/qst/ — Heretic Cultivator Quest 33

>>6379700 (OP)

It is an air of command, the throne upon which the Queen of Beasts and Ghosts sits imperiously. Draining power from living bodies and sapping the fight from humans who have not learned to kneel and kowtow before the primordial queen of the wild things and the dead, who stands above all as the pinnacle of both the rules of nature and the cycle of life and death, boosted and empowered by her regal authority to become the ideal beast and ghost, leading from the front as her army marches before her, conquering in her name and fighting for causes she deems just.

You can sense, innately, that this aura is best suited for waging war though it'd have it uses outside of it in one on one battles, since you can feel how much stronger you are as both a beast and ghost when it is released.

Deciding to next try the Aura manifested from your broken clock technique, you shut your eyes and perform the technique like a summoning ritual, arranging its steps above your golden core like an array

Aura: Dying Time attained and manifested. Effect: Time's flow is distorted and quickened. Weaker opponents are rapidly aged, and equal or stronger foes are sapped of their stamina/ vitality, reducing their maximum health. Huanliuxe controls the flow of Dying Time, reducing her DCs as she holds a supreme advantage over her opponents, expanding her crit range to 90 to 100. Draws and contains Huanliuxue and her opponent into an altered space. The sudden changes in time's flow, can cause additional damage, debuffs and negative effects on Huanliuxue's opponents when a critical hit is achieved. A "Duelist" Aura, best suited for one on one fights and quickly ending them

All things must die, this to is true for time. One day, the sands in the hourglass will run out. The incense stick will burn to nothing. And even the flow of the stars will halt and still. This Aura is the Broken Clock technique strengthened and manifested, creating an ailing flow of time that is racing towards is death, distorted and transformed. It is an incredibly dangerous technique, considering what could happen if time's flow is carelessly sped up or wrung like a towel, which is why its lucky that it creates, like the original Specter Lightness skill, a sphere of altered reality within the boundary of your aura where the time between you and your opponent can be safely abused and manipulated without risking...well, everything and everyone.

A lethal aura to be sure. And one that might be too extreme for this tournament. Just catching a glimpse of it could probably turn a weaker cultivator to a hobbled kneed old fossil, Heh-Heh-Heh.

Then, you decide to sample the Aura born from your existence as the first Pure Carmine Mystic in existence.
Cont

>>6379702

Aura: True Ancestor of Pure Carmine Mysticism attained and manifested. Effect: Prevents any hostile presence from healing, boosts Huanliuxue's blood based arts and Carmine mystic abilities/ evolutions (Including stat boosts), an effect which increases the more blood is shed. Allows Huanliuxue to absorb/drain blood passively and causes instant death to weaker cultivators/ monsters, who are drained dry the moment they enter the presence of a true ancestor. Huanliuxue passively heals while this Aura is active. Other Carmine Mystics are empowered while in this aura, but become subservient to Huanliuxue. Mortals and lesser cultivators may be forcibly transformed into Carmine Mystics via this aura via Spiritual Root Corruption. A "Specialized"/ "Ancestral" type Aura, that does one thing well and benefits the uses descendants

All hail the carmine ancestor. She who redeemed the blood. She who is mother and matriarch to all mystics who've come to practice the art she purified. All others are prey before her, little more than sacks of blood who will be brought to heel and squeezed of even their vital heart's blood. The True Ancestor has demanded a bloody feast and a bloody feast their shall be. Let all children of the blood moon dance and caper in delight, for their mother has deigned to bless them with the austere and noble presence of their bloodlines founder. The first Pure Carmine Mystic walks, and the world bends to her will or else bleeds, as her true radiance is revealed and an image of sanguine divinity is glimpsed and all who do not walk the carmine path tremble in terror.

A fitting mantle for a scarlet queen, now, last but not least, the aura that marks you as the inheritor of primordial royalty

Aura: Primordial Remnant attained and manifested. Effect: Huanliuxue's body is fortified with ancient vitality and treasures, greatly increasing her physique with primordial savagery, making every beast evolution she has attainted count as if it were a tier higher, and reducing the damage she receives + granting her a scaling bonus to rolls that increases based on the damage she's received/ healed. Inflicts opponents with the terror of primordial predators or stuns them with the image of primordial beauty long lost. Flashes of ancestral inheritance grant Huanliuxue temporary access to the techniques/ powers of those who came before. A "Self Buff" Aura that is focused on strengthening the host to the limit
Cont

>>6379703

What lurks beyond fire's light, in the past before mankind grasped fire? What memories linger in the veins of humble housecats, dreaming of times when their ancestors walked the land as immortal and primordial gods? What strength has been inherited by the Primordial Heir upon whose shoulders rests the legacy of the strong, the history of all magical beasts who came before and the future of all who come after? What is she, besides a Remnant and glimpse into the past when beasts walked and ruled as men? A vision of ancient history manifested? A throwback to when it was Beasts who ruled the world, not men or unjust gods. A scion of prehistory, bloody and tooth and claw and embodying the strength of those ancestors long dead and butchered?

