>>6340545

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

>>6340546

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

>>6340548


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

triple Vote

How do you reward all the winner of the magic contest

>Teach them a simple spell

>teach them the breathing exercises to properly start cultivating

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

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

>Write in


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

>Show her how to cultivate off of ghosts

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

>Promise to make her a Carmine Mystic in the future

>Hand her off to Qiang to be her first disciple

>Write in

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

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

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

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

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

>Write in

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

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

>>6340549
>Give them a simple spell

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

>show her how to cultivate off ghosts

>Hand them off to mom and feiquing

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

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

>Show her how to cultivate off of ghosts

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

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

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3.8 KB PNG

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


Teach them breathing excercises:5

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

Pass her off to Qiang:1
___

Go ahead with the crafting and alchemy trials: 4

GHand them off to Monu and Feiqing:2

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

update will arrive shortly

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Mian lifted up her chest with pride, hanging stomach wobbling

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

>>6342334

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

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

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

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

Sounded like an excuse.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

>Track down Pony and ask if Ao sent her

>Write in

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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357.2 KB PNG

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

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

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

Update will arrive shortly

>>6342349
>>6342379
lol

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

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

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

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

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

>>6344556

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

>>6344558

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

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

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

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

"Lady Bloodshed" You correct

"Lady..." She starts

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

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

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

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

Another flash

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

Your eyes shine bright like a full moon

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

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

>>6344561

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

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

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

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

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

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

What do you do, Huanliuxue?

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

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

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

>Leave her be

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

>Write in

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

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

>>6344563
>Archery
>Loyalty

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

update will arrive shortly

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

>>6346259

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

>>6346260

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

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

How do you answer, Huanliuxue

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

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

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

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

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

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

>Write in

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

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

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

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

>>6346268
>Support

It's more interesting

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

update will arrive shortly

>>6346945
>>6347134
Hilarious, also true

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

>>6347565

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

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

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

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

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

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

>Write in

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

>Just go with creating the Primordial/ Verdant style

>Try to do both,

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

>>6349242
>Just go with Maximum effort

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

SAVE
OUR
POINTS

>>6349242
>Just maximum effort

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

>>6349242
>Just go with Maximum effort

>>6349242
>Just go with Maximum effort

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

Maximum effort: 5

Primordial/ Verdant style:1

Very clear winner winner for you to put in maximum effort

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

>>6349738

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

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

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

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

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

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

"GODAMMIT"

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

Roll 2d100. DC 180. Best out of five

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

Rolled 27, 16 = 43 (2d100)

>>6349739
We do this to mock you Pony

Rolled 73, 78 = 151 (2d100)

>>6349739

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

Rolled 74, 93 = 167 (2d100)

>>6349739

Rolled 29, 61 = 90 (2d100)

>>6349799
13!

I'm rolling again, to speed this up.

Rolled 52, 63 = 115 (2d100)

>>6349739

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

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

>Take the failure

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

>Spend 23 to go 10 over the DC

>Spend 53 to go 40 over the DC

>Spend 113 to go 100 over DC

>Spend 213 to go 200 over DC

>Custom amount

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

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

>>6349837
>Spend 213 to go 200 over DC

>>6349837
>23, ten over.

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

>>6349837
>Spend 213 to go 200 over DC

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

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

Pretty clear winner

Total Bonus for training/ cultivation is now 1317

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

update will arrive shortly

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The gods truly do work wonders, heh-heh.

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

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

>>6349961

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

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

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

Double Vote!

What do you do about the bow...

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

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

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

>Send Qiang to get you one from hell.

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

>Write in

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

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

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

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

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

>Write in

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

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

>>6349962
Hmmm.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

>>6350263
Holy crap, time flies

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Rolled 3 (1d3)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

So

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

1 = elders
2= Stories
3= Pointers


>>6350263
thanks! I really enjoyed writing that scene

>>6350373
lmao

>>6350522
It really does

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

update will arrive shortly

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

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

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

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

"Right before another exciting contest?" She asks

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

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

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

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

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

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

>>6351099

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

>>6351102

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Renshu covers her mouth

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

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

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

>>6351103

And what is that decision, Huanliuxue?

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

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

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

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

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

>Write in

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

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

>>6351107
what agenda?

>>6351112
Making the world accept magical beasts

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

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

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

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

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

Anyways, ending the vote, tallying its result now.

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

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

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


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

Update will arrive shortly

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

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

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

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

>>6352082

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

>>6352083

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

Double vote!

Which Alchemist Contest winner do you recruit

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

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

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

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

And which Crafting Contest winner do you recruit, Huanliuxue?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

>River Shadow
Unite her with her oshi

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

>>6352090
>Support

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

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

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Ending and tallying the vote now.

Stubborn Stone: 5

Heavenly melody: 1
___

River Shadow: 5

Water Bandit 1: 1

Stubborn Stone and River Shadow are the third and fourth disciple the palace of natural laws picked up in the beast only bracket (After xiaoyu and Mianhuagege)

Update will arrive shortly

" Wángùshítou (Stubborn Stone, 顽固石头)" You call out, the smokey hided mule lifting up their head passively with a laziness you couldn't help but to respect as a housecat, he had a similar coloring to Huili, looking scorched and ashen with a few bright orange, yellow and red furs that made it seem as if his coat held live embers "You are the ultimate victor of the alchemy trial, the potent blackpowder you mixed was enough to earn yourself a place in the roster of the eminent palace of natural laws"

His eyes flared like a lit fuse and he bowed his head, dipping his front legs unsteadily, his tail flicking rapidly revealing the surprise and glee he hid so well on his burned snout

"I am honored, your majesty" He says with a yokel dialect and a hick accent that reminds you of Chicken farmer Ho.

"Hmm, you must not have learned the recipe from an official tutor, I'm guessing you used to live with miners or bandits" You hum, as you pace around him, admiring how well he repressed his prey instincts as he was stalked by one of the greatest predators beneath the heavens

"You would be correct, your majesty, ain't sure what they was, but the one who fed me and brushed my coat knew chemistry" He explains, head still bowed

"hmm, might've been a disgraced imperial alchemist or engineer. The dead dynasty did make itself many enemy out of its servants" You snicker, before tapping him on the back of his head "And hold your head high, boy, you're my direct student now and a member of the palace of natural laws. Don't act so meek. Be proud, shameless, you're one of the elite now. Or will soon be, once we've figured out your talents'

He brays and lifts up his head, and the few who laugh shut up when you flash a fierce glare in their way, then you turn to the novice Artisans and smile.

"Chuānyǐngzi (River Shadow, 川 影子 ), you are not the first snake, river or shadow to be part of our illustrious sect, but you are the first living serpent and the first painter" You tell the large, violet scaled anaconda that much like her idol Chuandapo, resemble very much the shadows beneath water, though her underbelly is a striking, sky blue. The snake stares, flicking out her tongue. She is smaller than Yujijiao was...is, but that is because horned serpents are larger than even constrictors like Chuanyingzi! She does look big enough to swallow a horse whole, but her presence is smaller than Xiaoyu's who is the smallest magical beast in your sect currently

"I am...honored" She hisses quietly

"You should be, you captured my likeness well, even if the shade of my fur wasn't right" You tell her, staring deep into her eyes, nose to nose with her as she goes a bit cross eyed trying to avoid meeting your gaze "you've got some talent, to wield a brush so gracefully, without any hands. I'm sure you'll live up to the legacy of the late, but still present, Yujijiao"
Cont

>>6353000

Though where the snake ghost had wandered off to, was a mystery. She was probably bossing around some lesser spirits, on your behalf and authority. And if you actually required her presence, you could summon her as easily as you could any other of your students.

"As for the other winners, who weren't so impressive to win a spot in my sect, you'll be given a prize of spirit stones and recognition, or if you'd prefer, cash and materials if you're more comfortable with worldly wealth instead of the money of us cultivators" You declare and smile as you give all the other sect heads unspoken permission to recruit the runners up, which they are already doing, courting the attention of the disappointed beasts in their own ways. Tianhua, for instance is talking with Jionghuagege, seeking her motherly permission to induct her daughter into the Thousand Lotus hall, and seems to be slowly bringing her over to the idea, right beside Master Su, who seems to have, in the few seconds since you declare the winners, already recruited Thousand legs.

The other sect heads interested in beasts, have also wasted no time in claiming and inviting their favored contestants into their fold. Exactly as you'd planned. and hoped.

The free for all brawl and luck contests, could wait a little bit so the sects who had their eyes on certain outstanding competitors could have their chance to take them under their wings and those beasts who had a choice of two sects could make an informed decision and pick the sect that suited them best!

And while you wait for the round of recruiting to finish, what do you do, Huanliuxue?

>Offer advice and wisdom to the beasts you didn't recruit and help them decide on their sects

>Ask the Geges if they want their daughters to be given proper instruction as cultivators, or if they're going to teach them the ancient laws five colors taught them

>Get your worshippers to bless the arena grounds in preparation for the free for all brawl, both to amuse yourself and increase the faith of the common beasts in your "divinity"

>Decide that instead of a free for all brawl, since many beasts have many advantages over others, you'll instead give them a test of will and see which of them can endure your radiant, imperial aura the longest.

>Write in

>>6353001
>Get your worshippers to bless the arena grounds in preparation for the free for all brawl, both to amuse yourself and increase the faith of the common beasts in your "divinity"

>>6353001
>Get your worshippers to bless the arena grounds in preparation for the free for all brawl, both to amuse yourself and increase the faith of the common beasts in your "divinity"

>>6353001
>Offer advice and wisdom to the beasts you didn't recruit and help them decide on their sects

>>6353001
>offer advice and wisdom

>>6353001
The using the will is cool as hell, but we need to keep our test standard
>Ask the Geges if they want their daughters to be given proper instruction as cultivators, or if they're going to teach them the ancient laws five colors taught them

>>6353001
>Offer advice and wisdom to the beasts you didn't recruit and help them decide on their sects

Ending the vote, tallying it now. Hope the New year is treating you well, juniors

Get your worshippers to bless the arena grounds in preparation for the free for all brawl, both to amuse yourself and increase the faith of the common beasts in your "divinity":2

Offer advice and wisdom to the beasts you didn't recruit and help them decide on their sects:3

Ask the Geges if they want their daughters to be given proper instruction as cultivators, or if they're going to teach them the ancient laws five colors taught them:1

So you'll offer advice and wisdom to the beasts you didn't recruit and help them decide on which sect to join

Update will arrive shortly

"However, steady hoofed Stubborn Stone and brilliant brushed River shadow are merely the most excellent of victors, they don't alone stand atop the winner's pedestal" You declare with a flourish of your tail, and wag of your paw as you plod past the two newest recruits of your sect and saunter up casually to the so called "Runner ups", who only didn't enter your sect due to your personal decision and sense of fairness.

"And" You continue, smiling as you lay down in front of them, sitting like an idol statue in one of the temples built for you across Chuan "Your ability has been catalogued and noted, not just by myself. So as the rightful, proper monarch of all beasts, allow me to offer you some sagely wisdom to help you on your journey, as it parts from that of the path trailblazed by my own ascendant Palace of Natural laws sect"

"Rose Maiden. You've already know the thousand lotus hall, you and your sisters are familiar faces around that shrine. You're like your mother, my younger sister. Gentle hearted, well mannered, and genial natured. I don't think you or, really, many of your sisters would do wrong courting the flowers of that garden. But do remember, you are her daughter and were once a medic in my army. So if you do decided that it is under my dear friend lady Lian you wish to be raised and taught, seek permission first" You tell her softly "And remember, that the world is not at all like the stories your mother so loves. It is wild, ruthless and growing more untamed by the day"

Rose Maiden buzzes her wings, antenna shining as she looks up from the sugary tea she'd been sipping at and you can tell the good hearted girl didn't even realize she was competing for anything. Not all of Jionghuagege's daughters are geniuses, after all. She did awaken all of her brood, rather than Tiexingege's choice to only have her daughter's who became magical beasts naturally ascend to sapience.

