[LP CYOA] 傳

[Kipeci]

For the people voting B1 for greater fighting capabilities, consider that we are now on the unorthodox side. This means that we will be needing to cobble a fighting style out of many moves not intended to flow together, but treave has given us a hint... namely, he said that high intelligence characters would be better at cobbling together this variety of moves into a proper style of our own to break in faces. A gives us better intelligence and a better chance of success in this.

Now, is sacrificing that worth a smidge more in endurance and perception?

 

[Baltika9]

6 PER and END isn't 8 INT and 7 CHA, but it's still better than having them at 5. It's also a long-term investment, in that we'll get more chances to improve them in the future and these stats are an excellent investment for a fighter.
Since we're passing up a combat technique here, we really need other ways of making up for it (we need a sword, too). 1B also works with the whole "tigers are masters of stealth and ambush.

 

[Zero Credibility]

6 PER and END isn't 8 INT and 7 CHA, but it's still better than having them at 5. It's also a long-term investment, in that we'll get more chances to improve them in the future and these stats are an excellent investment for a fighter.
Since we're passing up a combat technique here, we really need other ways of making up for it (we need a sword, too). 1B also works with the whole "tigers are masters of stealth and ambush.

That's 7 INT and 7 CHA. I think that intelligence, charisma and speech are all going to play a much more crucial role in the future updates when we start investigation. We will be going to a (probably) large city and we need to learn how to deal with other people - something in which our character has so far shown less then competence to say the least. Our goal at this point is to gather information, and overall 1A is much more useful for that then 1B. Not to mention that intelligence, charisma and speech could also offer us an easier way out of out current position, one that preferably makes us leave at good terms with our companions. B, not so much.

 

[Kipeci]

6 PER and END isn't 8 INT and 7 CHA,

I'm glad you agree! Though, it would be 7 INT, not 8.

but it's still better than having them at 5.

Sure it is. 7 INT and CHA is also better than 6 CHA and INT, and I get the feeling that the more the number deviates from 5, the more meaningful the effect is.

It's also a long-term investment, in that we'll get more chances to improve them in the future and these stats are an excellent investment for a fighter.

Intelligence is also a great investment for when the Codex realizes that at some point it will need actual combat techniques, considering again our unorthodox style. While it's nice to have better endurance and perception, I think it's better to focus on our current strengths rather than our current projection of being a jack-of-all-trades, master-at-nothing. I'm sure we can sit on a mountain for a year or two if we really do need that endurance somewhere down the road or something, what I'm not sure of is if we'll ever see the chance for an INT boost again without some really sketchy qi shenanigans or something.

Since we're passing up a combat technique here, we really need other ways of making up for it (we need a sword, too). 1B also works with the whole "tigers are masters of stealth and ambush.

That's not decided yet! I'm sure the combined intellect of the Codex is such that it will see that we need to have some physical technique to our name now instead of a presently almost entirely worthless technique that could maybe do moderate healing if we get something massively wrong with us fixed in the distant future. Also, in terms of 'making up for it', wouldn't it be better to talk our way out of fights or plan a way to cleverly use our side-stepping, grip-slipping finger-nauseating moves than to just absorb beatings to our face with a moderately better endurance and use better herbalism to make the wounds less infected?

 

[Baltika9]

Useful in social situations, yes. Combat, not so much. Thrown Weapons and Pressure Points are reliant on PER.

 

[Tigranes]

I feel like we are trying to get good at everything. Build a loyal adjutant and go unorthodox, build a fighter and learn sneak then herbalism then pressure points, why not poisons, why not traps.

Esquilax's argument on 2C being the best talent of the teacher makes sense, I'm sticking with AA but wouldn't mind AC. The point is we should focus on kicking ass and beinng smart enough to kick ass in unorthodox ways, not become a hermit ninja needle master that the Prince will later meet and say, "dude, what the fuck".

 

[Absinthe]

On a more serious note, it does not take a rocket scientist to guess that the girl is your ticket - or at least one of the possible tickets - out of here. She is the Doc's heiress, and the old nut will pass his secrets to her eventually, including the one that holds the key to your freedom. And she is clearly into you, not the least because you are the only boy her age around here.

We could also just pay off the debt with the usual hard work. Something's bound to crop up to give an opportunity.

So, unless you fancy yourself romancing her into giving you the antidote and then ditching a hapless kid who doesn't know any better afterwards (and I don't), you might as well prepare yourself for a long talk of why it would be better for you both if she would let you go. That means we'll probably need Charisma and Speech sooner, rather than later.