All four of these auras, equal your natural one in usefulness and strength, Ill Omen is a good, all around Counter, seeing how it reduces any aura it has met by half and causes no end of misfortune to anyone arrogant or ambitious enough to aim for to take your pretty head. And with a little bit of "Stretching" You learn how to switch between your five auras rapidly enough to do so in the heat of battle.

Content with what you've attained, you dress yourself, reapply your make up and jewelry and leave your hair uncombed to roll wildly down your shoulders and back before you waltz back to the arena. And see that the next fight is about to be underway! You'd just barely avoided missing it.

Looks like one of your surviving Xue Nephews is fighting one of the Eight Heavenly Gates Masters...And that most of your star pupils have left the audience to prepare for their training journeys!

What do you do, Huanlixue?

>...Kind of ignore the match until the end, since you don't want to look dumb by asking for details

>Just ask one of the ghosts, since Yujijiao has already left for the northern desert, what's going on

>Directly ask your nephew their name, and tell them they better live up to the expectations set by their dead, older brother

>Summon Xue Long to your private stands, and ask him about the son whose fighting now

>Write in

Ill Omen is considered a Counter type Aura, and its main power is Halving the effects of enemy Auras, but it also causes bad luck/ misfortune to those who oppose it, causing Huan to act, effectively, as an embodied ill omen

>>6379705
>...Kind of ignore the match until the end, since you don't want to look dumb by asking for details

What utter bullshit we create and throw out.
Fucking hell. This disciple is gonna have fun updating that in the Manual.

>Directly ask your Nephew their name.
>Be a little shit "Are you going to come for my head with determination Xue, or should I consider this demonstration just a passing display of arts the world has already seen repeated infinitely?"

If he's not gonna fight seriously, then we can ignore him. If he is gonna fight seriously, then it'll be fun to watch them flaunt some stuff.

>>6379705
>>Summon Xue Long to your private stands, and ask him about the son whose fighting now
about time we get a good conversation out of him

>>6379705
>Summon Xue Long to your private stands, and ask him about the son whose fighting now

>>6379705
>Summon Xue Long to your private stands, and ask him about the son whose fighting now

Four (well 5, but our bad luck aura has always been there, but probably can be even scarier) flavors of cracked. It sure is our style to get an power-up in the middle of a battle setting. Imagine someone asking how long we could do this.
>>6379705
>Summon Xue Long to your private stands, and ask him about the son whose fighting now
Might as well get some one on one time with him (especially since I feel he's not making it past the first round

Should be able to get the update out tomorrow. Meant to today, juniors, but I'm too tired tonight

>>6380460
Gotcha gramps

Ending the vote, tallying its result now. Sorry I'm so late, just had a pretty rough night last night.

...Kind of ignore the match until the end, since you don't want to look dumb by asking for details:1

Directly ask your Nephew their name.:1
- Be a little shit:1

Summon Xue Long to your private stands, and ask him about the son whose fighting now: 4

So you'll summon Xue Long and ask him about the son who is fighting now.

Update will arrive shortly

Tapping your fingers on the arm of your throne, you mull over your options. And quickly decide you don't want to be left in the dark, and quickly call one of the nameless outer disciples of your sect and bark an order at them to go fetch Xue Long. The match hasn't started yet, since both Long's brat and the Senior from the Eight Heavenly Gates are still preparing themselves in the ring. It takes, longer than expected and longer than is polite for your "brother" to arrive at your private seating box, dressed in all his finery, looking like he was wearing a blizzard that had been spun into silks.

"Huanliuxue" He said curtly "I was told you wished to grant me an audience"

"Do I need a reason to speak to my brother?" You asked with a cute titter, watching his brow knit with barely repressed annoyance, veins bulging and eyes sharpening, "But I did have a reason to bother you, outside of sisterly affections. Please, take a seat, you're my guest for at least this match"

"I will not leap to conclusions and assume you've brought me here in a ploy to further humble my clan and family" He said as he swept his robes and took a seat, a few paces away from you rather than right at your side

"It does concern your family, namely your son in the ring against that old geezer" You explain and he shuts his eyes

"You refer to Sixth Gate Master Boqin, I presume" He said through his teeth, hissing almost liking a cat "The venerable master my eldest remaining son is set against"

"Yes, and who is that son of yours and how does he compare to the Late Ming?" You ask curiously and his knuckles whiten but he does not release a wave of killing intent

"Meilin inherited his mother's grace, and his grandfather's talent. Ming, inherited my mother's lethal skills" He explains "Meilin is more severe than his elder brother, but no less of a threat in battle nor any less talented than he was. He inherited different arts than the now heirless Intoxicating Lotus Flower Law and the Swaying Palm Style. He practices a variation of our clan's primary martial arts and dominant style, one that is"

"Yin aligned and intended for daughters" You hum and Xue Long's hand twitches "He inherited Monu's Physique"

"That is part of the inheritance he received from his grandparents" Long answers, somewhat uncomfortably, probably wondering how you could tell from just a focused glance "He and Ming had greater potential and innate treasures than myself"

"It is a shame Xue Ming died" You say sadly, morosely frowning and slouching in your throne "He impressed me, in our one meeting"

