This is the twin hourglass of the eye aperture.
You just have to spin [red]Qi and Blood[/red] threads to fill those two matrices.
They are simply squared and circles recursively embedded. Start and finish with circle. Depending on your energy and mastery, put more layers.
This will improve your range and precision of sight.[/b]"
This formation demands an amount of fine control you never had to exert before. You make it a daily, hourly occurence of trying to spin a couple threads in the right shape.
Of course, your first attempts are complete failure - first time you try to put way too much threads, overcharging your eyes with energy, resulting in a painful afternoon spent in the research of a dim environment.
But you soonly get the hang of that technique. Soon, you can see the other kid's aperture - in heart in red, eyes in blue, nose in purple, ears in green, mouth in yellow. Second stage kids' cultivators Dantian are overshaded by the blue pools of energy of their minor realms. Third stage masters shows one bright red line, from left palm to the Heart Aperture.
This seems to indicate they are stuck in their cultivation - Ryota got 4 of such lines, burning even brighter as a rope in fire. In addition, two of his bones are purple : those must be the minor realms of 4th Realm.
You also see something you didn't paid attention previously : adult low-skilled cultivator of first or low second realm working as servants.
They clean, cook, trim the sect's garden. You barely noticed them before. Probably poor skill or luck cultivators, winnnig their daily bread working for the branch.

>Investigation
The other half of your free time is devoted to thinking.

You let your thought wonder, looking for insight a bit like that oniric trip in the Growth realm. You're pretty sure you have plenty of elements to uncover something big.
The sect's master stuck at 3rd realm; like the Golden Skystone Patriarch.
One of Wise Crane story. Lin Xian discovered the secret allowing sect members to cultivate past third realm - secret exclusively taught to Third Realm cultivators that dutifully taught novices. If one discovered that secret, one can rediscover it. Especially after the slip-up from some masters.
You're definitely certain the secret is related to Spirit fighting and fusion.
What could draw a Bounded Spirit Beast to fight?
In nature, Carnivorous spirit eat herbivorous spirit. Could it be...? No.
The Hawk was not disturbed by the Obsidian Thunder Mouse spirit; all animals presented to your soul by the old master where different from the bounded ones. You felt really in danger when you thought the last spirit was a Wolf Spirit. That was instinctive, and a missing piece you didn't grasped the importance of.
[b]A bounded animal spirit might get drawn out by an approaching spirit of the same animal[/b].
Now, why would they fight, why would they fuse?
Wait, why would fusion be a separate occurence than fight? Spirits are made of Qi. A [b]fusion is the result of a consumption.[/b]
Wait. A consumption implies a winner. Maybe your bounded animal losing the fight could be really, really bad news.
What is the fusion doing? Injecting directly in your soul the Qi of the conquered beast, thus improving your realm?
Nonsense. You haven't felt a surge of energy after binding to any of the beast. What you felt where better affinity to pull energy of bounded beast's elements. Maybe you need to feed them a Qi like their element?
You're pretty sure some Spirits have an associated realm - like that high-level Flying Shark that attacked on the way to the Tamer's conclave.
Would fusion let a 2nd or 3rd realm - most of the Sect's bounded spirit - advance a realm?
This could be coherent with the blockage the Master seems to have.
Now, what could be the way? Trying to use a higher-potential spirit like the Hawk or the wolf, and get it to fight something that is of sufficient potential?

You itches to try that theory, you think by closing your eyes circulating your Meditation Technique.
>Meditation crit,
And you're in the Wolf Realm. In a glade, under the Wolf-head shaped rock's shadow.
The Scion of Primordial Wolf Spirit by your side, you feel several presences around you. Instantly overwhelmed by the Primordial.
[b]I thought you child would take care of my cub. He hasn't progressed one single step in your compagny.
Fight. Win and both of you will strive. Lose and I'll give him to a better caretaker after your death.[/b]
You're shivering while the presence vanish. You are circled by three spirit. At least you can pick your fight.
>Sorrowful Steel Wolf
>Illusory Jade Wolf
>Blooming Lotus Wolf

Anonymous

>>5996479
>Illusary jade

We are attrocious at illusions. So if we win here, that can be fixed.

>>5996479
>Sorrowful Steel Wolf

>>5996484
Alternatively, if we lose here we die.

>>5996508
I feel like primordial wolf should also give us some slack. We never learned fuck all about this and are trying it out ourselves.

Changing from >>5996484 to
>Steel wolf

>>5996479
I'm between going with the sorrowful steal wolf or the blossoming lotus...

The first might help with our martial going for the Steel angle, but also the sorrowful one feels like it is linked more to the Yin side, which is our weakest side (from what we gather from our terrible affinity with water and our high affinity with Fire+Gold from our Hawk). But maybe it could help balance that inbalance between our Yin and Yang Qi, and also help greatly to empower our Blood-Shadow Wolf technique.

On the other side, the Blossoming Lotus is highly linked with one of our allies, LinWer, and if we get lucky we can buy them their local herb teas who could be infused with SOME Lotus Qi, or we can risk it a lot more of people finding our Wolf Spirit if we want more Lotus-infused cultivation material. And also, maybe the Lotus and Blossoming, are somewhat linked with Life aka Yang Qi which would make more of a huge gap between our Yin and Yang, but empower most of our Yang-aligned Qi Techniques.

But if we're going for a well-rounded build, I feel that I'll vote for
>Sorrowful Steel Wolf

After this, we need to secretly buy some pickaxes (Or even ask nicely to Ryota for some equipment) to keep working on our secret cave base. If we're still really paranoid, as the Primordial Wolf said, our Wolf Spirit would be ten times better in his realm or with a better caretaker than us if we don't seek to improve and train with him.

"This son of mine only wants to grow - he can on your side.
Be wary, as this is not a gift but a curse : most people that can glance at my scion and perceive its worth will try to rip it from you."

>>5996479
>Blooming Lotus Wolf, the wolf of growth. To help our boy grow. We should ask wolf their name too, instead of just calling them wolf.

>>5996531
Grow wolf claws for the digging. Embrace the animal side.

>>5996479
>>Blooming Lotus Wolf

Growth wolf?

