>>6125063

"Of course. All souls must go through the same process to transmigrate and be born anew, memories washed away, into a new life" He answers, voice resounding but hard to read "What are you getting at, master of ghosts?"

"Well, since even the most righteous of the dead aren't immediately reincarnated" You say, choosing your words carefully so as not to offend the man with legs larger around than your whole body, at least when you're in human form "So it stands to reason, that there could still be some ancestors of your sect down there, doing what they've been taught to do, and continuing their good work"

"I am certain they would be swiftly reborn, no matter their vices or eccentricities" He answers bluntly, but not angrily, at least you don't think so, its hard to tell when his voice can just be describe as thunderously loud and he's wearing a mask that covers all of his face

"They could've chosen to delay their next life to protect the innocent dead, or had been taken captive by vengeful demons" You suggest off handedly, giving reasons why you might find a white jade devil opposing army member still trapped down in the underworld, without saying the probable reason that the unbiased cycle of death and rebirth did not care that they thought they were hunting devils when they were actually slaughtering innocent magical beast children, no matter if the heavens would've applauded them for their massacres being populated by as many cruel divine bastards as they are.

Shengzhanshi's shoulders droop, and the air at him warms as a quick wave of Qi flows out of him, searing the air before he regains control of himself. At least that's what you assumed cause the sudden burst of spiritual energy, that the suggestion of demons harassing his predecessors was enough to piss him off, even if you can't see it on his face because again, he's wearing a mask over it.

"I will admit, you present two possibilities that may proven to be fact" He answers slowly, clenching and unclenching one of his hands, which are vast enough to wrap around your head right now, into a fist "In the case of the former, I would assist them in the self-less duty, in the latter, I would die to see them freed. I know little of hell itself, so I must defer to your expertise, Crow Killer"

"Well, I don't know for certain if that is what's happening, but I have ran into other daoists down by the yellow springs, even a few cultivators" You answer truthfully, folding your hands together and nodding your head sagely "Even had a few train my disciple Ping"

"The ghost armed exorcist?" He asked and you were happy one of your earliest students had some renown and face of his own already, even if it was paltry compared to your own reputation
cont

>>6125064

"Yes. So, I brought up the possibility of your ancestors being in hell, for one reason or another, a sense of duty or you know, horrible unending torture" You continue casually, smirking as Shengzhanshi made another reflexive burst of spiritual energy when you said the second one "Since I had a sudden, fanciful thought that, maybe, you and I"

"And my students" He adds before you can finish taking a breath

"And any of your students who can survive down there" You correct "Can go looking for these hell bound ancestors of yours, and see what they have learned in the decades and centuries they've spent battling against all of hell's denizens?"

Shengzhanshi bows his head, and you hope that means he's deep in thought and meditating on your suggestion, and not having suddenly fallen asleep mid conversation. It is really hard to tell.

"And assist them in their struggle, of course" You add, to see if that's the push he needs to come over to the idea "Or hell, smuggle them out of hell, so there isn't a risk of their wisdom and insights being lost because, say, someone pays a spider demon a few souls to slice their ethereal throat"

"You have a talent for conjuring the most disturbing of mental images, Madam Huanliuxue" He grunts before nodding once "And the more you speak, the more nightmarish visions assail me. We must go to the underworld, not just to train, but to search for these imprisoned masters"

"Or masters having the time of their death clashing with demonic armies" You cheerfully reply, playfully flicking your sleeve up as Shandian glanced your way

"The thought process of heretics is truly frightening to behold. Want to earn favor with another sect, take their students on a trip to the underworld, search for their venerated dead and pester them into revealing their secrets and the mysteries they keep" He chortles, shaking his head "I'm surprised you haven't told the giant you'll find him a clothier down there to make robes that fit his frame!"

You pull back the immediate paranoid voice in your head wondering frantically if Shandian somehow knows of your friendship with Anjing, because while keeping cautious and on guard for threats is wise, indulging in nonsense like that is just acting overly paranoid, since there is no way Shandian knows anything about the underworld and your adventures in it. Hell, he'd probably not be able to tell a forked tongue devil from a split tongue corpse!

"She sees the world from a different perspective, thus her insights, though contorted from our perspective, are most valuable. Especially when concerning martial matters" Shengzhanshi answers simply, and...did he just come to your defense? You weren't even offended by what old storm cloud had said, since it was entirely true.
Cont

>>6125066
But as you're wondering if he was just making a statement or taking offense on your behalf, you notice the crowd and sounds of fighting had quieted down. And looking up, see that the seething mass of fighters has been reduced to just for still standing, as Giant Honey Bees dart through the moonlight carrying the wounded off of the field, which is now soaked with blood and overflowing with its rich, almost intoxicating aroma.

The last four are Ho, Chuanmao and his brother Haimao, and some Buddhist whose twirling around a sickle attached to a chain which it shares with a rope dart.

Ho is looking incredibly fierce, the brothers are standing together, and the Buddhist is hoping foot to foot and....Wait is that Xiang? The flying monk? He has to be, judging from the grudge miasma pouring out of him as he locks eyes with the Chicken farmer, who beat him soundly in the Martial Arts leg of the pre Qi condensation tournament.

You look away from the three way stand off, to see a few other familiar faces being tended to by Jionghuagege and her kids, including Jia Li and Chuan Huan, and Yu Ye, the boar like man who courted death by just entering the arena opposite of Ju while her brother was present in the audience.

Shandian's grey eyes light up like a lightning flashed, as he wordlessly flashes a handful of very large and very high quality spirit gems, trying to entice you into gambling with him.

Double vote!

Do you take Shandian's bait

>Yes, Bet on Ho

>Yes, bet on Xiang

>Yes, bet on Boat and Sea Cat

>No, you lost last time you bet, even if you also won

And, what do you do once the victor is decided, Huanliuxue?

>Congratulate the victor, whoever they may be, and announce the Secret, final contest without telling anyone what it entails!

>Tell Shengzhanshi the exact requirements for a mortal to survive a trip to the yellow springs, in terms of Physique and cultivation

>See why that one Seven Slaughtering Swords Maniac picked a fight with that other lunatic Xie'e Mowangzi,

>Go spend some quality time and play with the Moon Rabbits

>Actually go see the returned Youzaiwang and congratulate him on obtaining his human form

>write in

>>6125067
>>Yes, bet on Boat and Sea Cat
I expect the two of them to work together to take out Ho and Xiang as they have their grudge match because Xiang is probably big mad and will tunnel vision. Then the brothers will do another showdown exhibition, this time for keeps.

>See why that one Seven Slaughtering Swords Maniac picked a fight with that other lunatic Xie'e Mowangzi,
Don't need this to be a recurring issue if any of them want to skulk around our territory.

>>6125067
>Sea cat and boat cat.
>Tell them the exact requirements for surviving hell.
>Announce we will see then all in the final test

>>6125063
I'm getting some serious autistic person talking about their special interest vibes from the general.
>>6125067
>Yes, Bet on Ho
>Tell Shengzhanshi the exact requirements for a mortal to survive a trip to the yellow springs, in terms of Physique and cultivation

>>6125151
This is honestly a pretty good thing. Makes him easier to understand.

Though I have been thinking recently that cultivators are inherently childish creatures due to the lack of restraints put on them that they can't break. They will demand things because they can take them and cry for their elders when they get the shit kicked out of them for overestimating themselves.

Just. . a very strange lack of maturity

>>6125067
>>No, you lost last time you bet, even if you also won
>No, you lost last time you bet, even if you also won
>Congratulate the victor, whoever they may be, and announce the Secret, final contest without telling anyone what it entails!

Is anybody thinking about what competitions and brackets we should partake in?

Alchemy and strategy is my suggestion with a HARD recommendation against entering battle or spells.
We already have the reputation of killing THE greatest living master of defensive magics, now formerly living, our ability to fight is without question. No need to tip our hands further.

>>6125166
Oh yeah, I never meant to imply it was bad or anything, in fact it's extremely relatable to me

>>6125067
>Yes, Bet on Ho

>Tell Shengzhanshi the exact requirements for a mortal to survive a trip to the yellow springs, in terms of Physique and cultivation

>>6125067
>Yes, bet on Boat and Sea Cat
>Congratulate the victor, whoever they may be, and announce the Secret, final contest without telling anyone what it entails!

Ending and tallying the vote now. Didn't have means to drink tea, so I was basically useless the last two days until I was able to drink a few cups of it just now. That is the reason for my tardiness, juniors

Yes, bet on Boat and Sea Cat:3

Yes, Bet on Ho:2

No, you lost last time you bet, even if you also won:1
____

See why that one Seven Slaughtering Swords Maniac picked a fight with that other lunatic Xie'e Mowangzi,:1

Tell Shengzhanshi the exact requirements for a mortal to survive a trip to the yellow springs, in terms of Physique and cultivation:3

Congratulate the victor, whoever they may be, and announce the Secret, final contest without telling anyone what it entails!:3

So you'll bet on the brothers Boat and Sea cat, giving into Shandian's coaxing to place a bet on the outcome of this last match

And then, before congratulating whoever wins, you'll tell Shengzhanshi exactly what is needed for a mortal to survive down in the cold winds of the yellow springs

Update will arrive shortly

You think about rolling your eyes and wordlessly refusing, but the glitter of the spirit stones in the false ghost light and true moonlight ignites something inside of you, awakening the gambler inside of you that is usually subdued by your far greater sense of self preservation and sensible caution. Somehow, the air is sweet and the atmosphere is right for it, like when you placed bet after bet in the hall of Baoliwuyawang before killing him. The cloying aroma of blood and sour stench of sweat, the perfume of pitched battle touched by the smell of soiled and dirtied blade, invigorates and excites you, and since you can't join the brawl yourself or go springing around the stands surrounding it, the best way to expel and burn off this now rapidly growing sense of energy that's becoming a fever everyone whose played dice knows, is to place a harmless bet.

Flashing a toothy grin, the gentle curve of your teeth emphasized in the flickering light of the ghost flames making them seem more like they are when they're neck tearing and bone crushing fangs, you nod at Shandian, who quickly stows away the cash he tempted you with, denying your eyes the pleasure of watching the crystals shine in the night, and then throws a glance towards the field questioningly. You flick up your wrist and hold up to fingers, splitting them apart to point at Chuanmao and Heimao, the brothers who are clearly going to gang up on Ho and Xiang. The latter of whom is obviously going to focus on Ho to try and avenge his sound and really humiliating defeat in the martial tournament that the humble chicken farmer dealt him. Getting Tunnel vision in any fight, even a one on one supposedly honorable duel, is courting death and a sure way to add another loss to your record.

Shandian makes a face, a pretty funny face of exaggerated disbelief, probably because he's incredulous you'd bet on two combatants, but he shouldn't be surprised even if he wasn't present for your last round of betting with old master Shoushan and Disi-Ling Huofeng! And because this is your tournament, so you have far more privilege and freedom to bet on whoever and however many contestants you want to!

You cross your arms, affixing him with an imperious glare, and the after lancing an arc of static between his fingers and sending a trickle of gentle electricity up your arm to show his displeasure without courting death himself, he accepts your merciless and weighed wager with a shrug, and jabs a thumb at Ho, before crossing his arms and glowering, pouting impudently until his smile returns as he reaches for the small glass of liquor that burns your nose every time he lifts it into the air with its vapor alone.
Cont

>>6126201

Snickering and hiding the distastefully smug grin behind the sleeve of your robe, you look to Shengzhanshi, who is, like a statue, watching the brawl between the four, which is going about as you expect, with Xiang aiming for Ho, and one of the brothers each attacking the monk and the chicken farmer as they try to have their rematch clean and fairly, turning the brawl between the four almost as chaotic as the melee between a thousand

Snapping your fingers to get his attention, and doing it a few times so he turns to you, so you can be certain you have it.

"Shengzanshi, I should probably inform you about what is required for a mortal to survive a trip down to hell" You state solemnly, speaking regally and with utmost authority "The whole place is, of course, absolutely saturated with Deathly Yin Qi denser and purer than anywhere else. Only cultivators who are practitioners of laws that make heavy use of the breath of corpses can safely travel to the plains of the underworld without negative effects. Like myself, who built up an extreme resistance to Pure Ghostly Yin Qi early on. But it should also be possible if the cultivator is remarkably powerful or born with a body natural resistance to the so called cursed energy of the dead"

He nods once, showing he is listening and understands at least most of what you say, so you continue without pause.

"An impressive formidable body, trained endurance and stamina, anything that increases your life forces and raises your vitality" You explain, flipping over your open hand, watching as Xiang uses Chuanmao's back as a stepping stone to launch themselves at Ho, who is presently fighting off Heimao and his trident "Would help to endure the chilling air of the yellow springs, but that sort of Hale physique would be rare even amongst purely physical cultivators. Fortunately, you don't need to be blessed from birth with a strong body or a master of heretical arts and ghostly laws like myself. I smuggled my direct disciple, Quickdraw Qiang, well before she had trained resistance enough to travel there alone"

Another Nod, Ho catches Xiang by the leg with his chain, and with a brute's below, uses the monk's body as the head of an improvised meteor hammer as the buddhist tries to flail free before he's slammed hard into Chuanmao, who remarkably, manages to only be brought to one knee in spite of being struck by an entire other person's body.

"And that is a highly precise regimen of medicines only my sect knows how to create, to prepare the body for the energies hell. Done several days before the planned trip" You explain, sneakily making it clear that only you can grant safe passage to the underworld, since that might be a good buisness later, once your fellow daoists become bold enough to explore the ghostly realm themselves "Then there also has to be training to build up their mental resilience, in Qiang's case, we fed her hallucinogenic poisons"
Cont

>>6126203

"...Your method of teaching sounds frightful" Shengzhanshi says quietly, as Shandian, with wide eyes, nods in agreement, as he to is now listening with rapt attention

"And then had her meditate under a waterfall while experiencing a horrific waking nightmare. The specific poison were made from the back of toads, crushed beetle shell and black thistles" You explain, rolling your wrist as you try to remember exactly how Monu made the poisons Qiang ate "But any mental exercises or simple resistance to the nightmarish and ghastly sights of hell, will suffice. Qiang also had the benefit of cultivating pure ghostly yin Qi, which prepared her body better, but that'd be dangerous to your students, since they don't know how to entreat ghosts for their essence or care for themselves while absorbing and refining, so we can skip that, but then, right before they enter the realm of the dead, unless you want to be jumped and attacked by every demon and ghost in hell, you'll want to take specific spirit medicines in a specific order to disguise yourself as a living corpse, that is so common down in hell"

"No wonder all your students throw themselves into life or death battle without hesitation, they've experienced worse odds just learning under you" Shandian says, a little pale around the cheeks, being an utter hypocrite since you know his Sect has a terrible ratio of living to dead disciples, since they cultivate by getting struck by lightning. repeatedly! If you know how to calm mad spirits and hungry ghosts and don't take in too much of their breath too quickly, Cultivating ghostly and deathly yin qi is perfectly safe! Unlike being struck by lightning, asshole!

But you keep your mouth shut and stay polite and nice, even if you struggle not to yell all of that at Shandian's face.

"Because living human are quiet the commodity in hell" Shengzhanshi points out rather pointedly

"Heh-Heh-Heh, like a ripe peach singing about how much it wants to be eaten. Unless you have a resistance to Yin energies or a have enough Yang to resist or enough Yin energies to be immune to the ghostly air, then this precaution is only necessary for Qi Condensation stage cultivators as a disguise, since you have a bigger problem if demons strong enough to beat and drag off a foundation establishment or, worse, a core formation cultivator to grind up into drugs or meal for their daily gruel. My mother could waltz to the wine houses and opium dens of hell without a problem, because she and I both possess strong Yin physiques" You add, noting that your supreme Yin Physique hides your equally impressive Eclipsed Yang Physique and that the easiest and best way to go to hell is just to use Severing of the Eternal soul and Mortal vessel [刌 永恒魂会死㿾, Cǔn-Yǒnghénghún-Huìsǐzhù] so as not to risk your body at all. "And thus are naturally resistant to the life sapping winds. Otherwise, its still wise to prepare your organs and take stamina increasing drugs"
Cont

>>6126205

"I believe I know of drugs that will make myself and my students ready. Few of us practice Yin techniques. Which is why most of our sect are men" Shengzhanshi answers "But I will hand out any pills you give me for the journey, to make certain the well being and health of my disciples down in hell"

"That is a crazy thing to say, master white jade" Shandian snorts "The way Huanliuxue talks about it, you need to purposefully cultivate or be blessed with a body that can survive exposure to such potent deathly yin Qi naturally, to have a chance of entering the underworld alive, without her direct oversight. I'd demand a high price for that service"


"Why? This is to be a journey to be taught and to learn what has been forgotten, and to spread mercy to those tortured souls still enduring their durance before rebirth" The larger man asks, sounding honestly confused why someone would sell such a rare service at the premium, when most dealing with the thousand lotus hall know that they're getting spirit herbs that only grow in the underworld and stranger places from somewhere, and it wouldn't take a rare genius to figure out who is bringing them those herbs from that somewhere.

"Ah, my brother daoist, your view is that of a general fighting and leading armies for a cause. Temples and shrines like her and mine, have far more selfish ambitions and aims. I'm sure our host is already counting up costs to indebt you to her for this service, unless she is just happy to drag other cultivators down to hell for the experience alone" He snickers, shaking his head,

"It is quite fun seeing how others react to the sights and scenes of hell I find amusing or transfixing in their beauty" You cackle, looking back to the field. And see that Xiang is already out, having cut Ho's chain and judging from the bruises over his body, got focused on by both boat and sea cat who left Ho alone to take out the weaker combatant.

And despite his crude ability to instinctively channel Qi into his limbs to strengthen them, Ho's body is much smaller than the brothers' are and they're fighting two against one. Shandian winces, gulping nervously of his liquor as you lean forward in your seat, with a predatory smile on your lips, your shadow twisting and transforming into that of a half cat half human creature as your eyes glow scarlet with delight.

Ho's usual tactic of tackling and tying down his opponent like one of his chickens or making use of his longer legs to evade them until he finds an opening to take advantage of with his longer arms is completely nullified, as is his rudimentary use of spiritual energy, by the brotherly bond and teamwork of Chuanmao and Haimao, who are fighting with the net they made in the crafting trials and the same anchor they used in the martial trial, while Ho just has Xiang's discarded scythe blade and meteor hammer connected to a chain, a weapon he is unused to using, unlike a rope, chain or knife.
Cont

>>6126207

But despite this disadvantage, Ho makes them work for their victory, and nearly wins, and only gets broughten down when he, unaware of the net's properties, doesn't tear it off of himself, and is drained of stamina and spiritual energy, weakening him enough for the brothers to best and overcome him with a flurry of hard, ground shaking punches as he is caught between their barrages.

Which they don't stop even as he's knocked unconscious, continuing their assault on the other, with grimaces and bared teeth as blood flies from their knuckles and split lips as they pound each other with the ferocity of rapid, starving beasts.

Sighing heavily and with great disappointment, Shandian slips you a pouch of gently glowing spirit stones, which you start counting as the brothers continue beating the hell out of each other. And have to bite your tongue to stop from shouting in surprise and delight. Judging from the size and quality of the spirit stones you just won, you've won a small fortune off this one bet. Shandian must've been making truly outrageous gambles to be able to carelessly toss away this much cash without cursing your name or seething in the center of a newly born cloud of grudges.

gained 1000 spirit stones. Total in sect treasury/ Huan's pockets 3506

It takes awhile, but eventually one brother wins over the other, and as they collapse to their knees, kneeling in front of the unconscious bodies of both their brother and Ho, and you can only tell who is who by the tattoos on their bare arms, since they've beaten eachothers faces to the point of being entirely unrecognizable.

Just like last time they fought, Chuanmao beat his brother Haimao, after a truly vicious and brutal exchanges of punches and headbutts.

"Congratulations, Chuanmao, out of a thousand, you proved yourself the strongest and most vicious of fighters" You declare, delightedly lifting up and dropping the large sized spirit stones just to watch them fall and glitter, before you set the pouch down and leap down to the fighting ground, and frown as your worshipper doesn't acknowledge his win.

You frown, and tell him again that he's won, leaning close and

"He's unconscious!" You laugh out loud, throwing your head back as you tip him over with a push of your foot "He couldn't stay standing or awake after all that fighting! Its almost like a standing death! How amusing! And how disapointing! I was hoping to see his reaction to hearing there is one last contest in the Pre Qi Condensation bracket!"

"What?!" Shandian's voice booms over the others as the crowd begins chattering and muttering about this revelation
Cont

>>6126208

"Another contest, what could possibly be left to test?!"
"Hah! I love the Palace of natural laws, never seen a martial tournament as exciting as this in all my years"
"She really is just doing whatever the hell she wants, isn't she?"
"Do you think this was planned, or she came up with a new game while watching the other trials?"
"Perhaps it is to measure compatibility with magical beasts? Or wilderness know how? You know, survival skills?"
"Maybe its just a death game? She may be pretty and seem nice, but she is still a heretic"
"Who can give the most donations?"
"Oh I got it, it is an etiquette test!"
"Some kind of occult ritual..."
"Maybe its just who can amuse her? She does act like she's a princess"
"Could be...."
"Can't be....."