"In the manner of which he died, as you struck him down" Your "Brother" says caustically, showing that he inherited Monu's biting tongue out of the cradle, you smile wryly and flick your fingers through your hair

"So he's a defensive spell specialist, like his grandfather, combined with the agile, lithe body of his mother" You hum, tapping your fingers on your cheek

Cont

>>6380584

"You're perceptive, Lady Huanliuxue" Xue Long says, giving you as much praise as he can likely stomach "I see the gossip of the accuracy of the measure you take of your fellow daoist, was only scarcely exaggerated. Unlike some tales. Such as your divinity"

"Who am I to dissuade those with enough to sense to realize I'm an existence that should be worshipped" You say as Xue Meilin rose, his feminine, girlish face frame with locks greying to white, tied in a youthful looking, fox tail esq ponytail "And what of the Sixth Gate Master?"

"Also a defense expert" Long sighs "As many of the eight heavenly gates sect are, it is just the nature of their primary and dominant martial arts and inherited techniques. They embody the gates to the celestial realm, and are sturdy and reliable as they are wise and sagacious. But the sixth gate, is the level where defense turns to offense"

"Two steps from the unlucky door of death. Countering is also a form of passive and defensive fighting" You muse as you twirl a lock of crimson hair around your finger "However, just because they focus on defense, doesn't mean they lack fangs"

"Learned that when you fought my father?" He asked

"I'd think its common sense, no one wades into a fight with a shield if they don't think they can deal some damage as well as they take it" You say with a shrug before a flash of...something, like a shot of moonlight across a frozen lake, moves in Xue Long's eyes

"If my father hadn't been crippled, do you think you'd have won that battle?" He asks, as his son and the old sixth gate fossil, walk to the arena across the sea of stars

You frown, resting your chin on the back of your hands.

How do you answer that question, Huanliuxue?

>Don't.

>"He wouldn't have been crippled if he wasn't an evil asshole, so we'd not have fought to begin with"

>"Of course. He won his fame hunting confused, frightened children. I thrive on grudges, I'd have torn him apart, even if he wasn't half frozen"

>"What do you think?"

>"If you hadn't allowed him to send Xue Ming after my head, would that son be fighting in this one's place?"

>Write in

>>6380585
>Of course. Even in his crippled state the monster was canny, Lethal, exceedingly proficient with the scythe and not slowed by any appreciable matter. His grudge and unbending principle made the crippling a minor annoyance during our fight.
>But despite this, he only lay a single blow upon me bevause he made a living out of killing confused and defenceless children with only base instinct with a pathological refusal to consider anything but the orthodoxy. He presented a challenge only because of raw cultivation and defensive speciality, which is nothing in the face of the most talented cultivator in history and the most creative heretic in the past ten generations. He never stood a chance with my golden Core, and I would have still have fought him if I only had a core formation base.

>if you would like my advice, don't ruminate on your father's execution. Keep your grief and your fond memories for him if you have them, But he deserved every bit of his punishment and you know it. Which is why you don't defend his actions and instead deal with the results.

>>6380589
This is not the diplomatic answer. It's honest and it will probably hurt, and the point is to get across just how sure we are in both ourselves and our actions.

If you want to tease out his feelings, asking him if he thinks we would is the way to go

>>6380585
>"What do you think?"

I want to know what he thinks, beyond the bragging and resentment.
If he recognizes that his father brought his fate upon himself.

>>6380585
>"What do you think?"

>>6380585
>"What do you think?"

Think it'd be cool to actually answer after he gives his response too.

>>6380585
>"What do you think?"
not even mocking, just genuinely want to pick his brain

File: 1670129170613944.jpg (1.06 MB, 1800x2400)

Ending the vote, tallying its result now

Of course, even in his crippled state...cont + If you would like my advice...cont: 1

What do you think?: 4

So you'll ask Xue Long "What do you think" rather than answering directly

There are countless ways you could answer, some of them far crueler than others, some of them more factual and others more boasts than anything. But, rather than bragging or explaining in detail how you would've dealt with an uncrippled Laohue, you look to his son Xue Long's pensive face and meet his judging, contemplative stare and frown, tilting your head to the side and shifting your hands to press against your cheeks and hold your head up as you pout and look up into his eyes in a way that seems to make your "Brother" uncomfortable.

