Ink Transformation

The black liquid that once covered the central control sand table was produced by ink transformation. When Fang Yuan casts it, he commands hundreds of mortal Gu (metal, wood, water, earth, rule, soul, blood, and related paths, with dark path foremost) into a dark cloud; rain falls as inky drops that coat the sand table, then he drives the liquid into a chosen flaw until a whirlpool forms. Primeval essence at the peak of rank five falls rapidly as the ink is spent. Throwing the glass owner token into that whirlpool advances it by one edge after the ink is spent. Thirteen workable flaws mean thirteen possible edge advances if he can afford every cast; with only two immortal essence stones left he can support only one more ink transformation. ^{ch. 575}

Mo Yao’s shower refinement technique speeds the process by at least thirty percent and raises quality by twenty percent, but it demands unbroken concentration; overuse risks dizziness, failed refinement, soul injury, memory loss, or dementia. After five successful casts he holds a five-edge token. ^{ch. 579}

A sixth ink transformation yields six edges, and the cast expends almost all of the resources he had gathered to fund it. ^{ch. 581}

In a Spirit Affinity House refinement contest Feng Jin Huang stakes her remaining attack chances on refinement path killer move ink transformation. Fang Yuan interrupts the incomplete cast with revealing light Gu’s self-detonation; the move stops, backlash damages her organs, fire control fails, and she falls unconscious. ^{ch. 856}