You just smirk, confident in knowing no one could possibly guess what the final contest of this bracket would be. That being a simple test of luck!

Double vote!

How do you declare the free for all brawl match

>Simply and strictly. Chuanmao was the last standing, so he's the sole winner

> Be kind and don't separate the brothers, and say they both fainted around the same time, like you did with scratching post and the gorilla

>Greedily declare the brothers and Ho the winner, so no one has a chance to snatch up the cock farmer except the palace of natural laws

>By declaring that you'll sponsor the skillful losers to found the palace of natural laws first official subordinate in the mortal world, by creating a martial arts school

>Write in

And how exactly do you plan on testing Luck, Huanliuxue?

>Through a lottery, handing out slips to anyone who joins randomly, with only one of them being a winner

>Having them run through your orchard of man eating plants, and whoever is the least injured at the end, wins

>Making them take an examine of what you like and dislike, with you deciding the answers yourself on the fly.

>have them all play games of chance, like dice, with them placing paw print seals on their wagers, and whoever has the most at the end being the winner

>Write in

>>6126209
>Simply and strictly. Chuanmao was the last standing, so he's the sole winner

>have them all play games of chance, like dice, with them placing paw print seals on their wagers, and whoever has the most at the end being the winner
But have them win smaller prizes on the way, to keep things more exciting.

>>6126209
>Simply and strictly. Chuanmao was the last standing, so he's the sole winner
I feel like if we took one brother, the other would still just kinda hang around and stuff. So it's a package deal either way. It's not like he has to take up others on an offer they make him. And it's not like we wouldn't teach him if he just showed up with his brother anyway.

>have them all play games of chance, like dice, with them placing paw print seals on their wagers, and whoever has the most at the end being the winner
Real luck is made through daring. For he who doesn't try can never win. I fully expect contestants to try to cheat. The point of gambling is to win after all, otherwise it's just charity.

>>6126209
>Strictly and simply.

Hmm. So how do you guys feel about a mortal subordinate branch? I don't see much benefit to be had in terms of materials or power projections.

But I guess some benefit is a filter for skilled xia to enter, a network of intelligence agents, and the capacity to exert mundane influence. Maybe guards for the temple or the family Chuan?

>Wagers
Cheating is encouraged, just don't get caught.
>Addendum, if someone finds a red jade pawprint [which they have to gamble away if someone challenges them for it] then they can trade it in for a reward. Possibly two winners or rewarding one.

>>6126209
> Be kind and don't separate the brothers, and say they both fainted around the same time, like you did with scratching post and the gorilla
Chuanmao clearly won but can it be said Haimao lost when his brother can't continue without him?
Clearly they are so close they might as well be considered as one.
(If we also declared for Ho I expect we would have to give back the stones won in the bet for fairness.)

>have them all play games of chance, like dice, with them placing paw print seals on their wagers, and whoever has the most at the end being the winner.
But the prizes are things we like or dislike and at the end they have to present what they won hoping it's enough for a true win?
That certainly would confuse everybody.

>>6126209
>> Be kind and don't separate the brothers, and say they both fainted around the same time, like you did with scratching post and the gorilla
>have them all play games of chance, like dice, with them placing paw print seals on their wagers, and whoever has the most at the end being the winner

>>6126209
>Simply and strictly. Chuanmao was the last standing, so he's the sole winner
>Making them take an examine of what you like and dislike, with you deciding the answers yourself on the fly.

>>6126209
>Simply and strictly. Chuanmao was the last standing, so he's the sole winner

We gotta get Ho though. Being silber medalist in all contests gotta count for something!

>Having them run through your orchard of man eating plants, and whoever is the least injured at the end, wins

>>6126209
>Simply and strictly. Chuanmao was the last standing, so he's the sole winner
>have them all play games of chance, like dice, with them placing paw print seals on their wagers, and whoever has the most at the end being the winner

>>6126209
>Simply and strictly. Chuanmao was the last standing, so he's the sole winner
>Making them take an examine of what you like and dislike, with you deciding the answers yourself on the fly.

>>6126236
Delightfully devious.

We are a capricious cat.
On second brush, I don't see a value to a martial school.
We have our cult and lord Chuan's support. We don't need anything else. What would we even teach them? Our disciples skills?

>>6126424
Support
Watch the chicken farmer win.

Ending the vote and tallying its result now!

Simply and strictly. Chuanmao was the last standing, so he's the sole winner:8

Be kind and don't separate the brothers, and say they both fainted around the same time, like you did with scratching post and the gorilla:2
___

have them all play games of chance, like dice, with them placing paw print seals on their wagers, and whoever has the most at the end being the winner:7
-Addendum, if someone finds a red jade pawprint [which they have to gamble away if someone challenges them for it] then they can trade it in for a reward. Possibly two winners or rewarding one.:1
-Make the prizes things you like/dislike: 2

Making them take an examine of what you like and dislike, with you deciding the answers yourself on the fly.:2

Having them run through your orchard of man eating plants, and whoever is the least injured at the end, wins:1

So you won't get up to any funny buisness and just declare Chuanmao the victor, and the contest of luck will be a collection of games of chance to win the most paw print seals

Update will arrive shortly

And what better way to measure one's luck than through simple games of chance? The delight of gamblers of all ages and rungs in society from the dirt poor farmer to the emperor who has everything. And while games of chance can be cheated in many ways and weighed to favor one player over another, isn't cheating just creating your own luck? And anyone audacious enough to cheat in your tournament, well, boldness is also a trait your favor is it not? Though you also greatly doubt there exist any con artists or swindlers beneath the heavens or rotting in their graves that could are actually skilled enough to try their hand at and succeed in cheating their way past the gate of your sect and into membership, but you won't be concerned if you're wrong about that. Luck or boldness, either are qualities you'd be happy to see in your disciples.

Whoever presents the most paw print seals at the end of the time allotted to roll dice or play other games of chance, will be the victor and welcomed into the Sect properly. As will Chuanmao, sure his brother won't be at his side, but you can always figure out a way to keep them close if it becomes an annoyance or a real problem. Hell, maybe you'll be nice, and hand off Haimao to Jinse-Shayu. The summer sea dawn sect is your subordinate after all, and the runners up of the tournament would certainly be a worthwhile gift to give to your sea soaked underlings, would it not? Certainly, if you do end up making that choice, you'll present it as if the second best contestants are a most generous gift when they're handed over. That is if other sects don't scoop them up and recruit them before then. Which you know every sect present is doing, shamelessly. You did, recruiting the talented and skilled runners up to be your servants and employees in the mortal realm, and you know for a fact others are going to be welcoming other good quality contestants into their fold, hell you gave those with potential but not enough to be worthy of your instruction your recommendation to seek out admittance to the sects you like and who like you in return. Which will surely open up the few doors that aren't already open for those with the talent and daring to walk through them.

Smiling, you watch Jionghuagege flutter down to treat the three knocked out finalists, as her daughters wobbles and waggle on the ground and in the air around the unconscious Xiang, their cute voices sounding fretful as they wonder if he'll be okay and wondering if it hurt to be slammed into the ground like he was a hammer against an anvil. Ah the innocence and absolute adorableness of youth. You'll have to spend sometime with those girls as their loving auntie, and make time for Tiexingege's five intelligent and awakened daughters as well. Whose names were much easier to remember than Jionghuagege's hive of forcefully ascended beasts, who, now that you thought about it, made up the majority of magical beasts living in the world.

Hm

Cont

>>6127348

You kicked a rock and sent it out of sight, pondering what to do now that the winner of the melee had been decided. Watching other people gamble isn't any fun at all, not unless their lives might be on the line, but that's something that only happens in the demon realm and would be completely too uncouth to be done within your territory and sight. Even if there is something...quaint about the idea of gambling one's own life, it isn't something you'd permit to happen in your garden and certainly isn't something you'd risk personally.

Of course, fighting life or death battles and betting on yourself to win is something completely different than that! Since while your life may be at some risk, only an idiot fights battles they can't win. And what are you if not a rare genius in the world? Certainly your fighting intuition and survival instinct are far sharper than even the other denizens of the world of cultivation.

'Probably, because, unlike them, I've lived my life dangerously and they only started to know real threats against their own when the Ling kick started a war rather than admit their fuck up and lose a little face' you reflect, thinking to yourself as you stretch and transform into your feline self, out of sight when you undress to save you prized robe, since it is one of the ones Anjing sewed for you and it is too fine a material to stretch and tear thoughtlessly.

Yawning, you extend your claws, idly honing them on one of the spirit woods that can take the abuse, as you try and figure out what to do with yourself while the gambling games begin. It is expected for you to be in attendance, even if you aren't paying any real attention to them, but you could probably get away with being a little late. A cat is expected to be tardy and royalty is privileged to follow their own schedule. And besides, skipping the whole test of luck shouldn't cause a scandal or disgrace. And really, who'd blame you for not wanting to sit around and watch dice clatter on tables until the sun rises?

The air is sweet and the night young. Now be the perfect hour to get up to some feline mischief or indulge in a few whims and passing fancies...Hm, hmm~
Cont

>>6127350

What do you decided to do, Huanliuxue?

>Bah, you've got to keep up appearances, just day dream while the test of luck is carried out, and make sure to invite Xia Jinse-Shayu to join you this time, so your underling doesn't get to offended for being passed over for the rest of the contests

>Play with the Jade rabbits and give them and the gorilla good names while you wait for the first bracket of the tournament to come to an end.

>Relax in the Pool of primordial origin, and congratulate yourself for how well the tournament has gone so far (Invite anyone to join you?)

>Summon Aodasheng and ask him if he's found any threat or danger you should know about, before you get complacent and lower your guard

>Go for a walk around your garden, and immerse yourself in the festivities and see what trouble or mischief you can get up to

>Talk to some of your fellow awakened house cats and entreat with the wandering ghosts and spirits gathered here, being a good ruler of felinekind and the dead

>Tell the seven slaughtering swords to not pick any more fights, and make it clear to the other rogue and heretical cultivators that you're the only bloodshed allowed in this temple

>Find and Congratulate the tiger Youzaiwang for obtaining his human form, and ask him why he's playing nice with the shitty sand sages

>write in

>>6127352
>>Play with the Jade rabbits and give them and the gorilla good names while you wait for the first bracket of the tournament to come to an end.
>Summon Aodasheng and ask him if he's found any threat or danger you should know about, before you get complacent and lower your guard
>Find and Congratulate the tiger Youzaiwang for obtaining his human form, and ask him why he's playing nice with the shitty sand sages
First two are more important
third would be neat

>>6127352
>Summon Aodasheng and ask him if he's found any threat or danger you should know about, before you get complacent and lower your guard

>>6127352
>Bah, Daydream.
>Summon our bodyguard.

They can be introduced and briefed.

>>6127352
>Play with the Jade rabbits and give them and the gorilla good names while you wait for the first bracket of the tournament to come to an end.
>Find and Congratulate the tiger Youzaiwang for obtaining his human form, and ask him why he's playing nice with the shitty sand sages

>>6127352
>Play with the Jade rabbits and give them and the gorilla good names while you wait for the first bracket of the tournament to come to an end.
I'll reiterate my choices of names for the gorilla if this vote wins.

>Summon Aodasheng and ask him if he's found any threat or danger you should know about, before you get complacent and lower your guard
Best to know what is going on behind the scene before it causes one.

Wonder what dear sister and Ju are up to.

(I really want to thoughtlessly invite all the sect leaders for a soak in the pool just for the chaos of it... can you imagine? None of them would refuse as it's a very rare chance and none of them will like it.)

>>6127352
>Bah, you've got to keep up appearances, just day dream while the test of luck is carried out, and make sure to invite Xia Jinse-Shayu to join you this time, so your underling doesn't get to offended for being passed over for the rest of the contests

>>6128055
>>6127352
>Find and Congratulate the tiger Youzaiwang for obtaining his human form, and ask him why he's playing nice with the shitty sand sages
He's the 9th beast to attain human form right? That's a big deal

>>6127352
>>Relax in the Pool of primordial origin, and congratulate yourself for how well the tournament has gone so far (Invite anyone to join you?)

>>6127352
>Find and Congratulate the tiger Youzaiwang for obtaining his human form, and ask him why he's playing nice with the shitty sand sages

Bad news juniors. I have a pretty bad ache in my neck for whatever reason today, so the vote is going to remain open for a bit longer while I rest it and hope it goes away quickly.

But while you wait, now might be a good time to discuss names for the gorilla or tournament business

>>6128771
Have you tried hanging from the neck? Like a decompressor harness?

As for names, uh. How about "Peach-flowering Champion"? There's a tree with pink flowering bodies that is called a double peach flowering tree or something. I'm not very well vested in my knowledge of trees. And certainly not ones out of Asia that have pink to them. Aside from the Japanese ones. But that's a copout and obviously not Chinese enough. The Chinese love peaches though, right? They got immortal peach trees and shit. I just figure a name relating to trees, his coloration and his achievement would be nice, if a bit on the nose. Depending on the type of gorilla he is, he probably would nest in trees to sleep rather than making beds of brush on the ground. I don't know what brands of gorillas they have in China.

>>6128773
Good point there, apparently gorillas live only in Africa... (though if the kung fu panda movie can have them then why not here?)

>>6128771
Keep the area heated up with clothes or a heating blanket and relaxed.

Anyway I've already suggested "honored by his name" sometimes back.

While the coloration is very much eyecatching I can't quite figure out a way to sneak it in so I'll drop a few things I picked up:
A little search revealed to me that pink is also used as a noun to mean perfection and to be in top form.
Amaranthus is a plant that sometimes has pink flowers and is edible and eaten in china. The "dubius" variety instead becomes fully red and is also called chinese red spinach or "xiancai".

>>6128771
Hope you have some kind of heating pad or a good massager for your neck.
As for names, based on his somewhat meek personality that contrasts his raw strength, maybe something like Silent Mountain (寂靜山,
Jìjìng shān) or, if you want to focus on his achievements, Reborn through Glory(榮耀重生, Róngyào chóngshēng) could work. Though I'd like to hear how he became an awakened beast in the first place to maybe inform his name better.

Onto tournament business, should we just keep the event order we set for the Mortal tournament or mix up the order in some way?

>>6128861
Keep.it. the order is full of perfectly sequenced events.

We do need to do something for Xia.

File: 1668526144281201.png (2.91 MB, 1328x2651)

2.91 MB PNG

Rejoice, for I am healed! So I will end the vote and tally its results now before something else can impede me.

Play with the Jade rabbits and give them and the gorilla good names while you wait for the first bracket of the tournament to come to an end.:3

Summon Aodasheng and ask him if he's found any threat or danger you should know about, before you get complacent and lower your guard:4

Find and Congratulate the tiger Youzaiwang for obtaining his human form, and ask him why he's playing nice with the shitty sand sages:4

Bah, you've got to keep up appearances, just day dream while the test of luck is carried out, and make sure to invite Xia Jinse-Shayu to join you this time, so your underling doesn't get to offended for being passed over for the rest of the contests:2

Relax in the Pool of primordial origin, and congratulate yourself for how well the tournament has gone so far:1

So you will congratulate Youzaiwang and ask him why he's playing nice with the sages of the shifting sands, and summon Aodasheng and ask him if there's any danger a foot and his report on the five mystery golden core cultivators.

Update will arrive shortly

>>6128773
>>6128824
>>6128861
I am truly thankful for this advice, since it really did help out a ton. You're all lifesavers

It has come to your attention, or rather, you suddenly remember that Youzaiwang, the oft humbled and humiliated prince proud enough to still carry the name king around in your presence, had returned from his journey of self enlightenment and from the gossip you've picked up on with twitching ears, heroism. And had done what you thought impossible with a character like his, and made a friend. A thought you of course, never voiced, because Youzaiwang found new and exciting ways to be humbled, often by no fault of his own Heh-Heh. Still, he had more than earned back his tiger's pride, succeeding in becoming the signifigantly numbered Ninth Magical beast to attain human form. And before you forget about his triumphant return because something more interesting caught your eye and demanded your attention, it would do to congratulate and praise him properly and justly.

And you could turn the audience into a two purpose meeting. So, you enter the currently vacant and completely empty palace that is the shining gem of your second temple, making certain to sit with a suitably imposing and imperious air upon the stone throne that sprouts out of the floor itself, intertwined by fierce and dangerous looking thorned vines topped scarlet blooms that in the moonlight seem to glow with an internal, phantasmal light, even without the light of the moon and oncoming dawn filtering in through red dyed glass set in the windows that light the throne room placed in your garden. Picking at and idly sharpening one of your nails, one leg kicked over the other as you lay across the arms of the throne, gazing up at the curious arched roof and rafter of the grandiose chamber, you notice your disciples entrance only by the rustling of the red leaves of the trees that weave and wrap around the stone carved pillars holding up the top of the building.

"Ah, Youzaiwang!" You greet cheerfully, flipping around and shifting your legs as you hop to your feet, and behold his new face as he swaggers that prideful way you cats do, every pore oozing with confidence and poise as he approaches, dressed not in your sect robes, but the attire of that shitty sect, the sages of the shifting sands who you still needed to get around to faceslapping for the insulting letter they sent back to you when you deigned to reach out to them for assistance.

His skin was tanned, looking like fired red clay, his hair flowing like a silvery stream down his neck, bare shoulders and drappling across his similarly bare and scarred chest. He had a roguish, dangerous look to his eyes, with regal phoenix eyes and sharp, manly features. He was clearly proud of his new body, since he only covered its lower half with his borrowed clothes and was flexing the muscles of his admittedly somewhat impressive chest as he sauntered closer. He certainly looked like a warrior prince, and acted like he was a fighting king, and perhaps, to other girls, would be overflowing with raw animal charisma.
Cont

>>6129788

But for all his flaunting and peacocking, you weren't at all as entranced and drawn to the beauty of his human form. You were tempted to hurl him back out the door for attempting to seduce you like that, but knew you utter lack of interest would hurt him more than pavement.

"Were you selling your self on the street, dressed like that?" You mock, and his relaxed expression sharpens with pique, as the insult slaps him across the face

"Master" he says through gritted teeth

"I must say, that is a fine body you've attained, no finer than your beastial self of course, but such is true for all ascended beasts" You snicker, delighting in his offence as you prance up to him, arms held out to your side as you bob and duck around him, inspecting it thoroughly, like you would regalia on display as he lifts up his chest, still glowering at your snide comment "Curious that you look more like one of those desert nomads rather than a marshlander, wonder what that's about"

"Hrn" He grunts, face twitching as he tries to force a smug smile out, to act as if you off handed remark hadn't effected him or your lack of lust towards him, which judging from the blush on his cheeks, he was already used to human bitches throwing themselves at his feet "I don't know, but my transformation and revelation both occurred in the sands they travel, and I found a comaderie with the local sect'

"Ah, the shitty shifty sages" You say, and his shoulders arch, as a low growl escapes his throat. Oh? Youzaiwang being offended on another's behalf, and more upset about it than being called a prostitute and a slut to his face? Interesting~ "

"A member of the sages of the shifting sands assisted me in their trials, a true man of noble character" He said, eyes narrowed as he growled out the words "His name is Ribao"

"Well, I'm sure he only played a small role in your achievement, this triumph of yours" You say, patting his shoulder and watch his fierce expression melt as your praise touched his heart and made it swell with pride as he lifted his head and bare chest a little higher, a little prouder "But I appreciate what little help he gave to you attaining this fine human form, also, for loaning you a set of robes, even if you barely cared to wear them"

"Why master, I am just following your example! You often undress and transform without concern, and a lot of your outfits leave little the imagination" He teases, lips curled into a feline smirk, and you freeze, and turn on your heel, hand lifted to slap him and send him flying across the throne room until he adds, rubbing his chin "After all, denying the rest of the world sights as beautiful as our bodies, would be a true shame, a transgression even"

"Eh" you forgive with a shrug, lowering your hand as he nearly collapses as he sighs in relief "You have a point, though, your playing nice with those shitty shifty sages...I have to wonder, why?"
Cont

>>6129790

"Well, besides recognizing my own magnificence, they were quite cordial to me, and healed me of my wounds, and fair Ribao, dropped the enmity shared between our sects the moment he heard I was traveling through their lands to save taken children" He answers, brushing a lock of his silvery hair off of his chest, smiling still as you circled him still

"Well maybe he isn't so bad, if he could take his head out of the sand to help you save those kids" You grumble, twirling a lock of your crimson hair around your finger "And I'm guessing, they did you more kindness than simply patching up your cuts and lending you that ugly robe?"

Youzaiwang flashed a cocky and victorious grin.

"I've sown my seed in their fertile fields' He says with a wiggle of his eye brow. You groan and roll your eyes.

