The Dao That Can Be Taught (A Xianxia Teacher Quest)

[Leingod]

Welcome to "The Dao That Can Be Taught," a xianxia quest where you're not the once-in-an-era destined protag the universe has heaped cheats upon. So if you want that, probably should look elsewhere, sorry.

So if it isn't that, what is this? Basically, it's a Xianxia Teacher Quest, where you are a cultivator whose focus is on taking in and training disciples, and who isn't starting at the very beginning of the journey to immortality, but somewhere in the middle of it.

The reasons why you're a teacher will be explained later through character creation, but suffice to say you'll grow in strength largely by being a good teacher. Think stuff like History's Number 1 Founder or Library of Heaven's Path, only with the above caveat that you aren't going to be face-slapping old monsters several levels ahead of you inside a hundred chapters. Basically, you're not the protagonist who plows through the cultivation world like a bull in a china shop, though this quest may end with you being that guy's teacher depending on how things go, which I'm sure can only go very well for you.

But I'm losing the thread again. Basically, come into this expecting more focus on stuff like character interactions and relationships, exploring the world and the various factions and cultures and kinds of cultivation, the complex politics of cultivator society, etc. Not that there won't be plenty of fighting and training and leveling up by finding and ingesting weird things lying around in dusty tombs, just don't expect the plot to revolve around it most of the time.

So if any of that has your interest, welcome once again!

 

[Leingod]

Name: Zhou Yi (周異 Zhōu Yì), nicknamed "Long-Armed Ape"
Stats: Comprehension 10, Constitution 6, Resolve 8, Fortune 6

Spoiler: Four Pillars of Yi

Dragon's Gate Sect
A Daoist sect that places a higher emphasis on celibacy and ritual purity than most Daoist sects, and is most well-known for its extensive rituals of purification and cleansing; these rites are, in fact, spells and spell arrays that are intended to repel and separate impure/unclean influences of all kinds, thus allowing the members of this sect to better purify and strengthen their qi.

Heaven's Rain School
The premier school of Yi in terms of conventional (i.e. Confucian) scholarship, the teachings of the Heaven's Rain School comprise the orthodoxy of the local scholar-gentry from which government officials are usually drawn from, and thus their impact on the political and legal theories dominant in Yi can hardly be questioned. Despite that, like the other Pillars they hold themselves aloof from the affairs of the world, and don't seek to direct influence affairs of state or of lesser sects.

Three Teachings Sword School
A school that teaches swordsmanship as an extension of philosophy. Specifically, it teaches three separate forms of swordsmanship whose core principles and techniques are drawn from the writings of three philosophers of ancient times (Zou Yan, Gao You, and Yang Zhu). These three philosophical teachings and their derived forms of swordsmanship are considered complementary to each other; students begin by learning one foundational form and expand their horizons by slowly incorporating elements of the other two as their understanding increases.

White Lotus Sect
The local branch of a foreign religion from the far west, known in Xia lands as the Ming Jiao (明教 Míng Jiào "religion of light"). The religion was founded shortly after the breakup of Eternal Xia (a time of chaos and upheaval throughout the world), and missionaries first arrived in the kingdom of Yi about a hundred years ago. Suspicion of this foreign religion soon led to persecution, but the foreign missionaries organized their followers and made a show of strength sufficient to convince the major powers involved to not press the issue and accept the new religion as a sanctioned faith, barring a few stipulations, leading to the founding of the White Lotus Sect.

Perhaps the most unusual feature of the sect's method of cultivation is that they manifest a kind of spiritual "double" or "twin" that they claim to be the manifestation of their "Inner Light." This seems to outsiders to bear some resemblance to the shamanistic practices of summoning and binding spirits practiced by certain barbarian peoples, which is just another reason many are suspicious of them.

Spoiler: Twelve Major Sects of Yi

Black Cat Brotherhood
The only association among the Twelve Major Sects in Yi, the Black Cat Brotherhood are regarded by many as a powerful and dangerous band of criminals, operating as a loose network of thieves and smugglers. In their own estimation, however, they are a brotherhood of like-minded xia who bring justice to the dark corners of Yi by punishing the wicked and corrupt for the good of the people. Either way, the organization's leading figures are considered unmatched in stealth and quickness.

