You recovered without any complications, and once you did Zhu Chao and you said your goodbyes before leaving the Northern Wastes. You've been here for almost a year, and a lot has happened here. You've found great opportunities, made breakthroughs, and had a couple of close scrapes with death. All in all, you're happy that you came here.
The two of you approach the Liu family's estate at a brisk pace, and as you do there's one question you need to address- what you're going to say about your absence. You could just go with the story about being cooped up in cultivation for you a year like you had been originally. It's suspicious given your growth and it will be hard to talk about anything that happened, but it gives no hint that someone was trying to assassinate you. If you arrive with Zhu Chao and saying you were in the Northern Wastes, it explains things better and will allow you to more easily use any connections you made since they won't have to be secret, but there is the chance someone will wonder why you put up this whole front. Still, that can be handwaved without too much trouble.
In the end you decide to...
>'come out of cultivation' and then have Zhu Chao arrive the day after. No one can find out that there was an assassination attempt at this time.
>arrive with Zhu Chao and adknowledge your trip to the Northern Wastes. You can try to handwave it as wanting to not be coddled or contacted while you're there, it's more useful to be able to actually talk about what you did. It's a bit of a freak assumption to assume someone tried to assassinate you just from that anyways.
>Other

>>3732686
>>arrive with Zhu Chao and adknowledge your trip to the Northern Wastes. You can try to handwave it as wanting to not be coddled or contacted while you're there, it's more useful to be able to actually talk about what you did. It's a bit of a freak assumption to assume someone tried to assassinate you just from that anyways.

>>3732686
>arrive with Zhu Chao and adknowledge your trip to the Northern Wastes. You can try to handwave it as wanting to not be coddled or contacted while you're there, it's more useful to be able to actually talk about what you did. It's a bit of a freak assumption to assume someone tried to assassinate you just from that anyways.

>>3732686
>>arrive with Zhu Chao and adknowledge your trip to the Northern Wastes. You can try to handwave it as wanting to not be coddled or contacted while you're there, it's more useful to be able to actually talk about what you did. It's a bit of a freak assumption to assume someone tried to assassinate you just from that anyways.

>>3732686
>>arrive with Zhu Chao and adknowledge your trip to the Northern Wastes. You can try to handwave it as wanting to not be coddled or contacted while you're there, it's more useful to be able to actually talk about what you did. It's a bit of a freak assumption to assume someone tried to assassinate you just from that anyways.

There should be no harm in making public what you were doing. It'd be quite the leap in logic to assume that someone was trying to take your head just because you kept the trip secret, and you'd rather be able to talk about things that happened and use them to your advantage.
The two of you return to the Liu estate through the front gate after a couple weeks spent travelling, and you're greeted with a mix of confusion and joy from everyone. Everyone's happy to see you and Zhu Chao, but they're confused about why you weren't in seclusion on the estate already, and they are more importantly flabbergasted by your increase in cultivation. You explain that you were in the Northern Wastes and handwave your increase in cultivation as you 'getting lucky'.
Zhu Chao is drawn away shortly after the two of you enter, as he needs to take care of some issues, and you're left to talk with the rest of the juniors. At this point news of your return has spread, and you're slowly making your way from the gate to somewhere in the mansion that's more appropriate as you're bombarded with questions. You answer them mostly honestly, leaving out anything about the Horned God, Horned Island, or the attempts on your life. Besides that you can't think of anything you need to cover up.
You speak for around 20 minutes and are wishing for an escape at just about the time your brother arrives, a wide smile on his face. You take the chance to excuse yourself, and walk into another room with Liu Xuan.
Your brother cheerfully starts chatting with you, mentioning how nice it is to see you and complimenting you several times on your increase in cultivation. He's a bit indulgent, but if you were looking for a bright side, at least it makes him a nice guy. He's a happy drinker, and when he hits on women he does it aboveboard, although it's doubtful that he's done any of that since his engagement.
As the two of you talk, your brother says that the marriage is happening in only a couple of weeks. Apparently it was going to be a bit longer, but Ji Quxin wanted to move it ahead. "I know you don't drink much, but what about a night out to celebrate? It will double as celebrating your return too, the family will organize something but it should be earlier in the day." You...
>accept, you're not as into drinking as your brother, but you don't mind hanging out with him once in a blue moon.
>accept, and ask him if he's like to duel for a little fun before you head out. If you do well in the duel it will secure your position, and if you ask him this way it's unlikely he'll decline since he's getting something out of it.
>decline, as usual, you're still not interested in going drinking with your brother.
>decline and ask you brother if he'll duel you later. You're not sure if he'll accept, but if he does then it will be a good way to show your growth and help secure a position as the second patriarch of the Liu Clan.
>Other

>>3733910
>>accept, and ask him if he's like to duel for a little fun before you head out. If you do well in the duel it will secure your position, and if you ask him this way it's unlikely he'll decline since he's getting something out of it.
why not..may as well commit to seeing the difference.

>>3733910
>>accept, and ask him if he's like to duel for a little fun before you head out. If you do well in the duel it will secure your position, and if you ask him this way it's unlikely he'll decline since he's getting something out of it.

>>3733910
>accept, and ask him if he's like to duel for a little fun before you head out. If you do well in the duel it will secure your position, and if you ask him this way it's unlikely he'll decline since he's getting something out of it.

You accept the offer, and while you're at it take the chance to ask him if he wants to duel later. "A duel? I'm alright with it, but aren't you overestimating yourself a bit?" You shrug, responding that just looking at your cultivation might be deceiving. You brother laughs as he says "Alright then, I'll be looking forward it. I'll be leaving now, Qu'er is probably looking for me." Your brother leaves, and a few moments later you get up and leave, returning to the rest of the juniors.
Eventually you're let go after over an hour of talking, and head up to your room. Home is still alright it seems. There's probably going to be some sort of makeshift celebration of your return and increase in cultivation around dinnertime, although they might do something more formally later. Anyways, you're home. You should...
>take some time and do your rounds around the family's businesses. You wonder how they're doing after nearly a year.
>visit Dai He. You wonder how his cultivation has gone over the course of the past year.
>rest and wait for the ceremony later tonight. Leaving the house only opens you up to danger, although given that you just arrived there's no way for an assassin to already be on your back, and you're tired from talking to everyone.
>Other
Last update for the night, see you tomorrow

>>3733968
>>take some time and do your rounds around the family's businesses. You wonder how they're doing after nearly a year.

>>3733968
>>take some time and do your rounds around the family's businesses. You wonder how they're doing after nearly a year.

>>3733968
>take some time and do your rounds around the family's businesses. You wonder how they're doing after nearly a year.
Then
>visit Dai He. You wonder how his cultivation has gone over the course of the past year.

Updating within the next hour and then I'll disappear in a few hours for an appointment and resume later.

>>3733968
>take some time and do your rounds around the family's businesses. You wonder how they're doing after nearly a year.
>visit Dai He. You wonder how his cultivation has gone over the course of the past year.

You haven't seen your family's businesses in a long time, so you suppose you'll see how they're doing for the time being. You grab a cloak and slip out the back of the manor, keeping on the down-low despite the chance that anyone is after you right now low, and slip into Vermilion City.
First you visit the restaurants, and while one of them seems to have notably slipped in quality since you left, the rest are all the same or better. You chat a bit with the employees, and exchange compliments before you head to the shops. You do this more thoroughly than the restaurants, checking the records and seeing how the profits look. You always check the books for restaurants as well, but not as in-depth since they tend to operate on a smaller scale and as a result matter less to the bottom line. There are a couple of small problems, but you're glad to see that nothing has gone out of business while you were gone. If the family's assets started falling that would be a bad sign.
As the last part of your visit, you stop by the Dozen Treasure Pavilion. The manager there is surprised to see you, and you begin sorting through the records as he stands by the side. There's nothing wrong, and as you close the book you congratulate the manager on not letting any swords go missing this time, reminding him of his mistake over a year ago and that you're still keeping an eye on him. He nervously laughs, and you take your leave.
You don't have the time to properly visit Dai He given that your family will be hosting some sort of celebration around dinner that you need to attend and then you'll be going out with your brother, so you swing by and tell a servant to have him to come by the Liu family estate for dinner. After that you return home, satisfied with how everything is going.
Once you arrive home there's only a short time before dinner. You read a bit, and then someone calls for you. You follow them to the main hall, and see that there are several tables loaded up with food and a few people playing music. The majority of the clan seems to have been called here, including those working in shops, and you see a few people you know such as Dai He and juniors from minor families in Vermilion City wandering around. You're surprised they arranged this much on short notice. Still, you suppose they were even more surprised about your return and increase in cultivation. You go around and...
>speak with Dai He when you have the chance, you need to catch up.
>find your brother and arrange your duel, it will make for good entertainment.
>talk to the elders and juniors, you should make your presence known.
>Other

>>3734808
>>talk to the elders and juniors, you should make your presence known.

You want to speak with Dai He, but now's not the time. You'll chat with him a bit and set up a time to meet later, but for now you need to speak to everyone here. You just got back, and it's important to make sure your presence is known. You begin going around and speaking to the elders of the Liu family and the juniors training here, which are mostly their grandchildren and local talents. The occasional faction rivalry seems dead today, as no one cares about competing given your sudden growth in cultivation. Even if they did your brother would have to instigate it first, and that's doubtful to say the least.
Over the next few hours you inform the elders of some of your adventures and make small talk, and more or less do the same thing with the juniors form your family clan. Many of them already forced you to talk about this earlier today, but it seems their curiosity can't be sated. After you think you've satisfied them you find Dai He and talk to him for a few minutes, making sure to arrange a date to talk in more detail later. You're happy to see that his cultivation has increased from Early Bone and Marrow Tempering to Late Bone and Marrow Tempering while you were gone. Still, the two of you were once on similar levels, or you were arguably behind, in the past year and a half you've grown far apart. The difference may seem like only a bit between the two of you, but the jump between Late Bone and Marrow Tempering and Early Blood and Viscera Tempering is significant, and Dai He is already 16. His cultivation is good enough to rule over his family, but in the grand scheme of things it's not exceptional.
As the festivities come to an end you...
>get your older brother and duel in front of everyone. It will be good entertainment, and you need to show your strength in order to become this family's second patriarch.
>take your older brother and duel with him out back without telling anyone. In hindsight, you care more about figuring out how strong you are compared to him then showing off to everyone. You'll likely get the position as second patriarch anyways, so you'd rather not show him up.
>Other

>>3735213
>>take your older brother and duel with him out back without telling anyone. In hindsight, you care more about figuring out how strong you are compared to him then showing off to everyone. You'll likely get the position as second patriarch anyways, so you'd rather not show him up.

