Archive of Our Own ^beta

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The goal of this collection is to help compile all the amazingly creative worldbuilding that people have made in this fandom (with their permission!!) and make it accessible so that others can add to it for their own use. No, you don't have to share new things back here to use what is on offer. That's not the point. If you're shy about your own creations but love the ones I've assembled from those more willing to share, then that is more than acceptable too. If you say you were inspired by this fic, I'm sure everyone who ends up keeping track of this would be delighted to see what's in the 'inspired by' section once we have one!

Onto how this works!!!

If you leave comments on this with your own plants, animals, artifacts, weapons, medicine, or mystical locations, along with any lore you have attached to them, I'll edit it up and make a chapter for it. You just have to let me know if you have any odd spellings or whatever so I don't accidentally try to fix them as typos. Comments here are the quickest method to get in contact with me, but I'll be regularly checking my tumblr as well, so if you poke at Skeren over there, I will get back to you!

Offerings do not have to be complete entries by themselves! You can just give me what things do or a name alone if you don't have complete ideas and want to contribute! That's more than fine! Discussion in the comments is welcome (I read everything) and you will be credited in your entry! So that means if you just have a name, and someone else has a what it does, you can make a comment thread about that. I'll credit you both when I make your entry.

I'll be adding my own creations as I unearth my notes for them, and sooner or later I'll make entries for canon things too once I can track down all the information available about them. Yes, I intend to do that, though it's very likely going to end up with a spin due to my own personal worldbuilding. I'll be going through the canon work and my own stuff to add entries when I find myself with time to do so.

Admittedly, you can also just throw a fic link at me (your own!) if you have one with a lot and I can go through it that way too, but guys, I can only read so fast so have mercy. There are fics with glorious worldbuilding I wish I could keep notes on but alas, I have no permission so I won't do that unless they give it to me. You're welcome to be one of those people!

If anyone would like to illustrate for the entries in this guide, you are, of course, welcomed as well! All contributions are worthwhile here, and will be added to their relevant pages should they come to exist.

This will be an ongoing project as long as people continue to give me entries or I think of my own to add as well, so don't be shy! You're all welcome here!

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Trees

• Flamingo Chestnut Trees: A tree known for trapping Yin cultivators.

Vines

• Passionflower Vine: Frisky vine that is used for its slime.
• Jibei Vine: Wish granting man eating vine.

Bamboos

• Glimmering Heart of Jade Bamboo: Man eating qi plant that causes deadly arousal and is a curative.

Flowers

• Iridescent Pearl Lotus of the Celestial Pavilion: A flower under which all are judged.
• Underground Silver Plum Blossom: Time travel for the consciousness.
• Rose Thorned Crocus: Qi spiking and emotional boosting. Also causes hardness that should not exceed four hours.
• Seven Year Flowers: Put in Qi and grow yourself a baby out of a fruit.
• Celestial Fire On The Water: Lotus that heals and purifies. While on fire.

Fruit

• Breath of Yesterday: Rewinds by a day.
• Sacred Peach of Heavenly Bounty: Pregnancy fruit
• Golden Jade Persimmon: Causes calmed emotions and slows cultivation.
• Prismatic Pomegranate: Gives a spark of qi and a little high.

Mammals

• Core Drinking Crowsbeak Rabbit: Cause binding ties between qi systems. Hive minded, deadly.

Reptiles

• Exploding Five-Fanged Serpent: What it says on the tin.

Sea Life

• Bone White Bleached Teeth Barnacle: Teeth replacements.

Undefined

• Skincreatures: Half person half animal mimics.

Utility

• Ewer Bowl of Plenteous Pouring: Any liquid in, infinite of that liquid out.
• Ripple Seeking Vibration's Stone: Earthquake rock, used as a vibrator.

Jewelry

• Gem of Sizing: Sizeplay necklace.
• Second Chance Quartz: Memory recovery rock.

Locations

• Cang Qiong Mountain: The mountain and sect in detail.

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Flamingo Chestnut Tree groves are rare, given their extremely valuable properties and particular dispositions. An untended grove will look like a more benign sort of chestnut grove when there is not a cultivator in residence, and this will, of course, lead to... misunderstandings. Sometimes nicknamed the True Love plant, Flamingo Chestnut Tree groves are often a singular plant or a small number of plants wound together with many shoots that simulate a larger grouping, and it is this root system, sometimes much larger than what is above ground, that makes the free traveler need to take care.

These plants often appear very suddenly overnight, and it is part of their growth that they are not visible until they reach sufficient maturity to catch a caretaker so that they can move on to the reproduction stage of their lifecycle, which can, and will, last for decades, or even centuries. There is one grove that has had the same Yin cultivator tending it for three centuries in one of the southernmost provinces. It is known that when a heart demon is conquered by a caretaker, their plants will always be more potent in response.

Yin dispositioned people in particular are in danger from these plants, not because they will be injured by them, but because they will be trapped by them. Mind you, the happy, healthy, entirely at peace Yin cultivator has nothing to concern themselves about, but one with a turbulent heart or an unhappy mind? Take care. These plants will want to fix you. Should you find yourself trapped, be patient, be careful, and know that no harm will befall you under those branches.

Ever flowering even in the depths of winter, these plants have beautiful blooms at all times, and snow never lingers on their root system as they put off a small bit of heat at all times that is used, in part, to lure people in to tend them and keep them safe from those who would destroy the plants. Living under those branches is a gentle draw on the qi, but it is not in line with many predatory plants, and thus the aspiring traveler need not fear exhaustion. The injured one need not fear even that as these plants can sense intent.

That is to say, people at times willingly seek out these plants for protection. One who is in the care of one of these trees will feel at peace and safe while they live under the boughs, and at times houses have been noted to have been made under their branches by those who have no desire to leave.

The only way to leave is for a yin imbalanced person to be balanced through sex. One time never is enough, and the balancing often requires an extended period of trust and courtship of some sort. This cannot be forced, and anyone who attempts it will be eaten by the plant, usually in a violent draining of qi before the roots come up to consume the person in question. People who visit with benign intent are not in danger of this reaction. Similarly, if a plant already has someone in their keeping, they are wildly unlikely to claim a second one until their first leaves.

It should be noted that the plants take exception to ill-intent under their branches from anyone, not just aimed at their chosen person, and care should be taken because of this.

Due to the way these plants feed on Yin energy, their properties are many and varied, and the lifestage of the plant wildly changes what they can, or should, be used for.

The flowers, changing from when they are empty of qi (white) to when they are saturated with it (dark pink) are a good indicator of when these plants should be approached. Please note, no part of this plant can be harvested without a caretaker! Doing so will have unfortunate side effects, depending on what part of the plant one was attempting to harvest! This will be further clarified below.

The Blossoms: The easiest, and trickiest part of the plant to access, the blossoms, if picked by someone not bound to the tree, they will immediately release all the qi stored in them and turn to ash. In contrast, when gotten directly from the caretaker, they will keep for weeks before deteriorating and can be used to heal even the most life threatening of wounds if eaten directly or pressed into the damage as a paste.

The Fruit: When picked by the one bound to the tree, these are some of the most delicious and rejuvenating fruit one can find, and it will replenish even the most raggedly drained qi system. If attained in other ways, the fruit will rot within hours, and unsettle the qi of the one who eats it. The skin of one who does so will attain a sickly white hue.

The Nuts: Exceedingly nutritious and able to fully support someone without need for anything else, the nuts are extremely prized by travelers in particular as they can replace all manner of other edible supplies. Expensive on the market, but more common than other products by these trees, they're only edible when picked by the caretaker, else the result is like trying to eat small rocks.

The Bark: Used for teas by healers across the cultivation world, the bark of these trees is known to soothe a qi system on the bring of qi deviation, with nearly universal, if temporary, success. Unfortunately, repeated use of this method is addictive and must be spaced out. Stripping bark from the plants without a caretaker is often deadly as the plant will drain a person instantly of qi in response.

The Wood: If anyone but the caretaker attempts to cut off any wood from these trees, the person will be treated as a threat and attacked by the tree. When attained, however, they make the best tools for making medicine it is possible to get access to and will last as well as any stone implements.

The Leaves: Probably the most well known part of the plant, the leaves of these trees are a singularly unique kind of aphrodisiac that serves to soothe poisoning by other kinds. Eating the leaves will leave one in a state of need, of course, that can only be resolved through sex, however, it is not deadly, nor overly painful, and will counteract even the most deadly of aphrodisiac poisoning. Often collected by the bushel, this is the only part of the plant that is able to be picked up off the ground and eaten and needs no caretaker, though picking it directly from the plant will cause the potency of the aphrodisiac to spike to crippling levels, so it's recommended to either ask the caretaker, or to pick one off the ground.

In conclusion, these plants are valuable, in need of protection, and exceedingly good for business in an area. However, please don't throw your sisters and daughters under their branches in the middle of the night or it really won't go well for you. Instead, it is recommended to contact your local sect or wandering cultivator and ask if they're willing to live there instead. Happy travels!

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Breath of Yesterday is a fruit that grows on stones and cliffsides in the Northern Demonic Wastes. It is know for its versatility and is, if one is very fortunate, extremely useful. For the less fortunate, they will run into the trifecta of failure. Inability to transport it, lack of availability, and running out of time.

For, dear reader, one must understand that this plant does the incredible. It rewinds a person to what they were exactly one day prior, down to the very breath that was taken at that time, no exceptions. Their memories will stay intact, yes, but the body, and only the body as clothes will not change, will return to what it was, uninjured, if they were, or otherwise changed back, if not. Some have used this to reverse the results of spells that changed them, or to undo a misunderstood side effect of eating something unfortunate. Others have used this to stabilize cultivation that went wildly awry in sudden fashion.

Ultimately, all very useful, all very powerful, but there are... caveats. If one is pregnant, the baby will be removed as all foreign entities, from children, possession, or even just a symbiotic twin a person had for the entirety of their life, will be removed. It will not kill them, instead taking what is needed from the body of the one who ate the fruit to form into something tangible, but if the eater was heavy with poison, so too would be the one ejected from them. It will also remove all spells, tattoos, or possibly helpful tweaks one might have made via cosmetics or that one paid for. So one must be very certain that they are prepared for what this fruit will do.

Of course, if one were poisoned and might lose their baby if they didn't eat the fruit, then they should just feed the baby another fruit and have done with it. Though please consider it would be very unlikely to make them old enough to do anything on their own if a humble mother were to choose this path. It has been tried by some and it never works out well for anyone. Similarly, if someone were, perhaps, possessed and cast out of their body, so long as the body did not die, the fruit would return them to it, even as the one who possessed them would now have their own body.

It should be noted that this is, in fact, an original discovery made by this author as most of the demons in the region merely treat it as a delicacy and hangover cure due to the fragility of the fruits themselves.

The Breath of Yesterday fruit is translucent, has the consistency of a grape, and is almost almost scaled in appearance with a greenish blue hue. The lines of the 'scale' edges almost glow, catching light easily, which is what makes the see through orbs stand out from the icy rocks where they grow. Often, you will find these fruits in small groupings, not touching one another, with three sharp edged green leaves under them like the green part of a bloomed flower. They have no roots.

The flavor of these plants is akin to lychee, but with a sweeter, more citrusy undertone, while the result of biting into one is not unlike biting into a tiny orb filled with thin jelly. Rarely does one need two bites to finish one of these, and the fluid is not overly sticky.

Transport of this fruit is, and always has been, the problem. These fruit only grow in the cold parts of the year, starting in late autumn and dying off with the thaw. They must be kept quite cold, and only thrive in the coldest part of the Northern Wastes. Unfortunately for all, these plants are also easily unseated from the places where they grow, which is excellent for propagation but extremely poor for being used, as when dislodged from the spot where they formed into fruit one has perhaps an hour or so before the fruit's outsides will break and subsequently release all their insides. This is a particular problem as once exposed to the air the effects of the fruit become inert. Admittedly, this is another reason why it's recommended to eat it all in one bite as not to miss the actual use window.

Eating it outside of this timeframe does nothing to the flavor, and it can still be used freely and safely in foods, but all the magical properties that make it sought after will have been summarily neutralized. This timeframe also shortens dramatically if the fruit gets at all warm, as it will make them pop, so it's best to keep it in an icy bowl of some kind if it must be transported.

All of these factors, perhaps, would explain why outside of the Northern Wastes, almost no one knows of this plant in the first place. With it only being good within a single day and no more or less, merely taking the trip to get there is often more than enough to dissuade anyone who hears of its rewinding properties.

The secondary side effects, it should be mentioned, are almost not known of at all outside of the region where they grow, which is part of why this humble author is attempting to remedy the lack of information.

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A core-drinking crowsbeak rabbit is an animal that, at first glance, appears to be synonymous with a normal bunny, save for having a particularly unfortunate face. These animals are always solid black, with no other coloration or markings, and, as their name might imply, have a very sharp beak in place of a mouth and nose. These rabbits, unlike those they so closely mimic, also have extremely sharp claws on both hind and forefeet that they can use to latch on and keep smaller prey in place with.

The danger of these animals is not, unfortunately, due to them being a species that swarms in any conventional way, nor being particularly adept hunters in general. No, these animals are instead stealth hunters, lying in wait to take a singular bite out of the first creature with enough qi to cross their path. They will not give chase if the prey in question flees, and similarly if the rabbit that did the biting dies it is considered no great loss for the warren as a whole.

One must understand that these rabbits, while looking harmless and small, are actually a hive mind species who are entirely sustained by the qi of their victims. This means that when one of them bites something, it hooks into their meridians directly, and if their victim happens to be strong enough for a core, they latch onto that with this tether, anchoring it with frightening efficiency.

Once a victim is fully drained, the rabbits have a population bump based on the power of what they ate. While a qi rich animal might cause one or two births, a sufficiently powerful cultivator could increase the size of the warren by as much as ten times. As every rabbit in a warren is sprung from a singular creature, this becomes increasingly tricky to resolve.

The first measure to use against these beasts is, as always, prevention! Often, these creatures will spring up in regions close to places prone to mudslides, as they are born of exposing certain types of cave eggs to the open air. Unfortunately, locating these eggs is a difficult task that seems never ending, and these warrens, even if extinguished to a hare, somehow always come back with the next storm season. Getting people out quickly to handle mudslides is the only way to ensure that a warren can’t spring up unnoticed as doing so will often break the tiny eggs before they can hatch, as the process of sitting in open air undisturbed is what allows them to harden to a point where one of these small menaces can hatch.

If one finds themselves in a region where cultivators are dying by mysterious means, and there happen to be a few caves nearby, the next bit of advice that can be offered is to be cautious! Watch your feet, follow paths, and above all, don’t stand in the middle of underbrush where one can’t see! This makes it easy to spot the rabbits before they come too close and similarly easy to dispatch! They are, after all, rabbits.

Should one somehow fail in both prevention and caution, one need not be afraid! While not ideal, there are two ways to survive such an ordeal. The first method is relevant to both paths and is greatly affected by speed. If one is not quick enough to exterminate the warren, one will have to move on to option two, which sill involves exterminating the warren. If a single mature rabbit of the group continues to live, so too will the spiritual drain continue until the one trapped in this web dies. The bigger the warren, the faster the drain will progress.

If one can manage to accomplish this with no help, that’s amazing! Fabulous! This humble author applauds the speed and resilience of the noble victim!

Should, however, one find themselves draining too quickly with no idea where the rabbits are, having a companion might very well save them from death. There is, however, a side effect. Qi can be infused by outside parties to the victim of the rabbit, thus saving the life of the cultivator and sustaining them until the hunt can be completed. Unfortunately, this choice leads to the tether placed upon the victim of the warren transferring to the one who fed them qi. While there are ways to fix this, very few work in timely enough fashion to keep the state of affairs from being permanent.

The only positives to this are that the drain will not continue even if the two cores happen to be bound, and that if one party dies, the tether will be snapped instead of killing both.

While considered a pest best extinguished by most, and with good reason, there are a few in the medical field of cultivation that find these rabbits exceptionally useful if only while untethered. In fact, only when carefully hatched from eggs and nurtured with qi flowering plants are these creatures considered safe and many a tame group has been killed off and hatched new after one of the group bit the caretaker.

The reason why one might bother to do such a thing has little to do with their meat, which is often inedible for humans, and similarly their fur is actually quite textured for something so reminiscent of a rabbit. No, instead it comes down to their core tethering mechanism.

