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Table of Contents URL: fiction/42441/elder-cultivator

Elder Cultivator

by Halosty

Original ONGOING Xianxia Male Lead Strong Lead Action Adventure Fantasy Martial Arts

Anton is a great-grandfather. He is living quite a happy life, despite his advanced age and declining health… until a group of cultivator bandits moves into the area. The nearby guardians of the area, the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars, are unable to track them down as they continue to ravage nearby towns. During one desperate winter Anton is out on a hunt when his family- his entire village- is killed or taken as slaves by the bandits. He lacks the strength to fight them, and he wasn't even present for their arrival to die with his loved ones. At the pit of his despair, he wonders if he ever had any chance to change things. What could he even do? He cannot even pull his best bow, and his eyesight is failing. If he had been a cultivator… perhaps there might have been a chance, but he was decades- perhaps even most of his life- too late.

Participant in the Royal Road Writathon challenge (2022) Notes on cultivation levels:

There are five general stages of cultivation, though the fifth is extremely rare. Each cultivation style might have their own name for the stages.

1. Body Tempering

2. Spirit Building/ occasionally System Creation (Ninety-Nine Stars) 3. Constellation Formation (Ninety-Nine Stars) 4. Life Transformation/Galaxy Construction (Ninety-Nine Stars) 5. Ascension

Cover picture courtesy of gej302.

Chapter 1

Outside a farmstead in the village of Dungannon, swirling winds carried cold snow onto the eaves and ground. All of the animals were safely tucked away in the barn, and the thought of repairing fences and other tiresome work didn't even cross the minds of any of those crowding around inside. Inside, there was something truly wonderful happening- the birth of a child.

Not that they hadn't all seen something like that before. Of course, all twenty-odd of the family present had been born, and the two grandparents in the room and ten parents had seen most of those in the very same room be born. Anton and Janina Krantz were excited because it wasn't so often that people had a chance to become great-grandparents.

The village midwife was quite experienced, having helped with Tabby's birth, and now Tabby herself was having a child. There were many things that could go wrong with a birth, but skilled hands and practiced care greatly reduced the dangers. In this particular case, the midwife might not even have needed to come through the burgeoning snow at all. The birth was quick and smooth, and less than an hour later a beautiful little girl was being held in her mother's arms.

"Annelie," her mother said. "Her name will be Annelie."

Anton Krantz had seen all five of his own children be born, as well as his nine grandchildren. When he first laid his eyes upon them, he loved them… but even as he grew older and more directly removed from the process he found his attachment increased. He would willingly die for any of his family if it would help them somehow. If the little baby could talk and told him to kill himself he felt he would have done it without hesitation, even without anything to gain for it but a smile. Fortunately, neither of those things had cause to occur in his peaceful life.

Annelie was just the first in a line of great-grandchildren that would be born into the family over the next few years. Even if half of the third generation had chosen to move away from Dungannon into other towns and cities, their numbers were continuously growing. Everyone knew who they were, of course, with the ever growing family and farm… but then again, everyone knew everyone in Dungannon.

Some of his children told Anton Krantz that he shouldn't be working outside, wrangling cattle and building fences, driving oxen and planting seeds. He was 'too old'. Whenever anyone suggested that, he asked them who was going to do it in his stead. It wasn't that they weren't willing to work, but quite frankly it would take two or three of them to replace the work that he did, and they were all occupied with other things throughout the day. Janina had once worked out in the fields with him, but age had hit her more strongly, especially over the past few years. She still wasn't the sort to sit around doing nothing, so they had a constant influx of tailored work clothes coming from her.

"Grand-grandpa," Annelie said from behind him where she was tossing seeds into the plowed field. "Are you really a thousand years old?"

"That's right!" Anton Krantz might have been exaggerating his age a bit, but sometimes it felt like it. A thousand was… a bit out of reach for a normal person. That was the sort of age that heroes in the legends reached, but even for cultivators a thousand years was probably an exaggeration. Not that he had any way to know, since he'd only met a couple in his life, usually when he was visiting a big city. They were the sort to buy a whole animal without a thought, and with the sort of money they often had he didn't really blame them. At least they mostly didn't cause trouble. The whole country of Graotan was watched over by The Order of Ninety-Nine Stars, at least in theory. Anton wasn't sure how they could manage to handle that, especially since they were a whole fortnight of travel away on horseback. However, he had heard that they regularly stopped by Alcombey, the large city to the southwest. At least, one of their disciples. As for what that actually accomplished, he wasn't sure.

"How big is a thousand?" Annelie asked.

"That's ten hundreds," Anton replied.

"Oh." Annelie nodded, "I thought mommy said you were almost a hundred years old."

Anton laughed, "Don't you think I would know how old I am? I was around when your grandpa was born, too."

"He says you're only a hundred too." Annelie was technically scattering seeds still, but several handfuls ended up in the same spot.

"Maybe they're right then," Anton gave up on the joke. "Watch where that seed goes. You want to make sure not too many plants grow together. None of them will make those big potatoes you like so much if they're cramped." Well, it didn't matter much. She only had a relatively small portion of the seed, and mostly she was just there to watch. Speaking of which, the oxen had probably rested enough. Anton wasn't sure if he had rested enough, but he could still keep going. Just because he wasn't young didn't mean he was weak.

With all the work on the ever-expanding farm, he rarely got out into the forest for hunting. Technically he still wasn't hunting, though he did have his bow with him. If he saw a wild boar or a deer, it wouldn't hurt to take it back with him. However, he was looking for something else at the moment. He needed medicinal herbs that he knew grew in the area. Of course, if they didn't grow in the area he couldn't do much but wistfully think about them. While the farm was expanding, it merely took care of the family and provided little beyond what they needed. They weren't poor, with some savings for harsh winters or the like… but they also couldn't afford to spend a large amount of money on medicine. When they did… it was for the great-grandchildren.

What Anton was looking for required a constant supply, and he made regular trips out into the forest for the herbs. Janina wasn't any older than himself, but the last few years had been harder on her. She'd developed a persistent cough, and anything that could ease her pain for a while was welcome. Anton was quite familiar with the locations it grew, how it liked to live in the shade and especially near sources of water.

He found himself ranging further and further looking for the herbs, letting them regrow in places he'd already been and instead seeking out further patches. Since he might spend several days away, it was best if he came back with as much as possible for his efforts. Sometimes that meant some fresh game… but usually it meant edible mushrooms or root vegetables.

This was looking to be one of the second types. He hadn't spotted even something like a rabbit- though realistically a rabbit would be harder to spot than larger game. At least he still had a bagful of other herbs they might be able to sell. As he finished plucking a few mushrooms after checking their coloration and placing them in a second little bag at his waist, he noticed someone in front of him. "Oh…" Anton bowed his head. "Hello, sir. I don't often see anyone else out in the forest."

The man in front of him was young. He might have taken him for a hunter as well with his obvious physique, but he didn't have a bow and his clothing was much too loose. The man bowed his head in return. "Good day to you, sir. I don't suppose you have come across signs of any others? There are reports of bandits moving into the area."

Anton frowned. Bandits were never good news. "No… I haven't seen anything of them. What have you heard?"

"There was an attack on Thorpes last month. I know little more than that, I fear." The man extended his hand. "I am Vincent. If you stumble upon anything, please let me know. You can leave a message for me at the Prancing Deer in Alcombey."

The Prancing Deer… that was one of the nicer inns in the city. The journey was far enough that whenever Anton visited he had to stay overnight, but he'd never been willing to spend enough to stay at that place. It might not have been as overpriced as the Golden Swan, but it certainly wasn't within the range he was willing to pay for a place to sleep. "Very well. If I hear anything about bandits, I will contact you there."

"Much obliged, good sir," Vincent bowed his head. "Good luck with your hunt."

Anton watched as he left, and strangely enough Vincent seemed to almost float over the land. Of course, he was walking with his feet on the ground but the patches of rough terrain didn't seem to slow him down. It seemed like every step brought him the same distance even up or down a slope or over rocks or roots. Somehow, the steps avoided being awkward or mechanical. There was something strange about it… but Anton returned to thinking about his newly increased concerns once the man was out of sight. Now there were bandits.

There was no way for Anton to know if the man's blessing meant anything at all, but not ten minutes later he stumbled upon a large patch of the very herb he was looking for. After picking a handful of the most mature specimens, he left the remaining herbs to continue maturing. There was some chance someone else would come pick them up before he could, but he would prefer to give them a chance to grow and repopulate even if it meant perhaps not getting everything himself. Then he started on his return journey… worrying about all sorts of troubles that might arise.

Chapter 2

Each great-grandchild that was born increased both Anton's joy and his worries. He loved every single member of his family- despite the fact that none of them were perfect- and he wanted the best for them. Figuring out what was best and acquiring it was… difficult. Anton knew he couldn't solve every problem his family faced… but nobody was going to stop him from trying.

Janina wasn't the sort to give up either… but the last decade had been hard on her. Now she spent most of her time in bed. He knew she hated feeling useless, but just giving up on her… was impossible. He'd known her for most of the century they'd been alive, and loved her as soon as such feelings developed in him. She was his closest friend since the very beginning.

No matter how many herbs he found in the forest, she wasn't going to get better. In fact, too many and she would decline more quickly. Relieving pain was not without side effects. Anton missed working by her side every day, or seeing her when he entered the house at dinner time, and even just being able to talk without exhausting her. The thing that bothered him most about the situation… was himself.

He knew he was well past his prime, long before. His strength was declining and his eyesight was blurring such that he could barely hunt. Yet if he were to compare his health to most of the others his age… it was quite simple to see the difference. They were dead, and he was not. Compared to Janina, he was quite healthy… and he would likely outlive her by a number of years at least. He was still in better shape than she was a decade prior. If he could only pass on with her… but he also couldn't just give up on life after that. There were so many others who might need him. Work on the farm mostly was taken care of, but there was always more he could help out with.

Then there were the bandits. While in most cases, bandits lasted a few months at most before disappearing, the particular group of bandits were much more troublesome. Even with The Order of Ninety-Nine Stars looking for them, they'd evaded capture for a whole decade. They weren't just normal bandits, of course. They were cultivators… and as with anything else related to cultivators their effects were much more than those who weren't. Regular bandits stole and pillaged what they could, and cultivators could do much more. They ravaged entire towns, taking anything they found of worth, killing those without value and selling the rest as slaves. Even if such events were rare, every few months at most… they ranged throughout all of northeastern Graotan. While they hadn't yet been seen near Dungannon, the thought that they might have a base in the forest was a concern.

Perhaps Vincent had been incorrect about them hiding in the forest. Anton had trekked across the forest back and forth his whole life, and the last decade he hadn't found them. But whether or not they made their home in a nearby forest or elsewhere, they were a threat. Yet he'd been all over the forests and never found them. Even if they moved camp, he should have found them. He couldn't range any further than a few days from Dungannon, both practically and emotionally. His children and grandchildren were already worried when he went out on a hunt. Perhaps they were right to be.

Thick snow swirled in front of Anton's face, such that he couldn't see. Even more than normal, that was. He could barely pick out a deer from a tree at a hundred paces in bright daylight. In a snowstorm, he could barely see the ground in front of him. This was where the priorities of different people came into play. It had been a harsh winter, and the year before that was no good either. At home there were great-grandchildren complaining of hunger. His family told him to not go out into the woods to hunt, that he would die… but they didn't consider what he wanted.

Janina was gone now. The previous winter had taken her with its bitter cold… though it was not much harsher than most winters. She had just reached her end. She had kept a smile on her face as she lay in her deathbed, but while she might have been content Anton was not.

Maybe he wanted to die. The thought did cross his mind. That was why he was out in the blinding snow in the dead of winter. But that thought… was just a thought. It passed. He had his bow and arrows, though he could barely draw the bow now. If he died in the snow… his family would mourn. He didn't want that. He instead wanted them to rejoice at his return. For that, and the continued rejoicing afterwards when they had something more to eat… he needed to bring back some game. But first he had to not die.

He could barely recognize the landscape entirely covered in snow, but he saw a familiar tree with peculiar knots. That meant nearby was… yes, there it was. A cave. He could take shelter during the worst part of the storm. He had to. He knew better than to do what he had done, but the mistake was now made.

Anton gathered sticks and brush, whatever he could find. He cleaned it of snow so it wouldn't be so wet and began to set about making a fire. At least his hunting pack had been properly supplied and still had flint and steel in it from the previous hunt. Honestly, what had he been thinking sneaking out the door like he did? Now he was half a day from home in the worst storm of the year.

Eventually he started a fire, and the warmth it created was… sufficient. The cave blocked the cold winds and snow from outside, his warm clothing did well enough to keep him alive until that point… and as he brushed off the snow so he wasn't wet from it melting in the fire, he was at least not cold as the time passed. He leaned back where he sat against the wall, drifting off into unconsciousness.

When he woke, Anton was pleased to see that he wasn't dead, and that the storm was over. The second was ultimately more important as it meant his family would not be needing quite as much firewood, so his grandchildren didn't have to go out into the snow to cut more. Plus, it meant he might get back home… or successfully hunt something.

Every member of his family could attest that he was stubborn about some things. Even if he hadn't been thinking quite right, he was out in the forest to hunt. His family was hungry, surviving only on food they had to ration over the remaining winter. If things went on, they might have to dig into their seed for the next year… and all the hard work expanding the farm would slowly decline. Perhaps they might borrow money in the city, but if there was another bad year… they could lose everything.

He wanted a deer. So he trudged off deeper into the woods. It seemed fate, if it existed, had no intention to kill him just yet. He found some berries in the hollow of a hill that weren't quite frozen, providing him some energy to continue forward. He knew of another cave to spend the next night, and somehow found it.

The next morning luck seemed to be on his side as he found tracks. They were fresh, too, a light snowfall having come during the night. Deer. It didn't matter how big it was, any deer would be a godsend. He followed the tracks, happy that he had stumbled across them. He couldn't have spotted them from far on the blank white landscape with the sun glaring off of it… not with his eyes as they were.

He squinted his eyes, crouching down. Just a few hours of tracking and he'd actually found it. Somehow he'd avoided spooking it off. He couldn't quite see what was its flank, a nearby tree, its head… but there was certainly a deer. Or a log strangely floating off the ground. It had to be a deer.

Anton nocked an arrow in his bow, the string trembling as he pulled it back. Weakness from hunger and age compounded, but he grit his teeth and pulled with all his might. When he released the arrow, only years of experience kept it on track as it nearly flew off target… but he hit the deer straight in the side. Red blood spurted onto the white snow and the creature took off running.

Step by step he followed after it. It wasn't hard to spot the red blood, even with his eyesight. Perhaps his aim hadn't been quite right, or he was tired… because it felt like it was hours before he spotted the deer again. However, he finally did… seeing it collapsed on its side. He was lucky no scavengers had gotten to it before him.

He unloaded the canvas from his pack, using it as a sled under the deer. It was thin… but still heavier than he could lift. Once when he was young and strong he could have slung it over his shoulder and walked all day, but now he could barely drag it on the canvas sled. But he had done it. He certainly wasn't going to leave his prize behind. If it was the last thing he ever did… he had to at least get it back to his family. Then they could make it through the winter, even if he didn't.

Step by step he trudged along. It would likely take him two days to get back, because while he hadn't gone straight away from home he was also even slower with his catch. He had to pace himself so he wouldn't collapse along the way. That wouldn't benefit anyone but the wolves.

Then he spotted something. Strange blobs in the distance, not trees. He couldn't figure out what they were, but he detached the sled and crept closer. He had a feeling what it might be… and once he was within ten paces he found he was right. Tents. Not just one or two, but a full dozen. A camp… used recently, and one that would likely be returned to. It was in a place he was certain he had passed before many times. Perhaps it was new… even his old eyes wouldn't have missed it.

If it was what he thought, he would need to head to Graotan after he returned home. He couldn't go directly there regardless- he would certainly die of exhaustion on the trip, and he wasn't going to just eat the deer on his own. It would likely take about the same amount of time regardless, since the only roads left from Dungannon. He could be slightly faster without the deer… but if he didn't return with it, there was no point in killing it to begin with. And on the rations the Krantz family could afford to give to an old nearly decrepit man, he wouldn't make it. He was the only one who knew where Vincent would be, and where the camp was. So he walked, steadily, towards his home. Perhaps he might still accomplish one more thing before he died.

Chapter 3

The snowstorms had ceased, leaving behind clear but desolate skies. There was no sound reaching Anton's ears except the crunching of snow from his boots and the sled behind him. As he began walking, still a day from home, he saw the comforting sights of smoke from the chimneys of the farm and the town. He was nearly back.

He walked onward with renewed vigor, eager to return home with his catch. As his steps carried him forward, his eagerness gradually turned to dread. He wasn't so close to Dungannon that the smoke from chimneys should be so clearly spotted. It was thick, black smoke.

He dropped the sled from his shoulders, running as quickly as he could through the snow towards the town. His better sense came over him and he slowed his past to a fast walk, one that would likely still exhaust him by the time he arrived but at least he wouldn't collapse before he got there. His lungs and legs burned, but he kept pushing himself to move. His stomach growled from its prolonged hunger, reminding him why he had been away hunting.

He first spotted the Krantz farm from atop a nearby rise. His legs stopped as he took in the sight, his mind unable to process what he had already imagined was true. Black smoke slowly rose from the scene, but it was thinner than it had been. Barns were scorched and collapsed, and the family home was a smouldering pile of rubble. Anton fell to his knees, then forward onto his face. The cold snow shocked him enough to rattle him into action.

He shakily pushed himself up to one knee, then used a nearby tree to pull himself onto his feet. He ran forward once again, ignoring the burning pain in his legs and his lungs and fully giving into the sense of delirium that overcame him.

Spots of red stood out in one the white snow, next to the black. Blood. The first body he came across was a cow, emaciated but one they had hoped would grow quickly in the spring. Her body was lying in a collapsed barn, clearly killed before the fire. Why? Anton staggered further towards the house, where he saw more blood… and more bodies. His children… not young anymore but grandparents… them and their wonderful spouses, loved parts of the family. Next came some grandchildren, young but old enough to be parents- and most were.

"Hello? Anyone?" Anton called out, hoping to find someone alive, someone he could save. No response came. He called out again and again as his legs carried him past the farm, but he heard nothing.

Automatically, he walked into town. He wasn't thinking anything, but if he had been… he wanted to find anyone alive, someone he could save or talk to to ask what happened. Unfortunately, he already knew.

The bandits. That gang of cultivators that had been growing stronger for the last decade. Even normal bandits wouldn't be so brutal. Living people could be stolen from again, and there was no profit in burning down buildings. He should have come faster.

He staggered into town, completely unaware of his own body. Dungannon proper was exactly the same as the Krantz farm, merely burned out husks of buildings and bodies of all sorts surrounded by snow covered ground. Most of the fires had sputtered out. Anton called out for anyone until his throat was raw, and even more beyond that.

As soon as he saw the camp he should have run to town. He could have warned them. What did food matter?

His feet carried him back and forth until his tracks criss-crossed the city square many times. There were a few tracks not his own, but he couldn't tell if they were coming or going. He started to follow them out of town, towards Graotan. His brain told him there was something there. His body told him it could do no more.

Before he even reached the edge of town, he collapsed face first into the snow. He didn't even feel the cold, the burning of his lungs, the pain in his legs… none of it registered to him. No coherent thoughts crossed his minds, merely ideas of how he could have arrived faster. How he could have changed his route to spot the camp on his way out. How he could have immediately returned to warn people. As if… such actions would make a difference. What would people have done? Prepared to fight? Fled their homes in the middle of a snowstorm? He didn't have answers to that. He didn't have answers to anything. At least he was going to die with everyone else. He almost smiled at that thought as consciousness left him, but he had neither the strength nor sufficient ironic joy.

Heaven was cold. Or was it hell? Heaven wasn't supposed to be painful. If it was hell… it wasn't as bad as he thought, until his memories came back to him. Then it was worse. He opened his mouth to cry out, but he had no strength for that.

Bright light streamed into his eyes from the sky. Light mixed with snowfall. When had he gotten on his back? He thought he heard something. A hand touched his chest and his head. Something soothing flowed into him. It was like cool water on a hot day, but in the cold it was also like a toasty fire and a hot cup of tea. Then he heard something. A voice, calling to him.

"...ton… Anton!"

His eyes focused on a man in front of him. His throat… was just barely able to make sound. "...Vincent?"

"I saw the smoke. I ran here from Graotan. I know this is hard, but did you… see where they went?"

Anton tried to shake his head, but he couldn't. "...no." Breathing was hard. "Saw their camp."

"You found it?" Vincent's eyebrows furrowed. "Where is it?"

"Can… show you…" Anton tried to stand up, but he could barely even move his fingers, let alone raise his body. "It's… out in the forest. By the oak with the… seven knots…"

"I don't… know the place." Vincent sighed.

"... drag me."

"If I move you, you'll die," Vincent replied.

"...So? If you can kill… the bandits… at least I'll die for something."

Vincent grinned, "Determination… that's good. Fine. Point me in the right direction."

Anton had given piggyback rides to his children, grandchildren, and even great-grandchildren. It had been probably ninety years since he had gotten one himself, give or take a few years. Yet he found himself picked up like a little child. He knew he wasn't as heavily muscled as he had once been, and there was no fat left on his bones… but he hadn't expected to find himself so casually carried. Nor had he expected to then move so quickly.

"Sorry about this, Anton. I'm sure it's not comfortable."

Anton had no energy to respond to the thought of discomfort. He could barely keep his eyes open as he bounced along, the scenery blurring past him- and not just because of his poor eyesight. He directed Vincent with as few words as possible, guiding him along towards his tracks, partially covered with new snow. However, he hadn't taken the straightest route from the camp. He'd gone the easy way, but he pointed Anton straight towards the camp, away from his tracks. At least, they would get close. For all his apologies, the motion from being carried by Vincent was… quite minimal. No worse than walking speed on a horse. He recalled seeing him move smoothly over the land before, and he imagined it was the same now… though he couldn't see his feet. Leaning would be inadvisable, so he stayed draped over the man. "A few degrees right. Straight through that tree." At first he had thought he would have to find slightly traversable paths, but as Vincent jumped over a stream ten paces wide he realized they could be a bit more efficient. At the speed they were going… they would arrive at the camp in less than an hour. Assuming Vincent could keep it up. Not only was that true, but Anton felt the speed actually increased.

"I see it…" Vincent said. "But I don't sense anyone nearby. Rest here for a moment, Anton."

Anton smiled, preparing to close his eyes for the final time. Vincent would surely catch them now. At least… nobody else would suffer.

"Damn," the expletive pulled him out of his reverie. "So that was how they hid. The formation only broke because of the excessive snow. With a formation master among them…" Vincent continued speaking to himself, "... and they must know the formation broke as they were out. They likely won't return here." Anton saw Vincent bury his head in his hands. "Just empty tents…"

"How can I… help…" Anton couldn't just die now. They were so close.

"I'm sorry. There's nothing more you can do. This is the best lead possible, and it might allow me to find them in the future now that I know."

"... gonna kill them…" Anton muttered.

"Of course I am. You've seen what they do. Killing them will bring justice."

Anton wasn't listening to Vincent. Instead, he was trying to get to his feet. "I'm… gonna kill them." Somehow, he made it to his feet before toppling forward. "Gonna… get… them…" Once more, his consciousness faded.

Chapter 4

The wonderful smell of eggs and sausage trickled into Anton Krantz' nose. He could hear the sizzling of a frying pan and the warmth of the fire. However, that very warmth reminded him of something. Now that he was not freezing, he felt his aching legs and raw throat as well as his terrible hunger. At least it seemed one of those might be solved, but remembering that he wasn't home with his family- and indeed couldn't possibly be home with his family- brought more pain than his physical maladies.

Vincent's voice came from nearby. "Good. You're awake." Anton wasn't sure how he knew that since he hadn't even moved or opened his eyes. "Breakfast is just about ready. I'm sure you need it."

"Why didn't you just let me die in the snow?" Anton slowly opened his eyes, letting them settle on the younger man next to him.

"Because that's something I can't take back." Vincent shrugged, "If you really want to die, you just have to not eat. Then you'll never kill a bandit or save any of your family."

Anton's brow furrowed, wrinkling his forehead even more than its standard cragginess. "How can I save anyone that's dead?"

"You can't," Vincent said, "But not all of them are dead. However, their fate might not be much better. These bandits are slavers, and while that means that most of the young folk in Dungannon will still be alive… things might not be much better. Likely they will be sold in Ofrurg, which cares little for where slaves come from. From there, they might be sold anywhere."

Anton had managed to crawl out of the tent he woke up in. He pulled himself to a sitting position and took the plate of food Vincent handed him, shakily grabbing a fork and bringing food into his mouth. He chewed in silence for a while before speaking. "What use is that information to an old man such as me? I'll likely die before I even reach the border, and have no way to retrieve them from the hands of cultivator bandits or a slaveholding nation."

"You are correct," Vincent ate casually but seemed to disregard the heat of the food, making no attempts to blow on his food. "There is nothing you can do. Even if you have the utmost determination in the world, it is likely impossible. The leader of the bandits has likely surpassed the body tempering stage and moved on to the next level of cultivation. If you only care about your own family… you might as well give up your life. However…" there was a long pause. "If you have the determination to stop more evils, perhaps there is a small chance you might yet do something. I already have sworn to kill these bandits, and I will do my best to see any they captured free from slavery. I can't promise to accomplish any of those feats in the next year… but I won't be giving up on taking them down." Vincent shook his head, "Old as you are, you can do nothing, but I at least have a way you can speed along your death without giving up." He pulled out a scroll from a bag by his side- a scroll that didn't seem as if it could have fit inside. He let the scroll roll out on its own, and Anton saw a myriad of sparkling lights. "This is the core cultivation technique of The Order of Ninety-Nine Stars. I am sure you know we are headquartered in the southwestern portion of Graotan. If you are able to practice it to the third level, then you can join the order."

Anton looked at him. "Can I…. cultivate? Even as an old man?"

Vincent grimaced. "I won't lie to you. It will likely be excruciatingly difficult. You will need natural talent to even successfully cultivate the first layer in… a short amount of time."

"Before I die, you mean." Anton nodded, "Cultivation takes many years, and currently, I have… very few left in me." Anton placed his hand on his chest. He could even now feel his heart straining, overworked by his recent events. It had lasted him so long already, but it might not hold out for just the bit more that he needed.

"That's correct. And there's no real chance of you actually being able to compete with the bandits who killed your family. Perhaps… you might become strong enough to journey to find those who were enslaved, but that's the work of a lifetime." Vincent sighed, "It won't be easy for you to even try, but if you truly have the determination to get revenge, you can make the attempt."

Anton reached out for the scroll, his hands still shaking even without the deep hunger. He looked at it, seeing the writing hidden behind the field of stars. It was too dense to read at the moment, but fortunately his eyes worked up close for the most part. Anton looked around him, at the remains of the bandit camp they were staying in. "Will they come back here?"

"I don't think so…" Vincent said, "But I searched around for their trail from the city and couldn't find it. More than just the snow was at play covering their tracks. So the best I can hope is that there is something they want here." Vincent gestured to the campfire which wasn't emitting any smoke. "They shouldn't be able to notice me here until they get close, but they might have given up because the formation collapsed. And there's nothing of value here… just food and tents."

"Food has value."

"Not to those who steal it. Not when they can just take more." Vincent shook his head. "You should rest. Think carefully on that. It's… dangerous. Especially with a weak constitution."

Anton took his advice, though only because he could barely drag himself back into a tent. Rest… might help. But likely not.

Anton's dreams were filled with nightmares. He wasn't just seeing the faces of his dead family. Somehow, he was witnessing the bandits kill them. His wife was there too, but young. She was carried away by the bandits. When Anton awoke, he knew it was a nightmare, that he hadn't seen any of that, that Janina had been old and dead for years… but that didn't make the impact less.

Even though it was the middle of the night, Vincent was still awake. Did the man ever sleep? Did he have to sleep? He was a cultivator, after all. Anton wasn't sure what they could do… but they were certainly far beyond the capabilities of normal humans.

His thoughts drifted back to the nightmare and he shook his head. He wanted none of it. Perhaps it was better to just die, but if he was going to die anyway… he pulled out the scroll. It glowed in the night, the stars on its surface flickering and moving. He read the words hidden in the stars.

The scroll explained many things about cultivation. The beginning was body tempering. During that stage, the cultivator would lay the foundation for body tempering by guiding energy from the cultivation technique all throughout their body. Once that was complete, that was the first level. Then the cultivator had a choice to make. Throughout body tempering, they would refine their skin, bones, marrow, muscles, internal organs in the head and torso separately, their tendons, and perhaps most importantly their meridians. Then there would be one final refinement of the entire body to complete the stage. That was the tenth of ninety-nine stars.

The full body was first and last, but in between any choices could be made. After each refinement it grew more difficult… but the cultivator would also likely grow more skilled with the technique. However, the specifics… didn't matter to Anton yet. He wasn't even sure if he could gather energy from the world. He read through the breathing technique that described how it was supposed to be done.

His lungs were barely up to the task of breathing deeply, so expelling the impurities inside of him was clearly not going to be easier. He wasn't even sure if he had any success at that as he inhaled, attempting to gather the energy of the world. Out and in. In and out. Anton didn't notice Vincent turn towards him, his eyes closed in concentration. Then, he felt it. Just a little strand of something. He was supposed to guide that throughout his body. Through his meridians… but he couldn't even really sense them. He followed the description as much as he could, but as the energy entered his stomach it burned. It felt like he was on fire, and like he might die. However, he pulled it into him anyway. If he truly exploded… at least everything would be over. Once it settled inside him the pain decreased, but he didn't stop. He encouraged the energy to flow through his body, and it seemed to naturally find the meridians, whatever they were, as it flowed in a set path. His insides were on fire, and the energy quickly ran out… but he grit his teeth and started the whole process again. Either he would succeed sooner or die sooner… and he didn't really care which. If nothing else, the physical pain kept his mind away from the rest.

Chapter 5

Though every tiny piece of his body hurt, Anton found himself more able to actually move about after some time spent cultivating. With that, he thought of something more important to do than just moping about thinking about dying.

Anton trudged his way back towards Dungannon at a measured pace. A bit of food had given him some strength, but movement still hurt, both from fatigued muscles and whatever it was that cultivating was doing to him. Possibly tearing him apart, but it was really damaging him he felt he would already be dead. Even though he had once been quite tough… at around a hundred years old, he felt like he could fall apart at any moment. He was almost surprised he'd made it so far, but he didn't let his mind stop on any of that.

On the way back towards town, he passed over the frozen and snow-covered carcass of the deer he had hunted. It had surprisingly not been touched by scavengers, so it was in relatively good shape. Anton couldn't rely on Vincent to provide him food… and Vincent wouldn't be in town regardless. So he grabbed the straps and started pulling the canvas sled towards town. He followed basically the same path he had taken before, his previous tracks barely visible under new layers of snow.

It was a long walk still, to reach Dungannon, but he was able to reach the town before evening. He stopped outside the Krantz family farm, unwilling to go closer. Instead, he gathered sticks and cleared snow to make a fire pit. He didn't have a good table to work on the deer, so he just cut off strips of meat and roasted them over the fire, keeping the main portion of the deer away from the heat so it wouldn't thaw and refreeze.

The meal was awful. Frozen deer didn't cook well, and the thoughts he had harbored of sharing it with his family only brought their faces back into his mind. However, he needed to eat… and he had come back for a reason. So he ate as much as seemed reasonable to build up his strength, before setting a tent next to a ruined barn and using a bedroll pilfered from the bandit camp to keep himself warm for the night.

Anton could only take so much cultivating. His entire body screamed as the unfamiliar energy he pulled from the world around him tore into it. Though it hurt to move after that, he didn't feel weakness which was good enough. As long as he could move… he could work.

First he found himself digging through the rubble looking for tools. It took a day before he came up with a shovel, and then he could begin the real work. His oldest son could have reasonably been considered an old man in his own right. He was a grandfather, but like Anton himself he worked his whole life. His body still had quite a bit of muscle on it, so bringing it to the top of the hill where Janina was buried with Anton's parents was quite a chore. Then Anton set about removing the snow and digging through frozen soil.

Eating, sleeping, cultivating, and digging graves became Anton's life.

The venison lasted him two weeks, and after that he began on the organs, eating whatever he could despite how tough it might be. Everything was roasted over a fire, which wasn't the optimal way to cook all of it… but he didn't exactly have many other options.

The bodies of Anton's family were all buried by the time he ran out of food. Digging through the rubble had been slow, but with nothing else to do all day… he kept at it. Despite the constant pain from muscle fatigue and cultivation, he felt stronger than he had in a long time. Perhaps it was just the weakness from winter rations fading, but he was able to push his way past his difficulties.

Anton knew that Vincent had been right, but seeing that only about half of his grandchildren and their spouses were dead didn't fill him with joy. Getting carried away as slaves was not necessarily a better fate. As for his great-grandchildren… Anton knew he couldn't fight even the weakest cultivator, but he wanted to stomp off to Ofrurg and tear down the whole country.

Perhaps the attempt would have allowed him to die content, but it wouldn't have really done anything productive. He still had work to do where he was. Dungannon wasn't just his own family after all. The rest of the villagers also deserved the respect of a proper burial.

Before he could do that, Anton needed to survive. That meant food- and with all of the village's stored food eaten, stolen, or destroyed- he had to hunt. Somehow his bow had held up through being buried in snow with him several times, though he had to replace the string with another he had fortunately stored in the quiver. Heading out far into the woods wasn't something he wanted to do, so he looked for tracks closer. If he was lucky, he would find something smaller, since he didn't need to feed a whole family and it would be easier to carry back.

When he was willing to settle for smaller game, his eyes were drawn to any prints he saw. After a few hours of following some rabbit tracks, he finally found one. He would have preferred to set up traps, but he no longer had the material for them. As he spotted the rabbit, he noticed his eyesight was slightly less blurry. Even with its winter coat, he had seen it from over a dozen paces away. He couldn't say which end was the head, but he stopped and carefully drew his bow. It pulled back slightly more easily now that he wasn't quite so fatigued, and his arrow flew true- and the rabbit didn't notice the movement. Unlike the deer, a rabbit couldn't even move with an arrow in its side, so he didn't have to chase it. That would provide food for a day, at least.

Whenever he breathed out, Anton could feel something being forced out of him. It wasn't just stale air, either. Whatever it was quickly found itself replaced by new, fresh air… and in that air was the energy he was seeking. According to the cultivation manual, it was possible to absorb it directly at a certain point- but for the moment, he could only take the energy from the air inside his lungs. Each breath had a small strand of energy that he pulled down to his dantian, a place below his navel. He wasn't sure if it was a real organ. He'd seen enough of the insides of people over the past month and a half to be fairly certain there were only guts there… but then again, the meridians this energy flowed through didn't seem to be real either.

Or maybe… real wasn't the right word. He could feel both, and he stored up energy in his dantian before moving it through the squiggly meridians going throughout his body. Each time he did, it strained him. He had to practically force it to move through the meridians, like water through a clogged pipe. As he did so, they opened up slightly… but he also was capable of gathering more strands of energy that he needed to circulate throughout his body.

In this particular cultivation session, his body and energy seemed to be resisting his every move. It felt like every step of the way he was dragging claws through his body. Perhaps he was making a mistake, and would destroy himself… but he still fell into the vain and stupid hope that he might actually become a cultivator and become strong enough to avenge his family- or rescue some of them.

It was the only thing that kept him going when surrounded by corpses all day. The nearby villages had likely heard about Dungannon's tragedy, but they could barely take care of themselves in the winter. Sending people to help bury bodies was a pointless gesture that nobody would even notice… and they didn't know that anything was being done at all. He was fine with that, but he hoped he could finish the job.

Yet he was perhaps about to kill himself cultivating. The sharp pain he felt as he prodded and pushed and pulled the energy through his body might have been a warning of danger. That was often the case, but the technique had said there would be pain. It wasn't so verbose that it said the exact level of pain, but Anton knew that cultivators were superhuman. It wasn't so easy to become one, so just the amount of physical pain he felt… what did it matter? He'd thought to ask Vincent for advice, but after a month he was no longer waiting for the bandits to return. He was off somewhere, hunting them down if he could.

That meant Anton had no way to know how to handle the situation. Choosing the most straightforward option of charging ahead was the only thing he could be bothered to do. Either it was a hurdle he needed to overcome or he wasn't cut out for cultivation and should just become another body among the rest. So, despite the excruciating pain throughout his body, he pushed the gathered energy through his meridians and to all of his extremities.

Chapter 6

At a few points in his life Anton had gotten too close to the heat of a stove or an open fire. A quick jerk of his hand and maybe some cool water or a salve to soothe the burn was enough to comfort him after that. However, he'd never had fire inside of him before.

As the pressure of the energy in his meridians built up, it transformed into fire. It was already far too late to stop, if he did nothing the fire would rage inside him uncontrolled… the best he could do was circulate it through his meridians and hope he hadn't killed himself. The energy inside him circulated from his core, the area underneath his navel the cultivation technique spoke of as the 'Dantian' and out to his extremities and back. Each time it completed a full circulation, the power increased. If it continued, Anton didn't know if he could keep it under control.

Each circulation left a little bit of flame in the middle of his dantian, extremely hot and spinning around releasing more energy. Anton continued the circulations, trying to remember the instructions down to the tiniest detail. He wasn't sure, but perhaps… this was supposed to happen. As the energy circulated more and more, it wrapped more strands around the fiery core, twisting like a ball of twine. Then he reached the limit of his control and the strand snapped away from him, coiling around the burning ball. However, instead of unraveling or exploding it suddenly condensed.

Anton had only skimmed over the section of the cultivation manual related to reaching the first level of cultivation. It wasn't something that should be quick, and he knew age would make cultivating slower. However, perhaps he had underestimated the time it would take. A month and a half didn't seem like long to a man a hundred years old… but for someone who was ten or fifteen years old it was indeed much more significant.

Now that he wasn't dead, he pulled out the starry manual again. Indeed, the text covered 'igniting the first star'. He'd only thought he was making progress along the way, pushing himself closer… not making the actual breakthrough. However, he couldn't deny that he certainly had the first star inside of him now. There was nothing else that he could call it.

Anton sighed. Was he young and reckless again? Then again, even if he'd been prepared… what else could he have done? He was ready to break through or it wouldn't have been possible, and there was something to be said about letting things happen as they came naturally.

He stood up and noticed a cracking sound. He looked down at himself and noticed a layer of blackness on his skin. Was he burnt? He scraped some of it with his hand and found it was more of a sort of goop. It didn't hurt, but it smelled foul. He would have to clean himself off.

After having ignited the first star, Anton's body no longer hurt, whether cultivating or not. He felt much stronger… as if he were ten years younger. Granted, that would still be what he was like at ninety years old, but he thought he was a fairly vigorous ninety year old. The most important thing is that his meridians felt more durable, so he was able to cultivate more smoothly.

The manual for Ninety-Nine Stars described the choices he had to make next in body tempering. Upon reviewing them once again, he decided that fully refining his meridians next would be the best choice. Better cultivation was good, right? He felt his chest. Since he hadn't died… his heart should hold out for the moment. He might want to consider refining the organs in his torso next, however.

Out in the forest, Anton's body felt lighter. "Young" people never realized what they had until it was too late. That was true for Anton, and he hadn't even really noticed the decline over the past decades, gradual as it was. However, returning to some of his former strength and feeling of youth reminded him. He had the many decades of experience hunting to rely on as well, since farming alone had never been sufficient. His body moved stealthily through the brush. He saw a small pack of deer, and could actually pick them out well enough from a distance that he didn't startle them. His eyes still weren't good, but he didn't need to pick out their patterns… just hit them in the side.

He was able to achieve a draw on the bow he hadn't in quite some time. It was still far below the bow's capacity, but his arrow flew true, sinking deep into the side of the deer. It didn't run nearly so far as the one during the snowstorm, and he was able to quickly bring it back to the village where he would eat some and turn the rest into jerky.

Anton turned dour as he looked over the rows of graves. Was there even any point in cultivating, swearing vengeance upon the bandits? He's taken the first step, but was it even possible to do more?

He shook his head. At least, he had to finish this job. His shovel drove into the frozen ground, much deeper than he'd been able to before. Within three hours, he had a shallow grave prepared. Deep enough to keep scavengers out, at least. He moved to find the next nearest body. Lily, he believed her name was. He tried to remember everyone's name, but some he only spoke to occasionally. He made a simple grave marker out of wood, carving her name into it. It wouldn't last forever… but it was all he could do. He had no access to stone or a chisel to make a lasting headstone.

Focusing the next tempering on his meridians was more difficult than he had thought it would be. Perhaps he had grown cocky after having ignited the first star. If cultivation was so easy… everyone would do it. The first star inside of him stored more energy than he had been able to before, as well as allowing him to gather it more quickly with the proper breathing technique. However, using that energy to temper his meridians beyond where they already were… he found to be quite slow. Even spending more time each day cultivating, his progress felt minimal.

Then Anton realized why it was so hard. He'd become aware of his success, his ability to live on at least for a while. He was being cautious, when his only chance of becoming relevant was to surve forward. He couldn't be happy with just the first star, or even the second. He had to complete all of the Body Foundation stage at least to be able to avenge his family- the first nine stars.

With the fire of a small star inside of him, he had to be able to do more. It was quite calm and gentle at rest, but if he riled it up it could spin and more rapidly release energy. That was what he needed. He flooded his meridians with energy, straining them to their limits, limits he more clearly understood now that he had experience cultivating. The fire burned through him, down each extremity one at a time seeping into even the smallest parts of his body. Once his energy faded to a small ember, he gathered more, breathing it in from the world around him.

He barely slept, not wanting to give up cultivating but also needing to bury as many bodys as he could before the thaw. He was rarely glad for a long winter… and of course he would have preferred the current one to be mild and gentle, but it might not have stopped the bandits. At least he wanted the villagers to be relatively whole in their graves, as much as he could do it. But he also couldn't afford to waste time not cultivating, because he wasn't sure if he could live long enough to become strong if he didn't.

He lost track of time, and soon enough another month had passed. Each day he cultivated, he was more efficient with the energy he gathered and he found he could store more and more in his dantian, and the first star. However, he had begun to slow down, having reached a bottleneck. Was he ready to advance to the second star? There was only one way to find out.

Anton continued gathering energy from the world with every breath, condensing it as much as he could into the first star in his dantian until it was overflowing. Then he called upon the energy, circulating it through his meridians, forcing its power against them and into them. Fire burned in his veins, but though there was pain, it was a good feeling. He wasn't beyond what he could bear yet. He kept pushing himself towards the limits, consciously breathing in more energy at a regular pace to feed the fires inside of him. When the fire inside him reached their peak and began to overflow, he grasped them in his control, wrestling the strands of energy around each other until they began to form another ball… the second star. It grew and grew and grew, becoming harder and harder to control. His meridians were on fire, the pain constantly intensifying, but he pushed back the physical pain with his memories which bore much worse emotional pain, and the desire to somehow make amends for what had happened. As he pushed himself knew the energy would eventually exceed his capacity, but he was unable to pull back… and when he reached the limits of his control, it once more collapsed into a more condensed star. The second star, burning bright. He'd made it. Perhaps… he might be able to have some success at cultivation after all.

Chapter 7

With every breath he took, Anton felt the energy of the world suffusing his body. It wasn't so much as when he focused on cultivation, but after his meridians were tempered the process was much more automatic. The energy flowed more easily through him, and he found he was able to apply it outside of himself more effectively as well. It turned out there was a correct choice after all. His subsequent cultivation would go more smoothly. Though the next level was the most important. He would be able to join the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars if he reached the third level of the Body Foundation Stage. If he didn't… then he just wasn't good enough.

The constant influx of energy allowed him to speed up the process of burying the villagers of Dungannon even more. It also helped that the spring thaws were beginning, and the ground was less frozen. That also gave him the impetus to work as quickly as he could. He had needed to change several shovels as they wore out, but with more energy providing a defensive layer and sharpness to the shovel, he was able to be more effective and wear out his equipment less. Anton's knowledge of cultivation was limited, but he was aware that besides cultivation techniques like the one he had, there were methods to make better use of the energy for various uses. At the current moment he felt he had only a basic grasp of how it could be used… but it was still so powerful. Each step he took made him realize how strong those at the next stage must be. Especially if they had a young body to go with it. He didn't even know what the next stage was called. The scroll he had for the Ninety-Nine Stars only covered Body Foundation. Not that he needed to concern himself with that when he was only at the second level out of ten.

As Anton performed the breathing technique, he could feel not only his lungs pulling in natural energy but the pores in his skin where his meridians reached the outside of his body. It was only a very small force, but quite real. In a way, that made cultivation more complex. He wasn't sure whether to gather all the energy in his dantian or try to circulate it from wherever it ended up. Some experimentation showed him little noticeable differences, except he could more directly reach the pathways he wanted from the dantian, which connected with meridians stretching to every part of his body. If he didn't go through the dantian, he still had to take a circuitous route for over half of the energy. He also found it was slightly easier to use energy refined by the stars in his dantian, so that seemed like the best method.

Eventually, all of it would end up in his torso. Anton appreciated the thought of having better eyesight by tempering the organs of his head, and muscles and strong bones were always welcome… but as all of his breathing in energy flowed through his lungs, he felt that was the next logical step. He was also somewhat concerned about his heart. Perhaps it would explode and kill him during this step, but if that was the case he might as well get it over with.

The energy from the world continuously flowed into him, through his lungs and pores into his dantian to be refined into a more usable form by the stars. Then it flowed right back into his lungs, his heart, his liver, stomach… every organ in his torso. He thought to prioritize his lungs and heart, but it seemed wiser to give all of the organs their fair share. That way he wouldn't overload any of them, and to be honest he thought that having a stronger stomach could be quite useful. He had felt his guts working, and when they weren't working as well, his life could be quite unpleasant. His heart and lungs kept him alive every second, but the rest played their part as well.

Energy flowed smoothly through him, his newly tempered meridians making the work almost trivial. At the end of two weeks he found himself at a bottleneck once more, but he was able to quickly gather the energy to push through, and though his organs strained and groaned they grew stronger and tougher… before finally releasing the excess energy which he formed into another star inside him according to the cultivation manual. Yes, tempering his meridians second had been the right choice. It was surprising how fast it made cultivation. Now, after just three months, he'd already reached the third level of Ninety-Nine Stars. If he continued at that pace, he might reach Spirit Building in a year… or maybe two or three, since it was implied that the progress would slow down. He supposed the bandits would be cultivating as well, and they would pull away from him if he didn't keep pushing himself. However, Anton felt he could use the guidance of those with experience so he knew how much was too much. As long as he could make it to the Order, he would be able to join- and he could learn more there. Reaching the Order wasn't as simple as it sounded, but Anton was much more able to travel across the country for a whole month now compared to at least the previous two or three decades.

Before he set out on his journey, Anton hunted some more animals to make jerky out of. He also did his best to prepare some hides that he hoped to sell on the way so he could buy more supplies. Hunting in unfamiliar territory was much lower on the list of things he wanted to do, since there could easily be magical beasts in unfamiliar forests- or they might be claimed by some local lord or cultivators. Besides, that would slow down his trip.

The Spring air wasn't quite warm, but it was refreshing. The most refreshing part was leaving behind Dungannon. A cloud of sadness hung over the whole village, inescapable as long as he was there. Concentrating on his cultivation and thoughts of revenge could only do so much to distract him. Now, he could try to enjoy new sights as he traveled along the road, doing his best to ignore the fact that the road was mostly slushy mud mixed with ice and instead focusing on the early flowers growing.

Anton found he was able to do basic cultivation as he walked. At least, he could absorb the energy of the world as he moved, gathering it for use when he stopped for the night. He would camp wherever on the road he found himself when it became dark, cultivating until he felt he'd hit his limit for the night then sleeping until dawn. He would eat and return to the road. That cycle continued for a week before he found any significant obstacle on the road.

Spring rains poured down, not exactly warm but much more welcome than the snow of winter. Anton's boots squelched in the mud as he walked, but he found that his balance was much more adequate than it had once been. His body was almost returning to a state where he felt young. Of course, he distantly remembered actually being young, but feeling less old was good enough for him.

He occasionally passed people on the road, but had little to say to them. He didn't know what people thought of an old man like himself, but he had little desire for conversation. He occasionally stopped in towns, but he couldn't afford the prices of a room at an inn. Food was the most important, and he needed to last a month.

As he passed through a little town he saw a crowd of people gathered around in the rain. That was certainly unusual, but the reason soon became clear. Up ahead was a river that hadn't been on any map that Anton had ever seen. Then again, it was more of a large stream… and he hadn't needed maps of the whole of Graotan. It was impossible to tell how large the stream normally was… but at the current moment it was overflowing its banks. The small bridge crossing it was half flooded… and seemed unable to withstand the currents, swaying in a most concerning way.

A bridge flooding out was certainly enough to get a village gathered around with concern, but as he approached Anton noticed more. He saw a young child attempting to cross the bridge- from the far side.

"Jimmy! Be careful!" a worried mother called out from where her feet were just getting flooded by the river.

Anton took stock of the situation. The flooding wasn't caused by just the gentle rains in the area, but likely runoff from the nearby mountains at the same time. It was unlikely anyone could have anticipated the trouble at the current moment.

Anton approached closer. The bridge was certainly precarious, but it could likely carry the child as he walked across, clutching the railing and trying to keep his feet on the slippery surface. A sudden surge of water, however, immediately changed the situation. Anton heard the bridge crack and snap. While it somehow remained partly attached to the shore, it tilted- flinging the young boy off of the bridge.

His body reacted before his mind could process anything. He was surprised how easy it was to leap into the center of the river- but his surprise was tempered by freezing water in his face and the chaos of a flooding river. He had just missed the boy, grabbing out at him as he hit the water. It took a moment to reorient himself, getting tossed head over heels in the water. He somehow spotted a form further down the river. His arms reached out, pulling on the water as quickly as they could to propel him toward the boy. Anton just managed to reach the struggling young boy and grab an arm when another huge rush of water came over them, surging down the river, pushing both of them under.

Chapter 8

Turbulent waters completely filled Anton's vision. He was unable to really swim, keeping his grasp on the child with one hand and weighed down by his clothes and traveling gear. The two of them surged down the river without direction. Anton vaguely saw or sensed something up ahead and instinctively wrapped himself around Jimmy protectively. A moment later, he impacted a large rock in the middle of the stream. The sudden collision forced air out of his lungs as he only afterwards thought to summon his energy. It wrapped around himself and the boy as they hurtled downstream.

Newly fallen logs and disruptive boulders were all too common, and there were only rare moments when the pair surfaced- and they didn't have a real chance to breathe. Anton took all of the force of the river upon himself, unable to let a child be hurt. He kicked his legs, struggling to find the surface and a shore.

After what felt like an eternity of darkness and being underwater, he managed to bump into a root overhanging a washed out section of river. He grabbed onto it with one hand, stopping them. He pulled the young boy in his arm out of the water, but he had no expression- nor breath.

Anton didn't have the flexibility or strength of his youth, but with all his effort he managed to toss the child up onto the shore. He used both arms to drag himself up the root and onto the shore, where he pulled the child further from the river just in time to avoid the bank collapsing further.

Beneath him, the child continued to draw no breath and his lips were blue, but Anton wasn't done yet. What was the point in cultivating if he couldn't save even a single child? He pressed down on the child's stomach, hoping to force him to expel the water in his lungs. It barely seemed to work, and Anton knew he couldn't afford to waste time. He had to get the water out. Energy was still new and mysterious, but he placed his hands on the child's chest and gently reached inside with his energy. He could feel the water that filled them, not completely… but far too much. He tried to drag it out, and combined with a small amount of force on the child's abdomen water spurted out. Then more and more.

A moment later, the child was coughing and sputtering. A good sign, if unpleasant. He stopped shortly after expelling more water, breathing raggedly. With his energy, Anton felt water remaining in the boy's lungs. He wasn't sure what problems that might cause, so he once again carefully reached inside with his energy, forming it into a cup with which which he dragged the water until it was outside the boy. His breathing eased somewhat, but he was still freezing.

Anton looked around. He wasn't sure how far downstream they had gone, but finding which way to go was trivial. He just had to walk upstream parallel to the river, though not too close.

Clearly the exact area wasn't traveled too much, because in the dark it was hard to pick out anything like a trail. Nearer to the river would be clear… but quite dangerous. He walked with the child on his back, step by step through the rain. If his body hadn't been tempered, he would have already collapsed long before. His heart and lungs were working overtime to keep up… but while he felt the burn in his lungs as his steps quickened, he was able to continue.

Soon he stumbled upon the buildings of the village whose name he hadn't yet learned. He knocked on the nearest door, where they seemed to have a fire going. The door opened. "Who are…?" a man opened the door, looking over Anton. Then he saw the boy's head peeking over his shoulder. "Is that little Jimmy? Come inside! You both look half drowned! More than that, even."

Anton managed to comply, getting inside the hut and setting down the boy carefully before collapsing into a heap himself. Then his consciousness faded as he felt safety.

When he awoke, he found himself wrapped in a bundle of blankets next to the fire, with nothing underneath. His clothes had surely been soaked through. He sat up, looking around. The man who had come to the door was sitting at a table nearby and noticed his alertness. "Ah, you're awake!"

Anton nodded. "Where's… the boy?"

"He's alright. I went to find his mother, and he already went home. That was a brave thing you did, old stranger. Lucy and the rest of us are extremely grateful." The man inclined his head respectfully, "I'm Darryl, by the way. That little Jimmy is my nephew. So, thank you for saving him."

Anton smiled. "I couldn't do anything but. I had children of my own, and couldn't bear to see one lost. Especially if it just exchanged these old bones of mine for someone with youth." Anton meant that, even though he still had to live to get revenge on the bandits and save his family. That goal was too far off… if he let himself lose his humanity and couldn't even save a little child, what good was he? At least he knew he still had part of himself, because he hadn't even thought about it. "I'm Anton Krantz, by the way."

"It's good to meet you." Darryl scratched his head. "Listen, about your things… your clothes will do fine once they dry. The tent too, obviously, and that strange scroll somehow seems fine. But your travel supplies and your bow seem quite ruined. The bow itself snapped in half from some impact in the river. You yourself have some nasty bruises…"

When he thought about it, Anton did notice the pain from those. It was just… not nearly so much pain as he'd felt over the last few months, even just physically. "I'll be fine. I lived this long."

Darryl nodded, "You're a tough old man, alright. Listen, we don't have any bows that can replace yours here, but we can fill your pack with supplies. Though your travels might be quite delayed with the bridge in the state it is."

"That is fine," Anton said. "I can wait."

The villagers of Helmfirth Rill- that was what the village was called, once he had the chance to speak to them- were all very grateful for Anton's arrival. A small village like theirs only had a few children, and losing one of them would have been devastating for more than just his family. Everyone knew everyone, so each child was treated almost like everyone's own.

The flood died down within the next two days, though the drizzle continued over the village- but a sudden flood from the mountains was likely no longer a concern. "Listen, Anton, we appreciate what you did with Jimmy… you really don't have to…" Darryl seemed to be trying to stop Anton from working on the new bridge, but he couldn't stop him. He might have been able to physically wrestle Anton to the ground- though it would be close- and he really didn't want to.

Anton pounded stakes deep into the earth. "I appreciate the concern, but I've been working hard my whole life. If I stop now, maybe I'll just turn into a pile of dirt." Anton hadn't built a bridge before, but he'd set up fences and barns many times. He might not have been able to design the bridge, but he could certainly contribute as much as an average man. "Besides, I might as well help speed up the process, get out of your hair a bit earlier. Now don't go saying I can stay as long as I like. I know you all don't have too much extra food, especially after such a winter." Darryl didn't have much to say to that, just nodding and getting back to his own work.

It took several days to complete the bridge, and during half the night Anton continued his cultivation. Circulating the energy throughout his body really helped with the bruises, clearing them up rather more rapidly. They might still last a week or two, but for an old man like himself the fact that they would ever heal was quite remarkable. Cultivation was an amazing thing. Anton thought everyone should try it, though he had to admit it had been a bit risky at the start.

He was working on the fourth level, where he'd chosen to refine the organs in his head. Basically, his eyes and ears and everything connecting down to his torso. His brain too, apparently, though he had to be careful with that. He'd chosen the next step mostly for his eyes, though now he was down a bow and archery skills weren't much good without. Still, spotting things from a distance was good.

Soon enough he would move on from Helmfirth Rill. It was enticing to just stay in a small village forever, but they didn't need him… and he had all of Dungannon to avenge. Or if nothing else, at least he might help others along the way to the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars.

Chapter 9

Just a few days' travel away from Helmfirth Rill the population density started to pick up. There was more farmland and each village and city seemed to increase in size. He began to notice cultivators in the cities. The way they carried themselves and how they were equipped made their status clear, but Anton noticed something else. He could feel them. It certainly wasn't any of his normal senses, but nonetheless he clearly felt it.

About halfway through his journey, he came across a group on the road. Five cultivators walking in a loose formation. He thought to pass them, but as they were next to them on the road the leader turned towards him and spoke. "Are you from the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars?"

Anton took stock of the man. He had an average build, maybe a bit on the small side. Clearly young. However, his tone was friendly… and Anton sensed something from him. Not answering wouldn't help him if they were enemies, because at the very minimum he could tell each of them were stronger than himself. "I am not, yet… but I am hoping to join. I was told I would have the chance if I reached the third level." Anton's eyes finally made their way to a subtle pin on the man's cloak made up of nine stars.

The man smiled and nodded, "I thought so. Who's your sponsor?"

"Vincent," Anton responded.

"That's usually the case. He's quite a recruiter," the man nodded pleasantly. "Good luck with the test. Perhaps we will be brothers in the future." As they walked away, Anton became more certain of the sense of familiarity. Somehow, he could feel the resonance between his own cultivation technique and them. However, he felt they were all at least at the fifth level of Body Foundation, with the leader being… eighth or ninth. Pinning it down exactly was difficult.

Behind him, Anton heard a whispered voice from one of the others. "Why encourage him like that? You know how unlikely someone of his age is to be accepted…"

The leader responded, "That may be so… but there's no reason to be discouraging either. Besides, Vincent seems to have a knack for such things. Perhaps the man will find a place for himself."

Once they were quite a bit further away, Anton sighed. None of them appeared over twenty years old. Perhaps his estimations were slightly off, because it was said cultivators aged more slowly, but he knew it would be quite difficult to match them. Still, he had to try.

From that point on, he saw more patrols by members of the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars. Not all of them stopped to talk to him, but they were all quite pleasant when they did… though he could tell that they didn't have much thought for his actual chances.

It wasn't long before Anton found himself at the end of his journey. Edelhull was just outside of the territory of the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars. It was the biggest city Anton had ever seen- not that he was that familiar with large cities. However, Alcombey was quite a large city for the region he had grown up in. It just paled in comparison to Edelhull. Anton noticed all sorts of cultivators- including many practicing the cultivation technique of the Order of Ninety Nine stars.

Though he would have loved to tour the city, he could only really pass through. He had no money, and would have to camp out nearby. As he passed through, he overheard some people talking. It was hard to ignore, especially with his hearing being enhanced- he was close to finishing the refinement and he'd already benefited greatly.

"I'm glad we made it so quickly. If we took a few extra days, we'd miss the recruitment period and have to wait a whole month for the next one!" The speaker was a young man who radiated a feeling Anton felt as the third level of the Ninety-Nine Stars, just like himself. They were likewise talking to another youngster. Anton was taken aback for a moment as he saw her face. She looked like a younger Tabby… or an older Annelie. But then the feeling passed. How many young women were there with dark hair, especially in a city of this size- or drawing from all of Graotan? He was just still sensitive about everything that had happened.

"Another month wouldn't matter either way," the young woman answered. "More training would be good for us."

The young man sighed. "Come on Catarina. You can't be satisfied with just the basic cultivation manual. They've got training grounds with abundant energy, special techniques, and masters to learn from! Every day we cultivate there will be so much more effective."

The young woman seemed to not be overly excited at the thought of such amenities. "I suppose so. But I'd rather just not bother with the test."

"Hmph. You might be able to make it in another month, but I'd still have to take the test. I'd at least like to get a chance this time." The young man crossed his arms.

At that point, Anton was far enough away to not hear any more of them, and he pulled his eyes away. It was amazing how well they worked now. He could make out people from an entire city block away.

Outside of Edelhull, Anton found he wasn't the only one who would be camping. There were a few other tents set up near the entrance posts declaring the land behind them belonged to the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars. He set up his tent away from the few others, for privacy in both directions. Anton thought to sleep to rest up for the morning, but he couldn't. Besides… he had spent a month on the road cultivating. It was a habit that was hard to break, and he felt he was close to reaching the next level.

As he began cultivating, he felt the energy was much stronger than anywhere else he had been. Around Dungannon was actually fairly decent compared to many places on the road, but the natural energy in the area seemed twice as thick, though he wasn't sure how to actually compare them.

Regardless, he soon found himself full to bursting. Besides successfully completing the initial body tempering, the fourth level had taken him the longest. Even with more experience in cultivation and tempered meridians, it seemed that he would be slowing down. But he could at least make this next breakthrough right now.

Energy flowed through him like a rushing river. However, Anton's tempered meridians kept all of it exactly in line with his wishes, circulating from his dantian below his navel up through his torso and into his head. From there the energy was intentionally dispersed through his head. Eyes, ears, nose, tongue… all of them received a portion. His spine was left untouched- the cultivation method noted that a different technique was required for bones and the like. The upper portion of his throat received an inpouring of energy as well. The area he had to be most careful with was his brain. He felt the energy rushing into it, little rivulets that strengthened it bit by bit. Then everything reached its limits… and he was done. From his head flowed another star. His fourth star.

In the morning, Anton found his way towards the gates of the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars. Or at least… the building at this border. There wasn't a large wall surrounding the area… and as Anton looked into the distance, he could see why that might be. The Order of Ninety-Nine Stars didn't just own a complex of buildings, but if he was correct they owned an entire mountain and the area surrounding it. A small mountain, perhaps, but the area was much too large to build a meaningful wall around. In the distance he could just barely spot the walls of a larger complex up the slope- even with his newly refined eyes. Then again, they were still slightly short of his peak when he was younger.

It was easy to figure out where he was supposed to be going. A conglomeration of newer cultivators were lining up in front of a number of cultivators at the fifth level of Body Foundation or higher. Anton saw an older man as well. The man appeared to be middle age, but the aura he gave off was much greater. Was he in Spirit Building? Somewhere even beyond that? Anton hadn't been around Vincent since he started cultivating, so he had nobody to compare to but himself and the rest of those immediately present.

The elder in front was clearly part of the administration of testing, directing people in one way or another… but sometimes sending them directly away, hanging their heads. From what Anton could tell, that was because they hadn't reached the third level of cultivation. He could tell some cultivated a different technique, but those who were of similar power at least were passed on somehow. The initial line moved fairly quickly, but there were many people and it took most of the morning before Anton was about halfway towards the front. At that point, one of the disciples in the area who was standing away from the line called out to him.

"You there!" the disciple pointed. "The… uh…"

"Old man?" Anton said in response, pointing to himself.

"Yes, you." The disciple waved him over. "Come over here. You're not supposed to be standing in that line."

Was he not? Anton didn't see anywhere else to go. What had he done wrong? He thought he would at least be given the chance to join since he'd reached the third level. Still, it was best not to cause a fuss in public. Perhaps he could talk to the man in private. He stepped out of the line towards the younger man. It would be unfortunate if he lost his spot, but if he had to wait a day or a month for his next chance, at least he would have one.

Chapter 10

Anton moved forward to the disciple- sixth level of Body Foundation, by the feel of him- keeping his voice as steady as he could despite his misgivings. "I'm sorry. I was told that as long as I reached the third level I would have a chance to join, despite my age.."

The disciple looked at him askance. "Of course that's true. But you… are at the fourth level. So… follow me."

Anton did so, and soon they were outside the building where people were gathered. He saw some of the potential recruits off to the side, sparring with each other and performing other tests. However, they continued past them. "Where are we going, young man?"

"What do you mean?" he looked over his shoulder and asked. "We're going to the sect, obviously."

"...Why?" Had he done something wrong by cultivating to the fourth level? Anton hadn't seen any warnings about that.

"So that we can set you up with your plot and introduce you to things."

That… didn't sound bad. "What about the test?" Anton asked.

"What about the test? I doubt it would do you much good to take it. You didn't cultivate all the way to the fourth level just so you would have to take the test." The young man continued walking. "We can always find a use for people who made it to the fourth level alone. Uh… were you not told that?"

Anton shook his head. "No, I merely continued cultivating on the road while I traveled… so I reached the fourth level."

"You must be from quite far then."

Anton nodded. "I am from the far east of Graotan. I was sponsored by Vincent."

"Oh yeah? I was too!" The young man nodded, "Not that I'm alone in that respect. About half of those from a background outside of cultivation that join seem to have been sponsored by him. Maybe that's an exaggeration but… he's usually moving around on missions, so he finds quite a few people." The young man extended his hand, "I'm Sterling, by the way."

"Anton," he shook the young man's hand, feeling the interplay of the energy that gathered about them. "It is good to meet you."

Anton was quite used to walking, but he found the pace of Sterling hard to keep up with. The young man seemed to notice, slowing down to a quick but manageable pace. Anton could see why he would be in a hurry. The road into the sect continued quite far up the mountain. Half an hour of brisk walking later and Anton wished he had already tempered his muscles or bones. Yet with the basic tempering of his entire body, he felt young enough that it might be good for him to push himself somewhat. That said, he decided he would need to temper his muscles next.

As they climbed the increasing slope, Anton felt himself reinvigorated by the denser natural energy in the area. It wasn't a difference he could have noticed before cultivating, nor taken advantage of. Now he was practiced enough to slowly circulate his energy while moving. The very slow influx of energy into his muscles relieved any fatigue he might have felt from the climb.

Along the way they passed a number of modest homes, quite a bit smaller than where Anton had lived… but he imagined they didn't house so many people either. Finally they began to near the complex he had spotted from so far down the mountain. "This is the central area. Most everything you need can be handled here." Sterling waved to the guards at the gate. "I have a new recruit."

The gate guards nodded in return. Just like Sterling, they were young. However, they were clearly past the tenth star… somewhere in Spirit Building. "Fourth star huh," one of the guards commented. His tone wasn't unfriendly, but Anton felt there was something more to it. What was it about fourth star people that was so bad? He didn't have to take the test. Beyond that, he wasn't sure. He'd have to think more about it later.

Inside the complex, Sterling showed Anton various places. "There's the armory. You can exchange contribution points for weapons and armor there. The technique library is important as well. You can stop by there to check out the options later. Of course, if you… when you reach Spirit Building, you'll need to pick up the complete version of Ninety-Nine Stars to study."

Anton didn't miss the stumble. Was it that hard to get to Spirit Building? He couldn't be sure, since he was only less than halfway through Body Foundation. He did notice that each stage was harder as each subsequent star took more energy. "Can I see the technique before that?"

"You can. It won't do much good until you're at least at the ninth star, heading towards Spirit Building. Oh, but you'll have to be with the sect for a year before you can look at it. We don't want people coming in to take our cultivation technique if they're going to go rogue." Sterling paused, "It's okay to leave the sect and even continue practicing Ninety-Nine Stars, but we can't have any evil cultivators going around using our technique. It's bad for those who they would harm and our reputation." Sterling continued to point out more buildings. "There's the lecture halls. Check the schedule every month, the elders have many helpful insights to give, even to… those with years of practice. The sparring rings are there, with formations to protect people from serious injury. Occasionally we have competitions as well." Sterling gestured to a wing of the complex, "There is where most of the elders stay. You're not forbidden to go there, but I would suggest not disturbing them without a reason." Sterling thought for a few moments, "Oh we need to show you the job hall and the rewards hall. Unless you brought money with you, you'll need the contribution points you can get through various methods. The managers at the rewards chamber will also be assigning you to your plot of land, and give you your badge."

The complex they were walking through was still almost the size of a city. Maybe not one so large as Edelhull, but the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars was spread out over quite a large area. It had taken over an hour to reach the central complex. If he was going to be visiting often, Anton would need to make better time. Muscle tempering would help with that.

At the desk of the rewards hall was a woman Anton presumed was an elder… though it was strange to call people who were younger than him an elder. Or was she younger? Cultivation had some effect on extending age, but the woman was barely grey and light on wrinkles. Could that make up for forty years of difference? Anton didn't know, because all his information had come from things he'd overheard from before he was a cultivator… and instructions specifically to allow him to cultivate the Ninety-Nine Stars. "New outer disciple here, Elder Lois," Sterling gestured to Anton.

The elder nodded. "Very well, one moment." She moved away from the desk into a room behind her, coming out with a palm-sized token and a small map. "I've circled your plot on the map. Do take good care of it. If you topple the house, you'll have to rebuild it. It doesn't sound like something I'd have to tell people, but every couple of years…" she shook her head. "Well, I imagine you might be less inclined to recklessness at your age." She placed the token in Anton's hand, pouring some of her energy in it. "Now put some of your energy in." Anton did so, and he felt a slight connection to it. "Great. That's your identifier. Keep it on you, especially if you're leaving sect grounds. Don't lose it or destroy it, et cetera. They're not too expensive to identify Body Foundation cultivators, but it's best to start good habits. The ones to uniquely identify Spirit Building and higher require more to verify people properly."

"Thank you, Elder Lois," Anton bowed his head. While it might have felt weird to call someone potentially younger than him 'elder', he didn't mind being respectful. It didn't hurt him, and having people think well of him was always good. Besides, he didn't spend so long teaching his children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren how to be polite to then flaunt those teachings.

Inside the job hall, Sterling explained the system. "It's pretty simple. It's generally organized by difficulty. A fourth star cultivator like yourself can probably handle anything up to about this point, though the combat missions might be a bit dangerous without equipment. Some of the jobs change out, but they're always looking for people to help with labor. It's not glamorous, but you can get contribution points for helping out the sect in any way."

"Including introducing new outer disciples to the sect?"

Sterling nodded, "That's one of them. Maybe you'll do this yourself some day. If you have experience refining pills or equipment, those are the best pay… but it's no good for those who don't have the knowledge. Farming jobs are quite steady, as there are crops for every season. You can also help in the library, though those positions usually fill up pretty fast. I might try out a number of things and see what fits you. If you're interested in refining pills or equipment, taking any jobs working with the herbs or around the smithies, even labor, will give you a leg up. I took a variety of jobs before I got enough equipment to hunt wild beasts. The sect grounds are quite large, and certain beasts are attracted to the high natural energy and the fields. Inner disciples generally take care of the stronger beasts, leaving the weaker ones for the outer disciples, though be warned you might encounter numerous weaker beasts. If you aren't prepared…" Sterling shook his head. "Sometimes, cultivating peacefully for a while is the right move. Now then, let's find that plot."

Chapter 11

The trip to his new house had Anton realizing how much he needed to be able to walk faster. Sterling was quite patient, walking at a speed he could go… but watching how he moved Anton was aware he would generally go much faster. That was exemplified by those they passed going the other way- or those who passed them on the road. It seemed that despite his new vigor, Anton couldn't just ignore that he was an old man. He wasn't sure if he could keep up with so many young cultivators… and walking was the least of his concerns.

By the time they arrived at Anton's new home, it was getting into the afternoon. To be honest, Anton almost missed it. Not because it was small, but because he thought the homes in the area wouldn't be for outer disciples. Each little complex in the area had four square buildings on the corners, connected by walls connecting them at the perimeter, and from the angle up the slope Anton could just make out that they had walls connecting in the middle.

"Here it is," Sterling gestured. "We try to make every plot for disciples of the same rank equivalent. Of course, with land parcels that's impossible… but we can get close. The courtyard has enough room to grow a small patch of medicinal herbs if you have the interest, with room to cultivate and practice techniques. Other disciples will likely be assigned to the others after the selection today."

Anton nodded. "It's actually quite a bit larger than I expected." The home itself was about the same size as the main house back in Dungannon, without some of the little additions they'd added over the decades. Frankly, he felt it was much too large for a single person… but he wasn't going to complain. "Thank you for your help, Sterling. I know I'm a slow old man, and I appreciate you not rushing me."

Sterling smiled, "Don't worry. Patience is a virtue, and we'd rather have a thousand cultivators with good attitude and perseverance than ten thousand geniuses. Nothing good comes of talent without character." Sterling inclined his head, then pointed up the slope towards a larger building. "That building there is the meal hall for this section. I'm still an outer disciple too, and I live on the other side of it. I'll probably see you there, at least in the mornings and evenings. Lunch is usually taken wherever you are working." With that, Sterling took his leave. Anton turned back to his new home- finding it sparsely but furnished but sufficient for any needs he had. He considered what he would do with the rest of the day.

In the end, Anton's feet carried him all the way back to the central complex. It was too late to start any sort of job, but he could look at the job boards. Something that interested him more, however, was the technique library. He wasn't sure what things would be contained therein, but he knew they were quite useful. There was also the issue that Anton wasn't a fighter. Oh, he'd speared a few wild boars in his day and his archery skills were quite decent for hunting, but he'd never fought a person, and especially not a cultivator. If he was to avenge his family… he needed to be able to fight. Quite frankly, he had little idea how cultivators fought and he didn't want to bother anyone with trying to learn from them until he'd reached the limits of what he could study on his own. That might be a day, a week, or a few months. It was a complete unknown.

He did stop by the job board to confirm where he would go for work. At least for the moment he would be going with the most familiar option. They needed farmhands, and at the very least he wouldn't be completely lost there. Plants cultivators cared about would likely require special care, but he would at least know the basic principles. Checking his map, he determined the closest plots that were requesting new workers. A mere half hour from his new home, depending on how the terrain and roads lined up.

Libraries were not a place Anton often had reason to visit. Dungannon only had personal collections of books, and while Anton had a small collection spending money on books was a waste. Not that knowledge wasn't valuable, but he'd learned everything he needed to from his father, or through practice. There weren't any books about farming that would have things he didn't know. At least, not that he had ever seen.

Strangely enough, a cultivator's library was much the same as any other… though with a much more powerful energy flowing through the area. Anton wasn't sure what it was all for, but he imagined some of it was involved with keeping the books and scrolls held within safe. The woman inside couldn't be a guard at all hours of the day… though Anton felt that while she was there, nothing could happen without her. She was a young woman, but he felt like she was at the peak of Spirit Building. It was hard to tell, but he felt at least twenty stars. Was she at the stage beyond that? He wasn't sure, with nothing to compare to… and he wasn't sure if Spirit Building was another ten stars or not. He'd made that assumption, but he just now realized it might be wrong. "Good day, honored librarian."

"You're new," the woman immediately remarked. "It is good to see new faces. You can call me Librarian Mason, or Elder Mason if you prefer."

"Pardon my words, Elder Mason," Anton inclined his head. "I sensed your power, but I expected an elder to be… well… quite a bit older." She looked no older than any of his granddaughters, quite in the prime of her life.

"I'm sure you will find that cultivators are often quite a bit older than they look, however I am indeed still quite young." Librarian Mason smiled, "I'm certainly older than most of the new recruits, but there are occasionally exceptions like yourself. What sort of technique are you interested in today? As a new outer disciple your selection will be limited for the sake of caution, but we have quite a wide breadth of available techniques."

"I had thought I would browse…" Anton said, but as he looked over the many shelves- hundreds of them filled with books and scrolls of all sizes- he realized he would never find anything that way. "Honestly, I have no idea what would be best… but I am most familiar with archery, I think."

"I see. May I ask what parts of your body you have refined? Some of the techniques will be better suited for you with the proper refinements." Librarian Mason stood, gesturing for him to follow.

Anton was a bit nervous about telling her what choices he'd made. What if he'd picked a bad path? Then again, he would eventually refine every part of his body… so if that was the case, he would just have to wait longer. An elder would hopefully not judge his choices too harshly, and he didn't sense anyone else nearby to overhear, so he cautiously spoke. "After the initial refining, I refined my meridians, then the organs in my torso and my head. I am currently refining my muscles."

"Some techniques will be difficult before you finish refining your muscles and tendons, but proper breath control and eyesight will help greatly. You should be quite able to at least begin learning anything, however." Librarian Mason stopped, her long hair swishing past her waist. "Here we are." She pulled two scrolls and a thin book off the shelves. "These are the best techniques. Take a quick look."

Anton browsed through them. The scrolls were much less impressive than the Ninety-Nine Stars scroll, but they still had a mystical quality to them. The first one was titled 'Spirit Arrows'. From a quick look, it was a method to make arrows out of the archer's energy, requiring no physical arrow to nock. Normally energy would not so easily maintain its form away from a cultivator without something to keep it anchored. It seemed to have serious requirements for the amount of energy used, and having the meridians refined was required.

The second scroll was "Hawk Eyes Archery". It contained multiple techniques related to each other. One was to focus energy on the eyes to improve the eyesight, and the others were techniques for controlling arrows so they could actually hit a target at a far distance. It didn't matter if a cultivator could see clearly a kilometer away if an arrow didn't stay on target. Wind was a factor, but also air resistance even without any particular currents seemed to be a factor. Of course, it required the cultivator to have the organs in their head refined.

The thin manual was less mystical in nature. It was called "Thousand Arrows", and seemed to cover every technique for firing a bow faster. That covered bow style, how to hold each bow, how to nock arrows, quivers… and then some actual special training techniques to improve draw speed and strength. It seemed that the latter would require muscle and tendon refinements to be used to their fullest.

Anton had trouble deciding which of them he liked the best. Having no need for arrows was interesting… at least as an emergency it would have value. Eyesight was quite tempting as well. Thousand Arrows… seemed interesting, but not something he was ready to study in depth yet.

"You can study them at a desk, if you wish, or in your room," Librarian Mason's voice stirred him out of his thoughts. "We have additional copies of Hawk Eyes Archery and Thousand Arrows. You can keep Spirit Arrows for a month without issue. Beyond that, we may send a representative to retrieve it, if someone else asks for it." Librarian Mason held up a token with a stylized scroll on it. "This is the token of a library worker. It is unlikely anyone else will pretend to be from the library but… sometimes people make poor decisions."

Anton nodded. "Thank you. I would like to borrow all three of these, then." He paused for a moment, then decided to ask his question. "I am aware that the full Ninety-Nine Stars is not available for study until I have been a disciple for at least a year. However, I am curious about something. You seem to have twenty something stars… have you passed beyond Spirit Building to the next stage?"

Librarian Mason smiled. "That sort of information is not what is kept secret. We just don't wish those we do not yet fully trust to cultivate a technique so closely associated with us. After Body Foundation, the next eighteen stars are the seven purifications and eleven orbits. It is only at the twenty-ninth star that one would step into Constellation Formation. So I am not yet at that point."

"I appreciate the explanation," Anton said. He wasn't sure what the details of the purifications and orbits were, but properly judging which stage people were in seemed important. He knew there was a large leap in power upon reaching each stage- he could easily feel the difference between Body Foundation and Spirit Building. Now that he knew that Spirit Building lasted until the twenty-eighth star, he updated his thoughts of Librarian Mason from a slightly weak Constellation Formation cultivator to an exceptionally strong Spirit Building cultivator.

Chapter 12

It wasn't possible to learn a combat technique overnight, though Anton still put in his best effort. He was hindered by the fact that he didn't have a bow, so he could only practice some of the vision techniques from Hawk Eyes Archery and begin a basic attempt at Spirit Arrows. If he had a bow, he might have tried out a few things from Thousand Arrows, but to get a bow he needed to work… and to work, he needed to rest.

Anton woke up before dawn. That was his regular time, and he was planning to get to regular work. First he needed some sustenance, so he found his way over to the dining hall nearest to him. The kitchens were just getting started, but Anton saw there were some industrious workers there as well. He got a nice bowl of porridge and some toast. Perhaps because he hadn't eaten in the company of others in quite some time, he felt it was the best meal he'd had in months. Maybe half a year, if he was honest. Not the most filling, because Vincent had certainly filled him up, but the most ultimately satisfying.

There were few others awake in the early morning, and none who were interested in sitting next to an old man. That left Anton open to observe those around him. Unlike the impression he'd first gotten, he found that the disciples of the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars weren't all quite what he thought. Those involved with testing like Sterling had all been sixth star or higher, but there were some fifth star and even a small handful of fourth star cultivators like Anton. The large dining hall was still mostly empty even with those people in it, seemingly able to support hundreds at the same time. However, Anton supposed that most of the third star cultivators would be young fellows just joining. Then in a few weeks they would reach the fourth star and begin to surpass him. He needed to do his best to at least keep up with some of them, or he'd never have his chance.

Anton finished his light meal. He was sure after a half day of labor he would be quite famished and ready for a heavier meal. He found himself already looking forward to what that might be as he headed towards the nearest fields. It was dawn when he arrived, and Anton found there were only a handful of others there with him. "Are there not that many workers?" Anton asked of the youth next to him.

"There are more," the young man replied, "But they'll show up sometime after dawn. Elder Howland doesn't mind as long as they put in the work… though those of us who show up at dawn usually get paid better. You're new here, I take it? I'm Hoyt." Hoyt extended his hand.

"Everyone can tell, apparently," Anton received the hand and shook it, "Anton."

"Pleased to meet you, Senior Anton."

"Just Anton is fine. We're both fourth star cultivators, outer disciples. If anything, I should call you Senior Hoyt, since you joined before me."

Hoyt grimaced, "Please don't."

Elder Howland showed up not a few minutes later… though Anton had the feeling that he'd been around the whole time. There weren't many places to hide in the untilled and currently empty fields, but somehow he'd almost appeared from nowhere. Anton had turned to see him as soon as he felt the fifteen star presence, but he was already close by that point.

Anton first became suspicious as he was handed a hoe. He was no stranger to tilling soil by hand, but as soon as the family farm had expanded enough he'd gotten an ox and a proper plough. There was no way that the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars didn't know the utility of an ox, or couldn't afford one. It wasn't as if they were working on a small area, either.

He didn't complain, beginning to till the soil as instructed- though he didn't hear anything new. He swung his hoe, feeling like an eighty maybe even as young as seventy year old man as his hoe connected with soil, turning it. He recalled his children and grandchildren complaining about his 'overworking' himself, but he only pushed himself as hard as he needed. Just enough to take care of the day's work. As he swung his hoe, Anton circulated the Ninety-Nine Stars cultivation technique, feeding some of the surrounding natural energy into his muscles. Each swing into the dirt stirred up more natural energy… and his suspicions intensified.

Some of the others in the area seemed to be focusing on their muscles, but weren't cultivating at all. Anton felt Hoyt was doing the same thing as him. He couldn't blame the kid for having sloppy technique- Anton's own near century of experience was something hard to match. At least Hoyt was clearly trying. Some didn't seem concerned about their technique, just trying to run out the clock. Anton put all of his muscle into the swings, working his arms and back, and even his legs. By the time lunch came, he was nearly exhausted.

Lunch was delivered to the work area, consisting of a selection of various things. Many disciples went straight for the meats, but Anton made sure to mix in vegetables. He had to admit that they were the best quality he had ever tasted. Something about the natural energy in the area, perhaps. After resting for lunch, he felt reinvigorated enough to continue exhausting himself until evening.

Hoyt's legs carried him in the same direction as Anton. It appeared he lived in the same region, instead of coming from the other side of the fields like most of the other workers. There wasn't much to discuss about their day, but Anton brought up the one thing he thought was strange. "Why do we not use plows? It would require many fewer workers to till the fields."

Hoyt shrugged, "I can't say for sure. If you ask Elder Howland, he says something about animals disturbing the natural energy in the area. However, if you ask me… well, I think you've stumbled onto this idea yourself. They just want to see how we work."

"And whether we think to cultivate ourselves while we cultivate the land," Anton grinned. "Are you from a farming background?"

"No, my father was a laborer in Edelhull. Still, I interacted with them enough to know what they were talking about. Cultivating the body isn't exactly like cultivating land, but they can clearly be done together. Just wait until we get to picking weeds from among the magic herbs. There's so much natural energy there…" Hoyt shook his head, "Well, it's not possible to use it all, and some needs to be left for the plants. But it's just as much as some of the nice training places that you have to pay for, and you get paid instead."

Hoyt lived more to the north of the dining hall, while Anton lived to the south, so they parted ways at the conclusion of dinner. As Anton was approaching, he noticed something. The other residences were now occupied. He should have expected that, but he'd forgotten. Before heading to greet them, he moved into his courtyard, washing off the day's dirt and grime with a few buckets of water from the pump there. It seemed extravagant for each courtyard to have its own pump, but then again cultivators seemed to value privacy.

Anton found his way to his first neighbor. He could tell that they weren't immediately in the middle of cultivation, so he knocked on their door. A man perhaps in his late twenties answered the door. "Yes, what is it? Am I being summoned for something?"

Anton did his best to smile pleasantly. "I just thought it would be good to introduce myself. I am Anton, one of your neighbors."

"Oh, yes." The man looked him over, "I'm Hayden. Good to meet you." Though he said the words, his expression and the way he quickly closed the door belied the actual meaning of them.

His reception at the second neighbor was not particularly better. A young woman just at the border of adulthood responded to his knock. Anton took the initiative to introduce himself and his purpose for being there.

"Oh. Hello. I'm Velvet." The young woman bowed her head. You're… the old man who got to skip the test, right? How'd you do that?"

Anton sighed, "Those at the fourth star do not have to take the test."

"I see," she nodded. "So you spent all that time cultivating to the fourth star alone so you could join the sect. I suppose that makes sense."

While Velvet was slightly more pleasant than Hayden, her words clearly indicated she didn't think much of Anton. He hadn't even known he would skip the test by being fourth star. If he'd known, he wasn't sure if he should have delayed slightly or not. Failing the test would have been disheartening.

Something Anton noticed from the first two neighbors was that they didn't cultivate the Ninety-Nine Stars. Well, they were just starting to show signs of it, but they seemed to be something similar to the third star in other techniques. Presumably they would be changing cultivation techniques, though perhaps they had access to something particularly impressive- though in that case they might have little use for the Order as a whole, even with its other resources.

His third and final neighbor was cultivating when he arrived. However, they stopped when he stood outside the door. Perhaps they sensed him, but regardless Anton took the chance to knock. Opening the door was a young woman who he recognized from the test. "Good evening. I am Anton, the neighbor in the house counterclockwise one in the complex."

The young woman nodded. "Catarina."

"I don't mean to pry, but I believe I passed you in Edelhull. Did the young man you were with earlier get assigned to a different complex?"

The young woman had little expression on her face as she spoke. "No. Timothy is… kind of an idiot. He failed the test."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"Don't be," Catarina said. "He'll probably pass next month anyway." Catarina squinted her eyes at Anton. "Weren't you third star?"

"I managed to complete the fourth star just in time for the test. Or… lack of it, apparently."

"I see," Catarina nodded. "Good evening," she inclined her head and closed the door. Though her words were straightforward, they seemed at least generally polite… though unexpressive. Anton felt her return to cultivating again not a few moments later. So she had sensed him coming. She was third star as well, apparently having already been practicing the Ninety-Nine Stars, and he felt she would reach fourth star fairly quickly. Indeed, if she'd somehow failed the test… she would certainly be able to skip the one coming in another month.

Anton returned to his own home. Though he'd been cultivating during the day, it wasn't quite the same while moving and while still. His muscles still ached from their exertion, and a bit of cultivating would help ease that. Then he had to put in a bit of practice for his archery techniques- or at least what he could do without a bow- before finally catching enough sleep for the next day.

Chapter 13

Sleeping, eating, working, and cultivating became Anton's life. It wasn't so dissimilar from his previous life, except he had no family to share his successes with and no diversions except occasional conversations with Hoyt to comfort him. The novelty of cultivation and his need to grow stronger kept him going.

Though the thought of lessons from elders piqued his interest, none on the schedule had been interesting to him thus far. Sword and spear techniques weren't something had a foundation with and he didn't feel as if he needed guidance in the core Ninety-Nine Stars cultivation technique. It wasn't that he wasn't willing to learn from others, but he hadn't felt the limits without guidance in that area. There didn't seem to be any archery masters giving lessons, and learning about advanced movement techniques would be a waste of time if he didn't even know any basic movement techniques. He wasn't even sure how those worked, but he was busy just teaching his body to move at normal speed again.

He'd cut a third off of his travel times between his home and the dining hall and fields, perhaps half if he counted the better routes. He certainly wasn't fast, but he felt the progress. He might be slightly swifter once he finished muscle tempering and reached the fifth star, but his speed would still be limited by age. More than that, moving around strained more than just his muscles. Anton felt aches in his joints after a hard day of labor, and while cultivation helped him recover quickly… his actions during one day were limited. Theoretically his joints would be refined along with his bones, so perhaps he would be served best to refine his bones next. That would delay some of the power he could achieve with archery, but he didn't exactly need to be concerned with that immediately. He didn't plan to immediately go hunt wild beasts, at least nothing more than a normal boar.

Anton stood in his courtyard at night, concentrating on the flow of his energy. The next day he was planning to visit the armory and determine if he had enough contribution points to exchange for a bow. He knew there were fancy cultivator weapons that were quite expensive, but a regular hunting bow wouldn't be so much. Then again, a couple weeks of farming couldn't be worth that much. Anton pushed those thoughts aside and concentrated on the technique written in Spirit Arrows.

He stood with one arm outstretched and one by his ear, as if he was holding a drawn bow. He relaxed his stance as if easing the tension on the string, concentrating on the space between his hands. Energy began to take shape and he moved his arms, elongating it into the shape of an arrow. The thin shape radiated a faint golden glow, but the head of the arrow was almost nonexistent and the fletching was shabby and indistinct. Anton held its form for a few seconds before letting it dissipate, with no way to attempt to fire it. He could propel it with his own energy, but every time he tried it immediately fell apart as he lost control of the energy binding the arrow together. Flinging it with his hand was slightly better, but it didn't have the power a bow had. It was little better than flinging a rock, maybe worse. Anton was pretty sure he could charge a rock with energy and do a pretty good bit of damage if he chucked it at someone's head.

Anton formed a few more arrows to familiarize himself with the technique before climbing onto the outer wall of the complex. His joints especially complained at that, but he ignored the pain as he had for the last several decades. It wasn't even as bad as simply walking around had been before he became a cultivator.

From atop the wall he focused on looking towards the other parts of the sect. To the north and a little west was the dining hall where he ate. He focused his energy on his eyes, performing the core of Hawk Eyes Archery. Where his eyes focused everything seemed to draw closer to him, until he could almost make out the features of the late diners going in and out of the dining hall. The kitchens were open from dawn until midnight though most made use of it at somewhat regular meal times… and then a crowd just before it closed.

Anton's eyes swept east towards the fields he had been working in. The grains they had planted were growing quickly, much more quickly than he was used to anything growing even in its best season.

The very first fields he had worked in now needed weeding. As much as the abundant natural energy allowed the grains to grow tall and strong in just a pair of weeks it also helped undesired plants to grow. Anton found himself with thick leather gloves, pulling up plants with five centimeter thorns on them. Those were much more rare, but there were little things that would take nutrients as well. Stooping down to pull them out was hard on his back, but for the little things Anton found a decent way to avoid that.

One of his boots stood next to a small weed. Anton circulated his energy through himself and down towards his foot, then through the boot and out into the soil around the tiny weed. With a little yank, he pulled it out and then carried it up alongside his leg until it was resting at his waist, where he would grab it with his hand and throw it into the basket with the rest of the weeds to be disposed of. Controlling energy that wasn't immediately touching him was difficult. While Spirit Arrows retained form away from him, that was an application to keep them in a shape rather than actually control the energy once it was further. If he needed to reach, he could stretch his energy a few hands away from his body if he needed to, but it got several times more difficult. Moving himself closer was the best option for the moment.

Anton turned in his basket at the end of the day and headed towards the central complex, where the rewards hall and the attached armory were.

Anton wasn't sure how much the contribution points he'd gotten over the two weeks of work were worth, but he could compare to how much he might have earned at other jobs. Working in the fields was slightly more than other 'unskilled' labor, but several times less than a qualified apprentice for the pill refiners or smiths. Hunting wild beasts seemed to pay more than any of that, though it was less consistent and of course somewhat dangerous.

Anton once again found Elder Lois at the rewards hall, though he was aware she wasn't always there. She had to spend time cultivating on her own, or she would never advance. He just hadn't been to visit the rewards hall much. Anton inclined his head. "Elder Lois, I've come to check how many contribution points I might need to get a bow."

"Very well," she looked at a ledger in front of her, flipping its pages rapidly. "You're Anton Krantz, correct?" she didn't wait for a response, instead waving her hand and doing something with energy that made his token resonate. She scribbled a number on a piece of paper. "Not bad for two weeks, though it won't get you too far in the armory. Evan can show you around."

Anton took the piece of paper, which read '242'. The base rate for contribution points was a single point per hour of labor, though clearly Anton had received more than that. Skilled farming should have been one and a third, if he recalled correctly. He'd worked fairly long days, but certainly not thirteen hours per day every day. He wasn't going to complain about any extra, though.

The armory was just adjacent to the rewards hall. Anton immediately saw a man of indeterminate age. He was having much more difficulty determining actual age with so many cultivators around. Anton smiled politely, "Elder Evan, I was hoping to receive information on the prices of weapons… bows specifically. I know it might take me some time to earn enough for one but I need to know what I'm working towards."

"Of course," Evan smiled. "It's good to have aspirations. Follow me." Evan took Anton past several doors behind which Anton could feel powerful energy radiating off of not just the room but the things inside. One of them was labeled simply, '100,000'. If that was how many contribution points things in that room cost… he would have to work for 10 years to have a chance to get anything in there. As they walked along to other rooms Anton saw not everything was completely sealed off but instead he was able to see what was inside some of them. There were swords and shields, suits of armor made out of both heavy metal and thin almost clothlike garments that radiated power. He even saw a few bows as they turned through twisting corridors.

Evan stopped next to a door labeled '5,000'. "This is the standard level of equipment," Evan gestured Anton to follow him inside the room. "Go ahead and touch. Nothing here is so fragile as to fall apart under your fingers."

Anton was able to control himself well enough that it wouldn't have been a problem to restrain himself, but upon being given permission… he placed his hand on a suit of armor, feeling the energy directly with his skin. He had no idea how he would even think about breaking through it. There were swords so sharp he almost cut himself without touching one. It might have been his imagination, but his hand was five centimeters away from a blade when he felt the sharpness. He decided not to test whether it was real or imagined. There was a nearby bow, after all.

"The string is there, next to it." Evan pointed to a strange orange string that was unlike anything Anton had seened used before. It wasn't any sort of animal tendon or anything he recognized. It felt slightly warm to the touch. "Go ahead and give it a try."

Anton attempted to string the bow… but he couldn't even get it to flex. He'd been strong when he was younger, and now he was recovering much of that strength with his muscle tempering… but it was clearly insufficient. How strong were cultivators really, if he couldn't even string a bow they would use?

"Fire snake spine and wyvern horn make up quite a powerful combination… but at the fourth star a more appropriate bow could be found more cheaply." Evan smiled, and waved Anton onward. After a few more twists and turns they ended up at a door labeled, '100'. "Everything in here is made by apprentice refiners. Only when they turn out something appropriate, of course. Subpar equipment is destroyed and the materials reused, where possible. We sell off most of it, but we do like to keep around a handful. I do believe there was a bow… ah, here we go." Evan pulled out a smooth black bow and a similarly black string. "Nightwood and black steel. Springy yet powerful. Go on."

Anton reached for the bow and string. He was able to bend the bow, though it took all of his strength. More than that, he had to incorporate energy to get it the last centimeter to hook the metallic string onto it. Anton pulled back the string, almost subconsciously using Spirit Arrows. His bare fingers protested at the harsh material of the string, but the amount of give was just right and as he let the string go he felt the power… perhaps a bit too directly as it came to impact his forearm. It drew a line of blood, and he knew he would need some accessories if he was even going to think about using the bow. At least, until he had tempered his skin. That had seemed like the most useless on the list… but he realized everything had its place. "Is this really a hundred contribution points? I'd love to have it." Anton paused, "Ah… but it could be quite a bit more." It seemed unlikely everything in the room was priced exactly the same, right?

Elder Evan smiled, "Correct. That one is actually… five hundred contribution points."

Anton sighed. That would take another two weeks- assuming he worked slightly more and even got as many extra points as he had so far. "I suppose… it's something to keep working for."

"Don't have enough?" Evan asked. "I'll tell you what… come out back to the practice field with me. You can at least try firing it for real. It will give you something to look forward to."

Not wanting to let go of the bow, Anton began to follow him. "I appreciate it."

Chapter 14

Twists and turns led through various corridors, Evan leading the way for Anton to reach the practice fields attached to the armory. Evan produced a quiver of arrows, though Anton hadn't seen him pick one up. "You'll need these. Here's the archery range. To make this somewhat interesting, I'll give you a challenge. If you hit thirty points, I'll give you a prize." Evan smiled, a mirthful yet mysterious expression on his face.

"What's the scoring?" Anton asked.

"Quite simple. One point or two."

Anton looked at the archery target ahead of him, a hundred meters away. That was further than he'd normally shoot, but then again that was before he was a cultivator. Besides, the target wasn't moving. Hopefully, it would stay that way. There were five rings on it. Maybe the center rings were worth two points? "If I lose?"

Evan shrugged, "Nothing special happens. You help me clean up the arrows and get back to your business."

"Then… challenge accepted." Anton pulled an arrow from the quiver, looking it over. It was good, without any warped wood and the fletching was even. He pulled back the bow, feeling the strain on his arms, but it was a good strain. The first arrow went high. It was his first time firing the bow, after all, and his strength had changed so much since his last attempt. But with two points available per shot, he could afford to miss a point.

The second arrow Anton was ready for the power and speed of the bow, and he didn't have to compensate as much for gravity. The arrow flew through the air, sticking in the outer ring of the target, just below the top. Perhaps he was still a little high, but it hit.

"One point," Evan said.

Anton was beginning to get used to the bow. He pulled back the arrow to his ear, breathing carefully and then holding his breath at the moment of release. The arrow cut through the air, hitting the second ring from the edge. It was a little bit off to the right because of some wind, but not worryingly so.

"Another point. That's two so far," Evan recounted. "Seventeen arrows to go."

That was a reminder that some of his arrows had to hit two points. Apparently the outer two rings weren't good enough, but he wouldn't have expected it. The next few arrows hit the second ring, the third ring… one point each. Anton was getting a handle on the bow, and a sense for the wind. Fourth ring. One point. He'd fired six arrows for five points. It seemed only the bullseye would net him two points. He needed most of the thirteen arrows to hit the bullseye to defeat this challenge. He wasn't sure what he would get… but he wanted the satisfaction of doing well.

Anton took a deep breath. He didn't need to hurry. He focused his mind on the target, and he let his energy flow over the arrow. He hadn't practiced those techniques on real arrows, but he could theoretically redirect it in flight. Maybe not much… but his arrow flew straight, arcing up and down slightly before striking the bullseye.

"One point," Evan declared. Anton looked at him. If a bullseye wasn't worth two points, how could anything be? The arrow was almost exactly in the center as well. Was it a trick, an impossible challenge? That didn't seem quite right. Anton followed Evan's eyes. He was looking at the target but at that angle…

Anton moved to the side. Behind the target was another, a full two hundred meters away. He had assumed it was for someone else, but upon thinking about it that was foolish. It was directly in line with the other target, so if the first archer missed… the second would get it right in the back of the head. Or they might, at least. Anton sighed. Was this the standard cultivators were held to? He should have asked about the details of the points, but then again he needed to get used to the bow. At least he got points.

Anton drew the next arrow. This one too would inevitably be a sacrifice to practice. After that, all he had to do was hit the second target with every single arrow… and if it was worth two points he could match the challenge score. All that was demanded of him was a step short of perfection. Anton released his sacrificial arrow. It almost seemed as if it would hit, sailing cleanly over the first target and towards the second… but the wind shifted during its flight and it went wide. It was hard to account for changes in the wind. He needed to put more power so the arrow flew more quickly… and some energy to pull it back on target.

The muscles and tendons in his hands were already straining, along with his upper back. If he'd tried to do any of this before becoming a cultivator he would have wrecked himself, except perhaps when he was near his prime. Even now, he was sweating after less than ten arrows.

From that point on, only perfection would do. The ninth arrow flew, piercing through the winds and puncturing the second target. Just the outer ring but…

"Two points," Evan had a clear smile on his face, though Anton couldn't focus on that.

Everything but Anton and the two targets disappeared. He didn't even think about why he wanted to succeed or even what it meant. He just had to hit the target. Outer ring. Second. Second. Third ring. Third again. Fourth Ring. Fourth ring. Third ring. Anton's concentration slipped. Second ring. He refocused his mind.

He put all of himself into the next arrow, not concerning himself with the distance or the changes in the wind. Before it hit, he knew the arrow would be a bullseye. It sunk deep into the target, and Anton momentarily celebrated. But then he saw it was just on the edge of the bullseye. It might count, but it wasn't quite as he had envisioned. Anton visibly deflated.

"Twenty-eight points. One to go."

Evan's voice returned Anton to his own body. He had one arrow left. There was that challenge to complete. It had to hit the target, but he'd done that so many times already. It would be easy. He pulled back the bow, his tired arm straining. The arrow flew over the first target towards the second and stuck point first… into the grass in front of it. Anton slowly let out his breath. He'd lost focus. He could have done it but… he was careless. It was worse than not even being able to do it.

"Twenty-eight points total, and no more arrows," Evan shook his head.

Anton nodded. "I understand. I just have one question. If I destroy the targets… do I get in trouble?"

Evan smiled. "Going to take out your frustrations on them? If you do, you're responsible for the clean up and setting up the new ones."

Anton nodded. He could deal with that. Instead of moving towards the targets, however, he lifted his tired arm once more. Sweat dripped down his body as he gathered his remaining energy, breathing in more of the abundant natural energy around him. As he pulled back on the string he formed an arrow. It was the first time he'd done it with an actual bow, but it felt quite a bit more natural. He felt himself straining to hold it, but as he felt the wind lapse momentarily he released. The string and his own energy propelled his arrow straight forward, puncturing through the top of the first straw target without even slowing. It continued on its path, barely affected by gravity, flying the next hundred meters towards the second target where it pierced through the bullseye before fading away. Anton sighed in satisfaction. "Alright. I feel much better now."

Evan nodded. "Good. Also, that's three points. So you win the challenge. In recognition of your archery skills, I will allow you to borrow that bow for a month with no charge. At the end of the month you can purchase it if you wish to, otherwise you must return it to the armory."

Anton was barely listening, but he eventually processed Evan's words. He really did need a bow to practice with but… "I ran out of arrows, though. That one was extra."

"So?" Evan shrugged, "I would say initial mastery of Spirit Arrows demonstrates more archery potential than just hitting a damn target a few times. Just take the stupid bow."

Anton took a step back and bowed, "Right, of course. Sorry, Elder Evan. I will gladly accept your generosity. And I will earn the contribution points to purchase it, you can be sure of that."

"Yes yes," Evan waved his hand. "But you do still have to replace those targets. Otherwise someone will find themselves quite disappointed with the quality of the practice range."

Chapter 15

Over the next week Anton's schedule remained much the same, except his archery practice was much more effective with an actual bow. Practicing on targets let him understand how much of a difference there was between using energy and not. WIthout energy, he was just a very strong old man, equivalent to a moderately strong adult male. He would just be able to reach full draw on a good hunting bow, and seemed as if he barely tapped the potential of the bow he was borrowing from the armory. Despite all the body tempering greeting affecting his abilities, Anton was behind himself when he was young. However, the inclusion of energy was significant.

Anton also borrowed a quiver of practice arrows, and while they might stick a centimeter or so into a target they certainly couldn't fly through one. It wasn't just a difference with using Spirit Arrows either, though it was hard to test because he subconsciously propelled those arrows with his own energy. How could he not? Anton doubted that he could shoot through much besides a straw target, but it could still be quite lethal for a wild boar or deer. He might get a half arrow's depth in one, which would take it down much more quickly- and that was ignoring the accuracy benefits. Hawk Eyes Archery allowed him to focus in on a single point, and Thousand Arrows contained many techniques on redirecting arrows with energy, how to do it efficiently and without sending arrows spinning wildly. It was easy to just direct the tip and have it veer off course, but gently coaxing it along the right path was less energy intensive and much more useful.

Though he didn't see much of those sharing the complex with him, he often felt the other three cultivating late into the night. That was the sort of atmosphere that the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars promoted, and it felt like a waste to not spend all his time doing so. With such abundant natural energy… it was easy. That said, Anton felt the difficulty of later stages. He'd thought he would form the fifth star within a month in his current environment, but it was looking like it would take at least another week or two. He felt himself slowing down. If that happened, how could he ever catch up with the bandits?

One particular night, Anton felt Catarina was cultivating particularly powerfully. He almost felt himself being pulled towards her with the rest of the natural energy in the area, though it was just a slight pressure. Then there was an intense buildup of energy from her, and a few short minutes later she had condensed the fourth star inside herself. No wonder she hadn't been worried about whether she waited a month or not to take the test. The next one was still some days away, and even with just the energy from outside the Order's grounds she would have made it before the next test. Then she wouldn't have needed to take a test at all. Perhaps her friend would do the same.

Anton's ears twitched. His hearing hadn't faded as much as his eyesight, and after tempering the organs in his head he found he probably heard better than he had at his best. The two others were conversing with each other, probably in Hayden's courtyard. They seemed to do so often, and Anton wished he had anything in common with the others to converse about. He couldn't hear much of their conversation, and honestly what he did overhear was an accident.

"... go over?..."

"... tempering pills…"

"Doesn't deserve them…"

People muttering about others behind their backs was a human condition. Gossip was everywhere in Dungannon, and some people just didn't mesh with others. Talking was fine, but Anton felt a stirring of energy from them as they spoke. Hayden's courtyard was diagonally across from his, with Catarina's being in between them in the clockwise direction from Anton. Anton silently listened as the two left the gate of the courtyard and walked towards hers. The gates were on the second wall of each courtyard, when going clockwise. Soon, the pair knocked on the gate. "Catarina?" Hayden's voice carried over the walls. Anton shuffled slightly closer to the wall.

"Yes?" Catarina called back.

"May we come in?" Velvet asked.

"I'm cultivating," Catarina answered coldly… though Anton's few interactions with her indicated that was just how she was.

"We know," Hayden said. "Listen… we know you got three tempering pills from your place in the test. Now that you've used one to break through to the fourth star, you should share the others with us."

His words were technically polite and calm… but just in case Anton bounced on his toes slightly. He wanted to be ready to spring up the wall if he was needed. Perhaps he was being paranoid, but if nothing happened nobody would know anything except perhaps that he was being a little bit nosy.

"If you were supposed to have them, the sect would have given them to you." Anton felt Catarina stand up from the way her energy shifted position, though she felt somewhat drained after her breakthrough. "If you want some, you can make a request at the rewards hall."

Hayden answered again, "Your results were already so good… why did they have to give you a bigger advantage?" The gates were able to be locked from the inside, but there was little point to it except to prevent casual intrusion. It seemed Catarina hadn't bothered as her gate swung open, and Anton chose that moment to pull himself atop the wall between his courtyard and Catarina's.

Anton stood atop the wall, his bow in hand. "I don't believe she gave you permission to enter her courtyard. If you attempt to forcibly enter I'm going to have to assume you possess ill intent." Anton's eyes scanned the situation. Catarina had her hand on the sword at her waist, a commonly used weapon among cultivators. Hayden had a sword, which Anton estimated to be lower quality, though he wasn't qualified to guarantee that. As he focused energy on his eyes, they flicked over to the horizon uphill. Someone was there, quite a distance away. Were they watching or…?

Hayden scoffed. "Don't interfere old man. Just sit there in your courtyard and quietly cultivate until you die of old age."

He stepped forward, reaching for his sword… and Anton followed through on his threat. In one smooth motion he formed a Spirit Arrow on his string, pulled it back, and released. Hayden had already begun to form his energy around himself to be ready for combat… but even so Anton's arrow pierced deep into his chest. With the short distance between them, he had little time to dodge… and despite the warning clearly hadn't been prepared for an attack. Blood spurted out of his mouth and he fell to his knees.

Velvet hadn't entered the courtyard and stepped away, her hands up. "I just thought we would ask. I didn't think he would…"

The cultivator watching from uphill moved with such speed that Anton barely had time to react. He'd only looked away for a few seconds, but when he felt their energy approaching his eyes flicked back. He only had a moment to see a blurry figure before an old woman was standing on the wall next to him, and before he could react his bow was removed from his hand and his arms were twisted behind his back.

"What's happening here?" the woman next to him once again updated Anton's impression of how strong cultivators might be. Her skin was wrinkled and he was certain she was actually older than himself. She had certainly surpassed Spirit Building and must have been in Constellation Formation. Thirty stars, at least. It was hard to tell because the power was so overwhelming.

Anton answered first. "This young man was planning to rob Catarina's rewards for her place in the entry test. When his plans became clear, I warned him not to enter but he did anyway." Somehow without him noticing, Anton's arms had become shackled. He tumbled forward off the wall as the elder let go of him, but he managed to twist to land on his feet. As he did so, he shattered an ankle. He'd attempted to summon energy to reinforce himself, but he hadn't been able to.

The elder was already next to Hayden, who had blood pouring out of his chest. Spirit Arrows didn't leave anything behind to block the wounds. Anton felt her do something, presumably to stop the bleeding. "Everyone's coming with me to explain."

Anton attempted to get to his feet to comply with her request, but he felt himself suddenly moving. The unknown elder in front of him had wrapped all of those present in energy and was moving once more with blinding speed. It was only a few minutes later that Anton found himself in a cell.

Vincent hummed to himself as he approached the Order's front gate. He'd finally figured out why he couldn't track down those bandits, and with the improved information he'd managed to hire a formation expert to locate one of their camps. It was expensive, but he'd managed to take out some of their lower ranking members. Their leader and the formation expert weren't present, but he was in a good mood. Finally he'd made progress. He was planning to collect someone from the Order to save on expenses, and then he would return to tracking them down.

"Elder Vincent!" One of the guards at the gates bowed as he approached. "It is good to see you again."

"Jacob!" Vincent waved, "Glad to see you have been cultivating well."

"Thank you, Elder. I have a message for you from Elder Daniela Selby." Jacob handed over a sealed note.

Vincent read the message. It wasn't long, but it immediately put him out of his good mood. One of his recruits had been involved in an internal incident, and he was needed to provide context to determine if the disciple would be a danger. The fact that he was being asked for indicated it wasn't a clear case, but it was disappointing for his students to get involved in conflict. Then again, it was also inevitable with how many he recruited.

Elder Daniela had been around longer than Vincent himself, though Vincent was catching up to her in cultivation. His relative youth was an advantage there. Before even dropping by his own chambers he went to see her.

"Elder Daniela," Vincent inclined his head.

"Elder Vincent… you know there's no need to be so formal." The old woman sighed, "A few weeks back, there was an incident with a student recruited by you. I don't expect you to remember each and every one, but with less than a month of him being in the sect we didn't have time to judge his character. He nearly killed another disciple- a now-former disciple who was in the wrong, but who would have certainly died if I weren't nearby. This particular disciple might have lapsed from your memory by now. An old one that came in at fourth star."

"I can't promise I know each and every one in detail, but I'll try to remember. What's his name?"

"Anton Krantz."

Vincent blinked. "Sorry, I don't… Anton Krantz, you said?"

"That's right, do you not remember him?"

Vincent frowned and muttered to himself, "Was there a second one? That could have been decades ago…" he shook his head. "I certainly remember someone by that name, but I doubt it's him. Perhaps we should go see him."

Elder Daniela nodded, "Good. He's been cultivating furiously even in confinement… and he was apparently a good worker. If he's likely to be trouble again in the future we might as well expel him quickly, otherwise… he's served sufficient time."

"What exactly happened?"

"One of the new disciples tried to rob another of their resources. He shot him in the heart with a Spirit Arrow. If he hadn't been so straightforwardly deadly in his approach he likely wouldn't be imprisoned still."

The cells of the Order were blissfully unused for the most part. There were two disciples in opposite cells who had clearly had too much to drink the night before, but as they walked towards the somewhat more secure rear cells Vincent only sensed one source of energy. Someone new, though he didn't always stay around potential recruits long enough to get a feel for their particular energy patterns. This one felt fairly decent, almost as if… he were forming the fifth star. Vincent and Daniela just exchanged looks as they approached, stopping outside the cell. Vincent stood there watching silently as he felt the fifth star completely form inside Anton.

"So…" Elder Daniela said as Anton's energy settled down. "Do you recognize him?"

"What?" Vincent turned towards her. "Oh… yes. How could I not? I saw him less than six months ago."

Elder Daniela smiled, "And you said your memory was decent. Shouldn't he have been someone you visited regularly, if you just saw him then?"

"Technically… yes. But the thing is… six months ago was when I gave him the manual." Vincent folded his arms. "He hadn't touched cultivation before then."

"An amusing joke," Elder Daniela laughed mirthlessly. "But how's his temperament? Can we expect more trouble from him?"

"From him?" Vincent raised an eyebrow. "Not if nobody's acting like bandits. He was quite a stable family man once." Vincent paused, "But I was dead serious about what I said. How the hell is he fifth star now?"

Chapter 16

Energy flowed satisfyingly smoothly through Anton's meridians. His dantian was now occupied by five rotating stars, each representing changes to his body. The first star was the initial refinement to his entire person. Second had been his meridians, followed by the organs in his torso, the organs in his head, and finally his muscles. Some of it was just making up for abilities his body no longer had, but with the addition of energy to support him he found himself quite a bit more capable. If only he weren't imprisoned.

Anton's mind slowly returned to its focus outside of himself after his breakthrough. Surprisingly, there were two people standing outside his cell, watching him. He got to his feet, ignoring how some of his joints ached as he did. It was still much less than he'd experienced a few months prior. "Elder Daniela," he inclined his head politely. He turned his head so the light settled properly on the other person. "Vincent! I mean… Elder Vincent."

"Everyone just calls me Vincent. No need to change your form of address, Anton." Vincent's eyes scanned over Anton. "You look about twenty years younger."

Anton grinned slightly, "I feel it too. Unfortunately I'm sure you know I've run into a bit of trouble."

"What have you been doing since we last met?"

"I assure you I was behaving quite excellently until just recently."

"I don't care about this, right now." Vincent waved his hand. "You just formed the fifth star. How did that happen?"

Anton shook his head. "I… cultivated? I'm not sure quite what you mean. Forming the first star took me… a month and a half. I nearly died, I think. During that time I did little else but cultivate and… bury the villagers of Dungannon." Vincent nodded in acknowledgement and gestured for him to continue. "I found cultivating to be quite difficult, my meridians strained… so I chose to refine those next. Next I refined my torso, to keep all these old organs going. That was… somewhere around three months." Anton nodded to himself, recalling the events. "You had mentioned joining the sect at the third star, so I began the journey. On the road I began to refine the organs in my head, since my eyesight was still quite awful. It was a slow process, and I only broke through to the fourth star just outside the sect, taking advantage of the abundant natural energy that spread out to the surrounding areas. Then I spent some months here in the sect cultivating my muscles and the fifth star."

"That's it?" Vincent asked. "You just cultivated? Didn't stumble across any potent herbs?"

"Around Dungannon or along the road?" Anton grinned, "Not at all."

"I understand. So, what about the trouble that landed you in here?" Vincent asked.

Anton shrugged, "What can I say that I have not already told? I realize I was excessive in my actions, but I stand by the principle. I don't believe sect members should attempt to take from each other. If you wish, I can make a formal apology to Hayden for attempting to kill him."

"You can't, actually," Elder Daniela interjected. "He's no longer a part of the sect. You're right about his actions being inappropriate. However, even when the cause is right… it's best not to do things that can't be taken back. Especially if there might be some misunderstanding." Elder Daniela looked to Vincent and gestured behind her hand. In turn, Vincent nodded and waved his hand towards the door. "Since your actions were justified and Hayden's death was prevented, it has been deemed that you have spent sufficient time here as punishment. As long as you swear to be more thoughtful in your future actions, you can return to your residence immediately."

She pulled out a key and began unlocking the cell immediately. Anton found himself watching the way the energy gathered around the key and twisted in the lock, finding a sense of oppression from the bars disappearing. Then he remembered what had been said. "Of course. I swear to be more careful if future conflict arises with fellow disciples."

Vincent smiled, "We shall have to continue catching up later. Good luck with your cultivation." With a nod, Vincent walked ahead of the other two as Elder Daniela escorted Anton out.

Elder Vincent and Elder Daniela met up later, on their way to meet with others. "Was it really just six months?" Elder Daniela shook her head. "It took me longer than that to reach fifth star."

"Not quite so much for me," Vincent commented. "But I wasn't a hundred years old yet."

"I can't believe the tests didn't notice anything…"

"He skipped the test, remember? Fourth star. We don't usually expect someone to go from third to fourth in the time it takes to travel here… and they might be more informed." Vincent shook his head, "I gave him a bare minimum of information because I didn't expect that much. It explains why I couldn't find him as I passed back through Dungannon, however."

"What do we do?" Elder Daniela frowned. "He could have certainly won extra resources in the tests. Should we give him a chance?"

Vincent shook his head. "It's too late for that now. Besides, he clearly hasn't needed anything. As for what we do… I'm not sure we have to do anything. Perhaps coax him into attending some lessons, but otherwise I don't imagine there is anything required from us at the moment. Though we should certainly bring him up at the meeting. Everyone's always looking for young geniuses. Nobody thought to look for an old one. If he makes it to Spirit Building at the same rate… it'll be quite something to see."

While the conditions in the cell had been comfortable enough, Anton was quite pleased to be unconstrained. Cultivating for a few weeks without moving his body more than a small distance was not the optimal situation, though the natural energy had been abundant enough. Despite its simplicity, he was glad to be back in his own little courtyard. He spent some time practicing his techniques, though he realized he did not have a bow. However, the quality of Spirit Arrows he could make had gone up, their duration quite more enduring as he was able to condense his energy further. When he was tired enough, he returned to his own bed. While the quality of the physical object itself was not much different, it was significantly more restful.

Anton found himself arriving at breakfast earlier than normal, though he'd left at the same time. His legs carried him faster, with less complaining. Less complaining didn't mean none, but it wasn't the muscles crying out. Unlike many others of advanced age, he didn't have particularly bad knees. That said, not particularly bad did not mean good. Would he refine the area along with his bones? It had some overlap with both bones and tendons. He had to pick something next, so it might as well be one of those.

Breakfast was quick enough, though Anton found his appetite increased. Quite a bit, compared to how he had been half a year ago. He was like a teenager again, though perhaps his hunger was amplified by the amount all the actual teenagers and other young disciples were eating. Nothing extraordinary, for the most part, but he could see why the sect wanted to maintain their own fields for both grains and magical herbs.

Even with more time spent at breakfast, he was even earlier to the fields where he planned to be working. Elder Howland was already in the area. "Good morning, Elder."

"Anton." Elder Howland inclined his head. "Good to see you back. I thought perhaps you would not return after your breakthrough."

Anton smiled, "I was just… occupied for a time."

"I heard the general idea. I knew a reliable person like you was always going to be out and about soon enough. Now then, might as well get started."

With a powerful swing, Anton began to hoe a new field. Even with his body being stronger and the use of natural energy, he found it was still less effective than using an animal to till the soil. However, it wasn't as if the sect didn't know what it was doing. Anton just wondered if the other disciples understood. As he moved, he gathered energy from the world around him, breathing it in, circulating it from his dantian through his meridians… and into his bones. Not too deep at first. In fact, refining the marrow was another star in itself. However, he directed the energy to support his body. It wasn't going to be a short process, but he had to start at some point.

When he returned to the compound which his home was a part of, Anton sensed a new person where Hayden had lived. He thought it would be good to introduce himself. He knocked on the gate, since the new disciple was outside in his courtyard, and not in a critical point of cultivation. "Hello?" a young man opened the gate to the outside and looked at Anton. He seemed familiar.

"Good evening," Anton inclined his head. "I am Anton Krantz. I have not been around recently, but I live in the opposite corner there."

"Anton?" The young man inclined his head in return. "I'm Timothy. Catarina mentioned you." He looked over his shoulder towards Catarina's courtyard then leaned in. "She probably won't mention it, but she really appreciated your help. She was worried about what happened to you." Timothy looked Anton up and down. "Fifth star. That would explain it."

"Well," Anton bowed and took a step back. "I was merely here to introduce myself. Don't hesitate to drop by if you wish to consult on anything, though I'm not sure if I can help much in matters of cultivation."

"Good to meet you, Senior Krantz," Timothy inclined his head. The form of address was unfamiliar, though certainly apt since Anton was both older and of a higher cultivation.

Anton moved around to Catarina's courtyard, knocking as well. It didn't take her long to open the gate. "...Hello."

"Good evening, miss Riley. I just wished to say I have returned."

She nodded her head. "Okay. I-" she started to speak, but didn't continue. After a handful of seconds, Anton supposed she would probably not continue.

"I am glad to see you are well. Your cultivation is progressing nicely towards the next star. I hope the incident didn't result in further trouble for you," Anton smiled.

"No, it… I am… fine." Catarina nodded, "I am… welcome back." With that, she ungracefully shut the gate. Anton smiled. Kids could be so shy. Well, with a few decades of experience anyone might get better at conversation. Though he wasn't sure if anyone at the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars would actually get much practice in conversation. It didn't seem to be a favored pastime of cultivators.

Chapter 17

After two more weeks of work, Anton was ready to check his contribution points. The bow he had borrowed from the armory had been taken away when he was arrested. He hoped it hadn't been purchased… and that he was still allowed to make such purchases. Then again, there hadn't been any talk of ongoing punishments. If it wasn't necessary for proper training, Anton might have put off getting a weapon just to make the elders feel more assured. Then again, as long as he had it for a time and didn't mishandle it, they could also be assured he wouldn't do anything worrying. It wasn't that Anton wouldn't be willing to redo what he did, but if a similar situation came up… he would be less likely to attempt a lethal shot. Attempting to kill fellow disciples was rightfully frowned upon. And he likely didn't need to do anything, since an Elder had been watching. He just hadn't thought they would arrive so quickly.

The walk to the central area was still the same length, but Anton arrived more quickly. He could see how they actually functioned with sections so spread out. Most people just… moved quickly. Anton found his way to the rewards hall.

"Elder Lois," Anton inclined his head. "I would like to check my contribution points." He'd worked extra hours the last two weeks just to make sure he would have enough. Assuming he got similar rates to what he had before, at least.

"Of course. You are…" she took a moment to find his name, "Anton Krantz, correct?" she held out her hand.

"Oh! My token." Anton's identity token was with him at all times, but he rarely thought about it. Especially during his two weeks in a cell. He also had little use for it while farming.

Elder Lois smiled, activating the token with her energy and making it glow. Since she recognized him it probably wasn't necessary, but she followed the protocol regardless. She handed him his paper with the number. That too radiated energy. It would likely be hard to fake… and Anton had no interest in that. "Elder Evan mentioned awaiting your return some time ago."

"Let us hope I was not too slow," Anton shook his head. "I… was indisposed for two weeks." Elder Lois just smiled in response as Anton made his way towards the armory.

'626', the paper read. He probably hadn't needed to work so many extra hours, then, but what was he going to do… sleep? He already did enough of that. He could cultivate the Ninety-Nine stars while farming, and without a bow time spent training archery was inefficient. He would likely reduce his hours farming somewhat after the current point, though he could always use more contribution points.

Elder Evan still looked younger than him, but potentially wasn't. "Good day, Elder Evan," Anton inclined his head.

"Anton. Congratulations on your breakthrough." Elder Evan smiled, "I had expected you here earlier."

"I had some reasons I couldn't come sooner. I suppose I am too late?"

Elder Evan reached into a bag by his waist- one that looked to barely be able to hold a handful of apples and certainly not a full length bow- and pulled out the very bow Anton had looked at before, and then the string. "No one else acquired it. I assume you have the five hundred contribution points?" Anton held out the slip of paper, which had his name, the date, and the number of contribution points. Elder Evan took it, holding a token similar to Anton's identity token over it. When he handed it back it said '126'. He likewise handed over the bow. "Do take good care of it. Practice well, and all that. I might suggest attending lectures from the various elders or some of the senior disciples. If there are any you find particular insight from, you might also spend some of those contribution points on personal lessons. Learning from others can be much faster than studying on your own, even if you have the talent. Cultivation is all about time."

Anton nodded. If he could save a dozen hours cultivating a technique, he could work that dozen hours to earn more contribution points. Plus, there were also free lectures. He hadn't felt the need so far, but he'd only just come to the Order a couple months prior… with two weeks of that in a cell- though he didn't find those two weeks were wasted. "I appreciate the suggestion. Are there any good archery masters?"

Elder Evan laughed. "Are there? If archery masters are mentioned in the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars, the only proper answer is Elder Kseniya. She developed Spirit Arrows."

Anton's eyes widened slightly. He knew that techniques were all made by someone, but the way everyone acted everything in cultivation was said to be ancient techniques and the like. But of course there would be people from the Order who had new innovations, and Spirit Arrows seemed quite special, though Anton couldn't claim to have a deep understanding of the full limits of cultivation. "Does she lecture?"

"Something like that, at least. You should check the schedule."

Anton nodded. "Of course."

It wasn't far to the lecture halls, where a young looking woman sat behind a desk. "Excuse me…" Anton was fortunate to catch sight of her badge and her cultivation level before making a terrible mistake, "Senior disciple…?" He was so used to everyone being an elder that he'd been about to say it.

"Brita," she inclined her head to him. He could tell she was in Spirit Building, perhaps the thirteenth star. Her young age was… probably exactly correct. Somewhere in her actual twenties, he thought. "How can I help you?"

"I was wondering when Elder Kseniya's next public lecture was."

"One moment," Brita flipped through a dozen pages in an instant. Anton considered that he should learn to do that. It seemed quite useful. Perhaps that ability came naturally with cultivation, to some extent. "At the end of the month. One and a half weeks from now, in the afternoon."

"Thank you." Anton almost left, but he supposed he didn't have to think about just one thing. "Are there any upcoming lectures?" he gestured inside.

Brita didn't even need to check the list. "Advanced formations in half an hour. An hour until sword techniques… oh! Elder Vincent just started a cultivation basics lecture five minutes ago. You can likely still catch most of it."

"Which way to Elder Vincent's?" Brita pointed to her left, and Anton headed down the hallway- and soon he was able to find the rest of his way from Elder Vincent's voice and energy.

Anton stepped through an open doorway into a large semicircular hall. There were rows of seats in tiers so that everyone could get a view of the lecturer- and the hall was packed full. There were only a few seats in the very back.

"...in early cultivation is important," Elder Vincent's voice carried easily throughout the room without the use of energy. "For the Ninety-Nine Stars, the most critical parts of the first ten stars, Body Foundation, are the second and fifth stars."

Well. Anton had already passed that point. He hoped he hadn't made terrible decisions.

"The first and tenth, of course, refine the whole body. But the second and fifth are important because of the basis of the Ninety-Nine Stars. Cultivation seeks the truths of the universe… though whether those truths are properly understood can greatly influence the effectiveness. Thus, great care must be taken to learn from those who come before. As for the basis of the Ninety-Nine Stars… nine is a symbol of completeness and power. In addition to that are the prime numbers. Thus, the Ninety-Nine Stars are the summation of the first nine primes."

It was only a moment later when a young man in the crowd raised his hand.

Elder Vincent smiled, "I believe I might anticipate your question. Let me guess. Don't the first nine primes sum to one hundred?" Elder Vincent looked at the student, who lowered his hand and nodded. "A good question. That is, quite simply… the limit. Neither the founder nor any who have come after managed to form the hundredth star. People have already been known to call those in the fourth tier of cultivation deities… what would we call someone who has surpassed a deity?" Elder Vincent shrugged. "Though naming perhaps isn't that important. Claiming to be a deity, though, is a bit much. Our Galaxy Construction cultivators say the same. But, back to the question. Surpassing the final known tier of cultivation is a goal for many. Some say it is impossible. Those who try either die or disappear… either through transcending to a higher plane, or destroying themselves so thoroughly there's nothing left… there's no way to know. But ninety nine stars seems to be the limit for now."

Anton found that answer satisfactory. Even if the hundredth star couldn't be reached, a technique that was good enough to reach the peak of cultivation was quite something. Though of course, just because the technique was capable of reaching that peak didn't mean he could. He was already old. He just needed to surpass the Body Tempering stage to avenge his family.

"But!" Victor declared loudly, "The second and fifth stars… the first prime and the first and second added together. What you choose to temper at those points sets you up for the future. It isn't that you can't later achieve the same level of tempering in such a category, but you are set up for an early boost. That is why most of us refine the meridians at the fifth star." The same young man raised his hand, and Vincent pointed to him. "Yes? What is your question?"

"Why not refine the meridians at the second star? They affect all of cultivation. If we knew this before entering the Order at three stars, could we not be more successful?"

"Certainly," Vincent said. "Or you could be dead. Trying to force things ends up that way. Tempering the body is not equally easy. Tempering the meridians is the hardest, and thus requires experience. Though sometimes people try it and die." Vincent's eyes looked straight at Anton. "Except rarities."

Anton had to admit that he had found it quite dangerous. It almost spiralled out of control and killed him. Then again, that was his entire experience with cultivation up to that point.

Vincent continued, "The prime temperings are especially difficult, but also more effective. However, if one steadily cultivates past Body Foundation, they can eventually smooth out the road before them. So no matter what decisions you have made up to this point, there is no permanent harm done. Take advantage of whatever strengths you have obtained for yourself while you are young."

Chapter 18

Another week and a half out of five thousand went by in the blink of an eye. Work started early and lasted until the evening, then practicing archery techniques until he was sufficiently tired to sleep, all interspersed with meals and occasional lectures. Anton learned quite a bit, including how to properly balance his environment while cultivating. It wasn't as important as having abundant natural energy around, but it was still a factor. That included taking care of his mental state. Anton wasn't sure if his mind was exactly serene with constant thoughts of revenge, but what was he going to do about it? Focus was necessary to overcome it.

The most useful after the tips Vincent gave for cultivation was sparring practice. He was still a beginner in cultivation, so when he found himself struggling with unarmed combat he didn't feel bad. He had gotten in a few scraps in his days, but had no formal training. His muscles were decently strong, but the rest of his body just wasn't up to par. All of the others seemed to have begun lessons before him as well, but Anton didn't like making excuses. He might only rarely need to fight unarmed, but he should at least put in the effort to cover the basics.

The anticipated lecture with Elder Kseniya arrived in due time. When Anton arrived at the training field only to find it sparsely attended by merely a dozen others, he asked one of the nearest disciples, "Is this the right place for Elder Kseniya's lecture?"

The young woman nearest to him shrugged, "Lectures have words. But this is the place."

"It's… surprisingly empty."

"Elder Kseniya is the best archer in the Order," The young woman looked around before finally whispering, "...but she's not the best teacher."

Anton nodded. That often tended to be the case. Eccentric masters of one thing or another often had trouble communicating. It was certainly not impossible to be a skilled teacher and a master of something, but the skills didn't necessarily go together. Still, he might be able to learn something.

He almost didn't notice when she showed up. Anton had been conditioned into the idea that elders would look younger than they were, so when a truly ancient woman with baggy skin and thin limbs stood in front of them, he almost didn't think it was her. However, as he sensed her energy he knew it had to be her. He couldn't sense exactly, but she was at a great number of stars. Perhaps fifty or more? That would place her in the final tier of cultivation, the stage that was referred to as Galaxy Construction in the Ninety-Nine Stars method.

She said nothing, merely pulling out a bow from a magic bag- like Elder Evan had. The bow appeared quite plain- merely some sort of dark varnished wood and a string that seemed no different from many others. She had no quiver on her back, but that wasn't a surprise. Without even saying a word to those watching, her movement started.

Anton's eyes barely tracked the movement of her hand grabbing the string, the forming of a Spirit Arrow and the pulling of the string, and the arrow was out of his vision as if it completely disappeared. Then Elder Kseniya disappeared as well. However, Anton still sensed her- and his eyes snapped to her location, far from where Anton thought it should have been possible to move.

Even with his eyes already having been tempered, Anton was barely able to follow her movements. Activating the vision techniques from Hawk Eyes allowed him to not completely lose sight of her, but he was barely able to make out her specific movements even still. She drew and shot the bow, then moved to a seemingly random place to fire again in another similarly random direction. Anton's eyes occasionally followed the spirit arrows, realizing that he was half right. They did disappear, but their trajectory through the air up to the point where they vanished has also simply been too fast for him to see. Each of the Spirit Arrows destroyed itself at a specific point, though the distance wasn't always the same. Anton supposed that was the only way she wasn't going to put holes in everything around them… including the walls of the training areas and perhaps several buildings over. He was absolutely certain she would have, if the arrows didn't collapse into themselves.

Anton watched in a trance, trying to catch something from what was happening. He felt like he was on the verge of understanding, but he wasn't sure what he might learn. Then Elder Kseniya stopped. Anton reached down and found his chest was damp. He was sweating from just watching. He was almost entirely drained of energy just to catch a glimpse of what was going on. The others were in a similar boat, except a pair who grumbled to each other, "... didn't teach anything. Just showed off and left…"

Technically Anton agreed that she didn't teach anything… but the chance to see something like was still good for his developing skills. Many years of hunting and some competitions were nothing compared to her experience with the bow… but how could he make use of it?

Every time he formed a Spirit Arrow, Anton pictured those made by Elder Kseniya. They were thinner, not because they contained less power but because it was even more concentrated. He had barely been able to sense how it worked with the immense power involved, but he tried some things he thought were involved. Had she started the formation at the tip? No. Though he couldn't be sure, since they seemed to appear instantly. He tried starting with the arrowhead, in the middle, and from the end with the fletching. The middle was the worst, since if he was misaligned it could scrape up against the bow at the front or slip past the string in the back. Fortunately the bow had enough durability to ignore such incidental energy.

Anton tried to imagine what her movements were for. He couldn't possibly move as she did, especially with his joints… though perhaps hers weren't any better at whatever age she was. He would have to work on his flexibility. At the very least, moving around was a good idea. Anton didn't exactly dash around, but he started incorporating movement and turning into his practice. He didn't have targets and didn't want to destroy the walls, so he just made the arrows dissipate. He wasn't confident in doing that while they were in motion, so he made sure to practice on his actual target for actual practice firing.

The other residents of the complex did their own cultivation at different times, though there was never really a time when nobody was cultivating unless the complex was empty or they were all asleep. On a particular evening another two weeks later, Catarina was cultivating in her own courtyard. Anton felt she was at a particularly crucial moment, so he decided to take a break so as to avoid disturbing her with his energy fluctuations. She was at the peak of the fourth star… and if he guessed correctly she planned to break through to the fifth. The feeling of her cultivation let Anton know she was finishing the refinement of her meridians- a solid choice, apparently. Much less foolish than doing it too early, but Anton supposed he couldn't be blamed for his thoughts. He really should have been more cautious, though.

As Catarina pushed herself to the edge, Anton sensed a sudden boost of energy from her. It didn't feel like a danger, and indeed it only took a moment for the energy to settle down and come under her control. A short time later, the scene settled down and Anton knew she had reached the fifth star. Since it wouldn't be a problem to interrupt her anymore, Anton was about to go back to training archery. However, she stepped out of her gate and he was curious where she was going to go. Spying on his neighbors wasn't proper… but he would have had to intentionally ignore her to not know where she was. Besides, she was coming towards his gate.

A moment later, she knocked. "...Anton?"

He made his way over to the gate and opened it. "Catarina, come on in," he gestured.

She shook her head. "Not necessary. Here." She held out her hand, and Anton instinctively reached out to take what she dropped. A small round pellet.

She was halfway turned around when Anton called after her. "Wait! Isn't this your last tempering pill?" Anton was quite certain that she had just used one.

"No. I have one more left."

He still didn't let her leave, "Why give it to me?"

"... For the help. Before. Save it for breaking through to sixth star."

Now that he'd gotten her to admit why, he wasn't going to refuse. He sensed she was telling the truth about having another. It seemed likely she hadn't actually used one for the fourth star. "I will graciously accept," Anton said as she was already stepping out of sight back towards her dwelling. He slowly closed the gate behind her and smiled. He would save the pill for a breakthrough. Though if she needed it before he used it, he would gladly give it to her. Better to foster someone younger who had their whole life ahead of them rather than an old man.

Chapter 19

Elder Kseniya's demonstrations were not regularly scheduled. The second one after Anton heard of her was another three weeks after the first, though it wasn't scheduled until three days in advance and Anton only heard about it by coincidence. Anton arrived a bit early, since Elder Kseniya didn't seem the sort to delay upon arriving. It wasn't exactly a short demonstration the first time, but he had the feeling that watching the whole thing would give him the best insights.

The training field the demonstration was in did have actual targets, and Anton found a young man at the seventh star training there. It was not surprising to find him forming a spirit arrow, firing one after the next into a target… though with deliberate speed rather than haste. Anton watched, feeling the young man's energy as he shot. Obviously he wasn't much compared to Elder Kseniya, but Anton wouldn't expect that. His arrows were accurate enough, but they didn't puncture very deep into the targets. At least, not as much as they should have with energy involved. Anton approached closer, "Young man… interested in advice from an old man a full two stars weaker than you?"

The young man shrugged, "Why not? I'll hear it at least."

Anton nodded. He had gotten in the habit of bringing his bow with him, since most disciples carried a weapon with them around the Order, and he quickly strung it. Theoretically, even black steel strings had to wear out eventually if it was left strung. Anton held up his fingers, creating a spirit arrow where the young man could see. "I didn't see any particular flaws in your creation, but your power seemed to suffer. That bow seems decent enough…" Anton turned to the side and pulled back the arrow, sending it flying towards the target. His energy catapulted it forward through the target. Good, at least he had something to demonstrate that he knew what he was talking about. "The problem is that you're trying too hard to hit accurately."

The young man squinted, "But if I don't hit… I can't kill anything."

"I'm not saying you shouldn't be accurate. I'm just saying you shouldn't put so much effort into it. You're stabilizing the arrow with your energy." Anton held up another spirit arrow, "That's what the fletching is for. If it didn't have a purpose, we'd merely form something like needles," Anton let the fletching fade away. "But the fletching lets it stay aligned on its own. That energy is best used to propel the whole thing forward. Don't worry if it spins, that's fine as well."

The young man nodded. "I see." Anton stepped away from the target, letting him have a straight shot. He frowned in concentration, forming an arrow and releasing it. The arrow arrived off target, but Anton knew he just needed to get used to how it behaved. Either way, it punctured most of the way through. It wasn't so inaccurate as to be a problem on any decently sized opponent, just a couple rings from the bullseye. The young man seemed to be focused on the task, so Anton just watched as he continued. Soon enough the others arrived- several new faces, and a half dozen repeats. Anton noticed the returning disciples were all higher stars than himself, but why would they not be? He was still quite new to cultivation.

Elder Kseniya's arrival was obvious, from her energy but nothing else. She wasn't hiding it, so the fact that she made no sound and had little visual presence as she arrived didn't make a difference. Anyone would notice if they were suddenly next to a raging fire.

Everyone cleared out of the area as she approached, standing over to the side and watching. Anton decided not to try to focus on the little details this time, something he couldn't even really make out as she fired arrows almost without him seeing her move… and then she herself changed locations. If he couldn't pick out fine details, he needed to follow the flow. Was it just a demonstration of how fast she could move and shoot, or was there something more?

The first arrow flew out, disappearing as it reached a point somewhere in front of her. At that point, Elder Kseniya had moved a quarter circle around the general area. Her second arrow fired at another spot entirely. As far as Anton could tell, she never aimed at the same point- though her arrows might pass through a similar target sized area, they never stopped in the same area as a previous one.

Anton noticed something else. She wasn't just running around and shooting. Her movements weren't so straightforward. She had great speed, but she didn't move straight from point to point. She changed direction unpredictably, tilting her body as she moved and occasionally pulling back steps. It was as if… she was avoiding enemy attacks. Anton's brain was overloaded with information… but if he presumed she was shooting and 'hitting' an imaginary foe, it would explain why they didn't remain in place. His suspicions were confirmed when she ducked 'under' an attack, and instead of firing her bow stabbed out with her hand… a spirit arrow existing for only the briefest of moments. Anton couldn't say he followed all of her movements, but at least he understood what was happening. It could have just been his imagination… but he thought that sometimes she missed. That is to say, the arrows had a point of maximum power. Usually, they disappeared- indicating a hit- very close to the peak of their power. Sometimes, they continued onward… fading out of existence rather than being directly dispersed. But perhaps that was just Anton reading into things too much. By the time the demonstration was over, Anton was exhausted… both his brain and his reserves of energy just to keep track of anything that was happening.

Anton couldn't say he found Elder Kseniya's demonstration to be a good lesson… but he still learned some things about what she considered important. Constant movement made sense. He needed to be able to hit an opponent while both of them were moving. Predicting the opponent's movements was theoretically part of that, though Anton hadn't been able to track the 'movements' of her opponent to know that was the case.

Trying to replicate a similar situation himself stretched the limits of his capabilities, not least of which was his body complaining to him for pushing it so hard. However, he didn't feel as if he was hurting himself. Tempering his body with energy was allowing him to grow stronger, and though it might be painful in the short term, he found his overall bodily health increasing. Even if his joints burned after every practice session, and his bones creaked.

One major issue Anton ran into was imagining an opponent. He hadn't exactly been in many fights. Hunting animals… usually was done from stealth. If a boar was charging at him, he didn't use a complex series of movements. He shot it, and tried to figure out how to put a tree between them. For a combat on the level of cultivators, he really didn't know what to expect. The only images he had in his mind were Elder Kseniya and her invisible opponent. When he tried to imagine fighting them… he died. Rapidly and continuously. His arrows got nowhere near the targets he set in mind, even though he himself had chosen their movement patterns.

Anton shook his head. That wouldn't do any good. He needed some practical experience… or to pick a weaker opponent. The only other person he'd really seen move was… Vincent. He wasn't even trying to go fast most of the time, but his movements were strange and hard to follow. Anton imagined shooting at someone who moved like Vincent casually. It was difficult, but he managed some 'hits'. But that wasn't the speed Elder Vincent could move at. That was him strolling around. In his head, he pictured being carried through the forest at then-unbelieveable speeds, to return to the bandit camp. Even if that version of Elder Vincent wasn't trying to dodge him, Anton couldn't manage a hit on something that speed. On a related note, Anton found himself very glad that the walls of the courtyard were fortified to resist damage. He might still need to be more careful, but at least he wasn't punching holes in them. He couldn't do everything necessary to move and aim and shoot with proper power and consistently disperse his energy exactly when he wanted to.

Anton sighed. And here he was thinking he would take out cultivator bandits. Bandits who had years or decades of experience on him, who fought and killed for their livelihood. There was no way he could get revenge like that. Elder Vincent had managed to track down some of them- but they had apparently gone far enough into Ofrurg that he couldn't track them down while still fulfilling other responsibilities for the Order. Anton would have liked to hear they were all dead… but he also wanted to kill them himself. To do that, he needed to fight… something. Disciples were able to spar, at least. There were also magical beasts to hunt down. He wasn't sure if he was ready, but he could use the contribution points. Tempering his body while farming was good for the moment, but after the sixth and seventh star he would merely be working at the same time. His bones and tendons would be physically worked, but he wasn't sure about marrow and skin. Speaking of which, before he got into battles with wild beasts, he should have some better idea of how to defend himself with energy. He wouldn't want to fail to avoid an attack only to find himself impaled… or just simply have his body shatter to bits. He was working on part of that with the tempering of his bones, but Anton was absolutely certain he could easily break his own body with his energy. On that note, he found himself holding back so as not to actually hurt himself. At least he had some ideas in mind for what to study next.

Chapter 20

The technique library was a place Anton had only visited once before. He should have visited twice, but during the time he would have been returning his borrowed technique scrolls he was incarcerated. He might still need to look over Hawk Eyes Archery and Thousand Arrows later, but he was fairly certain he'd learned all he could from them at the moment. Spirit Arrows likely had more he could learn as well, but beyond the level of just creating an arrow he wasn't sure if he didn't just need more practice to use it to its full capacity. "Elder Mason," Anton inclined his head as he arrived. "I'm sorry these were a bit late." Elder Mason was one of the ones Anton was sure was younger than himself, but not necessarily that much. Still, her long hair and youthful skin could have easily tricked him into believing she was merely in her twenties.

Elder Mason shrugged, "If it was a real problem, we would have sent people to collect them." She looked at each scroll as she took them. "Sorry, your badge?" Anton held it out. "Oh! Anton Krantz. Sorry, but so many people come through and you've only been here once. I'm not as good as some of the others are at remembering names." She marked a ledger with a quill pen- and a little bit of energy. "Now then, since you returned… I presume you want to check out something else? More archery techniques, perhaps?"

"I might take a look at them," Anton said, "But I wanted to diversify a bit. Something defensive, and maybe for movement."

"Aha!" Elder Mason smiled. "Planning to join The Hunt?"

"No…? Maybe. I don't believe I've heard of it." Anton started following after Elder Mason as she walked along the shelves.

"That's right, it was announced nearly two months ago… so the excitement died down some. It'll pick back up soon since it's just a month away." Elder Mason pulled a few scrolls off the shelves, "Take a look to see if any of these suit you." As Anton took them, Elder Mason continued her earlier line of thought, "The Hunt is exactly what it sounds like… more or less. An organized event by the sect to thin the numbers of magical beasts in the deep forest. There are certain points not to be crossed while still in Body Tempering, but it's a group event. Good for getting to know other disciples, and for contribution points."

"I had been considering some hunting," Anton said. Steel skin… tempered skin was recommended. That wasn't high on his priority list. He would prefer something energy based. Golden Armor was in that vein, but its defenses were a bit static for his tastes. Though he could understand the appeal of solidifying your energy and letting it act as actual armor. He had trouble unfurling the third one. Ponderous Field was certainly interesting, spreading out energy to slow anything around- weapons and people alike. The most interesting thing was that there was another scroll wrapped inside that one. One Step Ahead was… a combined movement and defensive technique… technically.

"Oh. That's where that went." Elder Mason sighed, "This is why only the caretakers are supposed to shelve things."

"Is this long past due for someone?" Anton could barely believe what the technique wanted from its user. Predict the exact movements of the enemy so that you wouldn't be somewhere they could attack, while at the same time moving yourself to the optimal location to attack them. For use with archery, it said. He certainly couldn't see it working with anything in melee, because you'd always be inside your opponent's reach.

"No. But some elders write techniques and just toss them on the shelves, assuming we'll know where they are. Even though we never registered them." From the tone of her voice, Anton supposed that some elders were one specific elder.

"Who wrote this one, then? It doesn't say."

"If you'd seen more of hers, you'd know. The straightforward yet impossible to keep up with descriptions become the obvious thing. And the fact that there's no name. It's Elder Kseniya."

Anton frowned, "Spirit Arrows wasn't so… directly obtuse?"

"Oh," Elder Mason laughed, "That's the version for people who want to actually learn, instead of just stare at a page. One of the other elders clarified it."

Anton nodded, idly going over One Step Ahead. Synchronize yourself with your opponent. Take one step before them. Never two. He shook his head. There were diagrams for how to circulate energy through the meridians to achieve… presumably the desired results. But he couldn't say for sure. "Any movement techniques for people with bad joints?" Anton asked.

"Specifically that? I don't think so. But there are some focusing on smooth movements rather than jerk reactions."

Anton picked out one called Swan Steps. He… wasn't sure if he had ever seen a swan, but based on watching other waterfowl he was pretty sure they didn't do a lot of graceful walking. More of a waddle. But the technique seemed decent enough. "How many techniques can I bring with me?" Anton asked.

"The answer is… don't get greedy."

"I would like Golden Armor and Swan Steps." Anton paused for a moment, "I'm also interested in looking at One Step Ahead and… the original Spirit Arrows."

Elder Mason shrugged, "It's your time. If you can actually make sense of those two, it's not a problem. Though I need to at least properly register One Step Ahead."

Golden Armor was extremely simple, though it required sufficient energy to use it. Set aside an amount of energy, convert it into a solid form around the body, and lock it in place. From that point it would last quite some time as long as nothing was actively breaking through. The downsides was that it wasn't possible to focus the armor against a big hit, though it did its best to disperse any damage across the body. On the other hand, since he couldn't do it, he didn't have to redirect his defenses while at the same time trying to coordinate his own attacks. Anton thought the best solution was to never get attacked at all, but apparently magical beasts had a number of ranged attacks at their disposal as well- from throwing things to attacks involving energy. The energy was what made them so dangerous. They weren't exactly cultivators, but absorbing large amounts of natural energy not only fortified their bodies but occasionally allowed them to perform basic techniques. They were generally more powerful than a human, as well- though still of animal intelligence.

Anton found that Swan Steps, while having very little to do with any sort of actual waterfowl, was quite useful. Especially for him, since it was easier on his joints as he moved around… but still let him move quickly and change direction when needed. That involved more energy usage than his body, but it also allowed him more options.

The other two… he only had a feeling would be useful. Between studying them and Elder Kseniya herself, he might learn something. Or maybe he was overestimating himself.

Anton had one thing he needed to do besides cultivating. Since The Hunt was a group event, he needed… a group. That could be between three and six people, but he had to actually ask people. But before he did that…

Anton circulated his energy through his meridians. He let the energy seep into his bones, seeking out areas where he was less developed. He paid special attention to his joints, and though he knew they wouldn't be completely better after the refinement… at least they would hold up until the second full body refinement. After that… well, he was already being ambitious thinking about the tenth star.

With one more pass through his body, his bones were brimming with energy. Yet he continued according to the prescribed techniques. He pulled in energy from all around him, grateful for how much natural energy was everywhere in the territory of the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars. It was enough that even an old man like himself could cultivate at a decent speed.

Anton knew that the more energy he pulled into his bones the better the final refinement would be. While he could continue to temper them later… it was optimal to do it as well as possible during this first and best opportunity. The energy started making his bones hurt. But at the moment, it was only the ache of a cold winter day. Soon it elevated to the point of feeling like he had broken a bone, except all over his body. He'd had the experience of a broken bone several times when he was younger, and as he grew older it took longer to recover from such injuries. However, his bones weren't broken. They had already undergone the first tempering, and had been gradually gaining strength as he cultivated the sixth star. They could withstand more, he was certain. He hadn't been wrong about that so far, and he wasn't going to doubt himself now. More… more… until he was more worried about the energy exploding on its own regardless of the structural integrity of his bones. The physical pain just filled him with determination as he pushed forward.

Finally, there was an explosion, but an intentional one. It focused all the energy inward, condensing it into yet another star floating around inside of him. The sixth star. Sadly, it wasn't that much of an accomplishment. Technically, the fifth star was harder, as one of the primes. He hadn't known that at the time, but it explained how things were working for him. The next couple wouldn't be so bad, but the tenth… well, he had other things to worry about first. Like whether or not he could actually fight.

Chapter 21

For the sake of contribution points, joining a group of strong disciples for The Hunt would probably be for the best. The only problem was, Anton wasn't sure if anyone would want him… or if he would want to join them. What could he learn, being supported by those stronger than him? Would it be worth it even if he got extra equipment or cultivation materials? Anton truly didn't know, but forming a group with people he knew was something he would prefer. Only… who did he know?

Elders didn't count. And, despite knowing many of them tangentially, he only really knew names and small details about most of them. Vincent was the one he knew the most, but again… it didn't matter.

Who had he met? The list was quite small. He was introduced to the sect by a young man named Sterling, but they had no contact after that. He was acquainted with several people who attended Elder Kseniya's archery demonstrations, but they were ahead of him in cultivation. That left very few people. Only the others in his complex, and Hoyt. Perhaps one of them needed one more for a group. Anton couldn't be sure if they were even going to join The Hunt, but he could ask.

Despite living in the same complex as the three others, the first Anton encountered was Hoyt. After all, he woke up much earlier than the others. Hoyt was still working the same fields as Anton, and they met regularly at breakfast. "Hoyt. Are you planning to join The Hunt?"

"I had considered it, Senior Anton." A stern look from Anton made him rephrase his sentence. "...Anton. However, I don't know many others. How about yourself? Do you plan to participate?"

Anton nodded, "I thought it would be a good experience. I've had… little exposure to combat. Though I did hunt regular animals. I have a few others I was planning to ask as well, but if you wish to enter, I would be glad to fight with you."

Hoyt looked at Anton, then nodded. "Of course, I'd be quite glad to join alongside you. Hopefully we can get enough for a full group."

"Are there any from the same complex as you that would be a good fit?" Anton asked.

Hoyt shook his head, "Not really. I don't think they would be ready."

"I have several more I can invite, I'm sure we can find at least a third."

Anton started in the counterclockwise direction from his own home. He wasn't sure about Velvet since she'd been related to the earlier trouble… but it was best to be polite regardless. He knocked on her door first.

"Good evening, Anton." She greeted him as he opened the door.

"Good evening. I believe I previously overheard you talking about joining a group for The Hunt…?" He hadn't actually heard what it was for, but that was the most likely cause for forming a group at the moment.

She looked over Anton, "That's right. We're nearly full, but we might have room for one more, if you want to join."

"I appreciate the offer, but I have no desire to join a group with only one other person I know. I had thought to form a group with some acquaintances. One from the fields… Timothy…"

Velvet smiled politely, "I wish you luck then. Perhaps we will see each other out there."

Anton nodded and excused himself. He was glad he was right. And she had clearly not liked the idea of joining up with Timothy. Anton could see why, in practical terms. Timothy was cultivating outside, clearly displaying the aura of the third star. Anton stopped to feel the vigor with which the young man was cultivating. He might not have the talent, but Anton could appreciate his drive. At a moment of rest, Anton knocked on his gate.

"Who is it…?" Timothy asked as he came to the gate. "Oh, Senior Anton."

Anton smiled, "Just Anton is fine. Despite the respect of the title, I'd rather not be reminded that I'm old. It's not required by the Order, so I'd prefer if you just call me my name."

"Of course…" Timothy seemed to twitch as he tried to say Anton's name. That made him smile.

"Have you heard of The Hunt?" Anton asked.

"Absolutely," Timothy said, "It's a big event. Unfortunately… nobody would want to take someone of the third star with them."

"I don't know about that. Would you like to join me?"

Timothy's eyes grew wide, "...Really? But you're… already at the sixth star. I'd just be dead weight."

"Nonsense. Another teammate can always be useful. I was thinking of inviting Catarina as well. Do you know if she's already participating?"

"No. I mean… she isn't," Timothy said. "If you don't mind my cultivation level… I would be glad to join. Catarina… would probably like to as well. I'm sure she'd like you to ask, at least."

Anton nodded. "I have already recruited another disciple by the name of Hoyt. A solid young man. So we have a minimal team regardless. However, having a fourth would be appreciated."

Catarina was outside cultivating… though as soon as Anton approached the gate she stopped. He knocked, and she opened it a moment later. "Yes, Senior Anton?"

Anton sighed, "I would prefer to just be called Anton, if you please." Why was everyone so insistent on that? "Have you heard of The Hunt? I have been putting together a team to participate. I have already recruited one of my friends and Timothy. However, we would appreciate having a fourth."

"Timothy is going with you?" Catarina nodded. "I would be glad to join… Anton."

"Excellent. I was thinking we should all gather together to learn what each of us can do, and how we can perform the best. Do you have any particular time constraints?"

Catarina shook her head, "I have nothing that requires a set time."

"Excellent. I shall try to arrange a time that will work for everyone, perhaps in two days."

"Of course. S- Anton. I have a question before you go."

"What is it? I'm glad to answer."

"Weren't you… fourth star when we first met?"

"That is correct." Technically he had been third star when he first saw her, but they didn't really meet then. He just happened to take note of the pair of young cultivators. "I have been quite happy with my overall rate of advancement, considering my age."

Catarina nodded. "Okay. Thank you. Just let me know… when we're meeting."

Though Hoyt worked all day, it wasn't as if he had to. Neither of them were technically required to inform Elder Howland that they would not be present the next day, but it was courteous to do so. Since the other two didn't really have any scheduling requirements, they were able to meet up two days later after Anton started gathering everyone.

There were various sorts of training fields, and the particular one they were at required renting with contribution points. It wasn't just a field, but a sparring field that had a formation set up to limit damage two cultivators might do to each other. In addition to that, there was an elder on duty over several areas in case something went wrong and someone was seriously injured. It wasn't expensive, but it would cost something like ten points throughout the duration of the day, which meant beginning workers might only be able to afford to use it after a full day of work. More powerful formations for those at the final few stars of Body Tempering were more expensive, and Spirit Building was out of the question with Anton's available points. But they didn't need anything that could withstand so much.

"Hoyt, meet Timothy and Catarina. Likewise, meet Hoyt."

Both sides properly introduced themselves, as well as feeling out the cultivation of the others. Currently, they had a third star, two fifth stars, and Anton's sixth. It wasn't the most impressive group the Order had, but that didn't matter. They just had to perform their best.

"Why don't we go over our basic abilities? In case you did not guess from the fact that I always have a bow on me, I am an archer. In general, I make use of Spirit Arrows," Anton formed an arrow in his hand, "Plus some other archery techniques. I have some movement and defensive skills for my own use, but nothing I imagine would be a benefit to the group. I am of course most useful if enemies stay at range, and would much prefer to kill things there. Though I am told that's not always simple with magical beasts." Anton looked to Hoyt.

