>>5802986

Who with a single move, accidently cut both of your arms off and cut a deep ravine through the heavens. Acting quickly, you unleashed one of your secret arts, Cat's Court: Spiteful Blood Legacy" (猫 法院: 刻毒血遗产, Māofǎyuàn: Kèdúxuèyíchǎn), targeting your own precious spilled blood, summoning and channeling the grudges of ten generations of wrongfully murdered magical beasts.

An technique that would've finished the few rivals you theoretically have beneath the heavens, served only as a distraction to the monstrously powerful divinity, by sheer luck, one of the vestiges of enmity who answered your call seemed to have been a relation of his in the distant pass and drove him to such a rage he began to wreck the landscape around his master's abode.

Who as you high tailed it away and found a hiding spot atop the head of a gaudy star jade statue of Old five colors, came out of his den and beat the guardian deity who made the great you feel mortal terror, within an inch of his life so quickly you couldn't even sense their clashing.

However, when said master, the foremost martial god, came looking for you, he was so drunk he was unable to sense you or your spiritual aura as you hid behind the statue of the emperor of the heavens, who really lives in a shack out in the wilderness somewhere.

Just thinking back of the events of this night and early morning, make you realize how many times you've brushed with and courted death today, having risked your life far too often for you to be at all comfortable with since you've teetered on the edge between living and dying just by being in the presence of haughty and pique filled gods more times than you have since you stopped being little notched ear and earned your name, Huanliuxue.

And while the same well groomed and trained survival instinct and healthy sense of caution urges you to simply slip away and continue climbing the sky, by doing the unthinkable and entering the palace of the five colors celestial emperor so you can break out of the celestial courts into the cosmic wilderness beyond and catch a few stars, there is a treasure before your eyes.

Shining red, scarlet, crimson and carmine and smelling irresistible. It is the gold flecked blood of the guardian deity, that has been smeared and splattered all over the ground when his master dragged him around like an abused strawdoll.

For any heretically minded cultivator, that is a treasure that would be worth dying for, but for you, who practices blood sorcery and uses blood Qi extensively and have turned themselves into a perfected, uncursed form of Carmine Mystic without the numerous flaws of the old breed of blood sucking Jiangshi that created the most heathen and wicked art you stole, co-opted and improved just by practicing, that violent ape's blood is worth dying a thousand times over!
Cont

>>5802987

A lick of it would send you rocketing up the ranks of carmine mysticism, unlocking powers and improving your physical cultivation at least ten fold, while using it for the rich blood Qi it gives of, even without purifying and cleansing it, would more than satisfy your need for sources of that most rare form of Qi.

Luckily, while you wouldn't call yourself a practitioner of ice magic, you know enough of it and have enough Water Qi in your meridians and cultivation base to be able to freeze the water in the air and cut it into vials that will never melt, due to the boost your Supreme Yin physique gives to your ice magic.

So, biting your tongue to stop from giggling in delight, you clamber down the great statue with as many ice vials as you can carry, and begin your harvest, using your ability to control blood to make the precious substance funnel itself directly into the vials.

It takes a bit of practice to manage to contain it without the container exploding violently and with a loud pop, but the only god, a tired eyed goddess with her haired tied into a tight bun and scrolls bursting out from every open space of her dress, just nods and waves you away when you stammer something about cleaning up the mess to her when she comes to see why a girl with shocking red hair is on her hands and knees in a puddle of blood, covered in sweat and pale as a corpse.

Divine Disguise integrity reduced by 1, current integrity, 1

Not your finest moment, but hey, at least the banality of her divine appointment kept her from asking any more troublesome questions, allowing you to secure your prize. God's blood turns out to be a tricky material to contain, it evaporates into a shiny, golden powder that blows away on the wind, turning into sparkling light, and it seems to have a mind of its own, that doesn't want to be taken by a demonic beast, making it resist your efforts to capture it every step of the way. However it does have one good property, and that is that when you are able to capture it in your vials of ice, it is able to be greatly condensed so your able to pack away much more blood into the dainty containers than is physically possible.

So while you only got four drops of divine blood out of all your hard work, those four drops are invaluable.

four drops of concentrated guardian deity blood obtained. Held in vials of celestial ice

You stow them away somewhere safe on your person, and decide to not run away with your tail fluffed up and instead to continue on your mission to reach the stars by continuing on to the palace in the horizon, the empty throne of the heavenly emperor. Before anyone whose brain isn't drowned in wine notices what you're up to.
Cont

>>5802989

Rolling one of the vials between your fingers to distract yourself from the fact that the Five Wise Immortal Sages (五哲仙哲, Wǔzhéxiānzhé), the strongest and most powerful immortals besides the old man of course, are probably waiting for you up the road, you notice that the golden tadpoles of Qi in the blood gathers together to form a golden core in its center, that reflects your face better than most mirrors. You return the vial to the hiding place in your clothes with the other three immediately, flicking it up into the air and catching it as it falls back down.

Getting distracted by a pretty face, even your own, now of all times will surely lead to your death. You need a plan if your going to break into the palace of the celestial emperor, even if its empty.

And what is that plan, Huanliuxue?

>Supreme Audacity! Just blitz through the gates and run as fast and far as your legs and numerous techniques can take you! (Haste trial. DC unknown)

>Sacrifice one of the blood vials to cause a distraction (Trickery/ stealth/ magic trial. DC unknown)

>Pretend to be seeking an audience with the five colors celestial emperor, using the lie you've told everyone else up to this point (Deception trial. DC unknown, altered by disguises integrity)

>They know a demonic beast is in the heavens, not a carmine mystic. Rip out your heart and throw it as far as you can, hoping to reform your body around it (Fortitude/ Strength trial. DC Unknown)

>Write in

>>5802990
>Sacrifice one of the blood vials to cause a distraction (Trickery/ stealth/ magic trial. DC unknown)

What do have to look in qstarchive to vote for the last thread?>>5802990
>They know a demonic beast is in the heavens, not a carmine mystic. Rip out your heart and throw it as far as you can, hoping to reform your body around it (Fortitude/ Strength trial. DC Unknown)

>>5803004
Thread 17 is misarchived as 16, while thread 16 somehow got archived but doesn't appear

>>5803005
Yeah, I archived it, but for some reason Suptg freaked out and didn't list it anywhere. And a well meaning anon tried to archive it, despite me mentioning this, and ended up archiving thread 17 by mistake.

>>5802990
>sacrifice one of the vials.

3 is still more than we need. It doesnt hurt to give it up, since we just got it.

>>5802990
>Sacrifice one of the blood vials to cause a distraction (Trickery/ stealth/ magic trial. DC unknown)

>>5802990
>Sacrifice one of the blood vials to cause a distraction (Trickery/ stealth/ magic trial. DC unknown)

>>5802990
>Sacrifice one of the blood vials to cause a distraction

>>5802990
>Pretend to be seeking an audience with the five colors celestial emperor, using the lie you've told everyone else up to this point (Deception trial. DC unknown, altered by disguises integrity)

>>5802990
>>Pretend to be seeking an audience with the five colors celestial emperor, using the lie you've told everyone else up to this point (Deception trial. DC unknown, altered by disguises integrity)

When we get back we should try using at least one drop to improve our peach

>>5803125
Talking about when we come back, I hope we don't end up being too late (or hurt) to deal with dad. If Monu is our adopted mom, he is her ex-boyfriend and the drunk was our nephew, the dude is our dad.

>>5803132
I doubt we'd be too late, we're the mc after all, though we may arrive to find several of our students injured by him.

>>5803125
Having though it over I wouldn't be surprised if the blood would also be great for improving the Five Elements Springs belonging to us and to The five colours and five purities sect

>>5802990
>Pretend to be seeking an audience with the five colors celestial emperor, using the lie you've told everyone else up to this point (Deception trial. DC unknown, altered by disguises integrity)

>>5802990
>Sacrifice one of the blood vials to cause a distraction (Trickery/ stealth/ magic trial. DC unknown)

I don't think that we can outrun anybody but the most anemic of gods
Our disguise is paper thin and we're carrying vials of blood on us.
Throwing our heart away would mean to leave a body and the blood we just collected.

Frankly i would have liked it if we could have added stealth to our haste trial but this trickery option will have to be enough.

>>5803132
We'll probably just arrive on Goku timing with several people hurt. Just gotta make sure our entrance makes up for the delay, like coming down as a blood meteor

>>5803147
>improve the five elements spring
>now the vermilion springs of five elements
Vermilion seems more fitting than crimson, considering it came from a deity. Because of the Vermilion bird cardinal beast from mythology. A divine animal. It all works beautifully.

>>5802990
>Sacrifice one of the blood vials to cause a distraction (Trickery/ stealth/ magic trial. DC unknown)

>>5803147
I don't think the blood is best used as a thing to enhance the springs.

I think we should use 1 drop to MASSIVELY improve our dao of blood, another drop to hang in our meditation chamber.

And the last dot, can supersede the peach and allow us to grow a blood swamp/spring of our own, aftrer refining it.. We just need to find a way to section it off from the rest of our territory.
That's the best dispersion I can think of.

>>5803422
Maybe it would help revitalize the preserved peach and let it grow into a tree, so it's not the last of it's kind anymore.

>>5802990
>sacrifice one of the blood vials

>>5803429
It took peaches 1000 years to grow and mature, for a product inferior to the blood.

I can abide planting the peach in the blood swamp idea, but I reject just reviving the plant. It's a waste of immense perportions.

>>5803227

> Disciples all beaten and broken on the ground
> Winter Blossoming elder calls us a coward for running away
> Snow storm clears...
> Starts raining blood
> Fu starts laughing
> Winter Blossoming Elder looks up
> New star in the sky
> Red star

>>5803602
>extra-orbital dynamic re-entry
Please, sir, I can only get so erect.

>>5803602
The Comet Pounce

>>5802990
>Pretend to be seeking an audience with the five colors celestial emperor, using the lie you've told everyone else up to this point (Deception trial. DC unknown, altered by disguises integrity)
Think it's a fool's errand but it's that or risk giving up a vial.

>>5803839
The only problem is our disguise only has one HP left. Whereas we have four vials.And if we drop our disguise in the midst of them, we're basically as good as dead. I'm less worried about getting in than I am about getting stuck in there and constantly worrying about the disguise falling before we can get out.

>>5802990
>Sacrifice one of the blood vials to cause a distraction (Trickery/ stealth/ magic trial. DC unknown)

Shame to lose one, but frankly at a single disguise point remaining best not to take chances.

A... decidedly insane approach does come to mind though should we encounter one of the five sages. Could we...embody the grudge of the 5 Color Emperor? Likely madness of the highest order but...

>>5803892
I feel like we would literally explode. But to be more serious, we are still limited somewhat by our own limits even when wearing a mask. We just tend to have enough options to do stuff similar to whomever we are using the aspect of while utilizing their mindset and skillset. Huan trying to embody Grampa Ling would still only be as strong as Huan can force herself to be. We'd be burning extremely brightly, but it would burn us out to try and actually do as 5 Colors do, and not nearly as impressively still.

>>5802990
>>Pretend to be seeking an audience with the five colors celestial emperor, using the lie you've told everyone else up to this point (Deception trial. DC unknown, altered by disguises integrity)

>>5802990
>>Write in
> I just love write-ins and convoluted actions:
> use one vial to boost our Carmine Mysticism (we need a bit more Carmine performance for the following stunt)
> Use Blood Qi to grow a second heart that is "good enough" to not immediately die without our real heart
> Rip out our real heart, wrap it together with our remaining vials and throw it. But throw it downwards! It's much easier throw downwards than upwards!
> Our body then walks upwards, pretending to having been mortally injured by Huanliuxue and having the wish to die amongst the stars.

Ending the vote, tallying the result now.

Sacrifice one of the blood vials to cause a distraction: 9

They know a demonic beast is in the heavens, not a carmine mystic. Rip out your heart and throw it as far as you can, hoping to reform your body around it:1

Pretend to be seeking an audience with the five colors celestial emperor, using the lie you've told everyone else up to this point: 5

Convoluted plan: 1

So You'll sacrifice one of the blood vials to cause a distraction

Update will arrive shortly

The thought of testing just how important the transformed heart of a carmine mystic is crosses your mind, along with excerpts from the few surviving stories of the demonic sect whose legacy you've taken and made your own, how hard the strongest of those blood guzzling monsters were to put down without them finding some way to rise again from their unmarked graves or sealed prisons. But they've been dead for so long, before even your kind fell from grace and became nothing more than beasts to hunt, that figuring out which of those ghost stories have any sliver of truth would require intense study and actual practice with your abilities as a pure carmine mystic, and you haven't done much to figure out exactly what you can do as one besides turning one cultivator into the debased form of jiangshi that make up most of the art's legacy and grooming Renshu and Ruolan into becoming the true, proper new kind of carmine mystic like yourself. If you had studied and experimented with this brand of mysticisms unique and ghoulish abilities and powers, you might take a risk of seeing if the stories of them only needing a mumified heart to persist in their wretched state of undeath were true by ripping out your own and filling it to bursting with the rest of your body, refined and melted down into so much blood.

But, improvisation is as much of a killer as it is a savior, even for a prodigy such as yourself. Especially when you're already courting death just by breathing in the air around you. Now isn't the time to indulge in your curiosities, scientific or macabre. Sure Fu survived having his head lopped over like a rotten tree trunk, but would your survive ripping out your own heart? There's a sliver of doubt that you wouldn't, even with all the work and effort you put into improving and adapting it into a sort of blood cauldron. Bleeding out because you got cocky and decided to trust hearsay and old stories meant to frighten children and novice cultivators alike is perhaps the death you'd like to avoid the most. If you have to die at all, it should be flashy and memorable and a worthy end to the glorious and proud life you lived so far.

Dignified and above all else elegant.

Sighing through your nose, you pluck a vial of divine blood from within your rob and hold it between the knuckles of two of your fingers, swinging it back and forth as you rock your wrist up and down. The true potential of carmine mysticism remains sealed and hidden, but you have some experience with the more base and common kinds of blood sorcery and plenty of talent with manipulating blood and making use of Blood tinged Qi. You were hoping to use all four of the vials for your own development or for the betterment of your sect.

