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''[[https://forums.sufficientvelocity.com/threads/the-dao-of-the-awakened-a-xianxia-cultivation-quest.96394/ The Dao of the Awakened]]'' is a [[SpiritCultivationGenre Cultivation]] quest by warumono on Sandbox/SufficientVelocityDotCom. The story takes the format of Hua Yin's training and adventures, along with letters written by him to his family at home. The letters tend to be written by the quest readers.
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''[[https://forums.sufficientvelocity.com/threads/the-dao-of-the-awakened-a-xianxia-cultivation-quest.96394/ The Dao of the Awakened]]'' is a [[SpiritCultivationGenre Cultivation]] quest by warumono on Sandbox/SufficientVelocityDotCom.Website/SufficientVelocityDotCom. The story takes the format of Hua Yin's training and adventures, along with letters written by him to his family at home. The letters tend to be written by the quest readers.
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* MonstersFavoritePettingSpot: Tianlang demands Hua Yin scratch his belly once. Then he threatens to kill the disciple [[GuiltyPleasure if he tells anyone]].
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* AnAxeToGrind: Gao Jin's preferred weapon is a hatchet.
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* HotSpringsEpisode: Hua Yin stumbles across a cultivation font serving as bathing springs... as they are used by two women and a man.
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* HotSpringsEpisode: Hua Yin stumbles across a cultivation font serving as bathing springs... as they are used by two women and a man. The threadmark actually uses the trope name.
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* MyEyesAreUpHere: Said word for by one of the women during tbe GotSpringsEpisode.
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* MyEyesAreUpHere: Said word for by one of the women during tbe GotSpringsEpisode.the HotSpringsEpisode.
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* {{Facepalm}}: Hua Yin does one when caught returning to him room naked... with the very hand he was using to cover himself up.
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* HotSpringsEpisode: Hua Yin stumbles across a cultivation font serving as bathing springs... as they are used by two women and a man.
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* MyEyesAreUpHere: Said word for by one of the women during tbe GotSpringsEpisode.
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* OutdoorBathPeeping: During the HotSpringsEpisode, Hua Yin comes across the springs in question as they are being used by high level cultivators. Due to WithGreatPowerComesGreatHotness, he has some trouble looking away... and due to their level, gets noticed rather quickly.
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* ShamefulStrip: A minor example, but as punishment for his OutdoorBathPeeping, Hua Yin is sent back with nothing on except his sword.
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* TemptingFate: Three high level cultivators decide to go to a [[HotSpringsEpisode hot springs cultivation font]] without reinforcing the wards around it, claiming no one will come close anyway.
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* SimpleStaff: Guan Zhi uses one, as befits a former monk.
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* WeaponBasedCharacterization: Guan Zhi uses a staff, as befits a former monk.
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* TheseHandsHaveKilled: Hua Yin is forced to kill a barbarian invvader while protecting a village, and does not take it lightly.
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* TheseHandsHaveKilled: Hua Yin is forced to kill a barbarian invvader invader while protecting a village, and does not take it lightly.
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* RapePillageAndBurn: A couple of sidestories involve a barbarian raid in some villages, although Hua Yin's part is limited to him writing down the reports of the cultivators who took the raiders down.
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* RapePillageAndBurn: A couple of sidestories involve a barbarian raid in some villages, although Hua Yin's part is limited to him writing down the reports of the cultivators who took the raiders down. At least, until one mission has him end up in a village about to be attacked.
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* TheseHandsHaveKilled: Hua Yin is forced to kill a barbarian invvader while protecting a village, and does not take it lightly.
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* DreamRealityCheck: During his first exploration adventure, Hua Yin ends up in a BlankWhiteVoid and is shown visions of the past, so he pinches himself. He wakes up in a dark roo lit by glowing mushrooms.
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* DreamRealityCheck: During his first exploration adventure, Hua Yin ends up in a BlankWhiteVoid and is shown visions of the past, so he pinches himself. He wakes up in a dark roo room lit by glowing mushrooms.
