>>6340545

But Jiong Jiong can usually keep her in check...

"We accept" The elder cuts him off, covering his mouth as the Macaque wilts, eyes shut tightly as his brow furrows and wrinkles deeply

"Oh come on, your a boy, men should be brave, courageous, daring!" You laugh, patting him on the head with your regal paw "Sure, Tie-er has something of a volatile temper, but you should learn how to handle such fires, boy! And Jiong-er should teach you the manners and etiquette expected of beastly nobility"

"Wait you mean" Wanpisheng, catching on, gasps, eyes sparkling before his elder makes him bow and scrape the floor, pressing his hand down on the back of his head

"We will be most honored to accept this intersect tutelage, Princess Huanliuxue!" he shouts in his place as you cackle, like the witch that raised you and grant them permission to leave your throne room, monkey and man both casting suspicious glances at the swaying trees lining the walk up to your seat, and the curious carmine glow rippling down their trunks like living veins.
_

"Now" Her majesty Huanliuxue, the highest and greatest of all house cats, the most splendid and heavenly of all felines, spoke unto the crowd of lesser beasts, but Mianhuagege (Cotton Princess, 棉花 格格), knew in her heart of hearts that the queen of kitty cats was addressing her subjects. Mianhuagege was...well she was a squirt, her legs weren't as long as they should've been, but that was but one sign of her good breeding and illustrious genetics. She'd been told as much, as she recalled, by Granny, the old noble in Suiqi who'd bought her for a small fortune. Yes, her stubby legs marked her as nobility, amongst her fellow cats who were of course the natural royalty of magical beasts.

She blinked, and tilted her head, puffing out her chest as her bell tied tail tingled behind her as she listened to her beloved liege explain the basic principles of magic. She recalled the number of sages her granny had bought for entertainment, and the street magicians she'd hired to celebrate her growth spurt and sudden gift of speech not long after all the excitement the two legs had stirred, when her majesty taught them all a lesson in humility and obedience.

The other house cats, who'd made fun of her "Squished" face and "Pointlessly" long coat, mocking her aristocratic features and silken regalia, as often as they had her admittedly short legs, look just as focused as she was, and those monk sorts trained by one of the two legs cultivators, seemed to understand every word. But the beast not born blessed as a house cat, struggled to make sense of what her majesty was saying, even if it seemed pretty self explanatory.

Qi. Spiritual energy. it existed every where. And, as the name implied, all magical beasts could harness it, given practice or training, unlike the two legs, who needed a rare talent to even be aware of the breath of the universe.
Cont

>>6340546

And Mianhuagege, or Mian-er as her beloved granny called her, was confident she could easily perform a spell to show her worthiness to join the illustrious, heroic palace of natural laws sect. Sure, it was true she needed a maid to brush her, due to her inability to properly her lustrous and luxurious coat and...it was also true she wasn't exactly adept in the areas a house cat was expected to. Granny often said her feet were tied by invisible string, and the sight of a squealing mouse or the sudden appearance of a butterfly had been known to shock her, briefly, but she was still a housecat! Magical Beast Royalty! Relative and Subject of the Great Huanliuxue! Maybe her lacking skill as a huntress could be explained as all the talent she should have instead being in the mystical arts.

Surely. If a mouse like Xiaoyu could enter the Palace of Natural Laws, than the most refined and well bred of house cats could as well.

"Cotton head, did you listen to what the princess had asked of us?" That churl that worked under Huanliuxue's own personal guard, the dashing and heroic Yinying asked and Mianhuagege, flopped on her side in despair, as she realized she'd gotten carried away praising herself and had entirely missed the helpful hints that Huanliuxue had given. Something about ears, whiskers and tails.

"Tch, she's gotten her head in the clouds she so resembles! Such a big head, she didn't hear the great Huanliuxue tell how she first learned to cast spells!" That mangy mutt of a girl with a missing eye and crooked tail laughed and Mianhuagege felt outrage bubbling up inside of her as the mutts of house cat kind looked down at her and mocked her, laughing that she'd, as was proper for a housecat, might have overlooked one or two small little details

No matter! Mianhuagege knew she was destined for greatness! So what if she had a handicap, so what if the other cats, the lower beasts and even the crowd of two legs knew more about how house cats could cast spells! None of them had even casted a spell before now or been given proper study, but Mianhuagege had watched the magicians her granny had hired! She still had an advantage!
_

The girl with too long of a coat and an oddly flat, squash face panted and wheezed, having, insisted, to be given extra time to prove she could channel Qi, a task that had been failed by most of the beasts, save for the few beasts already belonging to a sect. Thunder Crow, Tian Zhuwang, Baochi and Mi's Kids. And while you felt bad for the girl, she was due for a humbling.

Which is why you had to blink away your surprise, when the pampered house pet with a silver bell tied on her tail, actually managed to channel Qi through a leaf. And caused it to wither away and crumble to dust.

You recognized that spiritual energy anywhere. That was Yin Aligned Qi. Pure Yin. Deathly Yin. She had the potential to be a ghost cultivator like yourself. How interesting.
Cont

>>6340548


And she did it without being taught how to actually control Qi. Her meridians were filled with turbid and stagnant Qi, like most of the other beasts. One of Jionghuagege's daughters was bumbling overhead, fretting over the girl as you smiled now suddenly very interested in the spoiled brat.

triple Vote

How do you reward all the winner of the magic contest

>Teach them a simple spell

>teach them the breathing exercises to properly start cultivating

>Give them all a ribbon soaked in your moonlight infused blood, a very basic magical tool

>Give them Divine Blood Honey Candy, which will surely give them a boost of Qi

>Write in


And how do you reward Mianhuagege, besides welcoming her into the palace of natural laws (which you're already doing, along with the mouse Xiaoyu)

>Show her how to cultivate off of ghosts

>Give her a title, to stoke her ego a little

>Promise to make her a Carmine Mystic in the future

>Hand her off to Qiang to be her first disciple

>Write in

And how do you proceed with the crafting and alchemy trials, Huanliuxue?

>Skip them, since the contestants probably don't know how to do that

>Change the test into identifying what the tools are used for/ what the pills or herbal plants are meant to do

>Go ahead with them. Maybe they'll surprise you like Squished Face did

>Hand them off to Monu and Feiqing, and make the challenge replicating the simple pill or craft they make

>Write in

>>6340549
>teach them the breathing exercises to properly start cultivating
>Show her how to cultivate off of ghosts
>Go ahead with them. Maybe they'll surprise you like Squished Face did

>>6340549
>>teach them the breathing exercises to properly start cultivating
Strong foundations build sturdy houses. And we're really good at breathing. And not breathing!
>Show her how to cultivate off of ghosts
A natural fit works.
>Go ahead with them. Maybe they'll surprise you like Squished Face did
Also just gotta say, gahdamn, the spoiled cat was a Munchkin cat the entire time? What a truly cursed existence lmao

>>6340549
>Give them a simple spell

They will get the breathing method when they start In the sect.

>show her how to cultivate off ghosts

>Hand them off to mom and feiquing

>>6340549
>teach them the breathing exercises to properly start cultivating
>Show her how to cultivate off of ghosts
>Hand them off to Monu and Feiqing, and make the challenge replicating the simple pill or craft they make

>>6340549
>teach them the breathing exercises to properly start cultivating
everything else is supplementary
this is core

>Show her how to cultivate off of ghosts

>Go ahead with them. Maybe they'll surprise you like Squished Face did
we gotta hold em to similar standards as the humans, if at least for humbling them to understand that they need to catch up.

>>6340549
Hope you had a good Thanksgiving if you celebrated, gramps.
>teach them the breathing exercises to properly start cultivating
>Hand her off to Qiang to be her first disciple
>Go ahead with them. Maybe they'll surprise you like Squished Face did

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Ending the vote, tallying its result now. Didn't mean to take three days to get around to this, but Christmas shopping took up a lot of my time


Teach them breathing excercises:5

Teach them a simple spell:1
__
Show her how to cultivate off of ghosts:5

Pass her off to Qiang:1
___

Go ahead with the crafting and alchemy trials: 4

GHand them off to Monu and Feiqing:2

So you'll teach the beast victors breathing exercises, Cotton Princess how to cultivate off of ghosts, and go ahead with the beast only crafting and alchemy trials

update will arrive shortly

>>6340560
More that she's fat, really. Fat and coping about it. But she probably has smaller legs than Huan, just cause she is a pure bred lap pet rather than the scruffy/raggedy river cat that Huan started as


>>6341053
I did in fact have a good one. Had some nice mulled wine

It takes sometime for Mianhuagege to recover, which you spend watching over her and embarrassing her cause your size difference in beast form makes her feel like a kitten, as she loudly and often complains as you wait for her to catch her breath with quiet dignity, lapping at the back of your paw as you look her over and scrutinize her.

You'd noticed it when she was tagging along with Yinying and his choice of royal guards, but she really is rather fat. In the way only a truly spoiled lap pet can be. And her former owner slash granny is all too willing to ramble on and on about her daily life of comfort and ease. The old bat is also, entirely unafraid to brush you, who is seen as an earthborne deity by most of the kingdom, as she gossips about the excitement of Mianhuagege suddenly becoming, well, a magical beast in your passing.

Up close, the spoilt cotton princess' face isn't as squished as you'd noticed. Her snout is shorter, rounder, looking like a meatbun that grew fur, but not smashed in as you'd worried it had been by the monk she'd fought in the first round. And the sign of her enchanted life, her sapphire eyes are nearly as brilliant as Siwang's. Though hers are much more conceited and vain looking than that clever judge's ever sharp gaze. But the more you try to ignore it, the more you're forced to focus on and confront that

Mianhuagege really is fat. Her long coat fur doesn't make her look slimmer, but she is rotund enough it makes her gait shorter and more hurried just because she can't take as long of strides as a svelte and lithe beast like yourself. You're proud of your muscles and slimness, so seeing another cat so blubbery really makes you cringe. Once she starts training, you're putting her on an intense diet. Maybe Lian Luli could help. She's a hard worker and got her weak body muscled up and brawny quick once you got her on a training regime.