'I suppose reaching the stars is more than worthy enough a cause to toss away such a prize' You decided after deliberating if sacrificing such a valuable thing is a good idea.
Cont

>>5804255

Smirking, you toss the vial up and catch it, shattering it with a single clench of your fist. The chilled blood spurts between your fingers and drips down from your hand as a thick slime.

Roll 2d100. DC 145 . Best out of five

Rolled 44, 54 = 98 (2d100)

>>5804258
Come on, Defy the heavens

Rolled 27, 10 = 37 (2d100)

>>5804258
Damn that's a high DC

Rolled 59, 89 = 148 (2d100)

>>5804258

>>5804271
FUCK YEAH

Now we just need to see if anyone gets us extra Degrees.

GOOD JOB JUNIOR!

Rolled 79, 14 = 93 (2d100)

>>5804255

Rolled 15, 81 = 96 (2d100)

>>5804258

>>5804271
That was a close one. Success! Update will arrive shortly

>>5804273
>>5804284
This humble disciple has brought good fortune to his martial brothers at last. I usually don't roll, just because my luck stat is low IRL-- but I'm glad this worked out, even if it was by the skin of Huan's teeth.

>>5804284
I hope this is enough to end this heaven adventure.

The trick to getting past the Heavenly emperor's empty palace, is simply not to break into it at all but to make anyone guarding it think you did. You aren't here to plunder the nine heavens of their treasures or find out any dirty secrets kept by the five wise immortal sages, you've tested your luck and cunning more times than you care to consider today just making your way into the heavens and up them towards their oh so distant skies. Sure there might be a stairway inside of it that leads directly to the choicest patch of stars or maybe there's a shepherdess of the stars visiting the palace that you could tail to find the path, but the idea of their being an easier path hidden behind its walls made of every color of jade, twinkling like the distant stars themselves in the morning light is just hopeful thinking. Much more likely, the moment you break down the gate, you'll run into all five of the wise immortal sages.

So the only way you can imagine you'll get through the palace on the end of all horizons, is simply not to enter it to begin with and just to climb over it while everyone is looking for an intruder inside of it. Which means, you need to make one hell of a distraction to keep this ruse from being immediately uncovered. Which is where the broken vial of god's blood dribbling slowly out of your hands like congee comes into play. The moment you open your hand, which you feel like is about to explode apart from the pressure of the blood you just released, all of the blood condescend in the palm of your hand will burst forth. That in of itself would be a good distraction, vandalizing the palace of the ruler of the nine heavens with something as "Filthy" as blood, but you have another plan in mind for it.

Stabbing one of your carefully trimmed nails into the palm of your other hand, you draw blood, and when you pull your clenched fist back from your open hand you draw it out of your veins like a long ribbon and carefully siphon it into your tightly clenched fist, mixing it with the divine ichor inside of it and polluting it, but also infecting it with your blood Qi, allowing you control over it.

Then, thrusting your arm forward and opening up your hand and nearly breaking a few of your fingers from the force of the godly blood as it rushes out to fill the air as a massive jet of gold flecked blood, tiny tadpoles of heavenly spiritual energy swimming through out it, you direct its flow towards the massive, gilded gates leading up to the palace. Pushing your arm inside of the end of the stream, you clench it into a fist as the bloody river pulls you along with such vigor it feels like your arm will be ripped right out of its socket as you're whipped around by the current.
Cont

>>5804358

Waiting until the uncontrolled geyser of blood lifts you high up into the air, you funnel as much Yin Qi into the palm of your clenched fist as your body can contain, transmuting it into raw, destructive Yin Qi and using the divine blood wrapped around your arm and spraying the walls of The five colors celestial emperor's palace as a kindling for one of your simplest but most trustworthy of spells.

A destructive Yin sphere that has been glutted on heavenly Qi and further empowered by the blood it is submerged in, that you've also been subjecting to the forbidden art of blood refinement (Xuèjīngliàn, 血精炼) since you stuck your hand into its crimson depths. For a flicker of a moment, the time it takes for you to close your eyes halfway in a blink, the world greys as the wild whipping stream reaches its apex and throws you high into the sky, so high in fact you can see over the walls of the palace. Then, struggling against the currents and destruction trapped in the palm of your hand, you separate two fingers from your fist and use them to unleash the largest and most powerful destructive Yin sphere you've ever created.

The simple act of casting the spell, a simple Qi dart, throws your arm back out of the bloody river as it surges forward and grows as it eclipses the entire jetstream of blood, enveloping it and reacting to it as its smooth surfaces flaws and begins to crack, unleashing pillars of onyx black lightning from its depths as the explosion of Qi begins to collapse in on itself.

But before it does, you place a single dying grudge shield beneath yourself, before a ink black cloud of pure destruction erupts from the yin sphere as it crashes into the gates of the palace and sends a ripple of silent force outwards, before a deafening roar chases after it, so loud it shakes dust from the gate and walls around it.

The dying grudge shield you hid behind to keep from blowing yourself to bits cracks, and you kick off it the moment before it returns all of the energy it absorbed back down towards the ground. A second shockwave, a second roar, and you're launched over the walls. With a twist of your shoulder and a roll of your hips, your spinning through the air.

You doubt that was enough to crack the walls or bust open the gate, but it made enough noise to make it seem like you did. If you actually did, well that's something to brag about later. Now you just need to focus on sticking your landing. Throwing out your arms to slow your decent and using your specter lightness skill to lighten yourself by way of becoming partially ethereal and more ghostly, you look down and see you're seconds away from crashing through a high arched window.

Arcing your back, you lunge forward, throwing both of you arms out and bracing for impact. You feel it in your teeth, as shards of glass rip through your clothes and cut into your skin.
Cont

>>5804360

And the moment before you hit the floor, you roll, over and under, stopping yourself just before your collide with the wall.

Blinking, you glance around. You fell into an empty room, its furniture covered in sheets, its walls lined with cobwebs and dust filling the air, and covering the ground, several inches deep. Disgusted, you leap to your feet and see the clothes you "borrowed" from the home of the foremost god now barely cover your chest and shoulders, having been completely evaporated from the backlash of the Dying grudge shield. No matter.

Wasting no time, you run through the line your landing cut through the dust and leap out the window, shielding your eyes with your arms. The sound of the shards of glass hitting the ground is almost musical, like the tinkling of chimes. Now you didn't just leap out of the window to be dramatic, practically nude, slamming your body through a hole of jagged glass cut you all over, giving your more than enough wounds to draw blood out of use to create some false tracks for anyone who comes to investigate the two explosions.

Floating in the air, you create a scene that won't hold up to scrutiny but will be believable enough to trick the first responders, who'll be frantic and might even thinking the Celestial palace is under attack. With a few flicks of your fingers, you paint the wall leading up to the broken window and the room behind it red, leaving paw prints through the scarlet streak and smearing them to make it look like a tail brushed across the fake tracks. Then, with your scrapes and cuts already healing, you drift through the air and land on the balls of your feet, smearing the jade tiles of the palace's roof and don't look back to admire your artistry as you sprint up it and clamber up the side of another wall to the second tier of the palace's rooftop and keep running, ripping off what remains of the clothes you borrowed shamelessly as you leap nude from one portion of root to the next, soaring over a garden and rolling on your side, barely avoiding falling off the edge and into a recreation of a battleground, with carefully polished but broken weapons and the skulls of beasts and demons half buried in pale white sand.

Grimacing, you hop to your feet, flick your eyes around and take in only as much of your surroundings as you need to plot a course across the palace's roofs and to its highest tower, where you'll use as a platform to leap into astral void.

And you'll need to rush through it and be quick about scaling this last hurdle, because you can already hear the alarms and shouting voices not too far behind you. Seems your "attack" on the gate drew more attention than your yowling at the bottom of the nine heavens did. But that's fine.
Cont

>>5804364

Flashing a confident, audacious grin, you embody the swiftness of death as you run forward and fling yourself into the empty air, lifting your legs to your chest and throwing out your arms, flying above the mock battlefield to wrap your arms around a pillar holding up a roof over a pavilion set with empty tables and dust covered teawares atop them.

With much haste and little grace, you shimmy up the pillar and make good use of your flexibility to bend your legs over your head, using them to latch onto the neck of a dragon forged out of gold that graces the corner of the pavilion's ceiling. Then you just simply lean back and curl and grab ahold of its lower jaw, careful not to prick yourself on its teeth, and flip up on top of it.

Glancing back, your gnash your teeth as you see and sense the auras of dozens of gods, all rushing to the celestial emperor's palace.

That was faster than you expected. Much faster. They didn't waste anytime, so you can't either.

What do you do, Huanliuxue?

>Waste no time, turn back into a cat and get to the top of the palace as quickly as you can, not stopping for anything (Haste trial. DC unknown)

>To be safe, make a few more, lesser distractions, to throw off your trail and keep the gods away from the course you plotted across the roof tops (Mischief/ stealth trial. DC unknown)

>Caution is key, slow down just enough to stay alert and keep yourself from getting ambushed or sneak attacked by something that could reduce you to a red smear

>Reflect on the events of the day, hoping to gain some insight or revelation that will inspire the creation of a new technique that'll make reaching the stars as easy as extending your claws ( Wisdom/ intellect trial. DC unknown)

>Write in

It's the final stretch

>>5804367
>To be safe, make a few more, lesser distractions, to throw off your trail and keep the gods away from the course you plotted across the roof tops (Mischief/ stealth trial. DC unknown)

>>5804367
>Reflect on the events of the day, hoping to gain some insight or revelation that will inspire the creation of a new technique that'll make reaching the stars as easy as extending your claws ( Wisdom/ intellect trial. DC unknown)

>>5804367
>Reflect on the events of the day, hoping to gain some insight or revelation that will inspire the creation of a new technique that'll make reaching the stars as easy as extending your claws ( Wisdom/ intellect trial. DC unknown)
We've seen and done a lot in the home of our final foes, so it's fitting

>>5804367
>>To be safe, make a few more, lesser distractions, to throw off your trail and keep the gods away from the course you plotted across the roof tops (Mischief/ stealth trial. DC unknown)

>>5804367
>Caution is key, slow down just enough to stay alert and keep yourself from getting ambushed or sneak attacked by something that could reduce you to a red smear

Distractions are just trails that lead back to us. Haste is noisy. Stopping is suicide.

Given that the greatest treasures in the heavens are likely just below our feet, who in their right mind would be on the rooftops, climbing up? Surely the Happy Bloodshed seeks to murder the five color emperor, or steal his treasures? Only a housecat would invade the heavens just to perch on the highest ledge in the universe.

Ehehehe.

>>5804367
>Reflect on the events of the day

Yeah this should be the simpelest test. We get bonuses for witnessing things and understanding them, and we've seen tons of shit today.
So in the interest of lowering the DC by providing valuable ideas/experiences

>The divine sense of the guardian god, plus his instant transmission.
>The shooting arrow of the bastard that cut us on the way up and how the teal fire worked.
>The running speed of the idiot junior gods we tricked into giving us a ride.
>The beasts and vistas of the upper heavens, surely something there would have sparked our minds.
>The very palace around us is probably bountiful in insights, that preserved battlefield is probably where they captured the moment of their betrayal

Give me a few more minutes and I'll come up with some technique ideas.

>>5804392
Oh, plus our blood legacy, THAT unleashed a lot of animal inspiration.

>>5804376
I can also support
>Caution is key, slow down just enough to stay alert and keep yourself from getting ambushed or sneak attacked by something that could reduce you to a red smear
I just want this to end

>>5804367
>Caution is key, slow down just enough to stay alert

>>5804367
>Reflect on the events of the day, hoping to gain some insight or revelation that will inspire the creation of a new technique that'll make reaching the stars as easy as extending your claws ( Wisdom/ intellect trial. DC unknown)

I wanted to vote for haste trial but in a toss-up between pondering and slowing down I'll take the pondering

>>5804367
>Reflect on the events of the day, hoping to gain some insight or revelation that will inspire the creation of a new technique that'll make reaching the stars as easy as extending your claws ( Wisdom/ intellect trial. DC unknown)
Part of me wants to just run, but Huanliuxue has always been one to use her head.

>It's the final stretch
That should reassure me, yet for some reason it makes me *very* nervous.

>>5804367
>To be safe, make a few more, lesser distractions, to throw off your trail and keep the gods away from the course you plotted across the roof tops (Mischief/ stealth trial. DC unknown)

>>5804390
Ah hell, I can't resist. Switch me over to
>Reflect on the events of the day, hoping to gain some insight or revelation that will inspire the creation of a new technique that'll make reaching the stars as easy as extending your claws ( Wisdom/ intellect trial. DC unknown)

From the caution option. We're as safe as we're going to be in the heavens, and we're here to learn after all.

>>5804367
>Caution is key, slow down just enough to stay alert and keep yourself from getting ambushed or sneak attacked by something that could reduce you to a red smear

>>5804392
I'm pretty sure that the room we crashed into also carries some significance. A sealed room that noone dares enter with the furniture gathering dust is usually a marker of a painful death, maybe of a child?

The more mundane explanation would be if it's just messy to illustrate the general decay we've seen in the heavens so far.

I sincerely hope we did not just vandalize the room of 5CEs dead daughter or something...

>>5804527
It was an honest mistake. He probably won't hit us more than once out of reflex. Maybe.

>>5804367
>Reflect on the events of the day, hoping to gain some insight or revelation that will inspire the creation of a new technique that'll make reaching the stars as easy as extending your claws ( Wisdom/ intellect trial. DC unknown)

There has to be some sort of tell for them using insta-transmission or simply a burst of power.
Also i feel like the distraction was kind of a bad move, before they were searching the city, now they are looking around the palace itself.

Also now i wonder if we were to recreate our body from our heart, then make a new heart and give it a piece of our soul would we have a twin on hand?