"As expected of a tiger" You dismissively wave away his pride at rutting some naive oasis dwelling fairies "Though, I guess it is only in your nature, you did awaken because you heard men praising the size of your harem"

"Hah! Fairies? They were as fierce as the tigresses I left behind in bed" He remarks, grin turning slimy and gross "But i overcame them with a technique that"

"If you even suggest of demonstrating to me, I will rip off your rod and feed it to my flowerbed" You say with venomous sweetness, cutting his chin with one of your nails "You're faaaaar beneath the requirements I'm looking for in a mate, boy"

"Tch, it was worth a shot, your highness" He chuckles, to hide the tremors of fear in his hands "If I was serious, I'd probably have to kill Yinying to earn the right to court you anyways, and I like the man too much, as simpering as he can be in your presence at times"

"Hm? Why'd you have to do that?" You ask as you find your way back to your throne and lay back over it, seeing how Youzaiwang's eyes follow your long legs as you kick one in the air before resting it over the other as you let your head and hair hang over the other arm of your throne. He just smiles and represses a laugh

"So, I know, being the ninth beast to attain a human form is a quite the milestone, but, I wonder, why did you summon me to this chamber? I'd have enjoyed receiving your rare praise in public, and showing off my new mates and introducing you to my new buddy, Ribao, instead of....meeting you in this honestly rather creepy throne room" He asks as he walks up and moves to stand beside your throne, stopping midstep to await your permission, which you give him with a nod

"Because you are the ninth beast to achieve that feat, and have tried so hard for so long to do it, that I thought rewarding you my praise and congratulations at the foot of my throne was the best, instead of granting you my approval in front of the faceless masses. Also, I don't care about who you're sleeping with, or your out of sect friend" You answer bluntly, looking up at him as he chews on your words thoughtfully, grinding his teeth
Cont

>>6129791

"You like Qinxin, Ping's friend" He says grouchily

"He isn't a shitty shifty sage, and is a rare orthodox cultivator with his head outside of his own asshole" You answer with a titter

"You like Xia, Lian and Su" He sneers

"They're also of that rare breed of cultivator, born with that rare quality of having common sense and a reasonable attitude" You snicker back, pushing yourself to sit up right "And besides wanting to give your applause with suitable pomp and regality, I figured there'd be no harm in you sitting in on my next audience. And if someone comes snooping, let them find me speaking with one of Chuan's own boogeymen and see him in my service and under my heel, in the perfect location for it! That's why I called you here to praise you, isn't the atmosphere perfect for such a meeting? A throne room lit with blood red moonlight, empty except for its empress and her servants?"

He nodded slowly, finally understanding, while you wondered why the mental image of Ao wearing a collar and you holding a leash came to mind as you said that.

"That would be suitably dramatic, and make any skittering mouse think they're seeing a demon queen on the rise, how funny" He laughs before yowling and, like a kitten sprinting behind your throne as Aodasheng makes his terrifying entrance, his black aura filling the chamber and drowning it in his always present malevolence

"Huan, you have need of me?" Ao asks casually, swaggering up to your throne, lips curling into a playful smile as he sets his eyes on the cowering Youzaiwang, his thin mustache lifting as his red and black eyes squint with the delight of, funnily enough, a cat playing with a torturing a mouse

"Oh don't mind him, I was just congratulating him, come closer my friend" You happily reply, beckoning him to come closer, which he does by vanishing and appearing again with a ghastly, ghostly wail, his ethereal image flickering as he kneels before you "Have you finished with the spying I asked you to do, of our five unusual guests?"

"I have, and I am certain now, they aren't blessed by the gods or descended by them. See, the presence of heavenly spiritual energy, true celestial Qi, which, despite the turn of phrase of the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, is nearly unheard of outside of the nine heavens' He begins, as Youzaiwang stares at him, cowed just by the air around the corpse king "Except for rare cases, such as direct descendants of earthly deities, and those on the road to ascended to immortality. But the Qi present within them is too faint and wispy for them to be either, and much too pure and clear for them to have found a secret realm or treasure containing some lingering celestial Qi"

"So" You ask, to hurry him along, rolling your wrist "Does that mean what I think it does"
Cont

>>6129792

"Yes. Astute as ever, Lady Huan" He says with a truly murderous and manic look smirk "The Qi has the appearance of spiritual energy, essence that was torn and ripped out suddenly and violently. I know well what such an injury looks like, I'd inflicted it on my enemies countless times before, you see. Very tell tale mark, the sign of power and in this case, divinity stolen, sealed away. They were once gods, as you suspected, fallen from grace. How delightful, isn't it? We could kill gods and spit in the eyes of the nine heavens. That is, if you care to or give me the command, My master"

Youzaiwang stares wordlessly at you, jaw dropped open and eyes wide with barely concealed terror, both at Ao's overwhelming pressure, and what he just heard him say.

"How would you rate the threat they pose to us, to me?" You question, flicking your sleeve as you lean back in your throne "And have you found any other dangers?"

"Besides the reincarnate demon, myself and my underlings? None worthy of your concern, princess" He answers excitedly "But, I think those gods will only take the chance to take your head if you give to them, they seem out of depth, frantic, and just going where the winds blow them, or in this case, doing whatever the loudest of them at any given moment says they should do. Which is, why they're here"

You arch an eyebrow

"And how do you know that?" You ask. He shrugs

"Possessed a passing cultivator, used their body to ask. Don't worry, they didn't die, they will however be greatly ill, as I was careful to only possess them briefly, so as not to destroy their health with my deathly yin Qi" He answers giddily, relishing in the audacity of his actions "They told me, they want to make a name for themselves, and...oh this is too funny, they didn't realize YOU were hosting the tournament until your grand entrance"

"That's hilarious" You cackle

"I know right! I'm glad one thing hasn't changed in the world, that being the foolishness of gods" Ao laughs with you "But, if this changes, and some hidden threat emerges, I will deal with it personally, so you do not have to exert any energy in handling it, my friend"

"Is that the devil?" Youzaiwang asks suddenly, and you giggle, covering your mouth as you shake your head.

But before you can explain, or Ao can start raving about himself and trying to frighten the poor tiger to death, Jionghuagege flutters in.


Or rather the flower petal puppet she left behind, which is her exact copy, does, since she was worried her daughters would be lonely without their mother when she left with Tie Tie, the Fa twins, Qiang, Huili, Siwang, Baifenchi and your mother to investigate the beast stampede. The not Jionghuagege, who fooled everyone who didn't know she was gone, flutters over to you, as Ao watches her flight with a scholar's fascination.
Cont

>>6129793

"Huaaaaaaan!" She cries out loudly "Bad news! We...Uh, the real me I mean, and the rest, were helping defend the furthermost fortress in the...whatever province just north of Chuan, since, that's what we've been doing, helping the sects their push back against the beast stampede and"

"Any casualties?" Ao asks politely and completely out of turn and too calmly for what Jiong's puppet is telling you

"N...no we're all still alive, but that could change" Jiong Jiong says frantically, the illusion spell over her puppet starting to fail "B...because, Granny Monu and Tie-Tie kind of did too good of a job repelling the latest attack and well

She smiles painedly, as you can hear the real Jionghuagege taking a deep breath many leagues away

"Well, they pushed it back, Siwang managed to convince the army we somehow started leading that Tie Tie's soldiers that she smuggled underground and Bai-Bai's literal army of corpses, were not of greater concern than the stampede that kept increasing that was slamming against the fort, and well, everyone got caught up in the excitement, our disguises were intact. Then Monu started....well" She continues breathlessly

"Showboating?" you ask

She nods

"And a very scary warrior in a jade mask showed up" She says, as Ao's smile turns into a grin too large for his face, literally, as it contorts and stretches grossly as sometimes happens to deranged ghosts like him "I think they heard her boasting through the beasts, and well, He's said he isn't letting anyone leave the fortress alive, Monu is confident we can win buuuut"

"You're worried, because unlike Tie-Tie, you have more than muscle in that head of yours?" You ask and once again she demurely nods "And why is my mother certain she can beat them?"

"She said something about them being a new replacement for someone a friend of her's murdered?" She says and you nod, knowing she's talking about the ogress "And that's when they actually started attacking the fortress instead of yelling accusations at Monu and the rest of us of being demons and devil worshipers, which, just confused the nice people we were fighting alongside"

"Doesn't really make sense, does it, accusing one of being of demonic nature, but also a worshiper of demons?" Ao muses as you crack and roll your roll your knuckles, deep in thought and trying to keep the worry and panic you feel from showing on your face.

"Big sis?" Jionghuagege asks through her puppet "Should...what should we do? You always know what to do, but I'm really scared right now"

Your eyes flick over to Aodasheng, who looks like he's about to explode from just the thought of flying out to fight whoever is attacking your mother, little sisters and other students

"Hmm" you sigh through your nose, heart pounding and racing faster and faster the longer you think about it, thoughts spiraling as you try and fail not to worry more and more about what you've just been told.
Cont

>>6129794

What do you do, Huanliuxue?

>Let Ao off of his leash and tell him to kill that Ling bastard before he can cut a hair from your mother's head

>Drop everything and fly to join the fight, unable to stop yourself from doing so out of concern and worry for your disciples

>Trust Monu to be able to win, and tell Jionghuagege just to keep her head down while she fights

>Grab Xia Jinse-Shayu and tell him he has a chance to earn your favor in a big way....

>Write in

>>6129795
>Grab Xia and tell him that he has a shot to earn our favour in a big way.
>Further clarified; Any big request he wants we will satisfy it if we can.

Explain that his purpose is to kill the Ling bastard and keep him from killing our disciples. "But the reason we send you is because we want you to sell the illusion of a united Chuan to the survivors of the beast wave, as well as clear up that the Chuan are not infact overrun with heretics And you are both charismatic and cunning enough to let them propagate the news across the Ling region.

Killing the ling bastard is very preferable to not. If he escapes you might be drawn into our war against the main clan, so disguise yourself until he is dead. Or don't, either is fine to me."

See my plan?

>>6129817
Examples of big favours include; a large shipment of underworld or rare plants, Inducting any of his juniors that meet our criteria into our blood school, us personally going somewhere to pay back a similar service, alchemy assistance, teaching a guest session at his sect, ect ect.

Touching stuff in our cultivation chamber is a no.

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70 KB JPG

>>6129792
>while you wondered why the mental image of Ao wearing a collar and you holding a leash came to mind as you said that.
Ao would either love or hate the idea, there is no inbetween. Goodness. Huan. Pls.

>>6129795
Oof this is a tough one. I'd really like to keep Ao in our back pocket since no one outside of our sect truly knows he's who he is and free of his prison. I'd love to just go up there, too, but we'd lose a ton of face just vanishing before the tournament ends. I also want to trust Monu, but the more you can stack a deck in your favor the better. And finally, asking Xia to go do it means basically asking him to possibly lose out on prominent recruits from the tournament and giving him a vague promise of being nice to him later, effectively a favor.

Damn.

>Grab Xia Jinse-Shayu and tell him he has a chance to earn your favor in a big way....
The lesser of evils. He'll probably only ask for something stupid anyway. Like a date with Monu. I'd really rather not slight all of the masters we invited here otherwise I'd vote to go ourselves.

>>6129795
>Grab Xia Jinse-Shayu and tell him he has a chance to earn your favor in a big way....

>>6129794
Write-in
>Confront the fallen gods with Ao and ask them if they know the true history. Or were they fed false information? Also if the bow guy is there use him as a seat for making your trip to heaven troublesome. Other then that do tell them true history.

>They can join the tourney if they don't cause trouble. We don't care or we'll use them as foot stools and make them do hard labor like farming. Gasp.

>After dealing with the most troublesome party, send Ao to help out the mother. If they are having trouble, then show yourself if they got it handled. Hide. Provide a security blanket for anyone about to die, then return with any needed information.

>If he's a golden core capture him we can use the ritual to bring back Ao alive.

>>6129795
>Grab Xia Jinse-Shayu and tell him he has a chance to earn your favor in a big way....
I would give him a few booster pills for good measure though. You can never go wrong with those.
Something for his stamina so he can run there and back as quick as possible, plus maybe another boost at random.

>>6129913
I'll support cowing the fallen gods with Ao, keeps him entertained and also we get to bully them too.
(I wonder if a fallen god is good enough for the red dust ritual and resurrect Ao...)

>>6129795
>Grab Xia Jinse-Shayu and tell him he has a chance to earn your favor in a big way....

Leave Ao here for fallen god and reincarnated demon bullshit. Sending a cultivator to help monu will help them look more legit.
We need to be here, and I rather not confront the gods because...
This is a tournament, and I think (if they place) they can join our sect :)
Yeah we could kill em and all, but how much of a bigger flex would it be if we got some to change sides. They will experience the tournament, find everything contrary to their beliefs, see our behavior and uncompromising beliefs in contrast to theirs despite us knowing what they are.
Humans and beasts, demons and gods, ghosts and heretics, all are welcome at our festival of tournaments.

>>6129795
>>Grab Xia Jinse-Shayu and tell him he has a chance to earn your favor in a big way....
Who is Xia again?

>>6130145
Fish fucker

>>6129795
>Grab Xia Jinse-Shayu and tell him he has a chance to earn your favor in a big way....
Also supporting sliding him some drugs to give him a boost just in case

>>6129795
>>Grab Xia Jinse-Shayu and tell him he has a chance to earn your favor in a big way....

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Ending the vote, tallying its result now.

Grab Xia and tell him that he has a shot to earn our favour in a big way.:8
-Further clarified; Any big request he wants we will satisfy it if we can.:2
-Give him a boost with some of your personal pills: 2

Confront the fallen gods write in:2

So its a landslide for sending Master Golden Shark of the Xia clan to go kick in some Ling Teeth and take the target off Monu and the rests' backs

Update will arrive shortly

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>>6131586
>This rope is a true treasure, one that would take a century to replace, capable of sealing away all but the most powerful of masters
>huan:

For all that your heart roars for you to rise from your throne and fly off like a beam of bleeding moonlight to rip and tear apart the dog who dares to threaten not just your treasured students but your own beloved and much honored mother, that overwhelming incredible instinct is balmed and abated by your always healthy sense of caution. Only the sects in the Chuan kingdom know you're no demon and accept beasts as fellow daoist and brother cultivators, and your particular brand of heretical cultivation certainly appears demonic at a glance even by the most informed of eyes. Now, you wouldn't care about the whining and accusations of worms, but the exact circumstances of this potentially lethal predicament complicates things to the point you fear if you arrive on scene to sort out the mess and play the hero, things will just get worse for everyone involved. Especially you and your sect.

The fresh faced elder of the guardians of celestial fire sect, would doubtlessly cry and howl and draw the full brunt of his fellow conspirators wrath upon you, and as confident as you are that your Ling killing skills remain sharp especially because the practice you got in brutalizing golden locks not too long ago, you wouldn't even bet on yourself if every elemental master of the thrice damned ling clan dogpiled you, or worse, their patriarch Ling Yongzheng himself showed up personally to snuff you out. You wouldn't be able to protect your students and mother at the very least, which is unacceptable, and despite how friendly the not so orthodox sects of chuan have been acting around you lately, anyone who wasn't at that trial and a fair number of the now sectless cultivators in Chuan still denounce you as a maneating demon. And if it came down to it, the sects of the other provinces, even if they'd grown fond of your disciples, would surely choose their fellow human over a "Mangy" beast. Which means, by arriving in person, in all your ghostly, bloody, moonlit glory, you'd be kickstarting another "Bully poor innocent Huan" war that'd draw in the cultivators from at least three former imperial provinces.

It'd be suicidal, really, even if it'd be damn satisfying to squash a ling elder and end the false stampede to prove yourself as the true monarch of beasts. And it'd just be insane to send Aodasheng in your stead. Everyone, even the most self righteous and willfully blind of orthodox curs, knows what a calamity level ghost looks like and would know the forgotten king if he showed his face. It'd be replacing one disaster with another, since Ao has admitted to you he really wants to test his spear against the weaklings of the modern era to separate the rise from the chaff and the lions from the dog to "Observe just how far the art has degenerated over the centuries"

And that makes the two extreme powerhouses of the palace of natural laws off limits, even if both you and Ao want to fly off on the rescue mission for very different reasons
Cont

>>6131635

'But, there is another pretty strong cultivator you can boss and order around' you remind yourself as you tent your fingers and lean back in your thrown, frustrated snarl turning to a delight grin as you find the answer to the gut twisting problem in front of you, as if it were a sun rising over the sea. Relaxing immediately, the frantic puppet Jionghuagege stiffs as you hear the real her yelp through it and that is all it takes to spur you on and give your orders as quickly as possible

"Summon to me my servant, Lord Xia" You bark, eyes fierce as you slam a fist on the arm of your throne "Tell him to don his armor and sharpen his trident, he'll be given a chance to prove his worth and earn my favor in the chaos of battle, and tell him, tell him this exactly, do not delay or dally or it will be me whose anger he'll have to confront"

The swiftness of which your subordinate sect head appears to you, outside the halls of the main temple of your garden, is astonishing, even if he is your willing underling. That his huge, whale tossing wife, accompanies him, along with several of his sons, including red shark, also surprise you. But knowing Jinse-Shayu's womanizing habits and disloyal tendencies, his lawful wife attending and escorting him when the most beautiful maiden of all beneath the heavens summoned him to her suddenly is understandable. And the sons? Well, you did say this was a chance to earn your favor, and Xia has shown just how much he is willing to do to impress you as the new liege of his clan and sect.

"Impressive" You do not lie, smiling kindly as you observe the almost professional formation of Xia's disciple, comparing it to the regiments of daughters The geges commands and finding it not entirely a shambles compared to the march of the ants and bees, but that makes sense, since they did fight back against the winter blossoming sect, so these have to be battle hardened veterans! "I only asked for you, Jinse-Shayu, but you brought seemingly every worthwhile of your sect attending the tournament"

"You commanded sounded urgent, Lady Huanliuxue" He answers back from behind a steel mask adorned with sharks teeth gilded with a metal that looks like gold but is far too rich with Qi to be just gold "And you ordered me to prepare for battle, and Laohue taught me through pain and frostbite that one warrior is not enough to win a battle waged between us cultivators"

"Oh-ho-ho, so you to have come to possess that rare gem of wisdom?" You sneer delightedly, as you hope up to him, his wife Yanyu tightens the chains wrapped around her arms webbed white with scars and shark bites "And brought nearly the whole clan"
Cont

>>6131636

"We are honored to serve her highness" Xia respectfully answers, head tipping in a subtle bow "And to repay the trust you showed in allowing us to butcher that rare monster you hunted. Others might fear we'd steal its internal treasures yourself, but not the ever beneficent Huanliuexue! Hearing how worried my honored liege was, how could I not gather all of the strength in my sect present to answer her call of distress"

"Not distressed" You snap curtly, even though that is a lie "But I appreciate the sentiment none the less, but only those of you who can leap the span of the Chuan Kingdom in one bound, are needed"

"It is that urgent a duty?" Jinse Shayu asks, eyes narrowing, with his shark toothed mask making him look supremely confident even if you can't see his true expression

"My husband and I, and our eldest sons and veteran disciples can perform the feat, through flight or wave surfing" Yanyu answers almost distractedly, as she, bows and acts the role of the demure and slight princess despite...well being large and muscled enough to toss a whale clear over the horizon. How Jinse-Shayu routinely cheats on a woman as frightful and strong armed as her and still lives to walk around and continue picking flowers and trampling grass, is the most amazing thing about your underling.