But besides the prodigious belly of the young girl, her bushy tail is what draws most of your attention. Just because of how much more fluffy it is compared to other cat's tails you've seen.

Once she's able to pick herself off the ground, you, her rich granny, head to the safe location in your spiritwood grove to begin the lessons. The other victors of the magic trial, all magical beasts brought into and raised by other sects, are waiting with escorts, whose eyes boggle as they see you stride into the grove, half woman half beast and as frightening as you like.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, I was in audience with this pretty young queen" You compliment Mian's grandma, who blushes and hides her shameless smile behind a gaudy peacock feather fan "I'm sure you all want to receive my blessings and the prize for your victory, but I'm also sure your teachers might get offended to know what it is. And before the seniors present ask, know, I'm not head hunting them. In fact, if their masters are shameless, they might be over the moon with glee when they hear"
Cont

Though none of the sect heads or grandmasters were present. Not Shandian, not the Weiwupo, not ancient Mi, and certainly not Xue Long. But you recognize the elders they sent, by their face or their sent if not by their name. Some of them did pretty well in the last bracket, even if they were far from taking first place themselves.

"Breathing exercises" The innocent witch court member escorting Tian Zhuwang, Baifenchi's spidery friend, guesses after a quiet discussion of exchanged gazes and gestures

You grin, and the witch winces to see such fearsome fangs peek out from behind a full human smile

"Each sect practices their own set, and each technique has their own unique form. Cultivators only really adapt their breathing styles when they rocket up in power. But different forms have different benefits" You explain, for the benefit of the youngsters as their seniors nod along, transfixed "And I've seen fit to offer to see if they have an affinity for some of the Palace of Natural Law's methods, and Mianhuagege here, as she is the only one of the winners whose not already part of a sect"

Mian lifted up her chest with pride, hanging stomach wobbling

"Will be given my personal method" You say and she has a thoughtless look in her eyes as the senior's eyes bulge and you realize she isn't aware of the fact her liege cultivates primarily off of the breath of ghosts "And learn how to absorb the essence of the dead, and refine it into useable spiritual energies"

"The taboo act of robbing the dead of their breath" The Xue clan representative says, shivering as you smile and twirl a false ghost light into the palm of your clawed paw padded hand "A mere step above consuming the souls completely"

"It is actually beneficial for the dead" You scoff, floating the bobbing false ghost light toward your brother's man "eases their suffering, reduces their madness. Healthy for the mind and the soul it belongs to. And, if you do it right, makes you near immune to ghostly or deathly yin qi's unpleasant side effects"

"But without the aptitude" the witch starts, scaring poor Mianhuagege "It could be lethal"

"Mraw?" Mian asks meekly, tail fluffed up and raised

You shrug off their concern and her growing dread. Maybe she'll drop a few pounds out of fright

"We cats are nearer to the boundary between life and death, I often sway over one side or the other. And as you can see, my soul isn't as tightly tethered to its beautiful vessel" You cackle, eyes gleaming with confidence and a bit of mischief "And little Mian here, has shown an apptitude for ghostly arts'

"Mrah!?" Mian squeaks and her granny claps her hands excitedly, her little wrinkled face lighting up. And that is what stops the fatty from complaining or refusing, even as, with a snap of your fingers, you summon a few of your more tame subjects and some of your most loyally. The ghost who'd been with you from the start, like old beetle general, or the axe lady. Not Xiongji. Because he is still...a handful.

>>6342334

Oddly, that horse bodied archer girl also decides to show her face, despite you making it clear, you wanted only the weakest of your unliving subjects, the ones least likely to give Mian her death of fright. A few pounds shed is excellent, so long as they don't account for the loss of her mortal soul.

You weren't sure why Ao's underling couldn't seem to meet your gaze, either.

"Pony" You bark, making the fearsome specter start just as the elders were getting ready to pounce and attack the powerful hungry ghost "What are you doing here, I asked for the meekest of my subjects"

"I was merely escorting them from the catacombs" She rasps, trying to sound frightening "to make sure they were not mistaken for the wandering dead and exorcised"

Sounded like an excuse.

"Well they're here, stop scaring these kids and go back to the crypt" You snap, and she stares into your eyes, and then looks away with a huff and turns into a large, blazing ghost flame, the last thing to vanish being the mask hiding the lower half of her face and the entrails she strings her bow with

"Hmm" Mian's granny hums "What a frightening servant, you should make her dress better, Huan-er"

Your eye twitches, but you're fond of the old hag, so you don't smack her for the impudence of calling you that. The other cultivators looked awed by the old woman's fortitude to look upon so a powerful cursed soul and only remark on her fashion sense.

"You say what I think, auntie" You snicker, and nod as you grab Mian by the scruff to keep her from flopping over as you instruct her how to draw in the breath of the dead into her meridians and show the other beasts present a few foundational breathing exercises of the Palace of Natural Laws

The Crafting and Alchemy trials were starting soon, and you were curious to see if any of the beasts competing would surprise you like Mian did. If they didn't, well, it'd be a good lessons for the kids to learn. But if they did, well, your sect had too few craftsman of any real talent

What do you do, after you're finished teach the youngster their breathing exercises, Huanliuxue?

>As Mian has proven twice now that she has a natural affinity for ghostly qi, introduce her to Baifenchi, Yujijiao, and Xuebai

>See what the masters of the beasts are up to, since they weren't present for the lesson themselves

>Find the kid you gave the power to turn into a cat to, and make fun of him with Mian

>Watch the Crafting and alchemy trials, and encourage the contestants

>Track down Pony and ask if Ao sent her

>Write in

I know imagine Mian to be built like Garfield
>>6342324
>Track down Pony and ask if Ao sent her
I feel she still remembers us nearly getting her to rip her own heart out when we fought, so lets mess with her a little

>>6342335
>Track down Pony
I swear if you are just lusting after Ao

>>6342349
>Lazing Physique, the legendary sleep of Mondays.
Ancient Garr Feld, terrifying primordial of his name, made his name under the great power to understand and contemplate the evils of the cycle of the world. He considered for six days and it was the price of his power that he must suffer the evils of the world for an entire day.
To cope he turned to illustrious dishes and long lazy sleep, but eventually the strain grew too great, and great Garr Feld slipped into Hell to escape the endlessly repeating evils, cursing a demon named "Monday".

It is said that even today, untold eons after, Odai, His sworn junior brother, searches for the demon for revenge, and to rescue his brother.

>>6342335
>See what the masters of the beasts are up to, since they weren't present for the lesson themselves

>>6342335
>Track down Pony and ask if Ao sent her
Let Mian get used to ghosts before scaring her further

>>6342335
>Track down Pony and ask if Ao sent her

>>6342349
>I feel she still remembers us nearly getting her to rip her own heart out when we fought,
>tfw your heart hasn't moved in thousands of years and then this chick shows up and manually makes it go doki doki
kek

>>6342335
>>See what the masters of the beasts are up to, since they weren't present for the lesson themselves
why aren't you guys watching your beast students?

>>6342335
>See what the masters of the beasts are up to, since they weren't present for the lesson themselves

Sorry to make you wait over the weekend juniors. Caught a winter cold and I'm still fighting it. I'll end and tally up the vote soon and get writing, but I figured since its been three ish days I should tell you the cause for the delay. Might be able to do it later tonight, hope I will, but we'll see.

So please be patient, juniors. I will return after some cold medicine and a nap

>>6344285
I'll at least get the counting out of the way
>Votes:7
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qdkAd6As
q1GeLktj
+VCvVLSt
krzrjrEa
UO2GxfAJ
qEhk1mc2
>See what the masters of the beasts are up to, since they weren't present for the lesson themselves:3
q1GeLktj
UO2GxfAJ
qEhk1mc2
>Track down Pony and ask if Ao sent her:4
AA3UBsdJ
qdkAd6As
+VCvVLSt
krzrjrEa

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Forgive me juniors. I entered a deep slumber, but it realigned my meridians. Also nearly fell on my ass when I got out of bed cause my sense of balance was just completely fucked when I woke up

>>6344382
Ah! my gratitude is as deep as the sea, thank you for tallying the vote, Junior

So you'll track down Pony and ask if Ao sent her

Update will arrive shortly

>>6342349
>>6342379
lol

>>6342349
>>6342590
Huan seems to have that effect on evil fuck ass murder ghosts

You watch the flickering light of Pony's ghost light as she floats deeper into the wild growth grove of your gardens as you tap a clawed finger on your chin, watching as Mianhuagege and the beast students of other sects practice their breathing exercises, under your watchful eyes as their seniors sit politely on a silken rug they'd brought with them, sharing snacks and gossip as they try to ignore the presence of the ghosts. And the departure of one that could've probably killed them if you'd gave her a bit slack on her leash. You'd, almost offendedly, wondered where the sect masters, your supposed peers, were if they weren't watching their students lessons which could've easily been taken as an insult

Buuut, you'd realized just as soon as you began to stew in pique and resentful thoughts that they had an actual reason not to attend and see their disciples get taught by you. And that was reason was you. They were golden cores, and the beast tournament was proceeding with remarkable swiftness and ease compared to some of the earlier rounders. And that meant it was their reputation and asses on the line next and they all knew that you were the peak they had to challenge if they didn't get knocked out before they inevitably crossed your path. And the thought was pretty satisfying, since it just proved your superiority and that you didn't have to worry about any of your neighbors aiming for your throat. You were, widely, agreed to be the strongest existence in Chuan Kingdom, a smirking herald of misfortune and oblivion that shattered the strongest shield of Chuan when you clashed with Xue Laohue and turned the strongest and largest sect into a faint shadow of its former self by humbling them and killing off a lot of their disciples and elders.