>>5804367
>Reflect on the events of the day, hoping to gain some insight or revelation that will inspire the creation of a new technique that'll make reaching the stars as easy as extending your claws ( Wisdom/ intellect trial. DC unknown)

>>5804367
>Waste no time, turn back into a cat and get to the top of the palace as quickly as you can, not stopping for anything (Haste trial. DC unknown)
[Stray Cat Strut plays in the background]

Updated the pastebin with our new technique and loot.

Of two minds about including theme music. Because grandfather's taste slaps.

>>5804367
>>To be safe, make a few more, lesser distractions, to throw off your trail and keep the gods away from the course you plotted across the roof tops (Mischief/ stealth trial. DC unknown)

>>5804367
>Reflect on the events of the day, hoping to gain some insight or revelation that will inspire the creation of a new technique that'll make reaching the stars as easy as extending your claws ( Wisdom/ intellect trial. DC unknown)

>Votes - 15
P9CZlr7U
XRmzjRg5
2NUFWYSg
x8CrSdM2
/U/TlymD
CVWg+As5
khuIibwY
iLQrmhWH
JdeCiO8/
x7zhSzr1
VYy5mqRK
bP1hO4sd
aGCttUq9
JqujUhEb
V8vOu+72

>To be safe, make a few more - 4
P9CZlr7U
x8CrSdM2
x7zhSzr1
JqujUhEb

>Reflect on the events of the day - 9
XRmzjRg5
2NUFWYSg
CVWg+As5
iLQrmhWH
JdeCiO8/
/U/TlymD
bP1hO4sd
aGCttUq9
V8vOu+72

>Caution is key, slow down - 3
P9CZlr7U
khuIibwY
VYy5mqRK

>Waste no time, turn back into a cat - 1
D5niwpcT

Ending the vote now.

>>5805950
Thank you junior, though by my count the total was 16. Doesn't change anything however

So you'll reflect on the events of the day, hoping to create a new technique to expedite getting the hell out of the heavens.

Update will arrive shortly

>>5805182
thank you!

>>5804527
Blood stains are hard to wash out...

>>5804458
Nothing to worry about, surely.

>>5804390
lol

>>5804889
Good song

However, even as you move your legs and continue running across the rooftops, your mind wanders elsewhere and away from what's in front of you, trusting your instincts and muscles to know when to jump, when to slide, when the scramble, when to climb and when to just run. Instead, your thoughts meander through this terrifyingly eventful day and all the daring and life threatening things you've done throughout it. Escaping death's grasp by the whiskers on your face, seeing with your own eyes the decay of the heavens and seeing just how frightening even indolent and apathetic gods can be. Visions, memories that made your life flash before your eyes and at the time made you too frantic to escape with your life to ponder or contemplate what your sharp eyes were seeing, play back in your mind's eyes, slowed down and stretched out, like watching a puppet show retelling your frantic adventure through the celestial court.

From the beginning, when you did what no one had dared to even consider doing and simply flew up past the sky and into the heavens, nearly slipping by unnoticed before an arrow shot by a sore loser nearly ended your journey and made reaching the stars far more difficult. Why didn't the teal fires the scorched the sunset gold hued clouds around you not singe and eat away at your fur? Why didn't it burn you?

The quiet humiliation of being carried by brainless godlings, and the great fun you had in making them all but wet themselves in fright over a "Demon" they could've bested without any effort on their part. How easily they were tricked by just a pretty face and watery eyes. And how swiftly they moved through the heavenly realm, quicker than any wind or dancing bolt of lightning!

All of the breath stealing vistas and views that made the heart yearn and weep in a way you still can't quite put into words, the beauty of the heavens inspiring a sense of longing that you can't describe or place what exactly it is you're longing for! And the heavenly beasts and celestial fauna, as mysterious as they were graceful, otherworldly beyond reckoning yet just as eye catching as the heavens themselves, as different as their counterparts down beneath the clouds and skies as the heavens are to earth itself. Alien, yet familiar, like myths and legend come to life. Like dreams born again into flesh and blood. Illusions given substance and made tangible. Like ghosts you can touch.

'Well, I've pretty much always been able to "Touch" ghosts' You wandering thoughts muse as you fling yourself from one branch of a towering gingko tree to another, its autumn gold leaves falling around you and sticking onto your bare body, glued in place by sweat, blood and dust

You grab hold of the next branch, and pause for a moment, hanging onto it and making it droop down with a long creak as you gather your recollections of the day and meditate on them, shifting through them for worthwhile insights or heavens' shaking wisdoms.
Cont

>>5806081

Roll 2d100. DC 108. Best out of five

Rolled 27, 33 = 60 (2d100)

>>5806082

Rolled 7, 68 = 75 (2d100)

>>5806082

Rolled 24, 49 = 73 (2d100)

>>5806082

Rolled 70, 68 = 138 (2d100)

>>5806082
I hate the heavens, we roll like shit here.

Rolled 38, 1 = 39 (2d100)

>>5806082

>>5806089
I guess the dice like to be ironic

>>5806089
Thank FUCK, I was getting real nervous there.

This would have been a sad place to fail in.

>>5806089
Great success, 30 over DC. Update will arrive shortly

But your meditations keep getting clogged with perhaps your greatest blunder of the day, rising up again and again from your memories to spoil your ruminations and ruining your calm with feelings of indignation and burning shame. You should've recognized what you were feeling, even if his perceptions were nearly indistinguishable from the unease of being in the presence of greater beast and more vicious predator. You, who declares herself the ideal of the rules of nature and the laws of the natural world, life and death itself, and works to return the world to following and upholding those innate laws and the justice of the wilds rather than the hypocritical drivel and selfish mandates of the heavens, wasn't able to distinguish the unease of a predator on the hunt and the feeling of being watched. To a truly civilized mind, one born into the safety of city walls who knows not night without the light of hearth or lantern, there is no difference. But even with the sense of humanity and understanding you've fostered, and all you've learned about how little separates humans from any other beast, you recognize that there is a difference between a prowling hunter and one lying in wait. They're different! A stalking tiger prowls its territory, a spider merely sits atop its web and waits for prey to blunder into the sticky trap it has woven.

And you stepped directly into the guardian deities web, mistaking the dread of his presence with a hungry beast searching its domain for a meal. Mistaking the warnings of your survival instincts for something else, and that cost you your arms for a time and nearly cost you your life. An unforgiveable mistake, a most shameful misstep. A folly that a girl who proclaims herself the empress of all beasts, and that she lives by natural laws rather than the edicts of the heavens, should never had made. There is no defense you can make for yourself for blundering so terribly. And admitting this, against the protests of your pride, allows you to achieve clarity and true calmness of mind, as you look past your fuck up to contemplate the divine sense of the man who maimed you. Temporarily.

It felt like a thousand eyes, sprouting from every tree, every stone, every blade of grass and even bursting from the sky like so many maggots chewing through a corpse. And thinking back on the moments you had to realize you were in danger, it was a perfect sphere surrounding the palaces ground.

A sphere. Like the shape your self taught lightness skill creates, altering perceptions. And he moved from one edge of it to the other, similar to your phantom cat step technique at a glance. To an untrained novice's eye maybe. He cleared a vast distant in an instant, the sort of feat you only hear about gods doing. In legend. But why can't you? You're a legend in the making, even if your name is more infamous than famous, more feared than adored.

Cont

>>5806160

And while it would be impossible to replicate the technique, innate ability, divine power or intuition trained to such an extreme it becomes a supernatural sense in of itself, you could take inspiration from it. And the eclipse you wore when he cut off your arms. If you could figure out how to use whatever power you now hold that turns the world grey and sluggish, as if you had caught everything in your specter lightness skill but it isn't just a trick of the mind, then maybe you could create a lesser version of the guardian deity's charge. But since you haven't figured out how to use that trick on command yet, you need to get creative. And as the foremost heretic beneath the heavens, innovating is your forte. One reason you've gotten as far as you have, is the element of surprise is nearly always on your side. Sure anyone with experience or fighting instinct can figure out the specter lightness skill's gimmick after being caught by it once, and figuring out how it its lightening differs from the standard is practically child's play, but most who have seen it, don't see it a second time.

A sphere...why does it need to be a sphere? Why can't it be a line? Or some other shape. Why can't it be formless? Formless means there is no limit to its range, only your perceptions. And of course your ability to keep track of every moving part of this technique. But what form does this formless technique take?

Eclipse. A total solar eclipse. The moon hiding the sun. Darkness enveloping light. Light in darkness. Ghost flames. False ghost flames, one of the spells you learned early on and haven't had much use for besides ambient lighting or playing mean tricks on the skittish, like Yuyi. But the false ghost lights are made of pure yin. Your body has two physiques, one yin, the other Yang. And the latter is...strange, a white dot of yang in your supreme Yin body. Like how your soul sometimes look when you don't make the effort to appear as either of yourselves, but ghostly, when you wander outside of your body. Hmm. Hmm

A dot of yang in yin. Placing a little life in false death. Blood in the breath of ghosts. Sunlight hidden in ghostly light. But what does that mean?

Yin and Yang can't be separated, they're always intertwined. Like life and death. The sun and moon constantly chase one another across the skies, an endless celestial dance. One of the immutable, unchangeable truths of nature. It commands the tides of the sea, changes the seasons. Day and night. One celestial body taking the other's place in the sky.

The eclipse goes against this rule. But it is also natural. Like a hawk catching a hare, or a cat a mouse. When their cycles across the sky synch up, one covers the other, subsumes the other. Yin or Yang supremacy. Or that is what scholars and sages declare it. But isn't it the opposite?
Cont

Like your eclipsed Yang physique. Yin and Yang in harmony. Sun and moon embracing. Not like predator and prey in the throws of death, but the embrace of lovers, of mates long separated but joined again.

The brief meeting of the sun and moon. The eclipse. Where they rejoin. The moment Yin and Yang become shades of grey, become one, indistinguishable. Like ash after a fire. Ash. Taking the white light of Yang and transferring it, like fire from a torch to kindling, between pockets of Yin energies. Transferring life to death. the blurring of the lines drawn in the sand. Between living and dying.

Between being here, and being there.

Without the intermediate period of moving from here to there.

Cat's court: Phantom Cat Waltz (猫 法院: 幽灵猫圆舞曲, Māofǎyuàn: Yōulíngmāoyuánwǔ qǔ)

A formless array of false ghost lights, hanging in the air, that you can reshape as easily as you would the arrangement of them any other time. Changing its shape and breadth as you see fit, making an area where you simply do not need to move in. You can just, switch where you're standing with where one of the fake ghost flames is bobbing. By transferring the Yang of your life with their Yin, switching around seamlessly like you were cheating in a game of dice. You already know how to move Qi around, why can't you do the same with the Qi in your own body? You have to move it from your flesh into your spirit whenever you wandered out of it as half a ghost, anyways. That's the theory at least, trusting in what insights you now have concerning the true nature of eclipses and the movements of the two most important celestial bodies.

Fitting. You'll reach the stars by understanding them, by meditating on their movements and ceaseless dancing across the night sky, like so many shoals of fish

Well if this works outside of theory but, well, eclipses and cats are mysterious things, so as mysterious as your thoughts and as enigmatic as your goals are to everyone besides yourself they're just common sense to you. The shifting of celestial bodies Of sun and Moon, of Cat and Illusion, Yang and Yin. Ghost light and Huanliuxue!

Not moving an inch, you create a handful of false ghost lights, and envisioning and focusing hard on the image of an eclipse slowly forming in the midday sky, you close your eyes, and try to shift your body along with the Qi you transfer into the flickering swaying puddles of Yin energy you scattered in the air

And when you open them again, after a rush of strange movement that completely smashed your sense of direction and gave a feeling close to vertigo but not quite, you're standing where the ghost light was before and it is hanging in the air where you were a moment before

A grin breaks your solemn expression that you wear when in deep thought or meditation, and soon, laughing like a witch, you're blinking from one area to the next, practicing to become comfortable with this new technique that even you barely understand how it works

>>5806162

Setting lines of ghost flames and testing the limits of how far you can switch places with them and how many places you can have a ghost flame set to before it becomes impossible for your mind to keep up, and you begin making mistakes or forgetting where exactly you've left your mock ghost lights.

In theory, this is one of those vaunted limitless techniques that sects adore to claim their founders mastered, allowing them to move from one end of the world to the other, or strike an enemy from the same distance or by pass any shield, armor or guard. But your current abilities limit it far below being limitless. And it requires set up to do anything besides moving from one point to the other, and it becomes more complicated and mentally straining to recall exactly where you can move the more ghost lights you add to the Waltz formless expanse, and moving them around makes that more difficult. You'll need to practice more to use it in battle, but as a movement technique it is...

"Flawless!' You declare with another burst of laughter, using a combination of your partial ethereal lightness, the new technique and building up momentum before switching with your ghost lights, to breeze through the palaces grounds, flying through the air with ease and little effort as you clear rooftops and surpass walls with even less trouble than you'd have climbing up or leaping over them

It becomes a bit dicey, keeping up your momentum and moving across the palace faster than a vengeful ghost after the target of its grudges, when debris, all of it hunks of jade, begin to shower from the sky. You actually stop when the first chunk of jade clatters to your feet as you show off to no one by striking a dramatic pose after your latest swapping of positions. The first thought you have is 'Oh! I actually broke the walls with that distraction' the second is 'Oh no! I have to get out of here', as several tons more of jade blocks come whistling down from the sky.

But the frantic pace you need to keep to avoid having your head split open by falling jade or else being squished flat beneath it, does make accustoming yourself to using the phantom cat waltz easier and faster than it would be if you hadn't added oil to the fire and were practicing without any threats to your life. Being in eminent danger of being crushed beneath rubble is better encouragement to learn quickly than praise or anything else is!

Acting on instinct and moving and creating new ghost flames whenever you need to move from beneath the shadow of a pillar of jade, you combine the new technique with running, relying on both your innate grace, dexterity and this cheat of an ability to escape the fate of so many worms, only using the cat's waltz when you have no way of escaping the shower of massive rocks.

Cont

>>5806164

"YOU!" A voice calls out, as an aura so blinding you have to look away appears in front of you, seemingly out of nowhere, before there is a loud crash and the golden gates of the palace's walls fall down on the figure in the mountain sized aura and crushes the piece of palace he was standing on into dust. Shrugging your shoulders, you sprint up the doors, which are now leaning on the highest tower of the palace, zig zagging with both the phantom cat step and Waltz as more and more jade blocks tumble down its surface as...

