Previous chapters: https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?tags=Heretic%20Cultivator%20QuestMC info Pastebin: https://pastebin.com/x5rCdZpqSect/ disciple info Doc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1A0Yghkqs4WxALnnlVJ2uPpphQk9NQ4ME32DzC1qWp7Q/edit?usp=sharingFolklore: https://pastebin.com/AnbsrDcd_While it is tempting to create some fake identities to go along with the new auras you've attained, and nearly as tempting to show them off to your mother and ghostly bodyguard, you can play dress up and flaunt your new powers later. Right now, you need to get back to the tournament as quickly as possible so you don't miss a match or go missing for so long that your guests start asking questions and wondering if you're plotting something. But there should be enough time for you to practice swapping between your auras and keeping them repressed and hidden to keep them a secret trump card up your sleeve for the matches to come. And so you can know exactly how each of them works and what sort of advantage they'd give you in a fight.Your natural aura of Ill Omen, gives your opponents bad luck but more importantly, represses and seals their own Auras which makes fighting them much easier.Wading out of the hot springs and wringing out your hair, you decide to Start with the Aura of Primordial and Ghostly Nobility. It is a lot like circulating Qi, but rather than pushing spiritual energy through your meridians, you're drawing it up from your cultivation base and shrouding your golden core with it. It is a...interesting sensation, though not unpleasant and uncomfortable. The waters around you ripple and strange lights sparkle in the steam and mist wrapping around your bare body as you manifest the Aura of The Queen of Beasts and Ghosts Aura: Queen of Beasts and Ghosts attained and manifested. Effect: Weakens human and living opponents (Debuffs their stats), and strengthens Beast and Ghost allies, bends weaker beasts and ghosts to the wielder's will, and boosts their and the users bestial/ ghostly physique and techniques. An "Army" type aura, that summons illusionary soldiers from within the aura, if none fitting the auras criteria are present. The constant flow of Beastly and Ghostly energies from Huanliuxue increases output, increasing her stamina/ vitality/ spirituality (Buffing her HP and MP, more or less), and giving similar but reduced benefits for troops. Abnormal and temporary evolutions may be attained through this aura Cont
>>6379700It is an air of command, the throne upon which the Queen of Beasts and Ghosts sits imperiously. Draining power from living bodies and sapping the fight from humans who have not learned to kneel and kowtow before the primordial queen of the wild things and the dead, who stands above all as the pinnacle of both the rules of nature and the cycle of life and death, boosted and empowered by her regal authority to become the ideal beast and ghost, leading from the front as her army marches before her, conquering in her name and fighting for causes she deems just.You can sense, innately, that this aura is best suited for waging war though it'd have it uses outside of it in one on one battles, since you can feel how much stronger you are as both a beast and ghost when it is released.Deciding to next try the Aura manifested from your broken clock technique, you shut your eyes and perform the technique like a summoning ritual, arranging its steps above your golden core like an array Aura: Dying Time attained and manifested. Effect: Time's flow is distorted and quickened. Weaker opponents are rapidly aged, and equal or stronger foes are sapped of their stamina/ vitality, reducing their maximum health. Huanliuxe controls the flow of Dying Time, reducing her DCs as she holds a supreme advantage over her opponents, expanding her crit range to 90 to 100. Draws and contains Huanliuxue and her opponent into an altered space. The sudden changes in time's flow, can cause additional damage, debuffs and negative effects on Huanliuxue's opponents when a critical hit is achieved. A "Duelist" Aura, best suited for one on one fights and quickly ending them All things must die, this to is true for time. One day, the sands in the hourglass will run out. The incense stick will burn to nothing. And even the flow of the stars will halt and still. This Aura is the Broken Clock technique strengthened and manifested, creating an ailing flow of time that is racing towards is death, distorted and transformed. It is an incredibly dangerous technique, considering what could happen if time's flow is carelessly sped up or wrung like a towel, which is why its lucky that it creates, like the original Specter Lightness skill, a sphere of altered reality within the boundary of your aura where the time between you and your opponent can be safely abused and manipulated without risking...well, everything and everyone.A lethal aura to be sure. And one that might be too extreme for this tournament. Just catching a glimpse of it could probably turn a weaker cultivator to a hobbled kneed old fossil, Heh-Heh-Heh.Then, you decide to sample the Aura born from your existence as the first Pure Carmine Mystic in existence.Cont