"Thousand legs. I offer similar advise to you. You would've done well in our sect as a poisoner and student of my own mother. And you already know my sister Tiexingege through her daughters. However, you've caught the eye of more kindly master than I. So I shall tell you what I've learned from my mother. Live everyday as if it were your last, enjoy yourself and be proud of your talents. Just because most consider centipedes vermin and poison to be a coward's craft, doesn't change the truth of your magnificence"

She just stares at you in such a way that you'd think she'd be crying if centipedes could do that, and her tearfully thanks proves you right!

"Heavenly Melody, pretty little bird. Your looks will get you far, but I'd say stick to the ground. You've spent too long with your head in the ground. Learn commitment, focus and drive. You cannot breeze through life and must learn this quick. This world of ours can turn cutthroat in an instant!" You boom and the bird peeps, surprised by the sudden shout you sent his way

Cont

>>6354202

"Water Bandit. Probably the first crustacean to awaken in this era" You continue, turning to face the runners up of the crafting division "You've got strong claws, a thick shell. You know how to use them, both as weapons and as tools. But the world is not so simple as hammering metal into shape. You've caught the attention of two rivals and must decide what manner of crab you are. A crab of high honor or a crab of fierce passions! It is no choice as simple as picking out your breakfast. Whatever choice you make, will determine your path forward in life. Do you seek the rigidness of steel, or the flowing of smoke? This choice will shape you, body and soul but in the end, it is your choice to make"

Water Bandit eyes flash towards the still arguing lords Xia and Shidi and you can tell the bright lad understands even though he does not dare speak to you directly

"Cattail thief. You and I were both born by reeds and cattails, we were both grown on river fish and mice" You tell your subject "And, regrettably, yours is a different path from me past that. You have great ambitions to match, and for that I am sorry to set you expectations higher than the dragon's gate or the nine heavens themselves to meet. But you cannot be my copy, but you may yet be my equal. Do not yet anyone compare you to your empress. You are Cattail Thief, Not Happy Bloodshed. Prove this to them, and show us all what form your personal Dao shall take. And make certain to not suffer no fool as your master!"

And you worry you might've given the poor boy a heart attack, but realize after a moment of panic that he had just fainted from delight over being so highly spoken of by his beloved liege! How adorable. If Xue Long hurts him, you'll finish the job you started when you cut down the tragically late Xue Ming.

"And then comes the bear, you've got plenty of benefits and gifts, being born a bear. But that strength comes with responsibility. For the strong are always challenged, and have a duty to guard the weak. Yours will not be a life of ease and comfort. Like the blade you cut from stone, you must hone yourself and sharpen yourself to a purpose. But, like with Water Thief, that purpose must be of your own design. But your decision is different. I can smell it on you, you enjoy dealing death"

The bear grinned at you and you smiled back, cowing them with a flash of a vision of your ghostly aura letting the youth realize how outmatched he was in terms of lethality and murderous talent

"And killing freely, living as a brute, is an unworthy life of one of my subjects. Refine yourself, humble yourself. Like a blade on the anvil, wrought yourself into shape. Will you be spear or shield, the warrior who slays evil or the guardian who defends against it? You were born stronger than most, but you are little more than a cub in our world. Take that bloodlust and make use of it, do not become consumed by it like"
Cont

>>6354203

You click your teeth together, and have to forcefully repress your Qi as your imperial radiance flares and forms a dark skull formed out of the malice and enmity spilling out of you. Yujijiao's grudge against her killer, stoked and fed by the other grudges stored inside your gullet

"That Ying Bitch, Yaonan!" You snap, sending multicolored sparks up the cloud of grudge energy "Who is controlled solely by her literal lust for killing! Gross! Disgusting! Low class trash! Gross! Gross!"

Coughing, you regain your composure and stop yourself from ranting about the ogress, having made your point

"Anyways, treasure that advice, kids. You won't get as honest a lesson for most of your lives" You cackle as you get back up to your feet and walk away "The free for all fight is next, and then comes the luck challenge. And then"

You start laughing, eyes wild and manic as you're still on a bit of high from Yujijiao's potent dying curse spilling up out of your throat as your eyes flare with killing intent and you sweep your eyes across your competition for the last of the brackets. the Golden Core tournament. The feast of the strongest, the meeting of the best Chuan Kingdom has produced. And, to your delighted, not all of rare cultivators who've reached the stage are cowed by your utter dominance or the superior quality of your golden core! Good!

And who do you focus your challenge against, marking them for the fights to come, Huanliuxue?

>Star Shooter! You've learned archery for a reason! Piece of shit winged you with a devil purifying arrow!

>Xue Long! He has a grudge for the slaying of Ming and you intend to see it burn brightly

>Bai Shengzhanshi. General of the White Jade Devil Opposing army and the most martial of the chuan grandmasters

>That smug old hag Weiwupo! She might've beat you in betting, but you're the greater witch and will put her on the ground

>Disi-Ling Huofeng! He might be your ally and owe you an arm, but he is still related to the Ling and you can learn how better to kill other ling from fighting him

>Mi Shendao. He is probably one of the elders you like the most, but he is also your closest neighbor and should learn who the top dog, er, cat is in the Primordial forest of the tragic lovers

>The crazy bastard Shandian! You don't really care about the Storm Shrine Sect, but his method of teaching is way to dangerous! He needs sense beaten into his skull

>Every Sage of the shifting sands. The dog fuckers!

>Someone else (Write in)

>>6354204
>Every Sage of the shifting sands. The dog fuckers!

Rolled 1 (1d2)

>>6354204
Happy New Years Gramps and my fellow Juniors.
>Star Shooter! You've learned archery for a reason! Piece of shit winged you with a devil purifying arrow!
Or
>Disi-Ling Huofeng! He might be your ally and owe you an arm, but he is still related to the Ling and you can learn how better to kill other ling from fighting him
Letting the dice decide this one

>>6354204
>Star shooter
You little fuck!

>>6354204
>Star Shooter! You've learned archery for a reason! Piece of shit winged you with a devil purifying arrow!


Happy new year

>>6354204
>>Disi-Ling Huofeng! He might be your ally and owe you an arm, but he is still related to the Ling and you can learn how better to kill other ling from fighting him

will help us in life or death fights later.

>>6354204
>Star Shooter! You've learned archery for a reason! Piece of shit winged you with a devil purifying arrow!
Star Shooter, you will now face the Test of the Red Cat, where a spiteful red cat will bully you until you convince her to stop.

File: zhbi7r96so861.jpg (201.2 KB)

201.2 KB JPG

Ending the vote now, tallying its results.

Every Sage of the shifting sands:1

Star Shooter/ Xīng Shèshǒu: 4

Disi-Ling Huofeng:1

So you'll glare at and focus your fighting spirit towards the fallen martial diety, Xing Sheshou. Marking him as your target/ rival for the Golden Core tournament

Update will arrive shortly

>>6354932
lol

https://youtu.be/yvFgNP9iqd4
_

Your body goes limp, soul's frayed tether snapping as your aura eclipses the sun, the very moisture in the air turning into minuscule drops of blood as the fullness of your imperial and deathly cultivation aura reveals itself like the miasma rising from the site of a genocide, ripples of carmine spiritual energy wavering in the densest, darkest black that could be glimpsed by living eyes as the temperature plummets and gives all in attendance a brief taste of the coldness of death as your physical form contorts, snapping and cracking as it retakes its human form in the most gruesome manner of blood transmutation, leaving you standing in the eye of the storm of curses & grudges, the turmoil between the essence of life and essence of death swirl and form the Taijitu. The white yang dyed red and the boundary line cut marked by moonlight.

Drenched in blood, you remain limp, like a corpse hung and left for scavengers on a crossroad, the only signs of life the ominous crimson starlight shining in your usually yellow cats eyes, as your hair ripples and flows as blood drips down it. You look past all of the spectators, all of the other rivals you'll face. The rarest creatures in Chuan. Your fellow golden cores. Ignoring those who hold grudges against you to focus in on the one soul present who had actually wounded you and drew blood. Nearly killed you, coming closest of anything alive, since Aodasheng took the title of the closest of anything dead that has come to killing the great Huanliuxue.

All five fallen stars react. Shining brilliantly with what remains of their cultivation base and spiritual power, like lanterns before an ill omen breeze, struggling against being snuffed out against the foreboding wind whistling and creaking through a funeral house. Blood pools around your feet, the sickly sweet scent of decay fills the air and pale glimmering lights flicker into and out of reality around you as all bear witness to the mass grave your aura has so often been described as. A grim bloody spectacle of the price of survival and the harsh truths of life. That most things that live die violently. That nature itself bloodies its fangs and its teeth more than any human army has wetted their blades with their blood.

Xiannu (Immortal Fury, 仙怒) aura is like fireworks, flashy, explosive. A mirage of colorful flames and bright blasts. And as impotent and transient as a firecracker. Sparks, struck like the first man to try and hold back the dark of night and the death it embodied. Fires that could be easily snuffed out and taken away, no matter how hot they burn.

Diqui Lang ( Earth Breaker, 地球浪) is more like a mountain, standing tall and resolute against a sea of blood. But all the bloodshed in the world, from beginning to end could draw even mount tai. and his peak is as a mole hill compared to the heights you intend to crest!
Cont

>>6355350

Shen Mao (God Lance, 神矛) has an essence that is light a flight of phoenixes. A brilliant cascade of immortal vitality even after his had been drained from them. Dignified. But it is a law of nature that cats eat birds. And a great enough cat could snatch any phoenix like it was a common song bird! Pulling them from the rainbows they fly upon and down to earthly reality!

Jie Wang (Marital King, 偈王)'s power of a cultivator. Is more than Xiannu's flash of fireworks lighting the sky for celebration, or Diqui Lang's enduring might embodied into a mountain and even more impressive than the dawn of pheonixes of Shen Maos. His is a battlefield, fresh and active. Clashing swords and spears. Armies meeting. That first clash. But yours is the result of all wars, a vast endless grave. The stench of blood, fresh and congealed. The perfume of corpses and the whispers of their dying words twisted into hateful curses. The bloody mist churned up as rain washes it all away. The morbid truth that in the end, even kings become word food.

And all of these four, former divinities, are mere stepping stones. Their auras, even as reduced as they are, might've set them up to be the greatest beneath the heavens without any of the hardwork you put into getting past them, to become the mightiest on the bloody earth. But they're secondary actors. Side characters. Distractions and diversions. It'll be fun to crush them under your heel, sure, but they aren't the prize you're drooling over to get a taste of their resentment and a mouthful of their flesh and blood.

You raise an arm, twitchingly and lock eyes with your target, a claw cut nail push through the rivers of blood still flowing over you and jabbing in his direction as your own grudge against getting shot by the son of a bitch sitting bamboo reed straight in front of you. Shot from behind! And hit by a coward upset at his own failure! It is the most potent of your "Home grown" grudges, especially since the one that birthed you had settled to rarely stoked embers after you devoured Ling Meng!

A great, red boned skeleton, imaginary and illusionary, split between feline and human down the middle crawls up your back, pulling itself from the great fog of grudge energy spilling out of you, and with paw and boney hand both, point at your mark as well. Your very power embodied, your cultivation taken shape, singles out your prey

"Xing Sheshou!" You rattle, snapping your teeth and suddenly jolting upright, the skeletal vision breaking apart as your eyes flash murderously and your hair whips, revealing your pointed ear and your notched one as you lips part and pull back to reveal your vein tearing fangs gleaming in the gloom surrounding you, summon from the enmity overflowing within you
Cont

>>6355351

The Star Shooter's ( 星射手)aura, is simply magnificent. And is the only other one to contain even a drop of Cosmic Qi like your own. His puts the tattered remains of the Martial King's godly light to shame, even though he too has been reduced to a pathetic shadow of his former divinity. And in truth, with all the prayers and worship sent your way, you probably contain more divineness than any of the five have left after it was ripped away from them so violently and suddenly

But despite that, Xing Sheshou's aura reflects his former position better than the other four, even if it is subtler than Xiannu's, less towering than Diqui Lang's, less austere and elegant than Shen Mao, and less threatening and martially attuned as Jie Wang's. His, in contrast to the ill omen the ghostly mists, bloody current and strange moonlight your aura promises, is a divination of good fortune. A promise of better times. The kind of luck that a general would pray to see in the heavens

You're the herald of ill omen. He is prophet of good fortune on the battlefield.Good thing his star fell from the sky, and that explains the void in his aura. The constellation it forms. A straight line of an arrow shot through it, but unable to hit its target. Because it has been torn out of his very soul and core.