"Good, the rest will be given precendence in the games to come" You reply, thankfulness and gratitude warming your words as you, with all courtly ettiquette, cup your fist and bow as deeply as your pride will allow "The mission I entrust to you, is to fly off and do battle with an elder of the Ling clan, to reinforce and rescue the disciples I sent to investigate the beast wave and protect them from Ling aggression and rabid beasts alike. They're fighting both alongside sects unknown to me"

"And me, I don't go so far from the sea to wander the other provinces, Chuan Women are of the fairest jade, after all" Jinse-Shayu answers cheerfully "And....if it is just one elder, a golden core, no doubt, or perhaps a late stage core formation expert, if fortune favors me, I will only need myself to fulfill this duty and save your treasured disciples, my lady"

"I am going. I've seen this one's mother. and know she isn't around. Logically, she was sent over the border, as befits her role as grand elder of the palace of natural laws" Yanyu says sternly "And we will take all of our available, flight capable disciples, for insurance"

"Smart woman" You praise, clapping as high as you can on her, mentally comparing her to the kindly demon hunter Shengzhanshi and trying to figure out which one between them is taller "My mother makes sport hunting men like Xia"

"I'd hope she'd have better taste than that" She replies with a whisper of vitrol beneath her humorous words, eyes glaring at her womanizing husband
Cont

>>6131639

"Well, I hope he isn't her type, but the idea of asking her what she likes in men and women terrifies me more than any tomb scouring ghoul or howling phantom" you joke back with a cackle "Don't flirt with my mother, Master Xia"

"I am not so prone to courting death to make light of a master poisoner who overcame the shattering of her meridians, this empty head of mine has some sense" He answers back, completely shameless as he rolls his shoulders, his golden hair tied into a loose, messy horse tail bun "But I shall be away, and will return swiftly, with your enemies head in hand and the wellbeing of your mother and students assured"

"After he indulges in the gratitude of the locals, of course. I assume, you are not going, so as to hide your true power and appearance for awhile longer, and present a more obviously unified Chuan to the world?" Yanyu asks as her husband starts grabbing cultivators out of the formation and barking orders to them. You blink rapidly, stunned by the keenness of her observations like it was a slap to your face

"How aren't you the sect head of the summer sea dawn" You purr back "Those are my exact thoughts, more or less. Impressive that you could see clearly into a mind as deep as mine"

She just smiles softly and bows her head, accepting the compliment

"Perhaps it is because I've combed the depths of the sea, I can perceive deeper into what others may see as murky and incomprehensible" She answers with a slightly more delighted smile "And thank you, for not protesting and allowing me to accompany my husband"

"He needs an escort if he's to be near my mother" You sneer, and she agrees with a nod before she, slouched, stalks after her disloyal husband as they select two other cultivators from all that had been gathered there, and before he can fly off, you shout at him down the formation "And I'll be sure to reward you for this and show you the depth of my appreciation, Jinse! Just"

You words catch and tangle your tongue, as your head gets all confused

"Makes sure Jionghuagege, Monu, and the rest are alright, and calm my little sister down, if she's still frightened" You manage to blurt out, after untangling the threads of your emotions and thought. You can see the smile in the eyes of the patriarch and matriarch of the Xia clan, as the former says his farewells with a casual two finger salute

They vanish into the pink hued dawn sky with passing current of sea air, leaving you standing before the rest of the cultivators he had rallied to your command. They're still in formation, wondering what to do now that they're left behind while you try not to think about that verbal stumble you made just a second ago and how it went against your regal image. But no reason for you to worry about reputation when lives are on the line, especially because your underlings won't gossip about your brief loss of composure if they know what's good for them.
Cont

>>6131641

What do you do now, Huanliuxue?

>Hurry to catch the last few gambles of the luck trial and see who wins.

>Ask Red shark why his mother tolerates his father's complete lack of loyalty?

>Approach the fallen five martial gods and have a conversation with them

>Play with the moon hares and come up with names for them and the gorilla, now that he and the other pre-Qi condensation tournament winners are soon to be officially welcomed into your sect

>See if you couldn't give Xia a bit more back up by asking a favor of one of the other sect masters present...

>Start preparing the next bracket of the tournament beyond the Pre Qi Condensation stage contests (Which will be...?)

>Calm your heart by meditating in the hot springs of your garden

>Write in

>>6131594
lol

>>6131642
>>Hurry to catch the last few gambles of the luck trial and see who wins.
Come on, Ho!

>>6131642
>Catch the last gamble.
>Bring Red shark with us, to ask why his mother puts up with her husband. And why is she not the official sect head?
I imagine it's something to do with Jinse just being THAT much a wily fucker he can sink an emotional hook deep into her dao heart. Probably an open romantic too, possibly with Yanyu also using him as cover to focus on cultivation without needing to do official sect head crap. He's not an idiot, and clearly a capable diplomat and fighter, his wife just being competent as well doesn't mean she is automatically more suited. A true enigma.

>Give orders to prepare for the Foundation establishment bracket.

I think FE makes for a good bracket next. Keep the order of proceedings so we don't have to spend time voting on it.

>>6131642
>Ask Red shark why his mother tolerates his father's complete lack of loyalty?

>>6131642
>Hurry to catch the last few gambles of the luck trial and see who wins.

>>6131642
>Catch the last gamble.
>Bring Red shark with us, to ask why his mother puts up with her husband. And why is she not the official sect head?

>>6131642
>Hurry to catch the last few gambles of the luck trial and see who wins.
>Ask Red shark why his mother tolerates his father's complete lack of loyalty?

>>6131642
>>Hurry to catch the last few gambles of the luck trial and see who wins.

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>>6131642
Does Jinse-Shayu's wife look anything like picrelated?

>>6131642
>Hurry to catch the last few gambles of the luck trial and see who wins.
>Ask Red shark why his mother tolerates his father's complete lack of loyalty?
>>6132851
I remember their being a pretty good description of her when we visited to hunt the big fish, but Suptg being down and archivemoe being nigh unusable prevents me from checking.

>>6131642
>Bring Red shark with us, to ask why his mother puts up with her husband. And why is she not the official sect head?

>>6132851
That's a woman?!

>>6132923
Oh it is down again.

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Forgive me for my brief absence, Juniors. I was occupied drinking wine and watching horror movies yesterday, spent most of this day hung over, and the day before halloween gathering the necessary spirits to enjoy while watching Hocus Pocus.

Anyways, Ending and tallying the vote now.

Hurry to catch the last few gambles of the luck trial and see who wins.: 7

Bring Red shark with us, to ask why his mother puts up with her husband. And why is she not the official sect head?:6

Give orders to prepare for the Foundation establishment bracket:1

So You will hurry to catch the last few gambles, having Red Shark come along to observe as well and ask him why his mother puts up with his father and isn't the sect head instead.

Update will arrive shortly

>>6132851
The expression certainly fits!

>>6133733
>Hocus Pocus.
Bretty based taste, sect-head.

Come to think of it, these three audiences didn't take as long to outlast the luck contest leg of the mortal portion of the tournament. If you hurried you could probably catch the actually exciting last few gambles, when the air is thick with excitement and those without the natural luck or cunning to keep enough seals to stay in the game have dropped out and culled from the games. Now that actually sounds like it might be a little entertaining, enough to stave off boredom at least. But as you move to glide out of the innermost sanctum of the palace in your gardens, past the still at attention summer sea dawn disciples, you notice that, among their number, someone you'd thought had been taken along with Lord and Lady Xia in their heroic flight was left behind. Red Shark, the only not bastard son of Jinse-Shayu that you're acquainted with and know to exist. He boggles and straightens his back until its as stiff as an iron rod when your eyes meet his and your attention becomes fixed on him.

"What are you still doing here?" you rather inelegantly question, drawling like a thug as you swoosh over to him, flicking your sleeve at his face and leveling two of your claw cut nails at his eyes "I'd have though your papa would've leapt at the chance to give a share of the glory to you, Red Shark"

He smiled, like his and his father's name sake, though not in a threatening way, more of the human way of smiling to show they're harmless rather than asking for a fight like most every other beast does. What an unfortunate smile for a handsome young man.

"It is sect policy. When the current head leaves on a mission or is expected to meet danger on the road, the heir apparent is left behind, to ensure hierarchy and bloodline succession" He answers swiftly AND informatively, taking a step back before bowing his head as he answers and satiates your curiosity before it can grow ravenous. The memory of the taste of the sea monster whose life force you devoured rushes to fill your mouth and coat your tongue all the way down your throat.

"That's good survival instinct, and considering your rivalry with your neighbors, I can imagine that policy has a good reason for sticking around through centuries of peace" You say, blessing him with a smile as he nods

"The mangy dogs are the reason for it, if you'd believe my grandfather" He answers quite cordially and at that moment, seeing his good temperament and deciding he'd be good company to watch a few games of dice with, you decide to invite him and toss a scrap of face to your underling sect by having one of their number sit beside you in the final stretch of the mortals only bracket of your tournament.

"Hmm, perhaps" You say with a smile as you grab him by the shoulder, and he stiffens, a hint of blush flushing across his cheeks as you lean closer and smile ever so sweetly at him "But, it doesn't matter if its true or not, why don't you join me to watch a few games of dice?"
Cont

>>6133768

"The luck contest?" He asks, eyes opening fully as he is caught unprepared by your offer "Why, I'd be honored. I imagine I am standing in place of my father"

"Does it matter? You're the highest ranked of your sect still trampling through my garden right now, aren't you? And there is more I have to ask you personally" You chirp cheerily as you lead him away, as he awkwardly tries to match your bouncing pace

"And what is it, if I may ask?" he asks as you follow the sounds of cheers, jeers and cries of despair to the gambling hall being hosted in one of the larger buildings, which will be a shared dining space once your gardens are filled to the brim with the best and brightest students you can find and add to the membership of the palace of natural laws

"Well, the two that come to mind" you say quietly, tilting your head in his direction, even if its unlikely your conversation will be overheard by anyone watch the games of chance "First, is why does your mother, clearly willful woman who could bend her mate..er, husband into a knot, tolerate your father's infidelity"

He winces, cringing and clutching his brow, looking to be in such pain as if his blood had started to flow in reverse. You observe with fascination, sensing through the pulse of his shoulder that his heart is actually affected by the mental attack of you asking of his parents relationship and his papa's love life. Hiding a curious smile, you wait his answer, just outside of the dining hall turned gambler's den

"My father....shares his lusts generously, but is much more...selective in spreading his love. My mother knows this, and they get along well, you saw how they acted after the display they put on during your last official visit to the port we control" He says slowly, slurring and practically vomiting out the words as you feel gooseflesh spread across his shivering shoulder, a shiver you then share as you recall vividly how they showed their passion in the sea, uncaring they had a crowd to watch their...coupling. And people still have trouble accepting there is no difference between mankind and all the other beasts of the world, Heh.

"And that works out?" You ask, not buying his claim

"They're happily married, and when he gets a little too close to other women or spreads his lusts a little too far, Mother beats him senseless. She is the stronger between the two of them, though, neither of them like that being widely known. Not that its a well kept secret, you've seen my mother more than once" He continues on quickly, some color returning to his face as you pout, still not understanding several things and trying very hard to not let it show on your face.

"I see, I see. I knew his bastard Xiaosi appearing and entering your sect had your father whipped" you say, though you don't get it at all
Cont

>>6133770

"What happened when that...creature, presented himself, would've been called attempted murder elsewhere, but Xia are hard to drown. It was harsher punishment than usual, because father actually welcomed the bastard with open arms. And now he acts more beast than....not that being more beastly natured is in anyway a bad thing" Red shark begins, before hurriedly covering his ass, thinking he might've offended you

"He smells and rarely bathes. We cats are fastidious creatures" You explain, tipping over your hand "But if your mother is stronger than him, beats and pushes him around, and has a better head on her shoulders"

"Why isn't she the sect head? Well, Physically, she's stronger, and she'll usually win any time they spar, but my father is much more skill-full in his technique and with his spear or trident. She is a wave, he is a riptide, is how they both describe themselves. And he has more affinity with our sect's cultivation methods, laws and techniques and" He lists off reason after reason

"And he was the son of the previous head?" You push between one reason and the next, flicking your eyes in his direction as he winces and clenches his teeth

"Yes" He answers "Besides, Mother is surprisingly domestic, and father took to his role as the seat of the summer sea dawn temple like a fish to a stream. They're both where they want to be, and take it from their own son, my father finds creative solutions while my mother looks for the direct ones"

"And she has just as much authority over the sect without any of the responsibilities of actually holding the office and title of grandmaster" You titter

"You know my mother so well, after speaking to her, what, once?" Red shark laughs "Where one is lacking, the other makes up for it. It works, just their marriage"

"Somehow" You mutter, knowing red shark would hear it as he moves to open the door for you. But he leaps back when instead, you step forward, and plant your foot on the door, only not kicking it off the wall because you built it and know its literally rooted and connected to the wall, but still, blood and sap trickled from its edge as you enter the gambling hall boisterously.

Silence falls as Red shark picks him off from the ground, brushing off dust from his bare chest, cursing under his breath as he falls in behind you as you saunter through the parting crowd as you approach the last table, where four gamblers, your lucky number, are gathered around.

They're sweating. Except for Ho, who seems bored, frowning as he leans against the table. Their is a peasant who looks to have gone bandit, some noble who may be of the Chuan family, and Jia Li. The Bandit looking fellow is the one sweating the most, and seeing how his eyes keep shooting your way, you can guess why. He's a dirty cheat, you can tell just from a glance, such is the sharpness of your feline intuition, Heh-Heh.
Cont

>>6133771

The other three had to have gotten to this point legitimately. And you can catch a few familiar face in the crowd, clutching a few of the special colored seals you threw into the mix for fun, including some of the pack of tacticians and herd of scholars who entered your sect's service but not its roster. Seems they had a bit of excess luck.

Kicking a chair out from an observer who was too slow or dumbstruck by seeing you up close to relinquish it to you, you sit down, hearing mutters from some of the looser lipped and lacking of wits of the crowd that they didn't think you'd make an appearance. None of the cultivators watching are dull-witted enough to say a thing about your absence or your sudden arrival.

No one says a thing as Red shark is given a seat and slouches in it in the same confident way his dad sits when he isn't talking to you directly, legs spread apart and shoulders slack, like a drunk dropped onto the ground.

"Well?" You scoff, seeing that the game had paused mid dice roll "Carry on!"

They do, and much more politely without any of the drunken commotion or uncouth behavior you'd heard from even a few rings of your garden away.

The game of dice resumes, in silence except for the sound of the dice shaking in the cup and hitting the table after being thrown out. The risks the four take can't really be called as such. The wagers they place conservative and overly cautious. Except for Ho, who seems to be in higher spirits and happy to see you again as he seemingly without counting, pushes pile of his mound of seals forward without much or probably any thought. You doubt much goes on behind his naive looking eyes.

The bandit looking fellow is the first to loose, after losing his cool and being unable to sell a bluff that see his winnings taken by Jia Li. The noble then falls out, since he bets everything and asks for you, instead of an actual god of gamblers, to bless his dice.

He gets nearly the worst roll possible. And then its between Jia Li and Ho, and there two way game is actually rather intense, with the two of them exchanging seals and rolling dice quicker than any street urchin or drunk could, even career dice rollers would have difficulty matching the blistering pace of wagers place and dice rolled that they set.

And, they nearly continue you after its decided, with a loud ringing gong.

You have to smack a hand on the table to get them out of their gambling trance.

"Ho" You say quietly, tipping your head in the direction of his winnings "I've counted both of your seals, unless someone in the crowd hid a pile of their own, you've won by one. Exactly one seal"

Jia Li, good natured in defeat and almost jollily, throws his head back and slaps his forehead as he laughs, breaking the tension as all the heads turn to the chicken farmer who'd won the hearts and surprised even cultivators with his range of talents and skills
Cont

>>6133772

"Huh?" He dumbly grunts, looking around rapidly, looking almost like he lost and was watching out for loan collectors armed with iron rods and bad tempers

"DAMMIT!" A voice you recognize as the usually calm and polite old master of the eight heavenly gates sect roars, and you're pretty sure you hear your supposed brother Xue Long growl through his teeth, and see several elders and even sect heads besides those two grimace or straight up palm their faces in despair.

Seems all of them were aiming to take Ho home with them.

You sneer, delighted in having stolen him away from all of their crummy temples and schools.

"I won?" He asks again, in his yokel's dialect, blinking as he jabs both of his hands at himself

You nod.

And then he faints, scattering his seals everywhere as you, whip your hair with a flick of your wrist and roll of your neck, and take your leaving of your own establishment, as Red shark laughs and claps his hands, clearly having more fun watching others gamble than you did.

And you nearly run into someone who reeks of blood and death outside

"Ah, Grand heretic!" The creep wearing a skull for a mask and ragged hooded cloak, with a knife that looks cursed and is seething with malevolent Qi and grudges in his hand, greets politely

"Seven slaughtering swords?" You huff through your nose, looking down it at him as he nods

"Seeking to reclaim the blade taken from the corpse of my brethren" He purrs back, flicking his tongue over the yellowed teeth of his mask

Ah an idiot! A corpse is standing in front of you! And it seems that Feiqing's new friend still has troublesome pests to deal with after killing one to warn the rest.

Double Vote!

What is the next bracket of the tournament

>Magical beast only

>Qi Condensation

>Foundation establishment

>Core formation

>Golden Core

And what do you do while you wait for it to begin, Huanliuxue?

>Spend sometime with one or more of your disciples or a particular quest (Who and what do you do)

>Explore the groves and orchards of your garden and maybe bring along some back up in case the plants get bitey

>Against your better judgement, try to save the Seven slaughtering sword member from himself (Unlocked via good karma) (Good karma)

>Take a little walk through hell and visit some of your friends/ toadies down there

>Decide to humor Yinying and meet the "Honor guard" he's made for you out of Chuan's awakened house cat population

>Write in

>>6133758
The second one isn't good. For reasons I think Huan would agree with me with, since they try to redeem the child killing witches and make them out to be victims

Fuck that. And fuck that movie. First one is a classic though.

>>6133773
>Fuck that. And fuck that movie. First one is a classic though.
There are others beside the original? Perish the thought. There is only one!

>Qi Condensation
I want to do beginners next. Then magical beasts. Magical beasts should be slightly more interesting than entry level cultivators owing to their wacky and different inherent qualities and powers.

>Explore the groves and orchards of your garden and maybe bring along some back up in case the plants get bitey
I want to save the Seven Stupor Sword guy, I really do, but this is exactly what his people do. It's their thing. Can we really tell him not to? Fish need to swim, cats need to sleep, and sword-manic fools need to get absolutely bodied in fights above their pay grade.

>>6133773
>Qi condensation.

>Try and save him from himself.
It costs us little and rewards us karma.
>Go and collect some are clothes from Anji for our foundation establishment disciples

We only collected Fu's so far. The others deserve their hellish fashion when they return. Can also tell pig to organise the tourjiment for when we next visit.

>>6133773
>Qi Condensation

>Decide to humor Yinying and meet the "Honor guard" he's made for you out of Chuan's awakened house cat population.

I'm actually genuinely curious about the other cats. I guess we could just state "you're going to die" as it is a fact to sword guy but beyond that I don't feel much simpathy for that sect.
If the words of Huan don't make him reconsider then he deserves his fate.

>>6133811
support +1

>>6133811
I'll add
>humour yinying

To my vote. But I think we could possibly make it mandate for our priests to keep an eye and ear primed for newly awakened beasts. Especially cats.

They ought have more eyes than us immortals.

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>>6133773
>Magical beast only

>Decide to humor Yinying and meet the "Honor guard" he's made for you out of Chuan's awakened house cat population

I don't like the sword idiots.

>>6133773
>Qi Condensation
Next up is Qi condensation
>>Against your better judgement, try to save the Seven slaughtering sword member from himself (Unlocked via good karma) (Good karma)
Karma, always

>>6133773
>Qi Condensation
>Decide to humor Yinying and meet the "Honor guard" he's made for you out of Chuan's awakened house cat population

>>6133773
>Qi Condensation

>Explore the groves and orchards of your garden and maybe bring along some back up in case the plants get bitey.
>Decide to humor Yinying and meet the "Honor guard" he's made for you out of Chuan's awakened house cat population.
These two fit well together.

Do not pick the karma option just because it gives us good girl points, the fool doesn't deserve consideration.

>>6134128
Good girl points are very helpful and I also want to see the next milestone it unlocks.
Refusing to pick an option because it gives us karma is foolish. If he still chooses to not listen, then we kill him and still get our rewards plus whatever he has on him.

>>6134161
>Good girl points are very helpful and I also want to see the next milestone it unlocks.
And doing it just for that reason is powergaming.

>Refusing to pick an option because it gives us karma is foolish.
Im not rebuking it because it gives karma, Im rebuking it because that's the only reason to choose it. Like I said, this imbecil does not deserve consideration.

>>6134167
Power gaming isnt a sin, it's pragmatism.

A penny for a pound is a great bargain, since it doesn't conflict with the rest of our moral compass.

>>6134167
It's not really powergaming, it's just getting another point. Also, there should be techniques specifically tailored to counter people with high good karma, so it's not like it's only a benefit.

>>6134128
>>6134167
I am picking it because this choice is ONLY avaiable to use because we have good karma. If we didn't we couldn't even do this. So I am expecting unique and special results.
if he deserves death or not is up to us. And its around time to reign in the heretics to know better.
>picking something because its good is powergaming
anon we are a cultivator, everything we do is powergaming.
Going into the plants though? no real reason, power gaming or not, compared to the rest of the options available.

>>6133773
>Qi Condensation
>Against your better judgement, try to save the Seven slaughtering sword member from himself (Unlocked via good karma) (Good karma)

>>6134241
>everything we do is powergaming.
I dunno, wanting to make Ao bark for us doesn't seem like powergaming.

>>6134256
That's because you can't see mount Tai.

Making Ao bark is an exercise of our royal pride, making one of our few true peers bark like a mutt, exerting power over an equal which reinforces our royal mandate and flatters our swollen ego.

But this isn't power anon!

