You jump into the water to begin swimming since the water looks great. As you enter the water, the warm liquid brushing up against your legs, you...
>Swim around normally and just enjoy the place, you wouldn't want to stand out.
>Go out as deep as you can, it looks fun. It's not like you're going to drown.
>Swim as fast as possible, using your cultivation to impress all of the commoners, men and women alike, on the beach.
>Other

>>3210023
>Train diving. Maybe later we can actually grab some of those stones
>Go out as deep as you can, it looks fun. It's not like you're going to drown.

>>3210023
>Go out as deep as you can, it looks fun. It's not like you're going to drown.

>>3210033
>>3210045
You decide that it couldn't hurt to go into the deeps and begin swimming away from the shore. After about a minute the shore and the beachgoers can only be seen in the distance and you're out in the deeps. The water is significantly colder and the it goes on for quite a distance beneath your feet. You decide to begin practicing diving and head up and down, up and down, using your legs to propel yourself both ways with single bursts of force. The complexities of underwater movement are beyond you, but you think you can figure out a couple of things.
After about an hour you see a small ship moving past you. It seems to be filled with fishermen going out to sea. You...
>Continue swimming about, who cares.
>Climb onto the deck, that'll give them a surprise.
>Head back to the beach to chat up some ladies. You've never had a chance to be popular so now's your time.
>Head back to the beach to get some food.
>Head back into the city, this has been enough of the beach.

>>3210182
>Head back into the city, this has been enough of the beach.

>>3210182
>Head back to the beach to chat up some ladies. You've never had a chance to be popular so now's your time.

>>3210182
>Continue swimming about, who cares.

I'll wait 15 more minutes for a tiebreaker before leaving it to rng.

Rolled 3 (1d3)

>>3210223
>>3210225
>>3210226
rolling

You ignore the boat and opt to keep swimming instead. You continue practicing your diving as you slowly move further and further away from the shore, the water growing deeper and deeper. Eventually you get far enough from the shore that you doubt normal people can see you and just start tearing through the water at a fast clip, the water making loud splashing noises behind you as you move through it like some sort of sea creature.
As you're speeding through the water you see a small island covered in trees to your right. It has a small dock but it seems to be in disrepair. You...
>Continue swimming about, who cares.
>Begin exploring the island.
>Head back to the beach to chat up some ladies. You've never had a chance to be popular so now's your time.
>Head back to the beach to get some food.
>Head back into the city, this has been enough of the beach.

>>3210458
>Begin exploring the island.

>>3210477
You decide to explore the island and swim towards the broken dock. Eventually you reach it and grab onto the rotting wood at the end, using it as a ledge to pull yourself up. You then shake the water off of you for a moment before walking further into the island. You can see that there was a cobblestone path here but trees and plants are growing over them. It must have been a long time since people lived here.
You follow the path and eventually find yourself in front of a house with broken windows. The house is filthy and leaves are blown into the interior. You would go inside, but you're half curious if the place is going to collapse. You...
>Enter the home.
>Explore the woods a bit more instead.
>Make your way back to the beach instead, you don't want to end up spending the night here by accident.
>Other

>>3210555
>Enter the home.

>>3210458
>>Enter the home.

>>3210749
>>3210825
You carefully enter the house and find yourself in a dirt and leaf filled foyer. There are various couches and chairs stained brown in spots and nothing seems peculiar about the place.
You then begin surveying through the rest of the house and don't find much odd either. An empty kitchen, a porch, a storage room without much of interest besides a massive harpoon that looks like it's made for either a machine or a giant.
You enter the second floor of the home and find that there's a bedroom and a study. The study has several taxidermied heads of savage beasts on the walls and besides that is filled with books and a desk. The books mostly seem to be about animals and sailing. They're falling apart so you can't read most of them, but some of the books on a shelf with a glass cover appears to be in good condition.
You glance through the books in better condition and find that one of them is a handwritten journal. You start flipping through it and find out that the owner was a sailor who performed a few trade missions and hunted savage beasts who could attack smaller ships. The entries are dated to between 50 and 60 years ago, and the last one simply says that he was leaving on a voyage to get rid of a major pest. You guess he didn't make it back. You...
>Leave the place and head back to the beach, there's not much to be found here.
>Look through the forest, maybe you'll find something. (1d100)
>Try to grab that harpoon and swim back, maybe it's not TOO heavy.
>Other

Rolled 56 (1d100)

>>3210924
>Look through the forest, maybe you'll find something.

Rolled 54 (1d100)

>>3210924
>>Look through the forest, maybe you'll find something. (1d100)

>>3210950
>>3210969
You spend the next couple of hours combing through the forest and all you really find are a couple of common herbs that you shove in your bag and a dilapidated shack with some rusted gardening tools inside. It's getting rather late, so if you stick around much longer you'll be forced to either stay here for the night or try to find your way back to the shore in the dark. You...
>Leave the place and head back to the beach, there's not much to be found here and it's getting dark.
>Look through the forest, maybe you'll find something more interesting. You don't mind spending the night anyways. (1d100 + 15)
>Try to grab that harpoon and swim back, maybe it's not TOO heavy.
>Other

>>3211015
>Look through the forest, maybe you'll find something more interesting. You don't mind spending the night anyways. (1d100 + 15)

>>3211015
>>Leave the place and head back to the beach, there's not much to be found here and it's getting dark.

I'll wait for 20 minutes for a tiebreaker before resorting to the might of RNG.
Took a break to grab dinner with my friends, back.

Rolled 21 + 15 (1d100 + 15)

>Look through the forest, maybe you'll find something more interesting. You don't mind spending the night anyways. (1d100 + 15)

>>3211057
>>3211324
You look through the forest, more thoroughly this time, but still can't find much of interest. The only manmade thing you spot is a well with vines growing through the cracks in the stone. You give it a few light taps and the stones come loose, although there isn't anything of interest either in the well or about the stones.
At this point it's dark out and you...
>Hole up in the house for the night and get some sleep, you haven't slept in at least 40 hours so it'd be nice.
>Swim back to shore, you don't want to spend the night here.
>Continue looking about, you've looked around a lot and you'll be damned if you don't find anything. Who cares if it's dark out, you're sure there's something here. (1d100 + 15) [-15 from night, +30 exploring]
>Other

>>3211356
>>Hole up in the house for the night and get some sleep, you haven't slept in at least 40 hours so it'd be nice.

>>3211373
You sigh, figuring that looking around for so long might have been a waste of time, and find a place inside the house to go to sleep. The storage room in the basement seems to be the best insulated from the outside so you simply fall asleep on the floor there. It's not comfortable, but at least it's relatively warm.
Some time passes and you wake up, greeted by the bright rays of the dawn. Once you wake up you decide to...
>Swim back to shore and get something to eat, absorbing qi isn't really cutting it.
>Explore the island a bit more, you'll be damned if you let your time spent looking around yesterday be a waste. (1d100 + 30)
>Other

>>3211394
>>Swim back to shore and get something to eat, absorbing qi isn't really cutting it.