Just as Xiannu's firework show lost the dragon flying through it that made those starburst eternal. Just like Diqui Lang's mountain has had temples and fortress crumble and be lost in the mists surrounding it. Just like Shen Mao's phoenixes have begun to age and the golden luster on their wings begin to patina and chip away. And Just like Jie Wang's battlefield is no longer waged by immortals and avatars, but confused and lost boys forced to fill the roles of fighting men.

Unlike yours. All five of the fallen stars' cultivation bases are incomplete. Because their divine foundations have been torn out. And you're sure they know that now that they've been given lessons by uncle five colors

"Huanliuxue" Xing Sheshou returns, his voice breaking the hallowed silence of the grave as your rictus and bloodthirsty grin softens and turns mischevious as with a swirl you flick off the blood coating you and don a dress of shadows pressed tightly against your naked body and cackle

"Xing Sheshou! This proud cat is going to kick your ass!" You declare thuggishly, flicking out your tongue and giving him a thumbs down as you, with barely a gesture, lift the crushing weight of your aura and allow the audience to breathe. And the beasts behind you, can only look in awe as all but your fellow golden cores struggles to breathe, many rubbing their shoulders or face to try and get their blood flowing again as you keep a finger pointed at the once god and grin as you lock eyes with him

He lowered his gaze and sneered

"I'll put a bell and collar on you, mischievous little brat" He dared to insult you "And show the world you're no immortal"
Cont

>>6355352

"Hah! I'd like to see you try to kill me. A wild and wily king of ghosts was unable to bury me. the hungry devils of hell were unable to drag me to the serving platter. The gods themselves couldn't humble me!" You declare and the sky crackles, and you hold out your arms as the clouds above your temple redden. But then pass

That was probably Ling Wucai glaring at the heavens to stop them from smiting me, but the end result certainly made you impressive. And you could see your cult gaining a few new adherents as they preached to the crowd and even some weaker cultivators looked uncertain if you weren't the goddess the common folk thought you were

"Every rising star has to fall sometimes. And cat's don't always land on their feet. We'll meet in the ring, then we'll see if you've learned how to dodge since last time" Is Sheshou's only response and you freeze your grin on your face to stop it from twisting into an ugly grimace or puffing up into a childish pout

"Maybe I'll lead you out of it on a leash, Shooter" You sneer and turn on your heel and saunter away. And you wanted move on from that public declaration of your target, and continue to the free for all for the magical beasts and the luck trial. But for some reason, a bunch of grandmasters crowded around you and started bothering you with annoying questions. Even your friend Tianhua and honorary Uncle Zhe'xínglǚ were there, pressing you for answers. You'd thought at worst you'd be confronted by one of the more self righteous sects for practically forcing everyone in attendance to get a glimpse of their own mortality or else for all but wagging your ass at the nine heavens and daring the gods up there to smite it.

But you weren't expecting everyone, including your own dear mother and closest and most talented disciples to join the pack.

Or for their main motivation to learn exactly how you and the unknown "prodigy" Xing Sheshou knew eachother. And...Dammit, Monu had already told them about the gifts you'd showered the five with to get them to loose their lips and relax earlier in the tournament, before you dropped them on Five Colors lap! You loved her, but...she could really be more of a bitch than a witch at times couldn't she?!

What do you tell them, Huanliuxue?

>Brush them off and vanish from their sight.

>Try to scare them off so they stop bothering you

>"He shot me with an arrow once. That's all the history we share. No buzz off before you make me mad!"

>"Oh. He tried to court me. I spurned him. He held a grudge. And only came here to try to get my attention and win my affections. Pathetic, isn't it?" [Lie] [ Bad Karma]

> "Oh, right. None of you know. He was a god once. He lost his divinity cause he and his four pals couldn't kill me when I attained human form. The heavens took offense, for one reason or another, despite it being something all Magical beasts can do"

>Write in

>>6355353
> "Oh, right. None of you know. He was a god once. He lost his divinity cause he and his four pals couldn't kill me when I attained human form. The heavens took offense, for one reason or another, despite it being something all Magical beasts can do"

>>6355353
>Brush them off
None of their buissness.

>>6355392
I'm actually thinking about switching to just telling them we got shot by him once before, and letting them draw their own conclusions from that... hmm. Maybe someone has a good idea of what to say here? It feels like we can drum up some divinity or support here if we respond in the right ways.

>>6355353
>>"Oh. He tried to court me. I spurned him. He held a grudge. And only came here to try to get my attention and win my affections. Pathetic, isn't it?" [Lie] [ Bad Karma]

>>6355353
>"He shot me with an arrow once. That's all the history we share. No buzz off before you make me mad!"

>>6355397
Hmm. Consider the response we want to evoke, support. Don't especially want to tip off that he was a god, sooooo, A layered deception?

Tell the Grandmasters that he tried to bar our way as we ascended to the heavens, shooting a demon slaying arrow into our hide.
Tell the commoners that this immortal mystic was a guardian of the skies and attempted to halt the Happy Bloodshed as she marched to claim her celestial manse.

Leaves the implication he's just some rando demon hunter with a secret sect to the grandmasters, It directly implies to the mortals he is a God/elite immortal mystic placed to defend the heavens who we overcame to become the lady of the moon.
By telling more of the truth to the commoners, the Grandmasters will dismiss the truth out of hand unless they are canny. And we get a legend out of it

>>6355397
This is kind of what I'm thinking. Mi Shendao (and probably some others) genuinely believes we're doing the work of heaven in advocating for beasts, and while that's technically true, explaining that heaven is divided involves outing a lot of stuff that Grandpa Five Colors probably doesn't want us to talk about yet, to say nothing of convincing the grandmasters that it's true, much less that we are on the right side.
Better to prevaricate, and it only makes sense that a spirit of grudges might decide to take a specific offense very seriously for whatever reason. Granted, not telling them everything will have them invent their own reasons for why we're so pissy about it, but better they assume he's a badass who royally pissed us off than have them starting to doubt the wisdom of accepting beasts as disciples.

>>6355353
>"He shot me with an arrow once. That's all the history we share. No buzz off before you make me mad!"

>>6355353
>>"He shot me with an arrow once. That's all the history we share. No buzz off before you make me mad!"
simple, honest, to the point.

>>6355353
>>6355450
I like this, it muddles the water enough and really. Our peers probably won't believe a god shot us and missed and he won't admit that at his godly best he couldn't kill us.
While the commoners don't have a clear understanding of how tall mount Tai is and will believe he was a godly guardian even as the cultivators scoff at their belief.

>>6355353
>"He shot me with an arrow once. That's all the history we share. No buzz off before you make me mad!"
Also supporting the two story idea >>6355450
had

>>6355450
I'll add my idea as an official vote to my earlier vote here >>6355395

I am both individuals so listed.

>>6355353
>>6355450
I'll go ahead and vote for this too. Sounds interesting.

File: 1668526144281201.png (2.9 MB)

2.9 MB PNG

Ending the vote, tallying the result now. Forgive me for my tardiness juniors. Been distracted with the demonic horse scripture known as Umamusume again. The heart demon of fan fiction has afflicted me, sadly.


"Oh, right. None of you know. He was a god once....etc": 1

Brush them off and vanish from their sight: 1

Oh he tried to court me...: 1

He shot me with an arrow once. That's all the history we share. Now buzz off before you make me mad: 4

Two story write in:5

And so that sharp witted juniors write in is the winning choice. How fun

Update will arrive shortly

Sighing, groaning and making your annoyance as obvious is it can be outside of changing your hands to claws and hissing as you bat at the crowd of your loyal disciples and respected sect heads, you realize as you loudly but wordlessly complain about them pestering you and acting like gossipy old hens that there is an opportunity here. The sects of Chuan weren't the only ones who saw your outburst, and your story is seen very differently in the world of cultivation than it is "known" in the world of commoners and mundanity. Your ears perk up, as much as they can in this form and you smile.

Which alone is enough to make your students and the weaker grandmasters heel and reel away as if you'd just unsheathed a sword and pressed it to their throats. Fu is already shielding his neck with dying grudge shields, remembering that you'd made something of a game of ripping his head off to test and demonstrate his durability.

"Xing Sheshou" You say, gradually rolling each syllable over your tongue as you take a few, elegant and very refined steps forward, strutting as the shadows you wear cling tightly to your frame and splay out over your bare feet like the tentacles of some horrid deep sea octopus "He shot me with an arrow. A demon killing arrow that split the clouds and broke the clear blue sky"

Monu's eyes narrow into hateful, venomous slits. Tianhua covers her mouth in shock. Jinse-Shayu winces. And Zhe'xinglu strokes his beard thoughtfully as the other sect heads listen thoughtfully, carefully controlling their expressions and body language to disguise their thoughts.

"I had to go through the heavens to reach the moon" You say, speaking slowly as if you were talking to a child not blessed with...particularly quick wits "That's just common sense. Xing Sheshou tried to bar my way, and injured me terribly"

That makes Jinse-Shayu look very afraid. Amongst the sects of Chuan, none of them have known you to be threatened let alone gravely wounded. His rival, Lord Shidi, looks nearly as on edge and afraid as his peer. As he is well aware of your power even if he wasn't as cowed by it as the lord Xia was and still is.

"And why did he do that, my sweet daughter?" Monu asks in her "I am going to murder someone and use their corpses as medicinal ingredients" voice and you just keep a pleasant and serene smile on your lips as you tap a finger to them

"Why did anyone try to pick a fight with me or kill me before I brought out the records proving that Magical Beasts were a natural phenomena? Because he thought I was a demon, mother, hence the demon slaying arrow he pierced my hide with" You say sharply, and touch your side to try and garner sympathy, as if you were pretending your paw had gotten hurt and gone lame

"And you didn't..." Fu, your oldest student, begins to ask slowly
Cont

>>6356523

"Try to get revenge? No, Fu, I was more preoccupied trying not to bleed out as I limped onto the lowest of the nine heavens. And I can tell from your suspicious eyes you think I'm telling a tall tale" You laugh and smirk "Despite seeing me descend on a ray of moonlight and bring a whole zoo of cosmic monsters down to be killed for sport. I've visited the celestial realm, and I doubt any of you venerable masters want to be told more, whether you believe me or not"

Old man Mi looks more like he's just annoyed, like you told him you wandered into his shrine and used its holy relic as a scratching post. If the other grandmasters think you're lying even now after having heaps of proof shown since your trip through the heavens or want to argue about what it actually means to enter the celestial realm, well, they don't waste their breath.

"Does that satisfy your curiosity?" You ask when it becomes apparent none of them have anything to say, and start to look disappointed, except your mother who is muttering your curses, Zhe'xinglu who looks contemplative, Tianhua who looks at your pityingly, Xia and Shidi who realize they might need to fight Star shooter themselves and Xue Long who has the same expression Monu wears when she's trying very hard not to laugh.

"Then let me pass before I get mad" You huff and stomp past them, to tell a different story to a different audience. There was still time to spread a harmless little rumor about yourself. Since the rules of the free for all and the luck trial would need to be explained to the good little children who'd be competing in them!

Luckily, you have a good relationship with the head of your faith. And good old Shi Tángmùshī (Crimson Priest, 赯牧师) is all to happy to gather the most "worthy" of your cult to listen to hear a story from their goddesses own lips, so they may spread it far and wide until it has been told more times than there are rivers or lakes in the vast kingdom of Chuan!