>>5996551
>>5996577
I guess our brother is confused: The ones who had the Qi of Lotus + Growth was in a personal Realm the LinWer' Clan has in their instalations

Not because the Wolf Spirit has the property of Lotus means it also has the Growth Qi. It was stuff of destiny the fact that our Golden Hawk had the hidden property of Growth, and when invited by LinWer's Clan they had that secret treasure realm

DrDragonfagQM

>>5996531
>>5996577
If that can help you with that choice :
Yin Qi and Yang Qi are old, big-encompassing categories of Qi. You can be a 99.9% Yang converter-consumer cultivator without problem in my setting. Producing yourself excess of Yin or Yang Qi is however problematic, but this is akin to a genetic disease (and thus not your case)

The Blooming Lotus Wolf is Life and Lotus Oriented, not Growth oriented. You have an extremely good knowledge of Growth, so this is a freebie.

Anonymous

>>5996577
>>5996871
Thanks QM.
In that case I'll change to
>Sorrowful Steel Wolf
Doge shaming.

DrDragonfagQM

Landslide win.
1d100. DC : 40
Good thing is those spirit doesn't know anything about you - thus you can burn trumps in case of failure.

Anonymous

Rolled 95 (1d100)

>>5997374
This is a bo3, right? I just don't remember lmao, but i'm going to roll still

DrDragonfagQM

>>5997400
That's a waste of a good roll.

Anonymous

>>5997406
Is such a good roll you should accept it for the next time we have to roll... Riiiiiiiight?

>>5997406
Whenever this happens I console myself with the knowledge that it would be a whole different result if rolled later, so it's not really a waste even if it feels like it.

>>5997407
lmao nice try

DrDragonfagQM

This one.
Like one man, you and the Primordial Wolf Scion spirit face the Sorrowful Steel Wolf
On the limit of your extended perception, you feel the two other spirit receding, going away.
You almost summon the Cosmic Spear Snake spirit. You suppress that instinct.
Instead, you move in a pinch manoeuver. You act as intimidating as you can. The target growls.
You suddenly steps onward, with a sharp head motion akin to a headbut, entering the spirit's personal space.
The wolf takes a low posture, the growl turns into a outward menacing shout, followed by a clawing strike.
Which mean you already won. You were the bait, the Scion of the Primordial Wolf Spirit was the striker.
A jump, the fangs are closing around the wild spirit's throat. Your bonded spirits clench teeth.
The Sorrowful Steel Wolf spirit unravels. A part of its Qi just seems to vanish in your newfound Qi vision.
You spot three colors - for a lack of better word - of Qi remaining. First is vulpine energy, second seems to resonate with your Blood-Shadow Wolf Painful Assault (the Pain Keyword), last one is similar to Gold and Silver, but different enough - obviously Steel.
Those countless threads, like snakes out of a knot assaulting a trespasser, jumps on their killer.
Under the Wolf-Qi threads, the Primordial Wolf Scion spirit starts to unravel too, with the other threads merging in your bonded spirit.
You feel dizzy. What is happening?
"Your soul is tempered with idiot boy. Draw that formation of your sect!"
Flashes of Pain run through your body. Some of those flashes completly stop your motions. Other makes you jerk violently.
Then, there is some stiffness overtaking parts of your members. Turning cold on touch. Way heavier.
Still, you draw the formation of the Soul-merging ceremony, around the whirlpool of Qi threads and you. On your left and right, the twin ogives get filled with fur from a Steelwolf, and gut-clenching wolf screams.
You progressively gets better. The pain starts to recede instead of aggravating. This remains far from over.
Your memory supply a word for what happened. Soul Backlash. A dangerous, life-threatening event.
Without the guidance of the totem spirit of this plane, thing could have gone awfully awry.

"Thank you, great wolf Spirit.
-You survived? I knew you had potential from the first time you walked in the realm.
Now hear my wisdom : Like all spirits, my Scion can fuse once per major realms of yours.
Unlike other spirits, he have two unique perks. First, he can - and will - absorb the first unbounded spirit he fights once per Major realm.
Second, I might provide you the materials when you merge after a fight in my realm. Now scram and survive untill second realm."

With that final words, you're pushed back in the main world.
>Scion of Primordial Wolf Spirit affinities : Steel, Pain
Of course, you go as soon as possible in your Immortal Cave. Summoning the Wolf Spirit there, you examinate him.
His form is almost similar to that of the wolf he defeated - with minor differences, as among two individuals of a same species.
Your bounded spirit looks prouder, healthier, smarter. But at least now the oddity of a seemingly attributeless but high level spirit is somewhat masked.
You're pretty sure an untrained eye couldn't see any difference between the Wolf spirit and a normal spirit. This puts you a little bit more at ease.

>Gold Spirit for Ping Jun
A couple days later, Ryota mandates you to his office.
"We're going to Versatile Harmony Quest compound today. I'm bringing several Gold spirits. We'll gift that friend of yours the one he'll have the best affinity for."
You feel that's very generous from Master Ryota.
The Versatile Harmony Quest sect compounds are in the town itself. Smaller than Stable Lotus town-in-the-town, they still house an impressive amount of students. Where your Sect recruits 15, maybe 20 kids each year, the Versatile Harmony Quest sect accepts everyone with any modicum amount of skill, resulting in twice to thrice as much disciples.
Entering the compounds strike you with how different they seems from what you've already seen : countless courtyards. Some for fist technique training. Some for gardens. Some for beast-tending. Some for metalwork. Some for painting tigers. Some for walking on hands.
This heteroclite collection seems deeply chaotic to you - how can anyone learn in these conditions?
"Ryota.
- All-learning scholar."
The two men simply greet. You can feel the weight of their mutual esteem making using more words a waste of spits.
The Versatile Harmony Quest's master is a middle age tall man. He guides you toward a closed room where Ping Jun is waiting in seiza, then leave.
"Hello boy. My Disciple Quiet Word was rewarded for outstanding feats for the sect. He simply requested a spirit for you.
I brought three. We'll see which one is the more suited for you..."

>Ally long-term build minigame vote!
Which spirit is more suited to Ping Jun among...
>Golden Lifelines Elephant Spirit (Life)
>Empty-framed Golden Lion Spirit (Void)
>Talismanic Golden Horse Spirit (Talismans)

Anonymous

>>5997466
>Talismanic Golden Horse Spirit (Talismans)

A fast mount is quite the prize.

>>5997466
>Golden Lifelines Elephant Spirit (Life)
Void sounds kinda emo
I don't want to make Ping emo

>>5997466
>Empty-framed Golden Lion Spirit (Void)
Void, my favorite element. Time to watch our friend ball out of control.

>>5997466
>>Golden Lifelines Elephant Spirit (Life)

Could this lead down the healer path perhaps?

>>5997466
>Talisman horse

Horse is cool.