>>3211398
You make your way to the shore of the island, accepting defeat in your quest to find something interesting here besides the journal (which you don't have a way to transport without getting it soaked). You jump into the ocean and begin swimming back towards shore, reaching it fairly quickly.
Once you reach the beach you notice that while you are further down the beach, there just aren't that many people outside in general. Well, you guess it is very early in the morning, you'll just have to go back to Gu Xinyi's manor and get dressed for now.
You return to the manor in your swimsuit before changing back into your clothes. As you put on your clothes, it does strike you that you should probably replace them. They haven't stood out horribly until now, but not that you're in the capital and will be going to an academy specifically for talents, you'd rather avoid anything that could get you mocked. You suppose you'll have to go shopping for clothes later.
You get some breakfast and greet some of your fellow students, and find that Hu Qiang, your servant, has arrived after taking care of a couple things in Blue Ridge City. He's shown to a small guest bedroom next to your lodgings and is free to come and go as he pleases for the time being. Once he's settled in he informs you that he saw Gu Xinyi along the road and that he's supposed to arrive tomorrow. You're gladdened by the news and...
>Go out to shop for clothes.
>Return to reading in the Apothecary Guild for the next day. You're really tempted to just hole up in there whenever possible, books are nice.
>Try to figure out where the Tan family lives, maybe you can visit Tan Xun under the pretense of wanting to know if he attends the Royal Academy as well. You doubt he does since he's part of a different family and it might seem a bit disrespectful, but hey, what works works.
>Hang out with some of your fellow Apprentice Apothecaries and wait for Gu Xinyi to arrive.
>Other

>>3211440
>>Go out to shop for clothes.

>>3211440
>Go out to shop for clothes
>Take Qiang with us to advise

>>3212265
+1

Update in a little over two hours, that'll be the first time today I get back from campus. It'll be a bit of a clusterfuck until Thursday but come then I'll be able to run for a little while.

>>3212265
This

You decide to attend to the quality of your clothes first and get Hu Qiang. You update him on the situation and he nods his head, seemingly motivated. The two of you set out towards the commercial district of the capital, ready to purchase some new clothes.
Once you reach one of the better looking clothing stores, the first major question comes into play- what fashion style should you adopt. There are various high-quality robes scattered throughout the shops. They're rather bland but they look nice enough and you shouldn't get any flack over wearing them. There are also some robes with designs of various scenes or object that the tailor must have thought were, well, cool at one point. They're rather colorful and you like them, but maybe others would think that they're too flashy.
Besides robes there are a normal looking shirts and pants made out of some nicer looking material than what peasants wear. There are also plenty of flashy shirts and pants as well, so whether to wear a robe or a shirt and pants seems up to personal preference. You...
>Purchase some of the blander robes. It's traditional and doesn't stand out.
>Purchase some of the more flashy, colorful robes. It looks like something a wealthy person would wear and you like them.
>Purchase some of the nice but normal looking shirt and pants. Robes are a bit more traditional, but lots of people wear shirts and pants and robes seem a bit too... scholarly?
>Purchase some of the flashier shirts and pants. They look great and it's the type of clothes you like to wear.
>Take a bit of this and a bit of that. No need to pidgeonhole yourself into one style of dress when you can adopt all of them!
>Other

>>3214017
>>Purchase some of the nice but normal looking shirt and pants. Robes are a bit more traditional, but lots of people wear shirts and pants and robes seem a bit too... scholarly?

>>3214063
Support

>>3214017
>Purchase some of the nice but normal looking shirt and pants. Robes are a bit more traditional, but lots of people wear shirts and pants and robes seem a bit too... scholarly?

You decide on purchasing some of the better-quality shirt, pants, and belts without any of the... flashier designs. After a couple hours of shopping with the advisement of Hu Qiang you've gone through nearly 40 gold coins but look far less like the peasant you used to be. After you finish shopping you...
>Return to the Apothecary Guild to read until Gu Xinyi is back.
>Hang out with your fellow Apprentice Apothecaries in Gu Xinyi's manor for the next day.
>Try to figure out where the Tan family lives, maybe you can visit Tan Xun under the pretense of wanting to know if he attends the Royal Academy as well. You doubt he does since he's part of a different family and it might seem a bit disrespectful, but hey, what works works.
>Try to find a spot to hang out where you can meet a few relatively important people your age. You do question whether you're important enough to talk to even if you do meet anyone, but the answer is probably 'yes'.
>Other

>>3215360
>Hang out with your fellow Apprentice Apothecaries in Gu Xinyi's manor for the next day.

>>3215360
>Hang out with your fellow Apprentice Apothecaries in Gu Xinyi's manor for the next day.

>>3215360
>>Hang out with your fellow Apprentice Apothecaries in Gu Xinyi's manor for the next day.

>>3215360
>>Hang out with your fellow Apprentice Apothecaries in Gu Xinyi's manor for the next day.

You decide to spend the rest of the day hanging out with your fellow students in Gu Xinyi's manor until he returns. You walk back from the commercial district with Hu Qiang until you reach Hu Qiang's home. You then drop off your things in your lodgings and go to find some other people to talk with.
Eventually you spot a few normal disciples talking and take a seat among them. They aren't particularly friendly at first but after you talk a bit about herbs and pill forging and such they warm up, seemingly impressed. After talking for a bit a man in his late 30s enters the room wearing an Apprentice Apothecary emblem and a flashy outfit with an odd mix between a cape and a robe hanging off of it. He takes a look at you and cheerfully says "Ah, you must be Junior Zhu. I'm Feng Qiu, Master Gu's first direct disciple. Nice to meet you." You return his greetings and he sits down with the group of you and begins chatting.
All of you chat for a bit before Feng Qiu says "So, Junior Zhu, it's impressive that you were able to become an Apprentice Apothecary at such a young age. What about we have a small competition in terms of knowledge. It'd be pretty fun given that we don't have much to do, right?" You consider the offer and look at Feng Qiu. He seems to be friendly and to not have any ulterior motives, so you don't see why not. You...
>Accept, you may as well do something to kill the boredom.
>Decline, you'd rather not compete with him.
>Say that a competition isn't any fun without a bet. You should place something on it.
>Other

>>3215954
>>Accept, you may as well do something to kill the boredom.

>>3215954
>>Accept, you may as well do something to kill the boredom.

>>3215954
>Accept, you may as well do something to kill the boredom.

>>3215954
>Accept, you may as well do something to kill the boredom.

You suppose you'll accept the challenge, Feng Qiu is right, there isn't much to do. You say "Sure Senior Feng, a challenge sounds fun. I accept. What are the rules?" Feng Qiu says "Well, I suppose we could ask each other questions about herbs, pill forging, and other knowledge that an apothecary should know. We'll go on for five questions and the one with more correct answers at the end wins. What about it?" You say that sounds fine and Feng Qiu says "Alright then, you can ask a question first since you're my junior." You...
>Ask as difficult a question as you can think of. There's no point to competing if you don't try with all of your effort, right?
>Ask a relatively difficult question. You're competing for fun, you can try to win but you shouldn't be rude about it.
>Ask a relatively easy question. It won't be very entertaining but it could be a good way to show Feng Qiu some face.
>Other

>>3217300
>>Ask a relatively difficult question. You're competing for fun, you can try to win but you shouldn't be rude about it.

>>3217300
>Ask a relatively difficult question. You're competing for fun, you can try to win but you shouldn't be rude about it.

>>3217300
>>Ask a relatively difficult question. You're competing for fun, you can try to win but you shouldn't be rude about it.

>>3217300
>Ask a relatively difficult question. You're competing for fun, you can try to win but you shouldn't be rude about it.

Rolled 67 (1d100)

You decide to ask a question that's pretty hard but not ridiculous, you wouldn't want to seem rude. After a moment you ask a question about the habitat of Lei Long's Root,a rather obscure root found only in a few rocky mountains of Zhaotian Kingdom. Feng Qiu thinks for a moment before he...

