Rolled 94 (1d100)

>>3278946
You decide to hold your ground for now and prepare to see if you can catch one of the daggers. You might be able to dissuade her if you throw her own weapons back at her. You prepare to catch one and then watch as she nears you and throws two pairs of daggers towards you, strategically placed to be difficult to dodge. You...
First dice for dodging, second for trying to catch one

Rolled 80 (1d100)

>>3278982
...manage to weave in between the daggers easily but then stretch out your hand in order to grab one before it flies out of your reach. Your hand...
Ahhh, I forgot to roll the second die, guess I'll do it now. It would make sense for the roll to be reduced if you couldn't dodge anyways, so shrug.

>>3278985
...grasps onto the dagger's hilt a short time before it flies away from you and allows you to get a good grip on the dagger. You now have a dagger in one hand a saber in the other, and Zi Chin looks worried now that you've managed to dodge so many hits that easily. You...
>Throw the dagger back at her. She can take it as a taste of her own medicine. [1d100]
>Continue waiting for the daggers to be thrown towards you while going to catch a few. You're going to keep waiting her out on this until she decides to engage. [2d100]
>Move towards her and prepare to engage in close combat, neither of you can hurt each other at a range. [1d100]
>Other
Also, reminder: There will be a session Thursday.

>>3278989
>Throw the dagger back at her. She can take it as a taste of her own medicine. [1d100]
Let's trade daggers.

>>3278989
>Continue waiting for the daggers to be thrown towards you. You're going to keep waiting her out on this until she decides to engage.
This is also psychological warfare. Don't catch the daggers though, if we fail at it it could give her some confidence back. One is enough for demonstration.

>>3278989
Don't forget that we also can deflect her daggers with our saber and dagger.

>>3278989
>>Continue waiting for the daggers to be thrown towards you while going to catch a few. You're going to keep waiting her out on this until she decides to engage. [2d100]

>>3279059
Support

>>Continue waiting for the daggers to be thrown towards you while going to catch a few. You're going to keep waiting her out on this until she decides to engage. [2d100]

Rolled 35, 10 = 45 (2d100)

>>3279059
>>3279108
>>3279357
>>3279805
I'll go with the no catch votes simply because it's more conservative and the two options are seemingly tied where I should've broken it up into two options. Rollin'. Your second die here is for something else, not catching, it's the correct amount.

Rolled 28 (1d100)

>>3280103
You stand your ground and watch as Zi Chin throws yet another volley of daggers. This time she throws five and while you manage to dodge one, two, and then three smoothly, the fourth one scrapes past the side of your leg, drawing blood, while the fifth digs into your arm a bit as it flies past. They aren't major injuries but they certainly hurt, and maybe they got her confidence up. You then...
Rolling for a second factor because you whiffed the first check.

>>3280108
...feel a sudden stinging pain in your left shoulder as the crowd surrounding you lets out a roar. You move one of your hands to feel the area and notice that a dagger is there and that your hot, red blood is leaking out of the wound. That... how did that get there? Wasn't it supposed to be flying past you?
As you think this you hear Zi Chin go "Tsk. The next one won't miss." before she begins grabbing more daggers out of her pockets and belt and so on and so forth. She might be running low since she's used 11 so far, but you remember he using around 20 in her previous duel, so she still has some fuel left. You...
>Charge forward in order to stop her, it's dangerous in the short term but you can't let what just happened happen again. [3d100]
>Keep a careful eye on her daggers waiting to dodge and see if you can figure out what she just did [3d100 + 1d100].
>Throw her dagger back at her while she's not paying attention to it. [1d100]
>Other
It occurs to me that 3d100s are more balanced for most of these because we're not in skill check mode anymore.

>>3280130
>Keep a careful eye on her daggers waiting to dodge and see if you can figure out what she just did
Rushing down a zoner is a recipe for a loss if you didn't figure out how to approach them.

She has some method of control, we can wait it out until we understand what we were hit by or try to attack before she throws too many more.

>Keep a careful eye on her daggers waiting to dodge and see if you can figure out what she just did

Rolled 28, 84, 33, 21 = 166 (4d100)

>>3280146
>>3280807
You keep your position, unwilling to barge forward when it could end with you being impaled by several throwing knives. As you do so you see Zi Chin throw out a pair of knives which you barely notice are being shadowed by another pair of knives, with two more flying behind. You attempt to dodge and...