For all you know, your Charisma and Speech makes you indispensable, since you have now obtained a skill both of them lack and rather need to do their business. Instead of talking them into believing you've paid your debt (and the doc seems like he'd be strangely immune to ordinary logic), he might as well say there's a still a use of yours that needs to be spent.

I am torn between A and C for the second choice. The possibilities that the Healing Finger allows are tempting. However, we desperately need a power boost now, and Grass Breaking Legs technique is too good to pass. It will save your life when your hands are tied, literally or metaphorically. For all we know, had you learned that skill before, it might have been the bandit leader that would find himself at the bottom of a cliff.

I don't believe A is immediately necessary. In a one-on-one match, he should already be more than an even match against regular fighters. I don't think there are many strong people who would want to fuck with the Killing Physician, and by the time we leave him, we'll probably have another opportunity for a martial move anyway. Healing Finger taught by the Killing Physician where you infuse perfectly equal ki into someone seems like it would become an incredible ability once the ki is repaired. Treave himself has said that it would become "very useful" once the ki is repaired. Besides, there are plenty of opportunities to learn martial arts, but healing moves (esp. those taught by a master whose skills border on the divine) are rare, and we're going to need a healing move. I wouldn't squander the opportunity to learn from the best to grab a fighting move that could match any other. Voting C is a much better choice in the long run.

Treave, could you give us a rundown on the stats? You haven't told us what exactly the stats do and what level of proficiency the ranks reflect. I'm a bit torn between A and B for the first choice myself, but without knowing what the stats mean, this choice is a lot harder than it should be.

 

[Kipeci]

We are not pressing up near on any boundaries in terms of potential. We haven't a single level in thrown weapons, and we still have three skill levels to go in pressure points before we would get to a point where we would have to have better perception to improve. We don't need at all to dump in perception points for that at this time.

Of course, thrown weapons are popamole and should be shunned as they currently are. I initially wanted to go for the pressure point master dog/doctor, but the Codex decided that it wanted this character and we should play him to his strengths, not whatever passing thought seems cool so that we have a rank one or two in everything and nothing really beyond there.

 

[Zero Credibility]

Sure it is. 7 INT and CHA is also better than 6 CHA and INT, and I get the feeling that the more the number deviates from 5, the more meaningful the effect is.

This. Also, I believe that A2 is winning at this point anyway, so it doesn't look like the argument that we should take 1B because we are passing up on a offensive technique stands in any case.

 

[Nevill]

For all you know, your Charisma and Speech makes you indispensable, since you have now obtained a skill both of them lack and rather need to do their business.

Indispensable to the good ol' Doc? Possible. So what?

Instead of talking them into believing you've paid your debt (and the doc seems like he'd be strangely immune to ordinary logic), he might as well say there's a still a use of yours that still needs to be spent.

I am NOT reasoning with the Doc. He has transcended logic.
But the girl is kind and decent enough to understand that enslaving a person - even if the said person owes his lives to them - is ruthless and wrong. I am willing to bet on that.

And we'd better make a bloody good job explaining to her why it is necessary for us to go and leave her all alone with the old fart again.

 

[Absinthe]

Votes:

LWC1996			1A	2B
SmashingAxe		1A	2C
Azira			1B	2C
Zero Credibility	1A	2C>A
Ifeex			1A	2A
ERYFKRAD		1B	2A
XenomorphII		1A	2A
Kipeci			1A	2A
Jester			1A	2C
Baltika9		1B	2A
Kashmir Slippers	1A	2A
Absinthe		1B>A	2C>B>A
Tigranes		1A	2A
Nevill			1A	2A
Cassidy			1B	2A
Stygian Lurker		1B	2B
Esquilax		1B	2C

Tally:
Choice 1: A10 B7
Choice 2: A9 C6 B2

Frankly, I strongly recommend switching to a C vote for the second choice. The healing art is going to be very useful later, and this is taught by a god-like master. The fighting art is less special, there will be more opportunities to learn fighting techniques, and the character can already beat up any normal thug in a fight. Strong fighters wont want to fuck with the Killing Physician in the meantime anyhow, so the fighting move is not a game changer. Honestly, it seems A is the weakest move the Killing Physician has to offer. I'd rather hold out for a better fighting technique.

This. Also, I believe that A2 is winning at this point anyway, so it doesn't look like the argument that we should take 1B because we are passing up on a offensive technique stands in any case.