"Holy shit!" You grasp, as you sense the aura that had just vanished beneath the massive golden gates flicker back to life beneath them, as the titanic, leagues tall doors are lifted from the ground as a roar of rage you can only call indignant vibrates through them.

Not only is that god still alive~ but you're pretty sure they're one of the five sages! Who had the supreme misfortune of standing where a miles wide gate was falling! If you were scared for your life, you'd be laughing yourself to death right now! You only need to go a little further, just a little further! The finish line is within reach! Certain death is behind you!

All you need to do is make one last leap!

The gates buckle and launch into the air just as your left heel leaves their tops, as you throw yourself into the void between you and the tower reaching towards the stars. Flailing your arms and legs around most inelegantly, you realize at the apex of your leap of faith's arc, that you won't make it.

In a human body at least. A roar of malice rises up from the ground, as the idiot who decided to call out to you instead of just attacking, who was smashed beneath rubble because he decided to monologue to what to him is an ant, rockets up from the base of the tower and up to you in the form of a pillar of colorless fire.

Your form shifts, as you turn from girl to cat, his fingers slipping through your hair.

You turn, as his hand then moves through empty space as he grasps nothing, where your glorious scarlet mane was a moment before.

He is dressed in a pure white robe, blinding like staring into the sun, like it was woven from silk taken from the light of stars. His face is covered with a jade mask in the shape of a stylized sun, but a long white beard hangs from it. The two of you meet eyes as he rockets upwards, having no doubt planned to drag you up with him, not expecting a beast to willingly return to the form they were born with as your feet touch down on the tiles of the last tower's roof, and you run away as he zooms off out of sight, shouting very unsagely words after you as you make a break for the stars.

As you run up to the peak of the tower, the rainbow colors of the heavenly skies are replaced with black void and glittering stars.

And as light as you are, half ethereal, the loss of gravity and absence of air tears you from the heavens and hurls you into space!

Cont

>>5806166

<https://youtu.be/6RO7K4W-c9g>

And for a moment. You have nothing to say or think. For all the regal airs you put on, for all of your superiority and grandeur, for all your arrogance and delusions of being more than you are, more sophisticated, more refined, more graceful, more powerful, the sight of the stars from space humbles you more than any battle or opponent ever will. You see just how small you are.

How small you are now. One day, this will be your playground and the planets will move and align to your will. But for now, you are a spec of red in a vast cosmic nothingness, alone, completely alone with nothing but your thoughts and a beauty beyond words. You couldn't describe just how magnificent the view is up here, looking down on heaven and earth, and it'll haunt your dreams more than Ling Meng's laughing face ever did. At least it will until you conquer it and make it yours.

And you say you're alone, but there's a gaggle of goddess with shepherd crooks and bags full of miniature stars staring at you wide eyed as you drift past them.

You flick your tail and send them scattering by just barring your fangs towards them. Giggling as you watch them push and shove one another, knowing that they don't need to be faster than a demon, just quicker than your friends, they soon vanish into the...well nothing of space.

Leaving you then truly alone with nothing but your thoughts and the stars you will one day claim.

And all you can think is

'Where do I go?'

You knew something would happen if you immersed yourself in the Qi of the stars and the breathe of space, but now that you're up here, you aren't certain where you should go to cultivate those energies. No one has ever done this before, fed their beast core on the spiritual energy of astral chaos before.

Hmm. Hmmm. Hmmmm!

Where do you go to adopt cosmic nature, Huanliuxue ?(Location will determine the variations of the Cosmic nature evolution you can choose between)

>They say there is a rabbit on the moon, and you've always been entranced by the full moon. Fulfill the dream of the kitten you once were and step on the moon

>Drift in the void, the darkness deep and vast and without end, where no light or warmth reach. Allow yourself to be swept into the nothingness of space

>Chase the stars! And prove that they can be caught! dive into the river of stars the goddesses were tending to, and be swept into the field of constellations.

>Challenge the sun! The Ling style themselves after it! Take inspiration from it! Its just a big ball of fire, so why not fly close to it

>Go somewhere else (Write in)

>>5806167
>Challenge the sun! The Ling style themselves after it! Take inspiration from it! Its just a big ball of fire, so why not fly close to it

>>5806167
>Fulfil the dream of a kitten, and step on the moon.

I want to go to the blackness of space, but Huan wouldn't. She would go for the moon, chase the stars or challenge the sun, in that order.

Life goal> curiosity > overwhelming pride.

Also damn, that is a broke ability. Fuck yeah.

>>5806167
>Chase the stars! And prove that they can be caught! dive into the river of stars the goddesses were tending to, and be swept into the field of constellations.
Moon is definitely Yin, and Sun Yang. No idea what void or star would be.
I'll go for constellation in honor of the twice-dead rat gang. I swear cultivation quests are cursed, this is the only one that has lived.

>>5806167
>They say there is a rabbit on the moon, and you've always been entranced by the full moon. Fulfill the dream of the kitten you once were and step on the moon

>>5806167
>They say there is a rabbit on the moon, and you've always been entranced by the full moon. Fulfill the dream of the kitten you once were and step on the moon

>>5806167
>Drift in the void, the darkness deep and vast and without end, where no light or warmth reach. Allow yourself to be swept into the nothingness of space.
The Sun, Moon and Stars are small potatoes compared to the overwhelming vastness of the Void in which they sit. Beyond Taiji-- Yin, and Yang, and all the contrary-but-complementary energies that create and sustain the cosmos, lies "Wuji"-- the primordial non-existence from which all things arose, and to which they shall return. Let's get it, lads!

>>5806167
>>Drift in the void, the darkness deep and vast and without end, where no light or warmth reach. Allow yourself to be swept into the nothingness of space

>>5806167
>>5806200

I'll change to:
>Drift in the void, the darkness deep and vast and without end, where no light or warmth reach. Allow yourself to be swept into the nothingness of space

Because achieving wuji sounds fitting for Huanliuxue.

>>5806202
Junior brother, while I accept this is a way to great power, and encourage others to change to it.

I must make clear that this historic achievement is best marked by charactee rather than benefits. And shall champion the Moon first and foremost.
The moon is the cats eye.

The void is. . . Not. There isnt really a connection apart from Yin, which is black.

>>5806167
>>They say there is a rabbit on the moon, and you've always been entranced by the full moon. Fulfill the dream of the kitten you once were and step on the moon
Moon rabbit. I demand your secrets. Why do you make accursed water roil and crash? Do you like, have a problem with cats or something, bro?

>>5806167
>Drift in the void, the darkness deep and vast and without end, where no light or warmth reach. Allow yourself to be swept into the nothingness of space
We have Yin & Yang covered to some extent already, let us go beyond.

God damn, the Phantom Cat Waltz might just be the most bullshit ability we have created yet. Fighting Huanliuxue is officially starting to sound like one of the most frustrating challenges one can undertake under the heavens.

>>5806167
>They say there is a rabbit on the moon, and you've always been entranced by the full moon. Fulfill the dream of the kitten you once were and step on the moon
If there are truly rabbits on the moon go there and conquer them, as an empress in the making all beasts shall be under your protection.

(Though i won't mind if void wins either)

>>5806167
>>They say there is a rabbit on the moon, and you've always been entranced by the full moon. Fulfill the dream of the kitten you once were and step on the moon

>>5806167
>They say there is a rabbit on the moon, and you've always been entranced by the full moon. Fulfill the dream of the kitten you once were and step on the moon

As long as we don't meet a schoolgirl named Usagi...


In a lot of ways this feels like a choice between growing closer to our original grudge/ghost powers in the void, and embracing our guardian nature as the light of the moon. And when I think about it that way the moon feel right.

>>5806167
>Chase the stars! And prove that they can be caught! dive into the river of stars the goddesses were tending to, and be swept into the field of constellations.

Void kinda sounds like the edgelord choice (which makes it kinda fitting to our other stuff desu), but I'm more curious about this option, constellations sounds like some heavy magic shit and I'd like to invest a few more points in magic because most of our abilities are so physical.

>>5806167
>They say there is a rabbit on the moon, and you've always been entranced by the full moon. Fulfill the dream of the kitten you once were and step on the moon

>>5806250
I understand your objections, honored martial senior. The Dao of the Void is deceptive, and esoteric-- until one realizes how the cosmos is sustained by it. If, as in your analogy, the moon is the eye, the void is the pupil: the essential emptiness, without which it (and more broadly, existence) cannot function. Imagine an eye as a solid chunk of meat: inert, incapable of perceiving light. A lung, unable to draw breath. A planet, unable to move, for lack of space.

Just so, the void represents the conditions of Huan's birth-- in the sense that it is loss and absence which has defined us from the start. How would we have awakened, if not the loss of the village children who once cared for us? How would we have become the inheritor of an ancient legacy of beast cultivators, if not for the Orthodoxy erasing their place in the world? What are negative and positive, Heaven and Earth, Yin and Yang, without Zero, to define them?

On one hand, we are presented with celestial bodies; on the other hand, we have a chance to grasp at the counterweight to all of existence. This junior humbly reiterates his commitment to the void.

>>5806250
>>5806435
I'll repeat my proposal that we should honour the memory of our fellow fallen sibling in cultivation, taken from us in it's crib.

>>5806435
This Senior hears the words you speak and finds them, amusingly, weightless. For on the convention of potency you are utterly correct, the void probably provides a myriad of obscure powers and abilities. In this we agree.

What is found disagreeable, is the notion of how it relates. Her birth was Grudges; Pain, fury and sorrow. Huan is absent of nothing, even when faced with the Dao itself she made herself abundantly clear with "I'm not anything, I'm Me. and there is only one Me."

Hell, observe.
>"I am unique, no ifs and or buts. I am not just unique among my lives, I am unique throughout all the world, beneath all the nine heavens!" You laugh, boasting in the face of the universe, of all knowledge and things "I am Huanliuxue, and there are none like me within you"
"But what of the realms beyond the nine heavens you know?" The road questioned, in the same tone as if they were asking a child why they did not simply fly like a bird or swim like a fish, playing along with their childhood fantasies and delusions
>"There to" You snort, turning up your nose haughtily "For there has never been a cat quite like me"
"Is that so?" The universe echoed back in your own voice "Every star in the sky thinks it is unique, yet all must go through the same life cycles, grow, cool and then fall into themselves and die"
>"I am no star, I am me".

In her Hubris and Ego, Huan is certain of her unique nature. This I think leads her to the moon as a wish and the Sun as defiance against the brightest symbol of power in the heavens.
I ask then, why would Huan choose the void?

Riddle me that, and my vote will change. Character, not Benefits.

>>5806458
I hold no affinity for the Dao of the rat.
Perseverance is key among daoists.

>>5806167
>They say there is a rabbit on the moon, and you've always been entranced by the full moon. Fulfill the dream of the kitten you once were and step on the moon
Huanxiulie are you goofing on Elvis?
Heyuh baby, are you having fun?

Also, this junior brother must ask: how long has Huanxiulie existed in a state of Superposition?

>>5806665
Always, for she was born super.

>>5806665
>Also, this junior brother must ask: how long has Huanxiulie existed in a state of Superposition?
Oh I know this one, alright so you go into the archive right? Thread one, post four. Cheers, bro.

>>5806167
>They say there is a rabbit on the moon, and you've always been entranced by the full moon. Fulfill the dream of the kitten you once were and step on the moon

Simply it was our desire to touch the moon since young. The moon is bright and dark through various transformations. No doubt most every animal and person has seen the moon. It is the jewel of the sky all mortals wish to hold.

Now the first mortal walks upon it. And I've come up with a haiku for such a fitting moment.

Rabbit chases moon
Cat leaps towards sky and stars
A God weeps below

>>5806167
>>Chase the stars! And prove that they can be caught! dive into the river of stars the goddesses were tending to, and be swept into the field of constellations.
Which cat can resist chasing dots of light?

Also, choosing moon might lead us to the same bloodline as the rabbit. If the rabbit behaves non-royally or distasteful, what if something of this badness sticks to us? What if it doesn't like children (why else would it hide on the moon for an eternity if not to self-isolate from living beings)? What if it dislikes romance novels? The horror!

We should aim for something unique.

>>5806897
If there IS a rabbit on the moon, it is our sovereign duty to bring him to heel. All beasts, no exceptions.

>>5806167
>Drift in the void, the darkness deep and vast and without end, where no light or warmth reach. Allow yourself to be swept into the nothingness of space

>>5806167
>>Chase the stars! And prove that they can be caught! dive into the river of stars the goddesses were tending to, and be swept into the field of constellations.

>>5806167

>Chase the stars! And prove that they can be caught! dive into the river of stars the goddesses were tending to, and be swept into the field of constellations.

On a purely poetic level I feel this choice complements our newly acquired technique. Huanliuxue, the cultivation world's rising star, amidst her ensemble of flickering ghost lights.

>>5807179
Hmmmmmmmmm......
Now that i think about it did those sheperds of stars leave anything behind while escaping?
Even a lone twinkling miniature star would be incalculable worth to study.

>>5807226
New ability unlocked: throwing a decaying neutron star at our enemies.

>Chase the stars! And prove that they can be caught! dive into the river of stars the goddesses were tending to, and be swept into the field of constellations.

I desired SPACE CATTE, I will get SPACE CATTE.