Yes it is! It is directly related to the concept of Dao heart, our determination and sense of self. Our pride is one of the defining parts of how and why we cultivate and through several checks and options in the past has been relevant to our success. That's not also pointing out the several instances where failure has damaged that heart and pride, which normally only occurs at dof 3 or lower. Examples to look up, stealing snow tigers ice storm from him, failing to activate our Gu poison against Xue Ming, continued grudge against statues, when we ascended to golden core and spoke with Dao.

All this to say, we really need to walk Ao on a leash and make him bark like a puppy, it's important to the Dao, it is minmaxing, we really should do it more.

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>>6134287
>t. least horny schizo cultivator
I have no choice but to bow my head to your superior wisdom, senior!

>>6134236
>>6134239
>>6134241
Two of you didn't really read what I said.

Powergaming is when you do certain actions in character for the sake of meta benefits and meta benefits ALONE. I still have yet to hear why we should give this guy the time of day.

>anon we are a cultivator, everything we do is powergaming.
Then you don't know what powergaming means.
>Going into the plants though? no real reason, power gaming or not, compared to the rest of the options available.
To analyse the plants and perhaps collect ingredients? Seems like a good enough reason.

>>6134312
I'm honestly curious what Huan will try to do to get him to not be a walking corpse anymore, personally.

>>6134313
Now that's a better reason, I still disagree but I can respect it.

>>6134312
Study plants and collect ingredients? sounds like your trying to powergame the botany meta baka.

jokes aside thats no better reason then
Do good and accumulate good. as we have done and continue to do which spits in the face of gods that accuse us of being otherwise.

>>6134354
But this guy doesn't deserve Huan being so considerate to him. Same could be said of the "eradication" of the crow demons but I wasn't there to argue the case...

>>6134312
Aight. I am open and honest that the karma gained for very little effort is my primary motive, but here's hoping that I can produce a reason to convince you.

I shall center my argumentation on three prongs, though it may behoove you to mind that this is justification and will be written as such.

The first prong is enacting the peace of our kingdom, ensuring that by dissuading the sword maniac in a way that they don't usually expect [threats of death/execution] there is a higher likelihood that they stop causing trouble in our house, at risk of spurning our good graces and at the gain of having a more definite time to get their hands on their intended targets.

Second, the weakest reasoning especially given our write in explicitly says it is against better judgement, is the strong's duty to rule and guide the weak. Depending on proficiency we could manage to realign or outargue this moron into a cannier or more cunning form of fight autism, producing a better class of heretic and someone with whom we have rapport inside that sect of wacko's and blood fetishists.

The third is achieving the above two aims in a public setting, improving our image or acting as the great balancing mediator.

900 seconds? The fuck 4chan? I would have clicked verify when I started writing if you're gonna make me wait 15 fucking minutes.
>basedvv
fuck you

>>6134356
If he deserves it or not is subjective.
If we vote for it, he deserves it.
If we don't. He did not.
arguing if they deserve it or not simply because of what they are is the same logic the orthodox used when slaughtering Divine Beasts. Junior I could understand asking why we should spare, I am not impressed with the answer as to why we shouldn't.

Does anyone want to organise an assassination of Fang Ru and Yai yingtai the Autum and summer masters.

They are an active impediment and hostile, even seditious element in thousand lotus hall.
So I plan that we up lulu's cultivation level to GC at least and simultaneously have her sister raise a new crop of disciples who are ACTUALLY LOYAL TO HER, and prepare then for eldership.

Then when we have a few capable replacements, we have Luli roll up and decapitate em, use us for backup, and clean house.

>>6133773
>Qi Condensation

>Decide to humor Yinying and meet the "Honor guard" he's made for you out of Chuan's awakened house cat population

Cats are cute plus whipping them into shape helps.

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Ending the vote and tallying now, let it go for a little longer since you juniors were having a bit of a debate.

Qi Condensation:9

Magical beast only:1
___
Explore the groves and orchards of your garden and maybe bring along some back up in case the plants get bitey:2

Against your better judgement, try to save the Seven slaughtering sword member from himself:4

Go and collect some are clothes from Anji for our foundation establishment disciples:2

Decide to humor Yinying and meet the "Honor guard" he's made for you out of Chuan's awakened house cat population.:6

So the Qi Condensation tournament is up next, following the expected progression of these things

And you'll humor yinying and meet the honor guard he's been recruiting your fellow housecats for and building to protect your royal self

Update will arrive shortly

For a brief moment, an impulse to stop the soon to be corpse from walking directly to his death flares in your heart, but like the spark of whimsy it is, it fades as quickly as it was felt. It was nearly reflexive, trying to stop some fool from ending their day and lives a head shorter than they started both, but you crinkle your nose and frown after wincing away the swell of compassion and draw of merciful benevolence. You don't really like the seven slaughtering swords, they're lunatics and give heretics like you a bad name and seem to have a habit of charging into their graves, it'd be practically going against the laws of nature and the natural order to intercede and try to save this one's life. Or at least, you think it would be. If they want to live by the sword, they certainly are prepared to die by it and that is probably the only respectable thing about their misbegotten sect.

If this fool wants to pick a fight with an actual sword demon, he is welcome to do so. He might survive, but that's up to his own skill with the blade to decide. Why should you expend the energy to shield him from his own decision and waste your breath pleading on his behalf. If he wants to die from a trash blade that Mowangzi is probably using as a backscratcher right now, he is more than welcome to throw his life away, if it is not so precious to him as a some shitty sword. Hopefully the reborn devil won't make too much of a mess butchering him, but two sword maniacs killing eachother is less harmful to your reputation then the face you'd lose if you were seen saving a member of the most villainous sect operating in Chuan openly and shamelessly practicing true demonic cultivation.

Better to let him learn his lesson by blade point and choke on his blood, but it is annoying how long you find yourself lingering on and debating the choice to abandon him to your fate. It isn't like saving him would be righteous, he's a murderer and a scoundrel. Utter scum, that should be beneath the notice of royalty such as yourself.

But, by time you fully commit to letting him die, he's already vanished into one of the game trail like alleyways zig zagging through the central portion of your garden. So with, acting as gracefully as a princess such as yourself should, you shrug your shoulders and turn away from where he was standing a moment ago and brush off the misplaced concern for him like you would a speck of dust from your sleeve. No reason to think of that butcher for a second longer, he'll be dead by dawn and buried or tossed to the dogs long before the Qi Condensation phase of your flawless tournament begins!

And there are many petty tasks and small responsibilities you need to see to before that time. Naming rabbits and your nameless gorilla disciple, whose politeness and sense of manners is still kind of shocking to you, being one of them.
Cont

>>6135788

But another is humoring the ever loyal and diligent Yinying, by at least deign to meet the royal guards he hired for you.

Well Hired is a strong word. To your understanding, he just picked up a bunch of strays, ferals and street alley cats, and since all cats adore you as their rightful liege and queen, it wasn't hard to convince them of the honor in serving you and giving their lives to protect yours. You imagine they're all good natured children, playing at being heroes and following their elder around and trying to make him proud. Maybe most of them think it is more of a game, but that doesn't matter, they are your subjects, people, and juniors and if they're at all serious. And knowing Yinying, he certainly is, then they'll eventually become real bodyguards and true royal guards, after some growing up, learning and maturing.

So it'd behoove you to meet them, to encourage them and show them their leader truly does care for them. And to make Yinying's month by showing you approval of his selection of royal guards and rewarding his efforts for a task he made up for himself. At the very least, his initiative should be praised. Free thinking and independence are useful traits to have, even if you're sure most of your fellow grandmasters would disagree somewhat firmly with.

Adopting your feline form after safely removing your fine robes and jewelry to keep them from being torn, snapped or otherwise broken, you track down the cat that calls himself your shadow and find him with no great effort, as he has taken it upon himself out of all your students present at the tournament to patrol the temple from vantage points and heights few humans ever so much think to lift their head to look at.

He is leading a squad of house cats, who are trying to look fierce as they slink around though none of them pampered lap warmers or indolent house pets, unlike the usual entourage of magical beasts you find yourself surround by whenever you so much as approach a city, town or village. Which you can tell at a glance, your notched ear twitching as you see their own souvenirs of their hard living and the harsh lives they've lead. A bent, crooked tail there, a scar that weighs down an eyelid there, a missing fang there, frayed and frazzled whiskers to spare. And their hides are all different colors and patterns than yours and Yinying, giving a wonderful display of the variation and vividness of magical beasts wherever they go.

Though that spoiled lap warmer from the martial tournament is also trailing behind them, gossiping with one of the girls, a thin, long legged desert cat with eyes that are wide and peering like she's gotten a face full of opium dust.

Yinying spots you first, as you sit on your haunches, back lit by the rising sun, on one of the spires reaching up towards the heaven from your garden.
Cont

>>6135790

He immediately lifts his head, eyes wide and joyous as he sees his mistress, and then immediately kneels paws forward, bowing and stretching out, as his gaggle of proteges pause, look around, their noses sniffing and lips parted as they try to catch a scent, before they are hit by your imperial radiance, and quickly follow the example of their older and larger leader.

"Lady Huanliuxue!" Yinying shouts in the way a general would when addressing their employer "I was just taking your newly employed royal guard out on a patrol, since doubtlessly their are many who'd seek to do you beneficent and kindly self harm among the smiling faces of the festival! I was not expecting to encounter our empress in our rounds through the temple"

"Hey! Hey! We met at Suiqi! Remember, you walked by me when I got this big and my fur got all weird and colorful, like I fell in a dye vat!" The boy with a crooked tail chirps excitedly, and you recall you do remember him. He was stuck in a hole in fencing, being scolded by the restaurant owner whose braised fish he'd snatched moments before the primordial tree sprouted in the city and washed it in primordial beast essence. His is a bright, sky blue coat with cream markings

"She does have a notched ear, like all the two legs say she does! She's like me, master Yinying!" A faint voiced girl with an entire ear missing and watery eyes nearly cries, trembling from tail to paw, showing the bite and claw marks beneath her fart. Her fur is a mottle of warm oranges, yellows and pinks

"Oh! She really is as large as an ox, and so mysterious" The wide eyed desert dweller coos, staring at the traits you picked up from your lunar evolution, the moonlight shimmering in your coat and the starlight glittering in your eyes, the length and finer taper of your ears and crescent moon curve of your fangs, and the lunar phase patterns in the markings of your fur, particularly the crescents beneath your eyes and the full and half moons dotting your back and sides "Is she from a different world than us?"

"She smells bad, like death" The largest and roughest, meanest looking and mangiest of your guards whimpers, his bulky, fluffy coat standing on end "Like after a fight. I didn't know princesses were so scary!"

"Oh! She can be human and a kitty cat!" The pampered pet exclaims as she wobbles to the front, gazing at you with sparkling, amazed eyes "She really is incredible, our queen, and so regal looking! Is that her favorite sunning sport, Chivalrous Sir?"


Yinying's face is scrunched with obvious annoyance, that has to be because his charges and selected royal guard are speaking out of turn, even if it is to admire you.

Yeah, they have a long way until they become bodyguards capable of defending you, or even just skilled fighters capable of protecting themselves, but they are adorable, with their big round, curious eyes.
Cont

>>6135791

And, seeing those eyes and the innocence filling them with such brightness, a realization strikes you. One that nearly brings you to tears.

'These are the first generation of children who were born and welcomed into the world, instead of being fled from and hunted, of course their eyes are so sweet and innocent'

And, you also, as you soak in that realization you just made, you also notice, since you didn't pay them much mind before when Yinying lead them around, that his hand picked personal guard, are all those who were without a home or family, human or not to care for them. The strays, the abandoned, and the feral, the ones who had scars and pieces of themselves missing or some other cosmetic defect. Those without a home or place to call their own.

Seems Yinying's taken after his master, and learned from the charity and acts of mercy you've performed, and given these orphans without anything or anyone something to look forward to and strive towards, giving them friends, family and a place to be! Excellent. You've never been more proud of him than now.

"Lady Huanliuxue?" He asks, noticing the tear twinkling like a falling star on your cheek "Is something the matter, have these children done something to offend you"

"No, no. I am just overjoyed and brought to tears to see such fine young heroes in my service" You say with a wavering voice, smiling proudly as you look down on those bright eyed kids who haven't known the fear and hardship you went through to get to where you are now, at the pinnacle of the world, who never had to worry about being found and hunted for their organs and beast core.

Yinying purrs in contentment at your words, tail flicking once and curling behind his head

"You've truly found and brought together the finest of house cats, I've never beheld creatures so near to my own peerless beauty and excellence" You praise as you stalk down the spire and approach the wolf size cats, the pampered cat following around your personal guard puffing out her chest, but all you can think as you look at her fluffy face is how pathetic her display in the tournament was. But no reason to ruin the girls day, so you don't bring it up

"Do you truly mean it, my princess?" Yinying asks, choking on his words, as you look over the scuffed and scruffy cats in front of you, seeing much of yourself in their imperfections, making sure to show them all your notched ear as he plods up to your side, slinking low.

"Of course" You cheerfully and honestly answer, and hear a chorus of rumbling, loud and rough sounding purrs from the magical cats that were probably kicked around for being mangy strays in their previous lives.

Oh they're just too adorable and innocent! You should introduce them to Piao Tuzi and Yewushi, and the four other rabbits. Who still need names, before someone gives them stupid ones like Ao did with Yewushi. And the gorilla to, since you did promise him a name as a reward.
Cont

>>6135792

What do you do with your Honor guard in training, Huanliuxue?

>ask them their names and of their backgrounds, and praise them for their peculiarities and resilience as house cats

>Take them on a stroll and indulge yourself by talking about the simple pleasures of being a cat, like catching fish or napping on a warm rock

>Let them show off what Yinying has trained them to do, and have them "Escort you" as you think up good names for the moon hares and gorilla, who you will also pull into your entorage.

>Show them the heights a house cat can leap to, and for their eyes only, show off some of the moves of your martial arts and a few of your techniques and spells

>write in

>>6135793
>Grant permission for Yinying to use additional resources of the sect to rear this guard initiative of his.
>Show them the height that a Housecat can leap too
They will need to be warriors if they are to be guards. And let this motivate them.

>Let them show off what Yinying has trained them to do
But don't ask their names. I, ooc, don't want to dedicate more memory to names before they are at least in the foundation establishment stage.

>>6135793
>Show them the heights a house cat can leap to, and for their eyes only, show off some of the moves of your martial arts and a few of your techniques and spells.

They need to see to understand since they have not know the hunger for power of proper cultivators yet.

>>6135793
>ask them their names and of their backgrounds, and praise them for their peculiarities and resilience as house cats

Let's get to know these cute kittens

>Show them the heights a house cat can leap to, and for their eyes only, show off some of the moves of your martial arts and a few of your techniques and spells

And want to inspire and give them a goal to reach, to give themselves the fire they need to grow strong.

>>6135793
>ask them their names and of their backgrounds, and praise them for their peculiarities and resilience as house cats
>Show them the heights a house cat can leap to, and for their eyes only, show off some of the moves of your martial arts and a few of your techniques and spells

>>6135793
>Let them show off what Yinying has trained them to do, and have them "Escort you" as you think up good names for the moon hares and gorilla, who you will also pull into your entorage.
>Show them the heights a house cat can leap to, and for their eyes only, show off some of the moves of your martial arts and a few of your techniques and spells.
After they show off and before their heads get too big, humble them with a show of force to demonstrate that they have a long way to go before they can even walk in our world. We wouldn't want them thinking cultivation isn't a dangerous business after all.

I also don't want to know their names because Im already struggling to remember all the characters.

>bros need a cheat sheet for names

>>6135857
Don't be cruel, the memory demons feast upon unprepared juniors.

>>6135861
Hey man I can't remember them all either sometimes

>>6135793
>Let them show off what Yinying has trained them to do, and have them "Escort you" as you think up good names for the moon hares and gorilla, who you will also pull into your entourage.

>>6135793
>Show them the heights a house cat can leap to, and for their eyes only, show off some of the moves of your martial arts and a few of your techniques and spells

>>6135793
>>Let them show off what Yinying has trained them to do, and have them "Escort you" as you think up good names for the moon hares and gorilla, who you will also pull into your entorage.

Time to name the gorilla, we owe it to him.

>Show them the heights a house cat can leap to, and for their eyes only, show off some of the moves of your martial arts and a few of your techniques and spells

we had little legacy as we were alone, but this new generation has grown in a place of our kind, they need not go through the same hurdles we did, instead they should rise to take on new challenges. We shall impart upon them some of our ways to serve as a foundation for the royal guard as they grow and establish their foundations.

>>6135793
>Let them show off what Yinying has trained them to do, and have them "Escort you" as you think up good names for the moon hares and gorilla, who you will also pull into your entorage.
>Show them the heights a house cat can leap to, and for their eyes only, show off some of the moves of your martial arts and a few of your techniques and spells

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4.13 MB JPG

Ending and tallying the vote now. Was catching up on some reading, forgive me, juniors.

Grant permission for Yinying to use additional resources of the sect to rear this guard initiative of his.:1

Show them the heights a house cat can leap to, and for their eyes only, show off some of the moves of your martial arts and a few of your techniques and spells:8

Let them show off what Yinying has trained them to do, and have them "Escort you" as you think up good names for the moon hares and gorilla, who you will also pull into your entourage.:5

ask them their names and of their backgrounds, and praise them for their peculiarities and resilience as house cats:2

So you'll let them show off what Yinying has trained them to do, before showing them the heights a house cat can leap to and perform some of the moves of your self taught style and cultivation techniques and spells, before allowing them to escort you while you try to think up a good name for the newly earthbound jade rabbits and the pink furred gorilla

Update will arrive shortly

>>6135861
The dastardly fiends!

Stifling the titter perfectly befitting of an elder sister, you listen to your juniors among ascended house cats speak out of turn, equally to admire your beautiful and opposing self and to have the meandering, directionless discussions children usually have when they're around their friends. Yinying doesn't enjoy their lack of poise and sense of strictness , and you can imagine he's spent many hours and tiresome early mornings and late nights trying to herd these youngster into something resembling a professional guard force. And while their childish antics are endearing and a little amusing, you can see why they'd irk their trainer and leader who devoted so much time to honing their manners and imparting how to act austerely and respectfully. But you also don't see why it is bothering him so much like they've broken rank to go run around and play in the cattails. Their patrol formation wasn't at all clumsy and they all kept the pace he set, and they even knew to bow when they noticed your approach.

Sure they're more talkative than most nobility would prefer, but they're children, with eyes full of wonder and precious innocence. Them being a little coltish and absent minded is far from the worst behavior they could have. And you think its cute, which would make even the worst possible behavior forgivable, even if they were being brats and biting your tail and ears, as Yuyi's kids have proven whenever you drop by to play with them or babysit them before the book reading club gathers at their house.

But since you can tell its getting on Yinying's nerve, you'll provide a distraction so they can make him proud as their teacher and to keep him from scolding them and receiving a smack for being a bully, delivered by your own righteous paw.

Trilling, you call of them to attention as you lift up a paw.

"Why don't you show me what Yinying has taught you? I think a performance, a display of the skills you've learned, would be a lovely way to start the day" You sweetly command, wagging your paw in the air and glancing away coyly as they all stare at you with wide, excited eyes, and Yinying bows his head, trying to conceal an exhausted sigh before he lifts his head up high and trots up formally before you.

"Ah! I was waiting for an opportunity just like this to show off the results of their training, but couldn't find a proper time to approach her highness" He states, looking back at his proteges with a stern glare "Please, form into groups of two and do as we practiced. Lady Huanliuxue, I am sure these performative bouts will delight you, and put on display just how successful their instruction has been"

"Oh? What style did you teach them? There's only so many that fit a cat's paw" You ask curiously, rolling onto your side and stretching out to get comfortable as you watch them play fight to show off their martial arts. Yinying, sitting beside you just smirks

"You will recognize when you see it, my lady" He chirps delightedly
Cont

>>6137423

And as they pair off, and the spoiled girl who was tagging along with their patrol, slinks over to where you're laying down and paws at the roof tiles, awkwardly trying to see if you'd allow her to lay so close to you, you see that Yinying was somewhat exagerating. You recognize it before they fight even begins, you recognize that floaty, light footed stance anywhere! That's your soft style! Your feline martial arts, your ghost inspired technique! Subtle, stealthy, and defensive and while there stances are really sloppy compared to your own masterful form, you are impressed by how solid theirs already are and how clearly experienced they've become fighting other users of it.

"You learned from watching me practice?" You snicker, sneering as Yinying tries to not look proud of himself and put on a guilty face

"And fight. I would be remiss to not learn my princess' every movement and mannerism, thus is the duty of a sworn shield such as my humble self" His humble self preens smugly, watching the performative bouts, which at this point are mostly the younger guards slinking around each other, or grappling with fangs and claws trying to be the one to come out on top after a sequence of redirected strikes, spinning on the ground or in the air briefly from the sheer amount of momentum generated by their attempts to slam the other to the ground.