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* FantasticRecruitmentDrive: After Hua Yin's awakening, a Core Disciple of the Broken Tree Sect comes and offers him a place.
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* FantasticRecruitmentDrive: After Hua Yin's awakening, Awakening, a Core Disciple of the Broken Tree Sect comes and offers him a place.
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Hua Yin is a boy from the family of Empire Administrators. His entire life, he had been preparing for the Imperial Exams, to follow in his father's footsteps. However, a few days before the Exams, he is attacked. His hands are broken to the extent that should forever prevent him from being a scribe.
In his chagrin, Hua Yin Awakens. His hands heal. Alas, the law forbids the Awakened to serve in the Administration. And so, he must find a new place for himself, as a Cultivator.
''[[https://forums.sufficientvelocity.com/threads/the-dao-of-the-awakened-a-xianxia-cultivation-quest.96394/ The Dao of the Awakened]]'' is a [[SpiritCultivationGenre Cultivation]] quest by warumono on Sandbox/SufficientVelocityDotCom. The story takes the format of Hua Yin's training and adventures, along with letters written by him to his family at home. The letters tend to be written by the quest readers.
!!''The Dao of the Awakened'' contains examples of:
* AchievementTestOfDestiny: Hua Yin had been preparing for one his entire life... and then a CareerEndingInjury prevented him from taking it.
* AnAxeToGrind: Gao Jin's preferred weapon is a hatchet.
* BadassBookworm: Hua Yin, once he gets rid of the GeekPhysiques.
* BagOfHolding: A storage ring for one item is the prize of the mountain exploration site.
* BanOnMagic: A variant; Awakened are banned from working in the Administration, to the chagrin of Hua Yin, whose Awakening healed his CareerEndingInjury.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Song Chyou is a quiet girl of peasant birth, but when she believes that another student - a more advanced one, mind you - had made her family harm hers, she publically challenges her to a duel. [[spoiler:And she wins, if very narrowly.]]
* BringMyBrownPants:
** During their first encounter with Tianlang, the four students all get quite a scare, but Li Gai actually loses control of his bladder. The other three are too polite to comment. The wolf is not.
** During one adventure, Hua Yin cuts down a guy hanging in a trap he triggered. Since he used the sword, and the guy is one who stole from him in the past, the smell at the end is clear enough.
* BunnyEarsLawyer: Renxing appears to be one. An extremely eccentric Core Disciple whose dossier has almost all details crossed out.
* CanisMajor: Tianlang, a Spirit Wolf living at a Font, is about the size of a house.
* CantHoldHisLiquor: Hua Yin starts off as one, part of his nerdy stats, although of course this doesn't last.
* CareerEndingInjury: Hua Yin Awakens after his hands are deliberately broken, preventing him from taking on the administration job he's been preparing for his entire life. In an ironic twist, that heals his hands, but as a Cultivator, he is banned from administration work anyway. [[spoiler:Later, he learns a rival of his is responsible. His family arranges a long HumiliationConga for the guy as revenge, ending up with his hands being broken the same way. He is DrivenToSuicide as a result.]]
* CheapGoldCoins: Averted. Gold currency is yet to be seen in the quest (although it it is mentioned), but silver, while not worth much when it comes to Sect ingredients and texts, is shown to be a lot in mundane goods - four silver, for example, are worth enough pork buns to bribe a CanisMajor for a whole year.
* CombatHandFan: Ling Daiyu uses one during the duel.
* CoolSword: Hua Yin gets a spirit jian named Jianshu in his first adventure.
* DeathOfAThousandCuts: The first style Hua Yin chooses for his swordfighting is centered around that.
* DesecratingTheDead: In the letter notifying Hua Yin that [[spoiler:Lin Mao was DrivenToSuicide]], it is stated that his corpse will be fed to dogs.
* TheDeterminator: One thing no one can accuse Hua Yin of is not making an effort. For example, he knew he was badly outmatched when he and Gao Jin were attacked by thugs, but did his best to [[MyDefenseNeedNotProtectMeForever at least hold off a foe]] while his friend dealt with the others.