Actually treave suggested a high int is good for unorthodox fighters because it lets you devise, synthesize, and understand techniques better. On the other hand, pressure point techniques require perception (B option) and endurance is important for fighters. I'm still hoping treave will properly explain the stat system, though.

Indispensable to the good ol' Doc? Possible. So what?

SO. As I said, that might be reason for him to keep you around longer.

I am NOT reasoning with the Doc. He has transcended logic. But the girl is kind and decent enough to understand that enslaving a person - even if the said person owes his lives to them - is ruthless and wrong. I am willing to bet on that. And we'd better make a bloody good job explaining to her why it is necessary for us to go and leave her all alone with the old fart again.

Well there's your problem. If you want to obtain freedom, you need to convince the doc, who, as you have stated, has transcended logic. As for the girl, the girl already extracted one outrageous favor from her master (saving the character without paying a life). She's not in a position to obtain a second one, even if she did have a strong backbone. I don't see this plan of yours working.

 

[Baltika9]

For all you know, your Charisma and Speech makes you indispensable, since you have now obtained a skill both of them lack and rather need to do their business.

Indispensable to the good ol' Doc? Possible. So what?

In corp-speak: unfortunately, we could not process your transfer request because senior management considers you an indispensable part of the team.
As in, he won't want to let us go and that only makes things harder.

I feel like we are trying to get good at everything. Build a loyal adjutant and go unorthodox, build a fighter and learn sneak then herbalism then pressure points, why not poisons, why not traps.

Esquilax's argument on 2C being the best talent of the teacher makes sense, I'm sticking with AA but wouldn't mind AC. The point is we should focus on kicking ass and beinng smart enough to kick ass in unorthodox ways, not become a hermit ninja needle master that the Prince will later meet and say, "dude, what the fuck".

That's kind of the benefit of going unorthodox: flexibility. I'm avoiding poisons on principle (fuck that), traps are useful in survival (recognizing them and entrapping enemies), escapes and living off the land. Also, knowing forests may help us best enemies outclassing us conventionally: get him into our territory and they're fucked. And Princebro probably won't give a shit about our skillset so long as we get the job done and don't go full evil doing it.

By the way, PER also helps greatly in investigations, analysis and social situations. For instance, a good perception score would have helped Tigerbro puzzle together why Yunzi was challenging him instead of being compelled to either "fuck it" out of apathy, or jumping into it.

 

[Kipeci]

and the character can already beat up any normal thug in a fight.

I'm pretty sure the most recent update proved that wrong. We may have strength, but without a single combat technique we just can't use it. Bros, we can't keep putting this off.

 

[Absinthe]

Kipeci, no, the most recent update proved that he can't take on a whole gang of bandits, which we already knew. A one-on-one fight, on the other hand, would be a win. If you go 2A, he will still not win against a gang of bandits. If you want to do that, you might as well go 2B because the poisons are guaranteed to kill if you can land it. And I'm pretty sure we can put this off for now. As I said, bandits or strong fighters won't want to fuck with the Killing Physician. For now, we're looking at fighting 1 or 2 idiots if there is combat. Improving the Stealth skill (which goes up regardless of 1A or 1B) will improve his combat odds either way.

I still don't understand why you'd want to sacrifice what would later become an amazing healing technique (considering the character's ki, his ki infusions will be special) to grab an ordinary fighting move. Besides, being able to induce dizziness and nausea with a touch still has its uses.

 

[Kipeci]

Well, where do you think we're going to be getting our next technique from? I was okay with people taking it the last time because at least we got a level-up in Qinggong out of it, but C is aggressively useless. You say that A won't be useful until we get out from this master, well... okay, let's say we don't have a larger fight in which we must contribute. Does he need us to poison people for him, or to make them moderately nauseous? C is going to be useless under him since he doesn't know how to fix us, and we still can't use it after we leave him until we manage to find people who can fix our neigong. A wide variety of fighting skills is useful immediately after we go even if we don't find a way to use it until then, especially as we currently have none.

 

[Absinthe]

What type of info are you looking for in particular? There'll be some reveals in the next update since the character did just spend the better part of a year with them.

Skills, mostly. Any chance you could clue us in on the stat system as well?

Well, where do you think we're going to be getting our next technique from?

Next technique could come from the master, observation, intelligence, or any person we meet on our travels who is willing to teach a technique.

I was okay with people taking it the last time because at least we got a level-up in Qinggong out of it, but C is aggressively useless.