Clear Wind Sect
A sect that specializes in techniques drawing on the (Material) Element of Wind. They are most renowned for their skills in unarmed combat, which focus on developing incredible speed and momentum to impart great power into strikes (primarily kicks). And, if all else fails, their rivals say, nobody is as swift at running away!

Eight Virtues School
A school of body cultivation. The name is derived from their foundational body cultivation method, which itself is named after the eight key virtues of Confucianism. Fittingly for the scholarly character of Yi, the Eight Virtues School takes as one of its core principles that "a sound mind resides in a sound body," and seeks to develop the mind and moral character of its students at the same time it develops their muscles.

Hundred Herbs School
The premier school of alchemy and medicine in Yi. As might be imagined, the services of those trained here are in high demand, and convincing one to serve as a personal physician is a sign of prestige among the rich and powerful. The royal family's medical staff are comprised almost entirely of doctors and alchemists trained at this school.

Peach Blossom Sword Sect
A sect based out of a great complex at the peak of Peach Blossom Mountain, this sect was founded by a disciple of the distant and powerful Nine Flower Sword Sect, which in the distant past was one of the most powerful sects in all of Eternal Xia. Its namesake Peach Blossom Sword Scripture, though incomplete, is nonetheless regarded as one of the three greatest sword styles in all of Yi.

River Snake Clan
Three major rivers run through the lands of Yi, along with many smaller tributaries, streams, and lakes (including the famous Lake Jiao, home of the "Three Silver Treasures"). These waterways are the linchpin of the kingdom's food and economy. The River Snake Clan began as an association of assorted fishers, boatmen, dockworkers, etc. that became dominated by an extended family who purportedly developed secret cultivation techniques derived from their experiences and observations regarding the waterways of Yi. Now, the River Snake Clan is a major economic powerhouse in Yi as well as a powerful clan of cultivators. They don't outright control the rivers and lakes of Yi and the flow of goods and services through it, but their power in that sphere can hardly be denied.

Seven Star Sword School
Named after the seven stars of the Big Dipper constellation [traditionally known in China as the "Right Wall" of the Purple Forbidden Enclosure], teaches a signature style of swordsmanship in seven forms derived from astrological principles of divination. This creates a style of swordsmanship that's very hard to read unless one has trained in it themselves.

Southern Immortal Star School
A school of body cultivation. Its founder claimed to have learned his methods from an immortal who descended from the stars onto a mountaintop. Whatever the truth of this claim, the body cultivation methods of this school incorporate a mix of strict dietary and sexual practices alongside meditative exercises, all with the goal of cultivating an energy called "Immortal Star Qi" that one builds within the body to enhance one's vital energy and lifespan, which can also, if the need is critical, be "ignited" for short bursts of incredible power at the cost of dire consequences to one's body and longevity.

Spring and Autumn Scripture School
One of the premier schools of divination in Yi. The Spring and Autumn Scripture School specializes in consulting the distant past to divine the future; the school's complex is also a vast repository of ancient data on the movements of Heaven and Earth, which are consulted and correlated to try to determine the path of the future.

Thunderbird Clan
This is the hereditary ruling clan of the Yangyu Tribe, a small, semi-autonomous vassal state in the southeastern part of the kingdom of Yi. The Yu people once reigned over much of the southeast until Eternal Xia expanded into the area, after which they survived only in scattered, isolated enclaves in the mountains and hills. The fall of Eternal Xia and its breakup into many warring kingdoms has allowed some groups, like the Yangyu under the leadership of the Thunderbird Clan, to begin to regain some measure of autonomy and prominence.

The Yu people are divided into totemic clans that revere great beasts as ancestors. Clans descended from birds (or rather, "feathered beasts") comprise a caste of chieftains and priests, and the Thunderbird Clan are by far the most prestigious and powerful among the Yangyu (and the Yu in general), hence their preeminence and status as one of the Two Major Clans of Yi. Their descent from the legendary Thunderbird is evidenced by their hereditary affinity for Lightning, one of the rarest of the Eight (Material) Elements due to the unique dangers of channeling its power.

Twin Dragon Sect
A secretive and mysterious sect of geomancers; even information as minor as the reason for their name is unknown.