Of course they'd be busy preparing and training. This would be their one shot to dispel the illusion of your invulnerability and the only way to safely gauge your actual combat prowess without risking a sudden and explosive demise! You could overlook the offense of not accompanying their students to this lesson, since they only missed it to prepare for their own contests. And the possibility of meeting you in the ring. And that they were putting some real effort in, meant any bouts you had with them might actually end up being more exciting than you'd imagined

But now that you weren't seething and fuming about the imagined insult, there was something else that came to mind. Why did Pony of all ghosts showed up. Sure, she wasn't the only of his generals that chose to stick to Ao's ghostly thigh rather than proceed to their next life, but she and you had a history since you kinda tried to tear her heart out after driving her further into madness with your moonlit eyes. She probably wasn't trying to pick a fight, since she's had her excess Deathly Yin Qi drained away and Ao's presence has had a remarkable effect on the sanity of his underlings, but she was also supremely loyal to Ao.
Cont

>>6344556

And the weakest of his seconds. Did Ao send her? He might've been your bodyguard, advisor and friend, but Aodasheng was also, well himself and seemed to revel in causing trouble wherever he can get away with it.

So you hop to your feet, click your tongue and tell the most trustworthy ghosts to take over, giving them precise instructions before you skip off into the gloom and dark and easily pick up Pony's trail, following her ghostly yin qi deeper into your garden and into the carnivorous orchard, where the spirit woods met roots with the verdant predators. The bloodthirsty plants didn't see you as prey and so left you alone as you tracked the ghost deeper into their territory and found her, still as a ghostly flame, watching as vines stuck and wound tightly around an ordinary boar that had wandered into the orchard. The ordinary, unintelligent beast had been long dead by time she found it, crushed like it had been found by an python rather than a thirsty shrub, drained of its blood and now having its flesh crushed and pureed to also be drained out and poured into the ground.

"Pony" You greet cheerfully, chirping as you hop down from your perch on one of the sturdier trees, transforming fully human as you land on the balls of your feet.

A howl worthy of a hungry ghost of her power rippled through the air, as it crashed into the ambient primordial beast essence and blood qi oozing out of you, protecting the innocent, meat hungry plants around you from being withered and drained of their life.

"My my, what a girlish scream, so a maidens heart remain beneath that armored chest of yours" You titter and tease, bouncing around her as she reveals a more human form of herself, missing her horse legs and instead wearing a riding robe with a sash of horse fur tied like a tail above her waist, and hooves peeking out from the bottom of her dress

"Tch, don't speak to me about hearts" She growls, under her metal mask as your eyes focus and home in on her spilling guts, which she hurriedly covers and glares at you, what an amusing reaction "And stop looking at my wound, what are you, a vulture"

She jabs her arm of blackened bone at you, claw like finger sinking into your cheek as her other three try to hide her entrails hanging from her split open gut, while that slash across her face starts to tear and reveal itself beneath her iron mask. And she was avoiding your eyes. Ah! Smart girl. She remembered HOW you nearly tore her cute unbeating heart from her chest when you first ran into her. Come to think of it, she seemed more aware than most of the ghosts down in the crypt during your march to Ao's tomb. Aware enough to notice she wasn't sane, at least. You smirk, and stalk closer, her boney finger scratching your cheek as you step up to her and lift your chest
Cont

>>6344558

"Why try to hide your mortal wound. Such scars are to be treasured. There is a certain morbid beauty to them, the wounds that have ended a life" You answer, purring under your words as she shuts her eyes as you circle around her, trying to make her look into yours, finding it fun and like a game "And you're trying to distract me! You must know why I'm here?"

"To toy with me like a mouse you've cornered? To lord over your victory over me?" She hissed through her mask as you pressed yourself against her to try and make her eyes shoot open in shock. Seeing it failed, you slumped and slipped towards the ground before flopping back, rolling and hopping back onto your feet "Just to act annoying and clingy?"

"I'm not acting clinging. And annoying? Tch, my attention is a gift that should be accepted with admiration and the utmost gratitude!" You laugh, clapping your hands once "But, before I get distracted answering you again, Did Aodasheng send you"

"I was not acting under my king's orders" She answers immediately and turns her head away as you float closer to her, bowling upside down in the air, your long, blood red hair tickling her nose as you hang in the air above her like a corpse strung up by strings "Is that why you chased after me, and being so persistent in pestering me, Bloodshed?"

"Lady Bloodshed" You correct

"Lady..." She starts

"Hmm, actually call me empress, Ao is my underling after all" You sneer, enjoying the wave of killing intent she sends your way, the bloodlust being unusually vivid for one as long dead as her "And it is the title I deserve, no"

"Annoying" She whispers angrily, shaking her head "But is that really what sent you after me, paranoia?"

"Curiosity. If I was paranoid I'd be squeezing your soul between my hands, you'll know when I'm feeling...cautious like that" You answer with a sweet yet venomous voice "So, if you weren't being Aodasheng's messenger pigeon, why did you show your face and frighten those kids, hm?"

"I am not sworn to" She begins and freezes as your eyes flash with the maddening light of a blood moon "I have been told"

Another flash

"Fine. Those peasants had truly needed an escort and I thought I'd see how the rivers and lakes have changed course since...

Your eyes shine bright like a full moon

"Are you really wielding such a sorcery to force me to confess that I left the tomb so I could tell I was grateful for you freeing my king and all of us from the damned place, and allowed most of us to be reborn and leave behind this sorry, tragic tale we'd been forced to be a part of! Why must you be so...gah!"

You cackle and drop to the ground, limp and splayed out before rising back to your feet, having found it a little too fun to hang by strings of ghost qi like a puppet.
Cont

>>6344561

"My my, how touching. Was that so hard to admit" You ask, arms behind your head as you march around her

"Why are you still here? I showed my gratitude, even though I'd missed me first shot and ran away"

"I told you to go to the crypt, yet you're still lingering, watching a wild pig get crushed to paste" You counter

"And you were staring at my guts like they were flopping fish!" She shouts back

"So we're both a bit macabrely minded, so what. I've stopped to admire sights much more morbid than that little scratch of yours" You laugh

"Why...." She groans, head hanging as you grin triumphantly, having soundly beaten her in the argument. But that sounded like she had more to say

What do you do, Huanliuxue?

>Continue to pester and annoy her because it really is fun to bully Pony.

>Ask her what she was going to say, now much more interested in hearing it

>Ask if she couldn't give you some pointers in archery, there's an opponent you have a score to settle who favors the bow...

>Leave her be

>"How'd Aodasheng win your loyalty? I'm curious, because loyalty beyond death is rare, and Ao had an entire army still believing in him after centuries of limbo"

>Write in

>>6344563
>Ask if she couldn't give you some pointers in archery, there's an opponent you have a score to settle who favors the bow...

>>6344563
>"How'd Aodasheng win your loyalty? I'm curious, because loyalty beyond death is rare, and Ao had an entire army still believing in him after centuries of limbo"

>>6344563
>Archery
>Loyalty

>>6344563
>>Ask her what she was going to say, now much more interested in hearing it
You can't leave questions unasked, that's just rude.

>>6344563
>Ask her what she was going to say, now much more interested in hearing it

>>6344563
>Ask if she couldn't give you some pointers in archery, there's an opponent you have a score to settle who favors the bow...
learning a new skill is always nice.

>>6344563
>>6344631
I'll support this, surely a gifted mind like Huan's can receive instructions and gossip at the same time!

>>6344563
>Ask if she couldn't give you some pointers in archery, there's an opponent you have a score to settle who favors the bow...
We don't really use a weapon outside of when we borrowed the bodies of fallen guards against the Ogre or using Fu/Qiang's grudges huh? (Not counting Ghost Empress Melody)
>Ask her what she was going to say, now much more interested in hearing it

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Ending the vote now, tallying the result. Would've done it yesterday, but I broke my gaiwan mid gong fu session and felt my blood flowing in reverse cause of it! Luckily I've ordered once of the right size and fancy enough for my tastes, so I'm not going to be spending all week seething about being a clumsy oaf

Ask if she couldn't give you some pointers in archery, there's an opponent you have a score to settle who favors the bow...: 5

"How'd Aodasheng win your loyalty? I'm curious, because loyalty beyond death is rare, and Ao had an entire army still believing in him after centuries of limbo":3

Ask her what she was going to say, now much more interested in hearing it:3

Alright so you'll ask her some archery pointers, after asking her what she was going to say and why she's so loyal to a guy like Ao

update will arrive shortly

>>6345309
Being a huge ass murder cat most of the time might have something to do with that

"Hey, Hey" You say, trilling with your tongue as you hop and bounce closer to her, lifting your voice to a higher, cutesy pitch as you can see Pony's ghostly form flicker and shift towards a more monstrous countenance as she struggles to restrain her temper at your pestering "What were you going to say? It sounded like you had a lot more to say, and a ghost's tongue can't rot out of their mouth when they aren't, ya know, corporeal and enfleshed, so what were you going to say, Pony? I'm curious now"

"Why out of all the women beneath the heavens, across the vast gulf of time and history, are you the one whose caught his interest!" She snaps, stomping a hoof as you leap back and floating gracefully to the ground, a smug, self satisfied smirk on your lips "Half crazed at the best of times, and too strong for any of the weaklings of the era to humble you in defeat! Why are you, smug egoist you are, the object of his attention? A brat of a girl"

"Is that jealously I taste on the resentment pouring from you?" You cackle "Are you still bitter about your own humbling defeat?"

"I am not jealous of my king! I am just...baffled as to why the kid rampaging around and claiming all she sees as her kingdom by birthright is the one he chose to kneel and submit before! It is enraging! Especially when you choose to haunt me like you're the cursed ghost between us!" She yells, stomping all four of her hooves as you titter behind your drooping sleeves, very much entertained by her outburst "Why...why were you the one to equal my king, in this era or any other! Conceited, Resentful, with head sometimes filled with cotton and others pure brilliance"

"Ao likes interesting things, and he likes strong people" You offer with a shrug "But, I think a lot of the faults you see in me, can be found in that proud king of yours, so tell me, Pony girl~~How'd Aodasheng win your loyalty?"