>>3735213
>>take your older brother and duel with him out back without telling anyone. In hindsight, you care more about figuring out how strong you are compared to him then showing off to everyone. You'll likely get the position as second patriarch anyways, so you'd rather not show him up.

Now that everyone is starting to disperse, it's a good chance to slip away and have your duel with your older brother. You would do it here, but you'd honestly rather not try to show him up in front of everyone. This could help secure a position as the second patriarch of the Liu Clan, but this is more to test your own strength anyways.
You track down your older brother, who's enjoying some 'beverages', and tell him that you're going to have the duel in the back yard. "Alright then. It's a shame I won't get to show off to the ladies, but I'll meet you there." You head out to the backyard, and within a few minutes your older brother joins you. His casual appearance from before has turned the slightest bit serious, but there's still a smile on his face. "Alright then, it's time to fight. Just a warning- I may not train much, but as you should know by now, I'm not a pushover. There's a reason I never had to after all."
You draw your guandao and your brother draws his sword as the two of you dash towards each other. You...
>allow your antlers to grow and increase to your maximum speed, you need to use your full power and he's your brother. It's not like anyone else would recognize this anyways.
>prepare to counter the first move he sends at you, if you're lacking too much in speed then that will be your best option.
>Other

>>3735518
>>prepare to counter the first move he sends at you, if you're lacking too much in speed then that will be your best option.
I dont trust he wouldn't share it when he is drunk.

>>3735518
>>prepare to counter the first move he sends at you, if you're lacking too much in speed then that will be your best option.

>>3735518
>prepare to counter the first move he sends at you, if you're lacking too much in speed then that will be your best option.
Antlers should only get used in fights to the death.

Accidentally fell asleep, whoops. I'll update in a little bit and then carry on for one or two more since I'm up late tonight.

>>3736519
Alright.

You won't let your horns grow for this fight. You trust your brother not to actively leak your secrets, but who knows if someone else is watching you from afar. It's doubtful, and it's extremely questionable whether someone would recognize what these horns are, but for now it's best not to take chances. You can figure out when to use them later.
Your brother moves towards you, sword in hand, as you stop in place holding your guandao. Your speed will be lacking without using the bloodline of the Horned God, so you'll need to stay where you are and try to counter when he first attacks. Your brother closes in on you, and once he's in sword range you send out a blow at the same time he does. If you attacked when he entered your range he'd just dodge and then attack while you were trying to swing your weapon towards his new position, but this way there's a good chance you'll be able to exchange blows.
You slash out with your guandao, preparing to use 5 Desires, but as your guandao approaches your brother his sword jerks away from its intended path and you feel it hit the hilt of your guandao. It doesn't have enough force behind it to disarm you, but it sends your attack flying off course. At the same time your brother stumbles, likely having underestimated the strength in your attack. You take this opportunity and...
>use 6 Desires on him. If there's an opening, you need to respond with force, and 6 Desires is the most powerful attack you can pull off right now.
>begin the Nine Gusts Halberd, the force of the sixth blow will be greater than a single strike of 72 Desires, so if he keeps trying to block then hopefully you can reach a point where the attack's too strong for him to.
>attack with the extended blow in case he tries to dodge, there's not as much power behind it, but if he starts running away then it will have a better chance to hit than anything else.
>Other

>>3736588
>begin the Nine Gusts Halberd, the force of the sixth blow will be greater than a single strike of 72 Desires, so if he keeps trying to block then hopefully you can reach a point where the attack's too strong for him to.

Doesn't look like there will be a second vote this late at night, so I'll resume in the morning.

>>3736588
>begin the Nine Gusts Halberd, the force of the sixth blow will be greater than a single strike of 72 Desires, so if he keeps trying to block then hopefully you can reach a point where the attack's too strong for him to.
Second vote.
He's trying to disarm us, so he's going to block and look for an opening to hit us.

You try to focus, forcing all of your attention to your brother, your body, and your weapon, before beginning your attack. Your stance changes slightly as you slash out with the first blow of the Nine Gusts Halberd. If he's going to block, then you'll just break his guard!
Your first blow comes down, and your brother maintains his position and blocks it with his sword. A loud clanging noise is made as the two reflect off of each other, and both of you move back a step. Next you charge in again, taking the momentum left from the first blow and funneling it into the second blow. Your brother blocks this as well, and this time you're barely forced back, while he moves back two steps. He seems to realize something, and as you go for the third blow he begins stepping backwards and exits your range.
Your brother laughs as he moves away. "Good try, but you're not going to get me with that. If I had held on another blow it probably would've gotten too fast for me to leave, but two is enough to figure out your intentions." Really? You can't imagine figuring this out due to a second blow having slightly greater force when you don't even use a guandao or a similar technique. What kind of battle sense does he have?!
You don't have much time to think, as your brother closes in on you again. You try to exchange blows with him, but he moves backward just enough to dodge it before attempting to counter with a slash from his sword. It looks like this is how he's attempting to deal with you- a series of light blows from the edge of your range that will eventually wear you down. You...
>let him, even if he's wounding you there's a good chance you can stay in peak condition longer.
>try to catch him with an extended blow next time, if he thinks he figured out your range, then he's sorely mistaken.
>move further in, allowing him to deal you a sizable wound, but giving you a chance to try and grapple him. If you draw him into a fist fight then your strength, defense, and stamina will make it so that you can't lose.
>Other

>>3736844
>>try to catch him with an extended blow next time, if he thinks he figured out your range, then he's sorely mistaken.

>>3736844
>try to catch him with an extended blow next time, if he thinks he figured out your range, then he's sorely mistaken.
Our brother is better than I expected,maybe we should learn some things from him ?

>>3736844
>>try to catch him with an extended blow next time, if he thinks he figured out your range, then he's sorely mistaken.

>>3736844
>>try to catch him with an extended blow next time, if he thinks he figured out your range, then he's sorely mistaken.

>>3736844
>try to catch him with an extended blow next time, if he thinks he figured out your range, then he's sorely mistaken.

First update for the day will be in roughly an hour.

You don't want to just take this and try to outlast your brother, and the idea of being wounded in exchange for moving this into a physical confrontation is decent, but there's no need to resort to that yet. You'll let him have this blow, and then use your extended blow to hit him when he approaches you next time.
Your brother's sword slices through your shirt and leaves a small wound underneath, and before you can do anything in response he moves backwards, exiting your range. A few moments later he approaches from your right side, and you slash your guandao towards him, launching your plan. If your guess is correct then he'll dodge just out of your range, giving you a chance to hit him.
Your guandao nears your brother, and as you expected he jumps a few feet backwards. Good, he should be at the edge of your range! You dislocate your shoulder, lengthening the range of the blow just enough to wound him. As the guandao falls through the air, however, you see your brother go prone, raising his sword above his head in order to block the attack before rolling away.
Damn, you thought that would hit! Not willing to give up you take the chance to dash towards him. He's vulnerable right now, so you should be able to do something. You aim a quick slash towards his body, not wanting to give him any extra time to dodge or block. As your slash moves towards him you see his legs quickly move, and he suddenly kicks against the ground moments before you manage to wound him. He's sent flying backwards, and he tumbles across the stone ground of the arena.
You move towards his location, but he manages to regain his footing just as you approach. The blow you send at him is narrowly dodged, and he moves away, readying his stance. He stares at you for a moment before loosening his stance and loudly exhaling. "That was a good attempt! I felt like something was up, but you still managed to nick me." As he says this, you look at him more closely. You managed to hit him? After a few moments he turns around and you see what he means- you cut through his pants near the ankle and left a light cut. It's not what you intended, but at least it was something.

Your brother begins walking towards you after a second, and you start trying to formulate a new plan given what's happened so far. Your brother's strength is below yours, but his speed is higher. He hasn't shown off any flashy techniques, likely because he hasn't taken the time learn any, but his basics are oddly solid, even though he shouldn't have put much time into those either. As far as you know he's never been in a life or death battle, but his intuition seems to be unreal. Any surprise attacks might be weakened due to a "feeling". You...
>push yourself to your limits and try to wear him out, even if you wound him once for every two or three times he hurts you, you should be able to last longer. It's a straightforward tactic, and it would be hard to see coming.
>prepare to use the extended blow again. It did force him to back off and cut him. He might know about it, but if you mix it in with normal strikes then you can hurt his offense.
>find a chance to force him into physical combat, even if you have to take a wound. In close-quarters he shouldn't be able to win against you.
>Other

>>3737468
>>push yourself to your limits and try to wear him out, even if you wound him once for every two or three times he hurts you, you should be able to last longer. It's a straightforward tactic, and it would be hard to see coming.

I didn't think our was such a natural. Just thought he had a great cultivation speed. Still this should be good.

>>3737468
>>push yourself to your limits and try to wear him out, even if you wound him once for every two or three times he hurts you, you should be able to last longer. It's a straightforward tactic, and it would be hard to see coming.