Rather than mock or try to mend bridges with this man, you're more curious what he thinks. If he thinks things would've been different if Xuebai didn't trick that Jingyu fellow into sabotaging Laohue's breakthrough or if the results hadn't been so decidingly crippling and prolongedly lethal. Perhaps he'll make an excuse that you wouldn't have won if you fought his father at his best or is curious to see how arrogant and self assured you are. Or maybe he's looking for solace or just an answer that things and most importantly the outcome of that battle wouldn't have changed no matter what, or the satisfaction in getting you to admit that maybe, just maybe you wouldn't have won. And now your curiosity has grown into quite the monster, and you need to know

"What do you think?" You ask politely, smiling as a well bred lady should which seems to unnerve him more as his son and the old fossil reach the arena beneath the stars and on the moon. Long shuts his eyes, his brow knitting and wrinkling with deep, intense contemplation as he considers and ponders your question and his own thoughts, even as the first, probing blows of his son's match begin. You keep your eyes locked on and settled over his closed eyes. Slowly, like a tomb's door being cracked open, his lips part and a sigh escapes

"Huanliuxue. You are a being of resentment, even if a gentle, motherly nature also defines you and coexists within your proud and defiant character" He answers measuredly and with the most earnest respect he's ever spoken in your direction "My father, for all of his faults, was the ideal master. The greatest cultivator in Chuan, a fighting sage, a warrior and monk in equal parts. A daoist who'd mastered and had more insights of his path than any other in living memory"

"And?" You press, leaning closer, to the point your shoulders nearly brush against his arm as you crane up your neck. He stares ahead, eyes sharp, like shards of ice that had survived generations unmelted and unbroken

"The greatest warrior in an age of peace and prosperity, cannot match even a brute thug that climbed their way out of the gutter' He said soberly, admitting to himself that he believes you would've won even if his father was in top shape and peak condition "And, he went into the fight, with preconceptions that doomed him. A beast had not attained such refinement and masterful techniques, for generations before him"
Cont

>>6381578

You pull back and sit up a bit straighter

"Even without being on death's door, he'd have suffered tunnel vision, simply because of what you were, even if you didn't proudly call yourself the student of...mother" he continues, expression turning weary and defeated "A beast should not aspire to be a man, was one of the earliest lessons I remember from him, the smell of burnt fur and flesh still sticking to the temple after"

He winces as the mere mention of what Laohue did to your mother conjures up a ripple of killing intent and heady resentment within your chest, oozing out of your heart

"And you, didn't aspire, you simply attained human form to prove a point. You never act or pretend to be human, truly. You embrace your nature and flaunt it, considering all house cats our betters. That alone, would've driven him mad. Berserk even. Blinded him. Wrath was his gravest fault" He continues, flicking his sleeve as the fight on the moon sounds like its getting more and more intense "Even at his full strength, he'd be consumed by it and perhaps, arrogantly, assume you were no greater than the quarries of his other beast subjugations. But, I cannot claim he could have won, simply because he was he and you are you. An existence born from a burning grudge, whom grieves for generations of lost talent, facing off against an old monster who might as well embodied all the wasted lives and potential grinded beneath our sandaled' heels"

"So you think I would've won, no matter what?" You ask coyly

"I can't imagine a way he could've defeated an embodiment of resentment and enmity such as yourself, who has never been restrained or restricted by the laws he upheld to his dying breath" He answers, avoiding saying it outright "It may have been a mutual kill, if he was not half frozen, but even that feels like wishful thinking when the opponent he faced was both a prodigy and who ignored the taboos and laws of cultivation. Your core is immaculate, even despite the difference in rank and experience, along with the power you gain from the grudges possessing you, you were the one between yourself and Laohue who had the advantage. Both of you went into that fight, with purpose and convictions you were willing to die for but..."

He shook his head, "No matter what can be said about you or my father, you were harder to kill and more stubborn in your beliefs, to the point you'd overturn the heaven and earth and force all to bend and bow before the way you believed things should be. A cat has nine lives, it is said, and yours are not so easily stolen. Men have but one"

"That is surprisingly humble and reasonable of you, Long" You say softly
Cont

>>6381579

"I've been forced to swallow many unpleasant, hard truths about my father and the world he raised me into" He explained with a frown "And you asked me earnestly, so I answered honestly. I'd be a great fool to discount your prowess, simply because you've killed my father and my son. Just as I would if I claimed you were not the wronged party in that...conflict"

"You might just reclaim your sects wisdom before you turn old and grey" You say with a titter, not cruel or mocking "Few masters of your level have the humility to admit what you just did"

"You've proven your righteousness and justness of your cause, and your superiority. I may not like it, or you, but your heretical ways have given you many boons" He says "The very resentment you felt towards my father, empowered you, and he knew not what sort of monster he was facing when he flew down the mountain side to leap into battle. On his death's bed"

"Still, he was tough piece of old meat. He was one of the harder things to put down that I kill" You drawl, as you lean back in your chair and turn your attention to the fight for the first time since it started

"Is that your idea of a compliment?" Long asked, aghast before his eyes hardened and chilled "Hmm, I answered a question when I presented one to you"

"Think I owe you something, just because of that?" You asked with a cackle

"You seem to at least be trying to scrub the records between us clean" He answered "And I am curious about my opponent, you marked him as your rival. And I wonder if you set us against the other to see who would be more worthy a foe"

What do you tell Xue Long, Huanliuxue?

