"The old man, that conniving bitch, the pretentious wastrel, and the gweilo have acted to petition, threaten, and even bribe me to transfer the boy's future discipleship to them, disturbing my work and cutting into my precious free time, time I will never get back."
We welcome our guests and have them seat with us on our table with honors, the arrangement being grandmother seated in the middle, me next to her, then mother next to me, then Daoist Ideal-Seeker, then uncle and his dom.
With us fully seated and beginning the banquet this would have been the time for our loyal clansmen to present gifts that actually are meant for me and affirm their loyalties, however in the midst of eating, mother's master decided to make himself feel at home and go on a rant.
"If I had known that one of these days picking up the two of you would cause so much trouble I would have reconsidered it."
"This disci-"
"No! Not a word! I haven't acknowledged you yet and you dare make yourself a pain for this master..." -putting me out of his mind he then addresses grandmother with an irritated expression.- "So what say you woman? Is it your design that every generation of the Wu-Tang grows worse?"
"Why Honored Guest." -she stresses the words 'Honored' and 'Guest' while addressing her fellow Core Formation elder- "It is my prerogative and duty that the clan grows stronger with each generation, what did you find charming about Feng and Yingyue that you do not see in my dear Gen?" -she asks, relishing contesting wills with another cultivator her own level, as I have said before she gets a little lonely after all.
"Boy makes too much waves, like the silkpants troupe or the blessed few, Feng and Yingyue are both quiet and inconsequential and that is the point."
"They don't ruffle feathers unnecessarily, but this boy, oh this boy, my free time would be taken up by the multitude of faceless patsies trying to get him and I, as his master have to play cultivation guardian for him, my precious free time! Fading away like dry cracked pages of old tomes!"
"I have half a mind to hand him off to the old man, lets see him try to become a Nascent Soul with all of the worldly distractions, serves him right!"
"But Master." -my mother interjects with a serene and coy expression- "That would be unfilial to you seeing as I have made you his god father, you are bound to become one of his cultivation guardians anyway."
"Without my consent! When did I ever gave my verbal agreement! How did you take my seal for the documentation!"
"Then Master should take care to know where his mortal affairs lie and when to indulge in them then."
"Oh you clever girl." -he laments- "I should have known in the long years I gave you instruction that you never treat me to drinks for no reason..." -and takes a shot of peach wine.
"... Bah!" -chasing it down with a bite of a fried vegetable fritter he continues- "In the good old days where no one sat the Iron Dusted Throne, cultivation guardians weren't a thing around here parts of the Direct South Core, only the shamelessly talentless in the Direct East Core or two faced cowards in the Direct West Core and important people in the Forbidden City get cultivation guardians."
"We know the reason behind the former is because all of them are pathetically weak, reliant on either contracts with the spirits of the phases or encasing themselves in qi metal, and the latter is because you cannot hope to defy Heaven without one in the city where its will is simultaneously screamed out and muffled shut."
"I have eyes and ears to see that the will of Heaven is made clear out here in the Outskirts and in this city, and even at his age your boy is strong enough to defy Heaven, why even get him a cultivation guardian?"
"It is because nothing can be sure in life Master." -replies my mother, misty eyed in a display, but not in an act- "Please for the sake of this Yingyue could you guard his efforts?"
"... Hah, you know I cannot take him as a disciple right away, sect rules are sect rules, but with a good showing after initiation who knows?" -the teacher replies, acquiescing to his student, the closest person that he has equivalent to a daughter.
"Student thanks her master." -mother replies, as if expecting this result, beaming with a knowing smile on her face.
"Tch... Ah, this could have been a conversation had in private, my mistake entirely Hierarch, has this seat overstepped his authority?"
"This Hierarch is understanding of the moods of her guest, and besides I have yet to thank you not only on the discipleship of Feng'er and Ying'er, but also the upcoming discipleship of Gen, for this reason we are practically kin, also we have to give our clansmen time to prepare and eat." -she says amused at his gaffe.
"This elder is grateful for and honored by the Hierarch's consideration, indeed the generosity on display far outstrips than what this elder and this clan deserves, the Hierarch may correct me if I am wrong but this is not spirit rice is it?" -not to be made fun of and disgraced, he begins his spiel showcasing his years of expertise and accrued knowledge of kissing ass and saving face.