>>5997527
So presently our social ties are to the heir of stable lotus and a good potential seedling of versatile harmony.

We are being groomed for leadership and we are good friends with Dhundan, Aoi, the two geniuses and have a good influence over our less talented peers.

This. . Isnt a bad start, being honest. Should last us very well till we reach the peak of 3rd stage, if we stay in the area.

>>5997466
>Talismanic Golden Horse Spirit (Talismans)

>>5997466
Switching my vote >>5997503 to
>Golden Lifelines Elephant Spirit (Life)

DrDragonfagQM

It's close among the Horse and the Elephant, but the former seems slightly more suited than the latter.
"Alright, Quiet Word. here's the materials; I guess you know the ritual? Conduct it while I'll discuss with Master All Learner's Teacher."
They get out of the room, you get Ping Jun to close his eyes : secrets of the sect must be kept;
You draw the mandala of the formation with the precious spiritual charcoal, place the ingredients and the soul bead, and instruct your friend to spin a meditation technique.
His technique is not an Astral Self technique, but this still work to draw in the Spiritual beast.
It takes time. Much more than when done with the fitting technique. Still, it works. After two or three hours where you supervised while the souls get closer, get frightened, crept closer again, hesitate, try to touch, awkwardly get closer, attempt to mingle, fail by lack of know-how.
The merger finally ends. Ping Jun collapse from exhaustion.

Your master and you bids farewell, and leave the Versatile Harmony Sect Compound.
"Ryota, why aren't we going south?
- Oh, we're going to have a look at the All-selling Merchant Alliance Market."
Soon, the galleon-and-chest insignia is over your head. Ryota beelines toward the natural treasure section.
"There. How much for the Purple Bamboo Shoot?"
Ryota pays up. It's quite expensive - almost half of your funds looted on bandits.
"Here. This is not Growth-element tea - you won't ever find some to sell in a market, Growth element is more than elusive...
but this can be drank as infusion and will greatly help you open your Nose Aperture. Of course, as all good things, you will build a tolerance if you drink too much; no point to buy more than that."

You have money. You're in the market. Anything catch your fancy?
>Write-in interresting stuff!
With the amount of money you have, you can get out with 2 or 3 items; thus you can support other's propositions

Anonymous

>>5998671
>A private appraisal.
It's best if the one guy who knows what our teapot does has no connection to us.

>A horse spirit, aspected to soemthing related to warrior. Maybe a specific weapon?

Other ideas are
A bow weapon art
spiritual fruit to share with our friends.
A book for kids about war tactics/ great generals
A spear that bends at our whim, maybe with one of our other minor affinities. Like dance.

>>5998671
>A scarf for Kyo Ko, an instrument for Ai, and a set of lead chopsticks for Dhundan.

>>5998671
>A private Appraisal of the teapot
>A Bow Weapon Art

I'll support these.

Would a spear weapon art even work well with a spear snake or is that like throwing ice cream in a burrito?

>>5998686
>A private appraisal.
> Books on primordial spirits

DrDragonfagQM

>>5998693
I still wonder about the lead chopsticks.

>>5998933
It will work well.

Anonymous

The lead chopsticks are heavy. They are embarrassing to use if you don't know what you are doing, because you act clumsy with the unfamiliar weight. However, if you use them all the time your hands get stronger and more dexterous with weight. It is hand strength and etiquette training, and gives Dhundan a trump in social combat if he ever shares his chopsticks with someone that he is trying to intimidate.

Plus, it's a bit of a gag gift.

DrDragonfagQM

>>5998686
>>5998693
>>5998736
>>5998809
>>5999133
>>5999812

For now, Appraisal + Bow Art are winning.
A couple hours for Buyer remorse, then I'll write.

You take the opportunity to stroll the Market. What would you get today? Gifts for your close ones? A Spear for yourself maybe?
Why not Spiritual Fruits again? Nothing really catch your eye while strolling across the market.
What about Spiritual Beasts?
There are almost none in the Market. And the prices are prohibitives - three times what you have for a weak-looking Long-legged Ant
"The sect have a monopoly on them.
- Monopoly? What's that?
- We are the one catching them. Our disciples uses them therself, or give them back to the Sect.
The few that trickle through on markets? Don't buy them - the Sect allowed them to be on the stalls, meaning they're worse than sub-par.
You'll have other opportunities. Work digitently, get more favor. You also have the rare instinctive know-how to enter Spiritual realms."
Ryota's word are full of truth. You also have two spiritual beads remaining.
"I think I've seen a "Private Treasure Appraising" service sign. Are they reliable?
- Completely. The All-Selling Merchant Alliance value the privacy of its customer no matter their rank and wealth.
I guess you want to know more about that thing at your belt?"
You walk back toward the booth.
"Hello mister, I'd like a private treasure appraising.
- Hello Master Ryota. Hello disciple. Is it a loot? A craft? A material? A lifebound treasure? An artifact?"
You have absolutely no clue.
"Lifebound. Found on another realm. Alright Quiet Word, I'll leave you alone and will keep up with news of other provinces of the Empire."
On one hand, you are glad Ryota helped you, on the other you never showed him your treasured Teapot. You pay, around half your wealth, and follow the seller.

You're brought toward a small room; the second-stage merchant leave you to wait. Once the room is closed, you feel a formation powering up.
A few minutes later, a older looking merchant enters, wearing a blue Kimono.
He's stronger than even Ryota - in addition to the first stage's Aperture, Second stage Dantians, Third stage Meridians, Fourth stage Bones, you can see a energy-rich, blinding, sphere of gold in his dantian.
You turn off your spiritual sight.
"Hello. I am Marketer Golden Eye, Silver Tongue. What's your name?
-Disciple Quiet Word, of Eastern Province branch of Tamers of Hundred Beasts.
-Alright. What do you need help with?"
You unfurl the layers of cloth hiding your Treasured Teapot. The elder man smile.
"This is exactly why I always ask the client to show their need before offering drinks."
He cover your treasure, and opens up the door.
"Gracious Steps? Go fetch my Tea Set Box."
A beautiful girl akin to a carved marble statue that somehow came to life brings the desired Tea Set Box.
The room is closed again, before the Teapot is revealed once more.
"This life-bound artefact seems strong. Try to brew this."
The tea set contains several tea samples. Over the course of your extended tests, you figure out :
- Putting in the teapot one cup of water and one serving of tea outputs two cups of perfectly brewed tea
- You are able to masterfully brew tea, be it the amount of leaves, infusion time and water temperature using the teapot.
- However, this is limited to tea holding a spiritual energy lesser than second stage.
- The Teapot also work for other plant-based brew.
"Not bad. The power signature of the Teapot is greater than a mundane first stage treasure;
I'll assume it's a treasure with Growth aspect. The markings hints at effect at all crossed minor realms.
- Indeed. It had a special shine the first time I used it, just after opening my Eye Aperture.
White and gold. The brewed tea seemed especially potent.
"That mean the spiritual energy limitation of the teapot will certainly be lifted as you raise in level.
There are several possibilities for the abilities of that special, once-per-minor-realm brew.
I have no certitude yet. However, I'm ready to buy the right to sell one or both of the two cups.
You'll just have to write me a letter if you wish so.
If we have such a transaction, I'll make you poor tea in one such private room, and I'll serve the prospective client in an other, guaranteeing the privacy of both."