Being asked that point blank stalls her temper and makes her return to a less inhuman shape as you sway up to her, eyes locked on hers, intense and curious

"I'm curious, because loyalty beyond death is rare" You gingerly explain, dipping down your shoulders to look at her eye to eye, brow to brow and nearly nose to nose "and Ao had an entire army still believing in him after centuries of limbo"

"You really are more idiot than genius" She laughs, shaking her head as she tries and fails to push you away, looking shocked by just how muscular you are under your robes despite her being enchanted by you when you subjected her to your Lunatic eyes technique "It should be obvious"

"Eh?" You snort, and press your forehead against hers, glaring down at her
Cont

>>6346259

"You and my king are similar in someways, you have some of the same flaws of character. You're both arrogant, but have reason to be, and both choose the path of struggle rather than a life of ease and comfort. Your talent, genius and skill all speak for themselves, just like his did in life" She explains, with a dull expression like she'd turned back into a lifeless corpse rather than a vengeful specter "But you lack other qualities and have flaws that he doesn't and that is why you're so annoying to me! To see my king bow to his lesser, and one who made me act so shamefully, is enraging!"

"Stop bitching about falling for me, Pony, its easy to. You just needed a magical kick to the ass to be swayed by my pretty face and imperial aura" You snort "And answer me"

"Look around you" She sighs, shutting her eyes "I'm loyal to Aodasheng, for the same reason that walking pile of scars or white haired exorcist are loyal to you. You took dirt and polished it. Like he did with me, and most of us. We were his companions, his students, his disciples, so seeing him fall under your sway is...disgusting. But then again, you're addictive, I've noticed it myself. Your very nature of a grudge born beast, it promises satisfaction and relief. You draw away the suffering of the dead and allow the living to see their resentment and enmity embodied, and their grudges fulfilled. That's more addictive to opium"

"You just don't want to admit I'm just as good of a master and ruler as your precious king" You say "He did the same, allowed you to rampage around when the gods took away the rain, that had to be satisfying. And I would, I was born of grudges"

"Tch, do you really want me to admit that the core of the reason I hate you is because you made me look like a fool and turned my king into your lapdog" She asked sharply "Does seeing me squirm delight you so, your majesty"

"Sadism is a sport for us house cats" You tell her "And it isn't like I enslaved him, he was the one who made the bet"

"And followed through it, which isn't like the Aodasheng i knew, if you were born under the same stars, he'd have come out on top with his guile and towering intellect" She sniffles, pouting "And yet the two of your are happily gallivanting along, like two kids playing princess and guard! It's enraging!"

"Are you sure you're not jealous?" You ask, realizing how Pony's lingering madness manifests, though why she'll answer you truthfully with a bit of pressure is still a mystery you want to unravel like a ball of yarn. You don't press her on that one, because she just keeps pouting and moaning about her king making a fool of himself bowing and obeying you, like he didn't spill your blood across the night sky and nearly kill you several times in what he called a friendly spar, the fight psycho.

And getting a bit tired of her whiny, you decide to distract her
Cont

>>6346260

"Teach me how to shoot a bow like you do, I've got a grudge to end with a certain fallen star who prefers the bow" You tell her and she blinks

"Why? You might rule my king, but he rules me, not you" She claims, despite her how easily and often she's buckled in just this conversation

How do you answer, Huanliuxue

>"Because that isn't true, even if you'd like to think you're not beneath my heel, so grab your bow and arrow and teach me before I use you like a scratching post"

>"Oh isn't it obvious, its because you'd be honored to give up your techniques to an empress as worthy and regal as my august self" (Hit her with lunatic eyes)

>"Do you want your king to tell you to teach me? Wouldn't that be more humiliating for both of you?"

>"Bah, I'm done indulging a dog headed girl like you, enjoy seething in your resentment of a better woman, pony"

>"Why, I'd reward you. It'd only be proper to. A good subject gets rewarded"

>Put her in a ghost sealing jar and shake her around until she gives up and agrees

>Write in

>>6346261
>>Write in
>"Wouldn't you like to help get one over on one of the arrogant sons of heaven? Surely you wouldn't miss the opportunity to let me display your skills and techniques to be on par, if not greater than those of an arrogant godling? Have you no quarrel at all with the realm which entombed you and your king for those long ages?"
Come on, it'll be fun. Show off a little, lady.

also>>6346260
>"And yet the two of your are happily gallivanting along, like two kids playing princess and guard! It's enraging!"
have you considered that is exactly what he is doing? Just having fun after being trapped for so long? Feeling like a kid again after only being able to whisper through feet of stones and seals and not able to do anything at all entertaining for literal lifetimes? Can you really blame the guy? Pony needs a hobby. Maybe pick up knitting?

>>6346261
>>"Why, I'd reward you. It'd only be proper to. A good subject gets rewarded"

>>6346261
>"Why, I'd reward you. It'd only be proper to. A good subject gets rewarded"

>>6346268
>Support

It's more interesting

>>6346261
>"Why, I'd reward you. It'd only be proper to. A good subject gets rewarded"
I kind of want Huan to mother her knowing full well how much she'd hate it.

>>6346261
>"Why, I'd reward you. It'd only be proper to. A good subject gets rewarded"
Ao we found you a ghost wife.

>>6346261
>"Why, I'd reward you. It'd only be proper to. A good subject gets rewarded"

>>6346261
>"Why, I'd reward you. It'd only be proper to. A good subject gets rewarded"
>>6346480
Tsundere Ghost will be the victim of Huan's best (caring to those around her) and worst (enjoys fucking with people) traits

>>6346945
>"staaaaaahp I'm one of King Ao's favored warriors!"
>"Of course you are dear, now hold still, your head fur is such a mess."

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Ending the vote now tallying its result, hope you enjoyed the weekend. Meant to do this earlier, but I slept like the dead

"Wouldn't you like to help get one over on one of the arrogant sons of heaven?..."etc:2

"Why, I'd reward you. It'd only be proper to. A good subject gets rewarded":6

So you'll promise to reward pony if she teaches you archery

update will arrive shortly

>>6346945
>>6347134
Hilarious, also true

"Why~" You purr, leaning into her face, eyes wide and sparkling with starlight as your teeth become more fang like as your smile stretches into a face framing grin "I'd reward you! It'd only be proper to."

Stepping back, straightening your back and regaining your regal bearing and elegant posture, you clap your hands together and unable to stop the words from slipping over your tongue add.

"A good subject gets rewarded" You sneer, eyes flashing red as Pony's brow wrinkles and her eyes narrow, clearly offended but unable to argue with your logic

"And I can expect this word to be material, and not simply, say the presence of your imperial self or something as meager as a kiss" She for whatever reasons feels the need to make clear as you roll your eyes "Something that I'd find value in, that I'd have a use for and not what you yourself would consider valuable or decree as a heavenly treasure"

"Tch you really have a sharp tongue, shame you're keep it behind that iron mask, it could use some tempering and dulling" You drone, rolling your neck before shrugging "and I told you I'd reward you, why do you think I need to have what a reward is explained to me"

"Your values are twisted and you're as conceited, vain and catty in your vivaciousness, I just want to make sure I won't be offered humiliation as my "prize" for teaching you how to hold a bow" She explains, bluntly and you snort through your nose "But, bringing up your flighty nature, I should also tell you that, if you're aiming to shoot down an archer of your level, I doubt we have the time to make you his equal in archery. If you'd asked me earlier during these games you're hosting, it might be doable or"

You cut her off, hand hovering over her throat, eyes slitted and cold like a serpent's as Pony, very wisely, shuts up as you glare through her.

"Don't tell me what is impossible. I can accomplish anything if I set my mind to it and put in the effort to achieve it" You lightly scold her, pulling your hand away "I'm a quick learner and reach mastery as easily as landing on my feet, in most of my endeavors"

"Dully noted" She says, cool as the corpse she is "But, I warn you, you're setting yourself up for a humbling. I'll do what I can, but don't expect to pull off a miracle just because you've done it already once or twice"

"I've created miracles much more commonly than "once or twice" My darling Pony, Now draw your bow and begin my lesson before I get impatient, or worse, Booooooored!" You snicker, lifting up her chin with a nail before slipping away from her and turning your back to her, eyes scanning and darting around the blood thirsty orchard "Ah, shoot an arrow through that fruit that looks like an apple, as a demonstration"

"You are the precise reason I've always preferred dogs" the recently freed cursed specter behind you hiss through her teeth, but obeys like a good girl despite how much you clearly annoy her.
Cont

>>6347565

And how much effort do you put into learning Archery, Huanliuxue? Total Bonus available: 1340

>The Bare minimum, just enough to learn archery and reach an acceptable level of skill (Martial Training. DC 55)

>Maximum effort, work pony to her bones and shoot as high, aiming for the stars, no! Beyond the stars (Martial Training. DC180)

>Create your own style of archery, mixing your ghostly feline martial arts and ghostly powers + evolutions and magics to adapt Pony's style to your own (Martial Training. DC 95)

>Mix your Verdant Carmine Mysticism, Verdant spring mysticism, your chimeric transformation techniques to create a type of Archery that doesn't require one to carry around arrows or even a bow (Martial Training. DC 95)

>Invent Cosmic Archery! (Martial Training. DC 95)

>Write in

>>6347566
>Maximum effort
>Create bowless archery with our verdant mysticism.

>>6347592
Actually no.
I said maximum effort, I mean maximum effort

>Add making our own style of Archery, with ghost qi and phantom martial arts.

We can train other people who do mysticism, but this style should suit us perfectly.