>>3218397
...answers correctly, and in rather good detail. You're slightly surprised, but you suppose you should expect someone who's almost 40 and a direct disciple of a 1-star Apothecary to possess skill far surpassing people like Yu Zhen or the other Apprentice Apothecaries in Blue Ridge City.
After Feng Qiu answers and you confirm that he's correct he says "Well, it's my turn then. Hm... oh, I have an idea for a question. During what season does the Abyss Inkberry grow the best?" As Feng Qiu answers this you involuntarily look a bit confused, because you remember the answer to this very well. In fact, this was one of the uncorrected errors in 'Guide to Herbs Within Zhaotian Kingdom' that you informed Gu Xinyi about when you first visited him. Without the error the question wouldn't be terribly hard so is he... trying to trick you? Or is he giving you a freebie knowing that you gave the corrected answer?
Unsure, you simply answer the question, noting that the error was recently corrected. Feng Qiu seems greatly surprised and slightly nervously says "Y-Yes, that's correct. Impressive Junior Zhu, I didn't expect you to know that. I suppose master Gu informed you of the correction before he left for the capital?" You...
>Reply that yes, he did.
>Correct Feng Qiu and tell him that no, you informed Gu Xinyi of it.
>Other

>>3218427
>>Reply that yes, he did.

>>3218427
>>Reply that yes, he did.

Rolled 36 (1d100)

>>3219056
>>3219100
You reply to Feng Qiu's question by saying "Yes, Master Gu did inform me of the correction back in Blue Ridge City. I suppose he sent a letter ahead detailing them?" Feng Qiu, with his nervousness seemingly gone, says "Yes, he did, he needed them to get ready for the next printing. Well then, it's your turn again."
You ask Feng Qiu a slightly more difficult question this time since he got the last one correct and threw a hard one at you before, and he...

Rolled 90 (1d100)

>>3219135
Spends nearly half a minute thinking before he says "I know the answer. Island Boxwood can interact with Ithrinole in order to subjugate the other properties and to bring forth properties of the earth. This in turn can create an extremely effective fertilizer used to grow other herbs, especially ones with strong earth properties. Correct?" You reply that Feng Qiu is correct, slightly surprised by his knowledge again. He isn't as well-learned as Gu Xinyi, but out of the people you've talked with he comes in second behind him. Considering that he's probably not even 40, that's impressive.
As the two of you are competing, you notice that there quite a few normal disciples watching the two of you. Feng Qiu doesn't seem to be perturbed by this and continues on with his second question. "The Hovering Brittlebush takes how long to mature?" You'll... actually have to think about this for a moment. The Hovering Brittlebush grows in three different strains, and each one takes wildly different amount of times to mature. You feel like Feng Qiu probably shouldn't have this memorized himself, but you suppose he does if he's asking you. You...

>>3219164
...think about it for a moment before quickly remembering the details. You begin rattling off the three different strains of the Hovering Brittlebush before saying "The smallest 'Red' strain takes only a year to mature, the 'Green' strain takes five to six years to mature, and the 'Purple' strain takes twenty-three to twenty-five years to mature. Am I correct?" After you answer you see a trace of shock in Feng Qiu's eyes before he quickly returns to normal and says "Impressive Junior Zhu, yes, you're correct. I see why Master Gu accepted you as a direct disciple. Your turn."
You could continue giving Feng Qiu a chance here and not be too rude but... he's really not giving you much leeway. You could just suck it up and say that it's only fair that he ask harder questions when you know more, but it really seems like he's just trying to go for the throat here. The Hovering Brittlebush only has two strains growing in Zhaotian Kingdom, so the vast majority of people wouldn't know about the third, and the first question was hinging on the idea that you hadn't known about a recently rectified error in Gu Xinyi's books. You come to a decision and...
>Continue on like you have been, it's not like it's unforgivable. This is just for fun anyways.
>Decide not to give Feng Qiu leeway if he's going to try to give you unreasonably difficult questions. He may be trying to prove his superiority or he may just be trying to make this a challenge, but either way you're going to come out on top.
>Other

>>3219182
>>Decide not to give Feng Qiu leeway if he's going to try to give you unreasonably difficult questions. He may be trying to prove his superiority or he may just be trying to make this a challenge, but either way you're going to come out on top.

>>3219182
>Decide not to give Feng Qiu leeway if he's going to try to give you unreasonably difficult questions. He may be trying to prove his superiority or he may just be trying to make this a challenge, but either way you're going to come out on top.

>>3219182
>Other
> "Thank you for the compliment senior bother and it's nice to be asked such difficult questions many people wouldn't know about without meeting teacher."

OOC: Gotta give that subtle warning if he doesn't give up this farce we will make the 5th question brutal and make him lose face. Otherwise
>Continue on like you have been, it's not like it's unforgivable. This is just for fun anyways.

>>3219182
Supporting this >>3219344

I can run for a while in three hours since I only have a single class today.
Just give me a tiebreaker by then so I don't have to use RNG.

>>3220091
Supporting >>3219344

Rolled 98 (1d100)

You respond to Feng Qiu's comment with a "Thank you for the compliment Senior Brother Fang. It's a nice challenge to be asked such difficult questions that most people wouldn't know about, especially not without meeting teacher." before smiling and asking your third question. It's about the same difficulty as the previous one you asked and regards the harvesting of Lunar Brush during different phases of the moon. Feng Qiu...
I just realized that I was accidentally using master for a while. It's not necessarily terribly incorrect, but I feel like it confers slightly more respect than I was intending. I suppose I'll just keep it for Feng Qiu and you can extrapolate something from his personality from it.

Rolled 62, 9 = 71 (2d100)

>>3220444
...quickly responds to your question, listing off the slight alterations in the plant's properties and the procedure in harvesting it during the various phases of the moon. He must have looked over this information very recently if he can remember it this well. You tell Feng Qiu that he's correct and he then gives you a question of a similar difficulty to your own which you easily answer.
You ask Feng Qiu another question and he...

Rolled 57 (1d100)

>>3220454
...answers it correctly after a moment of thinking. He then throws another back at you which you easily answer, and you move on to the final round of questions. You give him one which honestly isn't harder than the ones you've previously asked, but he seems completely stumped after you ask it, and after a couple of minutes of him thinking with a furrowed brow Feng Qiu simply sighs and says "I don't know the answers to that one Junior Brother Zhu, what is it?" before you inform him of the correct answer.
As it's his turn to ask the final question he glances at you in an odd fashion and seems to be thinking over something before he says "Alright then, I've thought of my final question. What animal commonly protects The Flaming Orchid Lily until maturity to feed on it to increase their strength?
After Feng Qiu says this his face seems normal, but you frown slightly. The Flaming Orchid Lily? You have heard of it, but you don't recall much about it. It'd be a coinflip on whether you or Gu Xinyi are able to answer the question. Sure, you're sure out of the 1-star Apothecaries in the kingdom some of them know this and all of them could figure it out if they needed to, but it's just so obscure. You begin thinking and...

>>3220467
...begin recalling the answer after about a minute. It started with a B. Bear, buffalo, barnacle, b.... dammit, it's that thing. You were told that it was supposed to be a rare breed of animal local to parts of Zhaotian Kingdom when you saw one, so why is it feeding on an extremely obscure plant a kingdom away?! You sigh before muttering "It's the Swamp Banchian. I've not heard of them living outside of Zhaotian Kingdom, but that's the answer I recall. Am I correct?"
Feng Qiu responds to your question with a smile after a flash of annoyance crosses his face and says "Yes Junior Brother Zhu, that is correct! I'm impressed by your knowledge, we'll have to converse more sometime. Well, you win, so I'll be taking my leave. I have some plants in the garden to take care of." As he says this Feng Qiu quickly begins rising from the table and squeezing his way past a few other Apprentice Apothecaries to exit the room. You...
>Let him go on his way and go back to chatting.
>Tell him that you'll go with him and follow him to the garden. You may as well rub it in his face a little since he was trying to one-up you.
>Head back to your room and read until Gu Xinyi arrives.
>Other

>>3220480
>Let him go on his way and go back to chatting.