If milked carefully, the venom in their bite can be used to relax constrained qi systems and help healers ease certain kinds of qi deviation. Unfortunately, this venom must be acquired from living rabbits, and is often considered too dangerous to harvest from the wild.

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The Iridescent Pearl Lotus of the Celestial Pavilion is a flower with rich lore, unique origins, and a ragged past filled with misinformation and attempts to ensure that no one ever uses it. Standing in a place of pride in any body of water, there is no mistaking the opalescent sheen of the nearly translucent and glowing pearly petals, nor the vibrant deep green of the leaves that bear this flower up out of the waters it so enjoys living in. The heavy concentrations of qi from this plant make it appear to have dedicated fireflies, but these are simply the qi motes that it puts off in the form of enriched pollen instead. Most of all, the far reaching aura of this plant is truly what sets it apart, being felt from the edges of the waters where it dwells as it purifies its home and ensuring it could be mistaken for nothing else.

While this flower is deemed merely a very rare cultivation treasure, this is simply politics at play as the relative commonality of this plant has less to do with how often one might find it, than how often it is used. In a truer context, this plant is actually a Heavenly Treasure. The stories of this plant range far and wide, but the most accepted understanding of the origin of these blooms is one witnessed several generations ago by disciples of Cang Qiong that they only ever grow after a heavenly storm is called. When a cultivator ascends, so dropped down to earth are the seeds of this Lotus, and thus the plant, always singular in its own waters, blooms to life over the span of a generation in ponds where no humans will disturb it, and no animals would dare.

Enthralling in a way that can’t be truly described, the very notion of harming this plant is enough to make someone sob, and the handling of it inspires a deep, unrelenting reverence that one is hard pressed to put aside. The knowledge that this plant is not of earth is written in every vein on its leaves and every reflected bit of shine, and this has an impact not dissimilar to a god come to walk among mortals. That it’s a plant makes no difference at all. The judgment of this plant is considered final, decisive, and above all things, fair. It is of heaven in the purest sense of the word, and so too are those whom it chooses to allow to consume it.

Consumption cannot be forced, as any qi suppressing items rapidly come apart under the force of the qi of this flower, burning away into nothing with relative speed, and while it will never be safe, the humble and kind need fear nothing, just as the greedy and cruel need fear everything.

Thus, this humble author will now share the history of this plant and all its wondrous effects.

The earliest known account of one of these flowers being consumed was before the current line of human emperors sat the throne, when they still went under another name, and was, admittedly, when Heavenly Demons were not so rare as they are today. Written by a demonic scribe, this account goes as follows, and is transcribed directly. Please bear in mind that it is not this humble author’s writing, and forgive any colorful and unprofessional phrasing.

It was a good day the day I chose to follow the Emperor’s army. Most wouldn’t think so, given that pretty much all of said army died at the end, but I was smart enough to stay up on top of the hill, and close watch the fight without getting murdered in the middle of it. Best choice I ever made!

The whole thing would have been just a little footnote in the march, you see, if the cultivator had been a normal boring kind of guy. Wham, fight the demon, die, you know, the usual? Everyone knows the Emperor doesn’t even personally bother with most of that because they’re not a challenge. And who wants to be bored in battle? If you can’t get your blood up what’s the point?

Well, I’ll tell you the point this time. That crazy human ate one of those creepy mindbending Cry On Me flowers. No, really, the guy waded right out into that pretty pond, yanked the bloom off its stem and crammed the whole thing in like he was trying to outpace a hoard of younger siblings to a cake. Now, at first it didn’t seem like it did anything, but I was proven wrong as the man waded back out to shore, about as coordinated as a drunk toddler and way prettier, and it was enough that the whole army took a pause and sort of just stared at the guy for a minute. From up here I only got the tiniest bit of the effect, mind you, but I think they stared a little too long because between one breath and the next, that crazy guy was wading right in among the enemy, angling right for the Emperor like it was his job.

I’ve never seen anyone so daring, and even though this guy was swaying like he was on a boat, he kept coming! Now, demons aren’t the kind to emote pain so much, but the fact was that as that guy started to glow real bright, it had effects. Really bad ones too, because the army had finally gotten their heads back on and had started to attack. They probably shouldn’t have. It was magnificent. Demon after demon fell in a cascade of white ash, and the Emperor himself even jumped into the fray finally, clearly wanting to test his mettle against that power.

He only got one hit in, but it was enough that the wave of power licked all the way up to where I was, and the only survivors between here and there were that crazy badass human and the Emperor himself who looked like he’d just been raked through a volcano. He was healing, even with that aura rolling up on him still, but wow that had to hurt. He was so strong. No wonder he was emperor, right?

Anyway, the fight ended around that point, what with the army being dead, and the Emperor actually bowed his head to that cultivator and walked away as the guy jumped up into heaven and vanished. When I asked later, the Emperor told me that he’d thanked him for the thrilling battle.

As one can tell from the account, there are many details that aren’t clear, save that the bloom was decisive in its effects and extremely devastating to everyone there who didn’t have Heavenly Demon blood. What further muddies the waters of the situation is if that Emperor, later known for having an ominous glow to his skin, survived because of the power of Heavenly Demons, or because the flower decided he had been wounded enough.

The accounts that follow the Lotus Empress and her reign of a century would point to this having been the case, given that she had loyal demons among her entourage who were not burned away by her grace but lifted up by it. It was the last reign under which the demons and humans moved in one accord, unfortunately, though this humble author hopes to live to see those times come in his life. The potential historical implications would be immense.

There are a bare handful of instances when leaders have either, in ignorance or in spite, attempted to use the Lotus to punish someone for their sins. These occasions near universally fail to have the desired effect, and in fact led to the above mentioned empress in her time. Often, it is a case of someone finding the recipe, a simple lock of hair of the accused in boiling water, and decides that this was a judgment that would prove their point.

The making of the Infusion is horrific, grating across the spirit in the worst way, and the fumes alone fill the air with a heavy damp feeling of qi, purifying and sweet even as it’s emotionally devastating, reminding everyone of the travesty that killing this plant is. The lure to drink is omnipresent and is part of why the tuning process was ever involved, to warn away others so that the temptation would come with a dire warning to not drink. Before that, there were cases where someone caved to temptation before it reached the intended recipient, and these near always ended in disaster. Once, an entire sect burned, with the only survivor being the child who was intended to drink the Infusion in the first place.

Always, the handling of the Infusion causes tears, the emotional pressure of it, the clear sweet fumes heralding it, enough that even the most hardened of hearts are not unswayed by grief for what has been done. It is said that the taste of this infusion is nothing like a flower at all, instead coating the tongue and changing from taster and taster, though an omnipresent grief, the salt of tears, and the sharp chill of an autumn wind is always present. One drinker ascribed the taste to that of bamboo, while another the rich sharpness of spice, and the Lotus Empress is said to have tasted warm bread for hers. Regardless of taste, it spreads in the body in a way that’s tangible, lingering not unlike a drop of ink in water. Thus begins the integration process, and what is known as a Merging.

Not everyone survives this.

It should be noted that once the Infusion is drunk, it is the qi equivalent of having the covers yanked away on an icy morning, stark, unwelcoming, and nothing like the soft sweetness that came before, no matter how sorrowful. It is to this that the dazzled pause that always starts the ritual is attributed, but further study suggests that the effect is instead a gift of the flower itself, and the first one it lays on any drinker and those watching them. It could even be said that sometimes, this is the only kindness it grants.

Research into the reaction of drinking the Infusion are interesting in many ways, and the first thing that everyone agrees on is this: The flower has kick. After drinking the Infusion, the drinker will find themselves with their meridians stretched and primed, instantly swept to be cleaned before anything else could occur or any judgment wrought. The flower, no matter how strange and fey, grants this one gift upon all drinkers. That at times, the drinker is almost immediately burned horribly is no nevermind, as they still have the gift first and thus a heightened chance of survival. For a man who might have done cruel things knowingly, but under the impression they had no choice when they did, they might be first punished, then redeemed, while someone who feels immense guilt for similar things and truly did have no choice might not be punished at all.

The criteria is, unfortunately, not entirely clear, but is universally bowed to as the most objective test of worthiness anyone can find. The Drinker, once they have their meridians forced open, often falls into a dazed state of disconnection, and it is at this point that one either burns or moves on to the next stage.

For those who pass the bar of good character, the loss of coordination is what happens next. Due to this, the ritual has sprung up to further hinder the Drinker from being able to walk by making them wear increasingly elaborate robes. It’s just as well, really, as this is also the stage when a Drinker’s hair grows longer, which would make movement more difficult for anyone who isn’t expecting it. The effect tends to enhance the more carnal side effects, as the Drinker manifests all of the signs of pleasure, dazed and unknowing as the gentlest of innocents, no matter their reputation or looks. This is the time where one will find any urge to hurt the Drinker come up directly against the fact that they simply cannot as the swaying starts.

The few accounts of those who lived through this process make it clear that it is once the glow begins under their skin that the Drinker is no longer the Drinker but in the first bloom of being a Breathing Lotus.

The Blooming of a Breathing Lotus starts with a bright glow of the skin and a sway that anyone can see. From there, they start what is known as the Heavenly Dance of the Celestial Pavilion for the first time, a dance that is more affectionately called the First Bloom by those close to Breathing Lotuses, historically speaking. While not a conventional dance, admittedly, this ritual is still one of movement, and uses power that will never be replicated to the same degree in any other Heavenly Dance that the Breathing Lotus might ever do.

It is said that one hears the tolling of bells if one is to be blessed or cursed. The tone rings purely through qi, waves of power and sound that are felt as much as they’re heard. For all, regardless if they hear or no, is first a cleansing to everyone in the area. These waves of power start far apart, echoed and visible on the Breathing Lotus themselves in what is clearly euphoric joy, but as they grow closer, they grow in power, spreading pleasure to all those who are to be blessed by the Lotus.

The scent of green mountains overtakes the air, and by the end of the Blooming, the air is so heavy none can move even though the qi that fills the space is like cool, clear water, powerful and focused around the swaying cultivator that has become the Breathing Lotus. At this point, the Breathing Lotus is often shining too brightly to be properly looked at, and so too, are they putting off the same pollen qi motes as the flower did before it was consumed. The process is shockingly short, all told, a pair of incense sticks or an eighth of a shichen at longest, but staggering for all that.

The aftermath is always dramatic, good or bad. The Scourge sweeps through the wicked, the enemies of the Blooming lotus, and makes them pay with blood and bone, burning them and leaving those who survive to carry the scars for always, divinely bestowed and near impossible to remove through anything but simple time. For others, they were granted Heavenly Bliss, and these people will carry the marks as well, but in a myriad of ways that mirror the Bloomed Breathing Lotus, both big and small. These people are the truly innocent and the friends and loved ones of the Lotus, and as the name might imply, Heavenly Bliss will have come with the perk of going through dual cultivation with the Lotus as they Bloomed.

People are known to have ascended simply from the touch of Heavenly Bliss.

There is, of course, no debate that a Breathing Lotus is to be a Heavenly Cultivator just a simple step removed from being a truly pure divinity. Their judgment is without doubt, because if there had been any, the Pearl Lotus would have burned them alive from the inside out. Their power is enough to clear away any evils that surround them, to purify the impure, be it poison, the damage of heart demons, or evils done upon someone in word or deed. For this they are truly divine, and thus are treated so afterwards.

There have long been debates about how the flower makes a judgment upon someone, but certain things are very clear when all accounts are compared. The Flower does not care about the sexual exploits of the innocent so long as they weren’t the one doing harm. If they were harmed, the flower will pass this by no matter the guilt of the pressured before. If someone was forced to do harm under threat of death or the deaths of others, they will be forgiven. If someone was greatly misled by another and did not understand what harm they did, this too will be brushed aside, purified. Mind control of any kind, spell, aphrodisiac, artifact, all of these too are brushed aside and go unpunished. These are not the marks of those who need to be punished to the flower.

The reverse of all these is also true. Those who use sex only to inflict harm will burn, as will those who use threats of violence and death to get their way. Abuse for the sake of it is retaliated in kind, and seizing unwilling control of others to harm them or use them to do harm will never be countenanced. The flower does not care for blood or power, it only cares for what is good and what is kind. Nothing more or less, and even kindness can be cruel, if you must first purge a wound.

The aftereffects of a First Bloom for a Breathing Lotus are widely known as a Celestial Afterglow. After all, a Breathing Lotus does, in fact, glow. It is fortunate that the Lotus Empress had a retinue devoted to naming and documenting what all of her abilities were and what they might be called, especially given that she led many Dances in her reign and bestowed Heavenly Bliss many many times, thus leaving a path of abilities such as these like a glitter of stars that even now some descendants still retain benefits from.

The Liu family, for instance, are a good example of this, as they all have some form of Celestial Grace to this day, thus adding to their inherent beauty as a whole.

As mentioned above, the general beauty and grace bestowed upon a Breathing Lotus is known as the Celestial Afterglow, and is always reinforced after a Dance, but this is not all that occurs, and the Glow itself has its own features that should be considered. It causes a certain degree of fascination in all watchers and engenders the same sort of protective reverence that the original Pearl Lotus had in its quiescent state. Secondary to this, and discovered through trial and error, is the realization that Celestial Afterglow serves as a focus for all abilities of a Breathing Lotus and thus includes the Lotus within them. Similarly, the Breathing Lotus, once having attained their Glow, will never fear qi deviation and will, upon their choosing, ascend to the heavens. It is also said, though never confirmed, that a Breathing Lotus loses all ability to truly lie, to themselves and others, though as stated, this is unconfirmed.

The best known ability of a Breathing Lotus is the Heavenly Dance of the Celestial Pavilion as every Breathing Lotus experiences this for their First Bloom in combination with a Heavenly Toll. Often, the two are used together to the point that many presume that every Heavenly Dance requires use of the Heavenly Toll, but this is actually a mistaken impression caused by the compounded power of the two together.

The Heavenly Dance calls on the Breathing Lotus’ innate ability to judge evil, and thus when called up can be used to invoke many talents, but the ones unique to the dance are three. Serenity, which is a temporary moment of peace, trancelike, that allows bindings to be removed gently. Heavenly Bliss, where repeated castings of Serenity turn into a kind of dual cultivation for those in the favor of the Breathing Lotus and which allows for sharing of the Gifts of the Breathing Lotus permanently with others. And lastly, Heavenly Woe, wherein Serenity turns into the Scourge and begins to burn away the impurities, big or small until the afflicted is dead or understands and truly repents how they were wrong. Other effects of the dance are that it can stop all qi deviations in its radius cold, and that the dancer’s hair grows longer. The dance isn’t something that can be done frequently, often no more than once a month without gifts of qi rich fruit and other delicacies, though it’s been said that dual cultivating with a Breathing Lotus in the more traditional way might also speed the times when it can be cast.

As mentioned previously, because they are often used together, Heavenly Toll is widely believed to be part of the dance, and it is true that the Toll is the easiest way to call Serenity in a controlled way instead of a passive captivation as the dance does, but it does so much more. Where the Dance spreads the distance of what the Toll can do and ensures the affected are given gifts of the afterglow, it’s the Toll that helps direct the power, brushing aside the blades of enemies and healing friends while making everyone hesitate with Serenity. If used outside of battle, obviously the effects linger much longer, though even inside it, it’s incredibly powerful in the moment, able to be used twice a shichen, though the recovery would be just as long after. The cleansing of this is different to that of the Dance as instead of purifying for good or ill, this instead cleanses in a more physical way without calling judgment at all. It is true that it clears away magic and mental interference, but so too does it get rid of poisons and barriers that would prevent healing, including the harsh hold of mythical weapons on their wielders should they be doing harm.

Some things are innate to a Breathing Lotus, and while they can be shared, they are less something that the Lotus does and more something that is simply part of them. One of these things is Celestial Blessing, which helps them resist or ignore evil cast upon them entirely. Imparting this to their entourage is always considered a particularly useful blessing. Another is Celestial Fascination, which is the innate glow of the Breathing Lotus, and raises their cultivation level to a point where the glow is always visible in dim light. This is the trait of Afterglow which gives the lure of the original Pearl Lotus and what helps put aside all harm aimed at the Breathing Lotus of those with this Heavenly Gift.