>>6379702 Aura: True Ancestor of Pure Carmine Mysticism attained and manifested. Effect: Prevents any hostile presence from healing, boosts Huanliuxue's blood based arts and Carmine mystic abilities/ evolutions (Including stat boosts), an effect which increases the more blood is shed. Allows Huanliuxue to absorb/drain blood passively and causes instant death to weaker cultivators/ monsters, who are drained dry the moment they enter the presence of a true ancestor. Huanliuxue passively heals while this Aura is active. Other Carmine Mystics are empowered while in this aura, but become subservient to Huanliuxue. Mortals and lesser cultivators may be forcibly transformed into Carmine Mystics via this aura via Spiritual Root Corruption. A "Specialized"/ "Ancestral" type Aura, that does one thing well and benefits the uses descendants All hail the carmine ancestor. She who redeemed the blood. She who is mother and matriarch to all mystics who've come to practice the art she purified. All others are prey before her, little more than sacks of blood who will be brought to heel and squeezed of even their vital heart's blood. The True Ancestor has demanded a bloody feast and a bloody feast their shall be. Let all children of the blood moon dance and caper in delight, for their mother has deigned to bless them with the austere and noble presence of their bloodlines founder. The first Pure Carmine Mystic walks, and the world bends to her will or else bleeds, as her true radiance is revealed and an image of sanguine divinity is glimpsed and all who do not walk the carmine path tremble in terror.A fitting mantle for a scarlet queen, now, last but not least, the aura that marks you as the inheritor of primordial royalty Aura: Primordial Remnant attained and manifested. Effect: Huanliuxue's body is fortified with ancient vitality and treasures, greatly increasing her physique with primordial savagery, making every beast evolution she has attainted count as if it were a tier higher, and reducing the damage she receives + granting her a scaling bonus to rolls that increases based on the damage she's received/ healed. Inflicts opponents with the terror of primordial predators or stuns them with the image of primordial beauty long lost. Flashes of ancestral inheritance grant Huanliuxue temporary access to the techniques/ powers of those who came before. A "Self Buff" Aura that is focused on strengthening the host to the limit Cont
>>6379703What lurks beyond fire's light, in the past before mankind grasped fire? What memories linger in the veins of humble housecats, dreaming of times when their ancestors walked the land as immortal and primordial gods? What strength has been inherited by the Primordial Heir upon whose shoulders rests the legacy of the strong, the history of all magical beasts who came before and the future of all who come after? What is she, besides a Remnant and glimpse into the past when beasts walked and ruled as men? A vision of ancient history manifested? A throwback to when it was Beasts who ruled the world, not men or unjust gods. A scion of prehistory, bloody and tooth and claw and embodying the strength of those ancestors long dead and butchered?All four of these auras, equal your natural one in usefulness and strength, Ill Omen is a good, all around Counter, seeing how it reduces any aura it has met by half and causes no end of misfortune to anyone arrogant or ambitious enough to aim for to take your pretty head. And with a little bit of "Stretching" You learn how to switch between your five auras rapidly enough to do so in the heat of battle.Content with what you've attained, you dress yourself, reapply your make up and jewelry and leave your hair uncombed to roll wildly down your shoulders and back before you waltz back to the arena. And see that the next fight is about to be underway! You'd just barely avoided missing it. Looks like one of your surviving Xue Nephews is fighting one of the Eight Heavenly Gates Masters...And that most of your star pupils have left the audience to prepare for their training journeys!What do you do, Huanlixue?>...Kind of ignore the match until the end, since you don't want to look dumb by asking for details>Just ask one of the ghosts, since Yujijiao has already left for the northern desert, what's going on>Directly ask your nephew their name, and tell them they better live up to the expectations set by their dead, older brother>Summon Xue Long to your private stands, and ask him about the son whose fighting now>Write inIll Omen is considered a Counter type Aura, and its main power is Halving the effects of enemy Auras, but it also causes bad luck/ misfortune to those who oppose it, causing Huan to act, effectively, as an embodied ill omen
>>6379705>...Kind of ignore the match until the end, since you don't want to look dumb by asking for details
What utter bullshit we create and throw out.Fucking hell. This disciple is gonna have fun updating that in the Manual.>Directly ask your Nephew their name.>Be a little shit "Are you going to come for my head with determination Xue, or should I consider this demonstration just a passing display of arts the world has already seen repeated infinitely?"If he's not gonna fight seriously, then we can ignore him. If he is gonna fight seriously, then it'll be fun to watch them flaunt some stuff.