>>3220503
You let Feng Qiu go on his way without stopping him and go back to chatting with some of the other Apprentice Apothecaries. They're all rather impressed by you and end up spending a good amount of time teaching them while getting some more information about the capital in exchange. You do get the chance to ask about the Royal Academy a bit and figure out that everyone there is a member of the government's faction, but that their origins vary greatly. Some of them are less stellar members of major families who have married into the royal family's less important branches to gain stronger backing, some are from offshoots of the royal family, and some are officials or commoners who had exceptional talent and who managed to get in.
After a while you notice that the other direct disciple of Gu Xinyi, the woman from a couple days ago, has entered the room. She clears her throat and the other students greet her respectfully. She then gestures for you to follow her and you do so, slightly confused about why.
After the two of you are alone she says in a rather emotionless and slightly raspy voice "I saw most of what happened earlier, don't mind Feng Qiu. He can be an ass sometimes, but it's mostly just him wanting to maintain his face. Nobody wants to be shown up by a 15 year-old kid from the boonies who showed up out of nowhere, he's just more indignant about it than I am. I personally don't mind as long as you're skilled." After hearing her out you simply tell her that you'll keep it in mind and go back to chatting for a while before retiring to your quarters.
The next day Gu Xinyi arrives and you, Feng Qiu, and the other direct disciple, Qian Shun, come out to meet him. He greets the three of you and spends some time asking the three of you for updates on what you're doing. Apparently Feng Qiu is preparing for another attempt at forging a Tier-1 pill and Qian Shun was mainly practicing her sword recently. You inform Gu Xinyi that you got your certification as an Apprentice Apothecary, which doesn't surprise him, but he seems surprised that you're attending the Royal Academy. He seems to think for a moment and you hear him lightly mutter something with the word 'brother'. Gu Xinyi then gives you a polite warning not to get into too much trouble there since the backing of most people there is extraordinary and everyone there has gotten in on basis of pure ability. You thank him for the warning and are sent on your way before Gu Xinyi informs you that you'll be attempting to forge a Qi Pill again the next day. The day after that you'll need to go to the Royal Academy early in the morning, so you don't have that much free time to work with.
>Is there anything else you'd like to do before your first day at the Royal Academy?

>>3220696
Nothing at the moment.

>>3220950
Support

Sorry for the wait, I fell asleep for a while by accident. I'll update for a little while after I shower and figure out my reading for tomorrow.

The next day you attempt to forge a Tier-0 Qi Emission Pill under the guidance of Gu Xinyi again. You attempted to make it three times in Blue Ridge City and you feel like you're pretty close to getting it right. You prepare the ingredients and begin warming up the cauldron before you start in one of Gu Xinyi's workshops.
The pill has a few close brushes with failure, but you manage to just barely avoid complete failure throughout the attempt. After an hour that was heavily draining on both your mind and your qi, you finish your pillforging. Before you can drain the water Gu Xinyi simply shoves his hand in the boiling water and pulls out a small handful of pills. Three of them are a mess of a dark, sticky goo, but two of them are held together. Gu Xinyi examines them for a while before saying "You succeeded. Good job. These pills have reached Formation. Since your knowledge on ingredients and plants probably only pales in comparison to Huang Zhen, the Guild Master of Zhaotian Kingdom's apothecary guild, you simply need to focus on forging a Tier-1 pill. Given that you managed to forge a qi pill in about a third as many tries as it took me, I'll do my best to insure you can become a 1-star Apothecary before the age of 18. A title like that should give you a better chance to transfer to a larger kingdom's apothecary guild later. That gives us two and a half years. You should be able to make it by then." You...
>Tell him that you understand and that you'll do your best.
>Ask why you'd need to go to another kingdom's apothecary guild later.
>Up the ante and tell him you'll become a 1-star Apothecary before you're 17. Before you turn 16 is a stretch since there's only four months, but you should be able to do it give another year.
>Other

>>3221880
>Ask why you'd need to go to another kingdom's apothecary guild later.

>>3221880
>Tell him that you understand and that you'll do your best.

>>3221880
>Ask why you'd need to go to another kingdom's apothecary guild later.

>>3221880
>>Tell him that you understand and that you'll do your best.

>>3221880
>>Tell him that you understand and that you'll do your best.

You simply tell Gu Xinyi that you understand that you'll do your best to become a 1-star Apothecary by then. He dismisses you and you then return your lodgings. The rest of your time before your first day attending the Royal Academy is spent preparing in various ways until eventually the time comes about.
You rise from bed at the crack of dawn and get dressed before making your way to the center of the city. In this area is a massive complex of buildings surrounded by high walls - the Royal Academy. Before you enter you...
>Don't do anything special about your cultivation, the government already knows it can't normally be sensed and its best to leave people confused about it unless they need to know.
>Consciously drive your cultivation at the Low Qi Emission Stage, the government knows about your cultivation being hidden by now, but you don't want to stand out.
>Consciously drive your cultivation at its actual level, the Middle Qi Emission Stage. This seems like a place where people are given what they deserve and so showing your strength should help you.
>Other
The term 'driving your cultivation' here just making sure you're just barely cultivating/using qi all the time. Sorta like how tapping your finger is still moving around (a little bit), driving your cultivation is enough to allow it to be sensed. This isn't an exact term and you're not sure if there is a more accurate one.
You present your badge and name at the front gate and after a moment you're allowed in. At the same time they dispense you your payment of 1000 gold for the month for your government "job". Apparently they take care of this for the majority of the students who are employed by the government.
As you enter the complex you notice that even at this early hour there are quite a few people milling about, ranging in age from about your age to their early 20s. You can sense a level of cultivation at least in the Qi Emission Stage from all of them besides a select few, while some of them in their 20s have a level of cultivation too high to sense. The majority of them are reading books, cultivating, practicing battle techniques, or chatting. You arrived early so there's still some time before you need to report to your class. You decide to...
>Practice your saber, maybe someone will feel pity enough to help you upon seeing your form.
>Approach a youth about your age sitting under a tree and reading a very thick book.
>Approach a group of a few men around 18 chatting.
>Watch a woman in her early 20s practicing movement techniques. Maybe you'll learn something.
>Go to class, you should avoid talking to anyone until you know your position here.
>Other

>>3223852
>Consciously drive your cultivation at the Low Qi Emission Stage, the government knows about your cultivation being hidden by now, but you don't want to stand out.

>Approach a youth about your age sitting under a tree and reading a very thick book.

>>3223852
>Consciously drive your cultivation at its actual level, the Middle Qi Emission Stage. This seems like a place where people are given what they deserve and so showing your strength should help
>Watch a woman in her early 20s practicing movement techniques. Maybe you'll learn something.

>>3223852
>Consciously drive your cultivation at its actual level, the Middle Qi Emission Stage. This seems like a place where people are given what they deserve and so showing your strength should help
>Watch a woman in her early 20s practicing movement techniques. Maybe you'll learn something.

>>3225285
>>3223889
As you look around the area, consciously driving your full cultivation, you catch sight of a woman in her early 20s practicing movement techniques and decide to see if you can gain anything from watching her movements. For about half a minute you watch her dash about at a rather unbelievable speed before she stops and throws a glance at you. For a moment it seems unwelcoming, but you may have just imagined it since a moment later her look seems normal enough.
The woman stares at you for a moment before saying "We don't seem to be acquainted. Did you have something to bring up with me?" You respond "Oh, I was simply observing your movement technique, it was interesting." The woman seems to be examining you closely before loosening up slightly and saying "You must be new here then? This movement technique is a favorite among the students here, it doesn't require many merit points to exchange for but is still good enough among the upper echelons of the kingdom. I'm Yi Chin of the Yi family and a member of the 22 to 25 year-old group. What's your name?" You introduce yourself as Zhu Zexian, age 15, and...
>A simple villager who became a government official and who worked their way up from there.
>A former state-sponsored bounty hunter who operated out of Blue Ridge City.
>An Apprentice Apothecary and a student of Gu Xinyi, 1-star Apothecary.
>Other
Complimentary reminder that the five families of Zhaotian Kingdom are the Tan, Qian, Yi, Du, and Shen families and that I need to add this to the pastebin when I get the time.
Also, session on Sunday.