The youngsters are yowling and spitting, pouncing and running around, smacking each other while keeping their claws sheathed, and using their tails, limbs and head to try and trip or knock over each other, but since each of them knows the basic principles of soft martial arts, you style, and fighting another practitioner of it with it and know when their duel partners are feinting or baiting them to land a surprise head but, the six duos are pretty much equally matched and in a stalemate. They might not be, if they weren't holding their claws back and softening their blows, but that they're all of pretty much equal skill is a testament to the quality Yinying's instruction

Of course you could still do better and turn this clowder of novices into exemplary students of your style. Qiang probably could to, if she had paws instead of hands and the sword often held in them. And, you notice, other awakened house cats and other kinds of magical beast, sneaking along the rooftops to watch the matches from a distance.

"Well?" Yinying asks expectingly, after the guard he's trained for you tire themselves out and start panting and lying down, totally exhausted from their performance "What are your thoughts, my lady, has their performance pleased you

"An excellent start" You declare, just to see their smiles and hear their purrs "They're all around the same level of skill, and certainly have a good grasp of the basic and foundational moves of my style, but they're far from its peak"
Cont

>>6137424

He frowns slightly, but nods, agreeing with your assessment as you saunter over to the tired squad, and exhaling a breath rich in blood Qi and primordial beast essence, give them a little pick me up, before flicking your tail and ordering them to follow you.

"I began with the foundationals, and their martial arts, if I am given permission, I'll begin teaching them how to cultivate Qi and open their meridians' Yinying answers briskly as her gallops to catch up to and match your longer stride "May I ask where you are leading us?"

"I've decided, in all my beneficence and wisdom, to show them just how high a cat can leap" You answer jovially, flicking your tail again "and grant them the privilege of witnessing some of the more advance moves of my style and some techniques and spells no one still alive has witnessed"

"Aodasheng has seen them then?" Yinying asks bitterly, fur standing on end, and it is only then that it occurs to you the formerly forgotten king, as your bodyguard, outranks Yinying since you gave him the position rather than just allowing them to assume it, though you can't imagine Ao to be a bossy superior. Annoying maybe, considering his tendency to ramble and his astonishing talent to hold a one sided conversation

"You'd have to ask Ao himself, fighting him did make me come up with a few in the heat of the fight" You answer under your breath, so the talkative kids won't over hear and spread gossip that you have a pet calamity you've been keeping hidden from the rest of the Chuan sects

"Oh! Are you going to blow up the sun! Big bro Yinying says you can do that!" The sky blue coated boy asks

"He was just giving an example! Clearly she's going to leap up to the moon and drag it back down, like a little bird" The girl with the missing ear chirps, sounding entirely confident you could fit the moon in your mouth

"She's going to kill something terrible, its going to be scary" The oddly cowardly, long furred and largest of the dozen whines, as the girl from the northern desert hums

"She is going to display powers from realms beyond our knowledge" She says dreamily, looking at you with eyes that are both piercing and distant looking

"Maybe she is just going to show off ordinary martials arts and safe sorcery" The pampered girl who seems to have made friends with your personal guard in training hums, but you decide not to chase her off since, really, who is she going to tell what she saw besides her old owner?

"No she's going to shoot lasers out of her eyes!" Another of the guard, with the biggest ears you've ever seen on a cat, trills excitedly
"Nuh-uh! She's going to turn into a ghost god and give the two...humans a scare they won't soon forget"
"She's going to swat a star from the sky, the moon is too big"
"No! Its small, you've seen it in the night sky, haven't you"
"Maybe she'll play us a song, she has a magical guqin doesn't she?"
"Oh! She'll play some deadly music and kill that man who stepped on my tail earlier!"

>>6137426

Unconsciously, you realized you'd started to walk towards where Piao Tuzi, Yewushi and the other children of the moon are playing, instead of the courtyard of the main castle of your garden, which is where you'd meant to go to show off your technique with at least a little privacy. Since not having your abilities and moves widely known is the one of the biggest advantages you can have in a fight. The element of surprise is something that can't be easily found again after being lost, after all.

Well, they can watch the performance as well, you probably started walking towards them since you were quietly thinking up names for the four rabbits you rescued from the moon after Tuzi and Wushi. And the gorilla as well, who you promised to give a name, who is already been a little annoying trying to convince you to give him that name quicker. But only those seven, since this spectacle is intended for your fellow housecats, to show them the pinnacle they ought to strive towards and just how great they can become. Which is just one of your responsibilities as a just ruler, providing and standing as an example of the excellence your people can achieve with the proper guidance, namely yours.

Oh this is going to be so fun. You can't wait to see the awe in their young eyes and hear all they have to say to praise your talented self!

Double vote

What do you do after you're done showing off to your royal guard in training

>Gather the winners of the pre qi condensation tournament, and with much pomp and ceremony, present them with their sect robes and officially induct them into your sect, before beginning the Qi Condensation bracket with a bang

>Wait for Xia Jinse-Shayu to return from the job you sent on him, and find something to keep your nerves from fraying worrying about its outcome, maybe some writing to occupy your mind?

>Fired up from the exhibition you gave your guards to be, challenge one of the other sect heads to a friendly spar, to first blood or surrender! (Who?)

>Mingle with those overlooked by the rest, the commoners who traveled across the kingdom, and the sect less rogues hoping to join your sect

>Meditate on some of your numerous insights in your hotspring while the Qi Condensation bracket is prepared and the qualifying rounds are started (Mental/ spiritual training. DC/ results dependent on what insight you meditate upon. Total unspent training/ cultivation bonus. 1708)

>Write in

And what do you name the gorilla and the four other moon rabbits, Huanliuxue?

>Write in

Next update will start with a snippet of Huan showing off to the kittens

>>6137427
>>Meditate on some of your numerous insights in your hotspring while the Qi Condensation bracket is prepared and the qualifying rounds are started (Mental/ spiritual training. DC/ results dependent on what insight you meditate upon. Total unspent training/ cultivation bonus. 1708)

>>6137427
>Meditate on some of your numerous insights in your hotspring while the Qi Condensation bracket is prepared and the qualifying rounds are started (Mental/ spiritual training. DC/ results dependent on what insight you meditate upon. Total unspent training/ cultivation bonus. 1708)
A refresher of our abilities and a meditation on what we can improve sounds logical, besides we need some new tricks against fire.

For the names I guess the gorilla can be called "renowned blooming valor" or something, dunno how it may sound in chinese.
For the rabbits since they are four we can just call them like the four cardinal points but in chinese, or four different winds perhaps...

>>6137427
>>Meditate on some of your numerous insights in your hotspring while the Qi Condensation bracket is prepared and the qualifying rounds are started (Mental/ spiritual training. DC/ results dependent on what insight you meditate upon. Total unspent training/ cultivation bonus. 1708)

>>6137469
>>6137493
>>6137555
Guys remember the next traij9ngnhas to be blood or medical training for double results.

>>6137427
>Meditate on the insights you have

Forgot to vooote.

I don't really have a stake in the names of the others.

>>6137427
>>6137493 +1

Now that I have woken up properly.

Maybe name the gorilla pink blossom monk or scholarly rambling fist.
Still don't care about the rabbits.

I would also like to remind everyone that we can evolve as an ascended beast, and going hunting for a blazing arrow of Huo Yi somewhere in the gloom of space is a perfectly good idea. The best idea, perhaps.

>>6137427
>Mingle with those overlooked by the rest, the commoners who traveled across the kingdom, and the sect less rogues hoping to join your sect

>Names
For the gorilla, I still promote Fen Kong
For the rabbits, Inaba One, Inaba Two, Inaba Three and Inaba Four
Seriously though, we know nothing about them, so I'll go with a thematic naming of 北兔, 南兔,东兔 and 西兔

>>6137427
>>Meditate on some of your numerous insights in your hotspring while the Qi Condensation bracket is prepared and the qualifying rounds are started (Mental/ spiritual training. DC/ results dependent on what insight you meditate upon. Total unspent training/ cultivation bonus. 1708)

>>6137427
>Gather the winners of the pre qi condensation tournament, and with much pomp and ceremony, present them with their sect robes and officially induct them into your sect, before beginning the Qi Condensation bracket with a bang
>Gorilla name
I'll bring up the names I mentioned in >>6128861 again.
>Rabbit names
Since we haven't spent any real time with them to get a grasp on personalities and quirks, I'm just gonna shoot with 铃仙 (Líng xiān/Little Bell Immortal) and 清蘭 (Qīng lán/Clear Orchid) for the Does, while I'm gonna steal a page from >>6137736 with 北新月 (Běixīn yuè/ Northern Crescent) and 南凸月 (Nán tú yuè/Southern Gibbous) for the bucks.

>>6137427
>Meditate on some of your numerous insights in your hotspring while the Qi Condensation bracket is prepared and the qualifying rounds are started (Mental/ spiritual training. DC/ results dependent on what insight you meditate upon. Total unspent training/ cultivation bonus. 1708)

File: 1712387678453402.png (15 KB, 990x780)

15 KB PNG

Ending and tallying the vote now. I was briefly afflicted by the loathsome heart demon known as writer's block, but have bested it.

Meditate on some of your numerous insights in your hotspring while the Qi Condensation bracket is prepared and the qualifying rounds are started :7

Mingle with those overlooked by the rest, the commoners who traveled across the kingdom, and the sect less rogues hoping to join your sect:1

Gather the winners of the pre qi condensation tournament, and with much pomp and ceremony, present them with their sect robes and officially induct them into your sect, before beginning the Qi Condensation bracket with a bang:1

Renowned blooming valor: 2
Four points:2
Pink blossom monk/ scholarly rambling fist:1
Fen kong: 1
Moon phases:2
Liang Xian/ Qiang lan: 1

So after showing off, you will meditate on the vast insights she's acquired

I've made the choice to push the name choice ahead to be taken with the choice of what you're actually meditating on

Update will arrive shortly

It was more than just fun, showing off your skills to the youngsters, it was liberating. You never really had the chance to display your peerless prowess and towering talents outside of a fight or as something besides a threat to browbeat your lessers into not causing trouble or picking a fight. It was a simple, mundane thing, most other cultivators are used to doing freely to amaze the denizens of the mortal realm and dazzle the ordinary commoners into donating and giving tithes to their temples or to fool them serving them for a spot they simply couldn't occupy since they were not blessed by birth with the potential to cultivate Qi to begin with.

But, for a heretic, whose had to fight, claw and struggle to get to where she stood now, to become strong enough to force the rest of her fellow daoists at least in this kingdom, to allow her to exist and not light torches to chase her and her kind through the night, it was a sweet and intoxicating a sensation as the stillness of the grave and the earthy, sickly sweet scents of decay and spilled blood. Like a morning sunbathe or a night time walk, like swaggering past grave markers and breathing in deep the icy chill rising above them.

For a moment, every worry was lifted from your shoulders and your mind was cleared of all obstruction and every muddy thought clogging it. Pure clarity and glee washed through you, joy surging through you as your blood, hot and excited, pulsed through your veins. The simple pleasure of showing of your talents and displaying your techniques to an adoring audience, oh so common amongst the entrenched orthodox sects, was almost narcotic.

You relished the chance, like Monu would the first puff of spirit stone infused opium or the first stinging sip of Kaoling wine. Soaring through the sky, the fading stars at your back as you spread scarlet wings of pure blood Qi, and began the show again. False ghost lights, circled you in an array, a mockery celestial halo as miniature, fake stars of every color soared behind you like a trailing rainbow cape, shooting off after the targets you set as beams of blood red moonlight flowed out from Moon collapse in your hand, as you used the dagger as an improvised pick for Ghost empress melody.

The two artifacts had a surprising amount of compatibility with one another, more so than you had expected, with both of them containing a small piece of you. Floating like a mist over a burial sight, like a lunar spirit, you played your song with tethers and strings of ghostly yin Qi and strands of blood to puppet both the knife and Guqin as slowly, purposefully, you performed a carefully chosen arrangement of strikes and maneuvers in sequence, the refined and perfected versions of the moves the younger magical house cats had performed for your pleasure to receive your pride.
Cont

>>6139382

The ethereal music, rather than mournful, was unearthly but merry, as the illusionary painting it put over the dawn sky created after images of every move you performed, and others you haven't, revealing the inheritance of techniques left behind by the prior generation of beast cultivators, as you went through the motions of showing how a cat may copy them. Mock stars clashed with destructive yin spheres, creating fields of stardust behind you, as tendrils of blood splattered on the the mirror like surface of the turbulent rivers of moonlight drawn around you.

Lightning, charged by metal Qi launched from your ears, was cut in half by the various techiques that made use of your claws, including of course the whispering death claw and its evolution of the red death scythe, but also the simplest coating of destructive yin Qi. Dying grudge shields bounced Vein draining fangs between them, as you moved between the shooting gallery of vein emptying Qi darts with the phantom cat waltz, using each teleportation between your false ghost flames to perform a different move taken from your feline fighting style, even shifting between your cat and human bodies with a little careful application of the original form of the specter lightness kill, the illusion of slowed time letting you seamlessly seem to appear between points already changed.

Yinying gasped in awe, as you showed off your chimeric transformations for them, making the best use of feline and human physiques to fight mock battles with a shadow of yourself you've cast with a careful pulling of the darkness aspect of Yin Qi. You only kept your most secret, powerful and dangerous techniques hidden to the second generation of ascended house cats in this modern era.

Since it'd be sheer stupidity to unleash something like the one technique of yours you consider to be actually demonic cultivation and unleash the blood rain, chaos mist, just to show off to children. Children the technique would endanger if you didn't corral it flawlessly.

And others you don't perform, because the untrained eyes of the other cats would make showing them off kind of pointless. Like moving as a ghost outside of your body, or strengthen it internally with body strengthening techniques like the blood torrent rush or other forms self blood manipulation.

But even locking and sealing away the pinnacle of your cultivation, the performance still lasts for several hours, until the morning had fully arrived, and all of Yinying's understudies and a few other of your students, who joined the audience as you moved through complex strings of strikes and counters through a shroud of bloody fog generated by mingling the red hot spiritual energy of life with cool water Qi like your mother uses within a few temperature altering spells, have exhausted themselves cheering and clapping their hands together.
Cont

>>6139383

Descending back to earth, and seeing some familiar faces of your allied sects also on the rooftops now, nodding respectfully as you take your bow and gracefully take your leave, feeling curiously more light on your feet as your heart felt fluttery and a serenity and calm you associated more with graveside meditation settled over you.

And still having sometime before the next stage of the tournament began, you decided, after scrubbing the rust off of some of your more obscure techniques and making sure the skills with moves and spells you were more practiced with were as sharp as ever, to take a chance to meditate briefly.

And to name the moon rabbits and the gorilla, who you had Yingying and Fu collect for you as you sauntered to the springs of your garden, shadowed by the now very excited youngsters, who were bounding after you and all but pouncing on your tail as they enthused about how amazing you were and praised you as was deserved of a genius prodigy and loving queen should be.

And, while you dip your toes into the hot water of the spring overflowing with primordial beast energy, the energizing effect making the kittens even more playful than they already were, and that had attracted other magical beasts to the waters, who dared not to step into it since they knew it belonged to you.

"Master" Fu said, covering his eyes as you turned to face him, completely nude expect for where your hair covered, hands on your hips "I've brought the jade rabbits"

"Oh? Are we going swimming, Mama? " Piao Tuzi asked, peeking her head out from Fu's collar, as she turned from moon rabbit to rabbit eared girl, and crawled out of his arms while Yewushi stomped his foot and glared at the other ascended house cats, grinding his teeth as he threatened them the way hares would.

And you paid attention to the other four hares you'd saved from the moon and brought to keep those two company. One of the doe's, with a cut in one of her ears, and shorter hair than Tuzi, was right next to Yewushi, stomping her foot as well, arms crossed and glowering, and using naughty words you certainly didn't teach her.

"Swim?" the other doe asked, clinging onto Fu's robes, eyes covered by both her hair and her drooping ears, passively looking around, with a sort of naive calmness that told you she wouldn't have lived long on the earth alone. A hawk would've snatched her away with how demure and relaxed she looked "What is?"

"Scary" one of the bucks , with ears bent at their half way point and drooping muttered, gnawing at a piece of moon grass as he hid behind Yewushi and the tomboy of a doe "Long fangs, big mouths. Nowhere to hide"

"Red!" the other buck, with an idiot's glee in his eyes declares, jabbing a tubby finger at you as you tilt your head.

"Red" You agree with a nod as Yinying leads the pink furred gorilla forward

"Fight me!" Yewushi barked at the very confused kittens at your heels
Cont

>>6139385

"No me! I'm stronger!" The tomboy snorted, glaring at Yewushi, and pushing him with her little foot

"Don't" Piao tuzi pouted "You always start fights, Yewushi! Mama wanted to play with us, don't cause her trouble! Stop"

Yewushi and the boyish doe were already throwing fists and biting at eachother.

"Eh? She doesn't look like Mama I remember" The droopy eared doe muttered, carelessly toddling up to you, a finger on her chin

"She caught us!" The chicken blooded boy hissed "The air is hot! We're going to be cooked! Need to run"

"Really red!" The playful buck laughed

"Never seen this part of the temple before" The gorilla muttered, lumbering forward on his knuckles "The air is rich, like the top of the mountains, but not thin. There is a quality to it, familiar yet not. Ah, Master, is this where I shall be given my name"

"Name?" The Tomboy who had been kicking Yewushi as he got her in a choke hold asked curiously

"Ah, the thing they have" The droopy eared doe chirped "That we don't. The funny noises they taught us to make, yes?"

"No help me, this is scary!" The buck now held up by Fu wailed, as the man himself did his best to not look at your unclothed beauty head on "The air is hot! It shouldn't be hot! Stuffy!"

"Eh, is that a new game you're playing?" The playful one asked Fu, as the moon rabbit in his hand tried to escape by changing shape

"They're weird" one of the kittens who would be your personal guard one day snickered.

"Once I've chosen one for you and them" You answered, smiling as you crouched down and poked the nose of the droopy eared jade rabbit, parting her hair gently. She squinted and frowned

"Don't smell like mama" She said sadly, huffing and staring at Piao Tuzi, who had already started climbing up your back, pointing at her accusingly "Liar!"

"She smells like blood" The bucktoothed, playful buck said, while Fu set down the other boy with bent ears, urging him forward with a gentle pat

"No. Like home" He said slowly, nose twitching "And blood, which is scary"

"They aren't breathing" the gorilla says, concern clear in his voice

"They technically don't need to breath air" You explain "But must if they want to talk, but, I don't know who..."

"I did!" Piao Tuzi declared triumphantly "And the aunties helped me! They're nice!"

"Idiots needed help" Yewushi sneered, forgetting he didn't know how to talk until you taught him

"Is that water?" the droopy eared girl asked, tugging on your hand, as she looked at the springs, as Yewushi stomped towards it with the boyish doe still trying to fight him, followed by the playful buck, while the scared one stayed close to her, tuzi, you and Fu

"Fu, teach them how to swim" You groan, remembering just how fascinated the little rabbits were of water

"I will!" Yewushi declares, despite not being a strong swimmer himself and still struggling to keep his head over the water
Cont

>>6139386

You smile and hold back a exasperated sight. Rearing children was hard! Especially when one of them had a temper and confidence like Yewushi does!

"What curious creatures" The gorilla hooted, before frowning as he looked at you and tilted his head "Where are your drapings"

"Why would I wear them now?" You ask, as he furrowed his brow and rubbed his chin thoughtfully

"I thought humans would have more fur beneath them" He said, as he stared at the water cautiously as you waded into it, carrying Piao Tuzi on your shoulders, and realizing just how little of a sense of caution the rabbit with droopy ears had, as she let you pick her up without even squeaking or squirming, and simply stared up at you curiously as you lifted her above the water, as Fu shouted and cursed as he tried to keep Yewushi, the girl you felt was already his rival, and the buck toothed one from going too deep into the spring.

"Some do" You snicker as you set Tuzi and her new sister on a large lily pad, large enough to support their weight as you wetted your hair and sought out the deepest part of the pools so you could swim down to it and mediate there while doing your best impression of a drowned corpse.

"Ah! She's gone!" You hear the droopy eared girl yelp as Tuzi peers over the lily pad, shaking her head

"She just went under the surface, see?" She explained the alien concept of water to her, by slapping her hand on the surface of the water.


You smirked and surfaced, wet hair clinging to your face, shoulders and neck as you saw the cowardly buck trembling on the shore

"Its just water, it didn't eat me!" You shout back at him, and the other magical cats, who seemed nearly as amazed that you've purposefully dove into water as they were by the moves and magics you showed them "You can swim through it if you know how to, it isn't scary, try dipping your toes in it, and don't cause Fu trouble"

And then, taking a breath, you doved back down

"Hah? Why was her hair like that when she came back up?" Droopy ears asked tilting her head "Does water do that, Twozee?"