The most obvious of the traits that one might acquire as the Breathing Lotus is Lotus Nacre, which has a fascinating side effect of adding a gentle, barely discernible rainbow undertone to the natural pearlescent sheen of the Glow that comes with the First Bloom. Celestial Grace, as one might expect, is the combined name of all the visual effects, and has three in particular that come under the name which might separately be granted to others. These, it is to be noted, are things that the one holding it can turn off with the proper focus. The first is Lotus Opalescence, which adds movement to the rainbow glimmer instead of it being passive and related to the angle of light. Lotus Pollen causes qi motes to move like fireflies around the Breathing Lotus, the movements of which are more quick with agitation and slower with calm. Lotus Bloom makes Heavenly Radiance a visible effect, projected as gentle beams of light radiating from the one so gifted.

Heavenly Radiance is interesting because it is not usually visible as many other traits are, but is tangibly felt instead, given that all abilities and traits of the Breathing Lotus or their entourage with this Gift are naturally more powerful with them, and this increases range. Heavenly Allure, likewise, is less visible, though no less powerful for that, and can stop hostility in its tracks. This can be used as the starting point of obsession if one isn’t cautious, and can direct those under its influence in a direction that better suits the Breathing Lotus.

While true that many of the abilities of a Breathing Lotus are a mater of proximity or sight, this is not true for all of them. Celestial Touch, for instance, is all about creation, and when something is made by a Breathing Lotus they retain a lessened form of the abilities of their creator by way of combating and resisting evil. Likewise, the touch of a Breathing Lotus can calm a raging heart, while music played by them will soothe the soul, leaving someone clearheaded and invigorated after. Heavenly Favor is another touch based part of the Breathing Lotus and is bestowed by a kiss. This act gives the one kissed the ability to be their best selves, and to do their tasks in a way that is more whole and complete than they might have otherwise attained. It does not fade, and only ever is given to someone once.

Heavenly Burst was documented during one of the Lotus Empress’s pregnancies after someone attempted to poison her to endanger her child. The cleansing of the qi when this technique is used has the combined force of a Heavenly Toll and Dance at once, only it is aimed inwards. Similarly, depending on the severity of what was fixed, so too is the amount of exhaustion that will follow.

One ability that was only ever mastered by the Lotus Empress was the Celestial River. This ability, seen in the way she could and would simply walk into her garden and appear in another province, was part of what helped her hold the lands for the century where she was in power, allowing her to slip unseen from place to place and be unexpected on her arrival. She was unable to be tracked as she was following the qi paths of the land itself, and while it was not fast it made her unpredictable in a way that never left her tired when she arrived, instead leaving her deeply invigorated instead. The only things that marked her path at these times were the more verdant growth and heightened richness of qi everywhere she traveled.

Overuse of the wrong subset of their abilities might inflict a Breathing Lotus with what was lovingly named the Swoon. While named as a joke, it truly is an inconvenient thing, causing the Breathing Lotus to have trouble walking, standing, or otherwise moving around without aid. Added to this is that if not carried, should they stumble and fall, no one will think to help them as they will be too dazed by the sight of it to move. This, of course, leads to tears as people sob over being unable to help, even when attempting to fix the problem and help the Lotus back to their feet. Non-cultivators react even more strongly, and often will collapse with the Lotus if they so much as glance at them as the action taking place. Any distress by a Lotus in this weakened state will correspondingly upset those around them to a heightened degree. This, as one would not be shocked to learn, is what inspired the Lotus Empress to travel by palanquin when in cities.

Thus, we come to the last, and some would claim most powerful, of the abilities of the Breathing Lotus, Celestial Love. This ability is pivotal to a Breathing Lotus for many reasons, not the least of which being that it allows them to recover more quickly from overusing their other abilities. With the name born of the Lotus Empress’s love of dual cultivation, this ability does so much more. With intent and care, this can be used to cultivate plants to a higher spiritual tier using the Dance as a focus. With a partner, they can pull their lover to a state far closer to their own, giving a cascade of pleasure with merely a thought, though this variant is often incredibly overwhelming and has at times drawn in others who were not initially intended. This is why the Lotus Empress ended up with three husbands after her aura spilled out of her wedding chamber to her two loyal attendants and they were helpless to do anything but join the others. There were no complaints. Regardless of these points, Celestial Love is all about empowering others through a pure outpouring of their own power, visible and tangible as a touch, and while it can be used without contact, such as when focused by the Dance, this is far more tiring for the Breathing Lotus to do.

Because of the way so many of the Breathing Lotus’ abilities work, is it any surprise that when they have a child that there are some side effects? A child born of a Breathing Lotus mother will never know want in their lives, and will be blessed, though shamefully will often struggle with friendship early in their lives because of their inherent, integrated honesty and the lure of treating them as a treasure. Those born of a Breathing Lotus father have a lessened form of this as they were not held inside the body of the Lotus for months, but regardless, these children are special, and are often born with hair as pale and luminous as the Pearl Lotus their parents ate before they were conceived.

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The Sacred Peach of Heavenly Bounty is a fruit that is regrettably difficult to grow and in high demand because of it. Impossible to find in the wild, this fruit is only ever located in carefully cultivated groves deep in qi rich areas. Demonically qi rich that is. While the fruit itself works for anyone, reliable and safe in a way that many baby making plants are not, the growing process is a bit more precarious.

Instead of imparting the difficulties on the ones who ate the fruit as many baby plants do, the onus of all the difficult work is placed instead on those who grow the trees. Relying on the wild nature of demonic qi to flourish, it’s not unheard of for a demon clan to invest all their wealth in taking turns feeding qi into their peach trees, though these groves never grow too large. To allow it is to risk there being too many plants and causing a blight that would wipe out the whole grove. It’s easy enough, at least, to supplement the qi infusions with blood that the trees would accept instead. Thankfully for everyone concerned, it is usually easy enough to find an animal to butcher and dump on the roots whenever a tree starts to look too pale and sickly, thus ensuring that these plants never became anathema on the human side of things by needing greater sacrifices.

The trees themselves are actually quite lovely, maintaining the shape of normal peach trees, though their leaves are both bigger and darker, and their bark is a brown so rich and dark it looks nearly black even under the sunlight. It’s easy enough to tell when a tree grows unhealthy as the luster of these colors visibly leeches away, leaving them literally a pale imitation of the healthy trees. The flowers, when the trees are in season, are perhaps the loveliest part of growing these plants. Pink as a blushing sunset, the flowers glow with a warm light that lures in demonic fireflies to pollinate them and helps in forming the fruit.

The fruit, of course, is why anyone would go to all the trouble in the first place. Blushing pink and more vibrant than others of their kind, these fruit have the softest skin of any peach species and have a flavor that is known to be exceptionally good. The experience of eating them is a pleasure in and of itself, and were this alone all they had going for them, it’s entirely possible there would still be trade for them, if perhaps a bit less intense.

No, the reason these peaches are so coveted is that they bypass all limitations for conception. A man, a woman, a sentient carving with enough qi to circulate in a reflection of life? If one can have sex with it, one can get it pregnant. While this is easiest for a man to someone of a feminine disposition, it can as easily be that the woman who eats this fruit gets their man pregnant, should they maneuver carefully. Similarly, women to women, and men to men. This fruit bypasses all limitations of fertility as well, and even the most barren of wives would safely carry a babe to term if conceived with this peach. The only qualifier is that the one who eats the peach releases the aphrodisiac granted seed inside their partner.

It should be noted that this peach has very intense aphrodisiac properties and should probably be eaten when already preparing for bed as these fruits trigger inside an incense stick, leaving the eater hungry for their lover and desperate to be inside them. This, very obviously, is to ensure that they put a baby inside their partner as smoothly and efficiently as possible to best complete conception. It passes quickly, one round enough to soothe the hunger, but it has always been described as almost maddening by those who experience the effect.

On the other side of the conception, whatever is needed for the mother to safely grow the child inside them will be handled by the aftereffects of the peach and a healthy baby should be delivered after the correct interval of time. This, as stated before, can and does bypass any limitations of gender, species, or fertility.

Should you, by some great, overwhelming fortune manage to find a tree with these fruit in the wild, know that they store well in qiankun bags and can be picked weeks ahead of when they’re needed with no harm to their properties.

Do not cook them if you want them to give you a baby. They will no longer work. They will, however, be delicious.

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The Underground Silver Plum Blossom is one of those plants that no one really finds on accident. No, perhaps this author should instead say that these plants are usually only ever sought on accident, as finding them is more a matter of chance when one happens to travel deep inside of places such as the Nacreous Labyrinth or other such qi rich areas in the Demonic Territories. They are not, ultimately, considered to be very useful, and because of this they are not given their proper due. This author, unwilling to be so biased, instead has faithfully taken notes from one who claims to have eaten one of these flowers, and while perhaps only so credulous, this author will give them the benefit of the doubt.

The flowers themselves grow from a plum tree that seems to never leave spring, caught as though in a cycle of moonlight by the qi that illuminates its branches from below. Pale as a ghostly moon and glowing dimly in the darkness of the caverns where it grows, this is a plant that can tolerate no sun or moonlight, and will burn under such harsh lighting. The flowers are what lend this plant its name, and while they never fruit, they do share a striking resemblance to plum blossoms save that they look as though they were made of molten silver instead of anything a flower usually is. This is cosmetic only, thankfully, and apparently the texture and taste of it is the same softness and level of floral intensity as any other fresh flower eaten off the branch. It should be noted that these plants never have many blossoms, the trunk growing small and close to the wall or ground as they do in their caves. The bigger the flower, however, the older it is.

While it is not entirely certain due to all possible sources of information being disclaimed as charlatans over the centuries, it is said that this plant sends one back in time. How far seems to relate to the size and age of the flower consumed. Given various accounts of the Labyrinth’s tree, one can guess the ages of the blossoms it bore and their sizes over time. By this accounting, the one from whom I got my first hand information would have to have eaten a five century old blossom to then travel back twenty six years.

From there, the explanation is both fascinating and concerning. Unlike other plants and artifacts that have time warping effects, these are much more nebulous. One’s mind and memories alone travel back in time, and if they go too far, they start over as a newborn, or so goes the theory. Perhaps, if they were to go back past their own lifespan, they would land in a past life of theirs instead? Regardless, the plant seems to unseat the version of the person to whom their life used to belong, bestirring them from sleep as though from a very intense, very extended vision of future events.

One then lives their life over from that moment, changing what they would, and casting out ripples in turn. As no power or items ever follow these travelers back, it is clear why they are so rarely believed. This humble author, at least, will admit to believing the accounts, though perhaps it was simply that the blossom sent back a vision of a future to another place. We will never know, as it’s unclear what happens on this side of reality when the blossom is eaten. No body has ever been found under its branches, so it cannot be said that they die, thus further clouding the situation.

Eating these is thus cautioned to be done only with the greatest of care.

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The Golden Jade Persimmon is a staple for any sect that has a branch that does healing. Rare in the wild, one can pick these plants out of any cultivation garden by the way they scale nearby qi rich trees and twine around them with their cheerily pale green vines. Though the leaves and fruit are shaped the same as can be found on any persimmon tree, the flexible nature of the vines mean that they cannot support themselves without help and the fruit never grows very large. Softly golden when ripe and slightly translucent, the fruit of these plants is actually quite tart and chewy, the texture often found to be shockingly bouncy.

Useful for times when one is entering a crisis state between stages of cultivation, these plants are cultivated explicitly with intent for regular use to this very end. The fruit, when eaten in appropriate amounts, calms the ind and body for a few hours, allowing someone to finely tune the exact regulation of their qi system and work through heart demons without risking a qi deviation while trying to fix them. They can even, if used correctly, ward off a qi deviation entirely in someone showing signs that one is imminent. When used in greater amounts, though almost no one truly dares do so for good reason, the plant can temporarily slow the spin of a golden core and allow it to be properly examined for fractures without any risk of them coming apart.

Unfortunately, these effects are also what make this plant incredibly dangerous to any cultivator. One doesn’t eat large amounts of this fruit in one sitting because it will slow the spin of cultivation, and should someone misunderstand the way they react to a dosage, they could slow their core’s spin to the point it starts to dissipate. There are solutions for this, thankfully, and the tincture of the Rose Thorned Crocus if given in timely enough fashion can counter the effects and bring equilibrium to the body.

Another, more insidious side effect is usage over time. Due to the way that this fruit subdues emotion and represses qi circulation in the body, use repeatedly over months or years makes control of emotions slowly more and more difficult until it becomes nearly impossible, and any progression of cultivation comes to an absolute standstill. Fixing this problem starts with a complete purge of the body, and often leads to a very miserable time for everyone around the one who ended up in this state as much as the person themselves, as they will, unfortunately, have a span of time where they react to everything as though emotions are brand new and they must experience them at full volume.

It is advised to avoid eating these fruit more than once a month so as to give the body time to purge the toxins between doses.

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The Rose Thorned Crocus is a plant that is both beautiful and incredibly common. Found in fields around any sect that doesn’t go out of their way to get rid of them, these plants are known for being lovely and mostly benign. Coming in dozens of shades of vibrant pinks and reds, these flowers are found in bunches that never reach much higher than the ankle and are actually quite small. Unfortunately, they have thorns nearly as big as the round petaled flowers, which is much of why sects bother to go out of their way to clear them from otherwise useful field areas rather than simply ignoring them as another flower.

Often harvested as a quick cure for depression, these flowers are known and used by villages of common people as much as by cultivators, with the petals being brewed into teas with chamomile to even out the effects enough that the one taking a medicinal dose doesn’t end up manic or in tears. In cultivators, it has been recognized that this effect is heightened, and it is also sometimes used as a quick method to determine spiritual potential in children among commoners. It’s said that the stronger the emotional reaction in the child, the more likely that the child will be a great cultivator.

This is not, in fact, an erroneous assumption made by the ignorant. While the plant primarily has an effect on emotion, the petals are not the only part of the plant that is useful. The thorns which give the plant its name are actually immensely valuable to cultivators and can help with regulation issues with one’s qi. This process starts with first drying out the thorns, then grinding them into a fine powder, which only then is measured out in careful dosing to be given to a cultivator struggling with their core as a tea. These thorns cause a spike of energy that makes a core spin faster and qi to move more quickly through meridians, and if used carelessly can cause a qi deviation in the one drinking the tincture.

Similarly, the leaves, which happen to look more like grass than anything, are very good for blood flow issues and are often used as a curative for problems in the bedroom. Just as the rest of the plant, these are best used when concentrated with heat in a form of tea. Some poor souls have made the mistake of eating them as cooked greens for a meal and subsequently attempting to desperately work out the next few hours with a partner as the increased blood flow had an affect akin, but not exactly, like an aphrodisiac. Unfortunately for them, the only solution was actually time, but they couldn’t have known that.

Currently, the stems have no known medical usage, but if one arises then have no doubt that this humble author will take care to update this entry.

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The Ewer Bowl of Plenteous Pouring is an item with a mysterious history. No one knows who crafted this artifact, or how, but what is known is that it is in a very well protected temple, and it was put there after an infuriated bride used it to poison all the guests at her wedding. Since then, the Ewer has slowly, but steadily, faded from known consciousness, and its home, the Temple of Ten Thousand Reflections, is the better known between the two legends.

The Temple, known as a prism for learning the inner workings of the hearts of dear companions or to ferret out the ghosts of one’s own, has a series of traps that spiral out in different corridors and puzzles, including a room that shows a person as they’re seen by others, another which cannot be left without sharing a fundamental truth about oneself, and still another that shows who the quester was and who they will be if their life continues on the path on which they are walking. Still others litter the grounds of the Temple, and while dangerous, more than one person over time has deliberately gone there to test their heart and the truth of how they are seen by those they love. Just as often as they get affirmation do people leave with those hearts broken.

On the other side of these puzzles and tests is the Ewer. Softly pink with unreadable golden symbols sketched all the way around the bowl’s wide mouth, it looks like nothing particularly ominous nor special. Similarly, different symbols circle the body of the ewer, glimmering faintly when hit by the light. Clearly made from some kind of porcelain, the Ewer is none the less nearly indestructible, and even when dropped or thrown is unlikely to so much as be chipped.