"Faithful and Loyal Tangmushi, I've deigned to deliver unto you a divine revelation. To grant you the esteem and privilege of being the first mortal to learn of the first step I took to dye the moon in my hallowed essence" You tell the beaming high priest as he sits before you, counting prayer beads and surrounding himself with lit catnip incense and several, very happy and very high magical house cats like yourself

"This humble priest is undeserving of the goddess' gift" He says, bowing and scrapping his head on the ground until his forehead bleeds
Cont

>>6356525

"Don't be so modest, High Priest Shi!. You've earned this much, for your acts of faith and leadership amongst my mortal flock and followers" You titter, hiding your smile behind your hands "Yes, this is the tale of the first step I took to leap over the moon and the stars themselves and to wander that great nothingness beyond even the reach of the nine heavens. And the first obstacle in my path! The first threat I faced. That of the immortal guardian who stood guard over all the clouds and the skies and who was"

Wait, why were you talking up Xing Sheshou and making his role in this slightly fabricated story so complimentary. Guardian of the sky? That was a much loftier position than a minor martial deity tossed out by the drunken mess of the Red Star General. Eh, well, if he's to be seen as your rival, making him seem more impressive and important will just reflect better on your illustrious self, so you might as well milk it for all its worth and make him sound just as important in fable as you are in truth!

"Long ago given this austere, many times honored task, though it was a thankless one for none had dared, even amongst us gods to ever try and claim the moon. It caused quite a stir, but he had been ready, a mystic and archer of his caliber hadn't gotten idle nor indolent because of how long it had been since he had to challenge one such as I who'd seek to reach the moon, the stars and watch them up close and meditate and reflect upon their unknown majesty" You continue on, lie after lie easily slipping out of your mouth "And so, he and I, well we had to fight. It was his divine responsibility to keep interlopers, be they mortal or immortal, from meditating in lunar light and I had set my mind to do just that, as you well know, cats delight in the moon's light and as the monarch of all cats it was my right to bathe in it at its source! It was a clash between holy mandate and divine instinct you see. But, ah! the Star Shooter had made one error, he had grabbed his evil slaying arrows when he flew out on a cloud to confront me, so I had the upper hand even though his aim was true and even if his demonbane bow couldn't inflict mortal wounds upon my immortal body, those barbs still hurt like"

You catch your tongue

"Well, the cold black fire of hell. Which the now dead king of crow demons had set me alight with once..." You manage to replace the rude and crass word you were going to use and give your faithful another story to tell, based off of just that little tidbit you'd told them, before you returned to telling a very dramatized version of the very brief encounter you actually had with Xing Sheshou's arrow, making it more a celestial combat than you being caught off guard and shot from behind as you slipped past the awful security of the celestial realm that might as well not have even been there, considering how easy it was to get through it!

Cont

>>6356526

Huh. Why'd the sun go down so quickly? Did you really manage to spin the make believe story for that long, and had your worshipers been that enamored with the tale to sit down and listen for a whole day? Well that is uh, a little more than a bit embarrassing!

Fortunately. The Magical beasts are still young, so they needed time to rest before the big fight, unlike Tangmushi and the scribes he has recording the lie you improvised on the spot....Maybe you could work some of it into the second volume of Hare and Hunting hound...

And the free for all brawl and luck contests are decided decisively and quickly, early in the morning, right after you make a show of taking the offerings of food given by your faithful and you take a bath in the primordial hot springs in your temple and give your more senior disciples instructions on how to start training the Palace of natural laws newest recruits.

Fu doesn't need instruction, as you see he's already got Ju-er swinging axes that....huh, are those the hatchets he'd taught himself to use when you first took him down from that mountain? That's adorable. And you also pause to give Lian Luli the task of giving Mianhuagege a few hands on lessons. Since the round cotton ball had shown she had a a similar affinity with ghosts and death as yourself, you might as well see if she had one with Mushrooms to!

But, after you'd gotten everything in order, the free for all contest was, well, it wasn't as big an event as the other brackets free for all fighting tournament. Since, Magical beasts retain a lot of their instinct and thus, most of the would be fighters bowed out and forfeited when they saw the sort of big, scary animals they'd be put up against. And it seemed most of them had forgotten that the 1 v 1 matches had been one by a little, jade green furred mouse !

Which meant, that the biggest one with proper training Mi Dàhēibái (Big Black and White, 大黑白), the giant panda, wins. He might be a bit like Chuandapo, but his huge body and the fact that he was taught the eight heavenly gates brand of Tai Chi by Grandmaster Mi himslf, made it easy for him to beat the other contestants who relied mostly on brute strength and natural weaponry.

And the luck trial, which this round was just a game that was meant to give them a bit of a kick towards the process of attaining a human form, a simple dice game that could be won through human common sense or a fraudsters cunning, was one by the Storm Shrine's sect Crane Disciple Thunder Crow (Léiwūyā, 雷乌鸦 ), who simply rolled really, really well and even beat out the Mi kids and a few of your house cat subjects who had the presence of mind to cheat. Which means, they and their sects both win the rewards and you don't get to take any other winner into your sect.
Cont

>>6356527

And once you're done pouting, you congratulate the both of them for their wins. It should've been obvious that Leiwuya would win. He'd survived being struck by lightning. Not all of his martial siblings could say the same.

And now there was just one bracket left. The one with the smallest list of contestants. The golden core contest. That everyone seemed to expect would be just a sequence of duels. And even if it isn't, you'd clearly have the advantage to win most of them, the rare genius and great prodigy that you were!

And did you delay the Golden Core Contest in any way, Huanliuxue?

>Yes, to advertise the fake story you'd made up and make the rivalry between you and Xing Sheshou seem real

>Yes, you'd take the white jade devil army to hell, to see if you couldn't learn their general's weaknesses!

>Yes. You wanted to meet with the other golden core tier cultivators and brazenly challenge them all to TRY and knock you down in the matches to come

>No! Start it immediately and give each golden core a token to determine the order of their rounds in the contests to come

>Write in

>>6356512
>The heart demon of fan fiction has afflicted me, sadly.
Do not the horses!

>>6356528
>>No! Start it immediately and give each golden core a token to determine the order of their rounds in the contests to come
I would vote to take the big guy to hell but I figure it'd be best to do that after everything so their preparations aren't rushed so much.

>>6356528
>No! Start it immediately and give each golden core a token to determine the order of their rounds in the contests to come

>>6356528
>No! Start it immediately and give each golden core a token to determine the order of their rounds in the contests to come

>>6356528
>No, start immediately!

Perfect, a little bit of fabrication will improve our standing grealy

>>6356528
>No! Start it immediately and give each golden core a token to determine the order of their rounds in the contests to come

>>6356528
>No! Start it immediately and give each golden core a token to determine the order of their rounds in the contests to come
time to bring it to an end

>>6356528
>No! Start it immediately and give each golden core a token to determine the order of their rounds in the contests to come
We can invade hell with the White Jade Army later, it's more of a casual excursion anyway. Just need to make sure it gets done before the conflict between the Ling and Disi-Ling kicks off.

>>6356526
>Eh, well, if he's to be seen as your rival, making him seem more impressive and important will just reflect better on your illustrious self, so you might as well milk it for all its worth and make him sound just as important in fable as you are in truth!
I wonder if this is going to give him a power boost or somesuch due to faith fuckery.

>>6356528
>No! Start it immediately and give each golden core a token to determine the order of their rounds in the contests to come
I would vote for some last second bragging, but showing our aura (and somehow not killing anyone with lethal amounts of Ghostly Yin Qi) was enough smoke for the fire. It's been nearly 2 years in the making, it's time to prove we're number one.

>>6356512
Umamusume? Well, it is the year of the horse after all.

>>6356528
>No! Start it immediately and give each golden core a token to determine the order of their rounds in the contests to come

File: 1712387678453402.png (14.8 KB)

14.8 KB PNG

Hope the weekend treated all you juniors well. I got a tick to cook and had a bit too much wine myself. Anyways, ending the vote, tallying its result now

No! Start it immediately and give each golden core a token to determine the order of their rounds in the contests to come:9

Didn't even really need to count this lol. So you won't waste breathe or time and start the Golden Core contests immediately

>>6356730
>I wonder if this is going to give him a power boost or somesuch due to faith fuckery.

:)

>>6356542
I swear this senior's interest have been pure as untrodden snow! But it has given me some ideas for an Umamusume Trainer Quest, where the goal would be to train an NPC/Mob Uma to make them a superstar...or just not a complete jobber.


>>6357067
Year of the fire horse if I'm not mistaken

An even though you were the obvious favorite to sweep and win the entirety of the Golden Core Bracket, it seems as if a plague of madness had swept through Chuan kingdom. Because even the mighty temple of the Garden of the wild empress was overflowing! It had been a festival before, but now the tournament was feeling a little cramped. Travelers, once wary of the "Demon infested, cult lead and haunted kingdom" had come in droves along with the stragglers who hadn't been able to attend the earlier rounds. And that meant more rogue cultivators and heretics had also joined the peasants and late arriving nobles and other colorful wanderers. Lord Chuan himself had arrived, with much pomp and ceremony and you granted the first king of the Chuan dynasty a bit of legitimacy and fan service by appearing before his train and personally welcoming him to your garden as an honored guest and beloved servant.

It was getting pretty hectic, but thankfully, the presence of all of Chuan's strongest made any trouble making rogues, cunning heretics, ruthless demonic cultivators or suspicious foreigners behave themselves. And, you'd also gotten roped into blessing a newborn member of the Chuan royal clan, but you were happy to see the gurgling, laughing baby try to cling onto your finger and drool on the lock of your crimson hair you gifted them as a lucky, protective charms.

Everyone in the kingdom was excited for the climatic finale of the first tournament hosted by the Palace of Natural laws, and you even spotted a few cultivators you recognized as being from across the border. Seems He Ping of the Nine Clouds Pavilion had gossiped and gotten a few more sects from over the border of Bao to come, and there were also some masterless martial art schools that were following the meagerest grandmaster, Ehuang of the Autumn Swan Lake School. And a bunch of rough, barbaric looking sages were chatting with Liao Gang of the Nomadic Star Breaking fists.

The Bao cultivators, martial artists and Nomads seemed on edge, especially when you leaned closer to spy on them. They were clearly not used to the presence of so many magical beasts, ghosts and folks with awakened bestial bloodlines and adorable cat ears and tails, least not as much as the Chuan sects and people or the representatives of the three distant sects that had wandered into your tournament.

And every sect, even the meek thousand lotus hall, were trying to drum up support and holding religious rites to try and get the attention and support of the crowds. One offering box had already been burned, as some beggar cultivator had made the mistake of calling you a demon in the face of the wandering mobs of your most faithful worshippers and had gotten stomped into the dirt when he bared his fangs at the members of your cult who had joined your sect properly and drew the ire of Fu for bullying his juniors. The stupid prick was currently tied to a tree, being smacked by Siwang with an iron rod!
Cont

"You shouldn't be wandering the crowds, your majesty" Yinying, in his human form and looking half an assassin as he followed four paces behind you, trailed by a mob of awakened house cats who are just happy to help their liege by "patrolling" and "guarding" Your regal self

"Why? Any foreigner or stranger who'd come watch the games are half way to a heretic themselves already" You say, pausing to smile and wave at Lei's relative still pretending to be a student of an exitinct sect, who froze up as you idly wondered how Xie'e Mowangzi's quest to learn how to do good deeds was going

"Or merely able to restrain their bloodlust and so called righteous fury" The ever diligent boy hissed through his teeth, blushing and turning away as you bounced on your heels, smirking the bold hell fashion you were wearing struggled to keep all of you covered

"Spies? Hah. Ling's border temples are dealing with a Gu master, The sects that were beset by that artificial beast stampede are still dealing with the damages" You brush aside with a laugh, patting him on his head as four of your subjects brush their cheeks against you, adoring your presence and warmth "Who'd send spies, the Bao province, or are they a kingdom now, like our fair Chuan?"

