+1! 

And also hi Moonsilver! We'll have to check in with the seniors about what to do with you. 

@Fox of the Sylvan Spirit Lake @Transcendant Tourmaline Trapmaster @Glacial Glave Grandmaster

Huh. 

First th'ngs first - you ok @moonsilver?

Any weird pains, feeling too stretched out or stung? Headaches or memory problems? 

Actually, might as well just ask how your body feels different in full generality. 

Deep breath - be respectful, be kind, be descriptive. 

I think I'm okay, Senior. In terms of discomfort, there's not a lot - I practiced the technique last night, and there's really not much left in terms of strain or anything. It just sort of reminds me of what I feel like when I do a really extended work out at my limits, or something like that. 

As for how I feel... 
In a word, great. I feel a good bit more strong, agile, beautiful, comfortable, firm, relaxed and perceptive then I ever had before - like I'm suddenly this nearly captain-america version of myself, from head to... toe, let's say. 

You totally checked out your new sex, you perv, didn't you? 

🤦‍♀️

🤦‍♀️

🤦‍♀️

Ruby...

Alright, alright - but honestly that is one bit of the changes that you'd note first 'cause it's such an upgrade, yeah? 

No one is disputing that, Smelting Savant. 

Resplendent Solar Soldier's words are quite true! 

Though personally I really loved what it did to my hair above all else.

Ah...

You juniors are 'dorable as always. 

I'd have to see your body to be sure, but it seems like you successfully cultivated the technique, Moonsilver. There shouldn't be any problems beyond the obvious - like, intoxicants will tend to be less effective 'nless you have a technique that lets it in, reduced need for sleep, enhanced endurance, a bit of a shock to your sleep schedule from that, a bit of change in hunger - most people have it taper off, some get a bitta pangs for food for a while - either is normal - the purification process sometimes can't get the best results without more stuff to work with and sometimes they'll be extra storage and such that means you need less. 

Uh...

There's a bunch of poisons, alchemical stuff and techniques that have somewhat different interactions depending on your rank, you'll have overall better physical stats - the technique you used shouldn't have any flaws that cause problems with controlling that, though it can happen for a while in some less dexterity focused techniques. Psych meds will tend to work less and for shorter times, though generally the stuff that that targets should sorta taper off to nothing from this - mental disorders exist amongst cultivators but your brain becomes... less important, and the sort of problems that come from that won't really translate to your spirit, though some people end up sorta instinctively reimplementing that? Anyways, there's no reason to expect it to be worse then anything you had before, and for most people it's lot better. 

In terms of practical advice for being new - don't donate blood or organs or anything from your body because your physiology is now slightly alchemically active , at least without supervision from someone who understands cultivator medicine, and for similar reasons try to avoid complicated mixes of herbal medicines, especially when cooked or in close contact to your spiritual energy 'cause there's a bunch of possible minor alchemical things like that that can pop up, be careful of intense religious, meditative and spiritual experiences generated without the use of tested cultivation technique, at least 'til your foundation is established and you know a bit more about this stuff - it's possible to accidentally try to create a technique through processes like that and experimenting can be reckless, don't make oaths that you aren't prepared to keep 'cause it's taboo and also harmful, if you're still a virgin not fucking for at least a while can give benefits to your cultivation, and just like don't do anything obviously reckless? 

There's a bajillion side effects that most people don't really notice from complicated shit like this - studying the effect of cultivation on gut microflora was fascinating - but fundamentally there shouldn't be anything to worry about, despite how fuckin' long this post is, ok? 

't least 'til you hit the Second promotes Third Tribulation there's not really anything that you can expect to be truly dangerous unless you go out of your way to put something like that there - though I'm sure that Senior Tourmaline 'll needle me if I don't tell you that jumping through the dragon gate, establishment of an immortal body, and some aperture talents have the same sorta list of minor things that it might be useful to be aware of when you go through 'em. 

No need to get ahead, you rabid rascal. 

She snickered a little despite herself. 

What a charming little community I've stumbled into...

The list of potential problems was both... intensely concerning and relieving, both? 

It'd be nice to get off of anti-depressants - those were just... killer, really, though they did help - though...

Does the drug immunity effect mean that I should be able to just get off something that would need a taper if I was a mortal? 
And I... do admit that I'm a little nervous what's going to happen to me, and I'm morbidly curious how often that sort of thing comes up that you mentioned for the weird problems. 

Nah, shouldn't be a problem or anythin' - the drugs would have come out as impurities and your physiology should have 'reset', basically - don't worry about it. 

Most of the detailed handling of this 'll probably have to go to our senior fox - it's her technique and server, after all, but you won't get wiped or anything - you would have tripped the wards if you weren't cool (or secretly a venerable grade master of formations or something equally improbable.)