Hoyt held up a large axe. He was a fit young man, but the size of his body didn't match the mass of the weapon. "I wield the axe. I am capable of controlling a wide area and breaking through tough defenses."

Timothy was equipped with a full set of armor, including helmet and a shield. Anton didn't judge it to be cultivator grade, but it was still better than fortifying his own body. "I use sword and shield, for the most part. I… don't have much combat experience, but I've been practicing interception techniques."

Catarina had a sword at her side. However, she didn't bring it up at all, instead summarizing her abilities in a single word. "Formations."

Hoyt's jaw dropped, and even Timothy looked somewhat surprised.

Anton stroked his chin. He didn't really know what formations were, but understood they were quite useful. The bandits had even managed to hide themselves from Elder Vincent for such a long time because they had the services of a formation master. "Great. Let's get started then."

Chapter 22

"According to the report," Anton explained, "The most common beasts are merely larger versions of normal counterparts. Wolves, boars, snakes, great cats, and the like. Some bears, maybe. I won't assume everyone has experience hunting them, so we'll go over some of the basics."

As the oldest in the group, the connecting point between disparate people, and just the highest cultivation Anton took the role of leader for the training. He could also guarantee he had the most experience fighting wild animals, because even if the others had started the day they were born he still had several times their experience. Unless one of them had fought wild beasts every day for that same time, but the stories of cultivators raised by wolves or growing up in the wild were… generally exaggerated.

"Mostly, these creatures aren't threats alone. Even a large bear should be easily defeatable by…" Anton checked the information he had, "A single fourth star cultivator. Though I would suggest not trying to directly let them hit you, since you'll waste energy… you should still be alright. There are four of us, so even if one would have difficulty, together we can defeat whatever we encounter." Anton avoided calling out Timothy. It wasn't like he chose to have lower cultivation. He just wasn't there yet. "The same cannot be said of magical beasts. Even alone, they can be a threat. They have more muscle and bodily power than normal animals, and the ability to use energy for attacks and defense. We will be staying out of the deeper areas where they will be common. Disciples with higher cultivations will be facing them."

Everyone nodded, and the training began. Three of the four had preferences for melee weapons, so the simplest arrangement was for them to stand in a line in front of Anton. Perfectly functional, but nothing special. However, if he stood in the line with them he would have less worries about hitting one of them, and could more quickly kill approaching enemies as he would be closer. They would still be able to intercept enemies as they approached, and he could quickly fall back- if necessary. Anton was still capable of defending himself up close, it simply wasn't his preferred method.

Lacking actual beasts to fight against- and with the forest being too dangerous to enter at the moment, leading to the call for The Hunt- they sparred with each other to get some experience fighting. Training techniques on your own just wasn't the same. Anton had a huge advantage if they started further apart, and even at a dozen paces which would only take a few moments to cover he could shoot several times before anyone got close. Though the training arena kept people from getting seriously hurt, everyone had to admit they would probably be dead if they actually took a direct hit. So people practiced dodging, and then Anton's time to have difficulty came. In melee he wasn't exactly helpless, but he only had a standard one handed axe that cost only a handful of contribution points to use along with a small but sturdy shield. He could have used something heavier, but he needed speed more than power. He didn't have the proper techniques to use his cultivation to his advantage, and his body held him back still, since the younger cultivators were starting from a better place and had likewise tempered their bodies.

Catarina and Hoyt were mostly matched… but Timothy struggled with any combat. It wasn't that he was unskilled, but the difference of several levels of cultivation was hard to make up for. Battles were most balanced with Timothy and Anton versus the remaining two, though it mostly came down to whether they started at range… or whether Catarina had time to set up. Her ability to fight was really just average, as far as cultivators went. But as she had simply stated, her specialty was formations. Not the sort where people were arranged in particular ways- though that was sometimes part of it- but the sort where energy was arranged in a particular way.

It was a difficult subject to learn, and Catarina admitted she was still a novice… but a novice formation user was still a powerful force to reckon with. Given time, she could modify an area either through carving runes into surfaces or making them out of energy. Sometimes rearranging the area on a larger scale to affect the energy flow was involved as well, which was technically the case with the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars. Their land was a large natural formation with some modifications that gathered natural energy and protected the borders, though it wasn't exactly pulling it from elsewhere. It more encouraged energy to form.

Catarina explained some specific things she could do. "Here is a simple barrier. It uses energy more efficiently than most attackers can, so breaking through can exhaust people." It took her some time to set up every formation, but Anton could tell she wanted to actually have them visible… even if they were temporary. "Here, attuned people… allies… move more easily. Energy for others is sluggish." Catarina's movements made sense on the surface, tracing the outline of the area… but the runes sometimes were placed in geometric patterns and sometimes in ways that Anton couldn't wrap his head around. Catarina's third and final formation finished and… she disappeared. Except Anton could still feel her there, with his energy. She was just not visible. A few moments later, he felt the formation waver and break. "This one… is difficult. Maybe not useful." Catarina was sweating, despite the relatively slow movements she had been making. Controlling energy so precisely could be quite difficult, and the mental effort wasn't small either. "It's supposed to hide energy too… but I can't yet."

"That's okay, Catarina! It's still great." Timothy was very encouraging of her. They were childhood friends, after all.

"It is quite impressive," Anton said, "It requires special talent and hard work." Anton thought he saw Catarina smile slightly at that.

Hoyt nodded, "I tried learning it once. Then I realized I should stick to swinging heavy things around!" Despite his attitude, Anton knew he didn't just swing wildly. He had actual skill, and a body that was intentionally tempered in specific ways.

Despite working hard throughout the day, Anton noticed that Timothy still cultivated late into the night. Anton himself was an old man who didn't sleep much, and since he wasn't getting up early for farming when they trained, he found himself spending more time awake later. From what he remembered, while Timothy had been diligent in his cultivation, he hadn't generally been up so late. It wasn't polite to spy on others cultivating, but Anton was old enough he felt he'd earned a bit of nosiness.

Anton's senses told him that Timothy's cultivation was… fine. It was progressing forward towards the next star, the refinement of his tendons going smoothly. But it certainly wasn't fast. Anton found his way around to Timothy's courtyard. With nothing particularly challenging happening in his cultivation, interrupting him wouldn't be a problem. When Timothy opened the gate to Anton's knock, he invited himself inside. "You're up quite late, aren't you? How is the cultivation going?"

Timothy shrugged, "I'm hoping to reach the fourth star before the end of the month… and The Hunt."

Anton nodded, "Refining the tendons to support your muscles for quick movements or power, quite useful. I noticed you closely follow the prescribed tempering methods laid out in the Ninety-Nine Stars."

"Of course," Timothy said, "Precision is important."

Anton smiled, "I agree. However, there is more to it than that. You were not raised as a cultivator, right? Did you work at a farm?"

"My father was a woodcutter," Timothy answered, "Though I was often called to help out nearby farms as well."

"Then you are aware of how working your muscles makes them grow stronger. That doesn't stop being the case when cultivation is involved. There is merely another avenue to do so. However, the first doesn't become useless." Anton stretched out his arm, displaying his wrist front and back. Pressing his hands together, he stretched his fingers and wrist in various ways. "Some physical exertion lets the body absorb more natural energy. Let's try some exercises."

Timothy didn't say anything, merely following along with Anton. Anton hoped he hadn't overstepped his bounds, but the young man didn't seem to have the right insights to focus his training properly. Some gentle stretching and then more rapid movements for every part of the body left Anton feeling sore… and aching more than usual. However, cultivation with energy would ease the pain.

"Follow along with my technique," Anton said, "There are some ways to make your energy flow more smoothly." Anton knew that Timothy hadn't refined his meridians yet, but that didn't mean he couldn't exert greater control. His power would be lower, but the way Anton folded energy into his tendons could be replicated. It wasn't something that could be taken from a cultivation manual, because mere words explaining would never be sufficient. In truth, Anton hadn't quite perfected the technique himself as he was currently in the middle of cultivating his tendons, but it shared the same principles as the rest. Timothy didn't quite have it down by the end of the night, but Anton planned to return to guide him in the future. It wasn't just so he would be stronger to help the team, but Anton just wanted to leave the world somewhat better once he expired. Though that might not happen so naturally anymore… there was a good chance of him getting himself killed within the next year. He couldn't just train forever and never avenge his family… or look for any survivors who were taken as slaves.

Chapter 23

In less than two weeks, Timothy had reached the fourth star, finishing the tempering of his tendons. Anton still had quite a way to go… but it was just time he required. Meanwhile, Timothy had spent a longer time at the third star because of his inefficient technique. He took well to the guidance of Anton, completing the final portion of the tempering without issue. "Thank you for the instruction, team leader Anton." Timothy and the others no longer tried to call Anton 'senior', but he couldn't refuse 'team leader'. It at least didn't make him feel old. He had hoped that they would be willing to be informal, but the large difference in age made them slightly uneasy still.

"What do you plan for the next star?" Anton asked.

"It would be best to refine my meridians but-"

"Then that is what you shall do," Anton declared. "Why would you not?"

"Well, prime refinements are more difficult. Meridians are the hardest to refine properly, and I'm not sure I have enough experience…" Timothy looked down.

"Don't worry about it and just ask when you have questions. It may be difficult, but this is an important time in your future. Catarina and Hoyt both had the fortitude to refine their meridians for a prime refinement. With my guidance you can do the same."

"Didn't you refine your muscles for the fifth refinement, team leader Anton?"

"I did," Anton acknowledged, "But that doesn't mean my meridians didn't also undergo a prime refinement. I am a bit old, though, so it may not be so obvious with my energy capacity."

Timothy frowned, "But if muscles were fifth… then meridians were…"

"Second, of course." Anton understood that was a rarity, but it had worked out well for him. He was still alive, after all. "Now then, here's what you need to do…" Anton had already finished the refinement of his meridians long before, and with his current additional experience he was quite capable of guiding Timothy's cultivation. He wasn't going to magically reach the fifth star in just a couple weeks, but if Anton was able to properly communicate the best techniques, he should be able to properly perform the tempering given time. He had enough determination, at least.

At one hundred years old, Anton felt that time moved extremely rapidly. Then he had become a cultivator, and time seemed to flow even faster still. A month of training at least a few times per week with the team he had put together for The Hunt passed in what felt like an instant. Nobody but Timothy made a breakthrough to a higher cultivation level, but that was expected. The rest of the group had advanced relatively recently, and it wasn't so easy for Anton to reach the next star in just a month. He felt like he was barely halfway… maybe a bit over or under. Cultivation seemed to slow down quite significantly with each step.

The gathering for The Hunt was quite impressive. Not every disciple was participating, but Anton estimated at least one in five to ten. With how spread out they were over the land owned by the Order, there were rarely so many in one place. The Order had thousands of members around at any specific time, and hundreds were participating in The Hunt. Anton noticed many with badges of elders. At least a dozen. While that wasn't a huge portion of the order's total number of elders, it was quite significant. Anton noticed both Elder Vincent and Elder Kseniya. Vincent was greeting many people as they arrived, but Kseniya mostly watched. He wondered if anyone technically knew her, instead of just knowing who she was. He certainly couldn't consider himself acquainted.

"Anton!" Elder Vincent smiled as they approached. "I'm glad to see you are doing well. Your cultivation has progressed one step further, even." Elder Vincent turned his smile to the rest of the team. "I didn't have the pleasure of recruiting the rest of you. I'm Vincent."

"Elder Vincent," they all inclined their heads, and Vincent and Anton shared a look. He certainly deserved the respect of the title more than Anton did that of senior, but it did seem rather formal.

"We will be going over all of the updated information soon. The level of your team…" Elder Vincent nodded, "An average of fifth star is quite excellent, considering the time you have cultivated. There will be many opportunities for you to be effective in the outer forest."

The coordinator for The Hunt was one of the older looking elders, a dark skinned man called Elder Anand. Anton only knew that he was from outside Graotan initially, before finding his position with the Order. "Good day, everyone," Elder Anand spoke. Even with people scattered all about, his voice carried evenly to everyone. "Despite the fact that we will be dealing with creatures from the forest, do remember that the deep forest is off limits. It is far too dangerous… even for Spirit Building disciples. On that note, we have separated the area into several sections. The inner ring is appropriate for any Spirit Building disciples. The middle ring will mostly suit earlier Spirit Building and those near the peak of Body Tempering. Those below the seventh star are advised to stay in the outer area. Of course, these areas are not absolute. Stronger beasts may move between zones, but the elders will be doing the best to limit how many dangerous ones reach further out. We cannot guarantee that large numbers of beasts won't travel in a pack, so make sure to remain with your teams for safety. And don't forget, despite the fact that you will be rewarded per beast slain… this is a cooperative venture. If you see another team in need of assistance, please do so. And don't refuse help from others. It is better to remain alive than to get a few extra contribution points. Though… we shouldn't have to remind most of you how to behave." Elder Anand explained what to look for that would delineate the different sections- different types of trees, the density of energy, landmarks, and the like. Before sending everyone off, each group was given a magic bag.

Anton was surprised they had enough for that- if there were three hundred participants, that meant at least fifty or seventy-five magic bags. That did explain why those disciples that worked with equipment refinement had been looking a bit haggard lately.

A magic bag was theoretically simple to use. It could open widely to store objects far beyond its actual capacity, and in this case it was meant for the corpses of beasts. Among other things it would preserve them for use… and keep the forest from being littered with bodies. While scavengers would enjoy such a feast, it was best to minimize the amount to something reasonable. Besides, scavengers were already too plentiful with so many dangerous beasts growing wild.

Anton wished he had the chance to enter the forest before. He wasn't terribly worried about entering an unfamiliar forest, especially since he could always find his way back towards the center where the Order kept the main complex, but knowing the particular quirks of a forest was still good. Maybe he would have the chance later after the hunt, when things settled down. For the moment, they moved towards the outer part of the forest.

With experience hunting various creatures, it wasn't hard to find relatively larger versions of them. Anton barely even had to look to find tracks of a large boar… and he could hear it soon enough. He almost thought it was a normal sized boar but then he realized that the trees it was next to were instead much larger than he thought. The perspective was difficult, but he motioned the group forward as quietly as they could go. Anton was out in front somewhat… but just a few meters ahead. The boar hadn't noticed them yet, and he pulled on his string, forming a Spirit Arrow as he did so. He aimed lower, towards a front shoulder- and the heart.

Anton hadn't fired a Spirit Arrow at a living being not protected by the sect's defensive formations… and he was quite surprised. The arrow flew with power he knew it possessed straight and true into the boar's heart, half its length in. It left behind a hole in the pig's side… but the boar was also surprising. Its fat was also about twice as thick due to its size, and though the arrow had certainly punctured the heart it wasn't cleanly pierced through. And boars were known for being hard to take down.

It spun around towards Anton, charging towards him. Anton fired two more Spirit Arrows, though its movements and thick skin meant they only stuck more or less harmlessly into its shoulder. However, before it made it more than halfway to him… its rapid movements caused it to bleed more quickly out of the hole in its side and it collapsed. Anton nodded. He could kill one alone, but he'd had the drop on it. Theoretically the beasts would also travel in groups, and he might not always spot his quarry first. It wasn't truly a hunt, but instead an extermination… or a war.

Chapter 24

The group of four tracked down several more oversized beasts over the next few hours, with half of them being slain by Anton before reaching anyone. He let several get closer, injured, both to limit his energy usage and to give the others a chance to test their skills against the beasts. None of the other three had trouble taking down a beast alone. There was a slightly more eventful encounter with a pair of wolves- one of which snuck up from behind the group while they were focused on one in front- but Hoyt chopped straight through the neck of the creature as it attacked from the rear.

Anton scratched his chin after they placed the bodies in the magic bag they had been loaned. "I'm not sure whether this is a large quantity of wild beasts or a small number. A normal forest might not sustain this sort of population but…" he shook his head. They were also traveling faster than he was used to, covering more area, "... it doesn't seem like a worrisome overflow, even as we are moving inward slightly. They said to expect more packs."

Hoyt nodded, "I'd expect the elders knew what they were talking about. We just don't seem to be finding them."

Anton slung his bow over his shoulder. It wasn't good for long term carrying like that, but it left his hands free for a bit. "Perhaps I might spot something." Though the forest was filled with familiar trees, the sizes were larger than he was used to. Fortunately, they also had larger handholds and footholds, once he could get up the trunk. He climbed his way to the top, glad he had reached so far in the body tempering process. To get the best angle he had to walk out on a branch, but it was easily able to hold his weight. Hawk Eyes Archery had techniques to enhance the eyes, and he focused on the most distance he could. There were actually several beasts in sight, though determining if they were regular animals or the larger ones was difficult. Even so, he found himself surprised that they hadn't run into more. It seemed the creatures had been avoiding them. "It seems I must have missed some tracks. Strange, for how large these things are." Anton pointed into the distance, "There appears to be a pack of wolves up ahead. Six or seven of them, maybe. I think we can cut off their movements." He looked down at the group, "It's quite a bit more than one or two. Some of us will have to defend against several at a time. Though if it's more than two, the others can help them out quickly. Is that alright?"

"Should be easy," Catarina said. "If we can get in front, I can set up a simple formation."

"I should be able to handle two easily enough," Timothy agreed.

Hoyt also had no complaints, so Anton led the group in the direction he had determined the wolf pack would be going. "They should come from the north there. There's enough cover here for us to hide. The wind is from the same direction they're in, so they won't smell us until… maybe ten or twenty meters out." Anton wasn't sure how much size would change their sense of smell.

Catarina nodded, then took out her sword and chopped through a bush. She tossed a bundle of its leaves over to the side.

"Weren't we supposed to use that as cover…?" Timothy asked.

"It's fine," she said, "Plenty left." Catarina started walking around, occasionally dragging her feet through the leaves. Anton watched her with interest. Some of what she did certainly involved her own energy, but some of it seemed random. "How much longer?" Catarina asked.

"Maybe… three or four minutes." Anton responded, "Though they might have changed course."

Catarina nodded again, carefully laying a stick on the ground and moving behind the bushes with them. "Don't shoot until they pass the stick."

The stick in question was merely ten meters away, a short sprint for either cultivators or beasts of any size. That was much closer than Anton was comfortable with starting to shoot, but Anton knew there should be a good reason for it… and with the wolves approaching it was better to keep quiet instead of asking. Soon enough he could hear them moving through the brush, and he spotted them between the trees around the same time. The wolves moved closer… and closer… eight of them in total, one more than he had seen. The wolf in the lead was slightly larger, and while Anton expected it to notice them… it moved past the aforementioned stick without reacting. He didn't know if he was supposed to wait for all of them to pass the stick, and he decided he couldn't wait. He drew his bow, Spirit Arrow flying with all the force he could muster towards the wolf. It managed to react sufficiently to redirect the arrow to its side instead of its chest, but it couldn't avoid being wounded. The wolf immediately sprang into action, leaping towards Anton after a short burst to build up speed. Thousand Arrows had methods to shoot quickly, and he managed to form the next Spirit Arrow and release it while still having time to jump to the side.

Everything else sprang into action at the same time, Timothy moving around to one side in an attempt to draw some of the wolves towards him, while Hoyt moved directly towards the pack with Catarina. Hoyt warded off two wolves with back and forth motion of his axe, looking for a good opening. Catarina sprang into action directly, slashing along the side of one of the wolves and continuing past, between that and another wolf. They tried to turn to snap at her, but they ended up running into each other instead. There was no real damage from the collision, but it slowed them down sufficiently for her to be safely out of reach.

Three of the wolves focused in on Timothy, who was off by himself. He held his shield at the ready, keeping it towards one wolf circling around while another was in front of him. He did his best to keep a tree behind him as well. It wasn't possible to maintain that position forever, but when the wolf behind him sprang towards his leg, he was ready. He had a good enough sense of his surroundings to turn himself away, stepping back to the side as he slashed out with his sword. He only struck a glancing blow on the wolf, but with the aid of his energy he cut a gash into its side. His dodge also placed his shield mostly in the direction of the remaining wolves, so that they couldn't take advantage of the moment.

Anton was vaguely aware of everything else that was going on, but he was busy handling his own problem. He was facing just one wolf, but it was somewhat larger. However, if he let himself be intimidated by a single wolf, becoming a cultivator would have been for nothing. It wasn't a question of whether he could kill it, but how efficiently he could do so. Even with Thousand Arrows for speed, the distance was a bit too close to comfortably shoot his bow. Instead, Anton pulled out his hand axe while holding his bow in the other hand, swiping at the wolf to make it back away. Anton didn't want to draw out his fight too much, but the wolf was losing blood from two wounds. As he maneuvered around, the wolf slipped on a root- something Anton presumed was related to the effects of the formation Catarina had established- and Anton chopped forward, swinging his axe deep into the neck of the beast. It took some energy to pull it back out and Anton took a ready stance, but the wound was deep enough that the wolf collapsed a moment later.

Taking his bow back in both hands, Anton was able to begin opening fire on the remaining wolves, starting with those around Timothy who was the lowest cultivation- and against the most enemies. He interspersed physical arrows with uses of Spirit Arrows, because he didn't have enough energy to keep up an endless amount of Spirit Arrows. Standard arrows supported by his energy were good enough most of the time, and he needed to last the rest of the fight and preserve himself for future battles as well. His first shot stuck in the leg of one of the wolves, sending it limping back. Timothy took advantage of the opening to shove one wolf away with his shield and slash at the one he had wounded before, killing it. It was only a few moments before the other two were finished- and by that point Catarina and Hoyt had just finished killing the ones around them.

The group had a few wounds, and Anton noticed his gambeson had a gash down the front, even after being supported with energy. It seemed the somewhat enhanced beasts had sharper claws as well. The group took some time to bind their wounds, and to recover energy. Fatigue still built up, but half an hour later they were near peak condition and ready to move on. Anton once again climbed a tree to search for the best targets. "There's another group over there. They seem to be fighting serpents. They seem to be holding their own but..."

"We should go help," Timothy said. "Even if they are doing well, the tides of battle can change."

Catarina nodded. "Elders said so."

Hoyt smiled, "It's not like they can complain if we don't intend to take the proof of the kill."

Anton quickly climbed down. "Around this way should be the fastest. We should probably hurry… just in case."

Chapter 25

When cultivators wanted to move quickly, they could do so more than Anton had imagined. Anton knew he wasn't anywhere near the speed of Elder Daniela, and he didn't have the smoothness of Elder Vincent, but he dashed through the forest without feeling as if he were going too fast to pick his footing. Though he was sure they used some unnecessary amounts of energy to move, energy propelled him and the rest forward in addition to the power of their legs. Three of them had completed the tempering of their muscles, and while Catarina was only halfway through that process she wasn't any slower than Timothy, who had less energy to call upon having not finished the tempering of his meridians.

It wasn't long before they were close to their intended target. Other disciples of the Order of Ninety-Nine stars were fighting a mass of swarming snakes, three of them fighting hard to protect two injured members. It seemed they had made the right choice to come assist them. The snakes were of all different sizes, though none of them small, as well as having a variety of colors varying through brown, red, yellow, black… some striped and some spotted. These were the so-called rainbow serpents, and each different combination had a different sort of venom. Determining which was the worst was nearly impossible, but it was simply best to avoid all of them.

Anton would have liked to open up with a volley of arrows towards some of the closest serpents to the other group, but while he was confident in his ability to only hit the targets he was aiming at, he didn't want to startle anyone and distract them or cause them to think he was attacking them. He took shots at some of the smaller snakes, ones the size of grown adults if he were to compare to the few venomous snakes around Dungannon.

Enough serpents were slithering towards the group that the three defending couldn't prevent some from slipping past, which the two injured members had to defeat on their own. The entire group was low on energy, but they took heart at the arrival of support.

Timothy waded into the sea of snakes, his shield of little use against snakes biting at his legs… but he had armored greaves and energy to protect him. He stomped on snakes with his boots and slashed with his sword to slice several at a time. His shield did see some use as some of the snakes launched themselves at him, springing through the air.

Catarina moved around the outside of the pack where numbers were thinner, slicing into any snakes she could reach and drawing attention away from the center. Anton wasn't sure if there was some more profound meaning to the way she weaved back and forth, but he'd seen how her rearrangement of their battle site with the wolves had caused them to stumble when they should not have. There was some sort of energy flow on a level he couldn't really discern.

Hoyt had the hardest time with all of the small snakes, so instead of trying to slice through them one at a time when they chomped at him or even in bundles, he jumped forward deeper towards the larger ones. Anton saw him chop through a snake as big around as his forearm with a sickening slicing sound. He knew from attempting to kill some of them that their scales weren't so easy to penetrate. On that note, now that the other disciples wouldn't be completely surprised by his arrows he fired an arrow right into the middle, past Hoyt's shoulder and right in front of the nose of one of the other disciples, before it caught a springing red-brown snake in the eye as it attacked the rear of one of the injured disciples.

With the rainbow serpents being set upon from the outside, the sea of snakes started dwindling in number. There was a particularly large one that sprang towards Hoyt, and he chopped it out of the air with his axe. Surprisingly it resisted the blade and the energy augmenting it, at least enough not to be cleaved in two. However, when it struck again Catarina had arrived to stab her sword into its open mouth, slicing it from the inside.

Despite moving forward at a reasonable pace Anton was still ten meters or so away from the rest when the tide of serpents began dissipating. He never intended to leave all of the danger to them, but there was no point in risking himself when he was most effective at a distance. The ability to attack unrestrained helped more than distracting a few snakes would have, anyway. Anton continued to pick off escaping snakes, to prevent them from having enough numbers to trouble others.

Eventually, everything settled down. "Thank you for the help," the other disciples inclined their heads. "I don't know if we would have made it without you."

Just because the battle was over, however, didn't mean their troubles ended. All of the members of the other group had been bitten at least once- those they were sheltering had suffered several bites early in the battle. Hoyt had taken some bites as well, and though the actual wounds were almost entirely mitigated by his defensive energy, the serpents merely had to piece the skin to inject venom.

There were no universal antivenoms, even in the hands of the Order of the Ninety-Nine Stars, but there were medicines that could support a cultivator in removing the poison themselves. The process of removing poison involved circulating energy throughout the meridians around the body. Refinements to marrow which produced blood could fortify a cultivator, and the organs in the torso could help remove poison. Supporting that with active energy and entrapping the venom and carrying it out of the body could speed up the process.

Anton himself needed to recover his energy, and he sat down in a meditative position, breathing in the air full of natural energy and letting it flow into him from both the inside and outside, through his lungs and in through his skin. As he was halfway through one circulation of energy to relieve some of the fatigue throughout his body, his eyes shot open, his hand grasping in front of him. His fingers curled around a snake- a small one, no bigger around than a finger and less than a meter in length. However, Anton held onto it with all of his might. He was concerned but not entirely surprised that it didn't get crushed in his grip immediately. He focused more energy into his hand… to overcome the energy of the smaller snake. The snake thrashed about, swinging its tail into him, the tip of it carrying bursts of energy as well. Fortunately, though it was a magical beast capable of cultivating it appeared to be a young one. It had hidden among the masses of other snakes, waiting in ambush for people to relax. But with another powerful squeeze from his tempered muscles, the snake's neck snapped and it went limp. Anton looked down at his arms which would now have bruises from the tail. A gentle reminder not to let his guard down. He felt around the area for more energy, or snakes hidden among the bodies. Fortunately, that seemed to be the only one. Anton stowed the body in the magic bag that had been provided. Regardless of what they did with the rest, it would be hard to argue that their group shouldn't have that.

When Anton and the rest had recovered, they all gathered together. "Will you be alright?" Anton asked. The faces of the injured cultivators were a bit less pale at least.

They nodded. "We will not be able to stay any longer but if we head out of the area directly we should not run into any more trouble.

"Then we shall leave you to it," Anton nodded.

"Wait," their leader said. "You should take the bodies. We wouldn't have survived without you."

Anton understood how important contribution points could be, and though he had to look out for his own group, these others similarly needed the points. "An even split would not be unfair. We could not take everything from fellow disciples." The group had already decided that would be their preferred policy whether they received aid from others or helped them- though they wouldn't demand anything.

An exactly even split wouldn't be possible, with all different sized and quality of snakes… but they did the best they could. Neither side was much concerned with exactness in any case. After gathering everything and watching the other group depart towards the outer forest, Anton turned to the other three with him. "I do not think we would be advised to go deeper. If we were the ones to be initially set upon by that group, I am unsure if we would have fared better."

"Agreed," Hoyt said. "Though I don't entirely agree with the assessment, further in would be too much risk."

"I hate snakes," Timothy said. "Though uh, I don't suppose that matters. I agree with staying at this depth. I can handle myself against something like this, but much more…"

"I like snakes," Catarina said. "When they don't try to kill me." She looked wistfully off in the distance. "I want to study the barrier."

The Order controlled a large area, and though they didn't encapsulate the whole forest in the barrier, it protected the side of the forest from beasts heading towards populated areas. Anton wasn't sure exactly how it worked, but it at least lessened the amount it happened.

"Couldn't you have studied the barrier outside of a monster infested forest?" Timothy asked.

Catarina shook her head. "It should be different deeper into the forest. Can't have monsters wandering out of the forest to nearby areas."

"Fine with me," Hoyt said. "It's either that direction or the other, right?"

"Very well," Anton said. "We'll head in that direction, towards the edge of the Order's controlled area."

Chapter 26

The first thing Anton noticed was a bird in front of them. Nothing was particularly strange about the bird itself except it was larger than he would expect. In addition to that, it remained in the air with its wings out, not flapping. "Wait," Anton held his hand out to the side, the rest stopping behind him. Anton focused his eyes, and even with the highest level of Hawk's Eyes he could produce, he could only just barely see thin strings between the trees in front of them, wrapped around the bird.

"What's going on?" Timothy asked.

"Spiders. Diamondsilk spiders, to be specific." Anton was glad he'd researched the various dangers in the area before The Hunt began. He wouldn't have imagined the sort of danger before them. Normal spiders had webs that could be difficult to see- though perhaps not with the eyes of a cultivator. For its size, spider silk was normally as strong as steel. However, to have something capable of catching a large bird the webs would have to be much thicker- and thus more visible. Except in the case of diamondsilk spiders, where the webs were… well, extremely durable while thin if nothing else. Diamond was perhaps a bad comparison, except visually. "We have to be careful moving around. Only follow directly behind me." Anton looked around, seeing they had already found themselves inside the area of other webs. They were lucky not to have run into any, but now they had to be careful leaving the area. Attempting to gather the webs was a possibility, since Diamondsilk was many times stronger than normal spider silk and quite valuable. However, that came with its own dangers. It was possible to get tangled in the webs or exhaust too much energy taking them down… and then facing the spiders who produced the webs. They were actually quite small and nearly invisible themselves, though they came in large numbers to devour the choice parts of prey much larger than themselves.

Anton first looked directly behind them. They could retreat that way, but he could see more webs on either side of them which would prevent them from easily going around the area. On the other hand, he could see a way to go deeper… and hopefully through the area. He explained the options to the group.

Hoyt shrugged, "Either way is fine with me," he turned his head around, "Can't see any of these webs though."

"The flow of energy is different around here," Catarina commented. "I'd prefer to go through."

Timothy scratched his head, "I can barely even see the bird from here. Just let me know where to step."

Anton nodded. "We'll try going through then."

He was very careful with the movements he made, because while the webs couldn't be placed just anywhere- they had to string between two trees- they were even harder to see without the right light. He moved his head around to get different angles, keeping his eyes enhanced. Fortunately he only needed to track still targets, so it was less strain on his energy reserves than it would be in combat.

They picked their way through the forest one step at a time. "Careful of this one here, gotta duck below it. Watch your left foot." Anton scraped the dirt with his boot to show the edge of where they could move. As they moved further, concern grew on Anton's face. "Hmm."

"What's wrong?" Hoyt asked.

"I… haven't spotted a single Diamondsilk spider yet. The book indicated they would be easier to see than the webs, if I looked in the right place." Anton glanced down at his boots and legs, but still saw nothing. There was also nothing hanging off of the webs. He should see transparent spiders, and the library had high quality images of them. He stayed on guard as they continued forward, but eventually the webs thinned and stopped. "That's the end. We could attempt to gather some webs, but we don't have the tools. All we'd end up with is sticky, tangled bodies in the magic bag.

"We can come back after The Hunt," Catarina suggested, "It can be quite useful."

"Right." Anton nodded, but couldn't help but think about the missing spiders. It was unfortunate to miss such a good opportunity, but he couldn't help but think it was a trap of some sort.

There were no other obstructions to their path on the way to the barrier, and they only ran into a few lone beasts which were quickly defeated, along with some regular sized boars and wolves which they left alone. It wasn't as if they planned to exterminate the population.

"This should be the right place," Anton waved his hand. He could generally sense something in front of them, a flow of energy, but not much beyond that.

Catarina nodded. She stepped forward, tracing her fingers in the air. As she did, a shimmering barrier- quite like a web but less regular in arrangement and not from a central point- became visible in front of them. Catarina stared at it, enraptured.

"How long is this going to take?" Timothy asked.

"A while," she responded.

With that, Anton looked for a nice tree to take watch in. It would be better not to be stumbled upon by a pack of beasts. They should only be able to come from what was more or less a semicircle behind them, so it was easier than focusing on every direction. It was good to take a rest, as they had already spent a long day fighting and moving. Actually stopping for more than just the time to recover energy would do them good, though Catarina wasn't actually resting.

"I don't see anything," Anton said.

"That's… good, right?" Hoyt questioned. "Your tone doesn't make it sound good."

"Something is wrong. There are far, far too few beasts nearby. What does that mean…" Anton pondered from where he was sitting in a tree. "What is that?" Anton narrowed his eyes as he looked at the horizon.

"The barrier is broken," Catarina declared.

"What?" Hoyt asked.

Both Anton and Catarina spoke at the same time. "The beasts can get through this section." and "There's a large group coming."

Normal people could sometimes parse two people talking at once, and cultivators brains were better at keeping track of multiple things. Timothy was the first to react, "Are they coming towards us?"

"Yes," Anton said.

"We should get out of here…" Hoyt said.

"Thuston," Catarina said looking at a map.

"What?" Anton asked, jumping down next to her.

She pointed to the map. "Here we are. Here's Thuston. So we can tell the elders where the barrier is broken."

Anton looked in front of them, his eyes just catching sight of the town in front of them, the tallest buildings just barely visible on the horizon. "I have to protect them," Anton said. "The rest of you should be able to move along the barrier to the south into safe territory."

"What?" Hoyt tilted his head, "Oh. I see. Nah. I'm going too. The Order is responsible for protecting people, isn't it?"

"I'm coming too," Catarina said.

"Right," Timothy nodded. "I can't just leave them."

Anton nodded. "I understand. I won't refuse your help. However, someone should go. We need to inform the elders. I don't know if we can defeat what I saw. It might not have been everything."

"I can set up a formation that will help," Catarina said.

"I want to fight," Hoyt said.

Everyone turned to look at Timothy. "What? I might be the weakest, but if we're just holding out against a large number of enemies… I should be very helpful too."

Hoyt sighed, "Ah. You're right. And I can run faster." He shook his head, "Can't waste any time arguing. Good luck." With that, Hoyt broke into a sprint along the edge of the barrier.

"We'll have maybe half an hour," Anton said, "Maybe a bit less. If the beasts go into the surrounding area… we can't do much to stop them. But at least we can protect one town."

Catarina nodded. "Let's go."

There were no dangers on the way to Thuston, not that it would be expected. They should have previously been contained by the barrier, and normal animals would avoid humans if they were smart. Thuston itself was a town of a few hundred. The group got a few looks from people as they headed toward the center. There, Anton empowered his voice with some energy. "People of Thuston. We are disciples of the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars. We spotted a large number of beasts heading in this direction. We will do our best to protect you from them, but we cannot guarantee anything."

"They're coming for our town?" one man asked.

Anton shook his head. "We don't know for sure. They may spread out and leave it alone. But there are not enough of us here to stop them if they go everywhere. If you flee the village, they might follow you, but if you don't… the village may be overrun."

"But you'll protect us?" a woman asked.

"To the best of our abilities. We can't guarantee safety for any of you."

"Can we fight too?" One of the men asked. "How many are there?"

"I can't count the numbers. You can fight but… only defend yourselves from those that get past us." Anton looked around, "Who wants to help with something else? You three-" he pointed at several strong looking men, "Help her rearrange things. She knows how to set up formations."

There were whispers among the crowd about that. It seemed they had only slightly more knowledge about formations than Anton himself had known at the beginning of the year. In short, they just knew it was something powerful and rare- and connected to the barrier around the nearby forest. Anton had expected the village to panic, but instead of doing so they easily listened to his instructions. Very few chose to flee and take their lives into their own hands, instead most of them preferring to stay to fight with the cultivators. Anton hoped he hadn't led them to their doom by providing that option… but he also understood that if they didn't stay to defend their homes, they might have nothing left. Normal animals might not destroy homes, but he couldn't say the same would be true of a large pack of beasts. He hadn't been able to see clearly, but they were more like a stampede than a pack of wolves… and it had been more than just one sort of creature. Anton gripped his bow tightly. It was time to put his cultivation to a practical use.

Chapter 27

The name of the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars carried great weight in all of Graotan, but especially nearby. Anton was surprised it was so easy to get the villagers of Thuston to believe them with nothing but their word. Then again, the consequences of potentially ignoring the situation were unfathomable. If for some reason the horde of beasts didn't come to Thuston or never existed at all, they would merely lose part of a day. Anton knew he would have been gladly willing to sacrifice time to defend his home and family… but he never had the chance.

"...Anton. I need assistance." Catarina stood nearby. "The formation will require more energy to start functioning."

Anton nodded. Unlike when she had moved around a few sticks and sliced through branches, the current setup in the village was more complex. It also took a lot more work to put together. "It would be better if we could break down some walls." Catarina seemed disappointed that she couldn't quite set things up the way she thought they should go, but Anton contributing energy where she asked helped quite a bit. He could feel it more this time. He still had no idea how it worked, but that was why people trained hard to be a formation master, if they had the aptitude. If they had more time, Catarina might have been able to do more… but she would reach the limits of her own energy and Anton's soon enough.

The villagers had called in all of the nearby field workers, gathering everyone who wished to stay and fight. Some had weapons, swords, bows, and the like. Others took any sort of sharp implements they had lying around. Pitchforks were a thousand times better than fighting barehanded, even if they weren't optimal weapons. One thing that Thuston had different from Dungannon is that a handful of the villagers had trained in cultivation. Only to the first or second star- but with the Ninety-Nine Stars readily available, nearly everyone gave cultivation a try. Anyone who reached the third star would have already gone to join the Order, but any amount of cultivation at all could greatly increase combat capabilities.

At the edge of town Anton stood atop a grain silo. It was the highest point around and gave him a good view of the approaching beasts. He had a look of concern on his face because they were right, and the beasts were headed for Thuston instead of merely spreading out. He couldn't be sure that a few hadn't trailed off, but the numbers of the various creatures were still high. Hundreds… maybe more, since there were creatures of all different sizes grouped together in a way that was impossible to count.

The movements of the beasts were highly unnatural. Wolves kept pace with snakes and boars, bears walked underneath circling eagles… the only thing that reassured Anton was that there were very few signatures of magical beasts among the group. However, few magical beasts was not none. He was glad the villagers hadn't chosen to flee, because three of them couldn't handle so many beasts… and they wouldn't be able to outrun the tide. It wasn't fast, but Anton saw no signs of it slowing. "I've spotted them on the horizon! It will only be a few minutes before they arrive."

Timothy stood at the main entrance to the village below, flanked on either side by barrels and crates mostly at least half full, providing a partial barrier to the village between two buildings. Catarina stood nearby, ready to move wherever necessary to deal with beasts that didn't attack from the front. The formation should apparently encourage them to move as she intended, but nothing was perfect. Anton, of course, would also be able to move around if necessary. He was surprised at how little he was worried about getting down from the top of a silo, as he wouldn't have been able to even make the attempt a year before. He'd changed so much.

Anton looked to the sky. The most troublesome beasts would be those that flew. While they could be attacked when they came down to claw at people, they had sharp talons that could piece flesh or stab through an eye.

A moving target at a few hundred meters was about the maximum range for Anton. He could do a bit more, but additional distance took a disproportionate amount of energy, as his control wavered so far from himself. That was doubly so with Spirit Arrows, though his control was more precise with them out to a more conservative two hundred meters.

As the beasts came within range, Anton picked a target. There were so many it hardly mattered, but he supposed some early casualties might discourage them. He didn't have a good angle for a kill shot on most of the creatures, but he pulled back his bow. It no longer seemed as if the heavy draw weight of it were so much more than a normal bow, after he'd finished muscle tempering and continued practicing with the bow. The black steel string had the proper springiness he would expect of a traditional string, and the bow bent back in a curve as he pulled back, his arm and back muscles tensing but only holding for a moment before release.

The arrow- a real arrow with his energy enhancing it- flew straight and true towards the shoulder of a large bear, sinking in half of its length. If it had been any normal bear it would have likely gone down in an instant, but it continued hobbling forward for a dozen meters. By that point, Anton had fired three more arrows at the beasts on the ground and was changing his target to the air, having staggered the front ranks of the beasts as much as he practically could.

Shooting up into the air, the weight of an arrow was more significant. Spirit Arrows were able to overcome that barrier, with only a small arc at most and the ability to fly more quickly with less drag. His first target was an eagle, its wingspan at least as wide as a man was tall. His arrow flew towards it, and as the bird curved in flight to avoid the attack the arrow changed trajectory slightly as well. He only managed to pierce through a wing instead of the chest, but that was sufficient to bring it down. As it spiralled downward into the ground he knew it wouldn't be moving about after it hit.

The villagers with bows were further back and could shoot less distance, but soon the beasts were close enough for them to open fire. A dozen arrows flew in a small volley into the crowd of animals of various sorts, and while the effects weren't immediately obvious, more bodies were trailing behind the end of the swarm.

Anton continued to fire at the flying beasts, preparing himself to move. Though the silo wasn't a large platform to stand on, with Swan Steps he thought he could dodge around past a bird or two. If he couldn't, he could at least manage his fall to the ground below. He knew he was a target with his position… but that was the whole point. He couldn't allow the villagers of Thuston to suffer when he had the power to fight.

Timothy nervously held his position in front of the village. He saw how many beasts were rushing towards them, but he kept his confidence high. Individually, most of them weren't a threat. He could kill one with a single stab of his sword. If only he had the luxury of fighting just one at a time. Behind him stood other villagers, and more were preparing for beasts to sneak around the sides, away from the main street.

A wildcat was the first thing to break away from the pack and charge. Timothy held his sword and shield at the ready, impaling the creature as it leaped and catching its paw with his shield. His body rocked backwards from the momentum of the attack, and it took him a moment to free his sword. By that point, a wolf had slipped past him and he found himself facing a snake and a bear. He swiped at the bear before it got close, his sword cutting along its nose and sending it reeling away. The snake he batted away with his shield, flinging it into the stacked pile next to him. The tide of beasts began to crash into the barrier, attempting to knock it over and starting to climb over it.

There was no way it would have held together without the effect of the formation fortifying the village. Even so, it was clear it wouldn't last long. Timothy gathered his own energy, carefully breathing in to draw more natural energy from the world as he did so. After he'd begun to temper his meridians with the guidance of Anton, he'd felt his ability to control energy increase immensely. He stabilized himself against the ground while at the same time using the force of the approaching tide to push back against them.

He never took more than a step away from his position even as he began to be surrounded. This is what cultivators were supposed to do. The Order of Ninety-Nine Stars protected people, and he was one of their disciples. He found himself in a trance of slicing and stabbing, unable to think about his next moves and merely performing them. His mind numbed the pain when his armor was dented or torn through, when his bones cracked from the impact of large beasts and when blood began to flow from his body.

Timothy knew he absolutely couldn't stop everything from passing him, but he did his very best. He was already the weakest member of the team, probably included because he lived in the same complex as Anton- or because Catarina asked. Even with Anton's personal guidance he was a full star behind the next two members. He knew he could never keep up with Catarina, but he also didn't want to disappoint her. Or himself.

He continued to hold his position until the tide started thinning… but while he might have liked to sigh in relief he knew things weren't over. A few magical beasts were among the remaining half of the creatures, and he was starting to slow down. He really hoped backup would arrive soon… though he knew Hoyt had quite a distance to run to find any help, and the return trip might take just as long. Timothy almost didn't believe his eyes when he saw the bear rear up in front of him, seemingly as big as either of the buildings that stood on either side of him. Unless support was already on the horizon, he couldn't count on any help beyond what they had. He grit his teeth to prepare to face the beast.

Chapter 28

Up on its hind legs, the bear in front of Timothy looked to be at least five meters tall, and maybe half as wide. It had bark brown fur and limbs as thick around as his torso for their entire length. When it plopped back onto its front legs the ground trembled for a moment. This was the sort of thing that could wipe out Thuston all on its own. A nebulous energy surrounded it, and though its size was likely a bigger factor the energy couldn't be ignored. If Timothy was careless, he might find his attacks not being as effective as he intended at a critical moment, or not defending himself adequately because he didn't consider the augmentation energy could provide to a magical beast.

It was fortunate that the bear's arrival sent most of the nearby beasts scattering away as it charged. Timothy was hoping to get some support from Anton up above, but a quick glance showed the old man was dealing with his own troubles, large taloned birds attacking him atop the silo. At least there were villagers available to support him, though Timothy didn't want to risk their lives if possible. He would have to bear the brunt of the danger.

The great bear charged forward almost ponderously. It almost looked like it was moving through molasses… except for the fact that it was rapidly growing closer. Each giant step it took was several meters of distance despite the small number of actual paces. A moment later it arrived in front of the 'wall' that had been set up, sweeping a great paw and shattering the crates and barrels into pieces. Timothy blocked the splinters flying towards his face as he tried to figure out how to fight the creature.

The only thing he knew for sure is he couldn't let it get into the village. Without thinking, his legs carried him forward towards the bear. He ducked under its other paw which was sweeping back across the same area, swinging his sword outward as he circled around the beast. He thought he had a pretty good hit, but as his sword raked along the beast's fur he realized he probably didn't even get through to the flesh.

At least he succeeded in drawing its attention. It quickly turned and swept down towards him with its paws. The speed at which it moved was deceptive because of its size. Timothy wanted to keep circling around the creature, but through the bear's legs he saw villagers approaching it from behind. If he dodged around it, he'd lead it to attack them.

Timothy thrust his sword in its lower belly, piercing through the fur into the fat, and when it flattened itself to try to crush him he dove away. A dozen weapons stabbed into the creature's rear, though without the power of a fourth star cultivator their effects were limited. Timothy moved back in towards the creature's lowered face, slashing across its nose. In return, the bear swiped at him. Though he dodged away, five gashes were torn across his chest from the creature's claws, as if he had no armor at all. Of course, without the armor and his energy he would instead have half of his chest torn away. Timothy knew he was riding the line, but he had managed to keep its focus on him.

He stepped forward in a feint, pulling away as the creature swiped back in the other direction. He swung his sword between the claws, hoping to slice through the forearm lengthwise but instead settling for a bleeding gash. With every move it was stabbed in the rear, but it focused its gaze on him as the target in front.

Timothy attempted another feint, but in his peripheral vision he caught the movement of both paws at once, slightly offset. The beast was stepping forward as well, so if he retreated he would be caught and torn apart regardless. That left him with the only option to move forward. It was terrifying to get closer to the massive beast, but he gathered his energy and thrust his sword deep into its belly. Deep enough he couldn't pull it out, and he didn't roll away fast enough when it flopped down on him.

It was close. It was just a single foot that didn't make it out. The 'softness' of the creature's fur and flesh mean his foot wasn't completely crushed, but it was definitely broken. Timothy yanked his foot out from under the creature. He could stand on it, but he certainly couldn't dodge well.

While turning its ponderous mass to face him, the bear twisted its upper body and neck so it could bite at him. The jaws were large enough to fit him entirely inside, widthwise at least. Timothy had to think fast, unstrapping his shield and throwing it at the bear's nose where he had previously cut. It wasn't real damage, but the creature flinched in pain. That allowed him just a single moment to grab fistfuls of fur around its upper jaw and pull himself upward. He flipped himself over and found himself astride the bear's snout, his legs barely able to split wide enough to fit around. He'd ridden a horse in the past, back in his hometown of Carran. He squeezed with his thighs… and with nothing else he could do he punched out with a gauntleted fist towards the creature's eye. It closed a massive eyelid and his fist rebounded, but he reached out towards with both hands, tearing at the eyelid where it closed together.

It was like trying to tear apart a canvas tent, except even more difficult. His tempered muscles and energy were barely enough… but he revealed a few centimeters of bare eyeball. He stabbed out with his fingers and as much energy as he could, piercing into it… as a paw batted him away.

One claw tore into his shoulder, but he was mostly hit by the pad. Even so, it felt like everything broke as he slammed through a nearby wall and into the floor. So much for protecting the structures, he could barely even protect himself. If he hadn't tempered his bones, would he just be a pile of mush?

Somehow he managed to sit up, and looked straight into the eye of the bear. The one he'd pierced was closed and bleeding… but was it enough blood? He couldn't say. The creature likely had enough to fill an entire well. If only he could stand up...

Though only a small portion of the beasts moved around to alternate entrances to the village, they were the more clever ones. Catarina found herself fully occupied scurrying around fending off the strongest beasts. She was barely able to keep up. It almost seemed like her formation wasn't working, but she knew what the real issue was. She just wasn't strong enough. She said she knew formations… and she did. Like a young child might know how to speak. She could do it… but she was certainly no master yet. She'd barely been able to understand the barrier around the forest, just enough to know it was broken. Covering an entire village in enhancements was difficult. And it might not be enough.

All around her Catarina saw villagers injured by the beasts she couldn't reach in time. They were fighting, slaying the creatures as well… but none of them were really prepared for what they were facing. Maybe they should have just told them to abandon everything. They could have at least saved their lives.

Catarina first noticed a new threat by sensing its energy. A magical beast- her eyes flickered to it and saw a large, black furred cat. The panther had led at least a dozen mismatched beasts into the village.

As if they had agreed upon a match, both Catarina and the panther moved towards each other. She darted past it, slashing with her sword. She thought she would avoid its swiping claws, but she felt traces of blood on her upper arm… and then the pain a moment later. It was fast. Too fast, and much too strong to face alone. Catarina changed her tactics. She moved at a different angle, focusing more on her defense as she passed the creature back and forth. Her sword might not even find purchase with each pass, but the same was true for the panther.

However, Catarina was consuming her energy rapidly… and the panther mostly relied on its body. Catarina had five stars of body tempering, but muscle wasn't one of them… she needed energy to swiftly kill creatures as well as to defend herself.

The pair continued to pass each other seemingly at random, but Catarina was leading the panther towards a particular point. She was glad to see that none of the villagers were along the path to be collateral damage. There was a fountain at the center of the village, and Catarina leapt up to stand atop it.

The panther wriggled, preparing to pounce… but Catarina didn't move. She was concentrating on gathering energy, what she had inside of herself and everything swirling about the village. This was the central point of the formation she'd set up, and the best point for her to empower herself.

The panther leaped, jaws open and claws ready to latch onto her, as if having her head crushed in the jaws wouldn't be enough. Catarina could dodge, but she wouldn't keep control of the energy if she did so. She thrust her sword in front of her, right into the open jaw, through the roof of the mouth, and into the creature's brain. Her sword, her arm, the fountain and everything around trembled as the energy of the formation collided with the creature, stopping its momentum and killing it. Her entire arm suffered cuts and she knew there was internal damage. Her meridians were strained, and the fountain was cracked… but she pulled her sword out of the creature's mouth. She looked around… but wasn't ready to see another creature, a wolf half again bigger than the panther. Another magical beast. What had they gotten themselves into?

Chapter 29

The sound of hurried boots crunching leaves, sticks, and undergrowth filled the forest, along with the sound of heavy paws. Hoyt breathed deeply, trying to maintain a steady rhythm as his lungs burned. Running with wolves nipping at his heels wasn't something he enjoyed, but at least they motivated him to go even faster.

Honestly, Hoyt would have enjoyed the whole thing except for the danger to himself and to those he was trying to save. Pushing his body to the limits for cultivation was a wonderful feeling… at least later, when he was recovering. In the moment, the burning lungs and muscle pain were the worst part. Hoyt couldn't say he enjoyed the way he was draining his reserves of energy, either. There was only so much natural energy he could take in, and it wasn't keeping up.

He ignored the wolves behind him, since looking back would merely cause him to trip up as he moved forward. They were loud enough he knew they were at least several paces back. As long as nothing slowed him down…

But of course, the forest wouldn't let things be so easy. A giant boar spotted him, not that he expected to pass unseen. However, as with most of the creatures in the forest it was aggressive. It charged straight for him from the front, with wolves behind.

With just a few moments to consider if he could afford the time to dodge around it, especially with the wolves being spread out on either side behind him, he chose a more direct option. He couldn't be sure it would work until he tried it. Cultivators were probably supposed to make better decisions than normal people, but Hoyt knew they really just made decisions with the power to recover from mistakes… as long as such mistakes weren't too big.

He continued to run at the boar that was as tall as himself head on. Twenty paces. Ten paces. Five paces, and the boar had lowered its head. The tusks were long enough to impale him from below his ribcage up into his jaw. Hoyt put on a small burst of speed, putting himself one step ahead of where he would have been, then jumped. Not high… but enough to get a foot on top of the boar's snout as it flipped its head up.

His head crashed through the branches above as he tumbled through the air. Hoyt knew he was keeping forward momentum for the most part, but he tried to orient himself for his landing. During his relatively effortless handful of seconds in the air while he was upside down he thought he saw a pile composed of the boar and wolves. While the creatures of the forest seemed more interested in attacking humans for the most part, a direct collision seemed likely to turn into a proper conflict.

A few moments before he hit the ground, crashing through more branches, Hoyt managed to right himself. When he hit the ground he rolled, wrapping his energy around himself as he turned into a ball. He only intended to roll once, but he flipped at least a dozen times. His axe caught on something and the strap tore off, but he sprang back to his feet and kept moving. He could get it later- or replace it. People couldn't be replaced. Especially not people like Anton. The others were fine as well… but that old man was something special. Not just his cultivation talent, either.

He kept sprinting.

Hoyt was pretty sure that the fact that he could barely see now wasn't a good sign. His vision narrowed to a small tunnel in front of him. His lungs were just numb and he was pretty sure he was slowing down and that some of the muscles in his legs just didn't work. It was hard to tell if he was still moving, with the change in perspective. His legs kept trying to move even as a hand rested on his shoulder.

"Need help?"

The voice seemed familiar for some reason. The face… was indiscernible. "...Thuston…" Hoyt managed to choke down a lungful of air, "Anton…" Did he even have lungs? He wasn't sure anymore. "...beast swarm…" He was pretty sure he was supposed to say more words. And be standing vertically.

Why was he on his side? The trees were moving at least. But as they thinned and Hoyt's brain managed to regain a semblance of understanding, he realized they were going the wrong way. This was out of the forest, completely in the opposite direction of Anton and the others. Thuston was about as far away from the center of the Order's territory as anything could get, except the deep forest.

"No… other way…" Hoyt muttered. "Thus… ton…"

Birds- even large birds- were easy to kill if he could hit them. The first few had been simple. Anton tracked their movements and got an arrow through them easily enough. Body or wings didn't matter. Either way they fell, and the ground wouldn't be kind to them. However, after his first few shots the raptors started to recognize their own mortality. They had the ability to turn rapidly, even diving or rising swiftly if they needed to. He could only redirect his arrows a certain amount, and there were too many to focus on taking down just one.

Everything was more difficult when they reached him in his position atop the silo, slashing at him with claws and beaks. He got some practical experience dodging in a tight space. He knew he could just drop down, and perhaps that would be safest for himself. He could continue to pick off the raptors as they attacked the villagers, keeping himself safe at the cost of the people of Thuston.

But of course, he couldn't. While it wasn't his village, they were still people. They were farmers and smiths and grocers and weavers… people. They didn't deserve to die. Especially not for an old man. His thoughts flickered to the thought of some of the villagers of Dungannon and his family in slavery. He wanted to save them too, but he wasn't strong enough. He just couldn't let himself choose something more dear to himself over present, actual lives he could save. And nothing said he couldn't do both. He just had to live.

Blood trickled down his cheek. Giant raptor talons were sharp enough to tear through his energy with seemingly little effort. He could focus on a single area to protect it, but that would leave the rest of his body open. Then a little cut like that would become a spike sticking through his head or shoulder.

The most important thing for Anton was predicting the enemies' movements. One Step Ahead… he honestly didn't know how anyone was supposed to comprehend what it was saying. Grasping what your enemy- or possibly enemies- would do in the future wasn't so easy. But Anton was certain that at least Elder Kseniya knew how to do it. In her demonstrations, she most certainly fought unseen opponents. More than just one, Anton had realized after some consideration. He'd attempted to do the same… and just maybe that practice let him keep his footing while avoiding most of the danger. He couldn't say he even had the first level of understanding of One Step Ahead, but he felt a certain tingling sensation of progress.

Another thing Elder Kseniya had done came to mind. He didn't always have time to draw his bow, but Spirit Arrows were merely sharp stabbing implements made of energy. They did well enough when not propelled by the bow, and he didn't have to let them disperse. He stabbed at one of the raptors- probably an eagle but he didn't have time to observe so closely for details- forcing it to swerve away. Then he fired the same arrow at another just a handful of meters away, using a partial draw with less power but sufficient speed.

A dozen large birds dwindled to a half dozen, three, two… but one remained. It had actually been hanging further back, circling around and watching Anton. It radiated energy, indicating it was a magical beast. As it flew towards him, Anton could see it gained speed from more than just the flapping of its wings. Waves of winds flattened plants down below as it moved. He just barely moved out of the way of talons trying to impale his head.

Anton returned to the center of the silo so he could dodge in every direction. He managed to fire a single arrow at the beast as it turned around, but it came back at him just as swiftly. His arrow deflected off a wing- the first time he hadn't pierced into one- and he found himself having to fall to his back to get under the bird. Shooting from a prone position wasn't optimal at all, but that forced it to swerve on its return and gave him time to stand. However, it was clear to Anton that he was becoming fatigued, and the magical beast was merely growing more used to his movements. Unless it was distracted, he doubted he could get a solid hit on it… and anything less wouldn't penetrate through its defensive energy and surprisingly durable feathers. The beast swooped around, and Anton felt it focusing itself for a powerful attack.

Birds did have some weaknesses, though. Even at the creature's size, it probably wasn't any heavier than Anton. He might not be able to dodge it, but the actual force behind its blows, as long as he avoided the talons… he could withstand it. And if he was making that choice, he was glad he'd studied Golden Armor. It wasn't anything particularly profound, but having a proper method to solidify his energy into a stronger defensive layer was quite useful. He just had to be resolved to take a hit, and to expend the energy for the technique.

Anton readied his bow as the bird flew towards him, talons outstretched. Was it a hawk? This one might have been. Either way, Hawk Eyes let him focus on its movements regardless of whether or not it shared a name. Along with that, splitting his attention between Spirit Arrows and Golden Armor was too much… so he drew one of his few remaining physical arrows. It would still be enhanced sufficiently with his own energy.

The arrow flew towards the great hawk, sticking a finger length into its chest. That might have been enough for the lesser beasts, but the hawk continued its motion unperturbed. Anton watched as talons came straight for him. At the very last moment, he tilted his body and bow at a strange angle. Talons scraped along his arm, leaving a bloody gash even with a glance along his Golden Armor protected limb.

Anton raised his arm, the bow and string around the leg as he lifted as high as he could, catching the leg. The momentum of the creature yanked him off of his feet- and the silo- but he grabbed a wing with his other hand. Then he was spinning, down towards the ground. He repositioned himself to land atop the great bird with all of his weight, rolling away almost nimbly after they impacted. The great bird wasn't quite dead, but the hollow bones of an avian couldn't survive such a feat even if the particular one in question was a magical beast. Anton's own tempered bones were barely holding on after the impact. And while the bird would never fly again, Anton found himself just barely able to walk, his energy exhausted. And there were more beasts to combat. Even a few normal wolves would be able to bring him down.

Even as he began to wish he had begun cultivating sooner, and not wrapped up Timothy and Catarina into a suicidal mission… his eyes drifted towards the sky. For some reason, he felt like he saw a giant eye staring down at him. Anton wasn't sure if he believed in gods of any sort… and he certainly didn't think cultivators would truly become gods, as some believed… but the eye made him reconsider the possibility. A moment later, the sky darkened and all of the energy in the area was pulled away in a great swirling vortex. Something truly unfathomable at Anton's current cultivation level was happening… and he couldn't afford to miss a single moment.

Chapter 30

The force of the flowing energy nearly pulled Anton off his feet. While he was certainly unsteady at the moment, the fact that merely gathering energy had that effect left him in awe. As the sky continued to darken, the lone eye he'd spotted grew clear and bright. Along with the eye was a wrinkled hand, more folded skin and gnarls than even Anton had ever had.

All of the energy in the area around Thuston gathered into that hand. Anton knew he shouldn't be stopping to stare at it, but the beast swarm had paused as well. Perhaps they couldn't do anything else.

Though Anton was quite certain it was merely early evening, stars bloomed in the sky. However, as the great hand in the sky closed, the stars started to fall. His head turned as he watched the first star streak from the sky, striking a great bear, leaving behind only a flaming crater and no discernable remains of the creature. However, despite the power of the falling star the building immediately adjacent didn't even get singed.

Smaller stars rained down on other beasts, sometimes merely piercing through beasts like flaming spears. Those were especially common inside the village, where the powerful concentrations of energy brushed past the villagers of Thuston without harming a single one.

Soon enough, the great eye and hand turned… more stars plummeting into the forest, though leaving behind no fire.

As the last of the stars in the sky fell, the sky began to return to the dull red sky of sunset. The hand and eye faded from existence, but Anton couldn't help but think that right before they disappeared the eye turned back and focused directly on him, just for a moment.

Unsure what to do, Anton half walked half hobbled into Thuston. Timothy crawled out of a hole in the side of a building and joined him. The villagers of Thuston were all talking with each other about what happened. Upon seeing Anton and Timothy, they asked them.

"I can't say I know for sure," Anton said. "Though I would expect a grand elder got involved." Timothy didn't know either, and he kept looking over his shoulder into the sky.

There were dead beasts around the streets of Thuston, and while there were a few injured villagers, and some dead, along with a few destroyed buildings Anton was still willing to declare the battle a victory. He just wasn't sure if he had an important impact on it, if everything was finished off by someone not even present. But instead of feeling discouraged, Anton supposed he should be thinking about reaching that level of power. Cultivation was so much more than just what he had seen and experienced so far.

After finding Catarina to determine she was alright- injured just like the other two, but nothing fatal- Anton requested the villagers for a place to rest. Cultivators could recover pretty much anywhere, but a proper room and comfort could help immensely.

Natural energy was just beginning to flow back into the area after having been entirely used up. It wasn't an issue, since Anton found himself only able to handle just a little. His meridians ached from overuse, but he didn't exactly have the luxury to hold back in a battle. He spent several hours circulating energy throughout his body. He found that his tendons- the next target of his tempering- had progressed quite significantly. Though they were sore now, he was likely only a week or two from completing the tempering and the seventh star. At least the desperate battle had been good for something.

Anton was disturbed from his cultivation by a smell. Not a bad one, but the pleasant smell of food. Upon stepping outside his borrowed room, he found the center of town was filled with a large number of bonfires and roasting meat.

The villagers waved him over. "You're finally out! This feast is in honor of you, and the survival of our village!"

Among the food was a large amount of boar and surprisingly large drumsticks of avian meat. Anton smiled. His mind returned to celebrations in the past. He pushed away thoughts of those no longer with him, and instead focused on the happy feelings. Timothy seemed to be enjoying the festivities already, while it seemed that Catarina had hidden away with a plate of food.

The feasting and celebration lasted well into the night, but eventually the time came for sleep, and then the morning. Just because the beast swarm had been defeated didn't mean everything was resolved. There were still many bodies of beasts- despite many being destroyed or consumed- and while Anton and the others filled the magic bag there were many more. Tanners and butchers had already gone to work dismantling beasts, and the villagers had sent people to nearby villages and to the Order for help. Those sent to the Order wouldn't have arrived just yet, but Thuston knew the Order would pay them for the materials… and help remove the corpses before they started rotting.

Thinking of the Order, Anton found the others. "I am going to go secure the hole in the barrier. Just in case…" He knew he wasn't fully recovered yet, and both Timothy and Catarina were the same. Hoyt had… probably reached the Order the evening before. It seemed unlikely a Grand Elder would have gotten involved by random chance. Unless there were some other powerful cultivator in the area who just happened to help, but that seemed completely improbable. Besides, that cultivation power had radiated the aura of the Ninety-Nine Stars, in addition to the dramatic method of their attacks.

Anton didn't want to bring his young companions into more danger, but he also couldn't refuse to let them come with him. Besides, he might need their help. At the end of their almost leisurely hike back to the barrier, Anton's concerns of danger were immediately assuaged.

"Anton!" Elder Vincent waved. "It's good to see you made it. I was just providing some support as these fine fellows repaired the barrier," he gestured behind him. Vincent nodded to Timothy and Catarina, "Your companion Hoyt nearly ran himself to death to warn us what was happening. A dangerous situation you got into."

Anton nodded. "Yes… I'm not sure we handled it the right way."

"Did the defense of the village go poorly?" Vincent asked. "I heard the situation had been resolved but…"

"Some of the villagers were injured, and others died. I wonder if we could have drawn the beasts away, or if we should have abandoned the village…" Anton bit his lip.

Vincent gave him a pat on the shoulder. "Don't worry, you made the right choice. A beast swarm like that wasn't running on just instinct. They were seeking out people. You might not have been able to draw them away from the village, and if they fled… they would merely have been caught without a defensible position, and likely without their homes. Magical beasts can be incredibly destructive."

"Vincent!" one of the elders at the barrier called.

"I have to finish here," Vincent waved. "Oh, The Hunt is officially over. It seemed we made a mistake with our estimations of the danger, and this break in the barrier…" he shook his head. "Get back to the Order and get your well deserved rewards."

Elder Lois was not alone in handling the rewards hall at the current moment. After all, The Hunt brought many people to collect rewards. The contents of the magic bags were actually sorted by the equipment refinement department, but they sent a report on the value to the rewards hall, where the points would be logged. There was a bit of a line, but almost everyone was in good spirits.

Even though the points would be split in four, a full magic bag had to be worth quite a few contribution points. The villagers of Thuston wanted to give them more, but they had participated in the battle as well and deserved some recompense. Anton and the others had taken the most valuable remains of the magical beasts, where they still had structure.

Anton ended up being attended to by Elder Lois herself. "Hello again!" she said as Anton handed over his token. "Let's see here… with the information from the refinement department and the other rewards… your portion of the total should be this." She held out a sheet for him to see. The number 2308 was on the paper. "Your team also received some commendations, which are more than just a nice word."

"Is that number right? I thought my share of the materials would only be half that, at most." Anton was concerned the others might have given him a larger share because of his higher cultivation level, even though they needed the contribution points as well.

Elder Lois smiled, "The additional points are for valorous actions. The Order absolutely rewards defending villages. That includes all forms, such as your friend who ran to retrieve assistance."

Anton nodded. "Good. Thank you." He had no idea what he would do with so many contribution points. He didn't need a new bow- he doubted he would find one significantly better within that range. Perhaps some armor. He had heard there were exceptional armors available, light like clothing but able to defend like steel. He had used armor along a similar vein- though the more mundane sort, enough that it had protected him from dying at least. Now that he had been through some battles and could afford it, the thought of something better was quite appealing. He understood that he was quite mortal even after cultivating, and he had things he wanted to live for still.

Since money burning a hole in the pocket was a poor reason to spend, Anton decided to wait until another day and give some proper thought to it. Perhaps there was something he needed more but wouldn't consider right away. Besides, he still wanted to rest more.

When he arrived back at the complex where he lived, he was surprised to find an unknown elder waiting for him. The elder bowed his head. "Anton Krantz. Grand Elder Vandale has requested to meet with you, at your earliest convenience."

Anton understood what that meant. It meant now. Sure, he could make an elder wait around for a while to escort him to see someone important… but he had no intent to be petty. Especially not if he was right in his estimation that this Grand Elder was the eye and hand in the sky.

Chapter 31

The elder escorted Anton to the top of the mountain. Not the central area where all of the facilities were located- that was closer to the starting point of the journey. Anton was quite confident that just a year before he wouldn't have been able to make the full trip to the top. Traipsing through the forest for a hunt was one thing- and he really probably shouldn't have been doing that- but climbing a mountain, even with proper paths and stairs, was quite a bit harder. Anton had only heard about the air thinning at the top of a mountain, and had never experienced it before. If his lungs and heart had not been tempered, he wasn't sure how far he could have gone. Perhaps the elder escorting him could have carried him, but it was embarrassing enough to accept that in an emergency situation. If he couldn't at least traverse the mountain on his own merits, he wasn't sure he deserved to meet with a Grand Elder. He wasn't certain about that regardless, but Anton wasn't the one responsible for that decision.

The Order of Ninety-Nine Stars had many elders, including a collection of ninety elders on the council that formed the backbone of their strength, along with nine Grand Elders. Anton would have thought that was far too many elders to include in any sort of council, but numbers had meaning in cultivation. For the most part, the Grand Elders would handle important decisions among their smaller number, with the advice and information of ten elders serving directly below them.

Anton looked down the mountain behind him, at the land blanketed by sunset. He had no idea how many steps he'd taken, but it didn't seem to be a specific count. A thousand, nine thousand... The steps seemed instead practically placed when necessary. The thin air around Anton was offset by greater concentrations of natural energy. However, despite or perhaps because of the density of the energy… Anton found it quite difficult to draw it in. The lower areas of the sect were much more optimal, at least at his level. He also found his ability to use energy weakened from his previous exertions.

Just a small way further in front of Anton were a number of structures. The one he was being led toward was a large dome with a curious protrusion out of the top. Inside was one massive and dark room, nearly empty except for what Anton now realized was a massive spyglass… and a single old man sitting next to it. Anton couldn't see his eyes, but a glimpse of one gnarled hand indicated that this was likely the one who had appeared in the sky to save Thuston.

Anton felt a slight tingling all over himself, and then the figure turned slowly. The eye was clearly the same. Its intensity was unforgettable. However, it appeared Grand Elder Vandale had only the single eye. At least, he kept his other eyelid closed, and Anton didn't see the shape of an eyeball pressing against it. "Anton Krantz." Grand Elder Vandale's voice was raspy and almost weak… but when it struck Anton's ears he couldn't help but listen intently. "To my senses and my eye you are almost two different people. My eye sees before me an old man who has lived many hard years, enduring many hardships. Yet my senses tell me there is a newly growing cultivator."

Anton waited a moment, then supposed a reply would be in order. "I never had the opportunity to become a cultivator while younger… though I don't know if I would have taken it, regardless."

Grand Elder Vandale nodded. "Perhaps the far corners of Graotan have been overlooked… though we have certainly taken more care in recent years." He paused for a moment, "Young Vincent told me of what happened in your region. He thought he could handle it alone… and with it being so far from our center of power, we let the problem continue for far too long. Relationships with Ofrurg have always been touchy..." he shook his head sadly.

Anton still wasn't sure why he had been called to see Grand Elder Vandale. Was it for a sort of apology on behalf of the sect? While Anton certainly was still bitter about what happened, he could never find it in himself to blame others for actions that weren't theirs. "Elder Vincent was trying to hunt them down for years. Apparently, only a formation master would have helped."

"We have far too few of those," Grand Elder Vandale clicked his tongue. "Come, let me show you something." He walked over to the base of the large spyglass. "This is a telescope. It is much like a spyglass, but made for much further viewing. Stars are… an almost unfathomable distance away." He placed his eye against a small segment on the side of the telescope, then turned a crank which rotated the telescope- and the whole dome- just slightly. Another one adjusted the angle vertically a small amount. "Look at this. What do you see?"

Anton stepped forward and did so. It took a moment for his eye to focus, but he saw that it was now fully nighttime. He could see a cluster of stars, lustrous against the black sky. "A group of stars. They're quite a sight to behold like this." Anton had certainly taken pleasure from looking at the stars, but they were so much more clear through a telescope.

Grand Elder Vandale made a sound like a dry cough that Anton took a moment to realize was a chuckle. "Certainly, they would appear to be a group. Though studious observations have told us that they are quite far removed from each other." Anton turned to look at the Grand Elder. "The Ninety-Nine Stars has little tangible connection to actual stars in the sky, but in my case I find that the observation suits my style of cultivation. Anything in the world can give insights, if viewed in the right way at the right time." He retook his position from Anton, moving the telescope once more. "Here. This is a nebula. A collection of mere dust, similarly unfathomable in size like anything beyond our home here. Yet see how it sparkles."

Anton enjoyed looking at everything Grand Elder Vandale showed him. It was a relaxing time, and it continued well into the night. However, he wasn't sure as to the purpose of him being called. There weren't many things that had been said. If the sort of apology wasn't it, then perhaps it was that he should seek insights from the world? Certainly, he shouldn't take any of the words of a Grand Elder casually.

It was very late into the night when Grand Elder Vandale sighed. "I should not keep you forever. You have been quite patient with me. You must have questions. About me, the sect, cultivation… feel free to ask any of them."

Anton nodded. He had questions… but he wasn't sure if any of them were good questions. He might as well start off with something straightforward. "How does one grow in cultivation quickly? How can someone reach the same level as you?" Anton couldn't feel the exact strength of Grand Elder Vandale. He wasn't hiding it, but Anton just wasn't prepared to sense it. It was like looking into the sun. From what he knew, however, any of the Grand Elders were likely in Galaxy Construction- and perhaps near the peak of known cultivation.

"Two questions that almost sound like they might have the same answer," Grand Elder Vandale showed a smile that had many missing and crooked teeth. "I can't answer the former. Honestly, I don't know. It took me hundreds of years to reach this point. That hardly seems quick. I suppose that might answer the second question as well… but that's not a very helpful answer, is it? I would have to say… dedicate yourself to cultivation, but don't forget why you wish to grow. If you cultivate for temporal reasons, your growth will likewise be impermanent. Though it is possible to merely have a change in focus. If I cultivated… it would be for the Order."

"... do you not cultivate?"

Grand Elder Vandale shook his head, "I find myself unable to take the next step. Cultivation is quite difficult on this old body… though I'm sure you have some idea of that. Cultivation can maintain and restore youth, but only if you make progress rapidly enough. Since I've hit the limit of both cultivation and age… I merely continue living out of duty. I can't do much but defend the sect anymore."

Anton sensed something more from him when he said that. While Anton could certainly feel power from him, it was not just hard to pin down… but almost muted beneath the surface. With a day of rest- not counting the trip back to the sect and up the mountain- Anton had recovered somewhat from his fatigue. He had been able to fill himself full of natural energy once more. However, Grand Elder Vandale seemed as if he were almost empty- just a bright shell around an empty core. If Anton were to compare himself, he was like a bucket. Filling it up was not difficult, but filling up a great lake or a sea like the Grand Elder was much harder. Energy that was merely several times denser would be insufficient for rapid recovery. As for the difficulty of using energy at a far distance, Anton could only imagine. "Are there any insights you can give me for once I step past Body Tempering?"

"I could. And I will, if you later have need of them. But first, you should think about the purifications yourself."

Anton half grinned, "That will be at least eight months from now."

"Why not sooner? Ah." A dry chuckle once more, "I forgot. Here." Grand Elder Vandale pulled out a scroll. "The full Ninety-Nine Stars, continuing past Body Tempering." Anton looked at him for confirmation before cautiously taking it. "What, are you worried about that rule? The one year thing… it doesn't mean anything for you. There are many exceptions made. It is just the baseline until we determine whether we want someone to be able to continue cultivating the Ninety-Nine Stars. It's not like we would deny someone the continuation of the technique after they reached the peak of Body Tempering, if they are a decent person."

Anton thought for a moment, then nodded. "Good. I was actually a bit worried."

"You've been here four months. At your rate of progression, I can see why you'd be concerned about reaching the end of Body Tempering with nowhere to go." Grand Elder Vandale breathed out slowly. "I must be off. Do not hesitate to return if you have questions only I can answer. Though you need not walk all the way up here for much, since the other elders can answer most things just as well."

Anton bowed before turning to leave. He really didn't have any proper questions to ask, and he was eager to take a look at the full version of the Ninety-Nine Stars. Just completing Body Tempering would merely get him to the weakest point he could truly think about revenge.

Chapter 32

For basically as long as he could remember, waking up with the dawn had been part of Anton's life. That hadn't changed with becoming a cultivator, but when Anton awoke the sun was high in the sky. Resting for the night in Thuston hadn't been enough to fully recover, and then hiking up the mountain, staying up late into the night looking at the stars, the hike back down… and he hadn't thought a little bit of cultivating would be a problem. Instead, it wiped him out.

It didn't actually matter that he awoke late, because he hadn't planned to work in the fields or anything else that would constrain his time. The Hunt was still supposed to be continuing, if things hadn't gone the way they did.

He had been able to fill his dantian with natural energy, but it was work. His body grew tired, and that included his meridians and dantian. Perhaps he had really needed the rest. The cuts along his arm and elsewhere didn't help either. He'd applied salves and bandages, but the healing process had only just started. He'd lost blood, and while walking back to the sect had been fine he only now realized how weak he had been.

Once he finished Body Refinement, perhaps the problems wouldn't be so pronounced. Refining his skin wouldn't just make it more durable, it would heal more quickly along with his flesh. Refining his marrow would also allow for recovering blood more quickly, among other benefits.

Anton stretched, arms up above his head. Before he did any of that, he needed to finish refining his tendons. Some archery practice and some movement techniques would be a good start. Despite his fatigue, everything felt just a bit smoother. As Anton imagined a foe, he formed a Spirit Arrow at the same time as he determined where it would go. He hadn't previously been waiting to draw the arrow, but this way it formed at the earliest opportunity but not too early. Holding a Spirit Arrow in its shape took some amount of effort and while over a single shot it didn't matter, over a hundred any inefficiencies could add up. Anton now had practical experience avoiding attacks as well. Sparring had been something, but facing actual danger to his life was much more effective. Being reminded of his mortality was also good motivation.

After some time spent in cultivation, Anton pulled out the scroll of the Ninety-Nine Stars. Not just the first section, but the full technique given to him by Grand Elder Vandale. He reviewed the Body Tempering section, just to make sure it wasn't any different. He didn't expect that to be the case, but it wasn't as if all copies of everything were exactly the same. People made mistakes or abbreviations or extra notes. Anton didn't see any substantial differences, though the language was less elementary. Anton had learned to read well, more than just enough to get by, but that didn't mean he spent a lot of time reading books with flowery language and certainly not cultivation before recently. It hadn't even been suggested that it would be useful for farmers. It was for warriors. Though he knew better now.

The next section covered the segment of cultivation the Ninety-Nine Stars called Spirit Building. It was similar in nature to Body Refining, but of course tempering the spirit instead of the body. The next seven stars were the seven purifications, a much more abstract process where various facets of the spirit were tempered. Only one aspect could receive the prime tempering, though just like Body Tempering that didn't mean the others couldn't catch up given time. For a practical point of comparison, Anton considered a few of the elders he had seen in action. Mental Vision was strongly displayed by Elder Kseniya, and perhaps was a requirement for One Step Ahead. On the other hand, Grand Elder Vandale seemed to embody more of Spiritual Connection, with the way he interacted with the stars. Those were the most prominently displayed facets of those two, though he couldn't be sure if they actually had those as prime refinements. Vandale in particular Anton had only interacted with for a short time, so Anton's judgement might mean nothing.

The eleven orbits following the seven purifications were simply a revisiting of the various facets of body tempering and strengthening the connection between the body and spirit. On an individual level they were nothing special, but the whole process was important. The prime refinement was merely the completion of the task. Important, but not a decision that had to be made.

Beyond that was what the Ninety-Nine Stars called Constellation Formation. It was even more abstract than the previous level, and Anton could tell he wasn't ready to truly dive into it yet. Maybe… never. He wasn't sure if he could ever reach that far. Even if he could, he had to do more than just cultivate before then. Participating in The Hunt had been good not just for himself but because of protecting Thuston. Anton knew there were more dangers in the world, and there was also everything he still had to do. He found himself growing impatient with himself, which seemed like it would lead to harm. More than just getting in over his head in a battle.

He needed to properly prepare himself for the future. Among other things that meant continuing with his cultivation. Since he couldn't be sure how long he would live even if he didn't throw himself into danger, he also wanted to actually do things to leave the world a better place while he had the chance.

Timothy breathed out heavily, swirling a small bit of excess natural energy he hadn't absorbed around himself. "I was so close. I almost caught up to her." He looked to Anton, "I wish I could keep you around all the time. Your advice is very helpful, Anton."

Anton grinned. "Enjoy it while it lasts. Though I'm still planning to stay around for a while."

"Oh, yes. I just meant… we're planning to return to Carran for a while. So I'll probably be away for a couple months."

"Carran," Anton nodded, "Your hometown. I'm sure they'd be happy to see your progress, and it might even help your cultivation to return." Anton returned the topic to where it had been, "On that note, why are you concerned that Catarina reached sixth star before you reached fifth?"

Timothy sighed, "I wanted to catch up to her, at least for a bit. To be as strong as her again. I just want to keep up."

"So you want to be as strong as Catarina?" Anton asked. "Don't be embarrassed. It's quite understandable. However… to summarize the words of someone even older and wiser than myself… think about why you wish to grow. Why you want to be as strong as her."

Timothy looked over towards the adjacent courtyard, which was currently empty. "I want to…"

"Protect her? Impress her?" Anton grinned, "Maybe you don't even know yet. Whether you want to keep your friend safe… or show off your ability… I think you might have the wrong focus on your cultivation. Tell me, do you want to match her or be stronger than her?"

Timothy shook his head, "I'm not sure I can do either."

"There is the core of the problem. It's not so easy to fix." Anton thought for a few moments, "I'll say this. I know you can't just suddenly become confident in your own abilities. That is a process that takes time. But it might do you good to reframe the way you look at your own strength. Whether you work for yourself or for someone else's sake… ultimately I'm not sure it matters. It can even be both. The important part is that you-" Anton poked his finger into Timothy's chest, "You, Timothy, want to be stronger. As strong as you can be. It doesn't matter what anyone else's cultivation level is. So you're slightly more than a full star behind. That's not an impossible gap. You almost did it… but lost focus on the fact that no matter what you intend to do with it, your cultivation is part of you." Anton shook his head, "Like I said though, it's not so easy. Don't forget, she even used one of her tempering pills to break through to the fifth star. Prime ones aren't so easy. You have contribution points still."

"That's right. Actually…" Timothy scratched the back of his head. "I thought with your guidance… maybe I didn't need it."

"You don't. But it will save you time." Anton had learned enough about those sorts of medicines to know that limited use of them was fine.

Timothy looked towards his home. "Actually, she gave me one before we started training for The Hunt. I just thought it was out of pity."

Anton laughed, "I doubt she has any pity in her. But you should know her better than me."

"Right." Timothy nodded. "Tempering the meridians is important. I shouldn't be stubborn about it."

Anton left Timothy alone as he returned to cultivating. If Timothy took that pill, he could form the fifth star pretty much immediately. Anton had studied the pill Catarina gave to him. They were high quality, radiating energy similar to those costing a thousand contribution points in the rewards hall at least. The prizes for the entrance exams were certainly excellent. If she had used one herself and given one to him… then the last went to Timothy. Anton wondered if he should return his. Of course, practically he could not. It would make her think he didn't appreciate it. But he didn't need pity or help keeping up, not yet at least. At the rate things were going… he should be fine until the tenth star. He wasn't sure how much more difficult that might be. Perhaps he would reach his limits there.

But Anton wasn't likely to get more opportunities for so many contribution points before then, so if he didn't want to spend the majority of his points on medicines, he should plan to use it at that point. And, there was something else. He wasn't certain, but he supposed that having received it as a gift would make it more effective. Not in any practical way, but cultivation was a mental process. If nothing else… he could tell Catarina he used it to form the tenth star. He just had the next couple to complete first. If he could manage that.

Chapter 33

The outer parts of the forest were much more pleasant when wild beasts didn't attack every few minutes. Anton led the group back into the forest, not because he expected to need assistance in battle but because there was still one profitable venture to handle before Timothy and Catarina went to visit home. It had been forgotten on their return trip from Thuston, both because everyone was exhausted and they didn't return through the forest.

"There it is," Anton announced.

"I still don't see anything," Timothy said.

"The spiders seem to have moved back," Anton commented as he saw nearly-clear creatures on similarly concealed strands of spider silk. "It seems they were more disturbed out of their natural habitat than part of the beast horde."

"If the spiders are back… do we just leave?" Timothy asked. "I know they're not that dangerous individually… but…"

"I believe Catarina has prepared something," Anton looked to her. "If you please."

Catarina nodded. "If you could direct me, I'm not exactly certain of the location of the webs." Hoyt and Timothy had little else to do but wait while Catarina and Anton moved about the area, Anton helping her avoid webs while she set up a formation. "I can see them when they skitter through the light," Catarina said. "I think… we have finished. They should be repelled from this area."

Anton nodded. "I don't see any remaining in this section." They had cordoned off about half of the group of webs. Diamondsilk spiders were more communal than other spiders- with many living together peacefully. It helped that they were able to catch prey such as birds many times larger than themselves while they remained individually small with only moderate food needs. From Anton's research they did require a larger amount of food to produce their webs, but if they left some behind the colony of spiders should be alright. The cultivators had actually been hoping the group had migrated- since animals often learned which section they inhabited- but at least this way they could get some of the webs without driving the group to death or provoking their wrath. Anton took the first of many spindles out of his pack and found where one strand attached to a tree, sticking it to the roller and beginning the motion. "Timothy, start with this."

They didn't exactly have to be gentle with the roller. It wasn't called diamondsilk for nothing. However, there were good reasons to roll at a measured pace. Strands crossed each other, and if the whole web was just pulled into one bundle around a spindle it was less usable than if it were properly rolled. Of course, with many of them unable to really make out what they were working with… it still happened. They were all amateurs in the field regardless of other talents. Still, it was good to try to do it themselves rather than hiring someone else.

Everyone twisting a spindle could feel the tension, even if they couldn't see the thread until it started to form multiple layers around the spindle. It wasn't completely invisible, and the repeated distortion of light through its strands allowed it to gradually become more visible on the spindles. Anton continued to pick his way around, starting spindles and picking out crossing strands. He really missed having a magic bag. Unfortunately, they weren't cheap. Five thousand contribution points… might actually be obtainable in a reasonable time. But at the moment it was just a convenience instead of a necessity.

Anton stepped over to one side of their cleared area. "The spiders seem to be returning…" Despite their exceptional nature, diamondsilk spiders weren't magical beasts able to use energy. Thus, forming a small barrier to keep them away was simple. Even with dozens of them, their combined force was less than a child pushing against him with one hand. Anton held up the temporary barrier while he looked to Catarina.

"The formation… changed…" Catarina said. She looked around. "I forgot. We changed the flow of energy by removing the webs."

Anton shrugged, "I can't really tell any difference. But I'll leave the judgement to you."

Catarina moved about, fixing the formation, and the spiders pulled away again. "Now we can finish."

Diamondsilk could easily be exchanged for contribution points- even if the Order raised some spiders, they really needed a lot of space and the right conditions… which were mostly in the forest. It was also tricky work that required someone with refined eyes to watch for spiders attempting to leave containment.

However, nobody was really hurting for contribution points at the moment. Each had received an equal share of contribution points for The Hunt- even if Hoyt wasn't physically present in Thuston he was certainly responsible for some of the success in the village's survival. Making something practical out of it would in turn cost some contribution points, but much less since they could provide the materials.

Even with giant webs and a large number of them, the amount of material they had was limited. Each strand was extremely thin, so weaving it into clothing wasn't really possible. At most, they could make a full undershirt for one of them. However, while it would certainly be valuable to do so, the actual practical effect wouldn't be as much as splitting it. Diamondsilk could be woven into other thread to greatly increase its strength- enough that everyone could get a full undershirt that would protect against cuts and stabs. Since it was flexible and thin cloth, it would do little against bludgeoning impacts but it could be worn under anything else without discomfort. Personally, Anton thought full diamondsilk garments would be a bit… uncomfortable. Not physically, but mentally. It was almost completely invisible, after all. Certainly not something that could be worn as anything but an additional layer.

The decision to have defensive undershirts made would slightly delay the departure of Catarina and Timothy, but they didn't have a strict schedule they were adhering to regardless. It was unlikely they would need the additional protection on that journey, but everyone was eagerly looking forward to some tangible fruits of their labor.

Anton stretched. He felt like a cat, though the way they distorted themselves he knew he was at best only slightly catlike. He still had a spine and all that. Sometimes, he wasn't sure that cats did. He could feel his tendons reaching the peak of the refinement process. Each additional step towards refining his body took more work, but Anton found the whole process invigorating. Though he might traditionally stay statically in place for the formation of a star, that was merely for purposes of concentration. He found he was experienced enough in cultivation that he could do so while moving, though of course the effect might vary greatly. In battle would be quite impossible, but a nice bit of moving around his courtyard was easy enough. Even for a breakthrough it felt appropriate to make use of his body. He pulled on his bowstring, with no arrows, just feeling the strain on his tendons as he did so.

He had no idea how strong he needed to be. Spirit Building at the very least, but he didn't need to stop there if he could go further. The world just didn't have the problems of Dungannon to deal with, but others like those bandits and dangerous beasts. It even could use more everyday people who knew a bit of cultivation in their work, further from centers of cultivation like the Order.

It wasn't clear if making himself and the world better was a proper reason to cultivate. It seemed a bit too broad…but it was certainly better than just revenge. The bowstring twanged as Anton's fingers let it go. Revenge was certainly still on the table. However, he had to balance between practically being able to accomplish that revenge and spending too much time. It had been nearly eight months since the destruction of Dungannon and the beginning of his cultivation. Anton knew cultivators worked in longer timespans than the rest of humanity, but it felt so long. When he'd been living happily and working? Eight months was almost nothing. Every year birthdays of great-grandchildren had surprised him. Now, he never truly relaxed. At most, he distracted himself for a time.

His grip tightened on the bow. He pulled back, almost as if he was trying to break his bow or his arm or snap his tendons. That wasn't quite the case. If he truly injured himself he wasn't sure if he could recover even with good medicines and the aid of natural energy. However, he had to push himself. Anton was beginning to understand that his speed of cultivation was unexpected for his age, and perhaps even faster than some of the younger generations. He couldn't say it was easy, though he had to admit it was more smooth than he'd anticipated… but he always had to push himself. If he slowed down now… he felt he would never accomplish anything. Complacency would be the end. And yet… he needed patience.

His arm strained, muscle and bone and especially tendons. He switched sides, though he would never have reason to shoot left handed. He stretched his body to the limit as he forced energy into it. Just a bit more patience. As he felt the pressure peak inside of him, it finally collapsed into the seventh star. He breathed out slowly. He wasn't sure if he would have the proper mental and spiritual fortitude for Spirit Building. He might destroy himself. Perhaps he needed to take some of his own advice and revisit his home. How different would it seem, not even a year later?

Chapter 34

Sometimes, an old man just had to be a little bit selfish. He knew what he needed to do, but he just couldn't face it yet. So when he was invited by Timothy and Catarina to come to their village of Carran, he gladly accepted. Hoyt was invited as well, but he had other plans to attend to.

Anton had little to do to prepare. He stocked up on necessary supplies such as arrows and some emergency rations just in case. He exchanged some contribution points for money- he was almost surprised at how much he could have, but he had fought more beasts than he would hunt in a year so it was actually quite reasonable. It was slightly disconcerting to think his bow might cost as much as a barn… but then again, it was comparing a barn made out of mundane wood to something of special materials, even if it was much smaller.

A horse might travel further in a day than a man on foot, though their true speed advantage was in short bursts. Cultivators, however, could sustain a speed faster than a horse while walking. Of course, there were special breeds and magical beasts who were even faster… but those were quite a bit more expensive. The official recommendation for members of the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars was to walk, if speed was not required.. Anton hadn't known about it, but it made sense. Walking served the dual purpose of training the body of the cultivator and allowing the citizens of Graotan to see them. While they didn't necessarily show the symbol of the Order, people could still recognize them. For their current group, it was only an academic choice regardless. Nobody wanted to spend their entire stock of contribution points on a creature only marginally faster than their current speed, something they would soon outclass.

"I'm going to show everyone how strong I am when I get back," Timothy declared, hands behind his head as he walked confidently. "How about you, Catarina?"

"Mmn. Just want to see family."

"I thought so. You're not really the type to show off…" Timothy nodded to himself, "Still, we can be proud. We both joined the Order, and we've grown even stronger in the last few months."

"Yes," Catarina replied, "But we are still weak."

"I don't know if that's fair to say. We're not weak… everything else is just too strong. Besides, we're at least strong enough to protect Carran."

Anton's face grew stern, "Don't rest on your laurels so easily. Magical beasts might not live in the area, but not all cultivators are upright and honest, and they won't care how long you've cultivated… or if you have at all." The tone of his voice was cold, and soured the discussion for the rest of the day. Not that Catarina would have contributed much anyway.

When there was no conversation the next morning, Anton offered an apology. "I did not mean to be so harsh with my words yesterday. The two of you have done quite well with your devotion to cultivation. I'm sure you friends and family will be proud of you." He paused, "But I don't know if it can ever be truly said that you are 'strong enough.'" He'd thought he was strong. Old as he was, it was hard for anyone to say he wasn't strong, or at least tough. But he hadn't even been present to do anything- and if he had, he knew he would have had no effect.

Catarina looked over at him, "Where are you from?"

"Dungannon," Anton replied. "Near Alcombey."

"Oh," Timothy said. "That's almost in Ofrurg."

Anton hadn't thought of it that way, but it was indeed closer to Ofrurg than any of the major parts of Graotan, despite the official borders. He hadn't thought well of it before, but had little interaction with anyone from the area, even when he visited Alcombey. Now that he knew more, it was one of the places in the world he'd least like to visit… and he was absolutely going to go there in the future. The near future.

"Do you… want to talk about what happened?" Catarina asked.

"...No." Anton breathed out heavily. "Not yet." It wasn't just that they were young. Maybe they would understand… but speaking about it was hard. Even with Vincent, who already knew everything. If only Vincent could just go into Ofrurg and just tear it apart… but of course Graotan wasn't the only place with cultivators.

The tone of the conversation eventually lightened up, talking about the things they'd done at home, how the upcoming winter might affect things, and the like. Anton did his best not to bring things down. Not just for the two younger folk, but because dwelling on what he couldn't do at this very moment would just hurt him more.

Having not been away from the Order's lands in the four and a half months he'd been here, Anton wasn't sure how cultivating would go in areas of lower density natural energy. He wondered if his continued speed was just boosted by the greater availability of energy. Now that he was away from the area, he could confirm it had an effect- but his increased learning was also important. He had tempered his meridians before he even took a step on the Order's lands, and though he continued to develop them as he could, their overall quality was similar enough. Yet he could gather and more smoothly manipulate energy. Storing more was just a given, since the stars in the Dantian were able to do so, but just having the experience cultivating made Anton certain he could do it again faster. Of course, if his cultivation actually reset to the beginning his body would probably just give out. Not that it was a possibility. Certainly not more likely or easy than being killed by something.

Anton didn't really expect trouble in the midst of Graotan where the population was high and other disciples of the Order traveled and patrolled. Even so, he was relieved when the journey actually went smoothly. Carran was just a few days away- at their current walking speed- still quite near the Order on the whole scale of things… but nothing was ever perfectly safe. He just couldn't help but think about what might go wrong. Wild beasts from the forests and bandits were of course the strongest in his mind.

"There it is," Timothy declared. They'd been walking past farms for quite some time, and that hadn't actually changed. "I'd recognize that roofline anywhere."

"Pretty sure they changed it," Catarina countered. "That one is new."

Anton looked ahead at the town. People were moving about doing everyday business. Someone in particular caught his eye. "Catarina. Does your mother look like you?"

"Yes. Quite. So I am told."

"It appears she is at the market, then." Anton found the more he used Hawk Eyes to see, the better his eyes became even when he wasn't focusing his energy. They still weren't the best they'd been, but when he focused… picking out faces on the horizon wasn't too difficult. Especially somewhat familiar ones. As he approached closer, the difference in faces was obvious… but not too much. Just a couple small decades of age.

Catarina waved as her mother spotted her. "Mom!" That one energetic word was perhaps the most enthusiastic Anton had ever seen Catarina. "I'm back to visit."

"So I see. Though you only sent a letter when you got into the Order… and Timothy didn't even remember to inform his father," she looked at him, placing her hand on her hips… but her smile belied the posture. "Welcome back you two. I'm Flora Riley. A pleasure to meet you. And you are?"

"Anton Krantz," he inclined his head, watching her face for signs of recognition. He had an idea… but perhaps it was wrong. "I'm another disciple of the Order. We share a complex where we live, and I fought together along with these two."

"Fought?" Catarina's mother paled slightly and turned to her.

Catarina nodded. "You know cultivators often have to fight. We protected a village."

"Well I-" she stopped whatever she was going to say. "I'm glad you are alright." She inclined her head to Anton, "Thank you for taking care of them. Do you have a place to stay?"

Catarina spoke up before Anton could, "I was hoping he could stay in the spare room. He's guiding Timothy with cultivation, so if he only had to go next door instead of walking out of town, it would be more convenient." Catarina was slightly more verbose with her mother, though she still didn't seem talkative. Maybe she simply needed to explain everything… or she just wasn't that comfortable around Anton yet.

"Of course he can stay. Any of your friends are welcome." Flora's eyes sparkled slightly and she looked at Timothy, "And I'm sure some people will be glad you didn't bring home a young man." Timothy swallowed slightly, but didn't say anything.

The three of them helped Flora carry her shopping back with her- though any one of them could carry far more than she wanted to purchase. Timothy made sure to stop by his home next door when they passed. Anton just enjoyed interacting with a city where nothing was going wrong. Nobody needed saving from a flood or bandits or wild beasts. And he would do his utmost to make sure it stayed that way- as well as every village in Graotan.

Chapter 35

There was a pleasant meal with Catarina's parents and Timothy's father, as well as of course the young cultivators themselves. It was better than the cafeteria, though not by much. The Order had exceptional cooks and fresh food as well, but there was something about smaller scale home cooking that was just more satisfying. Maybe it was just the company. Anton certainly appreciated it.

The conversation mostly consisted of catching up with what had been happening with Timothy and Catarina. A few months was a long time for them, and they'd developed significantly.

Kellan Weston, Timothy's father, sighed. "I do miss having you around to help out. Those cultivator muscles can do a lot of work. I had to hire a replacement."

"I'm even stronger now," Timothy flexed.

Anton nodded, but didn't have much to add to the conversation. Nobody needed an old man going off on stories about himself, and he wasn't really in a mood to share them regardless. Eventually, however, Flora Riley asked about him. "So what about you, Mister Krantz? What's your story?"

A vague enough question that he had an answer. "I was mostly a farmer my whole life. Grew up in Dungannon, far to the east. I got into cultivating… very late in my life."

Catarina's father nodded in sympathy, "It's quite difficult, isn't it? When the members of the Order came by, Catarina and Timothy were tested to have some potential. I tried some of the steps to begin cultivating…" Jasper shook his head, "But it's harder to get into when you aren't young." He avoided mentioning how much older Anton was. At least twice his age, even if Anton looked a bit less wrinkly lately. "I understand the benefits, but pushing myself that hard just didn't seem like it would pay off."

"Yes…" Anton replied, "You need sufficient motivation to truly begin."

There were a few moments of awkward silence before Flora spoke up, "So, you said you lived out to the east… my mother used to live out there. Didn't like the small country life and moved to Edelhull. Though I ended up out here anyway," she smiled at Jasper.

Anton nodded, "It's not for everyone. Some like the hustle and bustle of cities. Sowing fields, raising animals, hunting… all suited me just fine."

Kellan commented, "Cultivation must be a nice change for you. I know it's work, but you don't have to move your body so much." He saw the twisted grin on Timothy's face, "What?"

"I'm pretty sure he moves now more than ever," Timothy said. "He climbed up a silo to shoot arrows at giant eagles attacking Thuston. And his bow…" Timothy shook his head. "It's not something non-cultivators can use."

The rest of dinner continued uneventfully, and then it was getting late.

Before Anton had time to settle into the spare room, Catarina was inside shuffling things about. That included pushing the bed to a different corner. Anton just watched, since she requested no help. Besides, she didn't need any. She'd gone through the full tempering of her muscles for the sixth star. Anton had offered guidance if she wanted it, but she politely declined. However, the sounds Anton heard from her courtyard indicated she took up the active style of body cultivation he thought was most beneficial. She might not have tilled rows of soil, but she worked her body without relying solely on energy. Her muscles would be a bit weaker than those who had done a prime tempering of muscles, but her fighting style worked well enough without. The added power she now had would still ultimately be useful, just not critical to her success.

Catarina fiddled with the slats for the window and turned a small standing closet. None of the features of the room were more usable in their current positions, but she stood up proudly. "Done."

"With what, exactly?" Anton asked.

"An energy gathering formation," She shrugged, "As much as I can, anyway. Mom made me put the rest of the house back. My room is also set up."

Anton nodded. He could feel the concentrations of natural energy increasing, though he couldn't pick out the exact details that supported that. It wasn't anywhere near what was around the Order, even in Edelhull, but it was at least a step or two above where it had been which was a similar concentration to Dungannon. Certainly not weak, but not particularly powerful either. "I appreciate it. I couldn't have done it myself." He'd looked into formations after seeing their utility, but he just couldn't wrap his head around the details. If he wanted to learn, he'd need to devote months at least to develop his thought process, just to start learning. He certainly couldn't afford that now, though perhaps if he later found himself with time… he shook his head. That was quite unlikely. He was glad for Catarina that she was naturally suited for the learning required.

She left the room to him, and he started browsing the Ninety-Nine Stars again. There was one particular oddity in the technique. It wasn't as if it was kept secret, but there was something missing. The final step for the hundredth star- because it was supposed to reach the hundredth star. That was the summation of the first nine primes, which meant in actuality… Ninety-Nine Stars was incomplete. But so far, nobody had reached the hundredth star, as far as was known. The equivalent cultivation level for other techniques was also in the realm of mystery, though it was possible there were some cultivators in far-off countries that had accomplished it and remained… existent. Anton wasn't sure if cultivators exploding or transcending to other planes was correct- though the former was certainly possible. The latter was quite hard to test… especially since he was still ninety-three stars short.

Anton focused his energy inside of himself, taking advantage of the increased density in the surroundings. While he would normally move around while cultivating, the exact circumstances didn't allow for much motion without creating noise that might wake others. Besides, tempering the marrow didn't have much he could physically make it do, short of something like cutting himself to try to force it to replace his blood. Perhaps getting his blood flowing faster would suffice, but he would save that for when he could be outside.

In the morning, Anton awoke as the roosters began to stir. Though he was on a smaller farm than what he'd developed over generations, there were still familiar sounds of the world waking up that it made. Anton pulled himself out of bed and went outside to see the chickens. "Hello there, little ones. Feed will be coming for you soon, I'm sure." He would have done it himself, as thanks for staying, but he didn't know where it was… and of course using other people's things without permission wasn't something that would be taken well.

He heard footsteps coming outside not long after. "Oh. Mister Krantz." Jasper Riley was carrying a bucket of feed, "Did they wake you?"

"Would have been up anyway," Anton smiled, "I was a farmer, remember? Need help with anything?"

"We couldn't possibly ask you to do anything. You're a guest," Jasper replied.

"And I'm old. So what? I'd rather not sit around and rot." Anton's eyes scanned the area. "Could fix that fence, or weed a few rows, help fill that firewood shed… there's always work to be done, isn't there?"

Jasper sighed, "Well, if you insist…"

Anton took the chance to do every single thing he'd spotted. It wasn't that the farm was poorly run, but it was a bit much for two people to handle. And things would forever crop up even if they hired some help. That was just how things were.

Timothy and his father passed by early as well, heading off with a third strong man into the woods not far off behind the few nearby houses- the Rileys, the Westons, and two neighbors he didn't know.

Jasper watched Anton, clearly worried he would overwork himself… but Anton hadn't yet done anything that would have strained him much even before cultivating had made him feel forty years younger. "I'm impressed. You really know what you're doing. That's experience for you."

"A hundred years of it… minus maybe five while I wasn't walking around." Anton grinned, "Though I wouldn't say that I was very helpful for a few years after that, either. Still needed someone following me around so I didn't tip over the feed bucket."

"A hundred…" Jasper shook his head, "You sure don't look it. Not that you're exactly a spring chicken, but…"

"Most my age are six feet under, right?" Anton nodded. As long as he didn't think about anyone specific, the morbid humor of age amused him. "I was thinking I'd hunt something, boar or deer or some such. Who has the hunting rights around here?"

"It's mostly open to anyone. Though you might ask some of the hunters about the populations. They live over thataway. I recall hearing deer were populous. Flora would be glad to have some venison to work with." Jasper nodded. "Her mother, Ashlyn, that was the only thing she liked about country life. Fresh venison."

Anton almost flung the hoe in his hand away, but managed to keep his grip and gently hang it by his side. "Ashlyn…" he turned to Jasper. "I assume she looks much the same as Flora, like Catarina?"

"Grandmother to granddaughter share similar looks, yes. Why?"

Anton did his best to keep his voice steady. "Was she called Ashlyn Krantz?"

"Krantz?" He shook his head, "No, she's Ashlyn Bognar. Though…" Jasper squinted his eyes at Anton. "It could have been. Flora's brother… almost looks like you."

Anton had to breathe deeply so that he wouldn't snap the hoe in his grip. Maybe his impression when he'd first seen Catarina hadn't just been random thoughts. Not every single one of his grandchildren had stayed in Dungannon. Ashlyn was one of the oldest. Having two more generations after her wasn't so crazy. The Krantz family had lost contact with those who had moved away for various reasons, and while he hadn't exactly forgotten their existence… they hadn't really registered as family. Living and safe… elsewhere in the world. "I think we should speak with Flora. It could just be the same name, but we need to find out one way or the other."

Jasper nodded and followed him towards the house.

Chapter 36

It was easy enough to find Flora inside, patching up a pair of work pants. Jasper hesitated a moment, clearly unsure how to broach the subject. "Your mother… she was from out east, right? Did she ever talk about where specifically?"

Flora's fingers continued to stitch without slowing, "She probably mentioned it once or twice, when I was little. Mostly to mention how much she liked being in Edelhull." She looked up at the two of them, "What's so important that it made the two of you come in from the fields? Still covered in dirt, even."

Anton looked down at the path of dirt behind them. He was usually more careful about things like that, since keeping the house tidy was hard enough without actual mud and chunks of dirt. However, it was easy enough to wave his hand and push it all away with some energy. It took quite a bit less than the power required to kill a giant boar, though it took a couple passes to get everything. "Sorry about that. It's probably not urgent… but I'd really be interested. Or if she mentioned her parents at all."

"Did she mention them? Certainly. But I only remember hearing about them as grandma and grandpa." Flora thought for a few moments. "I think I have some old letters from her. They might have names. I could dig them out this evening. It's a bit of a trip to Edelhull just to ask her, of course." She looked at the two of them with suspicion. "What is this about?"

Jasper sighed. "Maybe nothing at all. I'd rather not mention it if so."

"Alright. It's been some time since I read the letters anyway. Reminds me that maybe we should write or visit sometime. You know she'll never come out here."

Jasper grinned, "Why do you think I like to stay here?"

"Oh hush, she's not that bad. I might remind you of someone else's mother. She's not even so far away. I'm sure she'd be glad to visit."

"You wouldn't do that… to either of us," Jasper recoiled. "You're right though. We should keep in touch with Ashlyn more." He nodded, "I think we'd like to see those letters, if you can scrounge them up. Until then, there's work to do."

There was something different about the soil on the Riley's farm compared to at the Order. Anton would say the quality of soil was high in both places, but it was actually easier to work the soil away from the Order. He hadn't noticed because he'd been cultivating for several months before arriving at the Order. The soil there was thick and heavy. Quite full of nutrients for plants, he was sure, and the abundant natural energy helped as well… but it was harder to work than normal soil. Now that he had something to compare to in recent memory, he was certain. That also made it easier to work quickly.

It wasn't necessary for him to hoe a field by hand- they had oxen and ploughs for that, and it wasn't the right season anyway. However, he still had to dig out stubborn weeds with deep roots. Some of them would break away at the surface, but if he left them they'd merely grow back. He could dig with a shovel or with his hands… though wrapping the whole thing in energy and tugging also did the job.

Jasper had some questions, "Can anyone do that, with a bit of cultivation? Move like that and pull up the plants by barely touching them?"

Anton considered for a moment, "You have to develop one thing at a time. However, this is all at an easily achievable level. The first star is a full tempering of the body. That won't do much for your ability to pull out whole weeds, but even a basic control of energy should be sufficient with a little effort." Anton looked at Jasper, "You attempted cultivating before, correct? What stopped you?"

Jasper shook his head. "Couldn't sense the energy, really. I wasn't able to gather it or do anything with it."

"Let's take a quick break," Anton gestured over into the shade. "Have a seat." Jasper did so. "Close your eyes. Try to feel the natural energy. It's the air around you, the breeze…" Anton gathered a bit of energy and washed it over him, "It's just everywhere."

"I think I feel it. Just a little."

"Grab onto it. You can't grasp it in your hand, but you can breathe it into your lungs. From there, it flows around your body." Anton traced a line of energy along his skin, guiding the path as he felt Jasper begin to circulate it, "Through your whole body. Then… don't forget to breathe out." Anton smiled, "Now that you've done it, you can do it again. But here's the secret. You don't have to sit still. Look here," Anton waited for Jasper to open his eyes. He swirled his arms around and swung a hoe in front of him. "You breathe while working. The energy will be more content to settle into a moving body. Just like the air in your lungs is used up faster when you work. It will take a bit of effort to move your body at the same time, but if you spend a month getting this down… even by next year it will pay off." Anton snapped his fingers. "Oh, I imagine your daughter took the cultivation manual with her, correct? The Order doesn't have so many they can just hand out one to each person."

"That's right," Jasper confirmed. "Though I had plenty of access to it before. I just couldn't make use of it."

"Not everyone learns by reading." Anton nodded. "I happen to have an extra I can leave with you." After Grand Elder Vandale had given him the full technique, he hadn't found a chance to return the body tempering technique. It was allowed to be freely distributed, so the Order wouldn't be concerned if he gave it away. They would just be handing it out to someone else eventually. He might as well pick someone specific.

"Oh, thank you." Jasper nodded. "Do you think I can really learn? Catarina picked it up so easily and I had so little success..."

"Of course you can. Your wife too, though I imagine she'll be slightly different. As for making it beyond the beginning… perhaps not." Anton was fairly certain anyone could complete the first full body tempering. Then came the second star, a prime tempering. The easiest one, but also the hardest since the cultivator would still be inexperienced. Then the third star just showed they could continue beyond that, which was sufficient for the Order to be willing to recruit them after a test. And apparently, the fourth star was sufficient that they didn't care about tests. Anton supposed he had been able to contribute sufficiently to work in the fields at just the fourth star. Though he didn't know if the Order actually profited from that work. Some of the early work of their disciples probably cost them more than it was worth- except for the training it provided.

As she promised, Flora dug out some old letters that evening. "I don't think there's anything too personal in here… she was never much for spilling her feelings in a letter. Anton can help us look through for names." Flora clearly trusted her husband's silence, but Anton could tell she was curious as to why they were doing what they were. Maybe it didn't need to be kept secret, but Anton also didn't want to cause excitement for no reason. Perhaps not everyone would want to discover new old relatives, either.

Catarina was present as well. It wasn't possible to keep a secret in such a small household, not that they tried. "Why are we looking for names?" she asked. "Do you know grandma?"

Anton smiled as she cut right to the idea. "Perhaps." That was all he was willing to say for the moment. If he was wrong… he would be rather embarrassed. Though he couldn't say how things would go if he was right.

There were only a few dozen letters. Anton found it easy to scan through them for names extremely quickly. Especially since he knew what names he wanted to see. The handwriting wasn't as orderly as most cultivation techniques, but it also wasn't filled with difficult language or complicated concepts.

'Your father and I have been looking to expand the factorage. It's much more pleasant to handle selling rather than producing all the goods…'

Letters of that sort dominated. Anton couldn't say the hand was familiar, but it would have been many decades since he'd seen it… and at least a few decades of development after the last time when they would have been written.

"William?" Jasper asked.

"No, not what I'm looking for."

Catarina also found a name, "Barrett?"

"That's not it either…" Anton shook his head. "There are a number I'm looking for."

Flora found something that sparked his interest. "Cora?"

"That's a name I recognize… what does it say?"

"Let's see here… 'Cora came to the factorage today. Her vegetables are good quality, but a bit too expensive.' I don't see much else."

Anton sighed, "That doesn't sound right. I'm looking for people she would have known from before. There could be a lot of things, but Miles and Leslie are the best connection." They were nearly done with the letters when Anton's eyes finally found a name. It even had the right context. "...your grandpa Miles used to eat so many potatoes, I had no trouble discerning the quality of the batch at all. We won't be buying from that farm again."

Just as Anton was about to say something, Catarina held up her letter. "This mentions a Leslie. Ahem. 'My mother, Leslie, gave me this recipe for potato soup, but honestly it has far too much-"

"Celery," Anton said. "She always complained about that."

Catarina paused, looking at the letter. "Yes. Celery. Did you read this one?"

Anton shook his head. "No. But Ashlyn always said the potato soup had too much celery. Every time."

Flora eyed Anton. "You certainly sound like you knew her well enough." She seemed to have gathered some idea of what was going on. "Are you perhaps… an uncle of hers?"

Anton grinned, "I am flattered you think me so youthful. But Ashlyn properly referred to me as grandpa."

"Grandpa," Catarina muttered. "Even grandma had a grandpa?"

Anton thought that part was quite obvious. He was rather more excited about discovering another generation he hadn't known existed. It was a bit strange to have a great-great grandchild older than merely his great-grandchildren, but over a handful of generations it wasn't that odd. "You two look quite like her… and she was quite like Janina."

Catarina's thoughts were clearly still processing things for a moment, then her mouth rounded and her eyes grew wide.

Chapter 37

Feet fell rapidly on the dirt path. Anton ran at a quick pace, Timothy trailing along behind, panting. "Why are we... running... up the hill again?"

"Did you not hear what I discovered yesterday? I thought it was quite obvious."

Timothy took deep breaths to get enough to speak. "You said… that you are… Catarinas… great… great… grandpa… right?" He shook his head, "I still don't get… why that means… I have to run up a hill."

Anton clicked his tongue. "Typical. I'm sure you'll figure it out."

It didn't take long for them to reach the top of the highest hill in the area. Even a non-cultivator could have done so fairly quickly, and both of them had tempered muscles and meridians. Anton had the organs in his torso tempered, so he was less out of breath at the end than he would have been. There were more improvements to be made after the tempering, though that was the biggest moment of progress. It wasn't that Anton wasn't breathing hard at the end, but he handled it better than Timothy.

"Now… sword out." Anton pointed, though there wasn't anything in that particular direction. "One hundred swings!" At the same time, he pulled out his bow and began firing Spirit Arrows. He let them unravel not far away so that he wouldn't accidentally hit something in the trees. There was nothing complicated to what he did, just repetitive shooting at a regular pace.

For his part, Timothy had exhausted his questions. He just accepted that Anton thought this training method would pay off for some reason. He just shook his head and kept swinging. Technically sometimes he stabbed, but he was pretty sure that counted. His arm was tired by the end, because Anton's pace didn't give him a moment to recover.

"Good. Now, swap arms."

"I'm right handed though."

"I am aware," Anton said. "And maybe you'll never injure your right arm. But that doesn't mean you should leave your left untrained." Anton also switched his stance with the bow. It would require very specific injuries for him to not be able to fire the bow with his right hand pulling the string but still able to grip the shaft, but he began to fire arrows regardless.

When Timothy had finished each swing with his weapon and shield swapped, he found his balance was quite different on that side. It probably wouldn't matter since the situation shouldn't arise, but it was weird to be so… asymmetrical. He thought he might have a moment to rest after completing the exercises, but instead Anton thrust them both back down the hill… where they repeated the attacks another hundred times per arm.

Anton wiped his brow. "I think it is time for a short break." He took a deep breath, "Feel the energy flow through your meridians into your body, how it replenishes you." Timothy was briefly worried that would be the whole break, but the two of them remained standing and pulling in the natural energy. They stood a reasonable distance apart so as not to interfere with each other too much.

Once he was actually feeling recovered, Timothy had the bravery to ask another question. "So, why isn't Catarina doing this with us?"

"You think this training would be good for her?" Anton shook his head. "It might be, though she has her own methods that work. Perhaps we should have her join us for the next round."

Timothy groaned.

Though he should probably be sleeping, Anton couldn't help but write his thoughts on his training. It wasn't some profound technique or expert advice. It was just his only way to make sure what he learned lasted beyond himself. But while he wasn't sure how long he would live or how long after that his words might last, he supposed he might as well aim high. This was his path to the peak of Ninety-Nine Stars.

Anton was startled by a knock on his door. He should have been able to sense Catarina coming, but he was preoccupied with his thoughts. "Yes? Come in."

She stepped inside and inclined her head. "Grandpa Anton." She'd gotten him with that one earlier. Something about the younger of cultivators strived for formality, calling him Senior Anton and the like, despite the fact that he wasn't particularly higher in cultivation than any of them. For the sake of brevity, Catarina left off two greats but he couldn't refuse her addressing him in that way. Catarina was usually serious, but her face was exceptionally so. "Can I ask you some questions… about you?"

He had some idea where that was going, but he couldn't reasonably refuse. Saying it wasn't her business might have been partially true before, but now… could he actually be family with these people if he didn't let them try to act like family? "Go ahead."

She sat down on the bed, looking towards where he sat at the little desk. "Why are you a cultivator? What's going on with the rest of… our family?"

She cut right to it… but Anton thought that was probably for the best, instead of both of them evading the subject for a while. "As you might have guessed, those are practically the same answer." It took Anton a while to continue, but Catarina waited patiently. "I was born and raised in the village of Dungannon. I have so many stories about everyone there. Perhaps someday I can write it down, if I have the chance. Though it will be of little interest to most." Anton shook his head. "There I met Janina. We had children, those children had more of their own…" Anton smiled in remembrance. "Some didn't choose to stay, but with those who did we continued to grow the farm. My parents passed away, many decades ago. It hurt for a time, but that faded like all others. You know it is coming, eventually. The same happened with Janina. I was supposed to be next."

Catarina waited patiently, but knew he needed some prompting as he was lost in memory. "What happened?"

"Bandits. A group of cultivators from Ofrurg. Wild and destructive." Anton grit his teeth as he spoke, "Elder Vincent tried to track them down, but he could never head them off. He couldn't track them to their camps, and they grew increasingly bold. In the deep of winter I was out on a hunt. I barely managed to find a deer, and the return trip was so slow… and I only came back to death and destruction. Unnecessary slaughter."

Catarina's face fell. "So everyone is dead?"

Anton shook his head. "Not everyone. At least, they weren't killed there. Ofrurg has a legalized slave trade… and they don't much care about where they come from, as long as it doesn't disrupt anyone important there." Anton took a deep breath, "Elder Vincent is the type who would chase them across borders if not for the consequences of doing so. They realized we found their camp. He said they scattered. He killed some of them but… couldn't get them all. Some might never be found, though the leader is a Spirit Building cultivator. Not quite as many of those to look for. And there was also a formation master, hiding them."

"The Order can't send people in to force them out of hiding?"

"Can they? Should they?" Anton shook his head. "You saw what happened in Thuston. Grand Elder Vandale wiped out hundreds of beasts from a distance. If the Order sends elders in to avenge some country villagers, what does that accomplish? Dead cultivators. Dead cultivators in Ofrurg, and dead members of the Order. Perhaps someone can track down bandits on an individual level. If there is no disturbance on a large scale… I wouldn't expect those of great power to get involved directly. If they do, more common folk will die as a side effect."

"But… wouldn't Ofrurg want bandits dealt with?"

Anton smiled bitterly. Catarina was a smart enough girl, skilled in cultivation… but she was still young. "I already said they don't care where slaves come from. And of course they don't cause any trouble inside Ofrurg. More importantly… Spirit Building cultivators don't just pop out of the ground. Potatoes barely do that, and that takes work. The chance of them being connected to a sect, formally or informally, is rather high." Anton nodded. "I'd love to be able to go in there, kill them all, free everyone taken away. And… I will try. But it's not so easy."

"Couldn't they just send someone a little bit stronger, not an elder but a disciple in late Spirit Building?"

"Who? And why?" Anton shook his head. "Nobody knows who they are looking to save, and assassinating people in another country is too much of a risk for a mission. The Order has already increased security on the border. Perhaps that should have been sooner, but what has been done cannot be undone." Anton stood up and stretched, "The job requires someone who can able to risk their life, in such a way that it can pay off."

"... I can go with you."

Anton smiled, "I appreciate the offer. But this isn't like Thuston. Disaster can't be prevented, it has already happened. You shouldn't risk your life for people you never knew or an old man you've known for a few months. You have too much value to risk yourself for it. Grow stronger, so you can protect more people in the future. I won't tell you to ignore any trouble you can see… but don't risk yourself for an old man who is about to die anyway. I'll be able to use what I have to save some people. I'll try to save everyone, to right every wrong… but we both know that can't happen."

"... I won't let you go alone."

Anton sighed, "We'll talk about it more later. Regardless, I'm not yet strong enough. I need more training… and that means so do you. I'll see you in the morning."

Chapter 38

There was some actual consideration in Anton's mind to leave that night, but he knew if he did Catarina would probably blindly follow him. Perhaps if she didn't find him she would run off to Ofrurg alone. He'd like to think her more rational than that, but having been a human for a full century… he could say people weren't like that. She wanted to help him, and he wanted her to live… and neither of them would be able to convince the other. Anton hated to let time pass now that he'd made up his mind, but he knew there was good he could do currently. Jasper did well with Anton's cultivation recommendations, and though Flora did somewhat less of the heavy manual labor, she was giving it a try as well. He should at least do his best making sure that those he knew could take better care of themselves before he left… and of course there was the problem with leaving Catarina behind. He had to figure that one out still.

On much more mundane problems, Anton found trouble with his writing. It was no trouble at all to write down his observations during cultivation. What was good for the vigorous sort like himself and Timothy weren't necessarily right for Catarina, though he did his best to share his experiences. He learned some from her and Timothy in return. Mostly little things, but every experience was important. But that wasn't where he had trouble.

Anton didn't think that any of the methods laid out in the Ninety-Nine Stars were wrong. Just incomplete. Of course, his notes would have holes in experience he couldn't cover as well… but if someday someone found his writing and used it as a supplement to bring them another step further in cultivation, that would be good enough. Anton wasn't concerned about it being the most important document ever written. Really, an old man just starting cultivating could only do so much. But there was one thing.

If others were to read it, it should have a name. 'Anton's Journal of Cultivation' was… bad. It was for others to read to begin with, so was it really a journal? He'd written down a name. Path to Ninety-Nine Stars. It was the sort of thing he'd expect to find in the library, but something seemed to be missing. More than just ninety-two of the stars, of course.

Anton stood and stretched. He very much appreciated the fact that his body could do that without yelling at him to stop. It just whimpered a bit. His cultivation was going well. The change in scenery provided benefits that mere density of natural energy couldn't make up for. He wasn't sure if he wanted to spend a full two months away from the sect, but that had never been a hard timeline for the stay regardless. Timothy and Catarina just wanted to show their parents their progress… and now their parents were beginning cultivators as well.

A sword wreathed in copious amounts of energy sliced through the air towards Anton's head. The only thing he had to block it was his own arms… and of course the cloth armor covering them. It was quite durable, though nothing compared to the partially diamondsilk shirt on his chest.

Anton's arms rose up to meet the sword, his energy condensing until it could be seen not just as cultivators envisioned energy but in a way the naked eye would see the yellow shine. Golden, if one were to get fancy with the name. Anton staggered back under the force of Timothy's blow, but Timothy himself was staggered as well. Anton couldn't expect a real opponent to just straightforwardly hit his defenses, but he had to test how much they could actually withstand. Anton looked at his forearms, one of which was dripping blood. Slightly less than that, then. Maybe it was the way he angled the energy. Though of course Timothy's power wasn't something he could ignore. Muscles trained by chopping down trees with his father worked together with his energy to become powerful attacks, even if he wasn't using an axe.

"Sorry," Timothy said. "You said to go all out."

"I absolutely did," Anton nodded. "I merely couldn't withstand your attack. Which gives me more reasons to not try. The momentum of the attacker is a hard advantage to overcome."

"... you're dripping blood all over. Aren't you going to…?"

"It'll stop on its own," Anton said. "It's only a trickle."

"... You're tempering your marrow, right?"

"That's right," Anton grinned. "Might as well take the chance while it's working hard." The bleeding really wasn't as bad as it looked. Tempering his skin would come last, and that would also enhance the upper layers of his flesh. He wouldn't be able to take a blade without energy, but at least he'd be able to ignore pricking bushes. Energy flowed deep into his bones, supporting the marrow in its work. The cut stopped bleeding within a few minutes, but Catarina still looked a bit nervous where she stood on the side.

"... try me next." Catarina pointed. "I mean that." A semi visible barrier had been formed off to her side. It was a formation created by her own energy, but it would sustain itself on the natural energy of the area without her input, at least for some time. More powerful ones would require larger areas or more permanent physical fixtures, but spending money on special materials wasn't really as good for training as seeing what she could sustain otherwise.

Timothy readied his sword. He was only using it in one hand, but being able to attack unrestrained still had great power. "Step back." Obviously in combat situations Catarina would want to stand behind a barrier- or have something she intended to protect behind it- but there was no need to risk that in training. If Anton was able to form Golden Armor away from his body, he might have done that. However, it wasn't within his current capabilities.

Anton approved of the angle of the swing into the barrier. Timothy's sword struck a resounding blow on an edge… but the power merely wasn't enough. His sword rebounded and the barrier held. It wasn't undamaged, but his attack hadn't broken though in any significant manner. Timothy looked to Catarina, who nodded. "Keep going."

Timothy continued to swing at the barrier. Catarina directed some of her own energy to keep it standing, which half negated the point of it being a barrier formation and not her own defensive energy… but it looked like they were having fun competing. Eventually the barrier gave out- but that was inevitable. The power levels were similar enough, so a proper offense would always win against defense without retaliation. But they were just testing the limits.

Catarina smiled, "Good! I was able to keep it up for a while, but you still managed to break through." She turned to Anton, "Now you try." Catarina began setting up the barrier before Anton could protest.

"I'm afraid I don't have quite the sort of power required to break through. My arrows don't exactly have a lot of weight." It was why people didn't shoot arrows at walls in a siege. It simply wasn't what they were intended for. Anton didn't see it as a weakness in archery, since an immobile opponent simply defending while you were far away… it wasn't hard to just wait until they showed an opening.

Catarina frowned. "You can't do it? That's too bad. I heard you were a good archer."

"What, are you trying to ignite my competitive spirit so I'll make a fool of myself?" Anton grinned, "Because I absolutely will. Finish setting that up. Then everyone back away, because the arrows might deflect a bit."

Flora and Jasper watched from a further distance. Neither she nor Jasper were ready to compete in such a way with the others. They did have some spare time to train cultivation, though, because the others provided so much help with the farm. Catarina even set up some permanent- if weak- formations to keep foxes and the like away from the hens.

"Alright, it's ready. I'm sure you can do it," Catarina said.

Anton took a good look at the barrier… mostly to make sure it wasn't any weaker than before. He didn't want pity taken on him. It seemed Catarina knew her grandma's grandpa well enough, because it was possibly even a bit stronger. Not that it mattered, if he couldn't break it regardless. Anton took a few shots, shooting only Spirit Arrows because the energy would only deflect a few meters before he could have it dissipate. A real arrow might be dangerous to onlookers, and honestly just had trade offs in terms of power. Maybe if he had any with special materials it might be different, but he mostly had standard iron heads.

The way the arrows deflected off of the barrier without even making it tremble let Anton confirm his thoughts. He just didn't have the power to match Timothy… though did he have to? The young man struck the barrier with great force many times before it shattered. But if he wanted something practical, shattering it wasn't necessary.

Anton relaxed, then reset his stance. He wanted to get the most power possible. He readied his arms, then pulled as he formed a Spirit Arrow, muscles in his back straining more than his arms, though his whole upper body was involved. He wouldn't have the luxury to prepare himself normally, but he could add a bit of extra power. As he did so, he condensed the Spirit Arrow until it was even thinner. Elder Kseniya's arrows were extremely thin as well. They didn't need to chop off an arm. They just needed to… pierce.

At that thought, Anton released the arrow. It was a moment of concentration similar to when he'd had the contest with Elder Evan, just to borrow the bow he now held. It wasn't a state he could force, and sometimes it just happened. The arrow flew forward, and he felt like he was moving with it. Forward into the barrier. He jerked, and the arrow almost shattered… and then it pierced through. It almost felt blasphemous to dissolve the arrow a dozen meters on, but Anton wasn't sure how far it would keep flying if he let it. The hole in the barrier, half the area of a normal arrowhead, closed up almost instantly. However, Anton smiled. That was a result he could absolutely accept. Now if only enemies would stand still and let him take his time shooting them, he would be confident in defeating almost anything or anyone.

Chapter 39

Though there had been a nebulous plan to stay in Carran for two months, that plan changed. For cultivators early in their growth two months was a rather long time, if they had the talent. Anton noticed that Catarina's parents and Timothy's father didn't seem to be on track to complete the first star in the same time period as himself. However, they had other responsibilities to attend to besides madly cultivating to block out the world. Anton also understood that people had different aptitudes. Perhaps they could learn to be better at something, but the starting point of everyone was different. He had found that cultivation suited him quite well from his first experiences with it.

It was after one month that the group returned to the Order's lands. Cultivating didn't only require dense natural energy to absorb, but for breakthroughs and the like it was quite necessary. Nobody was on the verge of the next level, but their various experiences were helping with rapid growth and that the largest necessity was merely energy. Anton found that guiding others was useful for himself, as well. It made him think about why he did things a certain way, and if it was actually correct… or just a habit he'd formed. He was pleased that many times it was the former, but not always. That let him fix problem with his own cultivation, and he took notes in Path to Ninety-Nine Stars.

Anton found himself unable to rest for a single moment. Most of the past year he'd been active, but now he found himself especially motivated. He had more family. It wasn't that he had forgotten the others who still lived- he kept every name in memory- but instead discovering Catarina's connection to him imbued him with a sense of hope and vigor. It reminded him his task wasn't just to grow stronger, but to do so for a reason. Of course, he knew that. Knowing something and feeling it were not as closely tied as people liked to think. He had already considered the task impossible, such that he almost forgot saving villagers of Dungannon or what remained of his family was actually something that could truly happen.

It would have been nice to say that the connection to new family had a direct connection to refining his marrow, but it didn't. That was just his body, and he cultivated furiously to refine it. Perhaps every bit of natural energy he absorbed was just a bit more pure… or perhaps it just felt that way. Regardless, he spent several weeks cultivating… and seeking information from the Order.

The Order's policy on information exchange was quite simple. Disciples in good standing were able to obtain information the Order had without charge, though some sensitive information required a request. If the information wasn't available, it was possible to pay to have it obtained. After all, that would require someone to go on a mission and could not be done without charge.

There were always exceptions but the information Anton sought wasn't secret, and if he needed a reason to request it he could easily provide it. Vincent would also tell him anything he needed, but some of that information would come from the same place. For example, Vincent had never seen the leader of the bandits. In Vincent's own words. 'If I had seen him and known who he was, he would be dead.'

But just because Vincent hadn't seen him didn't mean nobody had. Nobody was perfect, including cultivators. Survivors of villages that had been attacked by the bandits could identify some of the bandits. With descriptions and other information, scouts in Ofrurg had learned more. The best candidate for the leader of the bandits was a man named Maximillian Van Hassel. Likewise, it was presumed that the formation master was Nirmal Slusser- though information about his actual ability with formations wasn't readily available. The information the Order possessed wasn't completely certain, but they had been involved with the sale of slaves at various key times. Anton looked over all the information the Order had obtained on them. Their current locations were unknown, but he wouldn't be able to fight them at his current strength regardless. Still, there was more he could accomplish before that point, if he went about it the right way.

The council of Grand Elders rarely met. It was an unnecessary waste of time, unless there was something important. Vincent wasn't a Grand Elder, but he was called to speak. He didn't know much about the council meetings in the past, but he knew they very rarely met on matters concerning a single disciple. Even when appointing a new elder, the council of elders only needed the input of a single Grand Elder. Had they ever met concerning a Body Tempering disciple? Vincent was sure if they had, it wasn't an old man.

Grand Elder Bohdana Matousek wasn't nearly so old in appearance as Grand Elder Vandale, though Vincent knew there were merely a few decades between them. She waved her hand towards Vandale. "Grand Elder Vandale, why don't you explain what you called us here for?"

"Of course." Grand Elder Vandale inclined his head. "I'm sure you all want to know. As many of you will have heard from the elders serving under you, we have a rather strange new disciple. Normally, it is not the business of Grand Elders if a new disciple burns their way through Body Tempering with ease. But the circumstances of this one are… different. Elder Vincent, if you could explain when you met Anton Krantz."

"Of course," Vincent moved to stand in front of the Grand Elders. Of all of those he had recruited, none of them were on the list. Even the youngest was older than himself. Even so, he carried a measure of respect among them. "I was not searching for disciples when I first met Anton Krantz. If I had been… I wouldn't have even considered him. It was a decade ago, when the bandits in the far eastern part of Graotan were first beginning to test the waters. I came across Anton Krantz out in the forest, when he was ninety years old."

One of the other Grand Elders- Kunibert- frowned. "Did I not hear that he has achieved the seventh star only recently? That's certainly an anomaly for an old man, but a decade to go so far… am I missing something?"

Vincent inclined his head. "Indeed, there is more to be said. As I said, I was not searching for disciples. He impressed me with his vigor for one of his age, and I found him pleasant to interact with, but that was all at our first meeting. I remained in the area off and on again for a decade as the bandits grew more bold. They finally destroyed his village. I arrived too late, only to find him dazedly wandering the remains. He had been out on a hunt in midwinter, and hadn't been present during the attack. He had spotted their camp- and he led me to it. It was then I determined that they had a formation master keeping it hidden. Perhaps I was late in that realization, but that is not the important detail at this moment. Anton still had fire inside him, though he was close to being a sputtering torch. I gave him the Ninety-Nine Stars out of pity, so that he could die in an attempt to avenge his family and village. After that I set about to track down what information I could on the bandits. I merely found a few of their scraps and some potential candidates before I returned to the sect four months later. He was in a small bit of trouble for a conflict with another disciple… and was at that very moment breaking through to the Fifth Star."

Grand Elder Bohdana widened her eyes. "He reached the fifth star in four months? It's not unheard of but… for someone of advanced age who just took up cultivating, it's nearly unbelievable."

"But his pace has not slowed afterwards," Grand Elder Vandale waved Vincent to seat himself. "Three months after that he reached the seventh star, which is where he currently is. He has been seeking information on the bandits, and clearly intends to seek them out. I-"

There was a knock on the council door as a messenger stepped in. "Message for Grand Elder Vandale." She hurried forward and slipped him a note.

Grand Elder Vandale looked at the note in front of him, taking a moment to read it. "Oh. I see. There is some new information. Apparently, he has just achieved the eighth star… half an hour ago."

Vincent muttered to himself, "That man sure has a sense of timing…"

"Regardless," Vandale coughed slightly, his voice slightly weak. "It is clear his rate of advancement is… top tier. Few can match him. But one might wonder… if he was not a century old when he began to cultivate, what might that mean?" He looked over the rest of the council, letting them think for a moment. "But about why I called you here. Merely informing you of his existence would be sufficient… but we may have to do something. He is almost certainly going to head to Ofrurg soon. Though it is not completely lawless, it is not safe either. When one specifically is looking for trouble… it could lead to disaster. So what do we do? I doubt any of us here would have the audacity to tell him not to risk his life for those he cares about. Yet if we hold him back, perhaps his cultivation will expire. Even those who are young and healthy do not cultivate well when restrained. I have hopes for his future, but I don't know if he will have one. So what do we do?"

Bohdana shook her head. "I think we should do nothing. I will admit he's an enticing disciple, but if he cannot judge danger for himself… his future will go nowhere. Restraining his actions would almost certainly negate whatever future he has. But assisting him… may do so just as much. I would also prefer not to show too much favoritism to any new disciples- and he is new, still. Then there is the potential of war, if we settle the matter for him. We already considered that specific course of action."

Kunibert once again spoke up, "Could we not at least send a discreet guardian? Or assist him with a team? I am already unsettled at how long those bandits have lived with minimal reprisals from our side."

Grand Elder McAlister took her turn next. "I agree with Bohdana, though it may seem heartless at first. We should not interfere. Of course, if he recruits others to go with him on his own… that is also allowed. And… though we might think of those who advance quickly as young and rash, he is at least experienced with the world."

Grand Elder Vandale sighed, "Justice will be done, one way or another. I sincerely hope he is the vessel that will bring it. While I am also concerned for his well being… in addition to fast advancement, his actual performance so far has been exemplary. His mastery of Spirit Arrows is beyond what we would expect at Body Tempering. But, though I would like to say I have full confidence in him… a single person is merely that. I suggest we provide a simple guardian in the middle of Spirit Building. That should not interfere with his development too much, or cause untoward amounts of trouble with Ofrurg."

Vincent watched and waited as the Grand Elders discussed. He had no idea what the final result would be. He also had his own ideas on what should be done, though the only thing Vincent could be sure about was that whatever happened with Anton would surprise him. Hopefully, those surprises would continue to be good.

Chapter 40

In front of Anton sat a list. It was as accurate as he could make it… but it was possible he'd missed something or other. His memory wasn't perfect to begin with, and at the time he could have been most precise, he wasn't in a state to do anything to any level of accuracy. This was the list of those who were still alive… potentially.

None of his children were on the list, but that was understandable. They were old, like himself, and that meant they had little value as slaves. While the bandits had been somewhat unpredictable in their actions, taking everything of value was certainly consistent. That included people. Dungannon had not been large- a few hundred people- but Anton had buried most of them. Their faces, at least, he could picture in his mind… if not their names. Some had not been in a state he could recognize. At least fifty people had the potential to be alive.

Of those people, however, he only had information on a dozen. Some didn't stand out enough to have information remembered about them when they were sold. Most went to mines or farms. Hard slave labor wasn't good for anyone, but they could certainly survive since most were young and healthy. One went to a fighting arena. Devon was one of Anton's younger grandsons, the son of his youngest daughter. The chances of him being alive were much more slim than anyone else.

Then there was Annelie. Anton had avoided learning about her fate in particular until he felt he had at least a little bit of strength. Her fate was known to a certain point. She'd been sold to the Frostmirror sect. The Order of Ninety-Nine Stars was a righteous group… and the Frostmirror sect was not. The only thing to say for them was that they also weren't a demonic sect. But with the extravagant price they paid for her, Anton could hope they found some value in her being alive instead of otherwise.

Anton had exchanged contribution points for money, enough that he could buy the others he knew the locations of at a fair price, and even some extra. He destested the idea of supporting the slave trade with his money, but it was either that or fight an entire nation and their cultivators himself. That wasn't something he could do yet. He considered for a moment. Somehow, his mind hadn't had the doubt he expected. Was that what the problem was? He filed the thought away for later.

Though he could buy the freedom of a handful of people with what he currently had, Annelie's price paid by the Frostmirror sect had been more than Anton had ever seen. More than the price the family farm had been worth plus every contribution point he'd gained exchanged for money. There was some sort of test for cultivation aptitude, and Annelise had something special in that area. Specific details hadn't been obtained. Whether or not the particular thing found would be ultimately to her benefit remained to be seen. Anton had not personally experienced cultivators outside of the Order- except the effects of the bandit leader Kunibert and the rest- but he'd heard tales. Even accounting for exaggerations, it was clear that at least occasionally cultivation and cultivation aptitude were stolen by others. The actual effects for those attempting to take it weren't always as beneficial as they might hope, but for the victim it was always death- or something that might as well be death. If the Frostmirror sect had such intentions when they purchased her… Anton shook his head. He couldn't do anything about it now regardless. But he might be able to learn more if she was still alive.

He was ready to take a trip to Ofrurg. Perhaps he might save a few of those from Dungannon or track down some of the bandits he had basic information on. He might also acquire more information himself. The only problem was how to deal with Catarina. He didn't want to bring her with him… but he couldn't not bring her. As in, he was physically incapable of not bringing her. If he left without her she would just follow him. He considered a few options, but none of them made sense. If he just left without saying anything, she would almost certainly go to Ofrurg presuming that to be his target. Even if he could convince her he was just going on a mission to a specific place, when he didn't return she would know. And he had no logical reason not to invite her. She was capable. Certainly, she was one star behind him… but that wasn't so much as to hold him back in battle, and having additional hands would in fact be quite helpful.

Logic wasn't everything. Wanting to protect family was quite a paradox, because Catarina also wanted to protect her 'grandpa'. And though she wasn't very vocal about her choices most of the time, she was quietly stubborn. Anton wasn't sure what to do. Perhaps some cultivation would clear his head.

Northern creeper was a completely innocuous name for the spike covered vine Anton found himself dealing with. Its seeds were pods with sharp thorns going in every direction, and they had to be planted carefully by hand. It wasn't hard physical labor that was required… but instead a certain level of energy defenses. Because while it was just a truly awful plant, its fruit could produce a potent medicine for cultivation. It was one of the main ingredients in tempering pills like the kind Catarina had given to Anton. That was quite understandable, considering the way it sucked up natural energy around it.

As Anton carefully put his arm deep into the plant where he might prune away some dead leaves, he cut a gash along his arm. While tempering his meridians had allowed him to handle larger amounts of energy, that wasn't enough to just ignore the thorns. After all, it wasn't an everyday plant. It absorbed natural energy from the world… and through its thorns in particular. Thus, his defenses were only half as effective at best. Hoyt had also moved on to the same work with Anton. Farming normal plants or even special herbs was just too easy, and hardly worth their time. It provided some contribution points, but this was worth more because of the increased difficulty and value.

Hoyt had one advantage Anton did not. He had already completed the tempering of his skin. Though he was a step behind Catarina at the moment, he was almost at the seventh star. Anton watched as the spikes slid along his skin without piercing through… unless Hoyt was careless.

As he carefully maneuvered his own arm, it came out bloody. He could wear armor, but patching it would take all the extra contribution points he would earn. Besides, the only thing left to temper was his skin anyway. While it wasn't a pleasant process, it was actually quite beneficial to add this into his cultivation routine. His practice and some discussions with Hoyt were giving him some initial success in the area. Anton didn't plan to remain in the Order for the months it would take to finish the tempering of his skin, but at least beginning the process in an optimal environment would help him later.

Hoyt, meanwhile, needed advice on tempering his internal organs, starting with his torso. He was young and strong, so he hadn't found it a necessity to take care of them earlier. Anton envied that youth, but of course he provided the best advice he could. Among other things, it involved a lot of running. That took care of the lungs and heart, at least. He wished he knew that such an active style might be helpful when he first began cultivating, though he would have barely been able to make use of it. His body had been in a better state than his mind… but only barely.

Sometimes, one merely had to let themselves get stabbed with a thousand needles to clear their mind. Anton wasn't sure if that actually helped, but he at least arrived at a reasonable idea. Both he and Catarina were sensible adults, and they could talk about things. And, if he didn't get what he wanted and she insisted on coming with him… that would just give him more reason to be cautious.

Anton invited Catarina over. His living space was still mostly bare, but he had a sitting room with some chairs and a table, at least. "Come. Sit."

Catarina did so quite obediently. However, she didn't wait for him to continue. "Are we finally going to Ofrurg?" she asked.

Anton sighed. "Don't be so eager to run into trouble. There will not be anything glorious or fun to be had there. Just… salvaging remnants of old memories. I hope to do what I can for a few people… and end the lives of a few others." Anton shook his head. "I don't want you to come with me. It's too dangerous."

"I know," Catarina said. "That is why I can't let you go alone."

"I'm just an old man. If I die doing this… the world doesn't lose much. You, however, have so much life and potential ahead of you."

Catarina frowned, "People aren't worth just what they can do and become. It's also what they have done. You still mean something, for your past. And if we're bringing up potential… are you not improving in cultivation? I know you are, and fast. I can barely keep up."

"I don't know how much longer I can last," Anton said. "Can I even reach Spirit Building?"

"Can't you?" Catarina asked. "I know cultivating extends your lifespan. Even if it doesn't help as much for you… it's not like you'll die of old age in just a year or two. Not with a whole eight stars already." Catarina stood up and leaned closer, "You've already outlived one of my other grandpas. You're not just going to… fall apart."

Anton didn't have much else to say, but he wasn't going to stop trying. "You don't know any of those I plan to save. Don't risk yourself for them."

"So?" Catarina said, "I didn't know anyone in Thuston. Neither did you. We still wanted to protect them from the beasts. And if you're planning to save some family… aren't they my family too, grandpa? Just because I haven't met them yet…"

Anton sighed again. "If you aren't going to listen to me, then maybe consider how your father and mother would feel if you died."

"Maybe you should." Catarina was certainly a lot more comfortable talking with him lately. She had quite a few things to say, apparently. "I know you can't just wait around to be strong enough to do everything you want. But you don't have to do it alone. If you still think it's too dangerous… maybe that should stop you."

Anton locked eyes with her. How did she get so stubborn? Maybe she inherited that trait from her parents. Or her grandparents. Or her great-great-grandfather. If that was the case… maybe he should invite some others along as well. Timothy should be easy to convince, though Anton wasn't sure if Hoyt would have any reason to join. Were there any others he trusted? He hadn't really developed his social circle much. Too much training. Or maybe not enough.

Chapter 41

Finding Timothy wasn't difficult. They were neighbors, after all. Timothy wasn't in his courtyard, but that actually made it easier. He was running around their little complex, so Anton merely stepped out of his door to see him as he passed by. "Timothy," Anton smiled and held up a hand to ask him to wait.

Timothy stopped, but continued to run in place to keep his heart rate up. "Yes sir? What do you need?"

Was 'sir' better than 'senior'? Anton wasn't sure. But that didn't matter. "Catarina and I are going on a journey soon. I would like to request your presence."

Timothy's face fell. "When is 'soon'?"

"As soon as possible, actually. I'd prefer not to delay."

Timothy scrunched up his forehead in thought. "I'd really like to but…" Anton waited for him to say what he wanted. "I already promised to help someone with a mission. We leave in a week, and the mission might take several more. I already promised to help..." Timothy looked quite disappointed.

"I understand. It is good to keep your word." Anton tried not to let his disappointment show. It was foolish for him to assume that Timothy would have no other engagements. Just because he himself barely knew anyone didn't mean that others wouldn't be busy. That did mean the one he thought was a guarantee was actually out. "I hope your mission goes well for you."

"Can you wait?" Timothy asked. "I know a month can be a long time, but I'd really like to help."

Could it wait? It could… perhaps. But if he waited a month, it might never happen. He could wait a month… then what would another month to break through be? Then he might as well try to get to the tenth star. Another few months, and half a year would go by. The first few months of his cultivation he had no chance of doing anything, but now he could at least determine the full extent of what he was up against and perhaps save a few people. He wasn't going to foolishly think he could challenge a Spirit Building cultivator or two at his current cultivation, but he had leads on weaker individuals. "It is best to not delay so long," Anton said. "It won't be easy to meet up with us, so I wouldn't recommend it. I have no idea where exactly we'll be."

"Alright," Timothy nodded, clearly still disappointed. "Sorry." He waved and continued running laps around the area.

Anton's skin draped loosely around his frame. There was a time his arms had been thick with muscle, and though he was regaining some of that size his skin would still be oversized and wrinkly. However, he was able to change that a little bit. Intentionally tightening up his skin required quite a bit of natural energy, and while not normally a necessary part of the refinement process Anton knew it was necessary for himself. Reforging his body was difficult and sometimes painful, but also quite exhilarating. There was so much more he could do now, with or without energy involved.

He was still harvesting northern creeper. The thorny plant required him to make the most of his manual dexterity as well as his energy control. They couldn't just break off all of the thorns, since those were involved with the absorption of natural energy and thus the growth of the plants. Even slightly pruned plants showed significant decreases in growth. Elder Howland had shown everyone the difference. So while people might complain, it was only the normal sort of bantery way it was done.

Hoyt was working with the plants as well. That was why Anton had made sure to come for the day instead of leaving as soon as possible. He knew he should make some more acquaintances, but it was too late to meet anyone new at this exact moment. "Hoyt. Are you free in the coming weeks?"

Hoyt nodded, "I have nothing in particular. What do you need?"

"Well, I am about to set off on a mission and could use another companion."

"Great," Hoyt said quickly. "I'd be glad to go with you."

Anton held up a hand. "Hold on now. I appreciate the eagerness, but I don't want you to agree to something you didn't mean to. It's not an official mission. It's something personal. No contribution points to be had… and perhaps quite a bit of danger. Though hopefully not the second."

Hoyt shrugged, "You need me though, right? I'll do it. It shouldn't be something completely insane. If you knew we would die, I doubt you would go. Danger can be good training, and either way some travel would be good for me. I don't want to stagnate in place. You said another, who else is going already?"

"Catarina."

"Even better," Hoyt said. "A mission with two of the rising stars has to end up worth it, somehow. I'm sure of it."

"Timothy won't be coming with us," Anton clarified.

"Really?" Hoyt shrugged. "How unexpected."

"He found himself with prior engagements, actually," Anton explained.

Hoyt smiled, "That's alright. I won't change what I said. Even if there's a bit of danger, we'll all keep each other alive. I know you wouldn't ask if it wasn't important for you."

"Yes," Anton agreed. It was important… but he had no clear idea of how much of it was for himself and how much for the others. It could certainly be both… but his mind couldn't sort it all out yet. "We plan to set out in the next day or two. There is one more local thing to take care of on the way. Perhaps we could meet up in Edelhull."

Hoyt nodded. "Just tell me a time and place."

Anton and Catarina stood outside a small dwelling in the middle of Edelhull. Anton just stared at the door, unmoving.

"What are you waiting for?" Catarina asked. "This is the right place."

"I know," Anton nodded. "I just don't know what to say."

"Does anyone ever know?" Catarina asked.

Anton sighed. "No. It never gets easier. But this is even harder than normal."

"Stalling won't help," Catarina said. She raised her hand and knocked on the door. Then she stepped back. "Go on."

Anton stood bravely in front of the door. Why couldn't he just face down a charging boar or something?

The door opened to reveal a woman showing the signs of age. Her hair wasn't fully grey, but she had age spots and wrinkles as well as the general tiredness of older folk. She still had a clear family resemblance, to both her grandmother and daughter and granddaughter. "Yes, who is it?" She looked Anton up and down, her jaw going slack. "...grandpa Anton?" Then she noticed Catarina. "Catarina?" Her eyes flicked between them. "How did the two of you find each other?"

"Fate," Catarina declared. "Can we come in, grandma?"

Ashlyn smiled. "Of course, of course. I certainly wasn't expecting to see either of you today… leastwise yourself, grandpa Anton."

Anton sighed. It was actually much better when Catarina said it. She was so much younger. Then again, he hadn't cared about being old so much before. It was only after things went wrong.

"So, how are things in Dungannon?" Ashlyn asked innocently. The way Catarina looked down and Anton's pursed lips told her some of what she needed to know. "I suppose we best sit down." She led them to a small sitting area. "Should I put on some tea?" She got up to do that very thing, but even when she returned the awkward silence stretched on until Anton finally found some words.

"Disaster struck the village," Anton explained. "I'm one of the lucky survivors, if the others can even be called that. Cultivating bandits from Ofrurg came into the area, killing and enslaving."

"Oh." Ashlyn bit her lip. "I heard about things like that happening out east. I knew it got bad but…" she shook her head. "We didn't send many letters back and forth in so long. When did this happen?"

"Ten months ago, more or less," Anton said.

"Oh." Anton could see Ashlyn found herself uncomfortable. While she wasn't suited to life in Dungannon, that didn't mean her relationship with the rest of the family was bad. Just distant and infrequent. "Who…?"

"Not many made it," Anton said. "I'm the only one to leave of my own will… I was out of town during the attack."

"Can you…" Ashlyn turned towards Catarina, "You joined the Order, right? Can't they do anything?"

Catarina shook her head. "They're from Ofrurg. It's not so easy. Some of the bandits are dead, though. We plan to kill more."

"We?" Ashlyn looked at the two of them. "If they're cultivators, who else? I know you aren't…" her eye looked at Anton.

"I wasn't. Now, I am." Anton declared that flatly. "But I didn't come here just to bring depressing news. I was hoping at least we could share some pleasant stories of the past, and let Catarina hear about what things were like. We only met by coincidence-"

"Fate," Catarina declared.

"Or fate," Anton shrugged. "But I was able to meet her parents. I know a bit about her life, but little about your part… and I'd like to explain everything that happened. Hopefully, more pleasant things than unpleasant."

It wasn't possible to cover decades of events in a single evening, but Anton and Catarina promised to come back. Anton resolved himself that at least Catarina would be able to do so. However, he also knew that meant avoiding trouble to begin with. His eyes and ears would be on constant lookout… and if his goals would lead them into danger they couldn't handle, he would have to change them. Anton wasn't sure if he would have just led himself into death without having to watch out for her. There was no way to know for sure. But now, he had to live and be strong… for more than just those far away.

Chapter 42

Everything had been properly explained to Hoyt before Anton accepted his final agreement. He didn't want there to be any mysteries involved when Hoyt might be risking his own life to help him out, for no specific reward. Anton was still not comfortable talking about the subject matter, but since he was going to do something about it he had forced himself to talk.

Hoyt met up with Anton and Catarina in Edelhull- which was more or less outside the front gates of the Order. From there, they began to head east back along the route Anton had taken months prior.

"Ofrurg, huh…" Hoyt wrinkled his forehead as they walked. "I don't know much about it, having grown up in the west. I grew up hearing about Ambati beyond the borders on the other side. Not quite so nice as Graotan, but a decent place."

"Ofrurg's reputation in the east is certainly far short of stellar," Anton commented, "But we never expected anything to come from there."

"You trusted the Order to protect you?" Hoyt asked.

"That… and we didn't think cultivators would bother us. It's not that we were naive to the ways of the world. In a full century, there was very little trouble. Perhaps the only mistake we made was thinking that it couldn't happen to us." Anton shook his head, "But what would we have done? We heard about other towns being attacked, but we did not look, nor help them. We couldn't have, but beyond a shipment or two of food around the forest, we didn't consider it much. It's quite easy to get used to problems over there and never consider whether we should do something, whether or not it would ultimately affect us."

"It's not fair," Catarina said. "You worked so hard, and they stole everything away. Including… family."

"No. The world is not fair," Anton agreed. "But perhaps we can take advantage of that. Maybe we can make things better than just some arbitrary fairness." Anton laughed mirthlessly, "If we can affect the world at all. Look at us, two young folk on the rise, and an old man trying to hold onto a place in the world."

"You deserve to have a place, Grandpa Anton."

He smiled, "I appreciate the words."

For the first half of the journey, they passed a large number of other cultivators connected to the Order. However, the further they got from the Orders lands, the fewer they encountered. Graotan was wider than it was tall, and they were headed to the furthest corner.

The journey was much more rapid than when Anton had been going in the other direction… even with some delays.

"Good day, sir," Anton inclined his head to a man working in the fields. "We're from the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars. Is there anything troubling your fine village here? Beasts, Bandits?" The Order accepted requests for aid from all of Graotan, but they also encourage their traveling disciples to offer aid, at reasonable prices. Some things people could wait weeks or months for a message to go to the Order and a cultivator to return… but some things were more urgent. A cultivator could earn contribution points at the recommendation of villages, as well. It wasn't the best way to do so, but Anton didn't care. That wasn't the reason. He was simply not able to confine his worries to a small area any longer. He didn't want to delay his current journey, but to pass by something on the way would be a shame.

"Not here," the man said. "But I heard something… up in Helmfirth Rill they spotted some water monster, I think. Usually quite peaceful there."

Anton had hardly realized they'd gone so far. Helmfirth Rill had taken him a week of travel in the other direction, as it was around a quarter of the journey from Dungannon to the Order's headquarters. However, now he was a similar time in the other direction, and not far at all. "I appreciate your time," he inclined his head, "Good fortune to you."

Catarina spoke up when they were further away, "Didn't you save a child from drowning in Helmfirth Rill?"

Anton laughed, "Just barely! I wasn't so far from going down with him myself. I was just at the Third Star, and my body was… still feeling its age. A pleasant town. I hope this water monster is just a scare… or at least that they have avoided too much trouble."