You need to wear him down. He might be able to read into your attacks a bit, but if it's a long-term plan like this, it shouldn't be possible for him to figure it out without much experience fighting. You shift your tactics, and just try hold on by tooth and nail so that you don't go down. As long as you don't take any major wounds then you should be able to outlast your brother. Still, you can't just turtle up- then there's a chance he could figure it out, even if you think it's unlikely. You continue trying to drive off your brother's attacks to buy a bit of breathing room, and he still manages to land most of them. Your shirt slowly becomes more and more cut up, and your torso is covered with light wounds. Luckily your brother seems content not to go for a finishing blow, so you can continue this indefinitely.
The fight continues like this for 5 minutes, and then 10. It slowly drags out, and while you're in mostly the same shape, your brother's attacks begin to lose his edge and his speed trends downward. After at least 15 minutes, he stops and seems to realize something. Wiping sweat off his brow, he stares at you. "I guess the hardworking one would have more stamina than me. I'll have to finish this then." Your brother holds out his sword in front of him and then dashes towards you at his top speed. It looks like he knows your plan and is trying to finish this.
You hold your guandao up, prepared to counter your brother's blow. An exchange is the chance you were looking for originally, so if he'll allow you to now then you won't mind. The two of you enter each other's range, and once he slashes out with his sword you prepare to use 5 Desires. As you do so, you see his sword veer away from its intended direction immediately, launching out a strike in the opposite one. That's a great feint! As you're thinking about this you feel a force strike your guandao, and it's forced backwards as your brother moves further into your range, reducing the advantage you get from a larger weapon and trying to land his real blow. You raise your weapon up, and it's almost sent flying out of your hand in order to block your brother's next blow. Still, the blow is just weak enough that you can hold onto your weapon! Your plan of wearing him out saved you!
The two of you ready your weapons again, but given the time it takes to attack with your guandao versus the time it takes for him to attack with a sword, you decide to abandon it. You hastily throw it towards your brother, catching him off guard for once and forcing him to block it, while you charge in, fists held up. Your fist manages to collide with his jaw using the opening you got from throwing your weapon, and your brother stumbles backwards. You follow up the first punch with a second and a third, eventually building up into a flurry of blows. Your brother tries to escape, but you grapple him and manage to keep him around.

After a minute of this his face looks pretty terrible, but you can see him smile under the bruises. "Alright, it's your win. Good job." Your brother sits down after saying this, examining his face. He shakes his head and sighs. "Not only did I not get to show off in front of some ladies, now I'll look like this. Hopefully it's fine before the wedding. This duel was a bit of crapshoot, eh?"
A few moments later your brother stands up. "Congratulations, you managed to catch up. I'm sure father would be proud." An awkward silence passes before he continues. "So, it's time to drink? I held up my end of the bargain." You nod, and as you do you notice that someone's approaching. Before you can make them out, you hear your brother yell "Qu'er", so you guess it's his fiancee.
She approaches the two of you and ignores the mess that is your brother's face, to his joking displeasure. The two of them speak for a moment before Ji Quxin turns to you. "I need to see you for a moment, you weren't here earlier so I'll need to talk to you about the wedding." Your brother confusedly asks if he should join in, but she replies that it would 'ruin her surprise', so he butts out. Well, you guess you'll also need to take care of this. You...
>go with Ji Quxin first, it should only take a moment to speak with her and then you can hang out with your older brother.
>go out with your older brother, there's still some time left until the wedding so you can speak to Ji Quxin once you're back.
>Other

>>3738031
>>go with Ji Quxin first, it should only take a moment to speak with her and then you can hang out with your older brother.
She was the one who set up assassins. And seeing us beat her husband. Should atleast make her more wary. Let's see what she wants.

>>3738031
>>go with Ji Quxin first, it should only take a moment to speak with her and then you can hang out with your older brother.

>>3738031
>>go with Ji Quxin first, it should only take a moment to speak with her and then you can hang out with your older brother.

If it doesn't take long then you suppose you should take care of this first. "I'll be with you in a moment brother, I need to talk to Sister Ji for a moment." He nods and smiles as he begins walking away. "I'll be at the bar I'm usually at in, you should know the one-er, although you only went there to chew me out. Still, you know where it is!" Your brother walks away into the darkness as you follow Ji Quxin inside.
Ji Quxin makes some small talk about the wedding and such as you follow her, and eventually you end up in her room. She shuts the door behind her and then begins speaking. "Well, sorry to take up your time like this, but I had some business with you." "Oh, it's alright. Is it something about the ceremony?" Ji Quxin nods in response. "Yes, it's about the ceremony. It's about the time we're holding it."
As she says this you suddenly hear something, and you barely manage to make out a person dressed in all black coming out from under the room's bed at a ridiculous speed. They're holding a knife, and while you're not sure who it's aimed at, you can assume it's you. You throw a glance at Ji Quxin and see that a massive grin has covered her face, but as soon as it appears it's gone. The door behind her is thrown off of its hinges, and Zhu Chao appears as a blur behind Ji Quxin.
Suddenly he passes her, and before you process what's happening you feel blood splatter onto you. You look behind you and see that the person in black is currently missing an arm and being held up by the scruff of their neck. Zhu Chao glances towards the two of you, and after throwing the person in black over one arm, turns to face Ji Quxin. "Don't you think it's a bit overconfident to try something in the enemy camp? It's not like I found you out, but there are only so many families we know in the region the assassin was hired from. I figured there was a 50/50 chance you were involved."
Ji Quxin looks towards Zhu Chao, confused, and stutters slightly as she responds. "Assassin? Do you mean this one? W-Who was it after?" Ji Quxin looks around, as if looking for a another person Zhu Chao could be talking to, and in response Zhu Chao just derisively snorts. "You can live for now. I'll get proper proof later since you've been so kind as to deliver a member of your family to my feet."

Zhu Chao grabs Ji Quxin and slings them over the other arm. "This was the person behind your troubles- from what I can tell she had a good chance of becoming the successor to the Ji Family if your older brother came into power. It was a guarantee before, but given your sudden growth she saw a problem and decided she had to take care of it."
...Ji Quxin tried to assassinate you? You're astonished that someone like her was hidden so close to you- she seemed like such a pleasant woman when you met her. As you process this, Zhu Chao continues. "More importantly, there's the matter of your brother. It's doubtful he was involved, but given that his soon to be wife has just been caught trying to murder you, it's impossible to predict how he'll react. What do you want to do? Should we have some people escort him back to his room?" You...
>tell him that it would be for the best, while your brother processes this he should have an eye kept on him so that he doesn't do anything hasty.
>tell him that it's fine, your brother can deal with this without people looking over his shoulder, you trust him. Still, it's best that you call of your plans for tonight- he probably won't be in the mood given what just happened, it's best to give him some breathing room.
>tell him that it's fine, you'll tell your brother what happened yourself. You had plans, and you're not going to call them off now.
>Other

>>3738220
>>tell him that it's fine, you'll tell your brother what happened yourself. You had plans, and you're not going to call them off now.

>>3738220
>>tell him that it's fine, you'll tell your brother what happened yourself. You had plans, and you're not going to call them off now.

Zhu Chao is best surrogate father figure.

>>3738220
>>tell him that it's fine, you'll tell your brother what happened yourself. You had plans, and you're not going to call them off now

"It's fine, I had plans with him anyways, I'll go and tell him myself." Zhu Chao nods as he says "Alright then, if that's what you've decided." and leaves the room. You slowly walk out of the room and the mansion, absorbing the reality of what just happened. This is the second person who wanted to murder you to seize an important position. Intrigue is really complicated sometimes, huh?
You put on a cloak and leave from a decently-hidden tunnel just in case, surfacing a couple hundred feet away from the estate. From there you move towards town and navigate to where you hazily recall your older brother's favorite bar to be. You've been there several times to lecture him when you were younger, but you never stayed for long, so you don't remember the location too well.
After a short walk you arrive at in a narrow allow in a decent part of the city. The bar is hidden down a staircase in the alley's side, and it's nearly impossible to see from the street. You think it's a small, sort of cramped place, but your brother says it's "cozy". You enter the bar and see that your brother is the only person there besides the bartender. He's holding two shot glasses, and as you enter he looks at you. "I didn't want to start without you, it's good that you showed up! Here, take one."
As you approach your brother hands you a shot glass, and you gladly drink it. It burns slightly as it goes down your throat, and it has a taste you can't exactly identify. "What is this?" "Fu Zha Brandy. It's a classic, but they stopped making it 10 years ago." You nod and take another shot. The conversation moves on, slightly awkwardly, as you look for a chance to break the news.
"...Your fiancee... she tried to kill me." In the middle of some story you weren't paying attention to, you interrupt your brother with this. He stops talking, before chuckling. "Was she that much of a nag about the wedding?" "No, not like that. She literally tried to kill me." There's a short pause before you continue. "I pretended to be in seclusion because there was an attempt on my life. Once I returned she made another one."
There's another pause before your brother takes a swig from a bottle and turns to face you. "Why... why does it have to be her? Couldn't it just be a misunderstanding?" "Doubtful. Zhu Chao said he narrowed down the region where the first assassin came from, and when the second one attacked me there was just this huge, sickening grin on her face. I believe him." Your brother awkwardly scratches his neck before silently getting up, leaving some money on the counter, and beginning to walk away. "I have some business to take care of. I'll see you later."
>"Alright."
>"I'm coming with you."
>Other
That's it for the night, thanks for voting.

>>3738497
>>"I'm coming with you."

>>3738497
>>"I'm coming with you."

>>3738497
>I'm coming with you."

>>3738497
>>"I'm coming with you."
Don't beat your fiance bro, it's a bad look.

>>3738497
>"I'm coming with you."
I think the last thing he needs right now is to be alone.

Update in 30 to 60 minutes.