>>3225388
>An Apprentice Apothecary and a student of Gu Xinyi, 1-star Apothecary.

>>3225388
>An Apprentice Apothecary and a student of Gu Xinyi, 1-star Apothecary.

>>3225388
>>An Apprentice Apothecary and a student of Gu Xinyi, 1-star Apothecary.

You introduce yourself as Zhu Zexian, age 15, an Apprentice Apothecary and a direct disciple of Gu Xinyi, 1-star Apothecary. It's slightly unconventional, but it's the strongest backing you have. Yi Chin raises her eyebrows and simply responds "An apothecary? Good job multitasking I suppose, a lot of professionals don't have time to focus on learning how to fight." The two of you exchange a few more words before Yi Chin returns to practicing her movement techniques.
There are 15 minutes left until you'll need to report to the class for students under 16. You...
>Head there a bit early, you wouldn't want to be late.
>Practice your saber, maybe someone will feel pity enough to help you upon seeing your form.
>Approach a youth about your age sitting under a tree and reading a very thick book.
>Approach a group of a few men around 18 chatting.
>Other

>>3226873
>Head there a bit early, you wouldn't want to be late.

>>3226873
>>Approach a youth about your age sitting under a tree and reading a very thick book.

>>3226873
>>Approach a youth about your age sitting under a tree and reading a very thick book.

>>3226873
>>Approach a youth about your age sitting under a tree and reading a very thick book.

>>3226873
>Approach a youth about your age sitting under a tree and reading a very thick book.

Since you have a bit of time left before you need to attend class you decide to meander around a bit more. You examine the area around you a bit more before deciding to speak to a youth around your age sitting under a tree and reading a very thick book.
You approach the youth and see him glance towards you for a moment before he immediately looks back at the book. You tilt your head slightly to see the title of the book and it indicates that it's some sort of collection of essays on the politics of Zhaotian Kingdom.
You greet the youth and introduce yourself, but he only gives a perfunctory response. Apparently he's the same age as you and he also works for the government, without any major backing besides that.
You try to strike up a bit of a conversation but they don't seem like they want to talk to you. You...
>Leave him, you may have come at a bad time.
>Inquire about how long he's been a student and what the academy is like, at least he's been providing answers, if short ones.
>Ask about what jobs he used to have.
>Talk about yourself, he won't even need to talk in that case.
>Make a thinly veiled criticism about reading when someone is trying to talk to you. You're about equal in station, it's rather rude to brush you off like this.
>Other
And so the session begins! I'll leave this update for a little bit because I need to go get food, but after that I'll be updating as long as I am fed sufficient votes.

>>3230234
>Leave him, you may have come at a bad time.

>>3230234
>>Leave him, you may have come at a bad time.

>>3230242
>>3230302
You express your intentions to leave for class and the youth gives you a positive-sounding grunt and tells you to take care. You then make your way to the classroom you were assigned, and find that it's full of people who all seem to be around your age. Their cultivation is generally in the Early Qi Emission Stage, although there are some people in the Middle Qi Emission Stage as well.
As time passes until the start of class and people flood in, you look around the "classroom". It appears to be a wide, carpeted space with a raised stage at the far end of the room. A few murals of young men and women fighting are painted on the walls. Looking more closely at the students you see that the there are over 80 students and that the majority of them are chatting among each other.
Eventually the voices settle down and you notice someone whose cultivation you can't tell the extent of. You look towards that direction and see a man with gray hair wearing a long, blue robe. He's on the raised stage in the front of the classroom and has a sword sheathed at his side. He loudly clears his throat before yelling "Good morning!" before the students all yell "Good morning teacher!" in return, looking slightly tense. The old man nods slightly in approval before saying "As a part of the continued government expansion of the academy, we have another two elites of the kingdom or whatever garbage they're calling them now joining this age bracket today. Come up here."
You walk up to the stage with a girl around your age whose cultivation is at the Low Qi Emission Stage. The old man looks at the two of you and mutters "The girl should be... Peng Lei of the Pei family, and the the boy is... Zhu Zhexian, former state-sponsored bounty hunter." The old man glances at the two of you before walking a few steps towards you. Then, before you can process what's happening, the old man sends a punch towards your face at a speed several times your own. You seriously doubt that this it's his full speed, but it's still enough to make it impossible for you to counter him. You...
>Stay still, as long as you don't flinch you should be fine, he wouldn't murder a student, right?
>Attempt to dodge, even though you'll probably fail you might be able to mitigate some of the damage.
>Try to draw your saber and block it.
>Attempt to block with a fist of your own.
>Other

>>3230454
>>Attempt to block with a fist of your own.

>>3230454
>Attempt to block with a fist of your own.

>>3230454
>Attempt to block with a fist of your own.

>>3230471
>>3230475
>>3230478
You begin moving your fist to counter his as fast as you can react, and as you do you see his fist suddenly slow down as if to give you time to block. As your fist gets into position and becomes fully extended the old man's fist begins moving at a high speed once more. The two fists meet and you're met with a force like you're punching against a cliff. Before you fully process what's happening his fist comes forward a bit and you're sent flying backwards. You roll backwards a few times, scraping the wood, before you eventually manage to maintain a standing position and kick off against the floor several times to slow yourself down.
You examine your body for a moment and find that you only have some minor wounds. You glance at the crowd and find that they're mostly staring at you with pity or at the old man in fear. They don't seem like they're particularly surprised by what just happened though. You turn back towards the man who just punched you and he seems disappointed. He scratches his head and says "You're ranked 80th of 85 then." before he points at the girl and says "You'll be ranked 85th of 85, you don't have the cultivation or background to make me test your strength beforehand."
The two of you are ushered off the stage after that and the man continues talking. Apparently there are a few duels scheduled today and so he gives the time those will be happening, and then he says that everyone is free to train. After that he approaches you and tells you where you can get more information about the academy if you need it. He says that he's technically supposed to tell you more, but that he doesn't want to. That's... well then, at least he's honest.
You leave the classroom and see that the students are scattering in several directions, although a few of them are simply staying in the classroom to chat. You...
>Go to the location the old man specified to figure out more about what you're supposed to do here.
>Follow a small group of people who appear to be going to one of the duels mentioned.
>Chat with some of the people still in the classroom.
>Walk towards a library you can spot out of the edge of your vision.
>Other
just fixed some typos, totally didn't need to delete my last post to do so

>>3230533
>Go to the location the old man specified to figure out more about what you're supposed to do here.
We seem to be in the big guys league now. Let's take our education seriously.

>>3230533
>Go to the location the old man specified to figure out more about what you're supposed to do here.