You felt that money was well spent. Lacking a frame of reference, you haven't figured out the teapot could double the effect of a precious ressource.
Next on your list is a Bow skill.
Of course, you won't find the techniques in the Market. You head toward the library of Old Jiang.

"Welcome into Old Jiang Bookstore. Master Ryota and the promising disciple?
Could I dare to hope for new Tamers of Hundred Beasts techniques to join the shelves today?".
It's subtle, but you caught it. Old Jiang stepped in a way letting you, but preventing your master, seeing him hiding a green and brown tale book in his sleeves.
"Nothing like that, Venerable Jiang. My young disciple is having a little session of shopping.
- I see, I see. Maybe I can make an extra effort if that's the case. From my personal treaties collection.
- Don't get fooled, Quiet Word. The old crook is just trying to get leverage on me for getting rarer skill books in the library.
- Of course. But my duty is still to diligently do my part for my community, including nurturing the town's budding talents.
So tell me, young master. What do you desire?
- Martial skill. Bow-oriented."
- If that's so... What tickle your fancy, say?"

>Kirin Slaying Arrow : a somber technique slaying the proverbial benevolent Kirin, bringing doom to the target.
>Illusory Mist Hydra Arrow : an elusive technique. A rain of mist arrows, some illusory, some real, fell on the target as the multiple heads of the Hydra.
>Enduring Crystal Ouroboros Arrow : a counter-intuitive technique, letting crystal arrows take a cicular trajectory
None of that speak to you?
>Write-in a bow technique!
<s>The technique MUST include Leviathan, Phoenix, Army, Dragon, Raiju, Demon, Buddha, Lotus, Giant, Roc, Banshee, Kyubi, Tanuki, Yeti, Hydra, Ouroboros, Moon, Kappa, Sun, Kirin</s>

Once you made your pick, Ryota tells you you're free for the next hour, and enter back in the store.
It looks like he's not really happy about how things went.
>Wait outside patiently
>You're two steps away from Stable Lotus compound; maybe you can share your Purple Bamboo Sprout with LienWen YanEr while you tell her about your adventures?
>Get back in the store. You're curious about Ryota's grievances, and it might be a chance to pocket the tale book.
Of course, you can...
>Write-in!

Anonymous

>>6000608
Can we get a list of our known strong affinities?

Im feeling.
>Sun Clouding Army formations: A set of regimented arrays of arrows set to be fired in sequence to match and counter attack fellow archers.

Something like firing in a tempo to knock aside another arrow and shoot back.
Or set up a 3 by 3 degree to attack a mortal collem. That sort of thing.

>Enter again to understand Ryota's grievences.

>>6000608
>Illusory Mist Hydra Arrow : an elusive technique. A rain of mist arrows, some illusory, some real, fell on the target as the multiple heads of the Hydra.
This one seems cool

>Get back in the store. You're curious about Ryota's grievances, and it might be a chance to pocket the tale book.

>>6000608
>Write-in a bow technique!
Glittering Phoenix's Descent: A powerful but difficult to execute and somewhat costly technique that guides the descent of an arrow, extending it's range and changing it's trajectory.

>Get back in the store. You're curious about Ryota's grievances, and it might be a chance to pocket the tale book.

>>6000608
>Gliding Pheonix Arrow: A technique good for shooting quickly and accurately in high winds or from a mount.

>>Wait outside patiently
Dude is probably buying pr0n.

>>6000608
>Gliding Pheonix Arrow: A technique good for shooting quickly and accurately in high winds or from a mount.
Mounted archery, you say? *throat singing intensifies*

>>You're two steps away from Stable Lotus compound; maybe you can share your Purple Bamboo Sprout with LienWen YanEr while you tell her about your adventures?
Maybe apologize for our abysmal showing last time?

>>6000678
>Sun Clouding Army formations
Not a valid name - should have said MUST include One and only one of...

>>6000678
>Known strong affinities
I'd advise you guys to bring together a spreadsheet, a pastebin or something adjacent as my "Character sheet" notes contains spoiler and such won't share it; and I don't want to also share my "affinity table" as it is a way to abstract crunch and numbers in the quest.
What You know, from the top of your head :
>You're gifted with Wolf, Horse and Meteor-Hammer
>You're exceptionally good with Hawk, Snake, Astral Self, Spear and halberd

You have a certain affinity with Shadow, Gold, Space and Earth; you lack true Qi or more related techniques to measure them with aforementioned skills.

>>6000678
>Changing technique to Hawk Army Array

DrDragonfagQM

>Tally Status
I took a bit of liberty with the wrote-in Phoenix skill to reflect more your intention.
To be honest, >>6000786 is more a Skill than a Technique (skill that will be embedded in unlockable techniques of Gliding Phoenix Arrow if you switch your support)

Anonymous

>>6001066
Changing to support
>Gliding Pheonix arrow.

Mounted archery I guess.

>>6001145
I'm interested in how a 5(or is it 6) word technique plays out with our slightly above mediocre talent with bows.

>>6001344
It's 5 keywords (archer and arrow are the same, it was just to find a way to make it sound right)
I guess you will find out :)

>>6000833
I'm changing my own vote at the last second to a mounted stability and accuracy focus only technique with less keywords. I think we can't quite pull off 5 keywords and would be better served by a technique with a narrower mounted focus with 3 keywords and then picking up a second technique later for the non-mounted stuff we want like curving the arrow and good aim in high wind(a likely defensive technique component) if it seems useful

>Write-in Technique: Mounted Pheonix Arrow

DrDragonfagQM

Alright.
>>6001375
I let everyone chime in if that's so. Good opportunity to let you players have more control. Try to find a consensus; how much keyword do you feel comfortable with? 6 is certainly too much, 3 might be a waste and too few.