>Scold him for ignoring his own son's match and tell him to watch

>"Well, since we're being so open and truthful. He's a former god. They kicked him and his pals out of the heavens for failing to kill me"

>"He's an archer and unlike Xiannu, could've killed your father as well. If he were healthy? Maybe he could, but if he was in the state I fought him in? He'd win"

>"The history between us won't be so easily washed and cleaned. You still hold a lot of resentment towards me, for merely defending myself, even if you can admit I was the victim at the end of the day"

>Write in

>>6381580
>"Well, since we're being so open and truthful. He's a former god. They kicked him and his pals out of the heavens for failing to kill me"

>>6381580
>Well, since we're being so open and truthful. He's a former god. They kicked him and his pals out of the heavens for failing to kill me"

>>6381580
>Since we are being so open and truthful, he is a God kicked out of heaven for failing to kill me, and an archer besides.

>I would prefer to scrub as much between us as I can, But I am a being of grudges, I wouldn't deny you your resentment. Only you can choose to pursue or set it aside.

>>6381580
>Write-in
You mirror my thoughts brother. His hate for my kind was too much. I am made of grudges, but I tried to make him regret what he had done.

But he smiled at me, mocked me, felt pure joy as I showed him his sins.

I am sorry my nephew died that day, but our father was a monster through and through. And I could've followed his footsteps in a way, killing all humans. Become the monster he thought I was, many do question that still.

But I wouldn't have forgiven myself in the face of those nine childern.

For grudges cannot exist without kindness.

and

>"Well, since we're being so open and truthful. He's a former god. They kicked him and his pals out of the heavens for failing to kill me." To throw him from a loop.

>>6381666
supporting

>>6381580
Sect brothers, I am taken by a mad impulse.

>"Well, since we're being so open and truthful. He's a former god. They kicked him and his pals out of the heavens for failing to kill me"
>"Just between us, that dear friend of mine who everyone thought a simple old man is a god too. Perhaps if you approach him respectfully he might deign to tell you which one."

>>6381580
>>6381591
>>6381914
Ooooo, I like this. Supporting.

>>6381580
>>6381666
>>6381710
I'll support these two as they do not seem in conflict.

Could have become the monster he was + he's an ex god and an archer
Let him see for himself what is the mettle of the gods he worships.

>>6381666
>>6381914
Supporting

File: 1650600343690.png (29 KB, 567x567)

Ending the vote, tallying its result now.

"Well, since we're being so open and truthful. He's a former god. They kicked him and his pals out of the heavens for failing to kill me": 8
- + An archer besides: 4

I would prefer to scrub as much between us as I can, But I am a being of grudges, I wouldn't deny you your resentment. Only you can choose to pursue or set it aside.: 4

You mirror my thoughts...etc: 2

"Just between us, that dear friend of mine who everyone thought a simple old man is a god too. Perhaps if you approach him respectfully he might deign to tell you which one.":3

So you'll tell Long that he is a former diety+ an archer, and that you'd prefer to scrub as much of the records as possible but won't deny him his resentment

Update will arrive shortly

A playful smirk curls on your lips as you hang your head to the side, like a broken necked, hanged corpse as you mirthfully smile up at your supposed brother, tapping a nail on your cheek as a very mischievous thought cross your mind. Why not just tell him the truth, since the two of you are being so open and honest with each other that the only thing either of you haven't done is pull of their clothes or rip open their chest to expose their still beating, living heart.

"Well" You start, screwing the finger into the meat of your cheek, drawing a pearl of blood as Xue Long meets your eyes, uncertainty battling with confusion and aversion in his eyes "Since we're being so open and truthful, he is a God kicked out of heaven for failing to kill me"

And then the look in his eyes flashes between outrage, incomprehension, shock and disbelief, but before he can open his mouth to wag his tongue and call you a liar or a hateful bitch or say anything at all to voice his thoughts on that claim your smile turns to a sneering grin as you wag your bloodied finger in the air.

"And an Archer besides" You tell him, giving him a bit of bait to hook him, so he can't accuse you of sowing discord for your own amusement. And if you had to judge based on his expression, he knows at least a few archer gods though you doubt a stalwart follower of Orthodox Cultivation will so easily bend in his beliefs and wholesale buy that every word you just spoke to him just now was entirely truthful. But eh, its his loss. You couldn't care less if he pulled the wool off of his eyes.

"In folklore, talking animals are often tricksters and I know you've got a sense of mischief" He says, measuredly and carefully as you suck the thick blood dripping off your finger "And your antipathy and feelings of resentment towards the gods and the heavens, and the order they enforce on the world, is well know. That misguided flock of yours has been known to commit arson on temples and shrines, and I doubt you are greatly upset by their actions"

"So you think I've chosen to lie, after we've all but bared eachother our hearts. Dear "brother" you wound me" You say with a twinkle of amusement in your eyes "Is it so unbelievable, that the heavens are not so infallible to kick one of their own to the curb for failing to kill a harmless kitty cat like me? Or is it the existence of a hitherto unknown cultivator of golden core level who dresses a few centuries out of date and waltz around with an arrogance that could only be..."