>>3230551
>>3230556
You decide that your first order of business should be figuring out exactly what you're supposed to be doing here. You follow the directions that the old man gave you and find you at a cabin on the edge of the campus. You hesitantly knock at the door and hear a few footsteps before a woman with gray hair but a healthy face opens the door. She asks if you're a new student and you confirm that you are. She then ushers you inside and you take a seat on a large armchair that she points out to you.
The woman sends for a girl about your age to make some tea before she turns to talk to you about the academy. Apparently there are quite a few things of interest such as the ranking board which keeps track of where each student is ranked among his peers, the dueling arena where students battle each other to improve their ranking and to prove their strength, and the library where one can access all of the knowledge and battle techniques in possession of the Royal Academy. There's also a building where one can exchange merit points for techniques, items, and other privilege and many places throughout campus where students practice various types of techniques. You...
>Take your leave, that should be enough information for now.
>Ask how exactly merit points work.
>Ask more about the school's ranking system.
>Inquire about whether the old man in charge of your age group is generally violent, he did punch you.
>Ask what her position here is.
>Other

>>3230647
*find yourself
*she points you to.
*other privileges
the dao of typos is very complex indeed

>>3230647
>Ask how exactly merit points work.
>Ask more about the school's ranking system.
>Ask what her position here is.

>>3230688
Supporting

>>3230688
Exposition time!
+1

>>3230688
>>3230697
You inquire into how exactly merit points and the school's ranking system works and the old woman begins explaining. Apparently merit points are awarded in various events such as tournaments that the Royal Academy hosts, for good performance in things such as the Royal Tournament or other important events, or for achieving anything that the Royal Academy would generally consider impressive. Apparently the way merit points were given has become more generous recently as the Royal Academy begun to accept more students, so it isn't as hard to earn them as it was, say, a few years ago.
The school's ranking system is separated by age groups. The youngest is under 16, followed by 16-17, 18-19, 19-21, 22-25, and finally 25+. Most students start at the bottom of the rankings if they have no prior accomplishments, but it's up to the person in charge of each age group to decide. To rise up the rankings one must either perform well in school-sponsored events or in duels. Duels are the main people go up and down the rankings, and people are allowed to issue one challenge a week to any other student. If the student is ranked above them then if they win they'll gain their spot, while the student who lost will gain their old position. Students are required to accept the challenge of anyone ranked below them, although they can choose the time to avoid others ganging up on them or trying to force forfeiture by challenging them during important events. You can technically challenge someone ranked below you but they can reject you, and there's very little reason to do so outside of a grudge.
As she finishes explaining you take the chance to ask what position the old woman holds within the academy. The woman chuckles and says "I've actually retired, but I used to be in charge of the 19-21 year-old age group. Now my husband just makes me explain things to the new students so that he doesn't have to. I don't particularly mind, although he should be more responsible." Oh, so this old woman is that man's husband. At least she's nicer. Having finished learning about the campus you...
>Go to the dueling grounds to see if there's anything interesting going on.
>Go back to your classroom and chat with anyone still there.
>Go to the academy's library.
>Go to the building where merit points can be exchanged to find out what is offered.
>Find a decent place to train.
>Check the ranking boards.
>Other

>>3230754
>Go to the academy's library.

>>3230754
>>Go to the academy's library.

>>3230814
Well, the first order of business is to head to the academy's library! Knowledge is power and all that. You walk to where the building should be and find a massive building made up of stone with sizable wooden doors. You push the doors open to reveal books, books everywhere!
You enter the building and begin looking through the shelves and find that there are far more books in here than you expected. You thought there would only be books on battle and the like, but there's a little bit of everything. Books on history, politics, geography, and all sorts of things cover the shelves. There's even a sizable amount of fiction. You eventually make your way to where the battle techniques are and find that there several bookshelves full of them open for students to use. You glance at one of them, and while it doesn't seem like something you'd want to practice, you can tell that it's of higher quality than anything you've practiced besides the Empty Sky Technique. You begin looking through the shelves for techniques that you're interest in and find quite a few, although they'll all take time to practice. You grab...
>A movement technique based around using the smallest amount of space possible to dodge at the beginning levels and to eventually use the force of attacks to move oneself like a feather. Oddly enough this seems less like a 'technique' and more like pointers on how to properly move. If one fought for long enough they might even pick up on it themselves.
>A fist technique similar to the one you're practicing now, but far higher in quality.
>A saber art created by an old hermit that focuses on parrying away attacks with a single slash.
>A saber art that focuses on attacking the ground to create a cloud of dust and stones to hide in for a sneak attack.
>A technique that allows you to move like a wild animal and increase your speed in exchange for a large consumption of qi.
>A technique that allows you to sense the qi of others more easily.
>Other (within reason)

>>3230862
>>A fist technique similar to the one you're practicing now, but far higher in quality.

Side note since it's not obvious, you can take several.
It'll just take longer to practice.

>>3230862
>A movement technique
>A fist technique similar to the one you're practicing now, but far higher in quality.
>A technique that allows you to sense the qi of others more easily.

I think we should be able to manage those three

>>3230910
Oops sorry.
>A movement technique
>A fist technique similar to the one you're practicing now, but far higher in quality.
>A saber art created by an old hermit that focuses on parrying away attacks with a single slash.

>>3230862
>A technique that allows you to sense the qi of others more easily.
Anyone attacking us without Qi isn't much of a threat...

>A fist technique similar to the one you're practicing now, but far higher in quality.

>A movement technique

You take the book on proper movement, the fist technique, and the technique in assisting you in sensing qi more easily off of the shelf and decide to get copies made. After a moment's consideration you also grab the saber technique that allows you to effectively parry attacks, but you probably won't get around to practicing it for quite a while.
You're told that copies of the techniques will be written by another cultivator by tomorrow and that you can pick them up then. Now that you have some techniques to start practicing tomorrow you...
>Hole yourself up and begin reading and studying, books are both fun and helpful.
>Go to the dueling grounds to see if there's anything interesting going on.
>Go back to your classroom and chat with anyone still there.
>Go to the building where merit points can be exchanged to find out what is offered.
>Find a decent place to train.
>Check the ranking boards.
>Other

>>3231214
>>Hole yourself up and begin reading and studying, books are both fun and helpful.

>>3231214
>>Find a decent place to train.

>>3231214
>Hole yourself up and begin reading and studying, books are both fun and helpful.

>>3231275
>>3231224
You prepare to hole yourself up in the library and begin gathering books together. Since you don't have techniques on hand yet you may as well do some reading. You gather...
>A book on politics here, a fiction love story there, genre doesn't matter as long as you're studying.
>Some historical books to search for anything regarding Unbar Kingdom or the Iron City. You've been curious about them since the Empty Sky Technique mentioned them.
>Some books on politics in order to inform yourself a bit more about the going-ons in the kingdom.
>Some fiction, you haven't indulged in much and you're curious. You can always write it off as research into culture if you don't benefit much.
>Other

>>3231321
>>Some historical books to search for anything regarding Unbar Kingdom or the Iron City. You've been curious about them since the Empty Sky Technique mentioned them.

>>3231321
>Some historical books to search for anything regarding Unbar Kingdom or the Iron City. You've been curious about them since the Empty Sky Technique mentioned them.

Rolled 5 (1d100)

>>3231329
>>3231347
You ask the librarian whether they have any books on Unbar Kingdom or the Iron City, and they say that they haven't heard of either of them, but they do lead you to the section where most of the books on ancient kingdoms and the like are kept. If this fails you suppose there's a possibility that it could be a far distant kingdom, but it seems unlikely. The book was supposed to be left there and you found it just outside of your village, so it would make sense if Unbar Kingdom used to be near here.
You begin skimming through the piles of books that seem helpful and...

>>3231387
...find no information of note regarding either Unbar Kingdom or the Iron City. There are still plenty of books left though, so you're sure that you'll stumble upon something eventually if you give it enough effort.
As the hours upon hours of skimming through historical books both dull and greatly interesting wear on, your stomach begins angrily grumbling at you. Er... what time is it? You may have forgotten to eat lunch and you got here before 5 in the morning. Have you been holed up in here for half a day? You sheepishly leave the library and...
>Go grab a quick meal by yourself and then continue searching through books until you're kicked out for the night.
>Go to your classroom and see if anybody wants to get dinner togehter.
>Other

>>3231410
>>Go to your classroom and see if anybody wants to get dinner together.