Water Mirror School
One of the premier schools of divination in Yi. The Water Mirror School specializes in more "immediate" forms of divination, seeking to determine the characteristics of the present rather than the past or the future. Their students are especially renowned as unsurpassed judges of character and evaluators of truth

 

[Leingod]

Cultivation. The pursuit of power and immortality, but above all, self-perfection and personal transcendence. For those who have the talent and the opportunity, it is the pursuit of countless mortal lifetimes, a long and dangerous road regardless of which of the nigh-countless paths one may approach it from, for there are perhaps more paths toward the ultimate ends of cultivation than there are cultivators alive in the world today.

But whatever their paths, and wherever they may be from, cultivators often find they share more interests and concerns than they do any "mortal," and so cultivators have in many ways become something of a separate society, though certainly one that intersects and interacts with the mundane world in many ways and places.

In the society of cultivators, as with "mundane" society, few can make it on their own for very long. Organizations – sects, clans, and so on – are legion. Founded with the goal of sharing and passing down knowledge and resources and providing security and respect, these sects form the backbone of an intricate and often cutthroat society, filled with intrigue and violence both external and often internal.

All something you've long since gotten used to, for you have traveled far from the very beginning of your journey, though you're certainly still far from its end. You've reached a key point in your journey of cultivation, a transitory period where you haven't yet joined the ranks of the venerable masters of the cultivation world, but are no longer really one of the "younger generation" anymore. We might say that you've gone from being an apprentice to a journeyman.

Still, as you see the path ahead of you, you can't help but look back on what led up to it. All the way back to the beginning...

What are your origins? (Note: Your parents aren't necessarily dead, except of course if you choose "Urchin." It's just easier to refer to them in the past tense here.)

[] An urchin (+1 Resolve)
Alone in the world, you had to struggle desperately just to survive each day. This has hardened your resolve, granting you a stronger will. You're also quite the talented scavenger, with a knack for finding any scrap of value from things that others might throw away as worthless, and you've got a little dragon's hoard of such odds-and-ends of assorted "junk" that isn't immediately useful to you, but could very well turn out to be handy for someone else or in some other situation. People might accuse you of being a hoarder, but what do they know?

[] A peasant's child (+1 Constitution)
Your parents were farmers, or day laborers, or something along those lines. You started helping your parents from a young age, and that early experience with hard, honest labor made you a lot more industrious and able to spend long hours doing the exhausting, dull, repetitive work of physical conditioning without tiring or losing focus, so you were able to develop a better constitution. You've also gotten quite skilled in applying your early lessons to producing some raw good or material useful for cultivators; maybe you're good at growing herbs for alchemists to use, or tending and butchering livestock suitable for spirit chefs. It's not exactly prestigious, but there's always demand.

[] A merchant's child (+1 Fortune)
Your parents were merchants of some kind, maybe itinerant peddlers, or maybe they ran some big fancy pavilion where huge sums traded hands. Either way, you were something of a good luck charm for them, because you just seem to naturally attract not just wealth, but opportunity. And you haven't rested on that; indeed, you've developed quite a keen eye for figuring out both what things are worth, how badly someone wants it, and what they're willing to do or part with to get it. This insight has helped you build up a neat little nest egg through trading, and you've so far managed to avoid pissing off anyone you couldn't afford to piss off.

[] An entertainer's child (+1 Comprehension)
Your parents were each some kind of entertainer or artist. Maybe they panhandled on the street, or perhaps they were famous and in high demand. Whatever they were, whether they got rich and famous from it or not, they were very good at it, so you learned from some of the best, and there's a surprising number of cultivation methods, techniques and items that benefit from being good at something like dance or music. You also learned how to read and play to an audience, whether that be a crowd or an individual, and that helped you in making useful connections as well as a better reputation.

[] A scholar's child (+1 Comprehension & Resolve, -1 Constitution)
Your parents were of scholarly backgrounds. They might have been government officials, or perhaps they were doctors, teachers, or maybe they just spent all their time philosophizing or inventing things, whether it made money or not. Regardless, you inherited not just at least some of their knowledge, you inherited a love of learning and the critical thinking skills to do more than just blindly take in information; as it turns out, that's pretty handy for a cultivator to have! And what's more, you've developed a truly impressive drive to seek out the Dao, which may in fact be even handier.