"I'm coming with you." As your brother goes to leave you stop him, not wanting him to do anything drastic. He glances at you, a slightly dull look in eyes, and then sighs. "Alright, I'm going to bed then. You won't follow me there, will you?" You don't say anything, and the two of you silently walk back to the estate. You tried to start up a conversation at one point, but he seemed lost in thought and didn't respond.
Once the two of you are at the estate your brother heads towards his room, as he said he would. Once he's partway down the hall he stops for a moment before turning to you. "At some point a man has to accept responsibility for what they've caused, or they can't be stand proud anymore. I hope you'll let me take care of this." After saying this he goes into his room. You stand nearby for a couple minutes and he doesn't leave his room, so you...
>go to bed, you suppose you're done with all this for the night. Even if your brother decides to 'take responsibility', you should let him- taking that right away from wouldn't be fair. If you brought someone like that into the family then you'd want to deal with them yourself.
>get Zhu Chao to have someone watch your brother. That line is slightly ominous, and you don't want him getting involved further. You can't let this mess escalate.
>Other
I'll be gone for up to a couple hours after this update, irl stuff came up.

>>3739828
>go to bed, you suppose you're done with all this for the night. Even if your brother decides to 'take responsibility', you should let him- taking that right away from wouldn't be fair. If you brought someone like that into the family then you'd want to deal with them yourself.
Her dying doesn't bother and it won't hurt our brother to take some responsabilities once in a while.
Hopefully he doesn't kill himself instead.

>>3739828
>>get Zhu Chao to have someone watch your brother. That line is slightly ominous, and you don't want him getting involved further. You can't let this mess escalate.

>>3739840
I'm more worried he's going to go on a warpath on their entire family. He is a very passionate person after all.

>>3739993
I mean if the rest of her family where also ass holes I woudn't have a problem setting the exemple with them and intimidate the other clans.

I'll wait for a tiebreaker. Also, captcha isn't working on Brave or Chrome, anyone else having a problem?

>>3739828
>>get Zhu Chao to have someone watch your brother. That line is slightly ominous, and you don't want him getting involved further. You can't let this mess escalate.

>>3740457
I appreciate that you wait for a time breaker. But if a decent amount of time has passed by I would just roll for it. After a 30 minute call for a tie breaker seems reasonable to me.

What he said is slightly worrying. It's all and good to take responsibility, but given how he's acting you feel like he could end up doing something drastic. You guess you'll just tell Zhu Chao to keep an eye on him. You find Zhu Chao in the basements of the mansion, where Ji Quxin is being held, and tell him about what you brother was saying. He nods and tells him that he'll have someone keep an eye on his door and window.
You go to bed, and wake up in the morning without much adieu. Despite what happened last night, the news has been hushed up and there isn't a panic. The only people that know what happened are probably you, your brother, and Zhu Chao. You get up, have breakfast, and prepare to go train for a bit. Before you find a place to cultivate, however, you see Zhu Chao approaching you.
"The situation has advanced since last night." You look at Zhu Chao, confused and slightly worried and ask how so. "Well, your brother approached me himself after he saw he was being watched. Before that he was probably planning to 'judge' Ji Quxin himself. He talked to Ji Quxin while I made sure he didn't kill her, got a confession, and as expected asked him to help kill you. He declined, I went into the room before he did anything drastic, and then he said he was going over to the Ji family to execute a plan he told me about in more detail. I didn't think he had it in him, but there are some decent benefits from it, and if we're lucky this whole incident will disappear along with Ji Quxin."
Some sort of plan that involves him going over to the Ji family? That sounds slightly dangerous, but you suppose if the news doesn't reach them before your brother does it'll be perfectly fine. Plus, you have the moral high ground and a hostage- they wouldn't dare kill him even if they knew. Before you can ask what the plan is in more detail, Zhu Chao continues. "The second thing he brought up is the issue of who becomes patriarch. He said that he has disgraced the family with this incident, and said the position should go to you. Congratulations, you'll soon be inaugurated as the second patriarch of the Liu family, even if you're a bit young for the job. Still, you'll rise to the position in time."

...So, you've finally reached your goal. After escaping from the jaws of death, your brother has voluntarily stepped down and allowed you to become the second patriarch. You're happy, even if the situation is bittersweet. "Anyways, we'll do something more official in the coming months. In the meantime, it'd be ideal if you could get more experience looking over the families assets and dividing benefits. There was, after all, factions split between you and your brother. Will you give out any benefits to either side?" Zhu Chao stops talking after that, and after some careful thought you...
>tell him that you won't be biased either way, there wasn't a serious competition for the succession, so you should be fair to both sides. The Liu family must be united.
>give some minor benefits to the people who supported you, it's best if they feel they actually benefited from backing you all this time. If you don't keep morale up it's bound to backfire.
>give sizable benefits to the most important people who supported you. You'll need to form a group of people who you can trust and send off to do important jobs in the future, and now's a good chance to do that. They'll stand out slightly, but it's good in the long run.
>Other
>>3740550
If it's an important choice like that one I won't roll even if it takes a long time. Anyways, I just got back from irl stuff or else I would've given a "waiting for tiebreaker" post earlier than that.

>>3740608
>>give some minor benefits to the people who supported you, it's best if they feel they actually benefited from backing you all this time. If you don't keep morale up it's bound to backfire

>>3740608
>>give some minor benefits to the people who supported you, it's best if they feel they actually benefited from backing you all this time. If you don't keep morale up it's bound to backfire.
best

>>3740763
the best thing we could do is try and do it subtly. We want the family to prosper as a whole. And divides are never great. But they did support us. So a small amount of preference should not hurt to much.

Well, you suppose you do need to provide some benefits to those supporting you. Still, it's a careful balance. If you give them too much the family won't be united, and if you give them too little they'll think that you're a miser who doesn't properly reward people. You think a good idea would just be quietly handing out some monetary rewards to the elders who showed support of you and finding some suitable weapons or training materials for the juniors. Either way it's not visible or exaggerated.
You tell Zhu Chao your thoughts, and he nods. "I guess this would be a good time to show you the family's books then. I've been keeping track of them until now, but seeing as you'll be taking control of the family, it's only proper you take a look at them." Zhu Chao leads you to his office, where he pulls out an extremely thick book bound in leather. "The finances of the family are tracked here. To summarize some of the important points for you, we have 35,000 gold coins a month in discretionary spending. The amount that goes into storage tends to be 20,000 a month. This started around three years ago, before that we didn't have the leeway to save anything. Overall the savings are 720,000 gold coins."
After receiving the important information you open up the books and begin looking through the nitty gritty. Income, expenses, deeds to land, all of it. It turns out that the net income is actually pretty high, but since your family hasn't actually raised many experts and hasn't had the time to save up much money, several elders here are being paid on a monthly or yearly basis to help the family in case of conflict and to carry out various tasks. Their existence here is important for the time being since Zhu Chao is only staying here temporarily. It's expensive, but ultimately too important to cut back on.
While looking through the income, you notice that some money is coming in from places outside of Vermilion City. You ask Zhu Chao about it, and are informed that your father's old home and a restaurant his parents used to run before their death are located in the eastern reaches of the country. The home is currently a small museum dedicated to your father, while the restaurant is still a normal restaurant. Both send payments over every month.
Besides that there's not much else interesting. You...
>close the books and go back to your training, you're done here.
>deposit some of your funds into the family's savings, they could use it. [Current funds: 147k gold coins]
>take some of the family's savings out for personal use. You have some purchases you'd like to make.
>take some of the family's savings out in order to invest in or create a business. You have an idea. (Explain what it is and the scope of the investment if you have an idea.)
>Other

>>3741060
>>take some of the family's savings out in order to invest in or create a business. You have an idea. (Explain what it is and the scope of the investment if you have an idea.)
Invest in hiring high tier artisans. With in two or three industries our family deals in. To increase our advantage. Or make up where we lack.

>>3741060
>>close the books and go back to your training, you're done here.

>>3741105
This
What industries are we in?
I'd still say something like a 500,000 investment into this. Make it significant. And we can grow while Chao is still with us. From the profits we invest in our families cultivators.

>>3741232
Most of your families profits come from reselling things. Restaurants, shops reselling weapons or pills at an ordinary level, things like that. Most of them focus on the lower-quality, mass appeal approach besides the Dozen Treasure Pavilion, which has a few treasures at a higher level. You're not sure how it managed to accumulate so many treasures with your family's short history, but Zhu Chao probably played a major role in collecting them. Anyways, this tactic makes sense because while Vermilion City is large, it's not large enough for powerful cultivators to visit it for no reason.
>>3741105
>>3741232
Since you want to invest in a field such as crafting expensive furniture, weapons, pills, or paintings, do you want to send someone to look at prices for shops in the capital or another, larger city where there would be a sizable market for them? Do you want to sell them here and hope someone will come once they're made? Do you care which trade good you specialize in?

>>3741282
More craftsmen and a sizable increase to the apothecary so we are less reliant on reselling things. And are creating them ourselves.
As well as training the most talented craftsmen under family.
We should keep them in our city for now. Let's keep the expansion local for now make less enemies. Till we have complete control over the city.

>>3741282
Weapons and pills. A 500,000 sounds good. We really commiting to this.
We also make a really good profit by ourselves.
Once we can our apothecary set up well enough. We can provide for ages supplied that are hard to come by. Meaning we can train them faster and we can make a greater profit for our house while still making a decent profit for our own pocket. While they get big enough to supply themselves and be profitable.

>>3741352
>>3741389
(this is partially for confirmation, partially to work through my thought process)
Alright, so you want to mainly increase the production of pills by hiring some young apothecaries and one or two more experienced ones to train them and produce some superior pills. (Keyword some, Vermilion City doesn't have the market for too many. You should probably stop at one apothecary, and most of his time will be spent training your new recruits.) This will be a sizable upfront cost plus whatever it takes to keep the more important apothecaries working, and in exchange your income will eventually increase greatly due to the cost of pills being replaced by the cost of the apothecaries and herbs.
Besides this some younger craftsman will be hired in other fields you resell items in. The focus won't be as heavy, but it will be there.
update after I shower

>>3741461
Ahh alright.
I think that sounds good. We will have to rely less on outside craftsmen. And we will gain some more experienced ones on our own for the family's wealth.

>>3741461
>>3741454
Well, it's a good plan. We can provide for ourselves and gain more skilled craftsmen in the long run.