>>3231410
>>Go to your classroom and see if anybody wants to get dinner togehter.

>>3231418
You go to your classroom to see if anyone there wants to have dinner together since it would benefit you to make a few connections. Inside you don't see many people. You immediately rule out any of the women, since if you ask if they want to eat that'll probably be misinterpreted and cause quite a bit of trouble. That leaves a rather plump boy in the Low Qi Emission Stage polishing a massive warhammer, two boys dressed in eloquent robes heatedly arguing over some text, and a dark-skinned youth writing something down who's in the Middle Qi Emission Stage. You...
>Approach the plump boy with the warhammer.
>Approach the two arguing.
>Approach the youth writing something.
>Other

>>3231639
>Other
>Hey guys wanna get something to eat? My Treat.

>>3231939
You go near where most of the prospective acquaintances are sitting and loudly say "Hey, any of you guys want to get something to eat? It's my treat." Upon this declaration the plump boy stops polishing his warhammer and immediately says "Sure, just give me a moment." He then begins polishing his warhammer far more vigorously than before, trying to finish as fast as possible. He seems rather excited. The dark-skinned youth writing some stuff down then looks you up and down for a few moments before he says "I could eat, I'll join you. Kong Jing, Kong Qing, are you coming?" The two boys arguing then glance over, seeming slightly confused before one them says "Coming where? To eat? Yeah, we'll come." Having gathered some people to eat with you...
>Bring them to the restaurant Zi Ling showed you the other day.
>Ask them for a recommendation, you're rather new to the capital and don't know many good restaurants.
>Wander around the area for a bit and enter a random restaurant, you're sure it'll be pretty good if it's around here.
>Other

>>3232227
>Bring them to the restaurant Zi Ling showed you the other day.

>>3232227
>>Bring them to the restaurant Zi Ling showed you the other day.

>>3232227
>Bring them to the restaurant Zi Ling showed you the other day.

You decide to go to the small restaurant Zi Ling brought you to the other day since it's the only place you know in the capital and the food was pretty good. You lead the group through the streets to the unexceptional building in the middle of an alleyway. The group seems confused (besides the fat one, who is still excited), but follow you inside.
The same heavyset woman in her 40s is manning the place when the group of you enter. She greets you with a "Hello Apprentice Apothecary Zhu." You're surprised that she remembers your last name after Zi Ling only said it once last time, but you guess it's important to remember those sorts of things when you run a business.
The five of you sit down at a large table in the corner and begin talking. The dark-skinned youth introduces himself as Mo Jian, ranked 5th in the under-16 age group. You're then formally introduced to Kong Jing and Kong Qing, ranked 22nd and 31st, before finally being introduced to the plump boy, Song Huo, ranked 74th. After exchanging a few words Mo Jian decides to throw a compliment your way. "Brother Zhu, I'm impressed that you're also in the Middle Qi Emission Stage, it seems like you'll do fairly well at the academy. I assume you're planning on moving up the rankings soon?" You...
>Reply that you are planning to, but that you have a few things to take care of first.
>Tell him that you think you'll hold off until you've practiced for a few more months, your foundation is a bit lacking.
>Ask him if he has any suggestions as to who to challenge if you're going to do so.
>Laugh and suggest that maybe the two of you should have a friendly duel.
>Other

>>3234655
>>Tell him that you think you'll hold off until you've practiced for a few more months, your foundation is a bit lacking.
>>Ask him if he has any suggestions as to who to challenge if you're going to do so.

>>3234655
>Tell him that you think you'll hold off until you've practiced for a few more months, your foundation is a bit lacking

>>3234655
>Tell him that you think you'll hold off until you've practiced for a few more months, your foundation is a bit lacking.

>>3234655
>Tell him that you think you'll hold off until you've practiced for a few more months, your foundation is a bit lacking.

>>3234655
>Tell him that you think you'll hold off until you've practiced for a few more months, your foundation is a bit lacking.

You laugh and say "Brother Mo, you think too highly of me, I think I'll hold off a few more months of practice first. My foundation is lacking for the time being." Mo Jian then smiles and says "Come on, don't underestimate yourself Brother Zhu, we all saw your strength this morning. It takes true strength to counter a blow like that, eh?" After Mo Jian says this he laughs for a moment before saying "It's not like the three of us didn't have to suffer through getting punched by the old man either though, although I did manage to dodge after he slowed it down a bit." He seems to be excluding Song Huo with this statement, but it makes sense given his rank. At 74th you doubt he'd be worth testing the strength of like that.
The group of you continue talking before Mo Jian stops the topic of discussion to interject with something. "You said you were going to hold off from moving up the rankings for a while, but that'll hurt your merit point income and prestige, yes? You might be able to salvage the latter if we have a friendly duel, no? We have the same cultivation so you shouldn't be too disadvantaged, and we can just make it look good for the crowd before I win at the end by a 'narrow margin'. I like you so I'm more than willing to do you a favor like this, what do you think?" You...
>Thank him for the offer but reply that it isn't necessary.
>Tell him that you'll think about it.
>Accept, if he's willing to do you a favor then you'll take it.
>Other

>>3235734
>Thank him for the offer but reply that it isn't necessary.
Throwing fights isn't our style.
We'll level up our basics then get back all the prestige by defeating someone seemingly out of our league.

>>3235734
>Thank him for the offer but reply that it isn't necessary.
We don't really have techniques to make it look nice

>>3235734
>Thank him for the offer but reply that it isn't necessary

>>3235734
>>Thank him for the offer but reply that it isn't necessary.
Instead let's just have a normal duel without any tricks. It'll be good practice.

>>3235734
>Thank him for the offer but reply that it isn't necessary.

You thank Mo Jian for the offer but reply that it isn't necessary. Mo Jian seems rather indifferent about the rejection and just warns you not to pick any fights in that case. You go back to chatting until the food arrives and the issue isn't brought up again.
As you eat you find out that Kong Jing and Kong Qing are both from a fairly large family clan, while Mo Jian used to be a core disciple of a subsidiary of the Thousand-Mountain Hall. He got an offer from the Royal Academy and decided to go there instead of moving into the Thousand-Mountain Hall Headquarters for personal reasons. Song Huo is simply the son of a merchant in the capital.
As you all finish up your meal Mo Jian leaves you with a warning. "Oh, before I leave... avoid Shen Jexi. He's not the kind of person you want to anger, and he's also the kind of person who gets angered very easily." After you finish your meal you...
>Go back to Gu Xinyi's manor and rest for the night.
>Head back to the academy's library to do more research.
>Check out the city's nightlife a bit.
>Other

>>3235885
>>Head back to the academy's library to do more research.

>>3235885
>Head back to the academy's library to do more research.

>>3235885
>Head back to the academy's library to do more research.

>>3235885
>Head back to the academy's library to do more research.

Rolled 58 + 1 (1d100 + 1)

You head back to the academy's library after dinner, hoping to find out something before the campus closes for the night.
You begin flipping through various large tomes and musty books and...

>>3238410
...fail to find anything regarding Unbar Kingdom or the Iron City, despite going through quite a few books that peaked your interest. There's still plenty to go through, so you suppose you'll just leave this until later. As you return the books to their shelves the Royal Academy shuts down for the night, and you reach your lodgings shortly after midnight.
The next morning you return to the Royal Academy and enter your classroom. The old man who punched you yesterday barks at all of you for a minute or two before introducing another new student. They don't get attacked so you suppose they're not particularly promising. After that you pick up copies of the techniques you wanted yesterday and...
>Head to the training grounds to find a place to train in one of the techniques.
>Go back to the library, training can wait until you find what you're looking for.
>Go to the dueling grounds in order to catch a glimpse of what the other student's skills appear to be.
>Go to the building where merit points can be exchanged to find out what is offered.
>Check the ranking boards, it doesn't hurt to see where your peers are.
>Other

>>3238420
>>Head to the training grounds to find a place to train in one of the techniques.