>>5807268
If we had went with rainbows instead you could have had nyancat

Since this vote seems to be split, I'm talling a bit earlier then normal so we get a feel of how it's going

>Votes - 21
aGCttUq9
cyvXqOVC
P9CZlr7U
pt+f7Rsm
XRmzjRg5
khuIibwY
VYy5mqRK
XxUJkxZa
JdeCiO8/
bP1hO4sd
PkIXCY4Y
/U/TlymD
iLQrmhWH
EgaaD6Iw
E1ndm66N
V8vOu+72
Obzkf6UM
sG7oWZ76
JqujUhEb
Voe815t4
ebXnDeQN

>Challenge the sun! - 1
aGCttUq9

>They say there is a rabbit on the moon - 9
cyvXqOVC
pt+f7Rsm
XxUJkxZa
bP1hO4sd
PkIXCY4Y
/U/TlymD
EgaaD6Iw
E1ndm66N
V8vOu+72

>Chase the stars! - 6
P9CZlr7U
iLQrmhWH
Obzkf6UM
JqujUhEb
Voe815t4
ebXnDeQN

>Drift in the void - 5
khuIibwY
VYy5mqRK
XRmzjRg5
JdeCiO8/
sG7oWZ76

That's a lot of votes

>>5807233
>"So, what is this new power you have discovered, foul demon?"
>"Gamma ray burst."
>"Wha-

File: Screenshot_2023-10-25-20-(...).jpg (656 KB, 1080x2400)

656 KB JPG

>>5807233
Poetry

>>5806314
>>5806921
But aren't the chinese constellations animals as well?
We need to dive in their rivers so they can meet their new empress!

>>5807360
In due time. But the moon at night is big and bright, deep in the heart of Chuan.

>>5806167
>Drift in the void, the darkness deep and vast and without end, where no light or warmth reach. Allow yourself to be swept into the nothingness of space.
They're all good ideas, and I don't have the brain power needed to come up with a good write-in.

I want us to meet Azatoth

File: 4877534659.gif (1.14 MB, 540x233)

1.14 MB GIF

>>5807454

>>5807454
We already met the Dao, the source of all things. Does that counts?

By the way, I must remind people.

When we get to the snow tiger and kick his ass all the way down to hell, and render his body for components, we have 3 people to deal with.

Jingyu. This peice of shit. Stomp him, kill him, have him present to fight with the snow tiger and then KILL HIM!
He is the other heretic that genuinely concerns me. Vile and wicked be he.

2nd. That fucking Ghost bastard, the forgotten king. He tried to ruin our cultivation. And he took our daughters eye.

Then there is Yoan. . . Kinda okay to just leave her be for now. She is a prodigy and a butcher, but kinda. . More respectable than the other two. Kinda wants dealing with but also not a massive priority, hit the others first.

>>5807475
Jingyu might be advancing his cultivation by leaps and bounds.
Even with oir attempts of recruiting, this war should be leaving plenty of high quality parts for him to nab.

>>5807477
He cannot climb as fast as we can. That is why we need to smash him down immediately as we are able.

>>5807477
Huan should still be leaps and bounds ahead of him though and Xuebai wouldn't be helping him so I'd still bet on her wiping the floor with him.

>>5807479
I meant in that he is the highest priority target in that list.
Honestly, all of that order is good. Deal with the guy that has the oportunity to grow in power the fastest, deal with the one that is closest, then see if we can track down the wandering one.

>>5806167
>>Chase the stars! And prove that they can be caught! dive into the river of stars the goddesses were tending to, and be swept into the field of constellations.
The zodiac has no cat. Yet. And we came here called by the stars in the first place
>Drift in the void, the darkness deep and vast and without end, where no light or warmth reach. Allow yourself to be swept into the nothingness of space
I think this is also okay.

>>5807647
Well you gotta pick one right now, guv.

>>5806167
>>They say there is a rabbit on the moon, and you've always been entranced by the full moon. Fulfill the dream of the kitten you once were and step on the moon

>>5807411
here's a write in suggestion:

> Dive into the river of stars, but follow it to its SOURCE where stars are born

File: unknown.png (1.2 MB, 1380x1600)

1.2 MB PNG

Ending the vote now

>>5807351
thank you for tallying, junior, as every you receive my praise and gratitude. and with the votes that came after you tallied

Moon is at 10 votes

Chase the stars 7

Drift in the void is at 6

And there was a write in and challenge the sun remains at 1

SO

You'll fly to the moon to cultivate upon the breath of astral chaos and Lunar Qi

Update will arrive shortly

https://youtu.be/ZEcqHA7dbwM

>>5807233
That gives me an idea...

>>5806768
Beautiful poem, junior, it shall be framed above the sect's dining hall

>>5807357
kek

>>5808233
My knee jerk reaction was to post a link to that song, but then I saw you beat me to it.

>>5808236
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPRluY5YZCY

They say there is a rabbit on the moon, but the fairy tales you overheard when your world was simple and stopped at the reeds by the river, spoken from mother to child, never explained or remembered how the rabbit ended up there. Perhaps they are one of your ancestors? You never gave much thought to old stories like the rabbit on the moon. Were the banished there? Were their ashes scattered there? You've seen rabbits from the moon, sitting on the laps of little goddesses, but not THE rabbit from the moon. Rolling, tumbling through the vacumn of space, you keep your eyes locked on the moon, only now being able to look on all of it when you have spent your life, both of them, as a mindless cat and as Huanliuxue, looking up at the moon entranced by it, caught by its spell and enchanted by its cool beauty. You've bathed in moonlight as much as you have blood and the stench of corpses. And one of your earliest dreams, from the days when your sight was muddled and your thoughts little more than crude instinct and the simplest of emotions, has persisted to now.

Ever since you were a kitten who knew nothing, you've always wanted to catch the moon, to reach up and touch it with your paw. Long ago, before you were you and before you had any kind of wisdom or sense of self, you learned that couldn't be done. It was impossible. The moon was beyond the reach of those who were born on soil and straw, and out of reach even from the hands of the gods. But now, you had a chance to reach it, to press your paws into its silver sand and dust your fur with its white powder. You blink, being dragged along towards the dark by unseen hands, as you contemplate where in the night sky you'll swim.

But you realize you don't need to sit and ponder it as you are rolled and tumbled through the void of space. You knew where you would undertake your transformation and achieve your next evolution as a demonic beast since even before you decided you were going to break through the sky to reach the stars. It has to be the moon. It can only be the moon. The dream of a snow white kitten with a notched ear would be fulfilled today.

A cat would step on the moon, and leave paw prints all across its surface, that hopefully can be seen from both the heavens and earth. Cause you know few will believe the tale of you not only entering the heavens from the skies beneath them, but escaping out of them from the top of the celestial emperor's empty palace. So it would be prudent to leave behind some form of proof, a mark that can't be swept away by any broom or brush of the sleeve.

So, giving in completely to youthful whimsy and childish dreams that have survived all of the gloom, bloodshed, resentment and bleakness of life, you swim towards the moon, as it hangs silent in the black bleakness of space like a polished silver plate or perfectly formed pearl.
Cont

>>5808307

this is...more difficult than you anticipated. There's nothing to push off of, and nothing to move through, not even air. Luckily as a cultivator, and specifically one who follows the dao of ghosts, you don't have to breathe often and need less air than even most of your fellow daoists to survive. Though there is a light, unpleasant burning sensation rising up from your lungs and settling on your cheeks, you keep a cool head and don't flounder around in the void like a fish pulled onto a pier. Instead of using your composure, you enter a near meditative state as you wonder how exactly one can move through nothingness and propel themselves through empty space.

Kicking your hindlegs only makes you spin around and tumble directionlessly, flicking your tail does nothing. As does pawing at the emptiness in front of you, as if you were struggling to claw onto a river bank. And your entrance into space won't give you any hints in this conundrum you face, as you were just sucked into it, as if it had a maw and stomach to swallow you down into. Which is a most unpleasant thought.

Sighing a bit of what little air is still inside your lungs out, you feel your voyage through the cosmos slow. Letting go of a bit more air, with a more forceful size, you soon prove the theory you had, as your movement through the stars slows and eventually comes to a halt, leaving you hanging in...well nothing.

With a flick of your tail, you create a destructive yin sphere, small enough to control the shape and force of its explosion, and set it off at your back. It isn't enough to hurt you or do any more damage than ruffling your fur, but it sends you careening forward. And like the dawn of a new morning, the realization of how you can travel through the void washes over your mind, enlightening you as you attain insight you are certain not even the gods have grasped. Well, at least the ones who aren't on star herding duty. And the moment it does, you realize you could've just created platforms of solidified spiritual energy, or barrier spells, or spilt and frozen blood to hop of.

It might even be a more efficient means of travel and get you to the lunar surface quicker.

But it is just too fun to blast yourself through the void via controlled explosion, alighting the darkness with burst of light like fireworks in the night sky. You clamp your jaw shut, to keep from losing more air with giddy giggling in your excitement as you rocket and fly across the stars, propelling yourself with blast of destruction and wild explosions that are silent in the void of space.

And in not time at all, with laughter stifled in your throat, you're falling towards the bleak white surface of the moon. Up close, you can see it is pocketed and marked with many craters, cliffs and valleys, all of it varying shades of grey nearing white.
Cont

>>5808308

A white that calls to mind bone ash. Maybe they really did scatter the ashes of an awakened rabbit across the moon. Righting yourself, you adjust your posture as the gravity of the moon pulls you closer and closer so you'll land paws first, but not so quickly as to risk death by falling when you crash into its surface.

But still, you splay out your legs until they're flat at your sides, so the fall will be gentler. Sure, landing belly first on the moon isn't as elegant as daintily touching your paws down before galloping off, but every cat knows how to fall and you'd rather not limp around the lunar surface with broken legs or bones poking through your skin. Sure the fall seems slow, but one can never be too careful when descending from space.

There is no sound, not even a thud, as you hit the surface. There is however, a cloud of white, sparkling dust that covers your fur and hangs in the "Not air" for a long time, like mold spores or dust in a forgotten tomb. Blinking, you brush your face with the back of your paw to keep the oddly soft dust out of your eyes, before taking in your surroundings.

Several oddities stand out in the already bizarre, alien landscape of the moon, which reminds you more of hell than it does the heavens or mortal realm, if only because of how colorless it is.

First, you notice there is a titanic sweet osmanthus tree, that you didn't see until you landed on the moon. Or more like, it didn't appear until you were on the moon. In fact, the more you look around, the more different the lunar surface looks from what you saw in the night sky and as you approached and fell towards it. Almost like what you and everyone else has seen for all their lives was an illusion. There are rice paddies, grasses and stranger yet, signs of life.

Rabbit prints and human foot prints, countless foot prints, all across the powdery, dusty surface of the moon. And the longer you look, the less bleak, lifeless and hellish the landscape looks, and the more it appears as a world just eternally bathed in moonlight. But where than moonlight is coming from, that is bathing all you can see cold blue, you cannot know.

The trees bark is scarred, covered with the marks of countless axe strikes, and indeed when you walk towards it, there is a worn woodsman's axe, like the type Fu used to prefer before he became strong enough to burst their handles with one swing and dull their cutting edge with a few landed strikes. An entirely mundane, ordinary axe head. With no magic or enchantment woven into the fibers of its wood or metal. It doesn't even look to be made of any kind of exotic materials. It is just a normal wood cutting axe, the sort that is used by peasant all across the world. And it is sitting here, beneath a tree that can't be spotted from earth, space or the heavens, which is yet bigger than...well all three of those worlds combined, and you'd wager good money adding the yellow springs wouldn't match the size of the tree.
Cont

>>5808309

Which is larger than the moon looked before you landed on it.

It boggles the mind and is making you feel faint and nauseous when you try to think about how any of this, especially the presence of a completely mundane axe, is possible, so you stop trying to make sense of it before you're driven mad trying to comprehend what isn't possible.

There's also a mortar, a completely ordinary mortar with a wooden pestle, resting close by the axe, in the shade of the tree, smeared with pounded rice and reeking of medicine. Wait, did you just breathe in?! A moment ago there was nothing! But now there is air, rich and warm air all around you, only as cold as a night by a riverside or pond! How!? Why?!

Huffing, you greedily swallow a lung full of air, not trusting the atmosphere to not vanish as quickly as it appeared. And as you turn from the tree to what used to be nothing but a bleak expanse of grey dirt and craters, you see a palace that seems half made of ice and moon dust. A shiver trickles down you spine as you swallow hard, questioning if this isn't just a dream but preventing your natural curiosity from asking anything beyond that lest it'd invite madness inside.

Glancing back to the tree, you see a straw hat hanging on the axe's head by a thin string band, and new foot prints.

'Oh don't tell me I've walked into a second vanishing bookstore!' you think, wincing as you remember the creepy secret realm you waked into, and suddenly everything makes sense. This is a secret realm, of sorts. It has to be. The other possibilities are too daunting and terrifying to consider or even for you to face, so now, the moon is host to a secret realm. And you can only hope it isn't owned by the ghoulish white arm that waved at you when you left the last secret realm you blundered into.

Wincing, you hop into the air, finding there to be much more gravity now, arching your back and hissing on reflex as every hair stands on end. Something touched you! Something touched yoooooou~! Behind your ears and to the base of your neck, a hand wiped down, petting your fur! But there's nothing behind you.

Biting your tongue, refusing to shame yourself by whimpering even though you'd lose no face since there's no one in space to hear you whimper. No, it was your imagination, just like the girlish giggling you hear, the titter echoing through the wind. it's just your mind playing tricks. You're just on edge and making up sounds and touches because you expect to see something and hear something, like you did in the first secret realm

Where you found a book about yourself, that constantly updates and records everything you do and every technique you learn.

"Ha..ha ha" You force a laugh, glancing around, hoping to catch a pale figure or at least a shadow out of the corner of your eye, but there's nothing.
Cont

>>5808310

Except the sensation of fingers dancing behind your ears and tracing down your neck, onto your back until they reach your fluffed up tail. An a dull, rhythmic thumping. Like a mortar pounding seeds into medicine. Or an axe swinging into a tree. No. It isn't there. There is no giggling, no disembodied, invisible hand petting you, and if you turn around, the mortar and axe will not be swinging themselves

it is all just your mind playing tricks on you. Nothing more. There's nothing there. There can't be anything there, because if there is, your heart might just stop out of sheer fright. There aren't any ghosts or disembodied, you can't sense any blood or signs of life, and even your spiritual sense shows...nothing. Not even that damn tree that is larger than any world you've stepped onto combined has no spiritual signature or even a trace of Qi. Yet, your instincts tell you there are three presences besides yourself here, beneath the shade of the Osmanthus tree. And you refuse to believe that, for sanity's sake.