"This is regular rice infused with qi, in the style of how they prepare it in the North, after seeing it served alongside a wide palate of dishes originating not only from the Core but also from notables in the Outskirts, and seeing it all served with the same hint of qi infusing its majority of mundane ingredients could only mean that it comes from a genuine Core Formation Qi Chef."
"My compliments to you." -he says while turning to convey his compliment in a display of ever so slightly and politely bowing- "I never once thought I would eat from the kitchens of a Qi Chef of high repute this far from the Forbidden City."
"Why oh my..." -my grandmother in response to this compliment... flashes a maidenly smile?- "This Qi Chef is glad seeing a happy and knowledgeable customer, would the elder like it served every morning too I wonder fufufu~..."
The daoist who had long since outlived all his lovers and foreswore off on all the petty mortal needs of love and affection choked on his drink, he has made himself feel too much at home it appears.
Oh, oh damn she really is lonely, too lonely, but given the amount of help this man has already given me and how he treats uncle and mother, I would say he already is the grandfather I never had, he already has my support.
On the other hand please someone remarry this woman, Heavens forbid she puts all her energies on torturing poor hapless souls who find their way into this city, and Heaven knows the rituals are only getting more expensive the more we toe the borderline into demonic cultivation.
"Hah, it has indeed been so long since a gentlemen has acknowledged my cooking..." -she laments, eyes closed in wistful memory displaying a sad smile.
"Oh the things you learn to appreciate when they are no longer within your reach..." -she giggles, thinking about had-beens and could-haves- "Oh well no matter wasting time on regrets."
"Once more." -broken from her reverie and rising from her seat she addresses the crowd- "Are there any more well wishers?"
"This one greets the Young Master a happy birthday! This one presents the Young Master with gifts freely given, and more fit for his journey to defy Heaven!"
So continues the well wishing, the resources presented to me this time are fit for my Water inter-regulating Earth affinity and paired with a fine ink bought from our competitors, the Pan.
I see no treachery here, if we execute every clansmen for the mere acknowledgement of our inferiority we would quickly find ourselves in the situation the Dai found themselves in, besides thanks to this I could try to derive their exact recipe from this sample.
In a show of recognition of the loyalty this man and his family has held onto to us despite the appearance of weakness, I dip my head in a shallow bow.
A display of dismissal so quick and efficient I waste no more of his time and effort, time and effort which he could use to plan his path to defy Heaven, time and effort I have given by allowing him and his get to leave unscathed and unharmed from this place.
"This one greets the Young Master a happy birthday! This one named Yuh surnamed Wu-Tang presents the Young Master with gifts extended in friendship!"
"This one professes and pledges to be the Young Master's follower from this day until the day he ascends to Heaven!" -huh, I thought we already put out all the leeches?
"Oh, you, who is named Yuh surnamed Wu-Tang, professes to be this Young Master's follower and pledges to serve me from this day until I ascend to Heaven?"
"Yes Young Master!" -does he think I am this stupid?
"Didn't you, who is named Yuh surnamed Wu-Tang, used to profess and pledge to be Long's own when he first entered Melting Crucible Sect." -I say, for despite being cast out of all the childhood cliques due to my being me, I still have ears to hear every word spoken and eyes to remember every face that spoke those words glazing that fraud, hitting him with the patented empty cow stare.
"Th-this one had eyes but could not see the difference between salamanders and dragons. This o-one has long since rectified that."
"Huh, so you abandoned my poor cousin Long after he was beaten by Song Yun and then I having won your 'loyalty' from him you have abandoned him too?"
"Please understand-" -interrupting this pathetic attempt at comradery with more theatre, I use my movement technique over the table to knee him in the stomach bringing him down kneeling before me, and as I grasp his hair to meet the rat's rat-like face I continue-
"Do you dare address me in such a manner, with your head up high like you actually matter? Why are you trying to make me laugh?"
"You had eyes to see the difference between salamanders and dragons but blind yourself to your own treachery? Is that a laughing matter to you?"
"Th-this one begs the Young Master for forgiveness! I-I swear to never betray you Young Master!"