>>6347566
>Maximum effort, work pony to her bones and shoot as high, aiming for the stars, no! Beyond the stars (Martial Training. DC180)
>Invent Cosmic Archery! (Martial Training. DC 95)
SNIPE THE GODS SNIPE THE GODS

>>6347566
>Maximum effort, work pony to her bones and shoot as high, aiming for the stars, no! Beyond the stars (Martial Training. DC180)
Because we need to dab on Star Shooter (I think that was his name?) for putting us through the tribulations that was the heavens visit.

>>6347566
>>6347610
+1
Why limit ourselves? If we're gonna learn, we're gonna do it our way!

>>6347566
>Maximum effort, work pony to her bones and shoot as high, aiming for the stars, no! Beyond the stars (Martial Training. DC180)
>Mix your Verdant Carmine Mysticism, Verdant spring mysticism, your chimeric transformation techniques to create a type of Archery that doesn't require one to carry around arrows or even a bow (Martial Training. DC 95)

>>6347566
>>Maximum effort, work pony to her bones and shoot as high, aiming for the stars, no! Beyond the stars (Martial Training. DC180)
>>Create your own style of archery, mixing your ghostly feline martial arts and ghostly powers + evolutions and magics to adapt Pony's style to your own (Martial Training. DC 95)
>>Mix your Verdant Carmine Mysticism, Verdant spring mysticism, your chimeric transformation techniques to create a type of Archery that doesn't require one to carry around arrows or even a bow (Martial Training. DC 95)
> Not only Ghostly Qi but also Blood Qi. This fits our Dao (which involves these two but not Cosmic Qi).

>>6347566
>>Mix your Verdant Carmine Mysticism, Verdant spring mysticism, your chimeric transformation techniques to create a type of Archery that doesn't require one to carry around arrows or even a bow (Martial Training. DC 95)
This would be really good for creating a versatile ranged attack that most cultivators wouldn't know to expect off the bat.

So we got 7 votes, 5 for max effort, 5 for verdant style
3 for our own style. Tch, shame.

If we can add just one.
>>6347644
>>6347668
>>6347696
Not wanna enjoy our own style?

>>6348766
My concern is that we're going to end up needing to burn up a bunch of our bonus to reach whatever DC results (and whatever DoS to get more success) when after this we'll probably want to gain some cultivation ranks before the Ling War.

>>6348907
Nah. Fighting across a major realm is good for us, plus our last big splurge was 1000. We don't have enough to breach the big move of 1500 or 2000 consistently.

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So since trying to do more than one of the training choices at a time will drastically increase the DC, even though there's been a longer gap between updates than I'd like for various reasons, I feel that the only fair thing would be to let you juniors make your choice after seeing the increases

So, combining one of the DC 95 choices to make a specialized form of Archery Reliant on one of Ghostly yin, Pure Blood Qi/ Carmine mysticism+ Magical Beast shenanigans or Cosmic Qi/ MOON magic with attempt to reach as high a level as mastery as possible in the time you have

Would have a DC larger than the combined total of the two choices, 275

Shooting for Mastery + a customized style, in one quick pre fight lesson, would in fact reach to a DC total of 550. And extend the lesson to the point Huan would miss the later half of the beast contests and maybe even some of the Gold Core rounds/ prep. And if anyone but Huan with her Crit-fail immunity tried, the range for the crit fail would be 1 to 10

So, lightning round of voting. It'll be tallied later today or tomorrow if real life stuff comes up and I can't find the time (Like has been the case the friday and thursday)
>Just go with Maximum effort

>Just go with creating the Primordial/ Verdant style

>Try to do both,

>>6349242
>Just go with Maximum effort
We still can try to create our own style after the contests, right? What kind of beast queen would we be if we missed all the beast contests

>>6349242
>Just go with Maximum effort

>>6349242
>Just go with creating the Primordial/ Verdant style

SAVE
OUR
POINTS

>>6349242
>Just maximum effort

You know, That's fair. I ain;t willing to shell out 550

>>6349242
>Just go with Maximum effort

>>6349242
>Just go with Maximum effort

Okay, lightning round last longer than I meant it to. I ask for forgiveness juniors, but circumstances were out of my hands

Maximum effort: 5

Primordial/ Verdant style:1

Very clear winner winner for you to put in maximum effort

Intermediate update will arrive shortly, then I realize we'll need to do the vote for bonus, most likely. Probably should've done that sooner but it skipped my mind

"Well it'd be improper to find fault in the faults of one's personal tastes" You cackle, throwing up you hands before sitting down with a dramatic puff of air, smiling as you flick a sleeve and bid Pony to begin demonstrating the absolute basics of archery. She sighs through her nose and sits down, and you watch as the ghost begins to strip down her bow made of blackened bones and iron, unraveling a string of dried intestines and corpse hair from its to ends and carefully allowing it to go slack before presenting the bow to you with a two of her four arms. Her talons of black bone tapping on its surface

"The material matters" She explains "In both bow and string, in mundanity, this would be restricted to wood. It'd need to be pliable, flexible, able to withstand the torque and pull of the string to launch the arrows. But in the world of cultivation, this isn't a hard set rule"

"And I have no end of choices when it comes to bow material" You hum, tapping a nail on your chin "And probably won't be able to draw and shoot a bow in my original form, will I?"

"Not without greater effort or clever use of Qi strings, maybe a crossbow would work" Pony says with a shrug "You can borrow my bow for now, just"

"I see, I see" You exclaim, running your hand down the length of the bow and the wire of guts and hair she handed you "You made this from your own physical corpse, tempered and hardened it in spectral fire, strengthening it further in corpse ash and grease. This is a marvelous cursed tool, overflowing with malevolence and malice"

Pony shut her eyes as you dragged the string of her hair and guts between your fingers, testing its give and durability by twanging and plucking it like it was one of ghost empress melody's strings. Oh that's a thought, you could make a guqin strung with ghost hair and human viscera, but that'd be nothing more than a novelty considering your...lack of experience as a artisan and the fact the Melody has served you well despite it being a magical tool made for a much weaker Huanliuxue. It still has its uses in battle, and functions as well as a instrument as it ever has

"When you are done playing with my mortal remains, I'll show you how to restring the bow and properly notch an arrow, in a number of styles. Not that I expect you to ever ride horse back, but your habit of floating off the ground and letting yourself be bowled around by the breeze like a cotton seed, would require a different style of draw and notch" She starts to explain before you clap a hand on your thigh and wag a finger

"No no no. No half measures. You'll show me everyway there is to string this bow, stealthily, quickly and every other way there is, before we move onto notching, where you WILL teach me every method you know and instruct me until I surpass you in most of them!" You scold, and Pony bows her head, going stiff like a corpse for a few moments
Cont

>>6349738

"Demanding as any imperial princess" She says, meaning it as an insult rather than compliment you take it as "Fine. I'll give you as many lessons as you can take! If you want to try to become a master in a day, nay, less than a day then I'll help you in your blunder! You smug stray"

"Now that's more like it" You snicker, leaning forward before tossing the bundle of the strings "So, start with your preferred method, show me how to bend the bow of your bones and string it with your hair and insides, then I shall repeat it until my hands prepare the bow faster than yours that have had the motions all but branded into them"

"You'd think to out pace the muscle memory of a ghost whose had nothing but time to refine their skill?" She asks, eye brow raised

"Would I be worthy of being Aodasheng's liege if I wasn't so ambitious and cocky?" You ask, wagging a finger, and that is the first smile you get out of Pony. It doesn't reach her eyes and is barely a smirk, but it is something

"I'm going to enjoy seeing you trip and fumble when you meet that rival of yours, Bloodshed" She snorts "But as my king's commander, I must obey"

"Else Ao might get cross with you" You giggle and Pony makes a very horse like whinny as she slowly starts to go through the motions of stringing her bow, which makes it feel like she is trying to coddle you so you demand "Faster, do it as quickly as the first time. Rapid! Rapid!"

"GODAMMIT"

But she listens, and you strain your eyes to catch the smallest and most unimportant of finger movements as her two arms work to string the bow in a flash of flickering shadows and ghostly light

Roll 2d100. DC 180. Best out of five

And if you want, after the last roll comes in, decide on the bonus amongst yourselves unless you want me to roll out the usual chart we use for these things . Sorry that I made you wait for 4 days, but I just couldn't find the time to write

Rolled 27, 16 = 43 (2d100)

>>6349739
We do this to mock you Pony

Rolled 73, 78 = 151 (2d100)

>>6349739

>>6349755
We are already at 29 bonus to make Pony eat her words.

Rolled 74, 93 = 167 (2d100)

>>6349739

Rolled 29, 61 = 90 (2d100)

>>6349799
13!

I'm rolling again, to speed this up.

Rolled 52, 63 = 115 (2d100)

>>6349739

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>>6349799
That would be 13 away from a success.

So, lets do this quick and hope this doesn't go on as long as the last lightning round

>Take the failure

>spend the bare minimum, 13, to get reach success

>Spend 23 to go 10 over the DC

>Spend 53 to go 40 over the DC

>Spend 113 to go 100 over DC

>Spend 213 to go 200 over DC

>Custom amount

>>6349837
>spend the bare minimum, 13, to get reach success
It's just stringing the bow, absolutely no need to go overboard

>>6349837
>Spend 23 to go 10 over the DC

>>6349837
>Spend 213 to go 200 over DC

>>6349837
>23, ten over.

>>6349837
>Spend 23 to go 10 over the DC

>>6349837
>Spend 213 to go 200 over DC

>>6349837
>>spend the bare minimum, 13, to get reach success
>>Spend 23 to go 10 over the DC
my vote to whichever is lower and can win. I don't want to waste points.

>>6349837
>Spend 23 to go 10 over the DC

Pretty clear winner

Total Bonus for training/ cultivation is now 1317

and the result is 190, ten over DC. A fair success in overcoming a great challenge

update will arrive shortly

It has been awhile since you've trained under a teacher, even if you'd never call Pony as such, you've gotten by and reached great heights all by your own direction, instincts and natural talents. Forging your own path in pursuit of a dao only you can witness and comprehend. It is almost quaint to once again be learning from another, and Pony proves to be a much more demanding and ruthless instructor than Monu ever was. She sets a blistering pace, exactly as you demanded and only moves from one lesson to the next more rapidly as you meet and surpass the speed of her lessons as you'd commanded. It is rather entertaining and fun, and actually challenging to nearly match some of the fights that pushed you to surpass even your own limits and highest estimates of your own power. Almost.