It's not... like maximally rare or anything, but it's kinda hard to meet a lot of the conditions without it being on purpose - there's a decent chance an older senior 'll have seen something but considering that the worst of the risks are on the sort of loose cultivators that don't have enough resources to make sure they can do things safely, it's still really rare. 

Ended up having to deal with the results of someone who managed to start cultivating despite some pretty nasty amounts of radioactive contamination that ended up getting super condensed into her impurities - cleaning that up in a envirosafe way actually took some moderately tricky formation work. 

...Okay. 

So...

I'm safe. 

That's good to know. 

...And yep she was having hunger pangs, so let's go take care of that, though...

Speaking of the side effects... 
I've just noticed the hunger pangs, so I think I'll take my leave for a while, senior. Please ping me if there's anything else I need to follow up on? I'm also a little curious about what Ruby said about this technique not being cultivated before, or at least surprising. 

It was still so... awkward to just go and ask questions, to have everything reset to the place where she's starting this all out - like she's in school again, like the rest of her life might just be a dream and it's... scary. 

Her hands tremble, then pause - it's... still in control, somehow, even with that extra edge of panic in there. 

She wanders down to the kitchen to grab a bun to thaw.

Hum. Might as well ask about the differences in terms of food for cultivators? Not sure if I should expect to change anything, and it's probably worth seeing if there's anything standard to take care of. 

...You really don't know what you are getting into, it seems, Moonsilver.

Oh hey! 

A fellow daoist inquiring about food? It must be my birthday! 

Nutrition with physiology of a cultivator is... weird? Even with incoporeal qi and having to rely on blood (not actual blood, the sorta spiritual stamina thing related to it) to catalyze proper techniques, there's a lot of flexibility in terms of what you can get out of what you eat. Generally, it's good to go for the standard things that people tell you to eat, though there's a lot more flexibility for cultivators to eat large quantities of meat or go vegetarian or something like that. There's a lot more that you can do with the right techniques - the simplest stuff just helps directly with cultivation, but there's much more interesting options if you pursue the path dedicatedly, even without going into cooking monsters or anything like that. 

Also, feel free to indulge your cravings! It shouldn't really meaningfully impede your progress even if you splurge a lot because the process of purification is basically incidental and there's a few minor reasons why it can technically help through training your body to get rid of contaminants well, though there's also a bit of a balance with not having that impede your ability to preform at your best to get the highest strand counts, and drink lots and lots of water - sports drinks are ok, but are increasingly less desirable as you get further along, and teas and such are actually solid too! 

Oh and there's actually some basic immortal meals that basically anyone can prepare and have! Spirit Green and Black Teas you can just make like normal tea (though Respledent Solar Soldier's Yang Sunfire Qi flames have just a lovely muskiness to them, and any food can be radically improved if treated with the right specialist techniques). 

I hope I can figure out something soon for getting some sort of delivery system more practically set up - non-perishable immortal food of higher qualities is a good bit harder to make but it can make a huge difference to cultivation when mixed properly with everything else that helps. 

Oh yeah - like, there's some stuff that only the seniors can really help with, but our lovely maid 's been really helpful in getting the overall quality of foundation and speed of cultivation to the sorta thing that isn't nesscarily lot worse then w/ clans or such - 's a cool alt. model, even though there's limits for how much you can do w/out just the sheer network and number of resources that you get there - hate to say it but like a lot o this only works 'cause of some fortitious encounters or weird angle that isn't nearly as available as you might expect. 

@Mindful Master Maid

Must you describe it as 'musky'~?

I really appreciate what everyone here can offer, it's just... not ideal for a lot of people. There's some options for going for a clan here, too, but loose cultivation is something that I think we can make a real option. 

But of course! 

It's my duty both as an oath-sworn soul and an uprising immortal chef to never compromise on the accuracy of my ratings of foods! 

Would you be inclined to tell someone lies about spearmanship, RSS? 

I suppose not...

For what I recommend as someone without Mindful Master Maid's expertise, purely on a practical level... 

Do whatever feels comfortable and affirming - there's a personal conception of myself as an athlete that makes it interesting and often... 'worthwhile' to try to eat healthily and try to refine an edge for the time I have left while my body really uses that at all, short of spiritual effects, so I keep to a schedule religiously, with a lot of fruit and chicken and such you see in the higher calorie requirement options, and I fit in Mindful Master Maid's meals whenever I can for the advantage it gives.

I suppose that I follow that - shopping in the mortal world is something... quite enjoyable. The smells are lovely, and the sheer variety makes me thankful for all of the progress we've made civilizationally, and the sheer range of products means that it can be worth it to just wander there with a few alchemical analysis techniques active - there's a variety of simple things that you can accomplish, and there's only so much that my photographic eyes can help with something that exotic.