Yinying fixed you with the stare of exhausted servant, you grinned and leaned closer cackling

"And I'm sure anyone who'd want to pick a fight with me on my own turf would think twice after seeing the bloodshed I reaped last time someone really put effort into taking my head" You confidently end the conversation "And if Ling dogs are about, I recognize their stench. And their taste'

"Your carelessness is making my blood pressure rise, Master" Yinying muttered as Siwang got done meting out punishment to the idiot who called you a demon AND threatening your sects fresh recruits, leaving him missing most of his teeth and with broken legs to be dragged off by Fen Kong who had lost a bet or something and was in charge of dealing with garbage for the whole last leg of the tournament

"Maybe I should cut a vein, see how beautiful a shade my loyal guards blood must be" You tease as he and his chosen royal guard follow you, the exhausted Mianhuagege following behind you, Lian Luli and Qiang on either side of her, Luli plucking mushrooms from her arms and Qiang giving advice on how to deal with hungry ghosts to the sniffling chubby cotton ball.

"Shouldn't you be preparing for your matches, master?" Luli asked "My sister is working herself to the bone to make a divine medicine and you're...well I'm not sure what you're doing?"

"Brushing shoulders with her rightful subjects, or searching for weaknesses in her rivals" Qiang yawned "Or just delighting in seeing the foreigner visitors piss their robes at seeing their worst nightmare galivanting around like a princess on tour"

"Obviously, she's checking her territory now that a bunch of strangers have entered!" One of the royal guards Yinying picked out for you confidently suggest

>>6357625

"Tut tut" You click your tongue, wagging a dismissive finger "I'm just admiring the atmosphere, soaking it in. Isn't it heady? Intoxicating. I can barely stand it. The air is electrified with excitement and trepidation"

"Ah, so you just wanted to gloat and lord over those who once opposed your existence" Qiang gasps as if she'd just recieved divine revelation "As expected of master, Heh"

"Oh? Have you inherited my way of laughing now as well?" You ask, hopping up to her a giggling as she went stony faced and refused to play along or give you the satisfaction you tried to tease out of her. Spoil Sport!

Double vote!

What preparations, if any, do you perform

>Practice and hone your martial technique and do some light exercises, and get used to the bow Monu and Feiqing made for you (Martial Training Trial. DC Variable)

>Refine your curses and snatch some particularly potent grudges and ghosts to practice your sorcery (Magic Training Trial. DC Variable)

>Spy on the other competitors and sus out their weaknesses and strengths (Stealth trial. DC 88)

>Nothing, but do try to make good first impressions for the foreign guests

And how do you start the golden core contests, Huanliuxue?

>Bombastically! dramatically introducing yourself as the "Final Boss" and listing out your many titles, epithets and accomplishments

>By revealing it'll take place on the moon, for the safety of the audience and the spectacle alone

>Showing off that you're partaking in all of the contests and that you'll give a treasure beyond imagining to anyone who can beat you in any of them

>Allow the other golden cores to show off, before reminding them that there is only one pinnacle of the world and her name is HUANLIUXUE!

>Write in

Also, reminded that there's a few new sect members that need to be added to the google doc

>>6357627
>Practice and refine your curses.

>Allow the others to show off before reminding them that their is one pinnacle of the world, and her name is Huanliuxue!

The sky will darken, the world shall tremble, make the sky turn red with an eclipse!

And of the doc, grandfather, I've refrained from adding anyone who doesn't have a cultivation level yet.

>>6357627
>Refine your curses and snatch some particularly potent grudges and ghosts to practice your sorcery (Magic Training Trial. DC Variable)
We definitely need to take this seriously, whether it's through priming our magic or combat skills.

>Bombastically! dramatically introducing yourself as the "Final Boss" and listing out your many titles, epithets and accomplishments
>By revealing it'll take place on the moon, for the safety of the audience and the spectacle alone
Our poor temple might not survive a proper Golden Core fight, and having the fight ambiguously out in the wilderness could still have serious consequences depending on what's thrown around.

>>6357627
>Practice and hone your martial technique and do some light exercises, and get used to the bow Monu and Feiqing made for you (Martial Training Trial. DC Variable)

>By revealing it'll take place on the moon, for the safety of the audience and the spectacle alone

>>6357627
>Spy on the other competitors and sus out their weaknesses and strengths (Stealth trial. DC 88)
When else will we have such an opportunity?

By revealing it'll take place on the moon, for the safety of the audience and the spectacle alone

>>6357627
>Practice and hone your martial technique and do some light exercises, and get used to the bow Monu and Feiqing made for you (Martial Training Trial. DC Variable)
I REALLY want to do the magical side, but unless we want to guarantee we can use Pony for Enmity Incarnation for a boost to shooting, getting used to our weapon for the opponent we specifically called out is important (and if we need a grudge, Aodasheng's is certainly available after we consumed it during his outburst)
>Allow the other golden cores to show off, before reminding them that there is only one pinnacle of the world and her name is HUANLIUXUE!
This is the main event, let everyone get their aura before we flex even harder by
>By revealing it'll take place on the moon, for the safety of the audience and the spectacle alone

>>6357627
>Practice and hone your martial technique and do some light exercises, and get used to the bow Monu and Feiqing made for you (Martial Training Trial. DC Variable)
>By revealing it'll take place on the moon, for the safety of the audience and the spectacle alone

>>6357869
Unrelated side note, but does Pony have a real name or is she like Quixin where Huan doesn't bother learning it?

>>6358059
we didn't bother learning it.
Why should we, after all?

>>6357627
>Practice and hone your martial technique and do some light exercises, and get used to the bow Monu and Feiqing made for you (Martial Training Trial. DC Variable)
They probably have too many tricks to suss out, better to try and react on the spot by bettering ourselves, after all the first thing to understand is ourselves before the enemy.

>Allow the other golden cores to show off, before reminding them that there is only one pinnacle of the world and her name is HUANLIUXUE!
I'm unsure about doing this on the moon or not as we've reached a point where a technique missing it's target could wipe out half the palace.

>>6357627
>>Nothing, but do try to make good first impressions for the foreign guests
I want to see the peeps beyond chuan.

>By revealing it'll take place on the moon, for the safety of the audience and the spectacle alone

File: unknown.png (1.2 MB)

1.2 MB PNG

Ending the vote, tallying its result now.

Refine your curses and snatch some particularly potent grudges and ghosts to practice your sorcery:2

Practice and hone your martial technique and do some light exercises, and get used to the bow Monu and Feiqing made for you: 4

Spy on the other competitors and sus out their weaknesses and strengths :1

Nothing, but do try to make good first impressions for the foreign guests:1
______

Allow the others to show off before reminding them that their is one pinnacle of the world, and her name is Huanliuxue!: 3

Bombastically! dramatically introducing yourself as the "Final Boss" and listing out your many titles, epithets and accomplishments:1

By revealing it'll take place on the moon, for the safety of the audience and the spectacle alone: 6

So you'll practice your martial arts, do some light exercise and get accustomed to the bow you had made

And reveal the fight will take place on THE MOON

intermediate update will arrive shortly

>>6357643
I see I see

Once you've done your rounds and properly patrolled your garden and made sure there weren't any trouble makers, random murders or sneaky demons about to spoil the fun, you began you own preparation. It began as light, for you, exercises. A lot of your power was mystical, but it was easy for people and primarily your opponents to forgot that your natural stat was an ox sized house cat that once had a taste for human flesh. And easy for them to think you're handsome, pretty face and beautiful, bountiful body meant you were a tael a dozen jade beauty and not the wild and strong maiden you truly were: even though only your daoist robes really hid your well muscled phsyique.

So it was just as hidden a weapon as your more obscure hexes, spells and techniques, your natural and greatly refined physical abilities. Dexterous on two legs as well as four, hard to exhaust and harder to kill and strong enough to pin any brute that tried to wrestle you to the ground, even if they were a dragon or some terrible beast. Of course, all of these benefits of your active lifestyle and diligent training would be useless if they weren't backed up by skill full moves and well honed techniques, so once you're satisfied that you've gotten warmed up, you switch to practicing your self taught martial arts, from the simplest of redirections and counter strikes to your more advance and lethal moves that require much more careful set up and conditions. You warm up with the basics of your soft style, fighting against puppets borrowed from your mother, one very unwilling Qinxin, and few dopplegangers formed out of your own blood, then you slowly scale the ladder of every special move and trick up your sleeve, repeating them until you're certain you've polished and sharpened your skills with each and every strike and blow.

Then you run through the Blood Qi body strengthening skills you know, the Lively Yin Qi arts you've already come up with, and a few stretches and acupoint activations to gauge what is the effective limit of your physical abilities. You've got a pretty good idea of how far you could go, but unless you were teetering on the line between life and death and willing to risk damaging your own property, you can't say for sure what is the exact limit of your body. And you don't want to have to slice your wrists and throats just to reach the absolute pinnacle of your powers right before you've got some serious fights to see to.

And when you're satisfied with that and figured out a few combinations of body strengthening skills and divine blood honey medicines to push yourself as far as your body can withstand the backlash of, you go to see what sort of bow Monu and Feiqing made for you.

They're both exhausted, having been working tirelessly to produce the artifact which is still nameless.
Cont

>>6359112

It is taller than you are, carved from one of the blood qi, carmine veined spirit trees of your orchard. Giving it a ghostly pale appearance, with softly glowing red vein like streaks across it. The is made out of a string woven out of the humming vine, and all along the bow itself are set pearls of super condensed and enriched blood and pieces of bones flattened and polished into mirrors, giving you easy access to extra wells of both blood and death Qi; That are disguised as simple decorations and charms. There are paper talismans bearing terrible curses and good luck charms plastered beside them, to serve as the notching point of the arrow and to secure the humming string to either end of it.

There is also a buckler bearing a pink paw print covering the area you'd hold, to shield your hand, and also set a human jaw bone over the notching point, with spirit stones infused with deathly yin Qi replacing its teeth. And at either end of the bow, exposed beneath the cursed talismans and paper charms, are two rainbow colored crystals. That Monu says she got from one of the slain cosmic monsters you'd captured for the core formation monster slaying contests, and you can sense a lot of cosmic Qi coming out of them. Qi you recognize. They're parts of the Space Time Cutter Mantis. And, from the vague demonic Qi you're sensing, they've used some spare parts of Baoli-Wuyawang (暴力-乌鸦王, Violent Crow King) as well, probably the jaw bone and the pieces of polished bone set throughout the bow's length

For whatever reason, they've tied a tiny silver bell with a pink ribbon of silk just under the notching point, and set each pearl of condensed blood into little star shapes, and the bone mirrors into the shape of crescent moons. You have to wonder which between Monu or Feiqing made that particular design course. You prefer to leave that mystery unanswered, since it is pretty striking and you like it.

The Artifact is one of a kind, unique, and clearly quite powerful. You're not sure what tier it'd be ranked or how expensive it'd be, since you're not crafter, but you can tell it is powerful. Not as impressive as Aodasheng's spear of mortal death, but a weapon's lethality is only limited by the skill of its wielder and you don't know all that this bow is capable of. That'd require some practice and some hands on experience

Total Bonus: 1317

Please roll 2d100. Best out of five. DC Variable

Rolled 89, 39 = 128 (2d100)

>>6359113

Rolled 64, 2 = 66 (2d100)

>>6359113
Once we know what it can do, the bow shall be named.

Might not be able to write the next part immediately cause I'm feeling pretty tired.

If i can't, do feel free to decide if you wanna spend any of your training/ cultivation bonus without me, juniors

Rolled 56, 78 = 134 (2d100)

>>6359113
Standard procedure, if not finished in an hour i will roll again.

>>6359118
>>6359131
>>6359140
As things stand, I am quite happy at 150, but I could settle for 140.