Anton's eyes picked out Helmfirth Rill in the distance, and he once again focused his energy on his eyes. After tempering the organs in his head, he hadn't stopped developing them. It was just an initial boost. All of the practice- especially with eye techniques- kept him growing. Without energy being involved, his eyes weren't as good as when he was young. But he couldn't hope for that. With energy… he saw better than he'd ever imagined possible.

His eyes scanned the bridge- much more sturdy than the temporary setup he'd helped with when he was last around. Past the bridge and then to the south was a small building he recognized. Outside, a man was working in some little garden beds. "Oh, I do believe that's Darryl. I wonder if he'll remember me." Their feet crossed the bridge and turned towards the house. "Darryl!" Anton waved.

The man looked up. It took him a moment, then his eyes lit up. "Well I'll be! Anton, isn't it? You saved my nephew Jimmy in the spring."

"Fortunate timing, that was," Anton grinned. "Is he doing well?"

"Better than ever. And he's taken up swimming. Though… these last couple of weeks he's not been able to."

"Is that the water monster?" Anton asked. "We heard about it in another town."

"That's right," Darryl nodded. "Oh! Pardon me, I didn't notice your companions. I'm Darryl, I'm sure you've heard." He held out his hand.

"Catarina."

"Hoyt."

"That's a strong grip. You work in the fields?"

"Some," Hoyt commented. "It's a good way to cultivate my body."

"I joined the Order," Anton declared. "We'd be happy to help you with that water monster," Anton patted the bow sitting unstrung in his quiver.

"Oh! I see you've gotten yourself a fine new bow. I'm glad. As for the creature, well, it's hard to track down. The fishermen were noticing a lack of fish- and then some half eaten bodies washed past. Fish, mostly, but there was also a bear. Half a bear, maybe." Darryl held his fingers splayed out, hands touching at the wrists. "It must have jaws like this to take out chunks the size we saw. So we've been keeping out of the river. It's more trouble to draw all our water from the well, but people keep spotting a big shape. Mostly upstream, where it runs a bit deeper." Darryl looked over Anton and the rest. "I wouldn't suggest trying to fight it, but if you stay out of the water…"

"I see. We'll ask if anyone else has more information. Do tell others we're in town."

In a place the size of Helmfirth Rill, it didn't take long to speak to everyone. Description of the creature's shape were inconsistent, but it was mostly noticed underwater as a large shape, at least man sized. Someone did have the ribcage of the bear that had previously been mentioned. It had an impressively smooth area of bone missing. Clearly there was something, though how a water creature got a bear… well, they did have to drink water.

"It doesn't seem like any sort of natural creature," Anton said. "Perhaps a magical beast or something exotic. It's not afraid to attack large prey, and people could easily be next. If not here, maybe further up the river."

"I agree," Hoyt said. "We just have to find it."

"We'll start by looking in the deeper sections of the river, like they mentioned."

Anton had the most experience tracking down creatures. He didn't know what he was looking for, but he knew what he wasn't looking for. Deer and boar tracks didn't matter, though he paid careful attention to them near the edge of the water. He hadn't yet noticed any signs of anything being pulled in, but there was a lot of ground to cover.

"There," Catarina pointed into the river. "The flow is different. Energy and water are all jumbled up."

Anton squinted, trying to make out something in the water. With use of Hawk Eyes he could pierce the murk just enough to see something beneath the bank. Not a moving creature, but perhaps a den of some sort. "Good catch. I thought it was just a rock disturbing the flow."

"Should we set up here and wait for it to return?" Hoyt asked.

Anton nodded, "I think that might be best. Though we don't want to spook it away. I'm not sure if this thing frightens easily at cultivators… but if we simply force it to relocate elsewhere, the problem isn't solved."

"I can conceal us," Catarina said. "I'm getting better at it. At least it should get close before noticing us, even if it's a magical beast."

"Excellent," Anton said. "Now, we just need to keep alert." He looked around. No tracks, even close to its potential lair. He wondered at that. Perhaps it was just fully aquatic.

Chapter 43

Three people sat inside a concealment formation. They had to wait around for an unknown length of time, and what was worse was that they couldn't cultivate while doing so. Not without potentially compromising the formation. Anton's eyes continually scanned the area around them, but didn't reveal much of anything new. The area was quite sparse of any creatures larger than an insect, however. No birds set down near them- even outside the concealment formation. That lent something to the theory that the underwater den belonged to the creature.

On a hunt it wasn't strange to wait for a few hours. Hoyt, however, was growing impatient. "Should we just go in the den? It might be in there and we just can't sense it."

Catarina formed a response before Anton could reply. "Our inability to sense it would indicate a greater danger. Its den is… strange."

"We should wait until evening, at least," Anton said. "Whether coming or going, there should be movement by that time."

The first thing Anton noticed were swirls of blood in the water, flowing from upstream. As his eyes followed them, he saw the carcass of a boar floating- and a creature underneath it in the water. "There it is," he whispered to the others. "It would be best to fight it out of the water, if we can. Or on the edge, if we can coax it there." He could sense the energy swirling around it. A true magical beast. The energy wasn't too concerning, but it was nearly enough to match Hoyt. He was at the peak of the sixth star, not quite the seventh, but what other features the magical beast had would be more relevant than a direct comparison of power.

"Want me to be bait?" Hoyt asked. "I can go near the river, but not too close."

The concealment formation was only ten meters from the river's edge, so he wouldn't be too far away from the others. Catarina nodded, "I can quickly assist from there. And Anton…"

"I can cover you as far as the other side of the river, if necessary. But preferably you wouldn't go that far."

"Not planning to get into the river at all," Hoyt nodded. "Alright then, get ready."

Hoyt walked out of the concealment formation. Anyone looking might have seen him suddenly appear, or maybe even have the hazy idea that they could see something in the forest behind him. The creature they were hunting was in the water, and wouldn't easily see that. Hoyt moved forward, then chucked a stick into the river, creating a splash.

At first there seemed to be no reaction, but the floating boar's carcass drifted more to one side of the river. Anton was prepared to shoot the creature when it leapt out of the water, but he wasn't prepared for it to throw the carcass at Hoyt. Fortunately, Hoyt had the reaction time for that. He ducked under the suddenly flying boar's body, and even had his axe ready when a creature leapt out of the river, the first part of it that was visible through the spray being two curved rows of teeth on its upper and lower jaws. Hoyt's axe swung into its side, their energies colliding resulting in the creature being deflected around him.

At that moment, Anton took a shot at one of the most bizzare creatures he had ever seen. Its head had sharp teeth the length of a finger, but instead of being inside a muzzle or even a fish's mouth it was more akin to the bill of a duck, with teeth all along the sides and around the front where the jaw couldn't fully close. The creature had webbed feet with claws on the end and a furry hide as well as a wide, flat tail. It stood on its four webbed feet, its head as high as Hoyt's waist. Anton's arrow flew towards it from the concealment, but surprisingly it twisted its body in the air and his arrow only managed to scrape along its tail.

The creature landed, and instead of turning back towards Hoyt merely flicked at him with its tail before digging its claws deep into the ground and flinging itself in bounds towards Anton. Anton took another shot, this time managing a better hit- but his Spirit Arrow only pierced through the creature's energy and hide enough to cause some bleeding. If he could hit the same spot again he might reach organs, but it moved strangely yet quickly. It also seemed to not be concerned by the concealment formation- though attacking from within it had certainly disturbed the formation enough to weaken its effects.

Catarina moved to intercept the creature, slicing with her sword as she moved past. Its rear leg swept at her in retaliation, and she only managed a small slice along its shoulder while she avoided the counterattack. Anton had to dodge out of the way as the creature continued towards him, but Hoyt had sprinted behind it and wasn't far. When the creature tried to move past him towards Anton, he swung his axe low, forcing the creature to jump. Once again it twisted its relatively short hind leg as it passed, and Anton managed to pick out a small stinger of some sort going into Hoyt's shoulder. Anton managed to take advantage of that moment to shoot a second arrow right next to where his first had hit, ever so slightly deeper. With Catarina's help, the three of them should have been able to take down the magical beast quickly… but they didn't quite have that chance.

"Another one!" Catarina called from closer to the river. "Slightly bigger!"

"I've got this!" Hoyt said, and indeed he flung the creature into a nearby tree, pulling its stinger out of his shoulder. "Help Catarina!"

Anton had no hesitation with that, turning to fire spirit arrows at the second creature. It was indeed larger, but it was slightly less quick than the other. Catarina dodged its attacks, and though the fangs got quite unpleasantly close to her at several moments she seemed to be able to hold her own. Though Catarina moved cautiously as it flicked its tail at her, the most that could do would be knock her away. With her keeping the creature's attention, Anton was able to put a bit more power into his shots, and soon the creature was dripping blood from several holes. Anton realized the second creature didn't have stingers on its hind feet, unlike the first- and Catarina noticed that as well. The next time it lunged at her, she avoided its bite and then stabbed her sword into its belly with little concern for its rear claws. Though the creature's momentum knocked her back, she was mostly uninjured.

Anton had been keeping a half eye on Hoyt's fight. He didn't want to undermine the young man's valor, and he seemed to be holding his own… but he was slowing down. Hoyt had still only taken the one hit, but the stinger had done more than just let blood trickle from his shoulder. Now that the larger and slower magical beast was down, Anton started firing arrows with speed. He couldn't be as accurate as he wanted and pierce fully through the creature's defensive energy, but Hoyt's attacks were keeping it occupied. Three of Anton's arrows connected to no effect except distraction, but a fourth found its way into one of the previous injuries, piercing a thin, condensed hole in the creature's chest. It staggered back, and Hoyt swung his axe down straight into its skull.

"Are you alright, Hoyt?"

Hoyt grunted. "Poison. I think… I can handle it."

Anton looked at Catarina. "Perhaps we can help?"

"I can keep things away," Catarina said. "Or I can try to remove the poison."

"I can do it," Hoyt said. "But… perhaps some guidance on energy usage? And maybe an energy gathering formation?"

Anton smiled. Hoyt was tempering the organs in his torso. Several of them dealt with removing toxins in the bloodstream in one fashion or another. It was a perfect situation to make use of. Though Hoyt sat down stiffly, his energy was still vigorous.

Anton began to guide Hoyt in removing the poison. Hoyt managed to pull out some of the poison still in the wound, but the rest was firmly in his bloodstream. For that, Anton showed how he would circulate his energy to Hoyt, though mostly he provided moral support. Catarina was providing some energy with a quick formation, which helped more… and soon energy was swirling around Hoyt.

When Hoyt opened his eyes, Anton smiled. "Congratulations. You've reached the seventh star."

Hoyt half grinned, though it was clear his body was still feeling a bit weak. "The Order certainly cautions against putting yourself in dangerous situations to cultivate, but it's quite helpful, isn't it?"

"Good for a bit of a boost, anyway. Though I think the experience will last for some time beyond now."

"If nothing else," Hoyt said, "I got practice fighting a creature with very different movement than anything before. If we had been in the water…" he shook his head. "I'm not sure how that would have gone."

"Perhaps we should train in the water," Anton suggested, "After we make sure there aren't any more in that den, or throughout the area."

Catarina looked over towards it. "I can sort of see it now. I think it had a concealment formation. Not a complex one, but I wasn't expecting it so I didn't notice it. Sometimes, magical beasts will instinctively arrange simple formations like that but I've only seen the magical beasts you have. None of the others did that. I think these also concealed their tracks from when they were on land."

Anton sighed, "Magical beasts using formations? Unpleasant. Though these were mutated magical beasts. I've heard of creatures similar to these before… though perhaps without the fangs, if what I heard was right. I don't believe they're native to the region. We should inform the Order. Helmfirth Rill should be able to send them a message, if we don't think it's urgent."

Chapter 44

After surveying the area around Helmfirth Rill, no more dangerous beasts were found. While no humans had been attacked, their very first actions were aggressive and territorial. Even if they were just defending their den- a possibility- Anton knew it was far too dangerous to leave them alive. Not that they had much choice in the matter, once it came to that. They arranged for information to be sent back to the Order. There might be rewards, but either way Anton found himself satisfied with the results even if he received nothing but the thanks of the village. The villagers certainly couldn't afford to pay anything appropriate for hunting such monsters, and they weren't asked to do so.

Once they moved on, Dungannon was not far away. Anton both dreaded and highly anticipated his return to his hometown. It was no longer his home, though. He couldn't see himself living there again… even if it was in a different state.

It was with mixed feelings that he approached the village. He mainly experienced dread, anger, and sadness… but he also had a bit of hope. He was only returning because he had confidence in himself to begin vengeance against those who had wronged them… and salvation for those who still lived. Anton would have liked to come back in Spirit Building, maybe even the peak of it, able to wipe out the entire bandit group single handed. But he was willing to settle for at least having enough strength to begin.

The other two were quiet as they passed overgrown fields that had no crops and came into sight of the sagging and crumbled buildings of the city proper. Even those that had been relatively untouched by the fires were showing a year without maintenance, and the weight of early snows. Though he knew they were merely being respectful, Anton couldn't stand the silence. "That was the home of Melinda, a seamstress. Best in the whole village. Across from her was Deo... possibly the worst baker in the world. But a wonderful man, regardless." Anton wished he remembered every single one… but Dungannon wasn't the same place anymore. He could barely recognize some of the buildings or what they had been. His memory wasn't perfect, and while he'd known most everyone, some he'd merely not interacted with. He did his best, however.

Houses on the outskirts, workshops and stores and other nearby farms were all there. It was a place Anton had spent his whole life, and it had changed so much from when he'd first seen it… to when it last existed. It had been most of his world. There was the nearby forest and other towns, but they were only a small part of his life. But as they finally arrived at the former Krantz farm, he realized how small it was. Anton tried to introduce the farm, but he couldn't.

"Is this it, then?" Catarina asked. "Where you lived?"

Anton nodded. He could at least do that. At least, until all of the memories flooded over him. He wandered about in a daze, unaware of anyone else… remembering. Janina had caught his eye in the city, but when she first came to visit him on the farm he remembered how she'd slowly come into view on the horizon. The first cow he'd helped give birth. Each field that slowly expanded. His own children, grandchildren, and more. A hundred years… and then everything was gone all at once.

His cultivation was still insufficient. Anton knew that. As he was now, he couldn't handle any of the bandit leaders, even if they remained the same. "No more…" Anton spoke to himself. He wouldn't allow it to happen anymore. Killing the bandits was something that needed to be done… but that wasn't good enough. He couldn't allow it to happen to anyone else. As he began to come back to his senses, he realized the stars were out. He couldn't just try to be stronger. He had to be the strongest. He had to reach the peak of Ninety-Nine Stars.

No, that wasn't it. That was the problem, wasn't it? Anton was quite confident in himself in general, but as a cultivator in a new field he felt unsure. Even if just a little bit, he was thrown off. He hadn't thought he could reach the peak of cultivation, but now that he had the determination he realized he was just a little bit off.

It was no good just to match those who had come before him in the Order. To reach the peak of Ninety-Nine Stars. The only proper goal was to go all the way. He shouldn't be walking the path to ninety-nine stars, but to a full hundred. Or beyond. One hundred matched the limit everyone in the world knew about, a limit nobody had spoken about surpassing… but that didn't mean it couldn't be done. So whether it was a hundred or a thousand or all the stars in the sky… Anton would walk the path to reach it.

But he wouldn't ignore the world around him along the way. That was the most important part. Cultivation was merely what would let him accomplish the goal. Not that it made it any less important to what he wanted. But he would be cultivating for himself, and for the world… and for all those who could not defend themselves from those who would abuse their power.

Anton breathed in. He felt like he hadn't taken a breath all day. A ridiculous thought, but as his lungs filled up he felt refreshed as if it was his very first breath. Air swirled around him and natural energy circled and pulled into him. It was truly nothing compared to the control Grand Elder Vandale had shown… but so what? He might not be there yet, but he would be. Even if it took him a hundred more years. Or a thousand, or ten thousand. He wasn't going to let time get the better of him.

Catarina and Hoyt watched from afar as Anton wandered in silence. He hadn't responded to any of their prompting, but he didn't just stand around stunned either. He went from place to place, taking it in. Even when it grew late, he moved around the ruins of his former home. Then Anton looked up at the sky, and both of them felt the energy in the area roil around him like a storm. For a brief moment his cultivation was hard to fathom… and then it returned to the feeling of its accustomed place in the eighth star of body tempering.

Anton's head turned towards them, and he slowly approached. "Thank you for your patience. I believe I am done here. Tomorrow… we head for Ofrurg. It's not far. I would not plan to fight anyone there. What I want…" Anton shook his head. "I shall merely buy the freedom of some, for the moment. But I plan to track down as many of those responsible as I can. If they move outside of Ofrurg, I plan to kill them." Anton looked over the other two for their reactions, "Though there are some who will be too strong at the moment. I plan for only subtle inquiries into them."

Hoyt shrugged, "I haven't killed anyone yet. But I'll have no compunctions about doing so to bandits and slavers. As long as we can confirm their involvement."

"It might not be possible to track down only those responsible for Dungannon," Anton said, "But as long as we can confirm the villainy of someone, I shall not be concerned as to who in particular they have destroyed the lives of."

"What about those you're going to free?" Catarina asked. "How will we keep them safe?"

"I have looked into the situation. Ofrurg may not be the most pleasant country, but they aren't a lawless land. Their laws on slavery don't allow for arbitrary kidnappings." Anton shook his head, "Of course, very few care if people come from outside the country with no documentation, but once I obtain ownership of someone and free them, records will exist that prevent them from being enslaved again so easily. Of course, I plan to help them move into Graotan so that there is no opportunity to begin with. Even back to Dungannon, if they wish, but most likely further from the border. Though it should be more secure now, it would be better if they felt safe."

Catarina nodded. "What about family?"

Anton sighed, "I am afraid to say that I have very little information on family. My plans are much the same. I can afford to set a number of people up in Graotan, and if I don't have enough now, I can earn it. There are a few I hope will be simple purchases. Devon has been sold to an arena, which will be trickier… and he may not even still live." Anton closed his eyes for a moment. "Then there is Annelie. She was… I thought she was my first great-grandchild, though I was apparently quite wrong about that. That would be your mother, and even you are older than her. She was sold to the Frostmirror sect. I have no information after that."

Hoyt bit his lip. "If they care for good cultivators, she should be treated well. It seems you have talent for cultivation in your family…" he looked between the two of them.

"Perhaps," Anton said. "Though we are but two in dozens, many generations apart. Hardly anything to draw conclusions from."

Hoyt shrugged, "That's still not actually that bad. Some of the sects are very picky about partners and don't end up with top tier cultivators in two out of five generations."

"Top tier?" Anton asked. "I'm merely in body tempering yet."

"If you can say that again in the Spring, I might reconsider my thoughts," Hoyt grinned.

"You should be more confident, Grandpa Anton."

Anton smiled, "I'd much prefer not to be overconfident. But while I might not consider myself anything of the sort now… I will reach the top. That I swear to whatever it is that governs the lives of people." A ripple of energy flowed out from him as he spoke, brushing over the two other cultivators.

"...wow," Hoyt said. "I like that confidence. So while you're not too far, I'd like to humbly request your guidance in the future."

"Of course," Anton said. "I shall always support you, such as I am able," he inclined his head to Catarina, "You as well, of course. Even more so. Though your skill with formations far outpaces anything I imagine doing."

"Maybe so," Catarina said. "But you can always ask me for help, when you need a formation master. Or… apprentice, right now."

Chapter 45

It didn't take long to reach the border between Graotan and Ofrurg, just a couple days of travel. The border had two clear areas belonging to each country respectively. As cultivators, it was quite easy for the trio to tell which side was which even without flags and geographical location. The Graotan side had three early stage Constellation Formation cultivators. Two of them practiced the Ninety-Nine stars, which left the third one as the odd man out. While the Order was the only major cultivation group throughout Graotan and generally was considered to have one of the best cultivation methods around, there were still others.

That technically meant the third would be called an Essence Collection cultivator instead of Constellation Formation, or whatever name might be specific to their cultivation technique. Ofrurg's side likewise matched with a smattering of lower level cultivators and three early Essence Collection cultivators. They all cultivated different techniques, though exactly what they were was more difficult to discern.

If Anton was actually planning to cause trouble inside Ofrurg, he might have been worried. But… despite the power they displayed on the border, Anton was quite certain that most places wouldn't have as many high level cultivators to worry about. In the grand scheme of things, early Essence Collection wasn't that amazing. It was enough to be an elder in the Order, but not necessarily one involved with the council. Even so, they were still more than a full tier ahead of the trio. Out of five total cultivation tiers- or four, if it were considered realistically- a full tier and some small levels was the difference between heaven and earth.

The group was stopped on the Graotan side, not to prevent them from going but purely to make sure they knew what they were getting into. Ofrurg was a dangerous place, but it still had laws that protected cultivators, especially in public places. That also applied to foreign cultivators, because they could not afford to have all the surrounding countries and sects angered at them. Despite the fact that bandits came from Ofrurg, such troubles weren't rampant within their own borders. However, that was because of ruthless laws that travelers needed to be aware of.

As they approached the Ofrurg side, the pressure of the Essence Collection cultivators displaying their energy was clear. There were fewer warnings and more fees on the Ofrurg side. They got a pass indicating they had passed the border legitimately, allowing them to stay for a period of several months. It wasn't hard, because Ofrurg knew that traveling cultivators brought with them profits to be made. There was precious little other traffic beside the trio, just a few cultivators who had apparently just been passing through Ofrurg on the way to Graotan and a handful of merchants.

The whole time they were at the border, the pressure of the Essence Collection cultivators continued to rest on them like a hand pressing them down. Anton breathed a sigh of relief once they were away. "It was just like seeing a cultivator back in Alcombey. I could barely keep my back straight."

"Were they a real problem?" Hoyt asked. "I doubt the Order would let them do anything to you."

"Living further away from the main body of the Order, we didn't know so much about them. I'm sure they would have punished anyone who did something, but that doesn't help if someone can kill you before anyone can help. They weren't really so bad, just keep your head down and walk past… but I really felt it here." Anton took a deep breath, "There's still a long way to go."

On the most basic level, Ofrurg wasn't different from Graotan. It still had people, cities, and farms. Those farms were largely worked by slaves, but they still produced food. Probably more of it, given the expansiveness of some farms. From what Anton was able to learn, a small handful of people owned the majority of the farmland between the border and the first decently sized city they came to, Veron.

That was where the Iron Ring Slavers made their home, and where most of the transactions for the enslaved villagers of Dungannon had taken place. While they likely had records on where people had been sold, that wouldn't necessarily be public information. However, he did have a handful of locations… and if he found and redeemed those, they might lead him to more.

The first order of business was to go to an information broker. The Order's information should be accurate, but it wasn't necessarily current. Ofrurg was willing to buy and sell nearly anything, and on the less unpleasant end of that was information. Among the various information groups was one known as the Ears of the Fox. They were a reputable organization, as such things went. At the very least, they charged fair prices and didn't sell information on their clients. That is, they wouldn't tell anyone what others went in to learn from them. People might guess, but they would never know for sure. Anything gained outside of that, however, could reasonably be sold. Not that anyone would care about Anton in the slightest. He was just an old man looking for people sold as slaves.

Anton took a moment to ready himself before he entered. Internally, he told himself to not be nervous. He was just going into the market to buy something. He could be casual about it, even if some of it was information on people who could easily kill him. Though that latter information might be outside of his price range. "The two of you should wait out here. I shouldn't be too long." He assumed so, anyway. Either they would have the information, or they would not.

As he stepped inside, he was approached by a young cultivator in the late body tempering stage. The lobby was filled with others of various cultivation levels, to match pretty much any sort of customer. "Good day sir. Is this your first time working with the Ears of the Fox?"

"That's right," Anton nodded. That information, at least, he could share.

"This way, please." The young man began to lead him down a hallway, lined with rooms that he couldn't sense inside of. That helped them keep secrecy, he was quite certain. "We can offer information on almost anything happening in Ofrurg or the surroundings. Information is valued by its rarity and thoroughness. If we do not have information you seek, you can commission us to learn it for a premium." He opened the door to a simple but comfortable room with two chairs and a table, gesturing for Anton to sit. "There are no refunds, of course, except in the rare case of terribly inaccurate information."

"What if I just want to know how much certain information would cost?" Anton asked.

"Of course, we are willing to work with you in that regard. We will make available the price and depth of information. Once you have the funds, you can return. You won't find better information anywhere else."

"Very well, I would like the price on information about three cultivators, as well as some others." The man nodded, gesturing for Anton to continue. "Maximilian Van Hassel and

Nirmal Slusser are the first two. The third is Annelie Vanchev, a slave sold to the Frostmirror sect."

The man took notes. "And the non-culivators?"

Anton listed some of those whose locations he didn't know. "They should have been sold as slaves around the same time." Anton knew that they weren't of much importance, so the information might be listed by the category of occurrence rather than by individual people. Even if they recorded pretty much anything, knowing actually everything was impossible.

"Very well sir. I shall check on each of these. Enjoy some refreshments while you wait." As the man left, a servant came into the room with a tray of fruits and other light food. Anton hoped they were a servant, at least. If they were a slave… at least they appeared to be healthy and not unhappy.

Anton was certain the food would be untainted, but he had no appetite for it at the moment. He wasn't even sure what information was available, or that he could afford it. As he waited, Anton noticed the room had abundant natural energy. Certainly more than the ambient level… and if he was just going to be sitting, he might as well do some basic cultivation. He breathed in and out, letting the natural energy flow into him through his lungs and even directly through his skin. Every little bit of progress would add up… especially when travel reduced the amount of time he could spend cultivating at full effectiveness.

The representative of the Ears of the Fox returned in about half of an hour. Anton wouldn't have minded if he were a bit slower. He pulled out four sealed boxes. "Maximilian Van Hassel and Nirmal Slusser," he gestured to two of the boxes. "Mostly older information, but includes origins and some recent activity. The information on Annelise is up to date, though limited by the flow of information out of the Frostmirror sect." Anton noticed it was still twice as expensive as the other two boxes- almost everything he had on him. However, he needed that to buy back as many people as he could. "As for those sold as slaves, we have information on who seventeen of those you listed were sold to in public auction." That was cheaper, probably around the price of one slave… the actual value, and not the price Anton was resigned to have to pay. It should contain information on at least five people Anton didn't know the locations of.

"I shall take the last one… and I hope to return later for the other information."

The man nodded. "Very well." After Anton handed over payment, he gave him the box.

Anton was pleased to see that the names of those who purchased the slaves as well as some information on them, including primary holdings. He supposed it was somewhat necessary information, but he wouldn't have been that surprised if that had been separate either. The main list was clearly copied from a longer document, but it included several whose names Anton had missed. A reasonable deal, though Anton supposed all the work the Ears of the Fox had to do was keep track of large or unusual sales and then do some simple copying. Even if it only paid out rarely, they could profit. Though of course just the information on any of the cultivators was quite expensive.

Anton did learn one other useful bit of information. There was continued information on Annelise, which meant she was still alive. He couldn't know more than that just yet… but that was good enough. "Thank you," Anton inclined his head.

"Of course, sir. It is our business. Anything else?" Anton shook his head, "Then we hope to see you again." The man retrieved the other boxes and led Anton out.

As he caught sight of Catarina and Hoyt, Anton found himself encouraged… though also more desirous of money than before. At least cultivators could make good money, even if it was often dangerous.

Chapter 46

There was basically no chance that the Iron Ring Slavers currently held any of those Anton knew. It hadn't been quite a year, but if slaves did not sell before that time… Anton wouldn't expect anything good would come of them. Not that the prospects of a slave were golden if they were deemed more valuable, but at least the owners might be interested in taking some care with them. Anton never thought of people as property, but those who ran profitable businesses generally took good care of their tools. Hopefully they shared some of that mentality.

It bothered Anton to walk into a place that sold slaves with a pleasant smile on his face, but he worried if he didn't set his expression to begin with his actual feelings might get the best of him. Finding the location of the Iron Ring Slavers wasn't hard. They were a legal business who intended to sell, after all. Being hidden would do them little good.

Out front of their offices stood two guards. They appeared to be at the peak of Body Tempering, the equivalent of the tenth star. Perhaps it was his own judgements, but Anton felt that their energy was… stagnant. Ungrowing. They still appeared to be in their middle years, but if they began cultivating while young, it was quite possible they were unable to advance to Spirit Building.

"Do you have an appointment, sir?" One of the guards asked.

"No. I wasn't aware I needed one…" Anton kept his face as pleasant as possible.

"It's not strictly necessary, but it is not always possible to arrange for a proper escort without notice." He opened the door behind him, "See if the vice-manager is available to escort a cultivator!" He turned back to Anton, "It will only be a few moments. You may wait inside."

"Thank you." Anton stepped inside. It wasn't hard to be polite to the guard. While Anton didn't approve of his current employment, he had a pleasant enough demeanor. That reminded Anton that not everyone who was pleasant was a good person. Anton couldn't judge if he were truly evil but those who supported slavery- especially with the methods the Iron Ring Slavers allowed- could most certainly not be good people.

It didn't take long before a slightly balding man walked down the hall. His cultivation was in the middle of Body Tempering, and unlike the guards where he was uncertain, Anton could guarantee this man was never reaching Spirit Building. Not unless he'd started cultivating only in the last few years. "Sir," the man bowed his head to Anton, "Welcome to the Iron Ring Slavers. My name is Marty Dittmar, vice-manager of operations in Veron. What are you interested in purchasing today?"

"I'm not quite sure," Anton said. "I was hoping it was possible to browse." He couldn't just provide them with a list of everyone he was looking for. Even if they had some, the fact that he wanted them in particular would certainly increase the prices.

"I see," the man nodded. "Of course, I can escort you around the area. Come, follow me." It didn't take long before they stepped into back rooms. Unlike what Anton expected, despite the surroundings becoming more austere with smooth stone walls instead of decorated hangings, the conditions didn't change dramatically. "Women or men?" he asked, gesturing to either side.

"I suppose we should begin with women." As he followed after the vice-manager, he could see into the constructed cells. Four women shared each cell, each of which had two pairs of bunks. Anton had imagined dirty and smelly places, but it was quite clean. That was all Anton could say for the area, as the conditions were quite lacking otherwise. Straw mattresses and cheap burlap clothing, and very little room. But even so, the conditions seemed… tolerable. As his eyes passed over one woman, he stopped for a moment. "How much for her?"

Vice-manager Dittmar quoted a price. It wasn't much different from what Anton had learned was the standard for a youngish, healthy woman. "Would you like to purchase her?"

"Perhaps later." Of course, that would be never. Not that Anton wouldn't like to free these women from slavery, but he couldn't afford to do so for those he didn't know. He would very quickly use up all his money and merely help a small number of people, while providing a slight boost to the slaving industry which would result in little net benefit to the world. He had just asked about that particular woman because she seemed like a reasonable starting point, and to see if the vice-manager would give fair prices. Unfortunately, Anton didn't see any women he recognized. "Perhaps we shall see the men next."

"Of course. If you are looking for those who might have cultivation talents," the vice-manager shook his head, "I am afraid to inform you we have none at the moment. They are sold quite quickly."

"No, that's not quite what I want." Anton did his best to remain vague, like he actually wanted something. However, after asking about the prices of some of the men, he found nobody he recognized among the dozens present.

"We have some trained for particular purposes," Dittmar offered. "If you have something in particular you want."

Anton wasn't sure if he could keep up his extremely vague desire for a slave, so something more specific might be best for the moment. "Do you have any able to cook or clean?"

"Of course. We could have them brought out, if you wish…"

"I'll save us the time," Anton said confidently. Confidence was key. He could even act like he was doing the man a favour by getting what he wanted. They moved further into the back of the facility, to rooms about the same size but with only individuals or pairs. They had slightly better accommodations, linen clothing and decent mattresses. Anton looked over everyone he could, but found nobody. Not that he had expected otherwise, but if he had left someone behind at the easiest point to purchase them… he would have regretted it. Anton clicked his tongue, trying to seem just vaguely annoyed.

"Are there none to your liking, sir? If you have any specifics in mind, we can contact you when we find something suiting your tastes."

"No, I don't think so," Anton said. "Perhaps I shall return later."

Dittmar's pleasant smile faded slightly. He had, after all, invested over an hour escorting Anton about for nothing. "Of course, sir. If you can specify what you wish next time, we can set an appointment and save you some walking."

"Hmm. Indeed." Anton took the opportunity to remove himself from the location with haste. It wasn't as terrible as he had imagined- but that didn't say anything for conditions elsewhere. After he left the place, he curled around several blocks in a leisurely fashion. He didn't sense anyone following him, but it was better to be safe. Eventually, he met back up with Catarina and Hoyt. He shook his head, "Nobody. Not that I expected different."

Hoyt sighed, "The next step of the plan then?"

Anton nodded. "We'll check out the farms. Everly is a big landowner around here. He seems to have bought several of the men, at least."

It wasn't hard to find the right area. The real issue was seeing what he wanted. Anton described the handful of fellows he was looking for, "I can't guarantee that Pete will still be chubby," Anton said, "But that scar on his left cheek should still be there."

Wandering onto farmland would quite annoy people Anton would rather not mess with. Even if most of the guards he sensed were lower cultivation than himself, it was better to just pass by on the roads. Hawk Eyes' techniques allowed him to focus his eyes at a far distance. Even if he lost a bit of area, picking out faces of those in the fields wasn't so difficult for the most part. The problem was the full extent of the fields stretched far beyond that of a small town. These were farmlands that fed into Veron and the rest of Ofrurg, and Everly had a large portion of them. "There's one," Anton finally said. After picking out five men, Anton passed by a second time but found no more. He then rode towards someone who looked the least like a slave. "You there! Taskmaster!" Anton waved.

The taskmaster turned towards him. Anton carried a bow that was clearly not of standard make, so the taskmaster would likely have recognized Anton as a cultivator even if one of the nearby guards hadn't whispered to inform him. "Yes? What is it? This is the property of the honored Everly."

"Of course. I don't wish any trouble." Anton was getting a lot of practice putting on fake smiles. He hated it already. "As I passed by, I found myself with some interest in some of your workers. I would like to buy them. I can pay a fair market price. I'm sure you can replace them."

The taskmaster grinned lopsidedly, "We can replace them, but then I'd have to go to market and purchase more. We only lose out on that."

The man didn't directly refuse to sell. In the end, Anton ended up negotiating a price that was about fifty percent above market value- and that was if the men were in top shape instead of having been engaged in hard labor for most of a year. Though that fatigue was only a temporary detriment to their price, since they seemed to be in mostly good health otherwise, if worn down. It was more than they were worth, but less than Anton had been worried he might have to pay. The five men- including a quite significantly thinner Pete- were gathered up and formal papers were drafted. The actual exchange would take place in the city. The slaves were branded, so merely handing them over wouldn't suffice. Anton hated every second of negotiating for the freedom of those wrongfully enslaved. If only he could get away with killing all of the guards… but that was too dangerous to those he wished to save, and they couldn't escape with all of the slaves. How strong would he have to be…? Whatever it was, Anton intended to reach that level.

Chapter 47

If it wasn't a journey out of Ofrurg and back, Anton would have preferred to bring the five men away as soon as possible. However, a couple weeks here and there would add up quite significantly. Besides, just leaving them somewhere wasn't his intention. He wasn't sure if he could afford to set everyone up with a proper job and home, but he could at least give them some tools to survive. That included at least the basics of cultivation.

"The best part of body tempering," Anton explained, "Is that even if you don't intend to continue on the path of cultivation, it will still have clear benefits. I would like everyone to at least be able to gather and circulate natural energy before we move on. That will also give you some time to recover your strength."

Pete and the others had been working hard labor on the farms. It wasn't necessarily too far from what their daily lives had been, but with the duration and difficulty of labor increased, and the amount of food decreased. They weren't starved, because that wouldn't let them work at all… but they were certainly a bit undernourished, and had scars from the whips of the taskmasters. An unnecessary cruelty for the sake of 'motivation'.

Of the five, Pete had the quickest initial success. With some guidance by Anton, he was gathering strands of natural energy within the first hour, slowly circulating small amounts of energy through his body. It would be good for him to move his body while he did so, but at his current point his concentration could only handle controlling the energy while stationary. The others took somewhat longer, and Anton had to gather energy for them to be able to sense it and take a small piece. He guided their flow, tracing the path through their body once… then letting go as they repeated the action on their own. The first day of cultivation would show few results besides pain, but if they could complete the first refinement of their body, it would provide benefits for the rest of their lives. They were still young, after all. If nothing else, work in the fields would grow easier. If they chose other professions- something Anton would blame them for not in the slightest- it would still help their daily lives to have increased health.

There were some questions Anton had. The Order freely allowed citizens of Graotan to study the Ninety-Nine Stars. Common knowledge was that cultivating was difficult. While that was true, the benefits for those who didn't have the intention to fully devote themselves to cultivation still seemed significant enough. Anton knew the Order cared for the citizens of Graotan, and would prefer them to be more efficient in their everyday lives. Yet they only really encouraged those they found with talent to cultivate. Perhaps that was the problem. Creating a copy of a cultivation technique wasn't trivial work, and those without sufficient talent might find themselves stuck at the very beginning. Most individuals would need guidance, as Anton was finding. That said, it would be of great benefit to Graotan if everyone could reach even the first star. Perhaps one teacher in each community could achieve what he wished for. Though he wasn't sure how to get to that point either.

After a few days, everyone was comfortable enough with cultivation to control energy while walking at a slow pace. While they would certainly be less efficient, it was enough for the moment. Good enough that Anton could move onto the next stage of the plan.

"We need to earn money," Anton stated.

Catarina held out a heavy bag of coins, "I converted all my contribution points."

Hoyt smiled, "I can't say I converted everything, but I can help buy the freedom of a few people."

Anton nodded, "I would love to be stubborn and refuse, but I can't say to someone, 'sorry, you're just not worth as much'." Anton shook his head, "And that's just those I know. But my point still stands. All of what we have now, we'll just use up. Food and accommodations for travel aren't free. Though I would love to find and free everyone this month, it's impossible. Even so, we can earn money while we travel." Anton showed the two the map he had, "Here in the northwest is Khonard. That is the last known location of Devon, one of my grandsons. He will be… easiest to track down. They have an arena there, and if he yet lives I would expect him to still be there. It's a minor arena where only those without cultivation or of low cultivation rank fight, so he has some chance. But the route there is dangerous. There's another route that's safer but twice the distance, but the shorter one is to our benefit."

"Because we can work as guards, right?" Catarina nodded. "How dangerous is it?"

"A difficult question to answer," Anton said, "However, traveling with others will be safer than with just our group. Wild beasts appear along the route, sometimes territorial magical beasts. The danger shouldn't be too great for us at late Body Tempering, but nothing is certain. The journey could pass with no fighting at all, in which case we would earn a basic rate. Otherwise, we fight alongside others and have higher earnings and more combat experience."

"Sounds worthwhile either way," Hoyt said. "Do you know the frequency of attacks?"

"It was hard to find specific details. About half of the travelers along the route encounter some sort of danger, though a portion of that is quite low in tier. Of course, I wouldn't suggest it if I thought there were untoward levels of danger. We need to be alive to save anyone else."

Caravans from Veron to Khonard varied quite significantly by travel pace and size. Those carrying valuable goods- including slaves- might travel with fewer higher ranking guards to keep the pace quick. Those with somewhat lower value goods that still needed to arrive in a timely fashion would gather together in larger groups to distribute the cost of hiring guards among them. After all, a caravan of twice as many people didn't need twice as many guards if there were only incidental attacks by beasts to worry about. Even if bandits were included, a proportionately smaller increase in guards provided a significant deterrent. Ofrurg also cracked down hard on banditry inside of their borders, though just like the Order in Graotan they couldn't completely eradicate the danger. Not without completely eradicating people.

While Anton was willing to pay to free those he knew from slavery, that was already the limit of how far he would support the system. He settled for a group that at least was not transporting slaves, though some of their workers were certainly enslaved. It wasn't going to be possible to completely avoid slavery in a country where it was legal.

The head of the caravan guard was a dark skinned man with a strong aura. He sat outside near where a caravan was beginning to organize itself. It wasn't just his cultivation in mid Spirit Building that made his aura strong, but also the way it was displayed. It was… sharp. Like an unsheathed blade, though as Anton and the others approached he didn't feel a threat against them. "Greetings," Anton inclined his head, "I hear we must talk to you to be hired for caravan security? We would also like to bring five non-combatants along with us."

"I am the man you seek," the man's deep voice spoke precisely, with a hint of an Ambati accent. "Your names and specializations?"

"Anton Krantz. I am an archer. I can provide a demonstration, if you wish."

The man nodded, writing something down. "In a moment. And you?"

Hoyt shrugged, "I focus on the axe. I can break through heavy defenses, if we encounter wild beasts."

He nodded again, "And you?" he turned to Catarina.

"I wield a straight sword, but I am also an apprentice formation user."

That seemed to catch his interest. "I see. We shall test if your abilities align with your cultivations." He stood up from the table he was sitting at, "I am Ayotunde Idowu. I shall challenge each of you there, in that field, to test your skills." He gestured, "First, the old man." As he moved, he pulled a large sword out of a sheathe leaning on the table next to him.

He could have said the archer, Anton thought as he moved towards where Ayotunde gestured. But perhaps that was the point. To annoy him and throw him off. Ayotunde gave him a generous ten meters of separation to begin with. Enough he could certainly fire a few shots before the man got close. Anton had no belief he would defeat a man in Spirit Building even with a bit of range to begin with, but he could hopefully make a good showing.

"Make the first move," Ayotunde said. "As you move, so will I."

Anton nodded. With that permission and feeling the man's energy defenses were in place he raised his arm as if to grab an arrow from his quiver, but instead moved his hand to the string, drawing a Spirit Arrow and firing directly towards the man's chest. Ayotunde flicked his sword towards the arrow, but Anton very slightly pulled back on its momentum. That reduced its impact, but let it bypass his parry. The arrow did no damage to the man as it struck his energy, but it slowed him slightly.

Ayotunde was fast on his feet, and his long legs certainly didn't hurt his speed. Anton fired two more quick arrows as the man moved, trying to track his exact motion. He would have liked to move away, but he couldn't even move at half the man's speed so it would be fruitless. Instead, he steadied himself for one final shot. Ayotunde's sword came up, ready to sweep towards Anton- its power overwhelming but clearly restrained below the level of a Spirit Building cultivator- and the arrow flew forward. It curved upwards, striking the man's wrist as Anton dodged to the side, shooting another arrow into the man's side as the sword veered slightly off course, slicing smoothly into the ground. The arrow hit his side directly, but it couldn't puncture a hole all the way through his energy.

Anton prepared to sweep out with his leg to throw the man off, but as he did so- "Enough," Ayotunde said. "Your combat skills are sufficient." He pulled his sword out of the ground, where Anton saw a clean cut in the dirt. He would have needed to expend all of his energy on defense to withstand that attack. "Next-" Ayotunde gestured to Hoyt.

Chapter 48

Hoyt didn't have the luxury of starting at range like Anton, which meant he had to deal with Ayotunde's swift and sharp blade the moment they began. The Spirit Building cultivator was only holding back in terms of energy used, not technique. Hoyt used the momentum of his swings to parry the sword while dealing glancing blows to the man himself. However, he wasn't able to break through Ayotunde's defense. The dark-skinned man was restraining his attacks, but his defenses had the full power of a Spirit Building cultivator.

With a forceful swing, Hoyt knocked the large sword back to the furthest extent of Ayotunde's reach, seeming to nearly knock the sword out of his hands. On the backswing, Hoyt aimed straight for Ayotunde's chest. With a flash even Anton found hard to follow, Ayotunde's sword had crossed in front of the two warriors. Hoyt's axe was flying through the air and he had a shallow cut along his forearm. Hoyt held up his hands, "Ah… a feint. And I fell right for it."

Ayotunde nodded, "Your skills are sufficient as well. Next… the girl. Show me your skill in formations."

Catarina first displayed a concealing formation. Anton hadn't been on the outside of one, and it was quite a strange experience. In one version she merely disappeared. It wasn't quite perfect, because he could sense traces of her energy, but then again he already knew where she was. If he did not, he could easily miss her. The second version she hid not only herself, but the table Ayotunde had set up for his papers. The wider range allowed Anton to see slight visual flaws… but again, he knew where to look. If he were just passing by, he could easily overlook them. Ayotunde also tested Catarina's barriers, ramping up the power of his attacks until he broke through.

"Good. All three of you pass. The payment shall be standard for a cultivator of your level, eighth or seventh… with the formation user being one higher, at eighth. Combat pay is extra." Ayotunde produced contracts Anton was aware were quite standard. They were quite simple, as such things went. Obviously if they abandoned the caravan they would not get paid- though they could get partial payment if they had to depart the caravan along the way and properly got permission to leave. For the particular route they were going, it was unlikely to be relevant.

A tall man in fine clothes approached. His height limited the visual effects of his pronounced belly, which might have otherwise made him quite round. "Idowu! You're not hiring more guards, are you?"

Ayotunde looked the man dead in the eye. "Caravan Master Wilbur. You tasked me with protecting the caravan. I am merely doing so." Anton could see the sharpness in the man's eyes… and almost feel it. The type of energy he cultivated was not a style Anton recognized, though he hadn't been exposed to that many types of cultivators. Mostly those from the Ninety-Nine Stars and those he'd seen in Edelhull and Veron.

The tall man backed down. "Alright. Fine. But I think those you've already hired will be quite sufficient."

"With the addition of these three, it shall be enough," Ayotunde said agreeably.

The portly man sighed and turned to the trio of cultivators. "A pleasure to meet you. I am Caravan Master Frank Wilbur. I deal mostly in herbs and spices. Normally we do not hire so many guards, but we have quite a number of attached groups this time."

"There are a dozen others," Ayotunde explained, "Mid to late body tempering. Then an equal number of early body tempering and non-cultivator guards."

"All for a dozen wagons. It seems quite excessive to me," Wilbur shook his head, "But at least we're splitting the costs."

"Should trouble arise, you will be wishing we had more. No matter how many we have. They have five followers as well," Ayotunde mentioned.

"Right. Have them bring two weeks of rations. We can supply that, of course, but it would cost you. We can handle the water for five more without issue. Now then, I have other things to see to." The caravan master turned and left. Off in the distance he could be heard chastising some workers for how they had loaded goods, "You'll unbalance the wagon with a setup like that!"

Ayotunde smiled at the group, "He is a fine enough man to work for, but he must keep the costs in mind. I too hope that we will not meet much trouble- but if we are to run into trouble we will need each of you." He looked them over, "You cultivate the Ninety-Nine Stars, yes? I do not see many from your sect here. More in Ambati. I walk the path of blades, and cultivate the Western Steel Body technique."

"I've heard of it," Hoyt mentioned, "There's a stronger focus on cultivating the body at every stage than many others."

"That is correct. Many neglect the power of their own body in favor of the power of energy beyond the first stage." Ayotunde shrugged, "It is not impossible to temper both. Just a bit slower."

"I'd like to hear about it," Anton said. "The Ninety-Nine Stars still considers the body during Spirit Building, but I'm sure the methods differ. Though of course I don't have any experience at Spirit Building yet."

Ayotunde grinned, "Many keep the secrets of cultivation to themselves. They do not know they have the key to treasures the other hold. I would gladly exchange thoughts with the three of you. The young ones have much potential…" Ayotunde frowned as he looked over Anton, "But you are much more difficult to read. You're not an elder guiding the others, are you?"

Anton shook his head, "No. I'm just a disciple."

"Hmm. Now I am very curious. But we must introduce you to the others."

Anton didn't find himself impressed by any of the other guards. It wasn't that he expected them to be as strong as Ayotunde. Obviously they wouldn't be, since they were still in Body Tempering, but their demeanors didn't impress him. However, he knew they should at least be competent in battle.

The entire trip should be about a week in duration, if they did not run into any delays. Pete and the others walked along with the caravan, as did many others. The wagons could carry drivers and a passenger or two, but the majority of the space was reserved for goods. Anton, Hoyt, and Catarina were stationed together in the middle of the caravan. The first day had little of interest, but it was also one of the most unlikely points to encounter trouble.

At night, Catarina arranged the area around the camp into a bit of a formation. Without the ability to modify the wagons themselves or special materials to add power it was only able to have a slight aversion force to keep people and creatures away subconsciously, but Anton knew that should be sufficient for most cases.

Guards stood four shifts during the night, with Anton being in the second. There wasn't much to do except look out at the darkness… and up at the stars. He could only do so much of the latter to prevent his thoughts from drifting away. Even if there probably wouldn't be danger, he wanted to be as responsible as possible with his watch. Still, he could cultivate. He focused energy on his eyes and ears, picking out the sounds of myriad insects and the noises of nearby animals. His brain had to filter the large amount of stimulus he was receiving and make sense of it, and the more he practiced the better it was.

He circulated his energy through the rest of his body as well, and of course through the surface of his skin. He just needed some time or one more good push forward to reach the ninth star. Rescuing Pete and the others was emotionally satisfying, but the feeling was tempered by knowing there were so many more people still in captivity. Not just those he knew, but many others. The stars inside of him pulsed as he considered how strong he would need to be to change that. It couldn't be just himself, either. One man couldn't match a country. After all, even if he reached the very peak there would be others as well.

A bolt of golden yellow energy streaked into the woods, spattering into the forest floor below the feet of a wolf. The creature turned to flee, and so did those around it.

"... did you miss?" Hoyt asked.

"They're just wolves. Hungry, maybe, but this is wild area. They should be allowed to live here. Now they'll be a bit more wary of humans." Anton shook his head, "And wolf tastes awful. I'm not carrying a carcass with me for a bit of hide, either."

"I haven't sensed any magical beasts," Hoyt said.

"They don't live close to the road," Catarina commented. "But some of them might choose to come here. But I'd be more concerned about bandits. We have too many guards."

"Wouldn't the guards dissuade them from attacking?" Hoyt asked.

"Yes. But… the caravan master and guard leader Idowu must know the value of the caravan. They would not hire so many unless there is something of value. But perhaps nothing will happen."

"You don't sound convinced," Hoyt said.

"Cultivators both prevent and attract trouble," Catarina said. "Ofrurg feels like the sort of place that has more of the latter."

"We'll see," Anton said. "Just remember to keep your eyes and ears open."

Chapter 49

Major, sudden changes tended to leave Pete Sharman in a stunned state for a while. He didn't think it would be much different for anyone else. After being captured and sold as a slave, that period was a few months. Most people in villages like Dungannon worked on farms at least part of the year. Being captured and sold as a slave was a dizzying turn of events that left him spinning for months. The sheer quantity of labor expected of him increased suddenly, and he had little time to think. Just work. Day in and day out. Work hard to hopefully avoid punishment, eat, sleep, repeat. The food was nothing much to speak of. Just enough to keep working and no more. The sleeping accommodations at least kept them from literally freezing to death at night.

He was resigned to that being his whole life, no break in the monotony or time to socialize with others. Combined with the lack of choice, everything just became worse. It dragged on forever, days blurring together and seasons turning.

Then he'd shown up. Anton Krantz. Or a man claiming to be him, anyway. Pete wasn't going to complain, but the man didn't quite look like he remembered. He'd expected someone… older? Everyone in Dungannon knew the Krantz farm, or at least knew of them. Pete was quite certain he'd seen someone with the same features he thought was Anton, but this fellow was… younger. Not young by any means, but merely old instead of ancient. Perhaps a son? Had one of the sons been named Anton too? That might be it.

It was awkward to ask, and they didn't speak much in a casual manner. He wasn't unapproachable, but… it was a strange situation. He bought them out of slavery, freed them on the spot. He promised to bring them somewhere safe… and began to teach them to cultivate. They couldn't thank him enough, and he wouldn't let them. Not too much, anyway.

"Just doing what should be done," he said. "I'm trying to make the world a less awful place, for myself."

That was what he said, and Pete didn't have the mental fortitude to argue with him. Anton was one of those types, anyway. He'd do everything he thought needed to be done and not expect anyone to say a word.

Cultivation… he'd never expected to actually set foot along that path. He hadn't even really known anything about it. It was a vague, mysterious thing. But when Anton explained what to do, Pete realized there was simply more to the world than he'd paid attention to. Maybe he just hadn't known where or how to look. Natural energy was a strange thing… and while tempering his body was hard, it was no worse than a day out in the fields- and it felt better afterwards. He was improving himself instead of slowly wearing himself down.

Anton said they could do whatever they wanted. Maybe that was actually true, but Pete wasn't sure what he wanted except that it wasn't staying in Ofrurg. So he walked along the road with Anton and the caravan the cultivators were guarding. Some day he would figure out what Anton wanted… and maybe he could pay him back. Though it was a bit difficult to pay back your entire life.

In accordance with his own advice, Anton kept his senses on alert as much as was feasibly possible. During the day he scanned the sides of the roads for anything hiding in wait. At night he listened, mainly to the comforting hoots of owls and other sounds to be expected of night in a forest. The howl of wolves was some cause for concern, but they did not seem to be close and would generally avoid large groups of people. If magical beasts were involved then any standard behavior might be ignored, but speculating on every possible event that might happen was merely a waste of time.

There were too many places for things to hide in the trees, so Anton was somewhat relieved when the terrain became more rocky, with less ability for large trees and undergrowth to thrive. The road itself was wide enough to provide little concealment along its length, and it had been in good condition for most of the journey.

Catarina walked alongside the road, in the rough terrain. She kicked rocks about and dragged the sheath of her sword in the dirt. She cut branches off of trees and replanted flowers at her whim. Perhaps some of it was boredom, but Anton knew at least some portion of it had something to do with formations. Except when they camped at night, she didn't actually have the time to complete a formation, but just because she couldn't complete one didn't mean she couldn't think about how she would set one up in any given area.

Anton's eyes landed on the road. From the middle of the caravan it was difficult to make out what was in front, but the constant practice was good for his technique. He didn't see anything that stood out on the road… but perhaps that was the problem. It was too smooth. "I think I see something. I'm going to go talk to guard leader Idowu."

Hoyt nodded, and Catarina's eyes flashed. She began a more intentional series of movements where she stood alongside the road. The caravan kept moving, but Anton could move much more quickly than just horses pulling wagons.

Ayotunde obviously sensed Anton approach, turning his head to see him. "Yes? Is there something amiss?"

"I'm not sure, Guard Leader. But my eyes picked out a portion of road up ahead, it is… too flat? Not enough pebbles and irregularities. It could be a pit trap..."

Ayotunde turned his head back to the front, focusing energy on his eyes. While he didn't have a formalized technique, he could certainly improve his vision a reasonable amount. "A pit trap? I think not. No, it's something else." He raised his hand calling out behind them, "Halt the caravan! Be on guard! The rear guard especially, check the back!" He gestured to Anton, "Hurry forward with me. I believe I have something interesting to show you." Ayotunde ran forward at a quick pace, Anton falling a bit behind. The dark-skinned man stopped a dozen meters short of the spot Anton had seen, picking up a small boulder by the side of the road. It must have weighed as much as a man, but after he used two hands to get a solid grip and heft it high, he tossed it forward with just one hand. The boulder landed on the patch of too-perfect road… and exploded.

There was only an instant between when it touched the ground and when the ground fell apart. At the same instant, the boulder shattered into pieces. Anton merely saw great pincers the length of his arms retracting into the ground, their initial movement having been too fast to see. The ground itself was no longer perfect in the area, but the dirt shook and it started evening out.

"As I thought. A valley chomper, as expected. Which means-" howls came from behind the caravan, "-we should get back. Scavengers like to drive herds of animals into these, then feasts on whatever is left." Ayotunde kicked up chunks of road as he sprinted back towards the caravan.

Anton followed at a slightly more conservative pace. If absolutely necessary he could fire from one end of the caravan to the other, but as his eyes picked out the wolves in the rear he saw they weren't magical beasts. They were somewhat larger than he might expect, but they didn't seem… healthy. They had sandy brown fur, mottled with patches of black, white, and grey- but with patches also missing randomly. Anton could just make out the ribs of some of the creatures. So far, they were merely barking and snarling at those in the rear, clearly hoping to chase them forward. The caravaneers had some trouble keeping the horses under control, but the rear guards were keeping the wolves at bay.

Then Anton's ears picked up an extremely familiar twang and the sound of something cutting through the air. Some of the guards had bows, but the sound Anton heard was off the road. Anton's eyes flicked towards the sounds with enough alacrity for him to yell, "Bandits!" with just enough time to give people half a second to react. Fortunately the dozen arrows claimed no lives in the initial volley. Though Anton could sense energy enhancing them, only one had the sense of an actual archery technique attached. That arrow struck the side of one of the other guards, but he'd managed to rouse some extra energy defenses with the warning. Enough to survive, at least.

Perhaps if they'd driven into the valley chomper, the chaos would have made the caravan completely incapable of defending themselves, but though some of the guards were out of place, they were able to react. Anton didn't even have to move further to fire back at the bandits. His first arrow flew straight towards the ribs of a tall fellow among the bandits. They were ready for an attack, but perhaps not ready for the arrow to redirect itself as they leaned backwards. Anton had thought they would retreat that way, pulling away from him at the angle he was shooting. As the Spirit Arrow pierced into their ribs, Anton realized it was a woman. He supposed that made just as much sense as anyone else becoming a bandit, but it threw off his rhythm slightly.

Out from crouching behind larger boulders or from behind some of the wider trees came yet more bandits. They were far enough from the road that they couldn't be easily sensed- and clearly they had trained to limit how much their energy was noticed- but that distance also meant they had to take time to approach the caravan.

With the woman he'd shot ducking back into full cover and clutching the hole in her side, Anton picked another target. It was a meaningless thought in the grand scheme of things, but Anton didn't want the first person he killed to be a woman. As his second shot flew true into the sternum of one of the 'archers' somewhere in mid Body Tempering, his wish was granted. However, that shot drew the attention of the better archer among the group. Somewhere in late Body Tempering, perhaps even the peak.

As an arrow flew towards Anton, time seemed to slow in a moment of great concentration. He judged the trajectory of the arrow in a mere instant- compared to Elder Kseniya's shots it hardly moved at all. His body still was a moment slow to react and it took a portion of his defensive energy with it as it passed, but he took no damage to his person.

Nobody else existed. The people in the caravan next to him would have to handle themselves. Even Hoyt and Catarina faded from his thoughts, though not consciously. He couldn't think about them, or he would die. An arrow of his own was rapidly shot at the enemy archer, even as he tumbled off the road to where there was more cover. If he moved to stand on the boulder in front of him he could get a good shot but leave himself open. Instead he turned slightly, running in front of said boulder. He lined up his next shot as he moved, aware that his accuracy would suffer. Another arrow came in return, swirling energy betraying its presence but also signifying its deadliness. It flew just over his head as Anton continued running straight ahead- into a small dip that couldn't be seen from the bandit's angle.

A rock slammed into the guts of an approaching bandit as Catarina kicked it towards the oncoming group. It merely bounced off of his defensive energy, but it slowed him half a step. "I told you I wasn't paranoid!" Catarina said to Hoyt. She pointed to another rock, "That one! Just throw it anywhere!"

Hoyt reached down with one hand to grab a rock the size of his head. While she said anywhere, what she really meant was away from where she'd been messing around to set up a formation, in the minute or so since Anton had said he saw something ahead. Hoyt wasn't sure if the formation was working or if he was lucky, but the rock hit straight into the ankle of one of the approaching enemies, causing them to stumble. He ducked beneath an arrow from one of the archers, though most of them were approaching closer and drawing melee weapons.

Bandits were attacking from the other side of the road as well, but Ayotunde had turned that way the moment they appeared. Hoyt didn't have the luxury of turning to watch, but several sources of energy had met Ayotunde… and then disappeared a moment later. That seemed to be a good sign. The rear of the caravan was still beset by wolves, but they weren't especially eager to attack. They were merely holding a standoff with some of the guards there, tying up resources and three guards.

The first bandit to reach Hoyt found himself missing an arm as he tried to parry Hoyt's axe. He would have liked to attribute that entirely to his own skill, but the bandit was slightly lower in cultivation… and had been sluggish with his control of energy at the last moment. The formation at work. Though the formation only covered the area immediately around Hoyt and Catarina, there were perhaps only thirty or forty bandits total. They outnumbered those in the caravan, but they were individually weaker than the best. Though that was only because they could count Ayotunde. He was fending off almost half of the attackers all on his own. That was a middle Spirit Building cultivator for you.

Hoyt readied himself for the next enemies to approach, standing close to Catarina and one of the other guards as she channelled her energy into the simple formation she had set up. There had been some dangerous arrows from someone late in Body Tempering… and Hoyt sensed that same energy further off the road along with Anton's. Catarina obviously wanted to go help, but if she left the formation their side of the caravan would probably collapse.

Chapter 50

A large pack of wolves stood behind the caravan. There were a few cultivators fending them off, but several of those had split off to fight bandits. That left fewer people at the rear, and among those was Pete and the other villagers. They were technically cultivators, though probably shouldn't call themselves that without even having finished the first star. They might not have had the same strength, but they did have weapons. They stood together side by side. "James. Steven. Watch the flanks. If any get too close, just swing at them. Don't let them spook the horses." This wasn't their job, but sitting around being helpless wasn't something Pete wanted to encounter ever again. The wolves were a bit tall, but they weren't too bulky. And they clearly didn't want to get in an actual fight. With a few people standing firm together, any time one approached a quick swipe at it with a sword drove it away.

It wasn't enough to kill the wolves, but they had to hold out. Relying on others to ultimately save them was a bit frustrating, but that was part of why they were cultivating. They would grow stronger, so they could do what they wanted to do, instead of what circumstances forced upon them. For that, they had to survive the moment.

Three of the wolves sprang forward at one of the cultivators. Pete wasn't that good at judging cultivation levels, especially not in the heat of battle. He should be… mid body tempering somewhere? It didn't matter. The man held the wolves at bay with a spear, but they were spreading around him as he backed towards the rear wagon and more were moving in. Pete gestured the other two to one side, then came at the left wolf from its own flank.

His sword flicked out, barely scraping along the creature's fur. An overestimation of his own reach. He was intending to kill the beast, but instead focused it on him. There were a few moments of standoff after it turned, Pete holding his sword ready in front, trying to figure out how to attack. Then the wolf leaped at his throat.

More by virtue of having the proper stance drilled into him than any movement of his own, Pete's sword drove into the creature's chest. It didn't immediately stop the wolf, however. Teeth and claws scraped at Pete's face and chest. There would probably be more scars to go with the one on his cheek… but only if he survived. Pete thrashed and struggled, trying to pull his sword out for another attack… but after some time rolling around on the ground he realized he was just stuck under the body of the wolf. It was heavy, even when emaciated like it was… but he had decent enough strength. Once he was more methodical, he pushed it off of him and was able to stand. Not a glorious battle… but the wolves were beginning to retreat. As for the rest of the battle...

Splinters flew at Anton's eyes as an arrow struck a tree directly to his side. The arrow remained there as a reminder of how close he was to dying. But… while he hadn't expected a violent end, Anton had already come to terms with his death. There were new things he had to do before it happened, but he wasn't afraid of it. Besides, this death wouldn't be random and unexpected. He could do something about this with his own hands. Fighting arrows was much better than fighting age.

The two archers were moving further and further afield, away from the rest of the battle. Anton had driven them away half on purpose and half by it merely being the best cover for himself. Dipping around boulders and into gulleys made it hard to hit him. His own arrows seldom found their mark, but seldom wasn't never. It was merely an issue that his opponent had a higher cultivation. With the range involved, Anton couldn't keep quite the level of power he needed to pierce through their energy defenses. He had no interest in testing the converse.

His opponent seemed to be getting frustrated. That was what Anton read from his face. Why couldn't he hit Anton? It was quite simple. Anton already knew where he was going to shoot. With about… two thirds accuracy. The remaining third he had to dodge once he picked out the actual trajectory, instead of just anticipating the attack. Anton's opponent likewise predicted his shots, but Anton had an advantage there. Changing the trajectory of Spirit Arrows was easier than that of physical arrows… and his arrows were faster. He didn't have the luxury of time to study his opponent's bow, but from what he saw and the sounds it made it wasn't quite as good as Anton's. A little bit less snappy.

Even though he was the only one who had landed any hits, that didn't mean he was winning. His opponent might run out of arrows before him, or they might not. Anton could shoot a hundred or two hundred Spirit Arrows consecutively in training, but in the heat of combat where much of his energy went to movement it wasn't the same. More importantly, he felt the flow state he'd fallen into gradually fading. His awareness of the rest of the world was returning… though really it was just the sharpness of his opponent that was fading and by contrast he was more aware of the rest by comparison.

Anton's eyes scanned the surroundings, falling onto Catarina far off in the distance. She was fighting against several others. Hoyt was nearby, bleeding from a cut on his forehead. Pete and the others were at the rear of the caravan, fending off the wolves with some of the cultivators.

He was aware that he might lose, but as he made the firm choice not to everything fell into place. Anton formed a Spirit Arrow, pulling his hand back next to his ear. He saw the bandit doing much the same. It was a question of who would choose to dodge which way, and how much that would throw off their aim. But as his last moment of clarity diminished, Anton released the Spirit Arrow. He moved forward with it, at great speed. His body remained where it was, but his vision locked on the other arrow. They seemed as if they might collide head on, but they merely brushed past each other. Though they didn't directly touch, the energy around them each diverted the other arrow slightly. Anton was now over halfway to his target. Three quarters. He could see the man's eyes with clarity, the way the bow was oscillating as it returned to its resting state. He looked straight into the man's eyes, and that was where he flew… where his arrow flew.

He came back to his body's normal senses as blood trickled down the side of his neck. Though he hadn't been fully in his body, he was stepping out of the way of the arrow to the best of his ability… and it had been just enough. But he'd once again been one with his arrow. It was something he wished he could do at will, but never really got the hang of. He placed his hand on his neck, where the cut was. He had no worries about being shot. He knew his arrow struck true, even though his opponent's energy hadn't fully faded yet.

Seeing that their plans hadn't gone quite as they wished, the bandits were already fleeing. Fewer than a quarter of their numbers were dead, but while they might possibly win if they remained, no individual valued their life so little that they wanted to stay. Anton resolved to give them a reminder to not consider it again. It wasn't honorable to shoot fleeing foes, but neither was it honorable to be a bandit. Three arrows flew out in quick succession before the bandits were too far for him to reach, though he had no intent to chase them down on his own after that point.

Anton realized he'd slightly underestimated the bandit's casualties. One the side of the road he was on, his count had been accurate. Ayotunde's side had much higher casualties. Though he was quite able to take down that many opponents by himself, Anton could clearly see why a further dozen cultivator guards had been necessary. Two mid body tempering guards were dead, and several others were injured. There were a small number of casualties among the merchants as well, and Caravan Master Wilbur was speaking to Ayotunde in hushed tones. The sort of level tempered ears could pick up easily enough with just a tiny bit of extra energy.

"... after us?" the caravan master said worriedly.

Ayotunde shook his head. "They were merely interested in whoever ran into this hazard first. They could have been hoping that I would be injured by the valley chomper. Unless they failed to notice me somehow."

Wilbur sighed, "You were right, as always. What bad luck."

"Someone would run into this. Now, the journey should be safer for the next several trips, until some new group decides to try their luck."

Wilbur shook his head. "Didn't have to be us, though." With that, he was off to deal with other issues.

Ayotunde waved as he saw Anton approaching. "There you are! Good work. No doubt I would have spotted that valley chomper, but only once closer. The eyes of an archer are truly something else."

Anton smiled, letting his eyes flicker with energy, "It's all about the technique. If I can't see as far as I want to shoot, I'll become worthless."

Ayotunde snorted, "It's quite a distance. I heard you engaged someone at the peak of Body Tempering?"

"I believe so," Anton said. "It's hard to say for certain now." Anton looked around. "What will we do with the bodies?"

"We bury our own. Deep enough to discourage scavengers. The rest… do not deserve a proper burial. If we did not have to watch out for the caravan, I would like to track down their lair…"

It took a moment for Anton to consider. He could indeed track them on his own, maybe even kill a few… but there were enough bandits remaining that they would either leave the caravan undefended or risk too much with a smaller group. If only he was in Spirit Building. That way, he could attack from a further distance and retreat safely, even if he couldn't directly engage so many. "What about the valley chomper?"

"You up for some more archery?" Ayotunde asked. "It's strong enough to pierce through most armor, but its mobility is… negligible. I can perhaps trick it out of its trap once more, and if you can shoot it the instant it surfaces… we might kill it. If not, it will flee underground. I would prefer not to pass the problem on to the next group to pass, if we have the option."

"There are spare bows," Anton said. "We might as well apply those too."

A few minutes later, any of the guards who were in good shape had a bow in hand. All of them would have probably fired a bow at some point, but few of them could be considered archers. If Anton were to judge, Hoyt and Catarina had the best form. That might have just been his bias, though.

"Alright," Ayotunde hefted another large rock. "Prepare to draw. You want your arrow to arrive the instant after the rock."

The rock sailed through the air. A handful of arrows were in the air after it… but they veered off course and even passed it. Anton had gathered an exceptionally strong Spirit Arrow, and he was aware of how precise the timing had to be with the one previous view of the valley chomper. Before the rock landed his arrow was released. Then there was a loud crunch, pincers visible in the air, crushing the rock to pieces. Another handful of arrows struck the general area a second later after the creature retracted into its sandy pit. But… blood splattered on the dirt behind it.

"It should be dead," Anton said. "If it cares at all for its organs."

"I heard its carapace crack," Ayotunde said. "Nice shot."

"If I have all the time in the world, as an archer… I would be ashamed to fail such a shot. I haven't been shooting arrows for a century for nothing."

After waiting for a minute, Ayotunde walked forward. Then he shoved his arms into the loose ground that had previously appeared so precise and smooth. He yanked them back out with a large bodied creature that seemed to be half mandibles. He turned the creature towards the group and looked through it at them. It was only a small hole, less than the diameter of a pinky finger, but the edges were nearly smooth.

"Good!" He said. "Now we just need to pack the road firm again." He clapped his hands, "And we can feast on valley chomper! I assure you, none of you have ever had anything like it before."

Chapter 51

There was a reason nobody had eaten anything like valley chomper before. The muscle was extremely dense and chewy. Anton wouldn't have called it food or even edible. Ayotunde seemed to derive great pleasure from watching others try to eat it… though he also consumed it himself. Perhaps it was an acquired taste. Either way, it worked Anton's jaw muscles to try to eat it.

Though the merchants and cultivators grumbled about being attacked, Anton found the lack of concern for the deaths to be rather disconcerting. Proper respect was paid for allies, and while he wasn't interested in performing a nice ceremony for bandits it seemed strange to take so much death in stride. It wasn't like the deaths Anton had experienced for most of his life, the deaths of time and disease. On the other hand… he had little emotional connection to the guards who had perished. He just thought that human life should matter more.

The promise of extra pay for the battle and the spoils of war did little to offset the sense of apathy. The rest of the journey gave Anton time to ponder on those thoughts.

Since there had been a reasonable chance that they wouldn't encounter any actual difficulties, the fact that the rest of the journey went smoothly was expected, if not particularly relaxing. Anton kept his eyes and ears busy looking for further trouble until the signs of civilization were visible on the horizon. Anton couldn't say that Khonard was much different from Veron, though its layout was quite different. Traffic was mostly expected to flow in from the east and north, instead of all directions like Veron. Their approach from the south came with fewer encounters of other travelers.

After collecting his pay, Anton found he made enough to purchase another one or two people from slavery. There was also a bit extra to be made from the sale of some of the bandits weapons and armor. If he made the same amount every week, within a year he could afford to free every villager of Dungannon who had been enslaved, if he could find them all. And in that same year… how many others would have to die? In a practical sense Anton should have been concerned that it eventually might be him… but he merely thought about the totals. Most journeys would be less dangerous and less profitable, but Anton could see why there were relatively few cultivators at the higher levels. Even if they had the talent, many would perish along the way. It was easy to say only the foolish or reckless would die, but it could also happen from bad luck. Then again, was it much different from a normal life? Anton was extremely unlikely to fall and break his neck or catch a sickness now that he was a cultivator, but such mundane deaths happened to people all the time.

But perhaps he was looking at things the wrong way. He should consider what good he did for the world, not what ill he failed to stop. Though the route they had taken was indeed more dangerous, several trips along the other route had a similar chance of danger. People had to travel between cities regardless of haste. So if he could prevent some death while earning money to redeem those he wanted to save, was that a bad thing? He just wished there were more things to do that didn't involve violence. He already felt the desire to return to the Order where he could be more productive with his cultivation instead of merely violent. Then again, Anton supposed other sects had to have similar peaceful methods- but for travelers like him the jobs would clearly fall on the more dangerous side.

Inns came in various levels of cost and value. If one merely wanted a place to sleep, getting a roof over their head was simple. Anton had a bit more desire than that, but a simple room was not hard to get. On the other hand, there were more advantageously located inns for cultivators that were around higher concentrations of natural energy and might even have energy gathering formations. The first was more affordable, and since Catarina could at least provide temporary formations for the group the price was most efficient.

Combat allowed for quicker growth in cultivation, though it was balanced by the risks involved. Each of the trio had gained something from the battle. Hoyt had reached the seventh star not too long before, but he was making great strides towards the eighth star through his own efforts and Anton's guidance. Even Catarina actually asked for Anton's guidance, because she didn't find herself naturally progressing as quickly while tempering her head. The problem was that she'd never really had to strain her eyes and ears for anything, and merely circulating energy only did so much. She was close to breaking through to the eighth star.

Anton found himself pushing towards the ninth star. The cultivation of his skin was nearing its peak, at least what he could accomplish. His skin regained a small amount of its youth, tightness and durability returning. Pushing himself beyond his limits was becoming almost a routine. With his eyes set far beyond Body Tempering, he cultivated with vigor and formed the ninth star. The next star was the real challenge. The tenth star was the third prime tempering and the end of Body Tempering, a recultivation of the whole body. Whether or not he could get past that point would determine his entire future as a cultivator. But there was no point in considering whether or not he could. He had to, therefore he would. That was all there was to it.

Pete and the other four from Dungannon were now past ten days into cultivating. By any measurement that was extremely new. Even the experience of battle did little for them, but Anton could at least sense changes to their body as they progressed through the first full body tempering. If nothing else they should be able to complete the first star, and that would improve the quality of their life. He wanted to give them the chance to seek their own futures… but it was unsafe for them to go off on their own just yet and nobody wished to remain in Ofrurg. He would lead them back into Graotan soon enough, but they hadn't come to Khonard for nothing.

Devon should be in Khonard. The last information was that he still lived, fighting in an arena. That could change at any time, but Anton had to hope he'd lasted the last few months after he made it half a year. He still found himself nervous about it.

Khonard had several competing arenas. The title of grand arena shifted between the various arenas in the city, but the northeastern arena had not held that title in decades. It had gained a reputation as a more mundane arena where common folk could more easily afford to watch arena fights. Unfortunately, the fact that it didn't display much in the way of cultivators fighting didn't make it less lethal, since generally people of vaguely similar strength would fight each other.

Those who owned the arena generally placed their name on it, along with any titles. Thus, the northeastern arena was also the Irvin arena, with no other names. But despite it being the least prominent arena in the city, it wasn't a place of no consequence. Anton felt the presence of several late Body Tempering cultivators throughout the arena, clearly guards and not visitors.

"No matches today," the guards out front informed Anton and the others as they approached.

"That's quite alright," Anton said. "I'm actually interested in making a purchase of one of the combatants. Is the arena master or one of his assistants available?"

"You'd want the administration, across the street there. Everywhere else is off limits."

Even during a day with matches inside passageways would be guarded, especially to stop slaves from getting out. Though a single one of the guards should be able to handle any would-be escapees if it came down to that. While forcibly freeing his kin might be a pleasant idea, it simply wasn't practical even if they made it away from the arena. "We'll go check there." Having Catarina and Hoyt with him made Anton seem more important, at least he presumed so. At least he was clearly not a lone cultivator, and that could impact business dealings.

The offices across the street appeared quite pleasant, though Anton wouldn't expect any less. They were similarly guarded, though with somewhat lower cultivations. More of a reminder than a barrier to attacks. Any foolish attempt at a heist of some sort would have city guards coming in moments, in addition to those from the arena itself.

An assistant sat in the lobby behind a desk, shuffling through some papers. He looked up as Anton and the others entered. "Welcome, what is your business with the Irvin arena? Do you wish to sign up to participate in battles?"

"Not this time," Anton said. "I was hoping to purchase one of your combatants. Devon Gardner would be his name."

"Of course, sir," the man bowed his head. "Let me go check if the arena master is able to see you." He returned a few moments later and gestured them down a hallway.

It was somewhat uncomfortable to sit down in a luxurious chair that he knew was funded by the blood of others, possibly his own kin, but Anton maintained as pleasant of a demeanor as he could in front of the arena master.

"So, you're interested in buying Devon Gardner," the man nodded. He was a large man, well muscled. He had reached the peak of Body Tempering by Anton's judgement, though it was harder to tell with his cultivation method not being the Ninety-Nine Stars. "In fact, your timing couldn't be better. He has recently advanced to mid body tempering, and we have few who are suited to match him. We would be quite happy to sell him to you."

Anton was glad things wouldn't be difficult, and even for Devon's apparent gain of cultivation ability. He supposed it was natural to at least give people a chance to cultivate, because it could improve their performances- though he imagined they didn't receive access to any techniques of particular merit. The downside was that he would certainly be more expensive. Still, Anton should have enough to cover the price… and he could borrow some from Catarina or Hoyt if absolutely necessary.

Chapter 52

The process of purchasing Devon moved quite swiftly. The longest part of the whole process was heading over to the cells in the arena where Devon was kept to make sure he was the right person. After all, Anton didn't want to spend so much money on the wrong Devon Gardner. The dingy cells they passed on the way didn't encourage Anton, but they passed all of those to enter another section. Devon had a full door with a small barred window. It allowed for more privacy… but Anton was certain it was merely meant for added security. He only had to glance inside to see this was indeed the right person. Currently, he was sleeping… and Anton saw no reason to change that. It would be nice to talk to him, but he would much prefer to finalize the deal first, including payment. Would an arena master raise the price just because he found out they were family? Absolutely. He couldn't expect people who bought and sold others to always engage in respectable business tactics.

Then they were back in the arena master's office, writing up papers and finalizing everything. Anton was certain he could have gotten a better price… but only if he was willing to wait. He could have let the man stew on an offer for a while, while Devon remained entrapped. He could have also stabbed himself in the leg, but he didn't know why he would do either of those.

Things were mere moments away from wrapping up in a satisfactory manner when the assistant from out front scurried into the room. "Arena master. An urgent message for you." He walked up next to the man and whispered in his ear. It was, of course, extremely rude to eavesdrop on private conversation. If Anton had any respect for those involved, he might have considered whether or not he should. Energy flickered to his ears to catch what the assistant was saying clearly. "The young mistress of the Potenza arena is here. She has stated her intentions to purchase Devon Gardner…" the man's eyes flicked towards Anton and the others waiting nearby.

"... tell her I shall be out momentarily." The arena master smiled awkwardly as Anton's eyes drilled into him. The man wrung his hands together for a moment before speaking. "As an honest businessman I do not like to back out of an arrangement already in progress…" Anton wasn't sure if he could kill the man just by looking at him, but he did his best. "... and I won't," the arena master swallowed. "But for your sake, I will give you the opportunity to let go of the deal. A member of the Potenzas is here wishing to purchase the same slave and it would be better for both of us if they were allowed to fulfill their wishes."

Anton knew a few things. Of key importance was that the Potenza arena catered more towards matches involving cultivators. Thus their arena earned more money and they had more influence than the Irvin arena where he was currently negotiating. Anton turned to see Hoyt and Catarina behind him. Then his eyes moved beyond them, though he couldn't see anything in that direction. He could, however, feel cultivators. One in late or even peak of Body Tempering, and one in Spirit Building. Early? Mid? It was difficult to tell. Catarina and Hoyt would surely support him. Would they actually be attacked in the city? Surely not. But things could be made very difficult for them… and they had to leave the protection of the city eventually. A sticky situation. "I will speak to her. Why don't you introduce us?"

The arena master smiled awkwardly, "Very well…" he looked slightly relieved, actually, since that would shift most of the displeasure away from himself. But he clearly also didn't want to upset three late Body Tempering cultivators. If Anton were alone… things might have gone differently. The man led them out into the lobby. "Young mistress Potenza, what an honor to have you here!"

The young woman who stood in front of them had clearly put in the effort to be visually striking. She had long blonde hair that flowed past her waist along with armor made to emphasize the female form- yet still practical. The way she carried herself was certainly confident… perhaps too confident. The way she turned and looked at them spoke of a young woman who always got her way… even when she really shouldn't. "I'm sure you heard what I want. Hurry up, then."

"Before we get to that this man here, Anton Krantz, wished to speak with you on the manner." The arena master gestured to Anton, then shuffled backwards.

Anton stepped forward- not too close, seeing how the Spirit Building man she had as a guardian stood behind her shoulder. "I am sorry to say after you came all this way that I am already in the process of purchasing Devon Gardner. I'm sure there are others available you will find to your liking."

The young mistress of the Potenza arena folded her arms in front of her. "So? Give him up. I already have plans for him in our arena."

"It's not so simple-"

Her eyes flashed, "Fine. I'll pay you double. Happy?"

"It's not a matter of money," Anton said. "I will not be giving him up for sale."

With a flash, the sword at her side pointed at Anton. He held up a hand to stop Catarina and Hoyt from moving. "If you won't sell… then fight me! We shall bet ownership of the man on a duel!"

Anton internally sighed. He usually appreciated enthusiasm in people, but this young woman had hers directed in all the wrong places. He would prefer not to settle things with a battle, but did he have a choice? Fight now, one on one… or possibly later, against an unknown group. Or let her take Devon to fight in an arena, one more dangerous to him than his current situation. Perhaps if he survived for a few months she would have had enough of him. But if not… there might be no other chance. "A duel between just the two of us?"

"Of course. I am not afraid to fight a weak old man."

"I will accept on the condition that no grudges be held between us, regardless of the victor." Anton looked to the guardian behind her for that, who nodded slightly.

"Then we shall fight!" she pointed her sword towards the arena master. "Prepare the arena!"

How abrupt. But Anton couldn't say he would be more ready at any other time.

The master of the Irvin arena sighed as he looked up into the bare stands. What a waste. Tonina Potenza fighting would fill the place up and earn quite a bit of money… even if her opponent was an old man. The cultivation disparity between them was not large, though there was a clear difference in talent. At least he would get away with the price of a good slave and neither group angered at him specifically. "With the bet of the rights of ownership of Devon Gardner on the line, Anton Krantz and Tonina Potenza shall duel according to the rules of the arena. You may begin!"

If he was a betting man- and he was- he would have bet money on Tonina. Unfortunately, he didn't get to bet on this fight either. That was too bad, because while the cultivation difference wasn't that great, one was young and strong… the other quite old, clearly having struggled to reach his current level.

The fact that the old man was an archer barely mattered- he only managed to fire a single arrow formed of energy before his opponent reached him. Then a swift slice with a sword and he was… actually, that was quite a good dodge on his part. The way the old man moved was actually quite… graceful? How surprising. It spoke volumes that he was able to dodge continuous attacks with a sword while still firing his bow. Unfortunately, his attacks simply couldn't penetrate Tonina's defense. Arrows struck her shoulder and her waist but never penetrated through her armor. All she needed was one good slice to cut the man in two, or at least lop off an arm. The Irvin arena was not set up for nonlethal fights between cultivators, though of course the old man could surrender if he managed to get an arm just halfway lopped off.

That would happen… at any moment. Tonina's sword wasn't even a centimeter from striking him half of the time. The old man had managed to gain a bit of distance, but fighting on the defensive with a bow was simply untenable. He might be able to retreat with extensive use of his energy, but he would use more backing up than Tonina would attacking. It was only for the moment that he was pulling further away. Except, the gap kept growing, and growing.

Tonina's movements were slow. It seemed to be a struggle to lift her arm, and she held her right shoulder with her left hand. She stepped forward, a shot to her ankle piercing through her energy defenses but not her armor. It still had an impact, however, and sent her onto one knee. The distance between them was now more than a handful of meters. The old man… Anton… pulled back his bow with a particularly powerful arrow charged up. "Surrender," his voice was steady. Calm.

"I- you-" Tonina stuttered. "No way! You cheated! I know you did!" she threw her sword onto the ground in anger.

The arena master swallowed. It seemed like things weren't going to end very well at all. Should he step forward to diffuse the situation, or move out of the blast radius? A difficult question. But… it was his arena. He should probably do something before he regretted whatever happened.

Chapter 53

It was unclear to Anton what he was supposed to do with an opponent who had thrown down her weapon but not officially surrendered. He was far enough away that he could afford a quick glance at her guardian off to the side, who merely tendered an apologetic look. The master of the Irvin arena rushed to his rescue. "Do you wish to continue the battle, Tonina Potenza?"

"No. I lost. But it wasn't fair. I fought against an old man who's been cultivating for like… a century!" She stomped her foot down pointing her finger at Anton. "I demand a rematch! Tomorrow! No- in one month's time! I'll be much stronger then." She spoke that second part quite confidently, and Anton honestly wasn't surprised. It was likely quite true that in one month she could be significantly stronger. That didn't change anything, however. "So you refuse to honor the terms of the deal," Anton said.

"It doesn't count!" she demanded.

"Young mistress," her guardian approached. "Let me speak to him. I believe we can come to a satisfactory conclusion."

"Fine," she stomped her foot and turned around.

Since any sort of official duel was clearly over, Catarina and Hoyt made their way towards Anton. "What a brat," Catarina said.

Hoyt grunted, clearly not of positive opinion… but perhaps a bit more reluctant to voice his opinion in front of her Spirit Building guardian.

The man approached to a reasonable distance. "Anton Krantz. Were everything up to me, I would be happy to settle the matter here. But if the young mistress leaves in this state, the matter will become quite public regardless of my efforts, and the master and mistress of the Potenzas may not see things quite the same way. I assume you are still unwilling to give up your purchase? We can increase the offer even further." Anton's face told him everything necessary. "I thought not. Let me be plain. The young mistress is not far from Spirit Building. In one month, you will be unable to win against her. I know it is not fair, but it is difficult for you to refuse the rematch. In that case, it might be better to accept the offer at this time."

"One month…" Anton stroked his chin. The step between Body Tempering and Spirit Building was a big one. Even if he reached the peak of Body Tempering and she didn't even complete the first part of Spirit Building, their relative powers would swing in her favor. Her attacks really had carried dangerous force, and while he might still be able to win if he weren't concerned about heavily injuring her… he also might die. The Order of Ninety-Nine Stars couldn't stand behind him so easily with the distances involved. While the laws of Ofrurg theoretically protected him, he could be killed or made to disappear- and it wouldn't really matter whether or not there were consequences afterwards. It was unfortunate, but laws didn't apply to larger groups in exactly the same way. But he couldn't give up now. "One month. We shall write up a formal contract."

The guardian maintained an expressionless face. "Are you certain?"

"Quite."

"Very well. I have no wishes to go against the Potenza's best interests… but that also includes avoiding public incidents as much as possible. If you will but give me a moment to track down the young mistress and prevent her from… publicizing events to her detriment."

The contract was solid, and the terms quite reasonable. Though some of that depended on whether or not Anton was able to win in a rematch. The official terms now included the caveat that whoever lost would be the one to pay the purchase price of Devon. In short, if Anton won he would be quite pleased… and if he lost he would have no grandson and little money. But he also might be dead, and money was just money. While he could use that to redeem others, people weren't just a price. He couldn't refuse to try to help family just because he might lose the chance to help others. The most important part… was the result relied on his own actions.

He had one month.

The sound of a sword cutting apart the air and the sweeping of a wider bladed two handed axe were punctuated by the impact of blade, handle, and the energy covering both. Weapons clashed back and forth, colliding with each other and with the two wielding the weapons.

Anton gripped the sword tightly in his hands. The sword itself wasn't much. Just a reasonably priced weapon with enough weight and durability. The swings weren't elegant, but they were quick. With the advantage of two stars of cultivation, he mostly matched Hoyt. Or rather, he was forcing himself to match Hoyt. If he used his bow, he could win handily… but it wasn't about winning. It was about what his body did. His body had trained to use the bow sufficiently, but he needed to temper his entire body once more. Unlike the initial tempering, every part of him had already undergone significant change. Even a similar amount of growth required many times the work- not least because the tenth star was a prime.

Catarina maintained a formation that would stop the two fighters from killing each other. It couldn't fully prevent bruises and cuts and cracked bones, though for the most part they avoided injuries. And anything that Anton had, he pushed through the pain.

One month might be enough for him to finish the tenth star. Dedicated cultivation could produce great results. But stepping into Spirit Building… that was something else. Unfortunately, Anton couldn't be certain whether he would find it difficult or simple until he attempted it.

One week passed. Then two.

"Grandpa Anton…" Catarina seemed to not know what to say. "I think… you're pushing yourself too hard."

He looked at her, his face determined, but with a slight softness showing. "But it hasn't been enough. Do you want me to give up?"

"Well… no… but-"

"Grandpa Anton, you call me. Devon called me that as well. He will have the chance to do so again. To be free, not fighting for the entertainment of others."

Catarina frowned. Clearly she wanted to offer an alternate solution, but could think of nothing. "What else can I do to help? I know my energy gathering formations aren't good enough-"

"Don't say that," Anton said sternly. "They're wonderful. Just what I need. But actually, that reminds me. Where did that end up…" he dug around in his bags until he uncovered a cloth wrapped around a small stoppered bottle, inside of which was a single round pill. "Here it is."

"I thought… you took that already." Catarina looked at the pill in his hand. "To break through to the sixth star…"

Anton nodded. "You did tell me to use it for that. But, I didn't need it. Let me ask, how long did you think it took me to reach the fifth star- when I first achieved it."

"A decade…" Catarina said.

"Be honest," Anton looked straight at her.

"... a few decades."

"Right. But at that point, it was half a year or so. I didn't need it." Anton looked at it, "But now I do."

Catarina nodded. "I have money. We can buy more pills-"

Anton held up a hand to stop her. "If I thought it would ultimately help save a single life, I would not resist taking every coin from you and Hoyt. But this is a good pill. If we can managed to get another like it- which may not be available here- the next won't be nearly so significant. Especially not taken at the same time. I am quite confident in reaching the peak of Body Tempering and forming the tenth star with this… and the help of a nice energy gathering formation.

Over the past few weeks, Anton had pushed his body to the limit. It was aching and bruised, strained and cut and perhaps just a little bit broken. Now it just needed a proper influx of energy… and that energy had to be properly controlled by him. If he pushed things too far, he could injure himself or even destroy his cultivation. But he wasn't going to do that. After all, he still had another ninety stars to go after that, and so many other things to do.

Energy swirled inside him, in and out. Starting in his dantians it flowed through his meridians to the rest of his body. From his marrow out to his bones, muscles, tendons, organ, and skin then back in. His body began to heat up. It was a fiery furnace, a star… but as he continued he knew it was not hot enough.

He swallowed the pill. Even as it touched his tongue it began to dissolve. It was bitter, strong- foul. He wondered if it had gone bad over the months, but as it slid down his throat into his stomach he felt a surge of energy. Then he had no more time to think. The pill itself was like a small star inside of him, burning.

It spread throughout his whole body, and he felt like he was on fire. Then he was fire. He was heat and growth. He was the thing that burned, and not what was burned. The energy that resulted. Then he pushed, shrinking himself down to a reasonable size. The heat withdrew from his body, but the tenth star rested in his dantian, smouldering brightly as the others danced around with it. Everything hurt as he breathed out slowly. Now all he had to do was figure out Spirit Building.

Chapter 54

Spirit Building. It could be summarized as cultivating the spirit like Body Tempering focused on the body. But it wasn't really quite the same. It was the difference between tangible and intangible… and at least in the case of the Ninety-Nine Stars there was only one prime tempering in the first half. Other cultivation methods might be organized differently to emphasize different parts, and they didn't even have to categorize things the same way. Body Tempering of course covered the whole body eventually, but the spirit was less measurable.

For the Ninety-Nine Stars, it was divided into seven parts, the final of which would be the prime tempering. With only one area being able to be emphasized, it was more of a matter of what Anton wanted to develop early than what he wanted to later emphasize. Or what he could do. He had no certainty that he would finish the eleventh through seventeenth stars which covered the first 'half' of Spirit Building. He could save something he considered important for a prime tempering… or begin tempering it early, allowing it more time to grow to a similar level.

The seven categories were: Instinct, Emotion, Mental Liberation, Earthly Connection, Voice, Intuition, and Spiritual Connection. Just from their names, Anton had little idea what he might want… and further study didn't give him a full picture either.

Instinct focused on personal survival. It allowed the cultivator to react to previously unsensed threats and to act with little information. Contrasted with Intuition, which focused more on knowing. It was much more used for reading people and situations, understanding the big picture of how things might work and how an individual might act. Both were important. Instinct allowed the cultivator to do something even if they didn't entirely know why. It could help detect poisons and anything else that affected the body.

Emotion also centered on the inner emotions of the cultivator. Emotional balance could have a great change to the efficacy of energy usage and cultivation. Earthly Connection was being in tune with the emotions of others. Already, there were areas of clear overlap. The same wasn't untrue in Body Tempering. The muscles attached to tendons and bones, skin encompassed everything, and the organs provided services to power and filter the whole body. Everything was made possible by the dantian and meridians circulating natural energy.

Mental Liberation allowed for the resisting of the shackles of outside control. This could be through energy influences or merely a sense of fear. It merely allowed the circumvention of emotions and the like, without stabilizing them or erasing them. It would sometimes be necessary to ignore feelings, though removing them entirely would be harmful. Some emotionless sects existed, but more often than not they ended up going down a dark path which ultimately led to their destruction.

Voice was tied to both inner and outer voice. That is, how the cultivator interacted with themself internally and also how they influenced others. In the latter case, it was basically the opposite of Mental Liberation.

Spiritual Connection allowed the cultivator to be in tune with the world around them. It had less ties to people or even physical matter than the flow of energy. It seemed as if it was important for formation users, though everyone would of course benefit.

Anton wasn't sure if he could even choose one, and if he did choose cultivating it would be difficult. He'd always had a body. Such a statement was blatantly obvious and unhelpful, except that he hadn't always been aware of the spiritual part of himself. He had grown used to cultivation of his body and the use of energy, but that part of him was still new. Less than a year, out of his one hundred. A hundred and one now, if he were precise.

Instead of trying to logic out what might be best for him in the long run, Anton simply went for what he thought he would have the most luck with. Intuition. He couldn't say he was a master of reading others, but he had some experience with One Step Ahead as written by Elder Kseniya- and in addition to that he had watched her demonstrations. Saying he understood everything that was happening would be an exaggeration, but it was at least something he had some example of in action.

Unlike Body Tempering, there wasn't a clear method of energy circulation that would accomplish what he wanted. There were guidelines, but it was one step more abstracted from the physical world. Anton certainly could feel the energy circulating inside himself and maybe even improving in quality, but he couldn't say he was properly refining Intuition.

Maybe he'd made a mistake. Confidence was good for a cultivator… but overconfidence? Could he really use just two weeks to catch up to a young cultivator who came from a wealthy clan and had already been trying to enter Spirit Building for some time? Tonina had been confident in properly entering Spirit Building in a month, but even then Anton was aware that she still needed to push herself for that goal.

He should have not accepted the challenge. He could have pushed to get Devon into his hands, then fled the city. It might have come with future trouble, but he was certain they could have kept off the road and hidden. And what… hoped there were no trained dogs in Khonard? He might be able to hide their scent from normal hounds, but there were tamed magical beasts with powerful senses as well. They didn't have to be particularly strong, either, just better at sensing- and that was something Anton could say beasts had in abundance. Even with his eyes enhanced with energy, he was probably not better than an actual, mundane hawk.

Anton tried to calm himself. Thinking about what could have been done was clearly not going to help. He knew that, but dismissing the thoughts was difficult. For Spirit Building especially, clearing his mind of distractions was important. He had to focus. All around him were faint threads, ideas of how he might continue his cultivation path. He just needed to make one real and grab onto it. And focus.

Two weeks passed. It was almost like he was trying to learn how to cultivate all over from the beginning. However, he was now divorced from physical pain. He couldn't say the same for mental anguish. He had to succeed. If not, Devon would be taken away to another arena to fight until he inevitably perished. The chances of anything else- no matter Devon's talent and skill- were extremely slim. In addition to those thoughts, Anton's cultivation reopened old wounds. He had a handful of villagers from Dungannon around himself and had even seen Devon. A year of being away from the situation had merely numbed the pain. Visiting Dungannon had ultimately been a good thing, but it left him emotionally vulnerable. Now, he might encounter his first real failure.

That was simply no good. But there was no more time. He was completely out. Tomorrow was the day. But at least… he knew he was doing his best. It would be small comfort if he lost, but then again… who was to say he couldn't fight a Spirit Building cultivator at the peak of Body Tempering? He'd heard of it. Stories were often greatly exaggerated, but it had to have happened in the past. Usually young geniuses who precipitated a great change in the world.

It was too late… but if he couldn't physically save Devon, he could at least try to provide hope. Hope he himself was low on. The Irvin arena master allowed him to see Devon- under heavy guard, of course. He should have already talked to him before, but he didn't want to get his hopes up.

"Someone to talk to you," the arena master said as he opened the door. "One of the two who might purchase you."

For his own part, Devon looked good. Healthy. A bit tired, but that was understandable. Uncertainty in the future didn't make for easy sleep. "Devon," Anton smiled. "I had hoped to make this a pleasant surprise."

"You…" Devon looked at Anton, surveying him with his senses. "Do I know you, Senior?"

Anton's face fell. Had he forgotten? It was certainly the right man, but something could have happened. "Do you not recognize me?" He already had the price written up in a contract, so revealing his relation shouldn't be a problem. "It's me, Anton."

There was a long pause. Far too long. "... Grandpa Anton? Have you… always been a cultivator? And you look so… different."

Anton breathed a sigh of relief. So he did remember. "No. I'm new to it."

"But you're…" Devon shook his head. "No, that doesn't matter. I thought… you were dead. With everyone else. So many people… but you were out hunting, weren't you?"

"Fortunately. Perhaps. I couldn't have done anything."

"Are you really… at the peak of Body Tempering?"

"That's right. Due to various circumstances, I will be fighting for the right to purchase you."

Devon smiled and relaxed. "Is that so? I was aware of what was happening, but I had no idea one was you. I'm glad."

"Listen, Devon…" Anton bit his lip. "I just want to say, I'll do my best. But I can't guarantee I will win."

"... It's that serious, is it?" Devon shook his head. "Well. What should I say? I am grateful that you are alive. I certainly want to be free… but I've managed to keep myself alive thus far. Maybe there's a chance to earn my freedom… on the small chance that you fail."

Anton scratched the back of his head. "I wouldn't say it's small…"

"I've never seen you fail at something you set your mind to," Devon said. "It's already crazy enough to believe… you're like this. I'm confident in your ability."

"At least someone has confidence," Anton said. "I'll carry it with me tomorrow. And if I don't get another chance, I just want to say… I love you. I won't give up on you or any of the others, even if I fail today."

Devon grinned, "See? I told you. Don't worry. I'll be waiting. Hopefully, I'll see you tomorrow."

Chapter 55

The night before the rematch, Anton didn't have a miraculous breakthrough. In fact, he barely slept. When he tried to sleep, his mind told him he should be cultivating. When he tried to cultivate… he could only think about how much he needed to win. That was motivation… but not usable. He needed a clear and focused mind, not scattered near-panic.

For her own part, upon her arrival Tonina didn't look entirely fresh either. She clearly hadn't had a leisurely month of pleasant cultivation. Her eyes were filled with determination. Anton might have congratulated her change in demeanor if circumstances had been different. However, she was still going to fight him for possession over his grandson. Even if she didn't know the relation… it was still someone's life. And of course, they would not be having another match to begin with were she not a spoiled brat throwing around her family's influence.

As soon as the match started Anton fired and shot arrows, the twang of his bow crystal clear in the arena nearly devoid of life. Anton no longer had the inclination to be gentle. The previous battle he had simply pieced through her energy defenses to weaken her joints one at a time until she could not fight. Now, if he found the opportunity, he would not mind filling her with holes. While there was merely one level of difference between them still, Anton had merely reached the peak of Body Tempering and she'd fully stepped into Spirit Building. He couldn't hold back, even if it meant future trouble. It was already far too late to consider additional consequences. He merely had to win.

Tonina Potenza was from a wealthy family quite interested in her survival, so it was no surprise that her armor was top tier. Though it was durable, it also appeared light enough for her to move easily. No more than the standard weight of steel plate, at least. Her movements were swift and her attacks sharp, while her defenses couldn't be underestimated.

Even with his energy concentrated to a fine point, her energy at early Spirit Building was a large step more durable than it had been during the last battle. While Anton was confident he could have pierced through her armor as well as her energy in the previous battle, now he was having trouble causing more superficial wounds.

Her sword brushed past his face. It wasn't supposed to be so close. When they last fought he let her attacks brush close to him because it required less effort to avoid by a narrow margin, and he was confident in his ability to judge her attacks- but now it was all he could manage. However, he wasn't willing to give up. There was too much on the line… and he knew he could do more.

It physically hurt Anton to parry her sword with his bow, despite him being aware that his energy and the nightwood could withstand some level of damage. But if he didn't do it, he would die.

He pulled out all his techniques. Thousand Arrows allowed him to fire at an unreasonably quick rate, but he simply couldn't break through her defenses consistently enough. Tonina wasn't just letting him hit her, either. Whenever he gathered more energy, she took the opportunity to attack or divert her defenses to withstand his improved attacks.

Swan Steps kept his head on his neck, and he found his body was indeed faster than it had been… but he needed more. Reading her movements with One Step Ahead was more difficult as her speed was more than before, and the change in quality of energy as she stepped into Spirit Building exemplified that. As with all weapons, the speed of her sword also directly translated into deadliness. It cut through his own energy, leaving trails of blood even where Anton's armor protected him. So far it was merely surface level, but the difference between a trivial wound and a deadly one wasn't even a full centimeter.

It wasn't enough. He needed to know where she would move before she started, maybe even before she knew. Her sword might slice up at a certain angle, or thrust at him just so. If he twisted his body just right he could avoid the attacks. In a way he was successful. At least he got away with his life. Anton was extremely grateful for the diamondsilk woven into the armor on his chest. Its strength had saved him from some deep cuts that might have decided the battle.

Had he underestimated Spirit Building? Overestimated himself? Should he just give up? He might not be able to save Devon, but he could save others. But giving up… simply wasn't possible. Win or lose, he couldn't do anything but give his very best.

The stars inside Anton flared as he pushed his energy to its limits, moving his body as quick as he could, shooting arrows made purely of energy that would pierce ever so slightly deeper, leaving blood dripping from several places on Tonina. But it wasn't enough yet. He needed to find an opening. To see her movements.

And… he did. One battle and half of another weren't enough time to get to know an opponent fully, but Anton almost saw her moving ahead of where she was. In fact, he did see it, just not with his eyes. He just knew. The stars danced around inside him, one pair, one trio, and the final group of five. They offered up energy to their limits and even more. There was a veritable whirlpool around Anton, his lungs pulling in every strand of energy in the atmosphere he could and immediately putting it to use.

As he became more confident in the visions Anton pierced into a weak point in her armor at her shoulder joint several times in a row. When she gathered her energy to defend, he simply targeted her lower torso, slowly piercing through the armor at a particular point. He even gathered an especially large spirit arrow to shoot into her thigh as he dodged an attack by a hair, using every ounce of the skill and energy he had available.

Then he saw it. A sweep of her sword, swift and nearly undodgeable. But he could do it. He could… but his body couldn't. His energy was nearly dried up, and blood was flowing out of numerous wounds. A trail of blood was sliced along his ribs, into some of them, sending him flying onto his back. Even as he lay there, his eyes locked on her. If he could just take aim… but his arms refused to move.

He could still breathe. Energy flowed into his lungs, but to move he would have to prop himself up entirely with it. Then he wouldn't be able to attack. How could he…?

Anton didn't even hear the announcement of his loss, though he couldn't debate it. He had lain still on the ground for far too long. Energy rushed into him like the crashing emotions he had inside. He had lost. Even though he had given it his all. It was much worse than simply not being present. He'd had the chance to redeem one family member, but on his first opportunity he fell short. He couldn't say if it was because of his earlier choices- those might have led to his death, or they might not have. He didn't have the clarity of thought to process any of that, or the emotional fortitude to get even a modicum of solace from the fact that he had broken through to Spirit Building.

The match was private. Only the participants, the master of the arena, and a few others were there to watch. Devon watched as two young cultivators rushed out to where Anton lay bleeding on the ground. He wished he could go there… but he couldn't. Even if he could, he wasn't sure if his grandfather would find solace in his comfort.

Anton was… the pillar of the family. He had been what held everything together over the generations. The farm had only grown because of his determination, a determination he passed on to others. Then there had been devastation.

Devon had been there. He was young enough. Healthy. And incapable of even scratching the attacking bandits. He wasn't able to keep track of everything happening in the confusion. They were led away in chains at the fastest speed they could maintain. Faster, even. Some people were thrown away along the way, never even making it to Veron to be sold. They'd all been split up. Many of the strong young men went to farms or the mines, but he'd been sold to the arena.

He'd been given a simple cultivation technique, along with an ultimatum. Win, or die. While it wasn't quite so black and white, if he didn't take care of himself he wouldn't survive in the arena. So he had practiced with a weapon and trained the cultivation technique… and won. For no particular reason than he had nothing better to do. He knew he didn't want to die, but he didn't remember why. He kept winning… and then there were no more fights. Weeks of that, then another month with talks of him being purchased.

Then Anton had shown up. It was supposed to be a nice surprise, but instead it was sort of a bitter apology. As if he'd known he would lose. But… it helped Devon remember something. That was why he hadn't given up. Grandpa Anton wouldn't. Even as he lay bleeding on the floor of the arena, Devon felt his energy clawing at the air, trying to do anything. Not just any energy. Strong energy. The energy of a Spirit Building cultivator.

That was… crazy. Devon was not well versed in cultivation, but he had reached mid Body Tempering. He wasn't the youngest man in the world, though certainly not old. Even so, he'd felt his age. Anton, his grandfather… had far surpassed him. It wasn't just possessing a good technique. That could never do so much. Instead, it was the undying determination he possessed. Something Devon had thought gone from the world. But now he saw it.

Would he have preferred to be saved? To no longer be subject to slavery fighting in an arena? Of course. If only he had been just a bit stronger… but Devon couldn't say that anyone else could have done better. For his own case, however, Devon had merely been going through the motions of survival because that was what he was expected to do. Yet his grandfather Anton had thrown himself into danger, just for a chance to save him. He'd almost done it, too.

It was a distant hope to think he would survive long enough for Anton to manage to free him now. If it was just about money, he could have been bought away already without the sacrifice. What would be required to force a sale? Devon wasn't sure, but as he felt the Spirit Building energy flickering from his prone grandfather as he was pulled away, he knew he had to survive to find out. How could he give up on himself when someone like that was still looking out for him?

Chapter 56

The sky was full of bright stars. Though Anton didn't have quite the same connection to them as Grand Elder Vandale, he appreciated them. Besides, thinking about the old cultivator gave him some perspective. There was no way the path to the peak was smooth and flawless. Anton knew he should consider himself lucky to have lost just money and his chance to free Devon. He didn't lose an eye… or get killed. That meant there was going to be another chance.

He couldn't change the past, but reflecting on it was helpful. Wallowing in it wouldn't do him any good, but he could at least try to figure out what went wrong. In the end, he decided it was simply some of the regulars. Fear and arrogance. Anton himself had less trouble with those than others, but it was something he saw with people constantly. Making poor choices because of perceived potential danger. There was indeed some chance that the Potenza family would send people to try to kill them away from the city if he had just gone through with the purchase of Devon. But if he was just going to trust in his own ability anyway, why not do it that way?

Accepting the one month challenge was stupid. He should have been the one to set the time limit. He hadn't even misjudged his own ability, just underestimated the difficulty of entering Spirit Building. Which was stupid, because Tonina needed another month to reach it from where she was, and Anton himself hadn't even been at the peak of Body Tempering yet. He was right to believe he could reach it… and he'd even stumbled his way into Spirit Building during the rematch, but it wasn't enough.

The real problem was it put the entire burden on himself. The problem was, he was usually capable of doing so. But things were more than what one old man could handle. He'd even known that… then ignored it. He had to go find Catarina and Hoyt. It was almost a shame that in his lifespan he'd actually made what he thought were a below average number of serious mistakes. Perhaps he might have more practice. Then again, it would mean less.

It was not hard to find them- they were the closest two with any significant cultivation, and there were only so many places they could stay in the inn. Anton was relieved the dining area was empty except for them. It was hard enough to say the words regardless. They both looked over as Anton approached. They might have expected him to still be lost in his unpleasant thoughts, but he simply didn't have time for that. He couldn't afford to pity himself for weeks on end. Once he was close enough, Anton threw himself onto the floor in front of them. "I'm sorry."

Catarina almost recoiled. "I- you- um… you don't have to apologize for anything. I said I wanted to help."

Hoyt nodded. "Me as well. I understand needing a bit of time to yourself."

Anton shook his head, still prostrate in front of them. "That's not it at all. Though I do appreciate the space to think. I'm sorry for not… believing in you. I brought you both along, then tried to do everything myself. Like a fool."

Catarina smiled awkwardly. "Grandpa… I don't know if… umm-"

Hoyt interrupted, "You're right, actually. You might be… very strong, but that doesn't mean you can do everything yourself. Though I'm not sure if we could do anything in this case."

Catarina squirmed. "I did… feel left out. Like I was just watching you grow stronger without me. But I accept your apology."

"Oh right," Hoyt said. "Me too. Please raise your head. It's… really awkward."

Anton slowly stood up. "It's not good for my back either. I thought I'd get over all of this… maybe I'm just bad at Body Tempering." He only received stern looks in response. "Alright, fine. I just thought the second full tempering would make me feel… actually young. But I was too far gone." Anton sighed. "I don't know where to go next."

There was some awkward time of silence. Eventually, Hoyt spoke up. "How about the mines? There were some more on your list at the northern mines, right?"

Anton thought for a few moments. "That's right, but… Pete and the others are still with us. I don't know if we should drag them around forever."

"I might be wrong," Hoyt said. "But I think the best thing for them is to travel around with a cultivation master."

"I don't know if I would call myself a master," Anton said.

"You're in Spirit Building now," Hoyt pointed out. "But it's more in the manner of… one who teaches. You're good at that. Speaking of which, any good tips for entering Spirit Building?"

"Hmm…" Anton stroked his chin. "Besides desperation? Not just yet. I'll get back to you on that later. I suppose now, I should speak to the others. Might as well ask them what they want."

"We want to come with you," Pete said. "At least, I do. I still need to pay you back somehow… and I'd like to keep cultivating with your guidance. I've almost finished the first star. I can feel how much of a difference it makes. If I can grow strong enough to protect myself… I'd like to avoid anything like what happened in Dungannon ever again."

The others nodded in consent. "We'd like to stay with you. Especially if you are planning to emancipate others. Each day… well, it would be better to free them as soon as possible, if you have the means. I know we were quite expensive."

"That isn't untrue," Anton said, "But something important to know is that cultivators are very capable of making money quickly. It's usually dangerous, but efficient. I have no reason to wait around now. At least, I feel somewhat safe traveling Ofrurg. If you do as well, I would welcome your company."

"As long as we are with you," Pete said, "I cannot imagine somewhere I would feel safer, especially with Hoyt and Catarina. The three of you are very strong."

"Flattery won't make training any easier," Anton grinned.

In addition to training with and guiding the others, Anton had to cultivate himself. It kept him busy. Busy not thinking about the past. And, even though he'd messed up in an almost irrecoverable manner… Anton still felt somewhat freer now. He wasn't sure about the confidence he felt in himself right now, but the confidence of others was keeping him going. Especially Devon. 'I'll be waiting.' A simple sentence. He said it like it would be the next day… but perhaps he knew. Anton had offered some hope, and even though it was shattered, some still remained. Hopefully Devon would persevere while Anton pushed himself further forward. At least he'd been able to act this time, even if he failed.

But such thoughts didn't help with cultivating. Visualizing the fight did. He replayed it over and over in his mind. Looking for flaws in himself and in Tonina. He couldn't go back and repeat the battle… and demanding a rematch would dig him into another sort of hole. He couldn't be mired down with that method of trying to free Devon, unless he could become much stronger. There had to be other avenues, even if he couldn't tread them yet.

The biggest flaw Anton found in his own attacks was the lack of… deadliness. He'd killed only a small number of people. Before he became a cultivator it was none and on the trip from Veron to Khonard it had become two, maybe three or four. It was easy to think of bandits as not people, but they were. He couldn't fathom what led them to those choices. Revenge he could understand, but he felt it had to be more a sense of desperation. Something had caused them to stop caring about human lives. The environment of Ofrurg was certainly quite capable of that.

Regardless of whether it was ultimately a good thing, Anton had little experience killing people. He never wanted to treat them like animals, but then again he had reasons to kill animals as well. Food and hides were practical and useful, and animals could be a danger. People weren't quite like vicious wolves, but he needed to be decisive with his attacks like he was facing them. There were of course other flaws in his movements that he found, but those would be refined out by practice naturally, slightly faster for having noticed them.

Repeating Tonina's movements in his mind was merely for the sake of practice. He had missed some of the intent behind her actions, slight feints to push him off balance. While she was an arrogant brat, she clearly had good teachers.

While he could circulate his energy as much as he wanted, Anton felt that Spirit Building especially required him to get practical experience. It didn't just have to be combat though. Intuition wasn't just about combat. That was just what all cultivation ended up leaning into. Predicting how people would respond to things in any situation could be useful in all sorts of situations. It wasn't as if he would be able to read their minds… but then again, it was hard to fathom how it would develop towards the peak of cultivation. Anton certainly didn't feel comfortable saying anything in particular was impossible. Just out of his reach for the moment. There was so much more growth he needed to achieve… and he couldn't stop. He had too many things he had to do. If he accomplished them all he would just have to find more. The world wasn't going to run out of problems on its own.

Chapter 57

It was hard to figure out why Anton wasn't dead. Hoyt didn't think he was a frail old man, but when he responded to both excitement and depression with more work it was hard to figure out when the man ever stopped. Perhaps that was the trick. Maybe he was cursed. Unable to stop… forever. That had to be it. Because otherwise Hoyt would have to admit that sparring with an old man two-on-one tired him out. If he kept going, he didn't think he could move for a week.

Technically they would have beaten him with the two of them together. Probably. What happened in an actual battle couldn't be predicted with certainty. It was possible Anton would put a hole through either him or Catarina before they could take a step forward, but once they were up close they were able to grind him down. But… that was the limit of what they could do. They could never land a solid strike, as if he could predict every move they made. Since they'd sparred with each other an exactly equivalent amount of times- it was literally impossible for that to not be true- Hoyt wondered how he did it. Except, of course, the answer was plain. Spirit Building. Anton was traveling down the path of Intuition for the moment, as the eleventh star. Hoyt wasn't sure if the results were supposed to be so immediate, but then again Anton was always good at reading movements. He'd even trained a technique for it at some point. Written by that crazy Archer elder, if Hoyt remembered correctly.

But while two people could match Anton for a while, it was absolutely certain that just one of them would die quickly. A significantly more well trained and talented lower tier cultivator could potentially fight one at a higher level and win, but that's where the qualifiers came in. The lower tier cultivator had to be better than the higher tier one. Anton had a good foot into Spirit Building and was absolutely not worse than either of the other two. The only real chance they had to win was if Catarina set up a formation ahead of time, but it was possible for Anton to just break through it if they were careless. Plus, they would have to remain in one area- which just meant he could just shoot them from a distance.

Hoyt shook his head. It was crazy that Anton had started cultivating at a hundred, and now a year later he was in Spirit Building. However, Hoyt couldn't complain. The man worked hard… and he wasn't selfish with his insights. The elders at the Order weren't secretive either, but there was a big difference between personalized advice and what was said to a roomful at a time. With the month Anton had been crazily training for the rematch, Hoyt and Catarina hadn't been idle. They had nearly reached the eighth star, and after the training started Anton had pushed them past that. They were rapidly approaching the ninth star and wouldn't be too much longer to reach the tenth. It might still be a month each, but that was quite rapid. And while Anton had pulled ahead, once they reached Spirit Building they wouldn't be too far behind. A couple months wasn't so bad in the cultivation world. It was just relevant in the early stages especially where geniuses were involved, and at points like the threshold of a new stage. Hoyt wasn't sure if he could consider himself a genius, but he wasn't so humble as to say he lacked talent. But if anyone deserved the title, it was probably Anton. Even if a young genius might be faster growing… so what? It wouldn't be by much.

Hoyt picked himself up out of the dirt. They were traveling along to the north of Ofrurg. There were mines with more slaves from Dungannon there. It was hard to believe just how many slaves the country had, but Hoyt had the perspective of growing up in a decent country instead of a trash pile. A trash pile with fancy cities and strong cultivators, but that was all it was with the way people were allowed to be treated.

"This was a good decision," Hoyt said.

"Oh?" Anton raised an eyebrow. "You want to continue, then?"

Hoyt held up his hands. "I meant coming with you. I doubt I'd train more efficiently at the Order, and we can actually do some good for the world. At least a little…" Hoyt shook his head.

"A little bit now, a bit more later…" Anton shrugged, "And maybe a whole heap in the future. I've got big ambitions."

"I heard of ambitious people before. Usually people mean they're clawing for power."

"Am I not?" Anton asked.

"Well…" Hoyt shrugged, "You're not stepping on everyone along the way. So I prefer your method."

"I'll need good backup," Anton said. "Lots of it. It's purely self-serving."

"Really?" Hoyt said. "If I said I was leaving tomorrow, would you keep training me?"

"How would I do that if you left?" Anton asked.

Hoyt laughed, "Good point. But I might have somewhere I need to go, in the future."

"Just bring me along, then. As long as I'm not in the middle of something critical…" Anton looked down the road. "It's already been a year. Another year and I'll hopefully have done everything I can here. There might be a few difficult points, especially with Annelie.. But I'm not going to be doing just this forever. Especially once there are no more slaves at all."

"At all?" Hoyt raised an eyebrow, "Ambitious. Maybe don't let the wrong people around here hear you."

"Bah. I'm just an old man," Anton shook his head. "Nobody will take me seriously. Though I wasn't planning to announce it in the cities. Not until at least Constellation Formation. What do you think, two years? Three?"

"Even the best take five."

Anton nodded. "I guess I could settle for four, then, but I'm not made of time."

Hoyt could tell that response was half a joke. The other half was the supreme confidence that he would reach Constellation Formation. And while five more years was about a quarter of Hoyt's life, it was basically nothing for cultivators who could increase their lifespans by decades in each stage. Even ten years would be considered quite fast from Spirit Building to Constellation Formation. He had to be there to see it with his own eyes. How long would it actually take?

The young woman who traveled with them, Catarina, was an oddity. Pete was aware that women could be cultivators. That wasn't the weird part. It was just… her. Whenever they stopped, she would fiddle with things. He had to ask, but he couldn't dive straight into it. "Excuse me. You are… Anton's granddaughter, right?"

"Yes," Catarina replied curtly, not turning to look at him. She was adjusting sticks and piles of leaves.

"I never saw you in Dungannon, that I recall."

"I wasn't," Catarina stated. "Technically, I'm his… great-great granddaughter."

"Oh." Pete wasn't sure how to respond to that. It made more sense, of course. "You have a lot of cultivators in the family?"

Catarina shook her head. "I was the first." She paused to think for a second. "That's a strange thought. I didn't have reason to… wholeheartedly throw myself into it. I lived out west."

"But… there's also Anton and…" Pete wasn't sure if he should bring up Devon, considering the circumstances.

"Grandpa Anton didn't begin cultivating until after… the incident. I met him after that." Catarina picked up a small rock, placing it carefully, then she picked it back up and threw it away. "That one doesn't help."

"Why doesn't it help?" Pete asked.

"It had negligible effect on the flow of energy. I thought it did, but it was just a random fluctuation."

"Oh." Pete thought for a moment, "Anton… he's really only been cultivating for a year? I saw the match. Well, I was there watching. I can't claim to have really seen anything that happened. It was so fast."

"Yes. Absolutely. My grandfather is very talented. Determined." Catarina pointed. "Move that one."

"This stick?" Pete said. "Like this?"

"Yes." Catarina thought for a moment. "You got it just right."

"Well, you talked about the flow of energy, so I just…" Pete waved his hands.

"Yes. Good. You will help with formations," Catarina stated. "We will gather energy… right here." Catarina moved to stand in a spot. "But not too directly. We don't want to crush whoever is here."

"I get it. Kind of a spiral, right?" Pete looked around them. "A formation, you call it? It's almost like magic. Though I thought all cultivation was magic two months ago."

"It's not magic," Catarina said. "But it's not not magic. As much as magic exists, this can be it. Now, that one."

Pete couldn't say he fully understood what was happening. She seemed to just assume he would understand. When he didn't, she just corrected him without getting angry. He did his best to change the flow of energy in the area. It was hard to describe exactly how it worked, but the physical arrangement of objects was more than it appeared to be on the surface. Pete wasn't sure if he actually made the whole process slower with his presence, but he knew it was something useful. Even if he couldn't do much now, if he could actually help in the future he might be able to start paying back Anton just a little bit.

Chapter 58

The area around Sarton had a number of mines, and in keeping with that many slaves working in the mines. From what information the group had gathered, there were also more valuable sorts of mines worked by cultivators. Stones containing natural energy and high yield metals. Those were generally worked by free laborers, since it required a certain amount of cultivation to work those mines safely. Keeping sufficient numbers of stronger cultivators on guards wasn't profitable after a certain point. But the more mundane mines make liberal use of slaves, and some of those had connections to Dungannon. There were also some who had been sold to energy stone mines. Anton was concerned about their safety. It was a small mine with low yield, but using slaves meant they had a low life expectancy in such a place. Lower than normal, even. But it wasn't possible to know for sure the status of everyone until they went to look.

From Khonard to Sarton was a safer journey than the route that had been taken from Veron to Khonard. It was well traveled and generally considered safe for cultivators, at least on the road. With that being the case, work as guards along the way didn't pay nearly so well and Anton and the others opted to travel alone for greater speed. Pete and the others from Dungannon had all completed the first star with some proper guidance. They were also healthy, young men- so they could keep up a quick enough pace. Anton found they were faster than he was at early stars, at least.

A good portion of the journey was through the Mossythorn Timberlands, a stretch of forest that surrounded many towns and villages along the way. Out of precaution, Anton continuously scanned the horizon around them. In addition to looking for enemies, it also let him take in the sights of the nature around them. It was nice to be in gentle terrain where there was very little danger.

Anton paid special attention to the people they passed. Some of them were travelers going the other direction. Merchants or cultivators or a bit of both, for the most part. However, he was more interested in the regular people. The farmer out in his fields, the woodcutter tending to his lot, bakers and tanners, tailors and innkeepers. People going about their normal lives in peace. One of those had been him not all that long ago, yet it seemed strangely foreign. He'd worked the fields of the Order and even the Riley farm. The people were so… calm. As if they were safe. It was especially strange in Ofrurg, where people were sold into slavery. Just not arbitrarily where it involved their own citizens. An internally sustainable sort of peace, but tenuous. If the cultivators on Ofrurg decided they no longer wished to follow those rules, they could. Unlike Graotan, they already showed lack of value for human life.

Even the Order wasn't expansive enough to fully protect Graotan. Was anywhere truly safe? Even cultivators could face stronger cultivators. Anton shook his head. These were just depressing thoughts. Even if no cultivators existed, nothing would be truly safe. Those in power would declare wars and convince enough others that they must be gone along with that everyone had to capitulate- or fight them. Conflict and danger were parts of humanity… but perhaps it shouldn't be that way.

Even so, the citizens of Ofrurg were safe enough. Even as the foolish thought crossed Anton's mind to take revenge on them for profiting from a system that had harmed him… that wasn't what he really wanted. The people along the way probably didn't even really have a choice. Anton was successful enough he could have moved to another part of the country- or a different country entirely- but relocation was quite difficult for common folk. It was only attempted by the desperate. But with all his dissatisfaction with the world, Anton doubted he could solve any of the problems he had. If he could… it wouldn't be yet. While his thoughts were on a negative streak lately, the majority of his life he had been positive. It had been enough to just… live.

"He's lost in thought again…" Hoyt whispered to Catarina.

"Yeah. Whenever he gets like that, he won't say anything for hours."

Anton laughed, "I can still hear you, you know. Just thinking about changing the world."

"Completely lost in thought," Hoyt nodded. "Spouting nonsense."

"You think I can't?" Anton leaned towards him.

Hoyt held up his hands, "I didn't say that. We just have to take things one at a time. Not all of us are in Spirit Building already."

"Won't be too long," Anton said.

It was indeed quiet for a time as they traveled along the road before Anton stopped at the top of a rise. He was looking straight ahead, into the forest instead of down where the road diverged from its course in front of them.

Catarina stood next to him and looked as well. "Is there a problem? Danger?" She squinted, "Every time I improve my eyesight, you go a step further. I don't see anything."

"Trails on the ground," Anton pointed. "Far off the road. It shouldn't be a danger to us."

"... buuut?" Hoyt asked. "You don't seem to be done with just that statement."

Anton shook his head. "A recent battle. Not a lot of blood, but the area's damaged. Someone was dragged away. Like I said, it's far enough from the road it shouldn't be a problem."

It was a few moments of silence before Pete stepped forward and prodded him. "If you want to try to rescue someone, we don't mind. Nothing says you can only help those you know."

"I don't like unknown dangers," Anton said, "But, we can at least check it out. By we, I mean the three of us." Anton pointed, "The five of you stay by the road. The current disparity between our cultivations is too great. We can't protect you, and if we have to flee… I'd rather not leave you behind."

"Ah, I hate to admit it… but I understand," Pete nodded. "Don't take too long."

"It's just a kilometer or two off road. We should be back in an hour, one way or another."

Anton, Catarina, and Hoyt moved through the forest at a quick pace. They weren't quite running, but they were going faster than the running pace of any non-cultivator. It wasn't quite as elegant as Vincent's movement, but then again Anton hadn't seen him concerned about speed.

Soon enough they came to the area Anton had spotted. From up close, it was clear enough to anyone that something had happened. There was torn up soil everywhere and scar marks on trees, along with a lingering sense of energy. In addition to that, sticks and plant pieces were strewn about as foliage got damaged during the battle. Others might not be able to pick out the small trail of blood and the drag marks, though the heavy footprints in the area stood out like a sore thumb.

"What is it?" Hoyt asked, looking down at them. "Some sort of claw. A bear?"

Anton shook his head, "It's big enough for that, but it matches a wolf. Four toes instead of five. Magical beasts, maybe. The forest here seems dense enough with natural energy. But whatever they fought… shouldn't be dead. There's not nearly enough blood, and even if they devoured it there would be signs." Anton held his finger up to a scar on the tree, "And this is clearly a fresh cut by a blade. So it should be a person. I wasn't entirely sure from afar."

Anton led the way, though the others were only a few steps to either side. Enough to give each other room to fight, if it became necessary. There were several sets of wolf tracks, along with the one dragging the body. There were continued drops of blood… strangely little, for what one would expect of someone mauled by a pack of wolves. The three followed the trail until they spotted a cave. However, instead of approaching immediately they circled around to a relatively hidden location and watched.

"Dark inside," Hoyt commented quietly. "But I can feel the energy. It's not too powerful, but… multiple sources, I think. It's not just a magical beast leading a pack."

"That's right," Anton said. "But something still seems off. The cave is too open, even for large wolves… and though they have excellent night vision it's too dark before it turns that corner. They definitely went in there, though." Anton stepped slightly closer to the trail, still away from the cave entrance. "What's this?" He picked up a small piece of greyish-brown moss. It had been elsewhere along the trail, and at the battle location. As he held it up to inspect… it suddenly jumped.

Sudden movement from moss- or any movement for that matter- was quite a surprise for Anton. Tiny hooks appeared on the edges of the moss as he dodged out of the way, and he felt them stick into his energy. He flung the bits of moss away from himself, unsure if it could do any more. A moment later, other moss along the trail began popping up, not exactly directed in its motion. That triggered more and more of it until it reached the cave and went inside. In return, out of the cave came a large wolf with bright yellow eyes. However, it moved strangely, and its fur was coated in large clusters of the moss. A small amount of blood on its fur indicated it had been involved in the battle… and it seemed quite interested in fighting another one. Its howl was harsh and ragged, but more echoed it from in the cave and around the area.

Chapter 59

Wolves again. Anton was quite familiar how to deal with wolves, though he mainly avoided them when hunting. But on occasion he had to deal with those who roamed out of the forest, and then there was The Hunt at the Order. A single spirit arrow nocked in his bow then quickly released. The beast couldn't even dodge as the arrow flew straight and true into its eye, and into its brain. A simple act to defeat an enemy. Anton had expected it to be harder… but he had also expected the creature to die.

When the wolf started rushing towards him after suffering the blow, he knew things weren't quite as they should be. He thought he'd misjudged his attack. Perhaps it had only looked like it penetrated deep into the eye but was actually absorbed into the beast. Some magical beasts had such high bodily defenses. But he could clearly make out the hole- despite the trickle of blood. A trickle that was perhaps too small in quantity for the amount of damage. Anton could also make out some of the same moss from the fur inside the creature. "Careful! They're not normal beasts!" The chance that the other two actually needed him to say that were slim. Unless they had looked away… "They won't die so easily, but nothing's immortal! Keep an eye out for those others!"

Even as he was talking Anton had readied and fired another arrow, straight into the other eye. With the wolf moving it was a bit harder to hit with pinpoint accuracy. Predicting its movements was… strange. His training with insight was completely failing him, though the creature wasn't quick. His arrow still grazed the eye, enough to make it unusable but not to penetrate deep into its body.

Anton pulled his neck out of the way of biting teeth as the creature pounced towards him. It turned more or less directly towards him, but as it swiped at him with its claws he noticed its range wasn't perfect. Sometimes he actually had to dodge, and sometimes it just missed. So despite not dying properly, it did seem to need its eyes.

Fighting in melee range with a bow was extremely taxing. He didn't have time to properly line up a shot, and the swiping claws threatened to strike his bow. Anton didn't think that it would break to even a quite oversized and strange wolf, but it wasn't optimal to fight that way either. A few arrows deep into its chest didn't seem to faze it, so he decided his smaller axes would do better instead. If nothing else, he could dismember it. A quick glance told him that worked quite well.

Catarina was fighting a wolf that had approached from one side of them. She danced around it with ease, stabbing her sword into its side several times. While she drew blood, it didn't seem sufficiently damaging for a creature of that size. She had hopes that its other internal organs might be more important to it than its brain- perhaps an abnormal wish, but it was an abnormal creature.

It wasn't hard to tell that the moss was one of the strange parts about it. It radiated an abnormal energy- and any amount at all was abnormal for moss. So was growing on a creature. A quick slice of her sword along a patch and she found it was surprisingly resistant to attack… and also quite vulnerable. Her own energy was sufficient to cut through the defenses of a patch of moss, after which the whole thing exploded.

Spores flew everywhere. No, they burst out with great speed… but they flew towards her. Her energy defenses stopped anything from touching her directly, but the spores latched onto the outside of her energy. Catarina was quick to push it away, letting part of her energy go with it. She didn't want to find out if it could harm her without touching her directly. Maybe the spores were why grandpa Anton hadn't attacked the moss. Or perhaps he hadn't felt the flow of energy from the moss. He wasn't actually perfect, after all.

As for the damage to the wolf… it actually bled profusely from where the patch of moss had been moments earlier. Now she had a target… but its movements also changed to try to protect the moss. It wasn't dodging, but instead it became more aggressive. Attacking recklessly would normally be a suicidal move, but it forced Catarina to dodge its attacks instead of making her own. That made sense, because the creature wasn't particularly fast. Even so, it took some effort to find an opening…

Hoyt ran off to the right of the cave entrance, where he spotted two wolves were approaching. One was much closer than the other, so he moved to meet it head on. He'd rather not fight two on one. The wolf also seemed happy to rush towards him. As they were only a short distance apart, Hoyt solidified his stance as he swung his axe, right into the ribcage of the creature. His axe sank the full length of the blade, driving into the creature's heart. Hoyt had seen what Anton's arrows piercing into its brain did- practically nothing- but he was still a bit disconcerted when it twisted, biting and clawing at him as if it wasn't twisting its sliced ribs around.

With all the strength he could muster, Hoyt kicked the creature's ribs, pushing it further and yanking his axe out at the same time. A moment later the creature had rolled to its feet, and while it seemed slightly unsteady with some of its structural support sliced apart it was a far cry from dead. As it charged back towards him Hoyt aimed for a different target. Tactics involving striking opponent's limbs were rarely optimal. If Hoyt had the opening to cut off someone's arm, couldn't he cut off their head? He looked at the creature's neck. In this case… he could not.

But even though he couldn't take off the head, Hoyt found an opportunity to take a swing at a front shoulder. The leg was probably ten centimeters thick, going up to twenty just below the shoulder. That was already a bit much for the size of his axe- it wasn't crazily oversized but rather practical in terms of weight and size. It was sufficient for most things… and for the rest, his energy could make up for it. Slight extensions of energy on either side, and as he leaned around an attack he took the swing. Hard bone and thick, sinewy muscle slowed his swing, but he cut straight through the limb. He might have expected the creature to die of shock or topple over from pain, but instead it merely continued to try to attack him. However, while it might not really care about the loss of a leg, it still needed it for support. It couldn't swipe at him with its other paw, so it was limited to biting.

Quite by accident while looking for another opening, Hoyt had moved away from the fallen limb. Even though he knew the thing was strange, he thought it wouldn't do anything… but it continued to flop around wildly. More than just random twitching, though not really more effective. Whatever these things were, it seemed he couldn't make any assumptions.

As Hoyt was taking small swings at the creature's leg while avoiding its extremely long teeth, he circled around its side. He thought to perhaps go for a rear leg instead, as the head was being extremely annoying. However, before he could find the chance a section of moss on the creature shot out towards him. His energy defenses stopped it, but it latched on. Ah. He'd learned about things like this. In a way, it wasn't dissimilar to the northern creeper but much more aggressive. Though what he thought he knew about it didn't actually make a difference, because 'chop it to bits and don't get spored' was already sufficient.

Circling around the creature wasn't too hard as long as he was ready for the spores, and he didn't have to waste any more energy with that. Then with one hind leg gone, the wolf was entirely unbalanced. Just in time for the second one to reach him.

Cutting all the way through a wolf's leg was a bit much for Anton and his more moderately sized handaxe. He had quite a bit of strength, but he didn't have the weight a bigger weapon would add. Then again, he hadn't really tested his maximum force. Anton had a better idea, however. Even if he could accomplish the same thing as Hoyt, he would prefer a bit more efficiency.

The creatures didn't seem to care about their bodies much, but they were still after all using them. No matter what sort of force was controlling them, they had to have a certain structure. If Anton recalled correctly, the tendon on the leg should be just… there.

If he wanted to exaggerate his prowess, he might have left out the part where he was in Spirit Tempering and fighting a blind wolf, but he sliced right through a tendon, then one on the other front leg. He considered chopping at the other legs, but instead he pulled back. Somehow the creature managed to limp along even with the damage. There was a bit of pulsing energy inside it… but it was even more awkward than before. Since they were already going to have to deal with the spores anyway… he backed up and took a shot. One arrow into each of three patches of moss he could see. They exploded just like he saw with Catarina, but he wasn't close enough for them to seek him out. In fact, they seemed to go straight back along the path of the arrow even as he curved them around to hit the sides. It made sense, following energy. With the moss dying, the wolf eventually stopped moving.

Anton looked to see if the others needed a hand, and then to see if there were more. Not close, at least, though he thought he'd heard more than four howls total. If they were quick, they might leave before more came. However, there was still the matter of the person they had dragged off. He didn't imagine things had gone well for them, but at least they might be buried with dignity.

Chapter 60

Forming a makeshift torch and lighting it up wasn't difficult. It was doubtful if it would be able to burn away any of the strange moss, especially while fresh, but at least it would provide light. While any of the three cultivators could find their way around in the dark well enough by sensing the walls, they couldn't actually see in the dark. Hidden dangers might still lurk unsensed. Especially of concern was more of the strange moss, despite the energy it gave off.

The good news was that the cave did not stretch back very far beyond the initial bend. The bad news was the rest of it was covered in the strange moss, and more than just the walls of the cave there were a few figures. One human and several small wolves- perhaps almost normal sized, but their proportions indicated they were pups. Details were harder to make out under the cover of the moss, but they still felt… alive. More than the other wolves had been, at least.

Catarina grimaced. "I don't know if we can save them… but we need to destroy this moss no matter what. Growing on and into things like this…"

"I have no disagreements," Hoyt said, "But practically, it's difficult. There are already so many spores outside, we'd have to burn down the whole forest basically."

"Hmm," Anton intoned while he thought. "Is that correct, though? Look here. The moss only starts where the sunlight would never hit. It might not survive sunlight without… inhabiting an animal."

"It's not windy," Catarina said. "The spores won't have gone far, in either case. I can… destroy it."

"Should I go get the others?" Hoyt said. "Or at least tell them what's happening?"

Catarina nodded. "Pete can help. But first, we should check each other. It… sticks to energy." After looking over each other and their equipment, they found no remaining traces of spores. Even so, they took ten minutes to let Catarina set up a first, smaller formation. They could see what it did to patches of the moss on the corpses of one wolf, shriveling it away into a grey powder in a single minute. Any spores they had on them while they stood in the area would have suffered the same fate. "Targeted destruction of immobile foes is… simple." It actually wasn't faster than attempting to burn each bit, though there were less side effects and they could be certain they encompassed the whole area.

"I'll be off to get the others, then," Hoyt said. "I'll stick to the same path."

"I'll come with you part of the way," Anton said. "To watch for some older spores. Catarina, I presume you can handle yourself here?"

She nodded. "I'll start on the cave. Maybe… we can save something."

It wasn't possible for the group to go everywhere the wolves had been and might have spread the spores, but as far as they could tell any that brushed off onto the ground were inactive. If the origin of the moss was the cave they had found, then they could eradicate it. If not… they couldn't be responsible for a whole forest in a country they weren't even allies with. They still planned to leave a report in the next cities they passed through, warning people of the dangerous moss.

Carving runes into the wall of the cave was difficult work, even with energy. They had to be precise enough to affect the flow of energy, and the more important part was that they had to affect beyond themselves. Catarina certainly wasn't willing to touch the moss to rearrange or carve anything beyond the start of the moss, and Pete was much more vulnerable than her. They had to inch along piece by piece, the formation destroying patches of the moss as they went along.

Hoyt and Anton contributed much of the energy the formation needed to do so. It was possible that the amount of destruction was unnecessary, but nobody wanted to leave the job half done. If they did, it would merely grow back… and they didn't like thinking about it.

In the end, it took several hours to uncover the figures at the back. Several of the pups died immediately- the moss had grown too deeply inside of them for them to survive its removal. In a way, they were already dead before that. One pup still had a heartbeat afterwards, and the cultivator- a young man- also remained alive as the moss growing on, in, and around him decayed under the power of the formation. He started to bleed profusely, but that was something cultivators were more set up to handle. Coagulants were something they might need after a battle, and though they weren't dealing with neat cuts some poultices at least stopped the bleeding. That said, there were also several day-old wounds from the wolves.

If the young man was able to regain consciousness, he should be able to kickstart the recovery process of his own body. From Anton's assessment he would have nasty scars- and one arm might be crippled. The moss had grown deep enough into it that it was not quite everything it should be without it. Even so, it was better than death- and much better than becoming a half-alive thing seemingly under control of the moss.

Anton noticed Catarina spent more time helping the living pup than the cultivator, but he couldn't blame her. Despite its size, it was a rather cute animal. He hadn't had need for herding dogs on the farm, since they focused more on crops than livestocks, but he could appreciate a good animal. He also knew when they were probably beyond help. However, that was taking into account his mundane knowledge.

The pup's breathing was ragged and weak, its body torn and wrecked… but Catarina began shaving its fur. Anton wouldn't believe anything from her was random patterns. As always, it was a formation. "What are you doing?"

"I don't know." Catarina said, "Something." She bit her lip. For not knowing, her movements were quite confident. Anton let her concentrate. He didn't feel any flow of energy from the formation even when she finished… until she injected her own energy into it. Then he felt it. Catarina's energy flowed through the formation in a certain pattern. Though the shape of the wolf pup was quite different from that of a human, it would be rather dense of Anton to not recognize the circulation of energy through meridians. It was just that some of them were outside the pup, and it wasn't using the creature's own energy. Not that it likely had any. Even if it had the lineage of a magical beast, it was too young to have had much growth in that regard.

It was honestly unclear if the circulation of energy was doing anything for the pup. Perhaps its ragged breathing calmed slightly. Maybe its lungs were just giving out. Even so, Catarina continued the process. Anton wasn't going to stop her. Compassion was an admirable trait, and if it died regardless, then there was nothing to be done. He wasn't going to disparage an attempt to help.

The group stayed for the night in the cave- more towards the entrance than in the back with the dead-grey piles that had once been a terrible moss. Anton arranged to take watch for the first half of the night, with Hoyt taking the latter. One night a couple hours short on sleep wouldn't be a problem, and they'd had sufficient time to recover their energy after the battles and supporting the formation to feel comfortable.

In the morning Anton awoke to the stirring feeling of unfamiliar energy. It was slow and methodical, not sudden… but it still startled him awake. Hoyt nodded to him, then inclined his head towards the cultivator they had rescued. He appeared to have survived the night, and was slowly cultivating. It was unclear if he had regained consciousness or not. Anton was aware he circulated a small amount of energy automatically, perhaps a bit more now that he was in Spirit Building.

On the other side Catarina was curled up next to the wolf pup. The creature had ragged and bloody patches as well as carved out bits of fur. It looked like a real mess… but it still lived. The formation Catarina had made still trickled just the slightest bit of her energy in a circuit throughout the beast.

Anton signalled to Hoyt to watch things while he went off to hunt. A few rabbits or small birds would do. He also surveyed the surrounding area carefully, seeing no other signs of the moss. Just the regular kind. It was quite visually different, and normal moss grew quite contentedly on trees instead of into animals.

When he returned, he found the cultivator and the others were fully awake. The young man inclined his head. He tried to clasp his hands together, but winced as his bad arm signalled to him its inability. "I was told that you were the one who spotted signs of my struggle from the road. Thank you for coming to my rescue. I am Lev. I have no family name, but I am a disciple of the Grasping Willows. We are located a few days from here. I came on a mission to verify the sightings of strange beasts and… well." He shrugged- which clearly also hurt. "I think I found them. I have little to give you as a reward, but I should at least be able to give you the pay for my mission. I will request more from the sect, but I cannot guarantee anything."

Anton looked at Catarina and Hoyt. They seemed pleased enough with him. Not that he planned to deny the man common courtesy regardless. "If it is not too far as you say, we would be glad to escort you there. We were heading to the northeast…"

"How fortunate indeed," Lev said. "The Grasping Willows are along the road in that direction, though off a side road some ways."

"I'm not sure if it's fortune with only really two ways along the road," Anton said, "But it was fortunate that we found you less than two days after the attack. It could have easily been just a bit longer."

"And then we wouldn't be having this conversation. So I am quite grateful for your eyes, and your willingness to help someone you hadn't even seen," Lev inclined his head once more.

Anton was also quite pleased with how things had turned out. At least the young man seemed decent enough, though of course how could he act differently when surrounded by those he didn't know? Then again, Anton had encountered the truly arrogant type. Having good relations with a disciple of a local sect should be of benefit to them- and if he was truly a decent person, even better.

Chapter 61

Though he had been extremely polite about it, it was obvious that Lev needed the escort back to the Grasping Willows. Even with the support of his energy he walked quite unsteadily. It wasn't possible for cultivators to fully heal in a day, especially not without any miraculous medicines. Anton was quite willing to share what he had, but it wasn't exactly suited for the precise purpose of regrowing bits that had been replaced by parasitic mold.

It wasn't clear if Lev's right arm would ever work again, and everyone silently agreed not to bring it up as they traveled. It wasn't a long journey, but no day or meal was lacking in Lev's expressions of thanks.

"I don't know how I can ever repay you all," Lev said. "You saved my life."

"I'd quite like to say, 'don't worry about it', but I do believe we could use whatever reward you could scrounge up." Anton sighed slightly and looked wistfully off into the distance, "We experienced some difficulties that ended up with finances lost for nothing. We still have need of more funds in the near future, possibly more than anticipated." Anton's eyes settled on Pete and the others briefly.

"I'm not rich, but I did promise that pay for my mission," Lev looked over the group. "You're traveling away from Khonard? I assume the trouble was there."

Anton grunted. "I made some miscalculations. Mishandled politics, overestimated myself."

"You don't sound like you're from Ofrurg, though. Did you bet on yourself in an arena match? At least you're alive."

"Something like that," Anton said.

"Hmm…" Lev thought for a few moments, "Elder Varela has some sway with people there. I don't know if I'm worth enough to get him to try to cancel debts, but if you need more time…"

"That's not quite the problem," Anton said. "No need to burden yourself with it."

"You saved my life though." Lev continued to look over the group, "Is it someone you know? Enslaved and fighting?" Anton's expression told him enough. "I'm sorry to hear that. If you failed to just buy them, they have to be a cultivator, right? That's harder to deal with. I can at least ask, though."

"I doubt he will be let free," Anton said.

"Well, no." Lev shook his head, "Elder Varela doesn't have actual authority there. But he knows some people, and he's mid Spirit Building which gives him more weight there. I'm honestly surprised someone would compete with you over a slave. People can't really control slaves at Spirit Building, so their upper end value in an arena…" Lev shook his head, "I wouldn't have expected anyone to be willing to make an enemy of a Spirit Building cultivator over a single person."

"He wasn't, when it started," Hoyt explained. "Though that woman might have tried something regardless."

"Oh. It was some time ago, then?" Lev asked.

"Two months. Just a bit less actually," Hoyt said.

"A recent breakthrough?" Lev once again twitched as his right arm didn't move how he wanted, so he merely bowed his head. "Congratulations. I know it doesn't make up for a friend in danger, but it is still worthy of celebration."

"I have not often been in the mood to celebrate as of late," Anton said.

"I understand. So this… woman. She is backed by one of the powerful clans?"

"There's an understanding not to speak of it," Anton said.

"Hmm. Someone young then? Who thought they might actually lose to you..." Lev frowned.

"She did lose," Catarina said. "Then she threw a tantrum." Anton's eyes sharpened as he looked at Catarina. "Sorry."

"Ah… I believe I've seen her," Lev said. "I promise not to speak of it. Except the part where you have a friend you would like to survive. Ah! There's our road." Lev smiled, "Soon we'll be able to see the sect." He pulled out his sword with his left hand, "The road's a bit unkempt, so…"

"Beasts?" Anton asked.

"No no, nothing like that." Lev's eyes moved back and forth across the road before stopping. There was about a minute of silent walking before he suddenly swung his sword at the air in front of him, slicing through the hanging branches of a nearby tree.

"Should you be damaging the namesake of your sect like that?" Hoyt asked. "Those droopy vine-like trees are willows, right?"

"The Grasping Willow, even," Lev nodded. "And we like visitors to reach our grounds. So we chop."

"I see," said Anton, looking deeper into the woods away from the road. "It quite makes sense. Not many birds here."

"The smart ones stay away!" Lev said, "And the ones like that pigeon-" he pointed with his blade. The pigeon flew towards the branch of one of the willows, brushing against the dangling branches. As it did so, the branch suddenly curled up, sticking to the pigeon's wing and wrapping around its body. The bird flapped its wings and made a racket. "See? Sometimes they even get grounded wildlife. Careless wolves and deer and stuff.

"Eep!" Catarina said. "They eat wolves?" She shifted her weight back and forth as she walked. "How do they know?"

"These plants just eat… everything. Including people, if they're even more careless. We get some of our proper fighting style from ideas about them, and we also sort of just placed ourselves in the midst of them. Thus the name." Lev gestured, "You can break off the branch if you don't panic. But mostly the trees use anything that bumps into their branches."

"Oh. Fuzz is safe then."

"Who's Fuzz?" Hoyt asked.

"Probably that wolf conspicuously placed in her pack," Anton said.

Catarina smiled awkwardly, "Why would I- um," Catarina stuttered to defend herself.

"It's a serious responsibility. Not just raising an animal, but a wild beast," Anton cautioned her. "Cultivators have more ability to handle a bit of misbehavior, but make sure it doesn't harm others. If you're not sure if you can do what's necessary if things go wrong, it's best to rid yourself of it now." Anton shook his head, "But if you really want to try, you'd better study up on beast taming. If you even have any spare time."

"I have… a little," Catarina said. "I can do it."

"Fine," Anton said. "I trust you to be responsible about it. But I wanted to caution you."

The rest of the trip was uneventful. The willows were kept back further from the road close to the entrance of the sect. Lev waved to the guards at the gates as they approached. "Hello! I'm back!"

"Lev!" One of the guards said, "We thought you'd be back a day or two ago." The burly man looked over him from head to toe, "We'll have to talk about what happened. And the rest of these?"

"They rescued me," Lev said. "They're from…"

"The Order of Ninety-Nine Stars," Anton answered.

"I thought so," Lev nodded. "But I wasn't sure. I've heard good things about them. Though you probably hadn't heard of us."

"Well-"

Lev raised his 'good' arm. "Don't worry about it. We're a small sect. But I'd like to say we're one of the more upstanding ones in Ofrurg, though not the strongest." He looked to the guards, "Can we enter?"

"If you vouch for them. The elders will be eager to see you, thought you might want to first visit the healer."

Lev shook his head, "Don't think it'll change anything. At least it didn't reach my meridians."

"You'll have to tell me what 'it' is sometime."

"I bet you'll hear all about it," Lev said. "Some really nasty stuff over there."

They were waved through the gates. The guards still kept their eyes on the group as they walked around, but there wasn't much else to watch out for besides them.

As they walked through the Grasping Willows' territory, Anton found many similarities with the Order. The buildings were more practical than extravagant, despite cultivators generally being more prone to excess because they could afford it. Small fields were tended to by disciples of the sect- or at least cultivators with the same energy signature as Lev and the guards. From their demeanor and the fact that they were allowed to cultivate Anton found it unlikely for them to be slaves, though of course the workers ranged from people happily contented with their labor to those just doing it to get whatever rewards were offered.

"It's not far," Lev said. It was clear he was pushing himself somewhat, but this was their destination. "I'll get you settled into some guest accommodations. I'll report back about my mission, and get you that reward. Plus Elder Varela," Lev shook his head. "Well, I'm sure you all want a bit of a rest too."

Anton needed rest the least of any of them, but he didn't mind some time to sit and think. When he'd had enough thinking he began to cultivate. Lev was certainly genuine enough, and he felt no malice from any of the others in the sect. Feelings like that became more tangible after he'd begun cultivating, and Spirit Building especially opened him up to new gut feelings. He was cultivating Intuition, which was one of the stars that related to other people the most strongly, so he was confident in his assertions. If he happened to be extremely wrong, he would kill his way out with the others… and write off Ofrurg for good. Still, he held onto the hope that there were at least some decent cultivators in the country, not too taken in with themselves that they forgot the humanity of others.

His mind returned to Devon. He couldn't do anything to save him right now, but he would find the chance. One month was too short, but a few months… if Devon could hold out that long, Anton might be able to make the Potenza family reconsider. They would have already profited from him and if Anton could show he would continue growing stronger the family might choose to cut their losses- or rather, keep their profits. If they made the wrong choice, then he'd simply have to grow strong enough fast enough to save Devon anyway.

Then again, Devon might free himself somehow. Anton wouldn't bet on it- he was confident in his grandson's grit, but it would simply be harder to do from his side. Regardless, it was better to work on the problem from two sides rather than one. Anton wasn't going to let him down again. His eyes flashed as he breathed in smooth natural energy. It was still quite early to complete the eleventh star, but Anton had an internal race with Catarina and Hoyt. He wanted to see if he could get there before they completed both the ninth and tenth stars. He was well aware that higher tiers of cultivation weren't as quick, but he felt he could do at least that much. If not, at least he had a cultivation goal to aim for.

Chapter 62

It had to be admitted that having a good night's sleep in a secure location was much better for a full recovery than furtively watching for enemies while you rested in the middle of the forest. Anton could feel a clear difference in the quality and quantity of energy he was able to retain when he awoke. As always, the sun was barely in the sky.

The guest houses had a little courtyard with a nice willow of the non-grasping variety in the center providing atmosphere. Anton took the time to perform his morning exercises. Improvements to his body were very marginal since he completed the tenth star. The first seven stars of Spirit Building weren't targeted at the body at all, so he had to feel for himself what he could do to improve. In the past, he would have been more than content with his current body. It was noticeably better than when he was in his prime, at least in terms of what it could do… but he knew it wasn't the peak of what a cultivator could have. It was still a bit old as well. Like a building having recently undergone renovations. It wasn't the same as a strong new structure despite additional supports holding it together.

Training his insight was harder because it wasn't just the repetition of a task, moving his body or circulating his energy a certain way. The energy circulation only went so far. Even fighting a shadow-enemy didn't always help him improve. The problem was, he already knew what his imaginary opponent would do. No matter how he tried, he rarely managed to make it do something 'unexpected' that he could 'react' to. But that didn't mean he felt as if he were stuck. Anton could feel his insight improving merely from exposure to people. There was more impact in the context of fighting, but observing the way people moved outside of combat wasn't useless to him either.

Around the time Catarina and Hoyt awoke, Lev came to see them. He also looked somewhat more hearty, though his right arm was bound up in a proper cast and restrained to his chest. He'd decided to try to keep it, then. Good. Anton was worried it might have to be amputated. Then again, it might just be a hopeful gesture.

"Good morning to you all," Lev inclined his head. He held out a heavy pouch with one hand, "Here is the sum total of the reward we can offer. The price of my mission, but also additional rewards from the sect for my life, and the information on a more serious concern in the area.

Anton graciously accepted. It was a significant total. The sect clearly valued their disciple or the information… or both. Cultivators didn't have to be kind but inefficient or unwavering in 'logical' decision-making. "We were quite glad to provide our help."

Lev smiled, "I do appreciate being alive. And not infested by that horrid moss. I spoke to Elder Varela, he said that he would like to meet you before deciding if he should offer you support. I can take you whenever you're free."

"Of course. I'm quite free right now. He wishes to meet all of us or…?"

"He also wishes to meet fellow cultivators Hoyt and Catarina, but he was especially interested in you, Senior Anton." Anton smiled. At least he was actually in the next stage of cultivation compared to Lev and slightly deserved the title now. "Your… disciples? are free to explore this area of the sect if they wish."

"I shall let them know. Then we should not keep the Elder waiting."

The land of the Grasping Willows was quite pleasant, full of outdoor paths flanked by many trees between every building. It wasn't as practical as the Order's central complexes of buildings, though Anton was quite aware the Order had many natural areas available beyond the forest. There were small planters around the Order's buildings as well, but the Grasping Willows had a higher proportion of 'natural' surroundings.

Instead of being led into an office or a sitting room, Lev brought the trio along some paths surrounded by bamboo and ominously looming willows to a large pagoda next to a lake. Long snow-white hair and an equally long beard trailed down towards the knees of the figure standing there, watching the lake. He turned towards the group, the trails of his hair and beard swaying in the breeze. "So you are the ones who saved my favorite disciple." He laughed at Lev's reaction, "Oh come now, everybody knows people have favorites, and usually who those are. It's just old men like me who are confident enough to admit it."

Anton laughed, "It's supposed to be a secret though."

"Don't worry, we can have two or three and still keep some favorites secret," Elder Varela took stock of the group, spending the most time on Anton. "Lev told me you ran into trouble in Khonard. It's not uncommon. Too many people there, bound to be some bad ones. And they tend to spoil everyone around them." He blew a puff of air from his mouth, fluttering his moustache. "Too many sects with thought only for strength. Not that it was much different when I was young."

"I paid little attention to cultivators in my youth," Anton admitted. "A foolish mistake, but I think many others have too little care for the common folk."

"Everyone neglects certain aspects of the world. It is merely how much they fail to see the larger picture that changes." Elder Varela shifted to look out over the lake again, "I'd say I see maybe half of what there is to see."

Anton frowned slightly, "I feel like I might have to change my estimate down then, if you judge your own view of the world so."

"Perhaps. It's not something I can say. I might even be wrong about myself." He remained quiet for a few moments, "I had the chance to cultivate the Ninety-Nine Stars, you know? I know some of those who are now elders. We Grasping Willows are much smaller, but I felt more suited to this. Besides, something felt off, which I only learned about later. You're at Spirit Building, so you should know…" he glanced at Catarina and Hoyt.

"They either already know, or they could. They'll be at Spirit Building soon enough either way," Anton smiled at them, "I assume this is about the technique being incomplete?"