"Tuzi!" Tuzi pouts

"Names are funny"

Double vote

What do you actually meditate on, at the bottom of the spring

>Blood, and the nature of carmine mysticism and living as a practitioner of it and its many mysteries ( DC 145. Result is doubled)

>Healing, medicine and surgical and folk treatments, all the ways a wound or illness could be treated (DC 165. Result is doubled)

>Dying and being a ghost, and particularly the temporary ghostly evolution you underwent while fighting Ao (DC 120)

>The nature of nobility and the responsibilities of royalty such as yourself and what you've learned of being a ruler (DC 125)

>Write in

And what do you name the gorilla, Huanliuxue?

>Fen Kong.

>Pink Blossom monk

>Silent mountain

>Reborn through glory

>Scholarly rambling fist

>renowned blooming valor"

>Something else, also the rabbits should be called...(write in)

>>6139387
>Blood.

Want to smash some records, and for that we need a decent roll.

145 is pretty difficult to match already.

>Fen Kong
>Reborn through glory
Why not.

Alright extras, you also get names.
>tomboy: River Daughter.
Because River Bastard makes me want to use Rivers as a euphemism for rowdy behavior.
>chicken blood boy: meo yen
Sounding like a Meow of surprise.
>Hawk bait: trusting soul.
>playful buck: Blessed courage
For obvious reasons.

>>6139387
>>Healing, medicine and surgical and folk treatments, all the ways a wound or illness could be treated (DC 165. Result is doubled)

We got a lot of points stored to and doubled the result.

Maybe we can treat all the scars on Fu then.

>Scholary Mountain or Shū xiāngshān

>>6139387
>>The nature of nobility and the responsibilities of royalty such as yourself and what you've learned of being a ruler (DC 125)
We are a leader, what is the nature of leaders in this world.
We've never pondered this too much.

>Scholarly rambling fist

>Something else, also the rabbits should be called...(write in)
Rabbit 1
Rabbit 2
Rabbit 3
Rabb- nah im fucking with you.

>>6139425
If you do nobility, we are wasting the one and only "double results". It is for our NEXT training only.

>>6139387
>Healing, medicine and surgical and folk treatments, all the ways a wound or illness could be treated (DC 165. Result is doubled)
Take this domain fro mthe Heavens, and one of their strongest holds on humans will crumble

>Fen Kong.

>>6139387
>Blood, and the nature of carmine mysticism and living as a practitioner of it and its many mysteries ( DC 145. Result is doubled)

>Fen Kong.

>>6139463
Was it like that or is it for our next training roll in those disciplines?
Because there's quite the difference there.

>>6139387
>Healing, medicine and surgical and folk treatments, all the ways a wound or illness could be treated (DC 165. Result is doubled)
With our bonuses and a doubled result I feel like we can just tackle even the highest dc.

As for the gorilla name (what did Fen Kong even mean?) I'm going to offer the name:
>blooming mountain peak, or just Blossoming mountain.

For the rabbit's names >>6139409
These are ok I feel.

>>6139484
NEXT training.

>>6139463
Where does it say it stacks for next training? its only for the current results of THIS training.

>>6139387
>>6139409 +1

>>6139562
When we got it, the effect said NEXT training which is THIS training. Not NEXT BLOOD OR HEALING training.

Hence, nobility is a wasted choice here.

>>6139387
>Healing, medicine and surgical and folk treatments, all the ways a wound or illness could be treated (DC 165. Result is doubled)

>Silent mountain

>>6139387
A little lost on if this counts as a training or not for the bonus and if it'll actually be lost so for now:
>Healing, medicine and surgical and folk treatments, all the ways a wound or illness could be treated (DC 165. Result is doubled)
I'm far more interested in meditating on our ghostly side if the bonus won't vanish though.
>Reborn through glory
>>6139484
Looking at the last thread "Fen Kong" apparently means "Pink Air"

>>6139646
Well if that's the case then I'll change to,

>>6139387
>>6139604
>Fen Kong.

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Ending the vote, tallying the result now. Didn't mean to take so long to do it, but I couldn't find time to write the last few days.

Blood:3

Healing:5

Nature of nobility:1
_

Fen Kong:5

Reborn through glory:3

Scholary mountain:1

Shu Xiangshan:1

Scholarly rambling fist:1

Blooming mountain peak/ blossom mountain: 1

Silent mountain: 0

_
River daughter. Meo yen, Trusting soul, blessed courage: 3

So you'll meditate on Healing/ Medicine/ etc, name the gorilla Fen Kong, and the rabbits, River daughter, Meo Yen, Trusting soul, and blessed courage

Update will arrive shortly

Crossing your arms over your chest, beneath your generous bosom, you stare through the shimmering water over your head, feeling it warm as the sun crawls higher and higher in the sky, watching the surface ripple and bubbles burst as you slow your breathing and heart beat until you would be indistinguishable from any sunken corpse. With your back on mud and water smoothed stone, and your mane of crimson hair flowing around you like spilt blood, you close your eyes and empty your mind of everything besides the focus of your meditation. Gathering all you know and have learned about healing and medicine, from advance surgical techniques and mystical medicines, to the common folk remedies and herbal medicines used across the land or unique to a single riverside village, you ponder and contemplate all of it from the most basic and ineffective to the most advance and effective of treatments, ranging from the ordinary and mundane to the mystical and heavenly.

The water stops flowing and cools around you, and the sounds of your disciples conversations or the children splashing and playing in the magical waters you're meditating beneath start to drift away, as your blood and Qi both flow in sync with the ripples of the water as the primordial beast essence saturating them soak into and soften your skin and hair. One arrow to kill two hawks. And once you were satisfied with the results of your meditations, you'd pick up that same arrow and shoot down a third and give the gorilla and jade rabbits names that inspire respect and awe in whoever hear them! But for now, you silenced every stray whimsy and meandering thought and pruned your mind and heart of everything that didn't concern healing or medicine. Which still left you with such much it felt like it might split your skull and spill out. There is a lot you know about healing, from antidotes to the curious property of blood Qi to hasten natural healing to the odd celestial herbs you saw during your whirlwind sprint through the nine heavens to your knowledge of how ghost's heal wounds to their ethereal bodies. You may be no healer, but if you entered a contest of them, they'd mistake you for the greatest amongst them, surely!

After all, even the fairest of flowers from the thousand lotus hall don't know any of the heretical or forbidden means of healing and treatment that you know. They don't even know specter starvation has a cure! But you do, you used it yourself after all! And what do the orthodox doctors and pill peddlers know about the medicine of hell and the balms used by demons? And surely, their exists not a soul in heaven, earth or the yellow springs who can produce some much Moon Dew to use it carelessly in experimental medicines or drugs as you can! Yes, there is a lot for you to ponder, but what you focus on is the treatment you came up with to regrow Disi-Ling Huofeng's arm...

Roll 2d100. Best out of five. DC 165. Results are doubled!

Rolled 62, 23 = 85 (2d100)

>>6141715

Rolled 2, 13 = 15 (2d100)

>>6141715
Nat two hundo

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>>6141735

Rolled 22, 46 = 68 (2d100)

>>6141715
The lack of blood offends me.

Rolled 2, 29 = 31 (2d100)

>>6141715
Inb4 shit rolls

Rolled 86, 33 = 119 (2d100)

>>6141715

Rolled 59, 55 = 114 (2d100)

>>6141715
We're barely passing with doubled dice, the fuck is going on

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>>6141769
Alright! So that'd be 238, 70 over DC and an already profound success.

But, before we carry on, lets have a quick vote!

Would you like to spend any of your cultivation/ training bonus? (current total 1708)

>Yes, spend 7, to reach 240/ 80 over DC

>Yes Spend 17, to reach 255 and 90 over dc

>Yes Spend 27, to reach 265 and 100 over dc

>Yes Spend 107, to reach 345 and 180 over DC

>Yes, Custom amount

>NO, Just get writing, grandfather.

And I am off to read some divine scriptures, while you vote on this.

>>6141772
The dice serve the heavens, no doubt

>>6141773
>Yes, spend 7, to reach 240/ 80 over DC

>>6141773
>Yes, spend 7, to reach 240/ 80 over DC

>>6141773
>Yes Spend 27, to reach 265 and 100 over dc
27 isn't a huge expenditure, out of the 1700+ points we've got stored up-- and I kind of want to see what the extra DoS gives up as a bonus.

>>6141773
>Spend 127 for 200 over dc.

Guys. 20 degrees of success. A NEW RECORD.
And a benchmark number too.

Let's go BIG

>>6141773
>>Yes Spend 27, to reach 265 and 100 over dc

>>6141773
>Yes Spend 27, to reach 265 and 100 over dc
Going over 100 dc is a massive success, if we do this we will be growing by leaps and bounds, the increase in is significantly more for the investment we give it.
I think we shouldn't go over that amount tho. Save all of our other extra points for ascending to the next stage, we WILL need it. at least for now.

>>6141773
>Yes Spend 27, to reach 265 and 100 over dc

>>6141773
>Yes Spend 27, to reach 265 and 100 over dc

Big Heal.

spend 7:2

Spend 27:5

Spend 127:1

So the result is raised to 265 and a clean 100 over the DC. A truly profound success, the void is shattered as the sage's mind produces pearl of true wisdom!

Update will arrive shortly

How a seed of flesh, watered with truly transcendentally spiritually potent and Qi rich blood can be used to recover from even the most grievous and mangling of wounds. How truly refined blood, sufficiently condensed, could serve to turn a piece of borrow meat into a functional limb, strong and dexterous enough to replace the one that was lost and become a alchemical catalyst for healing of a grisly sort. You already know this is possible, you ran through every step mentally, and with your carmine mysticism, mastery of blood control, and knowledge of the Red Dust Revival (红尘复兴, Hóngchénfùxīng), the price of the regrowing even a powerful cultivators limb would be made a pittance, achieving a feat that would take lesser rogues and remorseless and standardless heretics have to depopulate half a kingdom to achieve. Blood carries memories as well as emotions, after all

But you've already grasped how you'll give Huofeng back the arm that dog Laohue sliced from him like a particularly delicate cut of meat, and know exactly how much effort it'll take and how careful you'll have to be to prevent something terrible from arising from the vat of blood used to grow his shiny new arm.

No, contemplating all you know about healing and medical sciences and herbs and grasses both medicinal and spiritual, is something you're doing in pursuit of a far loftier goal than simply retreading a healing technique you've already devised , no matter how abnormal it is. Using the same basic principles to repair or replace a heart. Liver. Lungs or even a patch of nerves would be child's play to one as adept and intelligent as yourself.

No. What you seek is expanding this technique you came up with while you were meditating during the pre qi condensation martial arts tournament, into either a fully new path of medical techniques and healing sorcery or spinning a new school of carmine mysticism from the same spring of enlightenment. And there are several steps on the road getting there that you can simply step over. You perhaps possess the most in depth understandings of cat and human bodies, given your experience with possession and refining and rebuilding your own body down to and back from the marrow of its bones to survive a celestial tantrum. The quality of your soul not being bound tightly inside your mortal flesh, as well as the blood Qi in your possession and the numerous times you've used it to refine and alchemically alter your body in and out of a fight, combines with this intimate knowledge of how exactly a cat or person's flesh and blood need to be put together to function as a living body and expands it tenfold.

After all, switching between the shape you were born with and the one you learned to take on, requires an innate understanding and command of the bodies, and you excel like no other beast has in any recorded history and probably none that got covered up and spitefully forgotten.

Cont

>>6141909

Chimeric transformation. The act of purposefully altering fur, hair, skin, flesh, blood and bone and changing its shape and adapting it, rather than switching it wholly to one state to another. Blood control allows you to move your veins as easily and agilely as you do your fingers.

It all comes back to blood. And the unique beastly powers bequeathed onto you for being such an exemplar of magical beastdom. Combine the principles of blood alchemy, internal and external, meld them with certain sorcerous diagrams and mystical arrays, and toss in folk medicine techniques and the knowledge being raised and taught by a master poisoner has imparted onto you by necessity. What circumstances and influences will cause an organ to rot and fail, what climate will heal that same damage, and how the blood flowing through viscera, bowels and guts can be transmuted to take the place of herbal remedies and ordinary healing pills and droughts. Qi, you know, can be used to cleanse the body and rid it of toxins and heal injuries, as life force and internal energies can do the same in a pinch and great enough quantities. Blood Qi has a natural and passive healing property that doesn't need any special training to activate and make use of, it doesn't need to be formed and used in a complex spell, like other sources of Qi must to achieve the same.

And through your gradual, ponderous and carefully guided evolution as a carmine mystic, you've imbued that same capability into your blood, making it about as effective as a fine healing pill, which is why it is what you're going to use to get Huofeng his arm back. But it isn't enough to just rub your steaming blood in an open wound, pour it into a cup and serve it like catnip tea, or forcefully inject it into their veins...especially since that last one might be mistaken for how you forcefully turn some poor sap's still living body into your puppet or attack them from within their own veins, as the alchemist who could've been Ruolan and Renshu's carmine sibling found out when he thought he could spit in your face and run off with your blessing of perfected carmine mysticism, which is why you made him pop and took back the blood you entrusted to him.

Ideally, you want someone who isn't able to use blood control to take the foundation you build and use it to treat illnesses and clean cuts. And reflecting and gathering together all of you know about veins, organs, nerves and the like, and how Blood and Qi of any kind can interact, already you can envision several entirely new and never before used healing techniques and spells and come to understand the nature of carmine mysticism at a deeper, more profound level.
Cont

>>6141911

How to use the reviled practice of blood refinement to heal instead of turning blood into a potent cultivation material, how to attack infections and poisons with blood cells, and use blood alchemy to recreate the effects of pills taken that have long since run dry only using blood itself as material to do so. And that's just scratching the surface of what you come to understand as you trace the flow of every drop of blood through your veins, condensing and refining it as you mentally sort through every part of your body and the organs inside of it, tracing them out in your mind and memorizing every detail of them. You even get a good look at your spiritual root while you're at it and see just how magnificent they are at an extremely personal and up close level. If you wanted to, you could draw a diagram of every layer of your body and put it up for display, it'd surely become a national treasure, Heh-Heh.

But the simple, basic stuff, that really, even a simpleton with your powers and abilities could eventually stumble upon, doesn't really matter. Sure, uncovering a dozen or so different ways you can use various expressions of blood Qi and the skills and techniques that can only function and be used with it, would astonish any cultivator worth their salt. But here at the palace of natural laws, excelling and excellence are just the beginning of what is expected and as its grandmaster and head, you must go further.

Treatments to speed up natural healing to rival the effects of scarlet healing armor, and making it the baseline, natural function of the body, and reducing the caloric and metabolic strain so whoever gets give the treatment and goes through the ritual to attain it doesn't starve to death or feel like they got visited by specter starvation's meaner and hungrier cousin. Hell, with a large enough cultivation base, couldn't that treatment be used to recover almost instantaneously from wounds that'd be grievous not just for cultivators but gods as well? And you wouldn't even need to do anything rash or expensive, materially and morally to figure out how to do that. Its the same basic concept of red dust revival and the method of limb regrowing Huofeng will be the first official recipient of, since you're going to test it on smaller subjects first, like you did with blood alchemy when you made those venomous birds and carnivorous deer. All that will be different is the strength, suddenness of it and the fact it'll be constantly active.

Hmm, well, making it constant, will require a lot more preparation than just regrowing an arm, inside of the body to receive the treatment, but you literally leak blood Qi everywhere you go, so lot of the requirements it'd take to refine a living body to...say, regrow a few fingers that got blasted a way during a struggle, would be greatly lessened for you, but still, even reducing the impact on the body.
Cont

>>6141915

it'll still take a lot of Qi to activate the intense, rapid healing, but wouldn't it be worth it just to see the sheer looks of terror on the faces of whoever is unfortunate enough to face you after you've figured out and smoothed out the wrinkles and kinks of the procedure. Since it is just stupid to use one's self as a lab rat.

But even creating a medical procedure that could make allow some one to shrug off a storm of blades or a sea of fire and emerge without a scar or burn on the other side, is not enough. You're nothing if not ambitious. And as more and more techniques pile up inside your head, building on the foundations of the blood based healing arts and defining its techniques and spells in numerous ways. How to boost someone's life force that they could easily walk into the bottom of the catacombs or depths of hell itself without being overwhelmed and overcome by the deathly yin Qi there. How to treat curses like illnesses or common poisons. How to turn any blood in a healing elixir as potent as your own, how to use it to spread blood Qi and create carmine spiritual herbs and grasses, subtle stitching and knife techniques using raw Qi in the place of string and scalpel to fix wounds. The same Qi Scalpel technique, a sharpening of a shroud or sheath of Qi on fingers or claws, that could be turned into a hidden weapon or made so small you could poison someone with ghostly yin Qi without the cut being noticed, unlike say, injecting someone forcefully with your blood Qi

Hell, thinking about it, Ghostly yin Qi can be quite the effective poison to the living and the dead. And the only difference between medicine and poison is quantities, and you know more netherworld alchemy than anyone that can be counted amongst the living. And what about, say, Cosmic and Lunar Qi? Its nature is mysterious and mostly unknown to you, but you feel it to can be used to heal instead of how you tend to use most of your cultivation base, to destroy or blast away anything or one that gets in your way.

All three of the Qi's you've dyed your spiritual roots can be medicine. Anything in you, well except the internal gu you've been tending of sinner bone centipede venom, could be medicine. A Living body is a jade mine of medicine! And there are so many ways it all can be used, from meridians to veins, from hair to marrow.

But all of this new found medical knowledge and bodily understanding and know how, isn't satisfactory. Sure, you could use it to bully the thousand lotus hall and steal their seat as the premiere healers of Chuan Kingdom and the wider world of cultivation, or play games with Monu and challenge her to find a poison you couldn't counter with just your blood healing arts, but that isn't enough to satisfy you.
Cont

>>6141917

And you can feel it, deep in your bowels, there is enlightenment beyond all this that you've learned in a flash with all the patch work and scattered medical, healing and physiological insights, esoteric or not. A technique or method to be truly prized. A Red Jade dug out from your own veins, like ore from the earth. A secret art to place next to the other's you've come to possess. That will be the pinnacle of the new school of healing and medicine you've put together, piece by piece, at a speed ridiculous even by your own outrageous standards

And what shape does this red jade technique take, Huanliuxue?

>A two sided healing spell, that will be able to rapidly age or de-age someone or yourself, through an extreme expenditure of lifeforce and Qi, or do so partially and temporarily for much less of a cost

>A gory bodily refinement that removes many of the weak points and lethal vulnerabilities of a body, something that would let you be disassembled like a doll and still survive in pieces

>A purely physical form of possession, and a very bloody one, an extreme last resort survival technique to bounce back from, by replacing someone else's blood with your own. Or refine someone else into sapient blood, to heal lethal wounds or seal them away.

>A combination of your healing techniques and spells and Primordial beast essence to forcefully inflict what happened to Yuyi and others, or just trap them in animal bodies, extending your swapping between feline and human form and chimeric transformations to others

>"Lively Yin Qi", a true fusing of Ghostly yin and Blood Qi, worthless in anyone else's hands, but you know how Yin and Yang can coexist like the moon eclipsing the sun....

>Write in

Though the level of success has given Huan more than just this capstone technique. I listed some of what she picked up in this meditation in the update

Oh

and the total bonus remaining is now 1681

>>6141919
>>"Lively Yin Qi", a true fusing of Ghostly yin and Blood Qi, worthless in anyone else's hands, but you know how Yin and Yang can coexist like the moon eclipsing the sun....
This one right here.
We have both, they are opposing each other, yet we are a living wellspring of both.
Controlling age is one thing, removing our body of weaknesses is also powerful.
Being able to come back with just our blood, or make others shift between their forms. Yet none of these are a true representation of both our bloodshed and our grudge like combining the dao of ghosts and the dao of blood.

>>6141919
>A gory bodily refinement that removes many of the weak points and lethal vulnerabilities of a body, something that would let you be disassembled like a doll and still survive in pieces

>>6141919
>"Lively Yin Qi", a true fusing of Ghostly yin and Blood Qi, worthless in anyone else's hands, but you know how Yin and Yang can coexist like the moon eclipsing the sun....
A technique that none except us can use even if they stole it? This is the pinnacle of secret arts.

>>6141919
>>"Lively Yin Qi", a true fusing of Ghostly yin and Blood Qi, worthless in anyone else's hands, but you know how Yin and Yang can coexist like the moon eclipsing the sun....
Damn, these are really fucking good. But I'm gonna have to pick the opposing forces one. It's a bit selfish to pick since it would be super difficult if not impossible to teach anyone but it's gotta be strong. When harmony between Yin and Yang is found, the truest expressions of power lie. Balance holds strengths just as great as the highest exemplars or either side of the coin.

Maybe some day in the future we can master other techniques. Or maybe not. The future is ever unclear!

>>6141919
>lively yin
I prefer body refinement.

But it is said true luxury is having something nobody else can have.

