[LP CYOA] 傳

[Esquilax]

I think we have a pretty good chance in C of not dying and/or getting brutalized. We were doing pretty good against him during our training on Maniac Island, and we have grown since then, both technique and experience wise. And with Armaiti fighting alongside us (we do have that synchronicity trick now), I think that we can finally give our LORD a run for his money.

Master Zhang was going easy on Jing in training. If he wasn't he would have killed us pretty quickly. You have to give your disciples time to grow, even if you're the Southern Maniac. And we definitely have grown. treave stated a while back that we're roughly on par with the younger Amesha Spenta of the Fire Temple thanks to our legendary skill, and the current choice in B seems to imply that:

You tell Armaiti that before she challenges Zhang Jue, she must first prove herself by defeating his disciple. That would be you. You think she would respect you more if you stop her by strength rather than by word of authority, but Armaiti is powerful enough that you are not sure if you can win in the first place.

So, Jing's not sure if he can beat her - maybe, maybe not. They seem to be pretty evenly matched, so let's assume that they are equal in terms of power if we were to organize the two on a set of tiers (I don't think that this is a bad assumption). On top of that, another factor would be Jing's Wuxiang Qiankun Skill, which is sufficiently advanced to use on Armaiti, and can be used for teamwork purposes. We used this technique with Yunzi while at 70% and beat Abbot Fangci, a Great-caliber pugilist, though he was still holding something back at the end. Here, we're completely fresh and using the synchronicity technique with someone who's an even better fighter than Yunzi.

So, with the facts laid out like this, can we beat Master Zhang?

Honestly... I don't think so. And I'm still voting for it. Why? Well, there seems to be nothing that Lord Zhang loves more than an awesome fight that pushes him to his limits. I'm kind of hoping that a great performance on our part fills him with enough pride in his disciple that his fickle nature prevails and he is amused enough to not kill either of us. You can call that a gambling mindset, you can call it crazy - and it kinda is - but with the fights that are awaiting us (Ten Swords Conference, the inevitable rematch with Vairya) I really wanna see where we're at right now.

On the other hand though, who has challenged Master Zhang and lived? Well, nobody seems to challenge him nowadays for a reason.

 

[Kashmir Slippers]

B Even if we don't beat her, which I think we can, if we at least fight her to somewhat of a stalemate, we can maybe convince her that she has no chance against Zhang. If she can barely beat the disciple, then she should know that she has no chance against the master. We can *literally* beat some sense into her.

 

[Kz3r0]

Just to be clear to anyone that wants to be funny, if there is an upset an C could win I am going to vote that, be careful of what you wish, you could get it.

 

[ChumBucket]

B.

 

[Absinthe]

Treave, I'm worried that C isn't MAXIMUM FUCK! enough. Might I suggest "E: As the fire lord, you tell Armaiti to step aside and take the duty to avenge your subordinates yourself. Together with your sworn brother, Shun."?

 

[Grimgravy]

D> C

 

[Kz3r0]

Treave, I'm worried that C isn't MAXIMUM FUCK! enough. Might I suggest "E: As the fire lord, you tell Armaiti to step aside and take the duty to avenge your subordinates yourself. Together with your sworn brother, Shun."?

Enough with ths faggotry,hiding behind a skirt again, like we did with the Shaolin Gauntlet?
NEVER AGAIN.

F:
The time has come, you forbid your subordinate to finght the Sothern Maniac because YOU are goint to challenge him to a duel to the death, solo.
Or we can restore our pride and honor as a man by slaughtering the manliest man alive or we are better dead.

 

[kazgar]

D

Armaiti will crack the shits with any other option, so might as well be dead, or not dead, or something. Honour and shit.

Also:

“Ah, yes. The Abbot told me of your arrival. The Mistress of Tianshan, was it? And the disciple of little Yang. Or was it Zhang?”

Yang Xue! Callback to the qi draining technique.

Smartarse librarian, glorious.

 

[Esquilax]

treave, a few questions:

You bid Xuxian goodbye, but not before the grateful young monk passed you a small scroll listing down some instructions for the finger techniques he has learnt, hoping that it would be sufficient compensation for your aid. The Jiuyang manual's neigong technique was too complicated for him to pass on in writing, he whispered, but he hoped that you would do good in the world with the techniques he has given - at least, more good than he has done.
...
8. Jiuyang Divine Finger (九陽神指, Nine Yang Divine Finger)

A finger technique utilizing the power of the Jiuyang Divine Skill’s neigong for destructive long range attacks.

Is the Jiuyang Divine Finger among the techniques that Xuxian has learned? Or was he referring to his Yiyang Finger and other finger techniques that he might know? IIRC you mentioned that the part of the manual he obtained was only the neigong technique that forms the basis of the manual, but I'm wondering if he managed to dig up a technique from the arsenal too.