>>6379705>>Summon Xue Long to your private stands, and ask him about the son whose fighting nowabout time we get a good conversation out of him
>>6379705>Summon Xue Long to your private stands, and ask him about the son whose fighting now
Four (well 5, but our bad luck aura has always been there, but probably can be even scarier) flavors of cracked. It sure is our style to get an power-up in the middle of a battle setting. Imagine someone asking how long we could do this.>>6379705>Summon Xue Long to your private stands, and ask him about the son whose fighting nowMight as well get some one on one time with him (especially since I feel he's not making it past the first round
Should be able to get the update out tomorrow. Meant to today, juniors, but I'm too tired tonight
>>6380460Gotcha gramps
Ending the vote, tallying its result now. Sorry I'm so late, just had a pretty rough night last night....Kind of ignore the match until the end, since you don't want to look dumb by asking for details:1 Directly ask your Nephew their name.:1- Be a little shit:1Summon Xue Long to your private stands, and ask him about the son whose fighting now: 4So you'll summon Xue Long and ask him about the son who is fighting now.Update will arrive shortly
Tapping your fingers on the arm of your throne, you mull over your options. And quickly decide you don't want to be left in the dark, and quickly call one of the nameless outer disciples of your sect and bark an order at them to go fetch Xue Long. The match hasn't started yet, since both Long's brat and the Senior from the Eight Heavenly Gates are still preparing themselves in the ring. It takes, longer than expected and longer than is polite for your "brother" to arrive at your private seating box, dressed in all his finery, looking like he was wearing a blizzard that had been spun into silks."Huanliuxue" He said curtly "I was told you wished to grant me an audience""Do I need a reason to speak to my brother?" You asked with a cute titter, watching his brow knit with barely repressed annoyance, veins bulging and eyes sharpening, "But I did have a reason to bother you, outside of sisterly affections. Please, take a seat, you're my guest for at least this match""I will not leap to conclusions and assume you've brought me here in a ploy to further humble my clan and family" He said as he swept his robes and took a seat, a few paces away from you rather than right at your side"It does concern your family, namely your son in the ring against that old geezer" You explain and he shuts his eyes"You refer to Sixth Gate Master Boqin, I presume" He said through his teeth, hissing almost liking a cat "The venerable master my eldest remaining son is set against""Yes, and who is that son of yours and how does he compare to the Late Ming?" You ask curiously and his knuckles whiten but he does not release a wave of killing intent "Meilin inherited his mother's grace, and his grandfather's talent. Ming, inherited my mother's lethal skills" He explains "Meilin is more severe than his elder brother, but no less of a threat in battle nor any less talented than he was. He inherited different arts than the now heirless Intoxicating Lotus Flower Law and the Swaying Palm Style. He practices a variation of our clan's primary martial arts and dominant style, one that is""Yin aligned and intended for daughters" You hum and Xue Long's hand twitches "He inherited Monu's Physique""That is part of the inheritance he received from his grandparents" Long answers, somewhat uncomfortably, probably wondering how you could tell from just a focused glance "He and Ming had greater potential and innate treasures than myself""It is a shame Xue Ming died" You say sadly, morosely frowning and slouching in your throne "He impressed me, in our one meeting""In the manner of which he died, as you struck him down" Your "Brother" says caustically, showing that he inherited Monu's biting tongue out of the cradle, you smile wryly and flick your fingers through your hair "So he's a defensive spell specialist, like his grandfather, combined with the agile, lithe body of his mother" You hum, tapping your fingers on your cheekCont