Reminder : it is known that best techniques for a cultivator are mixing elements you're familiar with some you struggle.

Anonymous

>>6001388
Thanks for your input, QM, I appreciate it.

>>6001388
4 or 5.

So long as we stack the deck with what we are good at, then we can raise the shit out of our terrible attributes.
Our big weakness is illusions. Abysmal. Horrible. Antithetical.

So adding illusion to "Hawk mega-hammer spear" would be a decent way to raise it.
Id prefer a 50/50 or 2/3rds share be good for us. But this is best done at 4 words.

>>6001638
So a future technique we might want to revisit Illusory Mist Hydra Arrow technique or a Liquid Lightning Kicks technique or something to shore up the most punishing weaknesses.

>>6000608
I like to brainstorm and make shit up, so I'm gonna do some write-ins. But unless like half the anons vote for them, then QM count my real vote for whatever the current option has more votes

>Raiju's Two-Strike Feint Arrow Attack: The arroz shine with electricity and it looks like it parts in two, but the second is an illusory arrow. The Illusory arrow strikes first, making a blinging explosion of light, but the real attack comes with the real arrow, making a thundering sound when it impacts, but also sending an electric wave that paralyze the target that gets hit

>Banshee's Mournful Crying Arrow: The Arrow blends the air which it travels, making a harrowing sound that has the quality that it terrorized those that hears it, except for the caster and up to two allies.
>Demon's Flaming Army: The arrow is shoot upwards, and once it touches the floor a rift is opened where small battalion of Imps comes out, ready to follow the casters order. If this battalion is eliminated, after a time they're summoned again on the rift. The way to stop the Imps from being summoned is by stoping the arrow from hitting the floor, or after it lands closing the rift
>Ouroboros' Infinite Cadence Quiver: The caster decides a rhythm which he draws an arrow and shoots it from it's bow. Once this starts, the Caster needs to keep shooting in the same rhythm, creating a time loop where the same arrow appears on the quiver and is able to damage the target. The way to stop this, is by disrupting the rhythm of the Caster or outright stopping it
I thing this is really overpowered, but my logic is that a seasoned Bow fighter can get A LOT from this technique. Or maybe even someone like Ai which I got inspired. If I remember correctly, one of the times we passed time with her, she was singing or something, and if there exist some kind of Artistic Qi or Dao which revolves on Music, Cadence, Rhythmn or Symphonies. But also those who has control over a hypothetical and not confirmed Qi of Time and stuff like that.
>Raging Descending Dragon Arrow: The caster tense his bow as much as possible, putting all the strength on it and canalize his Qi on the Arrow. Once he let it go, the Arrow roars, and it follows it path uncontested, moving away any arrow in his way or destroy non-living obstacles thanks to a Qi barrier. What limits the Arrow from the target depends if the Arrow was made with good materials, the obstacles are more durable than mundane objects, or some Daoist more powerful than the Caster stops or resist the Arrow.
Imagine it like there's a Qi barrier around the arrow taking the form of a Dragon. If the arrow is made from soft or really cheap materials, and the obstacle is of more durable material, the arrow destroys and the Qi barrier is dispelled as if nothing happened.
I can make a lot more, but I'm already at the limit lmao

>Get back in the store. You're curious about Ryota's grievances, and it might be a chance to pocket the tale book.

DrDragonfagQM

>>6001400
>>6001638
>>6001851
Alright I think this ran long enough
I'll use a bit of my QM's prerogative on this one.
>Locking Mounted Archer’s Wind-Gliding Phoenix Arrow

>Get back in the store. You're curious about Ryota's grievances, and it might be a chance to pocket the tale book.

No hesitation. You go back in Old Jiang's bookstore - maybe Ryota is buying some Adult books, about Accounting or something like that?
"absolutely not right to give such a strong technique to a first-stage cultivator!
- This Old Jiang didn't gave the technique. Old Jiang sold it.
- Sold it? For a couple coins-string? Cut it. This technique was more than good enough for letting me overcoming my current 4th stage bottlenecks!
- This Old Jiang see. Jealousy? Maybe your young Disciple can share the book with you?
- The book have been carefully selected by you to fit Quiet's Word like a glove. Despite how hard the technique is, he have a good chance of partial insights even at first stage.
I beg Venerable Old Jiang to stop taking me for an idiot.
- Then this Old Jiang will beg Inborn Emperor's Boar to stop being an idiot."

They have not seen you yet. You feel like Old Jiang have a lot of nerve for a Second stage frail old man.
After all, Master Ryota is one of the town's ten most influing people.
First place is of course for LienWen YanEr father, the Venerable Stable Lotus. Then, there is the Military Commandant, All Learner's Teacher from Versatile Harmony, the Buddhist Temple Abott, the Sun Priest, The Abyssal Water Temple master...

The last retort from Old Jiang seemed to have shut Ryota up. He ponders for a while.
"I can't figure out why you've done that. I already told you I won't give you anything in return.
- And this Old Jiang already answered it did not gave the technique as a plot to grab your sect's secrets.
- I don't accept you're doing it from goodness of heart.
- And you're right. Hello again, Quiet word.
- Looks like negociation are shorter than I expected. And I'm at a loss as I didn't understood what you got out of this.
Come on, Disciple. We'll take our leave now.
- Wait! I came back because I forgot something. Not something really important, but still...
I'd like a story book to train my reading.
- Anything in particular?
- The one you hide from Ryota in your sleeve when we entered."
Both of the men burst out in laughter.
"You old fox.
- Bold ask, kid. Here. But I want your word it's for your eyes only. Ryota, consider this the payment for the other technique."

The tension defused, you walk back to the sect.
"The shrewd crow. I gave my word, but the curiosity will keep nagging me.
This is almost enough to make me forget about the news from the Capitol city...
- News from Capitol city?
- The Emperor is unwell. He won a empire-threatening battle, at the cost of a nasty wound several decades ago. Said Wound is flaring up once again."

It's been one year and four months since you joined the Eastern Province branch of Tamers of Hundred Beasts.