On the other hand, well, reading books all the time doesn't exactly lead to a strong body that can easily handle the strains and stresses put on it by cultivating or fighting. You nerd.

[] A warrior's child (+1 Constitution & Resolve, -1 Comprehension)
Your parents fought for a living, which in a world like this virtually necessitates at least being in the first stage of cultivation to last very long. They might have been soldiers, or wandering martial artists, or maybe a local champion in a village or small town, protecting them from minor threats like bandits and weak monsters. Regardless, they recognized very early on that your potential greatly dwarfed their own, and did all they could to nurture that talent. As a result, they focused almost entirely on building up your fundamentals before you became a proper cultivator, giving you a very solid base to work from without tying you to an inferior method. Your constitution is excellent, and the discipline instilled in you by your parents ensures that you have the will to keep going long after others have quit.

On the other hand, your comprehension of the intricacies and mysteries of cultivation isn't as great. There is certainly strength in simplicity, but there's only so much you can learn that way.

[] A noble's child (+1 Comprehension & Fortune, -1 Resolve)
Your parents inherited great wealth and you enjoyed both resources aplenty and a top-notch education; perhaps they were even scions of some royal family? They were probably also cultivators, as the benefits of even beginning down that road grants some benefits that are hard to pass up and can potentially be paid for if you've got the money to burn. Regardless, the very circumstances of your birth already prove that you're a much more fortunate soul than most, and on top of that, your natural talent at comprehending cultivation is good, too.

On the other hand, leading a charmed life as a rich and talented child means your resolve in the face of difficulties and suffering are as yet untested. Perhaps before your body or your mind, it is your resolve that will fail you one day.

[] A cultivator's child (+1 Comprehension & Constitution, -1 Fortune)
Cultivation is essentially a family business, so even if you didn't have as much talent as you do, your path was pretty much set from the start. Luckily, you do have talent aplenty for cultivation, and so you were invested with the resources and training to make sure it didn't go to waste, with both body and mind being honed for greatness.

On the other hand, it seems that perhaps you used up much of your accrued good fortune to have such opportunities, as while you haven't exactly been living as a jinx, your luck definitely isn't great. Fortunate encounters and untapped resources aren't exactly falling into your lap, you know?

 

[mrttao]

Interesting premise... if we do manage to snag a Protagonist disciple it could really ease up our path to immortality as he heaps benefits on us and his birth clan out of some dedication to his "roots".
So long as we avoid being killed gruesomely to give him justification to exterminate some 9 generations of the enemy of the week.

[x] A scholar's child (+1 Comprehension & Resolve, -1 Constitution)

I like the aesthetics of this the most. And also the bonuses are pretty good too

 

[LinkOnScepter]

[x] A scholar's child (+1 Comprehension & Resolve, -1 Constitution)

 

[BurningLaugh]

[x] A scholar's child (+1 Comprehension & Resolve, -1 Constitution)

 

[lurkest]

Oh, no. The person who created 4-8 of my absolute favorite OCs ever wants to focus on character relationships and worldbuilding. However shall I cope.

[X] An entertainer's child (+1 Comprehension)
This seems like it would lend a fun perspective to teaching.

 

[Metalbard]

[X] An entertainer's child (+1 Comprehension)

I liked this description the most. Don't even care that much for the stats.

 

[Leingod]

[] A scholar's child (+1 Comprehension & Resolve, -1 Constitution)

You grew up among books and scrolls, and the smell of paper and ink are ever-present in your early memories. You still find noises like the light rustling of papers and the strokes of a brush quietly soothing, and you can still recall with perfect clarity many of the early lessons your parents taught you, not just in the expected topics but also in encouraging you to think critically and examine information rather than simply memorize the accepted classics and interpretations thereof by rote and regurgitate it onto an essay to pass a civil service exam. These lessons have served you remarkably well in the years since; the sheer number of even your fellow "scholarly" cultivators who struggle to think more deeply than the surface level of a lesson has never failed to shock and appall.

---X---

In the wake of the collapse of Eternal Xia, there was a period of great chaos and devastation, as the vast lands it had once ruled fragmented into countless successor states and feuding warlords. Over time, successful states managed to consolidate, coalescing into fewer, more stable polities; for many centuries now, that number has held steady, and currently this age is called the Eighteen Kingdoms.