>>6380584"You're perceptive, Lady Huanliuxue" Xue Long says, giving you as much praise as he can likely stomach "I see the gossip of the accuracy of the measure you take of your fellow daoist, was only scarcely exaggerated. Unlike some tales. Such as your divinity""Who am I to dissuade those with enough to sense to realize I'm an existence that should be worshipped" You say as Xue Meilin rose, his feminine, girlish face frame with locks greying to white, tied in a youthful looking, fox tail esq ponytail "And what of the Sixth Gate Master?""Also a defense expert" Long sighs "As many of the eight heavenly gates sect are, it is just the nature of their primary and dominant martial arts and inherited techniques. They embody the gates to the celestial realm, and are sturdy and reliable as they are wise and sagacious. But the sixth gate, is the level where defense turns to offense""Two steps from the unlucky door of death. Countering is also a form of passive and defensive fighting" You muse as you twirl a lock of crimson hair around your finger "However, just because they focus on defense, doesn't mean they lack fangs""Learned that when you fought my father?" He asked"I'd think its common sense, no one wades into a fight with a shield if they don't think they can deal some damage as well as they take it" You say with a shrug before a flash of...something, like a shot of moonlight across a frozen lake, moves in Xue Long's eyes"If my father hadn't been crippled, do you think you'd have won that battle?" He asks, as his son and the old sixth gate fossil, walk to the arena across the sea of starsYou frown, resting your chin on the back of your hands.How do you answer that question, Huanliuxue?>Don't.>"He wouldn't have been crippled if he wasn't an evil asshole, so we'd not have fought to begin with">"Of course. He won his fame hunting confused, frightened children. I thrive on grudges, I'd have torn him apart, even if he wasn't half frozen">"What do you think?">"If you hadn't allowed him to send Xue Ming after my head, would that son be fighting in this one's place?">Write in
>>6380585>Of course. Even in his crippled state the monster was canny, Lethal, exceedingly proficient with the scythe and not slowed by any appreciable matter. His grudge and unbending principle made the crippling a minor annoyance during our fight.>But despite this, he only lay a single blow upon me bevause he made a living out of killing confused and defenceless children with only base instinct with a pathological refusal to consider anything but the orthodoxy. He presented a challenge only because of raw cultivation and defensive speciality, which is nothing in the face of the most talented cultivator in history and the most creative heretic in the past ten generations. He never stood a chance with my golden Core, and I would have still have fought him if I only had a core formation base.>if you would like my advice, don't ruminate on your father's execution. Keep your grief and your fond memories for him if you have them, But he deserved every bit of his punishment and you know it. Which is why you don't defend his actions and instead deal with the results.
>>6380589This is not the diplomatic answer. It's honest and it will probably hurt, and the point is to get across just how sure we are in both ourselves and our actions.If you want to tease out his feelings, asking him if he thinks we would is the way to go
>>6380585>"What do you think?"I want to know what he thinks, beyond the bragging and resentment.If he recognizes that his father brought his fate upon himself.
>>6380585>"What do you think?"
>>6380585>"What do you think?"Think it'd be cool to actually answer after he gives his response too.