Using the Ewer is a simple enough matter, once it is in hand, as all one needs to do is put liquids in the top, and so liquids will pour indefinitely from the spout until the Ewer is upended so the entirety of its mouth is facing downward. Only when in this position can the Ewer be emptied, as all liquids will leave it at once, the inside becoming instantly entirely dry. Anything can be placed inside and replicated when it’s in this state, and even new mixes of rare ingredients have been fused together in this fashion.

One legend, possibly even the one that the enraged bride took inspiration from, had a Heavenly Emperor using the Ewer to pour an army made of his blood by only spilling a single drop of his own. How or why the Ewer left this person’s possession was never mentioned, nor was how it later came to be in the hands of a human girl who did not wish to wed. Because of this, the account, while interesting, has never been confirmed and is very likely instead the result of someone trying to justify keeping an item of such innocuous power where it is nearly entirely inaccessible.

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Considered a staple in any traveling healer’s kit, the Bone White Bleached Teeth Barnacle is known as the only truly adequate replacement for a lost tooth in the world. Other methods may be used to regrow a tooth, admittedly, but these teeth would be subject to the same fragility as the original where replacements formed from the shells of these animals are not.

Known to grow along certain parts of the beach in the regions where demon and human territories overlap, this barnacle has the dubious honor of being considered one of the more unnerving benign creatures one might stumble across due to appearance alone. There is no poison, aphrodisiac, nor even any real concern of attack from these tiny animals, as they feed almost exclusively on the dark sands where they make their home, weeding through the grains for tiny bugs and other microorganisms. Unlike many creatures, these barnacles don’t even need to feed on qi, which makes them all the more amazing in how sturdy their shells are.

White as their name, these barnacles cluster in configurations akin to sets of teeth, with the biggest ones in the group often at the ends, and the newer, younger ones clustered in the middle. This would give the one finding them an admittedly macabre impression of having found half unearthed jawbones, to say nothing of the fact that it’s a rare cluster that isn’t surrounded by at least a dozen more of varying sizes. Suffice to say that early accounts before the truth of these animals was unearthed gave everyone the very false impression that many bodies were being hidden along the beaches and fueled further misunderstandings between humans and demons. To this day, some of those misunderstandings have yet to be cleared, even if most know the truth of these creatures now.

The biggest concentration of these animals is found along the beaches just to the south of both Cang Qiong and the Southern Demon Territory, and is a considerable source of revenue for both. Even after years of harvesting, there remain thousands of these small creatures ranging up one of the sheer cliff faces, and some study has made it clear that in more than a few locations, the cliff itself is made of barnacles that had grown atop the dead bodies of other barnacles.

Other uses for these animals, aside from preparing the shells as tooth replacements, are actually widely varied, with some people using them as a finely ground dust that gets used to sharpen tools intended for delicate work, and others going after the larger specimens of this species for use in a particularly savory soup base that is often served shells and all. It is much more popular with demons than humans, though the rare adventurer at times might too partake of Tooth Barnacle Soup.

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The Prismatic Pomegranate is a controversial plant at the best of times. Useful for the way each individual seed grants qi, this blue fruit is none the less considered something low brow. If someone wants it, they shouldn’t have it, and if they don’t get any impact from it, then why bother at all? Suffice to say, this causes some consternation for those dealing with teenagers in their early cultivating years.

Known for its dark blue luster, the fruit of this pomegranate can be found growing on trees all over the human realm. The insides, just like their more harmless counterparts, are a deep red color, and the seeds are known to be quite sweet. Unfortunately, it’s very difficult to distinguish the seeds of one from the seeds of the other, and the dishonest have long used this as a way to trick people into thinking their cultivation is much higher than it actually is when there is no discernible effect.

The Charlatan’s Companion is another name for this fruit, due to the prevalence of medicine sellers, real and not, who sell normal pomegranate seeds to unsuspecting buyers, claiming them to be from these fruits. Admittedly, proper medicine sellers do not know when they are misrepresenting the plant if they got the stock from elsewhere, but it doesn't stop the sales from occurring even then, unfortunately. Worse, at times when even the honest sell the seeds as intended, it's to those that have no safeguard against a sudden spike of qi that might swamp their meridians, no matter how short lived. This has, unfortunately, caused low level qi deviations in those entirely untrained. In those with just enough training to know better, they are at times eaten not by the seed, but by the fruit, and serve a purpose not unlike recreational drugs. It has been noted that disciples in this state are more wont to take dangerous dares.

The seeds, individually, give a small spark of qi, with the effect being a cumulative burst of power that leaves the eater briefly euphoric, one must understand. It’s nothing that an experienced cultivator really feels, and it’s something the untrained feel very strongly, thus the issue. And the poor reputation.

When used properly, these fruits are immensely useful for battle or a great working of qi that needs but a moment of power more than the caster might otherwise be able to marshal on their own. When used as an emergency source of qi, these seeds can sustain, but must be used with immense care, as when they fade they will leave the person they were sustaining just as exhausted, if not moreso, than before.

When used improperly, people sometimes die, or, at the very least, end up pregnant because of their very very poor choices.

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The first thing that anyone should know about the Passionflower Vine is that it’s name is very very apt. Fond of enclosed spaces, terrain filled with trapping hazards, and generally anywhere where it can box a person in, these plants are regarded with wary joy in some circles, and embarrassed dread in others. And that’s not even getting into the carefully cultivated farms that have sprung up in the warm climates these plants so favor in the Borderlands.

It probably goes without saying that this plant is often considered the favored pet of Succubi, and a sign of a nest of them being in the area. Then again, it’s been noted that regions where Succubi have actually managed to grow these plants have an overall lower amount of disappearances since they tend to first throw the men they enthrall into their gardens, then pluck them out to help them work off the energy before letting them rest. It’s a win win situation and this humble author once watched a group of boys actually approach one such enclave. It was mystifying and this author hopes they were well, given the predatory nature of both species.

This plant, while being extremely stealthy, is also actually quite lovely. The colors of the plant are incredibly vibrant and look like smooth, unlit gemstones that have the faintest translucent quality when hit by the light. Long of limb and with multiple types of tendrils, these sprawling vines are a wash of blues and purples. The longest limbs, the ones that actually have leaves in the form of feathery fronds, are a deep blue, with the color of the leaves being a near match in shade, though greener, while also being incredibly soft to the touch. The fronds are actually quite small, usually growing only toward the center of a vine and not the tip, likely to avoid impeding movement of the plant, and can be used to help stimulate prey. These are one of the sources of the plant’s slime.

In a complete reversal of what is known as the more masculine parts of the plant, the vines that actually flower are a cheerful purple, stouter, and the flowers that rest upon them have very thick petals that are somehow even softer than the fronds on the blue parts of the plant, with a blush of bright red coming out from the center of them along with the liquid one might find there. There are, in fact, little suckers in the depths of the flowers, used to pull in what is presumed to be pollen, but also might just be there to stimulate prey. It’s not actually entirely clear, but functionally, these flowers serve as much to help trap prey as the vines that happen to be more mobile.

The tips of all vines, flowering or no, produce a small amount of the thick slime that is so much more prevalent from the leaves and flowers, and while it is a clear fluid, it does have a faintly silvery sheen, thus adding a slightly ethereal effect at the correct time of day when regarding this plant.

The effects of the smile of this plant are extremely well documented as what this plant produces is considered to be one of the safest forms of gentle aphrodisiac and lubricant. Should one get it from a reputable buyer, that is. Flaws in the method of refinement at times cause heightened side effects that most would prefer to avoid, though there are, of course, those that go out of their way to get these specific formulations for their own ends.

As stated above, these plants are often farmed, and their native territory is along the warmest part of the Borderlands. What was not mentioned was that these farms, unlike the succubi gardens, are carefully tended so as to avoid exposure outside of extremely controlled circumstances. Waterproof cloth is often enough to keep the touch of this plant from contaminating someone harvesting the slime from it, and while the plant does need qi to have a healthy lifecycle, it can be comfortably maintained off of qi rich soil and water. It should be noted that the plants will get no bigger maintained this way, but at times that’s exactly what someone is trying to achieve.

In the wild, these plants are known to favor hunting anything with a high enough qi threshold, and are considered a mildly predatory ambush plant. If one goes into their cave or an incorrect part of the underbrush, one will find themselves grabbed and wrapped up in fairly short order. These plants are, thankfully, not known for their intelligence and will usually slide underneath clothing instead of attempting to rip through it, but that doesn’t stop the mortification if one is found in this state by complete strangers.

As referenced previously, there are side effects to improperly refined slime, and these are rooted in the way that this plant evolved. Having a grip that’s nearly impossible to escape without help, these plants grew to be able to distinguish what sort of chemicals to add into their slime to get the most nourishing results from whatever prey they managed to capture. Ultimately, this turned into one formula that had a relaxing and calming effect for humans, while having a sharply stimulating and focusing effect on demons. This is because the plants, somewhere along their formation, seem to have grasped which one was more delicate and which one gave more qi under what stimulus.

The plant, regardless of which response it gets from the prey, will still apply its slime liberally then proceed to try to get inside the person that has been captured. It should be noted that for humans, the soothing effect makes this much less uncomfortable than it otherwise might be, while demons are often more tense. Both results lend to different sorts of dual cultivation with the plant and feed it the qi it is so hopefully looking for with its stimulus. This means that once someone manages to escape the plant, which is rarely ever deadly, the person that had been so trapped usually ends up with some kind of improvement to their meridians.

Another thing that is different in the reactions one might have to this plant are, unfortunately for the demon half of prey, the way their bodies internalize the stimulation. While a human might end up having dozens of lovely, soft orgasms, lost in a haze of lazy pleasure and calm, a demon is not so lucky. No, a demon caught by this plant will find themselves worked up and up in a hyper-vigilant state of over-stimulation and not be able to find release at all until the plant has taken all it can from a demon in this state and forcibly pressures an orgasm out of them. Usually, this is enough to knock a demon out, though not enough to get the plant to easily release them. Those with mixed heritage have reported all kinds of combinations of these reactions, with the most prevalent being one that has been described as being trapped in a state of dreamlike hypersensitivity.

The experience of being worked over by this plant is one sought after by many for the bettering side effects, though it’s recommended that one have a spotter if they intend to enjoy, and farms often freely invite people to come and let the plants feed off of them so long as someone remains nearby watching in case the person or plant ends up in distress. Of course, farms only have limited dates for which they welcome such visitors given the way they spike growth, but it’s the easiest method to improve production.

There are, of course, a few more esoteric accounts that one might consider about this plant, though this author’s personal favorite is the one where the slime was fed to the bride on the morning of her wedding, only to reveal that she was no grand demoness at all but a human! That particular tradition seems to have tapered off some two centuries ago after one too many embarrassing incidents.

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The Gem of Sizing is one of those artifacts that never got into any compendiums before this one, as the story of it is actually quite humble, and the artifact itself never went terribly far from the family in which it originated, being gifted to sons, cousins, or from one memorable account, a daughter for her husband. The husband, it should be noted, was the one to wear the gem in this instance. The only reason this humble author managed to stumble over the stories for this artifact at all are because the family died out and the necklace is very much missing.

Created by a master silversmith that had some modest cultivation skill for his wife, the gem itself is a bright, fire-like green that glimmers with the spells that were laid into the gem and the setting it was placed in. The spells, this author was informed, are unreadable because of how the setting was sealed, but the effect is apparently quite impressive, and the silver on which this pendant hangs is a color so pure it looks nearly white.

To what end, one might wonder, was this pendant made that this family kept it so close to the vest? Simply put, sex games. This artifact’s creator was a jealous, paranoid man, though all accounts seem to think his wife liked that about him, and he created the necklace so that he could carry the woman around in his pocket at all times. Rumor has it that they died together and the first time the gem was passed on it was to a nephew after the fire.

After, from what this author could piece together, the particularities of this gem necklace slowly came to light. One could make their spouse very small indeed, certainly, but one needn’t make them of only two sizes, as they could stop anywhere in between. Another account mentioned how only the body and not the sex organs were made smaller, leading to an internal shuffle that was deemed very pleasant by the parties involved, if overwhelming. Similarly, in that account is the limit on the gem as when trying to push this configuration to the point it might harm a spouse everything instead as a fail-safe reverts to being proportional. Still another account indicates that it has absolutely no effect on pregnancy development as a shrunken spouse might be fully pregnant and look it in tiny scale, but when checked the child is folded up inside a magical qiankun-like space inside the mother and remains at full size.

Another point of interest about this artifact is that it is placer dependent. If a wearer puts it on themselves, they can correspondingly take it off or adjust their own stature and, shall we say, settings. If the necklace is placed on them by someone else however, it is that person who has all control over the body and form of the one upon whom this artifact was laid.

Simply put, some people were into that, and some people very much were not.

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The Exploding Five-Fanged Serpent is one of those animals that one never actually expects to encounter when out walking at the riverside, but that one would have to admit was utterly worth the resulting mess after having done so, as doubtlessly if one is found alone, then that one will often be very large indeed and a fight is very likely imminent. Thankfully, one has to be in the demon realm to find these animals, and if one is there, one is probably already expecting a fight.

Wonderfully vibrant, these river vipers have a base color that ranges from an almost teal shade of blue to something nearly midnight, with the contrasting red swoops that travel down their sides and back in incomplete spirals always being a very vivid, very dangerous shade of red. Beautiful in movement, the Serpent has the triangular head similar to that of many other vipers, but this is not, in fact, due to its venom. No, the triangular shape is instead because of special glands that upon receiving sufficient damage will explode, causing a cascade of the qi network of the creature to forcibly fling its bones in all directions. It should be noted that this is also a conscious choice that the creature can make, and the unusually placed fifth fang, between the two on the bottom jaw and located right in front of the windpipe, has a retractable hook that can be used to hold on for death throes to, supposedly, take down a predator for other Exploding Five-Fanged Serpents to eat.

That is not to say that these serpents do not have venom! They most assuredly do! Able to control how aggressive it is, these animals can kill with a bite, though not so immediately that it cannot be treated, but more often will simply paralyze, as paralysis allows them to escape what they might perceive with a threat if they are young enough to see a person as being one.

Should one end up injuring or antagonizing one of these animals badly enough that they ignite their special glands, one must be sure to clean out the wounds thoroughly, as the special enzyme in their bodies that allows them to explode also has a caustic effect on soft tissues and will start to eat away at them if brought in contact with any kind of wound or a person’s eyes.

If one were to trip over a nest of one of these animals, it is recommended to immediately, and swiftly, flee, as the newborn hatchlings are far more delicate, and it’s not until the serpents reach at least the length of a man’s torso, if not a man entire, that they’re truly safe enough to study without them possibly exploding. Of course, once they reach that size one needs worry about being eaten. This is more of a concern with snakes of at least five years of age as by then they usually double a man’s height in length.

It should be noted that these snakes have no documented upward age and the oldest one such animal to be seen was cited as rising from a deep lake as though a great fallen tree emerging from the depths. Suffice to say that that one did not explode and the intrepid adventurer from whom this account was taken was regarded with a certain degree of skepticism.

All the same, it has been speculated that if one could harvest the glands of these creatures without them exploding that they would make for a wonderful artisan’s tool for softwood carving. Sadly, this theory is still unproven one way or another, and harvesting any part of them without the accompanying hazards continues to be elusive.

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Glimmering Heart of Jade Bamboo is one of those plants that people can go their whole life without so much as hearing of. Rare and precious, this plant is best known for the delicate jewelry made from its stalks and the way that true jade at times pales in comparison to the clarity of its color. It should also be mentioned that it is fortunate that so few come across these plants, as this is often horrific all on its own.

Known on sight by the almost entirely see through pale green stalks and the way the reeds of this plant mimic jade to the very touch, it is actually the sap inside, liquid and shining as a beacon through the wood of the plant, that is actually sought after. Thought to be a curative by many, this pale green liquid has flecks of gold floating inside it, mimicked by the bands of gold at every knobed joint of the plant and on the smallest leaf laden branches. Beautiful in sunlight, these plants cast bands of color reminiscent of crystal, and in the night the soft glow from within is known to steal the breath of the unprepared.