Since your family has the funds to begin doing so, you think it'd be best to start switching over from selling items made by others to recruiting your own specialists. You'll make a small push in most fields, while focusing on one in particular. For the time being you may as well keep it local, actually opening a branch in the capital would require you or someone you trust to be there for a while to make it run properly.
You'll start by hiring some apothecaries. The Liu family has a shop that sells herbs and some pills, so expanding what's available and producing it yourself seems like a good idea. You can also produce some relatively valuable herbs for the apothecaries there, so it will save on costs.
You explain your idea to Zhu Chao and after thinking it over he shrugs. "I'm honestly not a businessman by trade, but it seems viable. You'll probably want to recruit the experienced apothecary first to build this around. Their attitude and willingness to train the younger ones will affect things greatly." That makes sense. "Do you know anyone for the position?" "A few people, but I don't think they'd take it. I can talk to some people and ask if there's someone who's interested. It will probably take two or three months, but I'll find some candidates."
With that sorted, you close the books and leave. A small amount is withdrawn from the savings in order to fund the first of the ads, and more money is prepared in order to recruit some young craftsmen in fields other than forging pills. You'll need to wait until you have the more experienced craftsman before drawing those up.
Later in the day Zhu Chao informs some of the other elders that you'll be becoming the clan's second patriarch, and you get private congratulations from them. From here the news will slowly circulate throughout the family, and it will likely be an open secret in Vermilion City within a couple of weeks at the latest.
As you're thinking about this, a courier arrives at the residence with a letter for you. You open it, and see that it contains information about the Northern Wastes. It must be Feng Jun's first letter full of information to you. Most of it isn't terribly important but interesting, but there is one section that will likely matter. The raid you witnessed before leaving Border City wasn't the only one. Several groups from the deserts north of the Northern Wastes have begun moving south and raiding tribes to sustain themselves due to a drought. Border City has sent out some forces, but for the time being haven't made any major moves.

A few days pass, and by this time most of the family knows that you'll be becoming the second patriarch. Besides this, another letter arrived from Feng Jun. Apparently Border City mobilized all of their forces in concert with the Ki Family in order to begin driving away the raiders from the deserts. This looks like it might turn into a war at this rate. Still, it will be on the regional level at most. It shouldn't affect where you are. The days continue moving forward as the details of your inauguration are worked out, and you...
>cultivate, you need to gain strength befitting your new position.
>focus on running more of the family's affairs hands-on, you need to learn to be a good patriarch while Zhu Chao is still here to support you.
>help Zhu Chao with your business plan and prepare some letters for Horned Island and the Yu Family asking about any able craftsmen they have who are interested.
>Other

>>3741517
>>cultivate, you need to gain strength befitting your new position.
>>help Zhu Chao with your business plan and prepare some letters for Horned Island and the Yu Family asking about any able craftsmen they have who are interested.
We should be able to do them both.

>>3741526
Thus in the intrest of moving forward. We have that fight coming in in the year. And we should be training like crazy.

I'll leave this update for whenever I break up tomorrow, thanks for voting.

>>3741641
sounds good. Thanks for running man.

>>3741526
Support.
Now that we're a confirmed patriarch we should look over to the Northen Waste and employ Cai Fang. Participating in the war might give some weight to our name too.

You focus on cultivating, but take some time out of your schedule to write up some letters for the Yu family and Horned Island asking if they have any craftsmen who would be interested in working for the Liu family. You don't have the time to watch over the entire process, but you try to stay updated where you can while you're cultivating.
A couple more days pass, and Zhu Chao interrupts you cultivation to show you a letter and a small book bound in leather. First you take a look at the letter, which is pretty short. This is blackmail that Ji Quxin had on the rest of the family. It contains information on transfer of funds related to the Cactus trade. Use it as you see fit. I'll return to the family eventually, for the time being I think I'll wander." You guess your brother achieved his goal, but "Cactus"? Does he mean the plant? Why would that be illegal?
You ask Zhu Chao about this, and he informs you that 'Cactus' is a drug for cultivators that was made illegal a couple hundred years ago due to its negative affects on the country's talents. You guess this means you have a lot of dirt on the Ji family. You flip through the book next, and are surprised by the massive quantities of gold that seem to be flowing through the family due to this trade. It's probably the only thing propping them up at this point. Now that you have blackmail on the Ji family you...
>get rid of Ji Quxin while subtly informing the Ji family of what you have. That should end this incident cleanly.
>turn the information into the government and see what they decide to do with it. The Ji family will fall before they can cause you any trouble, and you might get a reward.
>send a letter over to the Ji family requesting something in exchange for your silence. Now that you've taken hold of their weakness, you need to take advantage of it. (Name your price)
>Other
>>3741641
I meant to say 'wake up', not 'break up', that's an amusing typo.

>>3742126
>turn the information into the government and see what they decide to do with it. The Ji family will fall before they can cause you any trouble, and you might get a reward.

>>3742126
>>turn the information into the government and see what they decide to do with it. The Ji family will fall before they can cause you any trouble, and you might get a reward.

You'll forward this information to the government and see what they decide to do. You could extort the Ji family on your own, but this course of action will destroy them from the roots. With the country's most powerful faction after them, there's no way they'll be able to do anything to you.
You put the book and some information into a letter, put your family's seal on top, and then hand it off to Elder Chu to deliver to the capital. If it was lost of tampered with before it reached the capital then it would undo everything your brother did to get a hold of this, so you need to send someone strong and trustworthy with it.
After taking care of this issue you practice the Nine Gusts Halberd for a few hours. At this point you can pull off the 6th blow most of the time, and soon you'll move onto the 7th. Once you're done training you leave the estate and visit Dai He. You discuss what happened in the Northern Wastes in more detail and tell him about what Horned Island was like, while he tells you about his breakthrough and the going-ons in his family in detail. It's relaxing, and it's nice to have someone you can confide in.
You speak to Dai He about your business plan, and he offers you some valuable pointers and tells you he'll help out at some point. You're glad to have his help since he comes from a family that focuses on mercantile pursuits, and is honestly the best person to go to about something like this.
Nearly a week passes before you're interrupted from your cultivation by news of someone at the gate. Apparently they're a man in their late 20s who insists on meeting the 'young patriarch' in order to discuss a 'private business proposition'. He has no background that he can tell the guards about, and isn't a cultivator. You...
>have them bring him in, it'd be a shame if you missed out on something important just because of his appearance. At worst you can treat it as entertainment. Plus, you're not even officially in this position anyways, how does he know? Only the families in Vermilion City should know anything about your coming inauguration as second patriarch of the Liu family.
>tell them to turn him away, if you accept meetings from everyone who visits then it will reduce your authority and be a pain in the long run. You need to keep maintain standards.
>Other

>>3742456
>have them bring him in, it'd be a shame if you missed out on something important just because of his appearance. At worst you can treat it as entertainment. Plus, you're not even officially in this position anyways, how does he know? Only the families in Vermilion City should know anything about your coming inauguration as second patriarch of the Liu family.
And if he does anything stupid we'll turn him into a donut.

>>3742456
>>have them bring him in, it'd be a shame if you missed out on something important just because of his appearance. At worst you can treat it as entertainment. Plus, you're not even officially in this position anyways, how does he know? Only the families in Vermilion City should know anything about your coming inauguration as second patriarch of the Liu family.

Well, there's no harm in inviting them in. You'd hate to miss out if this was something important. You tell the people by the gate to send him in, and find a decent room to meet in. A minute later a tall, lanky man in his late 20s enters the room. His clothes are slightly gaudy, and you guess he could be some sort of minor merchant.
Upon entering the room he turns to you and introduces himself. "I'm Zheng Hai, I heard about you through a friend of mine in Vermilion City and hurried over. To cut to the chase, I'm looking for a backer. I'm not a businessman, that was a lie necessary for the people at the gate. I'm a gambler, and I'm participating in a certain underground tournament that takes place every eight years- The Yutian Cup. The preliminaries narrow down the possible contestants into 64 finalists, and I managed to get through it. The only problem is that the money staked for each person participating is 30,000 gold coins. If you don't have a backer or the cash they'll still let you in, but if you lose your life is forfeit. Some die, some go into indentured servitude, it's not pretty. I think I can safely get into the Top 8 or 16 of the tournament and drop out with half the winnings earned, but if something were to happen it's not a risk that I want to take. That's why I've spent the past few weeks looking for someone to put up the money, and after I heard about someone new heading the Liu family, I thought it would be a good chance. Anyways, are you interested?"
That is... quite the story. If it's true, then this is interesting, but is the man really as skilled as he says he is? Plus, this would be quite the risk. 30,000 gold coins isn't a huge sum for you, but you don't like to throw away money. You...
>ask him to tell him more and discuss possible profit splits and get more information about this. You're interested.
>tell him to show you that he's a talented gambler. You know how to play poker and mahjong even if you aren't good, and there are some other people in the family. If he can't thoroughly destroy you and show off a few tricks, then all this is bullshit.
>turn him away, whether he's telling the truth or not you don't want to get involved. The payout could be decent, but the risk is also considerable.
>call Zhu Chao in and ask him what he thinks, given how odd this situation is you should get his opinion.
>Other

>>3742646
>>call Zhu Chao in and ask him what he thinks, given how odd this situation is you should get his opinion.

>ask him to tell him more and discuss possible profit splits and get more information about this. You're interested.

>>3742658
I like this but we are not letting him use our name. We could use our personal funds after he tells us more and who gave him our name.
If he cant even give us the name of someone we know personally. Fuck this deal.
He tells us more prove he is good. And we stick someone with him at all times. Once we hear more about this, and if we choose to go ahead. We stick an elder with him at all times.