>>6380585>"What do you think?"not even mocking, just genuinely want to pick his brain
Ending the vote, tallying its result nowOf course, even in his crippled state...cont + If you would like my advice...cont: 1What do you think?: 4 So you'll ask Xue Long "What do you think" rather than answering directly
There are countless ways you could answer, some of them far crueler than others, some of them more factual and others more boasts than anything. But, rather than bragging or explaining in detail how you would've dealt with an uncrippled Laohue, you look to his son Xue Long's pensive face and meet his judging, contemplative stare and frown, tilting your head to the side and shifting your hands to press against your cheeks and hold your head up as you pout and look up into his eyes in a way that seems to make your "Brother" uncomfortable.Rather than mock or try to mend bridges with this man, you're more curious what he thinks. If he thinks things would've been different if Xuebai didn't trick that Jingyu fellow into sabotaging Laohue's breakthrough or if the results hadn't been so decidingly crippling and prolongedly lethal. Perhaps he'll make an excuse that you wouldn't have won if you fought his father at his best or is curious to see how arrogant and self assured you are. Or maybe he's looking for solace or just an answer that things and most importantly the outcome of that battle wouldn't have changed no matter what, or the satisfaction in getting you to admit that maybe, just maybe you wouldn't have won. And now your curiosity has grown into quite the monster, and you need to know"What do you think?" You ask politely, smiling as a well bred lady should which seems to unnerve him more as his son and the old fossil reach the arena beneath the stars and on the moon. Long shuts his eyes, his brow knitting and wrinkling with deep, intense contemplation as he considers and ponders your question and his own thoughts, even as the first, probing blows of his son's match begin. You keep your eyes locked on and settled over his closed eyes. Slowly, like a tomb's door being cracked open, his lips part and a sigh escapes"Huanliuxue. You are a being of resentment, even if a gentle, motherly nature also defines you and coexists within your proud and defiant character" He answers measuredly and with the most earnest respect he's ever spoken in your direction "My father, for all of his faults, was the ideal master. The greatest cultivator in Chuan, a fighting sage, a warrior and monk in equal parts. A daoist who'd mastered and had more insights of his path than any other in living memory""And?" You press, leaning closer, to the point your shoulders nearly brush against his arm as you crane up your neck. He stares ahead, eyes sharp, like shards of ice that had survived generations unmelted and unbroken "The greatest warrior in an age of peace and prosperity, cannot match even a brute thug that climbed their way out of the gutter' He said soberly, admitting to himself that he believes you would've won even if his father was in top shape and peak condition "And, he went into the fight, with preconceptions that doomed him. A beast had not attained such refinement and masterful techniques, for generations before him"Cont
>>6381578You pull back and sit up a bit straighter"Even without being on death's door, he'd have suffered tunnel vision, simply because of what you were, even if you didn't proudly call yourself the student of...mother" he continues, expression turning weary and defeated "A beast should not aspire to be a man, was one of the earliest lessons I remember from him, the smell of burnt fur and flesh still sticking to the temple after"He winces as the mere mention of what Laohue did to your mother conjures up a ripple of killing intent and heady resentment within your chest, oozing out of your heart"And you, didn't aspire, you simply attained human form to prove a point. You never act or pretend to be human, truly. You embrace your nature and flaunt it, considering all house cats our betters. That alone, would've driven him mad. Berserk even. Blinded him. Wrath was his gravest fault" He continues, flicking his sleeve as the fight on the moon sounds like its getting more and more intense "Even at his full strength, he'd be consumed by it and perhaps, arrogantly, assume you were no greater than the quarries of his other beast subjugations. But, I cannot claim he could have won, simply because he was he and you are you. An existence born from a burning grudge, whom grieves for generations of lost talent, facing off against an old monster who might as well embodied all the wasted lives and potential grinded beneath our sandaled' heels""So you think I would've won, no matter what?" You ask coyly"I can't imagine a way he could've defeated an embodiment of resentment and enmity such as yourself, who has never been restrained or restricted by the laws he upheld to his dying breath" He answers, avoiding saying it outright "It may have been a mutual kill, if he was not half frozen, but even