>>3280944
...manage to react to the knives in time to avoid anything but another small scratch. You stay focused on them the entire time but don't see anything that would explain why a knife managed to hit you in your shoulder last time. Immediately after dodging the knives you...
>Run towards her while she's getting ready to throw another volley of knives. [3d100]
>Immediately turn around to catch any knives that could be coming back towards you. [1d100]
>Duck! [1d100]
>Keep an eye on her, it doesn't matter if something hits you from behind if you aren't watching your front. [3d100 + 1d100]
>Other

Hard to choose between turning and ducking, I don’t want take eyes off her but we also need to move out of the strike zone. The daggers were mirrored by qi or a second pair of daggers. If qi then that explains how it might have hit us in the back and how they will be coming.
>Duck! [1d100]

Can you explain the difference between the dice, I’m not sure why some have 3 or 1 or 3+1?

>>3281054
Sure, although one point earlier I was using a 1d100 when I meant to use a 3d100 so I'm just going to talk about the last post in particular.
The first option has a 3d100 because there are degrees of success and rolling 3 d100s where each die is a success or a failure is less 'random' than just rolling one die and people seemed to prefer that.
Second option is a 1d100 because there is only success or failure. It's essentially me checking your ability to do one task with a success/failure condition, in this catch catching a knife.
The third one is the same thing, but with dodging instead.
The fourth one is a combination of a 3d100 for dodging many knives (so you, for example, can dodge some and fail to dodge others, meaning it's fairer to use multiple die) and a 1d100 for a skill check to find out [REDACTED] about the knives.

>>3280956
>Duck!

Rolled 97 (1d100)

>>3281044
>>3281994
You immediately assume that a knife might be coming again from behind you and try to duck as quickly as possible to avoid any sort of attack from behind. You duck and...

>>3283006
...the knife sails over your head after you squat down, traveling back towards Zi Chin. She manages to catch it again and then you see another group of five knives travel forward, followed by Zi Chin rushing forward with the larger knives she used last time you saw her fight for melee in hand. You...
>Jump out of the way as quickly as possible. [3d100]
>Try to deflect the knives back at her with your saber. [3d100]
>Throw your knife at her to see if you can delay her slightly and then get away from the knives. [1d100 + 3d100]
>Rush towards her, ignoring the knives. She'll have no reason to expect it and you might be able to end it there in exchange for a few wounds. [3d100]
>Other

>>3283011
>Throw your knife at her to see if you can delay her slightly and then get away from the knives.

>Throw your knife at her to see if you can delay her slightly and then get away from the knives. [1d100 + 3d100]
It feels like this is the best option, keeping in mind she can control the knifes, we have only see her do it to one at a time so it is a potential limit, if we close in and she has knives coming in we will probably get hit , but we need to close the distance somehow to actual fight her. The knife is to see if she needs concretrate to control them or if it is a sufficient distraction so we don’t get ganked in melee.

Can we see how many knives she has left or does she have a bag of holding. Or a really large belt, also how is she throwing the knives, by hand or using magic? Can she retrieve knives or is she closing distance to pick up ones she thrown?

>>3283251
Updating in a second.
You can't see exactly how many knives she has since she has a combination of a very large belt and something that looks like a trenchcoat that probably has a lot of pockets inside. You don't think she has many left though. You've read about something called an "Storage Ring" that's supposed to use spatial laws to create a small space in another dimension which can store objects, but you're unsure if anyone in Zhaotian Kingdom owns one, let alone Zi Chin. She's throwing all of the knives by hand, and the only one she has retrieved is the one that just went back to her. She seems to be closing the distance to attack you, although she could be going to pick up ones she already threw, you're not sure.

Rolled 48, 14, 73, 20 = 155 (4d100)

>>3283065
>>3283239
You grab the knife you caught earlier and prepare to throw it at Zi Chin in order to distract her and give you a better chance to dodge the knives. You throw the knife and it...

>>3283281
...goes towards Zi Chin, although she's able to dodge it without much trouble. The five knives continue sailing towards you and you dodge most of them with a slide, but one of them hits you in the side. Gods that hurts. As you get back up from sliding you see that Zi Chin is nearly on top of you now, holding an oversized knife in each hand. You...
>Move backwards, you need to collect your bearings. [3d100]
>Grab your saber and stab towards her. [3d100]
>Grab your saber and attempt to parry her attacks. [3d100]
>Use up as much qi as possible and try to punch her. You'll use up a lot of your qi, but if it lands she should be pretty seriously injured. [3d100]
>Other

Is it the same knife that she’s thrown that came back each time? If so we should attack, but if it’s one she threw at us then we need to get our bearings in case of being ganked.

>>3283302
>Grab your saber and stab towards her. [3d100]
We have a longer reach, and parrying two knives with one saber is hard. Better just don't allow her to get close enough and prepare a qi punch in case she manages to close the distance.

>>3283432
No, one of the knives that came back towards you is currently lodged in your shoulder. Whatever she did didn't involve a specific knife.