Of those eighteen, the one in which you were born is called Yi, a kingdom founded in a region that has been known since ancient times as the "Land of Scholars" or the "Scholar's Paradise;" to this day, it hosts the most and the most famous and reputable institutions of learning. In addition, the region is famous for the production of high-quality paper and writing tools (inkstones, inks, brushes), with each city boasting some local specialty for the discerning scholar, along with countless printing houses. On the streets of the capital, public debates are almost a spectator's sport, and the exchange of ideas is perhaps freer than anywhere else in the known world. Of course, not everyone sees that as a good thing, and this status quo is currently quite fragile.

But you're getting off track; something of a bad habit of yours, actually. Regardless, this scholarly character and reputation affects the kinds of cultivators and cultivation typically seen in Yi just as it affects mundane society. For one, Yi has more cultivation schools than any other kingdom, and the ranks of its greatest sects are dominated by its greatest schools. There are certainly powerful sects, clans, and even a few famous associations and cults, including this one foreign cult that's recently established a foothold and quickly become a force to be reckoned with locally, but overall, the schools predominate. And if one were wholly ignorant of how rife with factional disputes and rival schools of thought and establishments that become almost doctrinal in their refusal to budge from outdated positions and theories mundane academia can become, one might suppose this would mean the cultivation world of Yi is much more reasonable and free of ugly, pointless conflict than it is elsewhere.

No one, not even cultivators, exist in a vacuum. Virtually everyone inevitably ends up tied into the tangled social web of friendships, alliances, intrigues, and enmities that would seem to belie the typical image of the cultivator as some mountain hermit calmly meditating on the deepest secrets of the universe. Simply put, no one gets to reach that point in one go, and until then, no man is an island. And you are no exception.

When you stepped onto the road of cultivation in earnest, as someone truly seeking to follow the path to its end rather than merely dabbling for its ancillary perks, were you the first of your family to do so?

[] Yes. I'm the first of my family to take up cultivation as a serious pursuit. (+1 Resolve)
You've embarked on a path that separates you from your mortal family as well as mortal affairs. Though a sad and lonely thing, it has some advantages as well as disadvantages: The lack of preexisting relationships and commitments in the cultivation world gives you more options when you decide on things like what kind of organization (if any) you've become affiliated with (though if you want to vote to be part of a clan you'll need to be either adopted or married into it), and you'll have more control over who your friends and enemies are.

[] No. My parents are not mere dabblers, but are in fact talented cultivators themselves. (+1 Comprehension)
It's actually one or both of your parents are actually the ones who are first-generation, not you. Though neither of them had your talent, it seems you got the best of both of them. They might be affiliated with an organization, or they could even be loose cultivators. Either way, though, they've surely made their own share of friends and enemies, in addition to any potential connections their affiliations might bring, for good or ill. You still aren't likely to face a whole lot of either, though, mostly because your parents haven't stood out that much. But it's certainly nice to know that you won't be outliving them for many years to come. Also, while it's somewhat unusual, you probably aren't going to face a whole lot of pressure if you embark on a different path in your choice of organization... at least so long as you don't try to join their sworn enemies!

[] No. In fact, my family has produced quite a number of cultivators. (+1 Constitution)
Not only are your parents cultivators, but they're only the latest (well, second-latest) in several generations of cultivators. Or at least, one of them is, it's possible one or the other is still first-generation, but that doesn't really matter right now. On the one hand, the very fact that talent for cultivation runs in the family is good news if you want to have kids later, and it also gives you access to a wellspring of experience and resources from your elders to draw on. On the other, you're more or less obligated to join whatever organization your parents are part of (which isn't set in stone, you just have fewer options to vote on to reflect the fact that your family has, for example, probably not spent generations as part of the new religious sect that's shown up and established itself recently, or the association body cultivating martial artists), and you're guaranteed to inherit both alliances and enmities that are probably older than you can currently fathom.