You learn how to string in styles of archery that died out when the gods, offended by Aodasheng being, well an asshole at times and a villain at others declared no rain should fall on his homeland and turned it into a desert, as well as the ancestral techniques that had survived in some form across the broken kingdoms of the empire you helped settle down into its death bed while learning what it meant to be human. Dusk Marsh Wolf Guerilla archery, Chuan River Boat Shooting, Summer Sea Dawn Pirate Bowmanship to name the ones closest to home. Once you've gotten the fundamentals of stringing, notching and shooting down, Pony tests every mundane style she had mastered in life and perfected in death to see if one will stall you or be the one to prove her right that your arrogance would be your humiliation

None of them give her the satisfaction, as you quickly pick up each disparate style and comprehend them quickly

"Pony, I invented a martial art wholesale when I was just starting out, learning mundane techniques like these is as easy as napping for me" You snicker, slapping her flank as you just aced a course for the more acrobatic and showy style of mounted archery of the Starlit Dance, which she'd put as a challenge after you'd shown that you could shoot just fine astride the back of a bucking and wild Pony who tried to put off your aim when she was showing you how to use the foundation style of her archery, the Chuan Herdmen style that had gone extinct when, well, the gods buried all of the surviving practitioners with their king.

Ling Swallow Shooting. Bao Wall Archery. Shaolin Monastery Archery. Beggar's Concealed Bow. The list goes on and on for styles of archery that either exist only in their descendants or couldn't stand the test of time. You learn every form of archery from Centuries past, driving Pony mad as she tries to find one you couldn't practice and quickly attain mastery with by watching her and mimicking her moves before refining them with specter lightness and blood qi enhancements, and the general benefit of still being alive and breathing.
Cont

It is a fun diversion, until she finally relents and shows you the kind of archery Cultivators practice. And teaches you techniques that have probably all dried out except for the collection and memories of Aodasheng and his remaining followers and the scrolls repositories of the nine heavens themselves.

And these lessons are the ones that take up most of your time. Learning this level of martial art, can takes years of practice for the unprepared and untalented, but for rare geniuses like yourself with truly prodigious natural skill, aptitude and thousands of insights, it just takes a lot of focus, determination and effort, from both teacher and pupil. In the time you have to waste learning how to become a great, master archer amongst "immortals", Pony is able to hammer into your bones the techniques of two complete mystical archery styles that had been lost to, well not the sands of time but rather the sudden and crushing weight of an flipped over mountain smashing down on all of their extent practitioners.

The gods truly do work wonders, heh-heh.

The first is the Black Night Arrow Scripture(黑夜箭经文,Hēiyèjiàn jīngwén), a lost assassination art that combines acupoint and meridian sealing with rabid fire stealth archery and to your delight is what you'd call a ghostly cultivation technique as its shots are commonly empowered with negative yin energies, such as your favored ghostly yin and deathly yin Qi's, and you can just imagine how they'd work with destructive yin Qi. According to Pony, Aodasheng got annoyed by the constant assassination attempts by the long dead school that practiced this cultivation killer technique and wiped them out and stole their style as a final insult. In its heyday, this technique was the terror of the world of cultivation, and was actually one of the reasons the Night Lantern Sutra ( 夜灯笼真经, Yèdēnglóngzhēnjīng) was invented as those who were killed by it and those who attained even a middling level of skill with it had a bad habit of returning as rather potent cursed spirits and hungry ghosts.

The second is the Rotten Oath (腐烂 誓言, Fǔlàn Shìyán) is what can be generously described as a mutual self destruction technique. It is a technique that relies on tying together the red string of fate between archer and target and using it to transmit curses from the shooter to the quarry, sharing the burden. It is, effectively, a game of drinking poison to see who drops dead first. According to Pony, a sect of witch's invented it when their founder love became twisted and suicidal, and she killed herself and her paramour with one, incredibly deadly curse. The name sake Fulan Shiyan, a curse of supreme potency that worked almost like a marriage pact, and would cause both parties to rot and decay rapidly. That is its ultimate technique, but it is just one curse of many that can be slapped on to arrows via talismans, scrawled in blood or simply planted inside of them through sheer malice

>>6349961

While Heiyejian Jingwen relies on ambush tactics and builds up damage and drains strength and life away, the Fulan Shiyan aims to kill with arrows that if they do not inflict a deadly curse, then have enough power put behind them they can punch straight through the flexing muscles of an expert body cultivator! Both are killing arts, lethal techniques, and you can tell why Pony picked them for you to learn, they're just perfect for you! Your natural light footedness and extreme speed and agility make you the natural master of the Black Night Arrow and your very existence and intimate understanding of grudges, resentment, enmity and spite as well as your ever growing trove of curses, makes you the perfect candidate to inherit the Rotten Oath.

"Stop! Stop doing that!" Pony snaps, as you realize you'd been patting her head, while still sitting cross legged on her horse back, which seemed to really piss her off. And her rude outburst, makes you realize that the sun had moved across the sky, but that the Crafting and Alchemy tests must not have started, since you hadn't heard a Gong and Fu or Siwang hadn't come to try and drag you to back to the tournament. Not even Qiang had shown up to try and nudge you back to the games. Which must've meant you hadn't missed anything

And you probably still had enough time to put in an order for a bow of your own, even if you had grown used to the one that Pony had fashioned out of her own corpse.

Double Vote!

What do you do about the bow...

>Just steal Pony's. You basically own her anyways through Aodasheng being your servant, so what is hers is yours, logically

>Bother Feiqing and Monu and tell them to make you one, but be purposefully vague except the dead line

>Commission one from one of the other sects (Which sect?)

>Send Qiang to get you one from hell.

>Inspired by Pony's own artistic vision, send HER down to get the spider demons to make you one out of their leftovers of well...the body parts you paid them off with

>Write in

And concerning the Crafting & Alchemy contests of the beast only bracket, what do you do, Huanliuxue?

>Have the crafters and alchemists in your sect, Feiqing, Tiezhen, Ruolan, Renshu, Yue You, and Coffin Maker Wen to give them pointers

>Entertain them with the story of how you did alchemy before you got hands, and the creation of the knife Moon Collapse to inspire the contestants

>Just watch and see if they can do it on their own.

>Ask the sect heads watching those two trials about the beasts they've recruited from the prior contests

>Write in

>>6349962
>Commission one from one of the other sects (Which sect?)
Make creating a bow the objective of the golden core tier crafting/alchemy contest

>Ask the sect heads watching those two trials about the beasts they've recruited from the prior contests

>>6349962
Hmmm.

Maybe have Feiquing and Monu do it.
We can supply the blood and ligaments by going down to hell, but I also want people to remember we have a special type of plant up here. Humming vine!
That can probably do something cool if they can concentrate the vibrations to only go off when released.
>Monu and feiquing
>Also send Pony to get us some leftovers from the spider demons.

>Entertain them with the story of how you did alchemy before we got hands

>>6349962
>Inspired by Pony's own artistic vision, send HER down to get the spider demons to make you one out of their leftovers of well...the body parts you paid them off with

>Entertain them with the story of how you did alchemy before you got hands, and the creation of the knife Moon Collapse to inspire the contestants

>>6349962
>>Bother Feiqing and Monu and tell them to make you one, but be purposefully vague except the dead line
I don't think it wise to send a ghost, especially a powerful one, to hell unsupervised. She might get nabbed by the jailbirds or have trouble getting back out or something. Besides We can use this to give Feiqing a chance to really apply his prodigy smith powers. And get more practice in making really high tier stuff. We can also supply any ghastly materials ourself the same way as we did in Hell if we so desire. We can always grow more arms and legs lmao

>Have the crafters and alchemists in your sect, Feiqing, Tiezhen, Ruolan, Renshu, Yue You, and Coffin Maker Wen to give them pointers
Just enough so no one accidentally kills themselves or the people around them. Deaths should never be accidental after all.

Rotten Oath is gonna be interesting since we have a strong resistance to curses while our opponents (typically) don't. Wouldn't mind chatting it up with Monu for more curses to use.
>>6349962
>Bother Feiqing and Monu and tell them to make you one, but be purposefully vague except the dead line
Also supporting >>6349989 and their idea of using the plants we have growing. Though I'll throw in my own pitch of using the unusual spirit wood from our grove as a material.
>Have the crafters and alchemists in your sect, Feiqing, Tiezhen, Ruolan, Renshu, Yue You, and Coffin Maker Wen to give them pointers
for safety.

>>6349962
I think I'll support this vote:
>>6349973
And add this too as it shouldn't be in conflict with us chatting up the elders:
>Have the crafters and alchemists in your sect, Feiqing, Tiezhen, Ruolan, Renshu, Yue You, and Coffin Maker Wen to give them pointers
It's a bit of a trial for our guys too, having them give help to beasts that have their own eccentric ways of approaching alchemy.

Black Night Arrow Scripture would be good to teach Quiang at some point while Rotten Oat might be good for Fu given how hard he is to actually kill or permanently injure
>>6349962
>>6349989 +1

I want all yo have a good season, and a good celebration, for 2 years ago, Xue was turned into steam

>>6349962
>>Bother Feiqing and Monu and tell them to make you one, but be purposefully vague except the dead line
>Ask the sect heads watching those two trials about the beasts they've recruited from the prior contests
I dont want to use moon collapse cause that was kinda a give me on the moon, using our heritage is good but creating our heritage is better.
No pointers because I want them to inspire self capability.

>>6350263
>for 2 years ago, Xue was turned into steam
What a holly and jolly time of year, truly.