But you do sense a few spots where there is Qi. Strange Qi. Alien Qi. Stellar Spiritual energy. The breath of the moon. The vital energies of space. And you immediately head towards them, head lifted up and eyes locked on the dusty indigo sky, because if you look ahead or to your side and see new foot prints following you, you think you'll fall over stone cold dead from fright alone!

And where do you go to cultivate the Cosmic Qi and use it to refine your beast core, Huanliuxue? (Each choice has two "Sub paths" of the lunar branch of the cosmic nature line of evolutions)

>There is a arrow, that smells of the sun, fallen atop the hill. You have a....urge to cut yourself on it and pollute the surface of the moon with both your blood and the ceaseless flow of blood Qi radiating from your dantians and beast core, mingling and smudging the lunar energies with the beauty of bloodshed [Blood moon/ Sun killer paths]

>There is a beam of moonlight rising, close to the palace of ice and moondust, it glimmers and sparkles, just like the light of the moon when you first opened your eyes. There is a presence leading you there...[Lunar Deity/ Chang'e's chosen paths]

>An unfamiliar flag flies in the distance, frozen stiff as if it stands still in the breathless realm of the "Real" moon. Red and blue and marked with stars, and stained with mortality [Avatar of freedom/ Conqueror of the stars paths]

>Wander aimlessly, chasing illusions and visions. Arrows, palaces, flags. There is nothing here, there is nothing here, there is nothing here! but you hear laughing![Moon maddened/ Monkey's understudy paths]

>Write in

The moon sure is MYSTERIOUS.

>>5808312
>There is a beam of moonlight rising, close to the palace of ice and moondust, it glimmers and sparkles, just like the light of the moon when you first opened your eyes. There is a presence leading you there...[Lunar Deity/ Chang'e's chosen paths]
As funny as the AMERICAN option would be, it really doesn't feel like it fits the world.
Also, that update of Huan remembering her infancy and having fun was fun.

>>5808312
>There is a beam of moonlight rising, close to the palace of ice and moondust, it glimmers and sparkles, just like the light of the moon when you first opened your eyes. There is a presence leading you there...[Lunar Deity/ Chang'e's chosen paths]

>>5808317
Meant to say that it was cute

>>5808312
(Each choice has two "Sub paths" of the lunar branch of the cosmic nature line of evolutions)

And by this I mean that each choice leads to a decision between the two paths attached to it, not that you get both of them

>>5808312
>a beam of moonlight (Lunar deity/chang'e's chosen)
Lets not go mad. And I like the idea of Lunar deity.


I have an idea of where else we could go, but I wont give ideas for sub paths.
>There is a lake here, Shimmering silver waters that half way across turns black as the void above. Watching, the blue ailver moonlight pushes back and forwards, losing and gaining ground but always over the lake and its boundries. Not a whisker over.

>>5808312
>Wander aimlessly, chasing illusions and visions. Arrows, palaces, flags. There is nothing here, there is nothing here, there is nothing here! but you hear laughing![Moon maddened/ Monkey's understudy paths]
Give me that Wukong cameo, might as well learn from the biggest asshole to the heavens.

>>5808327
I guess Blood Moon is infusing our blood qi into the moon and turning it red, and sun killer is harnessing the power of solar eclipses
Lunar deity would be usurping Chang'e and chosen would be working with her (since if her story is to go by, she should have a grudge with the gods)
The flag is getting an american citizenship or working for NASA
Moon Maddend is some lovercraftian shit, and monkey's understudy might be Sun Wukong?

>>5808312
>There is a arrow, that smells of the sun, fallen atop the hill. You have a....urge to cut yourself on it and pollute the surface of the moon with both your blood and the ceaseless flow of blood Qi radiating from your dantians and beast core, mingling and smudging the lunar energies with the beauty of bloodshed [Blood moon/ Sun killer paths]

KILL THE SUN

>>5808338
Sun Killer references the tale of Hou Yi.

>>5808312
>An unfamiliar flag flies in the distance, frozen stiff as if it stands still in the breathless realm of the "Real" moon. Red and blue and marked with stars, and stained with mortality [Avatar of freedom/ Conqueror of the stars paths]
Daily reminder that Neal Armstrong won the USA-Lunarian war.

>>5808312
>>There is a beam of moonlight rising, close to the palace of ice and moondust, it glimmers and sparkles, just like the light of the moon when you first opened your eyes. There is a presence leading you there...[Lunar Deity/ Chang'e's chosen paths]
I like the idea of being the deity in fact like the people of the land think of us

Personal ranking is
>Sun killer
Fuck you ling, Fuck you SKY, we are the top cat. Sadly cannot vote for personal reasons related to a severe aversion [disdainful hate] of Hou Yi, the man who shot down 8 suns.

>Lunar deity
Because we deserve to be worshipped from afar, close worship is too uncomfortable.

>Monkeys understudy
Wukong is the Huan if Huan was less talented but much more audacious.

>Chang'e's chosen
Subordinate to a god? eeeeh. Still cool if we got someone we could like other than old five colours but still. Eh.

>Blood moon
Like a less cool sun killer. Might tie in with our eclipsed yang physique.

>Star conqueror
>Avatar of freedom
Both are kinda ill fitting outside of cameo status, and also kinda lame. Freedom? Ruling space? we don't offer the first and we're going to do the second anyway. We are an imperial personage, all shall obey us and that is that.

>Moon maddened.
Going mad because there's weird shit around you is weak sauce to a cultivator. Huan herself can be creeped out but to go mad? Where's your self confidence? Lovecraft has no hold on a daoist, your job is to look at the void and go "huh, that's how that works".

>>5808348
>>5808375
I nearly forgot about Hou Yi, even though he is Chang'e's husband.
I'm still keeping my vote to become a lunar deity though.
I wonder what would happen if we picked guardian spirit down the line as well, would we reach maximum divinity?

>>5808375
Also, is your dislike because his myth likely was merged with two others, so he ends up looking like a schizo that flips flops around between heroic figure, a massive asshole and a regular emperor?

On the one hand, we can make the moon ours. Who needs a bloody garden when you have a bloody moon?

On the other https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAFlWDpOcrw

>>5808312
>>There is a arrow, that smells of the sun, fallen atop the hill. You have a....urge to cut yourself on it and pollute the surface of the moon with both your blood and the ceaseless flow of blood Qi radiating from your dantians and beast core, mingling and smudging the lunar energies with the beauty of bloodshed [Blood moon/ Sun killer paths]
I don't particularly want to descend to the level of "goddess". We're Huanliuxue, not some ineffectual deity. So I can't in good faith pick the moony friend option.

>>5808312
>Wander aimlessly, chasing illusions and visions. Arrows, palaces, flags. There is nothing here, there is nothing here, there is nothing here! but you hear laughing![Moon maddened/ Monkey's understudy paths]

monkey

>An unfamiliar flag flies in the distance, frozen stiff as if it stands still in the breathless realm of the "Real" moon. Red and blue and marked with stars, and stained with mortality [Avatar of freedom/ Conqueror of the stars paths]

The last place tainted by the orthodoxy...SPACE!

But to be more serious I am very worried about why precisely heaven was filled with incompetent morons.
It may be that worship is poisonous and twists you into a caricature of your former self as a result of countless mortals giving you their energy over a long period of time and being unable to see you as anything other then a possibly schizo caricature.

>>5808312
>There is a beam of moonlight rising, close to the palace of ice and moondust, it glimmers and sparkles, just like the light of the moon when you first opened your eyes. There is a presence leading you there...[Lunar Deity/ Chang'e's chosen paths]

Obviously an empress would go to the palace

>>5808312
>>An unfamiliar flag flies in the distance, frozen stiff as if it stands still in the breathless realm of the "Real" moon. Red and blue and marked with stars, and stained with mortality [Avatar of freedom/ Conqueror of the stars paths]

>>5808399
I think it's more likely that it's because they spent eight generations in peace, built on top of lies with everything that could lead to introspection and growth being banned. So it lead to arrogance and hedonism.
Or maybe some of them feel guilty over their mistakes and just gave up, or we just were very lucky to manage to avoid anyone that was competent. After all, if the guard wasn't held back by his boss, I have no doubt he would have killed us. And he did manage to sense our aura of death and blood, but our affinity for caring for children, even before we tried to sneak out.

>>5808388
In playing a game of FATE, I masterfully orchestrated a collaboration of masters and servants into the grand battle against the Ruler and their mad master. Hou then betrayed me in the height of battle and slew my characters freshly blooming love interest when she saved him from the shot.
The emotional damage has never healed and I despise the traitorous bastard with a cold and enduring spite that extends to much of what he touches.

I never said it was a rational or good reason to hate him.

>>5808399
It's not really "worship" that's poison. It's stagnancy. Peace, in a word.
If you can recall, it's been a year and a bit, but Grandfather did state that when Monu claimed "it takes 10 years to get to Foundation establishment" that it was an artificial average. People take this long because it is the "safe" option, that invites no conflict and creates no drive to succeed or surpass or innovate. and Innovation would get them murdered if they were not of good standing anyway.

These new martial gods, born in the heavens haven't had to fight in generations. A martial god. without any fighting to do. Can you see the rot and the ineptiude's origin yet?

>>5808312
>Wander aimlessly, chasing illusions and visions. Arrows, palaces, flags. There is nothing here, there is nothing here, there is nothing here! but you hear laughing![Moon maddened/ Monkey's understudy paths]
Man... I like pretty much all of these. I'm just gonna go with my gut, and my gut tells me that this should lead to the most interesting options.

>>5808419
The worst part of your story is that it's completly in character for him to change his mind out of nowhere and betray you.
He did kill his son in one of the stories. One where he wasn't Chang'e's husband, or the guy that stoped a great flood.

>>5808399
>The last place tainted by the orthodoxy...SPACE!
I understood that reference. Thank you, Huan Curry.

>>5808438
I see the moon mad as Cheshire cat territory and the Monkey path being everyone's favorite inspiration for grandiose storytelling. Both being a sort of trickster path. Which are certainly cool as hell. Especially since Huan literally just developed a form of teleportation. Options options so many options.

>>5808445
Heh, just don't try to make her into curry

>>5808312
>There is a beam of moonlight rising, close to the palace of ice and moondust, it glimmers and sparkles, just like the light of the moon when you first opened your eyes. There is a presence leading you there...[Lunar Deity/ Chang'e's chosen paths]
I think I'd prefer the blood moon but since that's not looking like it's gonna win I'll vote for second best. The other two feel like an undesirable change in course so I hope they don't win.

>>5808482
You think learning from the guy who told every single deity he was way cooler than all of them is a departure from what Huan normally is like?

>>5808505
Yeah it should be Huan herself that does that, not studying under some monkey that's doing his own version of the exact same thing.

>>5808508
Really? Kinda weird to say learning should be off the table but alright. I don't agree but I ain't voting for that one either so what's it matter kek

>>5808512
Learning is not off the table, Monu still has things to teach us and I'd vote to learn them if possible. It's that studying under Wukong because he's also against the heavens takes away that Cat against the heavens feel we've had the whole quest and turns it into Cat and Monkey against the heavens instead.

>>5808505
A monkey having fun apes and mocks.
A cat having fun is cruelty incarnate.
Much different even if huan got good karma and is good at impersonations and she gets more powerful the more a grudge the enemy has. Huh.
Are we sure Huan's not a monkey?

Anyway i'm gonna vote for sun killer because kool.
>>5808312
>There is a arrow, that smells of the sun, fallen atop the hill. You have a....urge to cut yourself on it and pollute the surface of the moon with both your blood and the ceaseless flow of blood Qi radiating from your dantians and beast core, mingling and smudging the lunar energies with the beauty of bloodshed [Blood moon/ Sun killer paths]

If we had a wood root physique that osmanthus tree would probably be the path to godhood.

>>5808521
The monkey also became a buddha, and Huan likes the buddhists even though she is a taoist

>>5808515
I don't really see it that way as Wukong would be far from the first person we've worked with who has a vendetta against the heavens. I'd even argue that grudge was born from us learning what could have been from others like Monu.
But then again I'm biased since the winning option so far in the one I'm the least into, but Gramps has always been good at making me feel we made a good choice one way or another (like eclipsed yamg going from meh to hype with our last major fight)

>>5808312
>Wander aimlessly, chasing illusions and visions. Arrows, palaces, flags. There is nothing here, there is nothing here, there is nothing here! but you hear laughing![Moon maddened/ Monkey's understudy paths]

Actually, this just made me think, did we change dimensions or something?
Chang'e, Hou Yi and Sun Wukong are mythologies of our world, and the moon landing was a real events.
Even though there's taoism and buddhism, I've always seen the quest as being in it's own universe, with it's own characters and history, with those two names only appearing because it's a genre staple.
Although it could be said that those stories would be similar, since they involve mythologies that directly inspire the cultivation genre, specially with the eight immortals, and those characters do sometimes directly appear in stories set in other universes in the genre, instead of expies. But then again, why the american flag?
I may be massively overthinking all of this.

>>5808312
>>There is a arrow, that smells of the sun, fallen atop the hill. You have a....urge to cut yourself on it and pollute the surface of the moon with both your blood and the ceaseless flow of blood Qi radiating from your dantians and beast core, mingling and smudging the lunar energies with the beauty of bloodshed [Blood moon/ Sun killer paths]
>Wander aimlessly, chasing illusions and visions. Arrows, palaces, flags. There is nothing here, there is nothing here, there is nothing here! but you hear laughing![Moon maddened/ Monkey's understudy paths]
Either of these. Lunar Deity is boring

>>5808530
The flag is... interesting to say the least. Maybe we're at the unified concept of all moons, across all universes. This is both the moon america planted a flag on and the moon Haun looked at as a kitten, and the goddess Luna and...

>>5808542
That could make sense, this isn't the moon the celestial object, a mere satellite that orbits a planet. This is the moon the platonic ideal.

>>5808530
Another option is that the moon exists in a state of flux between space and time. The bigass tree could be from the primordial past. Or a different dimension. Same with the flag. Or perhaps what we are seeing isn't real but also isn't fake. In that it is a glimpse of "other" that is just as real as anything else, but isn't supposed to be here. I imagine it's like looking into a kaleidoscope. All of those colors exist, even though they have no business being in that tube.