that feels like wishful thinking when the opponent he faced was both a prodigy and who ignored the taboos and laws of cultivation. Your core is immaculate, even despite the difference in rank and experience, along with the power you gain from the grudges possessing you, you were the one between yourself and Laohue who had the advantage. Both of you went into that fight, with purpose and convictions you were willing to die for but..."He shook his head, "No matter what can be said about you or my father, you were harder to kill and more stubborn in your beliefs, to the point you'd overturn the heaven and earth and force all to bend and bow before the way you believed things should be. A cat has nine lives, it is said, and yours are not so easily stolen. Men have but one""That is surprisingly humble and reasonable of you, Long" You say softlyCont
>>6381579"I've been forced to swallow many unpleasant, hard truths about my father and the world he raised me into" He explained with a frown "And you asked me earnestly, so I answered honestly. I'd be a great fool to discount your prowess, simply because you've killed my father and my son. Just as I would if I claimed you were not the wronged party in that...conflict""You might just reclaim your sects wisdom before you turn old and grey" You say with a titter, not cruel or mocking "Few masters of your level have the humility to admit what you just did""You've proven your righteousness and justness of your cause, and your superiority. I may not like it, or you, but your heretical ways have given you many boons" He says "The very resentment you felt towards my father, empowered you, and he knew not what sort of monster he was facing when he flew down the mountain side to leap into battle. On his death's bed""Still, he was tough piece of old meat. He was one of the harder things to put down that I kill" You drawl, as you lean back in your chair and turn your attention to the fight for the first time since it started"Is that your idea of a compliment?" Long asked, aghast before his eyes hardened and chilled "Hmm, I answered a question when I presented one to you""Think I owe you something, just because of that?" You asked with a cackle"You seem to at least be trying to scrub the records between us clean" He answered "And I am curious about my opponent, you marked him as your rival. And I wonder if you set us against the other to see who would be more worthy a foe"What do you tell Xue Long, Huanliuxue?>Scold him for ignoring his own son's match and tell him to watch>"Well, since we're being so open and truthful. He's a former god. They kicked him and his pals out of the heavens for failing to kill me">"He's an archer and unlike Xiannu, could've killed your father as well. If he were healthy? Maybe he could, but if he was in the state I fought him in? He'd win">"The history between us won't be so easily washed and cleaned. You still hold a lot of resentment towards me, for merely defending myself, even if you can admit I was the victim at the end of the day">Write in
>>6381580>"Well, since we're being so open and truthful. He's a former god. They kicked him and his pals out of the heavens for failing to kill me"
>>6381580>Well, since we're being so open and truthful. He's a former god. They kicked him and his pals out of the heavens for failing to kill me"
>>6381580>Since we are being so open and truthful, he is a God kicked out of heaven for failing to kill me, and an archer besides.>I would prefer to scrub as much between us as I can, But I am a being of grudges, I wouldn't deny you your resentment. Only you can choose to pursue or set it aside.
>>6381580>Write-inYou mirror my thoughts brother. His hate for my kind was too much. I am made of grudges, but I tried to make him regret what he had done. But he smiled at me, mocked me, felt pure joy as I showed him his sins. I am sorry my nephew died that day, but our father was a monster through and through. And I could've followed his footsteps in a way, killing all humans. Become the monster he thought I was, many do question that still. But I wouldn't have forgiven myself in the face of those nine childern.For grudges cannot exist without kindness. and>"Well, since we're being so open and truthful. He's a former god. They kicked him and his pals out of the heavens for failing to kill me." To throw him from a loop.
>>6381666supporting
>>6381580Sect brothers, I am taken by a mad impulse.>"Well, since we're being so open and truthful. He's a former god. They kicked him and his pals out of the heavens for failing to kill me">"Just between us, that dear friend of mine who everyone thought a simple old man is a god too. Perhaps if you approach him respectfully he might deign to tell you which one."
>>6381580>>6381591>>6381914Ooooo, I like this. Supporting.
>>6381580>>6381666>>6381710I'll support these two as they do not seem in conflict.Could have become the monster he was + he's an ex god and an archerLet him see for himself what is the mettle of the gods he worships.
>>6381666>>6381914Supporting