"It is," Elder Varela shook his head, which wiggled his hair and beard. "I know as someone who hasn't even gotten close to the peak it's a bit arrogant, but I'd rather practice a developing technique like the Grasping Willow has rather than something known to be incomplete. It's silly, right? At my current age, I don't even know if anyone can really step beyond that point. But something inside of me said it wasn't right for me. How about yourself?"

"I can't say I had exposure to many cultivation techniques. This was the first I had access to but it absolutely is the right path for me." Anton wanted to declare he was determined to reach the hundredth star, but it seemed a bit premature to announce to others. He would hold that in his heart for the moment.

Elder Varela remained in pleasant contemplation looking at the lake for a few minutes before he continued, "Young Lev said that you only recently broke through to Spirit Building."

"Yes. There was a conflict, so it was a bit rushed."

"I thought so. Something private. Lev wouldn't speak of it."

"I have reasons to keep the details private," Anton said. "But my grandson is currently enslaved to fight as a cultivator in an arena."

"A grandson. I suppose you lived apart?"

"No. I had not yet started cultivation at the time."

Elder Varela raised a very bushy eyebrow, "A late start? Interesting. It is quite rude to doubt the words of a guest, but I find it quite hard to believe. However, I'm quite a believer in coming to know one's opponent through combat. I would not force anything upon a savior of one of our disciples, but a spar can do some good for both of us, I might think. We have a training field with proper safeguards in place, though I'd like to think I have better control than to require that." Elder Varela's eye sparkled as he looked at Anton.

Since Elder Varela was in the middle of Spirit Building, there was no question that he could defeat Anton quickly if he showed no restraint. Anton was quite aware that he had some talent, but he didn't have enough experience comparing cultivators to make up for such a large difference. Elder Varela would be the equivalent of at least the seventeenth star while he was still at the tenth, though his exact level was hard to judge compared to the Ninety-Nine Stars. "I would not mind, as I am also certain I could learn something from the experience. If it has any chance to help Devon, even more so."

"We shall see," Elder Varela said. "I can promise to send word I would prefer your grandson remain in good health, but depending on what I might learn about you I may offer more." Catarina tugged on Anton's sleeve and whispered to him. "I might suggest learning techniques to speak to a single person, young formation expert. But we would not mind you inspecting the sparring field's formations." Catarina blushed, but that didn't change her resolve to check for traps of some sort.

Chapter 63

"Everything should be fine," Catarina declared from the arena that was surrounded by a ring of drooping trees. "The formation is in good shape." That was also her polite way of saying that it didn't have any strange functionality. Though Anton understood her concern, she needn't have bothered. Elder Varela was powerful enough to do whatever he wanted regardless. While the world had rotten apples like Tonina, Anton refused to believe that the world was so bad he would be killed for absolutely no reason. If it was, maybe he should just die. But he understood Catarina's concerns. Catarina might feel a bit overprotective here, but outside of friendly territory she was a great asset.

Elder Varela's droopy beard and long hair swayed in the wind as he stood across from Anton. "Here we begin a spar to know each other. Begin whenever you are ready."

With the difference between early Spirit Building- not even the first full star- and mid Spirit Building, Anton had no reason to hold back. It would simply be impolite. His hands rapidly moved, Spirit Arrow forming and flying as he did so. Elder Varela merely held his ground without taking a step. Then Anton's Spirit Arrow was swatted away- not by a hand, but by the old man's beard. A second arrow was already on the way, but it met the same fate.

Anton hadn't been sure what he expected, but it wasn't that. Even so, Anton could feel the way energy twined itself in and around the beard and hair Elder Varela had. It was clearly practiced, not an improvised technique to make fun of him. The length of each allowed for a long, flexible limb that could block attacks from any angle. Counting beard and hair, at least two at a time.

A flurry of arrows going at different speeds curved across the arena. They arrived in pairs and triplets, but all were deflected without even getting close to an actual hit. However, Anton began to pick up on the finer details of how things moved. Ten arrows, twenty, thirty, forty. One hundred. Elder Varela kept his feet firmly planted. Anton was forcing him into harder deflection angles, where his attacks would force Elder Varela to expend more of his own energy. One hundred and fifty. A cluster of four arrows flew in from different angles, all accelerating at the end of their movement. Elder Varela's hair flicked to deflect one from the rear. His beard split into two strands that batted away another two arrows. The fourth… he dodged. However, that was the first time Anton forced him to take a step. Another fifty arrows. Even being in early Spirit Building greatly increased Anton's ability to store and control energy. After two hundred shots, Elder Varela was no longer able to stand still and occasionally dodge. However, his energy was brimming and Anton's was two-thirds depleted.

"A fine display," Elder Varela said. "But how are you on the defensive?"

The man was quick, his energy propelling him towards Anton in mere moments. Anton fired several arrows as he moved, but they didn't find their mark. He held his bow in one hand and retrieved a handaxe. He might not be able to do anything to Elder Varela, but he at least wanted to defend himself. Elder Varela's beard was like a third arm reaching out to strike at Anton as the Elder finally made use of his hands. Anton treated it as fighting multiple opponents. He did his best to predict the moves which clearly had the energy held back to levels he could handle. He could handle them, indeed, but he still found himself getting struck in the shoulder or receiving a scrape along his cheek as he dodged, parried, and chopped with his axe. Then the Elder's hair got involved. It was a strange dance as Anton flipped about with as much agility as he could muster, avoiding the twisting and grasping hair as well as the striking hands and occasionally feet.

Then hair twisted around his arm, grabbing it. A palm struck his chest, shattering his defensive energy as he tried to pull away. Then it was over. His ribs were a bit sore like he'd let someone slap him, but that was all. Elder Varela held the smile he'd had throughout, "I must say, I learned quite a bit. How much closer did you get to the next step, hmm?"

Anton grinned in return, "I'm not far now, actually."

"Wonderful! I wish I could say the same for myself, but… I aged this way while a cultivator. I'm a few decades older than you, but I've cultivated most of my life. As for you… you started recently. Very recently."

"You could say that," Anton confirmed.

"I can send a confident message, then. It's almost a shame the Order won't throw their weight around. Too cautious, I think. But for the most part, they're a whole country away. For me, Khonard is just down the road. I'll gladly send a message to tell the Potenzas to be careful with Devon. Because I can guarantee they'll regret it if they don't."

"I appreciate your support," Anton said. "It wasn't my intention when I came here, but I will gladly accept."

"Maybe it should have been," Elder Varela said.

"What do you mean?" Anton asked.

"You're the type who relies too much on yourself. I see you have some trusted allies as well, but you still want to deal with problems within your group." Elder Varela looked between Anton and the others. "Does your Order know you're in Spirit Building?"

"I've been on the road… so not yet."

"When you return, you should push them to action. The Order of Ninety-Nine Stars is full of good intentions… and inaction. Too much concerned with the affairs of Graotan, and not enough with the world. I haven't heard of them crushing an evil sect in decades, which used to happen on the regular. So tell them to act." Elder Varela shrugged, "Or at least, ask why things are so. I can't claim to know the internal affairs of your sect better than you, but that's what I see." Elder Varela stroked his beard and turned away, "Now how to begin that letter… 'Remember that favour, Grigo?' No, that's awful. 'Greetings and warnings', not much better. 'How would you like to be on the right side of history?' Hmm, I like that one." Elder Varela chuckled to himself as he walked away.

"I think that went well," Lev came forward from where he had watched the spar. "I didn't get to see you fight when you saved me. You're… more than what I imagined."

Anton shrugged, "He went easy on me. Still quite a big gap to overcome. I should learn how to fight people multiple levels higher than me…"

Hoyt clapped Anton on the shoulder, "If anyone can do it, I'd say it's you. I like his advice about the Order, as well. The elders are mostly just sitting around maintaining the status quo. That's what happens without a sect head, I suppose."

"There's supposed to be a sect head?" Anton asked. "I hadn't heard about it. Can none of the elders agree on one?"

Hoyt shrugged, "Oh, they agreed. It's just the agreement was that none of them were qualified. That was… decades ago. The latest news about it, really. So it's quite natural to assume just the council of nine and ninety-nine were all there is."

"What qualifies someone to be sect head? Grand Elder Vandale is at the Ninety-Ninth Star. If he isn't qualified..." Anton puzzled over it.

"It's not just about being strongest. Though a certain level of cultivation is important, leadership ability, ambition, many things are considered." Hoyt shook his head, "The elders recognized their own shortcomings, but now it's likely they'll only consider the next generation."

"We'll have to keep our eyes open, then," Anton said. "Maybe someone like Vincent. Recruiting is important, but I understand that more is necessary. But we should be moving on soon." Anton waved to Catarina, Pete, and the others, "How was the spar? Did you learn anything?"

Pete came forward, "It was quite hard to follow. But I found myself inspired regardless. I hadn't imagined that level of power. The-" Pete bit his lip and furrowed his brow, "The bandit leader was strong, quick, but he only fought those not his equal."

"I learned a lot!" Catarina said, "The flow of energy from you and Elder Varela," Catarina's mind drifted away as she recalled it.

"And you, Hoyt?" Anton asked.

"I'm about ready to break through to the tenth star, actually. You think they'll allow us into some high energy density areas?"

"We can always ask," Anton said. "We don't need to occupy them long." Anton also replayed the spar in his mind. More than natural energy, the beginnings of Spirit Building felt more like he had to find the right state of mind. His mind was all over the place with worry sometimes, but constant training kept him focused. Constant progress was important. There was so much to do. Wrongs to right, mistakes to make up for. Anton honestly still didn't know if he was going too slow or too fast. All he knew was that he couldn't stop.

Chapter 64

The moment he'd had a chance to get away from the mining business and had another way to support his wife Oskar Tanzer had taken it. It was rough work, especially when people didn't care for your survival. Ironically as a slave Oskar almost felt more valued than he had working as a miner in Graotan. But he also felt more likely to die. It was only through hard work, some luck, and watching the backs of the others that he'd made it so far.

The mines weren't for iron or coal or anything of the sort. Not exactly gems, either, though the magic rocks they dug up had a certain sparkle to them. Energy stones, they said. The mines were well braced and solid. They even had a decent flow of air down below. Explosive dust didn't seem to be a problem. But the thing that might kill them was the very thing they were looking for.

Oskar felt it, when he first set foot in the mine. An itching on his skin he couldn't ignore. When he breathed it into his lungs it burned like tobacco. Unpleasant but somewhat addictive. Deeper into the mine, the feeling was stronger. It started pressing down like a heavy weight of water. Oskar knew it existed, but he didn't really know what it was until he put his hands on the first stone. It burned with energy, like picking up a hot coal. But it was the same sort of thing that filled the air.

This was something for cultivators. Though it burned in his hand, Oskar immediately coveted the stone. It had value. More than him, almost. Except for one thing. He was part of a new group. Two dozen new workers all at once. In the first week, half of them had broken, including two others from Dungannon. Some of those who were broken died, but the others weren't necessarily more lucky. They were sick and pale, faces twisted in silent agony. After a day they were taken away by the taskmasters to never return. Oskar wasn't sure if they survived and were made to do other work, or would just die.

He felt it himself. The crushing weight of the air, the way it burrowed into his skin and his lungs. It was a place with energy stones, and Oskar new cultivators used them. If they were the same, then the air… was full of energy. But what could he do with it?

Oskar had known he was going to break. He was just a bit slower to collapse than the others. He could barely breathe now even when he was out of the mines, eating or sleeping. It was trying to find its way inside. Once it did, he would die.

So he let it. Better to die quickly than slowly, he thought. He was deep in the mines when he let it in. He pulled it in through his lungs and let it pierce through his skin into his body. Somebody would have to carry him out. He hadn't thought of that, and as pain shot into his limbs he mutely apologized to them.

With each swing of his pick, the energy pierced deeper and deeper into him, like a million needles. His fatigued muscles continued to swing the pick, waiting for him to die. He wanted it to be quick, but when he let it inside it was so slow. It pierced into him like needles, but it was also like molasses flowing through his veins. Goopy, liquidy, and sticky. He pushed it around a little bit. He didn't really think about how, but it had a way it wanted to flow once he gave it momentum. So he let it.

Oskar barely managed to pull himself out of the mines at the end of the day. He knew he'd messed up. He hadn't died quickly, so he was going to be bedridden until they took him away to die. The looks of silent agony those who were broken had disturbed him. But even so, he quickly fell into a deep sleep.

When he awoke, it was before the sun. The mines didn't rely on day and night, so they did their best to eke out as much work as they could from each slave. It was time to wake up… and Oskar knew he wasn't broken. He felt almost… good. Strong. Like he'd gotten an extra day's rest, but there was no way that had happened.

Before even entering the mine, Oskar felt the energy inside him. It was there already, but much more comfortable than before. He felt it move around as he took each step and moved his body. He nudged it slightly, encouraging it. He wasn't sure if it was like poking a snake, but he wasn't dead yet.

It was the next day when he was certain something was odd. He'd allowed more energy deep in the mines into his body, and yet he wasn't dead. He also felt something as he passed the guards. He simply hadn't been able to comprehend it before, but they had much more energy inside of them. They were cultivators. The same type as those who had attacked Dungannon and taken him and his wife away. Oskar wasn't sure where she was. He couldn't do anything about it right now except not die, and hope he might see her again.

But… Oskar also understood that he might be a cultivator. And while it seemed to be helping him survive, he couldn't be found out. He needed to hide it, somehow. It wasn't really all that much compared to the deep mines, so he buried what he had inside of himself. It sunk into his muscles and bones, and every day when he left the mine he walked out empty.

Some of the others were struggling. Oskar understood. Their bodies weren't strong enough, and he knew the others didn't know how to handle the energy. They just withstood it.

The taskmasters and guards didn't follow them down into the mines. They just wanted to make sure there were a certain number of stones mined, and didn't care about anything else. One a day, even one the size of his pinky nail, was sufficient to keep them happy. One day, Oskar saw that one of the others hadn't found anything. Again. He might not survive that.

When the others weren't looking, Oskar dropped a stone in front of Ebbe. He was another from Dungannon, but they barely knew each other. Even so… he couldn't just leave him. The man already had whip marks from the day before. How was he even supposed to work?

Oskar had been lucky so far. He'd managed to bring an energy stone of some size regularly. He could feel them, so he knew where to dig and he put in the work. But he didn't have a second one, and Ebbe had needed it. So he felt the sting of the taskmaster's whips for the first time. It was painful, and he allowed himself to cry out in pain. They liked that, knowing it hurt. It was better not to let them know how much less it was than he thought it would be. His body resisted each blow, not fully but he could feel how it had changed.

The next day, Oskar worked next to Ebbe. Nobody would hear quiet words among the ringing of picks. "Ebbe. Can you feel the energy? Itching. Burning. Pressing down on you?"

Ebbe nodded. "I can. I don't know how much longer I can resist."

"I'm going to tell you something crazy," Oskar said. "Let it in."

Ebbe certainly looked at him like he was crazy. Oskar did his best to explain, including how he removed the leftover traces of energy. His back and shoulders burned as he continued to work, going at just the right pace to find what he needed without giving up too much. If he could have just one stone per day, he wouldn't get more. But if he stopped working at any point, he might get in trouble. Ebbe also worked next to him, though he slowed down as he let the energy in. That night, Ebbe walked out looking almost dead. He handed over a small energy stone and barely managed to eat before collapsing in his bed. But the next day, he felt better. Not quite rejuvenated, but the energy wasn't quite so oppressive

Oskar looked out for other opportunities. One came quite by accident, when there was a collapse. There hadn't been any major collapses so far, but Oskar had seen them before. He just happened to be looking over at the right time to fling himself over another worker he didn't know, pushing them both away from the collapsing rocks as much as he could. It wasn't a full collapse. They should be able to clear away the rubble, but that time wouldn't be spent mining. Unless they were lucky and found energy stones, Oskar knew what was coming. But that was okay. It let him talk to the man in secret. Bernhard, he found out. So it was that another joined their little group. Oskar wanted to do more than just make everyone self sufficient. They should work together. They might seem like they were competing for the energy stones, but that wasn't the case. There were enough for all of them to find… especially if they knew how to look. Oskar wondered why the cultivators weren't doing it, except for the difficulty. They should be stronger and faster than him. Then again, all they had to do was stand around all day and give them food while they received something of great value in return.

Chapter 65

The basic level of cultivation Oskar had managed to achieve allowed him and others to resist the oppressive energy down in the mines. It also empowered their bodies to be stronger and more enduring. At first it wasn't much, but along with coordinating the workers it soon allowed them to complete their work in a shorter timespan. If they were working a normal job, their efficiency might be praised.

"What's this?" one of the taskmasters held up an energy stone. Every slave was inspected upon leaving for the day, to make sure they weren't smuggling out anything. Not that they could go anywhere even if they stole something.

"An energy stone, sir," Oskar kept his voice polite and his head down. "Was I mistaken?"

"No. But it's so small." It was on the smaller end of those Oskar had brought in, but by no means the smallest. "You look quite relaxed. Found it early in the day, did you, then decided you didn't have to work?"

"No sir. I pace myself throughout the day-" but Oskar's explanation didn't matter. He knew that.

The sting of the whip was sharp. They wanted it to be painful, and it was. It didn't matter that his skin was now more durable than it had been before, because they didn't stop until he bled. "Let this be a message to you all," the taskmaster said to the gathered slaves who had been forced to watch. "Just because you get a bit lucky does not mean you can be lazy. We expect hard work from all of you. From now on we will be monitoring your work more closely."

The early times after the taskmasters began taking shifts inside the mine were difficult. It wasn't that nobody could do the work- they were all purchased because they were strong and the simple cultivation had overcome their fatigue. It was coordinating things so they did just the right amount of work.

Under the watchful eye of a taskmaster, it was harder to slip small stones from person to person so that nobody came out empty handed. Oskar found it fortunate that he had been the one punished. His back didn't agree with him, but it did quite well to unite the other slaves with him.

Everyone worked at a believable pace- slightly harder when the taskmaster came into view. Together, they increased the output of energy stones slightly. Very slightly. Oskar didn't want to overtax anyone, and he also didn't want to give the taskmasters too many ideas. They still had no involvement in the mining itself- the miners chose where to go and how to get there. Old branches in the mines had already been dug out, and sometimes offshoots of them were good- and sometimes not.

The only thing that Oskar was content with was the quality of the tools. The picks were strong and durable, able to break through stone as well as a man could swing it. At least whoever was running the mines understood that decent tools and sufficient quantities of food were required for the mines to be functional. The taskmasters also seemed happy that they weren't having to replace any of the miners.

Most of the time Oskar worked alone. He was most capable of sensing where the energy stones would be within the rocks, and he could often gather some extra. He also didn't mind squirreling some away in piles of rubble and mine tailings. Anything that wouldn't be taken away up to the surface was usable- and the taskmasters didn't like to go deeper into the mines. When he came out with whatever they deemed sufficient, they didn't care.

If it wasn't being forced upon him, he might have found it almost fulfilling. There was a nice rhythm to be had. Swing a pick, pry at the rock, pull back, swing again. Using his body while letting the energy flow into him made him stronger than he'd ever been before. The work was still quite unpleasant and Oskar found himself often working harder than the others- who he helped coordinate to not exhaust themselves while appearing as if they couldn't work any harder.

He just couldn't help but put the group first. When there were collapses and injuries, the same amount of output was still expected. It was unreasonable, and everyone knew that. Oskar was tempted to fill everyone's pockets during such days, but he only brought just enough to keep the taskmaster's wrath to a minimum. That led to whippings for himself and others, but if they produced just as much in times of trouble, their deception would be noticed.

Working with others had a nice sound to it. Clank. Clank. Clank. Alone, it was much less pleasant. Swing, clank, pry, pull, swing, clank. Swing, clank, pry, pull, swing, swoosh. Oskar went to pick up his lamp. Something was strange. As the rays of light pierced through the hole, he wondered if he had come across an unknown tunnel. But he knew them pretty well, and he had no idea of any in that direction. Plus, he felt something that had drawn him that way. An energy stone. So he kept swinging.

Eventually he opened up a hole big enough for him to move into. His lamp revealed he'd cut an angle into a cylindrical room. He was basically along one edge and had to turn almost ninety degrees to see the center. It was immediately clear he wasn't looking at an energy stone. Atop a perfectly smooth pedestal was a rolled scroll.

As he stepped into the room, Oskar noticed the floor and walls- and even the ceiling- were also perfectly smooth. No dust except what he brought in with him, and no other visible entrances. Just the scroll in the center of a clearly constructed room. Oskar stepped forward cautiously. He knew cultivators could be protective of their secrets, hiding and defending them… but he didn't feel any danger. He was unsure if that meant he was just unprepared for what he might face, or if it was safe. He tossed a rock further into the room. It clattered on the ground, touching the pillar. Nothing happened. Presumably if anything were going to kill him, it would have done so when he broke into the room.

He stepped closer. Closer. However, while he wanted to reach out and touch it, caution got the better of him. If this was something for cultivators, could he use or understand it? No matter how miraculous it might be, he knew it was dangerous. Oskar decided to be cautious. He could study it later. As soon as he resolved himself to that, he let out the breath he had held in and began to turn around.

The air from his lips brushed against the scroll, and his head snapped back to face the pedestal, almost against his will. The scroll rose up and unfurled, the writing upon it glowing. Oskar wasn't even quite sure if he read the language it was written in, but the words were still clear to him.

"What makes a technique forbidden? It is danger. Danger to the cultivator, or to others. Forbidden techniques might merely be that which can threaten those in power. In such a case, it is not for the good of the practitioners that it is forbidden, but for the good of those who forbid it. If possible, such techniques are destroyed by those in power.

"Then there is another type. Techniques that are forbidden for the sake of the user. They bring danger to the practitioner either because they are flawed or incomplete, or by the mere nature of their completeness. Such techniques are declared forbidden by their creators or those who do not fully understand them. Sometimes proper skill can avoid the side effects. In such a case, forbidden techniques are reserved for the genius or the intellectual. Even dangerous techniques can be studied for insight into cultivation itself.

"The technique before you falls into both categories. If those in power found out I, Everheart, created such techniques they would kill me and destroy them. Perhaps they will. But I refuse to accept that my efforts will be lost.

"What you see before you is but a single copy out of many, containing half a technique. That is the only concession I am willing to make. I have not practiced this technique beyond what it took to develop, but I can guarantee its efficacy. But I propose that it is more useful as a scholarly study rather than something to be used. Forbidden, but merely to practice. The full technique has a certain dangerous appeal, so only those willing to take the risk after fully comprehending the first half should search for it.

"But please, study and comprehend. Safely. Cautiously. Learn what you can and apply what you should to your own techniques. But for the sake of actually using it, I shall dub this technique as 'forbidden', even by my own standards.

"P.S. Forgive my naming conventions. I do not pick the most flashy name… merely that I feel most appropriate."

The warning burned itself into Oskar's mind. In a way, it was more of an explanation. If the writer- Everheart?- were to be believed, there was no danger in studying the technique. But as the scroll floated open in front of him, Oskar merely read the name of the technique then tore his eyes away. He stepped away, and heard the scroll settle back into place. His eyes rested on it sitting on the pedestal. Candle Wax. A curious name. But Oskar knew he wasn't ready to think about forbidden techniques. There were other things to deal with first, like survival. He resolved to bury the passageway in rubble, so that others might not stumble onto it either. Best to leave what is forbidden alone.

Chapter 66

The Grasping Willows were generous enough to allow usage of areas specifically made for breakthroughs. The highest energy density areas also had formations to gather it even further, though there were limits to what cultivators at certain levels could handle. Catarina and Hoyt were able to complete the tenth star, putting them just one step from Spirit Building. Anton also made use of training areas, but while he was able to push himself right to the edge of the eleventh star, he wasn't quite ready. He wasn't sure what he was missing, but he knew he shouldn't try to push himself further. Though he might indeed form the eleventh star something would be insufficient about it if he forced it, Anton was certain.

Eventually the time came to depart and they prepared to say goodbye to Lev and Elder Varela, in addition to a few acquaintances they'd made. While it was a nice enough place even with the presence of the namesake trees that could be somewhat cantankerous, they couldn't stay forever. If they were going to stay anywhere forever it would be the Order, but Anton was still quite aware of what they had left to do. He had a list. He was happy that he had been able to mark several people as rescued, but there was more to do. There had previously been an entire page devoted to Devon, though he'd burned it. There was no sense to be made of anything he'd put there. "Currently in possession of the Potenza clan in Khonard" was the useful information he had. Anything beyond that was just speculation and led to depressing thoughts, except a recent note. "Received helpful influence from Elder Varela of the Grasping Willows."

"Thank you once again," Anton said to Elder Varela.

The bearded man inclined his head in return. "You as well. We couldn't possibly replace Lev. As for what I did, I can't say how long it will hold. The actual results are up to you. But I believe you have the necessary potential."

"Potential…" Anton shook his head, "Many people and things have potential that is never realized."

"I wouldn't start doubting yourself now," Elder Varela said. "Just look at me. I might be stronger than you, but for how long?"

"It's hard to say," Anton answered. "I do not expect the next decade to be uneventful."

"It won't be," Hoyt said.

Lev bowed with his one arm, "I will not forget all of you. I can't fully pay you back yet, but I will."

"It's not necessary to do any more," Anton said. "But if you find an opportunity to help others in the future, if it is within your power… that would be the best way to pay us back."

"I can do that," Lev said, "But I can at least save your life or something. Or maybe fight alongside you."

Anton didn't want to give away too much, so he merely nodded. "If we have need of you, we'll seek you out."

"I mean it!" Lev said. "I'm not done cultivating just because of this," he gestured to his missing arm. "I might not stand up to someone equal to me in power, but I just have to get stronger than them."

"That's the spirit," Elder Varela smiled. "But we should really let them be on their way. They seem quite keen to continue their journey."

Everything with Devon had been a mess. If there was one thing that Anton learned from that, it was that even after a year a single day might still matter. He wasn't going to rush either of the others in the training opportunities with the Grasping Willows, but he could push the group to move faster. Pete, James, Steven, and the other two from Dungannon were making more progress in Body Tempering. None of them were at the second star yet, but all had completed the first. They were relatively young men in good health, and picking up the pace was a reasonable form of training. Anton was aware of a half-dozen people who needed freeing from around the area. The latest information he had wasn't recent, however.

Though Sarton was the largest city in the area, it was overall rather rural. Though he found it small now, it was about the size of Alcombey- the largest city he'd interacted with for most of his life. It was shocking how quickly perspectives could change.

The packed dirt road they were traversing had deep grooves from overloaded wagons coming from various origins. Their particular destination was one that had lighter output, but that didn't make Anton less worried. "Do you think we're too late?" Anton asked.

"No point thinking about it now," Hoyt said. "Could you even have made it here six months ago? Besides, I can tell that people from Dungannon are tough," he gestured to Pete and the others.

"That's right," Pete said. "I knew some of these fellows enough to know they wouldn't give up. If they didn't make it, it simply couldn't be done."

Catarina sighed, "I can't believe they're forcing normal people to mine energy stones. What are they thinking?"

Hoyt chose to answer that, "Probably that they want to get every scrap of value out of what they own. They don't trust cultivators because they think they'll act like them- and they know they'd steal from the mines, so everyone else would too. If people can't cultivate or leave, what can they do? Even if someone hides a spirit stone for a while, they can't use it."

"Mmm…" Catarina voiced her displeasure, "How terrible."

"I agree," Hoyt said, "But this is Ofrurg. They chose to be like this. Well, cultivators took over and chose for it to be like this. Nobody with enough wealth or power cares, so this is how it ends up."

"And the Order just lets it happen," Anton said. "Maybe they have to. But…"

"The problem with the Order is trying to balance goodness and stability," Hoyt shook his head, "They sort of reached the limit of what that can do. The last couple generations have been somewhat," Hoyt pursed his lips, trying to think of the right words, "Low in talent, let's say. Sure, there are a few with talent but not that many. It used to be that the elders on the Council were all Essence Collection. Though that was a century ago."

"What happened to them?" Pete asked.

"They died," Hoyt said. "As I said, a century. Cultivation can improve lifespans by several times. A few Grand Elders are hundreds of years old, but low hundreds."

"Vandale is at his limit," Anton said. "He's the strongest guardian the Order has, but he can't go anywhere. I understand why they don't want to spark a war, but the results are… disappointing."

"Gonna change it then?" Hoyt asked.

"... Yes," Anton said, "I will."

"How decisive!" Hoyt grinned.

"Words are easy," Anton said, "But I have no idea how I'd actually do so, or if I can."

"You have us to help," Catarina said.

"We're not much in the way of cultivators," Pete said, "But if you're trying to make things better, you have our support."

"What is 'better'?" Anton asked of nobody in particular. "I guess I'll have to figure that out. But first… I do believe we're here."

Catarina frowned, "There aren't even any Spirit Building guards."

"Of course not," Hoyt said, "They're expensive. They don't want to cut into the profits of the mines."

"Indeed," Anton said. "Now then, we'll have the rest of you stay back a bit. Don't want to spook anyone into thinking we're attacking." Anton walked a bit faster, "Hello there!" he called out towards the guards from about a hundred meters downhill of them.

"Halt there!" The guards called, "This mine is property of the Callahans!"

"I am quite aware," Anton said, "I'm here with a business proposition. I heard these mines are quite difficult to work, and I'm looking for just such workers. If you have any who have lasted for some time, I might like to purchase them." With that, Anton flared his energy a little bit. It was partially a threat, but more a sign of power- and thus wealth. "Do you have anyone like that?" The latest news was indeed that they hadn't replaced workers in some time. It was unusual enough to take note, and Anton had half been expecting to find they weren't operational. However, if their workers were instead particularly survivable… he might actually have a chance to find those he wanted.

The guards exchanged glances, "Wait there. We'll go consult with the taskmasters."

Anton waited as they turned to leave, but if they thought the distance was doing them any good they were quite mistaken. A hundred meters was quite close enough for him to kill either of them, being only somewhere in the middle of Body Tempering. In fact, it was almost optimal range for him to fight in general. He had no intention to do so, but taking stock of his potential opponents was still important. Besides, almost everything about Ofrurg made him touchy and prone to violence. Who did these people think they were to keep people he knew as slaves? Nobody should be slaves, but Anton couldn't help absolutely everybody. Could he? No, of course not. Certainly not at his current level.

Chapter 67

If not for some particular details, Anton might have found the area quite pleasant. Fresh mountain air and a nice breeze blew away dust outside of the mine, and the mine itself was quite pleasant to look at. The structures set up in front of it were quite plain but practical, but that was something Anton liked in buildings. Things used for a purpose. The slopes of the mountain around were covered in trees and various forms of undergrowth and lively with animals.

But the mine was manned by slaves. Anton wasn't convinced that slavery was an appropirate punishment for crimes or debts, but at least he could understand the reasoning there. However, those who took others as slaves merely because they had the power to do so filled him with thoughts of what he might do with his own power. But he forced himself to calm and civil, despite the circumstances.

The taskmasters had lined up about a dozen slaves in front of Anton. They all looked relatively healthy and strong, but Anton was able to spot small scars. The way the slaves moved made it clear that some of them had been whipped- at least clear enough to Anton's senses. Though they were doing their best to give off a good impression, Anton understood that was just how things worked.

There were a few he recognized among the group. If he recalled correctly the one with the square jaw was Ebbe. He recognized Oskar as well. He thought he recognized one other from Dungannon, but that still left several others missing. Was he too late? Were they sold somewhere else, or dead… or did he not even recognize their faces?

Anton did his best not to focus too much on any individual. Ebbe didn't seem to have recognized him, but Oskar's eyes flashed. There was a lot of anger there. At him? No. Anton's insight told him the man was wound like a spring. Ready to spring for the nearest guard and strangle him, if he could. Somehow Oskar seemed to think that there would be a fight. Was he expecting Anton to…? Surely he had to know that his guards were cultivators. But then Anton felt it. It was small, hidden, but Oskar and the others radiated just a tiny bit of energy. Some form of cultivation, but well hidden. It wouldn't be enough for them to matter, though.

"Hmm…" Anton said, trying to sound indecisive. "Yes, they do appear quite durable indeed. Just what I am looking for. If you could name a price, I will think on it and return on the morrow."

"Of course," the taskmaster said. He gestured to the guards, "Send them back to work. I'll be speaking with the Senior inside."

The taskmaster brought Anton into what he could tell was one of the few 'luxurious' rooms in the area. At least, it was comfortable enough. The prices the man names for the slaves was high, easily three times what he had expected. Clearly they'd understood there was something valuable about them in particular, but Anton doubted they knew they were cultivating. The strongest guard was in late Body Tempering, and cultivation fed directly into the ability to sense details of others. Anton was fairly certain only his training in Insight had allowed him to notice, but then again the guards had longer. Perhaps they were merely allowing the miners to persist with cultivation because they were weak enough. Anton thanked the man and promised to return the next day. That wasn't untrue given his intentions, but it was certainly incomplete.

Catarina moved along with Anton. They didn't move far, taking each step one at a time as Catarina kept them concealed. Mobile formations were difficult, so they were mostly relying on distance to make up for the deficiencies. There was a steep cliff at the rear of the encampment, and no guards watching from that side. In fact, only a single pair of guards was awake, watching the road. That was the only sensible direction for fleeing slaves to go, and they occasionally patrolled around the area. However, the unrestrained nature of their energy meant they were quite easy to pick out.

The two of them climbed up into the area when the patrolling guard was on the far side, quickly moving over to the door to the miners' dormitory. Anton had easily been able to make out what it was when he visited earlier in the day, but he stopped at the door to feel more carefully for any sort of traps or alarms. It turned out to merely be locked from the outside, of little concern when he could manipulate the lock with his energy. It was only meant to keep slaves inside, after all.

He slowly opened the door, gesturing Catarina inside first. He stepped in silently after her as she used small flicks of energy to set up a small formation around Oskar. Anton kept his voice low, even inside the formation. "Oskar. Wake up." The man's eyes flicked open. Anton had been ready to cover his mouth in case he was going to make an overly loud noise, but it didn't seem necessary. "You can speak… quietly."

Oskar nodded. "You're… Anton Krantz, aren't you?"

"That's right. I saw you and Ebbe. What about the others who came with you?"

"Dead," Oskar said, "Within the first week or two. They couldn't handle the pressure down there. They mainly just brought new batches of miners every fortnight."

Anton frowned. "Bastards. Listen, I have enough money to buy you and Ebbe. I just wanted to make sure there weren't more of you. I can buy you tomorrow and get you out of here."

"No," Oskar said firmly.

"What?" Catarina exclaimed, "You can't want to stay here?"

"Of course not. It's awful," Oskar shook his head, "But I can't just leave everyone else. You- both of you- are strong cultivators, aren't you? You feel stronger than any of the guards. Can't you just break us out of here?"

Anton and Catarina exchanged looks. After a moment, Anton answered, "I'm quite certain that is a bad idea."

"Fine. Then leave me here." Oskar took a firm stance, "I won't leave without everyone else. And preferably the guards and taskmasters dead, but if we can get these men out that's secondary."

"If only things were so simple," Anton said.

"Why wouldn't they be?" Oskar said. "People from here ran into Graotan and enslaved us. If you have the strength, why can't you just kill them and free us?"

Anton shook his head. "The world just isn't fair, I'm afraid." Anton could tell he truly meant he wouldn't leave- and forcibly taking him away wouldn't do either of them any good. "But… I'll try to figure something out. Keep your head down until then."

"Wait," Oskar grabbed Anton's arm as he turned. "I don't want to force you into danger… but the guards have just a few shifts. During the day a pair stand outside the mines and some watch the road…" Oskar gave as many details as he had to Anton. "I suppose you know how they are at night well enough."

Anton nodded, "We figured it out. I hope… we will meet again soon."

By the time their conversation was done the guard patrolled once more- but they merely waited with their energy constrained for him to pass. Then they went back down and away until they wouldn't be noticed.

Everyone was sitting around in front of Anton. That included Pete and the others as well. "I have to involve everyone in this decision. Even the five of you, since you should have different perspective." Anton explained everything he knew about the situation, including possible personal danger and potential retaliation against Graotan. "I doubt it would turn into a war, but obviously people will die. Even if we leave no trail…" Anton shrugged, "So. What are your feelings? What about the taskmasters and guards? Do they deserve to die?"

"Honestly," Pete answered, "I think they do. If they're anything like where we were, they're unnecessarily harsh. And if they're working people to death, they're worse. I can't say I really thought about the others when you freed us. There were so many and I didn't really grow close to most of them. I was just relieved to be free."

Anton looked around, waiting for others to speak. Hoyt was the next to do so. "About the Order. They might not be pleased at killing people involved in what Ofrurg considers legitimate business. Not pleased, but I don't know if they could find any moral fault either. I'm willing to go along with what you decide. I believe the Order will still shelter you inside Graotan no matter what, but it might not be the best political move. Ofrurg deserves to take some hits, though. We can't just let them walk all over Graotan."

"Catarina?" Anton asked.

"I'm not sure," she said. "I feel like cultivators aren't supposed to just take injustices lying down. Even if we might get killed," she shrugged, "I feel like we should do the right thing."

"If only I knew what that was," Anton said. "How much of myself and others should I risk? How far is too far?" Anton shook his head, "I will be honest. I would not feel a moment of remorse for killing any of these slavers. But the risk might be too high."

"Don't we just need a plan?" James spoke up. Most of those from Dungannon besides Pete were too intimidated to say much in front of Anton, but that didn't mean they had no opinions. "Unlike with D- In Khonard, we have time. We don't have to settle on anything right away. I don't really understand the cultivation world, but much of it seems to be about might makes right. Even if you personally have a real sense of morality, I don't think these people do. So put some pressure on them. Even I know the Order is strong enough to keep them out of Graotan when they're not sneaking around. Maybe scare them. Either way, when we act it has to be decisive." James sat there awkwardly for a few moments.

"You make good points," Anton said. "It makes me think that I am not a good cultivator." He held up a hand to stave off protests, "Oh, I understand I have the ability. But I'm an old man with cultivation. What have I done? Almost gotten killed by a beast tide, fought a few bandits, spent far more money than I really deserved..." Anton shook his head. "I spend time cultivating, but what have I done with my cultivation?"

"Saving Thuston was a great deed," Catarina said. "And you saved these five, and the caravan."

"I'll accept the first two as significant," Anton said. "But I feel like I could have done so much more if I just let myself. Even now, I'm thinking to myself- Do I let people get away with evil and others suffer so that I can have an easier time helping another handful of those I know? Instead, I feel like I should just… act."

"We're here whatever you do," Pete said. "I appreciate my new chance at life, but I would not mind risking it for others."

Everyone else concurred. Eventually, Anton was left with his own thoughts. He didn't want to be a fool who rushed into things, and he didn't think he was a coward, but some part of him was still thinking like a simple farmer. Avoiding conflict and trying to keep his little community safe and cohesive, just continuing to live life. He didn't think that and of that was bad, but it wasn't what he needed.

Chapter 68

What are cultivators? That was the question Anton was asking himself. Cultivators were people who made use of natural energy to temper their bodies and self. With that energy, cultivators could do amazing things. Cultivators were like the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars, guardians of the common people. They were also people like Maximillian Van Hassel, bandits and murderers. Mentors and slavers, farmers and oppressors. They were just… people.

That didn't help Anton make a decision in the slightest. He was strong enough to be relevant on a local scale. Large enough towns were outside of what he could influence even with Catarina and Hoyt's support. Even if they stepped into Spirit Building, the three of them could affect the lives of hundreds at a time but likely not thousands. But should they? Protecting people from danger was easy and unambiguous. When attacked by forest creatures, there was little room for ambiguity in Anton's mind. Even if they did something stupid to provoke beasts, Anton considered the lives of humans more valuable than beasts. He might lecture people after he saved them, but he judged that value nearly unconsciously.

It was where he had to weigh humans against other humans that things became tricky. The bandits working with Maximillian Van Hassel- clearly guilty. He had no qualms about killing them when he got the chance. But the Iron Ring Slavers who bought those slaves in a place where slavery was legal but the method of acquisition wasn't… how guilty were they? The people who then bought slaves from them?

Anton thought about what gave him the right to decide some people he could kill and others he couldn't. To judge the value of one human over another. The answer he came up with was nothing. Similarly, nothing gave others the right to make that decision. Laws were decided upon by people, and different laws were made in different places. Sometimes the laws reflected the wills of the people- but some of the time the laws reflected the will of those with power. When both agreed laws were generally good, but following laws wasn't inherently good. And if laws were supposed to represent the wills of the people, who were those people? Anton knew that the majority of slaves- those who weren't broken down into husks- would say that slavery was unjust. But they would have no say in the laws, because they had no power.

So nothing gave Anton or others the right to decide what was right and wrong. Anton still believed that right and wrong existed. Good and evil actions might be intangible and it might not always be possible to know whether something was good or evil or some mix, but he knew it was unlikely to perfectly match his own decisions. He wasn't perfect, nor was anyone he knew perfect. It was unlikely anyone could be. If there were gods, they were silent- at best speaking only to their own followers who had various levels of reliability.

If good and evil existed, he could only do his best to stay in line with them. If they didn't exist, then doing whatever he wanted was perfectly fine. There was, however, definitely a line between doing whatever he wanted and doing his best to stay in line with what he understood as good. Because while Anton wanted to kill every bandit who came to Dungannon and found his thoughts on that fully justified, he also wanted to make them suffer at least as much as the villagers of Dungannon did. It might even be justified, but might wasn't good enough. If he allowed himself to get so close to the line that he wasn't sure which side he was on, he could easily find himself taking a few steps beyond it. Anyone could justify going just a little bit further to themselves.

So, if he was at least as justified as anyone else with judging the value of human lives, how could he do it? Slavery as it stood in Ofrurg was fully unjust, for it took someone's life away as fully as killing them with no real justification. Of those who were enslaved because of crime or debt Anton was certain not all were enslaved fairly, if that was even possible. So he might be justified killing everyone who bought and sold and owned slaves, but even if he had the personal power to start doing that, there would be consequences. Unless he was all powerful- something untrue of even those at the peak of cultivation- there would be retaliations. Anton wouldn't even really be able to blame people for defending themselves, no matter how evil their actions might have been before that. Nobody wished to die.

But if he were to value the slaves that would be saved higher than the slavers, what about those who would die as an accidental consequence of his actions? If he started a war, cultivators from Ofrurg and Graotan would certainly die. Were cultivators worth more than commoners? Anton's initial thoughts were both 'no' and 'yes'. Some might proclaim to weigh all human life equally, but Anton knew he didn't. Family was more important than others. Those he knew were more important. Those he judged to be doing something of value or with the potential to do so held more value in his mind. He couldn't change that, but at least he could consider it when he had time to think about his actions.

After sorting through those thoughts, Anton had made his decision. He considered the likely consequences of acting against those of doing nothing. How much risk was he willing to take? Could he leave men enslaved to die in the mines to protect himself and avoid conflict? He could, but he wouldn't. If he had the personal power, he would slaughter his way into Khonard to save Devon. He should have faked some political power- in the sense that he wasn't sure if the Order would have supported his threats and not that he thought they were incapable. But while he knew they wanted to avoid conflict, they weren't entirely inactive. Others wouldn't necessarily know the whole truth. Anton would prefer to actually have the Order willing to enter conflict for himself, but he had been fairly certain their response would have been limited. But he could have confidently said it regardless. If it had gotten him kicked out of the Order later, he could have dealt with that consequence. On the other hand, Anton wasn't sure if that was something they would disparage. If he murdered in the Order's name, that was something they would not stand for. If he simply intimidated people who were unreasonable, why would they care?

He was just hesitant. He knew the Order was good, because the people who made it up were good. Vincent had been trying to hunt down the bandits and had simply failed. The Order tried, but not enough. It was, frankly, something he could understand. The Order was old and tired. He'd seen it in many people, and very occasionally when nobody was watching he'd even acted old and tired.

By the time Anton finished sorting his thoughts, he was late for the meeting at the mine. But he wasn't going to show up. Cultivators were known to be fickle, and he didn't feel like talking to people he was just going to kill. He needed to make sure the others didn't think he was crazy, because it would be really hard to justify himself by saying that he decided killing slavers was okay if nobody else agreed. He could also use others to keep himself on the right side of the line. Even if nobody knew where it was, everyone at least had a sense for the ephemeral thing. But after he talked to them and before he started shooting people with arrows, he had something else to do.

Oskar and the others weren't the only slaves from Dungannon to be sold into the area. Anton was fortunate enough to have information from the Ears of the Fox that had led him to another. Even if nobody was alive to denounce his actions, Anton wouldn't be comfortable staying in the area for whatever investigations happened. Thus, he had to find the others first. Oskar would have to wait, but he wouldn't mind. Especially not when Anton showed him his wife.

According to the information, she'd been sold as a maid to a certain minor noble in the area. Nobility was a complicated thing, especially since it was generally trumped by cultivators, but in essence it was a rich family that had been so for many generations. They had some political power aside from their wealth, but because they did not produce strong cultivators they were ultimately limited. That was better for Anton, because sneaking into the house was much easier.

"I spotted formations around what is likely the master bedroom," Catarina said. She spoke quietly, with a little bit of energy directing her words. They didn't have access to a formal technique for private conversations, but they were experimenting with their own. At least their version would be quiet, if not immune to being overheard by cultivators. "Much more complicated than what I bypassed on the outer walls."

One thing about having wealth for some time was that they'd been able to hire formation experts set up long lasting formations. They could arrange from simple alarms to defensive shields to even traps designed to kill intruders. "Do you sense any others?"

Catarina shook her head, "I don't imagine anyone would spend so much money to protect their servants- and the formations on the wall would likely alert them to escaping slaves as well."

"Then let us hope that Patricia is easy to find and retrieve," Anton carefully opened his senses to feel for where people were while limiting how much he might be felt by the few cultivator guards. Besides the formations the area was less well defended than the mines, but he didn't want to spark trouble if he didn't have to. He wanted everyone to get out of Ofrurg alive.

Chapter 69

The manor they were sneaking through wasn't so expansive that it took long to reach their destination even at a slow and stealthy pace. It took longer for Anton to pick the correct room to enter. Recognizing someone with his energy senses was easy, but that only applied to those he'd met after he was able to use energy. Combined with the fact that he was not intimately acquainted with Patricia it took him longer to settle on the right person.

The individual rooms seemed decent enough, if small. A large step up from the dormitory at the mines which had bunks packed in as tightly as they could fit and no attempt at comfort. But comfortable slavery was still slavery.

Lighting the small lamp in her room caused her to stir, But Catarina had already set up a simple formation to keep things quiet. "Patricia," Anton used his most pleasant voice to try to wake her up without giving her a fright.

Her eyes snapped open, "Who are you?" Her voice was not quiet, and he could tell his distance standing across the room still didn't exactly make her comfortable with being woken up in the middle of the night.

"Anton Krantz. From Dungannon. I apologize for waking you in this manner, but it was the most expedient method. I don't plan to stay in the area long. I plan to leave soon, with both you and Oskar. Unless you have any objections?"

"How?" she asked. "I can't… it's not possible to leave."

"We got in," Anton gestured towards Catarina. "And we can get you out. All you have to do is follow us."

She clearly hesitated for a few moments. "I can't leave without Kevin. But it's too dangerous."

"Who is Kevin?" Anton asked.

"He's… our son. I was pregnant when we were taken away. I wasn't showing until after we arrived here." Patricia tightly gripped the bedspread covering her.

"He was taken away then? Is he in the manor?"

Patricia nodded, her head hanging low. "Yes. He's in the same wing as the mistress. I am not even allowed to take care of my own son. Marin- the head maid- is the one who does so." Anton waited to see what else she would say, "She lets me see him more often than I am supposed to, but it is rarely more than once per week."

"Tell us where he is and we will bring him. And anyone else you want to come with you."

"You really can…?"

Anton stood tall and proud. "Absolutely. The two of us will protect you from harm. What about the other slaves here?"

Patricia hesitated. "I know I should want them to be free as well, but I hardly know most of them. Marin is a good soul, and several of the others. I cannot vouch for all of them."

Anton held out a hand. "Wait here, then. We will attempt not to be spotted, but if you hear a commotion we will do our best to distract the guards. You can escape from the rear-right corner, over the wall. Wake any others you trust and be ready. You'll want to wear whatever your best outfit for travel is, if you have an option."

Catarina led the way towards the other wing of the manor. Rather than spotting guards it was more important to avoid any formations that had been set up. Catarina might suddenly stop and Anton could do the same, but if she had to call out to tell him things would be more complicated. Besides, trailing by a few steps wouldn't significantly hamper Anton's ability to detect patrolling guards.

"The main area has no formations," Catarina said. "They would probably trigger from everyone passing through and be useless. The doors to the other wing are quite heavily protected, however. You'll have to watch my back for several minutes while I deal with it."

Anton gladly did so. He was just able to sense the formation, but wouldn't be able to interact with it in any meaningful way. He was confident he could break the doors open- but Catarina could do that too. He was also nearly certain that would alert the entire manor to their presence. He held his bow at the ready as he kept his eyes and ears on full alert. His sense of the guard's energy also said they were nowhere near, patrolling the outside of the manor, but if they sensed him they might try to approach secretly. It was unlikely they could hide their breathing, however, and it would be nearly impossible for his eyes to miss them.

It didn't take long for Catarina to finish her work, then with a little bit of additional energy the door clicked open. Anton suddenly reached out a hand to her shoulder and held her back. Both of them stood quietly as the door swung open slowly, revealing a patrolling soldier walking down the hall. Away from them. The formation had hidden him until it was released, and the lock had only taken an instant to open. Anton was ready to kill the guard, but he was certain that doing so would raise the alarm. Even if there weren't formations to detect it, once he released an arrow it would be blindingly obvious. If he used a physical arrow it would be slightly more subtle, but he would have to charge it with energy to be certain of killing the man in a single shot.

But he didn't have to. At least not yet. He continued walking, unaware of the two people standing directly behind him. Once he was far enough away he turned a corner and the two of them quickly closed the doors behind them and started down the hallway. Anton listened for sounds of breathing. He especially listened for a tinier set of lungs. The two of them hurried down the hallway at the fastest pace they dared, since if the guard came patrolling back they would have to deal with him. They might be able to slip into a room if they found one without formations with well oiled hinges, but betting on that was too much.

Anton finally heard what he was listening for. "There," he said almost silently.

He could sense the formations, but the way Catarina grimaced he knew they were more difficult than the previous ones. It made sense, because they were not far from a large set of doors that was likely the master bedroom. Patricia hadn't been able to give them a complete description of the layout, but she did say the head maid's rooms were connected to the master bedroom. That was where Marin was staying, along with Kevin.

Before Catarina could make sense of the formation or begin altering it, Anton pulled her away from the door. He had his full attention devoted to patrolling guards, and if they stayed still they would be flanked. They moved down a side hallway and looped back around as Anton felt they were safe. They had to do the same several times as Catarina puzzled out how to deal with the formation.

"Almost done," she said. Anton could see and feel her moving her hands and flickers of energy, temporarily rearranging the formation.

"They're coming again," Anton warned.

"I can't stop now!" Catarina hissed. "Nearly… There!"

At that same moment, Anton fired an arrow. Steel arrowhead and wooden shaft were stabilized by carefully cut feathers as his energy guided the shot. Spirit Arrows might not be instantly recognizable, but he'd rather leave the fewest traces possible. The arrow struck the guard's throat just as he was about to shout, twisting in the air as he attempted to dodge it. However, he was merely in the middle of body tempering, so neither his body nor energy could withstand what Anton had available. "Damn it. I was hoping to get out secretly. Let's go!"

Catarina opened the door and yanked Anton inside. "The formations here don't let sound in or out. Babies, you know."

A figure on the bed was awoken by Catarina's announcement. "Who…?"

"Doesn't matter," Anton said. "We're here to bring you out. Patricia told us about Kevin here. We're bringing you away. No time to change. Grab clothes and anything he needs, then we're going." Anton gestured, "I just killed a guard outside."

"Killed? Oh my." Marin turned into a flurry of motion as she got up from the bed, bundling clothes for herself and various other things for Kevin. Despite having just been woken up, she was quite coordinated. "Are you sure we should…?"

"Do you want to remain a slave?" Anton asked. "This is your chance."

Marin nodded. "Trust it to cultivators to show up with unreasonable demands and expect people to listen." Despite saying that, she did finish her bundle in less than a minute, and had Kevin cradled on top of it.

"Good. We have to hurry," Anton said. "Catarina, if you would?"

Catarina lifted Marin into her arms. She was at the completion of Body Tempering, so it wasn't strange in the slightest that she could do it with ease. Even if muscle wasn't one of her prime temperings, she was stronger than any non-cultivator could be. Marin yipped as she found herself swept off her feet, but they really didn't have time.

They hurried through the hallways. Anton would have liked to pick up the body of the guard he'd killed, but that was far out of their intended path. The bloodstains would be obvious regardless, so it would barely change the time for someone to react if they came to that part of the patrol.

They managed to make it back to the first wing of the manor where Patricia and a handful of others were waiting when the yelling started. Anton fired an arrow through the handles of the door at the end of the hallway, not caring if it was locked or not. He was able to sense they weren't strong enough to counterattack him from that distance- and indeed once he destroyed that part of the door it was clear they had no offensive capabilities at all. He shoved the door open as he stepped outside, before he ran to jump on the corner where Catarina had disabled the formation. Catarina was still carrying Marin- though she could have likely run on her own as fast as the others she was herding.

Anton saw several guards coming around the corners of the house. However, though the manor was quite large, it was nothing compared to the distance of a good archery range. There were a few guards a bit too far for optimal shots, but several arrows pierced into the breastplates of approaching guards. There were at least a dozen guards and cultivators moved fast, but what that really meant was not that they could reach Anton before they died, but instead that they were able to swiftly dive back around corners and into doors to take cover. Anton kept his eyes and other senses out for any sign of movement, but as the next brave soul came into view, a man at the late Body Tempering stage, Anton put a bit more effort into his shot. The man made a valiant effort, diving back into cover while instantly bringing his defenses to their full height. However, Anton's shot had already been straight at the wall he landed behind. A wall simply made of fine wood. The arrow pierced a narrow hole through the corner- and through the man. Anton made sure that all of the other guards would feel how much energy went into that, including the fact that he was at Spirit Building. While that also meant they could possibly recognize his energy signature later, it wasn't something you could so easily describe to others. Anton hoped they couldn't pick out his cultivation method, but it was unlikely any of them were particularly familiar with it. Either way, as he helped a handful of women and two men over the wall he knew they had to move fast. Though they were on the outskirts of the city, it was likely Sarton's guards had been called.

If they could make it unseen, Catarina had prepared a safe zone where the others were waiting. Hopefully it would keep them concealed long enough for the three cultivators to move outside the city and free Oskar and the rest. It should only take an half hour to get there, and Anton estimated about twice that to return. They could be out of the city before dawn and covering their tracks. It seemed to Anton he'd underestimated the danger… but there was also more good to be done than he'd thought. Not only could he reunite husband and wife, but there was a child as well.

Chapter 70

The very same night they freed Patricia from the manor they headed to the energy stone mines. Anton hoped he hadn't rushed things too much, but now that they had caused a commotion he wanted to finish things and be off. He had no desire to stay in the area where he might be hunted down. And more importantly, others he cared about. But he also wasn't content to be passive about it. He'd assessed the situation and made his judgement that action was within acceptable risks. Now he just had to see if he was right.

Hoyt was the one accompanying him to the mines. Anton was fairly confident in his ability to deal with all of the cultivators guarding the mines alone. With Hoyt, he had no concerns. Normally it would have been better to use everyone he had at his disposal but Catarina was watching the others. There were almost a dozen people they had to protect that they couldn't bring running around with them to a battle, but also couldn't just leave alone. Anton was aware how effective formations could be at keeping a group concealed, and so Catarina had to maintain that. If things went terribly wrong, she could help that group flee.

But he planned to be quick and give little time for that. He wasn't sure how much uproar there would be when mundane slaves were stolen. He imagined there would be more concern about the principle of the thing than the actual 'value' involved. The dead cultivators would be considered as well. Fortunately, Sarton was remote enough that they didn't have many high ranking cultivators, and those they did have wouldn't necessarily be interested in a manhunt.

Anton focused his eyes to spot the guards up the path. With the effects of Hawk Eyes Archery, he was able to pick them out easily. In return, he doubted they could see more than blurry shadows. He needed to get a little bit closer before he tried an attack, but there wasn't really anywhere for them to run. Anton waited as he slowly crept closer, using boulders alongside the path as cover. Hoyt should be coming up the back side, and Anton judged he should be in position.

He gathered energy in one smooth motion, drawing an arrow and firing it. Killing people in cold blood wasn't honorable, but as far as Anton was concerned he was killing someone engaged in active evil. These guards weren't protecting the miners or even really the goods they mined. They were keeping slaves trapped. He'd heard enough from Oskar that he judged them sufficiently guilty regardless of their current activity.

It wasn't really fair, a Spirit Building cultivator attacking someone in mid Body Tempering. But neither was it fair when they used their own cultivation to suppress those without cultivation. It was just the level of fairness they deserved. Anton flew with his arrow, feeling as he/it struck the cultivator straight in the throat, passing through gaps in his armor. One man was down… and a half-dozen sources of energy flared. Anton had no way to hide such an attack with so much open area around, so he didn't even bother. Instead, he'd ensured that his first shot was successful.

Anton didn't sense Hoyt's energy, instead feeling all of the sources moving towards him. The second guard at the top of the road was shouting something, but he made the wrong choice to try to charge towards Anton instead of running away. The slope was gradual enough he couldn't have gotten much cover anyway, but even as he readied himself to throw a weapon Anton was shooting more arrows at him.

Instead of a single lethal shot he went for a quick flurry of arrows. He aimed at several different weak spots and vitals. His opponent was aware of his attack and was able to handle the first volley, but the second volley Anton fired each shot at a different speed. The first shot was slowest and the last sped to catch up to it, four arrows arriving at almost the same instant. The man could only fling himself to the side to try to avoid the attacks, and that saved him from instant death. One arrow still stuck in his side, however.

There was no sign of Hoyt yet. He wouldn't have abandoned the mission, so he must have been held up somehow. That was probably still fine. Anton just needed to make sure he made efficient use of his energy. Instead of finishing off the first guard, Anton continued up the slope at a moderate pace and let the man pull away, injured. If he had been using purely Spirit Arrows the man would be spurting blood from his side. Instead, he had to make the choice between letting an arrow continue digging into his side as he moved around or a similar fate.

The remaining cultivators huddled together in the building that housed the guards and the taskmasters. The taskmasters had at least a small amount of cultivation, but they weren't equal to the guards. Anton supposed it made sense for everyone to stay together. Assuming Anton was the only attacker was foolish, and they knew he could shoot arrows so being inside was safer. That was where the comfortable nature of their little building worked against them. It had windows. Large enough to let in plenty of light… and arrows. It wasn't fortified by formations or made out of anything spectacular, so Anton took his time shooting one arrow at a time inside after he reached the top of the rise and had a decent angle. With single methodical arrows he could control the trajectory much more precisely and deal with pesky things like corners. He managed to injure one more guard before they decided their position wasn't helping, and at the same time Anton figured out where Hoyt was. When the miners came pouring out of their dormitory, it was quite obvious.

Anton wasn't sure if that was a good plan or not. Now that they were free they could flee to a safe distance on their own. However, the guards might think they were a good target to go after which might not have been the case when they were uncertain of the attacker's motives.

The cultivators poured out of their hut together, most of them running towards Anton who was now a bit uncomfortably close. One seemed to think that the miners would indeed be good hostages or felt like slaughtering them. However, he soon found himself with arrows in the back of both legs. Armor was typically weaker on the rear, and Anton surmised his energy defenses were less capable of reacting to his attacks as well. Probably because he couldn't see the attacks coming.

That choice by Anton let the others get about a third of the way to him, sprinting at full speed. He fired several shots, but the two guards in front worked together to parry his attacks. They weren't flawless, but together they weakened his attacks enough they couldn't pierce straight through their defenses. So he shot one of the taskmasters in the middle instead. Either of the two guards in front could have dodged the attack if he targeted them, but he suddenly pulled back on the speed of his arrow as it got within striking range, making their parries miss. That lowered the power, but he didn't need so much to kill his target.

Four guards and a couple taskmasters remained uninjured. He found that drawing arrows wasted a fraction of a second he couldn't afford, so he switched to purely Spirit Arrows. They were more maneuverable anyway. Two more quick shots struck the shoulder and thigh of the front guards before they were an instant away from reaching him in melee combat. But Hoyt was slightly faster than them.

There was no was no chance they hadn't noticed him coming up behind them- the escaped slaves had drawn enough attention to him. However, they'd remained coordinated, intent on taking out Anton together. It made sense- if they could move away from Hoyt and kill Anton, their life would be easier. Instead, the rear two had to make a sudden turn before they got close… and one swing from Hoyt turned them into just a single rear guard. He had no reason to be cautious with his attacks when killing them also protected him, and his energy was sufficient to block at least a few hits from one of them.

The remaining parts of the group still moved to surround Anton and stabbed several spears and swung swords at him simultaneously. They were correct to assume that Anton was weaker in melee combat, but there was a reason he hadn't retreated while shooting at them. He simply didn't need to. His insight was almost fully trained, and even early Spirit Building had a large gap with the men he was fighting. He could see their most likely moves even more smoothly than he was used to. Clever use of Swan Steps also made the taskmasters' attacks interfere with the guards. With a swing of his hand axe, he sliced into one taskmaster, his attack continuing to slice along the neck of one of the guards. His attack didn't quite hit the intended vital spot on the guard, but his movements took him past their encirclement towards Hoyt.

Anton's movements distracted the guard enough for Hoyt to chop into his ribcage, and then the two of them faced the remaining group side by side. There was another short round of combat where Anton was glad his defensive energy could resist some of the more accurate attacks and more guards died… and then the rest were running. It was probably the correct choice, but Anton still had a bow. Though Anton didn't feel any joy in killing them, his mind was clear of guilt. In fact, it was more focused than usual.

He'd already spent enough time cultivating to reach the eleventh star. It wasn't gathering energy to push through that he needed. It was just a little bit of something else. As Anton looked down at the fallen guards, he realized it wasn't even combat experience or the like. It was decisiveness. And maybe a little bit of serenity.

After making sure the guards hiding inside the hut were dead and counting to make sure the numbers were what he remembered, Anton went over to all of the miners. They hadn't actually run away, instead having equipped themselves with picks and any other heavy tools they could find. It was nice that they prepared to fight, but it wasn't necessary. As Anton looked over them he found someone missing. "Where's Oskar?"

"He's in the mine, sir. Said there was something important in there."

Strange. Anton wondered what could be more important than escaping quickly. He was about to go in and find out when he sensed Oskar. He was running quickly, a small sack clutched in one hand and a scroll in the other. "Anton! Sorry to make you wait. I stashed a few things in there." He held up the sack. Anton could feel the energy from it, but despite there being at least a dozen decent energy stones he was drawn more to the scroll. Something about it drew his attention, beyond the fact that it was clearly meant for cultivators. That would have to wait, though. Besides, it belonged to Oskar, whatever it was.

Chapter 71

Being unable to affect his own circumstances was one of the worst feelings in the world. Pete was still extremely low in cultivation and had no combat experience to speak of. If anything actually happened while they waited, he would basically be helpless again. The best he could do was shuffle around the perimeter of their safe zone, checking the formation. He couldn't even fix it if there was a problem. He certainly wasn't going to do anything without talking to Catarina, because while he had a decent sense of how things were supposed to be he had merely a couple of months of experience. If he changed something that felt incorrect and instead broke the formation, he couldn't make up for it.

He had no real reason to believe he could help with anything, but patrolling around made him feel better. He couldn't even think about sleeping. Then he saw a flicker of movement and more importantly moving energy. He could still feel Catarina back in the center of their camp, but it wasn't nearly strong enough for that anyway. It wasn't James or Steven or the other two. But there was still one more thing it could be. The way it disturbed the energy… yes, it had to be Fuzz.

Even though he'd been watching, Pete barely had any idea what Catarina had been doing with the wolf. For a while she'd been carrying the thing in her pack, all bundled up nice and safe. Safe for both the wolf and the people. Fuzz couldn't really hurt anyone if he wanted to, anyway. He was understandably nervous and snippy at first, but he couldn't really… move. Whatever that moss had done as it ate into him messed up most of his legs. Personally Pete would have just left the wolf to die, or even finished it off quickly. Instead, Catarina had done something crazy. She started cutting formations into the wolf's fur. At first it was to encourage healing but when she realized that wouldn't be sufficient she started onto stranger stuff. Pete couldn't say how, but somehow she'd made up for whatever was missing from Fuzz's front right leg, letting it move. That was pretty recent, though. How could the whole beast be running off?

It was unlikely to matter that Pete attempted to be quiet as he followed after Fuzz. If he somehow avoided being heard- which was unlikely- Fuzz would still smell him. He wasn't even sure why he was sneaking instead of calling the alarm. Though honestly, if the wolf wanted to run off what did it even matter?

He followed the obvious disturbances of energy, occasionally catching sight of Fuzz. The way he was moving was almost comical. Only his two front legs worked. If Pete had been guessing how he would move like that, he would have imagined someone crawling or dragging themselves across the ground. Instead, the wolf had his rear lifted in the air. Not straight above his head like someone doing a handstand, but just enough that his rear feet didn't touch the ground. It seemed extremely unbalanced, but the grey-furred animal plodded forward continuously. Pete was a bit faster, though, and that was while trying to be stealthy.

Before he could catch up, he heard something. A whine. Had Fuzz hurt himself? It seemed likely. Then he heard a voice. "What are you doing, stupid mutt?" A woman's voice. Not one he was familiar with. Maybe one of the women they'd just freed? Lara, he thought her name was. Then there was a growl. "Get out of the way!" then, "Let go!"

When he finally could see through the trees and underbrush, the dim moonlight revealed Fuzz grabbing onto the arm of a woman, with her attempting to pull away. He was no longer walking in his strange way, instead his rear was firmly planted on the ground. Pete's first instincts were to rush forward and help Lara, but something felt strange. His feet didn't hesitate to continue forward while his mind thought about it.

Ah, he figured it out. The woman wasn't yelling for help, even though the camp was not far. On the other hand, Fuzz was gripping her arm firmly but not in a way that would damage her. She only got hurt as she kicked at him while he kept his jaws tight. If he didn't know better, Pete would have thought the woman was trying to escape the camp. But she didn't need to escape. Nobody had forced her to come. But instead of speculating, he supposed he could try to use words. "Fuzz! Let go of her." Fuzz responded with something between a whine and a growl, but the wolf didn't move. He continued his firm hold on the woman's arm.

On the other hand, the woman startled at the sound of Pete's voice. Her face was nervous as she turned to look at him. "Oh! Uhm… Peter. This beast is attacking me, please help!"

"Of course," he said, stepping closer. "I can't just pull him off without tearing up your arm. Try to hold still." Pete was a bit nervous about folding his hands around a wolf's jaw. Despite the cute name, Fuzz was a full-sized wolf. Or rather, he was a young version of an oversized wolf. He'd been a feral animal less than a month prior, and no matter how much intelligence he had that wouldn't necessarily change. Cultivators had ways to influence animals, but Catarina was making up her own technique. She seemed talented, but he doubted it would work perfectly right away. Still, the way the scene looked to him… "How did you get all the way out here?" he asked as he made an attempt to pry apart Fuzz's jaws.

"The beast chased me away from the camp," Lara said, her voice faltering. Pete had to admit her emotional distress seemed genuine, and she was certainly afraid of Fuzz.

But she was lying. The camp wasn't that big, and he'd seen Fuzz leave. He wasn't moving fast, and she would have had plenty of opportunities to call for help. Pete also knew that Fuzz had sharp teeth, and the fact that he hadn't torn through the woman's sleeves and punctured deep into her arm was because he was being gentle. But Fuzz also wasn't helping the situation be cleared up either. Pete took a good grip on the wolf's jaws while he inspected the woman subtly. Long sleeves, pants, boots. She was equipped in traveling gear they had purchased, not her own bedclothes or her servant's garb. She was leaving. But why? They'd done nothing to harm her. She had to know she would be caught if she continued heading towards Sarton. Ah. Maybe that was it. "Come on Fuzz. I need you to be a good boy and let go." Pete matched his muscles against that of Fuzz's jaws. They were very close. Pete considered making use of energy, but he almost felt like if he pulled harder he would snap something on Fuzz. "Just let go and we can all go back to camp, okay?"

Fuzz was smart. Pete was certain that the wolf understood at least some of what he was saying. His jaws loosened and the woman pulled her arm out. "Thank you. Could you please take that beast back to the camp and restrain him?"

"Of course, I'll hold onto him." Pete put his arms around Fuzz's chest under his front shoulders and lifted him up. He was a heavy thing, but Pete at least had the initial pass of Body Tempering done and had been decently strong to begin with. "Come on, let's go."

"You go on without me," she said. "I need a moment."

"Of course," Pete said. "Take your time." He turned around, still carrying Fuzz. Fuzz whined and wriggled, but he couldn't get out of Pete's grip. Pete walked away, leaves and sticks crunching under his feet while he listened behind him. Fuzz's continuous whining didn't help, but Pete understood the reason well enough. When they turned around, Lara was gone. "Okay boy. Let's catch her." If Fuzz was able to walk at a full pace he would have put the wolf down. Instead, he was still able to move more quickly even carrying the weight. He couldn't say he was fast, but they weren't slow either.

He first hurried back towards where she had last been. He couldn't hear her, but Fuzz leaned very hard in one direction. All that snuffling he was doing must be for something, so Pete followed his 'directions'. Eventually he caught up to the sound of running feet, and he caught sight of the woman. She wasn't fast, but it was a bit hard keeping up with her while holding Fuzz.

"You wait here," he said, putting down the wolf. "I'll be right back." He didn't stop to see if Fuzz listened, instead calling after the woman. "Where are you going?" Instead of answering, she instead started to sprint away. Not that he expected much different. He put his energy into his legs, the way he saw Anton and the others do when they were trying to move quickly. He almost toppled himself face first into the dirt, but fortunately managed to hold his position. His legs still did the majority of the work but he was enough faster to continuously gain on the woman. "Do you intend to go back into slavery?" No answer. But he wasn't going to stop. He caught up to her and grabbed her around the waist, picking her up.

She started screaming and yelling, kicking and biting at him. Some of that probably hurt, because while his energy was pretty weak it still provided a tough surface all over his body. Pete felt bad, but she was running directly towards Sarton. Whether she intended to betray them or was fleeing in the wrong direction he couldn't be completely sure, but either way he couldn't let her. He hoped nobody was looking for them in this area right now. The whole point of the formation was to hide their position, and now they were far outside of it.

He started jogging back towards the camp, kicking sticks and rocks and leaves in a strange attempt to mask his trail. He had no idea if it would work, but it didn't leave things any more obvious than he'd already been. About halfway back he saw Fuzz, doing his weird front-paws-only thing to move after them. When he saw they were both coming, he sort of waggled his butt and turned around back towards the camp. That was what Pete thought. Fuzz just wanted everyone to stay together. It wasn't clear if he understood the danger or just wanted everyone to be a nice little pack.

The woman's yelling woke everyone up, of course, and there was a lot of yelling and accusations going back and forth. Pete didn't even want to think about all the things the woman he was carrying said about him. The men from Dungannon seemed to be taking Pete's side, and they were all stronger than the rest. Things seemed like they might get violent but-

"Enough!" Catarina's voice cut through everything else. A wave of energy made everyone reel on their feet. "Everyone quiet. We'll hear things out one at a time. Pete, set her down."

"Absolutely," Pete said as he put her in the middle of everyone. He trusted Catarina to keep things fair.

"You-" Catarina pointed to Lara. "Share your side of what happened."

"He tried to rape me!" Lara accused. "He pulled me out of the camp and-"

"I see," Catarina cut her off. "Pete. Explain."

"I stepped away from the camp because I saw Fuzz run off. She was out there, heading towards Sarton. Fuzz had a grip on her arm, trying to stop her from going."

"The beast attacked me!" the woman exclaimed.

"Shut up," Catarina said, "I didn't say it was your turn to talk." Pete had to admit that Catarina was being a bit biased. Fuzz was snuggling up against her legs at the moment. But that bias really helped him, so he didn't complain.

"As I was saying… Fuzz wouldn't let go. I finally managed to convince him to let go. She asked us to return to camp first, so I began to. But as you all might notice," Pete pointed out. "She's in full travel garb. She wasn't forced to go anywhere. Anyway, almost as soon as our backs were turned she ran off again. Straight towards Sarton. Now, I can't say she's a traitor. Maybe she's just got a bad sense of direction, but that was where she was going. You can follow our tracks easily enough"

"I see," Catarina nodded. "You. Explain why you were going towards Sarton."

"I wasn't!" She pointed a finger towards Pete, "He-"

Catarina's sword was drawn and pointed at her throat in an instant, "Explain why you were going back towards the people who enslaved you and left on your own. Nobody forced you to be here. You know it's dangerous for you to go out there, and you snuck away instead of just saying you were going off on your own. Why?"

Lara didn't answer immediately, but another one of those from the manor did. "She's the snitch," the second said.

"What?" Patricia gasped.

"She's the one who always told when we weren't doing exactly as we should. I knew it. I just thought, if we were all going to be free it didn't matter. But instead she thought about the stupid rewards she could get for being a traitorous bitch."

"You have one last chance to defend your actions," Catarina said. "Explain why you snuck away and headed directly towards our enemies."

"Look, I- I didn't trust you, okay? Sure, I was the snitch. I thought it would be better to run off on my own instead of staying around people I didn't know. Okay? I just ran the wrong direction. It's dark."

"Fine," Catarina said. She pointed with her sword. "That's the direction you want to go." Lara hesitated. "Go!"

Pete shook his head as he watched her leave. "I don't feel good about this."

"I don't either," the second woman said. "I don't trust that snitch. Throwing around so many accusations…"

"I didn't say I believed her," Catarina said. "I just told her to go. Everyone else stay here and be safe." With that, Catarina went off into the forest after Lara. Pete collapsed into a pile, various people comforting him and some of the women apologizing for their lack of trust. He was about to wave them away so everyone could start going to bed when Catarina came back into camp, carrying Lara. "She didn't even go half a mile before turning back towards Sarton." Lara was tied up and her mouth gagged. "So she gets to stay like this until the morning, when we decide what to do with her." Catarina's voice indicated how angry she was, each word almost stabbing into Pete and he wasn't even the target of her ire. However, a calming feeling then washed over them. "As for the rest of you. Please, if you want to leave… just stay with us until we can get somewhere safer. We plan to take you out of Ofrurg, but if you want to strike off on your own somewhere…"

Patricia shook her head, "We know we can't do anything about cultivators. We're safest here."

The mood of being freed was dampened by what had just happened, but several hours before dawn Anton and Hoyt arrived- with all of the miners in tow. That of course included Oskar, and the reunion of him and Patricia filled everyone with hope. So did the baby that hadn't even seen his father until he was already several months old.

Chapter 72

Nearly three dozen ragged people were trudging through the wilderness northwest of Sarton. Their speed was hampered by the slowest among them, namely the various slaves freed from the manor. However, those same people remained determined to continue as long as they could, pushing themselves to keep up. Those with more cultivation carried heavier loads, mostly food, bedrolls, and tents. Much of it was repurposed from what they had at the mines, because even a poor blanket was better than nothing. There were also some nicer things to take as well as the weapons and armor.

The bodies had been disposed of inside the mine. It would take longer for them to be found that way, though it wouldn't do much to hide their trail. Whenever someone came for the next shipment it would be obvious something was wrong. There was only so much that could be done to hide blood and damage, especially since they didn't want to remain for long. None of the miners had a single complaint about their current situation. Oskar had managed to create a tight-knit community. It helped solidify it even more when they heard he had been offered the chance to slip off unnoticed and refused to go without everyone. Though they were now free, nobody quite felt it yet. Fleeing for their lives had something to do with it.

Though Anton, Catarina, and Hoyt had no trouble with the mere act of traveling quickly, they took more difficult responsibilities upon themselves. Hoyt constantly patrolled around looking for dangers. It was possible they would be found at any time, despite their efforts to hide their trail and chosen route. The first few times they camped it had been tense, as searching cultivators came close to finding them several times. The concealment formations held, however, and they hadn't seen anyone in the past two days.

There were several reasons they might not have noticed anyone. Perhaps they disguised their passage well enough. Maybe the damage they had caused wasn't considered worthwhile enough to continue to expend resources hunting them down actively. A couple dozen slaves probably wasn't valued that much, though the cultivators they had killed might have sparked more concern. It was possible Sarton was simply arranging a more organized attempt, which might include a formation master who could see through Catarina's efforts. At least part of the reason, however, was probably that they were traveling through the Black March Hills.

They were about as pleasant as their name indicated. When gathering information about the area to think of escape routes before they set everything off, they had heard the stories of a company of cultivators being slaughtered by denizens that lived in the hills, nearly down to the last man. What sorts of monsters inhabited the area was unclear, and the story of its namesake was so ancient it was hard to verify- but they were certainly dangerous. They'd already come across several magical beasts, nothing that the main three had to worry about but any sort of magical beast was enough to be a danger to those in the early level of Body Tempering.

On that subject, when they stopped for the night they didn't just get to rest. That was when cultivation lessons began. Oskar and the miners had managed to achieve a level equivalent to the first star of Body Tempering through very messy methods that just involved taking in the overabundant energy from the mines. Oskar did have some guidance he'd given the others that allowed them to be successful, but it was mostly just dumb luck that allowed them to succeed. Anton began to instruct them in more proper methods of cultivation, though any aftereffects of their rocky start wouldn't be clear until much later.

For the moment, they were bringing Lara along with the group. Her fate had already been decided, but leaving a body behind would only be a clear marker of their trail. They also didn't want to carry a corpse with them, so she was restrained and forced to walk- or sometimes carried. Nobody enjoyed it, but even when they'd allowed her to leave she simply began to march back towards Sarton to turn them in. Anton had been able to confirm Catarina's word on that- and it didn't take any convincing to the rest regardless. She'd admitted she was the snitch to those who knew her, and the miners were quite grateful to Anton and the rest for saving them. Even though their life seemed to be in danger every moment, it was apparently no worse than working in the mines. And they were free- despite not really having many options available at the moment.

Sharp eyes aided by carefully handled energy looked ahead of the group. Anton had managed to complete the eleventh star shortly after they freed the miners. Despite the fact that they were fleeing through the wilderness with unknown forces at their heels, Anton was in one of the best mental states he'd been in during the last year. He was still worried for their survival, but he was doing something. It was dangerous, but not foolish or reckless. The fact that they'd made it this far indicated that they'd judged the situation appropriately. The response to their actions hadn't been adequate to stop them, and now they had not only managed to save dozens but also weren't rewarding those who were responsible for their predicament in the first place.

It made sense to peacefully buy up people from Dungannon to save their lives. Timidly keeping his head down and acting like slavers weren't doing anything wrong could be effective… but the problem there was he was only saving a small portion of those he could see. How many hundreds were still forced to work in the fields around Veron and elsewhere? Of course Anton couldn't repeat his current actions indefinitely and assume there would be no consequences, but remaining as he was wouldn't have been good enough. His future actions would be more difficult- especially finding and freeing the last of those from Dungannon and whatever few members of his family still lived- but he judged the difficulty would be worth it.

He wasn't going to just lead an army across Ofrurg. Even if the Order suddenly declared him as head and let him take every single elder, it would be far too costly. However, Anton would be certain to make use of the support he had in more than just training himself. He would ask for the Order's help with political pressure. They might be reluctant to act or he might find his contributions insufficient, but he felt that he would do better that way than on his own- or with the help of just a few others like Catarina and Hoyt. If the Order was unwilling… he was certain that some other sect would be willing to do something. Spirit Building cultivators didn't just grow on trees. Despite the fact that it had taken him not much more than a year to reach his current level, he knew people like him weren't just everywhere. Convincing a new sect of his growth speed and potential might be rather difficult and despite its stagnation he still thought the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars was the right group to be a part of. Their core values were not something he would find just anywhere.

But before he could deal with any of that, Anton needed the people with him to survive the journey into Estary. Estary was north of Graotan and thus mainly northwest of Ofrurg, and one of the closest borders. They were also likely to be sympathetic to the plight of a group of fleeing slaves. The border itself would be a problem, but they weren't traveling along the roads so Ofrurg wouldn't be able to stop them and Estary would be able to ignore the specifics of where they came from. As long as they didn't enter the country with cultivators hot on their heels, everything should be fine.

If they made it there alive. Magical beasts were a bit too common in the Black March Hills, and if they faced too many of them at once then the weaker members of their group would be in danger. There was a problem directly ahead, as well. In fact, all along the ridgeline in front of them. Anton was still trying to puzzle out the specifics, but he could feel the energy of magical beasts. Not just a few, either. Yet he couldn't pick a single one out among all of the rocks in the area. It was only when he caught a glimpse of a rock moving that he figured it out.

Anton was relieved that it wasn't actually a rock though. There were apparently places where the rocks themselves came alive, but in this case it was merely a collection of giant tortoises. Their shells looked like rock and would no doubt be extremely hard, but they still had heads and legs and everything else expected of a tortoise. That would include vital organs, if they could reach them. Their eyes were big enough. Anton would have to discuss with the others how best to try to avoid the creatures, though. He wanted to be prepared if they fought, but not fighting was the best option, especially with so many of the brown-shelled creatures.

Chapter 73

The group stood well downhill of the tortoises, observing them. "What do you think they're all doing up on the ridge?" Hoyt asked.

"Sunning themselves, it looks like," Anton answered. "Doubt they'll take kindly to being interrupted though. If they attacked a contingent of soldiers they'll certainly plan to attack us."

"Maybe not," Hoyt said, "Maybe if we move a few at a time. I think one of us should approach them to see their reaction." He looked around, "Me, probably. I imagine you'll be more effective at range," he inclined his head to Anton, "And Catarina is the only one who can conceal the group. If we can draw them away or shoo them off it should be good enough."

"I'll start setting up," Catarina declared. A stationary concealment formation was quite powerful, but if she was going to make it mobile it would be much less effective. Keeping the main group of people unnoticed before disturbing them would be much more likely to draw the tortoises towards Anton or Hoyt- or if they ran away, then it would just be a small bit of wasted time and effort.

Anton and Hoyt stood over to the side, discussing their plan. "I'd prefer to just wait until they moved," Anton said, "But if they're sunning themselves, that could take half a day. And there's no guarantee they won't just hole up for the night. There doesn't seem to be much vegetation here for them to eat, but they might not have to eat every day. Tortoises have a slow metabolism and some magical beasts sustain themselves half off of energy, I believe."

Hoyt nodded, "So how do you want to approach this?"

"If I knew them to be a hostile species, I'd just as soon start shooting. The Black March might have been because of these creatures, or other inhabitants a century or two ago. It's also best to try not to startle them." Anton kept sweeping his eyes over the creatures, hoping to see a break in their line or any sort of overall movement. Some of them shuffled around, but they mostly remained still, flat on their bellies. "If you approach close at a slow pace, they might just shuffle away. If you can do that, we can just squeeze open a path and walk through. That would be the best way." Anton frowned, "The ground look odd to you?"

Hoyt just shook his head, "Not really."

"Hmm. There are a few gouges around. There, there, and there," Anton pointed them out. "Can't figure out what they'd be caused by, though."

"Hopefully we don't have to find out." Hoyt looked towards Catarina, barely able to see her even though he knew she was there. She was fuzzy and indistinct, and his instincts told him to just ignore the area. "Looks like we're ready. I'll head to the right, I suppose?"

Anton nodded. "I'll take the left. If they're aggressive, I'll try to draw some of them towards me, open up the middle there."

Hoyt started picking his way uphill. The terrain was rough and uneven with lots of little potholes. He'd have to watch out for that if it came down to a fight. There wasn't anything in the way of normal terrain that could stop someone at the peak of Body Tempering, but it could be an inconvenience. He wasn't in a hurry anyway, so he picked his way carefully up to a somewhat smoother spot. That would allow him to move around with less worry if he was attacked.

It didn't take long before the tortoises noticed him. He wasn't exactly trying to hide. Spooking them might work, but he was hoping they'd just move away in annoyance. However, as he got around a dozen meters away several of the closest turtles stood and turned towards him, groaning in a deep, rumbly voice. That was a pretty clear threat. He held his position for a minute, but they neither moved towards him nor retreated. That wasn't good enough. Hoyt took several more steps forward and finally got a reaction.

The closest tortoise bellowed, a horrible noise that he could feel carried some natural energy behind it. It wasn't enough to overpower Hoyt's defenses, but it would likely be enough to momentarily stun anyone that didn't have energy defenses ready. The tortoise leaned back slightly then pulled all its limbs forward at once, throwing itself forward. As it did so, it pulled its legs and head into its shell.

Now Hoyt suddenly had a tortoise whose shell was almost as high as he was tall sliding down the hill towards him. That explained the strange marks, at least. It was fast, too. Hoyt barely managed to leap over it, running along its shell for a moment. He had barely touched ground when another several tortoises launched themselves at him in quick succession.

When it was quite clear the creatures were aggressive and fully on alert, Anton took action. An expanding area of tortoises was focusing on Hoyt, and it was best if he didn't have to deal with attacks from too many angles. He started firing arrows towards the tortoises. They were extremely quick to close their eyes or snap their heads back into their shells. He did manage to wound a few before they really got what was going on, but it wasn't long before Anton had to deal with tortoises barreling down towards him. However, he was much further than Hoyt. He learned several things. The most troublesome was that they continued to pick up speed as they skied down the hill, tumbling rocks along with them. They also coordinated themselves very well. Anton had been hoping he might get some to crash into each other, but they only attacked in sequence. That meant he technically only had to dodge one at a time. Most important, however, was that once they committed to sliding towards him they continued almost exactly straight along their trajectory with very little deviation. Their legs and head were all bundled up so there wasn't anything they could do to change it, except perhaps use a bit of their energy. Anton felt something that made them not go exactly straight, but he just had to focus on the closest few. Predicting their movements was laughably easy even without insight, but he was still constantly having to change directions. If he made a mistake, he didn't want to know what a ton of turtle smashing into him would do to his body.

The tortoises that slid down the hill eventually stopped as things leveled out. By that point they were much too far to worry about, and as far as Anton could tell they weren't even coming back up the hill. It made sense. They didn't seem to be fast except with the aid of gravity.

Catarina gestured to the group with her. The tortoises shouldn't be able to sense them easily, but formations weren't perfect against everything. There was a gap in the tortoises, however, directly between Hoyt and Anton. It was large enough for them to slip through if they stayed close- and they had to do so for the sake of the formation regardless. Catarina was at the front, flicking out little bits of energy to change the terrain in front of them. She pick the path that would best support the formation they had which was unfortunately not the easiest climb. Hopefully all of the miners could support the weaker members among them.

Some of the tortoises, while not aiming for their group, started getting far too close. It was a good thing they'd started moving when they did, because the angles involved meant that the tortoises further to the sides would be more towards where they stood, at least from Hoyt's side. Anton was far enough back that most of the tortoises would have gone behind them even if they didn't move.

Catarina kept a steady pace, keeping track of Pete on the rear-left of the triangular formation they were holding. He was doing just fine, but Oskar's portion on the other side was unstable. He at least avoided making erratic movements, but he also wasn't doing anything to direct the flow of energy properly. That was still good enough for someone without training. He was responsible enough to know to keep his arms held in front of him carrying the rocks she directed even if he didn't understand the specifics. Everyone else was more chaotically arranged, filling out the rest of the equilateral triangle. Fuzz stayed right on her heels.

So far, things had been going pretty well. That was until someone broke away from the formation. Lara. She was allowed to walk unrestrained because of the difficult terrain, and she dashed off down the hill just as they were nearing the top of the ridge. There were several tortoises that had held back from flinging themselves downhill and several others that had just meandered their way up to the crest where they could actually slide down. Upon seeing a woman suddenly appear out of nothing, they had another, closer target than the two cultivators to either side.

Naturally they began to attack. Lara had run more or less directly downhill of the formation, which placed the trajectories of some of the tortoises directly through the group. "Everyone get closer together! Strongest cultivations on the outside!" She hoped the tortoises wouldn't really hear her words, but she couldn't silently guide people in the current situation.

If Catarina had just a minute or two she could have set up a passable defensive formation. As it was, the concealment formation had to suffice. It was good enough to keep the tortoises unaware of their presence until they were about to impact. The first one was almost directly at the point of the formation, herself. She could easily dodge it, but then all of those behind her would die. Instead, she gathered as much of her energy as she could onto her legs, taking a firm stance as she kicked the side of what was effectively a sliding boulder. She didn't hold back a tiny bit, but even with her body at the peak of Body Tempering and the energy that went along with it, the power she could harness in an instant was barely enough to deflect it. Sharp pieces of rock sprayed into the group as the tortoise slid past, wounding several of those on the outer layer. A few had passable energy defenses and held their ground, but they couldn't fully protect those in the middle either. That was the problem with traveling around with close to thirty people.

Somehow the formation held together from the first tortoise and another few that came extremely close to impacting the formation towards the rear. There were only a few more of the giant tortoises, but one was angled about a third of the way inward on the right side. It wasn't possible for everyone to get out of the way, especially those moving uphill. Then the formation shattered as Oskar grabbed the two people closest to him, flinging them away from the corner. Though Catarina's eyes weren't on the scene, she could feel his energy suddenly spike as he dashed forward. His arm wide, he managed to sweep up four others in the way of the tortoise's descent and shove them out of the way, along with himself. Catarina could probably carry four people, but she was at the peak of Body Tempering and not just somewhere around the first star. However, the instant after that Oskar's energy flattened. She would have turned to see him but there was one last tortoise straight ahead. With the formation scattered they were quite visible now. Before it even started moving, she gathered all of her energy and charged forward to meet it.

Her quick thinking probably saved a dozen lives, because though it moved straight towards her it didn't have as much time to build up momentum. Catarina once again kicked with her heel to throw the creature off course, this time being flung tumbling off to the side. But she diverted the creature enough that the left side batted it away with their weapons as they dodged out of the way.

Catarina looked downhill. At least there was some justice. Lara had been the target of most of the tortoises, and they were quite accurate. Catarina grimaced as several tortoises stood around a decidedly non-rigid body. Catarina didn't watch, but she was certain she saw one of them open its mouth to take a bite of the mess, before she turned away.

Chapter 74

Having survived the onslaught of tortoises flinging themselves downhill and now being uphill of them instead, the group did… nothing. Not to the tortoises, anyway. They were certainly aggressive and dangerous, but that was exactly the reason there was no point in staying around to antagonize them further. When approached from uphill, they did indeed start moving away to the side and since they were able to continue without any serious injuries, they left the area. Besides, leaving them all basically healthy would make it much harder for anyone trying to follow them. It might take the tortoises some time to return to the top of the hill, but they seemed to be already doing so.

The Black March hills were the final barrier to reaching Estary, and while they encountered a number of other magical beasts none were sufficiently powerful or in large enough numbers to endanger the group.

Camp had been set up just outside the border to Estary. It was already late when they arrived, and they preferred to cross the border during the day. They had decided that officially crossing the border would be the best option, with a few caveats. They did have some escaped slaves. It was unknown if Estary would honor Ofrurg's laws, but the bigger problem was Ofrurg's side of the border. It was decided that Hoyt would cross the border with the legally freed slaves. He was chosen in particular because unless they had been seen while traveling- in which case their pursuers had gotten much closer than they'd thought- nobody could recognize him. There was a small chance Anton and Catarina could be recognized from the manor. Anton wasn't sure if he could or should kill everyone there and while they had been quite far he couldn't discount the possibility one of the guards had extraordinary eyesight and good memory. Hoyt couldn't be recognized because everyone at the mines was either dead or part of their group.

While they had a break, Anton had something to talk to Oskar about. The man now had strands of grey hair among his dark brown, strands that hadn't been at all grey the previous morning. "What was that technique you used?" Anton asked calmly.

Oskar sighed. He looked exhausted, more than anyone else despite having been actively in combat for the same duration. He shuffled through his pack and pulled out the scroll. He held it out for Anton to take. "I found it in the mines. A forbidden technique."

Anton left him with his hand awkwardly outstretched. "I see. And you practiced it anyway?"

"Well… not really." Oskar scratched his grizzled beard. "I thought to leave it alone. But I couldn't help but keep thinking," his eyes flickering over to Patricia, "Thinking that I might need more power than I had. I knew how strong the guards were. So I read it. But I didn't practice it."

Anton nodded, his face impassive. "That is probably the worst choice, from what I have heard."

"What do you mean? The technique indeed had warnings, but it also said that if it wasn't used there was no danger in studying it."

"Of course," Anton said. "But if you were going to end up using it anyway, it was better to practice it in safety first. Unless the technique can only be used three or four times total, it shouldn't have this effect on you."

Oskar shook his head, finally lowering the scroll. "I don't know. It certainly implied it could be used somewhat more than that. It was… difficult to understand."

"Do you want my help? I have no intent to take it away from you. I've had more access to different techniques for study, and higher cultivation levels assist with understanding techniques."

"I'm not sure," Oskar said. "If Patricia was safe- and Kevin too- I might just get rid of it. But if they need me, I'm not concerned about burning a little bit of my life force away."

"Burning your life force?" Anton raised an eyebrow. "That would explain the sudden aging. If it is any consolation, it is likely that continuing to rise in cultivation should recover some of that."

"Is that why you look so… relatively young?"

"That seems to be the case," Anton said. "It seems that each star of the Ninety-Nine Stars has the potential to raise the user's lifespan between one and three years, and similar totals are had at the same stage for most cultivation methods. So I may still live another decade, though it could be less. Little study has been done on the extension of lifespan for those who begin cultivating… late."

"I don't know much about it," Oskar replied, "But I certainly heard it was difficult to begin cultivating when older. How did you do it?"

Anton shrugged, "It's amazing what you are willing to endure if you don't care if you die."

"I understand," Oskar nodded sadly. "I don't wish to put you in danger, but I would like your thoughts on whether this technique will have any additional side effects."

Anton smiled reassuringly, "I will do my best to help you out."

Hoyt had no idea why he was nervous. He was quite capable of being independent. He had the papers from when he originally crossed into Ofrurg, and the documents for Pete and the others declaring them free. He didn't feel like he would have been nervous if Anton were around. He couldn't say the same for his real grandfather. Maybe he was just destined to be a follower. In that case, at least he could be standing behind Anton. But if that were the case, he at least had to be able to carry out a plan they'd put together on his own. Growing up with the shelter of the Order so nearby maybe hadn't been that good for him.

Still, he felt justified in being nervous. While there was only one Essence Collection cultivator at this border, it was still nerve wracking. He was used to any he met being much more friendly, since they were usually part of the Order or at least friendly to them. There was another similar cultivator to match on the Estary side, but that did little to help.

If Hoyt had been able to ask Anton how he avoided being nervous, the answer would have been simple. It wasn't that he didn't get nervous doing things. He'd just come to accept that everyone did and some just hid it better than others. While eventually repeated experiences limited the number of situations a person would feel uncomfortable, there was always something new that could elicit the same feelings.

Hoyt walked into the small office. There was no point in waiting. The others came along with him.

"Papers, please," a bored looking clerk said. He was technically a cultivator, but he appeared to be in his forties and was still somewhere in early Body Tempering. Which was why he had this job, instead of something more exciting. Hoyt handed over what he'd gotten at the other border. The clerk looked down at it, then picked up a little bell which he rang. Another more junior clerk came running, "Process these, please."

Everything seemed normal. But there was a slight change on the clerk's face when he read the papers. "What was that for?"

"We're checking everyone crossing the border. There was an incident." The clerk gestured to Pete and the other four. "Papers, please." The only identity papers they had were the ones that declared they were freed slaves. He started looking through them one at a time. "These don't match. These documents aren't for cultivators."

Hoyt bristled at that, "Are you telling me I'm not allowed to teach free people how to cultivate?" It was quite obvious to anyone who was willing to look that they shared the same cultivation style. Sure, Hoyt technically hadn't been the one to do it, but the clerk didn't have to know that. He didn't like where things were going. Was that 'incident…?' This was the closest border and sending a message along the roads would have been faster.

His question was answered when two Spirit Building cultivators approached. They hadn't been far away to begin with. Were they listening in? It was a security checkpoint. "We'll need to do a thorough search of your group," they said. Along with that, they extended their energy to press down on Hoyt and the others.

That actually made Hoyt stand more firm. This was just a battle without weapons or attacks. Nothing to worry about. "On what grounds?" Hoyt said, his voice brimming with confidence… and projecting forward with the aid of energy.

"Slaves were stolen from Sarton, and cultivators were killed."

"I see," Hoyt said. "What does that have to do with us? I purchased the freedom of all five of these men in Veron. That has nothing to do with anything that happened in Sarton." He continued to project his voice past the men. He wasn't sure if it would do any good, but sometimes the loudest voice won. And he wasn't doing anything that could be considered an attack, unlike them. The pressure of their energy bore down on him and Hoyt had to admit it was hard to stand up to… but there were two Spirit Building cultivators against just himself.

"The men have no other proof of identity," the clerk said, "Just descriptions aren't a good enough match."

That was enough to set off Hoyt. "Of course they don't! Slaving bandits from Ofrurg stole them from their homes in Graotan. I followed all of your laws to free them. Now you're attempting to brand me a criminal? The Order won't stand for this." Hoyt was currently making his cultivation very obvious. He couldn't possibly defeat the two Spirit Building cultivators despite their relatively low ability. But he really didn't believe they would dare to do something carelessly. While Hoyt agreed that the Order needed to be more active, it was also the case that they wouldn't stand for any violations that could be easily proven. A young, peak Body Tempering cultivator wasn't a nobody who would just be forgotten about if he disappeared at the border. Hoyt also got some confidence because he'd felt the senses of an Essence Collection cultivator sweep over him. Two, in fact. The one that bolstered his confidence was the one from Estary.

He felt the closer one approaching. Hoyt wondered if he had made a mistake. While the Order would certainly avenge him, he'd really rather still be alive. He did have one more card he could pull out but fortunately the Essence Collection cultivator from Estary had started to move at the same time. Quite a bit more quickly, as well. A heavy pressure bore down on him for an instant before it was lifted along with that of the Spirit Building cultivators.

"What's going on here, hmm?" The voice of a woman spoke out right next to Hoyt. He hadn't even noticed when she got there. As he turned to look he found her younger than he'd thought she would be. She looked to be in her thirties, and while Hoyt actually doubted that was her actual age, it showed she had advanced fairly quickly. Hoyt had no chance to answer, because there was another definitely older voice.

"Stay out of this, Adrastea." The man in front of them was certainly older.

"My job is border security," Adrastea smiled in response. "It seems to me your men are causing untoward trouble for this young man, Yust." She spit out the name like it left a bad taste in her mouth.

Hoyt just tried to look small. He wasn't sure if he'd made the right choice, but it at least made him more confident to have someone strong at his side. He just hoped their obvious personal conflict wouldn't be trouble for him.

Chapter 75

If Anton or the others knew their way around Estary, they could have arranged for a discreet location to meet up. As it was, their target was a city not far from the other side of the border. Hoyt and those with him were quite a distance away at the proper border crossing, while Anton and Catarina planned to just walk across some distance away. That meant they'd have to avoid anything that ended up with their identities being checked, but they really didn't have any intention for that regardless. He wasn't planning to buy anything particularly strange and exotic, nor did he plan to commit any crimes. Except sneaking past the border, he supposed.

"Stop!" Catarina held out her hand to the side. "There's a formation."

Anton surveyed the area in front of them, but shook his head, "I don't feel anything. It's too faint."

"It's weak," Catarina said. "It's not a barrier or an offensive formation. Nothing will stop us if we just walk through."

"I suppose it must be an alarm then?" Anton asked.

"I think so," Catarina said. "But none of the actual parts of the formation is here. This is just an extension of the effect between two points." Catarina looked to the left and right. "It's too far to go around, I think. It could encompass the whole border."

"Was there anything like this at the Graotan-Ofrurg border?"

"... I don't know," Catarina said. "I didn't sense it at the time, but I've improved in cultivation significantly. And practical experience with formations." She approached closer towards the invisible barrier, presumably stopping in front of it. "I think I can open up a way through. As long as nobody's currently watching the barrier."

"How long is it to go around, really?"

Catarina shook her head, "It would be a half day to the northeast before we could determine whether or not it ends or just has a relay point."

"And the other option is sneaking through this formation's effects. If we're still being pursued the detour might cost us. But if we're caught here…" Anton shook his head. He continued to look around them. It was just a regular stretch of land. In fact, he'd thought they'd already crossed the border. Of course just that didn't make them safe, but still. "Catarina, can you tell if there are formation techniques from Estary or Ofrurg supporting this formation?"

She shook her head, "Even if I could study the core of the formation, from what I know of formations this entire region should have the same basis. Close enough for individual styles to overwhelm regional differences."

"Too bad, because I was hoping we were fully in Estary. If it's not something both sides control, I'd rather bet on explaining things to Estary." He looked back at the dozens of people following behind them, waiting to see what they did.

"We just have to not get caught then," Catarina started shuffling pebbles around, "I will need you to lend me energy. Then we can open up a path for everyone to move through."

The two Essence Collection cultivators were having a staredown, with the side effects being for the floor between them. Adrastea kept any energy from flowing towards Hoyt and the five others, while the older man named Yust protected those from Ofrurg. Where their energy met cracks formed in the ground.

The woman who had been referred to as Adrastea pushed forward, and the crack widened. However, as she turned towards him to speak instead of any sort of retaliation from Yust the crackling energy lessened. "Who are you, young man?"

Hoyt cupped his hands together, bowing slightly. "I am Hoyt, of the Order of NInety-Nine Stars."

"And these?" she gestured to Pete and the others from the farms.

"They were captured from Graotan and taken as slaves. I legally purchased and freed them, as those documents show."

"There's no proof of that!" Yust said.

Adrastea turned back towards him, "Perhaps. But the papers are legitimate, are they not? Why have they not been allowed through?"

"They have no other form of identification. It could be anyone."

Adrastea's snort stirred up the air so much that one of the two early Spirit Building cultivators standing behind Yust staggered back slightly. "Ofrurg never provides freed slaves with proper identification. That is a fault in your own system, and inadequate reason to hinder someone on legitimate business. Anything else?"

"Citizens were killed in Sarton and slaves freed. This is the nearest border. We need to search him to see if he has any connection to the incident. These slaves-"

Adrastea pulled a spear from nowhere and leveled it at Yust. "These people are not slaves. Nor should anyone be."

Yust swallowed, "My mistake. However, this being the closest border we have legitimate reason to search this fellow, and any others crossing."

Adrastea's eyes flickered to the side for a moment before turning back towards Yust. "Is that so? Then we'll be glad to search any disciple from the sects of Ofrurg passing through our land as well. I'm sure they have some lovely techniques."

"I don't-"

"Many people would like to get their hands on a fully copy of the Ninety-Nine Stars. I'm sure you're among them." Adrastea turned to Hoyt. "Hoyt. If you will allow us to jointly search you and your companions, I can promise no techniques or private correspondence will be read."

"Of course. Go ahead," Hoyt really didn't have much choice- and they really didn't have anything on them. Pete and the others had little more than the clothes on their back, travelling supplies, and weapons. Hoyt had the Ninety-Nine Stars, but all of the more suspect things were with Anton.

It didn't take long before they were past the Ofrurg side of the border. Adrastea lead them forward to the Estary side. "We still have to fill out the paperwork, but that won't take long." It didn't, either. It probably helped that Adrastea herself filled out the documents, her hand flicking with remarkable speed as she wrote. "There. How many others?"

"It's just the six of us," Hoyt said.

Adrastea took a good hard look at Hoyt. "Fine. Just one moment, though." She picked up another pile of documents, filling each out in an instant. She put half to the side and handed half to Hoyt. "If you happen to run into any other members of the Order, say an eleventh and tenth star, or perhaps two dozen miscellaneous others, they might need these." When Hoyt hesitated, she spun them through the air so they landed in his bag. "I can tell you haven't been expelled from the Order, and I believe you about the method these five were enslaved and freed. So I'm willing to take the chance. Though if they really aren't with you…" Adrastea stroked her spear she hadn't yet put away.

Hoyt gave up. She obviously knew who had passed, and probably where they were more than he did. "Actually I was planning to meet up with some others. Maybe they lost their papers."

Adrastea smiled and waved them on. As they stepped out of the structure, Adrastea called after them, "Oh, don't forget to tell your grandfather I said hi!"

Dammit. Stupid Essence Collection cultivators knew everything. At least they got past the border.

Hoyt was waiting outside the city for Anton and the others. He handed over the bundle of papers after they approached. "You were found out. Fortunately, by someone friendly to the Order. Maybe that's Estary's opinion in general," Hoyt shrugged.

Catarina frowned. "How… was there a secondary formation to detect tampering? It didn't resist my efforts…" she muttered to herself as Anton looked over the papers.

"Some of the details seem to have been left vague," Anton said. "That's… something." The papers for him mostly said Spirit Building, Ninety-Nine Stars along with the date and other legal stuff. The papers for the miners just said Body Tempering, undeclared. "Are these safe?"

Hoyt shrugged, "The Essence Building cultivator can probably see us from here. And if she wanted you to be dead, you'd be dead."

"I only detect anti-tampering formations," Catarina said. "But if they want to track us…"

"Let them," Anton said. "It appears we underestimated the border."

"... I'm sorry," Catarina said.

"It's not your fault," Anton said. "Truthfully, both of us are inexperienced in this area. Nothing bad happened this time, so we can learn." Anton looked at the nearly three dozen people they had. He'd hunted animals when necessary as they were fleeing through Ofrurg, but he'd rather not poach in Estary if he could help it. It would be a poor guest that received such a helpful welcome only to turn around and break laws. That meant they'd have to buy food, and they also should probably at least get everyone into a common room instead of their somewhat lacking tents. They'd saved quite a bit of money by not paying for any of the last group, but they should probably get some work. Preferably some that looped around to the west, so they could return to Graotan.

Except it wasn't guaranteed everyone was from there. He hadn't really stopped to talk with the majority of the miners and the servants. An oversight on his part. There was no way any of them were going back into Ofrurg, but if there were any who had homes in Estary going a bit out of their way to return them home would be the proper thing to do. Anton wasn't even completely where Pete, Oskar, Patricia, and all the others wanted to go. Dungannon was no more, and it really wasn't very safe.

Chapter 76

It was humbling that they were found out while crossing the border, but that only reinforced what Elder Varela of the Grasping Willows told Anton. Even if he wasn't strong enough to contend with the best yet, he could rely on allies. Granted, he hadn't known the woman who helped in this particular case but he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. From what Hoyt had said, she could have been supporting them or just getting back at Yust, or Ofrurg in general. Probably both. Intentionally making allies in a receptive country would be a good move. That should have included the Order, but he'd been focused on all of the wrong things at the time. When he was told the Order would not or could not act, he hadn't really pushed for more. Anton wasn't sure if he could have convinced them at the time since he didn't know what to say and was just a new Body Tempering cultivator, but he might have gotten something. Even a strongly worded letter could have been to his advantage if he hadn't gone in so cautious, as if he had been targeted for some reason.

He briefly entertained a fantasy where he went directly to the Iron Ring slavers, using the pressure of the Order to have them buy back all of those they sold from Dungannon. Even in that fantasy his more practical thoughts butted in and forced him to take out a loan (in Graotan where he could get a reasonable rate) to pay for all of that.

And if it had gone perfectly… Anton looked at the group of people around him. Dozens of people he was now acquainted with would be slaves still. People from Ofrurg, Graotan, Estary, and everywhere around. Anton made sure to talk to each and every one of them one-on-one. Some of them were sparse with the details of how they became slaves, possibly because they didn't want to think about it or perhaps because it had involved some sort of crime. Anton understood why they would be leery of mentioning those details and didn't press them. He'd been fortunate enough to never have to choose between a life of crime or not surviving. Though now he was technically a criminal in a larger manner than any of them could have been.

Anton had no regrets for his actions except how it limited him in the future. Before he could enter Ofrurg again he would have to wait for things to settle down and get information on what they really knew. If there was a bounty with his face on it, it would make life much more complicated. Anton didn't think the consequences would spread throughout the whole of Ofrurg, but it could be troublesome if he later had business in the north. Anton didn't think he'd killed anyone important, and with how Ofrurg worked he'd likely be forgotten within the month. Though Ofrurg did crack down a lot harder on crimes within their own borders compared to what their citizens chose to do elsewhere. Hypocrites.

Of more concern was what the Order would think of what he'd done. Anton had no intention to break ties with the Order, and he didn't think hiding his actions would be useful. Hoyt and Catarina could remain quiet about things, but the Order would wonder how he got so many people freed. Currently all of them approved of following along with him until they arrived in Graotan, though if some of them found opportunities on the way Anton would encourage them to take them. He couldn't do much more than teach some basic cultivation and provide for them long enough for them to become established somewhere. Though it seemed likely that several of them planned to truly become cultivators.

Pete was currently undergoing the difficult process of tempering his meridians as the second star. If he succeeded it would be in great benefit as he continued to work with formations, and Anton was providing the best guidance he could. It still wouldn't be easy. Anton did it quickly enough but he'd almost killed himself. Pete had a long life ahead of him still and could afford to be a bit more conservative with his efforts. Always being on the road doubtless wasn't helping, but he wasn't far.

Oskar was actually quite naturally talented. It seemed he'd never bothered making the attempt to cultivate, being content with his simple life. The tests the Order performed had passed him by because he lived and worked in small villages. Anton felt it was a shame. Vincent was so proactive about recruitment, but many people didn't even know the real benefit that could be gained from cultivation. It was just a thing that they would never be able to interact with.

Currently, Oskar was rebuilding his cultivation. He'd managed to temper his body more or less equivalently to the first star so it was just about modifying his energy so his body could get used to the way the Ninety-Nine Stars felt. Anton was certain part of his success had been luck, but there was nothing wrong with that. Oskar worked hard and took the chances he had to.

That brought Anton back to the forbidden technique. He'd borrowed it to study, and he was quite certain he absolutely would not use it. He wasn't even sure if he wanted to practice the techniques without actually activating them, because even that might cause him to age. The potential to burn up the remaining portion of his life for momentary power wouldn't do him much good if he killed himself before he ran into danger. He agreed with its creator, Everheart, about its forbidden status. He did find some benefits from studying it, and he passed the insights he gleaned along to Oskar. It was up to him if he wanted to practice it further, but Anton was fairly certain some of the age he'd lost could be recovered. It was just his body was unused to the burst of energy and not that he'd burned away so many decades of his life in an instant. But… probably a single decade.

No, Candle Wax treated the cultivator's life force as an energy source and Anton certainly had none of that to spare. As an auxiliary technique, however, it did teach him how to try to sense his life force. Anton wasn't certain if that would be useful, but it was interesting enough he began to practice it.

The second half of Candle Wax interested Anton, as secrets dangled just out of reach often did. He would love to study it… but he had no intention to put in the effort to find it. There was no guarantee any copies of it actually existed. Anton didn't know who Everheart was, but the scroll was hundreds of years old. Which technically could have made him not much older than Grand Elder Vandale. Maybe if he had time he would research Everheart at the Order. If they didn't decide to expel him or something.

While searching for potential work along the lines of caravan guarding they had done in Ofrurg, they came across bounty notices. There was one that instantly caught everyone's eye. Hoyt was closest and read it aloud. "Wanted: Group of eleven cultivators, cultivations from mid to late Body Tempering. Crimes: Illegal border crossing, suspected banditry." Hoyt paused, "This is recent. They seem to have a location, as well."

"Why hasn't it been taken care of then?" Catarina asked.

The caretaker of the bounty board was standing nearby, and even though the question wasn't directed at him he helpfully answered. "It will usually be taken care of by one of the larger sects within a week or two. And, because the recon has already been dealt with, the pay's not generally considered sufficient. Nobody much cares to risk their life for something that will be handled by someone else."

"I see," Catarina said. "What if someone gets hurt before the sects deal with it?"

"It can happen," the man admitted, "But border security has increased recently. They shouldn't find any easy targets around here."

"Does that increased security have something to do with Adrastea?" Hoyt asked.

"You met her, did you?" the man nodded. "There were a few incidents some years back. Then she transferred in."

"What sort of incidents?" Anton asked.

"Banditry, slaving. It's hard to believe Ofrurg is allowed to stand, but nobody really wants a cultivator war either. There are enough large factions that are perfectly 'innocent' except for how they benefit from letting things slide." The man shook his head, "Anyway, senior Adrastea has really helped solidify the border."

"What do you think?" Anton asked Hoyt and Catarina.

"We wouldn't be doing it just for the money," Hoyt said. "I think it should be manageable. We can at least get the details."

"I agree," Catarina said.

Anton looked to the bounty board caretaker. "If we could see more details, then. We'd like to know more about what we're getting into."

"Of course sir, we have a general location, some specifics on cultivation, and several sketches from those who have spotted them in the area." The man looked through a few shelves behind him until he found the right bundle of papers. "Here you are. We'll need those returned if you don't take the job. Or if you wish to consider it longer you can make a copy."

Anton's eyes flashed as he looked through the papers. He couldn't be sure, but some of the sketches matched the features of another he'd gotten from one of those he was looking for. It wasn't too strange, since the information from the Ears of the Fox had mentioned he was still active but no longer in Graotan. Even if it wasn't the right people, the information was detailed enough to confirm they weren't just simple border hoppers. Anton would hate to kill people fleeing criminal injustice like himself.

Chapter 77

Though the information on the bandits took them almost directly to the encampment, they didn't rush in and start attacking. Even if all of the information was perfectly accurate, it could still pose danger. The number of bandits and their progress in cultivation was more than at the mines, and while Catarina's aid would certainly make up for some of that it was better not to just rush into anything. They weren't in a rush, so watching from far away to scope out the camp was reasonable. It was extremely unlikely that any of them could see better than Anton, who was not only somewhat ahead in cultivation of their best members but also favored a technique to increase his eyesight. While doing nothing else he could keep Hawk Eyes active at the most basic level all day, and that was what Anton had been doing. Just as they were wondering if they ever left camp, he spotted several of them sneaking away early during the night.

"Figures," he said. "They stay inactive during the day and sneak off at night. Should have expected that." There was only a small group heading out, unless he'd missed others somehow. "Just three of them," Anton looked to Catarina and Hoyt. "Can't exactly let them go off on their own and just hope they behave."

"We'll stay here and keep watch," Catarina said. "If they split up more, we'll figure out what to do. If they spot us here…" Catarina shrugged. She'd put together a small formation that allowed for concealment and combat enhancement. "We'll be fine. Though tomorrow we should bring some of the others. Whoever is best at combat."

Anton didn't like that. The reason was simple. While two dozen first and second star cultivators could indeed overwhelm a handful of mid Body Tempering enemies, their individual lives would be in danger. But Anton also didn't like the thought of leaving bandits to go off and do whatever they pleased. "You're right. We can ask if the others want to join." They probably would, regardless of their own feelings. Anton didn't know how to get around that, since it was simply loyalty to the group. He would at least make sure they knew how dangerous it was. He would have preferred not putting them into combat so early in their training, but they might be necessary. "I need to get moving."

Stalking people was much the same as stalking animals. It was unlike tracking, since his target was already in sight. He just needed for them to stay unaware of him until he got close enough. Though he wasn't sure if he wanted to kill them just yet. Just assuming the information they had was accurate didn't sit right. So far all he'd seen was them camping out. If they planned to do something, however, he would be close enough to stop them before they could go through with anything. Even at a hundred or two hundred meters, it would only take a short moment for his arrows to reach them.

With the way the three men he was following looked around, he almost thought he was compromised. However, they continued to regularly repeat the same actions, sneaking to behind a tree or a rise, looking for pursuers or foes ahead of them before moving further. Anton was fairly certain he'd concealed his energy well enough. Though his greater quantity of energy at a higher cultivation was more prone to causing disturbances, he also had greater control over it when he wanted to. The end result was a passable stealth ability that still relied on keeping distant.

He followed the trio to a small community. A village with a tall palisade meant to keep out wild animals- and probably bandits. There were several entrances to the village, and guards at each. The trio seemed to be confirming that information, though they didn't speak except in whispers- and Anton was certainly not good enough to pick up such whispers from so far. He didn't have a formal technique for hearing, and hearing was naturally worse than vision for long distances.

Even in the dim starlight, Anton could make out one of the men well enough to be certain that he matched the description of a scout that had worked with Van Hassel. That matched the information from the bounty board. There was nothing wrong with that, but Anton couldn't help but remain suspicious. They had too much information about these people for them to not have already been removed. Was there corruption? One border guard helping them out didn't confirm anything for the whole of Estary. But if that was the case, why was the information accurate? Why post the bounty at all? It could be a trap, but for who? It shouldn't be for Anton, because he should still be an unknown from their perspective. Only a few people knew what he intended, and he didn't expect any of them to betray him. The closest would be the Ears of the Fox, but they had a reputation for professionalism. If he'd already started targeting this group he could understand if some sort of information group found something, but the bounty was there before he even reached the border.

As the trio of bandits finished their scouting of the village- they seemed unwilling to approach the walls- Anton followed after them. He followed them back towards their camp and wondered if the same could happen to him. He hadn't exactly been incautious, but he was presuming that one of those he knew about would be the only possibility. Someone in Body Tempering. But if there was someone with equal or higher cultivation than Anton, like Van Hassel or the formation master…

A single glimpse of someone in the woods behind him was all he got. In fact, saying he saw someone was incorrect. He saw the edge of what might have possibly been clothing. With so many trees in the way and it being dark, it was impossible to confirm anything. But Anton was convinced. Someone was following him. No, that wasn't the only option. It could also be someone else watching the bandits who had noticed his presence.

He took a circuitous route around the camp to meet up with Catarina and Hoyt. He couldn't say if he'd lost the tail, but he did his best not to lead them to his allies. At the very least he knew Catarina's concealment formation should keep conversation private, unless the extra was vastly more powerful than he imagined. In that case, there was little they could do about it. He told the other two about what he saw- including the tail.

"Should we give up on this?" Hoyt asked.

"This figure doesn't fit the description of the formation master or the leader, right?" Catarina asked. "That is, neither of them are particularly known for personal stealth. And if it had been a concealment formation, you would have either not noticed them or seen something else."

"Correct," Anton said, "They simply moved behind trees as I turned my head. But just because they aren't known to have those abilities…" Anton shook his head. "Well, the methods of Van Hassel imply he isn't skilled at tailing. But the formation master, Nirmal, is relatively unknown. I regret not getting the complete information from the Ears of the Fox. I'm mostly relying on the Order's info. Probably reliable, but incomplete."

"So what do you think?" Hoyt said. "Are they a threat to us, or a competitor for this bounty?"

"It wasn't mentioned anyone else had taken the bounty. However, I've been watching the encampment closely. Unless they have a way to turn invisible- a technique or formations or something- they didn't enter the camp. The bandits did a nice job of clearing out the area around it so nobody could sneak up on them." It also made their location more obvious once people looking were close. "I don't think the formation master is with them. Otherwise we couldn't see the camp."

"Unless it's a decoy camp," Catarina said. "But if that was the case, this entire group is the decoy. Or they're doing something extremely complicated with people going in and out."

"I can't say that's not possible," Anton admitted, "Especially with my knowledge of formations. I didn't really talk to Victor about what he found, either."

"I think…" Catarina calculated, "It's unlikely. I don't actually know how one would accomplish what I saw. Compared to the formation at the border, where I just missed some functionality. Nirmal would have to be extremely talented in which case one would wonder why he was still in Spirit Gathering and not luxuriously working for some big sect. Raiding and slaving can't be that profitable in comparison."

"Even if it's him," Anton said, "If he's not advanced past mid Spirit Building then we can fight him. We might need the others to hold off a good portion of the bandits though. I'd prefer to not act rashly. We'll keep an eye on them another day or two. Though we might want to start setting up an ambush point. I know their likely routes if they plan to attack the village, and if they attack before we're ready we can at least warn the village. Any of us should be able to travel faster than their group."

"Great," Hoyt said. "I think I'd like to train whoever's coming with us in some tactics to take advantage of their numbers. We just have to balance that with having them close enough to be helpful but far enough not to be noticed."

"I don't think they'll do anything during the day," Anton said. "Maybe rest yourself and start them in the afternoon, then you can personally come here at night in case we need to act."

"I'll also scout out those locations you mentioned in the morning," Catarina said. "Some formations might be better than others along particular routes."

Chapter 78

Everything was so confusing. There were all sorts of new plants and new animals, some of which were a threat to the pack. Fuzz wasn't sure how everyone sifted through so many scents so quickly without even seeming like they sniffed anything at all. Then again, the pack leaders were so strong it was understandable. They'd been the ones to save Fuzz and the others from the plants that were eating them. He was taken to be part of a new pack, though he wasn't sure why. He was injured and weak. Even his own pack wouldn't have wanted him. Everything was so confusing.

There was another one he thought might be one of the pack leaders for the first few days. He was just coming to understand what made the pack all so strong at the time, but the fourth maybe-pack-leader had been left behind. Then there had been a long time of going to new places with their pack of nine. They didn't hunt much, but they always had enough food. He didn't have to fight anyone for it. That was good, because he would lose. Even with one of the pack leaders making him stronger, he could tell the others were more.

Just as he was getting used to nine, there were suddenly many more. And some of them were even weaker than Fuzz. They didn't have any of the power of the pack leaders, and there was even a pup. It must have been younger than Fuzz, because it was very tiny. One of the pack members got lost and seemed to be unable to find her way back. Fuzz followed her and tried to get her to come back, but she didn't until one of those with power came to get her. Fuzz liked being somewhere near the top half of the pack, but that didn't even last until dawn. Then there were a whole lot more pack members with power. It was small compared to the pack leaders, but more than Fuzz.

The pack started traveling more quickly. Was it a dispute over hunting grounds? Fuzz had smelled some blood and they seemed to be being chased. It was hard to imagine anyone stronger than the pack leaders, but they knew what they were doing. Along the way the female pack leader kept doing things to Fuzz that he felt gave him more power. She even made his rear legs work again!

Then they were attacked by big rocks. The rocks had the same power as the people, and the pack huddled together for safety. Two of the pack leaders fought away from the group, while the woman who was helping Fuzz grow stronger stayed to protect the rest of the pack. Fuzz wanted to hunt, but the creatures were so dangerous he understood why they ran away. The confused woman ran the wrong way and was killed, because she didn't stick to the safety of the pack.

Then the pack had gone to a very scary place. There were others everywhere. At first Fuzz thought maybe all of them were from the same back, but it seemed to be some sort of neutral territory. That made some sense, because there were many dens to defend and the rocks were dangerous. The place with many packs also wasn't any good as hunting grounds. There were only humans, and humans didn't seem to hunt other humans.

At least Fuzz thought that, but now they were hunting humans. It must have been some sort of territorial dispute. Maybe they were going to live here? He wasn't sure. For a day the pack leaders had gone away and left him in the den, but now he got to go out. Most of those with the special power did. Some stayed behind to protect the rest of the pack, but Fuzz got to go hunting. It was a good place, lots of prey to be had. It seemed the pack leaders were more concerned with the other humans though. It was probably dangerous to hunt prey when there was competition.

The oldest member of the pack had Fuzz memorize the scent of a specific human. It seemed to be a warning, because Fuzz could smell how much power that one had. It didn't smell like a pack, so it was probably a lone wolf. A lone human? Those could be quite fierce. Either way, it was definitely too strong for Fuzz, though he couldn't tell if it was stronger than the pack leaders. He needed to get better at using this power.

Now they were waiting where the scents of the probably-enemy pack had passed before. Since they were waiting in ambush, Fuzz was nearly certain that they were enemies. However, he was wary of attacking before the pack leaders gave the order. He didn't want to cause trouble for the pack.

The wind changed directions, and Fuzz smelled them coming. Several strong humans. They smelled stronger than the others with the power, but weaker than the pack leaders. Dangerous, but that was why they'd brought most of the pack. From his pack, Fuzz smelled anticipation and fear. He understood. However, the woman pack leader had claimed the territory, and he felt her power and the rest of them were stronger. Fuzz was nervous but also excited. He wanted to prove he could help the pack. They just had to take down a pawful or two of these strong humans.

Somehow, the approaching humans didn't smell them at all. They were so close when they realized that Fuzz's pack was waiting in ambush. And he was certain that was what they were doing, because the humans had their not-fangs ready. Fuzz had tried to figure out how they worked, but they weren't part of the humans. He'd seen one alone, and it had been cold and tasted like blood. But also not like blood? It was also sharp, and it had almost tasted like Fuzz's blood. Fortunately, the power protected his tongue from the edge.

The female pack leader was the first to attack. Fuzz also thought he understood the words that said to do so, but he mostly followed everyone's lead. This was their territory now. He looked for the most vulnerable enemy. He wasn't stupid enough to think that just because he was with the pack he could take down the strongest foe. He found one, and lunged for their leg. They stabbed down at him with a long not-fang with the sharp part on the end. One of the other pack members shoved the attack away. Fuzz liked this pack. He also liked his old pack, but they weren't particularly protective of each other except for the pups. Fuzz thought he might still be a pup, except pups didn't get to fight.

His fangs wrapped around an ankle. The strange power made his teeth hurt, but his own power protected them. He didn't manage to sink into the leg, but he still pulled. Three pack members next to Fuzz used his own not-fang to maul the enemy. Even though Fuzz hadn't managed to pull him to the ground yet, it still seemed he could do some good.

Fuzz smelled a lot of blood. He could see some of it was from his own packmates. He could also smell the power of the other two pack leaders, who were fighting against enemies that outnumbered them. Fuzz wanted to go help them, but the rest of the pack was still fighting here. He sprang into action, biting and nipping at the legs of the humans. For some reason, the power they kept around their legs was usually less, even though it was so easy to reach. Once Fuzz even managed to crack through it and bite into some sort of already-bloody leg. But it wasn't wet? Then actual warm blood came out when he bit harder. How strange.

A not-fang cut across Fuzz's back. It hurt, but the power and his hide kept him safe enough. He could still fight. Besides, they were winning. He couldn't retreat while they were winning. Fuzz surveyed the battlefield, seeing one of his pack had been pulled down. He jumped up to bite at the back of the neck of the other human trying to attack with his not-fangs. He barely managed to stagger the man with his weight, but the human found it hard to attack him from its position. Apparently his not-fang wasn't made to attack behind him, and whlie the man tried to grab onto Fuzz, Fuzz kept his jaw clenched. He wasn't able to bite deep into the neck, but he wasn't going to let go and allow him to kill the fallen pack member.

He did find himself being spun around in circles, though. His teeth really hurt, but he refused to let go. He couldn't really see, but he thought maybe he was getting close to a tree. Should he let go? Before he could decide, Fuzz felt the power of the oldest pack member. Somehow he managed to make it break off from the rest of him and attack at a distance. Fuzz wanted to know how to do that, but he probably had to be stronger first. Either way, that power killed the man he was latched on to. Fuzz took a few moments to unclench his jaw, extracting it from the weird hard fur some of these humans had. He'd used up all of his power and his jaw hurt, but he had to help. But… his pack was winning. The other pack was retreating. Fuzz knew he couldn't give chase, so he chose to watch the downed members of the enemy pack instead. He couldn't tell if they were all dead, and without his power he felt like their not-fangs would be quite dangerous. So he took a guarded position and kept low. Until the female pack leader picked him up.

"Fuzz!" Catarina cried out. She was already pulling out bandages and needles to stitch him up. However, when she picked him up to move him to a better place she could tell his wound wasn't bleeding too badly. The others probably needed help first.

Even though everyone who had participated in the fight did so voluntarily, Catarina still felt bad for involving people at the first and second stars against mid Body Tempering opponents. One wrong move and they could have easily died. As far as she could tell none were, but a few were critically injured. Fuzz would have to wait. Though, she could help him at the same time. The most important thing was making sure nobody bled out, and she was getting better at medical formations. Fuzz had even helped with that, or rather the state they'd found him and others in.

The damage to Fuzz from removing the moss growing into him had mostly ignored muscle and bone, but it was the smaller and more important nerves that had been the biggest problem. Catarina honestly hadn't known what she was doing. Carving formation marks into the fur of a wolf was crazy, but she hadn't really known what else to do. So she kept doing it, and either the energy tempering his body had helped him recover or one of the things she tried. She considered trying to do it to herself, though she wanted to reach the eleventh star first. Though she'd like to wait until the prime tempering for Spiritual Connection, doing it as early as possible was the second best option. It was extremely important for getting better at formations, and Catarina realized that though she was good for her age there was still a lot more to learn. She couldn't afford to wait years to improve, either. Not if she wanted to help her grandfather. It was only a bit more than a year he'd been cultivating and he was already up to such crazy stuff. She needed to go for what was most useful now. Besides, she could always make up for it not being the prime tempering later.

An hour later all of the bandits were captured or dead, and all of their own people were… alive. That was all that could be said for a few of them. They had to get them back to the city for treatment, and even then they were on shaky ground. The miners sure were tough. They worked together well, too. Sure, fighting two or three to one made things easier but there was always the chance that they could be killed in a single blow. Some almost had, with the difference being they were just nearly dead. Most of the bandits hadn't died instantly either- mostly the ones Hoyt hacked through. Even one Anton shot in the heart had lived until the end of the battle. He just hadn't been able to do anything but stabilize his own blood flow after he was hit.

Honestly the most important factor to their victory was probably the bandits themselves. They had decent cultivations, but saying they were skilled wasn't accurate. Most of them weren't young, having taken many years to reach where they were. And since they were intending to pick on weak villagers who only had a few cultivators as guards to protect them, they weren't really prepared for an ambush. Catarina was glad she'd pushed it to be just a little bit more effective at defending people. She wasn't good with people she knew dying.

Chapter 79

It was a big relief for Anton that they finished the battle without interference from the mysterious figure. He hadn't been able to learn more about whoever they were after that first instance spotting them, though he'd had a few similar moments. His detection abilities were just on the edge of where they needed to be to pick out that particular person. He enlisted the help of Fuzz to memorize their scent, but he wasn't sure about following the trail. He had a few tricks he'd used to try to make them reveal themselves. His most promising attempt he gathered much of his energy and tried to move it away from himself as if he were walking off away from his actual location. That had afforded him another glimpse as they moved, but that was it. Still just the edge of clothing. Not wanting to push his luck, Anton had gone on with the plan to ambush the bandits.

He'd kept a bit too much energy in reserve, and some of their allies were seriously injured. He couldn't say that he would have been able to avoid that entirely if he didn't hold back at all, because he'd still been quite effective and most of the injuries were earlier in the fighting when the bandits stabilized their positions right after the ambush. But he couldn't spend too long thinking about what he had done right and wrong. He didn't detect any serious mistakes, and he took much of the risk upon himself, fighting several cultivators at once. Well, he supposed he shouldn't count the one he brought down with his first arrow.

While Catarina stabilized the injured members, Anton and Hoyt gathered the heads of the bandits that the bounty wanted proof of. It was a grisly task, but really the best way of proving they had killed them.

Though some of them had been involved in the attack on Dungannon- Oskar even mentioned he recognized one- Anton didn't feel much elation. He had no worries about killing them, his inspections of their actions sufficient for him to agree with the assessment. It just wasn't very cathartic. Only a handful of them had been connected to the attack, and there were so many more to kill, and so many taken into slavery yet unfreed. So, Anton only felt a little bit of satisfaction that he'd done good for the world. Then again, he'd pretty much known that revenge wouldn't make him happy. Even though he'd previously only experience pettier forms of revenge, any satisfaction it brought was fleeting.

Even though the dozens he'd had a part in freeing from slavery were extremely grateful, he wasn't the sort to base his life around praise and adulation. Though it did feel good. He just knew that wouldn't be the driving force in his life. Revenge couldn't be it either, because eventually he would be done with that. Perhaps he was a bit overconfident, but Anton knew he had to have assurance in himself to cultivate well.

That was something he was working on at the moment. For the twelfth star, he was cultivating 'voice'. It combined inner and outer benefits. The outer benefits were improved ability to command- and more usefully in Anton's opinion- to teach. Internally, it let him organize his thoughts and act with confidence. Both of those effects were still quite minor at his current level of progress, but he thought it was the best choice. While he could chase after purifications that would be most useful for combat power he wanted to prioritize some other areas so he didn't lose himself.

As they travelled the half-day's journey back towards Valburgh, Fuzz started acting up. He began with sniffing up a storm before he began alternatively whining and growling. Clearly he disapproved of something along the road. Anton didn't see anything but there was no hurt in taking a look. Fuzz showed no signs of stopping, however. He kept pace with the rest of them, continuously sniffing.

"Whatever it is," Catarina said, "It doesn't seem to be too close."

"I don't see any strange tracks," Anton said, "And we're right along the road. So it should be a person. Since all the bandits are dead, it might be that mysterious figure." Anton tried to ask Fuzz if that was the case, but he was fairly certain he didn't get the right words across. Fuzz was an intelligent wolf, but he was still just a wolf. Even if he could learn to fully understand spoken language, he was still getting used to it.

Fuzz continued to whine as they entered the city. Catarina wasn't the only cultivator who had taken a beast as a companion, but the gate guards reminded them that they were responsible for Fuzz's behavior. Fortunately, he was well behaved- though Catarina followed right next to him ready to grab him just in case.

Before stopping by the bounty office they took their injured members to proper healers. The prices for their services were reasonable enough, but Anton was getting a picture of how expensive large groups of cultivators could be. On the farm people rarely needed patching up by a doctor, and especially not in groups. Adding on to that even basic equipment and prices were quite high. Though they did still have some energy stones they could sell. Doing so right at the border seemed ill advised, regardless of whether or not Estary cared about their origins, so they were keeping them for the moment.

Only the official members of the Order returned to the bounty office- along with Fuzz. Anton wasn't entirely surprised when he began growling as they got close. As for what it actually meant, he supposed they'd have to find out. Catarina decided to pick Fuzz up under his front shoulders, just in case. It was a comical sight, his rear legs hanging almost to the ground. He didn't resist her, though he did still turn his head eagerly for new scents, and the growling continued.

Anton stepped through the door first. The same man who had been there when they were first scoping things out was still there. "Here to claim the bounty on the bandits?" he asked.

It wasn't entirely strange for him to know that. They had signed up for the task properly, and Anton had a suspiciously sized sack at his belt- fortunately not dripping blood. They'd already shown the gate guards the bounty notice. Still, he was quick to figure it out. It made even more sense when a middle aged woman stepped out of one of the back rooms.

"I told you they'd be coming soon," she smiled. For all Anton could tell it was genuine, but since he was fairly certain she'd been the one sneaking around he still remained slightly skeptical. "I'll take care of this one. Come with me, please." She merely led the group to a small counter next to a door to one of the back rooms- not the one she'd exited. "If I could take the proof of the deeds, please."

Anton really didn't want to hold onto a head anyway. He and the others handed over the heads as Fuzz growled and whined. Catarina patted him reassuringly.

"Weren't you watching?" Anton asked.

The woman just smiled, not actually answering. "Things do need to be done properly." She moved into the back room for a few moments, returning with their payment. The whole process was quick and easy, "We appreciate your contributions to Estary's safety."

"Was this some sort of test?" Anton asked.

"All bounties offered are important for the safety of Estary," the woman answered. However, she didn't deny his idea. Anton wasn't really sure who it was a test for, but the woman was clearly strong enough to take out that group on her own.

Anton didn't think he would get much else, so he merely thanked her and left. They checked the bounty board for anything else, but there were relatively few and some of the bounties didn't indicate anyone local. Anton did his best to remember the faces either as potential targets or some to avoid and report to the authorities, if they were too strong.

After they left the office, Anton spoke to the other two, "What do you think about all that?"

"I'd bet it's a test for the younger generation," Hoyt said. "And a sort of training opportunity. Let people experience live combat without too much chance of anything going wrong. It's sort of what the Order did with the forest, though clearly that got out of control this last time."

"A troublesome problem," Anton said. "The older generations can take care of all the danger more efficiently, but that leaves those following behind them unprepared."

"Also," Catarina added, "If they are always seen to be occupied with smaller tasks, people can take those opportunities to cause larger trouble. If only a few of the stronger cultivators are occupied and nobody knows when, they're a better deterrent."

"A reasonable enough system," Anton admitted, "It's too difficult to perfectly assess and handle danger." He was quite aware that cultivators weren't perfect. They were still just humans after all, humans who could make mistakes with even broader reach than normal. Still, from what he could tell Estary had its head in a good place and was also at least decently effective. Graotan wasn't bad either, but clearly there had been failures. Fixing a system that worked well for the most part without allowing other problems to crop up would be difficult. It was a good thing Anton had no intention to do it alone.

Chapter 80

There was something to be said about not being in 'enemy territory' that made Anton much more comfortable. Fields still needed workers but they weren't slaves and from what Anton could tell they appeared just as productive if not more so without people constantly watching for reasons to punish them. Though they could be even more productive if they were cultivating natural energy. Even the first level of body tempering would be greatly useful for common labor.

They were travelling with quite an oversized group. It wouldn't be dangerous for them to travel with just themselves- several strong cultivators and a couple dozen others who could fight, though some had injuries that would make it difficult. At least everyone seemed on the path to recover after the treatments they received, plus two weeks of rest and cultivation. A cultivator could fully recover from most injuries besides lost limbs or organs given enough time, though Anton could do little to guide the others in that regard. His injuries had generally not been close to life-threatening, and his experience there was limited.

Even though they could travel with just them, it was better to sign on as caravan guards. Nobody needed their particular selection of beginning cultivators and a few stepping into early Spirit Building, but they found one group willing to hire them. They had to accept a minimal price that basically just covered the living expenses of the last two weeks, though that and food being covered was enough. Feeding nearly three dozen people could get expensive, and Anton couldn't just go out into the woods and kill deer or boar as he pleased. Well, he could but he'd prefer to abide by local restrictions and those could change from area to area. He wouldn't want to annoy a minor noble or a cultivation sect by hunting in their territory.

Anton had arranged for them to work with Brantley Siblings Transport, traveling along with Mervyn and Ebba themselves to Yedo, one of the trade centers to the west. It was quite possible this was the sibling's only set of wagons, but he had heard they were reliable with their contracts. Having completed the bounty on the bandits made the two siblings more willing to take on the strangely large and imbalanced group.

Brantley Siblings Transport was carrying mostly heavy goods, metals and the like exported from Ofrurg, mainly Sarton. Many other goods passed through Valburgh but mined materials were the main export from northern Ofrurg. While good materials were valuable, whatever few bandits lived within Estary's borders weren't much interested in such heavy wagons. They weren't reasonable to bring off the road to whatever camp or hideout they had and they couldn't directly use the materials. That didn't mean there couldn't be attacks by bandits who thought the caravan carried something easier for them to transport, but attacks by wild beasts would be more likely. Large numbers could help discourage that, but the route went through some particularly aggressive scrubland. Various sorts of canines and larger cats lived in the area and while there might not be a frontal assault they could attack pack animals at night. Having so many people available to take watch was a benefit there, though the few mid-body tempering cultivators already signed up could likely have handled that on their own.

Mervyn and Ebba seemed experienced enough, both somewhere around their late thirties and early forties. Anton watched as they gave orders to the caravan, though they rarely had to do so. Their leadership skills might have been in question if their workers couldn't manage to hook up the wagons each day and get them pointed in the right direction on the road. For the most part they directed people to groups who were having trouble for whatever reason. Sometimes animals were stubborn and didn't want to be hooked up to a wagon on a given day. They always got it done quickly enough, but sometimes it took the more experienced handlers to get them to cooperate.

Speaking of animals, Fuzz was kept well away from the horses. He wasn't causing trouble directly, but the horses understandably grew nervous around him. Catarina implemented a simple scent concealment formation into what he already had so that changes in winds wouldn't suddenly remind the work animals that he was around. Fuzz barely even had much in the way of fur anymore with how many things were carved into his fur, but it didn't appear haphazard like formations laid into natural surroundings. It was like being tattooed, without ink. When he asked about tattoos, Catarina informed him that she wasn't ready to commit to anything permanent. That was sensible for a number of reasons.

Early morning training was the best in Anton's opinion, but a bit impractical when traveling with a caravan. He kept training in the morning to a minimum, not enough to fatigue anyone. At night he alternated between groups that roughly split everyone in half. Those training on a particular day had group exercises to go through, but there was also a time afterwards reserved for individual help. Nobody learned in exactly the same way, and all of the miners needed different advice as they were converting to the more structured form of the Ninety-Nine Stars instead of their former 'style' which required being in very specific mines bursting with natural energy.

The servants like Patricia were the only group that hadn't completed at least the first step of Body Tempering. Some of them were making great progress, though a few of them weren't well suited for training that involved combat movements. If they were safe and sound in a city, Anton would have been fine adapting their training to their work, but he still believed basic self-defense skills could be necessary. Nobody really complained about learning to fight, since it would allow them to have a larger influence over their own future.

After a few days of travel, Anton found that a few of the caravaneers came to watch the training. He didn't mind that, but the way they were sneaking around was somewhat disruptive. "You three can come out now," Anton said, eyes flicking to all of them. Unsurprisingly, nobody immediately jumped out of hiding. They had at least that much understanding of stealth. But Anton could have picked them out without the benefit of his cultivation- sensing them with energy was just trivial. Anton formed three fingers of energy, extremely loose and without any real power. With that he poked each of the hidden figures on the forehead. "Did you think I wouldn't notice?"

The first one out was a young man Anton knew worked with the horses. He sprang out from his hiding place and threw himself onto his knees. "I'm sorry great master, I didn't mean to spy…"

The other two were a few years older, bulkier sorts who were involved with the heavier work. Anton pegged them for siblings or maybe cousins. They bowed their heads to the ground, "Please forgive us, master cultivator!"

"I'm only going to say this once. I'm not a master cultivator. My name is Anton. You may call me that, or instructor if you wish. The early stages of the Ninety-Nine Stars are not a secret, so there's no need to snoop around. If you want to train, you may do so. As long as you're not supposed to be working." He didn't want to upset the caravan leaders.

Just like that, he gained three more disciples or… whatever they were. In the following days more workers joined irregularly, but the first three were the most eager to learn about cultivation. They trained with Anton every minute they could, and made good use of his advice for how they could train while working. It was a fairly simple idea to let energy flow through the right parts of the body while working, but it took practice to really get it right.

Mervyn and Ebba even joined for a few sessions, probably just to see what everyone was getting up to. They had established positions as owners of a caravan, so it was unlikely that learning to cultivate would significantly change their lives, but Anton encouraged them to put in the effort regardless. It could make them healthier and able to live longer, if nothing else. While a person's lifespan might extend only a few years per star that was assuming they were going to live close to the limits humans had to begin with. That wasn't necessarily the case. The two of them weren't inactive nor terribly unhealthy, but they could still be more physically fit. It would even make everything else they did easier, though not always by much.

Even the mid body tempering cultivators attended training with Anton. Since they were already significantly into their own cultivation techniques some of what Anton said was useless to them. However, except for a few extreme examples every cultivation method began with body tempering, and Anton's experience and insight into it could be applied even to other techniques, at least to some extent. If nothing else working with a group encouraged them to continually put in the effort and not slack off.

With so many people Anton found it difficult to give personal guidance, but Hoyt and Catarina weren't significantly behind him in cultivation. They had their own insights into different aspects of cultivation that were beneficial to people, and though Anton did his best to learn from them as well, he could never know everything someone else did or have all of the same experiences. On the path of cultivation even small experiences could greatly shape the way someone progressed with cultivation without them even knowing what it was that made everything slide into place.

There was one thing that was a problem. When people wanted to cultivate alone, they didn't have enough copies of the Ninety-Nine Stars. They had only three, though Hoyt and Anton also both had the complete technique. Cultivation techniques weren't just words that could be copied onto a page. Writers had to impart some of their insights into the words for readers to absorb. For that, experience was necessary… though having completed all of Body Tempering, perhaps they could recreate the basic version with sufficient quality. It still required good materials and special inks, but Anton thought to give it a try when they arrived in Yedo.

Chapter 81

The trip to Yedo was without incident. Anton understood that was true for most travel, because otherwise if attacks that had any semblance of danger happened weekly for every single group of traveling merchants, they or their guards would certainly perish within the year. Anton was an exception for having fought groups of cultivators multiple times in the last several months, otherwise there would quite simply be no cultivators of higher cultivation rank. While death was certainly a factor in the current state of things, it wasn't the only factor involved. Talent and available resources were also important. Anton knew he would be at least a few stars lower if not for the abundant natural energy available at the Order and the teachers providing guidance. There was also the one breakthrough pill that had made a significant difference, though not quite as much as he wished in the necessary timeframe.

Anton resolved to take some time for more relaxing cultivation when he got back to the Order. Or somewhere else, if they didn't want him anymore. Even though it was on a small scale, he was being disruptive and technically criminal. But he would just have to wait and see.

Before any of that, they had to return to Graotan. Travel to Yedo represented about one third of their journey as they looped around to the northern border of Graotan. There were more direct routes, but just in case Ofrurg was crazy enough to send people over the border after them he would be happy to be further. Hopefully they were still in the dark about the major details.

Now, he needed to see if he could find proper materials. They didn't have nearly enough copies of the Ninety-Nine Stars for everyone who wanted to learn, even if they shared. One for every twelve people was quite insufficient.

Hoyt looked back and forth between the two scrolls displayed in front of him. Both had the same sort of feel about them, though the words were somewhat different. The insights woven into the words were where the two scrolls varied the most. But even so, the differences were relatively minor.

"What do you think?" Anton asked.

"It's good," Hoyt admitted. "It certainly varies a bit from the others I've seen, but it covers Body Tempering quite thoroughly. None of the differences are so big as to be a problem. It just has more variants."

"I've noticed quite some differences in how people cultivate, so I thought that mentioning that was worthwhile," Anton nodded to himself, "Though I'm not sure if I might be leading people off course. I'm not far beyond Body Tempering myself."

"It shouldn't be a problem," Hoyt said. "Either people will have to forge their own path, change techniques, or they'll be able to work from the full versions of the Ninety-Nine Stars, should they choose to join the Order."

"I was wondering," Anton said, "Who scribed the ones we have? They're clearly not old enough to be any of the founders."

"That's right," Hoyt nodded. "Most of those currently available are scribed by the Grand Elders. Grand Elder Vandale was responsible for both of our complete versions, I believe."

"That makes sense," Anton nodded. "He is the closest to the peak we have, after all. Does Vincent make most of the basic ones?"

Hoyt smiled, "He'd run out if he didn't make his own. That man is quite eager. Though he doesn't spend as much time personally teaching people as you."

"Maybe he should," Anton suggested. "I'd like to talk to him about it. But speaking of the Grand Elder, I'm reminded I should look to the stars more."

"He sure does like them," Hoyt admitted. "I've never found the inspiration in them he has, but I'm still quite young."

"Sometimes you just want to do something pleasant," Anton said. "Let your mind have a break. Though I have to admit I haven't done much of that lately."

"I understand why," Hoyt acknowledged, "All of my friends and family are safely around the Order and Edelhull. Well, except all of us who are here," he smiled slightly.

Anton nodded, "The hardest part was admitting that I couldn't do everything myself. Good thing I listened to Catarina, or I'd probably be dead in a gutter somewhere."

"That's what family is for, right?" Hoyt nodded, "You old folk either think you're invincible or it doesn't matter if you die. But the former is never true, and if people still exist and care for you, neither is the latter."

"Probably nobody would hear about it, in my case," Anton said morosely. "But I don't plan to die. I have so much left to do, and a few long-term projects in mind I'd like to see to completion."

"Very well, we have come to an agreement," Anton shook the hands of both of the Brantley siblings. Though they hadn't encountered any danger on the first leg of their journey the caravan wanted him back. If nothing else the other guards and a few of the workers wanted to keep learning cultivation with him. Mervyn and Ebba wanted to pay him for those services, but Anton didn't feel that was right. It was something he wanted to do and didn't cost him anything. In fact, he found he often learned a lot from his students. Maybe not so much from any individual, but so many different perspectives ended up with useful insight. Anton did accept a slight increase in pay across the board. That way some of those traveling with them could have a bit of money of their own after they were done. It was also easier for them to accept than if he were to try to give them money directly. Then they'd probably talk about how they had to pay him back for the clothes and weapons and all that junk.

"We really appreciate what you've been doing," Ebba said, "If nothing else, having communal activities while traveling is good for morale."

"Doesn't hurt that it makes us safer, either. Though," Mervyn hesitantly asked, "Isn't it dangerous, teaching so many people to cultivate?"

"Any power is dangerous in the wrong hands," Anton said. "I have no worries about this. I've been keeping a close eye on whether people are being responsible. You two hold together a good caravan, and all of those with me have seen power in the wrong hands."

"... Right. You said you came from Ofrurg?"

"I bought the freedom of many slaves. My village was attacked by raiders and I have plans to get them all back." Anton left out the part where he also killed a bunch of guards keeping some of them slaves, because that wasn't a useful part of the story.

Ebba spit to the side, "Slavery is a detestable practice. I can't believe it's allowed."

"That's what happens when the wrong people get in power," Mervyn shrugged. "We could make quite a bit more profit if we went into Ofrurg, but along with the risks of foul play of some sort I'd also prefer to minimize the amount of profit I let into their hands. When I can, of course. It's unfortunately impossible to have a complete embargo on their goods."

"Not in a way people are willing to accept," Ebba admitted. "We do our best to only work with select trade partners. Though that's the case even here. Some people will try anything as long as it's technically legal. Like it's proper business to cheat others out of their money. It works, too. At least long enough for them to get rich and fat before they make a costly mistake."

Anton nodded, "And it doesn't always happen the same generation. Like I said, power of all sorts. Giving people some personal power will hopefully allow them the skill and bravery to stand up to threats. At least they can make the choice to try."

At night they continued to train cultivation, more people from the caravan filtering in and out to see what all the fuss was about. However, there were only so many hours in a day and people had to sleep. Anton did too, but he'd not been much for sleep before being a cultivator and found little reason to change that afterwards. If he had been exhausting himself during the day that would be one thing, but he was being moderate with his training so that he could be always ready to defend the caravan if trouble arose.

Now he was looking up at the stars. He had no telescope, but his eyes could see more than a normal human. He remembered what Grand Elder Vandale had said about the stars and planets. Though they paled in comparison, stars were just like the sun, a bright burning ball in the sky. They were simply much, much further away. The great telescope had allowed him to see that, and also the closer planets. He'd learned about them somewhat as a child, but they were generally thought of just as brighter stars. Dungannon didn't have an abundance of telescopes or anyone who really studied the stars, and it hadn't really mattered.

Most obvious was the moon. It had a bleak surface with mountains and craters, but no rivers or forests or any visible signs of life. That didn't mean there was none, but it didn't look like anything where Anton was. Besides, it was far enough that the details were limited even with enhanced eyes. Grand Elder Vandale's telescope had allowed him to see better, but there was nothing he'd been able to point out.

He had mentioned that he'd been watching some developments on one of the other planets, however. He'd tried to show Anton, but despite the telescope and his eye enhancing abilities he just couldn't make anything out. Grand Elder Vandale said that the lines of the planet had been changing, either eroding hills or potentially odd colored forests or even signs of civilization. There was a very large difference between what could be seen by the two of them, but Vandale had nearly ten times as many stars and of course the energy that went along with it.

Some of the other planets were interesting to look at but Vandale said they couldn't support life as he understood. They were covered in a constant cloudy atmosphere, and Vandale said he'd been debating what that meant with several other astronomers he knew. Trying to figure it out involved a lot of tedious calculations and decades of study. However, Anton accepted that he didn't know and that was fine. There were plenty of earthly problems for him to deal with, he didn't need to take on mysteries in the heavens as well.

Chapter 82

Even as a cultivator Anton had generally dealt with 'normal' animals. There were some magical beasts involved, but they had typical forms he would expect. There were occasional exceptions like the river beasts that had moved upstream from Helmfirth Rill, and the sand trap monster but even the tortoises had been mostly normal despite their strange method of attack. On the trip from Yedo to Southpoint they were expecting something specifically strange. Or at least the Brantley siblings had told them to prepare for the possibility of finding them. Dangerous or otherwise troublesome creatures were killed when they could be to keep them away from roads or human civilization, but the creatures would be attracted towards their particular loads because they ate metal.

They had various names; metal eaters, spiked rollers, and armored rats were the most common. They didn't seem to be related to rats at all, though their head shapes vaguely matched. Either way, Anton could pick out a tall tale from a serious warning, and the Brantley siblings were quite sincere about the features of the creatures. They were made of overlapping armored plates with spikes coming out at irregular points. When curled into a ball they had basically no weak points and they had claws and teeth that could tear through metal. For stronger pieces their saliva had the effect of almost instantaneously rusting it into a softer form.

They would attack anything in the way of their desired meals and were quite capable of defending themselves, but once they had a belly full of scrapped metal they would generally choose to leave instead of continuing a fight. They were hard enough to kill and any metal would be ruined once they got their claws on it anyway, so at that point they had to be let go. Thus, the important part was preventing them from getting to the goods to begin with.

It wasn't much different from defending the people and mounts, but being informed on their potential tactics was useful. The caravan's defenders split into even shifts as usual, but everyone kept their weapons on hand. Metal armor was generally kept in the middle of the camp with the wagons since it would only provide more tempting targets.

For the first several nights everything was quiet. Catarina set up simple formations that would conceal their camp, and while a few wild animals poked around the area Anton didn't really see much of anything significant. Magical Beasts generally learned to stay away from humans, and those who were too interested in human's goods or otherwise aggressive generally got killed fairly quickly.

He saw one snuffling around the edges of the camp. It truly was covered in armor, and if he didn't know better Anton would have thought the armor was made by a smith instead of being grown. He only saw the one, but it was as big as Fuzz and with stronger energy. It also took up all of the area it covered, with small limbs on its armored body. Anton didn't think there was any reason to let it continue snooping around, as it had clearly noticed them somehow. Before it could step over the threshold into their camp, he fired his bow towards its slightly less armored face. The creature sensed his attack and ducked its head. Anton was pleased to see that his Spirit Arrow penetrated through its defensive energy and into the plates, causing the creature to bleed. It seemed to find the danger too high and immediately turned around, at the same time curling up into a ball. Its energy twisted and it began to roll, the spikes of metal sending dirt flying as it moved at a quick roll away from the camp.

He wasn't sure if it would try to come back, but it was quickly out of optimal range and he didn't fancy his chances of hitting a good shot on rotating armored plates. There was a reason people generally didn't chase them down. Anton was glad it had chosen to retreat, because he could see it causing real damage if it had moved through the camp. Almost everyone woke up when Anton attacked, but he quickly reassured them that it had been driven off.

The next night there were several different metal eaters who found them, and there were some during the following day as they travelled on the road. The first ones on the road weren't a problem, but the third one immediately attacked from uphill. "To the left!" Anton called out. He began firing arrows at a steady pace, since he needed as much power as he could reasonably use for each shot. The spinning metal plates did a good job of deflecting his attacks, though he certainly scarred the creature. Hoyt and Catarina sprang into action, moving to the side of the caravan it was rolling towards.

Hoyt was in front, his energy reaching its peak as the magical beast approached. The creature clearly aimed to run him over, but he stepped to the side, swinging his axe at it. They collided with a violent clash of energy and metal, but Hoyt was at the completion of Body Tempering and very close to truly stepping into Spirit Building. It was to the metal eater's credit that it didn't get chopped clean in half but merely lost its momentum and had damaged armor plates.

With the creature much slowed, Catarina stabbed her sword into one of the already-damaged plates, pinning the creature to the ground. The creature stopped, twitching for a few moments, before it stopped moving. Two of the guards who had been with the caravan on a more regular basis breathed a sigh of relief. They were weaker in cultivation, and it would have been quite troublesome for them to deal with the creature. At the very least there would have been damage to the wagons. Fuzz stood next to them, loyally defending the cart as was his duty. Anton hoped he had intended to dodge the metal eater's charge, but that wasn't necessarily guaranteed.

"Strange," Ebba said as she looked at the creature. "They should be smaller than this. Because of their particular diet, they generally don't grow very large. They do eat other things, but they won't outgrow their armor so they need large quantities of metal or many years to grow so large."

Mervyn nodded, "Yes, ones such as these should have been noticed before. They should be knee-height, I believe. Still quite troublesome, but…"

"Maybe they found a vein of ore," Ebba said. "That could be quite troublesome. How many of them are there, at this size?"

"... Only three or four, I think." Anton pointed at a spot on the creature's head. "This is the first one I shot, two nights ago. It's just begun healing."

"That's somewhat reassuring," Ebba acknowledged, "But they're a danger. They seem quite able to track us. I'm unsure how far their territory will range."

"I think we've been moving into their territory. That's why they showed up in greater numbers. Though still relatively few," Anton admitted. "It might be best for us to try to track them to their lair, wherever that might be."

Mervyn thought for a few moments, "If it would not leave the caravan vulnerable, that would be for the best. We don't want to leave others to deal with this mess after they grow bigger."

"I can scout around the area to make sure none are watching," Anton said to assuage his concerns, "And if their lair is close, I should meet any coming from their lair."

They did a few widening loops around the caravan to make sure there weren't any in hiding. Their tracks were easy to see- deep impressions of their claws because of how heavy they were. Close by, Anton only saw one set of tracks. Catarina and Hoyt followed along behind him at a quick pace, with Fuzz barely keeping up. His nose could be useful, or they would have left him with the safety of the caravan. He might be growing in strength, but he was a bit short for what they were facing. Anton noticed more tracks shortly after Fuzz howled in warning.