>>5808547
So it wouldn't be illusions, they are real, just not real at that particular moment and place, until they are, and aren't anymore. Feels very Dao-like, so it be it.
All good theories so far anons.

>>5808312
>There is a beam of moonlight rising, close to the palace of ice and moondust, it glimmers and sparkles, just like the light of the moon when you first opened your eyes. There is a presence leading you there...[Lunar Deity/ Chang'e's chosen paths]

File: 73654365435643.jpg (61 KB, 960x540)

61 KB JPG

>>5808549
>tfw we're getting dark souls lore'd and the truth is there is no answer but no one wants to admit it
It is very fun though.

>>5808551
Just like Evangelion having christian symbols because the creators thought it looked cool

But yeah, theory crafting is very fun, even if ends up meaningless.
It's all about the journey, not the destination.

>>5808312
>An unfamiliar flag flies in the distance, frozen stiff as if it stands still in the breathless realm of the "Real" moon. Red and blue and marked with stars, and stained with mortality [Avatar of freedom/ Conqueror of the stars paths]
>>5808530
I suspect American Flag is in reference to Touhou 15: Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom. I'm pretty sure QM has posted Touhou music in thread before, but I might be misremembering.

>An unfamiliar flag flies in the distance, frozen stiff as if it stands still in the breathless realm of the "Real" moon. Red and blue and marked with stars, and stained with mortality [Avatar of freedom/ Conqueror of the stars paths]

I see the great expanse of the cosmos and weep, because there are still places left to explore and bow to the Proper Beast Empress

>>5808312
>Wander aimlessly, chasing illusions and visions. Arrows, palaces, flags. There is nothing here, there is nothing here, there is nothing here! but you hear laughing
Monkey's understudy

>>5808547
The tree could be Telperion

>>5808560
I suspect you suspect correctly.

>>5808697
No way, we don't even know any gloomy dark spid- uh oh.

>>5808312
>>There is a arrow, that smells of the sun, fallen atop the hill. You have a....urge to cut yourself on it and pollute the surface of the moon with both your blood and the ceaseless flow of blood Qi radiating from your dantians and beast core, mingling and smudging the lunar energies with the beauty of bloodshed [Blood moon/ Sun killer paths]

Doing an early tally because whew that's a lot of votes in one day
>Votes:21
P9CZlr7U
pt+f7Rsm
76emYAnd
2NUFWYSg
/U/TlymD
VYy5mqRK
aYDU4ccC
XxUJkxZa
sG7oWZ76
iLQrmhWH
V8vOu+72
JdeCiO8/
S+IqnYPS
bP1hO4sd
XRmzjRg5
nhV3aKrU
k5HA34uZ
khuIibwY
ebXnDeQN
aGCttUq9
x8CrSdM2
>There is a arrow, that smells of the sun:4(5)
/U/TlymD
XxUJkxZa
bP1hO4sd
nhV3aKrU(*)
x8CrSdM2
>There is a beam of moonlight rising:7
P9CZlr7U
pt+f7Rsm
76emYAnd
aYDU4ccC
iLQrmhWH
S+IqnYPS
k5HA34uZ
>There is a lake here, Shimmering silver waters that half way across turns black as the void above.:1
76emYAnd
>An unfamiliar flag flies in the distance:5(6)
VYy5mqRK
sG7oWZ76(*)
V8vOu+72
khuIibwY
ebXnDeQN
>Wander aimlessly, chasing illusions and visions.:4(6)
2NUFWYSg
sG7oWZ76(*)
JdeCiO8/
XRmzjRg5
nhV3aKrU(*)
aGCttUq9
Asterisks are for anons who picked more than one. Either way close race.

>>5808851
Thanks for doing it anon, spares me the effort.
I'm fine with whatever option winning except the flag. Even if it's a Touhou reference, I still think it doesn't fit the world.

>>5808852
Which is a shame, because if the conqueror of the stars path wasn't tied to it, I would have voted for that option since I like the sound of that name.

>>5808312
>There is a beam of moonlight rising, close to the palace of ice and moondust, it glimmers and sparkles, just like the light of the moon when you first opened your eyes. There is a presence leading you there...[Lunar Deity/ Chang'e's chosen paths]

>>5808312
*Long sigh*
Moon's Haunted.
>There is a arrow, that smells of the sun, fallen atop the hill. You have a....urge to cut yourself on it and pollute the surface of the moon with both your blood and the ceaseless flow of blood Qi radiating from your dantians and beast core, mingling and smudging the lunar energies with the beauty of bloodshed [Blood moon/ Sun killer paths]
This is a really close vote. Usually one sort of bulldozes the others but it's damn near any faction's game.

>>5808312
>There is a beam of moonlight rising, close to the palace of ice and moondust, it glimmers and sparkles, just like the light of the moon when you first opened your eyes. There is a presence leading you there...[Lunar Deity/ Chang'e's chosen paths]

>>5808312
Changing my vote >>5808438 to:
>There is a arrow, that smells of the sun, fallen atop the hill. You have a....urge to cut yourself on it and pollute the surface of the moon with both your blood and the ceaseless flow of blood Qi radiating from your dantians and beast core, mingling and smudging the lunar energies with the beauty of bloodshed [Blood moon/ Sun killer paths]
I like this option second best and it has a better chance to win, so I will back this horse instead.
Normally I wouldn't bother but Lunar Deity is not what I was hoping for when I voted to get a space themed evolution.
Ideally void would have won the previous vote but I will try to salvage what I can.
Pretty sure I am going to like any evolution we end up with anyway but fuck it

>>5808336
Changing my vote to
>There is a arrow, that smells of the sun, fallen atop the hill. You have a....urge to cut yourself on it and pollute the surface of the moon with both your blood and the ceaseless flow of blood Qi radiating from your dantians and beast core, mingling and smudging the lunar energies with the beauty of bloodshed [Blood moon/ Sun killer paths]
I'm sorry, but I dislike the idea of Lunar Deity (and I highly doubt people are going to chose to be under Chang'e of all people) so I'll make a late gamble in the hopes of getting cooler options.

>>5808312
Change from >>5808482 to
>There is a arrow, that smells of the sun, fallen atop the hill. You have a....urge to cut yourself on it and pollute the surface of the moon with both your blood and the ceaseless flow of blood Qi radiating from your dantians and beast core, mingling and smudging the lunar energies with the beauty of bloodshed [Blood moon/ Sun killer paths]
Since it was my preferred option and it looks like it's making a comeback.

>>5808312
Fuck it. Changing earlier vote >>5808560 to
>Blood Moon/Sun Killer path.
I originally voted for the meme/Touhou reference, but since Star Conqueror/Avatar of Freedom isn't going to win...

>>5808851
Alright, then I change from >>5808348 to
>There is a beam of moonlight rising, close to the palace of ice and moondust, it glimmers and sparkles, just like the light of the moon when you first opened your eyes. There is a presence leading you there...[Lunar Deity/ Chang'e's chosen paths]
Because I like it more than the Sunkiller

Stop fucking changing votes, you're going to drive grandfather insane

>>5809728
Not if I embrace that insanity first!
>Votes:24
P9CZlr7U
pt+f7Rsm
76emYAnd
2NUFWYSg
/U/TlymD
VYy5mqRK
aYDU4ccC
XxUJkxZa
sG7oWZ76
iLQrmhWH
V8vOu+72
JdeCiO8/
S+IqnYPS
bP1hO4sd
XRmzjRg5
nhV3aKrU
k5HA34uZ
khuIibwY
ebXnDeQN
aGCttUq9
x8CrSdM2
JqujUhEb
0oa+uhbj
x7zhSzr1
>There is a arrow, that smells of the sun:9(10)
/U/TlymD
XxUJkxZa
bP1hO4sd
nhV3aKrU(*)
x8CrSdM2
0oa+uhbj
JdeCiO8/
2NUFWYSg
S+IqnYPS
khuIibwY
>There is a beam of moonlight rising:9
P9CZlr7U
pt+f7Rsm
76emYAnd
aYDU4ccC
iLQrmhWH
k5HA34uZ
JqujUhEb
x7zhSzr1
VYy5mqRK
>There is a lake here, Shimmering silver waters that half way across turns black as the void above.:1
76emYAnd
>An unfamiliar flag flies in the distance:2(3)
sG7oWZ76(*)
V8vOu+72
ebXnDeQN
>Wander aimlessly, chasing illusions and visions.:2(4)
sG7oWZ76(*)
XRmzjRg5
nhV3aKrU(*)
aGCttUq9

With the changes made (and if I counted right since I just reused my work to save time), The Arrow That Killed Suns and The Beam of the Lunar Palace are neck and neck. The tiebreaker could lie with the Schrodinger's vote.

>>5809756
I think that's the highest amount of votes we had so far

>>5809756
That's crazy

>>5809756
>>5808312

I'll vote for moonlight if it's not way to late already.

>>5809756
The real question is. . Do you want Hou, the backstabbing bastard whoreson traitor Yang aligned bitch ass motherfucker with bad hair to win over literally anyone else.

>>5809777
Even if it wasn't my initial choice, the sun killing arrow feels like the perfect way to come full circle. Coming to the moon fulfilled one of (if not our first) dream from when we were just a wee kitten, so doubling down by choosing the path that lets us take down the symbol of our very first grudge. (and by proxy the gods since the leaders of the unjust heavens are Ling) feels thematically appropriate.

>>5809756
I think a way to solve this impasse, is to mix both the beam and the arrow. Chang'e and Hou are husband and wife, and we do have eclipse nature.

>>5809784
Although this reasoning is really good.
The only reason I won't change my vote is because I had voted for guardian spirit originally, and lunar deity feels close enough.

>>5809785
I am fine with this reasoning, but I don't know if Grandfather will allow it, since we're already balls-deep in a Mystery Box.

>>5809803
That would just make it a box so mysterious that not even grandfather knew of it!

>>5809777
Reminder that this vote leads to a sub vote, and that the choices are distinct from each other. Blood moon has nothing to do with any flipflopping Hou.

>>5809789
I mean we can still pick up guardian spirit later. Probably. We have a certain number of ranks to spend in total right? I don't know how it works exactly but that was my impression. I don't particularly care for either though. Feels too much like it would tie us down more than we'd like.

>>5809973
Yeah, but I doubt people will vote for that later.
We already got two chances for it

>>5809976
Just keep talking about it every thread until everyone just picks it because they can't escape your words in their heads. EZ PZ. Theory craft about what it may be able to do. Stuff like that.

Also it had to contend with a mystery box this time. Which is basically a DC 10 trillion.

>>5809973
There's a theoretical max of 9 evolutions, but 8 is the highest amount on record. I'm not sure if there's a max level per path, so we could do a 3-3-3 split (though I'm curious how we'll level up this cosmic related path any time soon).

>>5809983
>(though I'm curious how we'll level up this cosmic related path any time soon).
>new goal unlocked, build a space elevator

>>5809980
I'm unsure if that would work, the only thing it did for phasing was to become a meme.
I'm still betting on time-travel as a second mystery box for the next evolution

>>5809983
Huan space program, sending cats into orbit with orion drives

>>5809986
I voted for phasing every time it came up. PHASEBROS4LIFE

Time travel always makes things super confusing or super pointless. There's never an in-between. It's either a headache or a bore. Never liked it.

>>5809991
My brother, good to see some of us still live.
Shame the the same can't be said for Crusty.

>>5808312
>>There is a arrow, that smells of the sun, fallen atop the hill. You have a....urge to cut yourself on it and pollute the surface of the moon with both your blood and the ceaseless flow of blood Qi radiating from your dantians and beast core, mingling and smudging the lunar energies with the beauty of bloodshed [Blood moon/ Sun killer paths]
We shouldn't let ourselves get distracted and focus on the things we're best at: blood and ghosts/grudges. We should take the blood option.

>>5810030
If blood moon means we permanently paint the moon red, that's something I could get behind. It'd just be such a ridiculously grand feat and giant fuck you to the gods.

>>5810115
that would be a deciding factor in the vote for me.

Hell, might be a deciding factor in THIS vote, if Grandfather could confirm.
I'd prefer making it a phase thing, because moonlight is very pretty, but permenant blood moon is also acceptable.

>>5810157
I dislike the idea of turning the moon red, but if it would be just an extra phase, I think it would be cool.

>>5808354
>>There is a arrow, that smells of the sun, fallen atop the hill. You have a....urge to cut yourself on it and pollute the surface of the moon with both your blood and the ceaseless flow of blood Qi radiating from your dantians and beast core, mingling and smudging the lunar energies with the beauty of bloodshed [Blood moon/ Sun killer paths]
I am changing my vote to the blood moon

>>5808312
>There is a beam of moonlight rising, close to the palace of ice and moondust, it glimmers and sparkles, just like the light of the moon when you first opened your eyes. There is a presence leading you there...[Lunar Deity/ Chang'e's chosen paths]

Does this quest need to implement anti-samefag measures?

>>5810712
The amount of voters for this votes is indeed suspicious

idk how you can samefag on this site but i do know this site is ip lock

>>5811055
I'll explain how easy it is.

I am.
>>5810157
>>5809777
>>5808415

My Ip changes based on the device you use [Phone/computer] and your network [got two, plus data because my wifi's a bastard]
It's trivial to swap between them and get 5 ID's to post for my preffered option.

It's not hard to do, it's just incredibly gay.

>>5811182
for travelling Anon's it's even simpler, just walk to the next open hotspot and you can swap your ID that way.

And as you can see, my ID's swapped again. It's quite frustrating sometimes, but people can recognise posting style with enough sample size.

>>5811184
>>5810712

The most suspicious to me are the 1id posts that only repeat a standard option without writing or changing anything.

You have to be a hardcore lurker to not say anything at all and i can't believe there's that many of them.

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

2.91 MB PNG

Ending the vote now, had to cat sit for a day.