>>6359142
I'm willing to go even higher, maybe around 300 or so. I do see this as pretty important since it's our warm-up right before we go fighting to reinforce ourselves as the top-dog in chuan, so I think it'd be worth it.

Though I am curious why you decided on around 150-140?

Rolled 17, 75 = 92 (2d100)

>>6359113

Rolled 89, 96 = 185 (2d100)

>>6359140
>>6359113
I said I would

>>6359145
I figured that 100 is about as much as any normal person could manage, better and again than anyone else bar great mega genius' is fine by me.
It's practice and honing, I'm looking at saving for 2000 cultivation. Some things are worth spending bonus, but this isn't one of em

>>6359156
You do realize that every time we get the option to use our cultivation bonus... we're cultivating? Cultivation happens whenever someone tries to refine something, so I don't really get the impetus to "save the points" for an event we're currently actually doing.

And we can always go journeying for more inspiration if we plan on doing closed-door cultivation training.

>>6359172
there's raw cultivation, which is what people mean, the part where you are going to get the critical damage and challenges for failing or amazing outsized results for succeeding.

failing this roll will do us no harm, succeeding may reveal a new technique.
Failing our golden core roll would have given us a shitty tier 3 core [hear the gnashing teeths of the talentless hacks who think tier 3 is already amazing] or ruined our foundation needing repair and strengthening rather than our unsurpassed core.
When we talk about cultivation, we normally mean the act of progressing stages. Despite training and insights and alchemy and sorcery being part of our journey

>>6359156
well now we can shoot for 200 with a mere 15 points

Alright, slept longer than I'd meant to.

Anyways, lets lightning round this

>Spend Training/ Cultivation Bonus (How much?)

>Don't

>>6359224
>Spend Training/ Cultivation Bonus 259 for a total of 444

>>6359226
Agreeing to this

>>6359224
15, Flat 200 is good ROI on this.

>>6359226
Support

Word counter, where I usually write my updates, seems to be down right now. Currently it seems spending 259 to get 444 is going to be the winning choice. But I'll wait to call it until Wordcounter is backup and I'm able to write the update properly

>>6359337
You could try Notepad++. Or Notepad+, whatever it's called. I've heard some QMs mention it before.

File: 1647731491067.png (4.7 MB)

4.7 MB PNG

Excellent news! the hidden realm has returned to me, allowing me to get back to writing! Might've come back earlier, but I was smashing my head against a wall in Umamusume. The wall broke before my skull did. Those trainer aptitude tests are no fucking joke.

>>6359156
Since there were four votes and 3 wanted to spend 259 to push the result from 185 to 444
You have 1058 total cultivation bonus left

AND

Special conditions met
+
The drop of Sanguine divinity is resonating inside of your chest....

Update will arrive shortly

>>6359338
Well if the hidden realm of word counter is ever sealed to me again I'll take that into consideration

>>6359373
updated the pastebin with our newly gained proficiencies. Could do with an expansion of the black arrow as a cultivation technique on it's focuses
atm it's Yin/Ghostly cultivation technique focused on assassination.
I'll reupdate it once the new update is out.

Also fixed Qiang not having her eye and it's ability, will add the kids once we get them some cultivation levels OR when the tournament is over.

To start with, you simply lay the nameless enchanted bow in front of you, setting it besides its "Senior Sibilings" of Ghost Empress Melody and Moon Collapse and admire its craftmanship, tracing hand and paw both along every surface of it, scrutinizing and studying every inch of it intimately until you're as familiar with it as your own reflection or the back of your paws & hands or the rich perfume of a man's stomach freshly spilt or the soothing incense of a sealed tomb filled with moldering bones, until the touch of it and its weight is as known to you as the feeling of warm blood flowing through hair and fur and soaking into the dry,

Monu and Feiqing didn't disappoint. This is a treasure worthy of being called an artifact! A perfect tool and weapon to be wielded by you, who so favors Ghostly, Blood and Lunar Qi in their cultivations and techniques. And despite how tall it is, it is light and easily carried and with some adjustments of hand positions and postures, you're able to hold the unnamed artifact in the method of both the Rotten Oath and the Black Night Arrow scripture. But first you test its draw, and see just how strong it is.

And your demand of having a humming vine turned into its bow string is immediately proven to have been a canny choice to make, as the arrows sing, whistling as they shoot through the air. The vibration makes them punch through sturdier targets than your natural strength could achieve and the arrows continue shivering and vibrating for sometime after they've finally been stopped. And with some twanging of the string, you learn you can make the arrows fly in chaotic and unusual trajectories that wouldn't normally be possible without guiding them with spiritual energy or strings of Qi. And If you hold the bowstring for a long time, you can "Charge" a shot to even further increase the punch it packs and how penetrative it can be

Which combined with your Phantom Cat Step and two forms of specter lightness skills, could be a sure kill technique that deserves a name. Purring Arrow, is a nice, deceptively harmless sounding title for the move ( 猫喘鸣 箭, Māo chuǎnmíng jiàn). And you also figure out, that if you strum the string like you would your Guqin, you can create a short lived "barrier" of sound and vibration that can block projectiles, which Fu helped you figure out, and you find if you strum the string with enough fervor it can reflect projectiles similarly to your Dying Grudge Shield protection spell! You decided to name this ability Cicada Rampart Rhythm ( 蟭蟟 壁垒 节奏, jiāoliáobìlěijiézòu)

You experiment and practice with the resonance of the bow string and the many trick shots and sneaky shots it allows you to pull off, and seeing just how far you can lodge ordinary arrows into the strongest targets you can find. Like Fu. In Feiqing's personal armor and covered in Dying grudge shields.
Cont

>>6359399

You purposefully miss his vitals, but you do punch a hole straight through his stomach and have to fix that up before seeing what else the bow can be used for.

One thing you learn, is that the blood soaked spirit wood, is still kind of sort alive, and can be strengthened and reinforced with the pearls of blood laid throughout the bow and that those same pearls can also flow down the bow string and make it easier to pull and allow for a more powerful draw which makes the "Charged" shots easier for you to pull off. You also notice that it can, if you pulse enough lively death qi or blood qi, be used to make arrows that heal rather than harm. Which you also learn by using Fu as a target cushion.

It's fine. He can take much worse punishment than a few arrows sticking out of him and any other target might actually die if you shot them

And all this shooting and practicing, makes you a much better archer than you had already became after one short practice with Pony. And, crushing a few of the smaller, easily replace pearls, lets you learn you can create copies of the arrow you've notched out of hardened blood. And showing pony this, shows you that there is a very, very interesting mystical property of the bow. It can store ghosts and grudges, and call on their powers.

And once you've gotten bored of playing with Pony's ghostly skeletal arms letting you fire more arrows than an army could by yourself, you release her and see what other ghostly powers you can put into the bow. Yujiao is happy to help you experiment with this unique attribute of the bow that you call its Phantom Record ( 幻影 记录, Huànyǐngjìlù), which seems about as versatile as your trademark Emnity Incarnation art.

And besides absorbing and storing ghosts to steal their powers into the Bow, you also notice that the little mirrors of polished bone can detect the presence of the dead and ambiently draw in deathly and ghostly yin Qi, which will serve the Rotten Oath and Black Arrow Scripture archery styles magnificently. And ripping off one of the curse bearing talismans or paper charms, gives you a handy way to cast hexes without handsigns or sorcerous arrays, letting you sling curses while you notch and shoot the bow that is taller than you.

The hand guard can also be boosted with Primordial Beast Essence to create a quick barrier spell, different from your Dying Grudge Shield or Scarlet Healing armor, it makes a bubble that is resistance to piercing and cutting, a good last resort defense. Though if you smack someone with it, it can be used to bounce them away! Which is fun. And flicking, ringing and playing with the bell, shows you that, it attracts both cats and ghosts to you. Which is neat, but only the later is useful unless you manage to turn all of your subjects into cultivators strong enough to serve as a personal army of yours.
Cont

>>6359400

You learn how to incorporate these quirks of the bow into your archery style. Before getting to the most interesting parts of the bow, the Space time cutter mantis crystals and the Jaw bone of Baoli Wuyawang.

And, quickly realize they're practically cheats for an archer. The crystals allow you to shoot through space or time, just like the mantis itself, or displace yourself with a swing and uh. Well you quickly realize that displacement can be used to lethal effect as you ever so briefly find yourself stuck halfway inside of a spirit tree. And once you've freed yourself, having not panicked and blown up the tree with a pillar of destructive yin qi. And no one was there to witness it if you had, you learn you can, with proper set up, send others into the same, painful position and that it could outright kill someone who is sturdy enough to not be crushed into pulp by whatever you shoot them into via teleportation.

Arrows infused with that mantis' power, can serve as beacons similar to your phantom cat waltz, but they don't last long and it is exhausting physically and spiritually to perform long range displacements or to move anything too big. But it does let you slip between the fabric of space time, briefly. With practice, maybe you could use the mantis' power to a similar level of mastery it showed when it humbled much of the Chuan Cultivation Sects' seniors. You...don't try to. because your first attempt creates a tiny, crushing vortex of gravity that stripped the leaves off of the tree you'd switched to using as target practice. As well as most of its bark and branches. And that's just scary, and not in the fun way!

As for Baoli Wuyawang's bones, the spirit stones contain spells. One shot certain kill sorceries. You...don't want to know how Monu got her hands on the cream of the crop of underworld black magic, but it'd be useful. But you can't really practice with them because...

You frown. And move your fingers into the shape of the eye stealing grasp. Hah. How foolish of you! You almost feel ashamed for even briefly considering such a task as impossible.

You grab hold of the jaw bone and sit down, meditating as you draw out the Crow King's dying grudge against you. It had gone unanswered, but it had a particularly spicy taste so you kept it anyways and then you mediate deeply.

Special Condition Met. Succeed in a trial with a result of exactly 444 ( The magic number and the death number combined), or succeed in a magic training to learn ghostly or demonic magic with two rolls of 44 in the winning roll)

And slowly, a very familiar black flame begins to flicker along your hand. The same that the crow king wielded against you. His jaw begins to chatter, and whisper into your ear. Promising power but.

As you hold the bow. You suddenly get the feeling you're being watched
Cont

>>6359402
Your eyes scan the heavens and meet the hateful gaze of the blazing sphere, staring down at your arrogantly, scorching the land. Blinking, you briefly see it as one of ten. Nine of which have burned out. It recognized you, hated you, it always had. You stood against its descendants, against their brilliance and righteous light. What a load of horsehit. The sun was mocking you, scorning you. It should be put in its place. It was too cheeky and proud for the last survivor of a prior slaughter. It needed to be taught a lesson. It needed to learn that even it could die. Die like its brothers. That it had no place looking down upon a Lunar Cat!

The sanguine fragment of divinity kept inert in your breast has resonated with a divine purpose
Seed of divinity found. "Sun Eating Cat"
The lunatic blood sparkling in your veins, and the rivalry you have with the Ling Clan and the Guardians of the Celestial Sunlight sect has driven you to hold a grudge against the sun itself, and to become its predator and killer
If this seed of divinity is embraced, you shall immediately evolve into a Sun Killer Cosmic Beast
along with other bonuses related to divinity you've begun to nurture, however, the shard of divinity will be consumed, and you will be shouldered with a curse/ mystic injury instantly that can only be cured be killing a sun

Double vote!

What wisdom do you gleam from the bones of the crow king?

>How to create Hellfire, despite having positive/ good karma

>An evolution of Carmine Mysticism (Leads to another vote)

>The Location of a sealed demonic treasure

>His brutal hard style that you faced off against (Murderous Crow Dance)

And do you allow the inert divinity to begin to take root?