It is explicitly said that C is going to be, and I quote, "very useful [emphasis added] if you ever figure out a way to deal with that mess inside you, so it's a long term choice." I think the long term choice is the best one here.

You say that A won't be useful until we get out from this master, well... okay, let's say we don't have a larger fight in which we must contribute. Does he need us to poison people for him, or to make them moderately nauseous?

If you look at the character sheet, you see he already knows the Three Poisons Powder now. And the master won't be needing Xu Jing to poison anyone, he's a master at it himself. But the Yuhe Finger could have some use for our character when he's on his own.

C is going to be useless under him since he doesn't know how to fix us, and we still can't use it after we leave him until we manage to find people who can fix our neigong. A wide variety of fighting skills is useful immediately after we go even if we don't find a way to use it until then, especially as we currently have none.

C isn't going to do much for now, but once neigong is fixed, it's also an important question whether we'd have any good techniques to take advantage of that, and powerful healing techniques seem somewhat invaluable. I'd say it's important to learn one for later.

 

[ScubaV]

AA

 

[treave]

Skills, mostly. Any chance you could clue us in on the stat system as well?

You'll get some information about her skills in the coming updates. As for the stats and skills, I have a scale for skills; I'll put it on the main page. Rank 4 is average for skills, rank 8 means you are a master.

As for stats, strength is, well, strength. How strong you are, physically. Perception is your powers of observation and how keen your senses are. Endurance is stamina and resilience, both inner and outer. Charisma measures your fundamental ability to attract people beyond deeds and words. Intelligence is rather self-explanatory? The more you have, the quicker you think, the more you remember, the more creative you are, etc. It's a rather catch-all stat. Agility is how nimble and quick you can be. And Luck is the most nebulous stat. Hard to say when a jinx will strike. Or if it isn't just piling up to dump misfortune on you at one go.

4 is the average for stats here as benchmarked against a common peasant, 7 and above means you're remarkable, 9 and 10 means you are a rare talent, but I won't be quantifying exactly what they do with hard numbers. I'm using them more as a relative guide.

Stats affect skill cap, skill rank determines the techniques you can learn and how good you are at the basics of the skill, techniques teach you specific, advanced applications of the skill and the rank determines your progress in the technique.

Also, what's up with Chinese/Japanese translations of things' names being so long?

The logograms make for a compact language. Each character represents a word, instead of stringing together multiple letters to make one.

treave, does the Traps skill allow us to detect traps as well as set up our own?

It'll help you find traps and disarm them, yes. It's a knowledge-based skill. The neigong crippling is due to the suppression of your internal energy with pills. You need to cultivate more internal energy to attain higher ranks, but you can't cultivate more because that would kill you.

 

[Kipeci]

Next technique could come from the master, observation, intelligence, or any person we meet on our travels who is willing to teach a technique.

Then we'd probably have the 'flexibility' brigade talking about how we almost beat that next group of bandits by ourselves and so we can afford to learn that cool archery trick that's also being offered, and how it's the long-term strength for whenever we get a horse as the Khan of the Gok Turks.

It is explicitly said that C is going to be, and I quote, "very useful [emphasis added] if you ever figure out a way to deal with that mess inside you, so it's a long term choice." I think the long term choice is the best one here.

Yeah, it would be nice if we can find a way to deal with that, which we might not. The sentence afterward treave said we might find something better on the way. Both are up to chance, but I think it's more immediately pressing that we have a single actual combat technique. Any of these skills would probably be very useful at something or other, but there's something to be said for a fighting-oriented character having a wide variety of (or any) attacks other than the most basic fisticuffs. If we make all of our choices revolve around possible benefits in the very long-term we're not going to survive to see it.

If you look at the character sheet, you see he already knows the Three Poisons Powder now. And the master won't be needing Xu Jing to poison anyone, he's a master at it himself. But the Yuhe Finger could have some use for our character when he's on his own.

He does, which is not at all what I posed that question for. A part of your reasoning for not picking A is that you don't think we'll be using it given the Doctor's skills in martial arts. If you don't think the Doctor will need us to poison anyone or make them moderately nauseous using the finger skill, then how can you present that as an argument against A? Being able to beat someone in a fight when he's on his own would also have some use for our character, wouldn't it?

I'd say it's important to learn one for later.

Next technique could come from the master, observation, intelligence, or any person we meet on our travels who is willing to teach a technique.