Also, earlier I asked:

Would Guo Fu be able to develop his neigong much quicker because of his huge END stat? The fact that he's a physical specimen should help with the learning curve, no?
...
Not any quicker than usual, that's more an aspect of INT than END. END just gives him more to work with from the start. Wang would have thought up a way to teach him better but alas. He's still a force to be reckoned with, of course.

Now that we're travelling with Guo Fu and I presume we'll have another chance for training, will we have an opportunity for Xuezi to teach our bro how to cultivate his neigong further, the same way that the Grand Taoist would have if he were alive?

And lastly, an observation:

9. Wuming Jiuyu Shenyin Art (無明九獄聖陰術, Lightless Nine Prisons Holy Yin Art)

The most powerful qi-based technique in the Jiuyin Holy Art that purportedly allows its wielder to massacre even the strongest armies with dark shadows.
...
9. Zhaoming Xuanyi Shenyang Skill (照明玄燡神陽功, Illuminating Profound Radiance Divine Yang Skill)

The most powerful qi-based technique in the Jiuyang Divine Skill that is said to grant its practitioner the ability to scorch the land with boundless light.

I wonder what happens when you have to practitioners who have mastered either of these manuals going up against each other. It sounds like an unstoppable force facing an immovable object. It's pretty obvious to me now why the Shaolin seems to hold these techniques in such contempt; these techniques at full mastery sound like the equivalent of martial arts WMD's. Nothing good can really come of it.

 

[treave]

No, his techniques are the Yiyang Finger (One Yang Finger) and the Six Meridian Divine Swords. The former is a toned down version of the Nine Yang Finger, while the latter is an evolution of the Yiyang Finger. There're a few techniques in those manuals that have been cherry-picked and gradually evolved over the centuries. Also: Holy Dragon Palms, Dragon Subduing Palms.

There's a bit of exaggeration in the descriptions of the techniques, of course.

As for neigong cultivation, Xuezi has a different teaching philosophy from Wang. She's very effective with smart people, not so much with dumb ones. She would have zero patience for teaching someone like Guo Fu.

 

[Baltika9]

Also: Holy Dragon Palms, Dragon Subduing Palms.

Whoa. Were the Subduing Palms made as a counter to the Holy Palms, or just evolved/devolved from them?

Also, I remember in our alternate storyline that WUdang could have helped us get Kuanglang Step to the next level with +1 Unarmed. Can Guo Fu do something like that for us, or is he just lacking in the expertise?

 

[treave]

He's not good enough at qinggong to teach you that. He could teach you Taiji Fist/Sword though. I should probably rotate the learnable techniques list to make it more manageable.

 

[Esquilax]

As for neigong cultivation, Xuezi has a different teaching philosophy from Wang. She's very effective with smart people, not so much with dumb ones. She would have zero patience for teaching someone like Guo Fu.

Maybe she'll learn some patience if we send her back to her old friend, The Librarian.



(Too bad she knows how to get back to her original power now)

 

[Baltika9]

The last big debate was between the Qingcheng Stab and Armaiti's qinggong. I personally think we ought to invest in the Cult's fire neiggong, since a Firelord that can't use fire is like a Huashan swordsman that can't use a sword.

 

[treave]

She doesn't want to take decades to stop aging again. Though even with her full power she'd still lose to the Librarian. Do not act incautiously when confronted with little bald wrinkly smiling men.

 

[Kipeci]

I'm really happy now that we didn't decide to try to break into Shaolin's library and attempt to steal techniques when we were given the option. That wouldn't have ended too well...

 

[treave]

He's not on duty all of the time. You might have lucked out, you never know.

 

[Absinthe]

Good to know in case we get another playthrough with a 7+ luck character.

By the way, treave, what happened to discussing the Huashan Summit and Ten Swords Conference with Shaolin? And what did our other party members learn from the Shaolin Library? Cao'er at least seems to have done some studying there.

 

[treave]

The Huashan Summit and Ten Swords Conference? You're probably going to show up, and you let them know that so they won't be surprised when Fire Temple crashes the party. And that's it. And they have no interest in swords. As for studying, they certainly didn't pick up any new techniques under the librarian's watchful eye.

 

[Absinthe]

Did they learn anything useful, though?

 

[treave]

Useful? Probably. Relevant? We'll have to see.

 

[Absinthe]

Ah, and on another note, if we decided to go chasing llamas after exiting Tufan, how badly would we have gotten trolled?

 

[Baltika9]

Ah, and on another note, if we decided to go chasing llamas after exiting Tufan, how badly would we have gotten trolled?

Pretty badly, I think. There are no llamas in Tibet.

 

[treave]

Very badly. That wouldn't have been a good choice to make.

 

[Absinthe]

Hm, so, if we went to Tibet instead of entering the fire temple, the LP might have collapsed just from the sheer insanity of some five or six consecutive failed decisions for reasons we could not properly anticipate.

Treave's trolling is not to be underestimated.

Fortunately Esquilax was there to rescue us by failing at failing in his attempt to get Jing killed.