---X---

AN: A brief primer on the different types of cultivation organizations that will be seen most often in this quest:

Sects (宗 zōng or 派 pài) are the considered the "standard" of cultivation organizations, and any reader of xianxia is doubtless familiar with the typical structure and character of the usual sect. For those who aren't, though, a sect is an organization pretty much wholly dedicated to cultivation. The disciples of a sect will always live within the sect, which provides for their daily needs and provides instruction in cultivation given by elders. Sects are pretty much always extremely hierarchical, with respect for pretty much anyone above you in that hierarchy being demanded. They also often foster a hyper-competitive culture to drive their disciples to keep them from getting complacent, and often your access to better resources is contingent on performing missions for the good of the sect. Often, teaching is done in a master-apprentice fashion, with elders selecting promising students to give personal instruction as their personal disciples.

Cults (教 jiào) is just a blanket term for sects with a strong religious character (you know, beyond the general Daoist background noise of cultivation in general; often there's at least one major Buddhist sect somewhere); most don't actually refer to themselves as such. Though of course a lot of demonic sects get labeled "cults" as well. The specifics of its organization and methods of teaching vary tremendously depending on the exact religious makeup of the cult in question, so it's hard to generalize.

Schools (门 mén) are sometimes just used to refer to a sect with a notably scholarly bent to it, but in this world it refers to a kind of cultivation organization that's more like a university than a typical sect, with a more structured curriculum for teaching, though singular master-apprentice relationships often aren't forbidden so much as de-emphasized, and not all of them require students to live on-campus. In general, schools don't produce as many stellar talents, but often produce cultivators of a higher overall standard. Schools aren't always particularly scholarly, incidentally; many are very heavy on body cultivation and martial arts, for instance.

Clans (家 jiā) are pretty much exactly what you'd think they are, extended families of cultivators. Usually you have to be born into a clan, and most members of a clan will, of course, all have the same surname, but it's certainly not unheard of for someone to be adopted or married into a clan for various reasons. Clans most often form due to some ability or cultivation method that is only or most easily passed down through a bloodline rather than simply through teaching a talented pupil, though sometimes the founder just decided it'd be easier to trust the bonds of kinship rather than master-pupil relationships to keep everyone loyal and working together. How well that works in practice, of course, will vary tremendously.

Associations (帮 bāng) might also be translated as unions, gangs, or brotherhoods. Essentially, it refers to a loose organization of cultivators who have come together out of some common interest or mutual goal. Usually, these are a lot less rigid and hierarchical in their structure than others, and there might not even be a set method of teaching or inducting new members, with that being left to individual members to figure out. Much as with cults, it's hard to generalize because they can vary so much in character. Probably the most famous kinds of associations in wuxia are the "band of brothers struggling together to do heroic stuff" types, like the 108 Stars of Destiny in Water Margin.

 

[mrttao]

[x] Yes. I'm the first of my family to take up cultivation as a serious pursuit. (+1 Resolve)
You've embarked on a path that separates you from your mortal family as well as mortal affairs. Though a sad and lonely thing, it has some advantages as well as disadvantages: The lack of preexisting relationships and commitments in the cultivation world gives you more options when you decide on things like what kind of organization (if any) you've become affiliated with (though if you want to vote to be part of a clan you'll need to be either adopted or married into it), and you'll have more control over who your friends and enemies are.

 

[piens51]

[X] Yes. I'm the first of my family to take up cultivation as a serious pursuit. (+1 Resolve)

 

[LinkOnScepter]

[x] Yes. I'm the first of my family to take up cultivation as a serious pursuit. (+1 Resolve)
You've embarked on a path that separates you from your mortal family as well as mortal affairs. Though a sad and lonely thing, it has some advantages as well as disadvantages: The lack of preexisting relationships and commitments in the cultivation world gives you more options when you decide on things like what kind of organization (if any) you've become affiliated with (though if you want to vote to be part of a clan you'll need to be either adopted or married into it), and you'll have more control over who your friends and enemies are.

 

[Negation]

[X] Yes. I'm the first of my family to take up cultivation as a serious pursuit. (+1 Resolve)
You've embarked on a path that separates you from your mortal family as well as mortal affairs. Though a sad and lonely thing, it has some advantages as well as disadvantages: The lack of preexisting relationships and commitments in the cultivation world gives you more options when you decide on things like what kind of organization (if any) you've become affiliated with (though if you want to vote to be part of a clan you'll need to be either adopted or married into it), and you'll have more control over who your friends and enemies are.