"Hah." -what a rat, I would bet the whole clan treasury that this rat is the one who instigated Long into fighting Song Yun, hell one day if some dumb sucker takes him into their confidence this rat would immediately involve them into fighting the main protagonist guaranteed, I can't have a rat like that around me, and for the good of all cultivators everywhere I can't have this rat run free.
"Not to worry this Young Master forgives you." -I address the rat who entered the same time as Long and hung onto Song Yun's coattails into the Inner Sect, all of that to reach a bottleneck at Qi Gathering, what a waste of resources.
"Ah, ah! This one is grateful for You-urk!" -I pierce his spirit roots, ending the farce and let the Tufu drag another into their ranks, thankfully some things could at least be salvaged.
At this display, the well wishing continued but any hopeful lackeys simply utter the same greetings and walk away relieved to be dismissed, a great many of them in fact, what happened?
Did you lose the guts to keep spending your daughters like coins in a gamblers den? Now you lose the hutzpah to spend away your third to seventh sons too?
How tepid, I expected more of them in fact, but I guess word spread in the last hour or so of my peerless activity and it is decided that sending anyone to befriend me was a waste of influence and manpower, good.
Dumb enough to remain under our thumb and competent enough to serve us, that is the whole purpose of the whole concept of the cultivation clan in the first place, to further a group's cultivation at the cost of others, who should rise and at how high the cost should be is set by the Hierarch, but given how everyone here, even the loyal ones, would be more than willing to stab us in the back for the slightest chance of breaking through their bottleneck there is a precedent for us not valuing them highly.
As day turned into night, the last well-wisher bid his farewell and took his family out of the dinning hall like many before them who ran out of plays, so those who remain are our closest supporters, the ones brave and smart enough to stay out of clan politics diligently doing their duty, those who reformed into the former two choices, our guests, and the last of the Wu's.
The Wu's being Grandma, uncle, mother and me, the triplets should be raising hell within the sect against the Dai clan, and Aunt Caixi's husband slipped away during the procession to the dinning to join Aunt and Long in their seething, what a waste of time and effort the whole thing is.
Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.
"Ahem." -my uncle addresses those who remain- "Now that we are slipping into the last hours of the night, for the sake of the Young Master's health we must wish him an early night's sleep"
"So my dear sister, between the two of us who wants to give him his gift first?"
"Save yours for the last brother." -mother says rummaging through her pockets- "Yours is the most impressive between us."
"Happy Birthday Gen." -she says wistfully in the manner in which she often reminisces my father, her dead husband, and her own struggles as she seats me on her lap.
"Today you are seven years old, when the majority at your age are barely comprehending their place in the world, you are already peers with the prodigies and some of the geniuses of the whole Direct South Core."
"To see you like this brings so many emotions my dear."
"I feel sad because for seven years I have been pushing away my responsibilities to you in favor of drowning my heart demons in sect duties to further my own cultivation, so I have not been a mother to you properly."
"I feel jealous that because of your talent has allowed you to overcome many of the hardships I had to go through to reach the heights you have set yourself on.
"I feel angry because despite focusing seven years on my cultivation you have outpaced me so much that I cannot mother you as much as I had liked to, but still."
"Words cannot describe how happy I am for you Gen, to see you grow so much on your own gives me joy that you will live longer and survive in this world, that is what every parent wishes of their child and you have long since surpassed them, but still."
"I cannot help but worry for you Gen, you defy Heaven, and Heaven does not take too kindly to those you defy its will, so with this gift I can only hope you stay a smart and wise boy, don't gamble with with your life on line if you can mean it okay?"
"Nothing can be sure in life, but I will try mama, I promise."
"Good, good, good. Happy Birthday Gen." -she says as she hands me a badge, shaped like a kite shield it is imbued with engravings and inscryptions with the various characters meant for the purpose of protection.
"This is a shield badge, it has enough qi inside to resist three blows from a Core Formation elder, and many more strikes from lesser cultivators."
"It will serve you well, especially if you take of it, but if you want to fiddle with it just tell me and I will get you lesser ones for you to try on first alright?"
"It takes a whole year for it to recover naturally with ambient qi and I can't have you going without protection for that long that's why, understand?"
"I understand, thank you mama!" -as I give my thanks we embrace each other for a good while, and while I, a filial son take her words to heart I cannot help but feel excited for when I get to pester her for the lesser badges to fiddle with.