Choose 3 :

Wondrous ressource use :
>Share your Purple Bamboo Shoot [Write in who. If not a member of your sect, it counts as one of your 3 actions]
>Consume Purple Bamboo Shoot alone [Free action]

Potential
>Ask Bathias about his Innate Eye Ability [Unchosable, Bathias is not back from his Mission]
>Improve your Potential Estimation Contraption with Gold lodestone [You'll need other cultivator to go under test for calibration]
Friendship
>Catch up with your fellow disciples your age
>Check if things are going well for Dan Rol
Foundation
>Work on your Foundation [Pills available]
>Work on your Unlimited Rising Star Kick
>Work on your Mental Energy with Dhundan
Weapon skills
>Work on your Windy Cavalier's Halberd [Pills available]
>Work on your Spear style : Blood-Shadow Wolf Painful Assault [Pills available]
>Work on your Mounted Archer’s Wind-Gliding Phoenix Arrow
Spiritual Beasts
>Investigate on the talking Spiritual Beasts[How?]
>Investigate Spiritual Beasts Fusion - what are the consequences and lesson to learn from the Scion's progress?
>Investigate Body Shifting with your Spiritual Animals
>Try reading on your own "The true Story of Gar Ruk, Realm Wanderer"
The sect
>Continue to learn how to read with Ryota
>Help the Poor-talented batch of new kids
Strengthening the Jar
>Slack off [this will be bad for your mental health]
>Improve Immortal Cave - Home Expansion
And, as always...
>Write-in allowed!

Anonymous

>>6002184
>>Improve Immortal Cave - Home Expansion
>>Continue to learn how to read with Ryota
>>Work on your Foundation [Pills available]

DrDragonfagQM

Just saw I messed up a copypaste.
 It's been one year and four months since you joined the Eastern Province branch of Tamers of Hundred Beasts.

Meaning the Stable Lotus Yearly turnament will happen in two months of time

Anonymous

>>6002184
>Use our shoots for ourself.
>Foundation
>windy cavalier style
>Catch up with fellow disciples.

I dont think we need to go to the yearly tourniment.

>>6002184
>Catch up with your fellow disciples your age
>Work on your Foundation [Pills available]
>Investigate Spiritual Beasts Fusion - what are the consequences and lesson to learn from the Scion's progress?

>>6002184
>Free Action: Share Purple Bamboo Shoot w/Dhundan if he's working on his nose stage. If he's not in it, but AI is, then share with AI. Might was well use it before we're out of the stage.
>Action 1: Foundation. Always be foundationing.
>Action 2: Catch up with fellow disciples. Goes with the tea.
>Action 3: Train formation fighting with the squad (goes with the socializing). (I'd also be fine with learning a new trump or combat skill for the individual competitions, but squad tactics go well with socializing).

>>6002184
>Work on your Foundation [Pills available]
drugs drugs drugs

>Work on your Mounted Archer’s Wind-Gliding Phoenix Arrow
gotta try out the new technique and we heard it was considered strong by the sect leader soooooo

>Investigate Spiritual Beasts Fusion - what are the consequences and lesson to learn from the Scion's progress?
Want to figure this out before we do something irreversible

>>6002184
>>Share your Purple Bamboo Shoot with Dhundan Kepa
>Improve your Potential Estimation Contraption with Gold lodestone [You'll need other cultivator to go under test for calibration]
>Improve your Potential Estimation Contraption with Gold lodestone [You'll need other cultivator to go under test for calibration]
>Work on your Mental Energy with Dhundan

DrDragonfagQM

>>6003140
For that one, you need to Write-In who you're pulling for calibration.
You can't take an option twice.

>>6002216
>>6002333
>>6002445

You missed the Purple Bamboo Shoot part of the vote

>Tally status
So, locking Foundation + Catching up.

Still letting open the 3rd option (buyer remorse time enabled); the Shoot will be most likely shared with Dhundan.

Anonymous

>>6002246
Changing from windy cavalier to
>Investigate spirit fusion

Then I'm gonna suggest we train our mental energies next turn. Would be useful.
Especially since he has gone up two minor realms since last we did.

>>6003189
>>6003140
>Share your Purple Bamboo Shoot with Dhundan Kepa
>Improve your Potential Estimation Contraption with Gold lodestone [You'll need other cultivator to go under test for calibration] Dhundan Kepa
Work on your Foundation
>Work on your Mental Energy with Dhundan

DrDragonfagQM

>Catching Up
You take time this week with your friends. You don't go much over what exactly happened, just that you were on a mission for the sect and it went more than well. Dhundan doesn't really care, and grunt on how you've made a terrible choice that delayed your cultivation.
Ai also doesn't get it, but understand it seems important for you. She says she's happy for you. Under your perplex gaze, she retracts into a "sorry that happened?". Those two are awfully, and irremediably, out of touch.
Ai had much progress recently : she's on the verge of breaking over the Nose Aperture. Dhundan, brooding, admit he's a bit behind her.
Sin Din is close to breaking her Eye Aperture open., Yi Norm is halfway there Man Din is severely lagging behind the other members of your gifted group.
With the tournament closing by, and Ai reiterating her lack of will to fight, you decide to share the rewarded Purple Bamboo Shoot with Dhundan.
Secretive and keeping for himself as ever, you can't invite him to sit down and drink with you. Plus, you're not showing him your prized Teapot like that. As such, when he leaves for his secret lone training, you follow him, order him cryptically to wait here for 10 minutes, shove the cup brewed out of his sight in his hand while having you yourself, then empty your cup in one go while keeping eye contact. He follows suit.
The drink is almost tasteless. But with each gulp, you smell the delicate bitter aroma filling up your nose.
The aroma stucks and lingers. Now, like a sponge, each breath you take stockpile smells. Those smells, located behind the Nose Aperture, push on the wall of said Aperture.
A Wall? Wait, you never felt something like that! Other Aperture where a simple matter of stockpiling energy until the Aperture overflows...

>Foundation
The Purple Bamboo Shoot helps tremendously your progress - you estimate you won around a month and a half of amazing filling speed of your aperture in merely two weeks, in addition to the strange pressure you're feeling.
Dhundan broke through a few days before Ai - making him the first of your group; Sin Din also broke through this week.
However, you finished your pills suiting your style - meaning slower progress in the foreseeable future.
You regret the waste of the perfectly good pills provided by LuoBin, speeding you up toward figuring you would have been too late anyway.
A few pills - 4 - remains for your Spear style : Blood-Shadow Wolf Painful Assault. And 10 are suited to Wind and Horse energies.
Wait a minute... Those Wind and Horse pills... They should work for the Mounted Archer’s Wind-Gliding Phoenix Arrow, right?