Alright, you'd be lying if you said you weren't interested. Still, you think you'll need Zhu Chao's help with this- it's a slightly outlandish situation after all. You call someone in and have them send for Zhu Chao, and he arrives after five minutes of awkward waiting. In that time you see Zheng Hai pull a deck of cards out of his pocket and start shuffling it to keep his hands busy. You don't take much note of it at first, but afterwards you notice that he's flipping over every card after he shuffles the deck. After a few repetitions of this, you realize that the order of the cards is exactly the same every time after he shuffles it. If he can do this as a mortal, it definitely means he's an experienced gambler, even if this tournament is nonsense.
When Zhu Chao arrives you relay the situation to him. He isn't familiar with Zheng Hai, but he has heard of the The Yutian Cup, and the details match what he recalls. "If you're in The Yutian Cup you have the introductory letter, correct?" Zheng Hai laughs and pulls a small token out of his pocket. "Old man, you know that it's a token, not a letter. Even if I was an impostor I wouldn't fall for that." Zheng Hai tosses the token over to Zhu Chao, and he examines it closely before grunting. "This is real. It's made of materials that the leading gang in the country has a near monopoly on. It wouldn't be worth making a counterfeit just to try and scam 30,000 gold coins out of us."
Now that his story is mostly confirmed, you move onto the conditions and some other questions you have. "Are you using my name for this?" Zheng Hai laughs in response. "Why would I use your name? I'm the gambler- to me you're just a check I need for entry. The backers stay mostly secret besides a few established gamblers who have competed in multiple tournaments for forces like The Five Families, or occasionally from foreign countries. Despite the name of the tournament, people from outside the country make up 10 or 20 percent of the contestants."
There's a short pause before he continues. "Still, I say that, but I'm not going to rip you off. Since you're my backer, you'll get a good cut. We split the winnings half and half. I'm confident in getting past the first two rounds and entering the Top 16. At that point I should have 90,000 gold coins from winning the first round, and 90,000 gold coins for every person I beat in the next round. That's 270,000 to 360,000 gold coins depending on whether one of my opponents drops out. My earnings are cut in half if I drop out, so if I have to drop out before playing in the Top 16 I pay back my 30,000 gold coins and split the profits in half. Split it in half again for what I give you, and it will be around 70,000 gold coins in the absolute worst case. Realistically it will be above that, and there's a good chance I'll be in the Top 8."

"One last question- how'd you hear of me." Zheng Hai laughs slightly in response, apparently not afraid of being surrounded by two cultivators. "I don't give away my information sources, but come on, it's not like this is a secret. I can talk to any family in the city and get information about what's going on in the Liu family if I know the right people. If I just wanted to know your name and not that you were becoming the patriarch, then it's stupidly easy- you're not famous, but you're not exactly hidden away."
After he finishes talking, he chimes in with one last statement. "Oh, and if you're wondering why I'm not dealing with a larger family, most of them already have their own horses in this race. Too stuffy to deal with anyways. Most people approach juniors in those families anyways- the old men are too occupied running the family to care for a 'game' like this."
After hearing everything Zheng Hai has to say, you...
>take the money from your personal funds and accept, this is a good chance to earn money. You want to go along with Zheng Hai while covering you face to see this in person though- you're interested, and there's no such thing as being too careful with something like this.
>take the money from your personal funds and accept, this is a good chance to earn money. When the time for The Yutian Cup comes along, you'll send someone you trust along with him.
>decline the offer, this is too risky for your taste. You have no proof that this man is as good a gambler as he claims he is, and you don't know about the skill level at this 'Yutian Cup'.
>have Zheng Hai stay here for a while and find some skilled gamblers. If he can cleanly beat all of them, then it's likely he's telling the truth about his skill. If he can't, then he's probably going to be knocked out in the first round and was looking for a safety net.
>Other

>>3742778
>>take the money from your personal funds and accept, this is a good chance to earn money. When the time for The Yutian Cup comes along, you'll send someone you trust along with him.
This is a decent amount of money but not particularly for us.

>>3742778

>take the money from your personal funds and accept, this is a good chance to earn money. When the time for The Yutian Cup comes along, you'll send someone you trust along with him.

After hearing everything in detail, this seems like a good chance to make money. You aren't personally interested in gambling, but you can send someone along to watch the situation whenever this 'Yutian Cup' happens. Your brother would have been perfect and probably would've enjoyed it greatly, but since he's gone you'll just have to look for someone else.
You tell Zheng Hai you're fine with his 50/50 split of the profits. He smiles and shakes your hand. "Good to do business with you. Get somebody to write up a contract with your seal on it and give me a copy- I want to make sure you're not going to try to trick me or force me to hand over more than 50% of my winnings after all. We can only have mutual trust when there's something like that to back it up." Well, that makes sense. You'd rather have a cautious gambler than one that would trust you without anything to back it up.
You have Zhu Chao take care of the contract and return to your cultivation after you get lodgings sorted out for Zheng Hai. You make sure you have the money separated from the rest of your personal funds, but don't give it to him the time being. If he's using the contract to make sure you don't pull anything, you're going to wait until he leaves to give this to him to make sure he doesn't try to run with it beforehand. You don't distrust him outright, but it's best to be cautious.
You return to your cultivation, and the days slowly pass by. There's no more contact from your brother, so it seems like he was serious about his 'wandering'. No other visitors come for you, but the preparations for your inauguration as the next patriarch steadily move forward. Eventually you receive another letter addressed for you, this time from the capital. It's from the man in charge of the "Banned Goods and Smuggling Department".
You open the letter, and it thanks you for your contribution and says that they'll be performing a raid on the Ji family soon to act on the evidence provided. There's 5000 gold coins with the letter, and after looking through it you also find a sloppily-written note. "The reward isn't much, but this is the biggest job we've had in a while. This could earn me a promotion, so I owe you one. - Chang Long" Well, you didn't get much in terms of money, but a favor from someone in the government is useful. You...
>should hold onto it, who knows when you'll need it.
>can use it now since the Ji family will be raided and start falling apart. Your brother is the fiancee of one of the Ji family's leading figures, and he's one of the only ones not involved in this mess, so it's only right that some of the remnants of the family come into his ownership and are merged into your family.
>send a letter back asking if there's anywhere with low rent in the capital. This is a good chance to expand there if he can help you out.
>Other

>>3743093
>>should hold onto it, who knows when you'll need it.
OP are slaves a thing in this setting?

>>3743093
>>should hold onto it, who knows when you'll need it.

>>3743093
>can use it now since the Ji family will be raided and start falling apart. Your brother is the fiancee of one of the Ji family's leading figures, and he's one of the only ones not involved in this mess, so it's only right that some of the remnants of the family come into his ownership and are merged into your family.

>>3743604
if slaves or indentured servitude for criminals is a thing in the setting it would make for an interesting case. Especially with what is likely to be an all-out war within the northern wastes.

It would be nice to keep this Chang Long on our mind and try to have contacts with the police,extending our influence and all.

>>3743186
Slaves do exist but it depends on the country. In Yutian Country there's indentured servitude for debt or severe criminal sentences, and even if a lifetime sentence is given it never extends to the next generation. Sometimes the children end up debt anyways from people charging living expenses as a child and have to pay those off before they leave.
But yeah, sentences are usually given to the government for public works projects or other things that need a lot of manpower (such as the military), and only about 20% of indentured servants end up in public hands.
Fell asleep early, update in the morning.

Now that I think about it,it would be nice to invest in big mines for criminals,I wonder if the government would be willing to pay for it.

>>3744193
I agree we will be eventually setting something up in the capital. Why use it for some servents we could buy/rent however that works. Or just a plot of land or two. We would be better off setting up our selves. Once we have a foothold. Invite him over and chat about the city become closer. And use that favor when it matters. I am sure If we get to large someone will begin to try and push us out in the capital.

You don't get a favor from a police captain and use it on a speeding ticket. You use it when you've got a DUI with a hooker in the back seat, and you're running for office. lol

First update of the day in 30 to 90 minutes.

>>3744736
I think that if we can help him get into higher ranks we'll get a more permanent kind of favor. Extending our reach into the security industry seems usefull too.

Well, it's useful to have a favor. You could take advantage of it given the situation right now, but who knows when you'll need it. It's best to keep it. You go back to practicing for the next couple of days, and hear vague news about one of the elders losing several thousand gold coins in a bet with Zheng Hai. You're curious what rules they used to even the playing field between someone at Acupoint Opening and a non-cultivator, but it's not worth looking into. At least this proves that Zheng Hai is worth something as a gambler.
Elder Chu returns a few days after the letter from the capital arrives, and arrangements around your inauguration as the second patriarch of the Liu family move forward. There will be an official announcement in a couple of days, and then a part in a few weeks while it will be officially be announced. Since your father was the one to found the clan there's no real tradition, and so you don't really have to deal with much, which is nice. The elders tried to figure out if they should make something up to make it seem more formal, but ultimately decided that it wasn't their right.
The Ji family sends a few letters to your family, their patience from whatever your brother told them apparently wearing off. You ignore them and the letters suddenly stop, so you suppose the Ji family got what they deserved. You tell Zhu Chao to do what he deems best with Ji Quxin not that the Ji family can't do anything about her, and you look over the letters you've been getting from Feng Jun. They describe the intensification of the conflicts in the Northern Wastes. More raiding parties have been trying to attack villages in the northeast of the Northern Wastes, and Border City has continued to fight them. The tribes near the Holy Lake have begun mobilizing their forces just in case, and recently an Acupoint Opening expert from Border City died in the conflict. It looks like this will continue to intensify until the drought in the deserts ends.
As time goes on you cultivate and try to figure out what to do in the future. There's a bit more than seven months left until the Yutian Martial Conference, which is the only solid plan you have in mind for the time being. Before that you can do whatever you want since you don't have to spend your time struggling to become the family's patriarch. You...
>figure you'll stay here, get used to running the family, and cultivate. There's no place like home.
>will visit the capital, you've never been to a city that large. Maybe you can meet a few people and see what a real flourishing city looks like.
>will tour a bit around the country and find decent opponents to spar with. Along the way you might see some interesting things.
>want to head to the south, the sea trade and exploration is, as always, booming. Maybe you can get a cheap ship and scout for some uninhabited land that the Liu family could lay claim to. As long as someone has the forces and money to protect land, then it's theirs down there.
>Other

>>3744872
>>figure you'll stay here, get used to running the family, and cultivate. There's no place like home.
We've been away for to long. And we've got to get a handle on the family businesses. Watch the growth and train.