* DoorToBefore: As soon as the mountain site adventure is complete, part of a wall vanishes, revealing a tunnel that leads outside.
* DreamRealityCheck: During his first exploration adventure, Hua Yin ends up in a BlankWhiteVoid and is shown visions of the past, so he pinches himself. He wakes up in a dark roo lit by glowing mushrooms.
* DrivenToSuicide: After [[spoiler:Lin Mao, the man who arranged Hua Yin's CareerEndingInjury]], is made to suffer the same fate, he jumps off a roof.
* EmpathicWeapon: Jianshu. It tends to be upset at not being used.
* {{Familiar}}: Li Gai has a hawk named Feng bonded with him, as is traditional for his family.
* FantasticRecruitmentDrive: After Hua Yin's awakening, a Core Disciple of the Broken Tree Sect comes and offers him a place.
* {{Fingore}}: The breaking of Hua Yin's hands. Luckily, he is unconscious when it happens.
* FoodAsBribe: Tianlang demands a supply of pork buns in exchange for allowing people to use the Kiss of Tribulation Font.
* FragileSpeedster: Two out of Hua Yin's first three techniques are for dodging and for leaps.
* GeekPhysiques: Hua Yin starts off weak and bad at physical combat. He improves quickly though.
* GoodSmokingEvilSmoking: Some Sect members are shown to smoke cigarettes. Presumably, cancer risk is lower than normal for Cultivators.
* HumanDemonHybrid: People with demon blood aren't common, but not unheard of. Guan Zhi is one, and a former monk at that (not a very good one).
* HumiliationConga: Hua Yin chooses that for the man responsible for his CareerEndingInjury, believing full-scale FeudingFamilies to be excessive. The guy is expelled, his pets get killed, his significant other is forced to break up with him... it ends up with the guy suffering the exact same injuries and DrivenToSuicide.
* ImposedHandicapTraining: The physical training course includes things like running while carrying bags of rice.
* InASingleBound: The Earth-Defying Path.
* IndenturedServitude: A Sect Disciple who cannot afford the tuition fees can pay them off in the form of mandatory military service.
* InnocentlyInsensitive: During his dinner with Lao Ai, Hua Yin doesn't realize it's a date, so he talks more about other female sect members than should be appropriate.
* InterruptedIntimacy: One task given to Hua Yin has him retrieving a library book on SexMagic. As he walks in, the Disciple in question appears to be practicing the technique.
* ItSeemedLikeAGoodIdeaAtTheTime: Hua Yin asking for Tianlang's grandchildren to help him practice evasion. Not only does dodging three giant Spirit Wolves turn out to be harder than expected, he soon finds out there is a human audience... so yeah, the trope name is dropped. Twice.
* ItWillNeverCatchOn: One teacher briefly mentions "outlandish theories about how world revolves around the sun".
* KarmicTransformation: A minor example, but the beginning shows Hua Yin rather disdainful toward the Awakened.
* KillerRabbit: Spirit beasts called Carnivorous Rabbits are very much real in the quest. Not much of a threat on their own, even for a regular person... except you never get to encounter a ''single'' rabbit.
* KingIncognito: During one task, Hua Yin meets a guy [[spoiler:who looks like some scruffed tinker or peddler, shares a meal with him and tells him about himself]]. Some time later, the Sect is visited by a Saint (that is, a Cultivator who can AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence but chooses not to), and, well, Hua Yin has some trouble believing it's the same guy.
* LargeRunt: Tianlang's grandkids. Mere playful pups... the size of a horse, so when Hua Yin requests a day of practicing his skills by evading them, it turns out he really needs to push himself.
* TheMarvelousDeer: During one of his exploration adventures, Hua Yin encounters a fuzhu (a mythical Chinese four-horned deer).
* MinMaxing: Hua Yin's initial stats are... well, the plan that won on the point distribution was called Mega Nerd.
* MonstersFavoritePettingSpot: Tianlang demands Hua Yin scratch his belly once. Then he threatens to kill the disciple [[GuiltyPleasure if he tells anyone]].