The tracks continued increasing in density and gave them a more precise direction to go in. They moved up a hill in a consistent direction, but before they could find any sort of lair they were spotted by the spiked rollers. There were three of them, but one of them was half again larger than the other two. They hadn't seen that one before, and its armor and spikes had golden hues and hints of rainbows as well.

Anton was quick to fire arrows, hoping to catch them opened up. He had no luck with that, but at least his first arrow struck before the largest one began rolling, causing a minor injury just behind its neck.

Each of the creatures was very fast once it built up speed, but they didn't have to defend a wagon or other people. Thus, it was much simpler for them to dodge out of the way. Hoyt didn't risk a single swing to try to bring down the one on the left, instead swinging higher and chopping off some of the spikes that gave it danger and speed alike.

On the right, Catarina pulled away another of the 'smaller' ones as she slashed at its sides with her sword, striking for any gaps in its armor.

The largest one had metal spikes on its sides as well, so Anton had to give it a wider berth. It seemed the creatures weren't used to fighting mobile targets, so as long as he focused on dodging he was able to protect himself. He got occasional shots at its side when it turned around- he tried to sneak his arrows into the less armored parts within, to various success. It would be quite difficult to defeat alone, but if he kept himself safe while he delayed it, he was certain they could avoid risk once they gained a numerical advantage.

Until then, Anton had to avoid instinctively using cover. When it barrelled through a tree almost as wide as him with barely a drop in momentum, Anton decided that just attempting to circle it was the best option. Swan Steps allowed him to avoid its blatantly obvious charges, and he could take a few pot shots when it turned. It seemed quite a bit more durable than the others, and Anton wondered what exactly it had been eating. It couldn't just be regular ores, that he was certain of.

Chapter 83

Insight was wonderfully useful at letting Anton dodge the spiked roller, though he imagined he would have been completely fine without the ability. All of the attacks were extremely straightforward, which made perfect sense when rolling up into a ball and spinning were the plan. Not really a lot of aiming that can happen after the momentum starts.

Conversely, knowing exactly what the creature intended to do didn't help him all that much in attacking it. Each segment of armor spun by too quickly for even Anton's eyes to properly take in. Springing himself off to the side when it rolled by and taking a shoot was much more useful, and if it got far enough away he could curve arrows around to the side. He could do that at any distance, but not fast enough to cut off its trajectory unless he had time to set up. The spiked rollers didn't have completely impenetrable defenses even discounting that all armor could be broken through with enough force. On the side, they almost matched up to a perfect circle, but there was a small ring in the middle that wasn't quite full of the interlocking plates. That was his target, and Anton found he was getting better at hitting it.

On the other side of things, the spiked roller was throwing itself at him faster and faster. It clearly took quite a bit of energy, but Anton had found himself just a bit too slow to move out of the way several times. He ended up with a cut along his ribcage and one on his arm which lowered his ability to shoot his bow.

Thus, Anton was quite glad when he sensed Catarina and Hoyt had completed their battles with the smaller creatures. Anton was fairly confident that he would win eventually, as he was being more conservative with his energy, but as the battle dragged on he was more likely to make a critical mistake while the spiked roller had little to fear from random chance.

It did, however, have quite a bit to fear from additional participants in the battle. Against just Anton it could turn around either by stopping with its armored back to him shuffling around and then rolling up into a ball once more or by simply taking a wide arc while rolling.

Anton was able to tell Hoyt where it would likely slow or stop, which forced the creature to use more energy avoiding him. However, its awareness of the world around it changing as it rolled was minimal. Several times Hoyt managed to cut it off and chop into it, sometimes denting its armor or slicing into the spikes. Dented armor weakened its perfect defenses as plates stopped overlapping, leaving more room for everyone to attack.

Catarina's contributions were mainly to be an extra body either as a target of attack or an obstacle at the end of its roll. The spiked roller was ranging too far too quickly for her to set up a formation of any practical value, but her skills with her sword were quite sufficient to contribute to the accumulation of wounds on the creature.

"Hoyt!" Anton pointed, firing a small dart of energy that had no real effect but to stop at a precise position. "Catarina!" He pointed to another position. While it would have been nice to explain what he wanted in more detail, he didn't exactly have time to say for them to go fifty meters to his northwest and thirty-five to his east with every pass of the creature.

It was still focused on Anton primarily, his source of energy being the largest still. Anton wished he had the confidence to use Golden Armor and completely stop the creature, but he honestly didn't find the technique to be very useful. He'd much rather avoid direct hits, and this creature was specialized for it. So instead he focused on the movements of the creature and how One Step Ahead and his experience told him to react.

Anton poured perhaps a sixth of his remaining energy into a single Spirit Arrow aimed at the spinning creature. He released at the point he was most confident in hitting a damaged armor plate, though his arrow snapped an instant after contact and he couldn't be sure how deep it had gotten.

Then he dodged early. It was quite a simple plan. Either dodging early allowed him to leisurely move out of the way, or the thing would turn to face him. Both were beneficial in their own way. In this instance, it had enough space to redirect itself and chose to try to catch Anton still. He dodged at the last moment, taking another portion of his energy- but Hoyt was straight behind him.

The spiked roller turned away from Hoyt, recognizing the direct danger he posed- but it wasn't able to completely avoid him as he moved to intercept. Another cut in its side and it was speeding back in the other direction. Most of the terrain was completely torn up now, trees toppled and bushes uprooted by the force of the creature and its ripping spikes. Anton continued to shoot at the creature as its side was exposed to him briefly, but it continued to move farther away from him. He had predicted it would retreat soon, unwilling to fight to the death merely for the sake of doing so.

Predicting his opponent several moves in advance so that Catarina was in its direct line was… outside of his abilities. But she was only twenty or thirty meters off of the path instead of fifty or a hundred like she could have been. It was a bit slower now, with its body being beaten and battered, and she sliced towards its belly, cutting into its side. That was enough that it lost the tightness of muscle that held it in shape, and it unfurled on its back ten meters past her. It managed to flip over onto its front before she arrived, but its back wasn't a perfect defense anymore. Her sword drove straight into it as it tried to waddle away, its energy providing little in the way of defense. Anton's final Spirit Arrows were probably unnecessary, but either way it finally perished.

"Let's take a rest before checking out their lair," Anton said. "If there are any more I doubt they will be much good at indoor combat, at least in comparison, but there are occasionally different creatures sharing dens."

Neither of the other two objected, of course. The spiked rollers were extremely durable and took quite an expenditure of energy to kill, and more because they had to defend themselves while doing so. It wasn't possible to recover their full energy capacity in twenty minutes or so, but the natural energy in the area was decently abundant and they felt quite refreshed soon enough.

Following the rest of the trail, once they found outside all of the torn up terrain, was easy enough. They hadn't been far at all from a little cave in the hill. It was large enough to stand in with a slight crouch, and the walls were mostly dirt with very little stone.

"We should really invest in some torches or lanterns or something," Hoyt said as Anton used a small ball of energy to create light. "Though whatever it was would have to last a couple months of travel. Still, this isn't exactly efficient."

Anton nodded, "Agreed. I believe some of the miners kept lanterns, but I didn't think to bring one."

It turned out to not matter very much. The little cave didn't go that deep, maybe fifty or a hundred meters. It was mostly straight inside as well, and at the back of the cave… was a little open cavern. The entrance wasn't exactly clean, it was likely one of the creatures had accidentally scraped through the wall with one of its spikes. It was hard to tell exactly because they had clearly traversed in and out many times.

Inside there were scattered piles of… junk. Though it wasn't all junk. There was the sparkle of gemstones in various states. Some were quite large and intact, while others were small and most were shattered. There were scattered bits of armor, still radiating remnants of energy. No metal, but instead straps and cloth armor along with boots. There were wrappings for the hilts of swords, wooden shafts of weapons, random slats of wood that had to have once been part of chests, and much more.

"A cultivator cache," Hoyt said. "Or… what's left of it."

Anton nodded, "That would explain how they got so large, then."

Catarina was already digging through the piles, trying to find things that weren't broken. Even the pieces that had no metal on them to eat had clearly been stomped on by the creatures. Some things were pressed deep into the dirt and others had snapped under the pressure, so it took a bit of unearthing to get some things. "Oh, is this a bow?" She yanked something half buried in the dirt. "It looks like it, right?"

Anton caught the object as she tossed it to him. "Looks like. It doesn't have a string, though." Anton tested its give, "But maybe it's not." He pulled a little harder, not wanting to break it, but it remained firm. "Maybe it stiffened with age, because it certainly fits the look. Unless it's just a strangely curved staff weapon." Anton swished it through the air, but that didn't feel right either. "It feels like some sort of dense bone, but it would have to be from something massive."

Beyond the 'bow' they found little of practical use. There were some things that they thought could be sold as materials, but only a black stone bracelet and a cloak made of some sort of sparkling scales appeared usable. As for what they did, it wasn't clear. None of them were appraisers or enchanted goods, and though it was tangentially related to formations Catarina had no experience in the area yet. They could try testing with their energy, but it seemed wiser to get them properly appraised somewhere.

After gathering everything that seemed to be of value, they headed back outside the cave. "We should probably also take the bodies of the metal eaters," Anton said. "If they consumed enchanted equipment, there should be quite a bit of value in them."

Hoyt sighed, "They'll be damn heavy though. Guess we should get started. Catarina, can you go ahead and let the caravan know? We don't want them to get worried. Then come back and help us." Though Catarina hadn't done a prime tempering of her muscles, she was still at the completion of Body Tempering. While she would be somewhat weaker than the other two, it was probably no more than twenty percent. Quite a difference in a straight battle of strength, but she would still be stronger than any two of the others with the caravan, even if the miners who had begun cultivating reached the second star and tempered their muscles for the first prime tempering. Each star didn't only temper one thing, it just focused on one, and the tenth star was a prime full body tempering that smoothed out most of the unevenness in Body Tempering choices between members of the Order. Even with Catarina's help it would take at least two trips, because the biggest creature weighed at least a literal tonne. Hopefully the wagons could support it.

Chapter 84

Retrieving the bodies of the spiked rollers was almost as hard as the battle to defeat them in the first place. They could only be dragged with their legs down which was still extremely high in friction- just better than trying to drag them with the half-meter spikes on their back and sides digging into the ground. Nobody was quite sure what would be the most valuable about them, but most of the weight was in the metal parts, which definitely should have some value. The smaller ones could be carried by one person, as long as that person was Anton, Catarina, or Hoyt. The three of them together eventually lifted the larger one as far as they could go in a short burst, then relied on the others with them to drag the creature with ropes and the like for a while. They were just fast enough that stopping to cut down logs to roll the creature atop wasn't necessarily going to be faster, since they would have to be close to the same size and individually strong enough to support a portion of the uneven weight.

Mervyn whistled, "Damn, that's not something you see every day. Has to way more than a cow. What the hell did it eat to get so big?"

"Cultivator cache," Hoyt explained.

"Really?" Mervyn's eyes lit up, "Did you find anything interesting?"

Hoyt shook his head, "Not much. As it turns out… metals are very widely used. They're strong but can be flexible as well. It seemed pretty old, and most of the non-metal things were broken down. Even with enchantments."

"A shame," Mervyn said. "Hope you got something of worth. We can't afford to pay you what this deed was worth. Of course, you'll get the top end of the combat pay we negotiated."

"We'll also talk to our contacts to try to get you a reward for protecting the road," Ebba added. "

"Don't worry," Hoyt said, "We just couldn't leave them behind to attack others."

"That's right," Anton said. "Though we'll gladly accept your help trying to get a reward. If nothing else, building up some favor here in Estary should be useful."

"Letting people know what you've done shouldn't be a problem," Mervyn said. "And these things won't go unnoticed. We'll have to shuffle stuff out of one of the wagons to support them…" he frowned.

Anton could see the way he looked at the wagons. "Perhaps one of us should stay in the wagon to keep it reinforced with energy."

"That might be best. The wagons are made for heavy duty work, but the uneven weight might be a problem. Can't just chop them up into bits though, I imagine they're worth more whole."

In the end, supporting the wagon was delegated to groups of four earlier cultivators at a time. They rotated out throughout the day, but it gave them a good chance to test their endurance in a safe setting. Pete and the others were approaching the third star now, while Oskar and the faster of the miners were around the second star. Since all they had to do was distribute the effect of the spiked rollers across a larger surface that could otherwise support them, it wasn't too difficult. Still, trying different things was valuable.

The same task could have been accomplished with a simple formation carved into the wagon, but that would only last for a short time if they didn't use any special materials to augment the formation. The cost of a single wagon wasn't terribly prohibitive, so if the formation faded and became simply scars in the wood it wouldn't be too expensive to replace. However, since they were getting training out of the way things were it was better to just continue as they had been.

It wasn't too much longer before they reached Southpoint, only a handful of days from the Estary-Graotan border. The Brantley siblings had no plan to cross the borders, and Southpoint was large enough that finding buyers for the spiked rollers there was possible. It was certainly simpler than buying their own wagons and work animals to continue transporting them on their own.

The Brantley siblings kept their word about finding them what rewards they could, and though it took them several days they soon introduced the group to a representative of the Misty Hill Palace, a local sect that had a good reputation. Sects with bad reputations didn't tend to do well in Estary, but there was still a difference between neutral and positive.

The woman who was introduced to them was bent nearly at the waist. She showed her age with more than just her stature, with the exception of her skin remained only minimally wrinkled and spotted. She was at the very peak of Spirit Building, but instead of being intimidating her aura gave of the calming feeling of sitting atop a peaceful mountain. Then again, they were on friendly terms.

"I see, I see. You're from the Order." She smiled, gaps showing in her teeth. "Wish we got more of your kind up this way. It's always quite a pleasure when I meet them." Her eyes and senses carefully roamed over the three cultivators in front, but she also took in Fuzz and the others. "A strange group. Does the Order now accept those below the third rank?"

Anton shook his head, "No, but the Body Tempering technique can be freely disseminated. Most of those who join learn the technique in their own villages. These all are former slaves, and I knew a good number of them before… that happened. I'm quite invested in their ability to defend themselves, among other things. Some of them may later choose to join the Order."

"Interesting. They all seem to be advancing quite well. But I shouldn't pry too much," she slightly nodded her head, "I go by Elder Byrne. I do believe the Brantleys have already told you we wish to purchase these spiked rollers, and reward you for their defeat." She waddled her way towards the wagon that carried them. "My my, that's a big one alright. A strange mix of colors, too."

"They found an old cultivator cache," Anton said. "It's hard to say what sorts of things they ingested from that."

"An old cache? Any markings?" Anton shook his head. "Find anything good?" She held up a hand, "You don't have to say. Just curious. But I can appraise things. It's one of my jobs."

"Actually," Anton said, "I found a strange thing. It seems to be a bow, but has no string and is impossible to bend." He pulled it from a wagon, where it was sitting among other good simply wrapped in cloth. He held it out to Elder Byrne for her to inspect.

She carefully unwrapped it, squinting her eyes even as she put her face up close to it and looked along its length. She very carefully ran a trickle of energy over it. She also made a few attempts to bend it. "I see. I can't say for sure out here but… I think you're just not strong enough."

"What do you mean?" Anton asked.

"From what I can tell," Elder Byrne said, "It should be flexible. It is just that the point at which it starts to bend should be greater. It's a four, maybe five tonne draw?" she gave a small nod. "Though that won't do you much good without a string. Something's odd about that too."

"Five tonne draw…" Anton shook his head. He'd used a seventy kilogram bow before he was a cultivator, though mostly when he wanted to show off. Such a high draw weight wasn't necessary for hunting in most cases. But tonnes? He'd have to be as strong as a hundred men. "When could I even be that strong…" Anton pondered, mostly to himself.

"A young, strong cultivator could probably do something around early Essence Collection," Elder Byrne answered his casual question. "Probably later, if you rely purely on the strength of your body. I don't know the inner workings of the Ninety-Nine Stars, but I'd expect somewhere around there with a mix of body and energy."

It would be years, then. And by that point, it might not even be worthwhile. Heavy draw weights weren't the only factor in whether a bow was good. Plus there was the matter of the string. He couldn't just get any random string, it had to match the bow.

"Now, about these spiked rollers," Elder Byrne returned to the subject. She handed over a weighty sack, "This is for defeating them. Misty Hill Palace benefits from Southport's prosperity, and people need to be safe to travel for that. For the materials, I can offer the same again. I'm also willing to appraise anything you found there- or elsewhere- if you're interested. That bow is likely worth more than the same amount. Possibly much more."

Anton used his energy senses to count the coin. Getting an exact amount would be difficult, but being within a few percent was easy enough. It was, once again, more money than he'd ever had. Even splitting it, he had little in the way of financial worries if he intended to free more people. Since he shouldn't be heading into Ofrurg in the near future just in case, maybe he could even offer a mission. The only problem would be getting the right people- he had some details to give, but strong dark haired young men sold to work would likely not be the only ones in a particular area. He didn't mind buying the freedom of more slaves except for who the money would be going to. But still, being a cultivator was clearly extremely lucrative. He was several times stronger than he had been when farming and during The Hunt, and the few spiked rollers they had fought were honestly a similar threat than the whole of the beast attack on Thuston, just compressed into a few creatures instead of hundreds.

Since half of the point of transporting the spiked rollers was to sell them, they accepted the offer. It was within what they had been expecting, maybe even a bit more. Hoyt seemed to have a better idea for what cultivator prices were like, though he also admitted to it being guesswork. The important part was the reputation of the buyers. Elder Byrne representing the Misty Hill Palace would be offering a fair price. Anton could feel that much, at least. And he very much wanted that bow to be appraised. The other objects they'd found were nebulously owned by both Hoyt and Catarina, but of the three of them obviously Anton had first pick of the bow. Even if it couldn't be used, he wanted it.

Chapter 85

Though skies were clear, Anton got a good sense of how Misty Hill Palace was named. There was a wispy sort of energy so dense in some places that he could almost see it with just his eyes. While the overall results were simply a several fold increase in energy versus the surroundings, it was a good place to cultivate. It was quite full of scenic views, but of course practicality required that the cultivators have places to sleep and store things. But even the architecture fit nicely into the aesthetic of the area, and it was an almost unassuming building that was where Elder Byrne took Anton and the others.

She smiled widely, her missing teeth showing proudly. "Here it is, my little workshop." In it she had a number of magnifying glasses set up for viewing things of different sizes, as well as a large number of other tools Anton couldn't see a use for.

The first thing she took a closer look at was Anton's bow. He had already decided he wouldn't give it up, even if he wouldn't be able to use it for a very long time. He didn't immediately need money anyway, and its value wouldn't fluctuate suddenly after who knows how many decades or centuries.

She moved it around under bright lights, pressing her eye right up to microscopes the size of her whole face, making her eye seem to be almost the size her head normally was. Sounds of 'hmm' and 'interesting' were repeated as she looked over every aspect, carefully injecting energy into areas and occasionally tugging at it.

Then she began to explain what you learned. "As you surmised, this is carved from the bone of a great creature. I'm not sure what sort, besides the fact that it would have to be a land creature for this bone density. It's not enchanted. I'm not sure if it even could be. Certainly not by someone of my skills. Even so, I would have trouble damaging it intentionally. The most interesting part is that, while I'm certain it's a bow, you can't string it."

"What?" Anton asked.

"See here. At the ends. It's clearly not made to have a string wrapped around it. There was never a string on it."

"... But it's a bow?" Anton asked. "Without a string it's just a slightly curved staff." It was nearly straight, only over its full length could the curve be seen.

"That's right," Elder Byrne said. "As far as I can tell, there's no physical mechanism to attach a string."

"... but?" Anton asked. "The way you said that indicates more."

She smiled widely as she pressed her finger to one end, leaving a trail of silvery energy as she stretched to the other end. "It readily accepts the attachment of energy." A clear string stood stiff in place.

"Hah. No physical method." Anton shook his head, "But wouldn't that require powerful energy to hold tension against the draw weight of the bow?"

"Absolutely," Elder Byrne pulled back on the string, snapping the fragile construct before the bow even began to bend. "It's a high requirement bow, but it should be very powerful. The Order of Ninety-Nine Stars should have some elder who can use it. I'm sure it would be quite a sight. Though if you let them use it, prepare to have it be snatched up!" She laughed.

"I doubt the Order would allow any 'snatching'," Anton said, "But perhaps I won't tempt anyone." He did kind of want to see Elder Kseniya shoot it though. But maybe it wasn't suited for someone as strong as her anyway. "You said it could be used in early Essence Collection?"

"Well, I did say that. It's possible. It might require more than that. As for the upper limits it has, I can't quite tell. That partly depends on whether it can be enchanted. Plus, that's merely the difficulty of using it. Since I can't fire it myself," she shrugged, "The actual power is unknown. It could be amazing or merely mediocre."

"Hmm. It seems like it would be a boon to training, regardless. Thank you," Anton bowed his head as she handed the bow back to him.

"What about the two of you?" Elder Byrne asked of Hoyt and Catarina, "There are two further enchanted items."

They looked at each other, then nodded. Hoyt stepped forward, "We have this obsidian bracelet and scale cloak."

"Ooooh, quite fine workmanship here." She almost lovingly stroked the two pieces, before starting with the inspection of the bracelet. Everyone startled when it suddenly burst into flame- except her. "I see, I see. Could be quite useful." She didn't spend as long studying the bracelet as she had with the bow. After only ten or so minutes she handed it back. "This is a flame enhancing bracelet. Even those who aren't skilled in fire energy could make some use of it. It's simple to activate," she gave a short explanation, "Try it yourself."

Hoyt did, and flames covered his hand without hurting him. The others could feel the heat when he brought his hand near them. "Interesting."

The old woman took the scaled cloak next. This time they were less startled when it split in half, spreading out to the sides. "Wings," she simply stated. "Or a moldable armor. I wouldn't suggest trying to fly with it, at least not off of anything high. The wings can expand with more energy, but for enough to lift a person it would be more than an early Spirit Building cultivator is capable of for more than a few moments. It is, however, quite responsive if you flow your energy through it in the right way." She demonstrated by having it wrap around her arm and even stand straight up on its own. "A decent armor or tool for deflection. A passable source of flight, perhaps." She looked around, "Is there anything more?"

Anton shook his head, "Nothing in particular, though I did have some questions. If you could give me a few moments to consult with one of my companions." It wasn't either Hoyt or Catarina he meant, but instead he retreated to the outside where the others were enjoying the abundant natural energy. He had a short discussion with Oskar before returning. "You seem to know quite a few things. I recently came across the name 'Everheart'. Have you heard of him?"

Elder Byrne laughed, "Came across the name, hmm? He did like to leave things all over the place. Mostly in Ofrurg. I can't say that I know much about him, beyond the basics. He was a lunatic, a madman, but also a genius. He created a large number of forbidden techniques- some of which were merely threats to the established cultivators, and some that caused uproars whenever people tried to use them. Mostly unsuccessfully. I hope you weren't planning to practice anything he made."

"I had no such intentions. The one technique I heard of is… completely useless for me." Anton barely had any lifespan left. If he burned it for power, would he even complete his attack before he died?

"Don't be give any such techniques to youngsters either," she waggled her finger at Anton then at Hoyt and Catarina, "Do things the proper way and you can end up old and decrepit like me," she laughed at her own 'joke'. "If that is all Elder…?"

"Anton Krantz," he said. "Just Anton."

"I like to show proper respect for those from other sects. Especially ones like the Order."

"I'm simply not an elder though."

"Really?" she stepped closer to him, her face only centimeters from him. "Interesting. You felt…" she shook her head. "Well, you're no spring chicken, and you'll have your work cut out for you if you intend to use that bow."

"I imagine so."

They were offered the courtesy of staying at the Misty Hill Palace for some time. They had no reason to refuse the offer, since a break would be good for them and they could make use of the increased natural energy. Spending some time around the Misty Hill Palace was also useful for getting to know some people besides just Elder Byrne. Though they wouldn't owe each other anything after they departed, just knowing people could be helpful. If he later needed allies, he could come to them for help. Even if they still required payment of some sort, he would rather start with those inclined to do good for the world rather than pure mercenary sorts. More allies, friends, or simply fondly remembered acquaintances would always be useful. Plus, it was nice to relaxingly discuss cultivation with new people. Few of those close to Anton's cultivation level were near his age, but several were a decade or two older than Hoyt and Catarina.

After a week and some, they set out towards the Estary-Graotan border. They did not want to overstay their welcome, and the energy in the Order was on par or in some places better, if different in temperament.

Since they had official papers, getting through the border was the easiest it had ever been. The only questions were about the dozens of lower level cultivators with them, but both sides were quite happy to hear they were former slaves. Those from the Order were more curious about there being so many potential disciples- though they couldn't be members yet since they weren't at the third star. Most of them weren't planning to remain cultivators anyway- or at least, they had no plan to live the lifestyle of a cultivator.

Anton was glad to be 'home', but the northern part of Graotan was just as new to him as most of the others. The border with Estary seemed safe enough, but everyone was quite comfortable with his plan to set them up somewhere in more central Graotan. It was tempting to try to refound Dungannon, but even those from Dungannon weren't particularly interested in that prospect. Even though the Order had increased border security, being closer to the heart of the Order would be beneficial. Setting more than two dozen people up with homes in a big city would be quite difficult, but Anton knew they could find some good land for a reasonable price away from the city. Maybe they'd be part of a small village or start their own community- that would take some talking to the locals. Best not to cause any conflicts.

While Anton did that, he sent Hoyt and Catarina ahead, to return to the sect. Catarina wanted to stay, but she also wanted to get the chance to visit the library and study information on formations that hadn't been relevant before Spirit Building. She had stepped into Spirit Building fully now, though she hadn't yet completed the eleventh star.

Hoyt took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. He stood in front of the council. He was glad that Anton wanted to give a full and honest report, because otherwise it would have felt like a betrayal. Of course, Anton probably didn't expect Hoyt to stand before the council of elders, but the basic reports had already reached them anyway. Eventually he stepped through the doors, where he saw eighteen people waiting.

Grand Elder Vandale spoke, "Welcome back, disciple Hoyt." The words were formal, but the tone warm and comforting. "We are quite happy to hear you all returned alive."

Hoyt had an awkward smile on his face. "Of course, Grand Elder Vandale. I have already laid out the basics in my report on the mission, but it seemed best to keep some of the details for an in-person briefing." It was too bad they hadn't sent that mid Spirit Building guardian instead of him. Not that he wouldn't have gone along at Anton's request, but they really could have used that extra authority. "You might notice that Anton Krantz himself has not yet returned. It may yet be several months, by which point I fully expect him to have achieved the twelfth star…" Hoyt began his account in the most unbiased way he found possible, which was still quite positively weighted towards Anton's actions and his own involvement. He had approved, after all. Even if he wished things could have been different.

Chapter 86

After he finished his explanation of what had happened, Hoyt got to wait awkwardly for a few minutes. Were the Grand Elders silently deliberating or simply thinking? Even if they had a way to communicate silently he would have still expected them to move their lips. On the other hand, he wasn't privy to all the possibilities that could come in Galaxy Construction or other high tiers of power. Maybe it wasn't even several minutes but it sure felt that long.

Grand Elder Bohdana was the first one to speak. "Are you certain he will achieve the twelfth star soon?" she asked.

"As certain as anything can be in cultivation," Hoyt said. "I am as confident in his advancement as I am in my own."

"Good," she said. "Now about his actions. He seems to have restrained himself remarkably well. Or rather, he chose saving lives at the potential cost of making his revenge harder. That is commendable, even if his actions were a bit… unsubtle. Though Ofrurg will see this as an attack on their citizens, in my eyes it is reasonable enough to see this as merely stopping criminals in the act."

Grand Elder McAlister spoke up next, "No news has reached us that Ofrurg saw this as an attack by the Order, to the point this particular act hadn't been brought to our attention until now. That is good, but as he continues to grow in power and deals with those in Spirit Building and later, they are more likely to recognize him as a member of the Order. I personally think his actions were too high risk, though the results the three of you managed are quite acceptable. His path through Body Tempering was quick enough that we did not have ample time to explain how to best align our goals."

That would probably be Hoyt's job, though he found himself thinking more about what Anton had been talking about. The Order had become a little too unwilling to act. He understood why they couldn't just start a war- even if they could win it which wasn't certain with whatever guardians were throughout Ofrurg, they had to consider the costs. But there had to be better middle ground between fighting a whole country and the minimal level of retaliation they were currently at. There were at least a few sects with reasonable morals in Ofrurg. Hoyt thought that Anton would be better able to express his opinions on the matter, so he let it rest for the moment.

"Now then," Grand Elder Vandale spoke, his single eye flicking back and forth to either side of him, "Am I correct that we are all agreed the actions taken were within acceptable limits?" He paused to allow time for a response, "Very well. Then we can move on to more supportive topics. For various reasons, we cannot reward anyone for what happened in Ofrurg. However, though they already were rewarded for their actions in Estary some of the bandits there also committed crimes in Graotan. A small additional reward might be appropriate, but I will admit some bias towards the situation."

"I think it unnecessary that we make a personal ruling," Grand Elder Bohdana stated. "The rewards hall should have precedent for similar occurrences. There is no need for us to weigh in personally. Perhaps if something happens with Van Hassel… which it very well could within the next few years."

"In that case, this meeting is adjourned," Grand Elder Vandale said. His eye turned to Hoyt, and then he stood from his seat to appear in front of him. "I'm glad that everything went well. Your training is advancing spectacularly. If you need anything…"

"I'm fine, grandfather," Hoyt inclined his head.

"I hope my focus on Anton hasn't bothered you," Vandale said.

Hoyt smiled, "It doesn't. I'm similarly quite interested. I find it quite refreshing to see someone new to the cultivation world unafraid to express their opinions. Many people just assume that things are the way they are for a good reason… which is only true half the time."

Vandale shrugged. "We'd better prepare for some hard times. Change is one of the most difficult things to deal with."

"You think he can really make large change happen?"

"Think it? He's already started waves. Something will change now regardless of what he does in the future. Hopefully, it's for the better." Grand Elder Vandale just smiled as he looked up into the sky.

Anton had somewhat underestimated the difficulty of buying large amounts of land. His previous interactions with purchasing land had been a little bit at a time from people he'd known for decades. There was also the fact that he was a cultivator. It was something about the way he carried himself now, how he moved. He doubted he looked just like Vincent's flowing walk, but it was still something people could recognize. He understood why they would be hesitant to sell the land to a cultivator, but he wasn't going to hide who he was.

Part of the difficulty was merely finding the right place. He was running about all over the countryside looking for people with sufficient amounts of land, and he was on something of a time limit. It was already summer, late in the year to start a new farm. It also cost money to support everyone. They were a strange sight, camping out outside towns because nobody had room for thirty people to stay. The fact that they purchased so much food relieved the towns, because they could always use a bit of extra money.

It took a few weeks and more than two dozen villages visited before Anton finally found something appropriate. Windrip was a small village in central Graotan, but their population was on the decline. The ground was difficult to work and though its location was good, the actual connections to other places were somewhat limited. Traffic had flowed around through more prosperous regions, compounding the effect.

Of course, Anton didn't want to have poor land, but that wasn't what was available. It was of decent quality… but it would take quite a bit of work to get use out of it. That was something they were able to handle. The land had been overtaken by trees and rocks raised by winter frosts over the last several years. The dirt itself really required ploughing by a team of oxen, an investment that was difficult to make for new farmers. But Anton had the knowledge, the money, and those willing to perform labor. Of course, not everyone wanted to be a farmer long term. Some actually wanted to be energy cultivators, while others had different professions in mind.

Everyone was offered the opportunity to strike off on their own, but the group had formed a bond from the dangers they had gone through. Even if it meant they couldn't immediately move to a desired profession, they would be able to sustain themselves and hopefully gain profits as well. Those who desired other professions could expand into those as the opportunity arose, but at least for the beginning it was easier to have everyone working towards one goal together.

It took a bit of work to convince the mayor to sell the land to them. He was a member of the Order, but people were still wary of cultivators. However, he was able to properly express his intentions to contribute to the community and Windrip's prosperity. The greater story of people stolen from their homes and then their valiant escape probably helped more than his cultivation of Voice, but he could feel that the latter certainly wasn't ignorable. He doubted he could force people to do things against their interests, but he didn't have any intentions to do that anyway.

What they had was a pile of boxes in an empty field. Four mules for a group of thirty was a very small amount, but doing the work with their own hands would be better for everyone's Body Tempering. The mules would be mainly for pulling wagons into town or transporting goods to and from the cities, but they could also help accelerate the work they had to do. They were already a bit late in the season, especially when the land had to be cleared.

However, the group soon found how much even the first level of Body Tempering helped with their efforts. They could lift heavier rocks and move faster with them to clear the fields. Chopping and sawing trees was expedited, and they pulled in the services of some of those from Windrip to help with the continuous transformation of the logs into usable forms. While they could have made a log cabin, they had the tools and available labor to make more efficient use of the wood in constructing simple buildings. Nobody wanted to live in a tent longer than they had to, and soon enough they were raising the first building. It was to be a communal sleeping area until they had homes for people, at which point it would be converted for storage. The group kept the local blacksmith busy making nails.

Anton guided everyone in their labor and their cultivation, which were both intertwined. As they worked their bodies and their cultivation improved, their speed increased, and though Anton had been counting on them being somewhat faster than he was used to, they managed to plant some fields early enough that they would have a full harvest of some of the faster growing crops before the season ended. Most of that would be used for seed and to sustain themselves. That was something else Anton had underestimated. He had forgotten how much normal people would eat compared to cultivators. It wasn't entirely crazy, but they'd underestimated the amount of supplies they needed early. He was able to pay for it, but it involved traveling to cities where they had more in the way of excess. Windrip had enough for themselves and a bit of spare, but an extra thirty people for a sustained period was a bit much.

The work that Anton himself was able to accomplish astounded him. He knew that the fields and special crops the Order tended had more exacting requirements, but he was still surprised at how much he could do. The amount of energy he could store and use now that he was in Spirit Building was also a significant part of the change. The change in his abilities from the first three stars and the most recent three were both similarly impactful. He could pull a plough better than a pair of mules, to the point he could nearly run. He might have, if the plough itself could handle the stress.

Though the amount of natural energy in the area wasn't terribly high, Anton felt himself advancing. The tranquility of simply working was good for him. He didn't have to think about everything else he needed to accomplish. He wanted to wait for time to pass anyway, and he was still cultivating. Interestingly enough, he found that the amount of natural energy in the area was steadily increasing. Was it something they were doing, or was it a seasonal change he had simply been unaware of? Another question to find the answer to when he returned to the Order. He wanted to take Pete and Oskar with him when he went, and he also wanted to make sure the community was stable enough to not need him around. He would leave some money, but that would only solve a small subsection of possible issues that might arise.

Chapter 87

It was tempting, so very tempting, to rush things. He could cut corners and not take the proper amount of time to do things right. He could certainly push his cultivation to the twelfth star and rush back to Ofrurg. He could march right up to that young mistress Potenza and demand a duel for Devon. He was confident she would agree. But, after he won- and he knew he would win- even if he brought Devon away with him successfully he knew it would be a mistake.

Rushing things never worked out in the end. If one rushed the construction of a barn, it might seem fine for a year or two. Maybe a little draft one year, a small leak the next… and by the fifth year you had to build a new barn. That was just normal, mundane rushing. If he started shoving pills down his gullet he could boost his energy but he didn't want to be a shoddy built barn. Barns were noble structures, despite what people generally seemed to think of animals, but shoddy work was unacceptable.

He would return for Devon and everyone else he could find in Ofrurg, but he had other responsibilities. He thought of the dozens who relied on him. Sure, he could have just pulled them out of slavery and thrown money at them. They would probably be fine. They were real people and not barns, so they could take care of any failures on his part. But he was still responsible for this group. Running off and leaving them to fend for themselves was unacceptable. Not until he had fully equipped them to the best of his abilities.

The attitude of Pete and the others who had been enslaved to do basically the same work was exceptional. Anton couldn't help but praise them- though he tried not to do it too much. Hard labor wasn't inherently bad. It was just when it was made harder than it had to be and the laborer didn't reap any of the rewards that it was a problem. Anton could tell that not everyone found the particular sort of work they were doing fulfilling, but the mere fact that they could leave was enough for most of them. He made sure they each had weekly wages, paid out of a communal pool. He couldn't be quite as generous as he wanted to be, but the rate at which even beginning cultivators could work meant it wasn't unreasonable to pay them more than the standard rate.

Anton wasn't concerned about getting money back from his 'investment'. He didn't want money, he wanted people who were able to function. Though they'd finished the planting of the crops now there was always still work. More construction for their little community was constant, buildings made of wood, stone, or wattle and daub depending on what they had available at the moment and the function of the building. That also meant clearing more area, which was still hard labor. However, the amount of work was winding down slightly. It would rise up again at harvest, but at the current moment people were expressing their desires to return to previous professions or learn new ones.

He gave his full support, but he knew for it to be practical people had to be better than average. They couldn't afford to spend the money for a dozen barely profitable workshops. To that end, he was working with people to try to figure out how cultivation could help them.

Grant wanted to be a smith. He had been an apprentice before he was enslaved, and had nearly enough experience to be considered a journeyman. "I'm a bit out of practice now," he admitted, "But I know all the techniques. And I'm much stronger now."

"Of course," Anton nodded. "Now, let us go over other ways to use energy. You could use it to reinforce subpar tools- though I wouldn't recommend it. Deviating your concentration for such an effect is bound to lead to trouble, and you don't want customers seeing you with shoddy tools."

Grant nodded, "And I wouldn't want to use it to reinforce things I sell, because it wouldn't last outside the shop. So energy might not be much use in working metal."

"Maybe," Anton said. "I was never much of a smith- helped out a few times when I needed something quick, but I never did it myself. But it can't be used just to make things strong. It can make things more flexible, which might help forge things at a lower temperature. Though I can't say what results that would have. Still, just using it to temper your body should be sufficient. You've already done the prime tempering for your muscles, and I'd recommend skin or tendons next. Skin will help resist cuts and the heat of the forge. Comfort and safety aren't bad. Tendons help with dexterity. You can also use energy to supplement either of those for short term work, but whatever part of your body you temper will last all day. I can show you some exercises for both."

Derya was a weaver, before she became a slave and eventually forced to work at the manor. She had been quite skilled, so that wasn't a problem. Anton had no experience in the area, so he started with the most important question, "What is the most difficult part of weaving? Where the most things go wrong? If you can use energy to deal with that, I would expect the overall quality to improve."

She thought about that for some time, coming up with several answers. "Some of it is the device. The loom or thread might break under stress. Keeping track of more complicated weaves and dealing with tangles. Some of everything, really."

"I wish I could offer concrete advice," Anton said, "But some of that should improve naturally. As you temper your body, the quality of your mind improves as well. You're close to completing the tempering of your tendons for dexterity, and I would recommend the head next. The acuity of your eyes should be important. Beyond that, if you're careful you can use energy to sense small scale problems and damage." Anton shrugged, "I know there must be one at the Order. They made my defensive undershirt. It's partly made from diamondsilk. That has to be a difficult one. Imagine a thread so fine you can't even see it except from just the right angle."

Derya grimaced, "I don't know if I'd ever be able to handle something like that. But I can feel my body is under better control. I'm certain I can make fine cloth. I might want to make my own thread as well."

Anton smiled. She might get along better in a city, but it wasn't too far from Windrip to Stregate and she'd wanted to stay with the group. There was no home for her elsewhere. From Windrip to Stregate wasn't a trip suited to being made every day, but it was reasonable enough to stock up on supplies there every week or two, selling whatever she made in the meantime. If she made it to the third star- which Anton was almost certain of- she could even join the Order. A majority of the group just wanted to live a normal life, while taking advantage of the strength and safety a modest level of cultivation offered them. Anton quite approved of that. He would have liked to have learned cultivation early in his life for the boost in ability itself. He wanted to give others that chance now.

Traveling to different villages was a common thing for Vincent. However, in this case he wasn't going with any plans to teach people about cultivation. Someone else already was. Quite thoroughly, if he'd heard correctly. He understood how Anton was a bit hesitant to return to the Order proper, but he hopefully wouldn't mind a visit from an old friend.

Hoyt hadn't been able to provide an exact location, but Vincent didn't mind a bit of wandering. It gave him time to think about things. Clearly he and Anton had very different ideas. Vincent only had so much time, so he gave the option to everyone and only spent time with those he felt were special. There was an entire nation of people, and he was only one man. Even if everyone from the Order took on two dozen students, they would only cover a fraction of the people in Graotan. Thousands to teach millions.

It was easy to pick up the trail in Stregate. Tracking a group of over thirty people who weren't trying to hide was easy. People in the city noticed them- and the few cultivators took special note. It seems they regularly visited the city from Windrip, and it didn't take long before he was looking at the little addition to the community.

It really was dozens of cultivators, and not all at the first star either. It was probably half a year since Anton had gone on his journey, but the progress of his students was decent. Anton himself… even more so. The man was really in Spirit Building already, not that Vincent had doubted the words of Hoyt and Catarina. Their own rates of advancement were just as quick, though slightly less impressive due to their youth.

As Vincent approached, Anton turned to spot him from several fields away. He hadn't exactly hidden his own energy, but he didn't make it obvious either. Anton smiled, and Vincent quickly made his way over. "It's good to see you again, Anton."

There was a sign of relief on the old man's face. "It is good to see you as well. Welcome."

Vincent smiled back and nodded, "It's just as I heard. So…" Vincent waved his arm to indicate the wider area around them, "Why do this?"

"Farming is good," Anton said.

"I certainly won't argue against building up communities," Vincent said. "But teaching them all to cultivate? Why do it?"

"Why not? They're stronger, more able to work… and to defend themselves. I think it is worth the investment of time, even if I didn't learn anything from the teaching."

"I see," Vincent said. "Defend themselves." He sighed, "I wish I could say that would never be necessary. Still, even with your guidance, most of these here will never reach Spirit Building. You know that, right?"

"Does it matter?" Anton said. "All of this, it is an improvement for them. Each of their lives are better. Safer. I can't see why it would be a problem, but I sense you disapprove."

"We do try to have reasons for things. It's not forbidden," Vincent said, "But cautioned against. If everyone cultivates, they might band together in an uprising. Together, a hundred first or second star cultivators are many times more dangerous than the same who don't cultivate."

"They are," Anton nodded. "But more dangerous to who? Not to each other, I don't think. Those who are determined to hurt others will still do so, and likely find a way to cultivate anyway. The average person being stronger by a similar amount merely makes them more of a threat to cultivators. And… if the Order is worried about that, then perhaps they should be more concerned about acting according to righteous tenets."

Vincent thought for a time. "Unlike in some places, I can say that is not the stated or even implied reason that we don't teach everyone to cultivate. But long before, it may have stemmed from that. Quite simply, I don't think anyone thought about it. The Order is already more open with opportunities than others, freely giving the opportunity to cultivate… if not personal instruction. I think… nobody thought about it. The mindset of cultivators, even in the Order, is of a struggle to reach the top. Nobody thought to raise the floor. But basically everyone who joins spends their whole life as a cultivator, past being a young adult."

"So nobody saw the good it could do," Anton said. "And nobody thought to wonder if anything should change. Actually, I think I have found… the reluctance to change the status quo is discomforting."

"You have complaints, then." Vincent nodded, "We should sit down somewhere. I'll hear you out. For many things- perhaps even most- we have good reasons to be the way we are. But it may not be obvious, and that is its own sort of problem."

Chapter 88

Two old men talked, both appearing more youthful than their actual age- but the older of them seeming much younger. Though Vincent was perhaps not that much older than Anton. "I understand that the Order doesn't wish to be warmongering, but don't you think the problems with Van Hassel merited more of a response?"

Vincent held up his hands. "We didn't know the full extent of what he could do. Our borders are secure now. We won't forget about that failure anytime soon."

"That's not quite what I mean. If a cultivator from Graotan went and publicly caused chaos in Ofrurg, there wouldn't just be a passive response."

"..." Vincent refrained from commenting about Anton's actions in Ofrurg. "You're right. But I'm not in charge of any of that. I mostly work with simple recruitment. The Order had no specific sect or clan to blame, and the general policy to not escalate conflicts…" he shook his head.

"Do Spirit Building Cultivators just pop out of the ground in Ofrurg?" Anton asked. "Two of them, even."

Vincent sighed, "Van Hassel's former sect has expelled him years ago. There is no proof of any continued connection."

"Which sect?" Anton asked.

"We can get you that information later. I will remind you to be cautious around them, because even if the Order chooses to support you, they're not nobodies. And they might really have no connection to him anymore. If you catch him outside of Ofrurg- or if we notice him outside of Ofrurg- that will be something different."

"If he is officially expelled, they cannot act to protect him."

"Well," Vincent shrugged. "It's not like they become physically incapable of acting. It won't do much good if you get killed in the wilderness. You're much stronger now. I'm not sure if it's enough to face him and Slusser, but if you keep growing stronger I am confident you'll be able to accomplish your goals." Vincent hesitated for a few moments. "I just hope you don't get yourself or any other promising individuals killed in the process. I won't say you shouldn't try, though. Just be aware of the full situation. We can give you more information, since you're strong enough to get yourself into real trouble now without it. And please keep the Order informed about your actions. We can add some more official backing to you, if you act within certain parameters."

Anton understood caution and a resistance to change. He had been pretty set in his ways working on the farm, though nobody could argue that what he did worked. Then the catastrophe in Dungannon had torn his life apart. In the past year and a half he'd changed greatly, though most of that was in the area of his cultivation abilities and his knowledge of the cultivation world beyond the bare bones. He was just finishing his points to Vincent. "... I have the feeling that change is coming regardless of what the Order chooses to do. I would like to be an active part of that change instead of a bystander."

"Alright," Vincent raised his hands, "That's quite sufficient. You don't have to convince me. Just everyone else."

"I doubt it will be so simple," Anton said, "It's not as if I'm the first to pass through Spirit Building and train Voice. Everyone will certainly have their own view of the way things work, and should work."

"It is what it is," Vincent shrugged. "The biggest practical problem is the concentration of our forces. We can't just scatter people across Graotan without leaving people short on natural energy. A year or two doesn't matter much, but as the decades drag on the lack of concentrated natural energy will drag people behind in cultivation."

"About that… where does natural energy come from?"

"It's from the world itself. The sun and the stars, the earth, and especially all forms of life. Though I must admit I am not the best person to speak to on the subject."

"That fits with what I remembered… and observed. The area here grew in natural energy as we tended to it and the season progressed." Anton pondered, "There must have been a drop I failed to sense as we were removing some of the native life, but now that things are growing the land is vibrant."

"There's something," Vincent stroked his chin, "The way the energy flows…" he shook his head. "I have recently pushed myself to learn more about formations. I'm still very much an amateur but it seems you might have arranged it into a bit of a formation. Otherwise, I can't imagine it would produce more natural energy than wild land. At least I don't sense anything special here, only standard plants and decent soil."

"A formation, huh. We should speak to Pete."

"Which one is he?" Vincent asked.

"There," Anton pointed. "The third star. He's in charge of some of the finer details, and he was learning about formations from Catarina."

"He might have a gift for formations."

"He's a decent cultivator as well. He's one of those that plans to officially join the Order once the season is over."

"I am certain he will have no trouble," Vincent said. "He seems capable enough. Come, let us speak to him about if you've made a formation here."

Everyone turned to look at Vincent as he passed. Anton wasn't surprised- he was somewhere in mid Essence Collection, the strongest cultivator they'd ever seen. He took the time to introduce him. "This is Vincent. He's an elder with the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars. He was the one who found me after what happened to Dungannon and offered me the opportunity to cultivate."

Vincent grinned sheepishly, "I honestly didn't expect your current results in the slightest. I should have spent some time personally instructing you, but…"

Anton understood. He had also needed to chase after the bandits. Besides, nobody had expected Anton to have any sort of talent in cultivation. It was just a kind gesture to let him die trying to grow strong. Then he had. Of course, he wasn't strong enough yet. Not for his full revenge, and not for everything else he needed to do afterwards. "Pete!" Anton waved, "We had a question, if you're not too busy."

"I can take a break," he said. "We're not too busy right now anyway. What is it you need?" He kept his eyes focused on Vincent, taking in his level of strength.

"We should cut straight to the point," Vincent said. "The two of us were discussing the area. Anton noticed an increase in natural energy. You have some knowledge of formations. Is there something like that covering this area?"

"A formation?" Pete asked. "I suppose it's turned into something like that. We sort of went with the form of the land, moving with natural windbreaks and the like. I just sort of went with what felt right. Should we not have a formation?"

"There are no laws or guidance against it, unless it's permanently drawing energy from the area around you," Vincent clarified.

"Oh. It's not," Pete confirmed. "This just sort of enhances what's already here."

"Then it is a desirable outcome," Vincent said. "Though it may be best to consult a formation master if you expand to a grand scale."

"Like Catarina?" Pete asked. "I miss having her around to ask questions."

"I don't know if she is a master or not," Vincent said. "Truthfully, the term is somewhat vague. Past a certain point, everyone is called a master. Based on what I heard of your travels, she might have reached that point- though I am not the right one to judge that."

Hearing that relieved Anton. He sometimes worried about Nirmal Slusser, the formation master who had worked with Van Hassel. He'd seen what Catarina could do, and had been worried he would be many times more powerful. They would still need to be cautious, but at least it wasn't something equivalent to Essence Collection. It was still too early to think about Catarina matching him in early Spirit Building, but he and Van Hassel had been active for more than a decade. Since they were thought to still be in Spirit Building, at least their rate of growth should be something Anton and Catarina could catch up to.

Vincent stayed for several days, helping out with the mostly trivial tasks they had between planting and harvest. He also spent some time guiding people in cultivation, though Anton was the one who felt he got the most benefit from that. He felt like he was very close to the twelfth star. He just needed one more step.

Fuzz was dismayed when they left the pack behind, including one of the pack leaders. But he knew Catarina had a reason. They had a mission of some kind, or so he thought. It wasn't long before he realized it was something else. They weren't leaving the pack, but instead reuniting with it.

Their pack was so much bigger than he could have imagined, but the evidence was plain for his nose to smell. The same sort of energy that flowed through the rest of the pack members ran through everyone at this Order of Ninety-Nine Stars. In addition, the pack's territory was full of rich, invigorating natural energy. He felt like a pup again as he ran about, and supposed he actually was a pup still. He'd seen some 'normal' wolves, and he was bigger than them already but he still had more growing to do. He wanted to be at least as tall as the other pack members. Though he walked on all fours and they stood on their hind legs, he thought his parents had been that large. They had died, but his new pack took good care of him.

Except for when Catarina made him eat nasty clumps of rancid dirt. The 'medicine' smelled bad and tasted worse, but it was supposed to be good for him. He had to admit he had an easier time walking around, the muscles in his rear legs fully obeying his commands instead of merely acting like his thoughts were suggestions. Even that had been an improvement over when his new pack adopted him, but now he could move around freely. He liked to do so, but Catarina informed him of a particular area he was allowed. Perhaps the other pack members didn't want him messing up their sub-dens.

He spent some of his time in the group of dens that Catarina had claimed for her own. One of the four was empty, but smelled of Anton- one of the other pack leaders. Hopefully he would return soon. The third pack leader, Hoyt, was much further away- but Catarina let him roam to see him. He kept out of the fields and away from packs of people he hadn't been introduced to- with such a large pack, it would take them some time to know his scent, so he had to be careful.

The other two in the set of four dens were a man and a woman. Young, like Catarina and Hoyt. The woman was Velvet. The man was Timothy. Catarina said he was a close friend, but he didn't smell like her and they didn't visit much. Fuzz was still getting used to human speech, but he thought that didn't seem right.

Much time passed. He ran across the mountain, growing big and strong. Catarina continued to take care of him, assisting his energy flow. They even visited the forest to hunt occasionally. Like that, a 'season' quickly passed. Then Anton returned. He brought with him some of the other, smaller pack. But before even saying hello, he settled into his own den to 'cultivate'. It was like sleep, but done in a different posture- and it involved manipulating energy. Interrupting people from that was bad, so Fuzz waited patiently in the courtyard ready to greet him. As he did so, he felt Anton grow stronger. Another little fire ignited inside of him. He opened his eyes, smiling, and Fuzz jumped on him and licked his face. It was good to have more pack leaders around.

Chapter 89

During his time away, Anton had forgotten just how much of a difference there was between the quantity and quality of the energy on the Order's grounds and that elsewhere. The boost was just what he needed to push through to the completion of the twelfth star. That was all there was to it, the majority of the real work having already been done. The part of cultivation where he gathered energy was just more of the same.

He looked up the mountain towards the peaks. The energy there had been much stronger to the point he could barely handle it. Now, he wanted to test how it affected him differently. But though he fully intended to go and talk to Grand Elder Vandale, he wasn't quite ready and there were so many other things that needed doing.

He'd only been separated from Catarina a short time, though he supposed several months was quite meaningful to those who were young. It had been more than half of a year since he'd seen Timothy. The young man was at the ninth star, only a small portion short of the peak of Body Tempering. His cultivation progress was fine, but there was something… Anton shook his head. One thing at a time.

The opportunities to enter the Order were held monthly. Anton knew he might be able to push for those he knew to be tested earlier, but he didn't want to show any favoritism. That wouldn't help them in the long run. Besides, he had full confidence in Pete and Oskar. Some of the others were on track to third star and planned to join the Order as well, but those two were the most skilled in cultivation. Patricia, Oskar's wife, was somewhat behind since she didn't have a chance to cultivate until later. It seemed likely she would reach third star soon enough, but she wasn't sure if she wanted to join the Order. She would be able to stay with Oskar regardless- the Order allowed family and even a number of permanent guests.

Anton had considered bringing some of the others to train, but being able to reach the third star without relying on sheer quantity of energy was sort of the point of the tests. There was probably more to it, but Anton hadn't actually participated. He would observe this time. He was certain the entrance qualifications had not changed in decades or centuries, like most other things. Though he had his complaints with the Order, he didn't find that they were bad in how they handled things. He just thought they could be better. He might change his mind once he'd had more exposure to cultivators but he was not going to just assume those who were older knew better. They might, or they might not.

First he was going to find Elder Howland. He should be able to answer some of Anton's questions, or at least point him in the right direction. The man wasn't hard to find. He was always around somewhere, it just depended on which farming plot he was working with that day.

It had been nearly half a year since Anton had seen the man. During that time, he'd grown from late Body Tempering all the way to the twelfth star, significantly closing the gap between himself and the Elder. Elder Howland was only at the fifteenth star, so his status as an Elder clearly wasn't for his cultivation prowess but his other usefulness. Not that Anton intended to mention that.

Charlton Howland was in a good mood. Hoyt had returned, in Spirit Building no less. Yet he still came to tend to the fields. Not just the more troublesome plants either, but some of the mundane ones. He could certainly earn more contribution points elsewhere, and having completed Body Tempering it wasn't even really good training. Sure, he didn't come by every day anymore, but he only needed to come by weekly to do as much as he'd been doing before he set off on his journey.

He nearly didn't recognize Anton when he showed up. Trusting Hoyt's word that Anton had reached the eleventh star was easy. Hoyt saw it and relayed the information. But the prediction that he would reach twelfth star in the next few months before he returned to the Order… had seemed somewhat unbelievable. Then again, it seemed likely barely a few months before that Anton had first joined the Order. What was another star or two when he'd gone from four to eleven in that time?

Of course, Howland hadn't advanced a single star in that time. He was stuck waffling between training Voice and Spiritual Connection. That had been the case for quite some time, but he really didn't need to advance any further to complete his duties. Managing the fields required more knowledge than cultivation, though some of the more troublesome plants required proper cultivation as well. The Order just didn't keep anything too dangerous. Of course there were some herbs that could be misused as poisons, but they were carefully regulated. Other than that, the northern creepers were one of the more extreme examples of plants that fought those tending them.

But his own cultivation was not important. He was quite content with his own abilities. At the same time, he could praise the advancements of others. "Anton! It's good to see you back. Here to work the land?"

"That was not my intention today," disappointment must have shown on Howland's face, "But I would be quite content to do so while we talk." The man wielded a hoe like a fine spear, and he plucked weeds out from the rows like they were enemies he had to slay. It took a moment for Howland to find his voice and ask what important things he wished to speak about. "Oh, it's just a few questions really," Anton assuaged his worries. "Probably important, in the grand scheme of things, but not urgent. Where does natural energy come from?"

"The ground, plants, living creatures, and sometimes special features."

"I see," Anton sounded disappointed. "I was wondering how a place like the Order's land here develops, with such abundant energy. Or places like the forest."

Howland shrugged, "The answer is the same." Was he unclear somewhere? "Cultivators and magic beasts make the largest difference in the short term, though certain special plants are good for longer term development and stability."

At that Anton's eyes flickered in thought. "Don't cultivators and magical beasts drain the area of energy?"

"They can and do," Howland confirmed. "Sometimes that leads to damaging the area. But that's true of anything. Overeager boars root up the land, destroying it on a more mundane level. But humans are living creatures. They produce natural energy that can accumulate in an area. If managed properly, both cultivators and the land they live on grow together."

"I had not considered that. I only thought of the animals and plants." They had moved between several fields by this point. Some weren't scheduled for work until weeks later, but that didn't matter. Anton left alone the areas where others were working and focused on anywhere unattended. Howland worked along with him, but he didn't feel he could keep up with Anton's pace despite his higher cultivation level. "Why does the Order not do this elsewhere, then?"

"What do you mean?" Howland asked.

"There's just this one location, shoved up almost against the western border of Graotan. It's quite extraordinary, to be sure, but the rest of the country has but tolerable amounts of natural energy available."

"Does it matter?" Howland wondered, "The smaller sects within Graotan maintain their own areas, and the rest is not populated by cultivators."

"It could be, though." Anton shook his head. "Why not expand the area?"

"The Order doesn't have need of more land," Howland explained. "Our numbers rise and fall as time passes, but we have an entire mountain and the forests for just a few thousand at any time. The area we control is already quite expansive."

"That's true," Anton agreed. "But think of the border. The formation keeps intruders in and out, understandably. But it also keeps the natural energy controlled."

"The Order is not entirely selfless. The benefits to the surrounding farmers would be negligible compared to our losses. We put in the work and reap the rewards."

"I fully understand that. However, couldn't the surrounding area instead benefit the Order? If the land adjacent grows more, it would contribute back to the Order's land."

"Alas," Howland said, "It's not quite so efficient. The maximum growth that would have on the surrounding area would not be enough to recoup the losses given any amount of time. If our numbers swelled and we had several times as many disciples, perhaps expanding would be prudent. But we can barely manage the area we have now."

"It just needs to be tended to by cultivators, right?" Anton asked.

"Right."

"Let me tell you about some thoughts I've been having. I think imagining ourselves as cultivators and the rest of the country as non-cultivators is perhaps merely limiting the Order."

They talked for some time. Howland thought Anton's ideas of how easy it was to teach everyone to cultivate were a bit exaggerated, but he had to admit that Anton had significant success in the area already. Howland couldn't say it was impossible, either. Anton had much more understanding of non-cultivator activities and the benefits even small amounts of cultivation would provide them. Unknowingly at the time, some buried thoughts in Howland's head slipped into place. He wanted more people to care about the land and not just think of it as something low level cultivators did for contribution points. He hadn't even considered those outside the Order in regards to that. From that point on, his cultivation would creep forward from its formerly stagnant status.

Chapter 90

It was strange to be nervous, Pete thought. Certainly, he was about to take a test, but when Anton Krantz said that he would pass easily, Pete Sharman believed him. He believed him, but still… joining a cultivation sect? The Order of Ninety-Nine Stars was known all throughout Graotan. But Pete still thought of cultivators as something else. Something that didn't include himself.

Oskar clapped him on the shoulder. "Hey, don't worry. You'll do fine." Oskar decided against mentioning that this wasn't their only chance. Better to pass the first time. Oskar himself wanted to give it his all, because Anton believed in them. There were many opportunities as a member of the Order, not just fighting. He would still make sure he could fight, to defend his family, but he didn't want to continually risk his life. He had a wife and child, and though his death might support them financially he knew the loss of loved ones would tear them apart. Kevin was still too young to really understand, but both he and Patricia had lost most of those they knew in Dungannon.

Pete and Oskar couldn't help but be a little bit nervous as they found themselves lining up with a half dozen others who all seemed to be a decade younger. But… age wasn't everything. Some seemed strong and muscular, but one young woman was quite… round. They probably had a better chance than her, at least. Pete and Oskar had started cultivating later, and Anton demonstrated that age wasn't impossible to surmount. It didn't help that the one running the test seemed younger than them.

"Welcome! My name is Sterling." the young man said. "All of you have reached the third star. That's good, but not enough by itself. We have to test your body and mind." He gestured, pulling back the cloth covering a doorway to the outside. "First we have an obstacle course. The rules are simple, make it to the end as fast as you can."

Pete stood on his tiptoes, trying to see as far into the course as he could. He couldn't see the end, but he did see a number of ramps along with strange impediments on the ground. He could see several routes he might take.

"With twelve of you, we'll do two sets of six, a minute apart, so you don't get in each other's way too much." Sterling pointed out six of them, seemingly at random. "You'll be the first group."

Neither Pete nor Oskar were picked in that first group. That gave them a chance to watch the others go first. It seemed like an advantage, but he wasn't going to complain. As they ran ahead at a quick pace, Pete learned of something he hadn't spotted before. Mud. One of the dips was quite full of it, and it seemed to be both sticky and slippery at the same time. It was quite difficult for people to go up ramps or hold onto ropes after that point. That added some appeal to a higher route that simply looked more difficult. "Maybe we should go that route?" Pete said.

"Go ahead," Oskar said. "I'm gonna pick my own route though. No offense, but I feel like going with you would be too easy."

Pete shrugged. So Oskar wanted to deal with a challenge. That didn't exactly mesh with getting to the end as fast as possible, did it? Then again, he supposed they should all pick their own routes.

Around the time the trailing members of the first group were rounding a corner, it was their turn to go. Oskar ran straight ahead, stepping over wires seemingly placed to trip uncoordinated runners. Three of the others ran with him down the middle. One went to the left side, hopping between poles that were over a pit of water. Pete took the right side, up a ramp.

The ramp was steeper than it looked, and slippery. However, a bit of momentum and some energy on his boots to help resist the slipping got him to the top. Then there were swinging logs. They seemed to be powered by a simple formation. He considered trying to disarm it, but supposed that would be outside of the bounds of the test. He stopped for a second, watching the flow of the movements that would knock him to the left or right, off of his elevated position down into other parts of the course. It was just a few seconds, but others were getting ahead.

He stepped through, not at a run but a quick walk. One swings from the left, one from the right, then a tricky angled one to catch people off guard. Stop for a second, then three quick steps. Half of the pathway disappeared ahead, requiring him to balance as he moved forward.

Once past the swinging logs he climbed a rope even higher. Pulling himself up wasn't too hard. Then there was a rope hanging out in front of him, out of reach. He stretched out his hand, and extended his energy to grab it and pull it to him. He held the rope further down as he swung, then at the end of the arc let go as he flew over the mud pits. He was behind everyone else, but that was okay. He was saving his stamina for when it got hard.

Obstacles continued in the same vein. Climbing, dodging, jumping, balancing. Some points required quick reactions, and there was a pole with spinning sticks basically attacking anyone who passed by, but not only were its movements easy to predict the power it had was far below a cultivator with a weapon. It was also less scary than one of the turtles, and not sharp like the spiked rollers. He did get knocked on the back of the head as he passed, but his energy easily absorbed the blow.

It wasn't long before he came up behind someone round. She was attempting to climb a rope up a vertical wall. Pete could see the problem. She had exhausted her energy, and her hands were slick with mud. There seemed to be no option but go up this wall- it covered the entire width of the course- and there were only higher walls and not lower. Then there was the matter of her roundness. Pete didn't want to be rude, but it was quite clear she came from a life of affluence, to have reached such a weight. It seemed she hadn't tempered her muscles, either. While the first full body tempering would have given her some strength, she had more to carry than most.

She had clearly wiped her hands on her formerly fine garments, but there was enough mud on them that wiping her hands more didn't help. Pete stopped next to her, before attempting to climb up. "I can try wiping that off for you," Pete gestured to the rope.

Her eyes turned to him. Sharp. Maybe a bit angry, but also… tired. "... isn't that cheating?"

Pete shrugged, "I might want to use that rope." He touched it, and instantly became glad he'd avoided the mud previously. It stuck to him like molasses, but slid along the rope at the same time. It wouldn't shake off his hands, and he didn't want to wipe it on his body and just make more things awful to touch. He used a little energy, with a trick Anton had done to get mud off his boots. Just sort of pushing from the inside out. It fell right off. He grabbed the rope and poured his energy into it, the mud sloughing to the ground. "Could I see your hands?"

She seemed reluctant. "I think… this is enough."

He shrugged. "That's fine." He stood and watched as she grabbed the rope. Her grip remained firm, but she just didn't have the strength to pull herself up. But she didn't let go either. "If you work on that for the next month, I'm sure you can do it."

He had meant it innocently enough. They were supposed to be words of encouragement. But the eyes half hidden behind rounded cheeks glared at him. Then she muttered under her breath in a way he clearly wasn't supposed to hear. "... Don't get to come back to try again. Want me to fail."

Pete waited until her attention turned back to the rope before grabbing the next one over. He didn't want to look like he was taunting her with the ease he could do the same task she was failing. She probably noticed anyway, but he didn't look. When he reached the top, he saw there was just a slide down to the end where Sterling was waiting. It seemed to be the final obstacle.

Pete looked down at the young lady struggling below, then at Sterling. Sterling had his arms behind his back, looking up. "Come on," Pete called down. "You can do it!" He didn't think she could, but he wanted to motivate her. In return, he didn't even get a glare. In fact, the only thing he could see was the top of her head below her white knuckles. She seemed to have a death grip on the rope, but couldn't move. Pete looked over at Sterling. No reaction. Well, technically nobody had said they had to reach the end on their own. There was nothing he could change that would even end up with a minor formation to bolster her energy. It was also clear she wasn't able to move under her own power anymore.

So he grabbed the rope. The young woman clearly wasn't willing to give up, and if she really couldn't try again… he might as well see if he could bend the rules a little. He was glad he'd reserved his strength, because pulling a rope at his angle wasn't exactly easy. There was barely any room at the top before the slope down, and he didn't want to risk damaging the rope. So he had to pull straight up. That worked muscles he really hadn't had much reason to use, and he needed energy to augment them and keep the rope from slipping. Hand over hand he pulled, until he had to lift his hands over his head. She wasn't much shorter than him, so to get her feet over the edge he had to extend his arms to their full height. Then he gently set her feet on the ledge.

She just stood there with her arms raised, the rope hanging down. Pete could see her eyes were closed, but then she yanked on the rope, bringing her arms down in front of her belly. She didn't immediately seem to register what was happening, but she seemed stable enough to not fall backwards. Pete hopped over to the side and ran down the slope in the section next to her.

He watched carefully as he passed Sterling. If he was to get in trouble, he wanted to explain that he was the one who'd done everything. However, the only response he got was, "A bit slow." With that, he walked past into the next section. It was full of tables, and people were already furiously scribbling away at papers. Well, he'd done what he could. Another member of the Order was waiting and pointed to an empty table. "Answer as many questions as you can."

Chapter 91

The obstacle course was followed by a written test. The main instructions had been 'answer as many as you can'. Questions at the beginning were about cultivation and combat, but there were other questions on history and mathematics. Pete was happy to find that it covered questions about various trade skills and useful professions as well. There was no way anyone would complete the whole thing, but that wasn't the point. They were clearly looking for how people would be useful.

Pete did his best, answering farming, energy cultivation, and fighting questions for the most part. If he saw something simple as he browsed he would scribble down an answer, but at the back he found questions on formations. The first few were simple, but as he continued on he found himself taking longer and longer. He only got through about half of them. He thought his experience with formations was pretty good, but clearly there was a lot still left to learn.

They hadn't been told a specific time limit, but each of them were stopped in order, likely based on when they finished the obstacle course. It was only a few minutes difference all around, but it put some pressure on those who knew the end was coming. Pete exchanged looks with Oskar, who shrugged. It was hard to say how they did on the written portions. Nobody had really talked about those, or the tests in general.

Next came sparring. They were matched against other entrants. Oskar fought against another muscular man who was almost equally muscled- a rare sight. However, while their bodies seemed to be closely matched, Oskar's fighting experience pushed him ahead. He had learned an aggressive axe fighting style from Hoyt that constantly kept the enemy on the defensive, before finally his axe came to rest next to his opponent's neck. Pete marvelled at how well the formation was able to stop the attack, though he did see it was actively being watched over.

As for Pete himself, he ended up fighting the round young woman. Gerd, apparently. He wondered if he should have asked that or not. Either way, he supposed she would not like that descriptor much. Determined, maybe. Pete wasn't sure if his help was technically allowed, but she was participating in the rest of the test at least.

The time of rest seemed to have done her a great benefit, because she seemed nearly brimming with energy. Actually, everyone was quite full up. Pete had only experienced similar levels of natural energy suffusing the area in Misty Hill Palace and occasionally a lesser form when Catarina set up energy gathering formations. This was still more, and he'd filled up easily and without even really noticing.

It was sword against sword. A common choice of weapon, though spears had the advantage of reach. For cultivators fighting individual battles, what suited them was the most important. In Pete's case, he hadn't felt any particular draw to certain weapons, so had gone with the same weapon as Catarina. He didn't wield it in the same way, preferring to rely more on his strength rather than her elegant technique.

As their swords began to clash, Pete quickly found himself on the back foot. Gerd clearly had some experience fighting, and he didn't quite know how to react. He kept himself secure in the battle by relying on his greater physical strength, which was still sufficient to overcome a certain amount of energy. He hadn't tempered his meridians yet. He was only at the third star, and while Anton had been able to achieve that for his first prime tempering, it was too difficult for Pete. He would be waiting until the fifth star and the second prime tempering. He couldn't tell what Gerd had tempered. It wasn't muscle, unless she had been positively infirm before she began to cultivate. Her energy wasn't so strong as to make him believe she had her meridians tempered. Bones? Marrow? Those effects were hard to see.

He learned something when he managed to slice along her upper arm. His attack was shallow as her skin resisted. That was one tempering then, but she still pulled back from the damage. Trained to fight, but not used to being injured. Meanwhile, Pete had fought for his life several times. He had to admit he was well defended for the most part, but against the bandits just past the Estary border he'd felt the danger. This was just a spar.

He didn't want to put down Gerd's determination, but that was even more reason to take what advantages he could. If he held back, it might be insulting. Pete began to take reckless tactics. He attacked with little regard for his own defense, counting on Gerd to defend herself rather than taking the openings. It worked often enough as she prioritized her own defense. Pete got to see exactly how she would defend against each strike, the precise position she held her guard. She seemed to have good training, but she lacked the adaptability learned in actual battle.

Pete feinted a slash towards her left side, but instead twisted his sword into a stab towards her heart. Her reaction was nearly quick enough but his sword stabbed into her chest before she could parry it. At least, that was what it would have done if the formation hadn't stopped his blade. He was counting on it. They'd said not to worry about injuring their opponents, and meant it.

"A good fight," Pete said. He didn't feel great about beating someone a decade younger than him, but they were both third star. She'd probably been training a similar amount of time to him, maybe even longer. Though it seemed her actual exercise had been neglected. He wondered who taught her- or if she'd had to learn on her own. If it was the latter, then Pete could only say he was lucky to have excellent guidance.

Gerd was breathing heavily. It seemed she was finding it hard to accept that she'd lost. "You- you…" clearly she had something she planned to say, but thought better of it. "... A good fight," she inclined her head.

Pete hoped that her losing the spar didn't mean she wouldn't be recruited. He'd assumed it was an exhibition of skill, but he actually didn't know. Then he was pulled away for several other tests- including a short segment where he tried to discern the effects of certain actual formations instead of just writing about it. He wasn't sure if that test was tailored to him specifically, but he didn't see anyone else in that area.

Then it was already dusk. He was quite pleased that, as the sun settled behind the mountain peak, he was declared to have passed. Not only that, he was apparently the best ranking, receiving as a prize several pills and instructions on how and when to best use them. In short- only when extra accumulation of energy is the limiting factor in advancing cultivation. Pete wasn't fully confident in his ability to judge that, but he knew Catarina and Anton could give him advice.

After the test he was taken to a little complex of four simple houses. Oskar was already there- and he'd even had time to get Patricia. The third neighbor was one of the other young men who was participating in the test. The fourth remained empty. Had only three passed? Three out of twelve was low, but then again the test could be repeated monthly. There could also be another complex that was filled out first.

Pete was out in his courtyard, messing around with the dirt making simple formations, when he sensed her. It was well after dark now, but Gerd's exhausted form was dragging itself behind one of the older disciples. Good. She'd passed. Though she might need some help with certain kinds of training, since she seemed to be ignorant in some areas.

Anton eagerly awaited the results. He was quite pleased when Sterling came to him saying that both Pete and Oskar passed.

"I can't believe you're at the twelfth star already," Sterling said. "I was two stars ahead, now I'm three behind."

Anton smiled. "Don't worry so much. It's not a race. I can provide some advice on Peak Body Tempering and thoughts on Spirit Building, if you want."

"I might take you up on that," Sterling smiled softly. "But those two… quite interesting. Not what we normally see. I can see your influence on both of them. In the obstacle course Pete clearly thought it would be more difficult and reserved himself too much… and then he helped someone over the last obstacle instead of just reaching the finish."

"Good!" Anton said, "One should always be ready to help others."

"I agree," Sterling said, "And that's something we watch for. There's a reason the tests are the way they are."

"About that," Anton said. "What about those who arrive at fourth star? I was just able to walk right in, nobody even checking me over."

"Well," Sterling said, "That wasn't exactly true. You said Vincent was your sponsor. It could have been a lie, but we'd prefer to get fourth star people into the Order as soon as possible. The second prime tempering isn't far for them, and the fact that they made it so far shows talent. Plus, it wasn't as if you were just roaming about unwatched."

"The instructors?" Anton asked, then nodded, "But also Elder Daniela."

"That's correct," Sterling said.

"I'm not sure if that's the method I'd use," Anton shrugged, "But I can see why. Still wonder why you don't just raise up people at the first or second star. Or even just potentials." Anton held up a hand, "I know, I know, that takes people, they might not all become true cultivators, bla bla bla. But you would have more people to teach if some of them stuck to it. I don't think it would be bad for Graotan to have more low level cultivators anyway." Anton was planning to talk to everyone he could about his ideas. Some of them needed refinement still, but if he never started then he'd never get anywhere with his ideas. Besides, when people told him what was wrong with certain things he could smooth out that area, instead of waiting for months or years to realize it himself.

Chapter 92

The courtyard, once having seemed so large, was beginning to be insufficient for Anton's uses. He noticed it especially when practicing archery, how its relative size had diminished. He barely even had time for his arrows to build up speed before he had to disintegrate them. Firing them up into the sky wasn't any better, since it was hard to test his accuracy that way. The wind whipping above the courtyard didn't help. He would need to petition to move to larger accommodations or at least closer to the proper archery ranges. It was still far to just run on over when he wanted a bit of practice.

His new bow was still a problem. He hadn't thought he would be able to suddenly put it to use at the twelfth star, but he'd sort of expected some change. The swirls of wind in his courtyard couldn't distract him from his task. Create a string with energy. Then an arrow, and pull. His muscles strained and his energy tensed, and the only thing he got was sore fingertips.

Was the string too thin? It was made of his own energy, so it was able to cut through his defenses if he wasn't careful. Fortunately it didn't easily hurt him, but it dug into the tips of his fingers after some repetitions. And the string didn't move, unless he extended it. The bow bent not even a single millimeter. Still, it was an interesting way to train his abilities even if he couldn't shoot it. Forming shapes with pure energy other than arrows was something he didn't do as often. He could make pretty much any shape he wanted, but having them keep their form under stress was much harder.

A door clicked in the opposite corner courtyard. That was a problem that still needed dealing with. Anton sighed.

Life should have been good for Fuzz. Plentiful food, as much as he needed. He didn't need to hunt for it, but he could when he wanted to. He had a den to stay in, though he had to learn to clean off 'mud' before he could do so. That was a useful exercise, shedding unwanted things from his paws and the rest of his body.

Outside of the den he had space to run, and so so many pack members. He'd tried to count them, but there were many dozens and he simply didn't have a way to count that high. He was growing stronger, both through his own efforts and the care of Catarina. In some places his body was still missing parts of him, where the moss had grown into him, but for the most part he was healthy. He could run on all of his legs over the vast stretches of pack territory- though usually he couldn't do so alone.

Everything should have been right, but something was wrong. And Fuzz was going to find out what. Anton was back. He was still the same. Hoyt was further away, but he seemed to be doing well. It was the third leader of their sub-pack that was a problem. The one closest to Fuzz, Catarina. She was not right, ever since they arrived.

The problem was with the other two packmates that live in adjacent dens. One of them Catarina never visited. Fuzz thought he smelled a faint bit of animosity there, but it was so subtle he also thought he could be wrong. But the other male, that was a problem. Catarina said he was a 'friend'. Like he was part of their sub-pack, training and living together. However, he retreated whenever Fuzz tried to visit. Not only that, this 'Timothy' wouldn't even stay outside when Catarina or Anton were training. Fuzz thought he was concerned about distracting them at first, but instead of deference his movements smelled of something else. Timidity, maybe. The scent of humans was still hard to puzzle out sometimes.

The biggest problem was that Timothy didn't exhibit any of the expected features of a 'friend'. Fuzz had come to believe they should eat together, travel together, hunt together, train together, be together. That was what a pack was. But they weren't together. Catarina and Timothy had spoken when they returned, and very little since. Several times Catarina had gone over and there had been no response from the door, though both Timothy and his energy smelled like they were there. Strange.

Was he trapped inside? Certainly doors were difficult to open at first, but every human he'd met had operated them with ease. Besides, he'd seen him do it. Grr. It was just so frustrating.

A warm hand rubbed his head. "There there, Fuzz. It's okay. Timothy is a friend. He's just training out in the yard."

The more she said it, the less Fuzz believed it. What could he do about it? He couldn't speak, and didn't know what to say anyway. What needed to happen? After a moment of thought, Fuzz unbarred the door he was sitting in front of, the one that led to the courtyard. Sliding the bar was easy, pulling it required manipulating energy or a more difficult paw placement. So he pulled with a bit of energy, then stepped into the yard.

Now he had to be fast. His paws tore up dirt as he moved, then just the right distance from the wall he leaped, muscle and energy pushing him high over the wall. Timothy was surprised. Of course he was. Fuzz hadn't done it since the first time when Catarina scolded him. Anton didn't care if he visited, but Catarina wanted him to use a 'gate'. Even though it was slower. But this time he had to be fast.

Dirt and rocks scattered in a cloud as he landed, startling Timothy. But he was a cultivator, already standing in a defensive position when Fuzz landed. The screen of dust was the only thing that let Fuzz grab onto his shoulder, and even so he barely succeeded. His teeth held on tight, never with the intent to do injury but Timothy's defensive energy would have held regardless. He was merely a small bit weaker than the three pack leaders.

Fuzz pulled. It was already an awkward angle, standing on his hind legs, but he was unable to get any traction. Timothy elbowed him to try to make him let go, but Fuzz would have none of it. He reinforced his body to take the blow. His teeth hurt as they barely held, but he reinforced that area also, without making his teeth sharper. He couldn't pull Timothy along the ground, his footing was too good. Fuzz decided to let go, falling to the ground.

Then his mouth closed around Timothy's ankle. He got kicked in the side, but Fuzz almost found it amusing. It was a bit more than he would have expected for simple roughhousing, but he could tell Timothy was not using his full power. Not yet. So he had to hurry.

Fuzz leaped, nearly straight up. If he couldn't drag Timothy along the ground, he would carry him through the air. The ankle came with him, not able to drag against anything, and Timothy dangled head down as they rose. Then his ankle was once more below them as they descended. Fuzz made sure his paws touched the ground first so he could jump at a better angle, with Timothy flailing as they slid smoothly over the fence, only catching on it once and bumping his head. But he had defensive energy so it was fine.

"Fuzz!" Catarina chastised him. "Stop that!"

Fuzz stopped. He wasn't planning to jump over the wall again anyway. He didn't let go of Timothy though, even though he whined and complained. He didn't get to order Fuzz around unless he acted like a pack member.

For some reason, Catarina was unreasonably upset at Fuzz for jumping over the wall. He couldn't quite get what she was saying because she was having trouble speaking properly. Humans didn't speak so well when they were upset, and it was already hard to understand them. Then Anton came over the wall, and she didn't get mad at him at all! What an unfair double standard.

Fuzz dropped Timothy's ankle and pushed him with his nose towards Catarina and Anton. They were supposed to be friends and spend time together, but they hadn't even gotten close enough to get their scent on each other since they came to the big pack. Completely unacceptable.

"I think I get it," Anton said as he pulled Timothy to his feet.

Yes! Good! The old one was a wise pack leader. But they didn't immediately start to familiarize themselves with each other again. Fuzz ran around and rubbed up against all of them so they would remember how to do it, but they didn't quite seem to get it. They were talking, though. That was good. The scents of their energies mingled slightly, at least, though Fuzz really thought they should touch more. Would he have to be the one to do all the work?

Chapter 93

Everyone- Timothy, Catarina, Fuzz, and Anton- was gathered together in Catarina's courtyard. Anton hadn't been planning to do things in such a drastic fashion, but he had to admit that Fuzz really helped kick off the process. "Good to see you, Timothy. Fuzz isn't capable of verbalizing, but perhaps I can help. Even Fuzz can tell you guys are acting strange, and he's never seen the two of you together to be normal."

"Well, I, uh…" Timothy was still quite off put from being pulled by a wolf and thrust into an uncomfortable situation.

Catarina wasn't much more equipped to handle a sudden confrontation. She had been focused on Fuzz' surface actions rather than the implications. "We don't have to- there's nothing to really…" She didn't manage a full, coherent sentence.

"A hundred years of experience makes some interactions painfully obvious," Anton said. "Now, I fully understand that with the passage of time people might drift apart. But a simple half of a year shouldn't end up with two people who are friends their whole lives not talking to each other. There are clearly thoughts that need to be communicated here. And while I admit to personal bias, I think the one who needs to express themselves first is you Timothy." Anton threw around the full power of Voice. It couldn't make anyone do anything they truly didn't want to do, but a commanding tone was a very useful tool to have. "Being open and honest won't be easy, but it will be quite better later. So. Why are you reluctant to speak to your best friend in the whole world?" Anton could think of several options. They could range from trivial and laughable- but still very real- to some things that would be painful. That depended on what he'd done or thought he'd done. "We can wait for you to form your thoughts." That was half a reminder to Catarina. He put a hand on her shoulder to comfort her, among other things.

Timothy clearly wanted to run away. Not that he was afraid of either of them, but emotional conflicts were harder to face than just a big scary monster that might try to kill you. With the latter you either won or you lost. There might be injuries, but physical pain only hurt so much.

It was clear that Timothy couldn't really run away, if he wasn't allowed to, but nobody was physically stopping him. Fuzz had managed to move him around with the element of surprise, but it would take Anton or Catarina to truly stop him. Anton had positioned them out of the way of his physical retreat- though of course he could just jump over a wall so the courtyards themselves were basically meaningless for blocking him.

Finally, Timothy put together a sentence. "I just… thought you would hate me. For abandoning you."

"...What?" Catarina sounded genuinely confused.

Anton nodded. He thought it was something like that. But he wanted to let them talk about it before trying to insert his own potential explanations.

"You went on that whole journey," Timothy said. "Faced so much danger. I could have helped. But I wasn't there for you." His face indicated there was more left unspoken.

"It's alright," Catarina said. "We didn't need you." Anton could see Timothy's heart break. Catarina caught it a moment later. "I-it's not that we couldn't have used your help. Or want you there. It's just… we made it back. No injuries that couldn't recover."

"... I still should have been with you."

"Then why weren't you?"

"I…" Timothy didn't seem able to find the words. Anton supposed he should help.

"He had prior commitments," Anton explained. Though it had come up long before, Anton remembered. He left out the unhelpful and extraneous details he knew about. "Our departure was not known about well in advance. I was perhaps a bit overeager to go, instead of waiting patiently for another companion." It would have been impossible to say if things would ultimately have gone better had they waited. Many encounters would have happened differently, or not at all. They might have been too late for some things, though another companion might also have allowed them to move with less caution and more speed. But even though they'd only been separated for several months, as planned, that was still a significant time for two young folk with barely twenty years to their name. He'd focused too much on those potential people he planned to save, and not enough on those people who were close to him. "I am quite sure we would have benefitted from your presence."

Timothy's head still hung. "You wouldn't need me. You're both so strong. I'm not even at peak Body Tempering yet."

Anton cracked his knuckles, grinning wildly. "We can fix that."

"I don't care about that," Catarina said. "It doesn't matter if you're weak or strong. You're my friend. Though I have to say, it's harder to grow strong alone. I'd be way weaker if not for Grandpa Anton's advice."

The discussion was over shortly. A trivial argument to solve, though Anton might have some questions for Timothy in private. But though the solution was simple, the problems it could have caused if left alone were very meaningful. Anton remembered Timothy's ambition to be stronger than Catarina, and though he must have worked hard alone he just didn't have the right opportunities. When she returned with such strength, it was likely a significant blow to him. Anton was quite certain he was brushing up against finishing the tenth star and just couldn't reach it.

It might have been more difficult to work through if the problems stemmed from not caring instead of caring too much. Anton doubted that things would be fully resolved with just what they had done, but the distance that had formed between the two friends could be patched.

As they eventually went their separate ways, Anton looked towards the fourth courtyard. There was one more member of their little community, and he felt they needed to have a talk. Probably should have been done months before, but he was more confident in his assertions now.

An unexpected knock on the door startled Velvet. She hadn't even noticed him walking around. That was concerning, because Anton Krantz was extremely easy to notice. The aura of Spirit Building poured off him quite clearly. Velvet wondered what he wanted. The easiest way to find out was to just walk over to the door. "Senior Anton, please do come in." He'd dropped by to say hello after he first returned- though not before he broke through to the twelfth star. He hadn't stayed for more than a moment there, and she was hoping for more now.

"Thank you," Anton smiled pleasantly. "I would love to." Was he younger? If nothing else his wrinkles were less pronounced- though tempering his skin would do that. If she recalled correctly, he hadn't finished that before leaving on his journey. Though nothing about his particular movements were threatening, Velvet herself was merely at the eighth star. He had four more, and it wasn't just four but also a prime tempering and stepping into the next stage. He could kill her in an instant, though she thought she'd avoided giving him any reason to do so. "I thought that I should get to know my final neighbor better. You went on an expedition while we were gone, correct? With Timothy? I'd love to hear about it."

Velvet took a deep breath. She didn't want to screw something up. She didn't fully comprehend how Anton Krantz was now four stars ahead of her instead of one, but she felt the opportunity he represented. "I'd be glad to! The team I was working with needed another competent defender, and he was the first I thought of." It had been a bit concerning when he stagnated at the ninth star, but he was still ahead of her so she hadn't been too worried. "We journeyed west, into Ambati. A bit north as well, into the jungled section." She spoke about the mission, making sure to give TImothy proper praise. Anton listened intently, occasionally prompting her with questions. "... we made it back alright, but perhaps I should have invited you as well, Senior Anton."

"I would have been forced to decline. I had my own plans to take care of."

"So I noticed!" Velvet smiled. "A quite successful training journey, I can tell. I'd love to hear about how you advanced so quickly."

"It's quite simple really," Anton explained, "Just put yourself in situations you must grow stronger, and you will. Or you suffer the consequences."

Velvet grimaced. That wasn't really the answer she was looking for. There had to be some trick to his growth. "I'm sure that someone as wise as you was never in any true danger."

Something on Anton's face shifted, though she couldn't tell what it meant. "There are more precious things beyond just one's wealth and life." He looked at her, as if trying to see through her. He folded his hands in front of him, and she was suddenly very uncomfortable as the atmosphere shifted. "So why did you really invite Timothy?"

"I… don't know what you mean." Everything she said was true. "He was strong, growing stronger rapidly. A perfect fit for the team."

"Understandable," Anton said. "But… odd. I can see why you wouldn't invite an old man along. Why not Catarina as well?"

"Well, there was the… incident. I'm sure you remember that." Velvet dropped her eyes. She really didn't want to remember that. She could have died. That was also part of why she hadn't approached Anton. That danger.

"I see," Anton nodded. "So instead you chose to attempt to manipulate her best friend instead."

How was it so cold? Velvet knew the answer to that, but the way she was sweating and getting the chills at the same time was extremely uncomfortable. "I just asked him to come along," she said sweetly. "It's not like we gave him a bad cut or anything…" Timothy had potential. She really didn't want to make an enemy of someone like that. Unfortunately, before she'd really understood anything she'd already done that with Catarina. Then she had been completely blindsided by Anton. Was he even human? How did he get so strong so fast?

She was shocked back to focus when Anton spoke. "I understand." The words were powerful, yet frightening. "People don't just become cultivators on a whim. They want something. Power. Safety. Stability. Though the latter two rarely end up working out in the long run." Anton's eyes nearly stabbed into her. "I understand wanting to be in control of your life. But do consider how you go about it." Anton stood up. "Remember that we're in the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars, and what that represents." He turned towards the door. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have business to attend to. I'm afraid any talk about my trip will have to wait for later. Don't be hesitant to drop by if you have any questions about that, or anything really. I'll do my best to make sure you understand. And you don't even have to listen over the wall."

Velvet watched him go, closing the door behind himself. He didn't know everything. He didn't really know her. But he certainly wasn't blind, or deaf. And he was far too strong to mess around with. Velvet sighed. She just wished she had whatever it was that he had. But he'd made it very clear that his secrets wouldn't be easy to get.

Chapter 94

Advancing in cultivation was a mix between control of energy and mastery of particular aspects of cultivation. For Body Tempering, it was fairly clear what was being tempered, though specifics changed from person to person. In Spirit Building, things were more abstract. Anton could easily tell they were still very real, but even less specific than 'muscles'. He had definitely tempered some of his muscles more than others, but he'd still completed the tempering of his muscles without issue. He honestly doubted that muscles on his face were of much use even if properly tempered.

The best part about the Ninety-Nine Stars was that while the choice of what to cultivate- especially for prime temperings- was quite open, it never fully put aside other aspects. His choices in Body Tempering still significantly influenced his current self, but as his cultivation grew he could continually smooth out any weaknesses he had. So instead of focusing too hard on exactly what he should cultivate in Spirit Building and the single prime tempering of the Seven Purifications, he just let himself continue to grow.

Having already cultivated Voice, he found it easier to organize his thoughts on what he wanted. Going for whatever seemed most useful in the immediate future was perfectly reasonable. He could reserve things that were ultimately important but not urgent for later.

Insight for reading enemies. He knew he would have to fight, and that wouldn't suddenly stop happening in the future. Even outside of combat he was able to use it to great effect. Voice was his inner voice and thoughts, while his outer voice allowed him to influence others. It wasn't anything so powerful as mind control, but he didn't want to deal with the problems inherent in that field anyway. It was simply useful.

Emotion was next. While he found himself relatively stable at the moment, in personal situations he would be able to make better decisions if he could properly manage his emotions. That didn't mean suppressing or ignoring them. Some sects managed their emotions in different ways- even to the extremes of letting certain emotions take them over or completely cutting themselves off. The Order preferred a more nourishing approach wherein the effects of emotions on decision making could be tempered as necessary. Anger or impatience would be managed such that improper snap decisions were prevented, while proper training would still allow appropriate responses in the same time frame.

Another aspect of Emotion was its effect on cultivation as a whole. It could be juxtaposed with Spiritual Connection as they related to different aspects of energy control. Spiritual Connection had much to do with reading the flow of energy, absorbing it, and controlling it outside the body. Extremely useful, but Emotion had effects on internal use of energy to grow cultivation.

It was a close choice between the two of them, with Emotion barely coming out ahead. In truth, it barely mattered. Not because the details of his cultivation weren't important, but because in a few months he would be advancing to the other one either way. Each had useful immediate benefits, so he finally just made the choice.

After a week of training, he felt like it was the right one. This was one area his advanced age absolutely helped instead of hindering him. While those undergoing puberty experienced many emotions, a majority of those emotions were ultimately shallow. Anton had lived a full life, to the point he had experienced basically anything life had to offer, highs and lows of all sorts. Though the lowest lows came at the destruction of Dungannon, just prior to which he would have been perfectly happy to die peacefully and finish his life. Now, he absolutely wouldn't let go of his hold on life.

The management of the technique library was primarily under the care of Elder Bristol Mason. Even with thousands of members in the order, she rarely got more than ten or twenty people per day at the technique library. An individual might ask for help finding a handful of techniques at once then study them each for a month or more before returning. A few seemed interested in studying absolutely everything they could, which she hoped was beneficial to their cultivation instead of confusing.

For the most part Anton Krantz fell into the former category. He'd studied a small handful of techniques over his year and some with the Order. After he returned from a journey he perused a few more, archery techniques and movement for the most part. Standard fare. Then he'd begun asking about Everheart, and forbidden techniques.

"What makes a technique forbidden, anyway? By the Order's standards?"

Elder Mason might not entertain the questions from a young disciple, but Anton hadn't even brought up the idea of seeing any of them. It seemed to be pure intellectual curiosity. "Same things as most, really. Danger to the cultivator or to society."

Anton nodded. "I had a chance to see one of Everheart's techniques. Candle Wax. A clear danger to the user, and the scroll laid it out quite clearly. Burning one's life like a candle for temporary bursts of power. The way the description said not to seek out forbidden techniques… Everheart seemed to be trying to make people curious about more."

Elder Mason smiled. "Yes. That was his way. He was quite fond of creating techniques that were forbidden, though he had his own standards. Nothing that was exceptionally cruel to others. Of course, half of his techniques were forbidden just because they were intentionally made to counter some of the prominent sects in his time. He was on passable terms with the Order so we don't believe he created anything specifically to spite the Order, but he was fond of ways to disrupt cultivator's internal cultivation methods. None of that is technically forbidden here, but if we found something specifically aimed at countering the Ninety-Nine Stars, it would probably get that treatment anyway."

"Everyone has limits," Anton agreed. "I'd certainly be happy to get rid of any anti-archery techniques."

"I suppose we can't lend you any of the distance closing techniques then," Elder Mason grinned.

"... Actually I should probably study those."

"It could be worthwhile. They're basically just specific movement techniques focused on catching up with people and sticking with them."

Anton nodded. "One last question. Do you ever recommend forbidden techniques to people?"

"Your question presupposes that we keep forbidden techniques on hand."

"Of course you do," Anton said. "Every technique is dangerous in some fashion. I could twist my ankle or break a leg if I messed up a movement technique. There have to be things besides life-burning, soul stealing, or consciousness overriding techniques that are simply too dangerous for general practice. Even the full version of the Ninety-Nine Stars isn't freely available to everyone."

"You're right about that. We have different levels of availability. Even some truly abhorrent techniques kept to research counters."

Anton nodded. "Speaking of counters, can I see some of those distance closing techniques?"

He didn't continue to bring up the topic later, but Elder Briston knew he was still interested. Everheart was still corrupting people with his enthusiasm to this very day, it seemed. Though chastising Anton for his curiosity would be hypocritical. Everheart had so many good ideas. Or at least interesting ideas.

Less than a month since Timothy started talking to people again, Velvet felt him break through to the tenth star. It was so frustrating. She'd tried to watch him train, but there was nothing special about any of it. Some of it was even stupid. Running hundreds of laps around their compound had to be some sort of distraction so she would stop paying attention. Whatever he'd done with Anton when they went off together had to be the key to his continued growth, but Velvet didn't have the confidence to stealthily follow behind Anton.

She'd tried it once. The way he turned around and looked straight into her eyes from a couple hundred meters away had shown her how impossible that was. Just a quick turn, a look, and then he continued walking as if she didn't exist. As if she was nothing. Maybe that was true. He didn't even look angry. Just nothing, as if there was no connection between them. Or her and the others.

He was right. Timothy might have grown slightly closer to her during the course of the mission in Ambati, but that all faded away afterwards. He talked more about Catarina and Anton than her even while they were on the mission. Then he'd sort of fallen apart when they were back, worrying about them. Somehow that got worse when they returned. Velvet thought that Catarina had done something like declare she found a lover on her journey, but apparently she'd just spoken about what they did. Then Timothy regretted not helping, even though he couldn't have known anything.

It was stupid. Why did he even care? Maybe he just regretted missing out on whatever secret training methods Anton had. That had to be it. Even though he wasn't exactly performing poorly, the entire trio that went on that journey returned at Spirit Building.

Her curiosity got the better of her. He'd said something she might be able to use. A knock on Anton's door. Of course, he was almost there to answer it by the time she knocked. He knew she was coming. "Hello, Senior Anton."

That smile. It had to be hiding something. But what was it? How could she get his secrets? "Velvet. Welcome! Do come in."

He brought her tea. Nothing special about it, but she wasn't going to complain either. She engaged in some smalltalk, then she got to her true purpose. "Earlier, you said you'd explain anything I didn't understand."

"I did." At least he didn't deny it. The fact that his expression didn't change made her wonder if he was surprised or not. It was so difficult to tell.

"Then… tell me how you and the others got so strong so fast."

"Certainly. Just tell me where you're experiencing problems with your cultivation."

Velvet took a sip of tea. So that was how it was going to be. He wanted to scope out her weaknesses. But could she get enough useful information out of him without giving everything away? She decided to try. "I'm currently trying to temper my bones, but sometimes it gets extremely painful. It's keeping me from progressing."

"I see," Anton said. He appeared to take a moment to think. "Painful how?"

She wasn't going to give away her weak points that easily. "It's hard to describe…" Sometimes it was a burning fire. Sometimes it was as if she was a creaking tower about to snap. A brick at the bottom of a pile crushed under the weight of those above. "It just sort of… hurts."

"In that case," Anton explained. "I have a few helpful training tips."

That was something, at least. Hopefully they would help until she got to the real secrets.

Chapter 95

It wasn't hard to spot Velvet sneaking around. She was better at it than Anton generally expected of people, but having an advantage of four steps of cultivation was a gap that was hard to close. Anton particularly cared about spotting opponents from afar, and he'd been expecting her. When he looked at her, she shrunk away like a startled mouse.

That girl had problems. He didn't know what they were, or if he should even try to solve them. Doing nothing was definitely the wrong option, though. If he left her alone she would be a danger to others or to herself, perhaps both.

He didn't appreciate her manipulative methods, but it seemed to be the only way she knew to interact with people. It was like she couldn't even believe the things he said directly to her. So he would watch over her. He really hoped he could coax her into a person more fitting for the Order, because if not she would be a danger. He wondered if the Order knew. Probably- but he wasn't just going to assume that. Nobody was perfect. He'd have to talk to Elder Daniela, and explain what he planned to do. But for the moment, he had a promise to fulfill.

Anton sat with Velvet in her courtyard and folded his fingers in front of him. He should probably start slowly. "Tempering your body isn't just about dumping natural energy into it. That can work, but the more you understand the better you will do. You said training your bones hurts?" Velvet nodded. "There are several possibilities. You are likely trying to go too fast, too strong. Something that will certainly help is understanding your body and moving it." Anton wiggled his fingers and made weird motions with his joined hands. "The hands are the easiest place to just feel a lot of bones. Almost a quarter of the whole number of bones are in them together. You understand?"

"Mmn." Velvet had folded her hands together as well, but she was unenthusiastic about the process. "I know how many bones people have already…"

It was difficult to teach someone who didn't want to be taught. She wanted his secrets to advancing in cultivation. But there weren't any secrets. Hard work, a bit of luck, and then working with other people to understand the process. He might also include cultivating like a madman uncaring about your life, but he wouldn't recommend that one for the long term. Otherwise he would have just suggested she push through the pain. There was a decent chance that would allow her to complete the ninth star- if she didn't explode her bones.

"Watch the flow of my energy carefully." Anton pressed his fingers together, tip to tip. He coaxed a strand of energy to flow up his right hand, along the right edge towards his pinky. He made sure it carefully weaved its way through the bone itself, then into his other pinky and down the other side to his wrist. Then up his left ring finger and down, flowing back and forth through all the bones in his hand, ending behind his left thumb. The process did very little for him- his bones were near the limits of what they could reach until the second half of Spirit Building. "Pay attention to each bone, and do it yourself. I will watch and guide you."

Velvet looked at him suspiciously- in short, with the same look he'd seen from her almost all the time since he'd returned. Still, she slowly repeated his same process. It didn't seem to be a lack of control that was holding her back, but rather what she did with it. She was nearly forcing the energy into her bones after they reached their limit, like packing a bag too full. Of course it hurt. Her face was strained, though she clearly tried to hide that. The process took her a lot longer, and she was sweating by the end of it.

"Good energy control." The girl hadn't properly followed his instructions, but she seemed in desperate need of reinforcement. "Now, with all that energy in your hands you need to move them." Anton showed some methods of stretching his hands. "If you can do it while circulating even better, but for now we'll settle for one at a time. Moving your fingers doesn't directly affect your bones, but it will help. If you are careful, some light pressure on individual bones-" Anton squeezed one finger, "-can help the process. Start small, because if you push too far you just get broken bones. Trust me, it hurts."

Velvet didn't have any questions, just silently following his lead. That was a problem, because she clearly didn't fully understand what he was doing. She just wouldn't ask. Anton shook his head. He wouldn't expect any real change in a single day. On that note, he made sure to remind her that the exercises he was teaching her also wouldn't have immediate results. Hopefully she would be patient enough to wait a full week to see how it affected her.

After he finished that lesson, he had another handful who might need his help. Anton didn't mind spending time teaching others because he learned quite a bit for himself- and he cared about them. Pete and Oskar both passed the test and could use some guidance. Patricia was able to live with Oskar, and she was also was interested in continuing to learn cultivation. Maybe the others living in the same area as them would join for lessons. Of course there was also Hoyt, Catarina, and Timothy. Timothy was pushing himself to catch back up, doing a good job of overcoming his feelings of inadequacy. He'd have a hard time overcoming Catarina since she wasn't the sort to slack off in training and had talent, but he could at least reach close enough to be a relevant factor in battle.

Sometimes, curiosity overcame patience. Anton brought the bone bow to Elder Evan, who ran the armory. He was quite capable of appraising it, and he gave basically the same answer as Elder Byrne of the Misty Hill Palace, including close pricing. "I honestly can't say if it's a good bow," he said, "But the materials and work are excellent. I'm certain Elder Kseniya could judge its actual practicality better."

Anton nodded. He'd thought that as well, but he just wanted to see if Evan had any insights before that. Despite Elder Byrne's general warning, he wasn't concerned about anyone 'snatching' it away from him. The Order was a bit creaky and stiff in its age, but it still tried to follow righteous standards. And frankly, Elder Kseniya had to have a better bow.

There were a number of residences for elders in the same area as the rewards hall, the armory, and the majority of the training fields. Most business was handled in that area. However, many elders and disciples lived further up the mountain. Anton had the opportunity to do so now, but he wasn't concerned about the amount of difference in energy at the moment. Where he was remained sufficient. Anton was certain that more powerful elders like Kseniya and any of the Grand Elders most certainly needed the increased density.

He found the atmosphere much less oppressive now that he was in Spirit Building, though Elder Kseniya's residence wasn't at the peak like the observatory where he'd met Grand Elder Vandale. He confidently knocked on her door. Doubtless she felt him coming, but whether she would come to her door was a different question entirely.

"Yes? Who is it?" Before Anton could respond, the door was quickly pulled open. "Ah. I have not seen you at an archery demonstration in some time." She recognized him- and his absence. Anton was surprised at that. Then again, she seemed the sort to either completely ignore everyone she didn't know, or memorize them all. So it was probably nothing special with him in particular. "Looking for private lessons?"

"Not at this time, Elder Kseniya" Anton said. "Though I suppose this is something of a related request. I am Anton Krantz, by the way." He bowed. "I have recently come across a strange bow, and while Elder Evan was able to identify its properties he was unable to determine its efficacy as a bow. I know your time is valuable, but if you could take a look at it-" he wasn't able to finish his sentence before the bow was in her hands. A bit rude, but he hadn't really expected anything else from her.

"Come," she said. She nearly disappeared from his sight as she moved through her house. Anton was barely able to close the door behind him and follow her into the back yard. A courtyard much bigger than his, and significantly longer in length compared to its width. There were formations set up, concentrating on several types of archery targets- the standard sort of block but not made out of straw, hanging targets, and some in the shape of a torso and head. She was looking at the bow curiously, and Anton was about to try to explain when she formed a string. Then immediately after that, a Spirit Arrow as she held the bow up in a proper stance.

It was the first time he'd seen the bow bend even a little bit, but it almost seemed to have no resistance in Elder Kseniya's hand. There was a horrible sound that nearly toppled Anton off his feet as she released her grip and the string snapped, but not before it propelled the arrow forward. The arrow itself moved far quicker than Anton had anticipated, even having seen Elder Kseniya shoot before. She didn't remain idle, moving to different positions and continuously firing arrows, her subsequent string holding strong. The sound of the bow twanging was sharp and echoed throughout the large courtyard. It was a good sound. After just a minute or so, Elder Kseniya was holding the bow in front of Anton. He held out his hand to take it, and she dropped it into his palm. "I hate it."

"Yes? Um…"

"Too hard to draw. Time between shots is high." Anton hadn't really noticed a significant drop in her speed, but he could see that. "Power is reasonable. But forming a proper string splits the attention between that, bending the bow, and the arrow. Coating standard arrows in energy would barely help."

"Oh. Thank you for your assessment. Do I-"

"You won't be able to use it with puny arms like that," Elder Kseniya declared. "Even at early Essence Collection, that darkwood bow you have would do better."

Anton blinked. He didn't even have the bow with him. But then again, of course she remembered his bow. He'd never even seen her glance at any of the disciples who watched her 'demonstrations', but she probably knew their bows better than their faces. "What if you pulled the bow with pure strength?" Anton asked.

Elder Kseniya looked straight into his eyes and poked his bicep. Despite how it looked, she confidently declared, "Don't even think about it with those twig arms. And your back muscles…" she shook her head. "You'd tear yourself apart."

"How do I train-"

"Shoot more arrows," she said. "Maybe that will help."

"Okay." Anton just looked at her. He hadn't really expected anything different, but it was still strange. Especially being treated like a skinny little kid, when he was none of those. "Do I owe you-"

"Don't need anything." She waved him away. "Now shoo. I have someone coming for lessons. Unless you want to?"

"Not right now," Anton said. "I need to think first."

As he was walking down the road, he saw a familiar face. "Marcio?" Anton asked. "Marcio Armani?"

"You… Anton Krantz, right?" the young man nodded. Anton noticed that he had gone from seventh to twelfth star since they first met. "Are you taking lessons from Elder Kseniya too? Because if you are, I'd really like you to explain to me instead. Her teaching skills are…" he shook his head.

"Some people are suited for different things," Anton grinned. "I was just asking about this bow, actually. But perhaps we could meet up and talk archery. I've learned some useful tricks, with some practical experience."

"That would be great." Marcio paused. "You're… twelfth star now?"

"As of the last couple weeks," Anton nodded. "You look close to thirteenth now, correct?"

"...yeah," Marcio shrugged, "I've made some pretty good progress. Some of your advice really helped, actually."

"That's great!" Anton said. "I don't know too many archers. Don't talk much with the other students, and Elder Kseniya…"

"Is Elder Kseniya," Marcio nodded. "Speaking of which, I should hurry. She doesn't much tolerate lateness."

Chapter 96

The journey up to the very peak of the mountain was hardly laborious at all, now that Anton was returning much stronger. The amount of natural energy was still unpleasant, but no more than that. It was like dealing with weather a bit too hot or too cold, though his body didn't really know how to react.

Arranging for a meeting with Grand Elder Vandale was quite easy. Or rather, the man was completely booked for the majority of the day and devoted the night to watching the stars. Presumably he slept some, but Anton knew how little 'some' could be. He wasn't much of a sleeper himself, and Vandale was several times his age.

When Anton requested to visit, the response he received was that he could come at any time during the first four hours of the night- and it was an open invitation. Seeing no reason to delay, he was going the first night after he asked. He was quite aware that it was an honor to meet with a Grand Elder, but though they'd barely interacted he felt quite comfortable. It was like meeting an eccentric acquaintance, one he wouldn't mind having as a friend.

It was from quite a distance that he first felt Vandale. The man made no effort to hide himself, shining like a bright star atop the hill. In return, he found he had already been noticed. The way the energy danced over him it was clear it was keeping track of him. He'd only sensed a brief sweep the first time, though that may have truly been all there was.

The natural energy in the area wasn't a problem for Anton, but he found it quite difficult to continue walking towards Vandale. He wanted to flee, recognizing a source of danger. But he knew better. There was no danger to him- not any different than there would be anywhere else around the Order. It still took quite the effort to actually enter the building. "I'm glad to see you are in good form, Grand Elder Vandale," Anton greeted him.

Vandale turned, a nearly toothless smile on his face. His one eye pierced into Anton, once more judging him. "You present the same paradox as before. But now that I've personally felt your growth. Tell me, now that you've had time to consider. Why do you cultivate?"

"To get revenge for Dungannon," Anton said. "To return those who were stolen away. That motivation is a sufficient for me to travel through Spirit Building." Vandale showed some disappointment, but Anton was not yet finished, "After that, my target is more nebulous. You said that you would cultivate for the Order. Being who I am, that would not suit me. The Order is… good. But I am not so attached that I would use it as motivation. But," Anton let the word linger in the air, "I certainly won't be done with cultivation after I complete my short term goals. Unless I die on the path, I have more to do. Having traveled through Ofrurg, my horizons broadened. I grew up in a peaceful village, and for a time it was my deepest desire to return to that. But it's already too late for me." Anton smiled, "I could never be content, whittling away my time in a village. Not when I could do so much more. I liberated more than thirty slaves from Ofrurg. Yet it's basically nothing. Do you know how many slaves they have?"

"Besides too many?" Vandale shook his head, "No. But I can guess. They have a population of tens of millions, and a not insignificant portion of that is composed of slaves."

"At least one in ten, though most people don't seem to interact much with slaves. They are generally owned by more wealthy individuals in numbers surpassing the rest of the country by far." Anton shook his head, "They work them hard to undercut the common laborers and buy more slaves. It is both effective and terrible. So I'm going to free all of the slaves."

"Every slave in Ofrurg, huh?" Vandale touched a wrinkled hand to his lips. "Ambitious."

"Ofrurg first, then everywhere else," Anton declared. "I might hit a limit, or reach the end of my lifespan, or die trying. But I see no reason to give up short of that."

"You'll upset many people with ideas like that."

"Then I'll kill them," Anton said. "I'd prefer to have the Order on my side for that. I understand why you wouldn't want to try to take on the world, but you think too much like cultivators. Things seem stable, and you don't want the world to get worse."

"Stability…" Vandale nodded. "It's not so easy to give it up. Look at me, a guardian who doesn't leave his post, the very symbol of stability." Vandale gestured to himself, especially his missing eye and otherwise decrepit form. "I'd quite like for a powerful young generation to replace me and keep the stability."

"You should know that won't happen. Not just like that. The world is always changing. I… lived a full life, not as a cultivator but just as a man. I understand the desire for things to stay the same. But I also understand that it can't happen. Fifty years ago, the Krantz farm was big enough. My children could help me work it and we would be quite content. But grandchildren would come into the picture eventually. Children and grandchildren alike moved away to seek their own lives, despite the option for stability. And I knew I couldn't just leave the farm as it was. Staying just as things were was meaningless. Precisely because of those younger generations. Not everyone can accept just doing the same thing. And even if all of Graotan decided they want to keep things as they are, we're not the ultimate deciding factor. Everyone else is, and that mostly means cultivators. Non-cultivators hardly get to decide anything. In that way, they're almost slaves."

"I…" Vandale paused. "Is it not a good life, here in Graotan? With unfortunate exceptions, the people are safe and prosperous."

"Yes, but they could be more so. Both more safe, and more prosperous."

"We don't have the ability," Vandale said. "Whenever we've tried, we merely overwork ourselves and leave weaknesses."

"But you don't have to," Anton said. "The problem is not the efforts of the Order, really. It is, as I said, that the common folk are non-cultivators. If everyone in Dungannon had even been at the first or second star, things would have gone quite differently. You've heard, I'm sure, about the slaves I freed."

"Yes. A remarkable achievement, that they have all surpassed the first star in just a few months."

"I'm not sure if it is," Anton said. "It was really quite simple to guide them. If a bit more time was taken, most could do it if they knew how." Anton organized his thoughts. "The thing is, the strength and prosperity of every common person would be so much more with just the beginnings of cultivation. They just need to be taught. And it doesn't have to be just by me. If one of moderate talent achieved late Body Tempering, with proper training they could do the same. It might take decades to really spread, but I think it's worth trying."

"I see. At least you acknowledge the time taken. I don't know if I believe your words fully, but decades… is actually not so long. I might even be able to watch much of this attempt myself."

The admission that Vandale had just low decades to live was concerning, but Anton knew he was already several centuries old. There was nothing unexpected there. In fact, when he was drained from rescuing Thuston, Vandale had felt like he might only have years instead of decades. "I'd like to try it, and I'd like the Order's permission and assistance."

"I do not think it would hurt. Some of the others might not like the idea so much, however. It is likely you will need to show results with just your personal effort. Though I would caution you, do not forget your own cultivation."

Anton smiled, "Don't worry. In fact, I think this would help me grow faster. There's quite a lot to learn from people stumbling around at the beginning of cultivation."

"Good to hear. Now then… you remember what I pointed out last time?" Vandale had already moved over next to the telescope. "You can get a different angle on some things. Come and see."

With that, the topic moved to the stars- and that included the other planets in the system. If one considered the planets stars, which was often the case, then a system was actually somewhat analogous to Spirit Building. Anton liked that thought, that he'd stepped beyond the beginning but wasn't yet truly far from home compared to the vastness of where he might reach. It was intimidating, but comforting at the same time.

Chapter 97

Simply living for a long time didn't make one peaceful and tolerant. Anton had known quite a few old grumps in his time, and they could be downright miserable fellows hanging onto life out of pure spite. Anton had chosen to become tolerant of others, especially youths who didn't know any better… but he wasn't a saint. It was still possible to get on his nerves, and he was getting far too much practice in the area of tempering his emotions with Velvet.

Most of the time, she was a quiet and obedient learner. She was more than tolerable at those points, eagerly soaking up his advice and flourishing like a previously water-starved plant. For those who wanted to learn, Anton had the patience to explain something many times, trying different methods until something stuck. Velvet clearly wanted to learn, to grow stronger… but she had problems. Problems with people, and problems with trust.

"Why won't you tell me how to complete body tempering?" Velvet complained. As if it was something easy. He knew how to do it, but he didn't know what she was having trouble with. She wouldn't explain it. She didn't like him watching as she cultivated, as if he was trying to steal her secrets. It was true that he would learn things about her, her weaknesses, from doing so- but it was also the only way he could help her grow strong.

"Things that may be obvious to me might not be obvious to you. I can't help without knowing where you struggle." For the moment, Anton wanted to avoid a direct confrontation. Raising his voice at her wouldn't help, and she was slowly growing more comfortable around him. It was a shame that her current lack of progress was hurting the trust they were building.

For the moment, he could only give her advice on each aspect of body tempering, to cover whatever she was missing. It could just be that she was not willing to give it the proper amount of time. From what Anton knew it wouldn't be strange to take a year to form the tenth star. That would be quite an acceptable speed, though not good. A few months was well within reason, especially considering there was no pressure from danger. Sparring was all well and good, but actual battles allowed cultivators to grow much more. But Anton wasn't going to suggest she throw herself into mortal peril just to save a month or two. While her technical skills were fine and her strength sufficient, Anton didn't feel that would be helpful at the moment. If she would only work with him. Fortunately, he found his other students to be much more pleasing to work with.

Pete, Oskar, and Patricia all had experience training with Anton. Throwing in a couple others wasn't a problem. They had a nice group of seven, not counting Anton himself. Catarina, Timothy, Hoyt, plus the two others who shared the complex with the first group. Velvet was invited… but she was very personal. In short, unwilling to train in front of others.

Their training group might have appeared a bit odd, with cultivation ranging from second star to twelfth, but there were many things they could do together. Though bodily improvements in the first half of Spirit Building were extremely marginal, Anton still felt it fulfilling to go through the full range of exercises. Running was quite satisfying purely for the feeling of the world flying past, and repeated exercises with weapons or through a form of work bred familiarity. Anton even 'practiced' with his new bow. He hadn't made it bend an inch yet, but he was getting better at forming a string. His muscles strained against the bow, tiring him out quickly, but something felt off about the whole thing. He wasn't sure what he was doing wrong, because Elder Kseniya's form had been the same as his. Maybe it really was useless.

Anton's eyes brushed over Velvet. She was getting better at concealing herself. An area she was quite talented in, though he wasn't sure if he wanted to encourage it. He hoped she would see his lessons to others and understand. His lessons to others, and what they could teach him.

Gerd was a round little thing. She looked to not have worked a day in her life before she began cultivating, but she gleefully followed his training advice. She wasn't able to run far, so she would run until she collapsed. At first Anton had been hesitant to throw her into things too quickly, but she always asked for another exercise.

"Work your arms next," he said, demonstrating a series of exercises. There was something about that… it was almost a proper technique, but not viable for combat. The Ninety-Nine Stars emphasized the energy side of body tempering but didn't neglect proper exercise. As far as he had seen, however, a comprehensive technique covering each part of body tempering wasn't available. Or whatever it might be called. Everyone had their own style, which made sense given different weapons and the like, but there were core parts that everyone could benefit from. When Gerd had finished working her arms until they couldn't move, Anton set her onto the next task. Sometimes she had to be carried back to her home at the end of the day, but that was fine with Anton.

Another new recruit was Malcom Cruse. He had practiced a different technique than the Ninety-Nine stars to the equivalent of the third star. The technique itself wasn't very good, which was actually more impressive that he achieved the progress he did within a full year. Anton was helping him get his body and soul used to the Ninety-Nine Stars' cultivation method, because it was just better. Provided strong, durable energy for the user to do as they pleased. While certain techniques did better if a cultivator had an elemental attribute or the like tied to their cultivation, it wasn't required. It seemed the Ninety-Nine Stars would be able to incorporate other styles if it needed to, though Anton had no experience with that. He'd browsed some of the cultivation techniques the library kept for reference, but didn't find anything particularly inspiring.

Even while training was going well, Anton still felt something telling him that he was too slow. What was he doing? He felt like he was doing nothing. He should be in Ofrurg, buying people's freedom or killing to achieve the same result. Thinking about what they might do brought anger upon him. He let it pass with the help of time, because while he could indeed focus on one emotion and grow more powerful quickly, a proper balance would be better.

Anton wasn't using time for nothing. He was training, of course, but there was more than that. He was talking to others in the Order. But he also kept in correspondence with Ofrurg. Specifically, Elder Varela and the Ears of the Fox. There were some things he couldn't even mention in case the letters were intercepted and read, but he was merely talking about legal methods of accomplishing his goals. The Ears of the Fox were happy to provide information if he paid for it- and promissory notes from the Order wouldn't matter if they were stolen. There was only so much he could ask, but they knew about everything. Even events long in the past, and he managed to get some ideas.

Elder Varela kept him informed about Devon, though the Grasping Willows were more than a few days from Khonard. Either Varela's influence of their own good sense had kept Devon alive so far, though he did fight regular battles. Anton was working on a plan for the right time to try to get Devon back. Preferably without getting himself into any stupid fights or spending money again, but he wouldn't be returning empty handed again. But coordinating what he wanted was taking some time, and he wanted to be at the thirteenth star before returning. Just so it was very clear his advancement wasn't some sort of fluke.

Through the Ears, Anton knew Annelie was still alive. In fact, information about her was public enough that he got 'free' information that she was a proper disciple of the sect. The exact details weren't given, but she was generally safe. Even so, Anton's studies into the Frostmirror sect indicated it was a competitive environment, and not entirely safe. They were very protective against external threats, but internal conflicts could happen. More so to those who were talented, and Annelie had at least some amount of talent. Otherwise the information on her wouldn't be so expensive. He had plans to purchase it when he returned to Ofrurg.

The most interesting thing that was still a budding sprout was freeing slaves without violence, threats, or money. Or at least without paying their owners. If it could be proven that someone had been improperly enslaved, they could be freed. Sadly, the burden of proof was high- enough that Anton suspected it was only there to prevent sect disciples or others of importance from suffering the fate of enslavement. Still, the Ears of the Fox got Anton in contact with a woman who specialized in the area of slavery law. Kohar Tolvaj was her name, and she might be able to help Anton- and while her services would have a cost, from afar he felt she actually wanted to do the right thing. It just took time and resources. He'd have to meet her in person to know for sure, but if he could use Ofrurg's own laws against them he honestly didn't mind spending more money as long as it stayed out of certain hands.

Chapter 98

It was hopeless to sneak around everywhere and presume she would never be discovered. Anton would always pick her out and some of the elders had to have found her. But maybe his concentration would lapse and she would figure out what the secret was. The strange thing was that even though she spent all her time watching, they never did anything even close to secret. There was a whole lot of running around, and strangely enough working. Working fields by hand and even dealing with strange and exotic plants. That was something only Hoyt and Anton did much of, but she couldn't see how it would help. They didn't even cultivate any plant-related techniques.

Those in Spirit Building certainly spent less time training their bodies, but Anton kept stubbornly trying to shoot a bow that didn't seem to bend. Velvet didn't know what the point was. If he couldn't do it, he couldn't do it. Everyone cultivated, of course, using the natural energy in the area to improve themselves. But the Spirit Building cultivators also spent a lot of time sparring and a strangely equal amount socializing. Mostly with each other instead of the rest of the Order as a whole, but it was still strange how they continued to grow strong so quickly.

Maybe it was all a trick. However, Velvet didn't believe they'd give up several weeks of cultivation time just to throw her off. Not when they could just… remove her. Anton had never told her to stop skulking about, and she wanted to know what it meant.

She briefly considered trying to bribe him. A foolish idea. Even performing menial labor he must have more contribution points than she could imagine, given the speed at which he worked. And he had gone on grand adventures, obtaining enchanted items. Her own mission to the jungle of Ambati had no way to match that. Yet she wasn't strong enough to take something riskier.

Everyone was pulling away. Timothy had surpassed the tenth star and was properly stepping into spirit building. Catarina and Hoyt were on their way to the twelfth star, Anton clearly making progress toward the thirteenth. Even the new recruits were advancing faster than Velvet ever had.

Finally, Velvet understood. If only she had been able to come to some other conclusion, it might help… but instead she knew. It didn't matter if she was told the secret, if it was openly practiced in front of her. She couldn't do it. Anton knew that, but he wasted time with her anyway, giving false hope. It didn't make any sense. And she knew it never would.

Anton's eyes tracked the horizon. There was a disturbing lack of a certain skulking figure. She'd certainly been improving her stealth abilities, but not so quickly. For one thing, Anton was constantly improving his Hawk Eyes technique, and he had other techniques for various senses. No, she wasn't suddenly successfully hiding. She just wasn't around.

He hadn't felt her cultivating when he left the complex. In fact, she hadn't cultivated one bit in the last few days to the best of his knowledge. Perhaps her paranoia had reached a peak, and she would only do it when he was not around. He'd have to check.

But first, he had to replant this Screaming Root Bush. It was currently in a pot, and while it would benefit greatly from being planted in proper soil it didn't understand that. It wasn't a plant that thought in any sense of the word. It just resisted being unearthed, and created a horrible noise as it did so. The roots gripped onto the pot until Anton started to dismantle the vessel bit by bit. He protected his ears from the screaming noise with energy, a difficult task given the way it constantly shifted. It was good practice though. Dismantling the pot without harming the plant was also a useful exercise. Anton didn't know what sort of strange medicine this plant would eventually be, but it was quite a difficult one to raise.

He created a bubble of energy around the roots as he shoved the plant into the soil where a hole had been dug. If it stuck its roots into the soil too high, it would be improperly buried- harming itself and anyone who walked nearby without protecting their ears. He held the roots still as he buried it up to the green leaves above it, pushing a pile of dirt with his free arm. Then he let it do as it would, which was to instinctively jab its roots into the soil all around it, greedily pulling in nutrients. It also needed to be watered immediately. That was a simple task merely involving pouring out a bucket, and then another when the ground immediately dried after the first. Then the soil remained slightly wet, and the thing settled down.

That was enough for today. He enjoyed caring for exotic plants, and found it quite helpful to his cultivation, but there were other things to attend to. He said his goodbyes to Elder Howland, whose cultivation seemed to have improved from the fifteenth star to the sixteenth. The seventeenth would be another prime tempering, but the farming elder was throwing himself forward with vigor. Just as it should be! Maybe his individual cultivation wouldn't do much for the land, but it would be better than him not advancing.

Anton stood uphill from the little complex he lived in, close to where Elder Daniela had once stood, watching. She was probably around somewhere, doing the same. Anton couldn't see any signs of Velvet in her courtyard. It was rude to look, but he felt the need to guide the foolish little girl onto the right path and for that he needed to find her.

His movements weren't nearly so swift as Elder Daniela. It took him a whole minute to traverse the distance to the complex instead of merely a handful of seconds. That wasn't surprising, considering she had thrice as many stars as he did. That put her a good few steps into Constellation Formation, though thirty-six stars was still far short of ninety-nine.

As he approached, he was able to pick up Velvet's energy. It was jumbled and chaotic. For a moment Anton was worried she'd made a mistake in her cultivation, but she wasn't doing anything with that energy. Which was good, because if it was circulated through her meridians and dantian in its current state she would certainly harm herself.

Anton knocked on her door. He waited a few moments, then knocked louder. The third time, he amplified the sound and his own voice. "Velvet? Are you alright?"

The answer was clearly 'no', but she didn't give it. As far as he could tell, she didn't even shift from her position. He could hear her muttering to herself, but the door and the distance were too much to make anything out.

"Velvet? If you want to be left alone I need a response. Otherwise I will assume you need help, and will enter." Nothing indicated he had been heard. "I'm coming in." It was rude, and probably against some rules, but he opened the door. It hadn't even been locked, though he wouldn't have let that stop him.

It only took him a few seconds to navigate to her. She was lying on her back in the middle of a hallway, staring up at the ceiling and muttering to herself. "Never figure it out…" he heard, "Not good enough…"

Anton frowned. This isn't what he wanted at all, but he had the feeling it was his fault. Apparently her mind was so averse to the thought of trusting people that instead she had wholly misinterpreted his actions even when the answer was blatantly obvious.

She didn't react as he walked over next to her, waving his hand in front of her face. She just blankly looked up at the ceiling. That wasn't good. She needed help, but Anton didn't know how. He didn't think he could provide anything, but he also didn't believe anyone else would do much good. He thought they'd been building up some small level of understanding between them, and someone unknown would not provide any help even if they had the proper expertise.

Or he could be wrong. But he knew he was going to try to help her on his own. That was what every part of him said was the right thing to do. It was his fault, even if not his intention. A fragile girl lay broken on the floor.

He let the words come to him on their own. "It's okay," he said. "You're good enough. You made it this far." He avoided saying something like 'on her own', though doubtless that was close to correct, despite his attempts at advice.

She didn't visibly respond to his words, but she continued to mutter to herself. "Don't understand. What's the point? Running and talking and fighting…"

He didn't think she could hear his answers, but maybe on some deeper level he would. So he did his best. "Training with others helps," he explained. "They can point out your flaws, and help you. You can do the same for them."

She repeated her thoughts, her questions. Her mind wandered randomly through ideas of insufficiency and lack of understanding. Anton continued to support her, the foolish girl, to the best of his ability.

Cultivators were tougher than the rest, but as the sun fell, rose, and fell again Anton heard her voice rasp more and more. His own throat was dry as well. He could go get water. It would only take a moment, and he would be back. Yet somehow he felt if he left her side he wouldn't get another chance.

"... can't trust anyone…" Those exact words, and things like them, were far too common in Velvet's mutterings.

Anton had little he could do to respond. "You have to. It doesn't have to be me. But humans can't survive alone."

Sometimes, he almost thought she heard him. But he could never get a consistent response of any sort out of her. She didn't turn her eyes towards him and didn't react when he was in front of her.

But he waited, sitting next to her, trying to help somehow. Maybe he wasn't qualified. Maybe the Order had some solution for this, and he was just wasting his time, endangering her. But he couldn't leave now.

He wasn't sure how long it had been. More than a full day, probably two or three. It was then that something happened. It didn't seem like much, but as he waved his hand in front of her she reached up and grabbed his wrinkled wrist. She squeezed with the full power of the ninth star of Body Tempering. The bones in his wrist were close to snapping after just a moment, but he couldn't resist with energy. That could hurt her. He didn't try to dislodge her grip as her eyes finally closed. The grip only seemed to tighten after that, and Anton grit his teeth. The second full body tempering had barely been enough to make his old bones sturdy enough to resist, and it wasn't going to last forever. But what was a broken and squashed wrist anyway? As long as it wasn't too bad, he could recover it eventually. That hardly mattered. He did hope she would tire soon, but her grip seemed more likely to break her own fingers than give up.

Chapter 99

Sometimes, dreams were bad. Most of the time, really. Nightmares could be anything you could imagine, things you didn't know you could imagine. Or just worse versions of what had already happened. Memories of loss, hunger, solitude… all of those quite frequently graced Velvet's dreams.

This one involved her father. Usually those weren't good dreams. However, this one sparked a particular memory. She hadn't been old enough to remember details, but she knew he'd come to tell her stories before bed. Stories of princes and princesses and cultivators and magic, where everything always had a happy ending.

Normally Velvet's mind would wander to later in her life, when she was lying in her bed at night with no one to tuck her in- or later when a hard bed seemed like a luxury. This dream didn't go there. Instead, her father read her stories and held her hand as she fell asleep. Her mother came in and kissed her forehead too. Then she fell asleep.

It was strange to feel comfortable when waking up. Velvet knew her bed was technically nice, but it never felt like it. The air was always too warm or too cold. Sometimes she kicked off the sheets or fell onto the floor. But this time was comfortable. Memories of the dream she'd been having quickly faded. It was something nice though.

The weirdest part was when she realized she wasn't on her bed. When her eyes opened, she only saw the ceiling. Wasn't this one of her hallways? She turned her head, following the line of her arm to what she was holding on to. Someone's wrist? She quickly let go.

"Good morning, young lady. Did you sleep well?"

Her immediate thought was to answer 'yes'. Instead, she chose to take a better stock of her situation. She felt comfortable, but she'd definitely been sleeping on the hard floor. Her fingers were pale- how hard had she been gripping?

Anton sat next to her, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Velvet wasn't willing to answer the question, so she asked one of her own. "Why am I here?" As she spoke, she found her throat was dry, her lips cracked. How had she felt comfort like that?

"A good question. Not where I'd recommend people take a nap, but to each their own." Anton stood, reaching out a hand to help her up.

She took it. Or she tried to, but the fingers in her right hand wouldn't move properly. She switched hands and let herself be pulled up at a strange angle. There was something… she vaguely remembered stumbling back home. "Why are you here?"

Anton smiled. It almost seemed sincere. "I noticed a distinct lack of your presence, so I came to check up on you. You didn't respond so I quite rudely let myself in."

That… didn't actually bother her as much as she thought it would. She tried to remember. She'd come back because… she figured it out. She wasn't being taught because she couldn't learn. You're good enough. A voice echoed in her mind. It wasn't hers.

This wasn't right. What had he done?

You have to trust someone.

A stupid thought. Why would Anton have to mess with her head? She did that enough on her own. And he was almost nice to her.

"I-" she tried to speak, but her throat cracked.

"Perhaps you should get something to drink. We can talk later, if you wish."

She nodded. Her body felt bad, but everything else was… fine. "Okay." That was all she said.

Anton inclined his head and turned around. Something was weird about that. He held one hand behind him the whole time, out of her view. Was he taking something?

But she didn't have anything of value. She shook her head. Everything was so fuzzy. She needed that water. And… food, apparently. She could hear her stomach rumbling along with Anton's as he stepped out the door.

As he carefully inspected his wrist, Anton found it wasn't that bad. Oh, it was broken all right. Shattered, even. But there was no internal bleeding to worry about. He just had to coax it back into shape and let it heal up.

Tiny strands of his energy latched onto each piece of bone, shifting it around. He should stop by the central area later to pick up a bone healing pill. He'd not had use for medicines wish such specific function, but this was exactly the sort of thing they were for.

He circulated his energy through the area, very carefully. It was a soothing feeling, reducing the heat and pain. He carefully coaxed each part, reminding it where it belonged. Then there was a knock on his door.

Well. Velvet was rather swifter than normal. Hopefully that was a good thing. He put on his best face and opened the door with his good hand, keeping the other behind his back. "Good morning once more."

Velvet looked at him for a moment. "...Are you okay?"

That was something she'd never asked before. Did he really look that bad? Actually, he supposed that was true. "Just a few days with little sleep. Nothing to worry about." Of course, there was a big difference between little sleep and no sleep, but he didn't mention that. "Would you like to come in?"

Velvet nodded, and he led her to the sitting room. It was not really used that much, since most of Anton's activities took place outside. He brought them each cups, along with pitchers of water juice. He was quite certain she couldn't have recovered from her dehydration yet, because he certainly hadn't. He also set out food- simple bread and cheese.

She nibbled on the bread and cheese he'd set out. She looked like she should be taking big bites, but he supposed she was keeping busy and trying to find excuses not to talk. Anton matched her, sipping from his cup and munching food. He slowly circulated his energy, as he usually did when not engaged in anything else.

Then they ran out of food, an entire loaf and a wedge of cheese devoured in fifteen minutes. The pitchers were both drained as well. "Should I get some more?" Anton asked.

"I- um…" he could tell she certainly wanted to say yes. But also that she wanted to say something. "I actually… can you… I'm ready to let you see me cultivate. So you can help." She took a deep breath. "Everyone else does it. And they're making so much progress." She clearly had more to say, so Anton waited patiently. "I don't… I mean…" she bit her lip. "I'm sorry. I've not been helpful, even though you were trying. I just thought… nobody would so easily reveal important secrets."

She apologized. Good. Even without a verbal apology, he'd felt it… but the words were important. "Very well. When do you want to start?"

"Right now?" she said cautiously.

"... how about we eat a little bit more first?" Anton knew he was still old and wrinkly, but at least his stomach felt like he was a young man again.

"... yes please."

It turned out Velvet had been doing everything wrong. Well, not everything. But it sure felt like it. Whenever she described areas she was having trouble, Anton had her demonstrate and then at least two or three different pieces of advice. He even had a whole notebook he consulted- but she could see his handwriting in it. How had he gotten so much experience? She figured that out when he added more notes to it.

"I haven't come across that exact problem before," Anton said. "But it might be that your meridians are better suited to a certain pattern of circulation."

He explained what he meant. For that, he talked about how blood flowed through the body. The exact layout didn't match the meridians, but it was the best analog. Most importantly was how blood returned to the heart and lungs, and valves. Velvet's meridians always felt like hollow tubes, but as she tried different directions of circulation for each branch of meridians going away from her dantian, she felt a strong difference. She hadn't really thought about it, but now she could tell that one way was wrong. The cultivation technique had just said which meridians to circulate through in order, but not which direction.

And Anton said he hadn't found a difference.

"... Does that make me weird?" Velvet asked.

His response came fairly quickly. "Human bodies are all different. Height and hair and skin are all obviously visible, but there's much more inside that nobody really interacts with. Meridians should be no different."

"... You didn't say I'm not weird," Velvet muttered.

"One of my toes is longer," Anton said.

"What?"

As an answer, Anton removed his shoes, placing his feet on the table. They were old and wrinkly and gnarled, but they were actually quite clean. "See these two?" Anton pressed his feet together. "The fourth toe on the left is quite a bit longer, isn't it?"

"...Weird."

"That's right!" Anton said. "It is a bit weird. Did you notice Pete is left handed? Makes quite a difference in a spar."

"Yeah." Velvet knew that Anton was just trying to make her feel normal… but it worked. "What about muscle? I'm not sure I did everything right there…"

She was working on the tenth star, which was the second full body tempering. She had so many mistakes to make up for, but strangely enough just asking about it got her answers. She just hoped Anton didn't suddenly leave.

Chapter 100

It wasn't possible for Anton to reach a concrete conclusion based solely on less than a year and a few dozen people, but he certainly felt vindicated in his ideas. There were many different ways for people to struggle in cultivation at Body Tempering. Anton had no doubt that the difficulties only increased at higher levels of cultivation, but he only had his limited experience with early Spirit Building, plus a few others. So far, they'd done well enough- though Hoyt's experience training Insight was quite different from Anton. Of the seven purifications, that was the only current overlap in training that had been made. Timothy was working on properly entering Spirit Building, with yet a different first choice than the others.

For the moment, Anton was content with the portion of his writings concerning Body Tempering. Path to One Hundred Stars certainly wasn't in any place he could show it to others- and absolutely not with that name- but he was able to consult it where his memory failed. Thankfully, that was rare. Cultivation had been quite good for him, and he found his thoughts quite clear and his recall excellent. Anton had been fortunate not to suffer from the maladies of the mind that plagued many of advanced age.

As he thought about his students, Anton knew that nothing he was able to write would fully cover every situation. Every single person had their own particular experiences that shaped how they cultivated, and things didn't exactly work the same for everyone.

Take Gerd for example. She was, by all initial impressions, unsuited to be a cultivator. Her physical fitness was insufficient in all manners. Anton had wondered how she had passed the examinations, and while many of the specific results were secret he'd still been able to learn the most important part. Determination. She hadn't given up, even when she could go no further. She likely still would have failed at the beginning if Pete hadn't helped her, but being a sympathetic figure that others wanted to see succeed was a positive trait.

It was clear that she'd had no formal instruction on cultivation of any sort, and some other basic concepts that Anton found amusing. She'd struggled through the first star which at least made her body closer to the power of an average person. Following that, she had tempered her skin- opting for an inside-out approach. With no real grasp of the prime temperings- something Anton thought should be outlined more clearly in the explanation of the basic technique- she'd of course found that quite difficult. Her third star had been marrow- because that was about as far on the other end as she could get. She had thought to try tempering her meridians, but it was unsurprisingly difficult.

Then she'd begun training. Anton recalled her transformation with fondness.

Pete had invited Gerd to train with him and Anton because that was what he was used to. Since Anton bought his freedom, he hadn't trained with any fewer than a half dozen at a time. He also wanted her and Malcom to succeed, because even if they'd only known each other briefly they were still sectmates.

Gerd was hesitant, and after thinking about it for a moment Pete could see why.

"I may have left out important information," Pete said. "Telling you he'd only been cultivating for a year and a half was supposed to inspire confidence. It's true that his length of experience with cultivation isn't long, but he has great wisdom. His teachings are what allowed myself and Oskar to reach the third star in relatively quick fashion. He's also taught many others."

There were a few moments where Gerd considered Pete's thoughts, "I suppose I shouldn't refuse an offer of help. I… can't say I won't need it." The first thing Anton had them do was work the fields with Elder Howland. Gerd was clearly reluctant to do so. "May I ask why?" Gerd asked. "I thought you were going to teach us about cultivating energy?"

"Why?" Anton asked. "Because you are in Body Tempering. Combining the exercise of your muscles and the circulation of energy increases the effectiveness of both. And," Anton held up his bow, "You can get contribution points and do a useful task at the same time."

Gerd looked confused for a moment. Pete thought the explanation was quite simple, but her following comments indicated that wasn't the problem. "Really?" she asked. "How come nobody told me that?"

Anton just shrugged, "I've had the same question. Though the cultivation guide does indicate that, mentioning how you can temper your body beyond its normal limits."

Working in the field was routine for Pete. Gerd was… much slower. However, she did a good job of emulating Anton's form and Pete was able to help her with smaller adjustments while Anton was busy elsewhere. "Be careful not to bend too much, or you'll put out your back. You have to work it some, but not too much."

Gerd just nodded silently, breathing hard. She didn't work as fast as anyone else, but she kept going. Actually, Pete found that to be a bit problematic.

"It's time to stop for the day," Pete said as the sun was going down. Most of the others were already gone- Anton included, though not because he was lacking in work ethic. He just wanted to leave something for the rest of them.

"But I'm not…" Gerd breathed heavily, but steadily. "I'm not done. Look," she gestured to the untilled soil nearby.

"That can wait until tomorrow. It's not like this has to all be done today."

"... oh," Gerd nodded. "I thought… we had to finish an entire section."

While it was true that most people had, she clearly wasn't in any condition to go any further. "It doesn't have to be. That's just an easy cutoff for experienced workers." Pete could include himself in that group, though he didn't mention that he'd been able to cover more than one area. The general size of a plot was just what was expected of the average just-recruited disciple in a day. "We should go eat. We'll need the energy for tomorrow."

The walk to the nearest mess hall was quite a long one, not because it was all that far but because Gerd could barely drag her feet there. However, once Pete got food for them Gerd began to eat at a measured pace.

She definitely had manners trained into her. Pete even found himself being more careful about how he scarfed down his food as he watched her take precise bites, though she didn't give him any judgemental looks. In fact, she was quite concentrated on her food. Until she was staring at an empty plate, forlornly.

"Still hungry?" Pete asked, "We did a lot of work today. I can grab us seconds."

"...Yes please."

Pete happily went and got them more food. There were no limits to how much disciples were allowed to take- as long as they didn't waste it. Food scraps were turned into compost for the fields, but it was still inefficient to throw out a plateful of food.

As he returned with the second round, Pete wondered if he shouldn't have asked. She was quite round, and excess weight was detrimental to cultivators. Then again, she'd worked hard all day and needed to eat. If she was hungry, that was fine. It wasn't Pete's job to tell her to go hungry just because it would make things a little bit easier in the future. With all the work she was doing, she would naturally reach a healthier weight.

The next day Gerd was once again energetic working in the fields- though she made only slightly more progress in the field, still completing less than one section. The third day, she had a question for Pete. "Am I… are my arms supposed to hurt?"

"Your arms hurt?" Pete asked. "How bad is it? Where?" He hoped she hadn't damaged them with misaligned energy. That could be extremely dangerous.

Gerd pointed to various points on her body, especially her upper arms and back. "It all started the day of the test. After the… obstacle course." Gerd looked down as she talked about that. "My legs hurt then too, but that went away yesterday."

"So it's your muscles that hurt?" Pete asked.

"I believe so," Gerd acknowledged. "It does match the areas that Senior Anton talked about cultivating."

"Is it more than normal exercise?" Pete continued his questioning, "If it's really painful you need to stop before you tear something."

Gerd frowned. "It does hurt, like my arm is tearing. But, I don't know what 'normal exercise' feels like."

"..." Pete tried to not look too upset at that. Gerd was a nice, hardworking young woman. The fact that she'd likely been pampered during her upbringing was clear from her body shape, since abundant food wasn't so readily available outside of the Order. She didn't know that he had been a slave, forced to work overly long hours merely for survival. "It is hard to compare pain with others," Pete said. "However, the pain in your legs from the first day that has recovered is a good starting point."

"Oh." Gerd nodded. "Then, more than normal."

"More than that, but not terribly painful?"

Gerd shook her head. "No. I just… sometimes become unable to move. Like with the ropes. I don't know why."

"That's muscle fatigue," Pete explained. Internally, he was shaking his head. He had no idea why she had become a cultivator, but at least it had given Pete the opportunity to fill her up with some common sense. "It's not good to keep pushing beyond that, or you can hurt yourself. Careful circulation of energy can help you recover. That's especially true during the evenings before you go to sleep. If you can, it's best not to collapse into bed right away." Pete liked having the luxury of choosing if he threw himself into bed exhausted, though two years before he would have thought the idea laughable.

Gerd had some other questions in the coming days, but Anton was better equipped to answer those. Still, she came to Pete first. He didn't mind that at all, because being relied on was a good feeling. Even if the person who relied on you was a bit distant from what he'd come to know as reality.

Chapter 101

As it turned out, every part of the arm was rather important for firing a bow. That included the wrist. While it didn't need to be bent, it did need to hold up against force. Not something that Anton wanted to try with a broken wrist. Supplementing with energy to protect his wrist might work, but the tendons in the fingers attached all the way to the wrist.

He could just go a couple weeks without firing a bow, but he didn't want to. He also didn't want to do something stupid and injure himself worse, so he let his arm hang at his side with his wrist properly stabilized. Maybe with his foot?

His leg raised up. He had to admit he was now much more flexible than he had been ever in his life. He could raise his leg up to the same height as his outstretched left hand, but along with lifting a leg completely screwing up his stance nobody could be flexible enough to pull the leg back far enough to grab the string and then draw it. That was simply not how bones worked.

Teeth were immediately rejected along with everything involving the mouth. No flexibility in the teeth, and everything in that area was far too vulnerable and not muscled enough. If he could somehow manage it, the draw wouldn't be much short. Generally the draw of a bow ended with the hand beside the head, so it would only be centimeters off. Of course, the difference between beside and in front of could be very significant. No point in trying.

He wanted something sensible or he might as well not bother. Sadly, there weren't really any extra grasping limbs on a person. That was all he had.

If he wasn't a cultivator, he would have just given up as soon as his wrist was broken, but he still had one more option. He could just use his energy to pull back the string- it was already going to be attached anyway. He'd just have to find the right path for optimal stability. His energy could easily extend that far from his body without losing power, especially with his arm outstretched alongside it.

The first test was a hilarious failure. Everything seemed good. He formed a spirit arrow by reflex now, so adding a bit more energy along the length of the string wasn't too hard. He pulled it back from the center, let the tension go and… the arrow stuck to the string. Probably would have caused some damage if his energy wasn't passively covering the whole bow.

He tried again but remembered to not attach the energy on the string to the arrow, except as necessary to pull it back. The result was much better, but Anton still found the technique lacking. It was the same as trying to use the bone bow that far outclassed his abilities. It was simply too much manipulation of energy at once, though having an actual string there instead of merely having to replicate the effect of one made it work somewhat better. Of course it also helped immensely that he could bend the bow.

In the end, he drastically reduced the number of arrows he shot for a while. Not to none, because he found that it was useful practice even if it wasn't practical at the moment, but he also couldn't shoot hundreds of arrows per day with the extra expenditures involved. It reminded him how much work his body was still doing underneath all that convenient energy.

It had been more than a year since The Hunt, which allowed some time for the forest and creatures to recover. Disaster had narrowly been avoided due to Catarina's fortunate discovery of the hole in the barrier which allowed time for Hoyt to get help while Anton, Catarina, and Timothy defended Thuston from an unusual outpouring of creatures. Said help had eventually led to Grand Elder Vandale, who was able to affect the great number of beasts from afar, killing most of those around Thuston and in the outer part of the forest.

The hole in the barrier had been sealed, but nothing unusual about it was found. Even the best formations could fail given enough time, and as an exceptionally large one that was even more possible. The strange part was how quickly the beasts had found it and the way they acted as a group. Though there were some more intelligent magical beasts among them, it had still been unusual.

At the time Anton hadn't heard much more on the topic. Thuston was safe, the barrier repaired, the forest watched. Those were the important details at the time. However, now that he was much stronger when the opportunity arose to look further, he took it.

Much stronger… yet he was still unqualified to participate in the current initiative to scout the deep forest. The name for the forest varied depending on the location and who was speaking of it. In the area controlled by the order, it was usually just called the Beast Forest. As it travelled to the northwest across the border into Ambati, it was often just the Western Forest. It was undecided whether it was technically the same forest that eventually blended into the jungles in northern Ambati or not, but creatures who handled the different climates well travelled between them.

Having heard about the scouting effort, Anton went to speak to Elder Anand. He was the man who had organized The Hunt previously, and was responsible for much of the work with the forest. Elder Anand had dark skin and was beginning to show his age with wrinkles and greying hair. When Anton came to his office, he greeted him with a smile. "Anton! To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Anton was briefly taken aback. "Ah, I didn't think you would recognize me."

"How could I not?" Elder Anand said. "You were one of those responsible for protecting Thuston. That could have turned into a disaster. Anything that ends with Grand Elder Vandale acting…" he shook his head. "I would certainly not forget so easily. Besides, you must know that your rate of advancement is exceptional. There are few new members who match your speed of growth, and many of those who do… are connected to you in some way."

"I must admit not knowing as many other disciples as I should. Though I have been expanding my circles." Mostly he was making sure to keep in contact with those interested in archery, like Marcio. "I have been fortunate in finding a good path. I am aware not many people reach Spirit Building within two years of starting cultivation."

"Not that many per year, either. We get a dozen on average. Sometimes only a couple, sometimes more. Though given our total numbers, that's actually quite reasonable. But you didn't come here to talk about that," Elder Anand gestured, "What was it?"

"Well," Anton began, "I heard you were continuing efforts to learn what happened in the Beast Forest. I am aware that early Spirit Building cultivation is not sufficient for even some of the middling areas, but I wished to help out if I can."

"You're an archer, correct?" He could obviously see Anton's bow. "You have good eyesight?"

Anton nodded, "And experience tracking."

"Then… I think we have something that can work for you. It's not currently so important as to call in Elder Kseniya, and the rest of those with good eyes or tracking experience are occupied." Elder Anand shrugged, "Which isn't that strange, with a good third of those beyond Body Tempering out of the country at any particular point."

"I didn't encounter many in my travels," Anton said. "I had no idea it was so high."

"Well, you went to Ofrurg, right? They're not so friendly to us there. Probably no more than a few dozen of our members there at any time, so you'd have to just be in the right city on the right day."

Anton nodded. "Right. About that opportunity?"

"Oh yes. We haven't completed a thorough sweep of everything. It's probably thousands of square kilometers to cover, and we've also been trying to keep the current wildlife relatively intact. We'd not wish to spark trouble. Normally things were quite calm, and nothing truly worrying came too close to the Order's territory. Nothing that was encountered last year was concerning in its particular power, but how many Beasts and how they acted was the concern."

"We identified several magical beasts that were somewhat in control of the attack on Thuston," Anton mentioned.

"Yes, I am aware. That should normally not have been enough. There is the possibility something deep in the forest drove them away, intentionally or by virtue of its imposing presence. Elder Kseniya did make a sweep of the area, but powerful magical beasts have the instincts and intelligence to hide from strong cultivators. Kseniya is… not the most stealthy sort of person." Anand smiled, "Anyway, what I have in mind would be a search for oddities. Strange trails, unexpected populations of animals, checking dens, and the like. I myself am planning to head deeper into the forest, but we have areas not covered as thoroughly that an elder could escort you through. Or you and a team, if you prefer to get more combat experience. In that case the elder would merely be on the watch for creatures out of the norm."

Anton smiled. "I certainly have people in mind for a team. Don't want people to get too much in the habit of just sitting around peacefully cultivating. Though I suppose if all goes well we should end up in few battles."

Anand nodded, "Preferably, but there are a few types of extremely territorial creatures that have great ability to find intruders, and not enough sense to think about them being cultivators. So you could certainly find yourselves in combat, even if you leave things relatively undisturbed."

"And if we manage to avoid fights…" Anton shrugged, "Honestly, quietly slipping through the wilderness is a good training exhibition, though hopefully not one we'd need regularly."

"Good. When you are able to put together the team let me know. I'll be looking for an appropriate elder to accompany you, and we'll provide you with relevant data we've already collected about the area and especially changes from our records."

Chapter 102

Preparing for a short expedition in the Beast Forest didn't take long. Every supply they could need was readily available, and everyone Anton intended to bring with him had an open schedule. They would just be training- going on a mission that was close by was also a good opportunity. Timothy and Hoyt had few skills relevant to the mission besides combat capabilities, but they were reliable and familiar. Catarina could provide formations which would be relevant as they camped overnight. Anton himself would be doing the bulk of the tracking and scouting work. After discussing with the others, Anton also invited along Velvet. Timothy had previous experience in a team with her, and while he didn't have a positive opinion of her as a person, she had reasonable enough teamwork skills. Catarina had long forgotten any grudge she might have had with her.

Few people developed wide skillsets at a young age. Cultivators learned to fight because there was little point in having so much power if they couldn't wield it. Other valuable skills related to knowing about opponents they might face, so they could have countermeasures in place. Beyond that, they might develop practical skills like pillmaking, smithing, or the use of formations. Those usually relied on preparing ahead of time, but everything came together in the end. For what cultivators did, most things came back to combat- or avoiding it.

Though Velvet didn't have as much experience as Anton did moving quietly through the forest, she had practiced stealth and had reasonable awareness of her surroundings. Her ability to find tracks was decent enough, she merely lacked training in recognizing how to make sense of them. Anton crouched down to show her some things. "We have wolf prints going this way. More recently, a boar crossed that trail that way, in a hurry too." He mentioned the way the undergrowth was damaged and the dirt torn up more than normal, showing her why he could say what he did with confidence.

She seemed comfortable enough in the wilderness, but Anton noticed she relied more on her cultivation to manage than her experience. She might not know the signs of dangerous creatures in the area, but if they showed themselves she was capable of reacting. "Does it matter if we know about them ahead of time?"

"With these? Probably not, if we don't intend to hunt them. But if we came across signs of a creature of normal size but abnormal power- such as some magical beasts- it could be important to know to avoid their territory." Anton glanced over at the elder traveling with them. Tshering was at the very peak of Spirit Building. From his age and the feel of him, his cultivation seemed to have plateaued there. "Nothing seems unusual so far. Whatever sent a boar of this size fleeing so quickly must be quite strong, but it shouldn't be abnormal for this area. It seems to have been left well behind, as there are no parallel tracks."

Catarina was keeping an eye out for anything such as formations. She was better suited for sensing them, and while it was doubtful that anything would have been set up on the Order's territory some could occur naturally. They were usually of little concern, but if one was empowering or controlling the wildlife directly or indirectly it needed to be dealt with.

Anything within a day of the edge of the forest, counting the speeds those with tempered bodies could travel, was basically 'normal' forest. There were occasional oddities and magical beasts, and common humans would do well to avoid the area. Even so, it was relatively tame. If she hadn't seen the transition, Velvet wouldn't have noticed the difference in her current area. She wasn't fully aware of all the differences, but they occurred everywhere. Large clusters of colorful mushrooms. Strange colored bark on trees. The sound of the leaves crunching beneath her feet fading. Skittish yet unfamiliar wildlife all too eager to climb up trees and dip down into burrows.

She'd been the one to spot the signs first, by virtue of the angle she was standing at. Anton had prompted her to check out the area- cautiously. There was a cut in the bark of a tree. Not a gouge nor the slashing and tearing of claws, but a cut. A single line, about chest high. Velvet approached carefully.

She had no technique to enhance her vision, but simply approaching closer was good enough. She just wanted to be cautious about what she was stepping on in the thick undergrowth. She still didn't understand why her footfalls were more quiet outside of her advancing in technique, because everything looked the same. Was the ground softer, somehow? It didn't feel like it. When she was an arm's length away from the tree, she had no further understanding than when she spotted it.

Anton's voice almost startled her, "If you could describe what you are thinking, please." She turned, and he smiled, "So that we can measure your conclusions."

Velvet nodded, and turned back. "It's just… a cut. A knuckle deep, thin. No traces of energy which means… either it faded or was done without. It should be a blade." Velvet frowned, "Why would anyone swing at that angle? At what?" she looked around, "I don't see other signs of fighting." That was it. Just an oddity and various tracks.

What would Anton do? She didn't think she'd ever truly be a scout, but she had the stealth ability. If she was to act independently being able to bring back usable information was important. She reached out her hand, after determining she wouldn't learn more from the way things were. She tried to peel back the bark, to see if something was hidden inside the cut. Instead she found herself unable to do so. Well. That was strange. "Strong bark. It doesn't just break off. But that cut…" she shook her head. She pinched with her fingers and gave a solid yank. Bark snapped off. She had the strength, she just hadn't expected it to require it. "Very strong. The cut was with something sharp and strong. Normal blades would have failed at this."

Was there another cultivator? It wouldn't be entirely strange, though nobody should have been through the area in the last few days. She looked down. The ground was firm enough she wasn't leaving behind defined prints, and she didn't see other human prints. There were a few signs of creatures in the underbrush- but one stood out differently. It almost looked like an arrow, the sort that would be drawn to direct people. A triangular shape with a middle line. Something with three toes, then. A bird? It was strangely sectioned and the talon marks, if that was what they were, remained barely visible. "Some sort of large bird? Traveling that way," Velvet pointed.

Her feet shifted. Leaves crunched, but just a little. She picked one up. Bent it. It was dry, and it snapped- but not without some effort. Durable, like the bark of the tree. So the twigs and leaves crunched less because they held their form against her weight- though not everything had that property. She needed to spot the differences somehow. The trees were absorbing natural energy but not storing it, so they all felt the same as the environment around them.

"What made you think it was the bird?" Anton asked, approaching.

"Well it-" Velvet looked around. It was just the only strange thing. "It's going the right direction, and it would move something like this," Velvet held out her arms like wings hanging at her side. They were a bit below the mark. "Something like this, but taller." Now that she said it, it was a pretty shaky description.