"Aww, during my long years of service how could I ever forget the inherent good inside of every person?" -remarks my uncle's dom hauling one end of a rather large contraption covered under wraps.
"I would tell you that we should go on a long break, but no, whenever we do trouble finds us and you are too good of a senior to just let the juniors get as jaded as we are." -uncle retorts while carrying the other end.
"No way! You actually did it uncle!"
"Is that what I think it is Feng?"
"Of course, I did my dear nephew, and yes Master, it is what you think it is, for when the Son of Heaven calls an account for all the geniuses of the South am I not counted among their number?"
They unveil the strange and unknown contraption to reveal a device that will change how information is exchanged in this world.
Although most its design has been copied from a old wine press, with a qi infused mercury stamp replacing where there should be a stone grindstone there is no mistaking it for anything else but a printing press.
"A hundred years has passed since I entered the Melting Crucible Sect, and at my return I have provided our clan with the means and knowledge of how we can begin the making of talismans in a method guaranteeing standard quality and being of relative ease and speed."
"In just five years since this day, with thanks to my nephew your Young Master, I have given us an edge to pull ahead of our competition, and today we will eclipse them"
"The Pan clan's connections and secret method solidified their lead in the ink making business, for within the whole entirety of the city and the Direct South Core's Capital itself admits it, there is no other ink that gives you the most for its asking price than Pan ink."
"Having ears to hear of this and eyes to see how we can both benefit from it I had offered them partnership in the talisman trade, and in response they had rebuffed me."
" 'What does a brat barely in Qi Condensation know of making talismans.', they said, 'What could a pill making clan possibly have to give us, kowtow to us a hundred times and we will consider leaving your cultivation intact.', well look at them now."
"Thanks to my methods we have matched them talisman for talisman to the point they had to hire extra hands to out perform us and they did, only for a time."
"With our Young Master's suggestion of using arrays carved into blocks to print out the talismans, we are making more than them and no matter how many extra hands they take in or push out they cannot hope to fill out more quotas exceeding ours."
"Yet for all of this, I would like to give credit to you all good and loyal kinsmen, if it weren't for some of you poaching the Pan clan's connections we would have never have out paced them and if even one of our methods were to be leaked it would be the end of us, so let us all give ourselves a round of applause." -says uncle, prompting a period of quiet cheer and polite clapping as respite in the midst of his rather dry presentation, after which he then continues with-
"Now consider the Quill clan, their vaunted illustration and calligraphy methods painstakingly preserved during their exile from the West, and with it they became one of the finest in the Direct South Core at the craft of creating manuals, truly peerless within Melting Crucible they are the only clan the sect trusts to outsource the production of copies of their manuals, until now."
"This night I would like to demonstrate to everyone gathered here the capabilities of the printing press, as the day is yours my dear nephew, this honor too is yours." -uncle says gesturing towards the printing press.
I step up to the press and start to fiddle about to see how it operates.
First uncle hands me a jade slip, which contains the manual's qi which contains the original copy of the knowledge contained within that technique manual, which we insert into a slot making up an array, and then the process of molding the liquid metal begins, taking up time within the good part of a minute as the qi infused mercury seal forms the type form.
Then Shin prepares the paper unto the wooden platen in which the technique should be printed on as I ink up the type form with its accoutrement ink balls, and finally to finish, I turn its screw lever while also injecting my qi into the press to impress the technique into print.
The print glowed for a moment as it took out a good chunk of of my own and the ambiance's qi, lo and behold there is the first ever printed manual.
With the whole process only costing a good bit of qi, with at least five cultivators working it pacing themselves and maintaining a good qi flow with a proper breathing technique, we can produce manuals of the same quality as the Quill clan.
"Behold, The Breath of the Boiling Cauldron! The Quill clan with their methods could replicate a copy within two days, what we could now do within two minutes!"
"Praise our Young Master Gen!" -our clan members cry out- "Praise our Elder Feng! May Heaven bless them for bringing merit to us all!"
"By the Throne of Thrones Feng you actually did it!" -Daoist Ideal-Seeker exclaims with pride at how far and high my uncle has flown since he has left his guidance.
"Yes. Gen, Shin and I finally did it. Does this mean that the Wu-Tang clan has won the bid for this years edition of sect manuals?" -my uncle coyly replies.