>>3238420
>Head to the training grounds to find a place to train in one of the techniques.
Need to up our speed and reflexes. Maybe get some muscle memory to defend against surprise attacks.

>>3238438
>>3238839
You head towards the training grounds to find a surprisingly large number of buildings. There's a building named the "bladed weapons hall", as well as an archery range and a "blunt weapons hall". Besides the weapon related buildings you see a few pieces of equipment outside, a few sparring grounds, and a large building that seems to be the main building for training. You also see a small crowd of students in the distance gathered around something. You...
>Enter the main training hall and find a place to practice your new fist technique, the "Split Bolder Fist".
>Start practicing your movement technique, you don't have anything to actually dodge right now but you can still get the sense of it down.
>Find a spot in the training halls to practice sensing qi with the "Qi Trace Technique".
>Head to the bladed weapons hall to practice your saber.
>Go to the crowd of cultivators and see what they're doing.
>Other

>>3239022
>Start practicing your movement technique, you don't have anything to actually dodge right now but you can still get the sense of it down.

>>3239022
>Start practicing your movement technique, you don't have anything to actually dodge right now but you can still get the sense of it down.

>>3239022
>Start practicing your movement technique, you don't have anything to actually dodge right now but you can still get the sense of it down.

>>3239168
>>3239632
>>3239661
You decide to start practicing your movement techniques and enter the main training building. There are quite a few students scattered about, practicing with the help of various pieces of equipment and some helpers wandering about. You can feel that the qi here is slightly thicker than outside, although you're not sure how the government managed this.
After you enter you find a spot to practice, finding that the equipment won't be of too much help, you spend about 15 minutes to start trying to get the knack of the movement technique. As you do so someone in their 40s approaches you and says "I see you're practicing the first stages of 'Subtlety Blowing Leaf', do you need me to give you something to dodge? I work for the academy so it's not any trouble." You tell the man that sure, you'd enjoy some help, and he says to move for a bit so he can see your speed. You do so and then you can feel a cultivation above yours appear from him that you couldn't previously sense. He says "Alright, I'll punch at slightly above your speed, you'll get a bit bruised but it should help." Eh? Slightly above your speed? You haven't really practiced much yet, maybe he should go a little slowe-
Before you can express these concerns the man begins aiming punches towards you and you're forced to start dodging his attacks. Around half of the attacks hit you, and although there isn't much force behind them they still sting a lot. This continues on for about an hour and while this probably is beneficial, it's slightly... humiliating? Painful? Probably a combination of the two. It reminds you of being taught by Tan Wuhan. By the time you finish your body is bruised and you're completely out of breath.
You go to rest a bit and recover after a short time. You then go...
>Enter the main training hall and find a place to practice your new fist technique, the "Split Bolder Fist".
>Find a spot in the training halls to practice sensing qi with the "Qi Trace Technique".
>Head to the bladed weapons hall to practice your saber.
>Go to the crowd of cultivators and see what they're doing.
>Other

>>3240388
>>Enter the main training hall and find a place to practice your new fist technique, the "Split Bolder Fist".

>>3240388
>Enter the main training hall and find a place to practice your new fist technique, the "Split Bolder Fist".

>>3240388
>Enter the main training hall and find a place to practice your new fist technique, the "Split Bolder Fist".

You enter the main training hall once again in order to practice the "Split Boulder Fist". You approach a few dummies in the corner and begin punching one of them with your full force while at the same time wondering what exactly they're made of in order to survive the punches of all of the students here.
Shortly after you start training you can feel someone coming up behind you. You turn around and see a man standing behind you with a massive build. You'd never guess he was in the same age group as you if you hadn't seen him in the classroom for the past two mornings. In fact, if you didn't know better you'd assume he was a teacher. You can't sense his cultivation but you're not sure if that's because he's not in the Qi Emission Stage yet or because he knows a way to hide it.
He stares at you for a moment before he says "The dummy you're hitting is mine. I need to use it. Move aside." You take a look and see that all the other dummies are in use besides one that looks a bit worse for wear. You...
>Move aside, you don't mind switching to the other dummy that much and don't want to get into a fight.
>Tell him there's another dummy free and that you're already using this one, he should use that one.
>Ask him what he's going to do if you don't move.
>Continue hitting the dummy and ignore him.
>Other

>>3241321
>>Move aside, you don't mind switching to the other dummy that much and don't want to get into a fight.
Might be that guy we were told to avoid.

>>3241321
>Throw one final punch at full force and move over the other dummy.

>>3241321
>Move aside, you don't mind switching to the other dummy that much and don't want to get into a fight.

>>3241410
>>3242521
You move aside from the dummy, not willing to get into a fight with someone over something this inconsequential. As you move over to the other dummy, you glance at the man. He stretches for a moment before you feel his cultivation rise to the Middle Qi Emission Stage. After that he loudly yells (much to the chagrin of the people nearby) and punches the dummy with a force far beyond yours. His assault is ruthless and quick, and you almost feel bad for the thing. You see him mix in a few kicks before you look away, focusing again on your own training.
You practice on punching the practice dummy until you're once again completely out of breath before taking another break and grabbing a snack. When you return you find that there's a small commotion at the sparring grounds. You...
>Find a spot in the training halls to practice sensing qi with the "Qi Trace Technique".
>Head to the bladed weapons hall to practice your saber.
>Check out whatever's happening at the sparring grounds.
>Go to the crowd of cultivators and see what they're doing.
>Other

>>3242773
>>Head to the bladed weapons hall to practice your saber.

>>3242773
>Go to the crowd of cultivators and see what they're doing.

>>3242773
>Check out whatever's happening at the sparring grounds.

>>3242773
>Go to the crowd of cultivators and see what they're doing.

You head over to the crowd of cultivators to figure out what they're doing to find that all of them are standing in front of quite a few oversized swords. The swords are sitting on the ground with various signs next to them with levels of cultivation ranging from the Early Qi Emission Stage to Late Body Refinement Realm. The swords generally get bigger as the stage increases.
As you appraise the situation you see an older cultivator with a cultivation past the Qi Emission Stage approach the "Early Body Refinement Realm" sword. The sword is a hunk of metal as tall as him and you watch as the cultivator begins to try lifting it. You can feel them begin using large amounts of qi as the sword begins to lift of the ground slightly. The veins on the cultvator's start bulging as they begin to lift the sword higher, eventually causing it to reach their knees. They cultivator is clearly exerting themselves to their fullest and manage to bring the sword just barely below their waist before they drop it and immediately move out of the way, as if afraid that the sword will crush their toes. The sword crashes into the ground with a thunk and causes a large cloud of dirt to rise up, blinding you for a moment. You...
>Approach the Early Qi Emission Stage sword to try lifting it.
>Approach the Middle Qi Emission Stage sword to try lifting it.
>Watch people attempt this for a while, you wonder what the normal level of aptitude is.
>Find a spot in the training halls to practice sensing qi with the "Qi Trace Technique".
>Head to the bladed weapons hall to practice your saber.
>Check out whatever's happening at the sparring grounds.
>Other
deleted old post to fix a couple of typoes

>>3243951
>>Approach the Middle Qi Emission Stage sword to try lifting it.

>>3243951
>Watch people attempt this for a while, you wonder what the normal level of aptitude is.

Shit, I just realized this is about to fall off of the board, I'll make a new thread for the next update.
although if I could get a tiebreaker before then that'd be nice