* MundaneUtility: The Earth-Defying Path allows one to make huge jumps... useful when a person is sent on an errand in another town.
* MysteryEpisode: One sidearc has Hua Yin investigating who stole his textbook and notes.
* NeverLearnedToRead: Downplayed. Gao Jin has some trouble reading, so Hua Yin takes the time to read the schedule off the bulletin board to him. As he does, a few people of commoner origin stop to listen, indicating they have the same issue.
* NobleBirdOfPrey: Feng, Li Gai's hawk Familiar.
* NotWhatItLooksLike: One encounter has Hua Yin finding Song Chyou crying with a male disciple standing in front of her. It turns out the guy himself has just found her like that, and the reason she was crying was homesickness combined with feeling out of place.
* PrecisionFStrike: Ling Daiyu drops the F-word when discussing the duel conditions with Hua Yin.
* ObliviousToLove: When Lao Ai requests a dinner together as payment for the new armor, Hua Yin doesn't even realize it's supposed to be a date until it's almost time for them to part ways.
* RapePillageAndBurn: A couple of sidestories involve a barbarian raid in some villages, although Hua Yin's part is limited to him writing down the reports of the cultivators who took the raiders down.
* RatStomp: The first fight Hua Yin gets into, not counting sparrings and exams, is against three [[RodentsOfUnusualSize dog-sized rats]].
* RequiredSecondaryPowers: When Hua Yin reduces his weight with the Earth-Defying-Path, it turns out putting the proper strength and precision behind his blows becomes tricky.
* RockPaperScissors: As per the readers' vote, Gao Jin and Hua Yin determine who gets the mountain site prize that way.
* RodentsOfUnusualSize: A pack of dog-sized rats with a leader that can grow as large as a donkey. Hua Yin survives by the skin of his teeth.
* {{Roofhopping}}: When given an errand in a busy city, Hua Yin uses his skills to hop onto a roof to take a shortcut, and notices a number of fellow Cultivators who had the same idea.
* TheRuleOfFirstAdopters: It is unclear about the "first" part, but it is mentioned that Hua Yin's sexual experience is limited to a few "viewing stones".
* ScaryImpracticalArmor: The Muddy Scales are hardly impractical, but it's not recommended to wear them during a polite conversation.
* SexMagic: An Art called Dual Cultivation.
* ShockAndAwe: The Levin Step technique, in addition to dodging, allows Cultivators to charge their attacks with electricity.
* SimpleStaff: Guan Zhi uses one, as befits a former monk.
* SinisterScythe: Song Chyou opens her duel against Ling Daiyu wielding [[spoiler:a sickle coated with movement-slowing poison.]]
* StaringContest: Hua Yin earns some respect from Gao Jin when he refuses to lose one... while the other guy is holding a hatchet.
* StreetUrchin: Gao Jin, a drunk's son from a really nasty neighborhood. Even while a Sect member, he is dealing in some shady business.
* ThisIsReality: Hua Yin's letters to his younger brothers contain a lot of explanation that Cultivation is different from how novels depict it. Song Chyou's duel challenge also seems to have come from reading too many of the same novels.
* ThrowingDownTheGauntlet: Song Chyou challenges Ling Daiyu to a duel by insulting and slapping her.
* TraumaticSuperpowerAwakening: Hua Yin Awakens after his hands are broken in a CareerEndingInjury.
* TwoKeyedLock: The second site Hua Yin explores has a door requiring simultaneous channeling of Qi at two points too far apart for one person. It's not the only case in that site.
* UpperClassTwit: Mo Xiang is one, truly showing it when paired up with Hua Yin as a sparring partner. And later, when he beats up Gao Jin.
* VirtualTrainingSimulation: The physical training exam involves fighting ethereal simulations of barbarian enemies.
* YouGetMeCoffee: One of the tasks Hua Yin does in the Archives is collecting overdue loaned books.
* WiseOldTurtle: The Archive has a spirit tortoise named Sister Ko living among the books. Allegedly, some saw it reading.