>Spirit Beast Fusion
You've given a bit of thought to the Primordial Wolf words :
"Like all spirits, my Scion can fuse once per major realms of yours.
Unlike other spirits, he have two unique perks. First, he can - and will - absorb the first unbounded spirit he fights once per Major realm.
Second, I might provide you the materials when you merge after a fight in my realm. Now scram and survive untill second realm."
You know that fusion is a big secret of the Tamers of Thousand Beasts : it is usually kept out of reach of Tamers of Hundred Beasts.
You still haven't figured out what you will be doing with that knowledge, but now is not the time with how partial said knowledge is for now.
Fusion also means potential Soul Backlash : thus, fusion must be prepared before it happens. It could be a life-saving measure to prepare an array of materials linked to your remaining spirits, and don't act recklessly with Hawk, Horse and Snake spirits for the time being.
The more you think about it, the more you come to a conclusion : not merging your bounded spirits while you're still in First Stage will result in a big missed opportunity.

Two weeks have come and passed in a finger's snap. Gro Ta is back from his mission. Bathias still isn't.

Choose 3 :

Potential
>Ask Bathias about his Innate Eye Ability [Unchosable, Bathias is not back from his Mission]
>Improve your Potential Estimation Contraption with Gold lodestone [You'll need other cultivator to go under test for calibration]
>Ask Ryota about Nose Aperture Breakthrough
Friendship
>Attempt to mend things between Ai and Dhundan [Unchosable, Dhundan is stabilizing]
>Check if things are going well for Dan Rol
>Train Squad Tactics
Foundation
>Work on your Foundation
>Work on your Unlimited Rising Star Kick
>Work on your Mental Energy with Dhundan [Unchosable, Dhundan is stabilizing]
Weapon skills
>Work on your Windy Cavalier's Halberd [Pills available]
>Work on your Spear style : Blood-Shadow Wolf Painful Assault [Pills available]
>Work on your Mounted Archer’s Wind-Gliding Phoenix Arrow [Pills available]
Spiritual Beasts
>Investigate on the talking Spiritual Beasts[How?]
>Investigate Body Shifting with your Spiritual Animals
>Try reading on your own "The true Story of Gar Ruk, Realm Wanderer"
The sect
>Continue to learn how to read with Ryota
>Help the Poor-talented batch of new kids
>Ask Gro Ta how things went in Water Bushes Cove
Strengthening the Jar
>Slack off [this will be bad for your mental health]
>Improve Immortal Cave - Home Expansion
And, as always...
>Write-in allowed!

Anonymous

>>6003392
>Ask about nose breakthrough.
>Practice Spear style.

We need it for the tourniment. And after reflection, cant allow our rival to be left unsatisfied.
>socialise Ao
Good for our mental health and good for the sect.

DrDragonfagQM

>>6003436
>>6003478
Unless the typo is fixed, I will apply the most vexing parse <s>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Most_<wbr>vexing_parse</s> and you will socialize someone or something named Ao.

Anonymous

>>6003734
Whoops
I'm sure it was supposed to be Au

>>6003734
Fak.

Ai. Her name is Ai, the manic pixie dreamgirl

>>6003436
I am he and change this to

>Socialise Ai.

I and O are next to eachother.

>>6003392
>Ask Ryota about Nose Aperture Breakthrough
>Work on your Spear style : Blood-Shadow Wolf Painful Assault [Pills available]
>Help the Poor-talented batch of new kids

>>6003734
Clearly we should Socialize Ao, the God Above All from dungeons and Dragons

He needs more friends.

>>6003392
>Work on your Foundation (always be foundationing, even if there's a chance of missing a fight due to stabilization). Besides, how many other sects will have three Noses our age. There are two more steps in Stage 1, so we aren't missing out on the opportunity for our beasts to eat yet. Maybe need to feed them at next year's beast hunt though.
>Ask Ryota about nose breakthrough? Not sure how forthcoming he will be, but we did give him magic nose water.
>Work on your spear style (it's trendy)

>>6003392
>>Work on your Foundation
>>Investigate on the talking Spiritual Beasts[Talk with Hawkmaster]
>>Investigate Body Shifting with your Spiritual Animals (we digimon frontier now)

>>6003392
>Work on your Foundation
>Work on your Mounted Archer’s Wind-Gliding Phoenix Arrow WITH PILLS
>Train Squad Tactics
Gotta get good, also write-in alteration to squad tactics: work on any bottlenecks in Yi Norm and the twins

>>6003945
Changing from this. To:
>>Work on your Foundation
>>Train Squad Tactics
>>Investigate Body Shifting with your Spiritual Animals (we digimon frontier now)

>>6003392
>Ask Ryota about Nose Aperture Breakthrough
>Train Squad Tactics
Work on your Mounted Archer’s Wind-Gliding Phoenix Arrow no pills, we probably won't break through in time for the tournament anyway and I worry about getting resistant

.

DrDragonfagQM

Tally Status.

As usual, enough time for buyer remorse to settle in.
If nothing change, the winning options are
>Nose Ask Ryota
 (>>6003830 you're mixing SectMaster with Dhundan, your resident DarkSasuke)
>Foundation
>Spear Style : Blood wolf attack in the painful shadow

>>6004443
I can't deal with my self faggotry on a daily basis.
Missing picrel in picrel

Anonymous

Allright. Due to shenanigans, I'll need a roll.<br>Bo3d100, DC 70

DrDragonfagQM

Over the course of the week, you cultivate diligently, spinning threads of Qi and Blood from your Body Tempering technique, and pulling them in the Aperture with your Meditation technique. You are between two-third and three-quarter full. Rising slightly your Qi and Blood feels like water gushing and slushing from both parts of the Wall.
This matter of "Wall" feels concerning and important enough to ask Ryota for a bit of his time and direct supervision. He can't give you much time before the end of the week.
In the meantime, you of course train your Spear Style.
Progress are smooth - although they haven't quite caught up with your Foundation, your raw Spear Skill should be an overwhelming challenge to anyone that haven't opened their Eye Aperture.
Around the end of the week, Ryota joins you in the fields.
"Your progress are good, Quiet Word. Good enough to attempt shattering your current bottleneck.
- So early?
- Yes. You see, the Nose Aperture is unique in the first realm : it does not need to overflow to connect with the energy circuit, but to break a iron wall in your Nose. There are ways to turn that gate from Iron to Wood - such as the Purple Bamboo Shoot you were rewarded with.
Now, follow my voice. Spin your threads in the Nose Aperture. Turn the liquid into a snake, coiling in bawl. Keep the snake moving. Let him pick speed.
Faster. Faster. FASTER. Send the snake headbutt the wall."
The Wall, frailed by the decoction, shatters.
The accumulated energy surges in your body, running from your nose to your eyes to your heart to your muscles.
That's exhilarating. This is the moment that cement a certitude in your brain. Cultivation feels amazing. Training, Improving, feeling so much power...
It's freeing, really. You take a deep breath, and release a mouthful of bad air.
The spiritual energy, contained in your breath, spins into a Qi and blood thread. It is sent in your Eye Aperture, then from there your Heart Aperture, then your muscles. You feel dizzy - like the energy surge disrupted the finely tuned balance of a tower of pebbles.
"Nose Aperture is unique. Closer to second stage bottleneck than any other aperture; opening it means every breath you take is like cultivating.
Now come on, you'll have to stabilize your realm now. As you broke through early, this will be faster than if you filled to the brim your aperture."

