Ave Xia Rem Y Q&A 5 (Patreon)

Q1: Have you ever thought about commissioning art for various characters?

Constantly.

The problem is that whenever I start looking for artists to commission stuff from, I become this mega obnoxious, hyper-picky guy that can never find the “right” style for Ave Xia Rem Y.

Predictably, this ends with me not getting anything done.

Q2: How does the power balance in the Crimson Cloud Empire work? They’re seemingly host to the four most potent sects this side of the plains, yet the Imperial Family is still apparently in charge and the sects curry favor with them? Or is it that the Imperial Family is in a position of subservience to the sects and they only entertain the illusion of the emperor being in charge to increase their own legitimacy?

This one is a bit complex.

Each of the Four Great Sects is stronger than the Imperial Family and the Imperial Army. It didn’t use to be that way, but as the Four Great Sects grew in power, the imperial family got left behind. However, there is little point in one of the Four Great Sects trying to take over. Not only would the other three sects band together to stop them if one tried, but in the extremely unlikely event of their victory, they’d be left governing a lot of weak territories they don’t really care for.

From the point of view of the Four Great Sects, the reward for taking over the empire is lots of unwanted territory and people and even more unwanted bureaucracy.

Thus, the Imperial family remains in charge of the empire. Also, and this bit is very important, by existing, the imperial family provides a neutral party. The capital, particularly the royal court, is where most of the diplomacy between the Four Great Sects takes place. The emperor is (in theory) someone who can be trusted to provide impartial judgment.

The emperor doesn’t rule over the Four Great Sects. The emperor does his best to ensure they are (mostly) getting along.

In the simplest possible terms, the emperor of the Crimson Cloud Empire can be said to be the most important diplomat of the Crimson Cloud Empire.

It’s a very hard job.

Q3: How big is the planet? We know of three continents, the dead plains, and the two empires we’ve seen. Are we talking earth size or something more stereotypical xianxia?

The planet is vaguely larger than Earth. I don’t want to give hard numbers because I will inevitably mess up the moment math comes into play. Math is treacherous like that.

Q4: Since the divine frozen palace focuses on Yin techniques, how can it compare to the other sects when they fill their libraries with everything they can get their hands on?

Specialization is not a hindrance. Most cultivators eventually specialize in some way, and even the other three of the Four Great Sects have areas of specialization. The Divine Frozen Palace is just more specialized from the get-go.

The Divine Frozen Palace searches for and nurtures those with specialized talent in Yin Qi. They’re ready to teach them and help them flourish in ways they wouldn’t be able to anywhere else. It is an extreme case of quality over quantity.

Q5: Considering that the scions of major forces are bred for ideal physiques and surrounded by the finest of cultivation supplements since birth, how can independent cultivators compare?

Short answer: They can’t.

Longer answer: There are ways to catch up, but they are so damn rare they are out of the reach of the average cultivator. You need to get those fortunate encounters. Find an ancient technique scroll. Encounter a dead god. Receive a Heaven-defying cultivation technique. That’s the sort of thing that can overcome the gap.

In short, you need to get your protagonist on.

Q6: So not everyone can progress to the Spirit Realm and beyond. Liu Jin and co. seem to be having a cruisy time moving up the ranks, or at least it’s not focused on. My question is what sort / how much training would our main characters be doing in the background? Would they be encountering hurdles in their cultivation?

There is a lot of off-screen training going on. People can spend hours, days, and even weeks cultivating. Isolation training has been mentioned a couple of times, but even outside that, the characters cultivate many hours each day when they are not too busy with the plot.

Q7: Any characters or scenes that you find particularly difficult to write?

Occasionally, there will be scenes that won’t come out right. It can be any scene. It doesn’t have to be important. My mind will just refuse to make the sentence do sentence things, and it becomes a whole thing where I can be stuck on a paragraph for an hour.

Also, conversations can be hard in the sense of, “This conversation has to cover the following points. How can I do that while making it feel sort of natural for them to talk about this?”

Mud has a lot of little ticks that are hard to keep track of. Sometimes I’m like, “I don’t need to show every tick like I’m going down a checklist because then it becomes a checklist. But if I don’t mention them at all, that’s also not okay, so what’s the right balance here?”

Q8: What would Murong Bang’s fast food of choice be?

McDonald’s. 20 Chicken Nuggets. Large Fries. No Drink. No Condiments.

Q9: Have you considered doing a side book at some point focused on the other Xiao clan adventures? Or Song?

Yes. You have no idea. I have considered so many side stories. Even a prequel showing the very violent and bloody adventures of Liu Jin’s dad.

Q10: Do high-level cultivators still have to clip their fingernails, go to the bathroom/chamberpot/outhouse to relieve themselves, take baths/showers to avoid becoming smelly, do their hair after waking up etc, or at what point do they stop needing to do that?

They don’t. It happens gradually. Nascent Realm people may still need to do those things very rarely, but once you enter the Spirit Realm, it’s smooth sailing.

Except for hair and nails. Those take longer to stop growing because the body is just so used to doing it.

That said, despite not needing to, cultivators absolutely enjoy warm baths.

Q11: Can Liu Jin do shadow clone training with soul fragments? Can anyone that can make a soul fragment just use them to train and then absorb the memories?

For those who don’t get the reference, it’s the idea of making a bunch of clones of yourself and making them train. When you dispel them and get their memories, you have done all that cumulative training.

So the answer would be yes and no.

Liu Jin could, for example, make his soul fragments read a book and get those memories. Making them practice the same technique he is learning wouldn’t work out quite as well.

Q12: Is it possible for someone to voluntarily change or reorient their Dao/true self after it’s already developed? Can it be forcibly changed or corrupted by someone else, or change involuntarily after a hugely traumatic event?

Yes. But it would be really hard.

Also yes. But again, it would be really hard.

Q13: If Heaven realm cultivators and above have full control of their biology, does that mean that someone with enough medical knowledge would be able to replicate the advantageous traits that members of potent sects are born with, or are they past the point of needing to do so?

The body is always important, and yes, they can, but it’s not as simple as knowing. For example, if you want to get the benefits of some dragon marrow bloodline, you’re going to need to hunt a dragon to modify your body with. Then you’re going to need to get your soul used to that to the point it considers it your default setting.

It’s very complex stuff.

Q14: Why does Lu Mei want to learn the breathing technique Liu Jin constantly uses? Does it have other benefits besides removing impurities/poisons?

In addition to it being a sign of status in her former Sect, it also boosts cultivation speed by helping further purge the body of impurities.