Rebecca lets Wen do the talking and tops her up on spirit stones if needed. How are they entered into the security formations?

They have to touch a pad in a side room, and then be given small jade cards which are also touched to the pad, and then memorize a 20 digit pass code.

And then they are shown to a place that would be a nice villa on Earth, and Wen finally relaxes.

"Some of that was theater, but even if most of it were, reputation is armor too. And now we can finally relax and read our new methods!"

(Is it normal to be able to memorize 20-digit numbers on the spot here? Most Earth Bet humans couldn't do that. Something to ask about later.)

A whole villa! She was expecting something closer to a warded en suite room or something, so this is a pleasant surprise. She needs to get some population statistics of how rare cultivators are against the whole population, and the fractions in the different stages.

"I'm very curious how these manuals work. It sounds difficult to teach techniques through a written text."

And while they're settling in, she'll mention something that's been niggling at her.

"Sorry if this is too personal, but... you mentioned before you'd have joined the Three Jades if not for greater targets set in sight. Do you have a specific goal incompatible with membership, or is it that the sect is—generally restrictive, lacking in opportunity?" If the real reason is personal, then that's an out for Wen to deflect with generic complaints. "You've said a number of times that they're a righteous sect and generally alright, but you also tend to sound... unimpressed."

The person who intercepted them on the road said "I hope the benevolence and might of the Three Jades Sect puts you at ease," to which Wen answered "The Three Jades Sect is a righteous and noble sect, and it's natural to respect it," which isn't a ringing endorsement, though it was plausibly tinged by context.

"Oh. I don't mind discussing that. Three Jades is a perfectly fine sect. They're good to those who are good to them, they have decent methods and a wide foundation, with experts in energy formations, alchemy, forging, and of course combat. But they're not the best, and they're not specialized. They're deeply rooted to this place and not networked. It'd be like... Instead of joining the world-wide defenders you mentioned, choosing to join a team that defends a single coastline. I already have trouble advancing quickly- I'm a cultivation genius for a diremonster, but merely above average for a human- So now that I'm finally off my butt and actively working towards integrating with society I need to join the best sect I can, and Cloudsoar City hosts the largest gathering of high-quality sects in this part of the world. There will be plenty of time to do research and prepare for the tests for those that would fit best. I only know a few by reputation already, but the reputations I know from so far away are truly mighty. The truth is that I don't know precisely what I want, but I know I'll find more challenge and opportunity both in Cloudsoar City."

Perhaps Rebecca has been underestimating Wen; she hadn't expected her to be so... globally minded?

Or maybe it's Rebecca who's been making too many assumptions. She pattern-matched the Three Jades Sect to the PRT based on their stated ideals and state sponsorship, and so assumed they were in the upper classes of power, but that's not a given. Even if they are the big fish locally, the nation itself might be second-tier on the world stage; if you dropped someone randomly on Earth Bet, they're as likely to end up in India as in North America. In Bet's India you'd still hear about the PRT on the news, but here communications are probably more limited, so the dominant cultural presence of the Three Jades Sect is expected.

Except Wen said Cloudsoar City hosts the largest gathering of powerful sects in this region, so the Three Jades Kingdom is a major player... no, a nation can be an international center or historical gathering place without being powerful in the moment. And Rebecca hasn't confirmed there aren't stronger sects within the kingdom itself, though that would beg the question why the Three Jades still controls and privileges itself the land's natural resources instead of being strong-armed by more powerful sect, or overthrown outright.

There's also the question why another country with stronger cultivators haven't invaded, if the local sect is weak. Unless the jades aren't that valuable on the world stage, enough to build a country on but not enough to attract wolves. Still, historical empires on Earth have claimed colonies for less. Though there was an implication—

"Are the strongest sects usually not affiliated with a nation?"

She rubs her chin.

"No, let's not go down that rabbit hole now. I don't have a good model of the power structures in this world. The reasoning you gave would have been obvious without saying, to a local? Local cultivator, I mean."

She might need to acquire reading material on sects and world politics.

"I don't know the high level game, just that what's publicly said is rarely truth- In qi poor places, it tends to be that the cultivation world and martial arts world are separate. There's not enough spiritual resources to go around to make acting like a state worth it. You just hang out in your mountain compound and go kill spirit beasts once in a while, and don't bother to rule. Three Jades's statehood is unusual for the level of richness here, maybe someone's sponsoring them or maybe the sect head is cultivating the dragon qi? Meanwhile in qi rich places like Cloudsoar City and that general region there are so many cultivators that sects acting like states is normal? Though Cloudsoar itself is some sort of democracy, I hear."

Blink.

"-Sorry, I guess I can't really resist going into rabbit holes. Heh. Yes, travelling in order to join a better sect is obvious if you're ambitious and don't have a promising dynasty at home or something. Some would consider it too dangerous and stay, or too hopeless and stay."

"Oh, is Cloudsoar City not in Three Jades? I think I misinterpreted something you said earlier. So the Three Jades Kingdom is a poor region for cultivation, and the Three Jades Sect is remarkably powerful and well-run for the area, but the real powerhouses are based in better territory?"

"Oh, definitely not! Cloudsoar City is... I'm not sure how far exactly, but far enough that running there while you fly is not an attractive option. That's about accurate for Three Jades. I wouldn't call it barren so much as, not rich."

And she's now remembering some of the distance comments which would make no sense otherwise.

"That clears up most of my confusion, then."

Onto the goodies?

They have Quicksilver Movement, Martensite Crucible, Flaming Arrow of Din, and 'Separation', a sword manual by an Alchemy elder. Wen sits cross-legged and opens up the Flaming Arrow.

The first three booklets feel unnaturaly tough, like there's a little bit of qi to them. Slippery, rough, and prickly respectively.

