[Freeform] Lotus Shadows [Xianxia Riot/Communication Quest]

[Hangwind]

For most people, being bor. without spirit roots wasn't a huge issue. Sure, the vast majority of the population had some form of root, but the difference between no root and a trash tier root was minimal at best. Not having a root was actually a form of protection, since demons, evil beasts, and the various kinds of wandering souls couldn't use you as even a snack.

Lai Yongnian was not a normal child. Born the first son of an elder of the Still Pool Sect, having no spirit roots was considered a terrible sign. It actually opened his mother up to accusations of consorting with demons. After all, how could such a talented figure have such a worthless son? It would only make sense if those spirit roots were destroyed as opposed to not being there in the first place. It certainly didn't help that his father was actually a wandering cultivator not truly associated with the sect at all, but being considered a sort of guest elder through his mother.

At first things weren't so bad. Lai Yongnian Could be weak, it wasn't so unusual for the son of an elder to be weak. Many others had children that were lazy and incompetent, spoiled by the position of their parents. However , years with no improvement whatsoever , even given the full resources of an elder meant that the whispers grew louder. Yongnian's Mother tried to protect him. She progressively hit him away more and more, keeping him from the sect politics that swirled around him. Soon enough though, Yongnian learned the truth of his position. His mother would be investigated and their entire family might be cut away from the sect if he were found to be completely void of spirit roots.

Yongnian needed some way to show some form of improvement. None of the obvious ways seem to do anything for him. He tried each of the Lotus Palaces, buy none of the arts blossomed for him. In desperation, he withdrew into the depths of the Purple Lotus Repository, searching for some faint hope. Instead, he found the art of despair: the Sacrifice of Fortune Severing.

This art gave him a single solitary way forward. With an ultimately simple formation that did not require even a single bit of qi to activate, he could cut off his personal fortune and offer it to anything willing to give power in return. This meant giving up more than just luck though: spirit roots, blood essence, bloodline, body, and even the very soul were considered forfeit. It was the art for those that craved power above all else, or that had a task-usually revenge-that they were willing to die to accomplish.

Obviously this was a very forbidden technique.

Just as obviously, Yongnian immediately grabbed onto the technique with both hands. The ritual was simple enough that anyone could do it. A simple gu vessel would be placed in front of a blank tablet. Then he would begin venerating the tablet with genuflection and prayers, effectively inviting anything spiritual to answer your request. That would give whatever answered the authority of an ancestor over you, placing his fate entirely in the entity's hands.

Ordinarily this resulted in possession as some horror took the offer and used the human as a vessel. After all, a possessed human did become more powerful and gain new techniques. It was one of the easiest ways for them to crawl their way into the world. However, there was one case where even the meanest of evil spirits would pass an offering over, and that was when the offering had no spiritual roots. The point of possessing a human was to use their spirit roots to connect with the mortal plane. Weaker roots could only support weaker evil spirits, but weaker roots also meant weaker humans, keeping a favorable balance towards the spirits. If there were no roots, then the spirit would have to build its own connection with the mortal plane in place of the spirit roots, and why bother then? Better to just make your own mortal shell at that point.

However, there were things that preferred no spirit roots. What answered Yongnian was paradoxically a mythical existence and yet incredibly common: the Lotus Petals of Reincarnation, you. Just as the Lotus cast off its petals to continue the greater cycle of reincarnation, so were there traces of those that gathered enough power to transcend the planes. These were not part of the cultivator left behind, but rather something like plaster cast footprints-dim shadows of qi left behind as something weighty passed through the limits of the world. These existences held many mysteries, being intrinsically linked to the cycle of reincarnation and the breaking thereof. If one could find such a spirit and convince or force it to work with them, they Lotus Petal could induce a minor reincarnation, improving one at the most fundamental level.

The problem was that this meant the spirit's dissolution. the process integrated them with the spirit root of whoever they improved, rejoining them with the cycle of reincarnation and fusing them into the host, ending them as a discrete being. Some were willing to do this for one reason or another but most were deeply unwilling to end their own existence in such a way. Yongnian though? he has no spirit roots. Nothing to fuse with, no connection to the greater cycle.

Which made him a perfect host for you. His body, qi, and soul would protect you from the world and from being taken by powerful beings looking for your power, while you could help him improve himself. Thus came the torrent of lotus petals, each different and unique, flowing into his body, filling it but never overstuffed. Many simply rested there, falling into a torpor in the peace of a place with no spirit roots to take them. But some chose to stay active. The first blessing had been given already, he had the barest hint of flowing qi now, but there was so much more that could be done.

How will you guide him? Not all incarnations are righteous after all, and not all transcensions are on an upward path. You reflect myriad myths and legends and things stranger still. Your knowledge of the mortal worlds is muddy and fractured at best, but maybe, just maybe, with your help, Lai Yongnian's name might echo in this world and beyond.

AN//: Tried to post this last night, but messed it up. Have fun, and feel free to ask questions! Fair warning, some of the answers will be "Try it and find out".

 

[Hangwind]

DA RULES

Lai Yongnian cannot cultivate. He can increase in skill with the ways that you cultivate him though. That is what him training is for.

You can only cultivate known parameters. Your knowledge of anything mortal-including cultivation-is largely theoretical.

You get one message to Yongnian and one action vote per update. You do not have to use both.

You generally cannot take direct control of Yongnian. Not because you lack the power to, but because there are effectively infinite petals inside Yongnian, each with the same authority over him. Talking him into doing something will generally be more effective.

There are many things to discover...

 

[Hangwind]

Known Parameters:
Spirit Root ∞ You are his spirit root. AND YOU ARE LEGION!
Body 1 [0/5] General fitness of the body. You can improve it generally right now, but the specifics are fuzzy.
Soul 1 [0/5] He probably has one. You are certainly tinkering with something anyway.
Qi 1 [1/5] You actually understand qi! How it interacts with humans...not so much. Some slight improvement just for housing you.
-Qi Density 0 [0/2] His qi is actually less dense than the qi in the atmosphere. You aren't sure how this is possible.
-Qi Flow 0 [0/2] Stagnant. Almost impossibly so.
-Qi Sense 0 [0/2] He has no awareness of his qi. Inanimate objects have higher average qi sense than this.