Rolled 27, 38, 45 = 110 (3d100)

>>3283466
You grip your hands tightly against your saber and push forward, aiming to thrust the gleaming red blade into Zi Chin's chest. You thrust it forward and...

>>3283526
...while you're slowed down a bit due to your injuries, your superior cultivation allows the blade to reach her fast enough to force her to back off just before she can land a hit on you in melee combat. She's forced to jump back, towards her original position, and you...
>Wait for her to throw more knives, she probably has a few more left. [3d100 + 1d100]
>Charge towards her with your saber in hand, you can't just keep waiting at a range like this when you're already injured. [3d100]
>Rush towards the other end of the ring and start gathering knives. You're not trained in throwing them, but maybe you can hit her anyways with your superior strength. [3d100 + 1d100]
>Other

I might be overthinking things then.

>>3283532
>Charge towards her with your saber in hand, you can't just keep waiting at a range like this when you're already injured
Now it's rushdown time!

>Charge towards her with your saber in hand, you can't just keep waiting at a range like this when you're already injured. [3d100]
Let’s not giver her the opportunity to use her knives.

Rolled 29, 53, 65 = 147 (3d100)

>>3283538
>>3283549
You ignore the pain in your side and charge towards Zi Chin as fast as you can, aiming to end this now. You rush towards her and...

>>3283571
...she only has time to let loose a single knife, which you easily dodge, before you enter range. You straighten your saber up and try to slash her, although she manages to barely dodge the hit. The two of you are now only about five feet away, and you...
>Aim to disable her through an attack on the legs. [3d100]
>Try to disarm her, whether through knocking her melee knives away or by cutting her hands. [3d100]
>Charge towards her and bodycheck her. If you knock her down you'll be free to attack her wherever you need to. [3d100]
>Throw your saber towards her chest, you don't think she'll be able to dodge it at this range. [3d100]
>Other

So one knife coming from the back, we can take her out at risk of taking ourselves out.
>Charge towards her and bodycheck her. If you knock her down you'll be free to attack her wherever you need to. [3d100]

I mainly want this option because it gets us moving out of the way of potential being hit from behind. Everything else keeps us more stationary.

Rolled 65, 1, 52 = 118 (3d100)

>>3283644
You push off against the ground and try to tackle her. As you hurtle towards Zi Chin...

>>3283810
...you lower your head and scrunch your body together, managing to knock her to the ground while avoiding being stabbed in the process. You're now lying on top of each other and you see that both of her hands are wielding knives that are heading towards your neck, assumedly to force you to declare a loss. You...
>Try to slash your saber down towards her neck first. [1d100]
>Jump backwards, you're not risking this. [3d100]
>Headbutt her. [3d100]
>Grab her arms and push backwards. You're stronger so as long as you don't get stabbed you should be fine. [3d100]
>Other

Knives are bullshit lol she just needs to throw one and we get ganked.
Headbutt her.
This feels like the fastest option but can we push her arms down first
>Grab her arms and push backwards. You're stronger so as long as you don't get stabbed you should be fine. [3d100]

Rolled 18, 69, 16 = 103 (3d100)

>>3284003
You push your arms outwards and use all of your force to try and pin Zi Chin's arms down without being stabbed. You...

>>3284564
...shove her arms downward with ease, but in the process get stabbed lightly in the arm. Gods this hurts, at least you're almost done now. As you feel Zi Chin struggle to attack you again while underneath you, you...
>Slam your head into to hers.
>Yell at her to give up.
>Take one of her knives and stab her with it. This is just a duel but if she drew blood you're drawing blood too.
>Other

>>3284571
>Slam your head into to hers.
Keep our arms controlling hers

>>3284571
Headbutt that biatch

>Slam your head into to hers.

>>3284571
>>Slam your head into to hers.

>>3284794
>>3285294
>>3285339
>>3285363
You slam your head into Zi Chin's, drawing blood and causing the both of you to swear a bit. As you get ready to do so again you hear her say "I concede, you win." You then get up and dust yourself off. You look towards the crowd of people at the dueling grounds and see that you got a few cheers, although it pales in comparison to the big duels. You exit to the side and are led away by one of the academy's employees, who takes you to an infirmary to deal with your wounds. You should be perfectly fine to fight and train normally again in maybe 10 days, which is around the time of Tan Xun's birthday. Until then you suppose you can practice the Qi Trace technique or something that doesn't require too much physical activity.
After finishing your duel you...
>Go to practice the Qi Tracing technique, you may as well get the ball rolling.
>Head to the Apothecary Guild's library, it's a good chance to study while you're injured.
>Go back home and rest for a bit.
>Go celebrate with Mo Jian, you won your first duel!
>Other

>>3286772
>Go back home and rest for a bit.

>>3286772
>>Go back home and rest for a bit.