>>6350263
Holy crap, time flies

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209 KB PNG

Rolled 3 (1d3)

Merry Christmas and happy holidays juniors. Ending and tallying the vote now

Commission one from one of the other sects:2
- Make it a contest:2

Bother Feiqing and Monu and tell them to make you one, but be purposefully vague except the dead line:5
-Use the humming vine: 3

Inspired by Pony's own artistic vision, send HER down to get the spider demons to make you one out of their leftovers of well...the body parts you paid them off with:3
____

Ask the sect heads watching those two trials about the beasts they've recruited from the prior contests:3

Entertain them with the story of how you did alchemy before you got hands, and the creation of the knife Moon Collapse to inspire the contestants:3

Have the crafters and alchemists in your sect, Feiqing, Tiezhen, Ruolan, Renshu, Yue You, and Coffin Maker Wen to give them pointers:3


So having Monu and Feiqing make the bow and asking them to include the Humming vine in its construction wins

then its a three way tie between asking the elders, Entertaining the young beasts and having the crafters and alchemists of the sect give them pointers

So

I'll just tie break that real quick since writing all three in one update would be pretty exhausting

1 = elders
2= Stories
3= Pointers


>>6350263
thanks! I really enjoyed writing that scene

>>6350373
lmao

>>6350522
It really does

>>6351079
All right and you'll have your crafter's give them some pointers!

update will arrive shortly

"Heard you went chasing after a ghost, after giving a lesson to some good children" Your mother teases as you come swaggering into the chamber used to host the dual alchemist and crafting contests, your tail flicking as you look up to her a smirk

"Those clever kids already figured out the basics, and I knew little Cotton could figure out how to absorb the breath of ghosts easily enough on her own" You say, smiling as Monu smirks and dips her chin down, unfurling a paper fan as you sit beside her and lick the back of you paw, looking over at the beasts gathered here "How is that long furred girl doing, anyways"

"Complaining loudly to her mama and being followed by the ghosts who've gotten fond of her" She snickers "She really reminds me of someone"

"Younger me, right?" You snicker and your mother just bounces her shoulders, pursing her lips to try and repress laughter "Say, I have a job for you"

"Right before another exciting contest?" She asks

"Yes, I know you are enamored with us beasts but it is a very important task. Fetch our sects' demon descendant" You tell her, lifting up a paw and using it to hide your muzzle "And gather some fresh, strong humming vines. I need you to fashion me a bow"

Your mother's eyes flash as her fat tongue flicks out of her lips, making her look particularly toadlike

"Oh, a hidden weapon for your own contest? Why, I'd be delighted to provide it for my beloved daughter" She cackles, and you have to clench your jaw to stop from joining her with your own witchy cackle "I'll go find Feiqing and tell him we've got a commission, I presume the particulars are..."

"Left up to you, but I can fetch some body parts I've shed during my last prance over to the yellow springs if you need them" You tell her, wincing as you see the look of concern pass over your mother's face and tell her a harmless lie "I was joking, dear mother, now hurry along"

She snaps her fan shuts, bows in a curtsey and then swishes away, a mirage of poisonous looking colors, leaving you alone to assess the on going contest and sigh sadly. Seems you'll need to give them all a bit of push. You'd wanted to chat up and gossip with the other sect heads about the beasts disciples they had snatched up after watching their performance in the prior trials, and had meant to share a story of your first stumbling attempts at alchemy with just a pair of paws to get by or your first dabblings into poison making, guided by the gentle, loving and motherly hand of Monu the foremost poisoner beneath the heavens as far as you know.

However, outside of the beasts already part of a sect, these children have no idea where to start. Seems none of them lived their past lives under the care of an alchemist or cunning smith! Even the adorable, kitty cat faces look utterly confused and you know that Suiqi was abundant with alchemists and craftspeople! Seems they need a bit of a push, or rather more of a shove.
Cont

>>6351099

Fortunately, your sect has a number of crafters that can give them pointers and guidance as seniors. But you'll need to call on all of them, save Feiqing and Monu, since if you don't have that many assistance providing guidance, well whoever wins would be decided by who got the attention and that would look an awful lot like favoritism and rigging the game to hand pick whatever beast wins. Sure, you could do that, it'd be your right and privilege, but it'd also be entirely unfair to the contestants. And what good would a ruler be if they treat their subjects so unfairly?

You hold up a paw and command attention with a flicker of your imperial aura, not enough to endanger the lives of those sat beside you, but a flow of enough ghostly yin qi to make the temperature of the chamber to plummet and to make air turn to fog as you then draw the attention of all the beasts in the room by allowing the primordial qi flowing through your veins to flow in a clear current and smile as you drop your paw to the ground.

"I see that the contest was put on hold until I made my appearance, and also that Mi Shendao's kids are very well behaved for not taking the chance for an easy win. I'll have to thank the eight heavenly gates for their amazing sense of sportsmanship!" you declare with a cat's smile as you prance forward "Tch, unfortunately while I could share a story of how I learned alchemy, I don't think that'd work, considering not everyone of you competing in this game has paws like me, or claws to grip. And I've never been much of a crafter, outside of talismans. That is to boring and base a chore for my imperial self! However, as I recognized this, and realized there'd be no contest besides one between Master Mi's adopted children that I was struck with inspiration!"

"RUOLAN! RENSHU!" You bellow stamping your feet on the ground, bouncing up and rearing on your hind legs "Your Carmine ancestor summons you! Yue You! Wen! Your master demands your presence! Tie zhen! Stop following Feiqing like a lost duckling and come before your secthead!

Renshu is the first to appear, aided by his preturnatural predators speed, followed shortly by Ruolan, the two of them sweep and bow deeply, kneeling before you, before the well bred scholar dusts their robes and in a manner nearly as feminine as Ruolan, kneels before you. Wen staggers like a corpse woken from the grave, stretches his arms and then sits beside his rival. And last is Tie Zhen, who comes huffing and puffing, red in the face after he'd come rushing back from trying to follow Feiqing to act as his assistant in forging your bow.

"Master, your descendants heed your call" Renshu purrs, painted eyes lashes fluttering, with vivid red eye shadow matching your own, preferred style of makeup. It's almost as unnerving as it is touching

"Master, we would be honored to instruct these children in the ways of alchemy" Ruolan continues, her bright eyes glowing with mystical light
Cont

>>6351102

"We will aid our seniors!" Yue You declares proudly, sitting bolt up right like a student at an examine

"...isn't Renshu the only one older than me or you? Ruolan is a girl, even if she is a whatchumacallit" Wen mutters tiredly, head hanging before you realize that another of your disciples, the Jiangshi master Senshi-Shiti has arrived and had dragged Baifenchi to his side, with the moth appearing before you in her human form, dressed in corpses rags

"Master, you forgot to call us" Senshi Shiti says delicately as Baifenchi smiles up at you

"Necromancy to is a crafter's art" She explains cheerfully and you smile, laughing at the sheer impudence of their choice to force themselves into the contests

"It is, even if it is too taboo for our peers to realize it. Very well, Jiangshi maker, Necromancer, those two are artful practices!" You laugh and can see the look of shock and horror on the faces of the crowd, and also expressions of resignation as those who've spent more time in your company realize that of course you'd accept such heretical practices with willing and open arms

"I may have to trail behind the gentleman and moth" Tie Zhen shamelessly laughs "Never too late to learn new techniques"

"Shameless disciple, if you weren't so muscly it'd be cute" You titter, patting a paw in front of him "And I see all of you knew what I wanted you to do, good! So I won't need to instruct you. Go, act as lecturers for these prospects lost and confused by the test place before them. Be fair, spread out and give them all a chance to succeed. Even Mi's kids, if they need assistance. I am a generous girl and benevolent liege, after all, am I not"

"Of course you are" Ruolan declares happily "Perhaps one or two might have the right aptitude to..."

Renshu covers her mouth

"Let us not spill the secrets of our carmine path so readily, Ruolan-er" He says and you cackle

"Ah my adorable descendants, it's fun watching you bicker, but if they are apt, well they'll have to earn the gift I gave you two" You snicker and prance away "The rest of you, besides Senshi Shiti and Baifenchi, follow their lead and Baifenchi and Senshi Shiti's! They're your seniors after all! Now, don't keep the contestants, the crowd or myself waiting, start instructing"

And now that they're all given a helping hand, it is likely that there'll be a dead heat and several winners. But unlike the sorcery contest, you expect that it won't just be the beasts already part of a sect who pass. And that means you'll have to make a decision when it comes to break a tie....
Cont

>>6351103

And what is that decision, Huanliuxue?

>Spread out the winners amongst the sects of your alliance, taking the best then letting the Five colors and Five Purities, Summer Sea Dawn, and Thousand Lotus hall sects fight over the runners up

>Just have them break the tie by judging the results of their alchemy or crafting with your other disciples

>Just recruit them all, its your contest and you are the ruler of all beasts, you're allowed to be as greed as you are generous.

>Give the sects you aren't allied with a chance to take them on as their students

>Choose the winner by having them taste your blood and see if any of them has the potential to be a Carmine mystic like yourself, Ruolan or Renshu

>Write in

>>6351105
>Give the sects you aren't allied with a chance to take them on as their students
Maintaining the agenda is our top priority

>>6351105
>Choose the winner by having them taste your blood and see if any of them has the potential to be a Carmine mystic like yourself, Ruolan or Renshu

>>6351107
what agenda?

>>6351112
Making the world accept magical beasts

>>6351105
>Spread out the winners amongst the sects of your alliance, taking the best then letting the Five colors and Five Purities, Summer Sea Dawn, and Thousand Lotus hall sects fight over the runners up
Our alliance needs to shore up first and foremost. I do want other sects to accept beasts, but we will actually need more peeps contributing to our sect for the upcoming war.

>>6351105
>Give the sects you aren't allied with a chance to take them on as their students

>>6351167
Issue is, do you think the other sects will have the time to get them ready before we go to war? We have half a year at most before winter and most sects don’t have our gift of teaching to get explosive results.