Unfortunately, it is this very thing that this species of bamboo preys upon. Using its beauty as a lure, the appearance of this plant serves as a form of hypnotism, allowing the plant to sprout new stalks around the creatures that behold it and slowly, painstakingly, grow through them, giving just enough energy and a sense of well being to their victims, while also numbing any hurts on their way, that a person might bleed out and die without ever looking away from the plants before them even once. The consequence of such a method of fertilization is that these plants are, in fact, extremely rich in qi, and thus the rumors of its curative properties are not entirely unfounded.

Located in the highest mountains of the human realm, these plants require a location that stays cool to a certain degree year round to truly thrive, and their hard, stone-like wood is said to have formed in part to protect and insulate their precious inner liquids from the cold. Given that said liquid is warm to the touch, this is perhaps not so unreasonable, though harvesting them requires tools edged with the ground dust of Bone White Bleached Teeth Barnacles to actually be cut. Once harvested, the plants become marginally easier to handle, and can be cut with any tools that work on jade.

There have been debates in academic circles about the dangers of using parts of these plants, but ultimately, they remain one of the better sources of jade-like material to use for the creation of jade slips for sects to use in sharing memories. While jade itself is, as always, superior, these plants come in at a close second due to their inherently qi conductive nature. Any spells crafted into jewelry and items made from this wood last far longer than any other kind, and if properly cured could easily last for centuries without burning out from the energy passing through the spells, no matter how powerful.

The golden parts of this plant, on the other hand, are ideal for certain types of ritual makeup and are often applied in a crushed form to the faces of imperial brides, as they have a rousing effect that is both mild and liable to get someone quickly past their inhibitions. Harvesting this bark is somewhat more difficult, however, as once the plant is cut down, the gold in everything but its liquids fades, thus making it particularly expensive on the market.

The leaves, likely the most benign part of the plant and the easiest to harvest, are infused with a light numbing qi that if eaten will immediately make someone lose all sensation in their body for several hours. For instances where surgery or great injury are at hand, this is immensely useful, though it is, of course, not particularly safe to seek out these plants for merely their leaves when there are so many safer options out in the world.

Lastly, the most prized part of the plant of all. The sap. Almost thin enough to be mistaken for water, the luminous glow of this liquid does nothing to hide the golden flecks that one might find swirling within it. Hypnotic even removed from the plant, so long as the liquid is in a vessel that can be looked into, the effect will persevere. There are rumors of an artifact that was made with this sap and then used to great effect against the enemies of a demonic queen. Of course, none of this truly encompasses the danger of getting the sap on your skin. When splashed with this liquid, one will feel invigorated, powerful, and beyond both of those things, temporarily invincible. Added to these things, the one so splashed will grow more and more aroused the longer it remains on their skin, while all inhibitions will fall away in a slow succession. Sex can help ease the symptoms, but will only cure them if applied by certain races of demon, otherwise one must wash quickly and spend their time waiting the situation out. How long this takes is dependent on how long one left the sap on their skin.

Drinking the sap is infinitely worse. It is recommended that one reverse this decision as swiftly as possible, but if that is not an option one must find a heavenly demon or a demon of similar power. Infused with pure qi because of their feeding habits, these plants carry the kind of power that leaves people staggered, and yes, cured of many ailments, but the crippling arousal that follows will not fade for days and if left untended can kill. It will also utterly destroy inhibitions, leaving all emotions on the surface and raw, to say nothing of a lack of impulse control that will follow, in as much as a victim can handle acting on it. The sensation is, this author has been informed, not unlike being burned alive from the inside out. Very likely this is because the qi of the plant is slowly searing the drinker from the inside out the longer it remains unsoothed.

Suffice to say that as often as this plant is used as a cure all, it is also used as a vicious poison, and for good reason. For the trickier assassin, some people plant tiny sprouts of this bamboo in human gardens and let them grow unchecked, but that really isn’t recommended. In fact, this author recommends that nothing in this book be used for assassination at all!

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The Seven Year Flower is one of the treasures of the cultivation world. Hard to find, these tiny pink blossoms are every widow’s hope and every widower’s legacy, which might, in fact, have something to do with why they’re so hard to find. They are the best way for someone to have a child even after their cultivation partner is lost, after all.

Located in open valleys in the most temperate part of the human realm, these flowers can, and have, been transported all over the continent, but it should be noted, and warned, that they can only ever truly be replanted once without losing their ability to do more than propagate as a plant. While good if someone is hoping to nurture a stock of this plant, perhaps to sell, it is disastrous for a would-be parent to move one of these plants from location to location.

These flowers always have precisely 17 petals in a spiral out from the center that range from a nearly pastel pink to something nearly fuchsia in color, depending on the age of the plant. Younger plants have paler petals, while older ones have darker coloration. This is especially relevant when taking into account the parents involved. A weak cultivator could use the palest of blooms for their needs, while a heavenly demon or ascended god, on the other hand, would need the darkest pink flower they could find so that it didn’t burn out under the weight of their qi. The leaves of these flowers are round and fuzzy while being a color similar to that of mint plants, and they always grow low lying to the ground where they can easily be missed. The blossoms themselves never grow wider than the end of a dizi.

Using these flowers is an ordeal that is not for the faint of heart, for several reasons. First, and foremost, is choosing a partner. While one person need only apply qi to these flowers once and do not, in fact, even need to be present if their qi is used from an item infused with it, the other cannot say the same, and will need to remain where the plant is located for the next several years, feeding it qi at least once a day. Similar to the initial seeding by the other parent, so too can the primary parent feed qi via stored items if they need to be elsewhere, but the aspiring cultivator is warned that the bloom can, and has, been documented to die if the primary parent goes too far before the plant fruits, no matter how much time or qi has already been previously invested. The longest range recorded for this parent-flower tether is within the range of a single mountain peak.

The Seven Year Flower is so named because it, typically, takes seven years near exactly for the plant to go from the initial seeding of qi to a baby. Admittedly, this is not always the case, and a babe has been known to develop as quickly as six years, or as late as nine. Often, the flower itself will convert from bloom to a vibrantly purple-red fruit at some stage around the five year mark, regardless of how long it will take from that point to the babe being born. This fruit is initially as small as the bloom itself, and over the course of time will grow to accommodate the baby inside, often with beautiful spiraling marks over the surface in deep purples. These fruit bear a keen resemblance to the more smooth species of melon.

It has been said that a babe being born of one of these plants hatches in a manner not entirely not unlike breaking free of an egg, which given the solid shell of their fruit makes perfect sense. However, due to this same need to be strong enough to escape their rind, any baby born this way has been noted to typically be at least a few months further along in their development than any newborn that one might get from the more conventional birthing room.

Given the many downsides and pitfalls of this plant, a hopeful parent should, perhaps, consider the time and energy commitments, as well as just how stable their chosen location is, before settling in with this plant. There are, after all, much easier ways to have a baby. Still, if this is the only way, this noble author can but wish one luck in their future endeavors!

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Found in the mountain range nestled neatly within the most populated expanse midway between north and south on the demon-human border, Celestial Fire On The Water is a legendary heavenly flower. Known, and named, for the luminous orange hue of their petals and the fact that when touched while open, these flowers will burst into purifying flames, this species of lotus can be found in no other part of the world. This is, in part, because of their guardians, unfortunately rare as that clan has become, but also because of the very unique conditions of the area.

Celestial Fire on the Water is a lotus flower that is grown in the highest known lake in the demon lands, which in and of itself is a novelty, but the warm air of the location in no way matches up with the altitude, feeling instead like something from a much lower area, and possibly even as hot, at times, as the Southern deserts. Surrounded by steep mountains often called the Ringing Cliffs, which spill waterfalls down on all sides and thus feed into the smaller rivers in the region, the mountains themselves are near impossible to climb as all the best paths are, at best, mossy, and at worst prone to rock slides and new river springs when jostled.

How, then, is one to reach such an illustrious flower? One would have to reach out to their guardian clan. The Shan demons, rumored to have descended from dragons who created the blooms to hatch their eggs, are fairly unusual for demons in general. Friendly and more human than most in disposition, this clan has long been a go between for the demons and humans in their region, with their mountain range serving as a barrier to keep the two sides from disturbing one another and with paths only they know the locations of to traverse between. Unfortunately, in recent years it seems that feuding on the demon side since Tianlang-jun was sealed has caused this clan to be nearly entirely wiped out, thus putting the flowers that they’d tended for so long at risk. Due to this, finding any members of their clan has become exceedingly difficult and trade in the region has started to fall apart.

As mentioned, Celestial Fire On The Water is so named because of its appearance, but it should be noted that this is not simply a cosmetic matter. Every part of this plant is valuable, not simply the fire causing bloom, though the bloom itself is said to feel like holding fire that doesn’t hurt cupped in one’s palms while fully open.

Ranging in color from a bright white to a deep purple and hitting every shade of red and orange between, the only thing that visually sets this plant apart from any other lotus is the fact that at every stage of growth, there is a small heat halo, with the blooms manifesting full flames while the seeds only put off a soft warmth. The stalks of the plant, similarly, root deep in the soil where they’re grown, and it should be noted that their waters are warm year round, with fish and other wildlife one would never expect to find high in a mountain range of any sort.

The Seeds: Rumored to have a slightly spicy sweetness, the seeds have a toasty quality when eaten that is only surpassed by the healing quality of having done so. Treasured for their ability to treat illnesses that otherwise would cripple a person, these seeds have often been an item of high trade, much to the celebration of the population around the mountain, which hasn’t known any true disease in generations because of it. When eaten in baked goods this effect is not diminished, so both raw and older seeds are sought after, even if all efforts to use them to grow the plants elsewhere have failed.

The Stems and Leaves: Known to be on par with radish greens, the stems and leaves of this plant are similarly likely to bite back when eaten. Often mixed into more savory dishes, this part of the plant is known for being good for nearly any poison that has an effect on the spirit and several that effect the body itself. While also not poor for dispelling deadly effects in other kinds of poison, this plant has absolutely no impact on aphrodisiac effects themselves, even if it does remove the danger of them causing lasting harm.

The Tubers: Harder to get outside of the hospitality of the guardian clan itself, the tubers are often used in day to day cooking by those who live in the mountains. Sweet and spiced in a way that is both floral and spicy, these tubers are invigorating for both the spirit and the body, leaving the eater rejuvenated and with their both feeling infinitely better. This author has been informed that while it does not turn back time, it does, in fact, sometimes make one feel so by helping nudge a body into their optimal state for their age and circumstances.

The Flowers: Often the only thing that visitors know of when they come searching, the flowers are, none the less, the most powerful and treasured part of the plant. Unlike many other species of lotus, the petals of the plant cannot be dried and kept for teas because as soon as they fully bloom, the first touch of another qi system upon them will cause their flames to immediately start spreading. This means that they must be harvested while still a bud to have any effects when away from the plant, and given their nature of being perpetually on fire, this in turn makes transportation tricky. Some wonder what the point of taking these flowers elsewhere might be, but these flowers are known to release stubborn ghosts, to utterly soothe heart demons, and to essentially allow one to be reborn.

This does not come without cost.

While it is good for a ghost to be purified in this way, and indeed, will leave the entire area where the bloom burned away such a spirit in a far better state, living beings are much more tricky and cling to their heart demons. If one is unwilling to let go when the flower tries to burn away the impurities, to let themselves be refreshed, then the flower will so too scorch at the person who won’t release the issue it’s attempting to purify. This can leave gaps in memory once the damage is healed by the full burning and rejuvenation the person will otherwise receive.

These flowers have never killed anyone when going through a burning, but there are those who were so bitter and twisted that when the burning finished, all that remained was children to be looked after. It is rumored that integrating these children into the clan is how the Shan went from being dragons to the near human race of demons that now exist, though it cannot be certain.

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The Ripple Seeking Vibration Stone is an artifact of which only about a dozen were made, and to this day, modern cultivators haven’t figured out the mechanic by which it was done. Round, and about half the size of a closed fist, this stone is a powder blue with bands of vibrant orange in striations that look remarkably like those of sandstone, though with a texture more akin to jade. It should be noted that this stone is by no means as delicate as jade, and that even throwing it with great force has been proven to lead to no damage for one of these items.

Such is fortunate, as these items serve as qi battery for a form of golem that has grown increasingly rare since the fall of the civilization that spawned them. Known to be guardians of old ruins, the Guardian Golems that use the Ripple Seeking Vibration Stone are, reasonably, loathe to give up an item that allows them to continue their duties even when the places they guard are slowly crumbling into dust. Located just under the location of the heart and tuned to the frequency of qi in the location they guard, the golems are fierce fighters with tough skin and weapons made of the same near indestructible stone as the one which they are often sought for. Unsurprisingly, these weapons are just as prized as the Stones, sometimes moreso.

Rare is the combatant who comes away without severe injury and instead with their goal in hand. The reason for this is that even when the Stone is removed, the golems continue to fight, and unless entirely destroyed they will persist until anyone encroaching where they can be found either escapes their range or dies. The only positive while fighting for removing the Stone is that the golems lose a layer of protection, and can no longer summon earthquakes in combat. Some intact golems are still around, unmoving from the charge of their Stone having finally run out years, sometimes decades, after it was taken. Often, adventuresome folks found out the hard way with these that there was no reward in the fight, only to revisit the location in hopes of finding some other prize and discover that their foe has seemingly given up.

The reason that the Stone is so well beloved and well sought is a relatively simple one. Sex games. While the golems can use the Stone to cause earthquakes, few are the cultivators that are willing to risk their own qi to tie themselves to a place so that they can do the same. Far simpler, and safer, is simply tying the stone to ones own qi so that when flexed in the correct way the Stone itself will instead be what shakes.

Often, these stones get passed from parent to grown child as wedding gifts within families, and there is always great clamor when a family line ends and one of these Stones is proven to be an item on sale for the settling of debts. Similarly, the bold adventurer might make a very tidy profit in finding and selling these, should they have the fortitude to fight the golems from which they come.

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The Jibei vine, nicknamed the Lucky Bud and known for both its wondrous gifts and deadly nature among cultivators, is one of those rare deadly plants that demons are not at risk of being harmed by. Only known to grow where humans are plentiful and spiritual energy is very pure, these plants are very fond of dark spaces and being enclosed, and will not begin growing outside of these circumstances. Ravines are a favored area of growth in particular, but any small dark spaces will do. Humans who are not cultivators have, over time, used this to their advantage, often tucking the plants in alleyways between houses in poor areas, or against the wall behind other vines in gardens. Cultivators, by contrast, are known to set these plants on fire or dig them up when recognized, much to the chagrin of many a gardener.

These vines are, unfortunately, or fortunately if you happen to be a normal human using them for food, not the sort that are easy to pick out when they’re not in a predatory stage. Always dark green, these plants grow out as a creeping vine that one might find in many species of low-lying gourd. Their leaves are broad, pointed, and show no markers of poison, matching their vines in color. In the wild, this means that smaller vines will end up covered over with the debris of other plants, and it will go quiescent for as much as ten years between predatory cycles, though a younger plant is more likely to enact them as often as five. During one of these predatory cycles, the plant will drop all of its decoy fruit not long before sunset and instead attain a faintly almost oil slick sheen that draws the eye. It is subtle enough that one needs to draw closer to get the full effect, and this is how the plant lures prey in close enough for capture.

Only a cultivator with more power than the plant can consume before noon the next day will survive this tribulation. Unfortunately, for those high enough in cultivation to be trapped but too weak to feed the plant, their bodies will be eaten for the qi that infuses a cultivator’s flesh, even if this is considerably less useful to the plant than raw qi. Each success of this nature will, in younger plants, double the mass of them, while older plants will grow only so far as their prey can fuel. In this way, a plant can fill an entire ravine or cave system. Younger plants are, understandably, safer to approach and experiment with, especially given that a plant that has never touched a cultivator will rarely ever grow more than waist high nor have more than a handful of vines.

One of the features of these vines, the sweet fruit that they produce, is part of why it has not, and likely will never, go extinct, as outside of cultivation sects these plants are merely known to be harmless produce rather than anything alarming. They do not eat those with low spirit energy, and they do not touch demons of any kind. Only cultivators, sadly, are ever at risk. This means that even if the plants would thrive in cultivation sects, no sect has yet dared cultivate the plant in this environment.

In fact, one of the stories recorded in Cang Qiong’s archives indicates that once, when the sect was still young, someone intending to enter closed cultivation discovered one of these plants, a very very old one, in their Lingxi Caves. After nearly being captured, the cultivator escaped and it took all of the Peak Lords of that generation to placate the plant enough to be able to burn it out after. What they gained from it was never recorded in any of the documentation, but it’s said that from that generation forward, all Peak Lords would ascend both to that status, and the heavens, together.