>No. Who'd be dumb enough to hunt a sun? [Retain the inert divinity and pass up on this seed of divinity]

>Yes (Begin Immortal Quest, Seed of Divinity "Sun Eating Cat" and immediately receive the benefits and the negatives, [ As well as a choice of the first of the benefits unique to this path of immortality *besides the sun killer evolution, that's free* as well as the curse you receive in a second vote. Sanguine divinity is consumed]

>>6359392
Oh forgot to reply to you, BNAS focuses are as described in its initial write up. It has a lot, because it was practiced by a highly specialized sect of assassins. Here they are: Archery: Rapid Shooting Meridian Sealing, Acupoint striking, Assassination (Specialty: Cultivators), Negative Yin aligned (which includes Ghostly and Deathly)

Rotten Oath's focuses are Sorcery: Curses, Curses: Tied Fate, Talismans, Archery: Magic arrows, Archery: Power, Negative Emotion empowerment: Malice, Magic resistance: Curses, Sorcery: Self Destruction/Self inflicted wounds )

Old school/ Pre orthodox cultivation techniques/ Martial arts were fucking hardcore, and more resemble Huanliuxue's Ruler of the Great wheels law than most modern methods

>>6359404
>An evolution of Carmine Mysticism (Leads to another vote)
>No. Who'd be dumb enough to hunt a sun? [Retain the inert divinity and pass up on this seed of divinity]

>>6359404
>>An evolution of Carmine Mysticism (Leads to another vote)
We don't actually have that many Carmine Mysticism evolutions yet. Surely there are some goodies left to pick.
>No. Who'd be dumb enough to hunt a sun? [Retain the inert divinity and pass up on this seed of divinity]
Sun Eating Cat probably has many fire-based or fire-negating use cases. However, these don't really synergise with the rest of our skill set. We should focus on Blood and Grudges. Some small extras are nice to pick up, but this is a big evolution. We should not use it in a less than optimal way.

>>6359404
>His brutal hard style that you faced off against (Murderous Crow Dance)
>No. Who'd be dumb enough to hunt a sun? [Retain the inert divinity and pass up on this seed of divinity]
We can't leave the world without the sun, and I don't want to shoulder a mystical curse forever.

>>6359509
>and I don't want to shoulder a mystical curse forever.
>implying the ling don't have a activate nuclear fusion bomb technique
>implying the heavens won't have some bastard who calls throwing suns around as a martial art
I dunno man. It seems pretty valid.

>>6359404
>How to create Hellfire, despite having positive/ good karma
>Yes (Begin Immortal Quest, Seed of Divinity "Sun Eating Cat" and immediately receive the benefits and the negatives, [ As well as a choice of the first of the benefits unique to this path of immortality *besides the sun killer evolution, that's free* as well as the curse you receive in a second vote. Sanguine divinity is consumed]

>>6359509
Throwing around planets is perfectly normal after a certain level of cultivation, destroying a sun should be an excellent goal for ourselves. And we can always just drag another one over here or move the planet somewhere that has a sun when we reach that level of power anyway.

>>6359404
>Carmine mysticism
We don't need his style

>YES
fucking yeah.

>>6359508
It does synergise well with us, actually.
Look, here.

>Sun Killer: Become the next sun killer, who cannot be burned by even the fiercest flames (Immune to fire and heat), become a natural master of archery, unmatched on heaven or earth. Capable of "Snuffing out" Fire spells and techniques with your aura, or seal them entirely with an arrow. Yang spells/ abilities/ techniques are strengthened, but all that are fire aligned are replaced with "Dead heat", a black fire that consumes other flames. Gain the ability to steal/ trap sunlight or mundane fires, and convert it into Dead Heat Qi instead. You can see much farther than before, and your vision becomes flawless, no matter how dark or bright your surroundings are. And now the sun will know to fear you.

Immunity to the sun/ling bitchass ness. Improving our archery even further, improve our eyes further.
All things that synergise well with us. It's the Yang part to help our biology out.
I don't know how much I like our path being defined by sun eater though. . . Because this is our claim to being a God.

Since we seem to be going well with carmine mysticism, maybe we can decide on what we'd like now.


>Attain the Blood Mist Form transformation art (Which can be used as a movement/ avoidance technique)

>Attain the basic Transformation arts of baseline carmine mysticism (Wings, rending claws, lashing tongue, monstrous fangs)

>Unlock a second stage Verdant Path spell or ability (leads to another vote)

>Attain a 2nd stage Verdant Path Transformation Art/ Permanent transformation (leads to another vote)

>Define the Lunar Path/ School of Carmine mysticism. Creating the first stage of Carmine Mysticism: Lunar spells and abilities (leads to a second vote)

>~~Even Further refined blood control (No longer requiring the blood to be infused with your blood Qi, and increases the intricacy of what you're able to shape out of blood, as well as expanding your blood alchemy tricks)~~ We got this.

>Advance one of your basic carmine mystic to a 2nd tier (Hypnotic eyes (Already have 1 2nd tier version, Lunatic eyes), Healing Blood, paralyzing bite, or Consume Knowledge)

>>6359519
I'd probably advise we get the blood mist form. because that's fun.

>>6359519
Seconding the further refined blood control.

>>6359519
This is a previous evolution that anons voted against. There was no strong synergy back then and there is none now. It does not utilise the types of Qi properly integrated into our Dao: Blood and Grudges.

The Seed of Divinity that would be consumed is arguably way more powerful than "just" an evolution option. The price is waaaay too high (and was too high back then, when the price was lower): "along with other bonuses related to divinity you've begun to nurture, however, the shard of divinity will be consumed". In my reading, that excludes us from turning into a deity focusing on protecting children. Many Anons would not like that (I am neutral - we can still save/protect children with blood abilities and avenge them with grudge abilites).

It is not clear whether or not Dead Heat Qi is related to Yin Qi. If it is similar to the Blood/Death Qi we can now create but is instead a Death/Fire-cross over which works with our ghostly techniques, my argumentation might falter and I would immediately change my vote. Extra points if it works together with blood techniques through our Deathly Yang exchange programme. If this were the case, we should also consider the Hellfire option in the simultaneous, independent vote. However, a hint about that type of link is not really established atm. Divine "stuff" (this seed and the drops of divine blood imo) is our strongest resource, we should use it in a way that boosts abilities that we actually use.

That leads me to the question:
>>6359435
> Does Dead Heat Qi allow us to channel it into our Grudge/Curse-Qi aligned techniques?
> If yes: does our "Lively Death Qi" allow funneling Dead Heat Qi through it in order to feed Blood-Qi aligned techniques?

>>6359559
You brought up the wording that concerned me for a minute, but re-reading it,

> If this seed of divinity is embraced, you shall immediately evolve into a Sun Killer Cosmic Beast
along with other bonuses related to divinity you've begun to nurture, however, the shard of divinity will be consumed, and you will be shouldered with a curse/ mystic injury instantly that can only be cured be killing a sun

that reads more to me that we'll gain all the benefits we've been growing up till now, but the blood will be consumed.

Maybe Grandfather can clarify?

>>6359554
We already have further refined blood control.

>>6359559
dead heat Qi is not related to Yin QI, it's evolved/counter to Heat. which makes it probably Yang aligned.
So it's the Yang evolution to use for the Blood [because blood is Yang], like blood moon is the Yin for our grudges.

Anyway, we didn't vote AGAINST sun-killer previously, we voted in favour of Blood moon. there's a distinction. We had to pick between them and the way it went down is the blood moon won.
I do really want sunkiller. I really want sun killer, it's just so fucking useful.

But I don't really like making it the divine route we have to go through.

>>6359560
"along with" implies the same as the other aspect. Both aspects would be consumed if applied as written. Note the line break before the "along with". It makes sense: we would start becoming a deity with a singular aspect: eating the sun. Maybe later on we could restart our other divine endeavours but they would be forfeited for a while.

>>6359567
The "dead" in "dead heat Qi" makes it possible that it could involve Yin Qi. However, no detailed descriptions are present as of yet afaik. We get a lot of Qi from our home, which is a mass grave. More than one type of "death" Qi might do the trick for us. However, if dead heat Qi is not actively useful to us, having it accessible might actually be detrimental - Qi that we cannot work with will probably harm us if we accumulate it.

We voted for things that together are arguably a lower-tier resource than the shard of divinity together with our other divine options: an evolution slot a (probably single-use) arrow, and time investment (to reach the moon). However, I really liked the synergy of our previous evolution with the rest of our skills.

One further consideration that was already put forth: What if we actually destroyed the sun? That would probably freeze a huge amount of innocents to death. We wouldnt be much better than The Snowman then.

>>6359657
I actually do now think it's probably as you say. Maybe I'll change my vote to no then, but it seems like a decent way to step towards immortality to me at the moment.

And the sun already hates us so we're probably going to end up killing it at one point or another anyway. Getting a toolkit to specifically combat suns seems pretty wise looking at it that way.

And again, once we're reaching that kind of power it's reasonable to just make new suns, or move the planet, or move other suns over. There's a lot of solutions to the problem of killing a sun killing innocents.

At this point I wonder if we've contributed to Fu's many scars with how much we use him as a test dummy. As for our bow based techniques, Phantom Record is a pretty neat alternative to Enmity Incarnation that doesn't need us to wear the mask (but probably gives less bonuses), Purring Arrow and CRR are a nice offensive and defensive duo. But, then there is
>because your first attempt creates a tiny, crushing vortex of gravity that stripped the leaves off of the tree you'd switched to using as target practice. As well as most of its bark and branches. And that's just scary, and not in the fun way!
that's a micro black hole, if we can master that it can be devastating.
>>6359404
>His brutal hard style that you faced off against (Murderous Crow Dance)
>No. Who'd be dumb enough to hunt a sun? [Retain the inert divinity and pass up on this seed of divinity]
Because while this is useful, getting a debuff right before we are about to do a lot of fighting is inconvenient.

>>6359404
>How to create Hellfire, despite having positive/ good karma
To burn the flames of the ling with an even hotter flame.

>No. Who'd be dumb enough to hunt a sun? [Retain the inert divinity and pass up on this seed of divinity]
not now, later.

>>6359657
Nah, won't be a problem.

We need to kill A sun, rather than The sun.
They are just out there in the void waiting to be killed. So even if we took the easy route of killing THE sun, we can just replace it with another.

The relative time involved is a simple matter, especially if we give warning to Chuan before we do.

About useful Qi, we can use this. It is the one stop shop to be "fire/star? Hard countered" gal. Due to our Physique and our roots, we don't really need to fear imbalance. Just need to keep things mostly even sided for best effect.

>>6359404
>>How to create Hellfire, despite having positive/ good karma
Honestly, I just think it's really, REALLY funny to have EVIL FIRE (good).

>No. Who'd be dumb enough to hunt a sun? [Retain the inert divinity and pass up on this seed of divinity]
As much as I do think this would be exceptionally useful and less of an issue to deal with than some people may think, I also do want to forge Huan's divinity wholly of her own cloth. Brick by brick, baby, no shortcuts. Just to make ol Five Colors proud.

>>6359404
>How to create Hellfire, despite having positive/ good karma
We are the privileged princess and we do things our way.

>No. Who'd be dumb enough to hunt a sun? [Retain the inert divinity and pass up on this seed of divinity]
While it's certainly epic I don't think it's necessary, Old five colors is the most powerful Ling and he's on our side.
Besides Huan being a cat she must love lazing in the sun, if it's a sun with a grudge on her then even better so now she can do so smugly.
Show it our belly and let it smolder in impotent fury I say.

Contested vote, so I’ll do a early count
>Votes:9
q1GeLktj
xryeARCx
YvZaHHIH
krzrjrEa
o0PkJqGw
AA3UBsdJ
UO2GxfAJ
ceo6GFTu
F0rcH8ku

1st Vote
>Carmine Mysticism evolution:3
q1GeLktj
xryeARCx
o0PkJqGw

>Hard Fighting Style:2
YvZaHHIH
AA3UBsdJ

>Hellfire:4
krzrjrEa
UO2GxfAJ
ceo6GFTu
F0rcH8ku

2nd vote
>Yes, activate the inert divinity:2
krzrjrEa
o0PkJqGw

>No, keep divinity inert:7
q1GeLktj
xryeARCx
YvZaHHIH
AA3UBsdJ
UO2GxfAJ
ceo6GFTu
F0rcH8ku
First vote is close, while the second is locked in

>>6360488
Someone sell me on using hellfire rather than advancing our Carmine mysticism.