>>6351105
>Give the sects you aren't allied with a chance to take them on as their students

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1.06 MB JPG

Hope you all had your fill of festivities this holiday season, juniors. I was gifted several notable divine scriptures, namely the physical copies of Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint LN, so I'm happy.

Anyways, ending the vote, tallying its result now.

Give the sects you aren't allied with a chance to take them on as their students: 3

Choose the winner by having them taste your blood and see if any of them has the potential to be a Carmine mystic like yourself, Ruolan or Renshu:1

Spread out the winners amongst the sects of your alliance, taking the best then letting the Five colors and Five Purities, Summer Sea Dawn, and Thousand Lotus hall sects fight over the runners up:1


So you'll give the other sects a chance to take on the beasts who complete the alchemy or crafting contest as "Winners"

Update will arrive shortly

Simple. You take the best of the best and give the other sects a chance to recruit the other, but less impressive victors into your sect. Sure the palace of natural laws is intended to be a safe haven for all beasts and outcasts, but Chuan will only remain a safe haven for magical beasts if they are accepted throughout it and spread far and wide. And the only way to ensure that is to make them the brothers and sisters of cultivators, and while you might be the peak of cultivation and power in Chuan Kingdom, you are only one woman. Yes, that's a good compromise, and it'll give your new students rivals across the kingdom rather than concentrating them all in the Eight Heavenly Gates in the form of Mi Shendao's menagerie of adopted kids.

And that would keep membership in your sect as a great honor and ambition to work towards, while also making beasts like yourself common place and accepted even if something so terrifyingly strong to eclipse your power so completely emerges and slaughters you. As unlikely as that is, it is still a possibility to be wary of. No reason to drop your guard. You'd been that eclipse yourself countless times already...

You don't feel the need to provide commentary or question the contestants, and so merely silently observe with a regal bearing as you watch your disciples guide them along, the rest of the crowd silent. Mostly, you think, because anyone who'd joke, mock or make fun of the good children trying so hard to succeed knows that they'd only succeed in making you angry. And everyone, from cultivators to the people who think you're a vengeful goddess, knows that to draw your ire is to court death. But it is amusing, and strangely relaxing watching these youngster fumble with the tools they're given while they listen intently to the quick lectures and on the fly lessons given to them by your ever diligent students. It feels, like it should be. That is normal. Ordinary. And that is something you'd been striving for, since you'd become aware of your place in the world.

For beasts to be accepted and safe. You'd be afraid of being lulled to sleep by how peaceful the scene is, and how quiet the crowd is, but your dignity as a ruler keeps your eyes open and your mine alert and sharp as you watch the slowest of all the contests save for of course the days long free for all between the core formation elders, and see which of your subjects throw their hands up in frustration and those who stubbornly persist despite the handicap. It is a big ask to tell a novice to make a pill or craft a sorcerous tool, but it is an even bigger demand to tell one completely unaware and unschooled of the basic principles to do the same, even if they're given mentors and teachers to explain the foundational to give them a shot.
Cont

>>6352082

Yet, they do persist. Those with the drive, the ambition to perserve, to face the seemingly insurmountable challenge and overcome it. Conqueror it. And so stand out as natural talented or just unusually stubborn.


Traits that any master would want in their students, and while you act overly relaxed and unconcerned, you carefully gauge and study the reactions and looks of your fellow grandmasters, and are very pleased with what you see. While those sects with students competing, Innocent Witch Court, Storm Mountain Shrine, Winter Blossoming Sect and Eight Heavenly gates are focused on their own disciples efforts, those who have yet to recruit a beast into their numbers are watching with close and intense interest in the unclaimed contestants, those who, without prior learning and practice, keep trying and push themselves to keep up with those rivals of theirs who had the benefit of having the beginnings of a proper education and a bit of real instruction.

And amongst them, are your friends and allies, Master Su and Master Lian, who you can tell have already picked out favourites from the list of contestants by the way the old man looks across the contestants and the adorable reactions Tianhua thinks she's disguising when she sees her favorites make progess. Xia is also paying attention, but you know he's gotten a few beasts training at his monastery already. Same as the Dusk Marsh wolves. Even the minor, lesser sects and wandering rogue cultivators are paying attention.

So are the heretics, hidden or not. You're shocked to see a few of those sword maniacs from the seven slaughtering swords paying attention, but you guess they also deal in other means of murder besides swords, and swords also must be made to be swung around. Hell, even the shifty sages of the shifting sands are....Wait, why the hell is Youzaiwang being buddy buddy with those rude bastards? Huh? Does the young king need to be taught a lesson? Mood soured, you pout and turn away, and narrow your eyes as you watch the two contests start to come to a head and you realize that, just as you expected, there was going to be a tie, even discounting the success of the Mi kids, Thunder Crow, Tian Zhuwang and Baochi.

Xiǎoyù (Little Jade, 小玉), sat atop your head, watching closely, trying to figure out who would be her peers while the pouting and upset Mianhuagege curled up close to Yinying, who was sat in front of you with his hand selected royal guard of awakened house cats.

And that tie is as tangled as a ball of yarn. Seems your incredible talent as a teacher had rubbed off on your students, cause it'd be easier to count the beasts who didn't pass the bar of "Make a useable medicine or poison" or "Make something useful" than those who did.

However, you've got a discerning eye for talent and can measure skill and potential better than a merchant can count coin. So it comes down to four, heh your lucky number, winners that you think produced the best results.

>>6352083

Unfortunately, they stood out the most and their talent was also noted by the other sect heads....

Double vote!

Which Alchemist Contest winner do you recruit

>Rose Maiden. One of Jionghuagege's literal army of daughters. And the only one who actually found the time to compete with how busy her mother is making them. Lian Tianhua is interested in her. She made a tea that relieved muscle fatigue

>Thousand Legs. A centipede that had apparently gotten dug up by Tiexingege's five intelligent daughters. She was, also, a girl and had refined her own natural poison. Su Zhe'xínglǚ is eyeing her.

>Heavenly Melody. A songbird that seems like the polar opposite of Siwang, flighty and airheaded. He, somehow, managed to remember enough to make a sedative. The Sages of the shifting sands seem interested in him

>Stubborn Stone. a mule, of all things. A slow paced boy who had managed to make an explosive and nearly blow off his face trying to light it. The White Jade Devil Opposing army and Storm Shrine sect both seem interest in him

And which Crafting Contest winner do you recruit, Huanliuxue?

>Water Bandit. A crab of somekind that had manged to pound and hammer metal into a workable pill furnace. Lord Xia and Lord Shidi were currently arguing about him.

>Cattail Thief. A river cat like yourself who had, with well honed claws, managed to claw a puppet out of a low quality cut of spirit wood. Your so called brother, Xue Long, seemed interested in him.

>Night Devil. A bear that had with claws and jaw strength, cut down a piece of stone into a ceremonial sword. The White Jade Devil opposing army and the Dusk marsh wolves seemed to be interested in him

>River Shadow. A large, river anaconda that seemed to idolize Chuandapo, who had, with careful brush strokes, made a fine painting of you! Sure the color of your fur wasn't exactly right, but it took great skill to wield a brush like that. The innocent witch court and Thousand lotus hall seemed to be eyeing her

>>6352084
>>Stubborn Stone. a mule, of all things. A slow paced boy who had managed to make an explosive and nearly blow off his face trying to light it. The White Jade Devil Opposing army and Storm Shrine sect both seem interest in him
We have our connections with another sect for medical aid, besides our own expertise
Poison we have in droves
Sedative may be valid, but high explosives is something that can greatly benefit our sect's capabilities if scaled to the twin princess's armies.

>River Shadow. A large, river anaconda that seemed to idolize Chuandapo, who had, with careful brush strokes, made a fine painting of you! Sure the color of your fur wasn't exactly right, but it took great skill to wield a brush like that. The innocent witch court and Thousand lotus hall seemed to be eyeing her

my favorite choice would be the cattail thief and then the water bandit. But I really like the idea of having our so called brother adopt a cat (if he wrongs them he will die) to raise at his sect.

Pill Furnace would be incredibly useful, but I know both lord Xia and Shidi are good homes for our kind so I don't mind them learning to nurture them.

we have lots of smithing.
The snack is interesting because we haven't really explored the "humanities" path of dao. Painting Path arts may be something that will lead us to new avenues unexplored.

>>6352084
>Stubborn Stone. a mule, of all things. A slow paced boy who had managed to make an explosive and nearly blow off his face trying to light it. The White Jade Devil Opposing army and Storm Shrine sect both seem interest in him
>River Shadow. A large, river anaconda that seemed to idolize Chuandapo, who had, with careful brush strokes, made a fine painting of you! Sure the color of your fur wasn't exactly right, but it took great skill to wield a brush like that. The innocent witch court and Thousand lotus hall seemed to be eyeing her

>>6352084
>Heavenly Melody.
The Sages get fuck all

>River Shadow
Unite her with her oshi

>>6352084
>Stubborn Stone. a mule, of all things. A slow paced boy who had managed to make an explosive and nearly blow off his face trying to light it. The White Jade Devil Opposing army and Storm Shrine sect both seem interest in him
>River Shadow. A large, river anaconda that seemed to idolize Chuandapo, who had, with careful brush strokes, made a fine painting of you! Sure the color of your fur wasn't exactly right, but it took great skill to wield a brush like that. The innocent witch court and Thousand lotus hall seemed to be eyeing her
This seems fine I think. Most of the others will be snapped up by our allies or squabbled over by other sects who won't blame us if the other one snatches the recruit first.

>>6352090
>Support

I do want to fuck over the sages of shitty sands, but we explicitly want the kids in as many places as possible.

>>6352084
>Stubborn Stone
Personally I do like Thousand Legs so she could train under Monu alongside our frog boy, but it's also the only one Su is interested in between both contests.
>Water Bandit
Because I see someone with River in their name and imagine they'll be a problem child like River Bastard