>>3744872
>>figure you'll stay here, get used to running the family, and cultivate. There's no place like home.

You've been away for a while and you have plenty of things to learn about managing a family clan, so for the time being you should just stay here and cultivate. Over the next couple of days you juggle cultivating, examining the state of the family and trying to learn things about it in more detail, and dealing with your plan of expanding the businesses. While you do all this it's officially announced that you'll become the second patriarch of the Liu clan, and you receive many congratulations now that the news is no longer just an open secret.
After the news is announced, it's time to invite people to the ceremony. The expenses aren't enough to matter, so the invitations are more of a political move. They'll also help set the course for the future of the family. You...
>make it so that only people who are a part of the Liu family are allowed to attend. This can be considered a somewhat sacred event, and it's best that the Liu family stands in solidarity in times like these.
>invite the local, smaller families. It's natural that they come to things like these, and your invitation can be considered both a chance to show your family's strength and a declaration that you'll maintain good relations with the other families.
>invite the local families and anyone who someone in the family has a connection with. This is a major event, and it would be beneficial to bolster the numbers and try to make connections under the pretense is letting people reconnect.
>invite every important family and sect that will accept your mail. It's doubtful that many of them will attend, but it can be considered a widespread announcement. If you're lucky then you might get more guests than you expected.
>Other

>>3745403
>>invite the local, smaller families. It's natural that they come to things like these, and your invitation can be considered both a chance to show your family's strength and a declaration that you'll maintain good relations with the other families.

>>3745403
>>invite the local families and anyone who someone in the family has a connection with. This is a major event, and it would be beneficial to bolster the numbers and try to make connections under the pretense is letting people reconnect.

>>3745403
>>invite the local, smaller families. It's natural that they come to things like these, and your invitation can be considered both a chance to show your family's strength and a declaration that you'll maintain good relations with the other families.
Sounds good.
OP do we rule this town with an iron fist? Or are we just a major player in a city divided between 1-3 families?

>>3745807
You're just the only major faction in a city with only small families. There were two other large families living here, but Zhu Chao destroyed them after his arrival because they had been threatening your family.
update in a little bit

>>3745989
>Zhu Chao continues to be the best

You'll invite anyone you can find an excuse to invite. There's no reason to go sending out random invites to families you don't know in order to make the event bigger, but you may as well make it as large as possible. It's a good way to try and make connections. You begin writing invitations and asking others to invite people they know, preparing for a major inauguration ceremony. You'll use it to usher in a new era for the Liu clan and for yourself.
Several weeks pass as you prepare for your inauguration as second patriarch and cultivate. Zheng Hai leaves the manor with Elder Chu to attend The Yutian Cup. Just in case the tournament is held close enough you give Elder Chu a handful of cheap sound-transmission talismans. It wouldn't be worth the money if the tournament was far away to use long-distance sound transmission talismans, but if it's close enough then you'd prefer updates on how it's going.
It's a bit of a time crunch between all these arrangements, learning to manage the family, and cultivating, but you do manage to make some progress while cultivating. You...
>can pull off 7 Desires once in combat, although you'll be almost unable to fight afterwords.
>are able to perform the first seven strikes of the Nine Gusts Halberd without trouble.
>begin to close in on Middle Blood and Viscera Tempering slightly faster than you expected.
>Other
That's the last update for the night, thanks for voting. I'll run on the 14th and 16th, and then I'll have to stop for a while while I deal with uni starting.

>>3746431
>>begin to close in on Middle Blood and Viscera Tempering slightly faster than you expected.

>>3746431
>begin to close in on Middle Blood and Viscera Tempering slightly faster than you expected.
This is the most important,our techniques will get a much bigger advantage than just having one more desire or a 7th Nine Gusts hit.

>>3746431
>begin to close in on Middle Blood and Viscera Tempering slightly faster than you expected.

>>3746431
So just to be clear only Chao knows about our new bloodline?
Has anyone outside of the north wastes and people high up in the capital know about the descendants of the beast gods? If we all of a sudden grew horns in the middle of a fight would a high-class descendant of one of the 5 families know what that means and move on quickly and not give us an advantage mid-fight from how weird it is?

>>3747216
There probably are some rumors in the Northen Waste about the descendants but I doubt anyone else would've even heard of the beast gods. And we'll most likely only use our horns in death fights so unless we want to assassinate a junior from the 5 families I doubt this would be a problem.

>>3747234
I mean in the tournament. Where there will be many eyes.
We know one family in northern wastes is apparently not so much a hidden secret.

>>3747216
>So just to be clear only Chao knows about our new bloodline?
You told Zhu Chao and Dai He, so they should be the only ones outside of Horned Island who know about it.
>Has anyone outside of the north wastes and people high up in the capital know about the descendants of the beast gods
As far as you know no one outside of the Four God Clans knows about human descendants of the beast gods. There are some beasts descended from them in the Northern Wastes that exist, but they're rare and many people think that they're just myths. As for the Nine Beast Gods, it isn't common knowledge outside of the Northern Wastes but it isn't particularly obscure. If anyone spent time in the Northern Wastes they would know about them.
>If we all of a sudden grew horns in the middle of a fight would a high-class descendant of one of the 5 families know what that means
If you grew horns in the middle of a match it would be confusing, and as far as you know all people would be able to tell is that you have some sort of bloodline. There should be almost no way of knowing what bloodline it is if they're not from one of the Four God Clans.

>>3747349
So bloodlines are an open secret. In that, they exist and most cultivator families have at least heard of one or two bloodlines with weird body features?
How common are bloodline families? Any we have heard of in/around the capital or major families?

>>3747364
You don't think there are any important families with bloodlines in Yutian Country, although you heard about one that made people grow a few feathers. Amusingly enough it wasn't powerful enough to help the family out much, it pretty much just made them grow feathers. As for important groups with bloodlines, you heard that Hiqiu Sect is supposed to have one or two sects dedicated to specific bloodlines, but since you're a foreigner and your nations aren't on good terms, you don't know much. 'The Collective' of kingdoms to east is supposed to have kingdom or two where the royal family is based around a bloodline. Besides that they aren't any in particular you've heard of outside of stories. It's the kind of thing many cultivator have heard of, but haven't seen in person.
Next update will be about an hour.

A few weeks pass as your inauguration nears, and your cultivation continues. You feel like you'll reach Middle Blood and Viscera Tempering faster than you've expected, much to your surprise. Hopefully you'll be able to reach it within a month or two. You would have expected it to take longer, but thanks to the Red-Gold Fruit's assistance, you foundation has solidified considerably despite you rushing through each level of cultivation.
Three days before it's time for your inauguration, you get a proper list of attendees. There are quite a few, although you don't recognize some of the names since they're friends of the Liu clan's elders or juniors. It seems that Kinzoku Qin managed to make it after you invited him- now that your assassination problem is over, there's no reason to keep your identity a secret. Yu Qiang, the head of the Yu family, and his two oldest sons are also intending to come. You suppose this will be a good chance to show Yu Qiang how quickly you've advanced with 72 Desires. Besides them there isn't much of note.
It's the day of the inauguration, and everyone begins to meet at your estate. The servants are busy, forced to deal with hundreds of people and made to cook massive amounts of food. The mood in the estate is a jovial one, and you're sure the party will turn out well as a chance to gain new friends and forge a new future for the Liu clan. You intend to...
>spend some time speaking with Kinzoku Qin, since he's from one of the Five Families it'd be good if you can convince him to be an intermediary between your two families and help you make friends within the Kinzoku family.
>speak with the people from the Yu family, show Yu Qiang how you've advanced with your guandao technique and 72 Desires since you last met, and possibly discuss your business plan and how your two families may cooperate more closely.
>speak to whoever you can and strike up some new connections. You can make them deeper in time, but it's impossible to anything if you haven't even met the people.
>Other

>>3747543
>>speak with the people from the Yu family, show Yu Qiang how you've advanced with your guandao technique and 72 Desires since you last met, and possibly discuss your business plan and how your two families may cooperate more closely.

>>3747543
>speak with the people from the Yu family, show Yu Qiang how you've advanced with your guandao technique and 72 Desires since you last met, and possibly discuss your business plan and how your two families may cooperate more closely.

>>3747543
>>speak with the people from the Yu family, show Yu Qiang how you've advanced with your guandao technique and 72 Desires since you last met, and possibly discuss your business plan and how your two families may cooperate more closely

That being said how have the gold silk cocoons come long? Now that we're back we can increase the scope of that as well as increasing our monthly revenue a bit.
Seems like we have a solid plan on increasing our profits month to month and creating our own items so we rely less on others while also increasing our profits and foot traffic into our city. We could provide Yu Qiuang's house with more trade goods since we will be producing more.

We should ask him for some tips and about 72 desires. We should also work on nine gust halberd and our speed. SO that by the time we hit the tournament we're at a much stronger place.

>>3747571
Apparently Dai He is taking care of our personal garden with left over blood,making a huge garden with all the plants we managed to get on the continent+the golden butterfly seems pretty profitable. By the time we get to the Yutian Cup we should've completly masterd 9 gusts halberd and a 7th desire.