He gives you and pointed look and you purse your lips. Right, you dress in the fashion of hell more oft than not and also strut around like you own any place you visit and should be met with a royal if not imperial welcome. Still! your point still stands.
Cont

>>6382811

"Look, the "Rogue Cultivator of a level that even one with the full backing of a sect rarely reaches" is the important part. Could they really keep themselves secret for so long? And don't give me a look like "You did yourself!", cause the moment I hit golden core! Every sect in reach tried to gang up on me!" You shout back at him, jabbing your now licked clean and bloodless finger at his chest like a dagger "What's more probable, that five of bastards so sneaky and resourceful they could do it on their own, without making a fuss like my miraculous breakthrough did"

"They don't seem to be practicing heretical arts that rouse the dead of an entire kingdom or turn a not insignifigant portion of its populace into...mongrels split between beast and man" He answers, shrugging his shoulder "But even so, reaching that point would've had them undergo a divine tribulation, and your two recent ones are the only ones on record. They could be from..."

"From the other former provinces of the now shattered empire?" You cut in, and he looks uncomfortably away, as he realize that is a paper thin excuse "More proof towards my claim he is a former god, isn't it? People would've heard and it isn't so easy to change you identity or cut ties in this modern era"

"...it is a ridiculous claim to make, but for all you boast, few of them are idle. I'll keep it in mind, even if the only truth turns out to be that he favors archery in combat" Xue Long, after a long period of silence, says "And if that alone proves to be fact, then that's more proof that, in your own way, you're trying to mend bridges"

You turn away, while annoying, he really doesn't have any reason to believe a claim as wild as that. Even though it is true, you do brag alot and the adventures you had are pretty unbelievable when heard by someone who was content with their boring life in the status quo, for some one raised in the tail end of a generational peace, and tent your fingers as you try to figure out how there was no a blizzard on the moon and why the old geezer looked more like a moving, metal buddha statue now. You really should be paying more attention to the fight going on.

"I would prefer to scrub as much between us as I can" You admit, carefully picking the exact phrasing you use, before shrugging and adding "But I am a being of grudges, I wouldn't deny you your resentment. Only you can choose to pursue or set it aside."

"If our positions we're switched, what would you do in my position?" He asked, stunning and pulling you out of the match just as you were starting to figure out what was actually happening

"Heuh?"
Cont

>>6382812

How do you answer Xue Long's question, Huanliuxue?

>"If I was born in your station, Brother, I would've been rather happily pampered. I am a cat, after all"

>"Even if Monu would've probably brought it on herself. As her daughter, I couldn't exactly let her killer escape..."

>Laugh and tell him if you had all of his privileges, you'd already be a god

>"...I would've killed Monu myself if she became as much of a monstrous Prick as Laohue. He killed children, just because they weren't human, doesn't excuse the fact he laughed when I showed him the truth of what he'd done"

>Write in

>>6382813
>"...I would've killed Monu myself if she became as much of a monstrous Prick as Laohue. He killed children, just because they weren't human, doesn't excuse the fact he laughed when I showed him the truth of what he'd done"

>>6382813
>"...I would've killed Monu myself if she became as much of a monstrous Prick as Laohue. He killed children, just because they weren't human, doesn't excuse the fact he laughed when I showed him the truth of what he'd done"

>>6382813
>I would have killed monu myself

Hmm. If we had everything that we did done to us, we would absolutely kill the other party. Our pride and familial bonds demand it. But focusing on If our students died.
>If someone had killed Fu or Qiang or Luli or any of my other students in that war, I would want blood. A cultivator life is not one of peace, they will kill and likely be killed eventually, I could perhaps be mollified with returning their corpse intact and an accounting of their death and reparations made in good faith, It was a war after all. But disrespect, mocking and salting the wound would see a grudge born and executed.

I think Huan could accept, if still be devastated by her kids falling in a war. It's her fault if they are dragged into one after all, as their leader and master.

>>6382813
>"If I was born in your station, Brother, I would've been rather happily pampered. I am a cat, after all..."
>But also I could see my filial attachments feed a grudge so strong as to blind my morals for the sake of revenge. If those children hadn't been innocent would I have rampaged so ferociously? Maybe.
>But then again any other cat would have simply wandered off. You underestimate perhaps how much of a mother Monu has been for me, and how her teaching shaped me into who I am.
>I cannot claim to know what your relationship was with your father but I can sense it was not free of resentment, and it has only grown now that you know how deep truly were his crimes.

>>6382812
>>6382813
Write-in
>Hmmm let me taste a bit of that grudge I could then see it in your shoes. But before that we have to split emotion and reason. Emotionally if my mother was killed such as what happened I'd go through hell for revenge. But the reason of the outcome changes many things. Could I justify such a grudge if mother was like father? If I was human and ignorant perhaps yes. Knowing the truth though that someone kills children with a smile on one's face. I'd kill them myself.

Let's then ask would you be okay with your father murdering human children with a smile on his face? Could you live with that? Would you forsake revenge for the person who killed the man killing the young?

But to answer your question if I didn't know what my father did then yes 100/100 I'd seek revenge. If I knew then I'd kill them myself.

As for your son my nephew? That I feel regret for having not known who he was. I hope I can take him on as a disciple when he reincarnates. He was a good man. And that I can understand you wishing for my head till the end of our days.

(Thinks to self. Huh if I find his soul I could just bring him back... Hmmm note to self think on that later.)