"That makes sense," Anton acknowledged. Velvet smiled as she still faced away from him. "But the damage is from a blade, not a beak or talons. How would a bird cause it?" Her face fell. She hadn't thought about that. It was just that the two things stood out and odd, and she connected them. "How would a bird cause it?"

The repeated question prodded Velvet. It was a real question, not just a polite way to tell her she was wrong. Could a bird have caused it? "I'm not sure if it could have." She thought about where she'd placed her hands. Birds didn't have hands there. They had wings. Those certainly weren't sharp. They were soft and swooshy. "It could be something else." Then again, the bark wasn't supposed to be so hard. That made it even less likely that a bird could have done it. "Unless it has sharp feathers?" She turned to look at Anton.

His face had a pleasant smile. Encouraging, but frustratingly not telling her if she was right or wrong. Then he shrugged. "It could. There are some. Not listed anywhere around here, but it's not uncommon to have a few things out of place. Since we don't know," Anton drew out the word, "We might as well follow the bird. It's the strangest thing we've noticed in the area."

Velvet nodded, though she kept her smile off her face. It was nice to know that even he didn't know everything all the time. It gave her confidence, like the elder watching over them who wasn't the wilderness sort at all. He had an overwhelming sense of strength, even restrained as it was. Strong, but not in the comforting way that Anton was- like a good solid roof over your head. She needed to keep learning so he wanted to keep her around.

Chapter 103

The tracks of the large bird weren't hard to follow. Anton let Velvet take the lead so she could get practice, but with the way it left impressions it wasn't difficult. Based on the properties of the leaves and the earth beneath, Anton got the picture it was a very heavy bird. That meant either it was truly gigantic in proportion to its talons, or perhaps it was a flightless bird. Those were rare, but Anton had heard of them. Though he had to admit until he saw a feather, he thought instead they might be mistaken about the origin of the creature based on its print.

As they moved, it started to become clear that the creature was indeed responsible for the cut in the tree. At least the cuts followed its same route, occasional slices appearing in plants along the way. Then they found a feather.

It didn't look like much, except the way it was embedded in a rock. It appeared to have sliced cleanly into it as it passed, but it stopped halfway. It took a moment of twisting and wrenching to pull the feather out of the rock, and as he did so Anton saw it slice a little bit deeper to the side. He very carefully trailed his finger along the feather. It looked soft and fluffy, but he felt it trying to cut into him through his defensive layer of energy. It was of little comfort that a free floating feather only barely didn't cut him, but that was how things were. He trailed his finger in the other direction and found that it didn't cut at all from tail to back in the direction of the shaft, only when he followed the direction of the barbs.

"You were certainly right about it being a bird," Anton commended Velvet. "If I'm right, this is a 'grounded razorwing', or some relative." He'd been spending time looking into bestiaries of creatures in the surrounding countries. There were far more animals and types of magical beasts than he'd thought. He knew other places had different creatures, but he hadn't realized how much variance there could be among the 'normal' creatures. Any of the razorwings were not considered normal beasts, since their feathers cut like blades even without the use of energy. "Whatever type it is, it's far from home. A good target for investigating oddities."

It being a land bird explained some of the oddities- like why the trail was so consistent. Birds would walk along the ground for a short way in some circumstances, but most preferred to alight in trees or fly. Even a very large bird could find a perch in the natural energy enhanced trees in the area, but since this sort of bird didn't fly it cleanly solved that mystery.

The group walked quickly- if they were trying to catch up to the creature, they needed to move faster than it would. Even if it had just been heading back to its lair, they didn't want to spend more days out in the forest than they needed to. Tshering was patient, but he probably had other things to be doing than watching over relatively new cultivators. Anton could tell he was keeping notice of beasts that might approach, but he hadn't yet needed to give a warning of any sort.

Part of that was that Anton was keeping on top of sensing threats for himself. It took Anton a moment to judge an upcoming problem because everything felt so off. However, his eyes and senses weren't lying to him. "Trouble up ahead. Looks like… ants." Ants shouldn't be a problem for cultivators- no matter how many of them there were, they couldn't even damage someone with tempered skin or the thinnest layer of defensive energy. Not normal ants. "They have abdomens as big as a fist."

Velvet squinted her eyes, clearly trying to make them out. "I can see the mound," she finally said. "It's still quite far… but almost directly in our path."

Anton nodded, "That's the problem. Plus, they're an aggressive sort. I see skeletons of large animals around the area, and what might have been a deer being dragged towards the mound." Creature that could hunt deer using numbers weren't necessarily a problem- wolves could do it. Anton looked over at Fuzz. He was sniffing the area with interest. "Should we try to travel around them?"

This new forest was great. Fuzz smelled so many new scents, and not once had a plant tried to kill him. He thought it had twice, but the first time had just been a root he didn't notice which didn't react at all when he clawed it. The second time had been a squirrel who thought he couldn't climb trees. It was half right. Fuzz might not be able to climb a tree, but he was able to jump high enough to chomp through the branch the creature had been standing on, chittering tauntingly. After that Catarina had asked him what he ate with a strange look on her face, but he didn't have any other squirrels to share. How selfish of him.

The fourth one appeared to be a friend now. She had been hiding nearby for a while, watching them, but now she was spending time with the rest like a proper member of the pack. This Velvet was a strange one, sometimes disappearing from scent and even energy. When it turned out she was a hunter like Anton, he thought it made sense.

When Anton said there were ants ahead of them, Fuzz was confused. Ants were little black creatures, and these were big and brown. A proper mouthful instead of just a crunchy texture on the tongue that sometimes resulted in stinging. Maybe he'd only seen baby ants? That made sense, but he wondered why the pack leaders would leave their young all on their own.

But there were more important things for Fuzz, like dealing with these big ones now. They had a den right along the trail of the sharp bird they were following, and they seemed to not appreciate the intrusion upon their territory. While Fuzz' pack avoided their den, it wasn't good enough. They didn't go a day out of their way to avoid the ants' territory, so they were attacked. Stupid ants.

Fuzz had fought alongside the pack leaders several times. Usually he found that Anton's arrows were greatly terrifying, but though he killed one or even several of the creatures with each shot, there were so many of them it hardly slowed them. He had to prepare himself to fight up close.

Everyone was told to stay together, which made sense. Being swarmed wasn't a fun idea. Catarina was doing that funny thing where she moved things around and dug up the ground. Fuzz had tried to help before but apparently he had done it wrong, even though he'd dug much deeper. Humans were strange, but the pack leaders were strong so he just did his best to understand.

Then the ants were upon them. Fuzz was right, they were a mouthful. Very crunchy, but their insides didn't taste very good. He didn't have much time to savor them either, as they were also trying to eat him.

Fuzz hadn't been old enough to go hunting with the wolf pack, so he didn't learn all of the tactics they had. Instead, he learned from the humans. The way they fought was strange, but after he learned to control his energy just a little bit he found how good it was. He supposed their weapons made up for the lack of claws, but Fuzz much preferred attacking with his own body.

He stamped down on the creatures, crushing them at their thin point. He chomped into them, swept them with his paws and flicked at them with his tail. His tail wasn't much good for fighting, but with energy protecting it Fuzz was able to make some use of it. Maybe he wouldn't do that forever, but humans liked trying new things to grow strong, so Fuzz would too.

Timothy seemed to find trouble with the ants, because his 'shield' wasn't suited to resisting them. His sword still chopped through them with a satisfying slicing sound, but apparently he was unable to perform his defensive position in the party.

Hoyt had some trouble as well, but Fuzz noticed he was on fire. That kept the ants away, but hopefully he could handle it himself. Fuzz was too far to help fix him.

It sure seemed hard for the humans to fight something so low to the ground. Fuzz had a much better time, because he only barely had to crouch to reach the height of the ants and bat at them. But nothing was perfect. Though they did their best to keep from being encircled and having ants all throughout between them, they couldn't stop them.

That was when Fuzz started getting bitten. He couldn't fully attack and defend with his energy all at the same time. Humans were so versatile and powerful. Fuzz envied their ability to fight like that. However, because there were so many ants Fuzz knew he had to kill them as quickly as he could- so he left his defenses weaker. Their sharp jaws bit into his hide, drawing a little bit of blood. That wasn't so bad, but then he was lit on fire. Fuzz couldn't see it, but he knew he was burning. He rolled around over the creatures as he fought, trying to put the fire out, but when he got bit on the nose he figured it out.

His nose wasn't on fire. No, it was much worse. Fire that couldn't be seen or put out. Fuzz howled, redoubling his efforts to slay the creatures before they could injure him. He felt the empowerment of Catarinas 'formation' thing flowing into him, giving him a boost to strength and speed against the vile ants. Yet their numbers were endless. He found himself being overwhelmed. His vision started to cloud with the bodies of ants alive and dead and the constant burning pain.

Then he saw the new one. Velvet. Her arms flashed, carrying swords much smaller than the others Fuzz had seen. But they didn't need to be longer, for they did what fang and claw did just as well- rending the creatures asunder. With one sweep she slew a half-dozen, then she would take a step. Ants would leap towards her but lose track of her. Even Fuzz almost couldn't see her as her energy hid her among them.

Several more swings from Velvet and dozens of dead ants piled up along with the ones already around Fuzz. Then Catarina came, spinning low to the ground with wide sweeping arcs of her sword. Though her height wasn't suited to the maneuver, it was still effective. Fuzz could see why one would want weapons. They extended beyond the body to provide much greater reach and area. Energy could do that too, though it was hard to do it much. Fuzz resolved to obtain a similar ability, and howled to push away the pain.

What even was a little burning? It dug into his body, but it was nothing like the plant that had tried to live inside him. It was just a little bit of burning on his legs and tail and nose, a bit of blood. He pushed through the pain and continued fighting the creatures until there weren't any more around him. Then he tried eating another one. Its head was too poky, but the rest of it was okay. Not worth hunting though.

Chapter 104

No matter how agile a person was, withstanding innumerable attacks completely unharmed was not possible. At least, Spirit Building was not a realm where one could ignore a swarm of melon sized ants. Energy defenses accumulated damage and had imperfections where attacks could pierce through, and the team of five people and one wolf were binding their wounds and circulating their energy to remove the painful but otherwise relatively harmless poison.

Sitting introspectively slightly off by himself was Anton. His fingers rubbed on the string of his bow as he recalled the fight. Thousand Arrows had many good techniques for increasing his firing speed, but nothing that actually approached its name. Anton was only able to fire his bow so fast. With one arrow per ant, it would have taken him over ten minutes to kill the swarm of ants by himself- assuming they just let him hit them peacefully. He was able to guide his arrows to sometimes pierce two, but the angle just wasn't right. Nobody made techniques for shooting at one's feet.

It would be easy to accept what happened as a limit of archery. He could sweep his handaxes to hit a larger number of ants at once. The ability to fight a whole swarm of small, low to the ground creatures was something he would only use rarely. But fighting a large number of enemies had come up before, and while he was several times stronger than he was during the attack on Thuston, he still wouldn't be able to stop the beast swarm there by himself. Not before it reached the town. It was simply a matter of what he could do at once. He only had two hands, two feet.

But he wasn't cultivating to do what a normal human could. He had goals to accomplish, people to rescue and others to avenge. Besides, he couldn't say that it wasn't possible to attack so many creatures at once. He'd seen it done. Grand Elder Vandale had targeted each individual creature with his falling stars attack. Anton was well aware that was more difficult than just cratering the whole area, and he admired the ability to avoid friendly casualties. Anton wasn't so crazy as to think he should compare his thirteen stars and less than two years of experience with ninety-nine and centuries, but it was something to aspire to. Perhaps he should ask about similar wide area abilities.

Anton turned towards Hoyt. "Hey, how's that bracelet treating you?"

Hoyt nodded, holding up his arm and letting fire play over his fingertips. "Useful, though setting things on fire is a bit of a double edged sword. It almost worked too well. And now Fuzz doesn't want to approach me." Fuzz looked warily at the flame. "I hadn't realized how much my techniques sort of rely on fighting large opponents. Or at least not very small ones."

"It's difficult," Catarina agreed. "They also ruin formations by walking everywhere."

Timothy shook his head, "Shields aren't really made for things around your feet either. It would be nice to have armored boots."

Velvet seemed hesitant to join in the conversation, but when Anton saw she had something to say, he gestured to her. "Umm, I… my fighting style was also not suited to them."

"You did well though," Hoyt acknowledged, "You crouched almost flat against the ground. It's difficult to do without just… toppling over."

The group continued to discuss the battle for some time. They were never truly in danger- though Fuzz was significantly weaker than the rest of them and had been a bit reckless in his actions. Elder Tshering would have interfered if there was a true problem, but just taking advantage of that safety would make them weak. They had the power to defeat their enemy, but the battle simply wasn't what they had expected it could be. Then again, if the ants were just a little bit smaller and proportionately weaker, they couldn't have bit any of their group- just like with the diamondsilk spiders. They weren't likely to run into something smaller and stronger that was still so numerous, but widening their tactics was worthwhile regardless.

After binding their wounds and resting, the group looked towards the ant mound from afar. "Do you think we should try to destroy it?" Hoyt asked.

"Too risky," Anton responded. "We didn't kill all of the ants. That was just… an advance party, maybe. They'll have at least several times more, and certainly some surprises."

"I don't like the idea of surprises," Velvet admitted.

"Can we just leave it though?" Catarina questioned. "They're so aggressive. It seems dangerous."

Anton looked towards Elder Tshering. "I believe it's out of our capabilities. Can you do it?"

Elder Tshering nodded. "I can."

"There are several magical beasts in there that I can't tell how strong they are." Anton looked at the mound, which was bigger than the standard complex of four houses the Order employed- including the courtyards. It would take two sets stacked atop each other to equal it.

"Oh, you can sense them?" Elder Tshering smiled. "Not bad at all. They won't be a danger to me, but to properly destroy the nest we have to kill the queen- and those who could be queens. I'll need all of you to watch the sides for things with wings." Anton nodded, raising his bow. "This type of ant should only have the one mound. You can see the tunnels. I won't be attempting to dig my way through, and even if they were large enough I'd rather not deal with it. I'm going to break it down from the top. If Anton can catch any fliers, that would be best. The rest of you should stay back far enough that those who pour out don't attack you first but instead focus on me. Only move forward for any crawling out with the wings. Catarina, if you could put together a formation around the area," Elder Tshering thought for a moment, "Something to hinder the ants, slow them. That would be more beneficial than fortifying us."

Catarina nodded. "That will probably take… a few hours? It's a big area, and I can't approach too close."

"Good," he nodded. "I'll go with you, just in case there is a problem. Everyone else, remain watchful. We may not expect anything else to inhabit this area, but stay cautious."

As predicted, a few hours later Catarina finished setting up the formation. "That's all I can do without walking up to the mound. It will slightly hinder their thoughts and actions, including decisions to flee. I just need a moment with each of the others to prevent it from affecting them."

Elder Tshering nodded, "It's good to have another budding formation master as part of the Order. It's rare to find those with the talent and the drive." After gathering everyone around, Elder Tshering made sure everyone was ready. "Good. Spread out, and don't worry about letting the workers past. It's best to leave them alone, if they do the same to you. I'll be waiting here until everyone's in position… and you'll be quite aware of when everything starts."

With five people, they took spots even distances around the irregularly shaped structure, Fuzz remaining with Catarina. As promised, Elder Tshering acted as soon as they were in position- and obviously. With a single leap he was halfway up the structure, then on top. With a short sprint he was over the middle, then he leapt straight into the air… then came back down. Though he only reached a dozen meters in the air, if that, his fall was like a meteor- energy gathered around him and he crashed into the structure with a heavy, fiery explosion. Packed dirt flew in all directions, the top center of the mound being obliterated in an instant.

Nobody was able to see him after that, as he was below the edge of the mound, but subsequent though somewhat smaller explosions rang out. Anton watched carefully, and was the first to act when a handful of ants took off flying from the center. One arrow each was sufficient, piercing a hole right through them.

Ants started pouring out of the mound, some of them swarming towards Elder Tshering and others fleeing in all directions. The others besides Elder Tshering did as he said, watching for any ants with wings. Those who took off directly were shot down by Anton, but others crawled out of the sides and were generally impaled or sliced before taking off.

A large ant flew into the air- not through the power of wings, but as it was tossed by Elder Tshering. Then another. Both were about the size of a man, perhaps slightly bigger considering the roundness of their abdomens. They had large heads and sharp jaws, and Elder Tshering punched at both of them. The two royal guards resisted his fists, at least for a moment, snapping back with their mandibles. Neither seemed able to get through the other's defenses… but after a few rounds of punches and kicks, Elder Tshering suddenly had a spear in his hands. A moment later, he drove it straight down the middle of one of the large ants, energy exploding out of its abdomen in the rear. He pulled his gorey spear out of the creature in time to block the other, its mandibles impacting its own energy against his.

At that moment, a similarly large ant took to the skies. It dragged behind it an abdomen like a deflated wine pouch, but it flew with purpose and speed. Likewise, Anton shot arrows one at a time. The queen was likewise somewhat larger than a human, and had sufficient energy to protect from Anton's arrows. At least, to resist them. He didn't continue to fire standard arrows in easy patterns. He began to use trick shots, firing slow curving arrows while gathering more energy for frontal assaults. The queen was forced to shift around her energy inexpertly, and Anton pierced an arrow through her defenses- and one of her wings. It wasn't a simple hole, but instead he tore as much of it as he could near the shoulder, nearly severing the wing.

Elder Tshering slammed a foot to the ground, his energy crushing a dozen ants while he finished off the second royal guard with his spear at the same time as the queen started to fall. Despite her massive wings several meters long and the enhancement of natural energy, such a creature wasn't meant to fly. Elder Tshering finished her off with his spear, before returning to the nest and crushing the eggs remaining. Working from the center, he toppled the mound as the others finished off the few ants that chose to fight instead of fleeing.

He made it look almost easy to do what he did, but Anton could sense that the battle still took quite a bit out of Elder Tshering. The man looked positively manic, a wide grin on his face. "Good job everyone! And excellent job picking your battles. No shame in admitting you aren't equipped to face unknown but powerful forces." He flicked his spear, spinning it and applying energy to push off the filth. Anton found it amusing how the quiet elder suddenly changed demeanors, but he supposed he had simply been letting them make their own choices. He wondered why the man had stopped at the peak of Spirit Building. He'd ask, but that was probably inappropriate. Maybe it would come up naturally.

Chapter 105

The forest expedition continued after wiping out the giant hive of fire ants. Even just doing that could count as a successful mission, but the razorwing hadn't suddenly stopped being out of place. The trail was picked up past the territory, with more slicing marks and occasional feathers being some of the signs. The ground was slightly harder, so the footprints were becoming fainter.

The group encountered several aggressive beasts, but nothing turned into more than a minor scuffle. From the perspective of the group, at least. The beasts who attacked them would probably have different opinions- but they'd already made a final and fatal choice.

The next day, Anton noticed something interesting. It was not of immediate concern, so he waited for Velvet to comment on it. It took some escalating of the signs, but she eventually figured it out. Then again, she couldn't see as far as Anton could so perhaps she picked it up quickly once the information was actually able to reach her eyes. "There are more feathers." That was true, but it wasn't the important part. "And footprints. I think that means… it lives near here?"

Anton nodded. "That seems likely."

"There are a lot though," Velvet frowned. "Maybe there's more than just the one."

"I can't guarantee it," Anton said, "But if not it is very busy."

The trees began to thin out, with more short and squat bushes. The area was still laden with energy, but some change in terrain led to different sorts of plants flourishing. Grass grew above head height, blocking vision, but it also made it easier to track their quarry. They simply followed where the grass was trampled- and sometimes just cut off, depending on the angle of their wings. It was merely a matter of what beast had trampled which grass that they had to contend with.

With his sight blocked, Anton occasionally hopped into the air to get a look at the surroundings. He felt rather silly for it, but he would feel more silly if he missed something important for not putting in the effort. A hop didn't leave much time for processing what he saw, but his brain was much quicker at taking in information than before he had become a cultivator. It was crazy to think he'd lived without any of the benefits cultivation provided his whole life. Even just the beginning made so much difference. He still intended to spread cultivation it to as many people as he could, even if they only were able to manage the beginning.

Along with Anton, Velvet also hopped up into the air. That made Anton grin, because it wasn't so much a special technique as a necessity. She could probably just stand on someone's shoulders, but he was a bit old to ask that. Instead, he eventually found a decent tree to climb. It was thin, and seemed like it would snap under his weight- but he could tell it had been strengthened just like all of the others and easily held his weight. Velvet climbed up after him, standing on another branch that barely bent under her weight, despite it being only two fingers thick. "Do you see them?" Anton asked.

Velvet nodded. "They have long necks. And they're so reflective…"

"That's just what I expected. I haven't seen any razorwings in person, but the bestiaries described them well. Their wings aren't metal, but they cut like it… and shine like it. Quite a bit different from the spiked rollers we fought."

"... You fought those things?"

"Yes. Some big ones, too. We can talk about it later. What do you think of those?" he gestured generally.

"Umm… they're all stopped." Velvet squinted her eyes, concentrating energy in a beginning version of the Hawk Eyes vision technique Anton was teaching her. "They're all on… eggs?"

Anton nodded, "Quite right. They're nesting. Many of them. Normally they would be quite territorial, even with each other, but something has changed that."

"Do we have to kill them all?" Velvet asked.

"I don't know if that's necessary. The ants were aggressively multiplying and dangerous. Razorwings aren't likely to move on humans, but… they also aren't known to be a part of this area." Anton scratched his chin, "We'll have to report on them, at least. I wouldn't want to try to take all of them out either way. Though reducing their numbers somewhat is basically inevitable."

"What do you mean?" Velvet asked.

"I doubt they're just coming to say hello," Anton gestured to several disturbances in the grass. The razorwings tended to trample the grass in front of them, but off to the sides their feathers cut into the grass leaving a fairly obvious trail. "As magical beasts, I do believe a grounded razorwing should be able to keep pace with the slowest of us, so fleeing isn't exactly an option." Anton turned, "You all heard, right?" Everyone else nodded, including Elder Tshering. "Good, then the five of us should get ready to fight, though I'd like to try to leave if we can. There are only a few, and if those eggs are any indication they won't miss a few of their numbers."

After moving his arms around to test the space, Anton hopped down from the scraggly tree. It would just get in his way, though the vantage point he provided would have been useful for archery otherwise.

Catarina was looking around, clearly wondering how she might make a proper formation in the area. Initial setup might be easy with the grass, but that also meant it would be easy to destroy on accident. She seemed to give up as the group started to retreat away from the approaching razorwings.

"Doesn't seem like they're going to leave us alone," Hoyt commented. "They're gaining on us, and I can feel their energy bubbling in anticipation."

Anton shrugged, "It was worth a try. At least this way they'll be further from reinforcements." Anton stopped and turned back towards the approaching razorwings, mostly hidden by the grass. "Everyone ready?" Everyone nodded- and Fuzz gave a growl of acknowledgement.

The process of drawing a bow could be quick or slow. There was rarely any reason to spend any more time than required to aim, because that left strain on the wielder's muscles, but Anton needed to gather more energy than normal. It still didn't take longer than the amount of time for a draw he'd had as a non-cultivator, but was significantly slower than his possible fastest speed.

His arrow flew straight and true, and he rode the air with it. The arrow pierced through the grass. It was tough in addition to being extraordinarily long but it barely slowed the flight of the arrow. Anton was there with it, guiding it, when it struck the razorwing. He had been aiming for its chest. He'd expected it to dodge if it noticed him, but it didn't. But he also didn't hit its chest. Instead, a wing came forward and parried his arrow, slicing through the grass around its motion. That was the problem with magical beasts. None seemed to have human intelligence, but they could also be quite a bit smarter than normal animals. These even had complex control of their energy, gathering it on their already bladelike feathers.

The battle erupted into motion with that arrow. The grounded razorwings burst through the grass towards the group, reaching them before Anton could shoot more than one or two more arrows. If he'd been ready for a deflection on his first shot he might have been able to score a hit instead, but now that they were aware of his own abilities they were too cautious. He'd have to find openings later.

"Probably a bad idea to use fire," Hoyt commented to himself as he readied his large axe. He held it in two hands, stepping forward and chopping at one of the approaching razorwings. It moved its wing and energy to intercept his attack. Hoyt had a bit more mass than the creature, a bird of nearly the same height as a human, and was able to push it to the side. It pecked towards him with its beak as it passed, but it was too far to deal any meaningful damage.

The others were all engaged as well. Timothy took it upon himself to engage two of the creatures, preventing them from running past him. The birds slashed with their wings, but only pecked when they were certain their necks would be safe from a counter. Timothy wasn't able to damage either of them in any meaningful fashion, but his shield protected him while he learned their movements.

Catarina and Anton both danced around one of their own. Anton found that they preferred to rush past, swiping with a wing, which suited him just fine as he fought with a bow and could use the extra space. Catarina slashed with her sword, trying to hit openings while keeping herself safe.

From low to the ground, Fuzz nipped at the heels of whichever bird he found at the moment. He kept himself concealed in the grass as he looked to find ones distracted by others. He was actually able to ambush one of them and bite its leg, but as he pulled to try to throw it to the ground it resisted by virtue of a stronger energy. Fuzz had to pull away as its beak came down towards his head.

As for Velvet… she was gone. Even Anton lost track of her in the tall grass until she stabbed into the back of the neck of one of the razorwings with a long dagger. Anton felt her energy a moment before the attack, but the razorwing didn't- or at least felt it too late. The total amount of energy in Velvet's attack wasn't anything amazing, but she condensed her energy into a sharp point and stabbed where her opponent was weak. That was usually the goal with in battle, but it was hard to pull off.

Archery worked similarly, but the advantage it had in range became a disadvantage when it gave your opponent time to react. But Anton hadn't been training just to lose to a bunch of birds- no matter how sharp and swift their wings were. He felt a trail of blood on his shoulder and knew he'd let it get a little too close, but the razorwing that made the attack had continued on, as usual. Anton had an arrow ready and aimed at its back as it moved.

The creature couldn't bend its wing back to reach him, but it had the proper senses to dodge. Right into the real attack Anton had prepared. Firing two arrows actually at the same time was something new he was testing. It wasn't very good for the most part and would probably not work well against a human in its current form, but he at least tricked a bird. His arrow pierced into a section of the bird's back that had a lower concentration of energy. It wasn't enough to bring it down immediately, but Anton could see the blood pouring over its feathers. Now if only he could find where to sneak in shots from the front, he wouldn't have to let any of them attack him even once.

Chapter 106

As the group of six finished the survey of the forest, it became more obvious that a variety of non-native creatures had moved in, quite recently too. The razorwings who were normally solitary creatures were living close together, almost in communal nests though not quite. Anton had no prior experience with them himself, but he had read how that was only common during or shortly after a group migration. They weren't the only things, but they stood out the most. Anton also thought of the creatures around Helmfirth Rill, far out of their homes. He would mention that once more in their report.

"I'm kind of disappointed we didn't find a beast king or something," Hoyt said. "Though I suppose we wouldn't have been useful if that was the case."

Anton nodded. "We were only able to survey one section of the forest. Doubtless others will have similar findings elsewhere. It could be unrelated to the unexpected coordination, but it is notable nonetheless."

"I can't believe there were like a million giant ants living in the forest," Timothy commented. "They have no business being that big. And yet they were also hard to hit."

"... the mission in Ambati also involved creatures that weren't native to the area," Velvet spoke timidly, "I think. The scout thought so, anyway."

Elder Tshering nodded his head. "All good information. We noticed quite a bit I wouldn't have thought of just touring by myself. Which was the whole point."

Real combat was useful for experience that could lead to improvements in cultivation. That was something that was known and discussed, but Anton found that comparing experiences with others had at least as much effect. He wasn't suddenly going to shoot from the beginning of the thirteenth star to the fourteenth, but working with Catarina to understand Spiritual Connection helped him. He clearly didn't have the same natural talent in that area as she did, but he was at least able to take advantage of some of her learning. Anton in turn was able to help Hoyt with his studies of Insight.

Catarina also worked with Timothy on Mental Liberation. It was impossible to say when resistance to mental attacks would be useful- just that at some point it would be. The choice to strengthen those particular defenses earlier was merely one of many available options, and all of the seven purifications were connected eventually. Choosing one particular thing early should make little difference in the end.

Velvet was progressing quickly, and given some time would be stepping into Spirit Building. She was a good example of how certain guidance could make a significant difference in cultivation. While the Order freely taught what they could, there was little personal guidance. Just matching people up randomly wouldn't help though. Anton wasn't sure if he was the right person to teach everyone, but he felt it was an area he did well.

The change in Velvet's cultivation was merely a measurable benefit allowed by the other changes Anton had been observing. She had chosen to trust him, at least enough for him to help her. Dealing with her still wasn't easy, but he didn't feel she was purposefully doing anything difficult. She was still somewhat paranoid, and that wasn't going to just go away over a few months. Interestingly enough, her combat style relied on having allies to fight alongside her. She would use concealment techniques so that she was unnoticed before attacking a critical location on a distracted enemy, usually to great effect. While this did result in more pressure on her allies temporarily, a quick defeat made it safer for them in the long run. Besides, she was under no obligation to allow herself to be a target.

The whole way she operated was interesting, if a bit depressing. Anton saw how she fought well with a team, but she never really tried to get along with them. Her only social interactions seemed based around avoiding anyone forming a negative opinion of her. While in theory that was a good thing, it also avoided a positive opinion forming- and eventually a neutral opinion might swing towards negative when her other unsavory traits. When she wanted something, her default thought seemed to be manipulating others instead of asking. That said, she had enough awareness of how people would react that it usually mattered little. Timothy had been an easy person to recruit as a teammate, and the only reason he was unhappy with the situation was because he'd accepted too hastily and been unavailable when his friends requested help. The situation with Hayden had gotten out of her control, but she hadn't repeated anything like that. At the time Anton had been very angry- and then imprisoned. It had basically dropped out of his mind, but recently he'd actually gotten past it, letting go of the unhelpful anger.

It was almost depressing how good she was at stealth techniques. A woman so young shouldn't feel the need to hide from everything. But that same youth was what made her actions forgivable. She wasn't full of plots to steal techniques or overthrow the Order. She just wanted to survive. Anton understood that, though he'd long since passed the point where he considered his own survival important beyond what he could do if he continued living.

Her combat style fit into the team well enough, but it was clear she wasn't part of them. With the exception of Fuzz, nobody was actively social with her. Fuzz was quick to accept her, and in turn she seemed quite fond of him. Probably because there was nothing he could want from her beyond simple scratching behind his ears.

There was no intention on Anton's part to force her to fit into their group, but he did want her to be progressing in a better direction. Cultivation hardly mattered in that equation except for her own desires to control her life. Maybe cultivation would lead to her being content with life, but not without help. Anton couldn't say he was the best at solving problems, especially where it involved young women. Janina was mainly responsible for troubles with their daughters and granddaughters, but Anton couldn't just ignore the poor kid. What was the point of teaching everyone to cultivate if it merely made them live long, productive, and miserable lives. The people mattered too.

With the completion of another mission, Anton considered how best to spend his contribution points. He could just exchange them for money. He still needed it to free people, after all. He knew that was a foolish idea, though. While cultivators were capable of functioning in combat by relying on their own energy, proper equipment and enchanted items were still useful.

He could think about everything on his own, or he could just ask. He was glad he chose the latter, because Elder Evan was quite willing to offer him advice. "Your bow is still holding up, right?" Anton nodded, "Good, I thought so. With proper maintenance it should be usable until at least mid spirit building. Eventually you will find it insufficient for your needs, but the nightwood and black steel bow you have now makes the most of the materials. Now, if you don't mind my asking, how many contribution points do you have available?'

"About… five thousand." Anton had more than that, but he wanted to keep some in reserve. He'd been earning contribution points for several months since his return, and his cultivation level allowed him to do much more than before. The recent mission had been worth almost a thousand as well. He didn't feel it matched up to saving a village, but then again it required a great bit more cultivation strength and more time.

Evan took stock of Anton. "Bow, defensive undershirt… you practice Spirit Arrows so an expensive quiver is of little use." As he talked, he was leading Anton through the turning corridors of the equipment hall. "Here we are," Evan gestured towards a door with '1000', indicating the price items inside started at. "We can get you several things from here." Evan stepped inside, reaching onto the shelves and tossing a pair of gloves towards Anton. "My first recommendation. Archery gloves. I know your skin is tempered so you don't need any mundane version, but these are different. Specially enchanted to be used by archers. Well, any who need to quickly channel energy around their hands. Put them on and try creating an arrow."

They fit snugly- even though he was quite certain they hadn't been the right size when he first saw them. The gloves covered every finger without being restrictive like he might expect. The cloth wasn't quite the lightness of diamondsilk, but the material was breathable and felt durable. His first arrow felt sluggish, as the material altered the flow of his energy.

"It will show its worth in practice. Come outside with me," Evan gestured.

Once more Anton found himself at the attached practice area. His first shot still felt wrong, the arrow flying slowly. However, with each subsequent shot he noticed an improvement. It wasn't the gloves getting used to his energy, but instead the other way around. The gloves drew energy from all around his hands for whatever he was doing. Anton was used to just using the three fingers that would be holding a spirit arrow to form it, but drawing the energy from around his entire hand allowed for every meridian on his limb to be involved. That certainly increased the potential output, but he wasn't sure if he preferred it. He was willing to admit it was something he might try training on his own, but the gloves seemed unnecessary. However, after a few dozen shots he noticed how it amplified his shots just slightly even when he was using his typical method. It wasn't possible for it to just get energy from nothing, but an increased efficiency was useful. He should have trusted that Evan knew what he was doing.

Without even asking if Anton wanted the gloves, Evan brought him back inside to try out several other things. He quickly discovered Anton didn't like anything that reshaped his energy. Anton ended up with a second pair of gloves that simply helped condense energy moving through it for his arrows. Anton also ended up with bracers durable enough to deflect early Spirit Building attacks with proper technique, boots that maintained traction on any surface, and goggles that could enhance his vision even more. The goggles were a bit inconvenient if he was dealing with anything up close, but he could see fine details from afar without giving up the benefit of both eyes, unlike a spyglass. They also didn't require use of his hands, which was important. There were still limits to how far he could shoot even if he could see, but he was learning to expand his range.

He had never been much for shopping, but Anton did like practical tools. He felt good after what he got- and he had plenty of contribution points he could convert into currency. He'd need that soon… but first he had to return to a few places in Graotan.

Chapter 107

When he had first joined the Order, home had seemed so far away for Timothy. It was almost half the country, even if it was the short half. Yet now he could return home in just a few days. There were no specific obligations on his time, though through Anton's encouragement he worked to earn contribution points, cultivating as he did so. It was hard to believe how much his life had changed… and how much it hadn't.

He was so much stronger now. Not just his body, but the use of energy added so much more. He could choose to do almost anything now that he was in Spirit Building- though proper practice of a profession or craft would still require dedication of time.

Yet there was so much more, a world beyond anything he had imagined. It wasn't secret, but information about cultivators wasn't that widely known. Maybe that was for the best, since they were so much stronger than normal people. On the other hand, Timothy liked Anton's idea. Everyone could cultivate at least a little bit, and it could do so much for them.

His father had only completed two stars of Body Tempering, but he was now able to find time to do other work besides woodcutting. There was only so much wood that Carran needed, and the area of woods he managed had a limit to how much he could reasonably cut. Most of his extra labor might have gone into helping on the Riley farm at one point, but they were now more capable of managing it all on their own, even with some small expansions. It was comforting knowing that his father and Catarina's family could do more than just get by.

Six people ate together around a table that barely fit all of them. Even if productivity increased, it had been less than a year. A larger table wasn't the most important thing on the list for the Rileys, since there were only two of them and often Timothy's father. They also had no way to predict when three extra people would be in town.

"Catarina mentioned that you freed dozens from slavery in Ofrurg," Jasper said between bites of a hearty stew full of vegetables and chicken. "It's amazing to hear about."

"There are so many more slaves, even among those I knew, but…" Anton allowed himself to smile, "We were able to do some real good. I'm not even close to done yet. Maybe I never will be, but I think I can live with that, as long as I make progress."

Timothy knew that was hard for Anton to say, but he clearly meant it. The kind old man felt it was his responsibility to do whatever he could now that he had power. "I should have been there," Timothy said. "I could have helped too."

"You will though, right?" Catarina reminded him. "We're going back."

"Yes," Timothy said, mostly to himself. "I'll be coming with you. I made sure to have no other commitments."

"We'll be glad to have you," Anton said as he finished his stew. "If all goes well, we won't need to fight… but having another Spirit Building person around will be useful for negotiations regardless." Anton turned to the three parents, "Your children won't say it, but they're among the fastest progressing cultivators in this generation."

"We knew they were talented from the very beginning," Flora smiled widely. "Just a couple years ago they started cultivating, and it seemed like they were immediately off to the Order to join."

Timothy didn't bring up how he was almost a full month behind Catarina- barely reaching the third star in time to take that month's test. Then he'd failed the first time. It had been a sore moment, but Anton had talked to him about it. How he made mistakes when he was nervous and how in the end it just meant he had to try again. Timothy didn't feel like he was worthwhile all the time- especially after not being around to help with the previous journey- but he supposed that didn't matter as long as he could help those he cared about.

Jasper Riley continued the conversation, "Now the three of us are cultivators. Certainly not the fastest growing, but it's changed so much. Our neighbors have been asking about it. We tried to teach them, but we don't quite have the same ability."

Flora nodded, "We didn't want to cause any harm, so we were cautious. We had your notes, but they were mostly tailored to our struggles."

"I can provide a bit more in the way of general notes," Anton said. "It might not help some people past the first star or two, but there are big benefits to be obtained with just that. We'll also be around for a couple weeks, so I can teach you myself. I have the feeling the two of you can reach at least the third star. You could even join the Order!" Anton grinned. "Not that you need to. You have a good life here."

"We're quite content," Jasper admitted. "I believe we plan to remain a part of this community even if we achieve the third star."

"Good," Anton responded. "I'm glad. I think what Graotan needs is more cultivators just… living. There are certainly worthwhile benefits to joining the Order, but living a comfortable life is just fine. Now, did somebody mention pie?"

Timothy grinned. It was best for cultivators to eat a healthy balance of food, but occasional indulgences weren't a problem.

Anton left behind several copies of the Ninety-Nine Stars as well as his notes for cultivating at Body Tempering. That should be more than enough for everyone for at least a decade. Most would find themselves unable to advance more than the first few stars with the standard amount of natural energy in the environment, even with guidance. If anyone reached the end of Body Tempering they would be best served by joining the Order- probably long before that point. If they wanted, they could still return to live in Carran, though few disciples lived outside the Order's ground where it was easier to cultivate.

Flora was a bit ahead of Jasper and Kellan. Anton wondered if there was some sort of inherited trait for cultivation. If so, was it merely the determination to work hard and push through difficulties, or something else? The Order knew that children of cultivators were more likely to succeed at cultivation themselves, but he didn't know if that was any different than the son of a blacksmith going on to become a blacksmith himself. Being raised around something came with familiarity and comfort. Anton had no interest in debating the specifics. Instead, he just let himself be happy at the progress. He would have liked to stay for longer, but he wanted to get back to Windrip, and his plans with Kohar Tolvaj wouldn't wait forever. He was already doing his best to resist rushing back to Ofrurg.

It was clear that Windrip was the center of something amazing. Specifically, the dozens of former slaves that Anton had set up were constantly expanding. With a couple seasons of growth they were quite able to support themselves without any further help from Anton. In fact, they offered to try to pay him back. James was one of the first he'd freed, and he held out a bag to Anton. "Please. Take it. It's not much, but you can use it to help free more people."

It took a moment of consideration on Anton's part. However, his training of Voice allowed him to express what he wanted with sufficient clarity. "I will not be taking your money. I fully understand your desire to pay me back, and to free others from slavery. However, that money can do more good here. If it is not needed for construction of further buildings-"

"We can take care of that ourselves," James assured him.

"-then use it to help people, in whatever way you can. Windrip must have those who need aid. If not, then Stregate. Money might not be what they actually need, but that lets you pay for food, shelter, or to take the time to provide those yourselves." Anton kept his back straight as he spoke, projecting his voice to all of those around. "There are no slaves in Graotan, but not all are prosperous. I will remind you not to keep the benefits of cultivation to yourselves. Teach others freely, as they remain in good standing with the community. Those with little talent can improve their lives, and those with undiscovered affinity for cultivation can benefit more." Anton made sure to emphasize teaching those in good standing. Troublemakers would be the first to try to learn something to increase their personal strength, but for the community to be safe the rest had to have a base level of cultivation.

Every town and city already had ways to manage those who were somewhat stronger or more dangerous. A strong man with a knife could be a menace to any common person. Anton understood that giving them the chance to become stronger allowed for more potential danger- but those who would handle them could also become stronger. Anton wasn't sure if there was a way to fairly choose who could and couldn't be taught to cultivate in the end. Some of those who displayed good attitudes would go bad, and some of those not well thought of could do great good if given the chance.

"You don't need to be guards for Windrip or Stregate," Anton said. "If anyone is interested in that profession you can encourage them, but it is better if your group specifically isn't relied on. If even a tenth of the population becomes first star cultivators and are willing to act to keep society functioning, a strong fourth or fifth star cultivator won't be able to do much." They might kill people, but so could that same madman with a knife. Society functioned so well because most people weren't going to kill others. Deaths were more common among cultivators, but that had more to do with their common role as what were effectively wandering mercenaries rather than the fact that they cultivated energy.

After convincing James, Steven, and all of the others to use their money to pay forward his actions, Anton finished checking up on the rest of them. Anton was pleased that the little community he had founded attached to Windrip was doing well. They were quite determined to work together and improve themselves through cultivation, and while they certainly weren't wealthy they were many times better than slaves if for no other reason than they could make their own choices. Meaningful ones, even.

Anton smiled to himself, thinking about what might happen if he freed every slave in Ofrurg. Utter chaos, probably. That was far outside of the scope of his current capabilities, but the idea stuck in his mind. A nice thought for what his goals might be after the next few years.

Chapter 108

There was a strange thing among cultivators both young and old where they might hardly feel the passage of time. The last several months were only a tiny portion of Anton's life, but he found that the same feeling of it passing by quickly didn't apply to just him. It wasn't to the extreme of closed door cultivation where people hid themselves from the world for months, years, or even decades at the extreme in a single span of cultivation, but repeating similar actions and cultivating while doing so accelerated the feeling of time.

Catarina, Timothy, Hoyt, and of course Fuzz were going to accompany Anton on his journey. He had asked them long before, and he would have had a harder time keeping them away than bringing them along. Even if the plan wouldn't necessary result in the sort of journey that was the most beneficial in cultivation, all of them were willing to lend their strength to his cause.

A slight surprise came when Velvet came to Anton's door. Before he could even say hello, she was talking. "I'm coming with you." Velvet seemed to notice how improper her tone was, and repeated herself in a different manner. "I mean… I would like to come with you, if I may."

"I only plan to be gone several months, at most," Anton explained. "You should be able to step into Spirit Building shortly, and even complete the eleventh star without further guidance."

"I know," Velvet said, "But that's not why. I mean, it's not the only reason. You need help, right? You could use more allies, and as you said I'm very close to Spirit Building. Or… am I not good enough to help?"

Anton smiled. She needed the warm feelings, even if he was internally worried. "If you want to come along, I certainly won't reject you. I don't know what I might expect. Hopefully, it will be boring."

"I doubt that," Velvet commented.

"You never know. I've been known to get wrapped up in decades of boringness."

Velvet shook her head. "You're going into Ofrurg. Nothing is that simple. You'll definitely have to free some people though… extralegal means. I'm the sneakiest person you know! I think."

"Hopefully we won't need to do any of that," Anton said. "But I'd be a fool to refuse your offer. You have some talents the rest of us are lacking." Anton had to admit he was somewhat stealthy himself, but there was a big difference between avoiding the notice of guards or distant animals compared to cultivators actively looking for you. Velvet had a chance against the latter- and a good one, since if he was the same cultivation Anton wasn't sure if he could so easily pick her out.

"Great. So… I'll go get ready."

"I know you overheard, but don't forget a tent. You might not technically need one, but it makes a big difference."

Velvet sheepishly waved goodbye, Anton closing the door behind her.

He hadn't asked her along because he didn't want her to feel obligated. While she might owe him for aiding her cultivation, he also didn't want to force someone into danger. There were other ways she could repay him, and Anton didn't do what he did just to get favors from others. With her being the one to make the choice, she would hopefully be more reliable.

Travel to the Graotan-Ofrurg border was quick and painless. They ran into no trouble along the way, and Anton was pleased to see that Helmfirth Rill was getting along quite well. He was fond of the little town, unimportant as it was overall.

The border itself was still manned by early Essence Collection cultivators, three on each side. Despite being an entire tier below them, Anton found himself somewhat heartened by their presence. Ofrurg and Graotan were not on good terms, and the guards on either side were a show of military might. They only represented a small portion of the total forces of either side, but the point was that Anton was no longer so insignificant compared to them. He might not match them this year or the next, but he'd crossed the critical threshold of Spirit Building and still found himself progressing at a reasonable speed.

There was also something else. While the Ofrurg side match the Graotan side, Anton knew that the internal politics of Ofrurg weren't so stable. He was better armed this time to achieve his goals, though freeing many slaves would still make him unpopular. That being said, those who managed slaves were generally no stronger than Spirit Building. Most slaves weren't allowed to cultivate, and thus their total value was limited- not worthwhile for the strongest cultivators to personally handle. That and his preparations and allies gave Anton confidence.

The previous time they had crossed the border, it had been over quickly. Anton noticed that more care was taken on his current crossing, though the fact that the Ofrurg side also more carefully checked them indicated it was nothing to be concerned about. A group of four- nearly five- Spirit Building cultivators was something to take note of. That also meant more eyes would be on them, but Anton had already confirmed the trouble they had caused already was forgotten and nobody was looking for them in specific. They just had to be careful not to cause the wrong sort of trouble.

It was actually somewhat comforting to feel the eyes of the cultivators from Graotan follow them until they were far past the Ofrurg side of the border. He wasn't just a newbie disciple anymore… though he recognized how far he still had to go.

Veron was exactly as it had been the last time he came through. There were still far too many slaves working on farms outside the city, and Anton knew he could do nothing about it. At best he could save a few. Individual slave owners might not be as significant of a threat as they once were, but trying to upset the whole institution would be suicide.

The first order of business was to get in contact with Kohar Tolvaj. The Red Willow Inn was helpfully painted the same color, and Anton was able to spot it as soon as they turned onto the right street. It was possible she wasn't yet there- this was the earliest date she had said she would be around, but two people precisely meeting up across different countries might take some coordination.

The Red Willow Inn looked quite comfortable, but not extravagant. If Anton cared to, he could pay for more luxurious places for quite some time. For the equivalent of several weeks labor, he could spend a night somewhere with a proper energy gathering formation for cultivation. A waste of money. He was eager to grow stronger, but that didn't mean he should be inefficient with his money. Perhaps if he was close to a breakthrough he would consider it, but for the most part he was fine with just a dry roof over his head and palatable food. He didn't become a cultivator for luxury.

He walked up to the front desk. "Is there a Kohar Tolvaj here?" he asked. "She should be expecting me." Anton didn't know what her energy signature would be like, but it wouldn't have mattered because one thing The Red Willow Inn did have was some privacy formations. He wouldn't be able to casually sense the energy of anyone staying inside.

"One moment," the man said as he reached for a drawer in the desk he was standing behind. "Your name?"

"Anton Krantz."

"Oh yes, she was indeed expecting you and your companions. Follow me." The man led them up to the third floor, only briefly glancing at Fuzz, where he knocked on a door. "Honored guest, Anton Krantz has arrived."

A short few moments later, a woman beginning to show her age opened the door. She should still be younger than Anton, though it might not be by that much since she was at the peak of Body Tempering. She could have gotten a late start like Anton, but he doubted it. With no barriers between them, their energies passively met. Anton didn't know what he was expecting, but she knew he was a member of the Order. "Good timing. I have been here less than half the day. Come in."

Velvet was the last one in and closed the door behind her. By that point, Catarina was already shuffling about the room curiously. Various thinking noises came out of her as she poked her head behind furniture. "Not too bad. They have decent privacy formations. I don't see any significant issues." She did slightly push a table when she thought nobody was looking, but other than that she left things where they were.

"A formation master, are you?" the brown skinned woman asked.

"Not a master," Catarina said. "Not yet."

"Modesty suits you," Kohar smiled, "But I've seen those with less ability claim the title."

"I haven't even done anything," Catarina said.

"You looked over the whole formation in a minute. That's certainly an indication of your skill. And your cultivation and age are similarly impressive." Kohar turned to Anton. "On that note, I do believe your letter said you were at the twelfth star, but if I'm not incorrect you seem to be at the thirteenth."

"I was," Anton said, "And I am. I wasn't sure how well it would go."

"I could have told you," Hoyt said. "I knew you'd make it."

"It's not that I have no confidence in my abilities," Anton said, "But we could have left early. Besides, a month or two…" he shrugged. "Could have been off by that much."

"Congratulations on your advancement, then. I assume you have brought what I need?"

Anton nodded, "A full list. As much as it can be. As for the price..."

"I just need something to get started," Kohar said. "Anything I do will require money to grease the wheels, along with legitimate fees. I can't guarantee this will cost less than buying their freedom, but it will alter what hands the money ends up in."

"I understand," Anton confirmed. "I'm more interested in setting the precedent."

"This isn't going to make you many friends," Kohar warned.

"I doubt it will be better for you," Anton countered.

"I have methods to stay safe."

"Doing this publicly should actually help," Anton said. "The Order wouldn't just stand by if something happened to us." He'd gotten confirmation of that, at least. Nobody would be able to provide any excuses if something happened to them when they were following proper legal rules. Anton simply hadn't known all the laws.

Kohar did. From what she had explained, it was important for slavers to keep documents. It was at least supposed to be a legitimate practice. Among those documents were enslavement history and reason for enslavement. While getting anyone to show those documents would be work, none of the citizens of Dungannon could have been legally enslaved. While the Iron Ring Slavers might get away with just financial penalties for their 'carelessness', Anton much preferred that method to paying for people. Kohar had also assured him that once it was proven the slaves weren't legally owned, that would extend to later owners and they could thus track them down where otherwise they had to rely on information brokers. Even if they were reliable, they might have incomplete information.

The process wouldn't be quick. Kohar expected it to take months- but that would still be faster than tracking down every person individually, and likely safer. Anton and the others wouldn't just be waiting around though. Some things could be expedited. They also had other things to speak about with the Ears of the Fox. Anton didn't expect that everything would turn out pleasantly, but they would do what they could.

Chapter 109

With his experience of over one hundred years, Anton could confidently say that legal proceedings were the most boring thing in the world. There had been only slight bits of interest buried in the time leading up to it where he was introduced to the workings of the law. Seeing how it could be used to their advantage was interesting, but he doubted that he would enjoy in depth studies of the laws of a place that allowed slavery. Requiring the law to spell out every little detail was an exercise in frustration. Unfortunately, it was entirely necessary for the sorts of people who weren't willing to follow basic principles of not harming others. Anton could see that details were necessary where there were misunderstandings, but too many people tried to do whatever they could get away with and not what was right.

Consulting about legal matters with Kohar resulted in an understanding that while the law was supposed to be fair and just, it was always slightly less perfect than those who created it. It was also woefully insufficient for dealing with certain matters. While it was completely obvious that the Iron Ring Slavers willfully accepted slaves from illegal sources, they would only be punished for the relatively small fraction that people could prove. Such punishments were little more than a slap on the wrist, though much of that had to do with connections and influence on the court system.

Power was really what it came down to in the end. Laws that dealt with cultivators were only enforceable when other cultivators chose to do so. Ofrurg as a whole condoned slavery, and thus was only minimally interested in enforcing proper practices where it didn't concern their own citizens. Even if the lawsuit went flawlessly, the Iron Ring Slavers would survive, and they and others would just put more work into not getting caught. They would only stop if it cost more than they expected to make.

But just because the Iron Ring Slavers wouldn't be crippled didn't mean it wouldn't be worth the time, effort, and expense. It would still be some amount of damage to them, and it might encourage others to come forward with similar cases. It was also a statement that their practices wouldn't be accepted. One step. But inside the court certainly was dull.

Stepping outside at the end of the day, Anton allowed himself to sigh. "Thank you, everyone, for supporting me in this matter."

Hoyt looked qually deflated, "The worst part is we can't even cultivate. Gotta keep out energy on lockdown."

"It's kind of like mental training," Timothy pointed out, "But I still hate it."

"The flow of energy in the courtroom is subpar," Catarina commented, "It almost seems designed for misery, but it's too random."

"I just want to crawl into a corner…" Velvet said.

Kohar looked slightly better than the rest, but still tired. "I just want to remind you all that great strides have been made. Your presence is helpful, even if you rarely are called upon to speak. I hate to say it, but this has been one of the more expedient cases I've worked on."

Anton shook his head, "Yet it has still taken more than a month. This task takes great fortitude. I appreciate your work as well, Kohar."

The various reports from the Ears of the Fox hadn't been cheap, but Anton found their contents quite worthwhile. The unfortunate problem was that they provided no solutions on their own. He was confident enough in his current strength to at least acquire the information on Van Hassel and Slusser.

The good news was that they appeared to have little talent for cultivation. Various sightings indicated that their cultivators were still lingering in mid Spirit Building. Still uncomfortably strong for Anton, but he felt he should be able to catch up to them.

Recent activities included traveling to various countries around Ofrurg, and the reports were able to tie more raiding and slaving to them with decent certainty. Nothing quite so extreme as what had happened in Graotan with entire villages being destroyed, but the continued destruction bothered Anton.

Their activities were known, but they hadn't yet been stopped. They didn't cause trouble in Ofrurg, but even so merely having a formation master shouldn't have been enough to keep them safe as they caused trouble outside of Ofrurg. There were signs of interference by a more powerful group. That was the Heavenly Lion Sect, from which Maximillian Van Hassel had technically been expelled.

Yet he was the son of an elder, and was clearly still receiving some support. That made things more complicated, because while there were no official ties, it would still be difficult to find and kill him. There weren't alternatives to that. Not that Anton was willing to accept. It was merely about how long it would take him to be strong enough to do so.

He was fairly confident that he and the four other members of the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars could take two mid Spirit Building cultivators in a straight battle. If they managed to ambush them, he thought they might even avoid any heavy injuries on their side. Yet thoughts like that ignored the likelihood they would have additional men with them. Even if those men were mostly still in Body Tempering, that would shift the odds. That also discounted the possibility of a hidden guardian of some sort.

Making any sort of attempt on his life within the borders of Ofrurg was probably a terrible idea. The Heavenly Lion Sect was a powerful sect with dozens of Essence Collection cultivators, including Maximillian's father. Even if most of the sect truly rejected him, the additional power there wasn't something Anton could deal with even counting his allies.

The only option was to catch them outside Ofrurg, preferably somewhere sympathetic to the Order and Graotan. It would be safest if he could work with another sect. He wouldn't even mind just providing them with sufficient information to hunt him down, though if possible he wanted to be there in person to see him die. He'd seen portraits of the man, and only his training in Emotion kept him from tearing them up. That would be unhelpful. Even if he remembered the face, having something he could show others would be useful.

The other pieces of information the Ears of the Fox had for him were about Devon and Annelise. Overall he found that it was good news, but he couldn't say it made him happy.

Devon continued to grow in cultivation, though his cultivation still seemed to be mid to late Body Tempering. It was presumed that was due to a lack of proper training and an inadequate cultivation technique. His talent seemed to be middling, not poor but not truly noteworthy. He was still kept to fight at the Potenza Arena in Khonard. He was alive, and hadn't been put into any fights where he was seriously injured. Perhaps that was simply good management of resources, but Anton thought at least some of it was because of the pressure Elder Varela of the Grasping Willows had helped apply. From what he'd learned, if slaves were allowed to cultivate they usually were placed into harder and harder matches until they broke, for the sake of an entertaining 'journey' for the crowds to watch. Another practice of Ofrurg he despised. Anton understood appreciating watching a good battle, but cultivators could fight without bloodshed and death.

Annelise was now in her early teenage years. The news about her was encouraging, but also problematic. She had been purchased by the Frostmirror Sect as a slave. Now she was free, but a member of the sect. It was entirely possible it would be more difficult for her to leave them than if she was a slave. They wouldn't want to let her go, especially with what Anton learned about her progress. She was 'only' in late Body Tempering, but besides that being a good result for less than two years of cultivation there were other factors. Age was generally important in cultivation. Too young and the body wasn't developed enough to cultivate at full potential safely. Too old, and the body also couldn't handle it. She was making impressive strides with those circumstances.

Anton knew he was far on the other end. His old body had still been healthy enough to have a chance when he first began cultivating. Cultivating without thought of whether or not it would kill him allowed him to push past the beginning stages where the burden on his body lightened. If he'd been a little less healthy or insufficiently determined, he might have died or failed to achieve even the first star. Now his body was rejuvenated to merely an advanced age and he had to immerse himself in gathering insights from every available opportunity to continue advancing. He knew even that wouldn't be enough if he wasn't suited for energy cultivation, but he was fortunate in that regard.

He wanted to meet Annelise, but it wouldn't be simple to contact her. Just approaching and asking the sect had a small chance of his message being delivered, but if she believed him to be dead she might think he was an impostor. If he tried and was rejected, future attempts to meet her would be stymied. If he could manage to see her in person, she would absolutely recognize him. The only question was how to arrange for that to happen. He was still looking into it, but there were various events she might get involved with. Cultivators liked competing against each other in contests of all sorts, though so far Anton had not been involved with any. He was too old to participate in many, even if he had only just begun cultivating recently.

Plans were already underway to retrieve Devon. He would prefer to do it without further conflict with the Potenza family, mostly so they couldn't retaliate against Devon, but he would have to go in person. Annelise would have to wait. Other family… he would find those he could. It already felt like it had been an eternity, but now he felt capable of finishing the mission he had set for himself.

Chapter 110

Nothing was as easy as it should be. The Iron Ring Slavers tried every trick in the book and even wrote some new ones to hide their crimes. Kohar was determined not only to win, but to do so resoundingly. She couldn't do it all on her own, but she didn't have to. Having four Spirit Building cultivators around just providing their presence was beneficial by providing a greater sense of legitimacy to her case- and the fact that they were from the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars meant they couldn't be completely ignored. It also meant that if Kohar was to mysteriously 'disappear' things couldn't just be brushed under the rug, though she had taken steps to prevent that regardless. When by the end of the first month the four Spirit Building cultivators became five, Kohar found herself somewhat jealous. Was stepping into Spirit Building so easy? Perhaps she might ask for advice, but she had business to finish first.

The Iron Ring Slavers did their best to drag their feet, trying to stall or entirely prevent having to produce the required documents. They attempted to claim that some of the people hadn't ever been sold to them. Kohar was certain they bribed some people to push back against the lawsuit. She received a threatening letter which intended to consume itself after she read it, possibly explosively. Catarina spotted that and disabled it by slicing just a single line in the paper, which left them with a useful piece of evidence- though tracing it to the Iron Ring Slavers in a sense of legal proof might be difficult.

Everything that needed to be done was far too much work for one person, but Kohar didn't have to work alone. Anton Krantz had been part of the village of Dungannon and was willing to throw large amounts of money her way. Kohar took her proper payment for her time, but even that part of it mostly went to the same place as the rest- hiring additional hands. When they finally received documents, there were far too many for even a peak Body Tempering cultivator to read over in a reasonable amount of time. Most of them were unrelated to the case or clearly falsified documents. It was frustrating that it took what was basically bribes to get proper sanctions against them and require them to produce the original documents, but at least the money was available.

There wasn't just work to do in Veron, because she needed to notify every person who had bought one of them. They were basically threats disguised as legal missives, informing them that any further harm to befall any of the former villagers of Dungannon would be prosecuted to the fullest extent. It wasn't possible to punish them for previous actions as slave owners could do almost whatever they wished with a slave and they could, possibly legitimately, claim that they bought the slaves in good faith that everything was proper and legal. Preventing any further harm even before the end of the legal action was critical.

As time passed it became more clear to Kohar that they would be successful, at least at the surface level. Those who still lived would be freed. The Iron Ring Slavers would be forced to refund the sale price for all of them. The slave owners might complain about that, but Kohar had already prepared to deal with them claiming increases in value. Honestly she was ambivalent about whatever resulted from individual events of that sort, because whether the Iron Ring Slavers or the slave owners had the money it still supported the cause of slavery. What she was really pushing for was further penalties to the Iron Ring Slavers in the form of fines and restrictions, plus recompense for those who had been unlawfully enslaved. The latter of those was unfortunately not always required, but since it was basically intended to assuage cultivators if something happened to someone they knew there was actually a good chance to get some amount of payment- though ironically not nearly as much as the sale price of a slave.

The four younger cultivators displayed clear potential and the promise of later difficulty if things didn't go their way, but Kohar personally found herself more concerned about Anton. Well, not actually concerned- none of his ire was directed towards her. Instead, it came out in his every movement as he stood in the courtroom. His face was calm, his back straight, and his heart murderous. Yet he was in complete control of his emotions, never reacting to provocations in anger.

Nobody was allowed to use their cultivation to suppress others in the courtroom. That was the law, but what it practically meant was that nobody was allowed to attack people or put physical pressure on them. Once Anton had seen what others got away with he consulted Kohar, and then he began openly impressing those strong emotions upon people. It was occasionally enough to make the lawyers from the Iron Ring Slavers choke on their words or stumble and admit to certain sorts of wrongdoing. Every little bit helped the cause.

Dozens of papers sat on a table in front of Anton. It disturbed him that the lives of people were reduced to just ink and paper, but that was the current state of Ofrurg.

One pile were those who had not survived. Illness, accident, or foul tempered masters were the main causes. One had been killed by wild beasts while working on a farm that generally took decent care of its slaves. Another pile was those who were missing. Several were said to have escaped. Others were bought by roaming cultivators who were unable to be contacted. Some seemingly hadn't ever been registered at the Iron Ring Slavers.

Anton didn't intend to take every declaration at face value- owners might have decided that the slave was worth more to them than a refund for whatever reason. He doubted many would do that- they could receive payment as if the slave was new and in good condition- but some people were very attached to certain slaves or just stubborn and unwilling to give up something that was theirs.

He would be taking advantage of his friends and allies to move throughout the country and help retrieve those who had been freed. Some would not be in any condition to travel, nor would they necessarily have the resources. In the worst case, as lone foreigners they might find themselves right back in slavery with fewer tracks to follow.

So many friends and family reduced to pieces of paper, though Anton had to admit the majority were merely acquaintances. He might have fond memories of them, but his closest friends had been older. Even the ones decades younger than himself weren't slave material. As for family… none of his children were alive. None of them were young. Even some of his grandchildren and their spouses had been older than people liked as slaves. Half had died in the attack on Dungannon, and he now only had six who survived and had known locations. Every individual who had not was another reason to kill Maximillian Van Hassel and possibly everyone connected to him… if he was able. After everyone was as safe as they could be.

Anton's great-grandchildren started with Annelie, at least if he were counting those from Dungannon. He might have others elsewhere in Graotan, but he was confident they would have at least decent lives there. In the decade since Annelie had been born, he had ten more great grandchildren. All of them had been sold to various training facilities, and while they were alive… two years of that at such a young age would certainly have been disastrous for their mental development.

The furniture in the room was trembling. Anton's control of energy was better than to accidentally destroy things, but he realized he wasn't fully controlled. He breathed out slowly, feeling the way his energy flowed out of him and affected the room. He wasn't naturally talented in that area. Sensing energy in the form of armor or an attack or in large concentrations was simple enough, but the flow of things was more obtuse to his senses. He was now taking the opportunity to train that sense. For the fourteenth star, he was training Spiritual Connection with the guidance of Catarina. Her natural talent had let her assist others who had similar leanings, like Pete, but only when she properly trained that sense in Spirit Building was she able to help others.

His energy circulated through his meridians, through his body, and a small part through the room. He brushed against the edges of the room and the formation Catarina had set up. While the inn they were staying at should be secure, being more certain of that wouldn't hurt. She couldn't carve into the walls and just shuffling furniture around wasn't sufficient, but she had purchased some formation flags and wardstone. They allowed quickly setting up formations and even keeping them more stable, though they weren't as good as anything permanent. With Catarina's talent, she would get more out of modifying the surrounding terrain in a specific area, but that could take hours to have a better effect. The reason she didn't purchase them before was that each set cost more than a thousand contribution points, and a larger formation could require all of them. The price wasn't actually excessive- both formation flags and wardstones needed to be made out of special materials that could withstand the flow of large amounts of energy. Those who constructed them were rare, even among cultivators.

The papers were left where they were, to be properly distributed in the morning. Looking at them longer wouldn't help, and Anton wanted to cultivate. Carefully, because he first needed to determine if his current mental state would poison his cultivation or allow him to push forward. He didn't want to settle for short term gains when he needed to reach the very peak… or at least whatever he could manage. While Body Tempering and the early part of Spirit Building had progressed far more smoothly than they should have at his age, it was inevitable that he would come across some sort of roadblock sooner or later. Whether he could surpass it or not was a different question.

Chapter 111

Simply being in Spirit Building was not enough for Velvet to feel comfortable traveling alone. Her concerns were handled without her even having to voice them. While any of them would probably be safe on their own, it was decided that people would travel in pairs. That still allowed them to cover much more ground while still supporting each other. They were arranged more or less by strength, higher and lower being together. That put Velvet with Hoyt, who was well into the twelfth star. Catarina and Timothy were together, along with Fuzz who didn't really count. Though Fuzz seemed to think he did. Maybe, soon… that wolf was growing stronger rapidly. Right now he was probably equivalent to a Mid Body tempering cultivator. Maybe a bit less intelligent. No, that wasn't quite right. Fuzz had a different sort of intelligence. He was currently unable to cultivate on his own, but Catarina had been the one to save him and was devoted to helping him improve.

That left just Anton at Spirit Building, with Kohar at the peak of Body Tempering. The two old folk together, though Kohar was probably closer to the age of any of the rest of them than to Anton's age. Velvet couldn't be sure, because it was rude to ask. They would be handling some of the more difficult tasks, mostly on the legal side. Hopefully just that.

"Well," Velvet looked down at the papers she held in her hands. They went into a proper carrying case so they wouldn't be damaged. "I suppose we should get going."

It bothered her that she held in her hands the futures of over a dozen people. She didn't have the only copies of things, but the part that bothered her most was that they even had to do anything. That slavery was possible. Her early life hadn't been happy, not by a long shot, but she at least hadn't been at risk of slavery. Probably. The villagers of Dungannon probably hadn't thought about it either. Yet things came to where they were.

Awful.

Velvet cultivated, like many cultivators, for her own personal power. Sure, she had probably intended to lord it over people some. Maybe get back at those who deserved retribution. Maybe kill some people. Enslaving people was insane. And slaughtering most of a village? Velvet had heard about cultivators of the sort, but she thought they were simply scary stories. An insane thing that nobody would even attempt because they couldn't get away with it. But apparently they could. For a while, at least. Until Anton killed them. He would, too. His rate of growth was freakish. Not really any faster than the quite talented Hoyt and Catarina, but he didn't have to be. She wondered how he grew so strong. She'd thought it was some sort of secret. Maybe it was, but not in the way she'd thought.

Hard work. Talent. Cooperation. Those all fed into it. The last she was still getting used to, but she understood it in principle. That would get people somewhere, but people had noticed. Rumors spread. Anton was willing to share the truth about why he was cultivating, though he'd greatly unexaggerated his desire for revenge. Velvet wasn't sure which rumors about his training were true, but the one she gave the most credit was the one where Vincent told the other elders. People weren't supposed to talk about personal things like that, but it would always happen. Even if it was just a little. As soon as he got his hands on the cultivation scroll, he cultivated like mad. Not just day and night, constantly pushing forward. That better fit the descriptor tireless.

No, he cultivated like a madman.

Tireless geniuses sat in a field or atop a nice mountain and breathed in pure air, rapidly reshaping their bodies. Madmen dragged their nearly dead bodies back to their destroyed village and cultivated their body by digging graves for months. The trickling rumors weren't so detailed in that part, but Velvet had seen what was left of Dungannon. They had stopped to pay their respects on the way, and the fields of graves… that wasn't something a normal person could do. She would have gone insane from that. Maybe he did, but Anton was certainly sane now. Scarily so, sometimes. Velvet had thought crazy people would be more frightening, but the way Anton looked at people in the courtroom made her glad she hadn't pushed things too far in the past.

Her mistakes had been forgiven, right? No, this was no time to doubt his sincerity. He wasn't the tricky sort, but the straightforward vengeful kind. And the compassionate, helping kind. To that end, she needed to do her part.

Travel with Hoyt was awkward. It wasn't his fault, but Velvet wasn't sure if it was hers either. It just was. They were two allies who had trained together and participated in a single mission. A few months of shallow experience compared to a stunning performance in The Hunt where they saved a village nobody even knew could be in danger. Maybe if she had… no, she wasn't the right person to have participated at that point. She likely would have fled to protect herself. She couldn't say for sure if she was still that person or not.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," the woman squeezed Velvet's hands as she cried tears of joy.

"I didn't- I… am just helping out Anton Krantz." She didn't do anything worth thanking. At best she was a delivery girl bringing money that wasn't hers. "We're, uh, planning to travel around to gather some others. We aren't leaving Ofrurg directly, but we can escort you as we travel. It might be safer."

The woman closed her eyes for a second. "The two of you are cultivators? Strong ones?"

"We're… better than the weakest." Velvet felt strong, but there was so much more growing she could do. She knew that many other cultivators were stronger. Most of them, in fact. She hadn't been cultivating for that long yet, despite her success. That wasn't the right thing to say though. "I can beat some people who have trained for a decade or more." That was more encouraging, and was true even if she didn't count people eternally stuck at the beginning of cultivation. Cultivation speed could vary so widely.

The woman nodded. "Then yes, I will put my trust in the two of you."

Shadows could cloak a person, but unnatural shadow was just as obvious as standing in the open. The proper way to sneak about involved good body control and careful regulation of energy for use only when necessary. A creaky door could be silenced, footfalls softened, and legs made swift to avoid the gaze of a guard. If she didn't have to worry about cultivators sensing her, Velvet could simply cease breathing and circulate air into and out of her lungs with energy. It was extremely strange, and rarely useful.

Perception was just as important. You didn't have to hide from a guard if you went where they weren't going to be. You watched their patrols from afar, heard their steps around a corner, felt the floor tremble.

She crept up behind her target. One hand went over the mouth. Immediately, hands and feet flailed at her. "It's alright. Just don't scream." It took a moment for the scared man to calm down. "Yes yes, I'm not supposed to be here. I get it. Will you promise not to shout when I remove my hand?" The man nodded. Velvet did so and waited, preparing to run. She didn't have another way to get what she wanted. Hurting someone wouldn't help her. The man just stood there, stock still. "Good." She pulled out a paper, holding it in front of the man. "Do you know who this is?" The man nodded. "You can speak. Just quietly."

"I know him. His name was Barnaby."

"Was?" Velvet asked. "What happened to him?"

"Died of the bloody plague."

"Are you sure?" Velvet asked.

"I think so. I mean, he was really sick. I hadn't seen it before, but that's what the doctor said it was."

"A doctor was called in?"

The man nodded once more. "Keeps the rest of us from getting sick."

"Sure he's dead?"

"Saw the body carried out. Well, it was covered up- but I don't doubt it was Barnaby. Nobody else got sick."

Velvet was gone before he could notice the silence and even think to turn around. If he had, she was wearing a mask to cover her face. A voice might be suspicious, but it was hardly something to identify someone by.

So this one was dead, just like the report said. Another slave not expecting to be questioned shouldn't be ready to lie, and she'd seen no sign of Barnaby anywhere at work or in the slave quarters. She had to check though. She had no doubt that there would be a few deceivers among those enslaving their assigned people.

At the current time they'd confirmed six. Four traveled with them, Barnaby dead, and one was seen leaving the area on his own. He was free to do so, and leaving right away had been the best choice if he was going to do it. Velvet wasn't sure if it was safe to do so, but she also wasn't sure if traveling with them was truly safe. The world was crazy. There were people out there as much stronger than her than the bandits had been compared to non-cultivators. A scary thought, and something she planned to rectify if at all possible.

Just another handful, and they could go meet up with Anton. Then everyone could thank him instead of her and Hoyt, who wouldn't even have known anything was wrong without Anton.

Chapter 112

Everything should have been fine, but for some reason it was not. The pack had returned to the big pack, the Order-pack. It had been safe there, with abundant food that didn't even need to be hunted for and natural energy of the most pleasant sort. Even out in the forest where the unpleasant ants and razor birds lived the problems had been resolved with the help of a pack 'elder'.

Now the pack leaders had taken him along with them, leaving behind weaker pack members. Timothy had properly reclaimed his status as 'friend', though Fuzz wasn't sure what Velvet was in relation to the pack. She certainly was part of the Order-pack. He could smell the same energy in her. She came with them as some sort of ally.

Then there had been a long time of remaining in a single city. Fuzz didn't understand why. Nobody was happy. They didn't hunt or gather other resources. The opportunities to cultivate weren't anything special. Fuzz wasn't even allowed to come into the building they spent all day inside, which was strange. It seemed a courthouse didn't allow low ranking pack members inside, but he scented many weaker than himself entering. Strange.

It was only afterwards that Fuzz understood they were looking for pack members. Anton had been part of a large pack, not as big as the Order-pack but still precious to him. Timothy and Catarina split from the rest of the pack along with himself. They travelled quickly to other cities where they found what were apparently Anton's former packmates. They had been lost, somehow, but now they were found.

These packmates were weak. Without cultivation. Fuzz didn't know how to show them how to cultivate energy, but he made sure to bring them meat so that they could develop a strong body. At first he didn't understand why they cooked it on a fire and left the bones behind, but he did find it nice when meat was warm. The bones went to him, even when he tried to insist others should eat them. Fuzz would not let them be wasted, so he eventually ate them himself. They cracked apart easily, releasing tasty marrow and crunchy tidbits of bone. Fuzz remembered gnawing on bones when he was just a little pup, how hard it was to bite through- but now he was able to do it with ease even without using his energy. His new pack made him strong.

Cities were often paved with stone, and roads were made of packed dirt or stone. Such ground was unpleasant on his pads, but better than stepping on thorns. Fuzz had few thorns he had to worry about now, but he knew they existed. The Order-pack had plants with very sharp thorns that he only tried to sniff inside once. They had tasty energy fruit buried inside, but his snout was all cut up. Not a good trade.

Normally the pack traveled on such terrain but now they were off the road. They were looking for someone. A packmate of Anton's. No, it was more than that. One of his offspring, or at least a kin of some sort. Fuzz wasn't sure exactly, but it was like the word for Catarina. A great daughter.

The one they were looking for had been gone for a whole week from where they thought they were going to meet her. Catarina and Timothy hadn't been happy about that, but apparently she hadn't listened to the other pack, or something. It was a big problem. One week was a long time. Scents were hard to follow after a week, and it was even worse when he didn't know what he was smelling for. He had been taken to Alva's room but it had been 'cleaned' and it only smelled like other people staying at that house. They didn't have a trail for him to follow, or more than a vague direction they thought she had gone.

So Fuzz was running around snuffling up the forest. His lungs were very strong now, so when he snuffled too hard he pulled up dirt and it made him sneeze. He was surprised by that. Dirt was supposed to stay on the ground, not go in the air. He made sure to adjust his method, keeping his nose a bit higher. His scent abilities had gotten better, especially if he used energy. He just had to find signs of someone.

Five people besides their pack had passed through this area recently. Seventeen squirrels, two boars, a bear, some kinds of birds Fuzz didn't recognize, and countless insects also filled the area. But he knew what humans smelled like. Humans smelled like salt and like cotton and leather, and sometimes metal.

It wasn't clear to Fuzz which he should follow. He wandered back and forth on the trail. He had gotten ahead of Catarina and Timothy, but he was still close enough to hear them. They were very slow because of all the other pack members, so he didn't want to wait. He could cover more area on his own.

The trail split. Most of the human scents weren't from the same time, but it was an easy path to walk along. Now they could spread out in two general directions. Which one should he follow?

Fuzz sniffed hard, getting a noseful of dirt and leaves. It was all too faint. Who did he want? Something… he sniffed more, using energy to pull in more air but also block big chunks from hitting his nose. Was that what he wanted? He was looking for kin of Anton, which would also be kin of Catarina. Besides the smell of the Ninety-Nine Stars, they had very little scent in common… but there was one bit of smell here that matched that. With no better idea, Fuzz followed that one.

The trail scent grew stronger. Fuzz was much faster than a normal human, and though the trail wandered around without specific direction he knew he was able to cut ahead at some points. He was going at a quick trot. The current trail was no longer a week old. Only a few days. Maybe less. Fresh since the last rain.

Most of the beasts avoided Fuzz. Squirrels and rabbits didn't want to be eaten, and he had no time to hunt them. Deer ran away quickly, but he didn't give chase. A boar wandered into view. It was big. Tough. He was on its territory. Fuzz growled. He didn't have time to fight a boar. The boar pawed the ground as if about to charge… then turned away. Good.

Paws found their way over dirt and roots and leaves and sticks. Bushes got in the way and he ploughed through them or jumped over. The scent was getting closer. Now he was no longer close enough to Timothy and Catarina to hear them, but he would be able to find them. He knew where their trail would be, and was very familiar with their scent. He had to find this kin of Anton.

She was close. Then Fuzz heard a scream. His claws tore the ground as he moved, propelling him forward with great speed. He no longer cared about the trail. No more time wasted with scents, just running. His lungs and heart pumped quickly as he ran, panting to cool himself. Screams continued, but he was getting close.

Then he saw it. A great cat, and a king of the forest. One paw was one the leg of a human girl-child. It could have easily leaned forward to bite her neck and finish her off, but it was toying with her. Fuzz barely even needed scent to know this was the kin of Anton and Catarina.

He howled and charged. He hoped that Timothy and Catarina would hear him. The cat was not just larger than himself. As a king of the forest, it had energy just like Fuzz did. That energy was stronger than his, deep and old.

The great cat turned from its prey towards him. It knew it could safely ignore the girl to face Fuzz. That was what he intended. He couldn't allow more harm to come to Anton's kin. If he had hesitated to draw the beast's attention, it could have slain her at any moment.

With no packmates to aid him, Fuzz could not use his usual tactics. He would have liked to circle around behind the creature and pull its leg, but that was simply impossible. He had to do this differently.

The cat had no time to ready for a pounce as Fuzz charged it. His paw slashed towards the cat's nose, and in return the cat clawed at him. Fuzz ducked his body under the attack while his own paw scraped along the creature's nose. Barely a scratch. The creature's energy was stronger, resisting his attack. He pulled back, wary of the cat's longer reach.

If he stayed too far he could not attack, but if he approached too close it could crush him with its weight. He also had to make sure it didn't go towards the child. Fuzz relied on his quick reflexes and turning ability to move around it, attacking from an angle on its right side. The right side was dangerous a quick paw slashing out, and he felt blood trail along his ear and down his head and neck. His own attack barely connected, and didn't even leave a shallow mark. His teeth remained ready for a moment when he saw an extended neck, but he found no opportunity.

He pulled back to circle around to the other side. His turning allowed him to see that the human girl was dragging herself away. Hopefully she could escape, but if Fuzz did not win the battle it would do little good. All that could be hoped for would be the cat getting bored and not her being far enough to escape.

Fuzz didn't want to let Anton's kin die, but he also didn't want to die. He wasn't able to choose between the two options, which meant he had to win even though he didn't think he could. He howled once more, hoping Timothy and Catarina could hear him. He was quite far, and human ears were weak.

He lunged towards the cat's left side. Its reaction was a bit slower, and his fangs dug into its shoulder. In return, the creature fell on him, then turned itself to tower over him. Fuzz lashed out with his teeth to keep himself safe, but it would only last so long. The creature was bigger and stronger, and he was in a disadvantageous position. Fuzz noticed that it didn't really focus its energy on one particular place, but it was enough stronger it didn't need to.

One paw pressed down on his chest, cracking his ribs. Jaw opened wide to bite down at his neck. Fuzz knew he was going to die. Then a tiny rock hit the cat in the head. Such a small rock didn't even cause its head to move, but it shifted its weight and slightly lifted its paw. Fuzz immediately attacked. He didn't have the energy to resist its attacks, so he didn't. Everything he had went into his jaws and teeth. It was almost too much- as he tried to lengthen his teeth he found it pushing against his mouth. He softened it to not affect him as he lunged for the cat's throat.

Warm, sweet blood filled his mouth. He tore, flung away what he had in his mouth, then bit again. And again, and again, until the cries of the great cat faded away. The great cat had fallen atop him, pinning him down. His ribs were broken. His head and neck were bleeding, along with his belly and side. Fuzz pushed, trying to get the cat off. It would be a shame to die after killing it.

He couldn't do it. He was dizzy from loss of blood, tired. Nearly out of energy. Then he heard a little voice. It was the human-girl. She wasn't saying anything he recognized as words, just grunts of exertion. He saw her pushing against the side of the cat, as if she could even slightly affect it. How silly. Then he heard a cry of pain. She was pushing with her legs, her back pressed against the beast. That included her injured leg. But she didn't stop.

Fuzz growled, trying to get her to just leave him, but she either didn't hear or didn't understand.

How pathetic. How could he give up when Anton's kin still wanted to rescue him? He growled, not with any sort of meaning but just to express himself. His legs pushed, his ribs strained and ached and felt like they might break even further. Then something snapped, but it wasn't his ribs. The great cat's body flew off of him over to the side, and Fuzz rolled onto his belly. He tried to bend to lick the wound on his side, but his body wouldn't listen. He slumped into unconsciousness, but not before he felt warm arms around his neck.

Chapter 113

The howl of a wolf carried through the air as Catarina sprinted through the trees. Fuzz had been scouting ahead, getting further and further from the rest of the group. Timothy and Catarina could have both kept up, but even mildly dangerous animals would be a threat to the handful of common folk they had with them.

There shouldn't be anything dangerous to Spirit Building cultivators, but Fuzz was weaker than that. He was just a little wolf pup. Well, very big for a pup but still smaller than he would be when full grown.

His defenseless and weak form lingered in Catarina's memory as she moved closer to where the sound came from. Soon she could sense his energy, but it was weak instead of vibrant. Closer, and she sensed a larger energy that was even more faded. Finally, she sensed another life, just before she came into view of the scene.

Blood was everywhere, soaking into the leaves and splattered across the bark of the trees. It took a moment for Catarina to figure out what one of the creatures was under all the blood and viscera. Some sort of large cat, bigger than a wolf. Its head might have been rib height on a human if it was standing.

It only took a moment for Catarina to find what she was actually looking for. Fuzz was there- along with a young girl somewhere around ten years of age wrapped around his bloody body. Was this Alva? She heard breath from both figures, but Fuzz sounded nearly as weak as when he had first been found- after the parasitic moss had been removed from him.

Catarina didn't have any medicines or treatments specifically meant for wolves, but she had coagulants to help stop the bleeding, bandages, and needle and thread for stitching. She carefully pried off the unconscious child, relieved that none of the blood seemed to be hers- though noting a broken leg.

Though she had little in the way of real medical training, Catarina's hands were swift and dextrous as she stitched closed the most grievous wounds. She traced her fingers along the patterns cut into Fuzz' fur and above the new wounds without touching them. The practice of turning people into living formations was discouraged in Graotan because it often resulted in mutilations and death, but Fuzz had already been about to die.

Though he was visibly much worse looking at the moment, Catarina believed he was probably better off. His body was tempered with energy and though his durability had already been tested with his wounds, Fuzz' recovery should be higher. His flow of energy wasn't quite right, so she shaved more fur in an attempt to stabilize things. She had a feel for what was right, and some actual study on the topic now instead of what she had done spontaneously. When she was finished, if Fuzz wasn't covered in blood Catarina almost would have thought he was having a nap.

The little girl had bags under her eyes and was thin. Wandering around in the forest for a week was bound to be exhausting. She was lucky the area was warm enough for her to survive the night, and that she hadn't run into danger sooner. Catarina thought to let her rest, but they needed to set that leg sooner rather than later.

The first thing she did was cut down a small tree. A sword wasn't the best tool for the job, but with the addition of energy it was like slicing through a soft cake. She carved out straight lengths of wood to use as a splint. She didn't know if she should wake the girl up or set her leg while she was unconscious.

Finally she decided that waking up to pain wouldn't be a good first impression. Catarina gently touched her shoulder to shake her awake. It took more than just a little effort, but eventually the girl's eyes opened. "Hello," Catarina said softly. "Are you Alva?"

Alva nodded, staring for a moment. "Who… are you?"

"I'm Catarina. I'm… hmm… it's hard to explain. Do you remember your great-grandpa Anton? He sent me to help you."

"Really?" her eyes grew wide. "What about mom and dad?" She sat up and winced.

"I don't know," Catarina admitted. "Listen, I'm going to have to set the bones in your leg. It will hurt, but it won't heal right if I don't. Okay?"

Alva bit her lip. "Okay."

"Get ready." Catarina really hoped it wouldn't hurt that much. She let her energy flow into the wounded leg, grabbing onto the larger broken bones and with them the smaller pieces. It wasn't a clean break, but if she could get it close there were bone-healing medicines for humans that she had.

Despite her best efforts to ease the movement of the bones, they made a snap as she moved them back into place and Alva cried out in pain. Catarina quickly applied the splints, wrapping them tightly. She realized she should have used painkillers of some sort. She'd spent too much time with cultivators who could push through the pain. Alva was doing her best, but tears streamed down her face. What medicines were bad to mix? Catarina could regulate what happened inside her own body, but Alva couldn't.

She shook her head and held out a pill, a little ball of crushed and refined herbs. The most important thing was the bone recovery medicine. Hopefully the pain wasn't too much now that things were properly set. "I need you to swallow this." Alva nodded, sniffling, and Catarina floated it through the air with her energy. She knew it would taste bad, so she avoided letting it touch Alva's tongue. When it got closer to her throat Alva swallowed more out of surprise than anything else.

She coughed and sputtered, sending Catarina into a panic until it subsided a moment later- and she felt there wasn't anything stuck in the girl's lungs. When Alva finished coughing, she looked at Catarina. "Are you… a cultivator?"

"That's right," Catarina said."

"Can you teach me?"

An awkward question. She absolutely could- and would- but she didn't know how much cultivation young children could do. Since Body Tempering was first, it was somewhat dangerous for those whose bodies hadn't fully developed. Another danger was that during the teenage years hormones ran wild, disrupting thinking processes and increasing the chance of making a serious mistake that could lead to crippling injury. "Maybe not right away," Catarina said, "But I will, when it's safe."

Moving Alva while injured was possible, but Fuzz was also unconscious. Instead of pushing them, Catarina gave Alva something to eat and started setting up a simple formation to protect the area.

It was nightfall when Timothy and the others finally caught up. Most of the others were exhausted, but elated to see Alva was found and relatively unharmed. Even those who didn't have contact with her before were relieved to know a young girl was safe.

"I can't believe it," said a man with whitish-blond hair. "I thought for sure you died in the attack. And to learn you're a cultivator…"

"I wasn't," Anton said. "And I only survived by chance. I was outside of town."

Anton knew the former owner of a small restaurant was called Reuben. Though most of his food was raised and prepared by his family, sometimes when they visited the main part of Dungannon they'd gone to eat at his place. Maybe not more than yearly himself, but they knew each other well enough.

"In the giant snowstorm?" Reuben shook his head. "If it was someone else, I wouldn't have believed it."

"It was a bad winter. People were hungry."

"Don't have to explain to me. I know you well enough. A tough old guy, that's for sure." Reuben looked Anton up and down. "You look… younger? Maybe it's just faulty memory, but you were a bit more wrinkled before."

"Like a prune," Anton admitted. "Cultivation helps somewhat."

"I tried it once," Reuben said. "Cultivation. Didn't get anywhere in a couple years."

"Maybe I can point you in the right direction," Anton said. "It'll be good for you to even get some initial success." Anton looked over towards Kohar. "I've found comparing experiences to be very helpful to my own cultivation. I'd be glad to have you join us, if you're willing." She had enough time spent as a cultivator he knew she really should have useful insights despite being lower cultivation than him. Since she cultivated a different technique than the Ninety-Nine Stars he wasn't sure if he could help her surpass Body Tempering, but he wanted to try.

"I would be glad to exchange thoughts," Kohar agreed. "Because of my chosen path, I spend less time cultivating than I might like. Many find the study of law a waste of time, and trying to help others with it even more so."

"It's a most honorable choice," Anton said. "I have some thoughts about helping strangers in some potential future where I solve all of my own problems first, but at the moment this is mostly just for myself." He inclined his head to Reuben, "Sorry to say it."

"Hah!" Reuben's face spread into a wide smile, "I'm not going to complain about whatever reasons you had to help get me free. Besides, I know you have a good heart. You didn't ask me to swear eternal loyalty to you or sacrifice my life or anything."

"Oh, did I forget to mention that part?" Anton grinned.

It was nice, to be happy for a few moments, but he still had some of his most important steps ahead. He was absolutely willing to admit that his own family was worth more to him than other people, and Devon was waiting for him.

Chapter 114

It was almost hard to remember life before everything had become a total mess. Yet those precious memories from before were the things Devon clung to the most. Memories of comfort and community. There was little enough of each in his current life.

His accommodations were ever so slightly better than they had been in the Irvin arena. The bed was nearly tolerable, the floors were cleaned almost monthly, and the food was more abundant. The danger was more variable.

In the Irvin arena he had to fight for his life primarily against wild beasts. Sometimes they were starved, the effects of which varied by the animal. If they were too starved they were easier to fight, which suited Devon just fine. He didn't mind killing an easy opponent. He would even do his best to make it look somewhat difficult. He didn't care about the crowd but when his life was in control of someone else, he had to adapt. There had also been a few fights against humans there. Not all of them were to the death- slaves cost money after all.

After he'd been casually given an admittedly poor cultivation technique, he quickly grew stronger. A cultivator's body was much stronger than anyone else, and the versatility and power of energy couldn't be overcome by simply having a stronger build. He ended up against stronger opponents but he himself grew quickly enough to defend himself. Enough that the Irvin arena was running out of opponents for him- and the guards were barely higher cultivation than himself.

Then he had been bought by the Potenza family- or more specifically by a daughter of the family, Tonina. His grandfather Anton had found him and planned to purchase his freedom, but she arrived before the deal was finished and used her family's influence to coerce him into a duel- and when she lost that one, a second duel at a time most convenient to her advancing cultivation.

After that he had been thrown into an endless series of matches against other cultivators and magical beasts. He had to grow stronger to survive, and so he did. Somehow he came through it, and a few weeks later things calmed down. He'd thought he would be pushed until he died, but it seemed to not be the case. Perhaps they had plans for when he grew in cultivation.

Just because they were going to send him against greater opponents as he grew didn't mean he could stop. They would do it anyway- and Devon preferred to live. He had little in the way of discussions with others about cultivation since talking with rivals wasn't good for his own safety. He knew he had pushed himself from mid to late Body Tempering, but not to the peak according to the cultivation method he had available. He wasn't sure if it was a mismatch between himself and the technique or if something was simply wrong with it, but he couldn't manage any more advancement.

Even so, he survived. He was fortunate to find himself matched against beasts he could kill or kept out of death matches entirely. He thought perhaps he might survive until he could grow strong enough to escape, or until his grandfather returned.

Those hopes had been shattered when his next match was announced. There was a giant man named Moreno, more than a head taller than any of the other men and coated in rippling muscle. His build was secondary to his cultivation at the peak of Body Tempering. More than that, even. The rumors weren't entirely clear on whether he had a foot into Spirit Building or had fully stepped into it. Devon's only time seeing the man he hadn't felt like he'd completed a full level of whatever cultivation technique he used, but that could have changed in the last few weeks.

Regardless, it didn't matter. Moreno had more than just higher cultivation than Devon. Moreno wasn't a slave, or at least not fully treated like one. He was the man chosen to end most every arena combatant's streaks- permanently. Devon didn't know what sort of bets were involved, but anyone involved would be foolish to bet against him. The matches weren't fair. He was always equipped with better gear- high quality and enchanted. Even if his opponent was more skilled or nearly as strong, even a lucky hit by them wouldn't be enough to change the tide of battle.

Devon had found out about the match only three days before, directly from the lips of Tonina. The evil grin on her face told him that he was going to die just as much as her words did. If he'd had a weapon nearby he would have tried to stab it through her heart, despite her presence in early Spirit Building meaning he had no hope to kill her.

So he was going to die. Three days wasn't sufficient for any sort of breakthrough. The only solace he had was on the training field. Moreno had his own place to train secretly, with outside opponents. He was still able to watch the others train to inspect their weaknesses. It was clear he hadn't been informed of the match any sooner than Devon- he hadn't been watching him fight at all. In fact, he was out of town.

One of the other men used the same sort of weapon- if it could be called that instead of a torture device. A chain with spikes along its length designed to cause maximum pain. Devon had convinced him to help train- since Devon would be dying in a few days regardless any secrets couldn't be used against him later.

His goal was still technically to win and kill Moreno, but Devon didn't think it would happen. He had no control over the shadow of death looming over him, but if he was going to die he was at least going to go down swinging. That might be exactly what the arena wanted, but he never had a choice in the matter. If possible, he wanted to take out an eye or at least chop off a finger. Something lasting to remind the world he had been alive.

He held his head high as he walked towards the arena floor, only to be thrown for a loop one last time. He wasn't assigned his typical weapon, but instead a fencing sword and small bucklers. Someone didn't even care if he was entertaining as he died.

The walls of Khonard loomed before the small group. Some of the less fit members were falling behind, unable to keep up with the pace Anton set. Kohar was able to keep up with the pace, but she gave a side-eye to Anton. "Why are you pushing so hard? We're here, are we not?"

"We are," Anton acknowledged. "But I have a feeling… last time I came here, if I had arrived just minutes earlier, maybe a quarter of an hour, things would have been different. I just feel that-" his eyes caught a figure in the distance. He turned to the few former villagers of Dungannon he'd been able to gather on their route to Khonard. "All of you have your papers, your pouches?" They nodded. "The inn is two blocks that way, big sign. We'll meet you there later. Go ahead and get rooms, and a meal. Kohar, with me."

Sprinting through the streets of a city was considered rude, but Anton didn't care. Half a minute later he stood in front of Elder Varela of the Grasping Willows. "No time for formalities, I'm afraid." Elder Varela's long white beard fluttered as he turned his head. "Kohar, I presume. If you could find Elder Rocha in the government district and tell her Anton is present, we will be heading to the Potenza arena immediately."

"That urgent?" Kohar glanced at Anton, then back to Elder Varela, "I will return with as much haste as I can manage."

Kohar split off from the others, and Elder Varela began to explain as they were on their way, weaving through the people on the street. "You were right about the Potenza family taking things poorly- or rather a certain foolish girl. My contact was able to convince them to restrict the sorts of combats Devon ended up in, but the elder members of the Potenza family are out of the city for the next few days. I did not know that until Tonina refused to release Devon, even when I showed her the copy of the document. It seems we accidentally provoked her into quick action. That was three days ago, and Devon was scheduled for a deathmatch immediately. One that is about to start at any moment."

"I can go faster," Anton declared. Trusting that Elder Varela's advantage in cultivation would be sufficient for him to do the same, he rushed through the streets. His eyes picked out the way people were moving and where they would be when he arrived. He avoided their movements before they even knew he was there, and when someone noticed him and made uncoordinated movements that would have resulted in a collision he was prepared for that too. Was there a slight flow of energy along his path, guiding him, or was that his imagination? He couldn't be sure, and simply relied on his Insight to avoid people.

As they approached the arena, Anton was able to sense many sources of energy. Guards with cultivations around the peak of Body Tempering. Further in he sensed at least a handful of those in Spirit Building. Some might simply belong to those watching the match, but Anton sensed Tonina and the guardian she'd previously had with her as well. If the information was correct, he was known as Masozi. Then Anton sensed Devon, combating someone unknown.

Anton unfurled a document as he stopped in front of two guards who had spears drawn to block the entrance. "You are illegally holding a man and will release him at once."

"Bring that up with the Potenzas," said one of the guards.

"I know Tonina is inside, bring me to her now."

"Can't. Match is happening."

The guard seemed awfully confident Anton wouldn't do anything to him, despite him being weaker. Even as his eyes drilled into the man, he stood firm. "That match involves a man illegally taken as a slave. Take me to him." The men continued to block the entrance. "Do you intend to ignore the rule of law?"

"Like I said," the guard stood firm. "Take it up with the Potenzas."

Anton turned to Elder Varela. There was just a simple nod response. Then there was a blur of motion. On the left, the shocked head of a man landed sideways on the ground, shortly followed by his body. On the right there was a snap as the man's neck was twisted completely around by Elder Varela's seemingly innocuous long hair and beard- unthreatening before they latched onto him like giant hands.

With a powerful flick of his handaxe Anton cleaned the blood off, before returning it to hang at his side and drawing his bow. "Should we announce ourselves more clearly?" Anton asked.

"They'll be able to put up an organized defense. Dangerous. But it will help justify our actions and might help your grandson." Elder Varela's hair and beard wriggled around in the air in front of him and to the sides. "I'll support whatever choice you make."

Chapter 115

Author's note:

There's more description of injury than average in this chapter. If you read The Immortal Berserker by me, it's not more than some of that, but if you dislike gore you might just prefer to skim the first section.

The sand beneath Devon's boots was depressing. Not because it was too hot or too cold, but just because it was there. Sand didn't belong in the middle of a city. Dirt was easier to get. But sand was preferred for some reason. Maybe it was the clean color, or maybe it was how it absorbed blood. He had the feeling it was the latter.

It was possible for Devon to get behind the idea of fighting or dying for a cause. Sometimes, you had to fight and kill others. He'd had to do so. He'd been forced to do so. That or die, and since somebody would be dying, he preferred it to be the other guy. It was nothing personal. But now he was in the worst sort of situation. He wasn't fighting for something. He didn't have the choice to do so, nor did he even have the option to kill his opponent. Not really.

He held the unfamiliar fencing sword in what he hoped was a reasonable stance, looking at the too-small buckler held in his left hand. It was probably a perfectly reasonable setup for someone who trained that way. The weight of his armor rested on him. It was the same as all the rest of the armor. Inadequate. The helmet and breastplate were fine, but the arms and legs didn't cover everything. So that there would be more blood. People liked blood.

If those sorts that liked to watch humans die were people. Maybe they were just monsters in human skin. Devon looked up at them, the bright sun making it difficult to make out their faces. They were just a mass. He only saw one face he recognized, and that was more a matter of remembering her energy. Tonina Potenza. The person most responsible for his current situation. He'd like to live today, just to spite her.

But that wasn't possible. He knew that, as he turned his eyes towards Moreno. There was more than just a single step of cultivation between them. In fact, though he was concealing it, Devon felt that Moreno had more than just stepped into Spirit Building, but completed the first stage of his cultivation technique there. Maybe that was even the reason he'd been away, to complete his advancement. Devon noted how his armor covered his knees and elbows and how the long chain he was dragging along behind him sparkled in the sun.

He never consciously heard the call to begin fighting anymore. When it was time, it was time. His legs moved, pushing off of the sand as it flew up into great clouds behind him. He didn't have the stamina to draw out the fight. He probably didn't have the power to finish the battle early, but he had to try for something.

The chain writhed on the surface of the sand, Moreno's powerful arms manipulating it to flick towards him. Devon slid underneath it, taking advantage of the sand's malleability to sink low. He carried as much of his momentum forward as he could, thrusting with the sword straight towards Moreno's eyes. A slight turn of his head and the man's defensive energy absorbed most of the blow- with the helmet deflecting the rest.

Pain. Chunks of flesh were pulled out of his back as the spike laden chain raked along his back like he knew it would. It tore through energy, breastplate, and skin before slicing into muscle and bone unevenly. He shoved the buckler into it to divert its momentum as he shifted around Moreno's side. He wasn't sure how much of his success was his own, and how much was the man playing with him.

A series of thrusts with his unfamiliar weapon allowed him to get used to its motion. If he'd chosen it, it wouldn't have been a bad weapon. Beyond just relying on his armor and energy, Moreno was forced to dodge and even tried to grab the sword with his weapon, twisting the chain around it. However, before it could bind the sword Devon pulled away.

The rest of the length of chain was not idle during that exchange. It twisted and snaked around, savaging the rear of Devon's left thigh before coiling around his left arm, pulling away parts of him as it left. The pain was sharp yet lasting. Some of the finer sand was already finding its way into his wounds, clumping together with the blood. It was the sort of pain that should make him cry out to the heavens for relief.

Instead, he grit his teeth. If his jaw clenched any harder he was certain he would crack it or his teeth or both, but he wasn't willing to give anyone the satisfaction. If he'd been faced with a real weapon he would just be dead now, his torso sliced in two or at least his arm on the ground. Since they wanted to cause him pain, he wouldn't show it.

His energy surged inside of him. He had not held back one iota since the beginning of the match, but he began to exceed the maximum output he thought he could control. Maybe he couldn't. It felt more like the energy was controlling him, leading his attacks and twisting his body. Then again, wasn't it all him? He didn't know. He just fought, oblivious to anything but himself and his opponent.

Thrust after thrust failed to pierce Moreno's defenses, but he wouldn't give up. He pushed his body beyond its limits, since it was the last time he'd have the chance to use it. He even stopped using energy for defense- if Moreno could break through anyway, why bother?

Blood trickled down his back, his arm, both legs. He continued to attack. His helmet was torn off, and with the same motion the spiked chain twisted around his head and neck. It traced a line along his scalp, across his right eye, tearing through his right ear, and circling around the back of his neck to his left shoulder.

For a moment Devon thought his eye had been destroyed, but he used his energy to clear the blood and he could still sort of see out of it. Just damage to the white, but not superficial. He hadn't even managed anything to Moreno yet.

He continued to press the attack, making use of all his training with his usual weapon and skill and the bit of practice the older gladiator had allowed him fighting against the spiked chain. He was almost starting to feel comfortable with the foil in his hand, and tried a series of feints and attacks.

At a critical moment he stepped forward, thrusting with all of his power. He was too far forward, his shoulder nearly touching Moreno's belly as he stepped toward Devon and to the side of his attack. A mistake… was what Devon wanted it to look like. His left hand was already coming up, clutching the buckler. Since it was useless against the twisting chain, it was just another weapon. There was no chance it could break through Moreno's armor, but there was one place that it could just barely work. As Moreno stepped forward, the edge of the buckler slid into the partly open face of his helmet. There was a crunch, and Moreno took a step back.

Devon shook his head. Not enough power. His lower rank of cultivation was to blame, and the blood loss didn't help. He barely stood on his feet, unable to make a proper follow up attack as Moreno snapped his broken nose back into place, blood dripping down his front. All around him Devon felt the chain filling with energy. It would constrict him, tearing him apart once and for all. It was over… but he allowed himself a slight smile.

Then Moreno twitched, taking a half step forward to catch his balance. Devon didn't even try to guess if it was some sort of feint, he just used his remaining energy to thrust his sword forward. It hadn't even been necessary, because Moreno's weight carried him forward into it- and the energy just allowed it to pierce through his eye and come out the back of his head, clanking into his helmet.

Devon looked down at the body on the ground in front of him. Moreno ultimately fell awkwardly onto his side, and Devon could see something. A hole in the bottom of his right armpit. The hole went through the armor, and though blood blocked him from actually seeing Devon was certain it went all the way through widthwise to come out to the sand below.

Then the pain reasserted its presence along with his awareness of the rest of the world. He quietly grunted as waves of energy poured over him. Four people at Spirit Building. Not only that, but actively engaged in combat. He recognized three of them- and the third was both the most unexpected and yet the most natural. That was the energy of his grandfather Anton, and the same energy that he hadn't really comprehended that made the hole through Moreno. Devon slowly turned his head to see what was happening, and realized that the stands were mostly empty- the only watchers remaining fleeing for the exits at top speed.

Anton wasn't sure if he was a hypocrite, or if the word even had any meaning with the way that humans acted. Sometimes, you just did what you did with no prior intention of deceiving others or oneself.

As soon as Elder Varela had given his full support, he had burst into action. Any cultivator would instantly be able to tell his intentions with the way his energy surged, and as he shouted at the top of his lungs everyone who wasn't deaf would be informed. "I have declarations that Devon Gardner was illegally enslaved! Anyone who stands between me and my grandson dies!"

Of course, that immediately resulted in guards rushing his position. The first one to round the corner got a spirit arrow through his head. And the second. Normally it might have taken two or three shots even if they were below his level, because they weren't unaware of his presence. However, if there was ever a time to use forbidden techniques it was when storming an enemy fortress.

Candle Wax flared as Anton burned years off of his life. His legs carried him forward, arrows piercing into anyone who showed their face. When several came at once, he restrained himself slightly and let Elder Varela tear into some of them, snapping their necks with his knee-length white hair or simply piercing their heart with a dagger.

The corridors entering the arena were twisted and maze-like on purpose, in case anyone thought to escape past the guards. That meant they ran into many squads of guards, from mid to late Body Tempering as well as a handful in Spirit Building. They killed them all.

When they came to the arena floor, barred gates stood in their way. Elder Varela moved forward as if to lift the gate, but before that Anton took his shot. The bloody figure of Devon in front of him was clear to his eyes, and Anton didn't hesitate to throw himself along with a full bundle of years into his attack. He was a streak of energy, one moment outside the arena, the next piercing through the formation on the gate, the next meeting armor, ribs, lung, heart, lung, and finally one last piece of armor before putting a hole the diameter of a finger in the arena wall behind the man.

A cloud of black smoke came out of Anton's mouth as he felt himself burn on the inside, but it didn't matter. Each rank of cultivation was at least a year. Burning his lifespan felt truly awful, but as long as he continued cultivating at a rate that outpace his growth in lifespan, he only needed a year as a buffer zone. He didn't care how overconfident that made him, because while revenge was his ultimate goal it would be empty without friends and family.

White hair extended, growing even longer than its actual length as Elder Varela took advantage of the momentarily broken formation to grab the metal bars and twist them. They snapped apart, leaving room for a man to walk through upright. He was first into the arena, but Anton was only a step behind.

Elder Varela spoke before Anton could. "Members of the audience, I am here to inform you that you have been witnessing the Potenza Arena in the midst of a committing a crime. As you must have already heard, this man should have never been enslaved. I provided proof of this to the young lady there, but instead of following her legal obligation she arranged for a spiteful death match. Now… stay out of our way."

There was just enough patience within Anton to let him finish speaking. It was a nice reprieve to let him clear up his energy as the immediate side effects of Candle Wax were very disruptive. Tonina stood up in the stands and opened her mouth, but by that point a Spirit Arrow was already flying towards her.

It was a disappointment when he merely managed to pierce through her defensive energy, the flexible armor she had on, and a couple centimeters of flesh and bone. The arrow was supposed to have gone all the way through her heart. She was the equivalent of the twelfth star, having continued her cultivation but ultimately having been surpassed by Anton, but that one step wasn't quite enough for him to kill her instantly. The second arrow was blocked by Masozi, who was in mid Sprit Building. The man had not been immediately by her side, but now he stood in front of her.

Then he charged towards Anton, leaping directly along the path Anton had shot, his body completely concealing Tonina. Anton prepared another Spirit Arrow. One last use of Candle Wax should leave him no closer to his death than when he had first begun cultivating. Maybe even with a handful of spare years. The arrow shot straight towards the mid Spirit Building man… but of course Anton had no hope to kill him in a single shot. As he rode with the arrow, it spiralled around the guardian out of his reach, once more flying towards Tonina behind the man. Masozi reached out, stretching his energy to grab the tail of the arrow. He reduced half of its power before Anton was able to break apart and continue forward. He was the arrow, and he once more struck towards the heart of Tonina. Her energy was fully committed to block, but she was slow to parry with her sword and he pierced through her defenses with some small amount of momentum left. He was precisely on target for the same spot, but barely had the energy to pierce another half centimeter, merely scratching her heart and not puncturing through it as intended.

Tonina's guardian immediately reversed course once he hit the ground, blocking the next dozen arrows Anton shot. He knew that would happen, and didn't commit himself to anything extreme. "Young mistress, we must retreat!"

"But he's- you should kill him!"

"You'd die." The man didn't let her give any more argument and yanked her along with him.

Anton's ears were barely able to pick out her words, even with his enhanced senses. "...but I beat him…"

With that, they were almost out of sight and moving into the structure of the arena. He considered trying one more shot… but resisted the urge. A waste of energy, or lifespan and energy. There were multiple ways into the arena, all full of cultivators. While he might be able to fight through them, he would not have the power left to combat her and her guardian. Elder Varela could no doubt match the guardian, but they weren't here to kill. All of the guards along the way died simply because it was easier than sparing them, and their chosen profession gave them no sympathy from Anton.

Anton looked to Devon, smiling. Devon smiled back, then began to fall off his feet. Elder Varela was already there, gently catching him and picking him up. "While I am certain you would like to seek further revenge, now is not the time. We should leave the way we came. I sense Elder Rocha is there waiting. She cannot shield us if we move away from her."

Anton nodded. "I understand. Is he-"

Elder Varela's hands and hair were moving, plying Devon with all sorts of medicines both on his wounds and internally. Even as he ran towards Anton and performed so many actions, Devon remained perfectly level as if he were simply floating. "Do not worry. His breath continues."

Author's note 2:

Well this one got long. But splitting it up wouldn't feel right, so have almost two chapters together.

Chapter 116

Either there were no remaining guards in the section they had entered through or they chose to stay well out of the way of Anton and Elder Varela. Either way, Anton strode confidently out of the arena, keeping his back as straight as possible. He briefly noticed some sort of commotion in another part of the arena, but had no way to affect whatever was happening from his location. By the time he would arrive, everything would be over. Seeing to Devon's safety was the most important thing at the moment.

Outside was Kohar, along with a woman who had to be Elder Rocha. Her actual age was hard to judge, but she was dressed in fine robes and had the aura of late Spirit Building. Along with the two of them were several dozen cultivators dressed in uniform ranging from mid Body Tempering to early Spirit Building. Elder Rocha spoke in a very concise manner. "We have now confirmed the situation with my own eyes. This young man was unjustly harmed under the instruction of Tonina Potenza." That declaration was for those watching from afar. Anyone in the nearby area who was a cultivator would have felt the conflict, and where there was conflict there were curious onlookers. At a safe distance, of course. "Now then, we shall escort this injured man to safety." With that, she turned and everyone followed.

A quite serious procession began, walking at a quick pace only suited for cultivators but not one so fast as to worsen Devon's injuries as he was carried by Elder Varela. Elder Rocha stood at the front, with Kohar, Anton, and Elder Varela behind her. Around them on either side and behind were the other cultivators in city official uniform.

They only managed several blocks before another group moved to intercept them, Tonina at the head. Her guardian Masozi was next to her, attempting to support her without it being obvious- but it was clear she couldn't stay on her feet by herself, let alone walk. "There!" she pointed, coughing as she raised her voice. "Catch those criminals!"

"Tonina Potenza." Elder Rocha said the name like a mother chastising a child, though without any sense of affection that might otherwise be present. "What do you think you're doing?"

"What are you-" she coughed, "-You doing? They attacked my arena!"

"You have made interesting choices as of late, Tonina Potenza." Elder Rocha's voice was perfectly steady and calm. She gestured towards Elder Varela, who pulled out a paper. "Do you remember this document?"

"I… can't see it from there. Hand it-" she coughed and a small amount of blood trickled from her mouth. "Hand it to me!" Elder Rocha flung the piece of paper to Tonina… who instantly tore it up it when it reached her hands- though she had to make use of her energy to do so. "Hmph. I don't see anything." Her guardian placed his head in his free hand as she did so, sighing.

"That's three counts of ignoring official legal orders, and two counts of destruction of official documentation." Kohar spoke with great confidence, despite her low cultivation compared to the rest of those involved. "Plus unlawful imprisonment, attempted murder and…" she looked at Devon, "Torture."

"You can't-" Tonina winced and held her hand over her chest, "You can't prove anything."

"I have witnessed several of these accusations with my own eyes," Elder Rocha said. Her face remained impassive, but her energy in late Spirit Building stretched over the area. "Even if you had merely destroyed an order in front of my face you would be facing arrest. Surrender peacefully or face the consequences."

As Tonina was about to speak, Masozi clamped his hand over her mouth. "Of course," he said. "We will comply willingly." He looked to the city guards Tonina had gathered, who were standing around awkwardly. "Feel free to return to your other duties. Your continued presence is redundant." Tonina tried to struggle against his hand, but she quickly passed out. "Now then, I believe we have two people who could use greater medical attention." He scooped Tonina up in his arms. "Shall we proceed?"

"One moment," Elder Rocha said. "Why bring these," she gestured to the dispersing guards, "Then so easily surrender?"

"I do not have a death wish," the man replied. "Earlier, I assumed that this man," he nodded to Anton, "Was simply fabricating a false legal claim for the sake of his grandson. Thus, calling upon the assistance of the city guards was a reasonable action." He began to turn, walking slowly along the street, "For the record, I was not aware of any prior documents."

At the current moment, Anton was busy regulating his emotions. It was unnecessary and foolish to think of launching another attack on Tonina, but he really wanted to. His anger was righteous and justified, but if it could be resolved without bloodshed at the current moment it was probably best. Either way, the attempt would not help his cause in the slightest. He really hoped she would die on the way, but the amount of blood she was losing at the moment seemed insufficient.

As they reached the core of Khonard and the government district, several powerful cultivators that were likely a match for Elder Rocha seemed about to stop them, but Masozi always shook his head. "We need to make our way to the infirmary without delay." With that, there were only harsh looks but nothing more.

Only when they arrived in the infirmary, and had actual healers looking at the two injured people did Anton relax. The guards Elder Rocha brought separated Devon and Tonina's sections as well as watching the outside.

"Do you need-"

"I'm not injured," Anton said as a third healer walked up to him. "I appreciate the concern, but I am just… fatigued." He wasn't quite sure if he'd pushed the forbidden technique too hard or not far enough. Logically speaking he understood that not killing Tonina would be safer for him, but if he could have done it… actually, he was unsure if it would have made him feel better at all. It would be nothing compared to the relief he felt when Devon was declared to be stable, his breathing steady if a bit weak.

Waking up was unexpected but welcome, except for the pain. Devon had made the unconscious mistake of trying to open both of his eyes, and his right eye protested the effort greatly. He thought he managed to avoid damaging it further, but he had to just grit his teeth for a while to help the pain dull. Speaking of dull pain, it was sort of all over his body. Why had he survived?

Recalling memories was much less painful than trying to move, despite the unpleasant nature of the memories. When compared to the current pain he felt the memories were worse, but they were also less real. He'd been in a match with Moreno. One where he was going to die. Yet just as he was defeated… Moreno fell. Anton! His grandfather had come back! He never really doubted him- but in the three days he'd been waiting for his scheduled death he hadn't even considered that his grandfather might arrive. But he arrived just in time. That had to be a cultivator thing. Would have been nice if he was an hour earlier though.

He heard footsteps- and felt the auras of cultivators. Two strong ones. Anton and… one of his companions. He'd sensed it before, but they hadn't had the chance to actually meet.

"Don't try to sit up, Devon." Anton's voice came through the door, "Doctor's orders."

"Tch." How did he even know he was trying? It just felt so awful to meet his grandfather flat on his back.

"I heard that," Anton said as he opened the door. "Which is good. It doesn't hurt to talk?" It was wonderful to see the face of his grandfather again, and to feel safe. If he could stand up he would be hugging the man- and if he wasn't injured, he knew his grandfather would have his arms around him, nearly crushing him. Instead, Anton gripped his hand gently.

"No." That was one part of him that really didn't hurt, which was good. His one functional eye went to the familiar form of his grandfather… and a strangely familiar form of a young woman he'd never seen before. "Who is this?"

"This is Catarina," Anton answered. "It would have been nice if I could have introduced you in happier circumstances, but that did not work out as hoped. But now that you are free- legally, if that makes you feel better- we have the opportunity. She is Ashlyn's granddaughter."

"Really? Amazing!" Ashlyn had left the farm while he was still young, but he remembered her somewhat. "That explains why she looks familiar."

"It's nice to actually meet you… uncle Devon?"

He smiled, "That's probably the easiest thing to call me." New family. He really wasn't sure what to think about that, but he'd have plenty of time in the future.

"There are others waiting to see you later," Anton said. "We've had great success with freeing those from Dungannon, but did not wish to overwhelm you while you're injured." Others were now free? More than before? Devon was almost crying now, but it hurt to even think about it. Besides, he'd spend so long just staying alive nothing felt quite real yet.

"I appreciate keeping things small." Thank you for saving me, by the way. I don't know if I said that."

"I promised to return." He said it as if it were so simple. Perhaps he didn't even know there was exhaustion in his voice.

Devon's eye turned to Catarina. For some reason, she was standing excessively close, her face now a hand's length from his own, though she was looking over all of her head and torso. "Hmm…"

"What?" he asked. "Something wrong with my injuries?"

Catarina pulled back and blushed slightly. "Ack. Umm… sorry. It's, uh…"

"It's fine. I'm aware I'll be badly scarred. I might not be able to move, but my energy is just fine. I can feel it all."

"That's not quite it… see Fuzz was really injured too…" she shook her head. "Nevermind. It's probably a bad idea."

"Well now I'm curious." Devon really wished he could sit up or even turn his head without the dull pain greatly sharpening. Even turning his eyes hurt his right, as there were injuries on its surface.

Anton looked at Catarina for a few moments, then rolled his eyes. "She was probably thinking about turning you into a walking formation."

"Like… a building?" Devon asked in confusion. "I know formations are the protective things on the cells."

"It doesn't matter," Catarina said. "You're not like Fuzz, so it would probably hurt to try. And I can't guarantee I wouldn't mess it up."

"You know about formations, though?" Devon was quite curious. "I'm missing most information about cultivation, honestly."

"I'm sure we can help with that," Anton said. "While I can't say I have much more experience than you, I had a much better learning environment."

"Yeah." Devon frowned, "Is that bitch dead?"

Anton shook his head. "No. I tried."

"Good. I'll kill her myself. Maybe. I'm stuck below the peak of Body Tempering."

His grandfather's face turned into a very wide smile at that. "I'd love to hear about it, and help you through. In fact, I could teach you a much better cultivation method."

"I'm not sure," Devon said. "I've come so far. I'd like to continue this path, if I can."

Anton nodded. "A reasonable choice. And I should be able to help ease the journey somewhat. You don't have to follow the prescribed methods exactly as written… though do be cautious."

"That's something I learned quickly." The only problem was Devon wasn't sure how well his body would recover. Some of the wounds were deep into the muscle. But even if he couldn't continue cultivating, just being alive and somewhere relatively safe was wonderful.

Pack dynamics were getting more and more complicated since they met up in the big city. There were so very many new people! However, Fuzz preferred not to think about that. He was one of the members of the pack, friendly with the pack leaders, and treated very well. Not only that, he was now also a mighty steed to carry one of great import, a pup in the line of two of the pack leaders! Another from the line of Anton and Catarina. Surprisingly, not even the youngest, though she was even smaller than Fuzz himself.

The child known as Alva had started riding him around when he recovered from his injuries, as her leg had still been broken. However, the situation had been amenable to the both of them so they didn't stop when she recovered the ability to walk on her own. Alva was very willing to hug him and scratch his fur, both of which were very pleasant. Her weight on his back was comforting and not too burdensome, though he certainly wouldn't be able to fight with her riding him.

The pack seemed to be both very busy yet they also seemed to do nothing at all. He hadn't remained in a big city so long before. Usually they continued to travel, or at the great and small homes of the pack he was able to run free in the wilds. Now, he had to have one of the pack leaders with him as he traveled about. Truly strange.

Chapter 117

The next weeks were filled with more boring yet stressful legal proceedings. Kohar had to make the utmost use of her legal prowess, and Anton was astounded at how many seemingly small circumstances could change things. Fortunately Kohar had been prepared for what they had done. Killing everyone in their path had always been the backup plan, it had simply been intended for a later time when Catarina, Hoyt, Velvet, and Timothy were all present. Tonina's actions had forced them to act much earlier than intended.

The insurmountable extent of evidence on their side was helpful. First was the official courier who swore he delivered the first copy of the document directly to Tonina's hands. Elder Varela had shown her the copy sent to him in the presence of several of her guards, and though they hadn't read it his verbalized summary was remembered by one of them. Probably more than one, but only one admitted it.

Then there was the quarter-full arena. Not all of them had been able to clearly make out Anton's shouting declaration, but out of hundreds of people they were able to track down a handful who heard clearly enough and could confirm that Tonina ordered the match to be continued. Once more there could have been more, but many likely feared reprisals from the Potenza family. There were also witnesses of Tonina's destruction of the orders outside of the arena, and Elder Rocha had significant influence.

Not everything went smoothly. Both of Tonina's parents had been out of town for business and were quite furious when they returned. They immediately started calling in favors, but the delay minimized their impact. They also brought counter charges against Anton and Elder Varela- the legality of slaughtering the guards preventing their passage was already settled, but there was another matter they attempted to leverage. The other slaves had broken out of the arena while they were there.

Kohar counterattacked savagely, at least as much as could be done by pulling up legal precedent. The accusation only served to slow down the whole situation. There were no witnesses of them being in that section of the arena, and there couldn't be. All of the guards were dead. The freed arena combatants had been even more savage than the caged magical beasts that seemed to have been unleashed first to soften up the guards.

Despite cultivator's patience for certain matters, legal proceedings weren't generally one of them. The Potenzas' influence only went so far when held against Elder Rocha. In the end they merely sufficed to keep Tonina alive. The sentence was a paltry three years of confinement and penalties that amounted to ten times what Devon had been sold for. The first was nothing compared to death, but not quite as worthless as it sounded. Proper confinement for cultivators involved a prison where there was no natural energy. If they could cultivate, it would hardly be a punishment at all. And while it was just three year, for a young woman like Tonina missing even a single year of cultivation would significantly weaken her compared to her peers.

"I owe you both great favors," Anton said to Elder Varela and Kohar. "I promise to pay you back properly, if I can."

"I will not refuse the offer," Kohar said. "Your goals aligned with my own, but I will admit that there is more risk to myself than my normal business."

"You painted a big target on yourself," Elder Varela said. "I hope you're ready. So many eyes are on you right now that I doubt you'll immediately be in danger, but don't let your guard down."

"I was aware when I started all of this what the consequences might be." Anton looked towards his other companions who had arrived during all of the legal mess. "In a way, I'm glad things turned out just like this, without any of your involved."

Catarina hung her head, "I was willing to share the burden with you."

"That's right," Hoyt said, "I wanted to fight with you."

"I'm not saying you won't still get to do that," Anton pointed out. "Rather, nobody took notice of any of you. At least, not in the same way. It's not so easy for you all to be unnoticed with, well… everyone." There was quite a large number of people to bring along with them now, as each group had over a dozen freed people. "I do mean it about that favor, Elder Varela. I may have saved Lev by coincidence, but you called in a big favor to help Devon."

Elder Varela smiled beneath his massively long beard. "Oh, don't worry about not paying me back. I know the value of favors. I hope you don't mind if I wait until you're in late Spirit Building, so I can get a fair exchange."

"That's some confidence you have in me," Anton laughed.

"How long?" Elder Varela asked, more seriously.

"What do you mean?"

"How long until you're in late Spirit Building? I'm sure you have an idea."

"... four to seven years," Anton said.

"And that's why I'm confident. You didn't even consider not reaching that point. Yet here I am, stuck in mid Spirit Building. Just last year I saw you as you were stepping into Spirit Building, and now you are a solid three steps in." Anton just smiled in response.

His muscles trembled as he pulled back his bow. Anton hadn't felt such strain since he was first firing it, at the fifth star. He gathered his energy, forming an arrow. It flew forward, straight and true. He breathed out slowly. At least it wasn't too bad. His body took the biggest hit from using the forbidden technique. He didn't regret it one bit. If he'd been half a second slower, Devon could have been dead. What was a few years of his own life for that?

At least his energy was still strong and steady. Age simply didn't affect his ability to use energy as much. It was somewhat more difficult to cultivate, but that seemed to be more related to the short-term aftereffects of Candle Wax rather than the increase in age. He'd used more energy than his meridians could comfortably handle.

He had so many ambitions left, and found himself in a strange state. He might actually be able to accomplish them, but he might also have to give them up for his other goals. If he had to die for the sake of Devon, sweet little Alva, and the rest he would not regret it. But if it came to it, he wouldn't go easily. Anton couldn't know exactly what trouble they might face on the way out of Ofrurg, but if they ran into no trouble at all he would wonder what sort of dream world he ended up in.

But just accepting the risk was foolish. What was all that money for if he didn't spend it? There had to be mercenaries around. Anton wouldn't put the lives of his companions over his own, but random people he was paying… absolutely. Though preferably the bolstered strength would protect everyone from serious danger.

With everything finished, they were ready to leave Khonard- and Ofrurg. Every part of his list had been marked off- either confirmed dead, free, or missing with no way to track them. The one exception was still Annelie, but he couldn't just go see her. The risk was too high, and there were many people he still had to protect. Besides, he'd received some very interesting information from the Ears of the Fox. An additional tidbit that found him in Khonard, free of charge. Or rather, they seemed to include it in what he'd already paid for.

A Tomb of Everheart was going to be opening. Many ancient cultivators had created fancy tombs to test potential successors of their techniques, if they didn't have a sect or anyone specific to leave inheritances to. A last act of egoism to make them feel important, for the most part. Very few of them were actual tombs, though some had trusted friends actually place their bodies within or chose them as a place to die from injuries or age. Everheart had created many tombs. More importantly, Everheart made it clear that none of them were his. It was a Tomb for those participating. According to the information they usually weren't entirely deadly, but they were unpredictable like the man himself had been. Tricky, difficult, frustrating, confusing. Also deadly, but not just that.

There were some restrictions on who could enter. So said the grand formation Everheart set up. That was also how people didn't just enter when it was found. The exact details weren't spread, but apparently it was for 'new cultivators'. As a member of a large sect Annelie would certainly participate, or at least attempt to. Anton was also interested, though he doubted he would count as a new cultivator. He was a century old. Still, he might see her there… and he had many companions he would like to bring along. Before that, they had to be alive. That meant leaving Ofrurg. Staying in Khonard had been safe so far, but that wouldn't necessarily remain forever. Nobody wanted to stay, anyway.

To leave, they needed to be strong. Five Spirit Building cultivators was a good start. Elder Varela might accompany them, and Kohar was nearly in Spirit Building and likely to be interested in leaving the country. Seven might be enough, but Anton would rather spend money to make sure. Devon was quite happy to give up most of the fines for what happened to him to help protect everyone, though Anton knew he could hire a few solid individuals with his own money.

What he wanted were mercenaries. Hiring from a company might have worked if he had a stable structure to rely on, but instead he thought to look for strong individuals. There were locations where free mercenaries looking for work gathered between jobs. They might petition sects for work, but when they weren't on a job or hunting monsters or training, they would gather hoping to get a job. If they were lucky, they could make more money as an independent mercenary than as part of a company. If they weren't lucky, they died.

It was quite surprising to feel an Essence Collection cultivator as he approached the building. Someone that strong could easily find a place in a sect or mercenary company, or both. They would also be monstrously expensive to hire. Maybe he'd ask, but for an escort all the way to the border… it seemed unlikely.

When he noticed a familiar aura he was surprised. When he stepped inside and got visual information of Masozi sitting at a table, he slowly approached. His ability with formations was still minimal, but Catarina had been helping him with Spiritual Connection. He could tell there were formations in the area, and he had to trust they were for secrecy between tables as he had been told. "I hadn't expected to see you here," Anton said.

"Hmm," the man who had been Tonina Potenza's guardian shifted in his seat. "I did expect to see you here. If you were smart. You shook things up quite a bit. Unsettled some… established positions." Masozi held up a hand, "Don't get me wrong. I don't intend to take you as an enemy. I am here because the Potenzas care more for their daughter's opinion even in her current situation than for good sense. Blame for her actions somewhat ended up on me, despite the fact that she specifically went behind the backs of her parents and myself. I'd rather be independent than demoted."

"Sounds dangerous," Anton commented.

"I don't plan to be the only mercenary going on whatever mission I receive," Masozi sat calmly with his hands folded in front of him. "I am smarter than that. Which is also why I hope we can leave any matters of the past behind us. I do not look forward to dying next year, or whenever it is that you surpass me in cultivation. I do remember quite well that you weren't even at the peak of Body Tempering when we first met."

Anton took a deep breath, then nodded. "Fine. Though we have personal history, your actions were no worse than any of many others in this country." Anton leaned closer, "But I would think very carefully about what you do in the future and who you choose to support."

Masozi shook his head. "In ten years, you will be an important figure… or a dead one."

"I'm already past due," Anton smiled. Then he turned towards another figure he'd noticed. There was a delay before recognition sparked in the man's eyes.

He approached the dark skinned man, waving casually as he did so. Ayotunde slowly and obviously gave Anton the once over, his eyes and senses carefully appraising him. "You're… stronger. Yet your body… and you're far too much older." Ayotunde shook his head. "I will not judge your choice of techniques. Forbidding useful abilities is only for those with the luxury to do so."

"They're unrelated," Anton clarified. "My cultivation advanced more or less naturally, and the forbidden technique that re-aged me was simply necessary for recent events."

"So you were the old man to cause trouble with the Potenzas. What an astounding change. The other two that were with you…?"

"Similar advancement, but less exposing themselves to side effects. I must ask, why are you no longer with the caravan? It seemed like a solid job."

"It was, but the caravan changed hands to a fellow I did not mesh with. So I left. And now you are here to hire people for…?"

"A simple escort out of the country," Anton said.

"Who else wants to kill you?" Ayotunde asked. "Besides the Potenzas."

Anton shrugged. "Them, probably the Iron Ring Slavers, some wealthy slavers who don't like change. I doubt all of them will cause trouble though."

"Nobody important, then." Ayotunde's declaration seemed sincere. "I would be glad to offer my services for standard rates."

"With combat pay extra?"

"It cannot be extra if it is guaranteed. If you were to have to pay proportionate to the danger, I am not sure if you could afford it. I would suggest offering a share of equipment sales- to myself and others. Anyone sent after you won't be poorly equipped."

"Reasonably. Who else here can you recommend?"

Ayotunde looked across the room, though he probably already had people in mind. "The shrimp and the granny."

It wasn't too hard to determine which two Ayotunde referred to. "I don't suppose they have actual names?"

"Probably, old man, but why even bother?" Ayotunde smiled.

Chapter 118

Everyone was in high spirits as they were leaving Khonard. They were aware of the potential danger, but given how some of their lives had been over the past two years, they were happy to have the option to face danger instead of just living with what they were told. The spirit of happy reunion had diminished somewhat over the weeks they'd spent together after everyone met up in Khonard, but some of the joy still remained. It was a heartening sight, but it also made Anton realize something. He was barely one of them anymore.

That was not a change in any of the former villagers of Dungannon, but in himself. In most of them, he saw the desire to go back to lives they had before. All were grateful to be saved, and eagerly learned cultivation as a means to defend themselves, but most of them would go back to lives that resembled what they used to have. He didn't blame them. That was the life he had desired and fulfilled for a century. Now he could no longer be content just living a good life. He had to make sure others were able to do so- as many as possible.

Revenge. That thought still existed in his mind, but he had ambition beyond that point. He might not live to fulfill either, but that no longer concerned him. He just had to do what he could- starting with bringing the rest back alive.

"Senior Anton," a young woman, somewhere just around thirty years old, approached him. "I heard there was another group before us?"

Anton nodded. "It was not easy to find everyone. It took time." He looked at Silren, trying to recall details about her. These people were more than just names on a list.

"Of course, I don't blame you for the time it took. I was just wondering. My sister… was she with them?"

It was as he thought. She and her older sister had worked together as tailors. He bought a coat from them once. He remembered her. He also remembered the brothel where she had been bought. He shook his head. "She was not one of those that made it." He'd been able to confirm her death. A terrible task, and every one hurt. Hearing the news from the others wasn't any better. The majority of those brought into slavery had survived, but perhaps a tenth had died from ill treatment.

"Oh. Can I ask…?"

"Do you really want to know?" Anton asked. "There is nothing you can do right now but honor her memory."

Silren hung her head. "I understand."

"That… I did not mean to discourage you." Even with training, what he said wouldn't always be right. "You know she would want you to live your life in the way you are best able. But if you cannot let the thought go in the coming years, there might yet be something you can do. Not for her, but for others forced into slavery. You have a decent talent for cultivation. In time, you can be strong."

"Like you?" Silren asked.

"Stronger than me," Anton said. "At least… stronger than I am now. I have been fortunate to only only fight those who are relatively weaker. I am close enough to see those at the top, but to consider myself truly strong…" That was a problem he had to deal with. How strong did he really need to be? Spirit Building was a good step, but he couldn't create the sort of change he wanted with just that. "It's not quite good enough yet. But if you continue to cultivate, I am certain you will have the opportunity to do much good in the world with allies at your side."

"I think I want that," she said confidently.

"Then I will help you achieve it."

"Hoyt. You're on the right side. Elisa, the rear." Anton was handing out orders. He was the highest in cultivation except for the mercenaries they had with them.

Protecting a large group of people was difficult work. Velvet wasn't sure if they had enough cultivators. Only two people could go in each area. That assumed someone would be assigned to the middle with Anton, but nobody else could cover as much area as he could. But assigning someone to the middle would mean they had the mobility to support anyone. Velvet thought she was capable of that, and was hoping to be assigned there.

"Alva."

"Yes!" The young girl stood at the ready and saluted.

"I'm going to need Fuzz to be able to freely run about. Please stay with the others."

"But- but I'm a cultivator now!"

Anton's face was very stern. "That's right. But you are barely at the first star. You have no more power than a strong man. You lack reach and training. You must let the cultivators at Spirit Building handle everything they can."

Velvet knew that even Devon, near the peak of Body Tempering, was remaining with the others. Part of that was he had lingering injuries, but there was a significant difference between his level and those truly in Spirit Building. At the very least he needed to avoid being the first line of defense.

"But Fuzz isn't in Spirit Building!" Alva complained.

Anton sighed. "He's a magical beast. They work differently. Besides, he has experience in battle."

"But I-"

"You have a weapon. If they get past the outer defenses, everyone will have to fight. Stay with the others to have a proper defensive line."

Velvet knew that a defensive line would barely help against stronger cultivators, but using the advantage of numbers was all they could count on if it came down to those without strong cultivation fighting. Running wouldn't be possible.

"Now then. Velvet." Here it was. She was stronger than Kohar, so she had to be part of the defensive line somewhere. "You'll be the scout."

Velvet blinked. "What?"

"You're to move around the area, looking for approaching threats. You have the proper skills."

"By myself?"

"Of course. You'll be most effective that way. Your concealment skills are excellent, and they won't be looking for you in particular." Anton smiled reassuringly, "Even if I could hide myself as well as you, my absence would be noted. You've managed to keep a low enough profile that you should be unexpected."

"Okay," Velvet nodded.

This was what she wanted, right? Real responsibility? If so, why was it so hard to breathe?

No, Anton was right. She could do it. She just had to watch for enemies. By herself.

She sure hoped Anton was right, because it didn't feel like it.

At night, they set up a defensive and concealment formation. That was through the work of Catarina and Elisa, a hired mercenary. The work of a formation expert wasn't cheap, but having the entire burden on Catarina didn't feel right. Anton knew she would happily do her best, and while her best was excellent she wasn't perfect. It took time and energy to set up a formation, and having another expert would help with both. She didn't even have Pete along as an assistant. The money would have just paid for a few other mercenaries anyway, and avoiding trouble was better than trying to fight through it.

The two of them worked together seamlessly. Anton wondered if it was a special form of understanding between them or simply their mutual knowledge of formations. Both of them had formation flags that would allow them to improve the effects of what they did by another level. With his current practice of Spiritual Connection Anton could feel the flow of energy changing as he was inside. He still didn't have the sense for why it was changing as it did, but he thought he could at least find the best place to disrupt it. From the inside, that was. As he stepped out of the formation, he almost felt like he had been teleported. He couldn't pick up even the slightest trace of energy from any of the others, and it looked just like an empty section of trees. He passed back over the border of the formation. He had been attuned to be able to pass through it, but he felt it flowing over him as he did so.

The camp was arranged to take up a modest amount of space. That made setting up the formation easier, and left fewer traces behind later. Simple tents were trivial to acquire, as well as practical bedrolls. The placement of those tents was dictated by the two formation experts, and that was especially important because people weren't just sitting about. Everyone was cultivating- all of those who were new, anyway. If the Spirit Building cultivators were serious, they would hog all of the natural energy in the area. The difference of a week or two of cultivation wouldn't be a big deal for most of them, the exception being Kohar who had just stepped into Spirit Building with the assistance of Anton and the others.

She had been fairly confident in her preparations to keep herself safe, but things had escalated in a way that was unintended at the Potenza arena. She felt safer leaving with them, and Anton had been happy to bring her along. Even if she wasn't the strongest cultivator, she was enough to provide them an additional portion of safety.

Anton walked among the tents, feeling how people cultivated. Everyone had received personal guidance at the beginning of their training, which began as soon as they had met up with Anton or his companions. Catarina had quite appropriately been the one to teach Alva at the beginning. The staggered generations of Anton's descendents had ended up with Catarina being older than Alva who was technically one generation back. Alva had learned a lot from Catarina, but it became clear she was not the same type as Catarina. Catarina was a patient thinker, and Alva was the sort who was prone to leap before she looked.

It was a good thing Alva had talent for cultivation, or she would have already damaged herself. It was already risky for her to be cultivating with her body not yet fully developed, but it wasn't possible to exclude just her. There were several of her cousins about the same age that had thankfully been freed, but they took cultivation as a school child might reading. It was something they had to learn, and they took their time. That was probably the better attitude in the current case.

Fuzz was curled up around Alva as she sat cross legged. It didn't seem that his presence disturbed the natural energy she was taking in, though Catarina's formations allowed him to cultivate more like a human than a beast. For the moment he was peaceful, as he was the sort who was most energized while running around in the woods- an unintentionally beneficial method for cultivating the body. Alva was fine, the little bundle of energy at least being wise enough to listen to his cautions. When she learned he had cultivated his meridians second it wasn't possible to dissuade her from the task, but at least she was willing to slow down slightly. Anton might have slightly fibbed when he told her it took him two months, but if he told her it was a month and a half he was certain she'd push herself for a month or less.

Anton followed the flow of energy to Silren. She was nice and steady. Her talent was at least on the level of Pete and the others, though knowing for certain after just a month was difficult. Reuben was next. Proper guidance had helped him begin cultivating, and while Anton doubted he would be treading new territory any time soon, he was diligent and capable of working with a teacher.

Devon didn't feel like he was near the peak of Body Tempering as he cultivated. He could, but he was being properly cautious. He had been focusing on all of the wounded parts of his body one at a time, and now he was nearly healed. He would have wicked scars, even with medicines to minimize the damage, but his current reason to be gentle was because he was reorienting his cultivation. He had chosen to stick with his current cultivation method, despite its flaws. He mentioned insights gained from the battle with Moreno, and had declined the offer of specific help. So Anton made sure he wasn't doing anything harmful to himself and hoped Devon was right about knowing what he had to change.

For a few hours, energy flowed in vortices around the internal part of the camp until it thinned out enough everyone was better off going to bed. They needed the rest anyway. Every day was a long one where they hoped they could get to the border before anyone looking to cause trouble caught up.

Chapter 119

Scouting in all directions around the group would have been impossible if they traveled at the speed of well trained cultivators. Velvet wasn't any faster than the others, so handling the scouting duties by herself was a difficult task. First she moved in front of the group, along the road. Traveling along the road made them more predictable, but it also made them faster. More importantly, they had many people that would be troubled by rough terrain.

The distance Velvet went in front of the group was about twice what she expected them to cover in a single loop around. Trying to get more distance would leave her vulnerable if she was noticed, and any less had a good chance of leaving them without advance warning and ruin the whole point of her scouting.

Then she would curve around the group, sensing for anyone approaching from the side, the back, other side, and then back to the front to get ahead of the group again. Nobody else had the same training in stealth she had, which left Velvet to complete the task on her own.

So far, she supposed she'd been successful, if finding absolutely nothing since the last big city counted. There was nothing wrong with that, as long as nobody was actually around and trying to kill them. It was strange, though. There should have been wild beasts at the very minimum. She saw a few animals, but nothing aggressive. No magical beasts. She should have encountered at least some of them, even if they avoided the large group moving through their territory. That was a problem.

Looking at the road they were following, it was impossible to say who had been traveling on it. Not from a lack of signs, but rather an abundance. Many tracks, old and new, all mingling together. But no people. Even if traffic between Ofrurg and Graotan was limited along the path they were taking, it was expected that some cultivators would pass them in either direction. Yet there was nothing. Suspicious.

The border was rapidly approaching. It was only a couple weeks from Khonard by the direct route at the rate they were traveling, and now they were a handful of days from it. It was a smaller border crossing than the one they used to enter Ofrurg, since the route had difficult terrain and little trade.

Front, side, back, side. Nothing. Just rocks and dirt and trees.

The terrain steepened, the road worsened. Most of those traveling with the group had healthy bodies and they continued slowly. Velvet moved quickly along the road. Next to the road. The road itself had nowhere to hide, and her stealth techniques weren't sufficient to make her actually invisible.

The road continued through a deep gorge, carved long ago by a river that had found another path. Velvet nearly entered the gorge to scout ahead, but thought better of it. Would people be waiting for them along the bottom? Perhaps. But being up above on either side was more advantageous. Even if most cultivators didn't specialize in archery, the advantage of the high ground could allow them to attack without retaliation.

The terrain rose so quickly that Velvet had to climb to reach the top of the left slope. She did so, slowly and carefully. She had little experience climbing, but any peak Body Tempering cultivator could hold themselves up by even a few fingers. The slope wasn't even truly vertical at any point, so she pulled herself up arm over arm and foot over foot with only bad holds. She slipped once, when a hold couldn't carry her weight- but she latched onto the slope with her energy.

Velvet stopped. She didn't sense anyone up above, but if they were paying attention they might have noticed her. She continued to hang in her position for several minutes before she decided she'd been subtle enough. That didn't stop her from shifting a dozen yards to the side before continuing her ascent and finally peeking over the top of the gorge.

The people at the top were well concealed. At least, if expecting people to walk along the road. They would be fully invisible from down below, using their energy senses to pick up the group as a whole. Yet from the side and the back she merely saw people crouched and prone. Without actively using her energy to feel them she could only approximate their cultivations. Spirit Building were the best. Several of them. Then at least a dozen in Body Tempering, mid to late. If she were to suppose that the other side had a similar complement, it was quite a dangerous group.

With her new vantage point she could see that her route to the top wasn't the best. The face she had climbed up was in fact probably the hardest route. That would explain why this particular location was chosen for an ambush. Velvet felt the rest of the company approaching. She had to return to warn them- and if she had sensed her companions, they had likely already been noticed by the group.

She silently made her way back down the slope, running back towards her companions at the quickest speed she could maintain her concealment, glancing over her shoulder towards the gorge as she went.

The shifty one popped up on the other side of the company without Ayotunde noticing her approach. "Ambush ahead! At the gorge," she declared. "They've probably already sensed us."

"Hmm. I see the area," Anton confirmed. "Not the best place for us to fight. But if we go around, they can just follow us into rough terrain and catch up on their terms. We should try to turn things against them." He looked to Ayotunde. The dark skinned man nodded. He might have been simply hired as a mercenary, but he was also the most experienced with this sort of thing.

The company had stopped when the shifty girl appeared. Ayotunde drew from his experience and gave a warning. "We should keep moving, if they know we're here. At a bit of a slower pace so we can strategize. Any recognizable markings?"

The girl shook her head. "Not that I saw. Standard assortments of gear, pretty much."

"Ways up to them?"

"Yes, but not easy. The faces closest to us are the worst spots. I didn't have time to check the right side, though."

Ayotunde nodded, "Good enough. I might suggest we find our way up as most of the group approaches. Even those of us worse at stealth can manage if they are distracted. If you have a route on the left side, take the granny here with you," he nodded his head.

"I have a name, you know. Lera."

Ayotunde ignored that. "Shrimp and I will go to the right side at a slower pace. I would suggest no more people peel off until the battle starts. The main group should remain back, where people can be defended properly. I trust you can still be effective at a hundred and fifty meters, plus the rise?"

"That I can," Anton acknowledged. "I agree with the plan."

"We'll prepare a formation," Catarina said. "It won't be much good if we have to set it up in an instant, but we can deflect weaker attacks."

"Good," Ayotunde nodded. He knew many of these were solid combatants. The shifty girl he wasn't certain about, but the granny would make up for anything. "Oh yes. Ropes. A good spike can anchor them into anything, though only one or two might climb at a time. At that height… it should take a Spirit Building cultivator a good ten seconds, but that's much better than the alternative."

Ayotunde reached into his pack, throwing the granny a coil of said rope and spike. "I have more for our side. Never know when you will need rope. Just kick it into a good rock, and protect it." Ayotunde looked up. "We're close. Let's hope they can't see us. Time to split."

"My name's Ross," said the shrimp as he followed after.

"Yes, no doubt it is." He pulled his energy inward, keeping it tight against him. Running with just his body wasn't a problem. In fact, he would be better than most without energy since he practiced Western Steel Body. He knew the members of the Ninety-Nine Stars did not cultivate their bodies to any significant degree in early Spirit Building, and he found that a weakness. Though the technique was stronger in other ways.

The shrimp followed behind, circular razor disks in hand. He was more of a mid range combatant than a short range type, but not competent at long range like a proper archer. He was good, though. Enough that Ayotunde did remember his name, even if he didn't choose to use it.

It was no longer possible to feel the shifty girl or the grandma, though the former had been concealed immediately once she was out of sight. A useful skill, even if it was not one Ayotunde ever planned to develop beyond a basic level.

He found a slightly climbable part of the slope. He thought for a moment. Yes, it had been long enough. The main group was approaching their position. Climbable for him, but the shrimp…

His hand closed on the rock in front of him, grabbing a chunk of it. He alternated hands, tearing into the rock a half meter apart on either side, leaving behind proper handholds as he climbed. That should be good enough. Arm went over arm repeatedly over the next minute. He was concerned he might have been too noisy when he reached the top, but the main company had properly distracted people. His choice of climbing location still left him fifty meters from his targets, and one of them would notice him soon.

Then the shrimp reached the top, and flung out his razor disks. That was the opening salvo of the battle, and the lives of two body temperers were lost as their spines were cut. The next two targets as the disks wheeled through the air managed to block- though one nearly sacrificed an arm to do so.

The spike was driven into a nearby rock through a rope. A moment later Ayotunde's hands were holding his sword, a two handed beast that required a special sheath to carry properly. Fifty meters was covered in merely a few moments, just long enough for the surprised enemies to reach their feet. He'd wanted to take out one of the Spirit Building opponents, but he wasn't quite fast enough.

A spear stabbed out at him, but Ayotunde's sword was nearly as long. He nimbly wielded it, parrying the blow before striking back at his opponent, cutting his shoulder from underneath. Next to him was a woman with a bow ready to fire on those below- the unexpected flanking attack had rattled her enough that she didn't think to switch to her sidearm. Ayotunde didn't even bother trying to avoid her aim as he just sliced through the bow and her arm at the same time. Not an archer, then. She'd have been ready for that.

Ayotunde pulled back to where the shrimp's blades danced through the air, almost daring anyone to approach. With over a dozen enemies still standing, he needed to use proper tactics. That included stalling for reinforcements from below. He was hoping for the axe guy. More power was always nice.

By the time Velvet crested the rise after the granny- Lera- half of the 'ambushers' were coughing and sputtering. She'd intended to sneak forward and stab one before she was noticed, but she wasn't going anywhere near whatever that cloud was. She used Lera as cover to approach closer, crouching low to the ground and wishing there were more sources of cover than just a few rises in the terrain and the occasional boulder or scrawny tree.

Two body temperers attacked Lera together, but she simply stepped back and let their attacks pass through where she was. Meanwhile, both of them got a needle impaled into them. One in a shoulder, and one in the cheek. Nothing lethal normally, except… they had to be poisoned. Some of those who had been coughing didn't get up, while others recovered.

Arrows flew towards Velvet- no, she hadn't been noticed, she merely placed herself in their trajectory on accident. Several more launched down below, but they were matched by more shots from just Anton himself. One Body Temperer went down, and even a Spirit Building cultivator got an arrow of pure energy in his side as he presumed that there would be no relevant counterattack and had only minimal defenses.

At some point Lera had managed to set up the rope, and Velvet could sense Hoyt was already halfway up. That was good, because Lera was getting swarmed.

A dagger sliced along the side of the neck of a large Spirit Building cultivator. Velvet cursed. There went her best chance at taking someone out instantly and she only managed a thin cut. Sure, she had to pierce his energy defenses and armor but she thought she had it. She dodged back away from a wild swing of an axe. She needed to be careful, or she might find herself dying instantly.

She was feeling more confident when Hoyt arrived to help take off the pressure and she managed to dodge around several people and make them lose track of her. The battle on the other side of the gorge was also going well.

Then she felt another group of cultivators charging along the floor of the ridge towards their main company. It wouldn't take them long to arrive, and now there were only a few defenders left below. Damn. She hadn't even thought there would be a third group.

Chapter 120

Sometimes there were people who seemed able to do anything they set their mind to. Anton Krantz was one of those. Reuben was aware that a farm had many different things it needed, and Anton could take care of them all. It seemed that even when the man hit a hundred the only reason the rest of his family had work to do was because he let them. The patriarch of that family was someone that everyone in Dungannon knew. But now he was different. Though honestly it felt just like the next step.

A cultivator always felt like something different from a normal human. Reuben hadn't really changed his assessment. Anton and his companions were different. People who were so willing to throw themselves into action were exceptional. They also had a wolf. That was just… something Reuben had observed.

Beyond just learning to cultivate himself, Anton seemed to be proficient enough to teach it. Reuben had given a serious try for a few years but it just didn't click. Then he talked to Anton for an hour, and everything made sense. It still took a week for him to really have enough sense and control of natural energy to really feel like a cultivator, but the path had been laid out for him and he just had to walk it. Sometimes paths were rocky and full of twigs trying to snag you, but at least you knew you were going the right way.

Learning to cultivate was empowering… but Reuben hadn't realized it would be so frightening. Actually being able to sense how strong cultivators were was intimidating. Anton had already been the sort of person who felt overwhelming when he was in action but like just a man otherwise, but the feeling was amplified. Others weren't so restrained. There was the dark-skinned Ayotunde. A mercenary. He was even stronger.

Seeing some of the cultivators spar for training was entertaining, but when actual battle happened… that was where he felt fear. When Dungannon was attacked he'd seen people die. So many people, for no reason. As they approached the growing gorge, he felt people die. To the right, to the left. Powerful presences that were simply snuffed out. It made him realize just how much further he had to go if he wanted to really be a cultivator. What was the first star, even, against the attacks facing them?

Arrows he was certain could pierce through him and the man behind him flew in both directions. The ones from up on the cliff were greatly weakened by a sort of barrier set up by Catarina and another mercenary called Elisa. Enough that the villagers could block with the shields they had been given. Reuben held his shield above his head, doing his best to reinforce it with his energy. He should probably dodge, but he didn't know if he could do it in time- and that might just leave someone else in danger.

The arrows from their side were fired by Anton. Just him, yet he matched a handful of other archers. He didn't even have arrows, making them purely from energy. They didn't look like much, but the sharpness that radiated off of them combined with their speed and power made Reuben feel that they were indeed very real.

When Dungannon had been attacked, nobody could do anything. Now Anton was so strong. Reuben wasn't sure, but he wasn't too far from the stronger bandits. Since they'd had no real opponents, it was impossible to say.

Now the villagers of Dungannon were still weak, but they had hope. They were free- yet people were still trying to claim them. Reuben knew he was far too weak to matter, but he stepped forward anyway, just inside the edge of the barrier. Devon was right there as well, looking towards those approaching from the bottom of the gorge. Most of their warriors were atop either side, fighting opponents who outnumbered them. Reuben wasn't sure if he could harm some of the stronger figures approaching, but he was certain he could try.

Each arrow was aimed at a precise spot. It wasn't always where someone was unprepared for an attack, or at least not where people thought they were unprepared. Anton was beginning to sense the subtler fluctuations of energy. He realized that there were always weak points, even in a person's defensive energy. He might have thought he had an even layer covering him like armor, but some places were simply weaker. When one of those matched up with a weakness in actual armor, he could use less than half as much energy to achieve the same result. Usually, that was killing someone.

None of his attacks were ever intended to go easy on someone. If he could kill them, he would. If he could wound an arm instead, that would make things easier for the future. People tended to overcompensate for areas they were injured, shifting to cover the weaker area with excess energy. Even if it was just a small change, he could catch someone while their energy was moving about and not perfectly placed.

It wasn't enough to kill other Spirit Building cultivators in just a few shots, but it could certainly distract them enough that they weren't able to fight effectively. Against late Body Temperers, he took them out by his third arrow in most cases. It helped to have strong allies on the front lines suppressing people. He was glad he'd hired all four of the mercenaries he did, because they were quite worth the expense just for this one battle.

He saw Ayotunde maneuver his large sword to change from a slash into a stab with his two-handed sword, piercing into someone's neck. The old woman, Lera, was a poison user- but Anton wasn't sure if anything was more dishonorable than trying to own other people or fighting for them. Poison wasn't a weapon he wanted to learn how to use, but he saw its value. Velvet, Hoyt, Timothy, and the small man known as Ross also performed excellently. They were nearly finished with their battle when the front lines of the group coming down the gorge arrived.

Another dozen body temperers and four at Spirit Building. The wide variety of cultivation styles indicated they were a mercenary group and not a sect of some sort- hopefully the Heavenly Lion Sect hadn't connected the dots yet. He'd done nothing directly against them or their little 'former' disciple Van Hassel. Not yet, anyway. He didn't mind painting a target on himself, but he didn't want it to be that big until he could handle it.

The barrier in front of them shook. A direct attack, even though the origin of the attack was still thirty meters away. They weren't an archer, but not far from it. A man had formed spikes of condensed energy, but they were unlike Spirit Arrows. They depended mainly on their size to cause damage- and Anton had to admit it was effective. A hole appeared in the barrier and some of the Body Temperers started pouring through. Devon and Fuzz were there to head them off, with Kohar providing her support, but the situation was concerning.

His arrows continued to fly. Someone tried to chop into Devon with an axe, and while Anton's grandson handily protected himself the act wouldn't go unpunished. An arrow into the neck, curving right under the helmet was an appropriate response. He also fired shots to help the villagers who were much weaker and in more danger, though they managed to keep enemies at bay with at least three or four spears prodding at each of them.

Anton had to twist his body to the side as spikes of energy flew towards him. He'd been taken as a priority target, and he didn't mind responding in kind. He couldn't afford to have an enemy who could target any of his friends or family. As his hands grasped his bow, Anton took careful stock of how his energy covered it. Some parts needed more, but he could thin it out on others. The main spine of the bow only got the bare minimum to protect it in case of an attack, but he wouldn't get much power from adding energy there. He needed to be efficient with his energy because his muscles were old and tired once more. Having completed Body Tempering he was still stronger than even the strongest who didn't cultivate, but somewhere at half of his peak.

He couldn't launch attacks simultaneously, but Anton managed a continuous barrage on the man, while he had to dodge four or five coordinated attacks at once. That wasn't impossible. In fact, it was made easier by the way the spikes moved in formation. He had to dodge further to the side, but he also slipped through the middle once or twice and they didn't curve towards him. Without anything to propel them but the energy themselves, the way they accelerated was also predictable. Anton got a few scrapes but he managed his energy defenses to resist before focusing on his enemy's weakness. He needed to win before the other Spirit Building enemies joined the fight in earnest.

A two handed sword like Ayotunde's was actually light and agile, without the sort of thick blades that were suited for cutting off someone's head. He could still do it though. It just took a bit more energy sharpened to a fine blade and a bit more muscle. That was something he had in abundance. The final Spirit Building cultivator was finished off by him. Sadly the shrimp had gotten one alone and half killed that one, so Ayotunde couldn't tease him. He hadn't gotten the axe wielding youth to help, but he had to admit the shield and sword one was quite competent as well. He was a bit weaker in cultivation, but the way he stood by Ayotunde's side and coordinated with him without previous practice was excellent. Being able to ignore an attack and instead counter with an attack of his own was quite liberating.

That was the end of those up with them. The plan had been to get Anton up to them for a good vantage, but clearly that wasn't happening. Ayotunde ran over towards the edge of the unnatural gorge. It simply didn't fit quite right into the area. How strong would someone have to be to…?

He'd consider that later. "Hey! Mercenary dimwits!" he shouted to them. "I hope you got paid in advance, because I look forward to looting it from your corpse. But that doesn't mean you can't run. We could use a few people to inform others not to work for those idiots who hired you."