"If we do we will throw in a generous discount on top of our already rock bottom prices, we will also take sect credits in lieu of jade or qi stones."
"Ahem! Ahem. May I, as the Inscryption Hall Elder, your honored guest, remind you all that I have to practice impartiality, you my dear disciple must register in the appropriate paperwork and compete fair and square."
"I haven't even seen one of your factories hosting a good number of these contraptions and while impressive, there is no way that just one of these new fangled printing presses could make ten thousand copies in a single year."
"Ah, that is because I am yet to build it and title the deed to Gen. Happy birthday my dear nephew, all the profits this factory will produce will be yours to assist in your ascent to Heaven."
"Thank you so much uncle!"
"No, thank you Gen, thanks to this invention many wrongs will be righted and Inscryption Hall will be avenged."
"Hmm hmm that is true indeed." -uncle's master interjects- "Besides, I am not robbing you or I the sight of those fop's seeing their entire livelihood collapse right in front of them, truly the justice of Heaven takes time to strike."
" 'Oho hon hon hon, Honorable Head you see while these manuals seem to be of mundane quality, the act of creating each one of them has taken just as much qi and skill as every creation of the Quill methods does, we have known that a master such as you would understand the cost of training an Inscryptor, so please understand why this price that you have asked for is insufficient for us, however we may waive such concerns if you accede to some of our few requests...', damnable westerners, there is a reason why they were driven out and yet they always seem to find excuses to turn a blind eye to it!"
"Indeed Honorable Head." -Shin says- "Although I have not experienced their arrogance firsthand, all the tales of the late nights Feng and his fellow inscryptors have suffered through trying to make up for the deficit of novice manuals have imparted my sympathies to Inscryption Hall's plight."
"No more Master." -uncle declares beaming with a vindictive streak- "No more will my fellows and juniors sacrifice their free time and efforts anymore, this is for them, the wailing of their empty treasury will recompense us, but it is not enough, I will not stop at just Mortal and Earth grade manuals."
With a loud cry my uncle continues- "By Heaven and Earth I swear! Once I figure out how to print techniques of Sky grade and higher without degrading them, then and only then by dragging out the manual trade out from the despicably clean hands of those damned pretentious scum only then will I be satisfied!"
"When would wonders ever cease to be, bless you Feng you have strengthened the clan once more." -grandmother returns from a trip down her kitchen unnoticed- "You will have your day over the Quill, and the Pan also, but slowly Feng, under the ten clans we all are and they have backers amongst them, marriage alliances solidifying business deals binding them together, we will have to wait for it."
"Hah!" -Daoist Ideal-Seeker interjects- "What use would the ten clans be compared to the Melting Crucible Sect! What can a few insignificant seniors and elders do compared to us Hall Heads!
"Make your moves Feng, with the way the Quill have been conducting themselves, they have been asking for something like this to happen for a long time overdue, impartiality be damned."
"Fill out those forms Feng, if it is to counter the influence of the clans I am sure I can convince Array Hall and the Sect Master about this, for with the foundation of that factory I have formally pledged my support."
"And well..." -Daoist Seeker murmurs as he stroking his thin beard- "While I did pitch in for the shield badge I suppose this act is as good as a birthday gift as any, well what do think of that brat?"
"This disciple thanks his Master!" -gleefully I reply.
"I haven't acknowledged you yet brat!" -he retorts.
"Perhaps this will then." -grandmother says, unveiling the Affinity Enhancement Pill on a platter "Happy birthday Niu'er, are you ready to receive your gift?"
Steeling myself for the pain to come, I move my seats padded cushion unto the floor and place myself in the meditating pose- "Yes Grandma."
With as little hesitation as I can show I swallow the pill and begin developing a third affinity.
Even rarer and more powerful, the SRs, SSRs and SSSRs affinities to the R of Yin Phase-Yang Phase affinity, Phase acts on Phase acts on Phase, Phase acts on Phase acts on Phase acts on Phase, and Phase acts on Phase acts on Phase acts on Phase acts on Phase, and for the sake of saving space just pin as much cycles or Yin's and Yang's to each of those phases in every possible variant.