 

[Baltika9]

I like both options for 1, honestly.
A makes us smarter and better socially, which will help with persuading other masters to teach us. Will probably make for a better Khagan too.
B makes us a better killer, tracker and survivalist. The PER and END bonuses are nice too. Kinda like these guys:

We already have an awesome setup for a stealth fighter/stalker with the Shadow Wolf step.

 

[Tigranes]

I don't believe A is immediately necessary. In a one-on-one match, he should already be more than an even match against regular fighters. I don't think there are many strong people who would want to fuck with the Killing Physician, and by the time we leave him, we'll probably have another opportunity for a martial move anyway. Healing Finger taught by the Killing Physician where you infuse perfectly equal ki into someone seems like it would become an incredible ability once the ki is repaired.

Absinthe in that case isn't it much better to take A now? Healing Finger will be useless to us until it is time to leave the Killing Physician one way or another. You say that by that point we will have had an opportunity to learn another technique. So why not learn it then, and make use of 2A or 2B right now? I can't imagine that 2A is going to be useless in the same way until then.

I'll say it again, after 36 pages Jing has yet to kick ANY kind of ass. He needs some help.

 

[Absinthe]

Fuck it. Switching to 1A>B 2C>B>A. As an unorthodox martial artist, we'll need that quick thinking and creativity badly. And the remembering skill is going to be important to improve the Yinglang Step.

Then we'd probably have the 'flexibility' brigade talking about how we almost beat that next group of bandits by ourselves and so we can afford to learn that cool archery trick that's also being offered, and how it's the long-term strength for whenever we get a horse as the Khan of the Gok Turks.

I have no idea what you're trying to say here.

Yeah, it would be nice if we can find a way to deal with that, which we might not.

True. But seriously, that thing has "giant powerup" written all over it. Not to mention the doctor basically suggested it's going to eventually kill us, esp. now that he cleared the congestion, unless we get it fixed. We're most likely going to go after it, and the Wudang school is already a lead to find more.

The sentence afterward treave said we might find something better on the way.

Seriously? Something better than what the Killing Physician, whose "skills are bordering on the realm of the divine", can teach? Probably the only person who can do that would be the Divine Physician. Of course, it might be that we'll need the Divine Physician to fix the ki, but by the looks of it, that's not the only way to go. With the right stats and knowledge of ki, it might even be possible to do it by ourselves.

I seriously think it's better to learn his best specialty than regular fighting techniques.

Both are up to chance, but I think it's more immediately pressing that we have a single actual combat technique.

Stealth is an actual combat technique. So is the grab escaping technique.

Any of these skills would probably be very useful at something or other, but there's something to be said for a fighting-oriented character having a wide variety of (or any) attacks other than the most basic fisticuffs. If we make all of our choices revolve around possible benefits in the very long-term we're not going to survive to see it.

There have been 3 choices that determined character abilities so far:
1) Go Adjutant - This was a pretty clear fighter choice.
2) Go Tiger - Also a very clear fighter choice.
3) Learn the Yinglang Step - Not a direct combat ability, but has very obvious combat applications and was immediately used against the woman. Not to mention this ability will definitely help ensure that the character will live to see the long term, considering with a good stealth and agility he can just escape (especially now that he has the Jinshetuipi - escape grabs/holds skill).

No, I'd say none of the choices so far have been particularly longterm choices. This one (voting C) is, though.

He does, which is not at all what I posed that question for. A part of your reasoning for not picking A is that you don't think we'll be using it given the Doctor's skills in martial arts.

Not only do I think there's no pressing need, I also think we can still learn some more before we seriously need a martial art.

If you don't think the Doctor will need us to poison anyone or make them moderately nauseous using the finger skill, then how can you present that as an argument against A?

Because I wasn't presenting it as an argument against A? I was simply answering your question. I do think that the skill would have its uses as it lets us basically mildly poison people without needing to use any materials. In combat, it can still be used to dizzy/nauseate someone which should fuck up their coordination enough to take advantage of superior agility.

Being able to beat someone in a fight when he's on his own would also have some use for our character, wouldn't it?

Yes, but we don't need 2A to do that. Another art will most likely appear (apprenticeships don't teach just 1 technique), and if not, there's always regular combat, poison, and/or stealth. He already has enough tricks to be able to beat someone if he particularly needs to.

By the way, serious question Kipeci. Are you even considering what I have to say or are you already so decided that the whole discussion is pointless? You agree that the technique would be very useful if the ki is repaired (which is a given, according to treave), right? You also agree that we are most likely going to fix the ki, right? Do you agree that it is unlikely that he is going to have particularly tough fights for now? Do you also agree that he can probably avoid a fight he cannot handle? If so, why do you believe we should skip 2C just to grab a fighting skill?