>>6141919
>"Lively Yin Qi", a true fusing of Ghostly yin and Blood Qi, worthless in anyone else's hands, but you know how Yin and Yang can coexist like the moon eclipsing the sun....
Having unknown or unique Qi types is nutty-- and I suspect that this will also have other knock-on effects, due to our existing 'eclipse' physique. I wonder what happens when we reverse polarity; have we also unlocked Ghostly Blood Qi, or does this count as a true fusion?

>>6141919
>A gory bodily refinement that removes many of the weak points and lethal vulnerabilities of a body, something that would let you be disassembled like a doll and still survive in pieces

>>6142011
>Lively Yin Qi, a true Fusing of ghost and blood
>Hey, is this a true fusion?

Yes junior brother Anon, it's a true fusion.
Also, we get another point in "Huan's bullshit impossible tricks to pull out of nowhere in a fight" counter.

>>6141919
>>"Lively Yin Qi", a true fusing of Ghostly yin and Blood Qi, worthless in anyone else's hands, but you know how Yin and Yang can coexist like the moon eclipsing the sun....

Though I still say we should one day look into rearranging our merdians and spiritual roots so they are as effective as possible

>>6141919
>"Lively Yin Qi", a true fusing of Ghostly yin and Blood Qi, worthless in anyone else's hands, but you know how Yin and Yang can coexist like the moon eclipsing the sun....

Go big or go home.

This is supposed to be the cornerstone of our school of healing arts right? If we pick the Lively Yin Qi option, then the only person who'd be able to use it for the forseeable future would only be us, we'd have nobody to pass it down to.

>>6141919
>"Lively Yin Qi", a true fusing of Ghostly yin and Blood Qi, worthless in anyone else's hands, but you know how Yin and Yang can coexist like the moon eclipsing the sun....

>>6142175
Granpa wrote capstone not cornerstone so this technique would be the very pinnacle that only Huan at the moment would be able to use, all the other stuff can be taught to others.

>>6142198
Ah, you're right. Well, then this is probably the choice with the most flexibility out of all of them.

>>6141919
>"Lively Yin Qi", a true fusing of Ghostly yin and Blood Qi, worthless in anyone else's hands, but you know how Yin and Yang can coexist like the moon eclipsing the sun....

>>6141919
>A gory bodily refinement that removes many of the weak points and lethal vulnerabilities of a body, something that would let you be disassembled like a doll and still survive in pieces
I REALLY like the Qi fusion, but if this is supposed to be the signature technique of an entire school of cultivation, its strengths are balanced by the extremely high barrier of entry. Also would be fun to join Fu in the "People who don't die when they're killed" crew
>>6142024
>Also, we get another point in "Huan's bullshit impossible tricks to pull out of nowhere in a fight" counter.
How many flavors of complete BS do we have under our sleeves at this point?
>Slow down or, with enough effort, stop time for a brief period
>Cause an astrological event for a power boost
>Currently 4 flavors of complete moveset swaps (I wonder if we're familiar with Aodasheng to make it 5)
>Giving physical form to the grudges surrounding someone, which can impede even a god
>Grows stronger when near death to make comebacks
>At least one reload if things go absolutely pear shaped
And the scariest part is that most of these haven't been mastered or improved upon yet. That's something I want to look into before our Ling invasion, building upon our base moves like Dying Grudge Shield, Phantom Cat Step, or Vein Draining Fang and seeing what we can cook up (plus FINALLY finding out how to incorporate cosmic qi into our repertoire beyond homing qi shots)

>>6142201
>Also would be fun to join Fu in the "People who don't die when they're killed" crew
That would just encourage smutty writers to produce more strange fiction about headless head-getting.

>>6141919
>A gory bodily refinement that removes many of the weak points and lethal vulnerabilities of a body, something that would let you be disassembled like a doll and still survive in pieces

File: 1679006129778060.png (519 KB, 535x749)

519 KB PNG

Ending the vote, tallying its result now. A weekend spent "studying" divine scripture has revitalized me, juniors!


Lively Yin Qi:9

Gory bodily refinement:4

So, Creating Lively Yin Qi, a true combination blood and Ghostly yin qi, is the winner! You'll have other chances to learn/ invent the other options later, of course.

Update will arrive shortly

>>6142201
Huan is just overall a bitch to fight, and a bigger one to actually beat/ put down.

>>6142207
Huan's fondness of the macabre would only encourage them to be fair, if you recall how she's reacted to some of her more grievous wounds across the quest and her sense of aesthetics, like keeping sealed ghosts around for ambience, keeping cursed skulls around as decor and her using false ghost lights and stuff

>>6143706
>huan encourages the monmusu dullahan school of attraction and mate-seeking
oh lawd

You use each new invented technique and freshly designed spell to build stairs up the towering mental peak that you've placed in front of yourself, finding the one path forward from a thousand that will reach the true peak of the mountain of this new school of healing you've envisioned and chosen to create, that is sure to revolutionize the medical field across the world of cultivation and trickle down improvements to its lesser reflection in the mundane world of mortals and taxes.

Slowly but surely, what you're actually striving to discover and make your own takes shape, as the mental images refine and define themselves in your minds eyes. Ghostly Yin Qi, with cautious and careful use and proper application, can work just as finely and effectively as the life giving blood Qi, even though it is the exact opposite of the breath of life, being the essence of death and decay.

Lian Luli's work with mushrooms and the Lian clans inherited technique, come to mind. People think of mushrooms when they think of rot, but don't all plants flourish and feed off soil that was once corpses? Life and death, like all opposites, are more intertwined than most realize, and you've made your career balancing the two and walking down the boundary between them, and know better than any that there isn't much separating being alive and being dead. And how quickly one can go from living to being a lifeless corpse. The reverse isn't so true but is that a principle that is set in stone? Or just an illusion kept in place because few have the stomach to practice ghostly cultivation like yourself?

Ghostly and deathly yin Qi are feared, and rightfully so since few ever learn how to handle and make use of it properly. Too much of it rouses the dead and even can make corpses walk and spontaneously create jiangshi. The folly of the original carmine mystics was using death and embracing decay when they should've latched onto the life within blood they hunted for and consumed so greedily to empower themselves wretchedly. They cultivated through blood, yet became the Living dead. An imbalance of their Qi, an over abundance of yin qi, deathly yin qi to be precise, but Blood Qi and the lifeforce it embodies, is weakened and clashes with the breath of death and the spiritual energy of the dead, its why hungry ghosts are so dangerous and clouds of deathly yin Qi has been known to wipe out entire chunks of provinces or make them haunted.

But that isn't happening in the land drenched in your ghostly yin and Blood Qi. Ghosts and the living walk side by side, and there have only been a few cases of people being sickened or cursed, that you've trusted Ping and the more sane minded ghosts to deal with in your stead. There is a vague sense of balance, of equilibrium between the worlds of the living and the dead.

A thin gray line between the two, a line you've purposefully placed yourself atop since you began cultivating.
Cont

>>6143736

But, it isn't a boundary, not a true one, though from either side of it, it does appear as such. Only by leaping over it constantly, does it begin to look less like a wall and more like a line drawn in the ground, an imaginary fence. And when it comes to spiritual energy, to Qi, there are no lines drawn through it. When a pure strain of one type of Qi meets another, the spiritual energy in the air and soil adapts and becomes a mingling of both. Its why you sought the depths of the catacombs for Pure Ghostly Yin Qi and the wild places free of heavens' intervention for raw blood qi, and graced the stars themselves with your presence to become a cosmic beast.

Truly pure Qi, especially of the rare sorts you like to cultivate, is only found in places isolated from all other influences. So a co mingling of Qi produced by living bodies and Qi produced by decaying corpses an the like should be everywhere. You should've sensed it through your spiritual senses, just by walking through any old patch of trees or graves once its perceptions became sharp and delicate enough. So why haven't you? Why hasn't anyone? Blood Qi is usually in too minute qualities to be sensed, and is always polluted by something in the air or food or just the Qi people are naturally born with. And ghostly and deathly yin Qi, are very hard to notice until they're present in concentrated and large quantities.

And that explains it. Because the Qi you're seeking, to use to cap off this brand new school of healing techniques and spells and peculiar medicines, is actually, like all Qi, everywhere! Just in so small quantities that it is overlooked, and when it rarely arises in force, it is buried beneath an avalanche of ghostly and deathly energies or shrouded by the burning life force fighting off the weakness and ailing effects of a living body being inflicted with such.

And

And to anyone who doesn't make use of both the rawest energies of life and death, this Qi is utterly useless! A byproduct to be cast aside, a symptom to be treated, a sign of ghostly possession or an effort to raise the dead. Trash Qi with no use, that reveals when something is decaying from within. Like mushrooms. It is just the first by product of the meeting between life and death, and is treated like filth because in the eyes of any sensible cultivator it would be!

But in the hands of a heretic, who has soaked them long and often in the blood of corpses and the warm flesh of the living, it is jewel waiting to be cut and polished! It is almost hilarious how obvious it is when you realize it, in hindsight, considering how truly valuable this "Lively Yin Qi" or "Ghostly Blood Qi" is in the proper hands! Even if its useless in everyone else's.
Cont

>>6143738

Someone practicing the ruler of the great wheel's law, or at least able to make use of both ghostly and blood qi, would find it a most worthy tool. By bridging the gap between ghost and blood, which techniques like the red death scythe approached but didn't truly accomplish, an entirely new realm of possibilities opens up to you! By standing atop this peak, an untrodden, unexplored crypt reveals itself!

If one can use ghostly qi as one does blood qi, then a patient nearing death could be brought back to peak fitness with a single chant and one spell written into his skin! If one could use blood qi as one does ghostly yin, a spirit's earthly tethers can be strengthened and curses more easily transmitted through blood, or cures for them can be injected like a drug! And those are just the first two possibilities that can come to mind, and as you step off the metaphorical mount, enlightenment of the Lively Ghost Breath washes over you like a chill wind.

What exists solely between life and death? Eternity. Everything. Stasis. Your understanding of the dao grows as you ponder this. In the grey light that separates the hot blood of living life and the cool breath of ghosts, where the two are truly balanced between yin and yang, negative and positive, there is Consistence. Like the earth between the sun and moon. Like the circle of life. Life leading to death leading to life. Perhaps, the stasis aligned portion of this grey Qi, the intermingling of yin and Yang, could freeze a a disease in its tracts, or keep a body young or fresh long past time for it to age or rot. And like Mushrooms do with nutrients, like Lian Luli did with her body to create her little mushroom mobs, then it could exchange spiritual energy from what is living to what is dead and vice versa.

With this Lively Yin Qi, you could use the miasma of corpses to treat wounds or use lifeforce in place of deathly yin Qi to make a man frail or strike them dead. With one hand healing with poison and with the other killing with medicine. An law of inversed balances, of irregular sensibilities, that strays from the common sense that all that lives must die to pursue the idea that all that dies must live! A Qi suited for only those who can see the exact line in the sand between life and death and comfortably enjoy the benefits of both states, who have the mindset of realizing blood is a sign of life rather than death, and mushrooms are a herald of regrowth more so than decay.

Like you. Or Qiang. or Luli!

And with all these fresh insights, creating a handful of lively yin Qi is as easy as channeling blood and ghost qi into the palm of your hands and mixing them through the meridians running down your arm.
Cont

>>6143740

The resulting spiritual energy is dim, dreary and grey, and as you thought, very much resembles the waste left behind from possessions or recently clean battlefields, the lingering scent of death as well as the last bit of light in a corpse's eyes. Magnificent. And it looks so trashy and only someone who has studied both blood and ghostly qi as rigorously as you will realize its true properties and proper use. You'd only believe Ao would be able to sus out exactly what you were using this Lively Yin Qi for if you used it in a spell or technique, and even then, that sharpwitted fighting technician would be given a longer pause than any of the tricks you showed him in that allegedly friendly spar and power struggle the two of you titans undertook when you first met!

Satisfied, and mentally exhausted from the strain of wholesale creating a new branch of medicine and school of healing in one meditation, while also holding your breath, and feeling your lungs burning, you push yourself to the surface of the springs with a single kick.

And the moment you open your eyes as you head breaches the surface, you see some people whom you hadn't invited to enjoy the waters standing on their edge.

"See" Fu growls, in a bad temper and clearly exhausted, as Yinying watches over the napping rabbits and the sleeping guards in training he is raising, as Lian Tianhua (莲 天花, Lotus Heavenly flower) stares at you with a rather frog like expression of shock as you peek over the water, red hair flowing around you "I told you she was fine. Ghostly Yin Qi has that most peculiar property of allowing its uses to ignore most things lethal, I'd offer to demonstrate, but my master would actually rip my head off again if I did"

Tianhua, still wearing that same stunned expression, turns and gawks at Fu, who rubs the fresher scar around his neck as he scowls.

"Of course she could" A relieved looking red shark says with a grin you don't entirely trust "She is the overlord of my own sect and clan, of course she wouldn't be able to drown easily. Just wouldn't be sensible"

"I told you, youngster, you were worrying too greatly for our shared friend" Master Su chuckles as he sits on the edge of the pools, rubbing his feet and massaging the warm waters into his soles "A little thing like exphixation couldn't possibly kill Huanliuxue, even if I admit, her appearance under the water did look rather"

"LIKE A DROWNED CORPSE!?" Tianhua snaps, gnashing her teeth as the flowers in her hair unfurl as Red shark and Su both nod

"You've never seen her deep in meditation, she's looked a corpse for most of the time I spent as her student, her meditations are deep and...yeah, corpse like" Fu says with a smile "Guess it'd be frightening to someone who isn't used to, well, the common place sights of our temple"
Cont

>>6143743

"Which is why I used this newly constructed one instead of our main branch, it'd be uninviting to everyone but us, since what I find charming others find gloomy and grim, for some reason" You snicker as you swim closer to shore, seeing Tianhua pout as you apporach, cheeks bright red probably from the embarrassment of making a scene over nothing "And a few hours of holding my breath is nothing"

"Been a few days" Fu snorts

"Shit" You curse, and Tianhua smirks and covers her mouth as Red shark snickers and Su smiles, as you regretfully remember how easily you lose track of time

"That was a lie, it has only been a few hours" Fu sneers, and you have to stop yourself from dragging him down into the hot water to try and drown him for being such a cheeky little shit "See? there was nothing to worry about, master doesn't need to breath as often as others, just like I can survive longer than most without a head"

"Even for a cultivator, that is ridiculous" Tianhua pouts as you shrug, and lower your head so no one can see you're sighing in relief as you get out of the springs "Your kind of frightening, Huan"

"Kind of?" You pout, feigning hurt

"I've only seen your cuter side" She titters back from behind her fan, as you take the robes Fu offers you and dress yourself on the shore, looking from Lady Lian and Fu, to red shark and Su.

"And, what are you two doing here?Since clearly you didn't put too much of an effort into calmly Lady Lian" You bluntly demand as the old master of the five colors and five purities bows his head

"I was admiring the scenic view of these springs, and telling Fu how well the tournament was going, this young master burst in not long after this young miss was kept from diving in after you by your disciple, excitedly looking for you to tell you good news" He answers serenely, smiling gently

"The mission was a success!" The son of Xia Jinse-Shayu declares "Most of the squad sent over the border, remain their to clean up the mess left behind and assist in getting your disciples back home, but a messenger was sent, the enemy had been felled and the latest of the waves of the stampede repelled"

"That is good news!" Tianhua shouts "What a noble, heroic deed, I must offer my approval and respect"

"And?" You press

"And that's all I was told, I am sure my father is withholding information to make himself seem bigger and more valiant" He answers and you can only stare and blink, stunned by his honesty

"That is..." Tianhua mutters

"Believable for the third head of the Tomb, Mountain and sea alliance" Su snorts "Didn't even say if my two star pupils are alright"

"If his wife doesn't kick his ass for me, I will beat him half to death" You snarl, very, very displeased at not being told if your mother and priceless disciples are all right, especially since they include your little sisters by adoption and the only student of your self taught law
Cont

"He deserves it, but isn't it the way of us cultivators to scrounge for every scrap of face and glory we can grasp" Red shark says with a smile, as you growl and shake your head

"Monkey!" You yell, thoroughly pissed off now, as the pink furred gorilla's head emerges from beneath a lily pad "It is time"

"It is time?!" He roars, excitedly, revealing his face in a far too human looking smile as he launches from the water

"Yes, you are now Fen Kong (Pink Air, 粉 空), that is the name I have chosen to grant you. It isn't as poetic as mine, because, well, I was named by superstition, er, more or less" You explain happily as he, kneeling before, you starts to cry

"I am fen kong" He squeaks in delight, clapping his hands together "I have a name to my deeds now! Oh my friend, the scratching post, will be most delighted"

You pause, smiling as you see your shouting woke up the younger cats and the rabbits

"You, rowdy girl" You say, kneeling before the tomboy of the group "Are now named Jiangnan (江囡, River daughter), it means river daughter"

Her ears perk up and she smirks at Yewushi, like she's just been given a toy he wanted, as you look over at the skittish one

"You, I'll call Meo Yen, doesn't have a special meaning in chinese, use whatever characters you want to write it. I'm calling you this because it sounds like a surprised meow" You sweetly explain, patting his head softly and ruffling his ears as he nods, before you turn to the naive, droopy eared girl "And you, darling, are Trusting Soul (Xìnrènhun 信任魂)"

"Okaaaay" She yawns, nodding and accepting it as her name immediately as you catch the last of the four who leapt at you, excitedly shouting me! Me!

"And you, playful boy, are Xingfu Yongqi (Blessed courage, 幸福 勇气)" You sweetly tell him as you spin him around and put him down, as the newly named Jiangnan proudly tries to tell Yewushi her name, but bungles the pronunciation childishly, while Meo Yen repeats his name to himself while tugging on one of his ears, and Piao Tuzi sweetly guides Xinrenhun through how to pronounce and spell her name, while the newly named Xingfu Yongqi bounds up to Fen Kong and shouts his name at him, while he does the same much more politely and delicately pats the boy on his head

"You really would make an amazing mother, Huanliuxue" Tianhua giggles in a way that sounds like she's teasing you as Fu nods thoughtfully agreeing with her

"It has always been clear, the young queen adores children" Su simply states with a shrug of his shoulders "If you'll all excuse me, I must hurry to make certain I get good seating for the first round of the Qi condensation rung of the tournament, some place in the stands where I won't have to walk so far or climb so high"

"Oh! I need to make sure Luli is ready for her round" Tianhua frets as Red shark tries to glare down Yewushi and Jiangnan, who have stopped their play fighting to glare up at him, silently challenging the older and stronger man to a fight

>>6143748

"She is" Fu states calmly "I've seen her...well fight isn't the right word for it, humor my little sister Ju. She is going to give anyone who makes the assumption a little girl is an easy win, very much regret that thought"

"How so, I haven't heard exactly what your master has taught her" Tianhua asks, tugging on the sleeves of her robes nervously, as you wring the last of the water out of your hair, as Xingrenhun clambers onto your lap and mimics doing the same with her own, bone dry, hair while Piao Tuzi leans against you and falls back asleep "Huanliuxue? If it isn't overstepping bounds, may I ask, what sort of training you've given my Luli"

You can feel her hovering over your shoulder, and can picture the smile she's wearing.

"She's going to run roughshod over most of the competition" You snicker, not wanting to spoil the surprise, or shock about the martial arts you've taught her or the fact she's taken to mushrooms rather to flowers, like her big sisters "That girl has a rare talent"

"Seems most of those you take as students do" Tianhua sighs, disapointed, and you look at Fu and Yinying

"I have high standards, what else can I say" You brag "So, have the contests been organized yet? They better be considering how long I was under the water for"

"The other sects have requested more time to get some last minute formation training, since they heard the Qi condensation and higher tacticians tourney will be a bit different from the one Ju conquered" Fu answers immediately, pride for his sister shining through his tone "And, everyone has been not so subtly, asking us to try and get you to put the fighting side of the tournament before it and the scholarly exams"

"The hot blooded fools want bloodshed, after watching how the peak of martial artists fight" Tianhua grumbled "And I've heard a few ask if the sorcery contest will include fighting, considering the sorts of spells and magic most sects teach their students"

"They've got grudges to settle, lost bets and mortal underlings who got trounced in the first bracket" Fu answers "At I know your sister wants to make that same request of my master"

"Luli?!' She gasp as you smile, knowing exactly why she does. She really wants to show off how she's flourished outside of the shadow of the elders who have been using her family for so long, and to show her sister she is doing alright for herself away from home.
Cont

>>6143751

What do you decide to do, Huanliuxue?

>start the tacticians tournament of the Qi condensation bracket immediately, since in a real battle, you wouldn't have time to brush up on organization and formation techniques

>Switch the martial contest and the strategy places, since the rogue cultivators partaking will need some time to familiarize themselves with their partners before the qualifying rounds

>Show off your newly created medical techniques and brand of healing and see if Tianhua and other healers of the cultivator world can figure any of it out

>Drill Luli to make sure she's at the top of her game before her round starts (Training trial. DC variable. Higher results = better outcome)

>write in

Huan did the thing cats do when they look dead while they're sleeping