This time, you were luckier than during your last Minor Realm breakthrough: shattering the wall separating your Nose Aperture to your Bloodstream let you awake an Innate Nose Skill
>Write-in your Innate Skill!
<s>This might be picked on an arbitrary manner of my chosing among write-in. Try to provide me diverse choices.</s>

You're taken into some closed rooms of the main compound - you're pretty sure Dhundan might be nearby, haven't seem him all week.
You sit, meditating near a pitcher of water and a handful fasting pills. There is much to do, so little time.

>Foundation : Nat 100 on Way of the Spiritual Beast Whisperer <s>(again)</s>
Another breakthrough in your technique?
>Enter a Secret Realm [Wolf, Horse, Snake, Hawk?]
>Technique Advancement : create a new technique based on this one. You can add or replace one keyword in the technique
Current keywords : Astral Self, Beast Taming

A/N : I think this is the last vote of the threads.

Time for Q/A

>What did you like in this thread?
>What did you dislike?
>Who's your favorite NPC?
>Who's your most disliked?
>What do you want to see (or see more of) next time?

Kudos for not worsening the mental health of our little boy. Who knows, he might recover.

Anonymous

Smell people's/animal's emotions. Scared? Excited? Lying?

>>6005018
I have no idea if this is appropriate or not but...
> Primordial Wolf Nose: You can smell spiritual energy, and with some practice tell the difference between different types. Eventually you may even be able to follow trails of it like a wolf tracks their prey.

>>6005018
>The Nose skill: Smell aspects of beasts/techniques/treasures. Things we are good with/naturally proficient at, smell nicer and come through clearer. Things related are less clear, things we are bad at are hazy, and things we are terrible at smell horrid, like actual shit.

>Enter Hawk realm
We have raised our wolf. Lets work on Fusing our Hawk next, then we can do our horse. And then our snake. Poor snake, oft neglected.

>Add term, Meteor-Hammer
I dont see an issue here. It will add sheer combat power, and given our affinity for it, not raise the DC that much, if at all. Maybe even lower it, due to our high affinity.

>>6005022
We got shit done. We did actually engage in missions that we had prepared for. Liked that.

Dislike. We dont have. . Well, Time to do everything. Yeah, I know, thats the point. But we have so much to do, Socialise the autists, Investigate our own routes, network with others, train train train before our true qi runs out. So some things will invariably fall behind. Dhun needs some more loyalty to the sect.

>>6005022

What did you like?
- Exploration of mystic herbology. Also the continued openness to write-ins.

What did you dislike?
The picture looking up the kid's nose. Would also like occasional updates on Quiet Word's status.

Who's your favorite NPC?
- Quiet Word. Other than him, Dhundan for consistency and Kyo Ko for being funny. I want to like Ai, but she's never around.

Who's your most disliked NPC?
Ai. For having so much potential but not being around (even if that's b/c of our choices).

What do you want to see more of?
Occasional status update. Tacticool fighting. Puzzles. Pretty pictures.

>>6005033
>>6005037
Seems qe were all kinda follwoing the same track.

Ill diversify a bit since I posted too soon. And I'm quite furstrated by sect policy to not tell us rather useful and important information about our breakthroughs. Like that the nose apature is a wall not an overflow.

Favorite NPC is probably the young mistress. Gotta respect the rival.

I enjoy kyo ko or Snake mistress. Both seem smart and mischivious. Ryota and Dhun are cool but. . Well, we are busy.

What would I like to see. . Maybe calling on our connections to fix things. Like we did with gold aspect for Ping.
I also expect our new hawk master is in trouble.

>>6005018
>Other ideas: "Poison sealing nose" which effectively gathers negative gas and filters it through with Qi, allowing you to breath but also expel the gas as an attack.
"All breath", as above but just. Water breathing/toxin breathing.

"Energy breathing", a peculiar and confusing breathing pattern which lowers the cost of other technics, either by siphoning off energy from each breath to partly fill an array formation, or making energy last longer by lengthening the threads it produces. Only works if this doesnt consume energy tho, so. Eh. May actually just be what this apature does anyway.

>>6005049
Energy breathing could go the other way, supercharge a technique by gathering a lot of energy and pushing it into a single technic.

Maybe. Anyway, I still say adding sheer combat power into our foundation technique is a great move.

>>6005020

Realm
>Horse, so we can go faster and do more.
Technique Advancement

>Unlimited Astral-Self Kick

>>6005018
Wise Elephant Nose
Can identify any smell and recall when it has been smelled before.
>>6005020
Hawk Realm
Add keyword 'Growth'
>>6005022
>What did you like in this thread?
Shota king of the hinterlands
>What did you dislike?
>Who's your favorite NPC?
Kyo Ko. Penis jokes shes zased
>Who's your most disliked?
Golden skystone daughter. hag.
>What do you want to see (or see more of) next time?
random events, maybe a bonus d100 for events each fortnight?

Oh, it's a trait that we're adding, not a technique keyword. In that case, Charismatic. People give better gifts when they like you.

>>6005020
>Other ideas: "Poison sealing nose" which effectively gathers negative gas and filters it through with Qi, allowing you to breath but also expel the gas as an attack.
Technique Advancement: Beast Taming Hawk Vision Sharing - a recon technique used to see through your spirit Hawk's eyes

>>6005040
Breakthrough is a choice among secret realm or editing technique, not both.

>>6005101
As said, breakthrough is chosing among secret realm or editing technique.

>>6005522
Sorry, I am tarded.

>>6005040
>Just hawk realm, not hammer

One day.

DrDragonfagQM

Taking today and maybe tomorrow off for this quest.<br>Will post new thread then, will notify QST and here if thread is still alive.

Alright, I unfaggoted myself

new thread up!
>>>6006116