* WithGreatPowerComesGreatHotness: Advancing in Cultivation does tend to make one more handsome. Scars vanish as well.
* WrongGenreSavvy: At one point, Hua Yin is accused of being the classical Cultivation novel villain. The guy claiming that is operating on rather fragmentary information.
In his chagrin, Hua Yin Awakens. His hands heal. Alas, the law forbids the Awakened to serve in the Administration. And so, he must find a new place for himself, as a Cultivator.
''[[https://forums.sufficientvelocity.com/threads/the-dao-of-the-awakened-a-xianxia-cultivation-quest.96394/ The Dao of the Awakened]]'' is a [[SpiritCultivationGenre Cultivation]] quest by warumono on Sandbox/SufficientVelocityDotCom. The story takes the format of Hua Yin's training and adventures, along with letters written by him to his family at home. The letters tend to be written by the quest readers.
!!''The Dao of the Awakened'' contains examples of:
* AchievementTestOfDestiny: Hua Yin had been preparing for one his entire life... and then a CareerEndingInjury prevented him from taking it.
* AnAxeToGrind: Gao Jin's preferred weapon is a hatchet.
* BadassBookworm: Hua Yin, once he gets rid of the GeekPhysiques.
* BagOfHolding: A storage ring for one item is the prize of the mountain exploration site.
* BanOnMagic: A variant; Awakened are banned from working in the Administration, to the chagrin of Hua Yin, whose Awakening healed his CareerEndingInjury.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Song Chyou is a quiet girl of peasant birth, but when she believes that another student - a more advanced one, mind you - had made her family harm hers, she publically challenges her to a duel. [[spoiler:And she wins, if very narrowly.]]
* BringMyBrownPants:
** During their first encounter with Tianlang, the four students all get quite a scare, but Li Gai actually loses control of his bladder. The other three are too polite to comment. The wolf is not.
** During one adventure, Hua Yin cuts down a guy hanging in a trap he triggered. Since he used the sword, and the guy is one who stole from him in the past, the smell at the end is clear enough.
* BunnyEarsLawyer: Renxing appears to be one. An extremely eccentric Core Disciple whose dossier has almost all details crossed out.
* CanisMajor: Tianlang, a Spirit Wolf living at a Font, is about the size of a house.
* CantHoldHisLiquor: Hua Yin starts off as one, part of his nerdy stats, although of course this doesn't last.
* CareerEndingInjury: Hua Yin Awakens after his hands are deliberately broken, preventing him from taking on the administration job he's been preparing for his entire life. In an ironic twist, that heals his hands, but as a Cultivator, he is banned from administration work anyway. [[spoiler:Later, he learns a rival of his is responsible. His family arranges a long HumiliationConga for the guy as revenge, ending up with his hands being broken the same way. He is DrivenToSuicide as a result.]]
* CheapGoldCoins: Averted. Gold currency is yet to be seen in the quest (although it it is mentioned), but silver, while not worth much when it comes to Sect ingredients and texts, is shown to be a lot in mundane goods - four silver, for example, are worth enough pork buns to bribe a CanisMajor for a whole year.
* CombatHandFan: Ling Daiyu uses one during the duel.
* CoolSword: Hua Yin gets a spirit jian named Jianshu in his first adventure.
* DeathOfAThousandCuts: The first style Hua Yin chooses for his swordfighting is centered around that.
* DesecratingTheDead: In the letter notifying Hua Yin that [[spoiler:Lin Mao was DrivenToSuicide]], it is stated that his corpse will be fed to dogs.
* TheDeterminator: One thing no one can accuse Hua Yin of is not making an effort. For example, he knew he was badly outmatched when he and Gao Jin were attacked by thugs, but did his best to [[MyDefenseNeedNotProtectMeForever at least hold off a foe]] while his friend dealt with the others.
* DoorToBefore: As soon as the mountain site adventure is complete, part of a wall vanishes, revealing a tunnel that leads outside.
* DreamRealityCheck: During his first exploration adventure, Hua Yin ends up in a BlankWhiteVoid and is shown visions of the past, so he pinches himself. He wakes up in a dark roo lit by glowing mushrooms.