>>3286793
>>3286801
You return home in order to rest and fall asleep, tired from engaging in the closest you've been to a life and death fight in a while (excluding the poor sod you crushed a week ago). You wake up later that night and eat before going back to sleep. The next morning you stretch, faint pains coming from your wounds. You seem to have recovered pretty well due to your extended rest and you check what you need to do in the upcoming days.
Besides training your agenda includes going with your teacher to meet Xian Jin in a week, and then going to Tan Xun's 18th birthday about four days after that. You can't train normally for a while due to your injuries so you leave Gu Xinyi's manor and...
>Go to the Apothecary Guild's library to study.
>Go to practice the Qi Tracing technique.
>Go back to the Blue Oyster, maybe there will be something productive to do there.
>Get Mo Jian to hang out with you in celebration of your victory. A couple other people will probably end up coming along since Mo Jian always seems to be either training or building connections as far as you can tell.
>Practice the Single Breath Submersion technique at the beach. Learning to stay underwater longer could come in handy.
>Other

>>3287858
>Go to practice the Qi Tracing technique.

>>3287858
>Go to practice the Qi Tracing technique.

>Go to practice the Qi Tracing technique

>>3288083
>>3288586
>>3288992
You head over to the academy and grab a private room to practice the Qi Tracing technique and the time passes quickly, although it doesn't disappear as much as the first time you practiced. You spend the majority of the next week doing this and feel like you've made significant improvement.
On the day before you meet Xian Jin you make another attempt at forging a Frigid Qi pill and you're surprised to find out that you're making pretty good progress. The next day you depart with Gu Xinyi and your other two senior direct disciples, Feng Qiu and Qian Shun. Gu Xinyi leads you to a large manor in one of the more well-developed sections of the city and says "This is the home of Yi Zhihao, another 1-star Apothecary. We didn't meet up at Xian Jin's home since he insists that it's a mess from his research and that he doesn't want to deal with it."
The group of you then enter the home and are greeted by about 20 people. Upon entering a man who appears to be in his 40s greets you and begins talking with Gu Xinyi. From what you can gather he's 1-star Apothecary Yi Zhizhao, who you recall being in his early 60s. You're left to your own devices for the time being so...
>You try to mingle with some of the younger people here.
>Try to track down Xian Jin, you are here to meet him after all.
>Stay here and listen to Gu Xinyi and Yi Zhizhao's conversation in case he wants to introduce you.
>Other

>>3290007
>Stay here and listen to Gu Xinyi and Yi Zhizhao's conversation in case he wants to introduce you.

>>3290007
>>Try to track down Xian Jin, you are here to meet him after all.

>>3290007
>Stay here and listen to Gu Xinyi and Yi Zhizhao's conversation in case he wants to introduce you.
Networking!

>>3291669
>>3292697
You stay next to Gu Xinyi and Yi Zhizhao and listen as they make small talk about various names you don't recognize for a few minutes. Eventually, however, Gu Xinyi gestures to you and says "This is my newest direct disciple, Zhu Zhexian. I met him on that recent excursion I made to Blue Ridge City. I expect him to become a 1-star Apothecary soon along with Feng Qiu." Yi Zhizhao nods and introduces himself before asking what pill you're going to make for the 1-star Apothecary examination. You tell him and he nods again before reminiscing for a few minutes about how he learned to make the Frigid Qi pill for his 1-star Apothecary examination. After that his focus shifts back to Gu Xinyi and you're left to your own devices for now. You...
>Try to mingle with some of the younger people here.
>Try to track down Xian Jin, you are here to meet him after all.
>Other

>>3294810
>Try to track down Xian Jin, you are here to meet him after all.

>>3294810
>>Try to track down Xian Jin, you are here to meet him after all.

>>3294973
>>3295003
You make your way around the main floor and weave through the crowd looking for someone who seems old, male, has a cultivation above yours, and who's wearing a 1-star Apothecary Emblem. Besides Gu Xinyi and Yi Zhizhao, there shouldn't be many here who meet that description, right? Or so you thought, until you found three of them. One of them is a man with pale skin talking to a another old, male 1-star Apothecary wearing a colorful robe. The last of the three is off in the corner speaking with a rather plump man lacking any level of cultivation. You...
>Approach the two talking and introduce yourself.
>Approach the man in the corner and introduce yourself.
>Back away for now, if Gu Xinyi brought you here he'll introduce you and you don't want to cause a faux pass by messing this up.
>Other

>>3295302
>Back away for now, if Gu Xinyi brought you here he'll introduce you and you don't want to cause a faux pass by messing this up.

>>3295302
>Back away for now, if Gu Xinyi brought you here he'll introduce you and you don't want to cause a faux pass by messing this up.