Although one can be born naturally with these affinities there is a chance that through one's cultivation journey these affinities be could be developed, the known ones who have these type of affinities at birth could only counted upon two hands, and the ones who have successfully developed those affinities as they progress through their cultivation on one, that is why these affinities are so rare.
In theory, the younger you are the easier it is to develop these affinities, as the mind and body is mostly a blank slate to be filled, qi deviation through madness and behavioral issues is less likely to occur, as affinities affect a persons personality and the other way around in the manner of what I could assume to be the closest thing to humor theory.
Yin is primarily female, passive, negatives, moon, dark and night coded. If you have Yin as your primary even though it might be lesser than your auxiliary you are most likely to have a vagina, if there is too much as your auxilliary you get me, a femboy or a close adjacent to it.
Yang is primarily male, active, positive, sun, light and day coded. If you have Yang as your primary even though it might be lesser than your auxiliary you are most likely to have a penis, if there is too much as your auxiliary you would probably get a tomboy, a muscle mommy even.
Fire's emotion is frenzy and joy, its mental state is of intense passion, and its virtue is propriety. Better to burn out then fade away.
Whenever one is lost and despondent, a light will be there to guide the way, for those who come after.
Water's emotion is fear and caution, its mental state is of eruditic resourcefulness or wit, and its virtue is Wisdom. When poured into a glass it becomes the glass, when poured into bowl it becomes the bowl.
Whenever one is barred from their goals, a river will either crush through or overcome, for there is no ceasing the flow.
Earth's emotion is anxiety and planning, its mental state is of being honest and agreeable, and its virtue is Fidelity.
Whenever one is overwhelmed, a mountain will be there never bending to the wind, for the firmament cannot be shaken.
Wood's emotion is anger and motivation, its mental state is of idealistic spontaneity or curiosity, and its virtue is Benevolence. The green was here first and it will remain after.
Whenever one is bottlenecked, a sprout always will be there to grow no matter what, for here we are and here we remain.
Metal's emotion is grief and compassion, its mental state is of a rational and intuitive mind, and virtue is Righteousness. The sanctioned action is to cut.
Whenever one is abandoned by everything and everyone, the sword will always be there, so do what is right in your own eyes.
Fire and Water could be Rampaging, Fire and Earth could be Steady, Wood and Metal could be Direct, simply labels to distinguish what sort of concept has imprinted into the phase affinity.
Here I go rambling again, as if could ramble away the pain, but still I persevere.
"He-he's developing a affinity!"
"A third affinity at his age!"
"A Rampaging Yang Flame! He is developing a Rampaging Yang Flame!"
I cycle the newly christened Impermanence: Monolithic Perseverance mediative breathing technique throughout my body integrating the Affinity Enhancement Pill, no longer just a Rampaging Yang Pill due to Deidei's inclusion.
Whatever remains of her is the slight azure blue tinge in an ocean of caramel orange that compromised the pill, that blue would either be an additional affinity or an auxiliary ingredient to aid the processing of the main affinity, so strictly by definition it is no longer a Rampaging Yang Pill.
A minute has passed since I began cycling, but no matter how well I control my qi, my affinities that dye my spirit roots began to act out and my spirit, my unconsciousness bodies mind, along with every past mindset that I had bury deep within my soul cries out, oh who am I to deny what I am.
It's unbearable. To be able to look through that door and glimpse all the people you could have been, and to know that out of all of them, this is the one you became.
Did you really think you can escape sinner?
Cooking heat, scorching heat, painful heat, purifying heat suffixed my whole existence and a myriad of agony followed.
Out of my qi stubbornly clinging on in the nooks and crannies of my body arises the flames of Diyu.
I do not run from it, this is what happens whenever I cultivate now, this is what I chose, and within my developing mindset there will no room for a hindsight clouded and weighed down by regret.
I absorb the burnt air that purified the qi through the pores of my outer skin, through the array tattooed within my inner skin to further refine it and cycle it throughout my body enhancing my Qi Sensing state.
8.4
8.5
8.6
8.7
8.8
8.9
9.0
I stop my breakthrough, and channel that energy instead to temper my body in the manner of the Body cultivators, it will not do for me to have a unsteady foundation and besides I have time to stay at Qi Sensing.
The traces of my father's physique, and my ink-stained fingers become the main targets of scrutiny along with the rest of my body and that's where I see it.