* DrivenToSuicide: After [[spoiler:Lin Mao, the man who arranged Hua Yin's CareerEndingInjury]], is made to suffer the same fate, he jumps off a roof.
* EmpathicWeapon: Jianshu. It tends to be upset at not being used.
* {{Familiar}}: Li Gai has a hawk named Feng bonded with him, as is traditional for his family.
* FantasticRecruitmentDrive: After Hua Yin's awakening, a Core Disciple of the Broken Tree Sect comes and offers him a place.
* {{Fingore}}: The breaking of Hua Yin's hands. Luckily, he is unconscious when it happens.
* FoodAsBribe: Tianlang demands a supply of pork buns in exchange for allowing people to use the Kiss of Tribulation Font.
* FragileSpeedster: Two out of Hua Yin's first three techniques are for dodging and for leaps.
* GeekPhysiques: Hua Yin starts off weak and bad at physical combat. He improves quickly though.
* GoodSmokingEvilSmoking: Some Sect members are shown to smoke cigarettes. Presumably, cancer risk is lower than normal for Cultivators.
* HumanDemonHybrid: People with demon blood aren't common, but not unheard of. Guan Zhi is one, and a former monk at that (not a very good one).
* HumiliationConga: Hua Yin chooses that for the man responsible for his CareerEndingInjury, believing full-scale FeudingFamilies to be excessive. The guy is expelled, his pets get killed, his significant other is forced to break up with him... it ends up with the guy suffering the exact same injuries and DrivenToSuicide.
* ImposedHandicapTraining: The physical training course includes things like running while carrying bags of rice.
* InASingleBound: The Earth-Defying Path.
* IndenturedServitude: A Sect Disciple who cannot afford the tuition fees can pay them off in the form of mandatory military service.
* InnocentlyInsensitive: During his dinner with Lao Ai, Hua Yin doesn't realize it's a date, so he talks more about other female sect members than should be appropriate.
* InterruptedIntimacy: One task given to Hua Yin has him retrieving a library book on SexMagic. As he walks in, the Disciple in question appears to be practicing the technique.
* ItSeemedLikeAGoodIdeaAtTheTime: Hua Yin asking for Tianlang's grandchildren to help him practice evasion. Not only does dodging three giant Spirit Wolves turn out to be harder than expected, he soon finds out there is a human audience... so yeah, the trope name is dropped. Twice.
* ItWillNeverCatchOn: One teacher briefly mentions "outlandish theories about how world revolves around the sun".
* KarmicTransformation: A minor example, but the beginning shows Hua Yin rather disdainful toward the Awakened.
* KillerRabbit: Spirit beasts called Carnivorous Rabbits are very much real in the quest. Not much of a threat on their own, even for a regular person... except you never get to encounter a ''single'' rabbit.
* KingIncognito: During one task, Hua Yin meets a guy [[spoiler:who looks like some scruffed tinker or peddler, shares a meal with him and tells him about himself]]. Some time later, the Sect is visited by a Saint (that is, a Cultivator who can AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence but chooses not to), and, well, Hua Yin has some trouble believing it's the same guy.
* LargeRunt: Tianlang's grandkids. Mere playful pups... the size of a horse, so when Hua Yin requests a day of practicing his skills by evading them, it turns out he really needs to push himself.
* TheMarvelousDeer: During one of his exploration adventures, Hua Yin encounters a fuzhu (a mythical Chinese four-horned deer).
* MinMaxing: Hua Yin's initial stats are... well, the plan that won on the point distribution was called Mega Nerd.
* MonstersFavoritePettingSpot: Tianlang demands Hua Yin scratch his belly once. Then he threatens to kill the disciple [[GuiltyPleasure if he tells anyone]].
* MundaneUtility: The Earth-Defying Path allows one to make huge jumps... useful when a person is sent on an errand in another town.
* MysteryEpisode: One sidearc has Hua Yin investigating who stole his textbook and notes.