>>3296161
>>3296694
You back away from the group for now, not wanting to cause a faux pass by choosing the wrong person. You head back to where Gu Xinyi is and he finishes chatting with Yi Zhizhao after a couple of minutes. You then follow him as he heads towards where you were and begins speaking to the two men who had 1-star Apothecary emblems, addressing them as Xian Jin and Huang Zhen. You vaguely recall that the latter is the head of the Zhaotian Kingdom Apothecary Guild.
The three of them start speaking, although Xian Jin's speaking seems to be rather terse, and after a few minutes Gu Xinyi finds an opening to introduce you. Huang Zhen politely responds to the introduction, but Xian Jin simply glances at you before saying "Is your student really relevant to my research? I came out of isolation to gather more funding, not to rub noses with my colleagues and drink fancy wine at a party. I can barely stand half of you anyways." Huang Zhen and Gu Xinyi both seem a bit taken a back by this response and you...
>Interject and ask what gives Xian Jin the right to be so rude.
>Ask what gives his research priority over his colleagues.
>Leave, you're not going to stand here and be insulted.
>Stay quiet, you can let them deal with this among themselves.
>Other

>>3297291
>Ask about his research
If I'm right, he's the sort who likes to talk about himself.

>>3297371
You ignore Xian Jin's rather rude comment about yourself and his overall irateness and try to politely ask him about his research. The three of them look at you, seeming surprised by what you said, before Xian Jin says "Well, I'm close to a breakthrough so I can't disclose too much, but I suppose I can go over the basics. My research is divided into three parts, the first of these being of the development of a new Tier-1 Pill that can help those with Fire-based constitutions and cultivation techniques make breakthroughs to the Acupoint Opening Stage at least 20% more efficiently than pills currently known in Zhaotian Kingdom and the surrounding countries. The next two parts lay the foundation for this, namely an attempt to find a more effective replacement for Bright Flame Bulbs, and then to find a way to mediate this with soothing herbs in a more effective fashion than something like the "Red Acupoint" pill or the "Brilliant Burst Pill". To this end I..."
And so Xian Jin continues on for at least half an hour before taking a break to get water. He seems to have calmed down now and rather than talking to you it's almost as if he's bouncing his thoughts off of a wall since you never got a chance to put a word in. After he leaves you...
>Stay where you are, you feel like this isn't going to end anytime soon and you guess it's your fate to listen through it.
>Mingle with some of the younger crowd while you have a chance, at this rate you'll be stuck listening to him rant all day when you're not even sure if he likes you.
>Other

I think I'll host a session tomorrow if anybody is around to vote, I only need to write a speech so I shouldn't be up to too much.

>>3298436
>Think hard and prepare a queston that will show Xian Jin the depth of our understanding.

>>3298436
>Mingle with some of the younger crowd while you have a chance, at this rate you'll be stuck listening to him rant all day when you're not even sure if he likes you.

>>3298436
>>Mingle with some of the younger crowd while you have a chance, at this rate you'll be stuck listening to him rant all day when you're not even sure if he likes you.

>>3298816
>>3299118
You leave where you are in order to escape Xian Jin's endless, surprisingly uninteresting, lecture on his research. You go to mingle with some of the younger crowd since you can safely talk to them without fear of causing an incident and find a few of Xian Jin's "research assistants" who vary from their 20s to their 50s grumbling among each other, a man in his 30s with an Apprentice Apothecary emblem who seems to be lecturing a few people, and Feng Qiu, who seems to be trying to show off to a woman. You...
>Go towards Xian Jin's "research assistants" and see what they're grumbling about, although you already have a few ideas.
>Talk to the man in his 30s who seems to lecturing a few other juniors.
>Go sabotage Feng Qiu's attempts to impress that woman, you're not quite ready to forgive him for your last squabble with him.
>Other

>>3300061
>Go towards Xian Jin's "research assistants" and see what they're grumbling about, although you already have a few ideas.

>>3300087
You approach the small group of grumbling assistants and overhear them complaining about Xian Jin. You hear a few comments about being overworked when they don't even fully understand what they're doing and about Xian Jin getting irate due to something about funding. As you approach they stop talking and one of them simply stares at you before saying "You've heard nothing. Right?" You...
>Respond "I heard what?" before wandering off to speak to someone else. [Choose between the man in his 30s, Feng Qiu, or Xian Jin, who is probably still willing to continue his rant.]
>Try to probe further and ask what's up with the funding.
>Other

>>3300190
>Other
Heard what? Now I am curious.

>>3300190
>Try to probe further and ask what's up with the funding.