Of course you'll speak to as many people as you can during the celebration, but you should focus on talking to Yu Qiang and the others from the Yu family. It'd be beneficial to forge a closer relationship with them, and you'd like to show Yu Qiang how your guandao technique has advanced since then. It'd be nice to get some pointers.
The celebration starts and you speak for around five minutes before everything begins. It's mostly just talking about how you'll stick by the Liu family and guide them towards a bright future, nothing original. Still, people clap, and then it's time to eat and mingle. You find the Yu Qiang and make your way through the crowd, occasionally speaking to people along the way. After ten minutes you've reached him, and open up your talk with some small talk.
You exchange compliments (Yu Qiang does this quite a bit, flabbergasted about your growth since you last saw each other), and decide to show Yu Qiang 6 Desires and the first six blows of the Nine Gusts Halberd before speaking to him about business. Hopefully it butters him up a bit.
After managing to clear a small space around you you show off a few blows, receiving polite applause from those nearby. Yu Qiang's reaction is a stark contrast from this, as he laughs happily. "6 Desires! That's great- at this rate maybe you'll master the whole 36 Desires inside that jade slip! Whoo, it's good to know I left that technique in good hands." It seems your plan worked, as Yu Qiang happily begins chatting with you about the guandao.
You manage to steer the conversation to your business plan after a bit, bringing up the letter you sent. "Mhm, we got it and spread a couple of notices. Not many people were interested, but it directed a few." "Yes, I'm aware, and I thank you for that. I don't want to overstep any boundaries, but I'm curious if you're acquainted with any High-rank Apprentice or Quasi-master Apothecaries who are willing to work with me." Yu Qiang seems like he's thinking for a bit before he nods. "Well, there is one. She used to work for our family so I was hoping to hire her again at some point, but she insists on staying cooped up and doing research. You might be able to employ her in exchange for some funding, although she is a bit.. eccentric. Do you want me to contact her?" You...
>tell him that you're interested, you do need a talented apothecary for your plans. After that you can continue talking.
>thank him but decline the offer, an eccentric who focuses on her research isn't exactly who you need. You can continue looking for a while.
>try to get more information out of him, eccentric? What would the possible costs of hiring her be?
>Other

>>3747571
The Gold Silk Butterflies have made a respectable profit of 20,000 gold coins since you've caught them. There's not really a way to increase the scope unless you wait patiently for their population to increase or hire someone to capture more.

>>3747712
>>try to get more information out of him, eccentric? What would the possible costs of hiring her be?
I'd like to think we could cover her costs. As long as she gives the people we sne dsome time to look over her work and learn from her. We can afford to take a hit. financially for a while while they learn. We want long term growth here.

>>3747712
>>tell him that you're interested, you do need a talented apothecary for your plans. After that you can continue talking.

>>3747716
How much would you say it costs? To capture each butterfly/buy them. We could turn this into a major industry if we're willing to invest in it enough.
We may just want to do it without family instead of person funds.

>>3747734
You're not sure, but it would probably be a sizable amount. Your first guess is however much gold silk a butterfly will produce in 20 years. It could be a bit more, or it could be a bit less, but for a rare species like this that is essentially self-sufficient if you put it in a nice garden, that sounds about right.

>>3747838
And do we know of a place that sells them? Or someone we could send on a mission to buy them wholesale?

>>3747913
We could probably go on regular hikes into the woods we found them before and explore around. Might be more living there still.

>>3747936
Im just not sure given our position and time management if it's worth it.
May just be worth spending the extra money and sending a couple of people from the family that do well in the wilderness. With locals around the woods and pay for that. Or if there is a specialist on these things or a store or business we could buy out.

>>3747913
You don't know, but if you asked around you could probably figure it out. You're not sure if there's someone who sells them wholesale, although you'd likely be able to buy them from accomplished apothecaries, refiners/tailors, or beast tamers in small quantities. Besides that there's probably someone who specializes in jobs like these that you could hire.
anyways, rolling for tiebreaker in 30 minutes

Rolled 1 (1d2)

>>3748014

...Eccentric? Before you ask for an introduction, you need to know how so. "What do you mean by eccentric?" Yu Qiang pauses for a moment before hesitantly replying. "She's.... obsessed with her research to say the least. Even if you employed her it's doubtful she'd give up the majority of her time, and on rare occasions she'll stop work entirely because of some discovery. It's rare, but it's inconvenient when it happens. She's also not the best with others, but it's fine because she's not a diplomat, she's an apothecary." Well, that sounds tolerable, if inconvenient.
"What would she want?" Yu Qiang shrugs in response. "As I said, funding. I don't know if the costs are the same as when I hired her, and when I did so I just paid for a lab and materials. She got paid on commission for every pill she made, and made only the pills she needed to fund her research until she decided to leave and saved a bit." Alright, you guess you'll need to talk to them in person to figure out the exact costs. You can figure out whether to accept or reject them then. "Alright then, I'd appreciate if you could get me in contact with..." "Fan Yi. I'll write a letter to her after I return home, she should only be a few days away if I recall correctly."
There's not much time after that conversation, and you're pulled away to talk briefly to some other guests who came. You're swallowed up in the discussion and meet a few people, but don't get to speak to Yu Qiang again. The night draws on and people begin to leave, and eventually no one is left, making the festivities of tonight seem almost like a dream. You go to bed, eat breakfast, and then return to cultivating as usual. In the afternoon you receive another letter from Feng Jun. Apparently the situation in the Northern Wastes has continued to intensify. The drought in the deserts has dragged on, causing more and more cities in the wastes to resort to raiding in order to preserve their cities. As a result the tribes near the Holy Lake have mobilized their own forces to begin patrolling the area nearby. This is troubling. You...
>tell Feng Jun to return from the Northern Wastes when he has an opportunity, it's useful to have information about the war, but if the entire area turns into a war zone he's in danger.
>keep an eye on the situation, it's a war, but wars are common enough. Feng Jun should be safer than almost anyone in the Northern Wastes just by being on Horned Island.
>send a few people to the Northern Wastes to see if there's anything they're short on. War creates opportunities after all. You didn't incite this war, so it's fine to profit off of it.
>Other

>>3748184
>>keep an eye on the situation, it's a war, but wars are common enough. Feng Jun should be safer than almost anyone in the Northern Wastes just by being on Horned Island.
>>send a few people to the Northern Wastes to see if there's anything they're short on. War creates opportunities after all. You didn't incite this war, so it's fine to profit off of it.

When in the north Inquire about the butterflies.
Now is the time to buy up as much as we can as a luxery item they should be dirt cheap while implements of war and pills and herbs should cost more. We could likely make quite a bit of money. From this. We should invest with our own stockpile of money to add to the investment.

>>3748191
Yeah sounds good. Major investment into this. Might give us a enough to buy a decent spot at the capital and give us a foothold.

>>3748224
This could easily turn into a war if things start heating up. We may be able to keep profiting and gain some experience And fight a bit if things keep heating up. And get to the point that the capital/government has to step in along with the northern wastes.

Well, you'd rather there isn't fighting, but where there's war there's opportunities. The Northern Wastes probably isn't stressed that much from this fighting, but still, the price of war-related goods should rise. Maybe you can make something out of it. You stop cultivating for a bit to speak with Zhu Chao and figure out a few prospective people to send there to canvas the area and look for any business opportunities.
Eventually you settle on a couple members of the Liu clan who operate local businesses but who are non-essential to speak with merchants and Elder Chu to hold onto the money. He's been with the family since your father's time, so it's extremely unlikely that he'd betray you and run off with it. You send them with 200,000 gold coins, which is hopefully more than enough, and give them several long-distance sound transmission talismans to report to you about possible business opportunities once they're there.
A couple days after this it's time for Zheng Hai to leave for a certain location and then be transported to where the Yutian Cup is held. You get an elder to leave with him, and hope that nothing unexpected happens. It's an underground gambling tournament, but as far as you know they wouldn't try anything fishy- if they had no reputation, they wouldn't be able to get entrants and earn money.
You settle back into your routine, and to your surprise receive a message via sound-transmission talisman a couple of days later. It just says that "Zheng Hai has demolished his three opponents in the first round. Technically the top two continued, but the player in second only has 3,500 gold coins left and will likely sink into debt despite his backer if he doesn't win the next round." ..Well, that's good news. You guess Zheng Hai wasn't lying about his skill and can really enter the Top 16 or maybe even the Top 8.
The messages continue throughout the day and Zheng Hai gets into the Top 16 easily, followed by a harder fight into the Top 8. At this point you expect to hear about him dropping out and the final amount of your winnings, but you get another message. "Zheng Hai is refusing to withdraw since it wasn't stated in his contract that he must withdraw at a certain point. When asked if he was sure if he could win this one on one match, he stated that it was a coin flip at best. He seems to intend to continue until he either wins the tournament or, far more likely, he loses the 30,000 gold coins. When I brought up the possible gains/losses, he gave a speech that amounted to him being in it for 'the thrill of the gamble'."

Damn, given his behavior before you thought he was in it for the money. It'll be hard to dissuade him if he's like this. You...
>don't reply, you can't do anything at this point. All you can do is hope he wins.
>send a reply stating to try and promise a better cut of the winnings to lure him out of it. Maybe this is all just a farce to try and improve his terms.
>send a clear threat that if he continues then the contract is void. Of course it isn't, and if you don't keep up your end of the deal it will look terrible for your family, but you can threaten him at least. Maybe it will make him drop out once he thinks his safety net will be gone.
>Other
This will be the last update for now, thanks for voting. I might run on the 16th or I might not, things have turned out way busier than I thought with moving. If I can't run then I'll tell you guys. The next thread should be up in around 7-10 days from now.

>>3748381
>>don't reply, you can't do anything at this point. All you can do is hope he wins.

>>3748378
>don't reply, you can't do anything at this point. All you can do is hope he wins.
IF he wins,we could have a talented gambler working for us in the future.

>>3748381
>don't reply, you can't do anything at this point. All you can do is hope he wins.

Yeah, I won't be running today, expect the next thread in aprox. 7-10 days. I should get into a decent rhythm again once I've been able to take classes a bit and figure out when I'm free.

Moved in and started to get settled down, in between now and the next thread I'll be brainstorming and working on a spreadsheet that helps me track time/money better. Just wanted to update you guys while I don't have time to properly update the thread.

The next thread will be up on Sunday the 25th. For the time being I'll be aiming for a Saturday/Sunday and Monday/Wednesday session each week. In between will be 2-3 updates a day, besides Thursday, when I'll been unable to update. I intend to stick to this schedule as long as votes and time permit, although it may vary due to tests.

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>>3776447
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New thread