>>6382984
Can't bring him back. We turned him into mist and we need a body back.

>>6382813
>"...I would've killed Monu myself if she became as much of a monstrous Prick as Laohue. He killed children, just because they weren't human, doesn't excuse the fact he laughed when I showed him the truth of what he'd done"

Ending the vote now, tallying the result now

"...I would've killed Monu myself if she became as much of a monstrous Prick as Laohue....etc":4
- If someone had killed Fu or Qiang or Luli or any of my other students in that war, I would want blood...etc:1

"If I was born in your station, Brother, I would've been rather happily pampered. I am a cat, after all...":1
-+ write ins: 1

Hmmm let me taste a bit of that grudge I could then see it in your shoes....etc:1

So you'll tell Xue Long "...I would've killed Monu myself if she became as much of a monstrous Prick as Laohue. He killed children, just because they weren't human, doesn't excuse the fact he laughed when I showed him the truth of what he'd done"

update will arrive shortly

You mull over and considering the question for a second, watching Long's son move like a snow fairy across the blizzard he brought to the moon's surface as great crystals of ice crawl atop the golden buddha form of the Eight Heavenly Gates master, but tear your eyes away from the shadow theater in the sky to transfix your "Brother" with your stare, peering deeply into his eyes as you, after four seconds, tell him what you would've done in his shoes.

"I would've killed Monu myself if she became as much of a monstrous prick as Laohue"

Your response slices through the air like a cleaver, slamming into Long as his eyes pop and the air grows chill, as he reels from the conviction in your words, reacting like you'd slapped him as hard as you could across the cheek and left a welt rather than being told the truth and honest contents of your heart. Or because you spoke so roughly and rudely, even though he should know your thoughts concerning his pile of dog shit of a father and his like. And since he is too blindsided or dumbstruck to respond, with your eyes still locked with his own, you release a little venom.

"He killed children", Xue Long winces as you rest your chin on the back of your folded hands and lean closer to him, eyes narrowed into slits, gleaming as enmity long settled spills out of your lips, filling the air with the electric rumble of resentment as you scathingly lay out exactly why you feel absolutely zero guilt about what you did to his father. His son? You regret he had to die, but he died impressively and gloriously, even if his fate was decided the moment he flashed his fangs in your direction.

"Just because they weren't human, doesn't excuse the fact he laughed when I showed him the truth of what he'd done" You reprimand, wagging a finger as he rubs his chin

"So you think, I should've done the same. Not knowing the truth of your kind!" He asked suddenly and you frown, for a moment or two confused by his outburst before it clicked. Guilt. His son was dead because of his father, and his sect's reputation was in tatters. The curse of hindsight is that it?

"You're only human, Long" You tell him patronizingly, shrugging your shoulders "And wouldn't be the only man fooled, hell, every cultivator was. My people were turned to folklore monsters in the eyes of humanity. For some of us, that was true. But you weren't the only one tricked"

"You didn't answer my question" He asked, snappily, eyes looking very much like Laohue's as you pout and lean back into your throne, eyes shifting from his to the battle going on in the night sky

"How can I answer? No reason to grey your hair worrying about what you should've done. I told you what I would've done, if our places were switched. You aren't me. And by all rights and standards of human society, had conducted yourself nobly and had been the very image of honor and filial virtue. And you know what acting like that resulted in for you, in hindsight"
Cont

>>6383743

"So because the past can't be changed, you're telling me I shouldn't feel guilt?" He pressed and you groaned, getting annoyed with his mood swinging

"No. I just can't tell you what you should've done. You have every right to resent me or yourself, I won't fault you for your grudges. Grudges are natural" You growl, barring your teeth and turning them slightly fang like to emphasize your annoyance with your so called brother "Do I think you should have? Yes, because he was a child murderer and had wronged my family. He had done no harm to you, that wasn't post mortem, and asking ME if you should've, without knowing anything you do now, killed him in Heh cold blood. Is sheer stupidity! Would it have been right, by my idea of morality? Yes, but in the eyes of your human laws, you'd have just been a murderer"

He glared at you, then his cheeks flushed red and he clicked his tognue

"You're right. All I've done is demand, thinking if you in your blunt manner, told me I should've acted instinctively, like an animal or that if I possessed knowledge of the future, done as you would've without hesitation, that I would be convinced of the righteousness of my mind and character. But all I've succeeded in doing, is reveal to both of us how vapid I am. I feel guilt, for crimes of my father that had not been considered crimes until after his death. Crimes which many of us cultivators have committed. If he was deserving of death than..."

"You wonder if all of you idiots who got fooled into believing false history should be. Tch, he took pride in his murderous ways, even after being shown the stark reality of his crimes" You mutter, feeling a pressure build at the back of your head "You at least have enough of your heart thawed to feel at least some guilt and responsibility. There's your answer, stop looking to me for absolution. You've already tried to undo the harm your family and sect has done. In your own way"

"...And it isn't like history can be unmade" He said sadly, his head hanging "Time is a river that only flows one way. If I could change the past, there is much graver acts of cowardice I would undo first..."