Absinthe in that case isn't it much better to take A now? Healing Finger will be useless to us until it is time to leave the Killing Physician one way or another. You say that by that point we will have had an opportunity to learn another technique. So why not learn it then, and make use of 2A or 2B right now? I can't imagine that 2A is going to be useless in the same way until then

Because there's no guarantee we'll be able to learn the same techniques later. Usually when "Pick one" choices are presented, it's unlikely to be able to choose again from the same list later. Actually, treave, will we have another chance to learn the Yuhe Finger later?

If 2C does show up later, then yes, 2A would be better for now. If it doesn't, we've blown a chance at having an amazing healing technique down the road. I think it's better to prioritize that our character can do this.

I'll say it again, after 36 pages Jing has yet to kick ANY kind of ass. He needs some help.

He would've kicked the girl's ass if D was picked back in the fight. Likewise, good decision-making can win future fights as well. Also, so far he has been matched up against rather skilled enemies and in unfair circumstances:
Girl: Skilled, match was possibly rigged, and horses were not the main character's specialty.
Woman: Stronger than Huluzi.
Bandits: Whole gang there. It was also a railroad.

Now that the prologue is done, it's quite possible he just gets to face regular fighters, which are matchups he can readily win.

 

[LWC1996]

Broken record here - I still say 2B. If some of you are worried about maintaing Jing's righteousness and integrity, might I remind you that he tried to sneak attack a woman from the back with a short sword. Attacking foes from the back is also considered ungentlemanly and unrighteous. The righteous orthodox sect people like to do things the proper way face to face and all that... so....why can't we learn poison needles? So I'm obsessed with the needles, so sue me. It's handy, useful AND an ace up your sleeve should there really be a dire situation when all other righteous ways fail. It's either you or them sort of way.

 

[Tigranes]

Look, backstabbing a dangerous master holding your ally hostage is very different from using poison needles. This isn't an honour system & setting where we have a bunch of Ajantis-style STAND AND DELIVER, EVIL fellows.

Since we've decided to go unorthodox I'm actually fine with going all the way and getting equipped in poisons and such, but in that case I don't even know why we picked the Tiger Adjutant. I guess I'm trying to pick a good balance between diversifying and playing ot our strengths, and I'm concerned at how useless Jing has been in every combat situation (though I suppose treave railroaded a couple of those encounters, it's been like DAO Origins).

I do find Absinthe's argument of learn the best move of your teacher persuasive, but 2C's original description just didn't sound that powerful?

 

[Esquilax]

treave, is the sleight-of-hand skill applicable in combat? (i.e. using wacky flailing movements to distract an opponent, then strike him.) I can actually see a loophole in the Doc's logic, but good luck exploiting it: remember that his philosophy means that saving a life means that he has to take a life. Well, what if we saved his life or his apprentice's life? I don't really want to think about the sort of deep shit that we'd have to be in for the Doc's life to be in danger, though.

Kipeci, the reason I voted for the END and PER boost was that I thought it synergised well with the Healing Touch technique. It's a neigong technique (so, dependent on endurance) which is aided by touching pressure points. Though you make some great points in favour of prioritizing the INT + CHA stat boost, I am still firmly on track with going for the healing technique. We are not going to find a similar technique like this and instructors of Yao's caliber for this sort of thing might be impossible to find. I think we're not taking advantage of the opportunity we have here if we pick A - yes, we need a fighting technique, but getting the offensive technique from him is sort of like learning how to box from an MMA fighter who is an Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu champ. Yeah, if you know nothing it's helpful, but you're not really taking advantage of the opportunity as much as you could.

Broken record here - I still say 2B. If some of you are worried about maintaing Jing's righteousness and integrity, might I remind you that he tried to sneak attack a woman from the back with a short sword. Attacking foes from the back is also considered ungentlemanly and unrighteous. The righteous orthodox sect people like to do things the proper way face to face and all that... so....why can't we learn poison needles? So I'm obsessed with the needles, so sue me. It's handy, useful AND an ace up your sleeve should there really be a dire situation when all other righteous ways fail. It's either you or them sort of way.

C'mon dude, that comparison is bullshit. Our loyalty is to the Prince, and this lady had just stomped Huluzi, so it's not like our guy had alternatives. I'd like to point out that just because a guy is unorthodox doesn't mean he doesn't follow his own personal code - just might not exactly align with that of the pugilistic sects.