* NeverLearnedToRead: Downplayed. Gao Jin has some trouble reading, so Hua Yin takes the time to read the schedule off the bulletin board to him. As he does, a few people of commoner origin stop to listen, indicating they have the same issue.
* NobleBirdOfPrey: Feng, Li Gai's hawk Familiar.
* NotWhatItLooksLike: One encounter has Hua Yin finding Song Chyou crying with a male disciple standing in front of her. It turns out the guy himself has just found her like that, and the reason she was crying was homesickness combined with feeling out of place.
* PrecisionFStrike: Ling Daiyu drops the F-word when discussing the duel conditions with Hua Yin.
* ObliviousToLove: When Lao Ai requests a dinner together as payment for the new armor, Hua Yin doesn't even realize it's supposed to be a date until it's almost time for them to part ways.
* RapePillageAndBurn: A couple of sidestories involve a barbarian raid in some villages, although Hua Yin's part is limited to him writing down the reports of the cultivators who took the raiders down.
* RatStomp: The first fight Hua Yin gets into, not counting sparrings and exams, is against three [[RodentsOfUnusualSize dog-sized rats]].
* RequiredSecondaryPowers: When Hua Yin reduces his weight with the Earth-Defying-Path, it turns out putting the proper strength and precision behind his blows becomes tricky.
* RockPaperScissors: As per the readers' vote, Gao Jin and Hua Yin determine who gets the mountain site prize that way.
* RodentsOfUnusualSize: A pack of dog-sized rats with a leader that can grow as large as a donkey. Hua Yin survives by the skin of his teeth.
* {{Roofhopping}}: When given an errand in a busy city, Hua Yin uses his skills to hop onto a roof to take a shortcut, and notices a number of fellow Cultivators who had the same idea.
* TheRuleOfFirstAdopters: It is unclear about the "first" part, but it is mentioned that Hua Yin's sexual experience is limited to a few "viewing stones".
* ScaryImpracticalArmor: The Muddy Scales are hardly impractical, but it's not recommended to wear them during a polite conversation.
* SexMagic: An Art called Dual Cultivation.
* ShockAndAwe: The Levin Step technique, in addition to dodging, allows Cultivators to charge their attacks with electricity.
* SimpleStaff: Guan Zhi uses one, as befits a former monk.
* SinisterScythe: Song Chyou opens her duel against Ling Daiyu wielding [[spoiler:a sickle coated with movement-slowing poison.]]
* StaringContest: Hua Yin earns some respect from Gao Jin when he refuses to lose one... while the other guy is holding a hatchet.
* StreetUrchin: Gao Jin, a drunk's son from a really nasty neighborhood. Even while a Sect member, he is dealing in some shady business.
* ThisIsReality: Hua Yin's letters to his younger brothers contain a lot of explanation that Cultivation is different from how novels depict it. Song Chyou's duel challenge also seems to have come from reading too many of the same novels.
* ThrowingDownTheGauntlet: Song Chyou challenges Ling Daiyu to a duel by insulting and slapping her.
* TraumaticSuperpowerAwakening: Hua Yin Awakens after his hands are broken in a CareerEndingInjury.
* TwoKeyedLock: The second site Hua Yin explores has a door requiring simultaneous channeling of Qi at two points too far apart for one person. It's not the only case in that site.
* UpperClassTwit: Mo Xiang is one, truly showing it when paired up with Hua Yin as a sparring partner. And later, when he beats up Gao Jin.
* VirtualTrainingSimulation: The physical training exam involves fighting ethereal simulations of barbarian enemies.
* YouGetMeCoffee: One of the tasks Hua Yin does in the Archives is collecting overdue loaned books.
* WiseOldTurtle: The Archive has a spirit tortoise named Sister Ko living among the books. Allegedly, some saw it reading.
* WithGreatPowerComesGreatHotness: Advancing in Cultivation does tend to make one more handsome. Scars vanish as well.
* WrongGenreSavvy: At one point, Hua Yin is accused of being the classical Cultivation novel villain. The guy claiming that is operating on rather fragmentary information.