>>5809728
It would've

>>5809756
Which is why I am indebted to this valiant disciple of mine, for facing the trial in my stead

And with the votes that came after it, the final tally would be

Blood moon or Sun killer: 12

Lunar diety or Chang'e's chosen: 9

Lake write in: 1

Avatar of freedom or conqueror of stars: 3

Moon maddened or Monkey's understudy:4

However, since there's a bit of a concern for demonic cultivators using forbidden techniques to sway the vote, if we subtract 1 ip votes.

Well all that changes is BM/SK and LD/CC have one and two votes less respectively, by my reckoning so even if there are villainous forces acting against us, there is no change in the final result

So the winning vote is The choice between the blood moon and sun killer paths

update will arrive shortly

>>5811301
Actually it would've been 2 less votes for each, I missed one, still doesn't change the result though in the end

>>5811306
Grandfather, the question of the permenancy of the Blood moon is raised and this Junior speaks for his own Juniors when he inquires as to the answer.

It may be revealed in the update, but the answer will have determining effect on deliberations.

All around you you can sense hot spots of spiritual energy, where the breath of the stars has gathered and coalesced together the strongest, creating wellsprings of rich, naturally refined and purified Cosmic Qi just waiting to be poured into your beast core and mixed into the primordial beast essence there that has been overflowing lately and escaping your body with every breath you take or drop of sweat that trickles down you brow, constantly radiating from you like smoke from a fire, in countless different ways. The palace made of ice and moondust catches your eye first, but the moment you look upon it and consider approaching it, you feel a tug like you've suddenly been submerged halfway up your legs in a river with a strong current, the unseen presence you cannot locate through sight, scent or spiritual sense urging your forward, pushing and pulling on your fur with all the gentleness of a breeze whispering through cattails.

Just the idea you are being lead there, that whatever inhabits this strange moon is trying to guide you to the palace, trying to lead you and make your choice of where to bathe in the light and Qi of the moon ticks you off. You may possess human emotions and ideas, but you're still a feral beast, wild and free. Masterless, allowing no one else to choose the path you walk, just the idea that there is an outside influence trying to dabble with your destiny, that something else is trying to put a collar around your neck and guide you with a leash, seriously pisses you off and makes you turn up your snout at the palace and turn around so as not to even disgrace your eyes with the sight of it.

And as you turn, the gentle, achingly slow lunar wind crawls down from the crest of a hill behind you, carrying with it the scent of the sun. A smell that doesn't belong here, and is clearly flowing out of one of the other prime cultivating spots across the lunar landscape that had caught your attention if not your eyes. Intrigued, you rush over, galloping and kicking up clouds of grey white dust as you run through the pale blue grasses and beneath the crooked shadows cast by the realm eclipsing osmanthus tree. The smell of fresh ashes and smoke with a queer scent joins the fresh aroma of sunlight warming stone, grass and wood as you charge up the hill.

And find a single arrow laying on a crude shrine, the sort barbarian tribes in the deserts would make, stacking stones atop one another to form a simple sort of grave marker. A Cairn. Perhaps the tower of stacked stones is all the remains uncovered of the incomprehensibly ancient grave. Oddly, the arrow doesn't looked like it was placed there as an offering or memorial, but rather that it had fallen before the grave, or some churl decided to loose it into the grave when they couldn't have shot it into the still warm breast of whoever the grave belongs to.

And curiouser yet, looking upon the honed, razor fine edge of the arrow fills you with desire.

Cont

>>5811403

A desire to bleed, to lift it up and cut your wrists and slice your throat, to spill out all of the excess blood you've hidden away in your veins and heart and kneel down, bathing in it, allowing it flow over your bare skin like warm summer rain, pooling around your legs, leaving streaks of scarlet down your throat and arms. To paint yourself red. And oddly, you fantasize yourself in your human body when you do this, and stranger yet, this day dream of self harm doesn't revolt you as it probably should but it isn't the same macabre delight you felt when you admired the wounds you survived in the nine heavens. That was as much gloating about surviving such a vicious attack as it was your usual fondness of corpses and gore and other things most would call grisly or disturbing and try to avoid.

You ponder it, as you shift to standing on two legs as you turn into a human girl again, walking up to the arrow and pouting as you try and mull over the desire to tear open your veins to figure out why it feels different from any of your other macabre whims and thrills, like sleeping atop graves or drenching your fur or hair in blood. And as you tap your finger to the the tip of the arrow head, drawing a single bead of blood, you understand why its strange. Why the fantasy of ripping open the veins in your wrists and throat should've disturbed and disgusted you, and why it didn't.

The urge isn't to mangle your body, to relish in the warmth of your blood or swallow pain to make it pleasure, which is something only the wildest of perverts would do, which is why you're greatly relieved to realize that the day dream wasn't in fact the first signs of a masochistic yearning or suicidal tendencies, which you're certain others would argue against since what you did early this day would've been suicided if anyone but the great you tried it.

No the urge is a desire to corrupt, to pollute and degrade this pure land around you with your filthy blood? Filthy? Hah! Your blood is purer than water and more valuable than refined mercury! But when you look on the arrow and the blood it drew, you can only envision spreading that beautiful coat of red you wear, as hair and fur, all across the pale surface of the moon, with both fresh blood and the blood Qi ceaselessly spilling out from your heart, dantians and beast core.

To mingle the lunar energies with the beauty of bloodshed. The beauty of yourself. Corrupting the cosmic Qi with your own essence, to truly make it yours as you integrate it to the roiling primordial beast essence and ghostly breath caged inside of your beast core.

But, the longer your hold the out of place, sunshine smelling arrow in the palm of your hand, the more that vision of a moon painted in your colors, reeking of your blood is replaced with a different scene in your minds eye. Another illusionary scene, of a sun scorched world, a wasteland of sand and rock hard soil, blistering heat and blinding sunlight.
Cont

>>5811404

A land so dry there weren't even clouds in the sky, only ten blazing, furious suns burning the world, evaporating the seas and bleaching the bones of all things a porcelain white. The world was dying beneath the oppressive gaze of ten suns. Until an archer emerged and walked the sun-beaten world, and one by one, shot nine of the ten suns out of the sky. The scene playing in your mind's eye shows you this, shows the suns bleeding fire and pure radiance, their light fading as they fall from the skies with raven like cries, as the archer stands, his face hidden by the merciless sunlight as he notches and fires arrow after arrow, none of them missing their mark as he stands stalwart and uncowed by the overwhelming power of the quarry he has chosen. He just expertly shoots them down with incredible precision and haste.

And as each sun falls, more is revealed as the light in the sky dims. And while at first you were curious of the identity of this man, half expecting the glare of the sun to reveal Five color's cheerful smile, but the longer you indulge in this fantasy, the more your attentions are drawn to the arrow itself, and the bow that fires it, sending it into the hearts of the villainous suns who trouble and injure the world in their arrogance without any concern for those living upon it.

It is as inspiring as the idea of staining the moon red with the paint of your veins is tempting. You to are an enemy of the sun. The Ling proclaim themselves guardians of the celestial sunlight and style themselves after it, wearing gaudy golden robes.

You frown, and tap your finger on the point of the arrow head again, widening the cut there and drawing another bead of blood, fatter than the first.

To turn the moon red, if only for a few nights, and absorb the essence of a blood tinged moon. A blood moon is an ill omen, a symbol of war and death, a herald of coups and all the bloodshed that follow them. You helped complete a coup, when you helped the three Dian brothers gut the worthless excuse of an emperor like a fish.

Yet the idea of shooting down a sun, not the sun, is appealing beyond words. You've never used a bow before, having done not even as much as learn how to notch an arrow and pull a bowstring, but you'd be willing to learn if you could bury an arrow like the one in your hand into the hearts of the Ling.

Either way if you paint the moon red or refine this arrow and absorb it into your beast core, you can sense that you'll attain great and unexpected powers. You just have to make your choice and embrace the next step of beastial evolution, and attain cosmic nature.

Flicking the arrow up right, you turn it to see your reflection in its arrowhead, turning it around and twisting it between two fingers, your heart racing as you try and decide if you should snap it in half to release the essence of murdered suns within it, or use its sharp edge to slice open your own throat to dance in blood soaked moonlight.
Cont

>>5811407

Choose [Basic cosmic nature line abilities. The ability to travel to space, without passing through the heavens, access to cosmic Qi, can breath and move with ease in the void of space, can practice star magic and astrology, Always knows ones exact location beneath the night sky, You cultivate cosmic Qi more efficiently and stranger/ alien abilities...]

>Blood Moon: Become a herald of misfortune, who is strengthened beneath moonlight and whose presence alone can upset the tides, of both the sea and war. Gain the ability to worsen the luck/ fortunes others. Increase potency and affinity of Yin spells/ abilities/ techniques, gain the ability to transmute water to blood, without alchemy, and control moonlight, as well as access unique techniques and spells fueled by it. Able to force the moon to become a blood moon temporarily, and blood moonlight strengths your blood moon abilities more than normal moonlight does, and alters them (As well as carmine mystic abilities, and any form of blood sorcery/ refinement/ control). Your blood has been infused with moon dust.

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

>Write in

Cosmic nature is scary, and all of its variations are equally as scary/ powerful

How Huanliuxue will look after this evolution, will be revealed next update :)

>>5811347
If you pick blood moon, blood moons will be more common as a natural occurrence, as well as Huan being able to summon one

>>5811409
>Blood Moon: Become a herald of misfortune, who is strengthened beneath moonlight and whose presence alone can upset the tides, of both the sea and war. Gain the ability to worsen the luck/ fortunes others. Increase potency and affinity of Yin spells/ abilities/ techniques, gain the ability to transmute water to blood, without alchemy, and control moonlight, as well as access unique techniques and spells fueled by it. Able to force the moon to become a blood moon temporarily, and blood moonlight strengths your blood moon abilities more than normal moonlight does, and alters them (As well as carmine mystic abilities, and any form of blood sorcery/ refinement/ control). Your blood has been infused with moon dust.

>>5811409
>Sun Killer: Become the next sun killer, who cannot be burned by even the fiercest flames (Immune to fire and heat), become a natural master of archery, unmatched on heaven or earth. Capable of "Snuffing out" Fire spells and techniques with your aura, or seal them entirely with an arrow. Yang spells/ abilities/ techniques are strengthened, but all that are fire aligned are replaced with "Dead heat", a black fire that consumes other flames. Gain the ability to steal/ trap sunlight or mundane fires, and convert it into Dead Heat Qi instead. You can see much farther than before, and your vision becomes flawless, no matter how dark or bright your surroundings are. And now the sun will know to fear you.

>>5811409
Hmmmmmmmmmmm

I hate Hou, I hate Hou, I hate Hou.
And making the sun turn red is METAL AS FUCK.

However, absolute immunity to one of the 5 elements? that alone is worth it. the rest is so much MORE

>Sun Killer.
DIE, LING SCUM, DIE!

>>5811409
>>Blood Moon: Become a herald of misfortune, who is strengthened beneath moonlight and whose presence alone can upset the tides, of both the sea and war. Gain the ability to worsen the luck/ fortunes others. Increase potency and affinity of Yin spells/ abilities/ techniques, gain the ability to transmute water to blood, without alchemy, and control moonlight, as well as access unique techniques and spells fueled by it. Able to force the moon to become a blood moon temporarily, and blood moonlight strengths your blood moon abilities more than normal moonlight does, and alters them (As well as carmine mystic abilities, and any form of blood sorcery/ refinement/ control). Your blood has been infused with moon dust.
This existence is ours. Everyone else is just living in it. As monumentally badass as Sun Killer stuff is, I can't turn my back on the most maniacal showing of dominance we can make, not to destroy but to change.

>>5811409
>Sun Killer: Become the next sun killer, who cannot be burned by even the fiercest flames (Immune to fire and heat), become a natural master of archery, unmatched on heaven or earth. Capable of "Snuffing out" Fire spells and techniques with your aura, or seal them entirely with an arrow. Yang spells/ abilities/ techniques are strengthened, but all that are fire aligned are replaced with "Dead heat", a black fire that consumes other flames. Gain the ability to steal/ trap sunlight or mundane fires, and convert it into Dead Heat Qi instead. You can see much farther than before, and your vision becomes flawless, no matter how dark or bright your surroundings are. And now the sun will know to fear you.

Perfect eyesight? That'll go perfectly with our waltz.

>>5811409
>Blood Moon: Become a herald of misfortune, who is strengthened beneath moonlight and whose presence alone can upset the tides, of both the sea and war. Gain the ability to worsen the luck/ fortunes others. Increase potency and affinity of Yin spells/ abilities/ techniques, gain the ability to transmute water to blood, without alchemy, and control moonlight, as well as access unique techniques and spells fueled by it. Able to force the moon to become a blood moon temporarily, and blood moonlight strengths your blood moon abilities more than normal moonlight does, and alters them (As well as carmine mystic abilities, and any form of blood sorcery/ refinement/ control). Your blood has been infused with moon dust.
Let's be our own thing, instead of walking in the footsteps of others

>>5811409
>>Blood Moon: Become a herald of misfortune, who is strengthened beneath moonlight and whose presence alone can upset the tides, of both the sea and war. Gain the ability to worsen the luck/ fortunes others. Increase potency and affinity of Yin spells/ abilities/ techniques, gain the ability to transmute water to blood, without alchemy, and control moonlight, as well as access unique techniques and spells fueled by it. Able to force the moon to become a blood moon temporarily, and blood moonlight strengths your blood moon abilities more than normal moonlight does, and alters them (As well as carmine mystic abilities, and any form of blood sorcery/ refinement/ control). Your blood has been infused with moon dust.
This meshes greatly into our Dao, synergises with the Carmine Mysticism (which we should use more anyways) and the techniques dont require us to enter human form.
Archery would force us to stay human and hinder melee (making the fights less cool).

>>5811480
I for one trust that our genius smith Feiqing would be able to design a bow for quadrupeds. But even still, shapeshifting dynamism in fights would be pretty cool to learn in order to quickdraw 360 no-scope dome fools with arrows.

>>5811472
Fuck, my ID changed
>>5802994
I'm this anon

>>5811482
Feiqing is best boy and I can't wait for him to reach the heights of cultivation he deserves