>>3301051
>>3301186
You respond "Heard what exactly? Now I'm curious." before approaching the group closer. Then one of the men says "Nothing, nothing, we were just discussing our research. It's confidential so leave us be." After that you go "Oh, alright then. How's your funding?" in an attempt to probe deeper. A few of the mens' faces go pale before one them furiously whispers "Shut up, if we get in trouble with Xian Jin for leaking information then we're going to be fired, it's not like there aren't people asking to replace us. Please just forget about this and leave." You...
>Back off and leave.
>Try to intimidate one of them into telling you. [1d100]
>Tell them what you know about his research from Xian Jin's lecturing and try to convince them it's fine to tell you because Xian Jin already told you plenty. [1d100]
>Tell them you're Gu Xinyi's direct disciple and soon to become a 1-star Apothecary yourself and that the last thing you want to do would be to get on Xian Jin's bad side. You're just curious, you won't tell anybody else. [1d100]
>Other
Sorry for the wait, I that speech on Xianxia novels was hell.

>>3302795
>Tell them what you know about his research from Xian Jin's lecturing and try to convince them it's fine to tell you because Xian Jin already told you plenty. [1d100]
We can do it privately, like they should have in the first place.

Rolled 10 (1d100)

>>3302986
You begin lecturing on what Xian Jin recently told you, hoping to bluff the group into telling you about whatever is going on with the funding. You...

>>3303812
...summarize the content well (or at least you think you do), but the group remains unfazed. At one point you can hear someone whisper "None of that was info he gave to investors, was it? Just info from the release he gave to the other apothecaries?" before a muffled "Yeah." responds. One of the research assistants gives you a faint smile before he says "Look, if you invest a few hundred thousand gold into Xian Jin's research maybe he'd be willing to tell you. We're REALLY not allowed to say anything to outsiders, we'll lose our jobs."
Having your attempt at gaining more info fail, you...
>Listen to Xian Jin talk for a bit longer, you were pretty interested in what he was saying, even if it seems like you aren't getting the most detailed information.
>Casually ask Xian Jin how his research is funded. You don't want to get those guys fired but you still are curious.
>Talk to the man in his 30s who seems to lecturing a few other juniors.
>Go sabotage Feng Qiu's attempts to impress that woman, you're not quite ready to forgive him for your last squabble with him.
>Other

>>3303829
>Listen to Xian Jin talk for a bit longer, you were pretty interested in what he was saying, even if it seems like you aren't getting the most detailed information.
>Casually ask Xian Jin how his research is funded. You don't want to get those guys fired but you still are curious.

>>3303829
>Casually ask Xian Jin how his research is funded. You don't want to get those guys fired but you still are curious.

>>3303867
>>3304107
You look around and find Xian Jin sitting down, now drinking some wine and looking over a stack of papers away from most of the crowd. He glances at you when you come near and says "Oh, it's you." before going back to the papers for a moment. He then starts ranting on a bit more, and after about 10 minutes you manage to find an opening to casually ask how he gets his funding. After you ask he simply glances at you and says "Well, by the time someone starts research they'll have a lot of money saved up, so that's a big part of it. Beyond that talking to businessmen and other interested parties and securing investments is the main way to get funding. It's not like it matters for you though, you're not even licensed." He then turns back to his papers for a moment before saying "I have something to do, goodbye." and walking away.
It's getting later and you'll probably be leaving soon, so the last thing you do before you leave is...
>Just listen to Gu Xinyi talk with whoever he's with now and leave once he departs.
>Talk to the man in his 30s who seems to lecturing a few other juniors.
>Go sabotage Feng Qiu's attempts to impress that woman, you're not quite ready to forgive him for your last squabble with him.
>Other

>>3305243
>Talk to the man in his 30s who seems to lecturing a few other juniors.

>>3305243
>Just listen to Gu Xinyi talk with whoever he's with now and leave once he departs.

>>3305243
>Talk to the man in his 30s who seems to lecturing a few other juniors.

I'm starting to have trouble keeping track of all the names now.

>>3305316
>>3306960
You approach the man in his 30s and see that the few people listening him seem to be paying close attention, scribbling down notes as he talks about some tips and trips on identifying various herbs and forging Tier 0 pills. As you near the man says "Hello, from your age I'm guessing you're a new apprentice of someone's? I'm Tan Chen, Huang Zhen's only direct disciple. Come on, I'm teaching some juniors about things, feel free to join us."
You introduce yourself back to Tan Chen and listen to him speak for a bit. He does make some mistakes, but overall he's better than most Apprentice Apothecaries you've seen. He seems to be nearly on par with Feng Qiu, your fellow direct disciple. Eventually there's a lull in his speaking and you...
>Give him a few pointers, it'd do well to build a good relationship with him.
>Ask if knows Feng Qiu, they seem to be around the same age and skill.
>Listen to him speak for a bit until you need to leave, you don't want to show him up here by giving him advice and risk offending him.
>Other
>>3306960
That reminds me, I still haven't updated the pastebin with names for last thread. I'll get to that this weekend although it's a bit of a clusterfuck, sorry about that.
and if it's any condolences most of these people will stop mattering for a while while you do other things

>>3308135
>>Ask if knows Feng Qiu, they seem to be around the same age and skill.