Deidei's affinity.
There she remains intact, but sheer luck or grandma's design it matters not.
I am not blessed by Heaven for this, I am burned by the flames of Hell because grasped this power from the weak and innocent, and that might make all the difference.
I feel her affinity within me, already deciding which direction to develop this affinity, Patient won't cut it for me and it wont sync well with my build.
Irae. Emotions over reason. Outward and proactive. What right does this world have to force this cruel fate upon me?
Morositas. Emotions over reason. Inward and sub-passionate. What right do I have to blame the world for my own choices?
All gaze upon me in awe as in just under an hour I have developed a Rampaging Yang Diyu Flame boiling Sinking Yin Water inter-regulating Earth affinity.
"Interesting." -was all my grandmother had to say as she notes down the results for her research into leapfrogging breakthroughs.
"..." -the Head of Inscryption Hall stares me in silence - "Alright just hurry up and join the sect already. I will expend any favor to help with your condition."
"This disciple is glad that his master has acknowledges him, but no, this is my burden I must bear."
"GEN! Wha-what was that!" -my mother fusses over me and sees no burns have made their mark in my brightly burning self immolation.
"Just a little pain mother, nothing in the way to path to immortality."
"Just a little pain! This disciple is coursing hellfire through his veins and says its just a little pain! What if you deviate from it huh what then!"
"What if you leave your mother all alone because you think you can handle a little pain! What gives you the guts to continue like this!"
At this rebuke, there is nothing I can do but just smile, and recite the words that kept me going,
I had once screamed, gradually, I lost my voice.
I had once cried, gradually, I lost my tears.
I had once grieved, gradually, I became able to withstand everything.
I had once rejoiced, gradually, I became unmoved by the world.
And now.
All I have left is an expressionless face, my gaze is as tough as a monolith, only perseverance remains in my heart.
Daoist Ideal-Seeker was enlightened, but just about to process the newest technique in the Impermanence Series and the insight it had given him the door to the dinning hall burst open.
Aunt Caixi and Long make an appearance, heads up high with the spirit of hurt pride and egos cloaking them in false confidence, probably here to scheme Long back into the Young Master seat, but with what?
Unfortunately for them, while Daoist Ideal-Seeker is a Inscryptor of the highest caliber, well versed with the restraint and patience the craft requires, he cannot his change his own nature, that being a grumpy old man that records grudges and a talented cultivator with the power to settle them.
"JUNIOR YOU DARE!!!" -killing intent surged from the Head of Inscryption Hall, and sensibility has finally found this pairing of mother and son.
"th-"
"A OUTER DISCIPLE LIKE YOU DARING TO INTERRUPT THIS CORE SECT ELDER, COURTING DEATH!!!"
"weonlywishedtogreettheyoungmasterahappybirthday!!!" -Aunt Caixi cries out in tears kowtowing along the floor while shielding Long from the Daoist Ideal-Seeker's wrath.
"THIS GUEST WILL CALM HIMSELF RIGHT NOW!" - yells grandmother as she moves betwixt them.
"My grandchildren are within her womb, if any harm should come to them you would answer to me!"
"Damn it, damn it, alright, alright, but I was having a dao revelation! What if they managed to disrupt me? I am at least entitled to some compensation."
"Leaving this place alive would be compensation enough, and if there are any defects within the newborns I will know who blame."
Taking a few breaths to calm himself he replies- "This elder has twice blundered Honored Hierarch, I mean no harm to your future grandchildren and I accept those terms with no qualms toward them, once more this elder apologizes."
"Hmpf!" -she huffed as she turns about to not face him while settling her arms acrossed- "Don't push your luck mister and comport your manners! You are lucky we are getting more and more entwined with each other but be warned! I don't like men who aren't good with children."
"I-wha, This elder needs to process his dao revelation post haste so he excuses himself from the premises, I bid a good night to all."
"Now, now Cai'er he is gone, you may lift your head." -as she speaks, without subtlety she moves her hands to Auntie's belly checking for the twins condition- "What did you gift the Young Master Cai'er?"
Long, suffering from the killing intent now currently toeing the line between sanity and qi deviation does not react to this, and his mother replies- "we found him a bride Honored Hierarch..."
Huh?