Well, you'd traveled back in time and could probably do it once or twice again, and exactly how that worked and the fact what you'd done during that jaunt into the past didn't seem to change or alter a damn thing in the present...Well it gave you a headache to think about.

"Your son is going to lose. That old timer has a more refined and profound defense" You hum and Xue Long nodded

"Meilin takes after his grandmother, he is more lover than fighter. But he has conducted himself well in this fight. Brought honor to his lineage" Xue Long says "Ming would've..."
Cont

>>6383745

"Yeah, he'd have won. He was a glorious warrior" You say with a grin, reminiscing about that fight "Unlike that Ling bitch they paired him with. I think I'll honor my nephew, by watching his defeat. He lasted longer and pushed that old timer further than I'd have thought he would, from the first look I got of him"

"It was a poor match up" Long admits "But he did make mistakes that cost him, wasteful movements and showboating. But he did not shame our name. You know, he gets along well with our first generation of Beast students"

"Hmm" You say, smirking "Well, it isn't a high bar to pass considering your family's history"

"I'd hit you, if you weren't a woman fully capable of ripping off the offending hand"

"Eh, I'd take the arm if you tried", You snicker, covering your mouth demurely with your robe's drooping sleeve "Still, he has potential. Like his brother did. I mean, both reached golden core, but..."

"I understand, funny how the sons most like my mother had advanced the furthest of my brood"

"That you have so many sons is proof you take after her in more ways than you'd like to admit"

You whistle and wince pityingly as Meilin's dance is brought to an end by a one hundred and eight palm strike as Eight Heavenly Gates elder seals his movements and his qi with one of their tricky spell formations and then pummels the younger, more feisty man into the ground, throwing up hill sized clouds of moon rock into the sky.

"Do you know, the Eight Heavenly Gates sect was taxed highly by the Winter Blossoming Wisdom Sect, to make use of the Primordial Forest of the Tragic Lover's rich resources and cultivation materials" Xue Long, monotonously as he watches his son get pummeled hard "And were often pushed around and bullied by our members and had their talent poached often? I wonder if those monks who preach earthly detachment could still hold a grudge, it might provide a useful insight to check..."

"Eh, I like the baldies. Them and the Buddhists. And if they were mistreated, I can't deny them their grudges" You tell him, trying not to laugh "Besides, their sect head was one of the earliest to adopt beasts into his sect, and take a stance against the fogies who couldn't change with the times. Even sought me out for advise ya know, in how to properly raise them"

A bead of sweat froze on Xue Long's brow.

With the defeat of Xue Meilin, what do you do before the next matches, Huanliuxue?

>Try and explain what you understand of the mechanics time travel to make Xue Long feel better (Intelligence trial. DC 190 )

>Ask to meet Meilin and the Xue Clan's beast students, since you are making an effort to mend ties

>Since Xue Long brought it up, see if the Eight Heavenly Gates are actually holding a grudge

>"If you beat Star Shooter, Long, make it to the final round. I'll be furious if I can't beat one of your smug faces into the ground, okay~~?"

>Write in

>>6383746
>Ask to meet Meilin and the beast student since we are trying to mend ties.

Didn't see THAT coming. Diplomatic score!

>>6383746
>Ask to meet Meilin and the Xue Clan's beast students, since you are making an effort to mend ties

>>6383746
>Ask to meet Meilin and the Xue Clan's beast students, since you are making an effort to mend ties
>Since Xue Long brought it up, see if the Eight Heavenly Gates are actually holding a grudge

>why not both?

>>6383746
>Ask to meet Meilin and the Xue Clan's beast students, since you are making an effort to mend ties

>>6383746
>Ask to meet Meilin and the Xue Clan's beast students, since you are making an effort to mend ties
>Since Xue Long brought it up, see if the Eight Heavenly Gates are actually holding a grudge

>>6383746
>Since Xue Long brought it up, see if the Eight Heavenly Gates are actually holding a grudge
Practically a free action; just a nibble to see if it's sour grumbling or festering hatred.
>Ask to meet Meilin and the Xue Clan's beast students, since you are making an effort to mend ties

File: 1712547992597850.png (2 KB, 400x400)

Forgive me juniors, but the next update may take awhile longer to arrive. Going through some tribulations IRL right now, that have my blood flowing in reverse

>>6384934
There is no issue Grandfather. Rest and endure against the world's foolishness.

>>6384934
May these times grow you stronger Grandfather.

>>6384934
May better days come your way Gramps

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

Things haven't settled complete, still undergoing many a tribulation, but I've found enough calm and time to write at least something. Thank you for your patience juniors

>>6384988
>>6384989
>>6385324
And you juniors for your understanding and support. Unfortunately, not much has improved over here

Tallying the vote now

Ask to meet Meilin and the Xue Clan's beast students, since you are making an effort to mend ties: 6

Since Xue Long brought it up, see if the Eight Heavenly Gates are actually holding a grudge:3

So you'll ask to meet Meilin and meet the swan disciple, Baochi (Hail Wing, 雹翅) again and see if the grudge Xue Long attests the Eight heavenly gates to hold against his sect actually exists

update will arrive shortly