>>3308135
>Ask if knows Feng Qiu, they seem to be around the same age and skill.
Just say we are friends or "learning partners" if he asks, don't wana sound like we are bullshitting even if its true....

Sorry for the delayed updates, I'm attending a hackathon and don't have the time right now. (thought I could fit a couple in, nope) Luckily the demo will finish early and I can sleep. It'll be over in about a day so I'll have to time to make up the updates tomorrow.

>>3310989
Wow. Good luck out there!

>>3308161
>>3308253
You ask Tan Chen if he's acquainted with Feng Qiu and he just frowns before saying "Feng Qiu? Ah, yes, him. You'd do best not to speak to him. I wish I hadn't. Why do you ask?" You...
>Respond that the two are around a similar age and both direct disciples of 1-star Apothecaries so you were curious.
>Tell him that Feng Qiu is your senior and that you don't like him either.
>Tell him that Feng Qiu is your senior and that the two of them should probably stay civil regarding each other. You're not a fan either but you should probably stand up for him.
>Other
>>3308253
To be fair you are in a building with almost every 1-star Apothecary in the kingdom. It wouldn't sound particularly ridiculous to say he's your senior besides the fact that you're a bit young. Gu Xinyi's other students probably already gossiped about you already, although you're not sure how far that info would reach.
>>3313004
Thanks. we finished at least

>>3315130
>Respond that the two are around a similar age and both direct disciples of 1-star Apothecaries so you were curious.

>>3315130
>Tell him that Feng Qiu is your senior and that you don't like him either.

I'll roll a 1d2 when I get back from campus if there isn't another vote by then.

Rolled 1 (1d2)

>>3317809
1 we deny all connection, 2 'we don't like him either'

>>3315674
"Ah, I was just curious. The two of you are both of a similar age and are both direct disciples of 1-star Apothecaries, so it brings the question to mind." Tan Chen then just says "I see. Fair enough, but we don't speak anymore." and returns to speaking. Shortly after Gu Xinyi finishes up what he's doing the group of you leave as the other guests begin taking their leave.
After you return to home you begin working on your schedule until Tan Xun's birthday in a few days. You...
>Prepare to focus on your training until then, you need to be prepared for whatever madness he's going to come up with.
>Meet with Mo Jian and see if you can get any more information about the event out of him and possibly build some rapport.
>Research the people ranked above you to find a suitable candidate for your next duel.
>See if you can meet with Tan Xun beforehand, maybe he can give you some insider info about all this because you know his brother.
>Other

>>3318652
>Prepare to focus on your training until then, you need to be prepared for whatever madness he's going to come up with.

>>3318652
>Prepare to focus on your training until then, you need to be prepared for whatever madness he's going to come up with.

>>3319796
>>3319871
You focus on training for the next few days while the last of your wounds heal. You continue making progress with the Qi Tracing Technique and can feel that your ability to sense the qi around you is growing. You also feel like your qi control is improving slightly as a result of your practice.
The next few days pass quickly and you meet Mo Jian a short way's outside of the Tan family's land in the morning. He seems very fancily dressed and looks you over a couple of times before saying "I guess that's good enough, let's get going." The two of you make your way up a well-paved road before you eventually find yourself at a massive wooden gate with the character for 'Tan' burned into it. There are quite a few other people standing around and you can hear people saying that they'll be opening up the gates in 15 minutes. You glance at Mo Jian in confusion and he shrugs and says "I wanted to be here early, but I suppose I came a bit too early. I'm going to try to talk with a few people until the gates open, do you want to join me?" You...
>Come along with Mo Jian, he probably knows more people here than you do anyways.
>Decline and approach someone on your own. You don't want to seem like you're one of Mo Jian's lackeys.
>Decline and stay where you are while you evaluate the crowd around you. These are all movers and shakers among the younger generation, so you're a bit afraid to approach them recklessly.
>Other

>>3320580
>Come along with Mo Jian, he probably knows more people here than you do anyways.

>>3320580
>Come along with Mo Jian, he probably knows more people here than you do anyways.
Fuck. Do we have a gift? Should we have one?

>>3320590
You were brought along as a plus one so it doesn't seem as if it's expected. Mo Jian didn't bring one earlier because he has never met Tan Xun in person and he isn't really wealthy enough to give Tan Xun anything he can't just buy himself. The people who brought gifts seem to make up around maybe a fifth of the crowd from what you can tell.