This humble author dare not speculate as to the reason this legend has been long since buried from common awareness, but of course the chances of such an esteemed sect doing so intentionally are incredibly small. Instead, it is very likely merely the passage of time that caused this bit of lore about the plant to be overlooked, not unlike the mechanic by which it grants wishes.

It has been long said, and believed, that the plant will give the cultivator it traps their fondest heart’s desire, but further research has proven this matter to be false. Instead, all research that has been located seems to support the idea that instead the plant, while at times providing the heart’s desire directly, more often instead gives the means by which the hearts desire might be achieved. Too often, people presume that their heart must be bent on the object given, and this is a persistent myth even in cultivation texts that mention this plant. The tendency to destroy these plants for safety when found unfortunately leads to a lack of proper records being taken as to the gifts those destroying the plant might have received.

Two accounts that correspond to prove the idea of foresight are one about a woman who, while having no archery skill, was still given a bow as her prize. What she had not, and could not, know was that the bow was exactly what the man she loved needed to resolve an issue in the territory which was holding back their union. The other story is far less obvious, as the cultivator was given a child that was a perfect blend of her and her beloved, who she had not seen in months and who was laboring under the misconception that they had been set aside. The child, in the end, became the gateway through which this misunderstanding was resolved and they finally came together in marriage.

Both of these point to the notion that the plant has a degree of clairvoyance, and the exploration of this is a matter that will, of course, be thoroughly investigated and this entry updated as information comes to light. Doubtless, given the exceedingly long growth cycle of these plants, there will be opportunity.

Fruit: While the most commonly known use of this plant is also the most dangerous, this is hardly ever why this can often be found in the common human’s garden. The wish granting fruit, which happens to be a solid green the same color as the vine on the skin, and smooth to the touch, only ever has a chance to be made once every five to ten years. It should be noted that when a cultivator’s energy is consumed by the plant for its growth, whether they live or die, this fruit is still produced with the result of their wish.

No, instead the reason this plant is most commonly kept in gardens is the more humble fruit, known as decoy fruit to cultivators, luck melon to non-cultivating humans, and winter luck to demons, which is a smooth melon, much like its counterpart, only in a dark yellow striped with white. This melon has a sweet, hard inside that is often used for winter stews. Eating it raw is often described as very unpleasant by humans, due to the nature of being seemingly all rind, though many demons find the raw fruit to have a pleasantly meaty texture and consider it a delicacy.

Seeds: The seeds of this plant are unfortunately difficult to extract from the hard insides of the decoy fruit, being both small and nearly matching in color with the decoy melon flesh, but are vastly useful. Those that come with the wish fruit are far easier to attain, as the only things inside are far larger seeds, flush with qi, and whatever the results of the eaten cultivator’s wish might be.

These seeds, regardless of the fruit they come from, can be dried or used fresh to make an incredibly effective topical ointment for burns when ground and diluted with a neutral oil. There is no documented oil that will cause an inconsistent reaction, which is good as often those who garden this plant use the seeds as a byproduct of other cooking.

Vines and Leaves: While not edible or known for any medicinal uses, the leaves of this plant are at times used for tinctures by fortune tellers, and it is said that reading tiles made from the wood of these vines are especially effective. Understandably, these matters are far more nebulous and difficult to prove than the others, so one must take care in case of prospective charlatans.

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Known first and foremost for their unnerving appearance, Skincreatures are a seeming amalgamation of human, demon, and animal, with certain more prevalent variants between them. In part, this is because Skincreatures are not solitary animals. If you find one and acquire it, in short order there will be more of them in your care.

The most common of these are the human variants of the species, which favor taking the faces of human cultivators alongside their chosen animal type, and these are always the oldest among units formed from a solitary Skincreature. Those that come after might be a mix of human and demon sorts depending on what your Skincreature has been exposed to while in you care, and mercy be upon you if you gave it many options, as these animals have the terrible habit of echoing the bonds of their chosen person. If you, yourself, acquire one of these little mimics and have a handful of people who you spend a great deal of time with, you might soon have a whole litter of tiny faces peering up at you one morning that your first is cheerfully nursing!

Skincreatures, as referenced above, tend to come in varieties, but one thing that must be made clear is that these are no hard lines, and these creatures both can, and will, surprise you.

All incomplete Skincreatures start as, well, skin. When found like this in the wild, they begin as a singular formless ball of flesh, and these are essentially what one might consider a pre-bonded Skincreature. If it has never come across a human or demon that it liked enough to take the face of, nor has it matured enough without outside interference to create its own, this is the state it will be in. Often, Skincreatures in this state were somehow cut from a mature Skincreature and left behind, likely due to some injury, as finding one like this is nearly unheard of in any other circumstances.

Unfortunately, there are those who have experimented with this, so we know that injuries, either through loss of a substantial piece of flesh, or from bleeding a great deal, are adequate to form into one of these malleable fleshballs. When the creatures themselves decide to reproduce, the whole affair is much cleaner, as the mother Skincreature will manually bud off the babies themselves.

If you have the opportunity to see them in their native hive, you will quickly realize that there is one great Skincreature tree at the center of the place that buds off these unformed babies to be claimed by the local residents rather than the individual creatures needing to do it themselves.

Due to the nature of the beast, so to speak, these animals have a great deal of variety. If they bond with a human, and take a human face, then they will likely acquire an aura not unlike a spirit animal as well, correspondent with whatever animal body accompanies that human face. Common versions are cats, octopodes, horses, dogs, and cows, though some which can fly and have the forms of bats and birds have been spotted in history as well. Please note that it is very rare for any Skincreature to grow a furry pelt or feathers, and this only ever occurs if it is the face that is the animal and the body one of humanlike nature.

Bonding to a demon has been found to have more variety, and almost to a one, if they do so, regardless of if the demon they bonded to is a Heavenly Demon or not, they will acquire a mark of lineage after doing so. Suffice to say, this has outed a few hiding demons in the past, and caused some ire from that part of the population about these animals in general. It is not their fault, as these creatures are extremely loving to those they’ve chosen to mirror, but that does not mean it isn’t highly inconvenient or even dangerous when it happens to occur.

While these animals can be found in the wild of the human and demon realms, these numbers will always be sparse as the primary population of these creatures is actually in the Endless Abyss. Those that can be found outside of it are descended of those that have been removed, or stranded, outside of the Abyss either as they are or in a prior generation where the owner allowed injury to their creature. It should also be noted that after a few generations of being removed from their community without new infusions of qi, blood of a heavenly demon, or being permitted to eat the enemies of their bonded, these creatures will grow progressively weaker until no new generations will be formed. Those given these things will maintain a very robust power level and will even grow more intelligent and powerful given the proper care.

For those who reside in the Abyssal community, matters are very different. Blood and milk is exchanged freely between the older and younger variants of these animals, and it is known that often, the power in them is sufficient that even the very young ones are capable of human speech, though their language is one that few have ever had the opportunity to learn. They take in any rogue demons or humans that stumble near their pocket dimension inside the Abyss, and rarely are these people found to have ever left again. It is due to one such person that the information about this community exists at all, as they had both a family to return to and a throne to take that would not wait for them.

The community itself is carefully crafted around their birthing tree, with separate abodes for different family units and their adjacent humans or demons. There is essentially no conflict, as often these creatures have a very singular focus which has little to do with combat and everything to do with caretaking their particular chosen families. What conflict does arise is often in defense of these same chosen people.

It should be noted that within their community, these animals are almost always in paired sets, an older with a younger, or perhaps it should be said a larger to a smaller, and that most of the Skincreatures cycle through a very small handful of faces. It has been put forward that these faces are the ones that the creatures went into the Abyss with in the first place, and this is why they favor them to this day.

These animals have always been something somewhat other, and unlike many animals their origins can be traced back to one specific time and place with only a little trouble. This also accounts for why they happen to be in the Abyss at all, as such sweetly dispositioned animals should be rightly welcomed into the greater population. Sadly, the reasons are valid, even if they have largely been lost to time.

It was noted in another entry of this guide that there is an artifact that allowed a Heavenly Demon to pour an army from their blood. This artifact was the ultimate mother of the Skincreatures, the Ewer pouring and pouring even after the one who gave the blood to it was finally destroyed as well as anyone could ever manage it. Without anyone tied to the blood, it tried to take the forms it was intended for originally, soldiers, servants, hunting hounds, and mounts, but the lack of intelligent mind doing the shaping caused difficulties. Those who had been formed with the mind behind it, drones by and large, knew only that they were to survive and gathered up these misshapen things made in their image to flee, chased by the avenging dregs of the people that the Heavenly Demon had once so successfully subjected.

The Skincreatures are thus descendants of these confused dregs made by magic and a leaderless army made of blood, transformed over generations into what they are today. It has been noted that these animals can be fierce protectors, hunting wildlife easily even as newborns while being terribly sweet and cuddly to their bonded companions, and it is thought that this is, in no small part, because of their origins.

Though this author had to dig deeply for this lost lore, there was much symbolism that lit the way in more recent history, not the least of which being that these animals usually end up as gifts to newly married couples as a symbol of fertility, or for new mothers as a ward against disease. These much brighter historical notes have largely overwritten their origins, and that is likely for the best given how sweet these animals truly are.

Keeping these animals is not merely a matter of vanity or profit, though it is true that having one is considered a very great status symbol in certain circles. No, these animals are, in fact, not entirely unlike their roots and their milk is a form of panacea.

The milk of these animals can only be attained when there are newly budded babies in the possession of the eldest creature, and the milk sours and goes useless within a matter of hours after being taken from them, but in that short time frame, the milk cures anything that cannot be cured only by having sex with a Heavenly Demon. In fact, it is best for poisons that cannot be cured through Dual Cultivating at all, and will have the quickest curative rate in that instance.

These animals, as mentioned above, are often given to brides and new mothers, but this is not merely for their symbolic properties. They also make fantastic guard animals if the versions of them given have high mobility. They bond tightly and unwaveringly to the humans and demons that they mirror, and are known for eating things as large as a Rhinoceros Python if they enter their chosen territory intending to cause harm.

Other uses for these animals are as a stand in for nanny goats, companionship, or for some, as profit in and of themselves. Suffice to say, regardless of why you might have acquired one of these animals, once you have one, it is yours likely until the end of its lifetime, which can be a very very long time indeed.

They do, after all, tend to mirror the lifespan of the person whose face they take as well and thus are a lifelong commitment for those who might seek to acquire one.

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Second Chance Quartz, faintly blue with crystal clear clarity and glowing in a manner that deeply resembles moonlight, is a beautiful stone that by rights should be a deeply coveted treasure for its delicacy alone. However, due to the trials one might go through to reach the caverns where it resides it has not exploded in popularity as one might expect. In fact, it is relatively unknown, as shocking as that might be! Deep underground and located oddly close to where Celestial Fire On the Water grows, these crystals are well guarded by both a thriving wildlife population that has an uncanny intelligence, and a thriving village of humans at the foot of the mountain who are often singularly unhelpful.

If asked, these people would be more likely to pretend they’ve never heard of such a preposterous thing than point a traveler in the correct direction. They have been known to do this even while wearing a pendant made of this stone at the time in full view.

Why conceal the location of such a beautiful stone? Simply put, this stone has powerful memory restorative properties. Simple to use in execution, all one needs to do is to place the stone under their pillow and by morning, for forgotten memories, they will have simply returned to the sleeper, though for repressed memories they will start filtering back more slowly. How the stone knows the difference has never been made clear. There are even rumors that if one sleeps in the cavern itself, they might regain memories from past lives, though this has never been confirmed.

It should be noted that people have been killed for things they have remembered and had the misfortune to speak about in the wrong places, so this might have something to do with why the villagers are so protective of their caves. Other times, memories recovered in this way have been of great use to advance cultivation. In the dark mirror of this, memories recovered have instead entirely destroy the shaky foundations of the person who sought them in the first place.

Please be sure before seeking one of these stones to aid you for cultivation of any kind! There are often reasons why things have been forgotten, be it trauma, injury, or spells, but always consider if you would be willing to risk the consequences before seeking out these stones. Such could be said for any artifact, truthfully, but those entries will be handled individually as they come.

This quartz is entirely safe to handle while someone is awake and only ever have an effect on memory when one is sleeping, so trade and distribution has largely gone unremarked in no small part because of this. When one only ever is near the stones during waking hours, one is less likely to discover surprise attributes. The rest of the obscurity can be attributed to a concerted effort to bury the existence of this stone altogether, either for political reasons or those of safety. Ultimately, the result is the same, so consider yourself fortunate if you manage to acquire one of these stones.

Chapter Text

Cang Qiong is a very unique entry in this guide. Rather than being an artifact, a plant, or an animal, it’s somehow a mix of all of these things. The mountains here hold a sect with an interesting history, mostly hidden, and which has a policy of banding together that one wouldn’t think is true given the infighting that happens between its peaks. But, much like a quarreling set of spouses, the only ones permitted to speak badly of the people within that sect are people within that sect. One might test this at their own peril.

Many attribute this to their small mountain range and the mystical effects therein that mean that not every part of it touches earth at all. Ponderous and misty, one wouldn’t know from approaching it that fully half the peaks are connected to very little save for the bridges that bind them to the other peaks. No, from the ground it appears as a complete, if small, mountain range, steep and unforgiving on the outside, with a singular flight of stairs that go right to Qiong Ding Peak itself installed as a mercy to visitors. The area that greets newcomers to the sect is stern and austere, and many would take this to mean that the entirety of the sect has a similar gravitas.

They would be mistaken, of course. That peak, in its way, is just as unique as ever other, and those who come purely on business might never know what they’re missing. Just as there are peaks on the ground, so too are there peaks among the clouds, lifted there by those who wanted a space of their own many centuries ago.

And yet, amidst all of this, there is one thing that every visitor will always miss. There is one thing that was even missed by this humble researcher on many prior visits to the mountain until this one had the good fortune to stumble upon a treasure trove of history. That one fact is about the very mountain itself and why this entry found its way into this collection at last.

Cang Qiong is alive.

Once, in the early history of Cang Qiong, there were no peaks, no Peak Lords, and most certainly there was no history of gods coming from every generation without fail. The mountain, at that time, was one singular landmass, lonely and huge, full of stone and little else while being home to some mines from long ago and what looked to once have been a volcano. Hollowed out and empty, this is the home that some desperate handful of rejects from other sects chose for themselves. At that time, there were other sects that held the place Cang Qiong now stands in as the greatest of them, and many of these sects have since been lost entirely to time.

In this way, Cang Qiong preserves them and is the remnants of their greatness, for what came later was built on the ashes of their memory by those that had been turned from their doors. The first leaders of the mountain were not strong cultivators, an unfortunate truth, but they still found a boon in the cave system that lay in their mountain. The mines that had been left by those that came before them had been filled with a spring that followed the paths of their long dead volcano and turned those mines into caves far more beautiful that something with such mundane foundations.

It was those caves that let those early refugees, weak cultivators so early in their path that there wasn’t a golden core among them, to pool what little they knew and make it into something great. For, you see, when one advances, one experiences tribulations from heaven, and these tribulations are, intentionally, quite deadly if one wavers in their resolve even slightly. These cultivators, hidden in the caves as they were, simply failed to experience that setback sent from heaven.

The reason for this is the true treasure that was the seed for all that came after.

When one is inside the caves, they are protected from the tribulations of the gods, and in this way, those first Cang Qiong cultivators surpassed themselves where they otherwise would not have survived. In doing so, they created a new kind of cultivation, one that persists to this day, and which has spread to all the other sects that still remain.

Those caves are what were eventually named the Ling Xi Caves that can still be accessed by the sect to this day, and their discovery changed the world.

The system of Peak Lords was not actually an active decision that was made one day. No, at first, it was simply the need for someone to hold the spells that expanded the influence of the Ling Xi Caves beyond their physical confines. It was dangerous to cultivate too deeply inside them, as inexperienced cultivators could be lost or overwhelmed, but the benefits were desperately needed to make it so that those deeper places could be reached in the first place. There was simply no room to grow if all new disciples needed to be tucked away in the small handful of safe caves for all of their early cultivation.