 

[lurkest]

[X] No. My parents are not mere dabblers, but are in fact talented cultivators themselves. (+1 Comprehension)

 

[Leingod]

[] Yes. I'm the first of my family to take up cultivation as a serious pursuit. (+1 Resolve)
You're beginning to understand why so many other first-generation cultivators tend to drift away and cut ties with their family; it's still a little disconcerting to see how much more quickly they age than you, and you can hardly imagine how that must feel on the other end. What does someone like your younger brother think, paying his respects in front of his own adult children to an older sibling that now looks young enough to be his...

[] son

[] daughter

Well, it's not like you regret choosing this path, and in any case it's much too late for regrets to be of any help to anyone, least of all yourself.

Though, speaking of your appearance, a common misconception among those who aren't dedicated cultivators is that they are somehow above simple vanity about physical appearance, and that it's simply an incidental part of the process of cultivation that gives them such unearthly appearances.

In plain fact, cultivators as a group are probably the vainest and most appearance-obsessed people on the planet, something that is only enhanced by the sheer variety of options they have for looking how they please and the fact that advancing along in one's cultivation allows them to magnify whatever kind of ideal they wish to present and embody in their appearance. It is not some strange coincidence that among elders and old masters, the men almost all tend to look like distinguished-yet-vigorous old sages and the women almost universally marry stately maturity with breathtaking beauty; it's a sure sign that even among cultivators, vanity prevails, even if the form that vanity takes tends to vary between the sexes.

Since after a certain point in one's cultivation it's more or less a conscious choice, how one has chosen to "develop" their appearance says a lot about them. Not necessarily in that it tells you who they are, but in that it tells you how they want to be seen by others, which is sometimes even more useful to know. It can also give some indication of strength within a given level, since the extent to which one has developed their appearance into a particular ideal is in large part contingent on their actual power. So, yes, the most beautiful usually are the most powerful, at least among those who pursue what is commonly understood as "beauty."

In that vein, what kind of look have you chosen to go for? (To be clear, none of these has any actual effect on stats, techniques, etc.)

[] Scholarly and refined
A favorite among both dedicated scholarly types and many sword cultivators, and perhaps apropos considering your origins. A tall and slender build (but not too slender; the goal is to look willowy, not reedy), often with more angular features and keen-looking (or cold) eyes, hair typically worn long and bound in some simple, low-maintenance hairstyle. Long flowing robes that are always spotless and perfectly arranged are a must, of course.

[] Bold and heroic
Mostly you just take the description of "scholarly and refined" above, add a bit more bulk (but not too much) and make sure to always have a confident smile or smirk that you can easily turn into a more friendly expression when you want someone to think they're your buddy. Those who want to look "cool" without giving the impression of being aloof typically go for this look rather over the above.

[] Friendly and laid-back
Equally popular among those who actually are approachable and friendly sorts or those who just want to get people to let their guards down. Though a friendly and open expression is obviously paramount, most of selling this look comes in the details. Hair and clothes worn more for comfort and ease than appeal, and perhaps worn just slightly askew or otherwise a bit appealingly mussed to give the impression that one has eternally just woken up from a nap, but not so much so as to look actually slovenly.

A popular subset of this kind of look is the "absent-minded scholar," which usually just necessitates the small addition of smelling faintly of ink and paper all the time.

[] Contemplative and wise
Often the kind of look pursued by the monastically-inclined, or just those who want to look like wise hermits. Clothing is simple and unadorned, perhaps even worn and tattered, and the hair is either shaven completely or left long and wild, depending. It's the eyes that really sell the look, though, as well as a certain calmness not just in expression but in bearing that sells the impression of detached, ethereal wisdom.

[] Seductive and alluring
The signature look of a femme fatale or a gigolo... or, at least, someone who wants to be thought of/written off as such. A slender, sinnuous build that bulges in all the right places and smoldering eyes come standard, of course, but really this kind of look is sold almost entirely through body language. Though a very daring sense of fashion certainly never goes amiss.

[] Haughty and regal
Somewhat like "seductive and alluring" in that this is the pursuit of the height of conventional beauty, just approached from very different ends of that spectrum. This is a much more stately, unapproachable kind of beauty, the kind that gets women in particular labeled "ice queens" or "heavenly fairies" and such. Among the younger generations in particular this kind of look is the most common by far, though that only serves to further highlight those who actually have the power to pull it off and makes the wannabes easy to spot.