>>6360488
>>6360505

the case for hellfire, the enemy will use flames, this allows us ab excellent same element counter. Furthermore, hell fire flames do compliment our ghost abilities. (ghost lights) as well as our blood abilities (remember when we did that flame explosion way back when?). we are def going back to hell at some point which will also allow it to serve us even better.
Lastly, we are one of the most unorthodox beings ever, us using hellfire despite having good karma is exactly the type of shit to spit in the face of heaven and its conventions.

>>6360515
counter to Fire is water, not hellfire. Also unsure that bad karma powers can beat bad karma people especially hard.

Hmm. Spite is a powerful motivator.

>>6360516
The most effective way to stop a fire is to burn it out as quickly as possible. Which means either more fire (burns faster) or a powerful explosion (physically removes whatever the fire is using as fuel). Water is kind of meh at dealing with fire, really. Inert material works better than water.

How this translates to wacky woohoo wushu magic? Beats me. I don't know how the Chinese five elements star works.

>>6360543
allow this Senior to educate you.

Fire;
Melts metal
Burns wood for fuel.
Is smothered by water
and Begets earth.

So water is hyper effective, and earth gets some boost/limited resistance by proxy.

>>6360552
This junior offers thanks for this valuable insight! kek

Ending the vote now Lots of discussion and debates, what a lovely hall. Glad you noticed the divine seed specified "A Sun" rather than "The Sun"

>>6360488
And bless this Junior for undergoing the tribulation of tallying up the vote in my stead!

So you'll learn how to wield Hellfire from the bones of the crow king and won't heed to call of sun killing divinity.

Update will arrive shortly
>>6359559
1: If the grudge/ curse technique was fire aligned

2: Well, Lively Death Qi is weird, but Dead Heat is Yang aligned/ specialized fire so Huan's transmutation trick to make people explode by spawning a miniature sun in their blood would still work. and in fact could be cut down to Dead Heat Qi to Pure Blood Qi or vias versa

You shake your head, hard, roughly twisting and rocking it back and forth to force the foreign thoughts out of your head, rattling your brain round your skull until the voice stops and the resonance of divine energies flowing out of the part of your body you secretly stored the inert seed of sanguine divinity dams and stops up. You touch your fingers to the skin above that hiding place and scowl. You hadn't expected that. And had a worrying feeling that the faith and worship you were receiving was reaching the stone you'd locked away inside your own flesh. That'd explain why it only reacted now, when a new myth had been added to the hearts and minds of your followers.

You hoped that wasn't the case. It'd be annoying if every story told about you and every legend spread in your honor would make that drop of immortality wake up and urge you to take steps to transcended mortality onto the path of divinity. Since you fully intended to fulfil your side of your bargain with five colors like you have done everything else in your life. At your own rhythm, by your own pace, and trail blazing your own road forward!

But with the weird urge to murder the sun out of your head, which you wonder if it might've been connected to your enmity with the Ling, the bones of the crow king's message were able to reach your ears

"Ya know, not even many demons have the right mindset to wield hellfire, or bodies strong enough to tame it. Neither they or the tormented dead understand it like I did. An evil villain, a brute bastard like myself, oh they can leash and lash it. But malevolence isn't the natural state of the black flame of daiyu. Merely an expression of it" The rattling, curse containing jaw bone explains as you sit cross legged and listen to the dead monster speak, nodding along "Just like old Yama isn't a demon, Hellfire isn't merely a tool for the wicked and spiteful. For, who does that bitter flame burn if not devils and sinners? A wicked, black heart may better attract and contain Hellfire, but that doesn't mean it cannot be held by any other vessel, My handsome murderer"

Baoli's spirit better not be possessing your bow.

"Oh how your cold, murderesses heart has softened and warmed. Makes me sick. But, at the center of that caring organ, sits that same core of resentment and bitter hate. Yours, even if it has tamed and calmed, is a forever vengeful heart" the bone continues with a low, relaxed chuckle, like an opium addict's "And Hellfire is a tool of judgement and punishment, just as much as it is for sadism. A pure, saintly heart like yours can also learned to accept it, harness it. All it takes is a properly twisted, demented mindset. Like, say, that of a girl who embraces and adores death, to whom enacting vengeance is as natural as breathing, yet who expresses enmity through kindness and benevolence. Hah, you really had potential, ya know"

"Well, I'm alive. And you're dead, birdbrain" You snap and snarl at the bones
Cont

>>6360634

"I'll be reborn one day, find you in my next incarnation. Then we can have a rematch, and my reincarnation can see if you're still rough and wild enough to be a threat, despite your saintly path"

And then the bones speak no more, and gazing in the mirror, you out of curiosity see if the method Baoli spoke of, that hellfire could be used and held by one who hadn't descended to the depths of depravity and evil. And so, you course a current of Fire Qi through a condensed "Gate" of grudge miasma you shifted from your belly into your meridians and hold out the palm of your hand and concentrate on the center of it

It is agony. It feels like you're veins are tearing themselves apart and trying to escape from your arm, like your meridians are flowing in reverse and distorting. A lesser cultivator or one who was blinded by the rules and laws put in place by their ancestors, would've had their arm consumed by hellfire or suffer devastating Qi Deviation, even if they were of your level. But you'd tasted hellfire, and had been given a hint. And that was enough to figure out the key step to control and tame it.

It wanted to hurt. To torment. To punish. The flame had a will of its own. A duty. An instinct. You understood that. More than any devil or demon or wicked cultivator. And the hellfire you'd bred in your meridians was young, it was lashing out wildly. It hadn't burned for centuries, fed on the bones and souls of sinners or lit by the blood of devils. But it resonated and shared the same reason for burning as those ancient fires. It was simply used by demons. It wasn't produced by them or by evil. And in hell there were powers that far proceeded the Demonic Nobility and Elite Clans.

Yama and his servants. This was their fire.

And where a righteous cultivator would be consumed and burned away by it, that black flame reacting violently against their saintly spirits and benevolent flesh attempts to put it out, you'd seen how the flames of hell grew and got more intense when its victims thrashed, fought and tried to escape.

It was a tool of punishment. Of vengeance. And refinement. For a sinners soul could not step upon the great wheel of transmigration without being purified. Many Daoists, especially ones lit on fire, would struggle to see the purifying aspects of fire, particularly if they were currently surrounded by it. They'd only see its destructive, dangerous properties. Just like Blood had gotten a bad rap for being a product of death, when its real shape was an embodiment of life.

All you had to do. Was not panic, ignore the pain and spread the pyre flames deeper into your meridians, cooling it and calming it with a steady stream of grudge energy and thoughts of vengeance, counting down from the list of enemies you had to settle grudges with and the punishments they'd receive if you got their hands on them, as well as those grudges you'd settled and punishments you carried out.
Cont

>>6360635

It didn't look like it was working at first, as black flames began to escape and flicker from the surface of your trembling arm, but as you sat, in silent agony as it ripped through your meridians and approached both your beast core and golden core, the flames began to turn gentle, and rather than scorch, burn and melt, began to purify and refine the vessel they'd been trapped in. A process that would've killed even most demonic cultivators, simply because they had a weakness you didn't, that even righteous cultivators with a "Twisted" mindset like yours as Baoli's ghost put it, would've had if they had realized that hellfire wasn't inherently corrupt and evil.

And that was the fear of death. The dying and the dead often had strong earthly attachments, and the strongest was that of mortality, the fear of dying and of passing on. Hellfire, a native force of the underworld and tool of its silent bureaucracy, thus, would also react violently to those who showed fear of dying to it, to drag them into the afterlife as it, like many of the primordial death spirits, would see their fear as an attempt to escape their natural ends and the cycle of life and death.

And you, well, your reaction to life or death situations varied, but you couldn't help but to daydream from time to time about what your corpse would look like and found yourself admiring injuries that might've been fatal to others.

To the hellfire you'd made, the sea of grudges you contained and embodied and your own favorable outlook towards death and everything that hinted at or signaled it, made you a perfect vessel for Hellfire. Something no other good natured cultivator could do, simply because, even if they had done nothing but good deeds and had a bounty of positive karma, would be unable to recognize what Hellfire was, from an underworld perspective. They'd simply not have enough darkness, enough enmity, resentment and hate in their hearts to understand it, as a friend and fellow avenger. And that would make it seem impossible for anyone but the wretched and wicked to use hellfire, simply because any cultivator who tried to tame it who wasn't also a baby eating monster, could never enter into the right mindset and mediative state that allowed you to create and control it

A small ball of black flame appeared in your hand and you frowned. It didn't look like Baoli's hellfire. Black and red. Yours was instead black and white, with hues of grey in between.

It was a positive, good and benevolent hellfire, if you had to guess. One that hadn't been glutted on violence and murderous uses. It was simply the fire of hell, undyed from suffering or slaughter. A hellfire that would never be seen in the wild or out of the hands of Yama's servants, because any mortal, ghost or demon who wielded it, could only do so with a heart as black as the fire itself
Cont

>>6360636

"Cute" You chirp, seeing some resemblance in the ball of fire and your own soul's ghost flame appearance, and then, you mimic one of the punches the crow king threw at you, back in his tournament.

Oddly. Your hellfire didn't feel as harshly, bitterly cold as his had. It was rather relaxing, almost soothing. Kind of like the coolness of a corpse. And from the sounding of the gardens bell, told you that the time for the last stage of the tournament had begun, and that meant everyone had heard your decision to host it on the Moon. Since golden cores clashing in your garden would wreck it. And probably cause causalities in the audience. Which just wouldn't do.

They were your people and guests. And a proper monarch ensured the well being of her people and the safety of her guests before her own.

Golden Cores were rare. And ones of quality were even rarer. That meant you only had a few serious rivals to consider, and you already marked your biggest one and prepared to give him a humbling ass beating.

But there were two places left in the bracket for the first contest, the martial arts/ combat contest. The one on one duels that the crowds have enjoyed so much. You'd purposefully done that, since one would be the first match of the bracket and the other would be in the last. And had put this part of the tournament before the others, since its what everyone wanted. Including yourself. And the logistics behind the scholarly, tactical, and other trials would be...a real headache. As would be the free for all brawl if there were enough golden cores capable of standing after the one on one matches...

Anyways. You'd left those spots open for a reason. And that was to decide when you'd get into the tournament, since everyone wanted to see your match, so it'd be the best start or the one to keep everyone waiting on baited breath. There was a second reason, and that was to put Sheshou on the other side of the contest, to make everyone hold their breathes and wonder if you and your rival would meet in the final match Heh-Heh-Heh-Heh.

Double Vote!

Which spot did you take in the bracket (Xing Sheshou will take the spot you don't pick

>First bracket, First Match. Against Xiannu (Fateful Encounter: Goddess of the war festival)

>Second Bracket, Last Match. Against Xue Long (Fateful Encounter: Heir of Winter, Mother's Son)

And who do you hand over the responsibility of announcing and commentating on the matches to, Huanliuxue?

>Monu, your mother, of course.

>Uncle Su.

>Ling Wucai, in his hermit disguise

>Qiang, because her dullness would make it funny in away.

>Siwang!

>Ping, Lei, & Feiqing

>Someone else (Write in)

>>6360637
>Second Bracket, Last Match. Against Xue Long (Fateful Encounter: Heir of Winter, Mother's Son)

>Ling Wucai, in his hermit disguise

>>6360637
>First bracket, First Match. Against Xiannu (Fateful Encounter: Goddess of the war festival)
>Ling Wucai, in his hermit disguise

>>6360637
>First bracket, First Match. Against Xiannu (Fateful Encounter: Goddess of the war festival)
>Ling Wucai, in his hermit disguise