There was no winning as things stood.

Thus, the enchantments that made Cang Qiong into what it is now were created. It is a certainty that those early spells are no longer touchable, or, in fact, are at all in control of anyone but the mountain itself now, but at the time anchors were needed, so anchors there had to be. Sources of power for the spells, people to hold them, and a method arranged.

This is why the peaks are all so different today.

Each person who held the first title of Lord in the sect did so with a different specialty, and created a different way to draw in qi from outside the sect to feed it into the mountain. The Lord who stood at the entrance of the sect and defended it from those who would have sought to crush them, who interacted with the world, learned the trick of pulling qi from intentions. The Lord who patrolled the outside barriers was able to draw power from the creatures killed in defense of the sect. The Lord who stood rooted in the gardens and planned created new ways for everyone else to use, turning the art of creation and planning into a stable source of qi. Of course, then there was the last of the first Lords, who would go out into the world and would bring back new things with qi for the mountain to consume, strengthening it from the outside.

These Lords eventually became, in order, the Peak Lords of Qiong Ding, Bai Zhan, Qing Jing, and An Ding.

But what of the other Lords? The other peaks?

Those, it seemed, came later. Much, much later, as while each Lord was added with a purpose, and they were all united under one banner, in the beginning they were simply one unified sect as every other sect was, though increasingly each way of cultivating would gather those like them to themselves to better feed their mountain. In this way, the next Lords to emerge were the Lords of the Forge, of Medicine, and of Alcohol. After that, the women banded together to cultivate together because many of the other paths did not cater to the Yin inside them properly. After that were those who had found power in the Treasures brought to the mountain, in the Plants, and the Animals. Which, in total, brought the number to eleven.

By this time, they had all started to realize that they needed better organization, for while anyone in the sect could lead, the pool was growing increasingly large. Even just pulling from those of the first generation for leadership was a burden, given the many students that came streaming into the sect. After all, they never stopped taking the rejects of the world. In fact, the sect itself had changed hands more than once by this point as people handed off power in an effort to focus on finding their way to heaven with more dedication. Up to that point, it had not actually worked for anyone, thus the divestment of worldly duties in an effort to bridge the gap. Unfortunately, while their enchantments protected them from the tribulations, so too did it make them invisible to heaven when it came time to try to rise.

This was a problem that took considerable effort to resolve.

Regardless, the eleven ways of cultivation had started to cultivate their own spaces, some more whimsical than others, and they’d even found a way to link all of their creations together. Everyone was in accord, more or less, so it worked well enough even without the entirely clear leadership, and when one of their cultivators figured out how to rise to heaven finally, there was celebration. They’d made it! They were a sect that created gods!

The joy lasted a bare handful of months before their new god, who should have been strong with their well wishes and prayers, was cast down to earth, severely wounded and stripped of the power that should have been rightfully his, well earned and fought for. This god had been one of their very first Lords, no less, and was well known by all in the sect for their benevolence and kindness, so such cruelty being visited upon him infuriated them all.

They did not understand why this had happened.

The halting story they were told once the old Lord recovered enough painted a picture of heaven as a beautiful, wondrous place that was filled with the cruel, miserly people who went before. They did not want to share. They did not want to accept the work of others. They had their factions and a new lone god had no chance of advancing into their ranks, had no one to lean back on for support. Some of the gods had never so much as set foot on earth, born as they were among the heavens!

This was the birth of the last peak as they are known in Cang Qiong today. The Ascetics saw it as their duty to study the way that their first god had risen and devote everything in them purely toward that goal. The others could feed the mountain and could look after the young. The Ascetics would do their part, of course, but anyone who came to them would be there to help solve the problem of heaven, first and foremost. It wasn’t long before they became the group who didn’t take children, climbing to the highest of the floating peaks in the sky so that they had the clearest view on their goal.

Leaders rose from each part of the sect and they made a pact together, choosing a character and renaming each other under it. They would all rise together, and take anyone who was ready with them. If those gods would go after one alone, then they would challenge them to go after twelve or more instead. They would have their share of heaven.

Thus were the Peak Lords created, and ever since in every generation, no matter how many or how few survive, they always rise together or not at all.

Leadership on Cang Qiong didn’t suddenly become clear simply because the pool of options had narrowed down from anyone in the sect being a viable choice to twelve people instead. In those early days, seniority was purely indicated by when one arrived, not by rank, as there were few ranks clear that weren’t between teachers and students.

Everyone had their strengths, and everyone used those strengths to defend the sect in their own way. It was true that the gatekeepers, those that held the stairs of Qiong Ding, were often tapped when interacting with other sects, but so too were the travelers of An Ding, to say nothing of the scholars of Qing Jing. When war came, Bai Zhan was turned to for their advice without fail, and in the rare, horrible instances where sickness came, it was Qian Cao whose words were heeded.

They were equals. How could anyone choose a leader among equals?

It was the women of Xian Shu who solved the problem, raised as many of them were for harem politics and well aware that there was a ranking in the sect, even if the others could not feel it. Were they not all bound to the mountain? Did they not all see as they saw? So it was put forward that the mountain was the basis upon which the ranking should be decided. Whose connection was strongest? Who did the mountain respond to? That should be their leader, because who else would serve? In future generations, this might move between Peak Lords, but the foundation for it should be there, should it not?

So they reached to the enchantments, the spells, that they’d built their lives and their sect around, and they checked. In turn, the mountain responded. In fact, it responded so strongly that there was a scramble as everyone was thrown into the same mental space together, pulled one by one together into it, and this was, in the end, the order that the peaks, and their Lords, fell into in that first generation.

It was not the ranking of today. No, on that day, the first ranking started with An Ding then continued on to Xian Shu, Bai Zhan, Qing Jing, Xian Jing, Qiong Ding, Wan Jian, Qian Cao, Qin Shou, Zui Xian, Qian Jin, and finally, likely because of their newness, Ku Xing. At that time, they looked to their wandering leader and his network of merchants, and called it good. They were still new, and they needed what could be brought to them from outside resources.

However, there was no certainty that this would always be so, so the tradition of challenge was put in place, that if the sect suffered, or there was severe personal grievance, a challenge could be made and the mountain would judge by who was most strongly tied and who answered most swiftly. Such a challenge might not leave the challenger in charge, but it would give the sect who they needed all the same.

Near as the records made clear, this was the first glimmer of intelligence that the mountain showed, but it was not the last. Nor, indeed, was it the instance that made these records so precious.

That came during a generation when all but one of the Peak Lords of a generation were killed in war before being able to name a successor. That one heir held the reigns of the mountain alone, as while in previous generations those chosen by those that held it before them were accepted, his choices were rejected by the mountain as properly legitimate, and would not bond with them.

It was, simply put, a tragedy.

When the first twelve Peak Lords rose to the Heavens, they handed off their positions to those they were leaving behind, much as those reigns had been handed to them by their teachers. With the transfer of power came new names, as these disciples, unlike themselves, had been chosen with the goal that one day they would follow them to heaven. In this way were their disciples precious, for they were the children they chose to follow in their footsteps with a new tradition that, at that time, they were still unsure would work.

We now know that it did work, but those early days were filled with much uncertainty, and this was no exception. Regardless, that naming tradition has persevered, and now the first to name their disciple for the next generation is the one who chooses the character for them all. It is also a signal to start transferring power so that they can move on.

For a few generations, this went flawlessly, and the sect grew ever stronger, each peak doing its job and each Lord handling things well. The position of Peak Lord was handed down manually, with threads being divested over time between Shizun and head disciple.

Then came war. It wasn’t a war that Cang Qiong started, or even wanted, but they were drawn into it all the same. Not all the Peak Lords were anywhere near close to ascension, and only one had felt ready enough to pick someone to start training to follow in their footsteps, but even then that child was still only nine summers. Young, no matter how one considers these things.

The war lasted for years, and many sects fell entirely over the course of it, bloody and terrible as it was. Cang Qiong suffered their losses as well, and one by one the Peak Lords fell. The child, the lone head disciple that had been named, was terrified the day she felt the weight of the mountain on her shoulders and suddenly knew, fleeing to her Shishu in a desperate bid for reassurance and understanding of what it meant.

It was fortunate she did, as she got the information she needed for their future before the man went back to war and never returned, leaving her alone with many other teenagers, a frighteningly large number of children, and few adults to speak of. She ended up the Sect Leader that year at the age of fourteen as the only named successor that the mountain had to accept.

She did her best, naming siblings from the other peaks herself and giving them threads of the mountain that distressingly they could not seem to feel. So many of the children died that first year after the war ended of tribulations, and she gathered all who remained to her peak, letting no one out before they had a golden core. It was the only time they were safe, and she knew that they’d been failed. Their Shizun should have named them, not her, but there was nothing else she could do.

These Lords, not true Peak Lords but unable to tell the difference, struggled more than those who came before them, took so much longer than the generations that came before because of that lack of protection, but eventually, as the generations that came before, they named their successors and they rose.

These children, unlike the generation before them, were taken in by the mountain, those thin threads turning into the steady bonds that their grandmasters had known. The knowledge wasn’t entirely lost, but there was only so much one can teach a child about a bond in a war, and thus only so much that could be passed on in kind with a generation of failure between. Unfortunately, with this renewed ease came the misunderstanding that it was their youth that had done the trick, and so older prospective disciples started to be turned from the sect at this time.

The mountain, from that point, seemed to understand what had truly happened and after this tragedy even if a Peak Lord was not chosen properly, their choice of successor would be accepted. The mountain had entirely taken over the transfer of power it seemed, which was fortunate as those next lords had no way to understand how it should be done, or indeed, that it should be done at all.

Much, if not most, of this information was lost to time. That it has been again found is very very fortunate indeed.

The Peaks of Cang Qiong didn’t form naturally, as such, so much as that when a purpose was needed, space was found. In this way, the mountain sect has marvels that no other sect can ever think to match, and all of it has grown with a sort of fantastical organic charm that could, to the uneducated, appear to have been naturally formed. Similarly, the power dynamics of each peak has formed out of the generations of traditions that come with the specialties of each different form of cultivation. These are not always in harmony with every other peak, but tend to be more complimentary than one might expect.

Currently, the sect is on the Qing generation, and just as their predecessors of the Zhan generation before them, there has been a shuffle of colors and focuses as to what is considered most important in the specialties of their peaks. Where one generation might have focused on paintings, another will focus on music. Similarly, a hands on generation might be followed by one that expects students to be more proactive. What does not change from generation to generation is the general purpose of each peak, the names of the peaks themselves, and the virtues they are meant to embody.

The peaks that grew from those early foundations are magnificent in every way, and will each be given their due here.

Qiong Ding, currently standing as the sect leadership, is where these entries will begin. While a mirror of the generation that came before, as there was no shuffle in the order from one generation to the next, the Qing generation has many differences from the Zhan generation, and no small part of that comes down to the exceptional nature of the current generation as it stands.

There are many outside of Cang Qiong, in fact, who would never dream to so much look at the sect poorly due to the man leading them given that Yue Qingyuan is known for his strength as much as the formidable gold and black he chose to wear upon his rise to power. His involvement in the fall of the most recent Demon Emperor has left him in an enviable position of prestige, and, in many ways, ensured that for now the sect was untouchable.

This specific choice of a Qiong Ding cultivator as the Sect Leader has been made time and time again over the generations, as those from this peak, ever since their early task of being the gatekeepers, have instead been saddled with the sect administration and general affairs in perpetuity. Doubtless, their virtue of zhong, loyalty, also plays a part in why so many of them have led, but every virtue has its place, and not every cultivator embodies the one for their peak so well as another might. Often, when this choice is made it also means that the sect is dealing with a rise in outside politics, thus it’s typically been found to be easier to just have the sect leader be the one handling such things.

The only reason that administration became the purview of this peak at all is because the Ling Xi Caves are most easily accessed from Qiong Ding, leaving the rest of sect to have to pass through in order to guarantee a relatively safe place to work on themselves. Unfortunately, there were deaths, and these were enough to make the guardians somewhat paranoid about the fitness of those who passed through to the caves under their care. After that came a fresh habit of personally checking into the matter or having someone from Qian Cao do it for them. Traditionally, because of this, all must be deemed stable before proceeding into the caves to advance their cultivation.

Of course, once those cultivators get inside, all of the hassle becomes worth it.

The Ling Xi caves are glimmering wonders, having been filled with pure qi ideal for cultivation over many generations of care and protection. These caves have underground streams, crystal formations that resonate with the qi most recently used in their near vicinity, and have amassed many small pools of beauty over the many years that they have been used by the sect. Most people believe that these caves simply sprang into existence in this manner, but that is very much not true, for all that the records stating their initial origins are thoroughly lost. Even the Cang Qiong archives cannot document far enough back to clarify what happened to the volcano that the mountain once was, nor what the mines were for.

The peak itself, by contrast to the wonders in the caves, is quite austere, with more stone showing from the original mountain terrain than the other peaks retained. In places, the deep gray color has been worn smooth into paths reminiscent of the caves below, while in others rock formations have been built up carefully into walls. Still other areas have become stone pools that turn into cliff side waterfalls that fall far enough that they dissipate before quite reaching the ground. Open training areas are common enough, and the buildings found on this peak are often made of that same deep gray stone.

The cultivation that feeds the mountain from this peak is that of people, and a Peak Lord of this peak who does not interact would soon struggle. It has caused problems in the past, when a poor Peak Lord has been chosen, but in the current generation the resolve appears to be strong and politics have never been more stable for the sect in living memory.

Currently led by Shen Qingqiu, Qing Jing is known even to outsiders as being the peak of serenity. Formed from the intense focus of creation that was written into the very bones of the sect, bamboo springs up in groves across the entirety of the peak, hemmed in only by stone cliffs on one side and a river that runs along one edge of the peak on the other. Indeed, everything on the peak seems to be made of the vibrant wood, with even the many meditative pools tucked amid the thriving forest having benches made of the flexible material.

Perhaps because of the origin as a place of creation, this peak is that of scholars, particularly those with a desperation to learn and create. This falls neatly within their virtue of zhi, wisdom and knowledge, as does the color choice of teal by the current Peak Lord. The Peak Lord of the prior generation had chosen white, and speculation at the time had been steady that that choice had to have been due to some great grief in his life. This was never confirmed as the previous Peak Lord was a singularly uncommunicative person, and all who knew him agree that Shen Qingqiu even at his least cooperative is better company.

Less known in the current generation due to unfortunate misunderstandings is that Qing Jing has not one, but two libraries. Known to all is the one above ground, frequented by much of the sect and having a curated collection of works that are kept up to date with the newest understanding of things, as well as a variety of novels. This library is known in and of itself for being expansive and thorough, but it is safe to say that it pales in comparison to the other library.

The library that lives underneath Qing Jing peak in ever expanding caves is a city in and of itself and a person could easily lose themselves there if they aren’t careful. There is no piece of documentation that has ever touched the mountain that did not have a copy made there, from the fumbling book binding efforts of the students to the most secret of correspondence between Peak Lords. This is not simply a matter of paper either, as every jade slip that has ever been on the mountain, too, has a home in the caves below. The only consolation for a knowledge seeker is that while it’s not organized, as such, there is, in fact, a system of sorts to these magnificent caves, with their walls of books, scrolls, and jade. The closer you get to the entrance, the newer the documentation is. The deeper you go, the older, so it seems that the mountain simply... stretches to add new material as required from the top down.

There are plants that grow in this cave which create jade slips as their leaves. More research is needed to discern if this is a creation of the mountain itself or a plant that can be grown outside of those caves.

Unfortunately, finding the entrance at all is a terrible trial, as enchantments have been laid over it to make it nearly impossible to do so. Even after engaging the current Peak Lord in the process, somehow coming and going remains a terrible trial. Given the proximity and hidden nature of it to what appears to be the prior Peak Lord’s well warded residence, this humble author suspects that Shen Qingqiu will be tearing down those enchantments one way or another before there is cause to visit again.

Everyone knows that Wan Jian is the peak where swords come from, and Wei Qingwei has been a good Peak Lord for it, especially given he is actually able to use the shrine of Hong Jing for its intended purpose unlike many others that came before him. The sword is very particular, but that it heeds the current Peak Lord says much about the man’s ability to curate the collection of swords left behind by the dead.