The first page of Quicksilver Movement describes the technique as a cycling method using particular patterns of meridians, with accompanying martial arts katas and visualization exercises - or 'meditations'. The second page is rather purple prose, about the mature of quicksilver, sharp and poisonous metal, yet with many water-like properties, and thus suitable for both metal and water cultivators, to an extent. The next few pages have illustrations along with text, and do carry a sort of... Weight to them, faint impressions. She might be able to tell if she's doing it right or not based on them. The idea seems to be absorbing blows and moving out of the way just barely enough, so you can strike back immediately and viciously.

"Magic illustrations" is as good an answer as any to how beginners are apparently supposed to self-service their early education.

She reads through the preamble just in case it's relevant to understanding the technique. Once she gets to the more interesting content, she'll study the cycling and meditations, and spend some time acting out each kata to get a feel for it, without actually moving qi. Once she's through the booklet once, she goes back to the start.

What's the most basic exercise and is her qi control advanced enough to try it yet?

She also glances over to check what Wen's doing at several points.

Wen finishes reading Flaming Arrow of Din quickly and pages through the sword book, looking annoyed but not actually putting it down.

The most basic exercise is pushing qi into your feet and calves using these specific numbered meridians, and opening the 'bottom' of them to let the qi enter your muscles! There's a helpful meridian diagram with the numbers, at least. She can open and close meridians in both ways by now, but these specific ones aren't ones she's familiarized herself with yet.

"Not useful?" she asks Wen.

If she flicks ahead, is there an exercise using the meridians she already knows? Are there warnings not to do this out of order?

There's exercises that use more meridians including ones she already knows, but none that she knows all of quite yet.

"Trying to figure out if it's complete bullshit or if there's nuggets of useful wisdom in here. The problem is, I don't actually use swords. I probably should, honestly- Having variety is good, but there's so many things to learn and only so many hours in the day."

She wonders if there's a more automated way to stimulate meridians, with infinite wealth at their disposal. She'll get a pen and notepad and start writing up a shopping wishlist, putting that as the first item with a question mark.

"Does it sound like complete bullshit? I probably know even less than you about swords—well, I've trained fighting against swords."

If the miscellaneous talismans are around, she'll register them to Dressing Room and duplicate a dozen copies of each to hide in the pockets of copies of her usual outfits. And also string them on necklaces to summon standalone.

The miscellaneous talismans, a lantern and a Sudden Mud Flood, are around!

"It sounds like complete bullshit, yeah. Like someone who hasn't been in a fight for his life in a while, if ever."

"You had it right before, I suppose. We should keep a list of things we want to buy while we're here. You mentioned wanting storage bags? Any specific talismans, formations or other resources you want to name?"

She'll show Wen the list, which now looks like:

• Something to activate meridians without manual assistance?
• Spatial bags
• Talismans
• Protection
• Distraction/obscuration
  
  
  
• Permanent charms?
  
  
  
• Formations
  
  
  

"The first thing so you don't have to sit around for hours helping me with the basics," Rebecca clarifies. "Unless it gets easier to do by myself later on? I still have a lot of foundational work to go before I can try these techniques."

"There's probably spiritual artifacts or treasures, that being the generic term for magical items that aren't talismans or formations, that can activate your meridians as a training aid. Other spiritual treasures, there could be anything, but they tend to be difficult to just - out and buy. I don't know what or where they are. If they exist here, our best bet would be to discreetly inquire with Three Jades Sect, giving a substantial gift for the audience where we make the inquiry. Spatial bags are something close to standard so I'm confident we'll be able to grab a couple by flashing around enough spirit stones. There are quite a variety of so-called 'life saving' talismans, but nobody I would consider a solid distributor here. Formations is a discipline for how to set up energy arrays to do different things. We could theoretically purchase supplies for it, but they wouldn't be much use. And I really don't mind helping you cultivate. You're going to have to put in a lot of practice anyway, this is not a short path and there's only so much that qi gathering formations and the like can speed it up. We can probably buy some pretty good pills off of Three Jades, they're big on alchemy, and do have a solid reputation for it. Maybe we pick up some weapons too? Mortal versions, or the ones that barely count as spiritual and are just unnaturally durable, to get used to wielding them. Lots of styles invoke weapons and don't work right without them."

"No treasures, then," she murmurs. "Unless you think the Three Jades are trustworthy not to dig into our source of income?"

• Something to activate meridians without manual assistance?
• Spatial bags
• Talismans
• Protection
• Distraction/obscuration
  
  
  
• Permanent charms?
  
  
  
• Formations
• Pills
• Spiritual weapons

 

"Weapons which are unnaturally durable are a good idea, since otherwise they'll break easily. I suppose we're not anticipating getting in fights where I need to use my full strength, so it's not urgent to have the durable versions. Are there any common talismans which create large amounts of smoke or light, turn you invisible, or so on? In case I want to act in an emergency—or just exit a situation quickly—without revealing my specific capabilities."

"Those both would not surprise me and if we shop around we can probably get some! And this is a good place to get weapons, and perhaps even training on the weapons from some outer disciples. I wouldn't want to display wealth of more than one, maybe two thousand spirit stones here, and no flaunting it either- Discreet purchasing. I'd like to purchase a book on formations too, if the price is reasonable."

She adds "formation books" and "weapons training" to the list.

"Does weapons training involve actual sparring, or just learning and practicing forms?"

"Training worth the name will involve actual sparring, yes."

"I can hold back my strength, but I'm not practiced at doing it and appearing not to be. It may be obvious I'm significantly stronger than expected for my level of cultivation. Or would revealing that be considered an oddity, but not worth getting worked up about?"

"...Not sure. It's odd, but I don't know if it's odd they'd do something about."