>>3320588
>>3320590
You follow along behind Mo Jian as he walks over to a man a few years older than him in a long, green robe with a cultivation slightly stronger than yours. As the two of you approach the man notices the two of you and says "Junior Brother Mo, it's you! I haven't seen you in a while, although I heard a rumor that you moved to the capital. I'm on an excursion from the Thousand-Mountain Hall, I didn't expect to see you here."
Mo Jian and the other person joyfully talk for a couple of minutes and from what you can tell they seem to be old friends from whatever subsidiary of the Thousand-Mountain Hall Mo Jian used to belong to. Eventually the man says "So, Junior Brother Mo... why'd you go to the Royal Academy instead of the Thousand-Mountain Hall? Were you afraid of Senior Dong?" Mo Jian seems nervous and quietly responds "Of course not Senior Brother Su, the benefits were just better here." The other man then says "Ah, that's good, if you were afraid of Senior Dong then you'd need to leave. He's here too." Mo Jian's face goes pale as he hears this and he stutters and says "Is t-that so? Give him m-my greetings, I'll be over there if you need me." As Mo Jian gets up to leave the man he was talking to starts laughing and says "Of course he's not here, I'm just fucking with you. There's no reason for... him... to..."
As the man stops talking you see a large, bald man in his early 20s approaching the three of you. He says in a deep, baritone voice "Ah, Junior Su, I see you ran into my old buddy Mo'er. Its been a long time since I saw him, it's a shame he ran off to the capital instead of joining us in the Thousand-Mountain Hall. I should have a lot of fun hanging out with him today." Mo Jian looks deathly pale at this point and you can tell that his friend is unnerved as well. You...
>Try to chat with the large man to give Mo Jian an opening to leave.
>Watch what's going to happen, you aren't sure what's happening here and you don't want to interject before it's clear that you need to.
>Shout about how there's an Qi Foundation Realm expert 'over there' while pointing in the other direction and then grab Mo Jian and pull him in the other direction.
>Other

>>3320615
>Try to chat with the large man to give Mo Jian an opening to leave.
Ask what Thousand-Mountain Hall is maybe

>>3320650
I'm just going to give that to you here since it was mentioned ages ago (Thread #2), but I don't expect anybody to remember at this point. The Thousand-Mountain hall is cultivator clan located in the Northern mountains of the kingdom that practices techniques based in the elements of earth or metal. It has comparable strength to the five families, but Mo Jian doesn't seem to have wielded a high station in it, so he's not really comparable to Tan Xun, who is well known and one of the young geniuses of the Tan family.

>>3320677
We still can ask this Dong about it, it seems like a topic he could spend some time on to give Mo Jian time to scram.

>>3320615
>Try to chat with the large man to give Mo Jian an opening to leave.

>>3320650
>>3320688
You approach the large man and say "Hello, I'm Zhu Zhexian, a direct disciple of 1-star Apothecary Gu Xinyi and a student at the Royal Academy, it's nice to meet you Dong..." before the man just looks at you for a moment and says "Cheng. Dong Cheng." You then say "Alright then, Dong Cheng, I was hoping you could tell me more about the Thousand-Mountain Hall. I've never had a chance to speak with someone from the main branch and I was curious about how it compared to the Royal Academy. How many people go there? What kind of training do you do? You know, things like that." Dong Cheng seems confused but gives you some information on the topic while repeatedly asserting how much better the Thousand-Mountain Hall is than the Royal Academy and how only an idiot would go here instead. Eventually a few minutes have passed and Mo Jian and his senior are both long gone. You...
>Continue speaking with Dong Cheng, he's rather rude but maybe you can get more information about what's going on here.
>Find someone else to talk to, this braggart's voice is rather grating.
>Try to find Mo Jian again now that he's had a chance to escape from the situation.
>>3320685
Yep, you can, I was just going to give you some exposition beforehand as well since you know about it in character.

>>3320698
>Find someone else to talk to, this braggart's voice is rather grating.

>>3320701
You decide to find someone else to talk to since Dong Cheng is getting on your nerves and so you make an excuse about having to do something and leave before he can drag you back into talking about how great the Thousand-Mountain Hall is.
You wander around for a bit and find a few potential people to talk to. Someone who you vaguely recognize from a few years up in the Royal Academy, a very gregarious man who is talking with someone of large stature, and a woman off to the side who's smoking something that gives off a light red smoke. You...
>Speak to your classmate.
>Speak to the gregarious man.
>Speak to the woman smoking.
>Other
Next post will start the next thread

>>3321608
>Speak to the gregarious man.

>>3321608
>Speak to the woman smoking.
It peaks my interest as an apothecary