With a virtue of Li, propriety and rites, it’s little wonder that this peak is in firm control of the sect’s ceremonial culture, with the sword ceremony being foremost among them. Having chosen black and grey, no doubt because of the regular work of forging metal and its soot, it’s little wonder that this peak is known for being rather serious. That they are very serious in truth is only half of the story, as it’s merely self defense against injuries given the nature of their peak.

There are great forges that dip below ground and call to mind that long dead volcano alongside one end of the peak, tucked well away from any visitors. The rest of the peak is warm, the air lush with the heat from those forges, and while there is a small garden patch filled with plants dedicated to the forging process, the vast majority of the area is full of soft grass that has been fed by generations of ash. In winter, this peak retains heat in a way no other does, and it’s understood that in more severe weather, it’s their job to warm the sect.

The most well known feature of this peak, however, is curiously a smooth stone wall, flat and featureless, though dark in color, beside which is a stone arch through which a person can pass. This wall is utterly unique in the cultivation world because it is believed that the swords forged by those that came before reside inside it to be pulled out as needed. This is, shockingly, untrue. The swords that are already forged, and which might have already grown a spirit, are through the arch, and one only goes searching there if the wall does not heed them.

The wall is, after all, where the sword ceremony starts, and a cultivator, regardless of age, has but to place their hands upon the wall to see a result. For some, it’s a sharp sting, a rebuke that their sword is waiting for them in the caves beyond. For others, it’s a pull, reeling the qi from the person in contact. At times this can progress even to the point of fainting, though thus far there is no documentation of any who have been killed even if they did not come away with a sword. Those who go through this process are those whose blades are made not by human hands, but by those of the mountain itself, and often, these blades become renowned in their own right.

An Ding is the largest peak of the mountain, spanning far and sprawling down in the dips between the peaks as much as up the peak itself where the inner disciples mostly live, and they’re the peak that takes care of logistics and all day to day tasks inside the sect. It’s no surprise to anyone that their virtue is that of jian, frugality, given that from the very beginning it was their task to manage resources and bring in outside benefits to the sect.

The current Peak Lord, Shang Qinghua, does exceptionally well in maintaining this tradition, and it’s well known that the budgeting for resources has never been in better hands than his. There is some irony in this given that he changed his predecessor’s gold to blue upon rising to Peak Lord, but there is something to be said about humble colors instead of bold claims.

Holding vast storehouses and enough people to be a sect unto themselves, An Ding’s paths between the various peaks are second to none, spanning the entirety of the sect like a spider web in a way that utterly bypasses the rainbow bridges in many cases. Similarly, much of the long term storage for the peaks that do not touch the ground is kept with this sect. There is even a specific underground storage place dedicated to the artifacts of Qian Jin that they dare not keep on their floating pavilions, established before the two cultivation paths split early in the sect history.

With space also comes opportunity, and An Ding is the only peak which has enough housing that anyone who is not an outer disciple is no longer in a true dorm situation, meaning that at times, even the poorest cultivators with a senior rank are able to marry and grow a family within the protection of the sect without trouble.

Among the biggest of the floating peaks, Xian Shu is known for being inhabited by fairies, and also for being notoriously hard to get to. This is, admittedly, a rather funny situation given that their virtue is that of xin, sincerity and faithfulness, but perhaps there is some draw to having to prove oneself to be able to visit in the first place.

Known as the only peak that is confined wholly by the gender of its practitioners, this peak was created to consolidate the yin in their cultivators, and this in turn has led to the peak itself being a font of yin flowers, the plants spreading far and wide among the wooden houses that take up the area. Qi Qingqi, having stuck to traditional purple for her peak upon taking her post, is known for being particularly protective of the girls that are under her care.

One perk of having so many yin flowers on their peak is that cultivators who grow up and learn to cultivate on Xian Shu are known to be, if not immune, then at least highly resistant to most plant based aphrodisiacs in the wild.

Qian Jin, the peak for treasure, is a peak that is known more for their adventurers than for their virtue of liang, being good and kindhearted, but there is no doubting that Zhuang Qingling in her peak’s red and white is the ultimate embodiment of both of these things. Often on quests following this or that rumor to artifacts, Qian Jin’s cultivators spend the most time with those of An Ding when compared against any other peak as ultimately, the treasure peak grew out of the duties of An Ding’s first Peak Lord.

High in the sky in contrast to where An Ding sits firmly on the ground, Qian Jin is where all the tricky, dangerous things go that can safely be stored up there. The peak itself is heavily adorned with statues of varying value and art of all kinds that has been brought back by its intensely beauty loving cultivators. Known to have final say of the sect budget and any loans given to other sects, this peak is the one who must truly be wooed when a cultivator, or indeed, even a Peak Lord, wishes to spend outside their means. By this token, they are certainly the peak who is most appreciative when another peak has found a way to bring revenue into the sect.

With their artifact hunting came a deep awareness of exactly how and why things went together, and because of this, Qian Jin is the peak who knows the most about how the rainbow bridges of the sect work. Because it is a puzzle of interlocking spells tethered together by thousands of years of traditions, maintaining the rainbow bridges that unite the peaks, high and low, is a labor of love for the treasure peak, who usually spend their time and energy on the containment or purification of the artifacts that come into their possession.

Due to this, their security is the most terrifying in the entire sect, though because of their cultivation having skewed so heavily to the puzzle side of things, they are, admittedly, sometimes a little bit cryptic.

Bai Zhan is known as the peak for warriors, and this is, of course, in no small part because their virtue is yong, bravery. Led by the war god himself, Liu Qingge, who was so confident in his own abilities that he changed the peak colors from black to white upon his ascension, there is no denying the skill of those who call this peak home.

One of the lower, earthbound peaks, Bai Zhan has many open areas for fighting, as well as a considerably well stocked and ever open dining hall and grilling area. This is partially because the members of Bai Zhan are often coming back with creatures from their hunts to cook, but also in part because of the sheer physicality of their sort of cultivation. Bai Zhan is not an easy peak to rise in, but it is certainly the one that one will never leave a cultivator uncertain of their own martial skills.

On this peak, one might think that they have become lost in a jungle, with its overgrown corners and wild scenery, but this is simply a result of the yang energy that the cultivators who live there put off and the ever constant rainfall that comes and goes because of how they practice their skills. Where a cultivator of Bai Zhan might go, so too might the very rains themselves, if they’re powerful enough. Or so the rumors say.

It’s not unheard of for a Bai Zhan cultivator to specifically be requested in areas afflicted by drought for solving wildlife issues, though the chances of this changing that situation are, unfortunately, rather low, and the disciples of this peak rarely have the correct mix of power and control to make this actually happen on purpose.

In contrast to this, an enterprising explorer might wade deep into the jungle terrain of the peak and turn up long abandoned stone houses, which by all accounts were from the first cultivators who came to the mountain, for all that they’ve been overtaken by wildlife since.

Qian Cao is a peak known far and wide for their healers and physicians, and there’s no doubting that they have the best reputation of any healers, at any sect, for sheer capability. Embodying the virtue of Ren, benevolence and humaneness, all are welcome to come to this peak for aid, regardless of their afflictions, and these cultivators stand out sharply against their more colorful sectmates in their beige and browns.

It was four generations ago that, due to the many many issues with various aphrodisiacs that plagued the sect’s cultivators, that a subset of Qian Cao was dedicated to those who wanted to devote their skills toward handling them as not to distract the majority of healers from other duties. It should be noted that these cultivators must first be fully grown, and take extensive classes before being turned loose on the rest of the sect with their prowess. This measure was put into effect in the generation following the initial split. It’s entirely possible that this part of Qian Cao might be a reason for the difficulties some Peak Lords have between themselves and others in the sect. If you have any sexual troubles, this is where you are supposed to go.

Under Mu Qingfang, the peak has expanded their laboratory areas, and experimenting has become more refined given that the man is a very clear genius who earned his position through his mind perhaps a little bit more than his compassion. He is, no doubt, a kind person, but nice? He will help you for your own good, and this doesn’t always go pleasantly for the recipient.

With many a small secluded meditation area to soothe heart demons in, this peak has perhaps the most diverse open scenery of them all, with flowers, ponds, sand gardens, and even one area that is simply a rock set in the middle of a small grassy clearing. The goal of Qian Cao is to heal and that encompasses both the mind as well as the body, even if the cultivators here might find it dramatically more aggravating to work on the former than the latter.

It should be stated that one of the gardens here is filled to the brim with carefully refined poisons and medicines, and entering it is highly discouraged.

Ku Xing, once a place that was created in a sort of odd revenge, eventually became the peak with the virtue of shu, forgiveness and kindness. Led by Xu Qingyou, the ascetic peak is still the one highest in the sky, and their peak is the one with the least clutter and the most sunshine of them all, filled with softly shimmering pools and open fields.

Where their surroundings are minimal, and their buildings are often carefully secured reeds, the cultivators themselves stand as a brightly colored contrast to this because of the choices of their current leader. Highly visible in a range of warm pinks that give the impression of a flock of birds ready to take flight, the cultivators of Ku Xing are impossible to ignore. Perhaps this choice was made as a form of warning, because one does not stumble upon a cultivator here, and some of the residents have been meditating for days or years without pause, lending them a certain weight that few others in the sect seem to have.

The goal, the only goal of Ku Xing is ascension, and those that have other priorities are encouraged to look into the other peaks until they can refocus their attention.

Qin Shou, with their sunset oranges, is led by Mao Qingrao, and never let it be said that any animal goes uninvestigated on that peak. It is truly a joy to visit them, with their virtue of gong, respect and reverence, and the library that they have dedicated purely to their beasts and the research therein. Any researcher of the unusual can find something of interest there, and their many many animal pens and beast handling areas are diverse and unique.

The peak itself is one of those that floats in the air, though truthfully, this was likely as much of a safety measure as anything else given that the only way on or off that peak is by the bridge. The animals there range from the intelligent to the frightfully stupid, and even things that fly can’t get past the barriers erected to keep them in. The barriers themselves are a work of art, and those who live there come in a few different flavors. There are the caretakers, the researchers, and the beast tamers. The caretakers look after and study those animals that they already have. The researchers spend their time on theoreticals and coordinating with the other peaks, such as Bai Zhan and Qian Cao. These people also are heavily invested in the sect barriers. Meanwhile, the beast tamers are those who go out and find new animals to bring back.

Truthfully, this peak is very hard to describe, as every sliver of it is devoted to some animal or another, and it’s very difficult to guess which ones are ones one might wish to stay away from and which ones are simply very cute and harmless without considerable questioning. It is both invigorating and terrifying, though given some of the crossbreeding efforts, well worth doing.

This peak is also, apparently, the source of much of the meat for the sect, and when asked how they reconciled this, the cultivators there pointed out that predatory animals ate meat too and they certainly had plenty of those. This author admits that only the desire to see things in the wild prevented any instances of camping on their doorstep for an extended stay.

Xian Jing is the peak that made Qian Cao’s little garden look like a kitchen window box. Blending in with their surroundings, one had to wonder at Lin Qingsha’s choice of green and brown for the peak’s colors, but never let it be said that one should argue with a gardener, especially not one with a sword.

Yes, their virtue might be wen, for kindness and gentleness, but that is a facade, and it has long become clear, over years of research, that plants are the most vicious things in this world, as well as the most tenacious. To be a gardener of any kind is to be ruthless, and the fact that this peak was filled with the color of blossoms both deadly and helpful, to say nothing of spilling from their floating confinement to the valley floor below, at the fringes of where An Ding made their homes, only informed this humble author of their dedication.

Everything was meticulously labeled, with safe food crops down in the earth below, while anything delicate or dangerous was kept in the floating peak above. Some plants even grew between, on floating nets dangling down between earth and sky! These were covered top to bottom with vines of many kinds, and it was clear that the only way to harvest them was to fly. The cultivators of this peak are a very observant group, quiet and watchful rather than being prone to asking questions. Overall, they gave the impression of solid, earthy people who had worked hard in the generations to bring such beauty into their peak.

In fact, some of the plants they had in their keeping this one had only ever seen referenced in passing, and thought them extinct. They certainly seem to be out in the wild. They were gracious enough to allow for some examinations, and it was an honor that will not be forgotten.

It should also be noted that their homes, underground nearly to a one, vanished under the many plants, though it seemed that the Peak Lord happened to live up a very big tree instead. Apparently, they had a touch of claustrophobia from nearly being eaten by one of the vine plants that lived in more underground conditions.

Zui Xian is probably the most welcoming peak on all of Cang Qiong. With beehives, delicate fruit orchards, and clothes in shades of yellow, it’s very safe to say that this peak has atmosphere. Known as the alcohol peak, it was readily apparent that that was far from the only thing that they did there, and other edible delicacies are often offered to visitors.

Their cultivation, on the other hand, is wild, not to mention powerful, and this might go into their virtue of cheng, honesty, through sheer lack of inhibitions. It’s a style that takes a certain amount of trust, in oneself as well as one’s teachers, and more than a little fortitude. Shao Qingyi is fortunate to be so loved by the students of the peak, and everything there runs very smoothly.

The peak itself is tucked away in a niche of the mountains, starting at one edge of the sect and going straight down a cliff face, with platforms taking the cultivators from level to level. Things at risk of exploding, such as the distilleries, were built out toward the fringes, while the things more precious, like the bees or their plants, were in more stable, centralized areas to be looked after. There is a certain kind of magic in knowing that the vertigo was considered a perk, rather than a drawback, for those who lived there, and many of the homes for the cultivators were nestled neatly straight into the rock as communal spaces.

It should also be stressed that on this peak many, if not most, of the fruit was some degree of tangibly filled with qi.

Cang Qiong is a beautiful, unique place with a mountain whose awareness is only known best by those who are actively aware of being bound to it. It is uncertain if any in the current generation truly understand their fortune, and it was not the place of this humble author to inform them.

Also, as a courtesy, this author has also elected to share the compacted notes used to navigate the sect’s politics during the visit.

First:

Qiong Ding Peak (穹顶峰: Domed Roof Peak)
General Affairs, Zhōng (忠: loyalty), Gold and black
Relevant Lords: Yue Qingyuan

Second:

Qing Jing Peak (清静峰: Clear Calm Peak)
Scholars, Zhì (智: wisdom, knowledge), Teal
Relevant Lords: Shen Qingqiu, Gao Zhanyan, Zi Ganhuai (The first risen god)

Third:

Wan Jian Peak (萬劍峰: Ten Thousand Swords Peak)
Swords, Lǐ (礼; 禮: propriety, rites), Black and Grey
Relevant Lords: Wei Qingwei

Fourth:

An Ding Peak (安定峰: Steady Peak)
Logistics, jiǎn (俭; 儉: frugal), Blue
Relevant Lords: Shang Qinghua, Zhang Zhanhua

Fifth:

Xian Shu Peak (仙姝峰: Immortal Ladies Peak)
Lady Peak, Xìn (信: sincerity, faithfulness), Purple
Relevant Lords: Qi Qingqi

Sixth:

Qian Jin Peak (千金峰: Thousand Pounds of Gold Peak)
Treasure, liáng (良, good, kindhearted), Red and White
Relevant Lords: Zhuang Qingling

Seventh:

Bai Zhan Peak (百战峰: Hundred Battles Peak)
Battle Peak, yǒng (勇, bravery), White
Relevant Lords: Liu Qingge

Eighth:

Qian Cao Peak (千草峰: Thousand Grass Peak)
Healers, Rén (仁: benevolence, humaneness), Beige and Brown
Relevant Lords: Mu Qingfang, Wan Zhanrong

Ninth:

Ku Xing Peak (苦行峰: Ascetic Peak)
Ascetic, shù (恕: kindness and forgiveness), Pink
Relevant Lords: Xu Qingyou

Tenth:

Qin Shou Peak (禽兽峰: Beast Peak)
Beasts, gōng (恭: respectful, reverent), Orange (from almost red to almost yellow)
Relevant Lords: Mao Qingrao

Eleventh:

Xian Jing Peak (仙菁峰: Immortal Flower Peak)
Plants, wēn (温; 溫: kind and gentle), Green and Brown
Relevant Lords: Lin Qingsha

Twelfth:

Zui Xian Peak (醉仙峰: Drunken Immortal Peak)
Alcohol Peak, chéng (诚; 誠: honesty), Yellow
Relevant Lords: Shao Qingyi