(To be clear: You're one of the ones who can pull it off. Not, like, #1 Beauty Under Heaven, but you'd definitely rank in a lot of those ever-present lists of the hottest young cultivators. In addition to being extremely vain, cultivators are inveterate gossips and compulsive list-writers)

[] Strong and vigorous
Mostly the reserve of very physically-inclined cultivators and martial artists, though there's certainly something to be said for its use by others, either for purposes of intimidation or to invite underestimation in the mental sphere. As one might well imagine, muscles, not necessarily bulging but definitely well-defined and rippling, are a must, and clothes that show them off – often by being strategically torn or ripped – only slightly less so.

[] Write-In
It's certainly possible I've overlooked something, or that you want to look eclectic or eccentric as some kind of statement, whether that be philosophical or fashionable. Keep the description in broad strokes like the ones above and somewhat brief, please. Also, looking deliberately monstrous or inhuman is out; not because it isn't possible, but it's usually taken as a sign of one's cultivation being heterodox if not heretical and so is inadvisable to attempt.

 

[Pipeman]

[X] daughter
[X] Friendly and laid-back

I do kinda like the idea of leaning into odder variations of the "scholar variants" and then joining up with one of the non-scholarly type organizations as one of the few scholars they have.
The "Since we're not a School, our resident scholar is an off-beat discount version" aesthetic is just fun.
And then you sucker punch folks with unexpected levels of insight and expertise, cause you're not really gonna be able to hide that you are the troupe's scholar, but you can very well hide your level of competence.

 

[LinkOnScepter]

[X] son

[X] Strong and vigorous

 

[shadowward]

[X] daughter
[X] Friendly and laid-back

 

[Negation]

[X] son

[X] Strong and vigorous
Mostly the reserve of very physically-inclined cultivators and martial artists, though there's certainly something to be said for its use by others, either for purposes of intimidation or to invite underestimation in the mental sphere. As one might well imagine, muscles, not necessarily bulging but definitely well-defined and rippling, are a must, and clothes that show them off – often by being strategically torn or ripped – only slightly less so.

I love the idea of a Scholar-type looking SWOLE just ot screw with people.

 

[BurningLaugh]

[X] son

[X] Strong and vigorous

 

[mrttao]

[x] son
[x] Strong and vigorous
[x] Scholarly and refined

I can't decide between those two so voting for both and lets see what wins
... that said maybe we should have voted sex and appearance seperately.
Would be funny if we end up going for "ice queen + male" or "bulging muscles + female"
... not that it would be bad actually because I would be fine with both of those looks

Actually amazonian female is tempting

 

[Leingod]

... that said maybe we should have voted sex and appearance seperately.
Would be funny if we end up going for "ice queen + male" or "bulging muscles + female"
... not that it would be bad actually because I would be fine with both of those looks

Actually amazonian female is tempting

Click to shrink...

A big part of why these descriptions are generally so broad-strokes and filled with caveats is so that they can apply equally well to either gender, and accommodate a spectrum by just giving general archetypes of appearances. So boy or girl, "strong and vigorous" could theoretically be anywhere from just looking really fit and athletic to being a living wall of muscle.

 

[lurkest]

[X] daughter
[X] Strong and vigorous

 

[Aoinfinity]

[X] daughter
[X] Scholarly and refined

 

[mrttao]

A big part of why these descriptions are generally so broad-strokes and filled with caveats is so that they can apply equally well to either gender, and accommodate a spectrum by just giving general archetypes of appearances. So boy or girl, "strong and vigorous" could theoretically be anywhere from just looking really fit and athletic to being a living wall of muscle.

Click to shrink...

Yes, I got that they could fit either. But they have different meaning with each.

[] Seductive and alluring
on a female makes a femma fatale, but on a man makes a giggolo

it would work either way, but the meaning it shows off is different

 

[piens51]

[X] daughter
[X] Strong and vigorous

 

[AgentWho007]

[X] daughter
[X] Haughty and regal

 

[Jaoling]

Son please

 

[Raron]

[X] son
[X] Contemplative and wise

 

[Metalbard]

[X] son
[X] Strong and vigorous