Honestly, this group could have been enough. If they'd walked into the ambush, things would have gone the other way quickly. He still felt there should have been a fourth group to catch them from behind, but… he looked with his eyes and senses. Nothing. Perhaps they were short on men, or bad at tactics.

"I mean it! Run, and only the slowest of you will get shot in the back!" Morale was important for mercenaries. He was honestly surprised they hadn't broken already. Still not running. Twenty meters down? That seemed fine. Ayotunde leaped directly down towards one of the Spirit Building cultivators who was flinging ranged attacks at the group. He had no room for subtlety or complicated attacks, instead settling for a giant overhand swing. His target didn't miss out on something so important as a mid Spirit Building warrior leaping at him, and he leapt to the side, admirably protecting himself and only getting one arm slightly cut through. If he didn't have bracers… he'd still be dead the same way, because Anton followed up with a perfect shot right into the man's waist, disrupting his footing and letting Ayotunde stab him through the heart. He needed to work with archers more.

The enemy mercenaries were turning to flee, and Anton began to relax. Then his eye twitched as he saw Alva running forward towards one wrestling with Fuzz. He was almost impressed how she managed to actually stab into his thigh. It took most of her energy concentrated into that attack, but it was well done. Anton's arrow was already on the way, but he filled it with extra hate as Alva was backhanded by the man and sent flying a dozen meters. His arrow went up through the bottom of the half-prone man's jaw, and he swore to himself that if Alva was seriously injured he would hunt down every fleeing mercenary, his nearly drained reserves of energy be damned.

He should have told Alva she couldn't fight no matter what. As he reached her side, she was already standing up. She was trembling and blood dripped down her face, but she propped herself up with the butt of her spear. "Yeah! You better run!"

"That's right," Anton said. "They should run. Which is why you should have let them instead of continuing to fight."

Alva turned up to him, blood streaming out of her nostrils. "It's fine. Just a broken nose."

"A little bit more and you could have died!" Anton chastised.

"Nu-uh. Broken noses don't kill people."

Anton didn't know what to say, but Catarina arrived to say the exact thing he'd chosen not to. "You can. The bones in your nose can be pushed into your brain," Catarina gestured. "It's not pretty."

Alva turned to the side and threw up. What followed was a frenzy of activity as everyone tried to recover from the battle. They hadn't been lucky enough to be able to just avoid their enemies, and the consequences were severe. None of their top cultivators were dead, but Hoyt had a nasty gash on his arm and Devon had either reopened old injuries or gotten new ones in similar places.

It was honestly impressive that they'd only lost a handful of people against the enemy forces. They were outnumbered in terms of real cultivators, and there was only so much a little bit of edge in cultivation and skill could do against that.

Anton wondered if it was his fault the people were dead. If he hadn't taught them to cultivate, they would have been more cautious. Were his ideas wrong?

Something tapped his ankle. He looked down to see a man on his belly craning back to look up at him. "Thanks," the man said. Anton just recognized him as Reuben under all the blood. "I got to actually fight, instead of just being helpless." Then his head dropped face first into the dirt.

Anton flipped him over, seeing bloody wounds all over the man's chest. Before he did anything else, a quick check with his energy- and he found Reuben was alive, if only barely. He used his energy to keep as much blood in the man as possible while his hands moved as quickly as they were able applying coagulant powder, stitches, and bandages.

He still felt awful, but despite all the weary faces around him, he saw them strong and determined rather than giving into despair. These people had a second chance at life, and they were going to do their utmost to take it.

Chapter 121

Not too far away from the group of fleeing former slaves the land was currently in a state of settling, roots returning to their position in the ground and trees bending back into their normal state. The signs of battle would still be obvious in the future, but it was proper to return things to the best state possible. The final segment of mercenaries intended to bring up the rear in the attack had found themselves grossly outnumbered.

Elder Varela would have liked to provide more public support for Anton and the rest, but the Grasping Willows still had to live in Ofrurg. Though he would have liked to rub his current actions in the face of others, some of the present company needed to remain unknown. There were a half dozen former gladiators among their company.

"Thank you for our freedom," several of them came forward together, "With this, I hope our debt is repaid."

"You never owed me anything," Elder Varela shook his head. "It's Lev who set you free."

"Of course," they agreed, "But your presence is what made it possible."

"Perhaps," Elder Varela refused to commit more than that. "Though in that case, Anton Krantz is more responsible than I. He is the one responsible for inspiring Lev, and would have doubtless freed you himself if he could bear the consequences."

The former gladiators inclined their heads. "We will of course pay our respects to your disciple Lev… at a later moment." They did their best to avoid looking sick or glancing in that direction.

Elder Varela smiled. "Good. I'm sure he'll appreciate it." With that, he peacefully began to stroll towards his favorite disciple. He casually layered the dirt back where it belonged atop roots, and sometimes encouraged those roots to bury themselves deeper than they originally grew. He stepped over broken and twisted bodies, the likes of which weren't sufficient to disturb gladiators who had fought to the death many times.

One of the mercenaries they had just fought was standing in his path, but he paid him no mind. He would be dealt with soon enough. Currently, Lev was placing his hands on another. He unceremoniously ripped his energy out of the man in front of him, leaving behind a ruined and half-hollow corpse.

"It works as well as you said it would," Elder Varela admitted, "But I have to admit it's a bit unsettling."

Lev grimaced. "You instructed me to learn from nature. I simply emulated the most dangerous sort I was able to witness and fortunately survive." Lev gestured towards one arm that still hung limply at his side. Elder Varela knew it was difficult to heal, but Lev had refused to try, leaving it as a 'reminder'. "I still barely have control of anyone. I haven't been able to get practice on humans before now."

"Good," Elder Varela said. "I doubt your savior would approve of you treating humans as just experimental toys."

"I know," Lev acknowledged. "I am quite aware that it is a horrid sight to behold." With a stirring of his energy, another 'body' staggered over towards him. He spent some time looking over it, feeling the energy he had grown into what had once been a live person, then tearing his energy out and letting it collapse into just another corpse.

"Don't forget to practice the traditional Grasping Willow methods," Elder Varela reminded him.

"Of course. How do you think I get people to hold still?" Lev grimaced. "I don't plan to use this very often. But this group should have known the full circumstances and still made the choice to accept this mission." Lev looked at the remaining people he had to deal with and sighed. "I wish I could have spoken to Anton."

"You made your choice. I think he would approve, but it was better for him to not know of it at the time. It might not seem like it sometimes, but the power of genuine truth is greater than deception. Those people you freed were entirely unconnected to him, and can stay that way." Elder Varela rested a hand on Lev's good shoulder. "I am proud of you for following your convictions instead of taking the easiest path with an early payoff."

Lev looked around, "I'm not sure if I can look him in the face anymore."

"Why not?" Elder Varela asked. "These people are just as dead now as all of those up ahead hopefully are. You didn't even think to keep them around even though it would be useful in future battles. That shows your mind is in the right place, even if you've created a forbidden technique."

"I don't think I would have if I thought anyone else could practice it," Lev injected his own energy into what had once been the nerves in his arm, raising it unnaturally. "But I doubt others would be willing to go through the same experiences."

Elder Varela was using the nearby roots to relocate the bodies, stripping them of valuable weapons and armor while properly distributing them about the area so that they wouldn't leave behind a hulking pile of dead bodies. Animals would be quite happy to eat fallen cultivators, but if they were all together the scavengers would squabble over them even if they couldn't consume more than a small portion individually.

"Actually," Elder Varela commented, "Speaking of forbidden techniques. Anton expressed interest in Everheart's Tomb. That new one that revealed itself down in Floelor. I believe you should be inside the restrictions for participating. You should turn up yourself, when the time comes."

"You think Anton will really be able to get inside?"

Elder Varela shrugged, "I think he'll show up. Everheart's formations are known to be fickle. New cultivators would almost certainly mean young for most, but he's just the sort to let people like Anton into his tombs." Elder Varela didn't mention that he'd noticed Anton's use of a famous forbidden technique by Everheart himself. Lev would likely not be happy to hear what the man did to speed them up when he could have potentially been present as an ally. Elder Varela fully believed Anton would have done the same with the addition of Lev, but he didn't need to burden the young man with the potential idea.

"I'll go," Lev nodded. "I want to thank him again." Lev thought for a while before continuing the conversation, "It's strange that nobody has found these places before. Was Everheart that good?"

"He was," Elder Varela confirmed, "I know that firsthand from my own master."

"What about…" Lev stopped himself, then continued, "What about the rumors that he's still alive?"

Elder Varela shook his head. "It's been so long. Perhaps that was once the case. I do believe he faked his death many times to hide from his many enemies, but with the passage of time he must have now perished. Though I wouldn't put it past him to have hatched a scheme to make sure those rumors continued to spread long after his actual death, just so the descendents of his enemies could never fully relax."

"The Grasping Willow-"

"Barely existed when he was active. We're talking larger sects… some of which he took with him at the end. Some simply never recovered, but won't admit it." Elder Varela shook his head, "I would prefer not to talk about those, but I do know the Frostmirror sect was an old enemy, like most of the region. They were just smart enough to make reparations before the forbidden technique maniac was pushed into a corner."

Lev took some time to digest those thoughts, before returning to a more practical conversation. "What do you think the rewards of the tomb will be?"

"He managed to gather many resources and techniques. Hopefully some of those." Elder Varela shook his head, "Otherwise it's probably some great mess of a forbidden technique that would be better off never seeing the light of day, passed down onto someone with just the right factors to cause trouble with it." Elder Varela shrugged, "Or there was the one time it was a pile of dirt. There was a big uproar about that one."

No further trouble was encountered on the way to the border. That wasn't strange, because there were only a finite number of cultivators. More importantly, the payment offered to attack the group couldn't be unlimited. The Iron Ring Slavers had a great amount of wealth, but the amount of free cash they had to have after recent events was bound to be less significant. Since they mostly traded in non-cultivator slaves, there were limits on their wealth and influence.

There were also limits on how public their actions could be. If they made too big of a stir it would be the difference between people assuming they hired a mercenary group to kill people they just had conflict with and knowing they did it. An important difference when Ofrurg's policies wouldn't shield them from the Order of the Ninety-Nine Stars in the second case, nor even from the country's internal laws. Whatever hand the Potenzas had was also limited by the same factors.

It was impossible to fully know why things ended up exactly the way they did, but Anton and the others hadn't come into Ofrurg just hoping that they could succeed. Paying information brokers and using Kohar's experience, they'd made a reasonable estimate of the backlash they could expect and determined they could survive it. They had been correct, though they still mourned the loss of some of their number. Just because they weren't powerful cultivators didn't mean the ones who died weren't people.

Though the particular border crossing they were approaching was more out of the way and thus less traveled, the contingent of defenders was no weaker. That very out of the way feature could have otherwise allowed for slipping across the border unnoticed, and neither country wanted that. At least not when it was out of their own particular control.

Everything seemed to be going smoothly at the border with paperwork being processed normally, until the auras of several Essence Collection cultivators and the other arranged guards simultaneously bore down on the group. One of those cultivators was a stern looking man, and quickly made a declaration. "You are all under arrest for violation of Ofrurg law."

"What violations?" Anton asked.

"They are numerous in quantity and varied. Now then, submit peacefully."

Before Anton could reply, Kohar held up a hand. "It is required to state crimes for each individual in specificity."

The man looked down on Kohar as much as he could from his position of similar height. "That will all be made clear in due time."

Kohar shook her head, "You can't arrest anyone without specific declarations in advance unless you obtain the approval of Graotan as well. It is not permissible to hold a group or individual on the assumption that you might dredge up crime in the future. Do you have any formal charges against any individuals? If not, you must let us pass." Despite the large gap in cultivation, she held her head up high and spoke confidently. Anton smiled. This was her area of speciality. He knew she would do the best that any of them could manage.

"Very well. If you must know," the man drew out the word. "The individual known as Anton Krantz is being detained for murder. Now submit to arrest."

"Murder of who?" Kohar asked. "Such a vague declaration is insufficient." She waited a moment, then continued, "Since you are unable to declare a single crime in specificity we shall be on our way." She tried to step forward, but his presence prevented her movement

"There were over a dozen individuals murdered in the Potenza Arena in Khonard by his very hand," the man declared. "We have their names."

"Every charge was formally tried and dropped due to aiding and abetting unlawful imprisonment." Kohar turned her gaze to look past the man, "Do you intend to let them imprison members of your Order with no justification?"

Auras clashed as the border guards from Graotan formally made themselves known. A much older but still very powerfully built man stood at the ready. "We do not intend to allow it. I trust you have something to justify your position?"

"Of course," Kohar agreed.

The man from the Order turned his eyes to the Ofrurg guards, "That includes you, Ashok. I hope you prepared a proper case."

The man known as Ashok snorted. "Of course, Baltassar. We would only do things properly."

A quick comparison of the information proved his lie. Baltassar had heard their explanations and currently held documents that looked simply tiny in his large hands, comparing them for the dozenth time. "I find it surprising that you only have the immediate information one side declared on the scene, not even complete to the end of the day or from both parties. And that you managed to not hear a word of such a high profile case after another month. A case which, I might add, has been heard about on this side of the border already. I was just wondering if you would lie."

"Of course you would take the side of a disciple of the Order, Baltassar," Ashok remained confident and overbearing as he spoke. "However, this is a matter of the law of Ofrurg. You really wish to risk war over a few criminal disciples?"

"Funny that you should mention that," Kohar said. "Because I guarantee a backwater border guard like you has no authority to even speak of declarations of war. When that information gets back to the rest of Ofrurg, I wonder what sort of reprimands will be made for each of your sects?" Kohar made a point of lingering her eyes on the two other Essence Collection cultivators.

They turned to each other, exchanging glances. Then they retracted their auras around themselves. "Ashok is acting on his own in that capacity. Our estimation is that you have provided sufficient proof to pass the border."

Ashok turned to glare at the other two, but with the odds being between three-to-one in his favor at best, he backed down. "Fine. Go." He waved his hand.

After they had been properly passed through the other side, Anton commended Kohar. "I knew you were a specialist in law, but your quick thinking and recall skills are remarkable. I don't know the intricacies of certain laws as well as perhaps I should."

Kohar nodded, "Thank you, though I will admit something now that we are well past the border. I might have fibbed a little bit on some of the details."

"Oh?" Anton raised an eyebrow.

"While they might not have been able to restrain the citizens of Graotan on mere speculation… that law doesn't technically apply to citizens of Ofrurg. But I didn't think they needed to know that," she grinned widely.

Anton laughed in return. "Seems like they should do some brushing up as well."

"I'd prefer it if they did not. My job would be much easier if my opponents were ignorant."

"Can we really get that man's sect reprimanded?" Anton asked.

"Maybe," Kohar shrugged. "Wouldn't hurt to try. I'll draft some letters."

Anton smiled as they walked. Sometimes, it was nice to win a battle without anyone dying.

Chapter 122

Nobody was entirely willing to relax until they were several days from the border and in more populated areas. At that point, only the most suicidal of cultivators would be willing to make any attempt on their lives. Anton still kept the services of the mercenaries until the end of the week just in case. It was only money for peace of mind, and he couldn't use money to buy that back if something happened.

Then it was time to settle all of his debts. Anton shook his head at the exceedingly large amount of money that had been flowing through his hands since he became a cultivator. Even in terms of productivity it made some amount of sense, but he had been ignorant of how much wealth disparity there could be between people. Instead of finding rumors about cultivators being exaggerated they had almost been undersold.

Ayotunde, Ross, Lera, and Elisa were paid partly with shares of loot from the mercenaries who attacked them. It was a not insignificant amount of money, but only two of them had enchanted bags of any sort. Though there was some appeal to carrying the entirety of one's wealth on them, most cultivators actually didn't do that. That was even true of Anton- some of his payment was drawing on bank accounts set up through the Order.

Kohar had been paid in an ongoing manner during her legal work, including expenses incurred for 'legal fees', most of which were bribes to make the process not take years or decades. Though they'd managed to legally emancipate a large number of people and force the Iron Ring Slavers to pay huge penalties, those penalties had ironically mostly gone towards the slave owners and not those wrongfully enslaved. Only small amounts were actually awarded to people insufficient to even begin to cover the wrongs committed- if money could cover such wrongs. Anton had set aside more funds to help set people up. Nearly everyone was planning to move to Windrip, where the first wave of freed slaves mostly resided. They had the option to go elsewhere, but most preferred to return to some sense of the former community they'd possessed.

It wasn't possible for Anton to forget his friends from the Order. If he were to pay them mercenary rates for the entire duration of their efforts, he would bankrupt himself. They weren't unwilling to help, but he made sure that the rest of the profits from sale of looted weapons and armor would go to them. If he ended up with just pennies to his name… he didn't care. He could just work for more.

He did have one more expense he had to pocket, but it was perhaps one of the most important. He wanted to throw a giant celebration. Enough mourning had taken place to last the entirety of everyone's lives, but a celebration of those who still lived and were now free once more was absolutely critical. It would symbolize the end of the first step of making things right. Anton planned to clear his mind of thoughts of the rest. Revenge would be found and he still had to confirm if Annelie was able to be happy, but such a momentous success could not go uncelebrated.

The previous group in Windrip had been anticipating the arrival of more kindred spirits, freed slaves whether they were from Dungannon or elsewhere. There was enough room for everyone to settle in, though it wouldn't be comfortable long term. For the first week nobody would be spending time in their quarters anyway as everyone was busy with festival preparations.

Though they were under no obligation to help, Ayotunde and the other mercenaries were instrumental in transporting goods from the nearby city of Stregate and helping to set up temporary pavilions for the celebrations. There were even a few more permanent structures flung together like they were nothing. When Ayotunde could support the frame of one wall of a building by himself and they had dozens of other cultivators more than a single stage into Body Tempering, labor was quick.

Every person who was even vaguely a chef from the little cultivation haven in Windrip was involved in cooking, and even more people from the town itself and the nearby Stregate. Stew cooked for days, and tables were laden with pies, roasts, and dishes of every sort.

Despite the accelerated timeline for planning, the concerted efforts of everyone made everything work, even if it was a bit early in the year for the sort of celebration they were having. Spring crops had barely begun being planted, but the abundance of willing hands brought everything together in a timely manner.

Then on the day of the festival, it decided to rain just as the final setup was complete. Wind whipped the rain underneath the covered pavilions, soaking people and food. The atmosphere immediately turned sour.

That simply wouldn't be allowed. Anton knew he was in no way capable of dispersing the clouds in the sky at his current level, but he could do something else. He grabbed a handheld pie and stepped out into the rain. He could have prevented the rain from touching his body, but not everyone could do that. He let it soak him and instead used his energy to draw attention to himself.

He held the small meat pie above his head. "Everyone!" he called upon the his training in Voice to not only carry the sound to the hundreds of people in the surroundings but also guide his speech, adjusting his tone where possible. "Today we celebrate freedom! Freedom for those who were taken as slaves, but also freedom for those who were born and remain free! Those of you who cultivate energy do so to improve your work, but also to keep yourselves free! Today, we celebrate- and we won't let a little bit of weather get in the way!"

With that, Anton chomped into the soaked meat pie. It was squishy and disgusting and one of the best tastes he'd experienced in two years. If his life ended now he could die happy- but there were many times in his life he'd had that feeling. He'd lived past all of them, and intended to live to reach more in the future.

The first one to join was Ayotunde. He grabbed an entire roasted chicken and ran out into the rain, dancing around in a circle chomping into carried food with Anton like a pair of madmen. Catarina was next, but all of the stronger cultivators joined in almost immediately after that.

Fuzz dragged a whole roast pig out onto the soaking wet grass and started devouring it with Alva right next to him. Chefs began passing out bowls of steaming hot soup that people carried into the rain. People began shoving food into their mouths and running around wildly, exuberant in their freedom. Not everyone chose to run into the rain, but the rain and good spirit still came to them as they stood next to the tables.

More than just the former villagers of Dungannon and the other freed slaves were participating. People from the rest of Windrip and Stregate had come to join the festivities, and enough of them brough contributions of their own food that it was likely that everyone would be stuffed full for days.

It was a good feeling, Anton decided, seeing people happy. This was the thing that was most important. Hard work was necessary for the resources to allow this, and unfortunately battle was necessary as well, but it was all worth it in the end. With so many cultivators, even with small cultivators, the energy in the area was wild. Anton felt it flow around and through him. It wasn't really organized in any conceivable way, but the way it flowed through people was invigorating. It was more than just a good feeling. By the end of the night Anton reached the completion of the fourteenth star, and while he imagined people who cultivated Spiritual Connection or something like it would have gained the most, he knew at least a half dozen of the weaker cultivators advanced as well, along with Ayotunde who was the strongest among them.

For a brief moment, Anton wondered how they might replicate the situation… but he immediately knew that the event was not something that could be manufactured artificially. He still intended to promote celebrations regardless, because the cultivation benefits were merely a nice convenience. Doubtless the relaxed atmosphere had simply eased the tension on accumulated energy. The Order already knew the benefits of occasional relaxation, though not everyone really seemed to take it seriously. Anton had ignored it, but he wasn't in any state to truly relax more than a small amount for the last two years.

Dozens of people woke up in the morning, covered in mud with hangovers. Yet as they adjusted to the rising sun, the previous night's joy eased their pain. Small groups of people tried to continue the celebrations to some success, but others went back to work on the fields. Anton was in the second group, and though they didn't need his help at all he was able to accelerate some parts of it quite a bit.

Ayotunde also lent his powerful body to the cause. Anton could see he was no stranger to such work, but he was missing decades of experience if he wanted to keep up with Anton himself. "You worked as a farmer?" Anton asked.

"For a while," Ayotunde admitted. "I was not too fond of it, but Western Steel Body understand that working the body is just as important as circulating energy."

"I'd like to hear more about it, if it's not secret. My body is a bit lacking… especially at the current moment." The cultivation method of the Ninety-Nine Stars didn't do anything in the way of cultivating the body in the first half of Spirit Building. While having completed the first ten stars would make a cultivator's body sufficiently powerful, Anton's use of Candle Wax had let his age catch up, and the first thing it hit was his body. He was able to compensate with energy and he wasn't weak, but he didn't feel like someone who'd cultivated his body so much either. He also sort of wanted to use that bone bow still, but that was looking even more unlikely with his current bodily power.

"There are many secrets I cannot share," Ayotunde admitted, "But I still have things I can share that should help an old man like yourself."

"I will do my best to respond in kind," Anton nodded. He was getting more experience studying other cultivation techniques from working with Devon and Kohar. While he couldn't alter their fundamental natures at his current level of experience, he still saw certain patterns that could be adjusted to better suit specific needs.

It was Anton's desire to settle all of his family in Windrip, or possibly in Carran with Catarina's family. He wouldn't even mind if they wanted to stay in Edelhull or some other big city. He had more than a handful of adult descendants who were happy to choose a peaceful life. Anton knew he wouldn't be able to spend as much time with them as he wanted, but he didn't need to control their lives anyway. His great-grandchildren weren't all able to be reunited with their parents, but in turn some parents had lost children. Everyone found new homes, and everything was basically as good as could be, given the circumstances.

Given his lingering injuries Devon settling down to live a quiet life would have been quite sensible, but Anton hadn't really expected that. Devon was still intent to grow stronger in cultivation, and joining the Order was the best way to accomplish that. While the Ninety-Nine Stars was the primary cultivation method and usually superior to other choices, it wasn't impossible for a cultivator to keep their old technique and be an official member. Devon had chosen to do so, though he intended to continue working with Anton to improve the basic method he'd grown accustomed to.

All of that was fine. The one thing that Anton didn't want was to have a great-granddaughter not even in her teenage years declare she wanted to be just like him. Alva didn't simply mean a cultivator, but she wanted to be a fighting cultivator. No matter how many times Anton explained that he would have preferred to live a peaceful life, she wouldn't listen. It didn't help that she was almost inseparable from Fuzz and that Catarina encouraged her decision.

For that, Catarina was the one who had to keep Alva in her home. Their courtyards merely had a single wall separating them, but he thought it would be better for Alva. He would still do his best to help raise her, but he was quite worried about that. Even if she had already completed the first star, cultivating too quickly at a young age could damage her. Anton paid very careful attention so that she would not harm herself, but he couldn't be around all the time. That was as both a cultivation instructor and as a surrogate parent. He also couldn't just bring her along with him, because she was exactly the kind to throw herself into danger when it appeared instead of staying somewhere safe. Her injuries in the battle hadn't dissuaded her from that at all.

Anton sighed. Why did his descendants have to be so willful and difficult?

Chapter 123

A fist with the force of a charging bull hit Anton straight in the face. He was sent flying backwards, though despite how that looked it was actually the best result. That meant the force was nicely distributed instead of just focused on a single deadly point. It wouldn't entirely stop his face from bruising later, and he still had to land properly. As the wall came rushing towards him he twisted his body so that his feet were facing it, and he landed much as he would from a vertical drop, though with some awkward forward and ground-facing momentum.

He wasn't even fully on his feet when his opponent reached him, kicking him in the side. His body lifted off the ground slightly, and a kick from the other side tossed him back in the other direction. None of the attacks were powerful enough to truly break through his defenses, but it was shameful to be treated like a sack of potatoes. The attacks kept coming continuously, giving him no time to think between them. Which was, of course, the whole point.

Anton had only barely started to lift his hand to block the fist coming for him when it stopped, touching his nose. He sighed. "Have you been holding back or something, Hoyt?"

Hoyt shook his head. "It's just the restrictions placed on you that make it feel so difficult. You're not used to fighting without a weapon. Besides, you're actually less effective than normal for another reason. You're trying too hard not to think."

"I thought that was the whole point of training Instinct," Anton commented.

"Depends on who you talk to," Hoyt said, "But as someone who knows you and has trained with you, Instinct definitely doesn't replace thinking. What are you thinking about?"

"I was just trying to… not. I wanted my body to react to your attacks on its own. Is that not correct?"

Hoyt shrugged, "Again, I'm just one person… but even I don't know how to not think. Besides, Instinct is just another thing. You'll still need to think. Just try to focus on something else."

The two of them went through several more iterations of training over the next several days with only minimal progress. Finally, they found what worked best for Anton. Since he wasn't an expert in Instinct he still needed to be in the mental state of combat to make use of it. So they returned to sparring, with some special features thrown in.

Arms and legs moved swiftly, but the subtle movements of small joints or the waist sometimes made the most difference. Anton could deflect every strike, but if Hoyt got ahold of his arm even his slightly greater cultivation couldn't save him. He had to use all of his concentration keeping himself out of a grapple he would likely lose. Then a rock hit him in the side of the head. Hoyt was kind enough to slow down slightly as Anton was thrown off, but he didn't let Anton have the freedom to think about other things.

At the current moment Anton was able to avoid a simple rock about half of the time. Energy charged rocks he was slightly more successful with, as they were easier to notice. Anton had to admit that he wasn't using Instinct as his sole method for dealing with the flung projectiles, but he didn't like looking so sloppy. It was also not unreasonable, since relying on just Instinct later would doubtless get him killed.

The ones to throw the rocks had been Catarina and Timothy at first, but as Anton advanced in his training Velvet had taken to participating. She upped the difficulty too much with her stealthy, so she usually chose to abstain, but a certain small someone had picked up her technique. Alva didn't have the bodily strength to launch a rock fast enough or with enough precision that Anton wouldn't just have moved out of the way before it reached him even if he didn't intend do, but with a little bit of stealth technique mixed in she nearly matched Catarina and Timothy. Some of that started with Anton wanting to make her feel like she was succeeding, but soon enough he was legitimately finding it difficult to avoid her attacks. Though as his level of proficiency in Instinct increased, he was better at avoiding every attack even when he wasn't expecting them.

Even outside of sparring, It had become a sort of game where any of them could attack Anton at any time. Never anything serious, but even a touch counted as a loss. Anton lost quite a bit… until the point where he started doing the same. Hoyt was the only one who had trained Instinct so far, though Velvet was learning along with Anton. She was quite capable of training it without people pelting her with rocks while she focused on someone else, but that just made her experiences more valuable for Anton's notes.

Though he was only at the fourteenth star, among their little group everyone had trained everything but Earthly Connection, the final piece of the first half of Spirit Building. Catarina was beginning her training in the area, but she didn't have much to say at her current point. It was one of the least appealing possible purifications, since being in tune with others' emotions didn't inherently make one stronger. Yet Anton knew it still had value.

Insight allowed something similar, but it only related to surface level actions. It allowed people to predict someone's movements yet lacked understanding their motivations. Likewise, Earthly Connection would theoretically allow for prediction of more long-term actions, as well as how groups as a whole would react. Anton was actually quite interested in that, but that was the very reason he was putting it off. He was considering taking it as his Prime Tempering. If it proved to be less useful than he anticipated, he could still put in more effort to catch up in other areas.

Time passed peacefully, with Anton often journeying back and forth between the Order's main grounds where there was the highest concentration of natural energy and Windrip, where he could visit a growing and thriving community. Training himself was important, but if he let that community fail most of his effort would have been for naught. Though more than the community itself, the people were important. If they were truly satisfied to go their separate ways, he would not object- but the majority still remained with them. Only a few set out on their own, and of them Anton knew of two who were planning to teach other communities about how even basic cultivation could improve their lives.

The first thing that Anton was glad to notice was that he had started sensing cultivators throughout the rest of Windrip. He hadn't forced anyone to teach others about cultivation, but he encouraged it. With how many were having success, they must have done more than just leave the basic cultivation manual with them. Anton knew he was fortunate to be the type that could get by without guidance, but most people weren't. He wasn't sure if that was even true of him anymore, because he would be at least a few stars weaker without what he'd learned from others.

"Welcome back, Sir Anton. It is good to see you again."

Anton sighed. "Come now Ebbe. Just Anton."

"Alright, Anton." At least he dropped the formality easier. The square jawed man was large and talented enough at cultivation Anton thought he would have chosen to join the Order, but as he seemed quite happy where he was Anton didn't continue to bring it up.

"How have things been going here?"

"The same as normal," Ebbe nodded. "You have something to say?"

"It's just… the road is a bit rough."

"It is not hard for those with even a bit of cultivation, though it does make transporting animals difficult," Ebbe admitted.

"That first part's the problem. Maybe it doesn't matter, but I can't help but think more people would come see how things are here if the road was better."

"Maybe we should work on it," Ebbe conceded. "I'll bring it up later. Or you could."

"I don't want to force things. I know my opinion carries great weight, but I don't want to run things." He didn't even want to be a mayor when all of these people were just part of Dungannon. It was just that apparently people equated personal strength and leadership. Anton was willing to admit that people could have both, and even that cultivators could improve themselves in ways to become better at leadership, but he didn't think he was there yet. Not really.

"Let's stop standing in the fields," Ebbe said. "Have a drink. We're a bit low on the good things, but the well is plentiful."

"I wouldn't mind a drink," Anton said.

Normally such a thing would be trivial and ignorable. Drop the bucket, wheel it up, pour it into a jug, drink. Easy. Even normal people had no trouble with that, cultivators even less so. Despite Anton feeling his age again, he wasn't feeble. But something felt strange.

His hand grabbed Ebbe's wrist before he even thought about it. "Wait," Anton cautioned. The water tasted sweet and clean… but he had the feeling it wasn't. With that feeling he actually brought his energy to bear, and found that Instinct hadn't led him astray. The water was bad. It wasn't at the level that would kill a man, let alone a village of cultivators… but it could certainly make them sick.

Anton had no problem exerting his influence for purposes like investigating the water. Within an hour someone was running into Stregate to get the water tested while many others were moving around the area looking for a source of contamination. Anton wasn't familiar with poisons, but he didn't think the well was poisoned. At least, not intentionally. The investigation would hopefully arrive at the same conclusion. If it was foul play of some sort… Anton honestly didn't know what he would do. In such a case, he should probably ask Kohar for advice. She wasn't just an expert on legalities, but also the proper way to handle such things. Back in Dungannon most conflicts were settled easily as they were honest mistakes- and when someone tried to cheat him in a business deal, he simply refused to interact with them again. Once everyone knew someone was a cheat, they didn't last long.

He thought perhaps he should study law. By Kohar's admission, she had been doing so for decades and still wasn't able to cover everything in a single field. That meant it wouldn't be easy, and he probably wouldn't have the time. But getting at least a basic understanding beyond village laws could help him maneuver through tricky situations. More importantly, if he planned to push for change in Ofrurg he needed to understand what laws were required at what complexity to make a functioning society. He wasn't a fan of complicated laws, but if they were too simple they might be insufficient.

What Anton knew for sure was that he grew bored when he wasn't actively participating in events, and he decided to scout around the area. He was several times faster than anyone else, and within an hour he found a dead animal upstream of the village that was likely the source of the bad water. It felt the same, at least. He properly moved the half-eaten deer away from the shore. That would prevent the problem from worsening, but he didn't know what to do to make the current water safe.

Fortunately, someone else did. Another reminder that he couldn't do everything, even if he wanted to. Anton supposed he was sort of justified being set in his ways, but the longer he remained a cultivator the less the 'old man' excuse would actually apply. He needed to take a moment to examine which of his future goals he actually needed to lead himself. Killing Van Hassel was a given, but he wouldn't mind giving the job to some Elders if the opportunity presented itself. Personal catharsis was nice, but he'd rather not risk his own life and that of his companions for something so ultimately meaningless.

Chapter 124

Most of those who worked in the Order's fields were new cultivators who needed a way to earn contribution points without experience. While some were quite good workers, they couldn't really be relied upon for consistency. Most of those who were consistent were those with stagnated cultivation. They wanted to maintain a pleasant lifestyle as well as occasionally obtaining cultivation resources to try to advance further. There were very few with Elder Howland's particular devotion to the task, which was why even though some older and more powerful cultivators sometimes helped him when the fields were lacking, he usually made up for any slack himself. Sometimes that was difficult at the fifteenth star. The Order didn't have just a small amount of lands, but dozens and hundreds of separate fields. Some of them were smaller or basically trivial to take care of, but some of the more valuable herbs required special care.

Lately, his job had become easier for several reasons. He had more help, and while he couldn't say it was constant it was as consistent as it could get. Hoyt and Anton both continued to work with the plants whenever they were on the Order's grounds, usually giving Elder Howland months of strong work. Even when they were just in Body Tempering they were as good as two, three, sometimes ten others. Now they were in Spirit Building and could do the work of dozens, though comparing them to the more experienced helpers he had they were only as good as a handful of them put together.

In relation to Anton were a number of others. Displaced villagers from Anton's former home. The situation that had brought them to the Order was unpleasant, but Elder Howland was glad to have them. Anton convinced them that working the fields was good for their personal energy cultivation- and he was correct. They even drew in some others to help them. Among them was a young man named Pete, who not only worked hard but also had a feel for how the fields should be arranged. He was a formation expert in training, and Howland could see he had the knack.

The biggest factor, or at least the one Howland felt most closely, was the changes in himself. He'd been stuck on the fifteenth star, trying to complete Spiritual Connection. Anton had helped him achieve a new perspective on it, and he'd completed it and was well on his way to the seventeenth star. Mental Liberation was really just something he'd put off for last rather than something he intended to have be a prime tempering. Of course, he'd had no way to know he'd stagnate for a couple decades, but if he had his decisions wouldn't have been much different.

He simply refused to be outpaced by an actual old man. Not that his refusal seemed relevant. Soon enough Anton would catch and then surpass him, but at least by that point he'd be surpassing mid spirit building and find himself among the upper echelons of the Order. Though on the other hand, Elder Howland was slightly doubtful he'd reach the twenty-second star before Anton. How long did he have? Five years? Though his cultivation had started moving again, it wasn't really accelerating like it would need to if he wanted to achieve that goal.

It was just a simple goal. If he failed, it didn't matter. In fact, he had more lofty goals now. He'd been out to observe the fields in the little community Anton had added to. The energy in the area certainly showed the effects Anton asked about, after less than a full year. Though he wasn't the social type, Elder Howland was also doing his best to spread Anton's ideas. He didn't want to push for it too hard, but if even first star cultivators tended all of the fields in Graotan, Howland imagined it would bring great change. It seemed a lofty goal, but not a single person in Windrip seemed that they would fail to reach the first star given even half a year to cultivate.

Cooperative cultivation wasn't unheard of, but the personal care for every single person's beginning cultivation was a rarity. When a plant among the fields was failing Howland would provide it some additional fertilizer and water, but he wouldn't spend hours caring for it. Perhaps if they had enough workers they could reap benefits from such actions. The reciprocal effects of plants providing energy to the land and vice-versa might not show on such a small scale or in a single crop, but over time he wondered where it might lead. He was excited for the thought. Even more so because so few people surpassed Spirit Building, and better cultivation resources could push the standard of the Order higher, increasing their influence and power. While those factors should not be the ultimate end goal for righteous cultivators, they were still necessary to allow real change to improve the world.

Though most would have considered five months to advance from the fourteenth to fifteenth star quick, Anton found it was rather slow. Though it was not terribly slower than anything else, Anton thought he was better suited for it than he was Spiritual Connection. There had been no issues with Catarina's training, it simply had taken time. Anton simply felt that he was slower than he should have been for his training in Instinct. The only reason he felt it was slow at all was that Hoyt and Catarina closed the gap in cultivation with him, reaching fifteenth star not long after himself. Until that point he'd been able to keep a pace ahead of them.

He had a very simple place to lay his blame. Himself. Burning his lifespan with Candle Wax had been the right choice considering the timing involved with saving Devon's life, but Anton would now have to accept a slower pace of cultivation. Even if his further successes in cultivation gained him more years of lifespan, he would always be a little bit worse than he'd had the chance for.

But so what? He had no right to complain, as he still outpaced many people. Even his most important target, Maximilian Van Hassel, had been in Spirit Building for more than a decade.

Anton knew better than to complain, but he was still human. There was no way to stop himself from feeling a bit of disappointment at his current situation. Not regret, but dissatisfaction.

Those very thoughts were what let Anton know he was lucky. He was alive and prospering and he still wanted more. He could see how easily thoughts could take over, making cultivators feel they were above the world when really they were just part of it the same as any human. A more powerful part, but simply another individual in the grand scheme of the world.

Among all of the talk of the upcoming expedition to a dangerous tomb of some sort, Velvet found that she was most afraid of something else. She'd put off cultivating Voice, Earthly Connection, and Emotion as long as she could. All were intertwined in areas she didn't really understand.

Insight? Figuring out what people would do was easy, for the most part. It was all in their eyes, the way they tensed their muscles, how they shifted their energy. That was as far as she'd managed with understanding others.

Immediately following had been Mental Liberation. Though Anton was the best at explaining the principles he hadn't yet practiced that particular area himself. The basic idea was simple enough. Resisting outside control came naturally, and ignoring her own emotions was easy. Velvet knew that was a bad thing, but she properly followed the Ninety-Nine Stars and didn't divest herself of unpleasant emotions, even if it would have been easier.

Instinct was fine. She was actually quite happy to participate in the training with the others. It gave her a sense of connection to everyone knowing she could be 'attacked' at any moment. Rather than causing her stress, it allowed her to relax around others knowing she would be able to respond to any threats- both manufactured and legitimate.

Spiritual Connection was part of the essence of cultivation. It stretched beyond the cultivator into an understanding of the world as a whole, but despite the complexity it had Velvet was able to manage with the assistance of good teachers. Catarina had the knowledge and talent, and Anton was actually able to explain that knowledge. Catarina still hadn't attempted to to train Voice, seemingly leaving a weakness for a prime tempering like so many others.

Including herself.

Velvet finally settled on training Emotion. Examining herself inside brought back memories of people she'd rather not remember, of a time in her life when she was weak and out of control of her life. She didn't feel as if she was making any progress at all, and she wondered if she should just abandon the effort and try something else. But neither of the other two options were more appealing. Voice also involved introspection, and she wasn't ready to try for a deeper understanding of people with Earthly Connection when she wasn't able to understand herself.

So that was what she was most afraid of. But the tomb still sounded like a close second. She was researching this 'Everheart' through the records of the Order and by talking to other disciples.

"How many traps did you say were in that corridor?" Velvet asked incredulously.

"Fifteen," said a disciple who had to be at least ten years older. "Those were just the ones we found. There were probably more that didn't work. It was an old place. And the whole time 'Everhearts' were hounding us about how slow we were going. As if it was some kind of race." The man shook his head, "I got out of there when the next projection talked about the different kinds of poisons that had been mixed into the upcoming room's atmosphere. I don't care if most things aren't stable for a century, if anyone could do it that man could."

"How about the rewards?" Velvet asked. "Were they worth it?"

"Well…" the man shrugged. "I heard the first three places in the 'race' received some ancient treasures and some technique manuals. Written by Everheart himself." He sighed, "Forbidden techniques. Like Sixty-Three Poisons Constitution and Burning Heels."

"Those are…?"

"Poisoning yourself so much you build up an immunity to pretty much anything, and then a way to run so fast you leave a trail of fire behind you. And on you."

"Well," Velvet shrugged, "They're probably useful?"

"Maybe. Third place didn't even get a real technique. Just a scroll labeled 'Jump Good'. One of the elders watched him try to follow it and he just hit his head on the ceiling, immediately knocking himself out. Then somehow he bounced four or five times into one of the nearby corridors and nearly lost an arm to an undiscovered trap. Then the closest Everheart projection laughed."

"You're mentioning these projections. That's a formation technique to make an image, right? What does Everheart look like?" Velvet was quite curious.

"No idea," the man shrugged.

"How? You said there were a lot of them."

"Yeah. And they all looked different. The only relation… some sort of handsome young man. And tall. I'm pretty sure Everheart hadn't been the first ones for a couple centuries by the time he started making these stupid 'tombs', and he was probably never tall. Though probably not as short as some of his enemies said." The disciple shook his head. "Sorry I can't be more help. You can ask Elder Karn for more information. Though if he throws you out of his office, don't say I didn't warn you. That man's got opinions."

"Thank you for your time," Velvet bowed her head. That information was much the same as the others she'd talked to, though nobody was a real expert. The real problem wasn't Everheart being malicious. He was, sometimes, but that was mostly due to his chaotic nature. So far, she didn't know what to expect… except for traps and trials. Nobody even knew what he meant by 'new cultivators' and they wouldn't know until the 'tomb' opened up in the next month. Everyone who wanted to participate had to already be there, and Velvet would bet that Everheart's actual plan was to get thousands of cultivators riled up only to slap them in the face by telling them they couldn't enter.

She didn't want that, because Anton was interested… but to be honest both of them knew he wasn't likely to get in. But Velvet and the others probably could, unless Everheart meant people with less than a year of experience or just teenagers. The only thing that was certain was he would have some sort of entrants allowed, and the Order was confident enough in the rewards they were putting together an expedition with any disciples who wished to volunteer knowing the risks. That part was good, because it would mean they had elders watching over them, at least outside of the 'tomb'. Even the trial spaces were making fun of other cultivators of his time. No wonder Everheart died… however it happened. Probably with a dozen sects dogpiling him and a big explosion or something.

Chapter 125

Though he had somehow managed to get Alva to take cultivation 'slowly', after slightly more than half a year of cultivating she was close to the second prime tempering, the fifth star. Even at that speed her road hadn't been entirely smooth. Anton and the others had been carefully monitoring her progress and there had been several points where it was clear that her still growing body responded differently to body tempering than an adult. If it were so easy to begin training five or ten years early, it would be commonly practiced.

The correct thing to do was to prevent Alva from cultivating, but that wasn't possible anymore. Anton wasn't sure if it had ever been possible. Everyone she might reasonably be taken care of was a cultivator or at least learning how to be one, and Alva would certainly have coaxed them into teaching her or found the technique manual herself at some point. Then she would have been doing something dangerous and entirely unsupervised. The best Anton could do was impart on her the knowledge of the danger and take care of her.

He was currently satisfied that she probably wouldn't kill or injure herself in cultivation. A small comfort, since she was eager to participate in real battles. He could forbid that as well, but that was impractical. He and the others who could watch her were heading to Everheart's 'tomb'. Only physically imprisoning her would stop her from running off into the beast forest or on some dangerous mission. By the Order's standards, she was able to become an official member with the proper benefits that provided.

The only other option was taking her along with him, but that simply guaranteed she'd get into danger that she wasn't prepared to handle. The difference between the fifth star, when she reached it, and the fifteenth star that Anton was at were more than just a factor of three. Anton could probably fight ten of her without trouble.

"You need to stay here," Anton said. "Keep training as I've taught you. Work the fields or any other job you like, to improve yourself and grow your resources. And Uncle Pete will be around if you need any advice." Technically Pete wasn't her uncle or a relative at all, but it was close enough.

"But I want to go with you! I'm much stronger now."

"You're not ready for real danger yet."

"You always say that," Alva pouted. "I know you were fighting beasts in the forest a month after you joined the Order!"

Having smart grandchildren was a curse. But at least he had one more way to wiggle out of that. "It was only a month after I joined the Order, indeed, but I was at the fifth star at the time. If you reach that level and find a team, you can hunt in the forest." It was best to compromise, especially if it would keep her overall safer. She'd already been in danger many times more than a normal child of her age, but that didn't mean exposing her to more danger was a good idea. "Don't go outside of the proper depths. I'll know if you 'get lost' and go deeper than you should. You have a better sense of direction than that."

"And," Catarina took the chance to interject. "You'll have Fuzz with you. He'll be there to keep you safe, but if you go somewhere too dangerous he could get really hurt. You don't want that, do you?"

Alva shook her head. "No… I want Fuzz to be happy and run around like normal."

"One more thing," Anton said. "You have to buy some equipment from the equipment hall. A good bow you can wield or some protection- but preferably both." That should delay her… another few weeks maybe. Alva worked hard, but she wasn't the sort to go from dawn to dusk and she didn't have Anton's years of experience. The amount of contribution points she could earn that way was much less. And if she did work extra hard, well, that was training. Hopefully she wouldn't push herself too hard though. "I don't know when we'll be back," Anton admitted, "But since the Order is involved, you'll be able to ask the elders what they know if it's more than a month or two. The trip will likely be a few weeks, so we can't really return sooner than that."

"I understand," Alva nodded. "Then you'll take me with you on the next thing, right?"

"We'll talk about that later," Anton hedged. If she reached Spirit Building, he couldn't reasonably refuse to take her along with him. That shouldn't happen for another year, maybe a couple months less even at her more cautious rate of advancement.

With the vague terms of the 'tomb', all sorts of members of the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars were making the trip. That included many there to guard the rest, since there would doubtless be sects they had conflict with heading there as well. Of the escorts, Anton recognized Vincent and Elder Kseniya. There were a few more Essence Collection cultivators thrown in, and if it weren't for the circumstances it would almost be equivalent to an invading army. Though Elder Kseniya was the only Galaxy Construction cultivator among them, sending just one was already significant. The exact number wasn't public, but the Order didn't have more than a couple dozen cultivators at that level, with only a handful in other sects in Graotan. Most sects didn't even have a single one, even sects considered relatively powerful.

Of the cultivators planning to participate in whatever trials would be in Everheart's tomb, Anton knew more than a handful. There was himself, of course. The usual group with Catarina, Timothy, Hoyt, and now Velvet. There was also Sterling who introduced Anton to the grounds and Marcio the archer. Oskar and Devon would both be participating as well, being at peak Body Tempering and early Spirit Building, respectively. Anton was surprised to see two Constellation Formation cultivators who were traveling as part of the hopefuls instead of as guards. They still looked quite young, so if Anton was right they might have been cultivating for less than a decade.

He hadn't thought that much about how wide the definition for a new cultivator might be perceived. He knew he felt knew at two and a half years, but a full decade? Well, it wasn't as unreasonable as he first felt. For most cultivators, a decade was indeed very new. Cultivation was seen as a lifelong endeavor, and even those with modest talents tended to live more than a century. If they were practicing a trade, Anton would have considered those with ten years of experience as something like journeymen. Not necessarily new, but not masters either.

The vast majority of the hopeful participants were young. Early twenties for the most part. There were a few just at the third or fourth star, and while Anton was certain that they would fit the mantle of 'new' if Everheart wasn't more crazy than he already knew. There was the smallest chance that it was all a farce and the 'tomb' was empty except the outside formation or only available to cultivators with a month or less of experience. Anton thought it would be sort of funny, but he wasn't sure if even Everheart had that much free time and resources to set up that sort of thing for centuries later.

As a cultivator, Anton rarely traveled with a group that he wasn't part of the leadership. He didn't mind following instructions, but he found it strange not having to make any of the plans. All told over a hundred cultivators from the Order as well as a few from other sects in Graotan were traveling together. Fortunately the elders had magic bags full of trail rations. Nothing tasty, but they didn't have to rely on buying fresh food from every village they marched through. They still usually did, of course, and the villages and cities appreciated the business- but relying on random availability of spare food was foolish. Though Graotan was prosperous enough that it was generally not an issue.

The first half of the roads were familiar, but instead of turning more towards the north they continued directly east and even slightly south towards Floelor. The border guards on either side showed no surprise at such a large group. Floelor was quite aware that they wouldn't be able to stop the flood of cultivators heading towards Everheart's new tomb, so they simply prepared travel routes that would bring people directly to the destination with minimal opportunities to get into trouble. The Order of Ninety-Nine Stars and Graotan's cultivators in general had a good enough reputation that Floelor wasn't concerned about them in particular.

As they traveled away from the border and the scenery changed, Anton could only describe the area as barren. Barren of plant life and barren of natural energy. Yet there were still large cities occasionally, and the cultivators watching over those cities were still of respectable power. He noticed several Essence Collection cultivators in just a single city- and he was certain they weren't part of other traveling sects.

When he asked about it, Vincent had an easy answer for him. "The tomb is out in the middle of nowhere. Likewise, the route was chosen to bring us through the least relevant areas with no resources to steal. I have been through Floelor previously, and though many areas are like this, some places have an abundance of natural energy and vibrant plants and beasts. Even here there is more than immediately meets the eye."

With that information, Anton kept his eyes and other senses open. He had to admit that Vincent was right. While the plants were mostly clumps of scrubgrass and scraggly bushes, there were occasional solid trees and robust and tall grass. The natural energy was still minimal, but he realized that much of it was condensed into what little plantlife there was. That included wheat fields, and Anton knew that eating grains with condensed natural energy would be almost as good as taking cultivation boosting medicines with fewer potential side effects. Anton didn't mind that in principle, but it seemed that lower level cultivators had trouble advancing without connections. Then again, wasn't that true anywhere? Even Anton had just been handed a powerful technique in the form of the Ninety-Nine Stars. It wasn't secret but the number of copies was still limited. If Vincent hadn't done that for him he might not have even been able to acquire any form of cultivation technique to start off with. That just reaffirmed Anton's plans for the future.

The terrain gradually grew arid and hot. There were also more craggy hills and tall, freestanding rock structures. Some stood alone like towers while others had wide, flat tops. The soil itself was now reddish brown and claylike. Not good for farming much of anything, though the few plants that grew in the area seemed happy enough.

Most of the terrain was completely ignorable, and there wasn't much of anything to see. However, as they approached one of the large freestanding plateaus Anton could see other people. Hundreds of them, maybe thousands. They must have reached the destination.

The first thing he saw, while they were still far off, was the image of a tall man. Not a statue, but not really a person. Unless the man were eight feet tall and able to stand with his feet well above the ground. Possible, but he would have sensed the fluctuations of energy from the horizon. The way the light didn't hit his face quite right confirmed Anton's theory.

From what he'd heard, the chiseled jaw and sharp features were just the sort of thing Everheart would use for a projection of 'himself'. Broad shoulders like an ox and muscle filled out the rest of the figure who had no shirt and barely anything covering his lower half. He was standing there in the air, grinning at the crowd of people.

As they approached closer, Anton managed to recognize a few further figures. Elder Varela and Lev weren't exactly a surprise, though the young man was almost unrecognizable. His back was straight, and though his presumably still useless arm was concealed in an oversized sleeve, he radiated confidence.

The next two were a surprise. Faces he had only seen in drawings. Anton tensed up as he saw Maximillian Van Hassel and Nirmal Slusser in person. He thought about trying to put arrows through them then and there, but in addition to the fact that they felt like they were in late Spirit Building there were both formal and informal agreements about conduct in such situations. The Order would be justified to not support him if he were to attack, and he would find himself mostly alone. Even if his usual allies supported him he wasn't certain of victory, and the two didn't seem to be alone.

Finally he saw a face he'd wanted to see for two and a half years. In that time Annelie had gone from a girl to starting to look like a young woman, but there was no way he wouldn't recognize her no matter how much she grew. She was standing at the center of a group of people with similar auras, presumably the Frostmirror sect. Each group was cordoned off from the others.

Anton knew he wouldn't be allowed to casually approach, but he was going to make the attempt. That was his intention, anyway, but around the time they were just a couple hundred meters away from the crowds of cultivators the large floating 'Everheart' spoke with a booming voice.

"Welcome, everyone, to my tomb! Or your tomb, if you are not worthy. This one is specially prepared for new cultivators." Somehow the figure's back became even more straight, and Anton thought his muscles bulged unnaturally as his arms flexed in front of him. "You might be wondering who counts as a new cultivator. It's quite simple. Just try to enter and if you fit the bill you won't get knocked on your ass!" Anton had never heard a laugh that would have sounded like someone good spirits in other contexts feel so malicious. Though Anton could see a smirk that indicated it would at least be fun for someone. Though Anton doubted a projection could actually feel mirth, it sure acted like it.

As crowds of people started pouring towards an ornate entrance in the rocky plateau, Anton realized he would have to find a chance to see Annelie later. Hopefully inside, where she would have fewer people around her.

Chapter 126

On either side of the entrance into the plateau were large statues posing proudly. They were reminiscent of the floating projection of Everheart, though unique in their own way. People were already starting to rush towards the entrance, and Anton saw people either pass through easily or get violently thrown back. Interestingly enough, nobody seemed to be injured no matter how far it flung them.

For example, one eager man from the front of the pack landed right at Anton's feet still over a hundred meters away. He was a man of about thirty years of age, but he had clearly been rejected harshly. Though Anton would have thought he could have reacted while in the air to have a smooth landing with his cultivation in mid Spirit Building, he landed directly on his rear and sat there stunned.

Anton and the other proceeded forward at a natural pace, and the area in front was starting to somewhat calm down. People seemed to have noticed that if they were moving at a moderate rate they wouldn't get flung too far back. That was presumably less embarrassing for them, though it left everyone looking at them as they struggled to pick themselves up and staggered out of the way.

One man barrelled into the entrance once, landed on his rear, then charged it again. The second time he was flung twice as far and instead of landing gently if in an undignified manner, he struck the dirt and tumbled. Anton focused his eyes to see the man lying on his back staring up at the sky with a bloody nose. It didn't look serious, but the escalation was a clear warning. Most people got it.

Anton clicked his tongue as the remaining disciples of the Frostmirror sect pulled out of the way, having been some of the first to reach the entrance. Those who could enter had already done so, and the rest stood to the side trying to look like they hadn't been rejected.

Though the situation precluded the various sects from engaging in violence with their enemies, it didn't stop verbal barbs and jabs. A member of the Heavenly Lion Sect jeered at someone who was unable to enter, then found himself similarly rejected.

The members of the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars tried to keep a neutral composure though some couldn't suppress their eagerness, running forward ahead of the rest. Some made it inside, but others had to make the walk of shame back towards the main body of the group.

Anton and the others kept a measured pace. There had been nothing that said admittance was limited, and more people were rejected than able to enter. There was no need to rush.

When Anton and the others around him were about ten meters away, Anton picked out Van Hassel and Slusser trying to enter. They were swiftly rejected, with Van Hassel sliding past Anton. His eyes couldn't help but follow the man, and for a moment their eyes met. Anton was close to just whipping out his bow and killing the man as he was in the midst of their group, but that would give others a reason to attack them. He also couldn't justify his actions without taking long enough for the man to prepare himself or retreat. Even if he did, any accusations would likely be taken as, well, an attempt to justify killing the man. It would be, even if it was just.

His vision simply lingered on Van Hassel as he approached the entrance, and the surprisingly well kept man glared. "What are you looking at, huh, old man? Where are you going? You think you can enter when I can't?"

Anton refrained from comment, but had already made himself seen. He just kept his gaze on the man as he continued walking.

Van Hassel got up on his feet and gestured. If he'd been gutsy enough to pull out a weapon Anton might have tried to manipulate the situation, but mere impotent threats weren't sufficient. "Hey! Answer me you-" the sound was cut off as Anton felt energy wrap around him. It was powerful, and stopped his movements. He prepared himself to be flung backwards and resolved to land with as much dignity as possible, but then his step continued and he was through the barrier. He wasn't sure if the pause was even enough for most people to notice, but he certainly felt it.

He turned to Hoyt who walked next to him, whispering, "Did the barrier slightly stagger you?"

Hoyt shook his head, "I felt nothing."

Anton frowned. That was concerning, but he was clearly inside- and proceeding deeper down the hallway. Soon enough he stepped into a large hall with at least a dozen doorways leading away from it, where there was of course another Everheart. This time it wasn't a muscled man, but instead a young handsome fellow in long, flowing, royal robes. He had his hands covered opposite sleeves and bowed as the final group behind the Order trailed in. "Welcome, new cultivators. Five years. That is the threshold I allowed for entry, allowing my generous and magnanimous and quite relaxed stipulations to bring so many of you inside."

Given the crowd outside, it didn't really seem like many people had made it in- but Anton couldn't really consider it few either. He scanned the crowd casually, estimating around a hundred people in Spirit Building including around ten from Graotan, mainly the Order. There were several hundred more in Body Tempering who were confident enough in themselves to come to one of Everheart's 'tombs'.

"Honestly," Everheart continued, "I find myself disappointed. A generous five years, and not a single Essence Collection cultivator. How far things have fallen." The man's gaze rested on a few towards the front who had the aura of late Spirit Building. "Not too far, but that step is quite important. Well, I suppose five years might be a bit too short to expect from people. This could just be one of those things. I wonder if I'm a few years off from a good cycle." The last part was muttered to himself- though quite easy for anyone to overhear regardless.

"You said five years?" a young man standing with the disciples of the Frostmirror sect asked. "Why is there an old man here then?" He looked pointedly towards Anton.

At that point, Everheart's facade of civility and proper demeanor shattered. With a flick of his voluminous sleeves, the young man was flat on his face. Then Everheart was crouching in front of him, legs spread wide and a lazy expression of contempt on his face. "Listen up, maggot. There are two problems with what you said. First, I'm not 'you'. I'm Everheart. Great Golden Emperor of the Most Powerful Techniques Everheart. Though everyone else can call me Senior Everheart if they're polite about it." Everheart poked the top of the young man's head. "Second, I don't make mistakes. If I say the old man has been cultivating for less than five years, he has." An uncomfortable number of gazes were on the young man on the floor, but even more were on Anton. Everheart snapped his fingers, "Oh, a third thing. My word is law here. Even if that wasn't true, if I say the ceiling's a floor, it's a floor." With another flick of his sleeve the young man 'fell' to the ceiling, where he was similarly stuck flat. "Now then, where were we? Oh yes. Go ahead and explore for a few days. The test starts after that." With a swirl of sleeves and light he spun around, then disappeared from view.

Even with many people running down different hallways at the announcement that they could explore, far too much attention was on Anton for his own preference- but something good came of the situation. He ignored the young man glaring at him from the ceiling as if the situation was Anton's fault and focused on a head poking out from the crowd. Annelie's eyes were wide and her jaw was hanging slack. Anton smiled gently and he gave a little wave. "Finally found you. I hope you're doing well?"

Several of the other members of the Frostmirror sect stepped in front of Annelie defensively, but she tried to push her way through them. "That's my great-grandpa!" she exclaimed.

Another voice responded to her statement. "The one you said was invincible and could do anything?" The figure that spoke that line stepped forward, a woman just past her teenage years with an icy demeanor. "What use is he if he couldn't even defend your village?"

Anton's hand covered Catarina's mouth as she was about to say something in his defense. He would prefer to maintain cordial relations with Annelie's sect, at least for the moment- the disciple on the ceiling already being a lost cause. "That's true. I'm not even remotely invincible and there are many things I cannot do. But I would still like to see my great-granddaughter."

The woman looked like she was going to reject, but Annelie's hands appeared on her shoulders and her chin rested on the woman's head. "Diana said you were dead but I told her you couldn't be. I was right!"

Anton smiled sadly. "I could have been, though. In most cases, she would have been right. How are things?"

"Fine," Annelie said from her weird perch. The woman she was resting on kept an impassive yet stern expression even as she was being climbed on. "Cultivating is fine but I don't have any friends." She blinked then exclaimed, "You're a cultivator! I thought so! How strong were you before?"

"I was not a cultivator when we last saw each other," Anton stated. "Only from… shortly after."

Seeming to be finished with Annelie clambering on her, Diana gently but swiftly lowered her to the ground. "You should not believe him. That is not possible. Even if it was, there are opportunities to seek. We must be going." She started pulling Annelie behind her down a hallway.

Annelie looked back, "I believe you! We'll talk more later once Diana loses track of me!"

"That's not the sort of thing you should say in front of me," the woman admonished.

Given the demeanor of the other surrounding disciples, Anton declined to attempt to follow her. "Fare well, Annelie. See you soon." At least he could confirm she was alive and in something like good spirits, though he didn't think much of her sect mates. Cold and uncaring… or a bit too emotional like the young man apparently permanently relegated to the ceiling. He was 'standing' now, walking around and trying to find a way to get to the other hallways- while still occasionally glaring towards Anton.

"She's terrible," Catarina commented. "Diana, I mean. Annelie seems great."

"Ah, I forgot to introduce you," Anton shook his head. "Well, there will be chances later, I'm certain." He wasn't happy with the brevity of the meeting, but his heart was uplifted. "Let's go check out these death traps, shall we? There should be reliable rewards if we can pass them."

The other disciples from the Order had already left, except for the core group. Timothy, Hoyt, and Velvet were still spoke up next, "The Frostmirror sect is one of those that tends to divest themselves of emotions instead of handling them. Luckily Annelie there is still in early Spirit Building as far as I could tell, so she should have barely begun the process. It would be better if we could retrieve her from their care, but that might be difficult."

"Is removing your emotions that bad?" Velvet asked. "Do cultivators really need them?"

Hoyt shrugged. "It depends on who you ask. But I will say this. You have two kidneys. You don't need both of them. But I doubt you would divest yourself of either of them just because they might inconvenience you in the future."

Velvet wrapped her hands around her belly. "Right."

"Much better to be able to suppress emotions for a short time than entirely remove them," Anton said. "It's literally impossible to be happy about the results, nor sad. If properly handled, positive emotions can be made to outweigh the negative. Even if it takes much effort." Anton was making use of his training at the very moment, trying not to remember the emotions from two and a half years prior, when he'd last seen Annelie. Breaking down crying wouldn't do any good right now. He could just do it a little bit inside. He didn't need to pretend the meeting was only happy though.

The group had been strolling towards the nearest hallway. When they arrived, another Everheart with coiffed hair and tailored clothes that were probably fashionable in a previous century was just finishing an explanation to a small crowd. "... and that's about it. Just follow those instructions and you probably won't get yourself killed." His eyes turned to the five just entering the area. "No, I'm not going to repeat myself. Figure it out."

Somehow, Anton found Everheart's intentionally provocative attitude reassuring. He could take his mind off of problems he couldn't solve right now with a little bit of mortal danger. He looked down what seemed to be an empty hallway with little decoration by tiled floors and started scanning it with his eyes and senses, while the others did so as well.

Chapter 127

Before any of the members of the Order could discern whatever rules governed the hallway, someone started making their way through it. They took four steps, each one matching the one meter length of the tiles on the floor, before the fifth step unleashed a volley of darts from the wall. The man twisted his body in place to avoid most of them, but one still stuck into his shoulder as it pierced through his energy. If he had been willing to step off of the tile he was standing on he could have certainly dodged them completely.

Anton was quite amazed at the trap, he hadn't been able to tell the pressure plate or the tiny holes in the wall had been there until it activated. Afterwards, he still wasn't sure he could really pick it out or if he was just seeing what he wanted to see.

"Anything?" he asked Catarina and Velvet.

"It's not a formation, I don't think…" Catarina frowned. "At least, I can only discern reinforcement for the walls and floor and nothing more."

Before Velvet had the time to give her opinion, a strong woman stepped confidently onto the first tile the previous cultivator had stepped on. In response, a dozen spikes pierced through that very tile into her foot. She screamed in rage and pulled her foot away- Anton couldn't be sure, but he doubted she was seriously injured, outside of her pride. After all, she was able to stumble back to the safe zone without consequence. She looked like she was about to yell at the projection of Everheart, but thought better of it. Perhaps she remembered the man who was doubtless still wandering around the ceiling in the main hall. "Senior Everheart. I thought you said there was only one path through the hallway. Why did it change?"

"Hmm," the fancily dressed Everheart stroked a well manicured beard, "Did I say that?" He looked pointedly towards the five who had come in last. "Who knows? I might have, I might not have."

The woman grumbled but chose to walk back towards the main hall rather than trying to continue down the hallway or argue with the proprietor. Anton thought that was a reasonable choice, though he doubted the other hallways would be intentionally less obtuse.

Several others of those waiting tried stepping onto the tiles, but most were met by various traps. One more person managed to step several tiles in along a different path, before the leading cultivator had made his decision and took a step to his left. With no response, he then continued forward.

A ball of compressed energy dropped from the ceiling, and the man flung himself backwards. Losing progress was one thing, but he absolutely could not be hit by the ball of energy. As it passed through the spot he had been standing it simply exploded, sending a shockwave down the five meter wide corridor. The cultivator wasn't quite prepared for that and was blasted into the ground.

Anton exchanged glances with the others. He wondered if they noticed what he did. He still wasn't sure how everything worked, but he moved forward to the left end of the five tile wide hallway. He stepped onto the first tile and nothing happened. The second in front of him. The third to his right. Then right once more and a large axe blade was slicing towards his legs. He hadn't been able to anticipate the attack, but as soon as it was happening his training in Instinct took over and along with his previous intentions propelled him backwards, leaping over the tile between himself and safety. "I think that's quite enough of that for now," he commented.

Others began to try, not finding any real path to success. The paths people chose all seemed to be wrong, with traps triggering at unexpected moments and forcing them to retreat with various levels of injury before anyone even got ten tiles into the hallway that was a hundred meters long. People started filtering out of the hallway, leaving only the five from the Order and the first cultivator to step into the area. The wound on his shoulder had barely bled, but Anton could see occasional glimpses of it and saw what looked like yellow and purple bruising in the area. It hadn't been a wide impact, so perhaps it was some sort of poison causing the discoloration.

Anton sat down, then gestured for the others to do so as well. "I have an idea." When the unknown cultivator didn't respond, Anton waved him over specifically. "You should join us as well. We might be competition, but the chances of us getting something if we work together are higher." The man reluctantly sat down. "I'm Anton. You?"

"Firdaus," he said reluctantly.

"Good enough. We're all part of the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars, but if you work together with us we can agree to give you an even share of whatever treasures are at the other end."

"What do you need me to do?" he asked.

"Listen to my ideas, and if you don't have thoughts to prove my ideas wrong one of us will run down the hallway."

"Which one of us?" Firdaus narrowed his eyes.

"Either you or me. At your discretion. I'm sure you'll understand why later. First, I'll say what I've observed. I'm sure some of you have as well. Firdaus, what can you tell about why the tiles activate?"

"Nothing," he shook his head, "It seems entirely random. I can't discern a path to the end."

"That's it," Anton said agreeably. "Entirely random. Does everyone else feel the same?" Everyone nodded in agreement. "But there's more to it."

"Before you share that," Velvet interjected, "Perhaps it would be best for Firdaus to share the rules he heard. Since we're offering our insights to him."

Firdaus shrugged, "Sure. For all the good it'll do you." He closed his eyes in concentration, then recited. "There is only one path through the hallway. Each tile has the potential to release traps. The only rule is that you must step on adjacent tiles for the whole path." He held out his hands, "That was the whole thing, though he said it with more drama," Firdaus inclined his head towards the watching projection.

"That last part is actually important," Anton said. "Very useful. I might have made a mistake without that."

"How's that useful?"

"Because I was just going to leap as far as I could to avoid stepping on as many tiles as possible," Anton admitted. "But if that's an actual rule I imagine it's enforced," he couldn't read anything from the smug expression of the nearby Everheart. He doubted that face was ever not smug. "There were two specific things I took note of. Anyone want to guess?"

"The traps are always the same," Hoyt commented. "They're not actually random. Each tile has the same one every time it triggers."

"The formation doesn't make the effects," Catarina confirmed, "I've been able to observe it. It simply fortifies the walls and perhaps helps reset the traps, but the traps are certainly real if nearly impossible to detect with the senses."

"It's good to have confirmation on that," Anton admitted. "Having the traps be the same isn't too bad, and there's one other factor that I think makes this safe enough to risk. Anyone?"

Nobody answered for a few moments until Timothy finally spoke up, "I'm not sure about this… but I don't think I ever saw a trap trigger when someone stepped backwards."

"Exactly!" Anton slapped his thigh to emphasize his enthusiasm. "I don't think Everheart wants to kill people with this. At least not in a boring or unfair way. People have the option to retreat. I think everyone else subconsciously realized that. A good deterrent." Anton turned towards their temporary companion. "So," Anton continued his earlier line of thought. "One of the two of us should just run down the hall. If we don't stop, we can avoid the traps. If something changes, I believe we will still have the option to retreat."

"Why would I go first, then?" Firdaus asked. "I can't find any fault in your observations, but you could still be fatally incorrect."

"Simple. Though we might split things evenly, whoever goes first will get first pick of similarly valued items. The same for each of us. Whoever goes last will have the easiest time avoiding traps, in theory, so even if they get a fair split they don't have priority."

"I'm not sure. But so you can't later say I didn't contribute, I'll go second."

"Perfectly reasonable," Anton said. "Any objections from anyone else? Good." Anton shifted to his feet. "Might as well get started."

Anton stepped forward, coating himself with his energy. He always had some protecting him but now it was actively controlled and at a higher intensity. He needed defenses but also agility. Still, it should be slightly easier than a real combat because he wouldn't have to also worry about any sort of attacks of his own.

He picked the line where he was familiar with the first five traps, then started running. Each foot hit a tile. The first one sprayed gas towards him, but by the time it reached the target location he was already on the next tile. That one didn't trigger. Anton had no reason to divert to the left or the right since most of the traps were still unknown, so he might as well make the most progress possible.

As he ran, Anton focused on his training in Swan Steps to augment his movements while he relied on his memory of the next two traps to avoid them, then had to rely solely on trained Instinct. Blades and spears and rocks flew at him, poisonous darts and gas and pretty much everything. One tile even fell away from under his foot as he stepped, but his momentum carried him forward to the next step. Anton didn't think about what was happening behind him or what might happen ahead- he merely focused on what he needed to do in the moment.

One step in front of the other, a twist to avoid an incoming attack, fortifying his defenses on an arm where he had to block, breathing in and out. This hallway was a test of agility and reaction as well as general cultivation power. It wasn't a real deathtrap. Anton was certain of that. If Everheart just wanted to kill people, there was no need to pretend to have fairness. Though Anton couldn't say what the results might be if he angered one of the projections. Then all logic might be out the window.

After a minute, Anton realized he was standing still. He'd told himself to keep going until the reached the end of the tiles, and he had. He looked back at the hallway which was filled with flame, gasses, dust, and weapons. The weapons retracted into the floors or walls while the projectiles were retrieved by some mysterious force. The gas dispersed and the flames faded, leaving behind no scorch marks on the surroundings or indeed any signs of his passage.

As for himself, Anton was still breathing heavily and had nicks and scrapes and burns all over, with traces of poison in his system. His movements hadn't been perfect, nor his defenses. He took a few steps away from the tiles and sat down, circulating his energy to jumpstart the healing process while he watched to see if Firdaus would really make the attempt.

Firdaus stuck to what he said and ran straight down the middle, along the same path as Anton. There were still many differences in the dangers he encountered, since the triggering of the tiles was quite random. There was a stretch of nearly eight tiles where nothing happened, then one that hadn't done anything for Anton suddenly tilted, flinging him to the side and to the right end of the corridor. He hit the wall but was running as soon as his feet hit the tile below, narrowly avoiding a blade chopping out of the wall. He continued running down the right side of the corridor, triggering traps with every other step. Anton found that the danger seemed more real when he could see all of it instead of just moving past it, but it was all somewhat appropriate. Firdaus used his spear to parry blades on the very last tile and then stepped to next to Anton.

"Very good," Anton said. "Instead of trying to get back on the path you just kept moving. That takes bravery."

"... Thanks," Firdaus didn't seem to know how to respond to the complement. "Honestly, I just didn't think about it."

"I didn't either," Anton admitted. "I just had to keep going. Still, whatever mental training you have done was sufficient."

"That's what Spirit Building is all about," Firdaus said. He sat himself near Anton and watched down the corridor, also taking the chance to start healing small wounds.

"Not going to try to attack me and claim everything for yourself?"

"That would be pretty stupid," He said. "I know the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars. I hope you will uphold the reputation of honesty, and I'm certain you would uphold the tradition of strength." He stroked his chin, "Is it really true you've also been training less than five years? You don't… look like it."

"My opportunity came very late in life," Anton said, "But it is true that I only began recently."

"Close to mid Spirit Building in that time… given your age, I'm quite impressed. The rest of your group seems talented as well."

"Yes. We were lucky to join the Order at similar times."

Timothy was currently running down the hall, yelling at the top of his lungs. In his defense, it was a cry of determination and not fear, but it was a bit funny to watch. Anything that came from his left was skillfully deflected with his shield, and fancy footwork and simple forward momentum took care of everything else. He arrived with the other two soon enough, the least injured of the three.

Catarina was next, though it seemed the others had also been eager to try their hand. She relied less on judging attacks after they came and instead had memorized most of the dangers that would appear in front of her, dodging them before they could even be a threat- sometimes stopping short instead of continuing at full speed like the first three. There were still a few that were new and she had to react to without knowing what they would be, but she made it to the end in good health, though clearly fatigued like the others.

Hoyt seemed eager but let Velvet go next. She was clearly less aware of the pattern of traps she would be facing, since memorizing things like that was more in Catarina's field, but she still used her speed and agility to weave her way through the traps- and was even willing to step to side tiles instead of sticking strictly to the middle, despite possible unknown traps.

When it was finally his turn, Hoyt's response to most of the traps was chopping through them. Though the method was aggressive, it was effective. Darts split easily, but while fire wasn't something that could be cut with a blade, energy could wedge it apart. That was even more true when the energy in question was also fire. Though chopping seemed as if it was a method of brute force, it actually took as much finesse as parrying everything. He still had to align his weapon precisely, he just wasn't meeting the threats with intent to solely deflect. He ran into some trouble with the floor spikes that were fortified to not break, but even in that case his axe pushed him away from the spikes.

Soon enough six relatively healthy people were at the end of the hall, with an impatient looking Everheart looming over them. "Finally. Will you look at the rewards now? Honestly, I haven't seen people so willing to wait for rewards in my entire life. You didn't even peek your head in the doors!"

Anton shrugged, "Sorry, Senior Everheart, but I wanted to see my companions successes." Besides, were the treasures just going to run away? Actually, he supposed they might.

Everheart sighed, "Yes yes, loyalty and all that. We have two things. First, the door on the left. It has rewards for all of you. One item each. The other is for training. One hour per day per person."

"Ah… too bad we don't get to split everything. Still, second pick should be worth something, eh Firdaus?"

The man nodded. "Let's see what there is. If I know one thing about Everheart, he is generous with rewards."

Chapter 128

The rewards room couldn't be compared to the treasury at the Order, but the latter was a sprawling complex of rooms built up over many years. In fairness, the room was quite full of varied rewards- and it shouldn't be the only one of its type in the area. At least, Anton didn't see any other entrances or additional people in the area, and he doubted they were the only ones to have passed some trial at this point. There were hundreds of people, after all.

"Senior Everheart," Anton didn't think there would be any problems, but he had to ask. "What constitutes choosing an item? May we pick them up and examine them?"

"There's no trick about it," Everheart said, "Whatever you take out of the room. Or if you break something, but that's not going to happen by accident."

With his concerns assuaged, Anton set out examining the various things in the room. There were a few bows, but while he was interested in something he could use between his current bow and that bone bow he still wanted to try, he could get something better at the Order. It would be better to get something that the Order didn't have. Anton's eyes were drawn to some crystals. They were the sort that could be worked into equipment as a method of empowering them along with whatever base materials were used to form the object. While most crystals didn't have any direct effects, they could allow something to store energy of their own and lighten the burden on the user.

There was a pretty clear outlier among the crystals, and indeed it stood out in comparison to the rest of the equipment. The powerful energy it radiated was nearly twice that of anything else. Anton picked it up, feeling the power of a storm wash over him, wind whipping in his hair and lightning shaking him. The feeling didn't completely encapsulate his senses, and he felt fluctuations nearby. He turned towards Firdaus, seeing the desire plain on his face. "You want this?" Anton held up the crystal.

Firdaus only hesitated a moment before nodding. "It would be very useful to me."

Anton smiled and placed it back on the shelf. "It's quite something, but I don't know if it would be of particular use to me. Go ahead, if you want it. Just make sure you give everything a once over. I'd imagine there are some hidden treasures as well."

Weapons and armors of various sorts were placed along the walls, but most of them were nothing special. It would never be inappropriate to have more armor, but even the best quality armor would limit mobility past a certain weight or bulk. Anton was not without armor, though he was finding the limits of some equipment in Spirit Building.

There were other objects that didn't all have clear purposes, rings and necklaces that certainly were enchanted but the sorts of enchantments weren't always obvious. "It's hard to know the value of things here," Anton mused, holding up a pair of gloves. "It seems inappropriate to choose something just for fashion."

"Wyvern leather gloves. Good for protection and enchanted to improve manual dexterity." Anton glanced over his shoulder to see Firdaus clutching the crystal in his hand. "You're primarily an archer, correct?"

"That's right," Anton nodded.

"There's an undershirt on the shelf there," he pointed, "Tendonvine strands, covers the torso and arms an stabilizes and fortifies the muscles especially in the back and shoulders. That leaves the hands themselves, but it should improve your efficiency by a decent margin. A few percent, at least."

Anton moved over to the indicated shelf, unfolding what had just looked like a square of cloth to his eyes. It had an interesting texture, but not an unpleasant one. It was a strangely stretch material but he determined it was still reasonably tough. Not relevant to consider as armor, but it wouldn't be damaged in casual use. As for its effects Anton couldn't be quite sure without trying it on. So he did. It was only a few moments before his torso was bare and then he slipped it on. He could immediately feel the effects as it tightened around his muscles. Even so, he was still able to move as he wanted and in fact he felt his movements supported. Just to make sure he held his bow and felt the effects as he pulled back the string. It was just a bit easier. Utility items of the sort were usually passed over for flashier items, but Anton liked it. "Are you an enchanter of some sort?" Anton asked Firdaus.

"It would be inappropriate to say that with my experience," Firdaus shook his head. "I'm just an apprentice."

"Is that so. I'm certain you will do well when you're officially an enchanter. I don't recognize your sect…?"

"Cloudtop Summit, from the southeast."

"I see. I have not travelled that far just yet." Anton once more flexed his arm, feeling the undershirt's effects. "Thank you for your recommendation."

"I should note that it will not have the highest market price. But I do believe it will be the most beneficial to you, unless you intend to acquire one of the bows. It seemed you rejected them, though."

"They're not sufficiently better than I could get elsewhere," Anton agreed. "And I have no desire to accustom myself to a different bow in the middle of all of this," he gestured vaguely around them.

"A reasonable conclusion."

During the time Anton was choosing, most of the others had chosen an item of their own. Timothy acquired an armor made of green scales of some creature Anton didn't recognize but Firdaus said was a lesser dragon. Catarina took a formation flag made of material even Firdaus didn't recognize. It was a single piece and not part of a set, but Catarina was quite firm that was what she wanted and Anton had no basis to try to convince her otherwise. Hoyt took another crystal with a fire type energy, though it wouldn't immediately benefit him.

Velvet was the only one who had yet to make a choice. She was looking between two daggers in an almost desperate state. One had a blade of blackened metal, and the other white. She held one in each hand, looking back and forth between them. She moved to set one down, but couldn't seem to let it go. "Can someone- no, nevermind…" Velvet hung her head. "Senior Everheart. Is it possible to complete this trial again to get a second item?"

"No, it is not." The current projection stood nearby, not as towering as the first one but still taller than was reasonable.

"What about if I did one of the other trials. Could I come here for my prize instead?"

"I'm afraid that is not possible," Everheart said.

"What if I did all of them?" Velvet gestured around her with the two daggers in her hands. "There has to be a way."

"One item from a specific area per person who passes the trial. Those are the rules I have set."

"So I can't have both of these?" Velvet sighed. Then she muttered to herself, "Maybe if I coerce someone into getting it… no, I shouldn't… but what if…"

Everheart snorted then burst out laughing, his well groomed demeanor finally breaking. "I'm not opposed to such methods. However, the risk is your own. But I've had enough for now." He moved down in front of Velvet, taking the daggers into his own hands as if she didn't have a grip on them. He held them up next to each other where the differences were most pronounced. One was longer, the other with a broader blade. The hilts were decorated and shaped differently, and with one purest black and the other an unblemished white they could hardly contrast with each other more while still being the same type of weapon. "I put these on different shelves for a reason. I hadn't expected someone to actually put them together so quickly." He tossed them back to Velvet who automatically caught them by the hilts. "They're a pair. That counts as one item. I'm not so crazy as to separately require people get a bow and a string." He tapped his chin, "Unless they're part of that Heavenly Lion Sect or whatever." Everheart looked around at the people listening and glared. "Just remember that I'm an impartial arbiter. Got it?" His face distorted and his hair popped up as his rough motions tore a seam in his sleeve.

Nobody dared to say anything, instead slowly filing out of the room. There was in fact another room nearby for training. They wondered how that might work. They were all genuinely interested, of course. But it was also a good excuse to get away from that mood.

Everheart appeared in front of them, hair properly coiffed and clothes perfectly in place. "This training room is sufficient for nine individuals at a time. Do take care to stay within the marked boundaries. It is possible to choose the element and intensity of the natural energy in each area, though I would advise that nobody attempt the highest setting." Everheart sighed, muttering to himself. "Not even a single Essence Collection among them…"

The room was nearly bare and empty of ornamentation. It was simply a square room, with paths criss-crossing between nine clearly marked square areas. The entire room had a higher concentration of natural energy than the rest of the tomb, but it didn't seem to be active at the moment.

"Should we make use of it now?" Catarina asked.

"Senior Everheart," Anton made sure to maintain the formality to get the best reaction, "You said these rooms could be used for one hour per day. I assume we have to repeat the trial every time, correct?"

"Of course. I'm not going to just hand out optimal training locations."

"There's the answer, then. We use these now unless we want to go back through that with no real benefit. If we're doing it again, it might as well be tomorrow."

Everyone moved into the room, picking styles of energy that best suited them through a series of stylized pictures on the floor. Anton, Catarina, and Velvet all chose a neutral mix of energy, either preferring 'pure' energy or not having chosen any particular element to focus on yet. Timothy chose earth, Hoyt fire, and Firdaus lightning.

Anton looked over the options for quantity and power of energy, choosing one two steps below the top. The top was for Essence Collection cultivators, so the next would be something like late Spirit Building. He was just on the edge of mid Spirit Building himself, so the next choice should be appropriate. As he finalized his choice, the area around Anton was flooded with energy. It was a violent torrent that threatened to overwhelm him, and while its density was less than on the peaks at the Order, it was difficult to work with.

Merely as a defensive precaution Anton immediately began wrestling it to be controlled, absorbing what he could where necessary. It was a constant back and forth wrestling match where he nearly exhausted himself constantly while also being refilled at the same pace. When the hour was over he was sweating and exhausted, but quite satisfied with the results. The precise combination of factors combined to be very efficient training, though he wouldn't want to attempt to do that for more than a single hour per day.

"Well then," a voice came from the nearby Everheart that didn't have the same affectations they expected. It didn't fit the look at all. "It's time to announce to everyone the real goal here. All of you will be staying here for a month, and the one who makes the most cultivation improvements will receive the grand prize! There are rewards for many others of course, but only one person can come out on top. Your sects outside have been informed of this arrangement, of course. They're having a wonderful time discussing the implications." Everheart clapped his hands, "Now get busy!"

Chapter 129

Shortly before Everheart's proclamation in a expansive room with walls smoothly carved out of the plateau's stone, dozens of cultivators pushed themselves forward against the pressure of the area. Oskar felt his muscles straining as he was nearly forced off his feet. One section ahead of him he saw Devon, likewise struggling to resist the pressure of the area.

The rules of their current test were simple. Reach the furthest point that one could without collapsing. Some candidates attempted to improve their results by moving as swiftly as possible, but the second part of the rules resulted in that rarely being to their benefit. The participant's location over a certain period of time was averaged- thus, if someone could run from the front of the room to the back but collapsed at the end, they would only count as having reached the middle. The participants instead needed to match their stamina and the strongest place they could resist, moving as far as they could quickly while not going too far and suffering defeat.

The weight bearing down on Oksar was oppressive energy, but he welcomed it. Though he now practiced the Ninety-Nine Stars, his first experience in cultivation had been in mines where the natural energy was far too dense for a normal human to operate. Even without any training as a cultivator he had been able to feel the energy there, and he had chosen to let it inside to slow the pressure instead of trying to hold out against it. That could have easily been the wrong choice- if so, he would have died slightly sooner. Of course, he wasn't dead and in fact had set himself down the path to power with his decision.

He used that same experience now to let the pressure flow through him, easing the burden on his body. The effects were easy to discern- Oskar had reached his current point next to several cultivators in early Spirit Building, and he felt he could go further. Not much, but at least to the next section where the pressure would increase strongly once more.

Ahead of him, Devon seemed to be relying on another method to continue forward- pure grit. Though he was certainly using all of his technique to lessen the pressure on himself, he kept moving forward through the power of will, despite his body trembling in exertion and pain.

At least half of the participants had already collapsed, with some of those who rushed ahead despite the stated rules being the first. Their rewards would be the least, though Oskar wasn't certain that the rewards themselves mattered. An area like this required powerful formations- the likes of which even the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars would find too expensive to sustain for long periods. It was an excellent training method, though Oskar knew that if he tried to use it as his only training method he would end up quite flawed. Notwithstanding that its effects would be most helpful for body tempering, diversity in training was important. Energy was extremely important to a cultivator, but Anton had taught him that properly making use of whatever energy was available for training and combat was more important.

The energy flowed over him and through him, and though it wasn't in a pure form where he could absorb more than a modest amount into himself, he took advantage of what he could. He carefully guided it through his meridians starting at his head and exiting his feet with the greatest portion he could handle diverted into his dantian where it would be refined and used as his own.

His steps forward were slow and determined, bringing him to the edge of the next section. Every minute one or two more people were unable to continue, some ahead and some behind. Oskar stepped forward and felt a weight crash down on him. It was like a full tub of water, washing over him and destabilizing him. However, he withstood it. More than that, he comprehended it. Personal control of energy was important to Oskar, and he'd resolved that his first step into Spirit Building would be Spiritual Connection. It couldn't wait for the prime tempering, and thus completing it first was the most efficient. As he stepped forward, he felt himself also take the more metaphysical step into Spirit Building. He wasn't at the completion of the eleventh star and wouldn't be for some time, but fundamental changes were starting inside of him.

He continued forward, each step feeling as if he had a boulder on his back. He could push himself further than he had thought, though each step took several seconds to complete. He could barely raise his feet off the floor, and ahead of him Devon was merely shuffling his own feet. Yet the two of them continued to make progress. Oskar soon found himself one section further than he'd thought he could reach, though he merely stood across the threshold with his body trembling, fearing he would stumble if he continued. Devon stayed ahead of him, stopping before the threshold to the next section for some time before flinging himself forward. Oskar thought he could hear Devon's bones creaking- though that may have been his imagination in the relatively quiet hall. Before he collapsed ten seconds later, Devon had made it not just through one section but into the next as well, though barely. When Devon collapsed, he did so with a contented sigh.

Then the announcement from Everheart came. A decree they would be staying inside for a full month and having a competition to increase in cultivation for the greatest prizes. It didn't sound like anyone was allowed to refuse, but Oskar merely determined to be cautious in efforts. That was why he had chosen this particular room- it didn't have anything that would be deadly, unless a cultivator actually chose to push themself to the brink of death. However, when people collapsed the pressure on them was released- so Oskar wasn't even sure there was any possible danger besides embarrassment in this particular challenge.

Outside of the tomb, the reactions of the various sects were quite varied. Some immediately attempted an attack on the entrance or the projection of Everheart, but in both cases he simply laughed. The attacks rebounded off of the barrier at the entrance and simply passed through the projection, respectively. "I'm afraid you will simply have to wait until the time is up. The danger inside is no higher than it was before, so I should not think it would be a problem. Unless you believe your disciples are too stupid to know their own limits?" Nobody answered that one at all. "Then please do not attempt another attack on the barrier, or I'll have to break my fully neutral standing and remove some of you." As he said that, just to prove he did have power to affect people, he waved a muscled arm and toppled all of those who were close to the entrance of the tomb.

Most of the sects involved were quite calm about the result. As Everheart said, the danger hadn't suddenly changed- just the option for their disciples to withdraw. There was little they could do about it regardless, not without endangering themselves or possibly their disciples.

Among the members of the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars, the elders and those who had been cultivating longer than the allowed duration, Elder Kseniya was thinking about something else. She was an archer, and had eyes that could pick out a specific target on the horizon. She would of course notice anything happening right in front of her gaze. Her current feeling was regret at not having brought along the woman known as Kohar Tolvaj. Her training in law was irregular for a cultivator but had proved extremely useful for Anton's goals.

Kohar was currently working with the Order on something as well. If things had ended with everyone leaving Khonard and nothing more the Order could have merely expressed disapproval that a lawsuit had been required to free unlawfully enslaved people. The attack by mercenaries and the trouble at the border, however, gave them some ammunition. The problem was using it in a way that did not harm the greater interests of Graotan for the sake of petty revenge. The mercenaries had generally gotten their just desserts- most of them were killed in the attack with nothing to show for it. It was simply those who had hired them who hadn't yet been punished, and that would require some maneuvering. Along with direct legal advice, Kohar was knowledgeable in how to manipulate people. It wouldn't be useful to just make a declaration and assume that Ofrurg would enforce their will. Instead, they had to take advantage of their internal politics to make certain parties interested in taking the action they wanted from them.

All of that was probably more important, but when Elder Kseniya saw a criminal right in front of her eyes she wanted to just shoot his head off. She'd seen Anton resist the urge, however, and she would hope she was somewhat more responsible than him. Even though Van Hassel wasn't anywhere near the top of the list of the Order's enemies, because of Anton and the company he kept many elders were aware of him. And it would be so easy to just shoot him. She could even declare he was a criminal, and since he had been formally removed from the Heavenly Lion Sect they shouldn't be able to respond. Yet it would still probably be seen as a breach of the contract of peace for events such as these. So was following him as he left and killing him in the wilderness. Of course, nobody would be able to do anything about that second one, but anyone strong enough to get involved would be missed.

So Elder Kseniya did nothing except keep careful track of how close Van Hassell stood to the Heavenly Lion Sect and also the few exchanges he had with his uncle and some of the others. They prevented anyone from overhearing their words, but they couldn't stop her from trying to read their lips. Sadly, she saw nothing incriminating beyond the very fact that an expelled disciple was still able to engage in pleasantries with his former sect. Then he left, along with many others- all of those who weren't chosen were being escorted away by part of the elders, while the others remained to escort the rest at the end of the month.

There was one last chance to shoot him, after he was just over the horizon. A simple Horizon Shot would be able to take him out, and nobody could say they saw her shoot the arrow that killed him. But they could say an arrow much like hers did it, and that she shot one at the right time. Maybe she should teach Anton that. Though by the time he could learn it, she would be extremely surprised if he hadn't already killed Van Hassel through other means.

"...and thus I propose this particular course of action," Anton concluded. He looked at his current companions- including Firdaus, who had been included in the discussion.

Having expected strong disagreement, Anton was pleased when Catarina was the first to speak- and in support of his ideas. "I concur with the idea. Even if it does not go well, it should not diminish our relative standing in the competition."

"I'm not sure," Velvet said. "How will we enforce anything? What if we help someone and then they refuse to contribute in turn?"

"There is an entire month here," Anton said. "We'll take things one day at a time. If someone decides that one hint or piece of assistance we give is so valuable that they wish to take it without contributing in return, we shall simply ignore them. Of course, I am not suggesting we try to work with absolutely everyone. We should take stock of those who might be amenable to teamwork with other sects. I do believe I would immediately discount the Heavenly Lion Sect as whole, though that might be unfair to some of their individual members."

"Probably not," Firdaus said. "Nor do I think they would agree to cooperate in any fashion."

"We should take careful stock of the allegiances of those involved," Hoyt commented. "There are more than direct enemies of the Order, and some of those who are technically neutral are allied with them. Being as open as possible is fine, but we should not cross that line."

"Fair enough," Anton agreed. "Perhaps more in-depth examinations of people before we make the offer, then. Though of course we should coordinate with the Order and the Grasping Willow sect. As for Cloudtop Summit," Anton looked to Firdaus, "What do you think? The personal offer to you will remain open of course, regardless."

"I cannot say Cloudtop Summit is an ally of the Order, but we are certainly not enemies."

"Neutral is fine," Anton said. "Even with excellent training conditions, one month is still merely that. We shouldn't significantly impact another sect on the whole, and even if we somehow do they should be more inclined to be friendly towards us. This might drive a rift between certain groups but honestly… cultivators aren't naturally inclined to get along anyway."

Nobody had hard objections to the plan- but some were cautiously optimistic about the possibilities while others were just cautious. Before they could even determine if they'd actually be able to accomplish anything useful, they were first going to seek out their allies and ask about the other areas. It wouldn't do to miss out on the basics.

Chapter 130

The extent of the facilities were quite impressive. Even for top tier cultivators in Life Transformation- the analogue to Galaxy Construction- resources weren't infinite. Of course, Everheart was the sort that would happily plunder the bounty of his enemies, and he had many of them. It wasn't inconceivable for him to have made more than one 'tomb', but together they had to have been the work of a century.

Anton was in one of a handful of rooms that had golems in them. Many things could be called golems, but the general idea was something made of sturdy materials, imbued with energy and mobilized by a formation. What Anton saw was a man made out of rock nearly four meters tall, though details of facial expression and musculature were ignored in exchange for smooth shapes.

He held his bow loosely, looking at his opponent. As far as anyone had been able to tell, they were always accurate about when the challengers started the battle, but he didn't want to accidentally initiate combat early. He had watched a few fights and now was imagining himself in combat against the construct. After he'd gone through several iterations, he decided he would have to fight to truly know.

His bow came up, and the moment he was creating and drawing his first Spirit Arrow the creature moved. It seemed ponderous and slow, but that was merely due to its bulk. Each step took it twice as far as a normal person, so its speed could not be underestimated. Anton's first arrow flew straight towards its head, only to be blocked by a stone fist. A colored mark appeared on the back of its hand where he hit, not real damage but instead an indicator of what the damage might have been, if they were able to be damaged at all. It was a faint red blush that indicated minimal damage- but there was the possibility for there to be none at all, so Anton was satisfied.

The creature barrelled towards him, and Anton mobilized his energy to strafe around the room while firing arrows at the golem. With his age having returned he was less able to rely on his body for his movements and drawing his bow, but his energy was sufficient that he was still a real threat. At least, to normal opponents. Unbreakable golems sadly didn't get weaker as the battle continued, nor did they tire. Thus, while soon it had red blushes on every one of its joints and a deep red mark on its neck, it continued with the same unliving vigor it had begun the battle with.

This was the part of the particular trial that was difficult. One had to keep going, doing as much damage as possible while avoiding attacks. More than that, it wasn't possible to voluntarily withdraw early. That meant keeping enough in reserve to withstand at least a single hit by a several ton rock fist empowered by energy. Fortunately, the actual energy enhancements were mostly defensive- otherwise Anton doubted anyone below Essence Collection would have been able to survive a single hit. As far as he could tell the golems didn't adjust themselves to their opponent's cultivation, either. Dangerous.

Anton felt himself slowing down. He just wanted to get in a few more hits… then he would have to take one. His arrows struck the golem from behind, taking advantage of its inability to block or deflect attacks from the rear. Then he maneuvered towards the center of the room. He wasn't sure if he needed to actually fully take a hit, but apparently some people who dodged too well did not manage to trigger the proper defeat sequence.

He planted his feet and trusted that Everheart wasn't just interested in killing him. Otherwise, he was dead as soon as he entered the room and the door shut behind him. He formed his energy around him into a solid layer of armor, ready to take a blow head on. Golden Armor wasn't something he used often, but there were a few situations he was glad to have it. He looked at a fist coming for him… and decided that he could do with a little bit of impact softening. He prepared to jump back as the attack hit him. He was sent flying all the way to the edge of the room, where he rebounded off of the wall. His Golden Armor was shattered, but it distributed the impact across his body equally. That meant that he would simply be bruised everywhere, front and back, instead of having a hole in his torso.

Anton was glad to see that the golem had returned to its stationary position and the door opened. Perhaps he needed to work on Golden Armor more, if he was to keep training with the golems. At least he'd done a reasonable amount of damage. Unlike the trial with the trapped corridor, combat with the golems was cumulative. He was saving up points for a nice breastplate he saw in the rewards- and if someone got that first, there were other interesting things available.

There were two areas Anton hadn't yet gone to. First was a room for dismantling and setting up formations. He should at least see what he was able to do there, but he didn't expect much in the way of results. The other one was the most dangerous. It seemed to be the culmination of everything else. Trapped corridors, both involving formations and not. Crushing pressure. Golems. Puzzles. Random questions about cultivation. Everything had dangers, and unlike many other places it didn't allow for easy retreats. The further one progressed the more danger they would have to face on their way back out. There was no official name, but the cultivators had taken to calling it The Gauntlet. The only reason anyone knew all of the different aspects it covered was not because someone had gotten close to the end, but instead that which order things were arranged changed every day.

After the announcement that everyone would be challenged for a month, several new areas had opened up. Specifically, rooms for people to sleep as well as a mess hall and finally a library. Anton found that the food in the mess hall was highly nutritious and plentiful. It also tasted like mud, but to be fair to mud sometimes it tasted like very little. The food in the mess hall didn't have that wonderful feature. Still, it was beneficial to his training and he would endure it for one month. His rations would probably last, but they wouldn't taste much better and would be less helpful.

The library was something special. Anton wasn't sure if that was good, but it was full of all sorts of techniques written by Everheart. Some of them nobody would bother declaring forbidden, but some… Anton only looked at to be certain how to counter them. He had no desire to implant parasites that would tear people apart from the inside even if it was 'highly effective'.

Of special interest was an ancient copy of the Ninety-Nine Stars. Anton found it fascinating to see how things had changed over a few centuries, as it was both significant yet also minor. It was clearly still the same technique, but the older version was more difficult to practice and had significant weaknesses. Yet along with that, some of the difficulty added increased strength. Little things that would slightly enhance prime temperings if performed correctly or a whole second layer of circulation through the meridians that could be maintained at the same time for either nearly a twenty percent increase in cultivation speed or… probable crippling of the meridians and dantian as energy exploded inside the cultivator. That seemed to only be intended for Essence Collection and later, so it was possible the Order still carried that information in sections he hadn't been allowed to access yet. He still took careful notes regardless.

There were also the core techniques for the Heavenly Lion Sect and the Frostmirror Sect. Likely similarly out of date, but still useful to look at. Anton wished he could say he spotted a significant flaw inherent in the Heavenly Lion Sect's technique that he could use to defeat Van Hassel with ease, but honestly it seemed quite sound. He was more familiar with the Ninety-Nine Stars, of course, so deeper study might be useful.

He wondered who else was reading up on the Ninety-Nine Stars. Unfortunately, he did not have the time to constantly watch the library. In fact, he was only allowed a single hour per day- like everyone else. He could conscript twenty-three others to help him, but that would be a monumental waste of time. He would just assume all his worst enemies would know. That gave him the idea to simulate some of the weaknesses that the Ninety-Nine Stars no longer possessed. He'd give that a try. Eventually.

Each sect had staked a claim on certain sections of the individual rooms. Each room was identical, so there was little benefit to particular ones except a slightly shorter walk, but they preferred to keep separate. At the moment he was waiting outside the Frostmirror Sect's section.

He first spotted Diana approaching, but through her legs he could see some of another, smaller figure. He inclined his head. "I hope your cultivation is going well."

"It is," she declared without emotion. "I wish the same for you." It felt more like she wished him to be covered in ice and frozen to death, but perhaps that was just… her.

Annelie pushed her way past Diana. "I'm ready to go!" She turned to Diana. "Thank you for allowing me to study with my great-grandpa."

"It would be… unreasonable of us to forbid you to interact. Please remember to consult me on what he teaches before attempting to practice it. We don't want to introduce any flaws to your cultivation."

"I'll be back in an hour!" Annelie waved. Then she grabbed Anton's hand and started pulling him away. They'd met a few times, but he'd only recently managed to get permission for Annelie to join their training group.

Besides Firdaus and those he'd known before, the group also included more members of Cloudtop Summit and one more member of the Frostmirror Sect. There were also a dozen members of some other major sects and twice that many from small sects or who were independent. A few others attended irregularly.

"Oh!" Annelie paused for a moment when she saw the member of the Frostmirror Sect. "Marsen, you're here too. What convinced you to join when none of the others did?"

"Practical," he said. He was similarly inexpressive of emotions as Diana, but Anton had the feeling he'd always been more like that instead of it being a result of training. "An exchange of knowledge for knowledge."

The group training sessions were much different from what Anton was used to. For one thing, the majority of those participating didn't practice the Ninety-Nine Stars. Thus, it wasn't possible for Anton to directly guide people. But his still did his best to fulfill the role of a leader. That meant even if he couldn't help someone finding who could. Occasionally there were disputes to settle where people felt the value of what they received was unequal, but most of those who would be dissatisfied quickly simply stopped attending. Now people exchanged cultivation thoughts almost without reservation, assuming that eventually they would similarly be advised by others.

After checking in on everyone, Anton took Annelie aside and began instructing her. He'd read over the Frostmirror Sect's technique, and he had to know if certain parts were the same or different. "In the Spirit Building section, when does the severing of emotions come?"

"I don't… know if I'm allowed to say that. Sorry. I'm sworn not to reveal details. Even to friends and family."

"I understand," Anton said. "I wouldn't want to push you. How about this. I will describe something, and you can say whether it is the same… or whether it is not. "

"That… should be fine."

"Excellent. Let's continue." Anton's primary goal was trying to get her to modify the emotion severing. Even if the Frostmirror sect's technique allowed that part to be 'incomplete', he still found the ability to willfully remove emotions while still having them was better. Wherever it was necessary for her training she would still be able to divest herself of emotions, but she could still have them where useful.

The only problem was trying to slip that training past Diana, but while Annelie had sworn not to speak of her cultivation technique she had no qualms of directly taking his advice on how to cultivate without passing it by Diana first. She would likely still end up telling her one way or another, but as long as the proper results were reached Anton didn't mind. Annelie had some leeway as a talented cultivator, and Diana was really meant to be protecting her more than controlling her.

Chapter 131

At the end of the first week of the competition, it had been widely accepted that completing The Gauntlet was impossible. It was a slog of endurance, combat, and mental challenges that weren't possible for a single person to have accomplished in five years of training. Even if they were the sort of genius who reached Essence Collection in that time, it seemed unlikely they would have also been able to learn knowledge on a variety of topics including formations and equipment crafting and enchantment.

Yet there were no rewards for partial completion. Nearly everything else had rewards based on progress. In the case of the trapped corridor, there were initial rewards in the form of equipment and ongoing rewards in the form of the training area. Though Anton and the others were fairly certain that having to pass through the traps every day was also intended for training. It would be a waste to not go every day, because the single hour in those training chambers was worth at least several days of normal effort. Only a certain portion of people were willing to repeatedly go through the area for the benefits, and those below Spirit Building generally weren't able to pass the hallway- so throughout the course of the day everyone who wanted to was able to fit in one of the available slots.

A week was sufficient time to settle into a routine, and Anton gladly settled into a routine where he visited a dozen different trials every day as well as spending time training with others. This ended with him getting five to six hours of sleep per night, which he felt was quite sufficient. During the planting and harvest a farmer needed to work hard all day or miss the optimal opportunity. There were times for slower work, but this wasn't one of them. None of those who came to the tomb were coasting along, but not everyone knew how much a human could be pushed for a month. Anton saw some people with bags under their eyes already and knew they would run into trouble by the next week at best. Even if they didn't make a terrible mistake during training they'd be significantly less efficient. Another two hours hour of training per day were meaningless if they had even a one in ten decrease in effectiveness throughout the day.

Before it had been declared impossible, Anton's interest in The Gauntlet was minimal. He had made an attempt, but when it started with formations he quickly backed out. One other time it had been far too busy, and he didn't want to get locked up in circumstantial damage from others' combats or traps.

After nobody was there, he actually became more interested. He wasn't the only one- Hoyt suggested that perhaps they try it together. Specifically, a group with the widest variety of talents they could. Either they would quickly fail… or they might actually find a way to success.

They put together a group- most of the members were from the Order, of course, but they also had Firdaus, Lev, and Marsen join them. Annelie was invited as well, but she made the decision on her own to stay out of it. She was many ranks lower in cultivation and unsure if she would be able to pull her weight. Anton was quite glad that she had some sense of self preservation, unlike Alva. For the same reason of cultivation level Devon and Oskar would not be going with them. There were many challenges to test themselves against that were less dangerous.

That left eight people to show up at The Gauntlet, where only one other person was present- and leaving. "Can't believe formations are near the front again," the young man shook his head as he walked past the group. "Good luck to all of you, I guess."

"Near the front" did not mean first in this case. It was instead the pressure test. It didn't reach the levels required for the actual room, but it also wouldn't release the pressure on anyone who collapsed. Several people had to be pulled out by sect mates when they went too far and could no longer move.

Before entering, Anton thought about why he was making the attempt. Risking death for no reason was a terrible idea, and he didn't count nebulous 'rewards'. If he was saving someone he would be quite happy to take on the risk, but it was simply unnecessary. However, that was if he had no other ambitions. If he was just content to continue as he was, growing steadily in cultivation and having a modest impact on the world. If he was willing to accept Annelie's word that she wanted to be part of the Frostmirror sect without her knowing he could help change that. If he was willing to give up on killing Van Hassel and dealing with inevitable retaliation from the Heavenly Lion Sect. If he didn't want to free all of the slaves in Ofrurg- or the entire world. Some of those goals were worth dying in pursuit of, and that included some level of risk in how he grew stronger.

He stepped into the area, feeling the physical force press down on him. His inner voice propped himself up with confidence, strengthening his energy. Being in a proper mental state had great effectiveness on a cultivator's results, which was why completely divesting emotions allowed for a cultivator to avoid potential pitfalls- but they also couldn't reach quite the same heights. Consistency was good, but consistency with potential was even better. It was also more difficult. Anton had only done so well with training the emotion related stars because he had experienced a full life and could look over everything from a far perspective. Yet even then, there were some things close to himself that still tried to overwhelm him with emotion. A few years wasn't enough to truly erase the memories of Dungannon- not that he really wanted to forget.

He set aside his worries and stepped forward confidently. He was falling behind, and he didn't want anyone to have to wait for him. The others resisted in their own ways- sometimes as straightforwardly as Hoyt and Timothy, while Catarina seemed to be finding weaknesses in the field that she could move through. To Anton, everything felt uniform but the way she weaved around had to have a purpose.

Soon enough they were all past the first part of the challenge. That wasn't unexpected, because The Gauntlet wasn't just one thing. It was about whether or not they could pass through all of it safely.

This time, the second trial was golems. Unlike the training exercise with them, there were no requirements to fight and get hit by them. They could be 'defeated' once a proper amount of damage was done to them.

As the group stepped into the area, an important moment of truth arrived. Whether or not they were actually allowed to proceed as a group would be decided here. Eight large stone golems stood out to face them, matching them in number. Anton was the one who began the combat by firing a shot at a golem to the side of him. The golems had quick reactions and tough bodies, but he knew they weren't particularly flexible. They were meant to face one opponent at a time, and were best at fending off attacks from the front. He still only managed a small red mark on the golem's chest as his arrow slipped between its forearm and elbow, but it was red and not just a slight blush.

The golems all rushed forward at the opponents in front of them- but Hoyt intercepted his and Anton's together, while Timothy intercepted another two. So far there hadn't been any adverse reactions, and Anton continued firing at whichever target was convenient while circling around the room. He had a target he wanted to reach, but for that he needed a different angle.

Velvet was the first one to achieve that goal. It was only a few moments into the battle that she disappeared from sight among all of the combatants, and then shortly after that she appeared as she stabbed one of her new daggers 'into' the 'spine' of one of the golems, in the middle of the back. To reach that height she actually had to jump off the ground, but for her efforts she got a dark red mark. Then the golem immediately lowered its arms and started trudging away.

It wasn't known if that was a real weak point of the golems since it still didn't cause any damage, but it was considered one by this system. A powerful enough attack could take them out by hitting that point, or another one just below the rear of the neck. Fatal points on humans were not always as valuable as targets, so there was some other logic to it.

Anton continue around to the back, and now that there was one fewer golem the pressure on those fighting was lessened. It was still more than one per person, but everyone was a capable fighter. Catarina and Velvet were swift with Firdaus nearly matching them, Hoyt and Timothy were strong, and Lev and Marsen were able to limit their opponents in different ways. Lev primarily used his energy as tendrils to wrap around the golems, and while he couldn't directly resist them he was able to make supple energy constructs that would stretch but not snap under their movements- slowing them. Marsen created ice on the ground, which made it easier to disrupt the movements of the golems.

Everyone was building up damage on the golems in front of them, but Anton was at an angle where he could start firing arrows. The golems attempted lateral dodges to avoid his arrows, but their movements simply weren't enough. When some tried to turn to face him they found their backs open to the others. Velvet also continued to take out the golems who had trouble tracking her, and she and Anton were basically solely responsible for half of the golems going down while contributing to the other two. That didn't mean they were more important, because without the teamwork of the others they couldn't have reached the critical weak points without some risk.

After the golems were defeated, they were able to take a short break. It seemed that after fifteen minutes or so golems would once more come out to face them, so they had to move onto the next area before then.

The next area was one involving formations. Catarina stepped forward and threw out formation flags- she had been collecting them as rewards from the various different trials, and her new set matched quite well, even synchronizing with the ones she got from the Order. The first section was passed easily as Catarina finished solving whatever needed to be done before Anton even figured out what was going on.

"Next up is a trap. Be careful. Follow my movements precisely," Catarina instructed.

They did so, but it seemed her meaning of precise and the others' weren't entirely the same. A centimeter to either side resulted in some electrical shocks, and though they could deflect those with their energy it was still draining. They needed to keep as much stamina as possible for the rest of The Gauntlet.

"Next is a barrier." Catarina placed flags stuck 'into' the air, arranged in a square like it was flat on the ground. "Everyone attack together in the center of the flags. It will be easiest to break it with force rather than try to dismantle it."

Anton trusted her judgment attacking was the 'right' choice and carefully built up power. One perfect spirit arrow would be better than a dozen poor ones. While he was still not terribly knowledgeable about formations, he knew that once anything was broken the weak points could be exploited for further damage. Eight simultaneous attacks shattered the invisible barrier, at least between the formation flags Catarina had placed and they stepped forward.

"Next is…" Catarina began to explain, but instead started swiftly throwing out formation flags, sticking them into the ground. "Everyone needs to power one! Steady and even, preferably matching everyone else."

Anton moved for one of the further ones, since he knew that some of their members wouldn't be as quick to react to Catarina's commands. He injected his energy doing his best to match Catarina's output. Everyone was close enough in cultivation that they were able to match, but…

"Stop!" Catarina called out. She reached out, using strands of energy to pull the flags to her. She then threw them out to different locations. "It's a shifting formation!"

The meaning of that quickly became obvious, because everyone had to scramble around from location to location. Catarina had the worst of it, because she had to find the points they needed to react to as well as being the one that maintained the link between their energies. After an exhausting half hour, the waves of energy settled down. They were able to move onto the next room but-

"That's it," Catarina said. "I can't keep going. It's not possible to manage all of that alone. We need to train together on formations."

"That's not really something I know anything about…" Lev shook his head. "But I'll try."

"Don't worry," she said. "I'll still be taking the core, but I need people to be able to anticipate the changes with me. It shouldn't be too bad, and just speeding our teamwork should be sufficient."

They had to move back through the previous formations- but half were still disabled. Then they had to move through the rooms with the golems again. That was the danger of The Gauntlet, along with the fact that it didn't pull any punches. Except they didn't have to defeat the golems, just avoid them.

Some of their group engaged while others helped ease the pressure. Anton and Velvet actually found it easier to take one out to let the others break their engagements, and they were all running a moment later. There was a moment of panic as Timothy was struck in the back. He was sent flying past everyone, but as he struck the wall of the room he managed to land on his feet. He looked back and wiped some blood from his lip. "Come on! Let's keep going!" He'd certainly toughened up quite a bit.

Passing through the pressure from highest amount to lowest was quite a bit easier, and soon everyone was sprinting and then… safe. They still had some strategy to talk about, but it was quite clear everyone was willing to make another attempt.

Chapter 132

One week of training was hardly sufficient to be a formation master, or expert, or even really an apprentice. However, the heightened level of understanding provided by Spiritual Connection allowed Anton and the others to learn from Catarina enough for her to direct them better. They treated it just like they would combat, requiring quick movements and precision. Catarina was able to set up a version of the formation that Everheart was using that made it easier to feel the flow of energy.

"Now I no longer feel like I'm running around an empty room," Timothy said. "I can at least see some nodes of energy." Timothy and Hoyt were having the most trouble learning, since they'd chosen to forgo training Spiritual Connection so far. That didn't mean they weren't able to improve their sensing and control of energy, but it took a bit more effort. Catarina had to spend more time training them, but they put in the effort to play supporting roles. The fact that they had a team of eight meant that not everyone needed to be as good at that particular section anyway.

At that point, the team was ready to attempt The Gauntlet again. They'd made improvements in more than that one area, and were better able to coordinate in other ways as well. Some of their abilities weren't as useful in certain situations, but the whole point of the team was to be a cooperative venture. Just because Lev was lower in cultivation couldn't seriously harm the golems didn't make his abilities useless. He was one of the top three in sensing and manipulating energy, after Catarina and Firdaus.

When they returned to The Gauntlet, it was again sparsely populated. They waited for the few people in sight to move on to the next room before beginning their plan. Currently the first room was a trap room. Instead of static traps like the hallway they had dealt with earlier, each pressure plate changed slightly depending on how people moved through the area. It wasn't possible- at least not with cultivation in Spirit Building- to just run through the gauntlet of traps. Each of them was capable of seriously injuring someone if triggered.

It was a test of perception and pattern recognition. There were minute differences in how a dangerous tile looked compared to safe ones, and each tile changed others around it. The one rule that everyone knew was that a safe tile would never become dangerous while depressed. Thus, it was possible for the whole group to move through together. They weren't certain if multiple people standing on the same tile would be safe, but with two groups- one led by Velvet and one by Anton- they started moving through the area, each person several tiles apart.

Anton looked carefully at a tile in front of Catarina. "It's safe, right?" she asked. "My path here should have made it in the same state as when you crossed."

Anton nodded, "I do believe so." Either way, he didn't see any of the signs that it was dangerous. He needed to see the smallest of differences in resting height but from just a handful of meters away with the use of Hawk Eyes, even height changes less than a millimeter were clear.

The group eventually made their way into the next room, which was one they hadn't seen before. A projection of Everheart was standing in the middle of the room, a book under his arm as he shook his head at the cultivator standing there. "That's three marks. You fail. Try again later." Then he swung the book with both hands like it was a club, flinging the young man out of the room and nearly onto the traps in the previous, before the door swung shut. "Very well, next." This Everheart was somewhat more subdued in size and looks, portraying a handsome if scruffy man without so much muscle or physical prowess as others before him. He kept a neutral tone as he spoke. "Each person must correctly answer ten questions on various topics before getting three wrong. There is a time limit before your answer must begin."

"Senior Everheart, are we allowed to consult each other on the questions?" Anton asked.

"I am the one who will ask questions here," Everheart said.

"Well, he didn't say 'no'. I'll go first," Timothy stepped forward. He had seen Everheart unceremoniously bat the fellow beforehand out of the room, so he knew what he was getting into. Most importantly, this was one of the trials that had the smallest danger. Their information gathering over the last few weeks had merely resulted in people being annoyed that they lost due to 'random chance' and 'tricky questions'.

Everheart asked several questions Timothy knew on his own.

"Which weapon has the advantage?"

"Why are different materials used in equipment?"

"How long would it take for a cultivator moving at this speed to reach his opponent?"

"What is the purpose of cultivation?"

Timothy hesitated slightly on that one, but began his explanation. "Cultivation is for the empowerment of the individual, with different goals such as seeking immortality or to defeat enemies."

"... good enough," Everheart said, sounding disappointed. "What is Northern Creeper used for?"

Timothy immediately turned towards Anton and Hoyt, knowing they had worked with it. Before Anton could speak Lev chimed in. "It fruit is used in cultivation enhancement pills to store energy, though its spines can be used as weapons or to medically alter the flow of cultivators who have lost control of their own energy."

Timothy nodded and turned back towards Everheart. He seemed to blatantly ignore that Lev said anything. So Timothy repeated it. Without saying anything, Everheart moved onto the next question.

Throughout the slightly more than eighty questions the group had to answer they covered martial combat, cultivation in general, botany, equipment crafting and enchantment, formations, and beast lore- with a smattering of lesser topics. They managed to get a few wrong or delay too much, but so far everyone had passed. The questions seemed to have generally increased in difficulty from person to person, so perhaps their teamwork plan wasn't quite as useful as they thought. Marsen was the last to go up, and he currently had eight correct questions but two failures.

"What is my name?"

Some of the questions were tricky, some simply difficult in subject matter. None were so straightforwardly a trap of some kind. Perhaps he had some other name that they were supposed to know. Nobody had an answer for Marsen, but he didn't even look to the rest and straightforwardly answered, "Great Golden Emperor of the Most Powerful Techniques Everheart."

Everyone else couldn't help but get strange looks on their faces. He'd technically said that but… Everheart didn't respond.

Then the slightest smile lit up his face. "Ooh! You get the bonus point. That means you're done." He waved his hand towards the door.

Despite the next room containing golems that almost immediately attacked, the group mostly seemed interested in discussing what had happened while they fought. "I can't believe you said that with a straight face," Lev commented to Marsen.

"I considered that it would likely be a good answer," Marsen said. "He said it himself, two weeks ago."

"Still," Hoyt said, "Don't you feel shame just saying that?"

"No," Marsen said as he hooked his leg behind the ankle of one of the golems, sending it tumbling on slippery ice as Hoyt's axe chopped into its chest. Its flailing fist clipped his face, the speed and friction leaving a bloody mark along his forehead. "I do not feel shame. Nor anything else, as a competent member of the Frostmirror sect."

"I still don't think that's the right method," Anton commented as he shot several arrows.

"I agree with your assessment," Marsen agreed, "But it is unlikely I will be able to change my current status without harming my cultivation. It seems that Junior Sister Annelie's attempts to modify the structure are going well, however. Diana is livid. With the small percent of anger she still feels, anyway. I believe she might be jealous." Marsen shook his head as the last golem left. "I should not add more details."

The group was able to push themselves further than the previous time. They even completed the formation room in half the time, and with less expenditure of resources. They knew they had to be getting close to the end, but there were still weeks left for them to make further attempts and they were beginning to feel the fatigue. In the end, they relied on Marsen's emotionless judgment that pushing themselves further was unwise along with their own fears of danger against their anticipation of achieving rewards.

They were glad they did, because they were all exhausted and nursing various wounds when they got back to the beginning. The wounds might have been quite serious for non-cultivators and indeed they would affect their ability to fight, but they could recover in a few days instead of a longer period of time.

As they were returning to the common areas, someone stepped out into their path. Marsen's, specifically. "There you are!" the young man declared. "I should have known. Colluding with outsiders still. Why must you cause trouble for our Frostmirror sect?"

Marsen met the young man straight in the eyes. "There was no trouble for any member of the Frostmirror sect in any way related to me, until you blocked my path."

"Don't try to make excuses. You're working with other sects just to improve yourself."

"So?" Marsen asked. "This does not in any way harm the Frostmirror sect's goals." He turned to Lev, perhaps sensing something- or perhaps choosing his own interpretation of Lev's face. "I see you are confused, Lev. You might not recognize this fellow disciple of mine. This is ceiling boy."

"I'm Jeston! Senior brother Jeston, to you… Marsen."

"That is incorrect," Marsen said. "It is only proper to call someone senior brother on the condition that they are stronger than you, have more talent than you, or that you respect them. None of those are true for you. Now, are you going to challenge me to a duel, thus cementing your intention to cause conflict with your own sectmate?"

"A duel? Give me one good reason I shouldn't teach you a lesson right here!"

"First, because there would be many witnesses of your misdeeds. Second, because such a violent outburst would result in chastisement by the sect. But most importantly, because Great Golden Emperor of the Most Powerful Techniques Everheart said so, and I'm certain he'd enforce that."

Despite his bluster, Jeston was part of the Frostmirror sect. He was not going to get his emotions enflamed to uncontrollable levels. Yet he clearly still had them. He seemed half a step away from attacking anyway, but seeing that he was outnumbered, and perhaps remembering his time on the ceiling, he restrained himself. "In fact, I was planning to challenge you to a duel. You have chosen to train with outsiders instead of with the sect, and are a traitor."

"That is not how being a traitor works," Marsen commented flatly, "But I accept your challenge. Tomorrow."

"Fine." Jeston said. He turned to glare at Anton, "I still can't believe he let an old man in here." Then he walked away.

Marsen turned to Anton, "What I can't believe is that he's currently walking on the floor."

"Perhaps Everheart got bored with it," Anton said. "But anyway, is this alright? We would not wish to set you against your sect."

"You have not," Marsen said. "Jeston is an individual. Just in case, I shall properly remind others that they not only would not have been assisting me with training but that they were also allowed to train with our alliance. It is simple logic that I would make this choice."

"I'm honestly surprised we haven't had more trouble before now," Hoyt commented. "The prohibition against fighting outside of duels is one thing, but that only goes so far."

"Yes," Anton agreed. "I expect we will run into more trouble in the coming days. Hopefully not because we were trying to help people grow."

Chapter 133

The rooms reserved for duels were fairly sparse. There was a small section for viewing and a section where the duelists could place bets. Other than that, they were just empty spaces of varying size.

In one of the smaller arenas, Marsen and Jeston faced each other. They were watched by much of the training group as well as a few members of the Frostmirror sect- including Annelie and Diana. One of the two combatants was the very symbol of impassiveness, and the other was obviously annoyed even before the battle started. Marsen had no visible weapons, while Jeston carried a large sword in two hands.

The instant the barrier in the middle of the room disappeared they sprang into action. Jeston swung his sword at Marsen, who evaded the main attack but wasn't able to completely avoid the trail of frost that spread from it. As he moved around the attack he countered with his own palm strike to Jeston's side, leaving a trail of ice behind where he moved.

At the two continued to match each other, even the walls at the edge of the arena began developing frost crystals. The breath of the two combatants soon became visible as they moved about on the ice at their feet. Jeston continued to swing his sword with reckless abandon, with Marsen left with little choice but to avoid it and sneak in attacks where he could.

The clothing of the two young men began to stiffen, and the cold had clearly begun seeping past their defensive energy. Jeston couldn't catch Marsen with a solid blow, but the reach advantage of his sword meant he was able to sustain a number of cuts while only receiving insignificant blows himself. That was the disadvantage of unarmed combat- weapons were meant to multiply the force of an attack, and without it one had to rely solely on the effects of their energy. Against another member of the Frostmirror sect, Marsen found his opponent quite resistant.

The sweat of exertion froze as it trickled down the faces and bodies of the two combatants, layers of frost building up on their bodies and turning their skin blue. "Alright, enough of this!" Jeston stepped back, taking a wide stance. A swirling vortex of icicles surrounded his sword, extending beyond it in all directions. Marsen rallied his energies as well. A sweep of the sword flung icicles in a cone in front of Jeston, many of them piercing into Marsen's arms which covered his face. However, Marsen moved in towards Jeston along the trailing edge of his sword and grabbed his arm.

While most of the audience expected them to begin wrestling for control, everything just stopped. Neither of the two of them moved, frozen in space. One second. Ten seconds. Thirty. After one minute, a cracking sound rang out from one of the combatants. A thin but clearly extremely powerful layer of ice fell off of him.

Jeston stepped back, having broken out from the freeze first. He immediately raised his arms to bring his sword down onto Marsen's head. It cleaved directly down, striking him. There was a shattering sound and a cry of pain.

Marsen then finally moved. The layer of ice on him sloughed off like the end of a winter thaw and popping sounds came from his joints. He shook his head at his opponent in front of him whose arms were twisted in ways they were never meant to be. "You thawed far too quickly. You're far too reckless and emotional."

With that, Marsen walked over to the box where the bets were kept. It opened, signaling his victory. Yet Jeston chuckled from the ground. "What were you hoping to find in there?"

"Your dignity. But apparently you didn't have any."

Jeston's face twitched and he passed out on the floor.

Marsen walked over to Anton and the others, smiling. "That was fun. Or rather… satisfying." Marsen touched a hand to his chest and 'composed' himself, his face returning to a neutral position.

Anton grabbed his shoulder and leaned in close, using his energy to make sure only Marsen could hear his whisper. "Feelings aren't a weakness. It's not a failure to have kept some." Then he straightened up and clapped him on the back. "Good job, that was a resounding victory."

"Of course. I did not spend that time training for nothing."

As they were leaving, Diana cut them off, clearing her throat. "Excuse me. Your… group… has clearly been causing a stir among those of our sect. To that end, I will be participating to make sure nothing untoward is happening."

"Will you?" Anton asked. "You can, but you have to follow the same rules as everyone else. You need to contribute to others' growth."

"I understand," she nodded. "I will follow your rules."

"Then there shouldn't be any issues," Anton said.

The vast amount of training resources available in the 'tomb' greatly accelerated everyone's cultivation speed. By the end of the third week, they had the equivalent of another half a year's training putting them solidly one rank further.

Anton himself trained Mental Liberation, and he found that the best place to do that was in the pressure training hall. The pressure's suppression wasn't purely physical, but also partially mental. That was the case with all suppression from a cultivator's aura, unless someone was simply physically restrained by the greater power of another cultivator.

His next star- the seventeen and the next prime tempering- was going to be Earthly Connection. Even with partial training in it, he felt it advancing his understanding of others beyond his previous capabilities. He had been somewhat concerned about Diana joining their group, but she was actually quite helpful with Annelie's training once they were more open about things. He was also able to discern her real reason for wanting to join them.

It was the same basic reason as why anyone joined groups. Personal power was on the list, of course, but there was something more fundamental. Loneliness. Even among other members of their sect, it was possible for cultivators to be lonely. Anton suspected that was why the cultivation courtyards were arranged the way they were- to make it more likely for people to develop connections with at least a few people. While they could have made larger complexes that had many people, having just a few people constantly around was a better starting point for some. Those who desired even more people around had other places to meet them.

By its very core the Frostmirror sect tended towards emotionlessness. Without emotions, one would not get lonely. They would be able to focus solely on improving their cultivation without distractions. But Anton was no longer sure it was even truly possible to divest oneself of emotions completely. There were always things that clung to a person, things fundamental to their person. Diana was lonely, but she wasn't alone. Independent cultivators notwithstanding, many of those who joined the training group simply couldn't find companionship amongst their own sects. The fact that it also helped improve their training was a good excuse, but there was more to it than that.

Having completed Voice previously and knowing his inner thoughts, Anton was surprised that his beginning in training Earthly Connections revealed some of that same loneliness in himself. But it was only a small amount- an old wound that had mostly healed. Though he would never quite fit exactly with Catarina and the other youths, they were still a real source of companionship. Of family, in addition to the family he had managed to regain after the point where everything could have been lost to him.

Another attempt was made at The Gauntlet. People began to notice that it could be attempted with a team, but Anton and the others had been spending work on coordination for the whole duration of the training already. While some other groups might have some success, they still thought they had a competitive chance to be the first ones to complete it. They would just have to make new attempts as soon as they recovered fully. It seemed that they must be close to the end, but there was only so much they could do at once. Still, they were certain they'd passed every challenge and merely had to face them all at once. The next attempt could very well be it.

Some conversations needed to be straightforward. It was somewhat difficult to pry Annelie away from Diana- or rather, the other way around- but he got some moments alone with her. "How do you feel about the Frostmirror sect?"

Annelie thought for a few moments. "I like it. They take care of me. I'm suited to the technique as well- though I agree with you about the emotionless aspect going too far."

"I see. What do you think about leaving, and coming to join the Order with me?"

"I-" Annelie hesitated. "I don't know. I'd rather not see Graotan right now. My parents..."

Anton shook his head. Neither of them had made it. "They won't be there. But Alva would love to see you."

Annelie held a hand over her heart. "I… want to see her too. But this is the best way for me to grow. You saw those two- late Spirit Building now, if they weren't before. I can't just let them live. Walking around like they haven't done anything wrong."

It hurt, realizing how much like him she was. "I don't plan to leave them alone, either. Are you sure you wish to stay with the Frostmirror sect?"

Annelie nodded. "Yes. Though sometimes people are distance, I am taken care of. Not quite like back home, but… it's better that way, I think."

His appreciation of his great-granddaughter's emotional maturity was dulled by the fact that she should still be acting like a girl, barely a young woman. She still had her emotions- and his assistance with her training should ensure that- but the troubles of her life had robbed her of some of the way things should have been. Another crime to attribute to Van Hassel and one likely shared by the Heavenly Lion Sect as a whole.

Platinum oak formed the shaft of the bow. It was not quite so silver as its name implied, but it certainly was expensive like that very same metal. The bowstring was made of the sinew of a great cat from the Beast Forest. Together with some auxiliary pieces they formed a whole bow, one that Alva held above her head triumphantly as she walked out of the armament hall. She had done all sorts of stupid work to get enough contribution points for this thing, but she finally had it. She supposed the work was also training and was useful because it produced stuff, but it was so boring. It made her want to fall asleep, which was even worse when she was tired from spending extra hours working and training. But she had it and now she could go on a hunt before great-grandpa Anton got back. And she would do it with a bow just like his.

Well, it wasn't just like his. The materials were different. It was also a lot smaller. She wasn't sure what she was supposed to do with a bow taller than her anyway. There was no way she could draw it that far with her arms. A shortbow suited her just fine, and anyone who made fun of her for it would get an arrow to the face. She had bought arrows too, but they weren't anything fancy. She was still trying to learn Spirit Arrows, but it was… difficult. She needed to ask for help with that later.

But before later happened, she needed to go on a hunt. She had gotten to the fifth star now and tempered her muscles, and she was strong. She was maybe not as strong as those who were older than her and also cultivators, but at least as much as a normal adult man? That seemed right. She was listening to the advice she'd been given to make sure she didn't hurt herself by cultivating too quickly, and there were many elders around to help if she asked. She didn't really want to talk to most of them, but Elder Vincent was a friendly one. She'd even seen him once or twice when he came through Dungannon. But she didn't want to think about that.

She wanted to hunt. Fuzz was obviously going with her. She also needed more people before it was probably considered a proper team. Fortunately, she knew just the right people. She didn't know Pete much outside of being from Dungannon, but she knew Patricia. She was a nice lady, and she was also a cultivator. She'd been cultivating for longer than Alva but she was also at the fifth star. She said she was 'taking it slow', though Alva didn't know why anyone would do that.

There were also a couple other people in the same complex as them. Gerd was a round woman that was far too nice for Alva to call her fat, and Malcom was… a fifth person. There wasn't anything really wrong with him, but Alva didn't really care if he came along. Since he was from the same complex, it would be weird not to invite him- and it didn't hurt to have more people along.

Alva was a bit on the weaker side to be going with them. Pete was more than a full star ahead of her, but since she didn't know anyone else it was fine. Besides, the rest of her family would probably be happier that she was being safe.

She did intend to be safe, too. That was why she had a saddle for Fuzz and everything. He was fast and could run away from anything coming at them as she shot them with her bow. She wasn't sure how she would be against beasts, but Pete had watched her and approved of her skills. He even called her a 'Little Anton' which made her turn away and blush. She wasn't that amazing yet. But she would be.

Chapter 134

Something disturbed the brush ahead. Alva readied her bow, drawing and nearly shooting before she saw what it was. However, when it started darting away she slowly released the tension on the string and lowered her bow. It was just a deer. If they needed to eat it would be fine to kill it, but they were intending to hunt aggressive beasts. Even if Fuzz sometimes ate a lot, he didn't need a whole deer right now.

Alva scratched Fuzz behind the ears, reaching down in front of her specially made saddle to do so. "Good boy Fuzz. We don't need to hunt that. See if you can find something else."

Fuzz put his nose to the ground and was sniffling away rather quickly. He moved ahead at a pace the rest of the group could keep up with comfortably as they all scanned their surroundings for dangerous beasts. As they continued forward, Fuzz was the first to react. He growled at a large area of brush ahead, and everyone prepared themselves.

A few moments later a boar of similar size to Fuzz- head around chest height on a man- charged forward. Alva had hesitated slightly after the deer, but she quickly drew and fired her bow, coating the arrow in energy to increase its piercing power. Her arrow flew straight towards the beast's head, glancing off the skull and sticking in its shoulder a finger deep. If she'd hit the eye it might be dead, but without an arrow through the brain a boar was bound to keep charging.

As the boar charged, Alva's first instincts were to flinch away- but a proper archer would stay focused on her target. Fuzz had started running around to the side to give Alva a better angle as the boar reached the front lines. Gerd had positioned herself in front, a large two-handed hammer in her hands. With a great cracking sound it rang against the boar's skull, imparting momentum that sent its charge to her side. Yet the boar still wasn't down. Pete and Malcolm were on the other side of Gerd so they couldn't use their primary weapons, but Pete threw a dart into the hindquarters of the boar.

Two more arrows went into its side by the time the boar properly turned around as Fuzz tried to keep pace parallel to it. The boar seemed indecisive about who it should attack, but settled for Malcolm with his shield and shortspear. However, even with that name a shortspear still had decent reach- and Malcolm was able to stab his spear into the creature's chest before it was close enough to gore him. Its momentum carried them both along together, but the solid blow to its heart laid the boar to rest.

"Good," Pete commented. "If we can handle something like this, we should be able to handle most of the things in this area safely. Don't get careless, though. Sometimes beasts wander into different areas where they don't belong. Any rewards aren't worth it if any of us get injured."

"I agree," Alva said. "I don't want to see Fuzz or anyone hurt again." If she was more accurate with her shots, she could help that more. If a beast never got close, it couldn't harm anyone. Though they also needed the battle experience to grow stronger properly, so she should probably let her allies face some danger. It was difficult to keep both in mind in the right amount. Cultivation was hard, but she never thought it would be easy to be like great-grandpa Anton.

Everyone breathed in and out at a steady pace, feeling their own cultivations and checking for problems. What did they need to grow stronger? Besides just time and energy to temper themselves, of course. Some of the people in the training group were talking, discussing problems they had encountered while others remained available to provide help where they had expertise. Though nobody was significantly more advanced in cultivation, they all had insights to share with each other. Some things that seemed obvious to one person wouldn't be so to another.

Then the peaceful atmosphere was disrupted. Lev staggered onto the scene, his one 'good' arm bound and in a sling in front of his chest. Eyes were drawn to him as he sat down heavily.

"What happened?" Anton asked.

"The Heavenly Lion Sect. I was heading to the trapped corridor to train when I was stopped by two of their cronies. They said something stupid about it being reserved. Of course, they couldn't just attack me so I didn't think anything of it and started moving through the corridor. I didn't expect them to throw things to set off extra traps around me."

"Hmm," Anton frowned. "I hadn't expected the rules to be so easily exploitable."

"I saw them there earlier, too," said one of the independent cultivators, "I was too afraid to upset them."

"I would appreciate it if everyone reports similar matters," Anton said. "We may not have more than a temporary connection with each other, but I think we can all agree we wouldn't like to have people interfere with our training." Anton looked to Lev, "Any other details you can provide?"

Lev nodded, "They seemed fairly careful not to get their attacks too close to me. So they still seemed to be wary of the limitations."

Frost was creeping over the scene, present from all three of the Frostmirror Sect but surprisingly focused around Diana who prided herself on control. "Those arrogant bastards."

"We should be wary of such tactics," Anton said, "But I'm not sure if we should seek further conflict. Lev, what do you think?"

Lev shook his head, "We don't have the people to have them stand around at all hours of the day ready to cause trouble. I'd like to get revenge somehow though. Can't just shove them onto the traps, though. Some people have tested the limits for what counts as an attack, and it can be pretty strict. Apparently they ended up with injuries for a few days as a 'warning'"

"Is there no projection in that area?" Anton asked. "It does seem like a circumvention of Everheart's rules. He might tacitly allow it, but we should bring it to the attention of the projections anyway."

"Can't be bothered," the projection in charge of a different area said. "The traps take care of themselves following the rules. Deal with it yourself."

"Very well," Anton said and looked to Lev. "What do you think?"

"I don't think letting them go without retaliation is reasonable," Lev said. "I only imagine they'll get worse."

Anton nodded. "I can spare a few hours," Anton said. "What are the chances they have people in that training room?"

"Pretty high," Lev said.

"Then let us go."

"Thanks," Lev said. "I'd rely on other members of the Grasping Willows, but we aren't really a match."

"What about retaliation later?"

Lev shook his head, "They're causing trouble for us here and now. And there's an unspoken rule to keep conflicts in places like this restricted to just this area. Of course, that doesn't happen- but dealing with a later grudge is better than being walked on now."

"Of course I agree," Anton said, "I just wanted to make sure you'd thought about it."

"Should we follow?" Hoyt asked.

"If I don't make any mistakes, I shouldn't be able to be harmed," Anton said. "But if you wish to show solidarity, I would not mind help."

"I'll come too," Catarina said."

"Might as well make this a semi-official Ninety-Nine Stars stance, right?" Velvet asked.

"We should probably inform the others first," Anton said, "Even if we make the declaration as our training group, it will affect them. Then again, people are already beginning to cause trouble anyway. Everyone's getting antsy about the end."

After finding as many people as they could to spread the word, the group found their way to the trap corridor. "Passage is forbidden," said two large men, standing menacingly. With that said, neither of them were in Spirit Building so the intimidation factor was minimal.

"I am aware of your declarations," Anton said. He just stood there looking down the hallway.

"That means leave," one of them said.

"Go ahead," Anton gestured. "Make me."

The two guards turned to each other then harrumphed, as if they were simply choosing to ignore him instead of being unable to do anything.

When another cultivator showed up and was told passage was forbidden, Anton explained what they meant. "The Heavenly Lion Sect has decided to declare war on everyone else and is setting off the traps when anyone else tries to pass," Anton said. "That's what they actually mean, but they're too cowardly to admit it."

"That's not-" "We-"

"If you're not cowards," Lev said, "We can duel right now. To the death, if you want." Lev still had his normally useful arm strapped to his side and glared at the guards.

They chose to keep their mouths closed. The difference between Spirit Building and late Body Tempering was enough that they weren't confident.

The cultivator shook his head and left. Shortly after that, another member of the Heavenly Lion Sect arrived. "Passage is forbidden," Anton said.

"Not to us it isn't," said the two guards.

Anton shrugged, "I guess not then. It seems the Heavenly Lion Sect owns this area now." He turned around and stepped away.

"That's right," said the early Spirit Building member. "You'd better know your place."

Anton continued walking away until the man started down the actually trapped part of the corridor. He was dealing it much the same way as the others, quickly moving to avoid the traps. Once he was about a third of the way, Anton spun around and fired five arrows in quick succession, passing the man and hitting traps slightly in front of him. Unfortunately only two triggered, but an unexpected blade and a gout of flame in front of the man left him with slight scorch marks and a cut along one arm.

"I changed my mind," Anton said. "If passage is forbidden, I would prefer for it to be universally enforced."

The cultivator had stopped retreating slightly to reach a safe area down the corridor. "Do you realize what you are doing?" he said.

"Do you?" Anton asked. "You chose to attack others first." Before giving him any time to respond, he continued firing arrows at tiles all around the man. While technically going backwards was safe, Anton was able to trigger any trap in front of him. Assuming it passed the random chance involved.

The cultivator from the Heavenly Lion Sect made a mad dash back towards the entrance. Even as quickly as Anton could fire arrows- with some of the others tossing darts and ranged weapons as well- it was only slightly more dangerous than the traps the man could trigger normally. The only difference was they could trigger in front of him instead of at his location. When he arrived he had at least half of his ribs broken and numerous cuts and some poisons. He looked as if he was going to attack, but thought better of it and immediately began binding his wounds. Then he left in a staggering huff.

The two guards just sweated nervously, unable to do anything but also unwilling to leave. Anton smiled at them. "There, nice and fair I'm sure you agree." Less than a quarter hour later, someone entered the corridor from the far end. After sensing that they were indeed a member of the Heavenly Lion Sect, Anton shouted at them. "Corridor's closed! You have to stay there forever now!"

"He's serious!" Yelled one of the guards, "And crazy!"

The cultivator at the end ignored Anton's words, simply raising his energy at mid Spirit-Building. He began calmly walking towards Anton… who immediately made use of the best techniques of Thousand Arrows. Since he didn't even have to cause real damage, he was capable of rapidly firing continuously without worrying about running out of energy. The only thing he needed to do was impart proper speed to his Spirit Arrows, and enough force to trigger a pressure plate.

The cultivator from the Heavenly Lion Sect apparently had a trick in mind, as he lunged towards some of Anton's arrows- but Anton had already anticipated that possibility. He didn't want to find out if that counted as him attacking, and so he wasn't going to. He was quite capable of redirected his arrows in flight, or just erasing them from existence if necessary. Explosions and poisons and blades surrounded the man- and Anton was really starting to get a sense of timing for optimal placement of arrows. He could also cover the entire width of the hallway, whereas a person running down it would normally only trigger one. Even if they triggered none themselves on the way back, the danger was five or more times as high.

The cultivator retreated to the end of the corridor before even making it a third of the way. There was a standoff between them for half of an hour, and a half dozen other cultivators came with the intention of entering the training areas. A crowd built up at both ends of the corridor as everyone finished cultivating and wouldn't be allowed out by Anton.

Sensing many people building up, even just curious onlookers came to watch. Eventually things got to the point where one of the two top cultivators in the training area came. He was in late Spirit Building- close to the peak and breaking through to Essence Collection, in fact. "What the hell is going on here?"

The Heavenly Lion Sect members at the far end of the corridor were the first to shout overlapping complaints. They all summed up to Anton blocking their way. By setting of the traps.

"Is that true?" Anton felt a pressure of a strong aura bearing down on him.

Anton stared unblinkingly at the man. He practiced the cultivation technique of Glorious Flame Palace. There weren't many people at his level. Anish was his name, if Anton recalled correctly. "I was just helping them enforce their own rules. The Heavenly Lion Sect declared passage forbidden quite vehemently," he gestured to Lev. "So I was simply making sure it applied to their sect as well."

The man's eyes landed on the two 'guards' still standing in their positions. "Speak."

"It wasn't our idea!" they immediately caved. "Senior Brother Zvonko came up with the idea, and others agreed! We were just told to do it."

Anish slammed a fist into the wall, fire bursting from around the impact point. It very carefully weaved its way around everyone, but the intent was clear. "Enough! There won't be any more of this foolishness," he gestured to the guards, "On either side," he glared at Anton.

"I wouldn't have had to do this if they weren't the instigators," Anton said. "If anyone continues to try anything like this, I'll be matching them."

"I said enough," Anish stood over Anton.

Anton just met his gaze. "I don't intend to start anything, but I won't let people off without retaliation. If you disagree, you can complain to my sect elders when we get out of here. I'm not going to count on Glorious Flame Palace to enforce things."

"Good." Anish snorted, "You'd better not start anything." He put his finger as close to pressing on Anton's chest as he could without actually doing so.

With all of that, the crowd dispersed- Anton and the others left first, because if anyone planned to monopolize that training area they would have to reach the far end, where they were in the worst position to retreat. Though Anish had declared an end to 'foolishness', Anton knew that there would certainly be more conflicts coming.

Chapter 135

The golems offered cumulative points for fighting them- though repeated performances at the same level gave significantly less. One category of rewards offered was medicine, and simple recovery from wounds was easily accomplished given a few days and some expense. Those few days were still critical parts of the month, and Anton wished he and the others had been able to enact a larger retaliation for Lev. Not that he felt like they weren't able to be effective.

The Heavenly Lion Sect had taken care to not bar cultivators from some of the strongest sects, but all of the independent cultivators and smaller sects were still reasonably outraged. Some of the larger sects spoke up as well, though their outrage could have been an excuse to promote their rivalries. Either way, it suddenly became harder for them to act as they pleased. Spots were filled up just before they attempted a trial of some sort, and rewards their members were eyeing were taken by others before they could obtain them.

Despite Anish's proclamations, the approaching end of the training session only seemed to encourage people to cause trouble for others, though generally in less extreme ways than the nearly direct attacks. There was also perfectly acceptable competitive spirit that didn't involve sabotaging others as people pushed for the last few days.

With Lev healed, the group decided to try their hand at The Gauntlet one final time. Either they would sustain injuries they couldn't recover from in just a few days or find success. They thought they were close on the last attempt, though they couldn't be completely sure.

It was not a surprise to find that The Gauntlet was already busy. Others had the same idea as them, and were likewise making use of teams to try to push through the trials. It was impossible to know exactly how far others had gotten, but it seemed no one had reached the end just yet.

The first challenge always involved some sort of physical or combat test. This time it was a series of traps. Not hidden ones, but obviously swinging blades and gouts of flame. Picking a path through and advancing with the right timing was the safest bet, though anyone with sufficient cultivation could simply plough their way through. Interestingly enough, the group found that this time that was more literal. Traps were usually never damaged and if they were damaged the formations quickly repaired them, but there was a straight path through the first room. Anton went through first just to make sure it wasn't some sort of trap and things were actually active, but he didn't spot any changes from the obvious- and arrived at the other side unscathed. At least they didn't have to expend their effort just yet, though it threw them off slightly.

Future trials had nothing to destroy- though they did see some damaged floors as they continued through the pressure trial. They passed puzzles and the knowledge as well as another round of traps that were only slightly damaged. Then they came to the golems.

Everyone was quite confident in defeating the golems, but it seemed a group was already there ahead of them. It seemed to be a dozen members of the Heavenly Lion Sect, with cultivations ranging from just entering Spirit Building to one member on the border between mid and late Spirit Building.

They would have been quite content staying out of things and watching the fight, but apparently entering the room was sufficient to trigger more golems. Eight more golems, one with a curious cut on its otherwise flawless body, stepped out into the area. They headed towards the new entrants, but things didn't end there.

The members of the Heavenly Lion Sect had clearly noticed them. The strongest one among them-who should have been the "Senior Brother Zvonko"- shouted orders. "Formation C!"

There was sufficient room for the two groups to fight the total of twenty golems, but the members of the Heavenly Lion Sect began weaving themselves among the others, drawing their golems along with them. The group that was slightly more than half members of the Ninety-Nine Stars responded in kind.

Nobody could directly attack another, but standing in front of someone while a golem punched with a multiple ton fist did just as well. It became a mess of fighting the golems while getting in the way of other combatants- while not also being blocked by them.

Anton found himself forced into melee- even if he retreated, the members of the Heavenly Lion Sect would follow him with two or three members, since they had some spares. The golems likewise came with them. While Anton was still able to avoid the ponderous attacks of several golems, since they were intentionally being drawn towards him instead of fended off like his companions normally did he was less effective at damaging them and simply ended up drifting back towards the larger mass of people.

Marsen had the most direct effects on the Heavenly Lion Sect. His frost could make the ground extremely slippery, but he was in no obligation to withdraw it when others moved through the area. Thus, he spread the effects wildly without directly touching anyone, limiting their movements while he simply removed ice where it would inhibit his companions.

Timothy's approach was the most… extreme. When he found it difficult to direct attacks to their competitors he seemed to simply devote himself to battle- but then he suddenly jumped in front of someone who was being attacked. A member of the Heavenly Lion Sect, specifically. He raised his shield- a new one obtained in the various trials- directly intercepting the attack. It was then that his purpose became clear. He hadn't suddenly decided that working with them was the best option. Instead, he was struck and sent rocketing backwards- into a very surprised cultivator who wasn't prepared to dodge someone launched by the golem. Timothy simply rallied all his energy for defense and let himself be catapulted into the man. Both of them crashed into the wall, but only Timothy quickly brushed himself off and was moving.

Despite all the efforts to sabotage each other, the golems were steadily being defeated. It didn't seem that anyone could leave until they were all gone, so the end results were drawbacks for both sides. They expended much more energy than they should have and both sides sustained at least minor injuries. Both sides glared at each other as they moved on, neither willing to give the other priority.

If he had the slightest bit of faith in the integrity of the Heavenly Lion sect, Anton might have advised letting them go first and promising to not interfere with them- but he thought it most likely that they would attempt to set up something to harm them even if Anton and the others were sincere. It wasn't just idle speculation- there were their previous interactions to go off of as well as his ability to read people. The emotions on display from both sides were anger and annoyance, which Anton couldn't really blame. Though the Heavenly Lion Sect was entirely at fault for the conflicts beginning in the first place.

The next room was the formations room. Zvonko's face lit up and he pushed forward a skinny young man in early Spirit Building. "Time for you to do your thing."

The instant he began pulling out formation flags and throwing them about the area, Catarina leapt forward and started doing the same. The formations already set up in the area had various dangers- fire and lightning were very prominently featured, but instead of being triggered by pressure plates they were constantly active, filling the whole area. The two who were trained in formations matched off against each other as they advanced their own groups forward.

The young man was quick, and Catarina seemed to be falling behind. She wasn't even able to retrieve all of her formation flags as they pressed their way forward.

"Tell me how I can help," Firdaus offered.

Catalina just held out her hand, fending him off. He was the next most proficient with formations in their group, given their relation to enchanting equipment. His help would have been useful, but Catarina seemed to have taken the current situation as a personal challenge.

Anton watched her in pure concentration as she continuously moved through the area, only occasionally directing them to their normal tasks of helping her place flags in the shifting formations. The Heavenly Lion Sect continued to get further ahead, until at the last formation they were able to complete it with time to spare before the others could even reach it.

The formation user wasn't done with just that, however. He was setting up more flags around him. "I need contributions of your energy!" he called to the others.

"You heard him," Zvonko said, contributing his own energy to the growing formation, a barrier of golden light.

"Hmph," the formation user held his head high. "You thought you could compete with me? I'm a journeyman in the formation arts already!" As he proclaimed that the barrier completed, while Catarina was left just watching. Anton could sense how difficult it would be to tear apart the barrier.

"A journeyman?" Catarina questioned. Then she stepped forward, pulling out another formation flag and stabbing it point first into the barrier in front of her. "What low standards."

As her flag pierced into the barrier, energy swirled through all of her other flags in the area. Anton didn't feel like it would be sufficient, but as he was about to add his own energy he felt a sudden flood of energy as the effect spread to previous formations- making use of the other flags that had been 'forgotten'. He'd sensed Catarina's haste, but hadn't read the undertone of her true intentions until that moment.

The power of the formations inherent to the chamber they were in all activated, pressing against the barrier with mixes of fire, lightning, and pure force. There were a few moments where nothing happened, then the barrier cracked. Instead of the elements washing over the members of the Heavenly Lion Sect, it simply shattered the barrier then turned into a massive whirlwind.

All of them were sucked into it and pulled back to the beginning of the room while Catarina stepped forward and towards the next room. With a flick of her wrist she pulled her formation flags to her- though she left the other flags scattered about in the final section. She smiled, "The formations here are amazing. I'm just starting to get the slightest idea of how they work." She looked longingly at the spare formation flags. "Unfortunately, the restrictions on this entire place are too enigmatic for me to completely learn." As she stepped through the door into the next room, Catarina waved. "Good luck, mister Journeyman! I hope you have spare flags!"

The next room was empty. Completely empty, and worrying for that. There was simply a closed door and a simple sign on it. 'Please wait'.

Anton looked around. "Any traps?"

Catarina shook her head. "It seems to be fine."

"About what you did in there… I'm not going to complain, of course, but I would have liked some advance warning you could do that."

"Sorry," Catarina shrugged. "Honestly, I wasn't quite ready for something like that. I've been studying the formations here, of course. Everything is buried behind myriad other layers. I just got the idea… and I kind of picked up on that particular flow as I was going. I was planning to get ahead and encircle them with that formation I was setting up, but I slowed down once I got the idea."

"..." Firdaus seemed speechless, "You've been cultivating for… how long?"

"Almost three years," Catarina said. "Why?"

"Ah. I had initially assumed all of you were closer to the upper end like myself. Four or five years. How foolish of me."

There wasn't much more to say, and instead they just waited. There were no signs that the Heavenly Lion Sect would be joining them, but they remained cautious as they circulated their energy to refresh themselves. After fifteen minutes, the door in front of them opened. A disheveled looking woman with a sword at her side calmly walked out. She looked at all of them, then shook her head. "Didn't make it. Good luck."

With what seemed to be two swift steps she was gone, and back in the previous room- where they couldn't catch a glimpse of the Heavenly Lion Sect at all.

"That was…" Lev stared back behind them, "That was Chikere, right? She's a hair away from Essence Collection."

Anton tried to recall that name. "Oh yes. She's the other one at that level. An independent cultivator, even. I wonder what sort of trial stopped her at the very end. Assuming this is the end."

The door ahead of them was still open, and a voice called out from inside. "Oy! I don't have all day! Or at least, you don't. Get in here or get out."

All of them looked at each other, then hurried inside. Once there they saw… another Everheart. His appearance changed as they looked at him, suddenly growing a longer beard and adopting a different posture.

Everheart frowned, then patted his chest and felt his face. "How did I…?" he scanned the people in the room, then pointed to Anton, "What the hell man, why'd you have to throw everything off? Women want a dashing young fellow, not a nearly middle aged man. You threw off the average so much." Anton avoided commenting to wonder if being a 'dashing young fellow' ever worked, either. Yet he was answered anyway. "No it doesn't work! But it will someday! Though I'm just a projection so I'm not long for it anyway."

"Is the real Everheart still out there?" Anton asked.

"Eh… maybe. What year is it?" the projection in front of them frowned. "Probably dead. Or immortal or whatever. Couldn't be bothered to come back and check on us if he is alive. Selfish asshole." He stomped his foot on the ground, cracking it. "And yes, I know that's me I'm talking about! Now are we fighting or what?"

Everyone blinked. "That's the trial?" Anton asked.

"The last one." Everheart punched a fist into his palm. "Gotta at least get a little bit of entertainment out of this. Now come on! Let's do this."

Chapter 136

While it seemed a little bit unfair to fight an eight-on-one battle, Anton wasn't sure who it was unfair towards. The advantage of numbers should have been useful, but the way Timothy was flying past his head he was going to say the advantage was held by the one with greater cultivation. Though he wasn't an actual person, the aura around the projection of Everheart was similar in magnitude to an Essence Collection cultivator. He'd felt it change as they entered the room, so presumably it was matching them in some way. Whether that was to be fair or not was a different question.

Everheart's blows were as powerful as the strikes from the golems, but he was much quicker and also a smaller target. Spirit Arrows flew past him as quickly as Anton could fire them, but striking him seemed impossible even as he dodged numerous other attacks.

Everheart's projection fought without weapons, but that was simply because they weren't necessary. Weapons were for providing reach and multiplying force. The latter was completely unnecessary when fighting them, and if he used a weapon he would simply kill them. Though Everheart could be an ass, he was at least basically fair in his trials. Anton was even starting to doubt the legitimacy of calling this place a 'tomb', though some careless fellows had died- mostly in The Gauntlet during the early days.

One bow, two swords, a pair of daggers, and an axe were the weapons of the members of the Order. Lev fought mostly unarmed, relying more on the effects he could produce with his energy rather than physical attacks. He created tendrils of energy meant to restrain as well as leaving traces of his own energy that attempted to burrow through Everheart's defenses. Though Marsen had fought with no weapons against the other member of the Frostmirror sect, he was currently using a staff with which he primarily targeted Everheart's lower body. Marsen of course also made use of his frost abilities. Firdaus primarily made use of his spear, though he also took advantage of bladed gauntlets and boots he wore, kicking and punching where advantageous. He incorporated lightning into his attacks, resulting in the area being a mix of colors.

Everheart was so relaxed he could talk while fighting them. "Your swordsmanship isn't anything to speak of," Everheart said as he swiped an elbow over Catarina's head, "You should probably try to focus on those formations of yours."

Of course, she was trying to do that. Everheart just kept moving her formation flags and moving to attack her directly, disrupting her efforts as she had to defend herself.

His fist slammed into Timothy's shield, sending him staggering back several steps but not catapulting him through the air. "Your ability to take a hit is fine I suppose, but what's the point in blocking if you can't even reflect the damage to me?" Everheart's hooked his leg behind Timothy's knee and whacked him on the back of the head with his fist as he lost his balance, "And your stance sucks."

Everheart's eyes constantly scanned his surroundings, looking for his next target. He found it, grabbing Hoyt's axe just below the blade and stopping his attack. He twisted it to block a spear of ice shot by Marsen.

"Your technique sucks," he said to Hoyt. "You'd do better focusing on external projection rather than your physique." He tossed Hoyt's axe at Marsen, "Your face isn't as unreadable as you think. Seems the Frostmirror sect still doesn't have any actual mirrors." His next target was Lev. "An interesting technique you've got, but that arm at your side is slowing you down. Better to just remove it." As if to punctuate his point, Everheart jabbed Lev in the guts on the side of his useless arm. At the same time, that 'useless' arm slammed into Everheart's face, getting the first solid blow on him in the battle. It didn't do much more than damage his defenses briefly, but Everheart's eyes flashed with anger. Then he laughed. "What a dumb technique. Using your energy to control your own useless arm from the inside like a parasite on yourself. I love it!" That declaration didn't stop him from kicking Lev halfway across the room, though.

Anton kept up a steady rate of firing arrows. He was beginning to see some patterns in Everheart's movements. The others were also acclimating to fighting one powerful and smaller enemy rather than dealing with golems of their own. As a group, they'd never fought a single person so they weren't as familiar as they could be.

"Where is…" Everheart looked around, then kicked his leg up behind him, sending Velvet flying into the ceiling. "There you are. Too much killing intent right before your attacks." She twisted her body to hit the ceiling feet first and sprang back down towards Everheart, slicing out with her daggers. He avoided, of course, but Marsen was able to clip him with his spear, drawing their first blood for the battle. Everheart caught the spear as it was being retracted, basically ignoring the electricity pouring out of it against his energy. "You should work more on how to use equipment. It'll help with making it too." Then Everheart snapped the spear in half. "Also, try not to freeze up in battle. It lets your opponent do whatever they want." During that whole exchange he was dodging others' attacks.

Catarina was actually seizing the opportunity to build up her formation. The energy she was providing was beginning to flow through them, and slightly slowing Everheart. Likewise, Lev's energy had successfully burrowed its way into one finger and was causing internal damage. Those making more standard attacks were managing to land blows, though most of them didn't puncture Everheart's defensive energy. Anton kept his arrows densely packed with energy to have a chance to break through, though some of the time he simply intended for Everheart to avoid and take a lesser blow from someone else.

When Everheart appeared right in front of him, Anton wasn't surprised. "Why the hell are you old, though?" Perhaps if he weren't so thrown off by the question Anton could have avoided the straight punch to his face- but only on a good day. His head snapped back and blood gushed from Anton's nose.

"Couldn't not be," Anton responded. He spun a nice new handaxe he'd gotten from the reward points, slicing at Everheart's chin but only cutting a few beard hairs.

"I feel that," Everheart said. "But you just started." Anton managed to jump over a sweep of his leg, and Everheart had to respond to a half dozen other attacks which prevented from following up. "Why start cultivating at your age?"

Anton shook his head, "I couldn't not. I had things to do. Still do, really."

"I know what you mean. There's always more. You know, the Ninety-Nine Stars kind of drops the ball in the first half of Spirit Building. You should have swapped them and done body first. You'd break fewer ribs." Anton knew the attack was coming, but he couldn't avoid the spinning kick to his chest. He only barely reacted in time as it hit his sternum, his hastily constructed Golden Armor shattering under the blow. And, as predicted, many of his ribs.

Anton coughed up a bit of blood. "So?" His response was punctuated with an arrow. He sent himself with it, feeling all of the energy of everyone else. Velvet was not quite directly behind him, Hoyt and Lev on one side with Firdaus and Marsen taking up the other side. Timothy had inserted himself on the front. The Spirit Arrow went past Timothy's ear as Firdaus forced Everheart to hop into the air. The Spirit Arrow curved as it needed to on its way to Everheart's heart, piercing through his defenses- until suddenly they increased in magnitude, shattering the arrow. Blows from all around him rained down on Everheart, and he slammed into the ground, sending out cracks in all directions- throwing all of Catarina's formation flags into disarray.

Anton had noticed him steadily growing stronger throughout the battle, nearly matching their teamwork, but he hadn't expected a sudden increase. One or two at a time, Everheart used a single strike to send those around him flying with various numbers of broken bones. With impossibly swift movements he reached Anton to backhand him on the side of the head before tossing him, then he ran around the room and grabbed all of Catarina's formation flags, throwing them around the sudden pile of people suddenly atop Catarina.

"Ah." Everheart looked at the pile. "Maybe I overdid it." He prodded the pile, and heard a chorus of groans. "Nah, it's fine. Hey! Get up! Time for rewards and crap."

Somehow Anton understood the words through his concussion, but he was still the last to get to his feet except Catarina, who had ended up at the bottom of the pile of people.

Everheart threw open the large doors at the back of the room, to display another room where piles of books and scrolls were haphazardly placed. "Hope you all like forbidden techniques, because that's what I've got." Everheart looked at the pile. "Huh. And a staff technique, I guess." He tossed a scroll at Firdaus' head, and the young man barely managed to catch it before impact. "I'm glad it was a group that did this first, because honestly I doubt anyone can use all of these themselves." Everheart looked at the dazed group. "Well go on, get looking!" Everheart shook his head, "This group here," he waved his hand vaguely, "Is only forbidden because they're good. I suppose you can start there. This pile is for self-destructive techniques. This bunch just has really awful side effects for whoever you attack with it."

"What about that one?" Velvet asked, pointing to a lone scroll in the corner.

"Hmm." Everheart walked over to it and opened it up. A swirling void opened up in front of him, and he swiftly rolled the scroll. "I thought I got rid of the world destruction techniques." Everheart ripped the scroll into tiny pieces. "If you see any of those, best hand them over. You kind of live in the world, after all."

Among the various techniques in the pile were a dozen copies of Candle Wax. Anton browsed them just to make sure they were the same, but they were identical in every respect. Still just the worst side effects. Most of the other techniques were of marginal value, as well. Nobody wanted to sacrifice their life to create a giant carnivorous forest. Lev did scan that one, but he carefully placed it back.

Velvet claimed a stealth technique that Everheart claimed could let you sneak into- and with sufficient proficiency out of- any sect in the world. She let Anton take a look, and while he didn't understand the profoundities behind it he did think it was probably true. It was just that minimum requirements to begin training it were Essence Collection and proficiency in 'about a dozen' other stealth techniques. It wasn't expected that good techniques would be easy to train, but Everheart's techniques varied widely in usability.

Everheart tossed books at people as he browsed through the pile himself. "Oh, the formation books aren't here by the way." He gestured to Catarina, "Except this one." He held up a manual titled 'Soul-Sucking Sanctum'. "This actually belongs in the fourth category of 'all of the above'. Though it has some normal insights on formations still." He looked at Lev. "You're some kind of planty guy?" Everheart tossed him a scroll from the first pile, seemingly written on a large leaf. "A nice book on gardening." Anton wondered what about gardening might have been forbidden by powerful sects, but he supposed he could ask Lev. "Oh, here's a good one. It's a joke book," he tossed a book from the third pile to Marsen. "Also other forms of mental disruption and soul freezing and crap. But you should look at the jokes. I got them from this great guy. Really funny." Everheart crossed his arms in front of him as he looked at Anton. "The best one for you isn't here, sorry."

"Best how?" Anton asked. "An archery book or…?"

Everheart posed dramatically and pointed, "Fleeting Youth! Using the power of the grave to dredge out your potential. Perfect for an old new cultivator. It's not here, but I can tell you where it is."

"Really?" Anton asked. "That sounds intriguing. Is it dangerous?"

"Only if you use it wrong. Probably. It was like… ninety percent finished when I was made here. Should have worked out the kinks."

"That does sound useful," Anton admitted. Though Everheart was deemed crazy and dangerous by almost everyone, nobody ever claimed his techniques didn't work. Even an incomplete one could be valuable. "Do you know where other things might be? Anything about raising the cultivation of people on a large scale?"

"Trying to boost your sect for merit, huh?" Everheart asked. "I have one in that third pile. You might not want that though."

"I was thinking wider scale. I've been trying to determine if it's viable to raise the minimum cultivation level of everyone, so that cultivators can't just run rampant over peaceful towns and villages."

"Oho. Interesting. I don't have a technique for that," Everheart admitted, "But I do have some notes. Should still be sealed. I could tell you where it is. Or that technique for yourself. Fleeting Youth is one of my best works. You'd have to pick one though."

"The notes," Anton said without hesitation. "They should be more beneficial to the world."

"Tch," Everheart clicked his tongue, muttering to himself, "Should have spent more time hyping it up. You sure? You could rule the world with the other one."

"Yes," Anton said. "I don't want to 'rule the world' if people are helpless without my intervention."

"Fine." Everheart took one of the scrolls in front of him, unraveling and then wiping his hand across it. All of the colored inks in it were ripped from the pages, leaving it blank. Then he slapped the scroll, leaving behind instructions and a map. Everheart looked it over. "Yeah, that should do. Here you go."

"Thank you," Anton accepted the scroll.

"Well," Everheart said. "Time for you to get going." He scooped up all of the remaining techniques with his energy and tossed them into a bag, which he threw to Anton. "Do whatever with those. It's time for the end!" Everheart stood tall, proudly announcing. "Everyone! I'm sure you're glad to hear that the trials are over. No complaints that it's only been twenty-five days! Come to the main hall. All facilities will now become defunct." Everheart waved to the group. "Shoo. Go. Don't delay."

Ignoring Everheart's projection seemed like a foolish idea, so they all started running. There was nothing blocking their movement- though they did see members of the Heavenly Lion Sect milling about outside the room where the golems would have been, awkwardly heading towards the main hall when they realized nothing was active for them to exploit.

Chapter 137

Hundreds of people once more found their way to the main hall of Everheart's 'tomb'. There wasn't anything else they could do- all of the facilities had stopped working and even the standard amount of natural energy was dropping back to ambient levels. The atmosphere was confused but slightly excited. Confused, because it was still well short of the promised month. Excited, because they wanted to see the prizes- especially the grand prize.

The Everheart in long flowing robes was once again present. It wasn't clear if he was more 'real' or just the one used for formal announcements. "Let's get this started. Beginning with the second through fourth place prizes were two who made great strides in their own cultivation. Bags of assorted cra- cultivation resources for each of them!" For a moment Everheart's true personality almost shone through the formal projection. Everheart tossed two storage bags to Anish and Chikere, the two with the highest cultivations- but also the most personal talent. A third one went to Zvonko of the Heavenly Lion Sect. "Then we have smaller prizes for a myriad of others." Several dozen storage bags and hundreds of small boxes were distributed to people.

Anton looked down at his empty hands in surprise. He'd thought he'd progressed an above average amount. It was only a single star and a bit, but he was in mid Spirit Building. He wouldn't complain, though, because he'd already received some very useful information. Even just the chance to cultivate in the area for twenty-five days was greatly beneficial. He was just starting to turn to leave when Everheart continued.

"Now I'm sure all of you are wondering about the grand prize. You might even wonder about the rest. It's all about remembering what I said. 'Most cultivation improvements' isn't just about raising your rank. It's about practicing techniques as well. Most importantly, it's not just about your own cultivation. Half of you didn't even work in cooperation with your own sects! A shameful display. But the grand prize goes to the one who, overall, was most responsible for the greatest amount of cultivation improvements." Everheart held up a pot. Then he stepped forward into the crowd. "Hope you like dealing with jealousy, because you have to learn it eventually." He set the pot in Anton's hands. A silence fell over the crowd. Before they could fully process everything, Everheart's form wavered slightly, and the ground trembled. "Well, that's that then. My advice is for everyone to run like hell. This whole place is coming down. I matched its stability against its future, so all of the remaining stuff has been decayed for centuries. That includes the walls and ceiling. Don't bother trying to dig it up, though I won't be here to stop you if you want to try." Another tremble. "RUN!" Everheart commanded.

Anton was already obeying, but was finding it difficult to get through the crowd in front of him. It wasn't a long distance down the path away from the main hall before they got outside, but the rumblings went from ominous to cataclysmic very quickly. As he was passing Anton scooped up a few of the slower Body Tempering cultivators, ignoring their sect affiliations and simply gathering two or three in each arm as he balanced the pot on his head. Moments later, Anton was outside and setting the handful of others on their feet.

An arm grasped towards him, and Anton ducked. However, the true target was atop his head. Anton felt the figure he recognized as Zvonko grabbing the pot while at the same time there was a flaring of powerful energy he barely had time to even comprehend.

Two sources of energy clashed- one Anton recognized as Elder Kseniya, and two members of the Heavenly Lion Sect working together to stop a hail of arrows.

Anton already had his handaxes in hand and was spinning about, slashing towards Zvonko's arm. Then everything froze. The buff figure of Everheart showed up as everyone was frozen in place. "I do believe I had a prohibition against fighting. However, I also had one against stealing. I never said those were over. So I am going to let the actions here play out as they will. Just remember, there are always consequences for actions." Everheart's voice boomed loudly, "Never ignore my proclamations!"

Perhaps nobody was ever frozen at all, because the momentum of the scene continued directly from where it was before. Anton's axe swung up towards Zvonko's arm that was grasping the pot he'd received, but Zvonko was already withdrawing. But Anton had allies willing to watch his back, and Lev had seen the attempt coming. Tendrils of his energy wrapped around Zvonko's outstretched arm, preventing its withdrawal. The sharpness of the axes Anton received from the tomb's rewards could not be underestimated, and Anton cleaved right through Zvonko's defensive energy, skin, muscle, and bone. A severed hand fell to the ground out of which Anton grabbed his pot.

One of the two late Essence Collection cultivators from the Heavenly Lion Sect charged towards Anton as Zvonko screamed in pain. Anton knew he had no way to defend against it, but no Spirit Arrows came from Elder Kseniya. Then he realized it was because she was suddenly standing in front of him.

"Treachery!" yelled the elder. "How dare you maim one of our disciples under the protection of neutral ground!"

Elder Kseniya's presence didn't match the vision of a great arm and eye in the sky from when Grand Elder Vandale had rained stars down on the beast horde, but it was also much more present than that event. Though she was only in early Galaxy Construction, she still possessed immense power. Her normally subdued aura flooded the area. "There was no treachery on our part. Your disciple openly attempted to steal from one of ours, in the presence of hundreds of eyewitnesses. So you have two choices. First- you can bow your heads to the ground and beg for the forgiveness of my disciple. Second- you can all die."

The white haired elder from the Heavenly Lion Sect held his back straight under the suppression of her aura. "You can't get away with that under the treaty."

"Maybe not," Elder Kseniya conceded. She had an arrow drawn and pointed at him, brimming with condensed power. "But nobody here has the justification to stop me either."

Two more presences made themselves known- from Glorious Flame Palace and the Frostmirror Sect respectively. The second was in response to the first. The older man from the Glorious Flame Palace spoke first. "One sect breaking the rules does not justify excessive retaliation. Stand down."

"Your Glorious Flame Palace is far too eager to jump into conflict," the seemingly ageless woman from the Frostmirror Sect countered. "The rules state that whoever breaks the peace first shall be beset by all of the rest. But you knew that. You just want an excuse to lay down 'justice' against a powerful opponent. It is my opinion that we should follow the rules and side with those who were attacked."

Zvonko had already backed away a dozen meters from Anton and Lev, clutching his severed forearm. "I was just trying to get back what was mine. The old man stole my prize."

"That's a lie." The same or very similar comments rang from the mouths of at least a dozen people. Anton himself, his companions, five members of the Frostmirror Sect, Anish, Chikere… and most damning of all one of the members of the Heavenly Lion Sect. The latter was one of those Anton had scooped up and brought outside during the collapse- which was now quite complete, the great plateau being half rubble behind them.

Elder Ksenia didn't seem to have been influenced by the surrounding circumstances. "You have ten seconds left to kneel down and apologize to my disciple and the Order of Ninety Nine Stars. You two and that kid."

There was a long pause as the elders from the Heavenly Lion Sect considered the situation. "Zvonko. Do as she says," they concluded. "We apologize for the improprieties committed by our disciple," they clasped their hands and inclined their heads.

"What do you think, Anton?" Elder Kseniya asked.

What he thought was that he didn't need any more enemies, but he supposed that was already impossible given the events of the day. More importantly, the Heavenly Lion Sect was already on that list no matter what. "They didn't even get on their knees, let alone bow their heads to the ground."

Anton could sense Elder Kseniya's smile as she fired four sudden arrows. The elders of the Heavenly Lion sect weren't without defenses, but each of them ended up with at least one shattered knee, staggering them. "Done. We can forgive you now."

The disciples of every sect had already been separating into what they perceived as allied groups. The Frostmirror sect subconsciously followed Diana, Annelie, and Marsen to stand with Anton and the others. Many independent cultivators were already slipping away, but Chikere stayed, standing with Anton. Likewise, those who had been harmed by the Heavenly Lion Sect's short-term monopoly of training facilities stood against them. The Heavenly Lion Sect was not without their own allies, but they looked somewhat outnumbered. All disciples looked towards their elders to see if a battle would happen.

The two elders of the Heavenly Lion Sect made themselves stand on their shattered legs. "We leave. Don't think you've heard the end of this."

"Those could have been through your heart, you know," Elder Kseniya warned. "But I chose to avoid irreparable harm out of respect for the other sects' opinions."

The elder from Glorious Flame Palace had folded his arms in front of him and frowned, but he clearly heard Anish' declaration of the lie, and saw his positioning. The other disciples had all followed their foremost senior, of course. "These results are barely acceptable."

Somehow, all the sects split apart smoothly without any further conflict. While destroyed kneecaps might have been crippling injuries for most, Elder Kseniya had taken no steps to prevent their healing. Thus, it was little more than a slap on the face for Essence Collection cultivators to receive such injuries. Such insults could be taken just as seriously as killing someone, but in terms of the agreement between sects it was relatively minor.

Anton clutched the pot to himself and breathed deeply as they walked away. He would have to thank Elder Kseniya… probably. Though she had also prodded him into digging a deeper hole for himself. Not maliciously, he was certain, but she was the 'growth through adversity' type. He'd been quite happy to have removed much of the conflicts from his life, but now he doubted that could ever be achieved. Then again, if he continued cultivating maybe he was just fooling himself that it could be peaceful.

The Grasping Willows were going well out of their optimal path to travel along with the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars, but it was quite a bit safer for them to do so. It also gave some time for Anton to catch up with Elder Varela, and Lev also regaled him of the events in the tomb.

"The grand prize, even," Elder Varela shook his head, "Did you plan that out?"

"Ha!" Anton laughed, "I wish. It just seemed like the best thing to do. Personally, I find I advance best in such conditions. I'm not a solitary genius cultivator, even if I managed to push through the first few stars alone."

"Everyone's looking much different for a month," Elder Varela said. "Stronger cultivation and enchanted treasures abound. One wonders what they might all do."

"You could just ask," Anton said. "The answer is, I don't know." He opened the pot and peeked in. There were strands of energy visible to the eye swirling about. In addition to that, he saw a pile of cultivation medicines and crafting resources contained inside what was apparently a space similar to a storage bag, given the pot was rather small on the outside. At least there didn't seem to be more forbidden techniques in there. "Swirls of energy and resources." He couldn't tell what the pot did as it clearly wasn't active at the moment, but he would carefully investigate. If it was dangerous Everheart would have probably given a warning, but he might have just assumed Anton knew to be cautious. Unfortunately, Firdaus had split off- Cloudtop Summit was in the opposite direction. The Order had competent appraisers and crafters, but they simply weren't part of the crowd that had come. "I'm sure it does… something ridiculous."

"You can be certain of that," Elder Kseniya commented. "You're right to be cautious. On that note… that includes any further techniques you picked up. I doubt he didn't hand any out."

Anton looked down at the bag at his side completely stuffed full of them. "He had a few, for certain." He was planning to destroy most of them, but the first category of forbidden was simply arbitrary suppression by powerful sects- that just meant they were worth looking into.

Chapter 138

With the crafting materials and other cultivation resources separated from the pot, Anton could take stock of what else there was. To him, it looked most like… noodle soup. Where both the noodles and broth were made of natural energy in slightly different forms. There were long strands of denser energy floating in somewhat less dense energy without any coherent form. The liquid was still quite dense, and it responded to Anton's attempts to control it as he would expect from natural energy, though it was a bit sluggish.

After considering if he should be cautious and wait for appraisal of the pot, Anton decided he should do some investigating on his own. It shouldn't be dangerous, especially if he was cautious. More importantly, he wouldn't always be able to rely on others for appraisal of enchanted objects. He needed to be able to test things on his own.

He drew some of the liquid up out of the pot into his hand, keeping it separate from himself. Then he carefully dipped a finger into it. He wasn't sure what he expected. There was a slight chill, but little else happened. He didn't even directly distort the drops, because they reacted just like natural energy- including the property of being immaterial. The chilling feeling was from how the energy felt when touching his own. It didn't seem dangerous, just strange. Very carefully he took just a single drop of the energy and started to absorb it into himself, ready to forcibly eject it if necessary.

As it circulated through his meridians it broke down, revealing it was exactly what it seemed to be. Natural energy, simply condensed into something like a liquid. As it broke apart it expanded into a density more like what he would expect from areas like the higher slopes in the Order, a density he could manage with effort. If he were trying to control more than a few drops he might find it difficult, but with just a single one he merely ingested a significant amount of energy. He thought the liquid would be useful for both training energy or recovering in areas with lesser density of natural energy.

Then there were the strands. They moved around in the pot as he adjusted it, almost impossibly thin strands that overlapped and twisted around each other. Unlike the liquid, they didn't respond directly to his promptings for control. He found he could use his own energy or the liquid to move them just fine, but the strands themselves didn't react. He carefully lifted a group out, separating a single strand to hang down like a thin blond hair that shone with light.

He retracted his energy, allowing the strand to touch his bare skin. Nothing, except he could tell it was in a way even more ephemeral than the energy. It had no physical sensation at all, though he could hold it between his fingers. On the assumption that it was a similar sort of thing, he allowed the strand to be absorbed into his meridian. The power he felt in it was significant, but not sufficient to combat his own energy. As long as he isolated it there would be no danger of serious repercussions. Or he was making some sort of gigantic mistake, but Anton doubted it would be that dangerous. Not with a very tiny, single strand out of the whole mess inside the pot.

Though the strands didn't respond to his control directly, it easily enough slipped into the meridians in his left hand as he wrapped it in energy. Then he set about circulating it through himself, avoiding his dantian just in case it was problematic. The feeling of the Ninety-Nine Stars was warm and comforting, and as Anton was at the stage of improving Earthly Connection, he focused on thoughts of others subconsciously.

Cultivating the Frostmirror technique was cold and dispassionate, but in a way it also had the beauty of a frozen lake. A timely chill breeze could help resist the heat of a hot day and energy with cold properties could be used for many things. It flowed like a comforting ice through his meridians.

As it happened, Anton was aware of the thoughts flooding into him. He'd certainly never cultivated the Frostmirror technique, and as the moment passed he was aware he still had not. His energy still flowed through his meridians in the expected pattern, but he had just a moment of memory and insight. Not just random insight, either. If Anton was right, it was Marsen's memory and insight. Anton stared cautiously at the pot, then sealed it. He wasn't quite sure how he should interpret what had happened, but if things leaned a certain way he would much rather destroy the pot no matter its clear value. He would not accept stolen memories or insights, especially not those of his companions. He decided to remain quiet about what he'd experienced until they could get back to the Order.

Upon returning to the sect, the first thing that happened was an ambush. A large wolf and a small girl both pounced on Anton as he stepped into his home to set aside unnecessary extras.

"I did it!" Alva proclaimed. "I went on a hunt and fought beasts!"

Anton sighed internally, but smiled on the outside. He wouldn't be able to change Alva, and he had no objections to her cultivating in general. It was just too early. A child should be given the opportunity to be a child. For Alva… that wasn't fully the case. "The fifth star, congratulations. I see your energy is quite steady too." Anton glanced down, "How's your leg."

Alva tucked it behind her. "It's fine," she said. "It's almost healed. Senior Brother Oskar said it was normal to get injured a little bit."

From what Anton could sense, it really was just a small wound. That didn't stop his chest from tightening up, though. Far too many members of his family were embroiled in dangerous cultivation… but then again, it might be even more dangerous to not cultivate. "I'd love to hear all about it," Anton said as he set his pack and bow down in the hall. He could probably put them away later. "I had quite some adventures as well. I wonder if you can guess who I met?"

"Umm…" Alva bit her lip. "You went to a big tomb with lots of sects and stuff, right? Then could it be… Annelie?" She was a smart one. Alva's face lit up, "You saw her, didn't you? Is she here?" Alva ran toward the door.

The two of them were a couple years apart, but as part of the family they had grown up together on the farm. Anton sighed, "She's not here," he shook his head.

"Why not?" Alva asked. "Where else would she be?"

How was he supposed to answer that without making Alva feel like her cousin didn't care about her? Personally, he couldn't blame Annelie. The Frostmirror sect had freed her from slavery and offered her safety and stability where he couldn't. She had advanced into Spirit Building and seemed quite adept at their cultivation style. It wouldn't benefit her to change to the Ninety-Nine Stars, and it would just uproot her life again to do so.

Perhaps as her great-grandfather he could have pressured her into making that choice, but thoughts of what the Frostmirror sect might think of that were secondary to her own desires. She chose to stay. Since he'd at least been able to teach her how to subdue her emotions rather than just sever them his biggest concern was assuaged. Her fellow disciples would take care of her as well as he could. Perhaps better, since he wasn't exactly a stable, ever present figure anymore. While he could bring her along with him, she should be able to make her own choices. Though she was still young, both she and Alva had been forced to mature past their age.

"She's not going to be staying with us, but if you continue to carefully progress your cultivation I am certain you can meet at future events." A deflection and a promise all in one, but it was the best he could do. At least Alva seemed to understand well enough, despite her obvious disappointment.

"This is quite something," a wrinkled old woman said as she returned the pot to Anton. "If you would like, the Order would pay a generous sum to buy it from you. Though I suppose I should first tell you about what it does, and what that would entail."

"Thank you, Elder Siekert, that would be appreciated. I noticed some details, as I said, but I wasn't able to full tell how it operated." The old woman worked with elder Evan, but more on the appraisal and creation side instead of storage and distribution.

"On that point, we are not entirely unmatched," she nodded slightly, "It's a most potent vessel indeed, but also difficult to identify. I can, at least, assuage some of your worries. First, it seems safe to use. Second, it does not steal memories or insights from people around it. It simply replicates small snippets of nearby cultivation progress. It would be immensely valuable if it seemed capable of assisting those at the Galaxy Construction level, but it seems aimed strongly at Essence Collection cultivators. It should still be usable by you at your current level, of course." Elder Siekert sighed, "Many of us could use something like that, but that's not the end of it. First, it is already attuned to you. You did not mention making such a decision, but it is likely that Everheart forced that upon you. Severing that connection would be detrimental to you, though if you were willing the damage would be something we could compensate you for."

"So the insights are copies? How fascinating." Anton was concerned they were obtained by stealing them from others, but if it was simply that. "How does that work?"

"If we knew," Elder Siekert said, "We'd be the most powerful cultivation sect in the world. Because while those insights don't give you actual progress in other cultivation methods, all sorts of insights into the nature of cultivation are greatly beneficial."

"It would also allow me to better converse with others on those topics," Anton nodded to himself. "I'm quite capable of guiding people in the Ninety-Nine Stars, but I've started encountering many others."

"That's where the limitations come in," Elder Siekert said. "It is limited to insights gained in its presence. More than that, a warning. I would expect it to be quite dangerous if you attempted to use it to absorb anything significantly beyond your level. Along the lines of permanent mental damage, if you're lucky. So safe is relative to that point. Doubtless you will find other peculiarities to how it functions over a long time of use, but I thought that a week of study on my own part sufficient to declare it appraised."

"I think I shall keep it for now," Anton said.

"Before you go, let me give you the first offer to purchase it. Though I have the feeling it won't matter."

Grand Elder Vandale sat around with several of the other Grand Elders, not in a formal meeting but a casual state instead. "If there was any doubt before, these are times of change. Whether Everheart anticipated this before his death or merely chose a random time, his actions are precipitating change. Though I do believe some of our new disciples would have that effect regardless."

"Are you jealous that your grandson is being overshadowed?" Matousek inquired.

"Why should I be? He is the one who chose his own path… very specifically different from my own. And it's not as if he isn't involved with things."

Ivarsson had comments to make as well. "It speaks highly of Anton that his first actions were to organize wider ranging training exercises. Focusing on those lower in cultivation than himself, in particular. This may still benefit his own cultivation, but interacting with those stronger than himself would be most beneficial to his rapid growth."

"I wouldn't expect any different," Vandale responded. "His focus has become quite clear. I don't doubt that he'll be traveling around Graotan soon enough as well, spreading seeds of growth. It is a shame that the results will take so long to manifest, even if they properly take hold."

"He's still that same type, though," Matousek sighed. "He'll draw trouble whether or not he seeks it out."

"Did any of us get where we are without mountains of trouble?" Vandale asked.

"No. But that doesn't mean I'm looking forward to it. And it had to be Everheart, of course," Matousek shook his head.

"You think he died?" Ivarsson asked.

"Of course," Matousek retorted. "The man wasn't able to lay low for more than a few years. And even this isn't a big deal compared to what he got up to."

"That doesn't mean he's dead," Vandale noted. He slowly looked up to the sky. "There's the other option, after all."

"Ascension?" Matousek frowned. "Even the founder wasn't sure that was possible. You've all seen what happens to those who try. Even you yourself said it was probably impossible."

"Impossible for me, yes," Vandale nodded. "But in general? It's hard to say. It's not like there aren't those with more talent than me in the world, striving for their chance."

Chapter 139

When Anton thought he'd gotten his hands on something too good to be true, he ended up half right. There were many things in the wide world of cultivation he didn't understand, and that included miraculous objects that were extremely beneficial to cultivator's growth. But as this particular object had come from Everheart, he had his doubts. He wasn't exactly wrong, either. If he'd gotten a proper explanation from Everheart, he would believe its accuracy- but what he got instead was a collapsing tomb. He also expected the Order's appraisal to be accurate- and it was.

Especially the part about 'optimal for Essence Collection'. Though he might have preferred it to be said 'difficult to use while in Spirit Building'. The ability to absorb insights condensed into metaphysical strands was a wonderful thing- and difficult. After all, they were just brief moments. Seconds, here and there. Absorbing the first strand hadn't been terribly taxing for Anton, but he found he could only handle a handful per day before his mind was overwhelmed by thoughts not his own.

More importantly, while general insights into cultivation were beneficial a large majority were specific to cultivation techniques or specific skills he didn't possess and never planned to train. Thus, they were of limited to no use for him. In addition to that, it didn't just absorb insights automatically. He had to activate it, and while it was capable of drawing in surrounding natural energy to power itself, that energy had to be channeled through him. At least, he didn't see another way to do it. Thus, it was extremely tiring.

Yet Anton had no serious complaints. Cultivation was all about overcoming difficulty and the benefits that could provide. This was no different. He began to gather groups of cultivators from the Order, consulting with them on their cultivation and having them practice in his presence while he managed the Vessel of Insights. Calling it just a pot seemed… inappropriate.

Anton was able to separate out the strands that related to the Ninety-Nine Stars, and absorbing them was easier because of his familiarity with the techniques- though that could have been because the insights were from lower tier cultivators in general. He didn't directly learn much from them, but he found he was able to converse about certain difficulties in a more useful fashion. Sometimes someone might say they were having trouble with the fifth star and tempering their organs when what they actually meant was their control over energy wasn't refined enough to progress.

He invited his companions to participate as well. They had deeper knowledge of what he was doing, but the insights were devoid of thoughts unrelated to cultivation. At most, he might learn someone was distracted by personal matters but not what kind. He wasn't sure if this was a limitation of the process or intentional, but he appreciated it. He would rather not directly deal with the emotional baggage of others. He had his own, and he was still sorting through it. Ultimately he intended for some well placed arrows to lighten that burden, but of course not everything was that simple.

Attempting to deal with matters involving Ofrurg would certainly be more expedient if Kohar was in that very same country. However, the form of expediency that would result would probably be detrimental to her, as she would likely end up dead. Yet any attempts to form legal proceedings from Graotan were extremely difficult. If the Order wasn't sending escorts along with her missives Kohar was quite certain they would end up 'missing' somehow. Matters were further complicated by recent events.

Though on the grand scale of cultivators Anton cutting off the hand of a disciple of the Heavenly Lion Sect and Elder Kseniya shooting the knees of two of their elders could be considered a minor scuffle, it opened up room for accusations of personal biases. Just because Kohar wasn't part of the sect didn't mean that her staying in Graotan left her completely unaffected by them or unsympathetic. That was partly because they were in the right and not horrible, but still.

The only benefit to her to come out of that whole expedition to Everheart's 'tomb' was that the Heavenly Lion Sect had been seen interacting in a positive manner with Van Hassel and Slusser. It wasn't enough to be able to heap anything on their head, but they couldn't completely distance themselves from the two and the many substantiated claims of banditry against them. Currently Kohar needed to gain the assistance of others in Ofrurg to make much progress. She was still attempting to get in contact with some people Anton had met, so she wasn't certain if she would see any results. But that was fine. The strange thing was, this was the most progress she'd made towards any sort of real change on Ofrurg in some time.

Cultivation was a slow process, and law did not flow quickly. Laws concerning cultivators were difficult to enforce during the best of times, and the fact that some events had only taken several months by monopolizing some of the courts was actually a great boon. Her cultivation was actually improving, as well, which made her optimistic about eventually returning to Ofrurg in person. Perhaps in a few years, when it would be harder to make her disappear without a big fuss.

Just reading the technique manual obtained from Everheart scared Catarina. She would absolutely not be practicing wide-scale formations that indiscriminately absorbed life force. But that didn't mean she should ignore it, either. She had to know how it worked to counter anything of the sort in the future, and there were still insights she could glean from it. She just wished there weren't detailed drawings of shriveled corpses involved. She'd seen death before, but it was unpleasant how dispassionate the drawings were.

She had to admit that Everheart was an unmatched genius in the category of formations. Just being in the tomb had let her know that. She wasn't a formation master yet, but when she compared the masters from the Order and Everheart, she could see a significant gap. Though with an even larger rift between them and herself, she understood her own position. She had no doubt she was talented and full of potential, but most of it was yet unrealized. Just a few years of cultivation training was still small, though Catarina wondered if she could measure up to Everheart's standards.

He'd anticipated Essence Collection cultivators with just five years of training. Presumably they would have just placed their foot in that category, but she wondered if that was a reasonable standard in the past. Then again, Everheart wasn't known for being reasonable. Even with her talent Catarina doubted she could achieve the remaining twelve stars in less than two and a half years. That was about one per two months, which only was reasonable in Body Tempering. Granted, she'd gotten more than a full star in a single month in the tomb, but that was an exception. That wasn't a pace that could be maintained- even with Anton's help. He'd been able to help her with some insights with the reward he'd received, but she doubted it would catapult her growth so significantly.

She shook her head. It really wasn't fair to compare herself to theoretical geniuses who might have not even existed in prior generations. Especially since some of them had probably ravaged the lands and torn up the resources that now had to be carefully maintained in current generations. There were still wild lands to explore, but over the past several hundred years those were shrinking in number. It wasn't as if places suddenly became unsettled and started having natural treasures, and humanity was constantly expanding into formerly dangerous territories as they became at least somewhat safe.

While the gathered insights and technique development over the last centuries wasn't meaningless, the way people in the old stories gulped down unique fruits and dined on thousand year old beasts, if they were even half true, indicated an amount of resources she couldn't compare to. Though with Everheart's rewards she could maintain a similar lifestyle for a few months, perhaps, it wouldn't be the same as the extreme training facilities he'd had.

As for powering the facilities by drawing on the future… she believed it was something like that, but had no idea how it would be accomplished. Likely it was something that required Life Transformation level insights and power to even begin thinking about. That was still decades away, even if she continued without major roadblocks. Somehow, she still felt very small even though she was technically in the upper half of the population of the disciples of the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars.

Anton had the location of another location Everheart had set up. He wanted to immediately run off to go check it out and find the promised notes, but he needed to take some time to stabilize his cultivation. Forcing all of that training into a month likely hadn't harmed him, but he had so many things to do. Training alone, with others, with the Vessel of Insights… and with Elder Kseniya.

She'd come to him and declared they would be training. It wasn't a question or a command, just a statement of fact that she hadn't doubted. She'd been right, of course. Personal instruction from her was priceless, and she'd simply volunteered it.

It was still difficult to interpret though. She had the skills, but her capacity to transfer them was somewhat limited. Perhaps that was because of her high insights, but some of it was her personality. In this case, though, Anton could feel her sincere attempts to relay information properly.

"Focus yourself. Gather your energy, your self, and place it into the Spirit Arrow. Then let it fly." Elder Kseniya demonstrated, her shot arcing through the air over the horizon- where Anton was certain if he went to check he would see she had struck the bullseye on a target placed there.

He found he likely wasn't ready for Horizon Shot. He could maintain an arrow with the proper speed or for the proper duration, but with the great distance involved it was too much for him to do both. He still improved his ability to become one with his arrows, but he could only be accurate at a few hundred meters- and the furthest distance he could shoot without regard for accuracy was barely more than a kilometer. Much further than he could have achieved before he became a cultivator, but far insufficient for shooting over the horizon.

As for the stated purpose of learning the technique, Elder Kseniya said it quite plainly. "If your opponents can't even sense you before they die, you are safe and can conserve energy that would have been spent on an extended battle." In short, if an assassination worked, it was easy. "That ugly hearted man wouldn't see it coming. I almost shot him for you, but we aren't ready. Plus, I thought you'd like to do it yourself."

Anton was surprised how 'talkative' Elder Kseniya had become. Perhaps she just took time to warm up to people- though Marcio had known her for longer, technically, and found her still quite distant. Anton did have many years of experience to count on, even if some of it wasn't useful at the level cultivators operated on. Or maybe it was just that he was able to follow along with her well enough.

"Horizon Shot isn't much good if you're shooting random people," Elder Kseniya remarked. "So you need to be able to sense people that far. It's easiest to lock onto one person, but if you can manage it in other ways you'll be unstoppable. I'd recommend studying Eyes of the Dragon and some other techniques. It's a whole different way of controlling your energy and developing your eyes." Elder Kseniya nodded, "Actually, it's best to learn this soon- the second half of System Gathering focuses on the body once more. That's the best time."

Anton had to agree, both because of her experience and the logic behind her statements. Of course, that didn't mean starting to train the techniques with her guidance was simple. The Vessel of Insights wouldn't do him any good either- Elder Kseniya wasn't having any new insights, but just spouting old ones that worked for her. Anton pushed his way through the unnecessary bits to interpret her thoughts as best he could, holding onto them in memory and later physical notes for when they would be most useful. Path to One Hundred Stars was starting to become a rather burdensome collection of journals. He would have to pare it down to the important parts, if it ever amounted to anything that he felt worth sharing as a whole. And the name was still under review, of course.

Chapter 140

One continual benefit Anton found of an ever-improving cultivation was the time it took to travel around the country diminished. The Order's headquarters and the settlement in Windrip were about half of the country apart, and what would have taken him two weeks of travel was now down to a handful of days, depending on how much Anton wished to exert himself.

Windrip didn't need him anymore, but he still liked to check up on it. The community there was both amazing and yet quite normal. Nothing was different from any other small town except the efficiency with which people worked, empowered by Body Tempering.

Anton passed between the fields, now completely certain about the increasing amounts of local natural energy. It couldn't compare to any of the sects he'd been to, but the lowliest sects had at least decades of history. This was just a small community building up from practically nothing. While most cultivation sects would pick a place with already high natural energy to then build up, building up from a lower level seemed possible. Yet ultimately it only made a small difference- most people would never advance further than a few stars in their first years and even in the Order half of their members were still in Body Tempering.

That was the most important thing. The Order itself was very powerful, but its members numbered in the thousands. Here, there were already hundreds of low level cultivators. Without extra resources or powerful natural energy they might not go much further, but they were already as a group capable of resisting attacks on the level of what had happened to Dungannon. Anton understood that most people wouldn't be quite so motivated to grow their strength in that way, but if this process took place over a decade instead of a couple years it would still transform the way of life in Graotan. Cultivation could allow the common folk prosperity and safety together.

Though he had no intention to cause a stir, it was basically inevitable that when Anton came to observe the people of the area around Windrip practicing cultivation. He stood out like a sore thumb with a cultivation in mid Spirit Building instead of early Body Tempering. More importantly, many of those who were cultivating did so according to Anton's teachings- while they worked and made use of their bodies. Even those who focused more on mental tasks still had benefits to gain from Body Tempering beyond general health. Tempering the organs in the head allowed for clarity of mind and senses.

Rather quickly Anton found himself providing guidance to everyone he could. While they would eventually manage on their own, Anton knew that proper guidance would help deal with current problems while still making sure they had the proper experience for the future.

Some cultivators felt that sharing insights would stymie the growth of others, but Anton felt that it was simply when there were insufficient explanations. He had people put into practice what he told them, and just like any profession knowing what to do and how to do it was always beneficial. People apprenticing under grandmasters didn't become incapable of growing on their own, unless those same grandmasters kept secret the important parts.

Strict improvements in cultivation were certainly beneficial to the people in the area, but Anton knew they needed proper motivation. More than just wanting to be good at their jobs, or strong. That would carry people for some distance, but when things got difficult they would just give up. Many people stopped after the first star, unwilling to push through to the second star and first prime tempering.

As long as they made that choice intentionally, deciding what they had done was enough or their skill was insufficient, Anton didn't mind. However, except for the rarest people who were almost entirely incapable of cultivating he expected more than a single star to be reachable. He just had to draw out the proper motivation.

Anton himself cultivated to be strong. Strong for himself, strong for family, the former villagers of Dungannon, and now for more than just that. He didn't necessarily care about the Order itself, but both disciples and elders were people he cared about. If conflicts came- when they came- he wanted to be able to help. And of course he still had some people to kill. Anton wasn't going to bet that the Heavenly Lion Sect wouldn't attempt some form of retaliation, and it's not like he would find Van Hassel walking around Graotan where he would be easy to kill. For one thing, he was already a wanted criminal so if anyone found him it was likely someone would get to him before Anton, at least within the borders of Graotan.

One young man wanted to impress girls. That was a fleeting motivation for cultivation, but if there ended up being a specific girl his motivations could shift. Being strong enough to work hard to care for a family and protect them were powerful motivations.

Not everyone's motivations were for others, though Anton resonated most strongly with those. Some cared only about themselves. That wasn't necessarily as bad as it sounded. Caring only for yourself didn't necessarily equate to a willingness to harm others wantonly for your own benefit.

There was a particular woman who, during his conversations with her, Anton determined simply had no one she felt close to. Yet she didn't seem to desire any close friends, but was happy with just living her life. Cultivating to improve her work wasn't a good motivating factor for her, either. What worked for her was actually the benefits to lifespan with the efficiency of her work only motivating her as far as it meant she could spend more time not providing for her physical needs. She enjoyed just spending time by a stream, watching it flow and listening to the trickling sounds. In the end, that became her primary cultivation spot, and she focused on a relaxed and long-term cultivation path.

Some people wanted to cultivate to use their strength to control others. They were usually the sort who already sought out cultivation independently. With everyone else around them cultivating their own efforts provided little benefit in relative strength- and the Order wouldn't tolerate anyone misusing cultivation if things went too far. Preferably each town or city would be able to police itself, but general cultivation wasn't so widespread that it would be feasible for everywhere. But Anton didn't intend for things to remain that way.

Anton's more relaxed rate of cultivation wasn't exactly slow, but he still found that Catarina and Hoyt caught up to him in cultivation at the seventeenth star. They hadn't been that far apart to begin with, and though Anton felt he rather smoothly completed his prime tempering of Earthly Connection, the next part of the Ninety-Nine Stars was harder for him. With some of his age having come back, tempering his body became more difficult. The eleven stars from eighteen to twenty-eight once more focused on the body.

The eighteenth star, twenty-third star, and prime tempering at the twenty-eighth star would all be focused on the connection between the body and spirit. There were the inherent connections, of course. A body did not function without a spirit. However, that connection could be strengthened. In practical terms, it allowed the body to be automatically fortified by natural energy rather than requiring active focus on how energy interacted with the body. When done properly, additional energy would be drawn in by the body itself and allocated to various parts of the body while still allowing the cultivator to handle and store the expected amount of energy in their dantian for the typical active uses. The remaining eight stars would be a retreading of the various body tempering stages with regards to how they individually connected to the spirit.

Though he by no means found himself at a dead end, Anton felt his progress had slowed. He sought advice from the elders, but in general they had been training that section of Spirit Building while young, and either surpassed it or stagnated. Elder Howland was the only one who Anton was able to view as a contemporary in that regard. The elder in charge of farming had not even completed the Seven Purifications, but a dam in his cultivation had broken during his conversations with Anton. He was actually slightly younger than Anton, but still experienced some of the effects of age on the latter part of Spirit Building. Together the two of them were exchanging insights- but it seemed it would just take them a bit longer.

With his personal cultivation in a less than inspiring state, Anton was motivated to pursue different goals. His final revenge was still off the table for the moment, unless he was willing to devote months or a year to tracking Van Hassel down himself, and even with his allies at his back he was wary of that conflict still. In fact, it was partly because of his allies that Anton wished to delay it. There was a reasonable chance that some of them might die in the conflict unless they were so fortunate as to get Van Hassel and Slusser alone without anyone else around and without any formations set up.

Everheart had drawn a map for Anton that should lead to notes on general cultivation improvement. It wasn't a surprise that the man had the same thought, because it seemed he was extremely prolific in his efforts. He'd been extremely powerful and lived a long time, but the fact that one of his projections had knowledge of this location indicated it might be more than just casual notes. If it didn't kill him, Anton knew it would be beneficial regardless of the helpfulness of those particular notes. The death part might still happen, but the notes from Everheart indicated it was only 'minimally trapped', at least if he followed certain protocols.

This particular location was in Ambati, and while Anton was still considering if it was the proper time to make a trip, he received a petition for assistance from Ayotunde. Personally, Anton found it far too formal of a request- but that made him take it more seriously. It seemed Ayotunde was embroiled in conflicts among clans in the region he was now residing in, with some of his family. Simply leaving wasn't possible, so he was connecting with anyone who he thought might be sympathetic to his cause.

He was right to send letters to the Order. Just because he had been a mercenary didn't mean that Anton and the others didn't consider him more than just a temporary ally. He'd been prepared to help them even when dealing with the circumstances involved with basically fleeing Ofrurg. He had even posted a formal request to the Order, but it was basically unnecessary. Hoyt and Timothy separately came to Anton and brought it up. Catarina had been deeply embroiled in her studies so hadn't noticed. As for Velvet, she was surprised when she heard about it. She hadn't even thought to check for mail, having no acquaintances she expected correspondence from. She appeared quite touched that someone would specifically ask her for help.

There was only a single point of contention with the whole thing. It wasn't that the section of Ambati where Ayotunde needed help wasn't particularly close to Anton's desired destination. That project could wait, if it needed to. No, it was something more.

"So, we're going to go help Ayotunde, right?" Alva asked.

Anton saw where she was going. His first thought was to say 'We aren't going anywhere'. But it was hard to refuse her. He had practiced archery with her- more than just shooting at targets, but sparring. While her cultivation in mid Body Tempering was far insufficient to challenge him, it was hard to say she wasn't capable enough to help in a battle. She knew Ayotunde as well, so refusing her the opportunity to help him seemed disingenuous- even if she hadn't specifically received her own request for aid. "You want to come with us? If so, you'd better be certain. If you are relying on me to protect you… have no doubt that I will do so to the best of my ability. But know what the consequences of that would be. If you are unable to take care of yourself properly, it will endanger myself and the others."

"I can protect myself," Alva insisted. "And if it's dangerous, I can run away. Even you can't outrun Fuzz."

Anton had to concede that point. The wolf was very fast, and capable of carrying Alva at that same speed. "Let me just show you something, then. If you need to flee to safety, you must make sure you're actually out of the area of combat." Anton took Alva outside- their courtyards were far too small for what he wanted. He held in his hands a new bow. The bone bow was still beyond him, but the one that had merely cost him five hundred contribution points was starting to limit his abilities. The bow he held in his hands was fairly plain in design, but it was made of a green wood and blood red string. It was nearly as tall as himself, being just short of the size certain longbows might reach for the sake of retaining some mobility. "How far can you shoot?" he asked Alva.

"A hundred meters," she proudly declared.

"Is that so?" Anton shot an arrow across the empty fields to that precise distance, exploding his Spirit Arrow at the end to intentionally create a round impression in the ground. "Hit that spot, if you would."

Alva formed her own Spirit Arrow. It wasn't as sharp or as steady as Anton's, but it was more than decent. Her arrow flew towards his 'target', hitting the ground several meters in front of it. "Wait, I can do better!" she shot another arrow and got closer, shooting slightly past it. "See?"

"That's good," Anton said honestly. "But you need a little bit more accuracy to declare that you can shoot at that range. But don't forget that stronger cultivators can affect areas even further." Anton strung an arrow, letting it fly before shooting another to follow it. Two hundred and fifty meters was not his full limit, but for the effect he wanted it was the best distance. Alva could see each arrow sequentially hit the same point, digging a deep line into the dirt. "A hundred meters might be a good range for you, but you could face someone who could throw a boulder a hundred and fifty, or shoot arrows three hundred. Keep vigilant until you are more than certain you are safe."

Alva nodded. "That's pretty cool. When can I do that?"

"I can try to teach you now, but honestly… I'm not even close to mastering this technique. You know Elder Kseniya? She can shoot over the horizon."

Alva's eyes widened. "No way. That has to be an exaggeration, right? Like saying you were a thousand years old…"

"It's not. Though if we were to encounter a Life Transformation cultivator who wished to harm us, it wouldn't matter. Fuzz wouldn't be able to outrun even the slowest of them casually strolling." Anton shook his head, "But do be careful about how far you think is safe. And think about if you can handle attacks like this, at least a little bit. If you decide you still want to join us… I won't prevent you. But you have to be careful."

Alva nodded and began to think seriously. Anton hoped she would choose not to come, but it was the sort of hope one had for the impossible to happen.

Chapter 141

Cultivators generally did not take long to prepare for a journey. Food rations were easily handled and planning a route was more about what dangers they thought acceptable rather than picking the absolute safest journey. With most of those who were going on the journey finding themselves in possession of storage bags handed out like candy in Everheart's Tomb, everything was easier. Even if the absolute storage space in each bag was relatively small, each could hold the equivalent of what would otherwise be a bulky travel pack. Not that it was terribly relevant for a cultivator if they were carrying ten or twenty extra kilograms of weight, but the uneven distribution of it could result in less than optimal movements. Storage bags retained the same weight and size until they were full, making all sorts of things more practical.

Personally, Anton didn't mind camping among the stars, with or without a tent. Most of the others preferred more pleasant accommodations, with at least proper bedrolls and coverings from the elements. But protecting themselves from exposure was hardly necessary, as they had no intentions to go to any extreme danger zones. In fact, most of Ambati would likely be uncomfortably hot, something more cover wouldn't help with.

Alva had made the inevitable choice to join them. Pete had been able to vouch for her performance in actual combat, so at least Anton wasn't worried she would freeze up. Fuzz would doubtless do his best to protect her, but carrying a static target would make them both vulnerable. Anton himself was going, of course. The group had pretty well solidified to also include Catarina, Hoyt, Timothy, and Velvet. Pete declined to go, as he preferred to stay with the Order and continue his studies of formations uninterrupted.

Oskar and Patricia were invited along as well, but they were staying behind because Patricia was pregnant with their second child. That helped explain to Anton how she had fallen so far behind in cultivation. She'd started later, but her talent was not terrible. The gap between the fifth star and the eleventh was quite significant- but if she had been limiting her cultivation on purpose, he understood completely. He had not himself delved into the topic, as he was never going to have any more children, but it seemed cultivation mistakes during a pregnancy could cause harm to the child. It was, after all, present inside the body and really quite vulnerable to any sudden changes.

Devon would be coming along, his cultivation having grown significantly with proper training available and the following period of time in Everheart's tomb. He wanted more practical experience outside of controlled environments, and it was clear his choice of career was simply that of a combat oriented cultivator for as long as he could continue. The shared experience of loss pressed many of those from Dungannon to seek personal strength, and it was difficult to believe that any amount was enough.

The trip would also be an official mission from the sect. The Order didn't just form whatever missions it wanted, they also accepted limited mercenary work from outsiders. The missions had to fall within certain parameters- fighting dangerous beasts to secure certain resources was a common one. For missions that would likely involve fighting other cultivators, there were further stipulations. The Order wouldn't allow their disciples to be used as a simple army to suppress people. If there was no clear righteous cause to support, the Order generally had its disciples limit themselves to mostly defensive activities. In all cases, judgments had to be made about the situation- and if someone hiring the disciples was found to have knowingly misrepresented details, the Order wouldn't be bound to a contract. They might simply demand the promised payment and leave, but in some cases it was appropriate to change sides in a conflict to punish their deceivers.

This didn't mean that the Order was seen as unreliable- they maintained a steadfast and loyal reputation. They simply wouldn't accept anyone hiring them dishonestly. While many sects disagreed with their beliefs on what was just and good, it would be impossible for them to say that the Order didn't try to practice what they preached.

As part of being an official mission, there were some benefits. They could bring an elder along with them in an official capacity. Ambati as a whole was on reasonable terms with the Order, and they trusted the Order to restrain themselves within the borders of the country. In their case, Elder Tshering had been looking for an opportunity to go to Ambati and thus was willing to do so for a smaller portion of the proceeds. The country was full of dangerous beasts, and he particularly wanted to see if he could determine the source of those filtering through the lands into Graotan and the beast forest.

Anton was quite pleased to have him- especially because he'd recently advanced from the twenty-eighth star to the twenty-ninth, overcoming his stagnation and stepping into Constellation Formation. The stage was also generally known as Essence Collection when not referencing a specific cultivation technique. His presence made Anton feel more comfortable about Alva's presence, yet at the same time concerned. If anything that could actually challenge Elder Tshering appeared, they would all be in danger. Of course, it could simply be a matter of numbers. If the rest of them unified together and were willing to accept losses they should be able to defeat Elder Tshering- or more realistically someone on a similar level. The Order did its best to prevent intrasect conflict well before it could grow to the level of attempting to kill each other.

Three figures stood together on the walls of the Temitope clan, located in Tailoga in south-central Ambati. One was Ayotunde, the other two the people he referred to as 'shrimp' and 'granny'. The two of them had continued through Graotan into Ambati, and had thus been the first to receive Ayotunde's missives. Finding the offer of payment sufficient, they had already come to offer their services.

"I should have charged you for every time you call me shrimp," Ross commented. "I could be a rich man. So why are you helping this clan anyway? You're not a member or anything, and you're not just being hired as a mercenary here."

"During my earlier years, they did me a great favor. I owe them a debt. Besides," Ayotunde said. "I do care for many of those who live in this region. The Temitope clan is moderate enough, but the others that vie for control of the region will not be so conservative with their taxes on the common folk and lower cultivators. They are already excessive in the cities they control, I would not expect them to be more reasonable with anything else they get their hands on."

"Why have a struggle for power now?" 'granny' Lera asked. "With three clans in the area the balance should be maintainable. Whoever makes the first move will be weakened, leaving the third to swoop in. What changed?"

"A beast overlord," Ayotunde explained. "Though it is unlikely that it suddenly popped up. However, the beast lord has been more territorial, indicating it is protecting something. That could be either some sort of powerful natural treasure or even offspring. Young magical beasts from a strong line could fetch a fine price or be raised to aid a force in combat. If whatever is being guarded is significant enough, it can shift the balance of power in the region. The Olayinka clan was the first to take notice of the situation, beginning a buildup of their forces. The Temitope clan can't necessarily ally with the Mwangi clan against them, so all build their own forces."

Ross shook his head, "If it weren't for our history, I wouldn't want to get involved in a war where Essence Collection patriarchs are involved, even if they're only barely worthy of that title. But then again, I'd rather work with reliable allies than random unknowns. I just wish we had more. Most of the people here are Body Tempering, early Spirit Building at best."

"They've also snapped up most of the other mercenaries," Lera pointed out. "Those who are willing to get involved, anyway."

"I know," Ayotunde nodded. "I am hoping… to receive the help of others. The Order of Ninety-Nine Stars. Or Anton, specifically."

"That old man?" Ross asked. "He's a fine archer, to be sure. But early Spirit Building is a bit… well, limited. I'd be glad to have him, of course."

"You haven't kept an ear open for the news, then. As of two months ago, he was at what they call the sixteenth star. Two steps higher than we left him." Ayotunde smiled, "Did I not tell you I met him in late Body Tempering? Less than two years ago. The companions with him as well."

"How did you hear of him?" Lera asked. "You have someone specifically watching for him?"

Ayotunde shook his head. "No. I just have my ear to the ground. Did you not pay attention to what happened with Everheart's tomb?"

Lera shrugged, "Usually best to ignore it. Usually ridiculous nonsense or senseless deaths."

"Perhaps," Ayotunde said, "But Anton found himself receiving the highest prize in a little training based tournament Everheart set up. Over some late Spirit Building fellows- and the big deal is everyone had cultivated for less than five years. A pack of geniuses."

"Oh," Ross said. "I heard about that. They said the winner was only on a technicality. Something about 'improving cultivation' counting others' somehow."

"Even better, then," Ayotunde said. "He can basically match any of us, and if Everheart approved his teaching methods? Perhaps we can learn something vital. My growth isn't so rapid that I wouldn't like a boost." Ayotunde paused, "Oh this is mostly unrelated, but he cut off the hand of one of the prime disciples of the Heavenly Lion Sect."

"... he seemed quite sane to me, when we saw him," Lera frowned, her wrinkled face pruning even more. "But I suppose he's part of the Ninety-Nine Stars. They're a big sect as well. Bigger, probably."

"But usually not crazy. These days, that is," Ayotunde smiled. "I remember stories about the past. They used to shake things up- back in Everheart's days. They'd see an evil sect and just stamp them out without thinking about it twice. No political maneuvering, just power."

"Sounds like any violent overlord," Lera commented. "Not sure I'd want more of those."

"Perhaps," Ayotunde agreed. "But if there are any, you want them on your side. Anton… that old man, he is not someone to ignore." Ayotunde leaned forward onto the wall. "Though I have not yet received a response. He could be off doing something else crazy, or simply decline. Then we will just have to make do with what we have here."

The three of them looked down at the Body Tempering cultivators training together. The Temitope clan had more than just them, but the scope of their power was limited. If they didn't manage to get more assistance, they could only hope to hold on through the turbulent times without hope of coming out on top.

The paw of a lion, claws nearly large enough to cleave Devon's torso in two, just barely scraped in front of him as he jumped back. The claws still carved some of the energy defending him away, a blow without blood but not without harm. In response, Devon stretched his arms out. Criss-crossing strands of energy erupted from him, wrapping around the swinging paw. If one looked closely, they would see the strands of energy formed chains with grasping spikes, a reflection of the same sort of weapon that had scarred him.

Devon chose the method of attack as a form of defiance. The chains and spikes that cause him pain wouldn't be ignored, but overcome. He was glad to be allowed to study the Order's cultivation documents, despite not practicing their cultivation method. While he knew it was a powerful technique, the strength provided by his method was well suited to him. After fixing some of the flaws, he found it well suited to manifestations of energy. His grandfather Anton's Spirit Arrows were an example of the sort- though they were less strictly arrows than other manifestations might be. While the details of a weapon should be practical, the emotional connection to a more specific form could actually increase the power of something specific. Thus, the chains were more useful than mere sharp strands of energy.

The chains from Devon's hands wrapped around the paw, but he couldn't completely stop the lion's momentum. It was a magical beast matching early Spirit Building, after all. He simply managed to make the chains dig into its flesh and slow its movements, resisting as it tried to pull him off his feet and then tried to leap on him to bite him.

However, with its movements slowed for even a few moments Devon received timely attacks from his companions. A simple slash from Timothy next to him slowed the beast, and two arrows from Anton found their way into its side. He was able to take advantage as it flinched away to leap onto its back and wrap the chains around its neck. The beast tried to throw him off, but he half-cut half-strangled it with his manifested chains. He had other weapons, but he found the manifestations to be the most satisfying. They were what he would use to kill Tonina, when he found the chance. To that end, he needed to improve their strength as much as he could.

Chapter 142

During the course of their travel, Elder Tshering didn't have to lift a finger except the one time an ambush predator thought he would be the best choice as a target. It was a greatly oversized cat, but clearly without the ability to sense energy. Elder Tshering restrained his energy so as to not simply scare off every magical beast in the surrounding area, but anything close enough to lay its eyes on him would still be able to sense his power.

Rarely in the past had Anton been successfully ambushed. While the forest around Dungannon wasn't exactly peaceful, it had no ambush predators large enough to attack humans. After he'd started training Body Tempering, one of his earlier stars had been the organs in his head, which was where the major senses resided. He also trained Hawk Eyes archery and other techniques to boost his senses even more. It was good to match off against more challenging foes. The way the creatures camouflaged into the surroundings without the use of energy was particularly interesting.

If he could find Velvet, he might ask her what she thought. He could pick her out here and there, but ever since she'd started practicing her new stealth technique he struggled to keep up. It was one of the techniques merely forbidden by sects in the past because it was used against them. In short, it was too good. A technique that allowed her to slip past her surroundings without disturbing them was certainly not easy to learn, but after the months of practice she'd put in, he found himself impressed.

Fuzz was running back and forth, crossing in front of and behind the group. When he abruptly stopped and pointed his nose into the tall grass, Anton took his bow into his hands. Before he could compare the angle to determine exactly what was hiding, Alva had already taken a shot. An injured lion leaped out of the brush- a slim hunter, unlike the more voluminous males who seemed to do little actual fighting. Anton took a shot, his arrow digging deeper into its side than Alva's. It wasn't really a fair comparison, as he had a whole eleven stars more than her. Still, despite the fact that the cat's leap was less than halfway to Alva, he wasn't going to let it get unnecessarily close. If he had other opponents to worry about it would be one thing, but he wasn't going to just leave it when he was able to act.

"Aww, I wanted to take it alone. Though it's pretty tough." Alva waited a few moments then urged Fuzz closer. "I think this is the same kind that's part of my bow." She tapped a finger to her lips, "Does this mean I can make a second bow?"

"If you find a good shaft and learn to properly handle the materials, sure," Anton said. "Want to help me butcher it? We can see if there are any good tendons."

"... I think I'll pass for now." Alva wasn't exactly squeamish, but she preferred not to get blood and guts on her. She patted Fuzz on the head, "Good job sniffing it out. Can you teach me how to do that?"

Fuzz did a sort of bark, sniffing around the area with his head low. Alva followed him around, but Anton could tell she was just playing. Though he wondered if he should try to enhance his sense of smell. Something might hide from sight, vision, and even energy sensing… but smells were bound to leak out eventually. Scents were lingering instead of just having to be stopped in the moment. Having the ability to detect things by scent could be valuable, though as with any powerful sense it could also be a weakness. He'd seen normal wolves overwhelmed by certain plants in the forest, making them an excellent deterrent around their flocks. Though most wolves wouldn't approach a farm unless they were starving anyway.

"How much longer until we get there?" Alva asked. She seemed impatient to arrive, though she was doing her best to keep herself occupied as they passed very similar terrain for long periods of time.

Elder Tshering was the one to answer that. "Two days, if we keep this pace. We'll hit a road soon enough, and we'll likely not encounter any more wild beasts." He shook his head, "There hasn't been much of note here, but I can ask about unexpected movements of beasts when we arrive. The locals should know more."

Even though it had already been several years, the reasons behind the unexpected number of beasts that had appeared were still being investigated. For the moment the area was just being more carefully managed, but there were investigations into whether significant changes had happened elsewhere. The primary suspect was more from the north, but the circumstances Ayotunde had mentioned were a possible connection. Either way, they had plans to move around different parts of Ambati after they concluded the mission- to search for more about the beasts if necessary and to look for the facility Everheart mentioned. It was doubtless something dangerous to tackle alone. Anton hoped that Elder Tshering would stay with them, though that was up to whether he could be convinced.

As predicted, they soon enough arrived in Tailoga. The architecture was quite different from what Anton was used to, but houses were houses and cities were cities. It was easy to make out roads and businesses, and of course the locations of large clans. The Tempitope clan didn't entirely control the city of Tailoga, but they had their hands in many things in the city and the area around it. Finding their way to Ayotunde merely took a short time, and he jumped down from the walls he was standing atop to greet them. They were actually tall enough to stop most cultivators, but going down was easier than up. Down came on its own. Normally Anton would have supposed such a fall would break a knee or two, but it seemed the Western Steel Body was quite suited for such stunts. He did leave a significant impression in the ground, though.

Ayotunde threw his arms out wide, "Welcome, members of the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars. I hope your presence means you have accepted my request." His eyes especially lingered on Elder Tshering.

Elder Tshering nodded, "That is correct. Assuming the scope of the task is as stated, we can enter into a proper agreement."

"That is good," Ayotunde nodded. "We can discuss that later. I am glad to see all of you came, including you, old man." Ayotunde inclined his head to Anton. "And it is good to see a powerful king of the forest as well." Ayotunde's reference was likely to Elder Tshering, who was wearing some sort of bear. A portion of it, anyway, as it seemed the full pelt would have been several times his rather significant height. It seemed Ayotunde's prevalence at nicknaming people didn't just extend to those who were weaker than himself and peers. A dangerous choice, if he chose the wrong target.

Elder Tshering, however, grinned widely. "No doubt there's a new king there by now, but this hide was particularly nice. See how sharp the claws are?"

"Hmm, very nice," Ayotunde nodded appreciatively. "Let's go now."

"Why didn't you invite me?" Velvet appeared next to Ayotunde. He started, pulling away in surprise. "I was there as well. In Ofrurg."

"Oh. The spook. I did not think you would consider us more than acquaintances." Ayotunde shook his head, "But you came anyway, did you not?"

Velvet narrowed her eyes, "Next time I won't show up if you don't invite me."

"I understand," Ayotunde nodded. "The services of a spook are very valuable. I won't make the mistake again."

He quickly led them inside the walls of the Temitope clan. Everything was very comfortable, but not excessive. The rooms were better appointed than the default ones in the Order, but they were powerful guests. Besides, the Order expected their disciples to make their own choices about which furnishings they needed, as it became relevant.

After everyone was settled in properly they went over the contract. Nothing particularly limited what the members of the order could do, but they didn't have to participate in certain activities. They would work together with Ayotunde and by extension the Tempitope clan to protect them from attacks, and they would be accompanying them on expeditions, but how they accomplished their tasks was up to them. In short, they couldn't be ordered around, but could settle conflicts however seemed best. Though they could make their own choices, it was made clear to both parties that the Order would do their best to assist, even if they had the right to refusal of specific orders.

Ayotunde did not care to dredge over the details- he accepted the Order's promise, and the contract was merely a formality to him. Likewise, Anton and the others didn't intend to leave him high and dry when he and the Temitope clan fell into trouble. It was merely for clarity about both parties' expectations that they went into specifics.

Without any sort of formal introduction, the group from the Order was invited to a dinner, along with Ayotunde and the two other mercenaries. They barely had time to reacquaint themselves with Ross and Lera before arriving in the dining room.

Inside was a long table full of various dishes common in Ambati. Fruits and vegetables abounded, but the main focus was a whole roasted gazelle- an unexpected sight. Similarly unexpected was the wrinkled but regal woman sitting at the head of the table. Servants directed them to their places, and it was then that they realized that the entire spread before them was merely for the eleven of them, plus the woman already seated. Elder Tshering and Ayotunde were seated next to her, with Lera and Anton next. From there it generally continued to decrease by age and cultivation, with the exception of Ross who was still slightly stronger in cultivation than Anton and the others.

"Everyone, this is Matriarch Afi," Ayotunde introduced her, then the rest of them- down to the end with Alva.

Alva was looking about with concern, unsure how she was supposed to eat, or when, among other things. Matriarch Afi spared her with a few words. "That is about all the formality I can handle these days. With us introduced, go ahead and eat however you like! Forks, hands, feet, I don't mind." The servants with her did their best to maintain neutral expressions, but with their low cultivations Anton could read them clearly. They weren't entirely happy with her actions, but wouldn't dare to say anything either. "If I wanted people to yell at me about formalities I'd have everyone else here. But then I wouldn't have a chance to get to know the people this kid," she jabbed a slice of fruit in her hand at Ayotunde, "thought good enough to recruit for our cause. Can you believe they tell me not to yell at people at the end of the table? How are they supposed to hear me if I don't yell? They're so far away. I tried to get them to make me a round table with a hole in the middle so I can be close to everyone, but then they would complain about me jumping over the table. How else am I supposed to get into the center, hmm?"

Ayotunde laughed, "That's right, quite a problem."

Elder Tshering nodded sagely, his arms crossed in front of him. "A conundrum indeed. Have you considered a horseshoe design? It could curve around you but still have that open space."

"Oh, a good thought!" Matriarch Afi grabbed one of the haunches of the gazelle with a snatch of energy. "Everyone had a chance, no complaining now," she grinned heartily, then opened her mouth wide, shoving the entire thing inside. Somehow it worked, without distending her expression. She chewed for a few moments until her mouth was empty in her one nod to politeness. "A horseshoe shape, huh. What do you think?" she waved the bone at Anton before cracking it in half to begin sucking out the marrow.

He was a bit hesitant to answer, because although she was friendly enough her cultivation was still enough above him it felt awkward. With the Elders from the Order he had a connection to them beforehand, but Matriarch Afi was unfamiliar to him except in the last minutes. He gave himself time to think by slowly chewing the seeds of a fruit he had in hand. "If there are too many people, it will still result in some being far away. But I can't think how you would fix that without moving your seat." She didn't have to shout, of course. A cultivator could shape the sound of their voice at least enough to have it carry further without being too loud. Though if she truly intended to talk to those at the end of the table, they might not have the skills to answer in the same manner.

Suddenly, the Matriarch's face became stern. "Alva!" Alva froze, one hand under the table. "You don't need to smuggle something out of the dining hall, you know. We'll make sure your companion gets fed."

"Oh." Alva slowly put her hand with a large slab of meat on her plate. "Fuzz gets very hungry."

"You named him Fuzz? A good name."

"Catarina named him," Alva said. "When she found him in a cave of death moss."

"Death moss? I'd love to hear about it," Matriarch Afi nodded enthusiastically. "And about you. Not many cultivate so young." Her eyes sharpened, searching across the table. "Tell me, are you and Catarina sisters?"

"Umm… Great-Grandpa Anton, what are we?"

"Cousins of some sort," Anton answered.

"Quite a bit of family here, then. Do I sense Devon's connection as well?" she seemed less certain about that one.

Anton nodded, "A grandson."

"I'd love to hear all about how you ended up together like this. And with one cultivating a different technique, even. But first, this death moss."

Anton did eventually share his story, and how his family came to be in the state it was, while Matriarch Afi shared about the Temitope clan. The history was a bit longer, but it was not too much unlike his own family's story, except with more cultivation- not counting the recent years for Anton and the others.

Chapter 143

The conclusion of the meal left everyone satisfied, though not particularly more aware of the actual situation they were called upon to deal with. That was to be explained to them the next morning. To that end, they were called to a surprisingly large gathering. In addition to Matriarch Afi who was in early Essence Collection, there were over a dozen warriors in Spirit Building and several dozen more at various levels of Body Tempering. While it might seem that the Temitope clan's forces paled in comparison to the Order, it had to be remembered that they were simply a clan managing a single city. As one of thousands of clans in Ambati, their numbers still made them significant, perhaps in the top hundred clans.

The particular events they were dealing with currently were precisely the sort of chance to improve their position. More relevantly, they couldn't afford to let either of the other two clans in the area seize the opportunity unopposed. Either the Olayinka or the Mwangi clan significantly growing in power would overturn the balance of the region. While it was extremely unlikely that any of the three clans would grow strong enough to overpower the others together, it was a matter of practicalities. If they could completely dominate one while still retaining enough uninjured fighting forces to compete with the other, they would practically control the region. The other clans might unite together against them, but someone would be taking losses- and they would both want it to be the other clan. It would be difficult to have a truly unified front.

Matriarch Afi stood in front of the gathering of clan members and mercenaries. "All of you are aware of the general situation we face. Natural energy fluctuation in the area and unusual beast activities leading to the likelihood of a beast overlord. Whether or not this creature exists, there is no doubt that something unusual is happening. Perhaps there is a font of natural energy, some natural treasure, or anything else. Even just the body of a beast overlord has value." She went on to explain about the tactical situation in the area. It wasn't directly placed in between the three competing clans, but it was within a day's travel of all of them at the pace expected of mid Body Tempering. Less than fifty kilometers from the furthest, the Olayinka clan. "Elder Kwasi, if you would."

Elder Kwasi, a late Spirit Building cultivator just beginning to grey, approached the front of the group. "While many of you are familiar with the common dangers of the region, some are not- and recent shifts have brought less usual creatures into the area. Our scouts and spies have been able to narrow down the region of activity we will ultimately be searching. Primary observations include large herbivores in the area. Those with experience will know that does not make these creatures less dangerous. Both the elephant and hippopotamus can crush a cultivator with their weight, even at the standard size. Larger specimens or magical beasts are extremely dangerous.

"Standard predators also exist in the area in the form of great cats, lions and cheetah primarily. We've also seen the rooting of oversized boar or similar. There are few signs of large birds- no significant presence of razorwings or man-eating raptors. If there is a beast overlord, it could be from any of the former species or something unknown." Elder Kwasi paused to let people digest information, and to shift topics. "There are also plant based dangers in the area. Ignoring the plants with poisons that must be digested, there are patches of western creeper and energy-eating grass." Elder Kwasi held up dried versions of each for example. "Look for these patterns. The grass especially blends in with other grasses, though it will register to your energy if it has recently consumed anything."

After Elder Kwasi finished going over the known dangers, he stepped back to the rest of the group and Matriarch Afi took over once more. "We have received word that the other clans are mobilizing- doubtless they will be watching our movements as well. Some of you will remain here to supplement Tailoga's defenses. The rest will be split into three main groups. One with myself, one with Elder Kwasi, and the third group under the control of Elder Tshering of the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars. I have arranged for several limited use communication talismans, though of course standard ways of getting attention will still be available in emergencies. Of course, any obvious displays of energy will alert the others as well." She looked over everyone present, "Our current position is already quite enviable. If nothing changed the situation, maintaining our status would have been best. However, we cannot afford to fall behind. That could be losing out on this opportunity… or losing our members. Do remember to keep yourselves safe. It would be better for us to retreat early with no benefits than to recklessly fight for the prize and lose out on it… or perhaps even obtain it with astounding losses. To that end, we will minimize our antagonizing of the other clans and whatever mercenaries they have hired. This need not be a battle to the death- driving them off will suit us just fine. Likewise, if they are grouped together in numbers we cannot defeat, retreat is in order. If we could manage to have the Mwangi and Olayinka fight each other unto exhaustion without involving ourselves, that would be best. But they know that as well- so we shall pick our battles carefully." She smiled appreciatively, "I believe in the power of the Temitope clan and our allies. Let us prepare to move out!"

A half dozen members of the Temitope clan in the Body Tempering stage were assigned to fight with the Order. This helped make up for their otherwise lacking numbers. While having high cultivations was also extremely important, sometimes simply having more hands or eyes was necessary. In turn, Catarina and Timothy and 'granny' were remaining with those who would defend the clan. Catarina would be especially useful with her ability to optimize the use of defensive formations. While she was able to create them in a mobile fashion through the use of flags and stones, formations were always most suited for stationary use. Keeping the clan grounds secure was also important, as those with weak cultivations and resources still remained. It would do little good if the Temitope clan otherwise returned victorious if the rest of their clan members were wiped out and their homes destroyed.

More likely was that an attack would be threatened and the Temitope forced to withdraw their forces to deal with such a problem, but leaving proper defenses behind would prevent that to begin with. Forces with a defensive position should be more efficient, so ultimately it would allow the best use of their forces without worrying about needing to retreat to defend, unless either of the other clans gave up a significant portion of their forces and thus the prize to make the attempt.

Though Ayotunde wasn't particularly trained as a scout, his familiarity with the local area made him as useful in that regard as Anton, Velvet, or Elder Tshering who were more traditionally specialized in the area. After most of a day of travel, they started exploring the area to try to find whatever it was that they were looking for. If someone already knew exactly where they wanted to look, it was likely that it would have been seized weeks before, despite the potential danger. If one of the clans had concrete information, they could have mobilized their forces and returned before the others could reasonably react.

As it was, it could take several days for the combined forces of the three clans to comb the whole area. Even if the density of trees was small, the horizon couldn't necessarily be seen from afar. The grass grew as tall as men or horses in some areas, with hills and gullies varying the terrain and creating many possible hiding places.

Though there were a few incidents with the local wildlife, Velvet was the first to spot members of the other clans. She came back to the group and announced what she found, "I saw a group of others ahead. From the markings, they should be members of the Mwangi clan. Mostly Body Tempering and early Spirit Building, but there are many of them."

"That is their way," Ayotunde confirmed, "Though they have a number of powerful members, lately they have recruited many weaker cultivators to bolster them. Continue, please."

"They seemed to be in combat with a large snake. As big around as my torso is wide, at least a dozen meters long. I saw it was coiled around a large tree," Velvet pointed. "The canopy should be just visible from here, you see? The fruits on it radiated strong energy."

"Then we must move closer, observe the situation," Elder Tshering confirmed. "I don't sense a battle that I would think should involve a beast overlord, but perhaps they have not truly begun fighting."

The group followed back along Velvet's path- with the possible danger from the plants, it was better to take a slightly more circuitous route rather than potentially stumble into trouble. In fact, Anton thought he recognized some of the energy draining grass to their side as they moved- though the only way to be sure was to test it. A pointless endeavor that could only waste resources at the moment.

Anton moved ahead a few others to take a look at the battle. He could see the warriors fighting with spears and swords against a snake just as large as Velvet described. A magical beast, to be sure, with an aura that matched a proper Spirit Building cultivator to go with its powerful body. Likewise, he sensed the power from the fruit. But…

Elder Tshering shook his head. "If that is the beast overlord zealously guarding its prize, there is nothing for the Temitope clan to be concerned about."

"I recognize the tree," Ayotunde said. "Perhaps not that specific one, but the type. It grows useful fruit, but each is no more powerful than a well crafted medicine grown from farmable herbs. Yet those trees are picky about where they grow, and do not replant. It would be a massive endeavor for something of that size, and it would almost certainly die. They should only gain an acceptable amount of resources."

"Agreed," Elder Tshering said. "This should not be the cause of the powerful fluctuations in the area. We should move on. No point getting into conflict here, when we can instead move on unhindered."

They returned to the rest of the group just in time to see Hoyt swinging his axe, coated in flames, chopping through some of the surrounding grass. Though it would have expected for the brown grass to immediately light on fire, it was simply charred at the points it was cut.

Hoyt swung his axe in a continual pattern, keeping it moving as the grass coiled and writhed in front of him. Soon enough a figure was revealed- one of the members of the Temitope clan. With another few slashes he was extricated from the grass and moved to safety.

"Thank you," he said. "I stepped away to relieve myself… I did not recognize the grass for what it was."

Anton could see his problem- only a portion of the grass had the marks that would be expected. The rest was merely the standard grass of the region, entirely mundane. It indicated they needed slightly more caution, but the grass itself was mostly dangerous to loners. It wrapped around a target to restrain them and drain their energy- if an ally was nearby, they were quite capable of extricating their companion. The restrained man would likely be fatigued, but he could recover given time. Alone, however, he would likely have been drained until he was but a husk. There were signs of dead animals in the area. In fact, Anton would bet that corpses were used as bait to kill scavengers. Rather intelligent, for something with no mind at all. But it wouldn't have been able to survive if it was not effective.

The group moved onward, relying on the scouts to recognize other dangers before they stumbled into them. Sometimes, it was simply beasts who were various levels of obvious. Twice they spooked something that was hidden, causing them in turn to be startled- but they had not yet encountered anything of serious danger. That likely wouldn't last. Especially not when they saw a burst of energy akin to a signal flare ahead of them. That wasn't the agreed upon sign of the Temitope clan, but they needed to check it out anyway- while staying cautious of a possible trap.

Chapter 144

It was quite tempting, really, to set the whole countryside on fire. Though it likely wouldn't burn up the energy devouring grasses, it would reveal them by the very fact that they remained. Tempting, but also excessive, unnecessary, and immoral. Hoyt knew that setting a fire in the countryside couldn't be controlled exactly. Maybe animals that were just trying to live their lives, no threat to humans, would die. Ecosystems would be wiped out, and human villages could easily be caught up in the aftermath. He had no doubt that some sects would have done it anyway, but either the other two clans didn't have the inclination, the ability, or they didn't want to risk damaging their prize.

A powerful plant might resist scorching fires unharmed, or it might burn up like loose tinder. With only speculation, the risks had to be taken as they came instead of attempting to 'solve' them with a single act. But damn were the native plants annoying. It wasn't just the grass, but western creeper as well. It was bad enough when it was grown on trellises and designed to be harvested from- when it crawled along the ground in patches hundreds of meters wide, crossing the area was just foolish.

If their scouts weren't so good, they would be having real problems. Though occasionally even Hoyt could spot some things on his own. Namely, after someone from one of the other clans had stumbled into a patch and now had a dead body in there. Most of those were from the Mwangi clan, including some of the swarms of mercenaries they'd hired. The Mwangi clan went for quantity over quality, and the same was true of the mercenaries they'd hired. People wearing their colors were all over the place, and when they died the bodies were just left behind.

Their group, at least, did a better job taking care of their weaker members. Every Body Tempering cultivator was matched with a Spirit Building ally, and simply through virtue of the ability of the Spirit Building cultivators' offensive power the Body Tempering cultivators were safer. It wasn't necessary to have anyone risk themselves to protect others- fighting together and taking advantage of openings people created was good enough.

Hoyt spotted the scouts returning. Anton was the one to relay what they saw. "A large field of melons is ahead. They radiate energy, an attractive prospect. However, they match the description of a dangerous plant."

"Serpentmelons?" Ayotunde asked.

"As far as we could tell, yes. It should still be worthwhile to retrieve them, but we saw cultivators from the Olayinka clan nearby. Doubtless they will be aiming for them as well."

Ayotunde nodded, "Serpentmelons are worth enough to harvest and compete over. Though the energy contained in them is a bait, it's still very real. A delectable treat and a valuable cultivation resource. Alas, one that does not grow well in captivity. It requires… many animal carcasses. Some of significant energy."

"For those who forgot," Anton began to relay the information, "Serpentmelon plants have extremely poisonous spines. Those spines can either directly pierce you as you brush against them or be launched. In addition, the tendrils they extend containing those can whip about when disturbed. It would be best to deal with them from a distance. Sadly, they are both durable and do not tire quickly. More importantly, the more they are disturbed the more they reabsorb the energy from the melons to replenish themselves."

As the explanation finished, the group was already making their way to the serpentmelon patch. Once there, they spotted the Olayinka clan on the far side, as predicted. Neither of them could have truly been said to have arrived first.

"Stand down," called a late Spirit Building man, accompanied by another. "The Olayinka clan has claim to this patch."

Elder Tshering stepped forward, "So does the Temitope clan. See the mark my men left?"

"Do you wish to fight?"

Elder Tshering smiled as their auras pressed against each other, "Do you?"

Neither side was willing to back down. Though the group working with the Temitope clan was likely slightly stronger, a conflict here could damage the plants and would still be costly to whichever side won.

"Since you will not back down," Elder Tshering stated, "And we have our own claim… why do we not just get what we can? We send forward our lesser members to have them collect as they will. No interference from the other side." That was both a suggestion and a threat. If Elder Tshering acted, even just at the first star of Essence Collection, he could easily kill their weaker members. Likewise, the two late Spirit Building cultivators could match him or be a danger to others.

"Very well." With a gesture, they waved the others forward.

Like that, everything began. Hoyt moved around to the left side of the patch. The edged were generally the best, instead of the center. Though it seemed counterintuitive, it was quite simple. The plants would kill beasts they attracted, and they simply wouldn't make it to the center. Only occasional birds would be caught by the center of the patch, so the melons there were thin as the scraggly tendrils of plant had to consume them to continue.

Of course, the best melons weren't actually on the outside. There were at least several layers of plant protecting the first melons, and the row behind that was supposed to be the best. It matched what Hoyt's senses told him.

Though it was better to not damage the plants, he didn't have the luxury of time to pick through one step at a time, avoiding causing the slightest disturbance. Instead, he did the next best thing. He picked a single vine and chopped through it. After making his axe scalding hot, of course. Instant cauterization and maximized cutting power would be his most useful allies. If he simply projected energy he could attack deeper parts of the plant and sever the tendrils near where they attached, but he had not trained in that. Quite purposefully.

Hoyt hacked through a tendril. He didn't have to use quite that much force, but he couldn't hold back much either. If it took two swings, he could be in danger. A disconnected tendril would only flop about and curl in on itself, while the remaining portions whipped with great force. Somehow they didn't set off the rest of the plant- except a small local area. The flying needles Hoyt simple burned up before they touched his body- even if a needle pierced through his defenses, the poison should have been broken down by the heat.

Everheart was right. He knew it. Attacking up close had its limits, and energy projection was something that would significantly improve him. But while he was right, Hoyt damn well wasn't going to listen to him. He could throw little fireballs at things right now if he wanted to, but he didn't want to. That was what other people wanted, not him. He was Hoyt, not Prospero Vandale.

He chopped down, severing a melon from the plant. He wasn't quite sure what they looked like when fully ripe, but they wouldn't be coming back this way. With his foot he caught the melon and tossed it back towards those watching at the edge. Anton caught it, gently placing it in a pile they were starting.

Hoyt continued to make a narrow line through the plants, his straightforward methods disturbing them less than it might seem at first. As long as he could step over a particular vine and have an area of confidence around himself to dodge, he would leave the plant alone on his way to the next melon. As he cauterized the wounds, there was nowhere to pull energy to, except the remaining triggered parts of the plant. A single flop or twist was not enough to particularly drain a melon, and he didn't have the niceties of time anyway. He could see others near him, allies forming a matching line as they circled the center.

He caught sights of a squirming figure, wiggling her way along the ground. Between her feet she was dragging a melon almost the same size as her, scooting it under the winding tendrils. Hoyt hadn't even considered that option, because he was far too big to pull it off. The melon itself somehow didn't set off the plants, however, so Alva was able to worm her way along. If she brushed against the plants wrong she could be in danger, but he couldn't stop her just because she was young. Others the same strength as her were participating, and she was doing quite well, taking advantage of her small size.

As he continued along the leftmost edge, Hoyt neared the middle. He saw a particularly fine specimen, a melon the size of his torso. He could see a cultivator from the other side eyeing it as well. Hoyt took a deep breath, focusing on his surroundings. He had reached the seventeenth star, and he focused on Spiritual Connection. There was a flow of energy through the plants- though it was really more of one large plant. Regardless, he felt how things flowed. Insight was of little use, as there was no body language to read in a plant. The flow of energy wasn't really hidden either. Serpentmelon hadn't developed to prevent human cultivators, but instead entrap wild beasts. Sometimes those beasts were powerful, but they couldn't usually pick up on the subtleties of energy flow.

Hoyt kicked one of the tendrils, and it snapped up- whipping towards the other cultivator. He had no ability to accurately control it, so his opponent was able to dodge with the space around him. But Hoyt didn't need to kill him or even injure him. Just slow him down. He was already halfway to his destination when a rock was tossed into the area near him, springing a number of tendrils to wrap around him and sending tiny needles as thin as hairs flying everywhere. The fires he kept wrapped tightly around himself burned them, but it consumed some of his energy.

Hoyt strategically triggered a few more pieces of the plant and then just chucked clods of dirt around his opponent. He chopped through nearby areas as necessary to make room, and soon he was only a handful of meters from the melon, his opponent the same. They exchanged glances, and his opponent began darting forward.

Instead of doing the same, Hoyt just jumped. He couldn't guarantee exactly where he would land, except that he would certainly step on some of the plant- and he wouldn't be far from the melon. As he landed, he wrapped himself around the melon, his energy coating it with fire directed outwards. A feature of energy that was a manipulation of the natural order, since fire didn't really have a direction normally.

As the plant triggered around him Hoyt used the best of his training in Instinct and Spiritual Connection to avoid most of the damage. Then he leaped, carrying the heavy melon back with him. By the time he reached the edge, most of the melons were already retrieves. Some in the very center still remained, but they were mainly small and shriveled.

"That's enough," Elder Tshering declared. "We must treat our injuries and be on our way." Based on the size of their piles, they had come out basically even, though personally Hoyt thought their melons seemed more vibrant. That could have been bias, though.

They stuffed their pile of melons into the storage bags they had available and moved away. Even as they walked, they chopped some of the melons into pieces. While it wasn't perfect, eating the melon and circulating the energy the right way helped dissolve the poison some people had injected into them. Either way, the melon was bulky and they didn't quite have room to carry all of it in the bags they had available. Everyone got a share of the succulent and juicy melons, and a quick boost in their energy. There were limits to how much cultivation resources were reasonable to consume, but serpentmelon was a stable one. Not excessively powerful, but Hoyt could feel the effects it had. He was quite satisfied.

The rest would be shared with the other groups when they met up. That would be… in the morning, because that was when the signals came. Someone had found the beast overlord and whatever it was protecting. The group hastily made their way forward, watching for dangers that might stand in their way.

Chapter 145

Even as they began to make their way over to the signal, other signals were released into the sky, specially formed energy meant to draw attention. If there were no obstacles, it would only take the various groups scattered through the areas several minutes to converge. However, there were dangerous plants and beasts along the way. Anton and the other scouts did their best to avoid trouble quickly, and when there were simply a few lone beasts they didn't bother to circumvent them. Elder Tshering contributed his efforts in slaying some of the beasts, crushing the heads of great cats under his heel.

Around the time they were able to pick out specific individuals from the mass of energy signatures in front of them, everyone was also able to spot something looming over the man-height grass, and even some of the nearby trees. A boar with tusks as long as pikes and a body nearly the size of a barn. It swept its head along the ground, flinging piles of dirt, trees, and people about. So far it seemed everyone had been lucky enough to not be impaled on a tusk, but that certainly didn't mean they were left unharmed.

"Looks like I might be needed," Elder Tshering said, "The rest of you make your way around to meet up with the rest of the Temitope clan. I'm heading ahead."

With that, he vaulted through the air, bounding ahead. None of the others could match his movement, and they had to watch for dangers along the way. They circled around towards where they felt more Temitope clan members, avoiding a large patch of western creeper and some grasping grass.

As they approached closer they were better able to see the damage to the battlefield. Trees were torn up and snapped in half, dirt scattered all over, trenches gouged in the ground by the overlord's tusks and the attacks of surrounding cultivators. Though the base form of the giant magical beast resembled a boar with mighty tusks, it had other protrusions along its spine and the sides of its four legs. In addition to that, it had a long tail with thin spike a meter long at the end. At a smaller scale they might have seemed like the spines of a porcupine, barbs included.

The beast overlord wasn't alone in the battle. A number of smaller boars with more standard features also trampled around the area, as well as other sorts of creatures. Snakes and great cats were expected, but there were also herbivores like a pair of elephants and a wide mouthed hippopotamus involved in the skirmish. Not all of the beasts seemed to be on the side of the overlord- the beasts also clashed against each other, some of them having their own cultivations to match. No single thing was even close to the power of the gargantuan boar, not even the few Essence Collection cultivators.

The Temitope clan had many of its members formed up with shields and spears at the ready. While organized lines weren't always the best idea when fighting against powerful cultivators, it still allowed those who were weaker to supplement each other's strength. The more powerful cultivators could move around on their own, wherever the battle led them.

Though the Temitope clan had hoped to not be immediately drawn into the battle, the general chaos in the area meant they were unable to truly avoid the battle. At the current moment, the Essence Collection cultivators and those at the peak of Spirit Building were engaged with the overlord. While they might have liked to let the other powerful cultivators wear themselves down, the current battle revolved around directing its wrath towards enemy cultivators. While most of the cultivators redirected it with threatening attacks, Elder Tshering prevented it from charging the lines more directly, with a kick to the side of its head. It barely moved the beast, but its charge turned to follow the line of its head enough that the cultivators of the Temitope clan were able to move aside and let its charge go past.

Anton found his way up into a tree covered in spikes- but the mundane sort. With just his tempered skin he could ignore any danger it might have posed. There were similar trees around that were older, bigger… and possessed of sharper thorns. Arrows flew from his position and any of the other archers. Alva was riding back and forth throughout the area, firing arrows at anything that approached the line of spearmen to lessen their ability to overrun the mostly Body Tempering cultivators.

At the moment, there was little direct combat between the three clans and the mercenaries they had each hired. But as the battle shifted, it seemed more likely that they would come to blows. Anton surveyed the battlefield, firing shots at quite a significant distance to damage or even distract the beasts. When a large black panther snuck around the others and leapt up into his tree, he tumbled backwards and drew his axes out. Unlike Velvet's new daggers, the two axes didn't match- except in how effective they were. The thorns of the tree and the thick branches only slowed the panther for a second as it fell down atop Anton, but he held his ground and even stepped forward as it fell downward. He slashed up at its belly as it tried to focus on him with its claws. His right axe dragged a deep impression along its ribs as he stepped to the side so it wouldn't fall directly upon him.

Spinning around to his left, he slashed at the creature's shoulder forcing it to back off or receive greater wounds. If this was any sort of normal beast, it would have never joined the battle to begin with. At its current strength it should have known it didn't stand a chance against Anton, but the emotions of everything in the area were greatly heightened. Anton took a stance, preparing to finish the creature off quickly so he could return to his archery.

Dozens and dozens of scents permeated the air, making it a rather useless form of perception. Was the big cat still in that grass or moved on already? Perhaps it was the one behind him being impaled by a spear. There were so many other animals, too, and humans. Impossible to keep track of it all. So Fuzz relied on his eyes and ears most of all. He could see the various things that made a distinction between allies and enemies, and when he couldn't… he would rely on Alva.

If he ran straight towards something and she didn't fire an arrow at it, he could presume it was some sort of ally. Thus he was not supposed to leap onto it and bite into its neck. Though he rarely had a chance to do that anyway, because he had to keep moving. Alva still wasn't so strong that she would be safe against the various threats in the area.

Fuzz of course stayed well away from the disturbingly large boar and the cultivators with powerful suppressing energy, but there were intermediate threats as well. Humans with large curved blades were often foes, like the ones with the particularly choppy axes. Not Hoyt of course, because his axe was quite different. For one thing, it was on fire.

There was one scent Fuzz couldn't ignore. It was the strangest thing. Something powerful. But he couldn't see it at all, despite the way it suffused throughout the whole area. Then Fuzz realized. Of course, it was underground. Not a threat, but a target. Something that smelled good to eat, which was especially strange for Fuzz because he couldn't even begin to describe what sort of meat it was.

He was quite surprised when, dashing through the battlefield, he came across a dug up chunk of the thing and found it was just a big root. He picked it up in his mouth to make sure it was the right thing, and it was. But roots weren't meat. How odd. He ran back behind the wall of allies, dropping his small portion of root. Battle wasn't a good time to eat, even if he was hungry. He'd learned that fighting with a stuffed stomach was not pleasant at all.

"Fuzz!" Alva called to him, her hand pointing in front to the left, "Bring us past that!"

Past it? Fuzz looked at the big grey monster with tree trunk legs. It had various appendages with significant reach, so he couldn't move too close. But it was clearly what she pointed at. So he did. He planned to run behind, but she directed him to go around its front. He made sure to give some extra room, but the strange twisty-grabby appendage on its front flailed out towards them. He dodged to the side and Alva ducked flat on his back, and together they barely avoided the attack.

"That's it, we have its attention!" Alva stooped down to pick up a rock and threw it at the big creature, instead of just shooting it with an arrow. "Now run that way!"

'That way' was towards the biggest thing. Fuzz had to protect Alva, but he also had to listen to her commands. How frustrating. But he also had to run from the 'elephant' anyway, because it was not happy with them. Fuzz was planning routes to circle around either side to avoid getting too close to the dangerous center of the battle, but Alva had another plan.

"That's far enough! Stop! One-eighty!" Fuzz had no idea what that number had to do with turning directly around, but humans were confusing things. Perhaps it was the one hundred and eightieth tactic they thought of, though that made him wonder why it took them so long to get to hard turns. That was one of the first tactics, behind jump, bite throat, and claw. But he had no time to think about that. He dug his front paws into the ground, grinding to a halt as he spun about. Alva held onto the front of the saddle he had on, keeping her position. "Now jump over it!"

Somehow, Fuzz had forgotten the elephant was directly behind them. He'd gotten quite a bit of distance on it, but stopping had practically negated that gap. Still, he had to admit that Alva's judgment was reasonable. He had enough room to get up to speed and do his biggest jump. Surely he could go over that thing.

Paws tore into the ground as he pushed his energy to the maximum. He reached top speed then slammed his energy downward as he pushed off, up, up, up. Over the creature's head… but only barely. The thing's 'trunk', which was not at all like the tree trunks that were its legs, flailed up towards him. He couldn't possibly dodge in the air, but Alva was already ready with her own response. An arrow struck the nose, pushing it down and to the side. It still nearly brushed against Fuzz' leg, but he found that to be quite a success.

Then for a moment his feet were on the elephant's back before he pushed off once more. He dug his claws into its hindquarters and shoved it back as he propelled himself forward.

Alva's sounds indicated she was happy with the results as the elephant continued forward towards an old man with a large curved blade. It was certainly much less agile than himself, and in fact it didn't even seem to care to turn around. The man moved out of the way, but the elephant battered its head and tusks into the boar that was only slightly larger than itself. That was where energy came into play, as Fuzz was well aware. Muscle and size were good, but energy was the most important- and the boar had plenty of it. In fact, it smelled good. Just like… the root. Maybe the root was made of boar. Or the boar ate the root, but that wouldn't explain why it smelled good.

A human warrior stood between Fuzz and his target trajectory, passing Anton. One of the ones with an axe. He must have thought he was so clever, waiting for Fuzz to approach. He would certainly have the advantage with his feet planted like that. But Fuzz had an archer. He wasn't sure how to do ranged attacks himself, but Alva had shown him many times how powerful not having to worry about the enemy ripping out your own throat when you attacked was. She was able to fire several powerful shots that the man had to deflect with his weapon, sending him staggering back. Seeing his weapon was poorly aligned, Fuzz had no problem leaping onto his chest. He raked him with his claws but didn't move in for the kill. He felt the stares of other warriors who might target Alva if he lingered too long. He kept moving, the warrior bloody but alive behind him in the dirt.

Chapter 146

On a large battlefield with hundreds of eyes, it would seem impossible to stay hidden from all of them. Perhaps that might be the case if everything was specifically searching for someone hidden, but they were rather focused on everyone and everything else. Velvet found she was able to move around with little disruption.

There were some exceptions, of course. Velvet knew that any of the Essence Collection cultivators would be able to find her if she got close. Being hidden also didn't protect her from being hit on accident, with all of the charging animals and warriors around. Some of the most annoying dangers were simply the plantlife in the area- whether it passively or actively attacked her, it didn't look for her at all. It simply reacted to her touch. It would take a much higher level of stealth mastery than she currently had to fool the sense something had when it was physically moved about.

She wasn't just hiding, of course. She was picking the right targets. Unlike a 'normal' battle, she couldn't just thoughtlessly attack enemies. Killing a lion wouldn't necessarily improve the position of her allies. Killing one of the warriors… she was unsure about. Things had gone past the point of the three clans merely facing off against each other. Serious injury and death had begun. It was simply that picking the wrong opponents might ultimately weaken the position of the Temitope clan.

Though it was pretty easy to choose to deal with any cultivator directly in combat with the Temitope clan or any of the others with them. She concentrated her energy, slashing the thighs of two mercenary warriors facing off against the Temitope line. Before her attack, nobody sensed her. Afterwards, her two targets were unable to swiftly respond- and the senses of the others who might react were briefly distorted, at least until she could get somewhere else. The tall grass in the area really helped with her hiding, as long as it wasn't trying to strangle her.

With their new wounds, the two mercs retreated. Velvet might have been able to kill them- though perhaps not. Vitals were more strongly defended. Either way, she thought her method was good enough. Some people might deserve to die, but mercenaries she didn't know anything about in a conflict that wasn't fully obvious that there was a right side? It was unnecessary. Of course, making sure that they couldn't continue to fight was still required. If she allowed her own allies to be harmed by being too merciful, she would regret it. The mercs were smart enough to prioritize their lives when injured. Couldn't get paid or achieve any future goal if they were dead.

The grass twisted around Velvet. Her energy grasped gently near the top, preventing its sway. Those with keen eyes might still notice, though it could be taken for a flutter of wind. She kept moving, knowing that if someone got a solid look at her then all of her techniques wouldn't be enough. She wasn't actually invisible. Yet. Though at the higher levels of Everheart's technique, it got pretty close. According to what she'd read, it was even better than that- because it covered more than just visual senses.

She scanned the battlefield. The battle with the overlord was certainly progressing. She could see meter long cuts on its side, though none of them were terribly deep yet. The small handful of Essence Collection cultivators and peak Spirit Building cultivators were likewise also showing some injuries and fatigue. Alva was… somehow still fine. She and Fuzz seemed to be staying far enough away from enemies for the most part, and there weren't any terribly accomplished archers singling her out. Velvet did notice a few arrows being intercepted by Anton's shots, but those were rare… and he didn't protect just Alva.

Rather than intercepting shots, he seemed to be most functional by providing credible threats that people had to avoid or be impaled. This prevented enemies from attacking or opened them up to opponents they were engaged with.

Hoyt, Ayotunde, and the sh- Ross- were facing off against some other cultivators. They seemed quite evenly matched, but the magnitude of attacks swirling around them made Velvet hesitate to attempt to join that fight. It wasn't possible to signal to her allies what she was going to do without potentially alerting enemies, so she would face danger approaching from any angle.

She saw a particularly annoying section of plants. There were western creepers, grasping grass, some of those particularly spiky trees… and snakes lying in wait among all of that. She almost missed the latter.

Velvet moved along intentionally leaving a trail next to her as she picked her way through and around the area. Apparently western creeper wasn't too bad if you just restrained your energy, relying on tempered skin, but she really didn't want it poking holes in her pants or sleeves either. The best part about it was that it didn't move. Velvet snuck around behind one of the vipers, past the grasping grass which received a small sacrifice of her energy, and over a small crevice that had various unpleasant plants growing out of it.

She looked back towards the nearest group of enemies- cultivators from the Olayinka clan. They seemed to be edging towards the Temitope clan, so it would be best to divert them. With a few quick flicks of her wrist, Velvet threw a handful of throwing daggers. Regular steel, and quite disposable. Her energy was carried with them to increase their piercing power, but they barely even broke the skin of the Spirit Building man she'd targeted. The two body temperers at his side grumpily pulled the daggers out of their shoulders. They should have been happy she wasn't using any poisons, but honestly that was a waste of good poison.

Upon making the attack, her position was immediately revealed. The trail of energy the throwing daggers left couldn't be completely concealed, and the eyes of a full squad locked on her. Velvet froze, trying to blend in with the grass around her as much as possible.

They charged straight towards her, following the line of the throwing daggers. When they ran into western creeper, one noticed the energy signature from the path she had falsified. That led them into grasping grass and one of the vipers. When they slowed down to more carefully pick their way through she lobbed more daggers at them, and at some of the nearby plants that were quite happy to lash out towards anything that touched them.

The group couldn't go slowly, because she and the snakes were an ever present danger, but they couldn't rush towards her because of all the obstacles in the way. Ultimately, most of them chose to retreat down paths they had just stomped flat. Only the Spirit Building man continued towards her, cutting through obstacles with a large blade and leaping over patches of suspect origin.

Velvet might have liked to retreat, but she had intentionally chosen to enter the middle of the highest density of problematic plants she could. The only exit she was certain of was through the man approaching her, and he had his eyes locked on her.

But just because she didn't have the element of surprise didn't mean she couldn't fight him. She easily ducked under his first blade attack, pulling out her paired-yet-mismatched daggers. The long white dagger in her right hand stabbed out while the broader black one in her left swung for the man's arm, forcing him to twist his arm to avoid it.

Velvet moved left, and the man's eyes tracked the other way for an instant. He threw himself away as her dagger stabbed towards his armpit, but she continued to press the attack. He continued to swing at her, wide horizontal chops for the most part. She was able to duck under or jump over them for the most part, after which she would circle around the man once more. Sometimes, she would move one way and her energy would seem to head another. But if she always did that, then he would quite simply attack the opposite side of where she appeared. Of course, there was more than that.

She could go to her left, her right, over his head or under his legs. If he was able to accurately predict where she would move he might be able to counter some of the more audacious moves, but her daggers continued to slash and stab at his extremities, never committing to an attack if he properly locked on to her.

The man angrily slammed the ground with his large blade, sending energy in all directions and knocking her back- but causing her no real harm. The attack simply made room for him to retreat… and she let him. There were signs that the Olayinka clan was on their back legs. Truth be told, the cultivators from the Order were a significant deciding factor in the balance of power.

A handful of mid Spirit Building cultivators couldn't be ignored, and a second full Essence Collection cultivator fighting with the Temitope clan was pushing them ahead in the battle with the beast overlord and other clan leaders. In addition, the Temitope's plan to let the other clans fight each other had worked well enough that it was probably too late for them to join forces.

As the lesser cultivators from the clans began to pull back, the pressure of some of the surrounding frenzied beasts increased on those remaining. The clans had to measure whether the prize was worthwhile or retreating and recovering their forces with their current gains was the proper move. The Mwangi clan was first to withdraw, as they lacked the higher ranking cultivators who could more safely combat the remaining enemies.

Elder Tshering was fired up. His cultivation had stagnated at the peak of Spirit Building, but getting back out into the beast forest and fighting had helped break that barrier. Mostly, he'd really needed something to do besides just cultivate in the safety and comfort the Order provided. Of course, cultivators were aware that real world experience was important, but Elder Tshering had failed to find anything he was passionate about.

Stomping a giant ant colony had been a nice start. The Beast Forest controlled by the Order had too many anomalies recently, and there would be more like that. The thought of seeking out those problems had pushed him just a bit further… and now he was here. Fighting a boar larger than an elephant. Though there were some elephants and the like involved as well.

It was great. Elder Tshering slipped under a hippo's open maw, unconcerned about it squashing him at its speed… and weight. Because as he moved under its body, he stretched his arms out wide and grabbed its belly and sides. His energy had to extend even further to get a good grip, but he stood up… and then tossed the creature towards the patriarch of the Olayinka clan.

The hippopotamus was barely even a magical beast with only the slightest traces of energy, but it did weigh close to two tonnes. The patriarch didn't hesitate to chop it in half with his large curved blade. What a waste. But at least it provided an opening for Afi to stab her spear into his shoulder. Of course, it was aimed for his heart- but Essence Collection cultivators wouldn't let themselves get killed so easily.

The peak Spirit Building cultivators backing up the Olayinka patriarch had already directed the creature towards the Temitope clan's lines again, but Elder Tshering was on it immediately. He even had time for a short detour where he elbowed one of the two men in the ribs, bouncing off him and using the momentum to get back on course.

As he caught up to the boar overlord, its tail constantly swished, trying to stab him with barbed needles. Some of them were even shot like projectiles, but Elder Tshering had the thing all to himself. He landed on the boar's rear and reached down, grabbing the base of the strange tail. He pulled, but found his plan wouldn't quite work. It didn't bend in such a way that he could hit the boar with its own spines, not unless it could fully break it- but that expenditure of power might as well go to a killing blow.

It did suit quite well to redirect the creature, however, driving it into a mostly empty area. It was also great for fending off the two Spirit Building cultivators who had to fend it off with their swords. When they attempted to move in together, a half dozen consecutive arrows slowed one of the cultivators. The battle had progressed far enough that Anton was free to focus on the main fight, it seemed. He didn't manage any significant injuries to the man, but he desynchronized the pair. That meant one arrived a few moments early.

That was just the right amount of time for Elder Tshering to perform an axe kick, sending the man into the ground. In response his sword slid down Elder Tshering's leg, but some quick twisting saved his manhood. He wasn't going to let his vitals be damaged so easily.

One man was half buried in the ground. The boar spun itself around. The patriarch of the Olayinka clan had broken away from matriarch Afi and was charging towards Elder Tshering with the remaining Spirit Building cultivator, and the boar charged him from behind.

As the overlord bent its head to impale Elder Tshering with its tusk, he jumped up to meet it. At the scale of the boar, the tusk itself was in no way sharp. The energy that radiated off of it certainly was, but Elder Tshering clamped his feet on the sides of the tusk. The giant creature only had the skill to form its energy into defenses or to extend its tusks, so from his position clamped on it merely sent him rocketing forward with it towards the others.

The Olayinka patriarch gathered energy, his curved blade ready to sweep up and chop Tshering in two. To throw off his timing, Tshering pushed forward off the boar. The blade slashed early, and Elder Tshering curled into a ball to keep his legs. His legs glanced off the patriarch's head as he tumbled over him, and he kicked the man towards the boar.

The creature's tusk was barely avoided by him, but Afi's thrown spear was not- it pierced through his abdomen, impaling into the boar's leg. The two Spirit Building cultivators were only just able to avoid the boar.

The Olayinka patriarch dove under the legs and came out without further injuries- but his side was spewing blood. "We retreat! Come!"

Elder Tshering had no way to know if they simply planned to regroup, but with others out of the way it would be more straightforward to take down the overlord. It was already battered and bruised from the combat, and more fatigued than either of the two remaining Essence Collection Cultivators. Most of the Temitope cultivators would have to stay at a distance, but they could pelt it with spears and keep away the other beasts, at least the ones that would support the boar overlord. All that remained was a little scrapping, a nice straightforward fight. Tshering punched his fist into his palm. This should be fun.

Chapter 147

The battle wound to a close as the cultivators of the Temitope clan surrounded the overlord. While it did not go down easily, it was overwhelmed by numbers and power. Each small wound became more significant as the course of the battle stretched on.

It made one last move, frantically dashing forward towards something, but matriarch Afi planted herself firmly in front of it, driving her spear into its heart, nearly burying her arm in its chest. The creature continued running, carrying her for several dozen meters before burying its head in the ground, digging up chunks of dirt. However, its movements were sluggish- and it collapsed less than a minute later.

Just because the battle was over didn't mean that people could sit idly. "Begin dismantling!" Matriarch Afi commanded. "See if we can find whatever this was protecting in this region."

Alva had an answer for that immediately. "I think… it's the potato thing." She gestured to one of the deepest gouges in the ground, which revealed some already-chewed tubers. They weren't exactly potatoes, but another sort of root vegetable. It wasn't one that Ambati had a word for, though they compared it to some of their similar products.

As for determining if this was something that a beast overlord of a region would want to protect, that was simple. Once they dug some of it up they could feel how much energy was packed into the plants. It wasn't just a single root, either. It was clearly a large plant that the overlord had been tending for a while, eating from it to grow to its terrific size. It was impossible to say how much there had been at one point or exactly how long it took to grow, but as they started digging it out they found hundreds of kilograms of the bulbous roots.

While the defeat of the beast overlord had calmed the creatures in the area somewhat, the unearthing of the tubers and the scent of the overlord's meat had clearly drawn more attention. The process of parceling pieces of the beast and the roots to people to carry was almost as frenzied as the battle preceding it.

The Temitope clan had access to some magic bags, but the sheer volume and weight of what they had to carry was too much for just those. In the end, most of the warriors carried a hundred or two hundred kilograms of meat or tubers. A smaller portion of the burdens were the bodies of their own fallen. They were already leaving the area within the hour, making their way back towards Tailoga and the Temitope clan. Though some beasts curiously watched them, none were brave enough to attack the large organized group of warriors. Likewise, the other two clans avoided making any attacks.

The trip back took slightly longer than a normal day's travel because of the extra weight everyone had, but they didn't stop even after dark. As they grew close to Tailoga they almost relaxed, but Ayotunde reminded everyone that this was the final chance for them to be ambushed. Only when they arrived at the gates of the clan and were met by familiar faces could they finally relax.

But just because all of the warriors basically collapsed into heaps didn't mean that the activity was over. Matriarch Afi wasn't done yet. "A feast for everyone!" she declared. "Set aside a portion of the tubers to be planted later. We shall feast on the overlord and the target of his protection! We celebrate victory!" More quietly, she instructed the cooks to make sure both were edible. Boars could have all sorts of nasty parasites, and powerful specimens might have even nastier things inside them. Most tubers were safe to eat, but eating mysterious ones that stored energy without at least checking was downright foolish. It was just that saying that in front of everyone would be a bit of a downer.

The feast actually took all night to prepare- however, the cooks of the clan threw together some quick food to tide over their starving warriors while they waited. Technically they could just eat rations they had with them, but that wasn't a proper way to treat anyone after a great victory.

Extra seats were prepared for their fallen comrades, though the food would of course be consumed by those present in body. The entire clan was involved in the feast, with guards on the walls being rotated out to keep some modicum of safety.

Anton looked at the bowl of stew in front of him. The primary ingredients were the boars and the tubers they'd found. Even the leafy tops were used in the stew after being tested by the cooks. The number of other ingredients were small, just a few spices, but upon smelling it Anton understood why. The meat of a beast overlord was like nothing else he had ever smelled, though that wasn't nearly so pleasant before it had been cooked.

One sip of the soup told him that the cooks were right to keep things simple. It was extremely rich. The meat was quite tough, but nowhere near as much as it had been. The effort of chewing through it paid off, as the flavor was amazing. The tubers were soft and absorbed the flavors around them perfectly, releasing them as he bit into the chunks. Anton felt himself being fortified as he ate. He wondered if it was a bit rude to activate the Vessel of Insights in such a scenario, but he kept it limited. It would only absorb stray energy that wasn't going to be made use of regardless. As for the insights, he felt some of them pouring in. Even as he consumed the stew, memories of the battle flooded into his head. Very few true insights were among them, but a few. No wonder rich cultivators sought out powerful beasts for raising their pampered children. It would be so easy to grow strong with meals like this every day.

"Fuzz!" Alva chastised. "Paws off the table." She took the bowl and put it on the floor. It wasn't that he couldn't reach it on the table, as he was quite tall enough… but he couldn't help but want to look around more.

Nobody commented on their being a large wolf in the area. Those who had been involved in the battle appreciated his presence, and the others simply went along with the whims of their matriarch. No point in stupidly complaining and maybe being kicked out of the feast.

The feast continued for some time, until a tremendous sound rang through the clan's property. "What was that?" Matriarch Afi asked as she stood.

"Just the formation," Catarina casually finished chewing a bite of food. "It should hold on its own for a few moments at least. Though we should probably go check it out."

"Catarina, Ayotunde, Tshering. With me."

Anton waited patiently as they left- and quickly returned without Catarina and Ayotunde. The sound of several more attacks rang out in the intervening time.

Matriarch Afi was quick to speak, but ultimately looked unconcerned. "All of those who are capable of attacking at range, please make yourselves available on the walls. We will also be rotating out people to provide energy supporting the formations."

Tshering grabbed a giant bone from the boar. Bones often softened when cooked, but for something of that size merely boiling overnight wouldn't have an impact. He tapped it into his hand like a club, with an impressive sound. "The other two clans think they deserve a portion of the prize. So we thought you should all just finish eating it. Meanwhile, we'll go bat them around a little bit."

After beginning Body Tempering, Anton's appetite had grown significantly. However, it wasn't enough for him to need the massive quantities of food that had been placed before him. He was mostly still eating because of the wonderful flavors and not the hunger. Thus, stopping himself was simple enough. The younger warriors who had strong ability to attack at range looked a bit reluctant to go, but they'd had a full feast by any standards already.

At the walls, Anton saw the patriarchs from both the Olayinka and Mwangi clans. The complement of warriors they had with them was not astoundingly large, since it seemed they didn't have any of the more injured warriors with them. A wise choice, because Anton would have gladly shot them. As far as legitimate cultivation competition went, everything was over. The Temitope clan had successfully retrieved their target, and now their home was being attacked.

Based on how he felt the formations straining, it could be quite a danger. Except the strongest people who were causing that strain wouldn't be able to maintain that level of attack for long. Especially not when they were distracted.

Matriarch Afi and Tshering leapt down from the walls, as well as some of the elders of the Temitope clan. They were all of the ones strong enough to protect themselves away from the walls, while the rest stayed up above, attacking or simply sustaining the formation. Catarina and Ayotunde were in that latter category, Ayotunde not because he had much to do with controlling formations but simply because of his ability to provide energy, like many of the others.

Anton was one of those who would be attacking. While he had gone through a great battle then run for hours to return to safety, the meals since then and the short time everyone passed out before the meal was ready in the morning was enough to invigorate him. He was feeling great, and while he could see that the patriarchs at least had replenished their energy they weren't quite so fully refreshed.

As he shot arrows down below, Anton noticed that some of the mercenaries from before were missing. The other parts of the wall hadn't raised any alarms, so it was unlikely they were making an attack from elsewhere. Instead, it was more likely their contracts didn't extend to attacking another clan. The Order's contract didn't either- but they were defending, which was quite expressly covered. Far be it from them to go into another country and kill people in their own homes, but they would gladly defend those they were working with.

It quickly became clear that the difference in recovery was great. Standard medicines commonly available just weren't quite the same as boar overlord and what amounted to a natural treasure he was defending. The defensive position was an advantage as well, because it was possible for people to retreat to the walls if they were hard pressed. The formations were able to prevent any attacks from reaching them, with the patriarchs occupied and the power being reinforced by rotating members of the clan.

Though he wasn't able to land a single blow on either of the patriarchs, Anton began to focus most of his attention there. Because even if he couldn't hit them, the way that they dodged informed him on how he needed to improve. Did he need to be faster? More accurate? More flexible in where his shots went? Of course, it was some of each. His shots didn't do nothing just because they were avoided or extremely rarely blocked. Each distraction from him meant that the real threats were more able to land a telling blow.

Such was the case when Elder Tshering found an opening to swing his improvised mace directly down on the head of the Olayinka patriarch. Actually, the patriarch blocked with his sword- but surprisingly Tshering let him cut through the bone and simply relied on the momentum of the top third to impact the man in the face. The blow was mostly a surprise, but in that moment, Tshering managed to kick him in the chest hard enough to send him flying two dozen meters, with a much more satisfying crack. "And stay out!" he gestured angrily. "Unless you all want to die here."

The mercenaries certainly didn't… and the lesser clan members were already edging away before the patriarch gave leave to retreat. Anton was ready to keep shooting before Afi held up a hand. "We can deal with the rest of that on our own… later. The strength of our clan should increase from this feast, and we can leverage our current health."

Anton nodded. It made sense that they'd want to continue without outside help. Otherwise, their strength might be doubted. As Anton was heading back, he realized he still had the Vessel activated. It hadn't been at full power, but as he opened it up he saw a few longer golden strands of insight. He wondered if they would be useful. They weren't a replacement for his own training, but they were certainly a nice supplement. He was also able to help his allies grow, one small step at a time. Nothing that allowed them to leap over cultivation stages, but he still found himself quite fond of it.

Chapter 148

During certain times, a clan or sect could come upon certain powerful resources that might catapult them forward. However, the fortunes of many were more difficult to change than that of an individual. In short, spreading out rewards rarely had a drastic change for any individual.

The defeat of the Overlord was a significant accomplishment, and the following feast was absolutely beneficial to the Temitope clan, but it wasn't as if all of their members skyrocketed to the next rank afterwards. It helped with their recovery after the battle and would have lasting effects in their continuing cultivation, but the sudden changes were limited. The circumstances shifted in their favor, however, as the other two clans still had to pay their mercenaries with only whatever minimal gains they had gotten from the area they were searching for the beast overlord.

The tubers he had been both consuming and guarding were an extraordinary variant, to be sure, but even though the portions they saved could be replanted, growing into more of the same, it would take time for them to grow. The plants would feed off of natural energy that might be used for special herbs or other crops. That didn't make them not worth the effort, of course. The purity of natural energy they were able to hold was quite something. If they were left for the longer term, they could also increase the quality of the soil around them- and eventually the quality of natural energy in the area. It was the same principles as other farming by energy cultivators. It would just take time before the results were obvious.

Even so, Anton was happy to have a small bundle of his own. He'd helped advise the Temitope clan about how they should treat the plants, given his own experience and what he'd learned from Elder Howland. Most cultivators who knew plants specialized in poisonous or medicinal ones, not those more closely resembling standard crops. The Temitope clan had farmers, of course, but their cultivations were generally lower. Anton understood why things ended up that way, but he thought it was an area that deserved as much recognition and respect as smithing or combat itself.

After one week, the mercenaries hired by the other two clans had already gone on their way. The chances that they would try for another attack on the Temitope clan were low, especially since they had to take some time to lick their wounds and recover. The group from the Order could be moving on at any point, but they stayed another week. Enough to be friendly, but not to overstay the hospitality of the Temitope. Though it wasn't as if they didn't contribute, either. The Temitope wouldn't make mercenaries or guests work in the fields, but nobody could stop Anton.

Then there was the matter of the Vessel of Insight. There were a few interesting strands in there from the feast and battle at the walls. Anton was starting to be able to pick out who the insights came from before absorbing them, and these included insights from Elder Tshering and Matriarch Afi.

Previously, Anton had thought it would be useful for other cultivators to absorb the insights directly. However, when he'd experimented with the others… they hadn't been able to take the strands of insight. It might have been possible with certain applications of energy, but so far they'd only managed to destroy a few smaller strands instead of practically being able to absorb them. It was likely that only the currently attuned owner of the Vessel was able to properly interact with the insights. In fact, Anton had the feeling that changing the attunement would result in the destruction of much of the insights. They were already an intangible made semi-real, so he wasn't surprised when they followed obtuse rules.

At his current rank, Anton wasn't sure about absorbing Essence Collection insights. Instead, he stuck to the noodly strands that were more appropriate to his current cultivation. The Temitope clan had many spear cultivators, and Anton supposed if he wanted to take up spear and shield he would now have a head start. He was more interested in a bit of the Western Steel Body that Ayotunde practiced, but he didn't have the context to do much with it. Perhaps as he approached the next stars and worked on his body more. He was still focusing on that spirit-body connection.

As usual, Anton did his best to help others by advising them on his perspective of the insights. Not everyone would want to listen to a random old man, but he discussed with anyone who was willing. Whether Anton's thoughts or the originator of the insight were more correct, discussing their thoughts helped both of them improve. Sometimes they explained things Anton had missed, while others he was able to add to what they learned. He thought he was getting better at things like that, though he knew he was still far short of many cultivators in the Order. But the more powerful ones didn't necessarily have the time to individually interact with all of the others, so what they could teach wasn't always better.

When the Order finally left, everyone was eager to visit again in the future. They were planning to stop in on their return path, of course, but they were more invested in the Temitope clan, Tailoga, and the region by the time they left. It was good to be able to help Ayotunde in return for his previous aid, even if they were both getting paid at the time.

The terrain shifted from open grasslands into jungle as they neared the region where Everheart had indicated. They had briefly split up to search for information in the surrounding towns. Now that they were gathered back together Anton looked at the instructions he had in hand. If he didn't know better, he might think that it was as clear as it could be and that Everheart simply couldn't precisely point out a location. In short, he knew enough about Everheart from what people said and from interacting with the projections he had in the tomb that he was just messing with Anton. "What the hell even is the 'seventh waterfall'?" Anton shook his head. "He should know that terrain changes over the centuries." If he didn't believe that at least the facility in question existed, he'd just give up. "Did anyone find anything about Rainbow Lake?"

"I did," Catarina said. "I had to search old records for it. Turns out it's been a dry lakebed for hundreds of years."

"Hmm, that might be a problem," Anton commented. The instructions weren't vague enough that they had no hope. In fact, Everheart had named several cities around the area and directions from them to the region they wanted to search. Most of those cities even survived under the same names after two hundred years. "We're supposed to follow the river that feeds into it to the seventh waterfall. At least he didn't mention a specific tree or rock or something. Those are probably all long gone."

"And from there?" Elder Tshering asked. "The facility is…?"

"Behind the seventh waterfall, apparently."

"Aha!" He said, "All we have to do is search behind waterfalls then. Easy enough."

"The region isn't that big," Hoyt admitted. "Combing it thoroughly might take several weeks, but it should be possible."

"Yeah!" Alva said, "We get to go exploring!"

There weren't any particular comments from Timothy, Devon, and Velvet. They'd already agreed to come along and support Anton and hadn't suddenly changed their minds.

"Then," Anton said, "We should find our way to this Rainbow Lake. We'll have to search from there."

They considered getting a local guide, but the expense wasn't what stopped them. Instead, it was the desire for secrecy. Assuming this facility hadn't already been found, it should have valuable information and resources. Beyond the promised notes, of course.

Just as stated, Rainbow Lake was a dry lakebed. So dry, apparently, that nothing grew in it. That was strange, as the area in general was quite wet. However, all of the rivers flowing around them followed different contours of the land and simply didn't get to Rainbow Lake.

Anton checked the notes once more. "Nothing on direction from Rainbow Lake. Just 'seventh waterfall'. Perhaps we should try finding where the inlet was and go from there?"

In a wide open, empty area, it wasn't actually that hard to spot the inlet and outlet. It just took a bit of investigating to determine which one had been which. Then they began walking.

"It's weird," Catarina said. "I don't like it."

"I feel something strange as well," Anton said.

Everyone concurred, but nobody could quite point to what it was. Fuzz was very frantically sniffing the dry river bed, but came up with nothing of interest.

Eventually they came to the first river in the area, where a bend turned it away from its previous longtime flow direction.

"Upriver, I suppose," Anton gestured. "That's where I'd expect the waterfalls to be."

To even possibly accommodate the idea of seven waterfalls, the area had to be quite hilly. In fact, it was just the right sort of area for that… and thus the worst sort of area for traveling. Sudden cliffs where the waterfalls were had to be climbed, and even walking alongside the river was difficult because of all the different plants growing alongside it.

Most of the plants weren't dangerous. Many of them were. Poisonous spores, spines, traps… everything they could imagine the plants had. Fuzz almost dove into a pool of water inside one particularly large specimen, but Alva pulled him away. When she pointed out how it was going to try to eat him if he did that, Fuzz looked as embarrassed as a wolf reasonably could, his nose down in the soil below. That one wouldn't have been much danger for someone with help, since it was made for animals to fall into and drown, to be slowly digested. Others were more immediately dangerous.

As they travelled upriver, they found three falls. Perhaps there was a fourth at some point, based on how they thought the terrain might have shifted. Certainly never a fifth. The spring from which the river flowed was at one of the highest points in the area. Not the highest point though. Perhaps one of the other rivers was the one they actually wanted, and the flow had changed more than they thought.

Two weeks. Two weeks going through the jungle dealing with plants that wanted to kill or incapacitate them and the beasts that lived within. And now it was raining, again. In all fairness, it was not a terribly abnormal two weeks for a group of cultivators. However, they weren't out in the jungle for the express purpose of training. It was still somewhat useful, but they had a specific goal they were trying to reach, and no progress towards it.

Taking shelter from the rain was pointless. Alva was the weakest among them, but she was still easily able to withstand a bit of water. None of their gear would be damaged. It was still an annoyance, though. A reminder that the jungle continued as usual, raining buckets nearly every other day. Just because they could traverse mud didn't mean they wanted to do it all the time.

Anton looked towards Rainbow Lake, or what had once been Rainbow Lake. "How the hell is Rainbow Lake dry?" he asked.

Timothy shrugged, "Well, that river doesn't flow to it anymore… so…" even as he spoke, Timothy frowned. He seemed to have nothing convincing to say.

"I didn't think about it," Elder Tshering admitted. "Dry lakes are dry. That's all."

"We should go investigate more," Catarina said. "It should at least have been a little wet. It rained the day before."

"Maybe it just dries fast," Hoyt conjectured. "Look, the rain's almost let up. The plants here won't look like they were soaked within a couple hours, and the drainage there might be even better."

"It could be," Anton admitted.

As predicted, the rain did clear up. It even came with a large rainbow, streaking throughout the sky. That was nice, but by the time they got to Rainbow Lake, it was all dried up. That… was clearly something strange. But determining exactly how things should be was difficult.

"Needs more investigation, it seems," Anton frowned. "Do we just look around here or…?" Anton kicked some of the dirt. He found it to be surprisingly tough, instead of creating a gouge like he expected. That was even stranger. "Perhaps we look closer at Rainbow Lake, and set aside the waterfalls for later. It's our only concrete lead, and it's… like this," he gestured down at the dry, light brown dirt. It wouldn't have been out of place in the grasslands, but even when the other parts of the jungle were dry they were a dark dirt full of decayed plants. There weren't even an abundance of leaves blown into the lake. Something worth investigating, indeed.

Chapter 149

Everything found in 'Rainbow Lake' were things they had already found. It was a dry lakebed with dirt at the bottom and a dry riverbed leading to it. They'd already followed that direction, and there was nothing more to see. In short, it was exceedingly suspicious.

"Let's enumerate our suspicions," Anton said as everyone gathered around. "First, it's dry when it was just raining. That's clearly abnormal. Second, there's not a single plant in the area. Third, the flow of energy is 'weird'. Fourth and finally, Everheart told us to come here. That last one is maybe even the most suspicious part about it." He shook his head, "But I'm not sure what we can do. Catarina?"

She shook her head, "Still haven't discerned if this is actually part of a formation."

"Hoyt and Timothy?"

"The trees are tough," Timothy answered, "But the surrounding trees seem about as normal as they can be here."

"Fuzz?"

Fuzz stuck his head out of hole. Alva answered for him, "We haven't found anything. Just more dirt, even two meters deep."

Anton nodded, "That's something then. Elder Tshering should return soon with a count of the waterfalls, though I doubt it will turn up much." He thought for a few moments, "I'm interested in seeing what it looks like if the river that obviously wanted to run this way connects to the lake. Anyone got a shovel?" He looked around. Apparently not. He should carry more practical stuff like that with him, then. "Hands it is."

Truthfully, a cultivator digging with their hands didn't find it that hard to do. Anton and Devon moved next to the river where it approached the dry riverbed, and were able to shape their energy into wide shapes to shovel quite well. It would have been better if there were an underlying structure to support their energy, but it wasn't a terribly big deal. The actual expenditure was relatively minor- their muscles could move the dirt on its own, and their energy didn't have to cut through anything.

"I'm surprised," Devon said, "You used to have everything, Grandpa."

"Well, it's not like I don't own a shovel. It's just not here. I'm not used to being able to carry a whole shed around with me." Anton flung a hunk of dirt past Devon's head to a pile next to him.

Devon used both hands to scoop out a large section, flinging it right towards Anton's torso so he had to dodge. Soon enough they were engaged in a dirt fight, though the silently agreed upon rules were that the dirt had to come from the trench they were digging. Soon enough they had a trench a meter wide and deep stretching from the dry part of the riverbed to just short of the actual river.

Anton looked down at the pot on his waist, pulling it out and looking into it. He pulled out a single strand, a dark yellow instead of a shining golden. It slowly sank into his hand as he carefully absorbed it. "Huh."

"What?" Devon asked.

"I hadn't thought this thing would deal with more… mundane insights." Anton had learned more about how to use the Vessel of Insights. Specifically, if he didn't care about it storing excess energy for the future, he could have it always active without draining his own reserves. The effects it had would be limited based on the quantity of natural energy in the area, but he really didn't have a reason not to have it active. "On a different note, it seems we both have some ways to improve where our two hands meet." Anton put his hands together in the shovel shape they were using. "See here, we've been treating it like two areas and it's weaker where they meet."

"Oh, I get it," Devon nodded. "It's not something that would normally come up for me."

"That's right. Your hands work independently. Well, most do- even if wielding a weapon in two hands." Anton scratched his chin, "Should matter for a bow though. I cover the whole thing in energy starting from my hands."

"So what was that about mundane insights?"

"Well, I know a bit more about digging now. Which likely isn't that important, unless you're on a strict timeline. Taking another scoop or two isn't that big of a deal." Anton looked towards the river next to them. "So, ready to open this up?"

"Sure thing," Devon nodded. "Should we work from both sides?"

"I think so. It should wash away the middle if we get a good flow on either side. If not, we can still reach out. It's not too wide."

To reach the bottom of the trench without extending energy beyond their bodies, they would have had to practically lie down on the ground- it was a meter deep, about the length of an arm, more or less. However, they were both able to extend their energy so they only had to crouch a bit. Hundreds of kilograms of dirt were flung behind them within a few seconds and the river opened up. The water started rushing down the trench, some of it soaking into the dry ground. Then a few moments later the flow slowed… and the ground was once more dry. Where they had opened the river the dirt had sewn itself back together, and the rest of their trench was slowly closing itself as well.

"I guess that answered that," Anton said. "But I don't know what that means."

Then it began to rain again. They watched as the water touched the dry riverbed and barely wet it for a moment. The two of them just walked back to Rainbow Lake where they might meet up with the others.

When the lakebed also remained dry, if they still thought the lake had naturally dried up, they would have been committing to being the most ignorant people in the world, or at least close. The chance that it was in no way connected to Everheart was extremely slim. If he wasn't responsible, perhaps someone looking for the facility was.

As the rain began to let up, another rainbow appeared. Though there were some slight issues with it, like the fact that it split up into different colored beams going to different places around the lake.

Anton exchanged looks with Devon. "Which one is the seventh, then? Inside out or outside in?"

"I'll go to red," Devon said. "You head for the other end."

Some of the others were around the area still and had noticed the clearly unnatural rainbow as well. The only way the rainbow would look normal was if they were… well, far away from the lake. Like the last time.

Anton couldn't remember what the purple at the other end was called, but he could see where it split off from the main beam. He reached it shortly before Catarina got to him. "What is this?" she asked.

Anton shrugged, "The seventh waterfall, maybe." It was still raining slightly, and the water was split in a way to create the different beams. He wasn't even sure how one might begin going about that, and he had a pretty good sense of how energy flowed now. With nothing better to do, he started shoveling the dirt at his feet, where the beam met the ground.

Elder Tshering appeared moments later. "I counted the waterfalls!" he declared, "But I'm betting that's pointless now. This seems to pretty well indicate we were looking for this the whole time." He bent down and reached out with his hands. Then he stood up, a ball of dirt the size of a person in his hands. He tossed it to the side and repeated. Instead of shoveling he was clamping oversized 'hands' around the dirt. It wasn't necessary to do so much at once, but his enthusiasm spread to Anton.

Meanwhile, Catarina was grumbling about Everheart. "...just how good at formations was he? I can barely even make it out with it active like this."

Following the path of the violet part of the rainbow, they dug a full ten meters into the ground before they finally uncovered a staircase with some sort of barrier keeping the dirt out. At that point, they made sure to gather everyone around.

"As you can all see, we've found some sort of underground place," Anton gestured. "Though just because Everheart directed me here we shouldn't assume it is safe. I should probably go first," Anton looked over at Elder Tshering.

"You're right about that," Tshering admitted. "You've got the right senses for traps, and Everheart might not appreciate someone at my level entering first."

Velvet looked like she wanted to say something but decided against it, and nobody else had anything to say. So Anton began to make his way down the stairs.

The map and instructions he had might not be anything but just that, but Anton made sure to keep them at the ready. The stairs didn't continue far, and soon Anton found himself in a well-lit corridor with six other stairways leading to it.

"Tch," the sound of a tongue clicking came from nearby. "How lucky." Anton turned to see what looked like a young boy in an oversized robe, but had the same feeling as Everheart's projections. "Welcome to the Seventh Waterfall, I guess."

"Thank you," Anton said. He gestured with the instructions he'd gotten. "Senior Everheart, I presume? I was sent here by a projection in Floelor. He said there were notes on improving the basic cultivation level of people on a large scale. I was hoping to get access to those."

"Really?" the young boy asked. "That's what you're looking for?"

"Yes. Is it not here? Is it already taken?"

"Let me see that," Everheart said, not bothering to get Anton's permission as he flicked a hand and took the section of scroll from him. "Yeah, that seems like something I'd do. What else did he say was here?"

"Nothing." Anton clarified, "He didn't mention anything else. Just the notes. He offered me the location of that or Fleeting Youth, but I chose this one."

"Ahh, I get it now," Everheart nodded. "Makes all kinds of sense." He looked down at himself. "Ugh at least I can stop looking like this." His form shimmered as he grew into the nebulous age of young adulthood. "Good enough. Shouldn't have to conserve power anymore."

"Does your projection being smaller conserve power?" Anton asked.

"No," Everheart said. "I get efficiency from not liking the form."

"... how does that work?" Anton asked.

"You can get something from anything, if you know how." He tapped the side of his head, "You said Floelor, right? I should have preserved anything there with something pretty clever."

"The future of all unclaimed resources, I believe."

"Yeah, that sounds like what I was thinking of. Rainbow Lake is my favorite, so that's why things are so awful up above," Everheart shook his head. "About time someone got here. I've got trials and crap. Well, trial. Most of them I kinda decided weren't any good. Can't really rebuild them now," Everheart shrugged. "So how do you feel about swimming in acid?"

"Uhh…" Anton narrowed his eyes.

"Oh wait," Everheart snapped his fingers, "That was one of the stupid ones." Everheart frowned and looked over his shoulder at the single corridor behind him. He put on a serious face. "I'll be right back." He walked the way only cultivators could- a relaxed pace that somehow resulted in great speed. He didn't return until ten minutes later. "So. I might have destroyed all of the trials." Everheart tapped a finger to his lip. "So you have to wait here while I make a new one."

Ignoring that he previously said he couldn't, Anton nodded. "How long do you expect that to take, Senior Everheart?"

"Days. Weeks. Months. Years. Decades. Depends on when I get a good idea," Everheart nodded to himself. "So you just wait here until then. I've got an energy gathering array back there where you can cultivate. Make sure not to disturb me while I'm thinking." With that, Everheart wandered off again.

Anton shared a look with the others. "... Let's hope for days, shall we?" Everyone nodded. At least they could cultivate. That was something.

Chapter 150

Though simple, the training facilities were sufficient. Dense energy gathered in enough quantity for everyone to make as much use as they wanted to. That included activating the Vessel of Insights at full power, taking advantage of the plentiful natural energy. Unlike the tomb, there were no special facilities with golems for combat or traps or pressure training areas, just energy.

The higher one got in cultivation, the less difference a week or two gathering energy made. As the two cultivators at the lowest rank, Alva and Devon were progressing the most quickly. Alva focused more on honing her technique compared to just pushing higher in rank, conceding to the continued cautions of Anton.

With the Vessel of Insights, Alva was the one to benefit the most. She was practicing archery just like Anton, and whenever the vessel produced one of her insights Anton was able to compare to his own experience. The one area he found she suffered in the most was patience. Each shot had to be intentionally aimed to its utmost degree. Even if it only took a second or a fraction thereof, shooting hastily led to wasted energy. For her age, not even quite a teenager, Alva was remarkably patient- but she wanted to keep up with Anton's speed. That simply wouldn't be possible, with decades of experience as a hunter and then a more compressed experience of multiple years fighting as a cultivator. She would be able to catch up with the latter- the former was something she would just have to wait for.

Elder Tshering had only recently advanced into Essence Collection. Even in a good training environment, his insights were few and far between. When Anton was able to absorb one, he rarely managed to think of anything of his own to contribute. If he for some reason needed to fight with his bare fists the insights would help him, but they didn't significantly propel his growth. If he could get insights from Elder Kseniya… his head would probably explode, but if it didn't it would be quite powerful. According to what he knew, however, the Vessel of Insight had its own limitations that seemed to make it most useful in Essence Collection.

Catarina spent the majority of her time studying the unseen formations around them. According to her, they weren't so intentionally hidden as in the tomb. Insights from her in that category generally went over Anton's head, but he collected the thoughts and feelings for later, if his knowledge advanced sufficiently to make use of it.

Days of training and simple sparring turned into weeks, and people started to wonder if Everheart was actually going to be able to create some sort of trial for them. Short of the years or decades mark, of course. Then he came to see them- briefly.

"I'm approaching a critical point in forming the trial," his current dignified form informed them. "Two more weeks. However, I need to not be disturbed. Thus, I will be sealing the entrance to the surface. I trust you all have sufficient supplies for that time?"

Anton nodded. It wouldn't be the same as being able to hunt for fresh meat or forage for vegetables or fruits, but they had rations available to them that could sustain them for months. "Should we just wait outside to avoid disturbing you?"

Everheart shook his head, "I need to attune it to match all of you. If you leave… my efforts will be wasted. I don't know if I have the energy to repeat the process. Now then, time for me to get back to it."

Like that, another week and more passed. Spending a month in focused cultivation wasn't particularly strange for cultivators, even those early in their efforts. In fact, Anton had effectively spent his first three months doing nothing else, except morbid duties such as burying the dead. Compared to that, a pleasant environment with friends, family, and allies was quite comforting.

Though a powerful cultivator could theoretically go without sleep for long durations, that was only by pushing themselves beyond proper limits. There were always consequences for such things, and even if he needed only a few hours each day they were important to Anton. With little but a hallway, a training room, and the stairs leading up… the room below the stairs was sometimes used as somewhere to sleep. That way the fluctuations of energy from the others wouldn't disturb anyone.

That was why Anton was surprised to wake up to the feeling of danger. Not to himself. It was more distant than that. But danger, to be sure. He stretched out his senses. No problem with the others. He felt everyone was safe, mostly sleeping with only Devon and Elder Tshering training at the current moment. Fuzz was actually sleeping in the training room, the way only a canine could.

Where could the danger be, then? Anton only took a moment to send his senses up above, to Rainbow Lake. The dry bed that had once been called that, at least. He immediately found the source of the danger. A bird, much like an eagle but on a completely different scale- its wings each wider than a man was tall and with a beak large enough to tear a man in half. Beneath it was a small group of people. Normal people, not cultivators. The energy the bird displayed and its size were each sufficient to kill all of them easily.

Anton only hesitated a moment. He felt the barrier at the stairs, and determined it simply kept too much from entering down where he was. Leaving wouldn't break things and screw things up for everyone else. They could have their trial and get whatever rewards they were allowed. At the time, he didn't realize how strange it was that he could so clearly feel the situation above through that barrier, but later he realized how he was tricked.

He leapt out of the hole they had created in the dry dirt with an arrow drawn, immediately firing it towards the great beast as it swooped down. His arrow flew straight and true, but he hadn't expected the creature to pivot and swing its wing towards him. The energy coating that wing shattered his arrow and continued onward with a dozen feathers that shot towards him.

Even as he dodged the feathers, he shouted towards the group that seemed to be a family- a middle aged man and woman, plus two young children. "Get yourselves to safety! I'll handle this!"

The feathers were not inherently sharp like those of the razorwing, but as they impacted the ground in front of him the force kicked up clouds of dust as they created small explosions. A couple of those wouldn't kill Anton, but he certainly couldn't afford to let himself take any damage.

Even as he continued to fire arrows at it, the eagle didn't immediately swoop in with its claws. It continued to circle around, deflecting his arrows where it needed to and raining explosive feathers down on him.

Anton tried a few tricks, like varying the speed of his arrows and causing them to swerve wildly. He also timed it so that they would arrive at his target simultaneously, but that simply caused the eagle to roll laterally, swiping the attacks away with its wings and barely sustaining anything that could be deemed a real injury. Each time it responded with feathers- and they didn't just fly straight towards their destination. The energy around them also allowed them to reorient slightly. Sometimes Anton wasn't able to retreat quickly enough to get away unscathed.

The family was only at the edge of the dry lake. That was the problem with commoners, they were not particularly fast. Even if they were faster, the dangers of the jungle around didn't make it safe to run at top speed. But Anton kept attacking the eagle to draw it away from them.

Eventually, perhaps because it ran out of spare feathers, the creature decided it had enough. It swooped down towards him, claws extended. He fired several quick arrows, but instead of using its wings as it had before it sliced down on them with its beak, using it like a curved blade.

The creature continued to pick up speed. Anton was not just standing stationary, but he had to break into a full run towards it. It could clearly turn to catch him anywhere else, but if he dove underneath it he hoped to force it to pull up. However, it seemed unconcerned about his motions, diving even more steeply.

As its claws came for him Anton already had his axes in hand. He thought chopping into its talons would deter it, but most of its energy was focused on them. Even as he tried to slide out of its reach it wrapped one set of talons around an arm and another around his torso, flapping its wings in a single powerful gust that stirred up a small dust storm, stopping its downward momentum nearly instantly.

Even as he began to struggle, trying to twist his body to escape its grasp, he felt the sudden appearance of another source of energy. One that took advantage of it focusing entirely on its talons and him. Anton didn't even really sense Velvet until after her attack was finished, two lines angling down the creature's neck to meet in the front in a V. Even as it screamed those screams turned into a strange gurgle, and its grip relaxed. Anton wasn't going to bet that the wound was fatal, instead wrapping an arm around one of its legs and pulling himself higher up to the creature, swinging his axe into its chest before it was able to redirect much of its energy.

Then he had to roll out of the way as the creature fully fell, collapsing and shuddering the ground. Anton inclined his head to Velvet. "Thank you. But you didn't need to give up your chance at the trial."

"I don't know what I could possibly get from that," she replied. "Certainly nothing worth more than your safety. You understand. You're out here for four people you don't even know."

Anton nodded. "Indeed. Speaking of which, we should go see them." Anton hurried over to the stunned family. "It is good to see you. Is anyone injured?" he didn't see or feel any injuries on them.

"No, we are fine, thank you," the father bowed his head. They were all clearly from Ambati, with their darker skin.

"Good," Anton smiled. He was glad they could understand him. While cultivators spread languages throughout large regions with their travel, those from small villages might speak older languages or have different dialects. "Why are all of you here? It's quite dangerous, I'm sure you know already."

The mother bowed her head, "We had to leave our village. A small one, to the west, after a beast attack."

"An attack?" Anton asked. "Tell me more. How long ago?"

"This was well over a week," they admitted. "It won't be possible to save anyone who hasn't saved themselves."

Anton sighed. Life could be so cruel, especially to those without cultivation. "Did you have any warriors there?"

"Not many," the father admitted.

"Let me provide you with help," Anton said. "I can give food, but more than that, a way to defend yourselves. It might take some time, but I can teach you to cultivate." Anton patted the ground next to him as he sat down.

"Umm… so quickly?" the father asked.

"No point in delaying. I have nothing else to do now, either. Unless you have urgent business I can help with?"

"No," he admitted. "Thank you."

Anton pulled out some food- just terrible rations, but perhaps he could cook up that eagle later. He began to ask them about themselves, the beasts, everything he could. Then he lost himself in trying to teach them cultivation. Before long, a day had passed.

"Well now," a powerful figure appeared next to him. "I do believe I told you to stay down below," Everheart was quite an imposing figure when he wanted to be, even without using energy to bear down on someone.

Anton frowned, "Did I disrupt your concentration? I didn't intend to ruin the chances for the others. I thought you could just go on without me."

"No point," Everheart said, "Considering you already passed."

When things he was certain were there suddenly faded from his senses, Anton turned with a start to look over his shoulder. But the family was gone, and the eagle as well. Even the pieces he'd taken were no longer cooking on the fire.

Everheart grinned, "I thought about drawing that bit out further," he admitted, "But I thought I'd just skip to the important part. You see, I have excellent judgment if I do say so myself. And of course I do." He nodded to himself. Anton saw no reason to stop him from talking. "When I heard you came here for those notes I hadn't even finished, I wondered if it was some sort of trick. Choosing that over an amazing technique that could let you rule the world. Preposterous. Then you just gave that up to save some weaklings." Everheart frowned, "I'm not sure if I would have done the same. But… at one point, I wanted to be a person like that." He folded his arms in front of him and huffed. "Well, don't just stand there! Get your butt downstairs! I have piles of cra- important notes to give you."

Somehow, Anton thought he should have known- but that was the thing about Everheart. If you knew he was always going to trick you and counted on it, he probably wouldn't. Anton started moving, while Velvet stood nearby awkwardly.

"You might as well go too," Everheart said. "I think you sort of passed the trial." Everheart snorted, "And I can't even really say anyone failed. How boring."

Chapter 151

It was impossible for Anton to not be surprised by the results. Could he have predicted Everheart projecting people in danger outside the area to make him fail some sort of test? Absolutely. As for that being part of the actual test, he was a bit surprised.

"Was that the whole test?" Anton asked. "To see if I would help those people."

"If you're worried about there being more… no, it's over. However, the test was seeing how you would react to waiting. If people were patient when there was no timeline or instructions not to leave. As for that part," Everheart nodded to himself, "It was mostly for you. To see if you're the kind of person you have purported to be. Definitely a pass." Everheart jabbed a finger into Anton's sternum. "That said, I think unrestrained compassion is an exploitable weakness. You're not yet strong enough that you can afford to give up opportunities to possibly help others. You have to think about yourself."

"So," Anton thought for a moment, "When would I be strong enough for that?"

"Never!" Everheart harrumphed. "Even if you ascend. Perhaps especially then."

"About ascension…"

Everheart held up a hand, "All I will say is that it's quite real. And also that most people do kill themselves trying. Anything else, you'll have to discover on your own." As they talked, they walked back inside. "If this were a real trial," Everheart commented, "I might fail your companions for not noticing my excellently placed decoy, or not noticing you sneaking out. But I suppose that's my own fault for not amplifying the effects enough." Fuzz met them at the foot of the stairs, jumping up to lick Anton in the face, and then Velvet.

As they passed by the training area, Anton saw the others in various states. They seemed a bit distracted. "Should we get them?"

"No point. This facility doesn't have a huge pile of treasures or cultivation resources. All it has is knowledge… and that can be shared."

Anton saw Catarina turn her head, but it seemed as if she couldn't really make out him or Everheart. Yet she nearly tracked them with her eyes as they moved past. "Any reason you're keeping this secret?"

"I like secrets," Everheart simply commented. He led Anton through long corridors, past various rooms that may actually have once been trials of some sort, and into a small room that had a single bookshelf- half full. "Here we are. A bunch of personal notes, including on the topic in question. Improving general cultivations at the lowest level. Though the big secret… is to just try. Though thousands of pages of notes will be slightly more helpful than that, I suppose."

Anton looked at the notes, some in stacks of individual papers, others in bound books, and the rest in rolled scrolls, but all carefully organized. He began storing them carefully until he came across one particular scroll. He was unable to hide his surprise.

Everheart stood by his shoulder, grinning. "Here's a little secret about me. Sometimes, I lie about things."

In Anton's hands he held something titled "Fleeting Youth". "This is… here?"

"A complete version, even. Perhaps not the best possible version, but that's for you to suss out. Maybe find another copy elsewhere or refine it yourself," Everheart shrugged. "But I'd like to think it has to be the best one, or I wouldn't have destroyed my favorite lake to preserve it. Now it's your problem." Everheart nodded seriously. "By the way, you said you'd been to one of my tombs. You made a pretty convincing show of it, but here you are standing around… instead of running."

The slight rumble convinced Anton to stop thinking and throw everything into his storage bag, with Velvet helping. The two of them checked the training room on the way, but apparently the others had taken note of the tremors as well and were standing at the bottom of the stairs- having not been informed the trial was over, they hesitated slightly.

"There you are!" Catarina said as she saw Anton. "I was worried something had happened to you up above, since I stopped being able to sense you clearly. But I had the feeling you were still around."

"We can talk about it on the surface," Anton urged. The stairs weren't long, but by the time they were at the top of them water was splashing on them. It seemed the river had decided it was going to flow straight along that path instead of turning anymore. It hadn't even truly begun to fill the empty basin of Rainbow Lake, but the hole was right along the path.

After everyone got up on 'shore' for the sake of avoiding getting splashed, Anton explained everything.

"Sounds like what we know of him," Hoyt said.

"A pain in the rear," Elder Tshering nodded. "But we're done here, then?"

"I suppose so," Anton said. "Thank you for staying around."

"It's good for us old folk to get out once in a while," Tshering grinned. "I'm sure you understand the sentiment."

Anton nodded, though he was always the sort who 'got out' even when people told him that he should let them do the work.

It was strange to watch the lake fill up slowly. It would likely take days or more, but now that it wasn't being unnaturally held out of its existence… it seemed it could return. It was too bad that Everheart wouldn't be able to see it. Though… Anton wasn't entirely sure about that. There was no guarantee that the projection, at least, couldn't remain for a while after everything broke down. That would explain all of the rushing and removal of whatever trials had been set up. It was hard to tell either way.

Anton just looked at everything he had. To read through it all, he'd really need a proper place to sit down, preferably protected from the elements. Some of it was just written on normal, unenchanted paper… or perhaps the enchantments had faded. The exception was, of course, Fleeting Youth.

A strange surprise. He'd already fully given up on it. If he couldn't help others, he didn't care about his personal power. But… nothing said he couldn't have both. Except Everheart, he supposed, but the man admitted even that was a lie.

After quickly browsing it, Anton was able to understand the gist of it. It was… generally useless. For something that empowered those with advanced age, one would think that elders would greatly benefit from it. However, that was simply not the case. It required its user to advance in cultivation while training it to receive the benefits. That was what the explanation said, anyway. As for actually using it… Anton would need several days before he could even begin to do so. Everheart's techniques could be tricky, but he'd never seen any of the things that took nebulous concepts and matched them against some sort of power.

Not a detailed explanation of the techniques, anyway. Everheart had commented about how he'd given up the lake to preserve the papers he now had, and the tomb had been running on the future of every reward people didn't get. It was beyond the sensible standards of how one might use natural energy- creating physical effects that could otherwise exist. This seemed more like wrestling the laws of the universe and twisting them to suit his needs.

The group's path through Ambati had brought them vaguely to the southwest region of the country. That was where the Temitope clan and Tailoga had been. Rainbow Lake and the region surrounding it was more to the north-west, though not particularly close to the border. Elder Tshering was primarily interested in the effects of Ambati's fauna on Graotan. A beast overlord appearing in the southwest was liable to cause some change, but he thought there should be more. Ultimately everything was connected- but more direct routes for the creatures would be back in the northeast of Ambati.

Thus, the group was headed back that way. That had been the general plan anyway, and they were able to stick with it. The only difference was that instead of pondering notes left behind by a crazy man, Anton also had a technique that he had big claims about. And while Everheart was chaotic and often a liar, he was also extremely talented.

The first stage of Fleeting Youth was attuning himself to the concept of age. On the surface that was trivial. He felt the age in his body, even if he knew he had some years left in him because of improving his cultivation. Wrinkled skin, tired bones. Tempered muscles not quite as good as they could really be if he was young.

Cultivating the Ninety-Nine Stars, the next step on his path was furthering the connection of his body and spirit. In a way, that matched what he was trying to comprehend with Fleeting Youth. But while he felt the age in his body, Fleeting Youth also indicated the age in his spirit. Bodies would grow old and break down, but it seemed some of that was connected to the spirit fading. Cultivating strengthened both body and spirit, and thus a cultivator could live longer.

If he were being perfectly fair, Anton could claim to be a genius. Perhaps not one of the highest level ones in the entire cultivation world, but certainly he had the talent. He was more or less on par with others whose cultivation talents he thought highly of, so he had to admit that of himself. Whether or not his age was a factor to consider him better, he wasn't sure. Nor did he think it mattered in the end. What mattered was… he hadn't run into a technique that was hard before.

Certainly he'd put a lot of effort into practicing Spirit Arrows and everything else he'd learned. Piecing together Elder Kseniya's difficult to parse words took great effort, and the time and labor he'd put into his training was great. But apparently, all of those techniques had been easy. Because he understood them, and was breaking his brain trying to understand Fleeting Youth. It made formations look easy. The worst part was that Anton felt he had the proper affinity, unlike with formations. Perhaps he was just fooling himself though.

Elder Tshering didn't find it any easier. Though he wasn't the type that would receive the most benefits from it, he had expressed interest and Anton had no qualms about sharing it among members of the Order. It wasn't like he had to rip up the pages and eat them to gain the knowledge. Only two or three of Everheart's techniques were like that… and Anton was pretty sure they were made that way out of spite.

"I understand being old," Tshering grumbled, "I get the actual, tangible effects from that. But transforming that, twisting it around on itself to squeeze out latent potential just isn't working. I'd say it requires a Life Transformation cultivator to learn it, but by that point it's already too late, isn't it?"

"Seems so," Anton nodded. He actually found the slight strands of insight Tshering had on the technique- both spoken and gleaned from the Vessel of Insights- extremely helpful. He still felt as if he only had the first step or even just half a step into the long road of learning the technique, but it was something. He wasn't going to give up on it, though. He felt the truth in its power… and he could be quite stubborn. Just because he found something actually difficult didn't mean he couldn't do it. If he were to ride with just what was easy, he wouldn't have built up a whole multigenerational farm.

Some of the others asked to look at it, but since they were all quite youthful they really had no connection to the technique and were quite stumped at the outset. Even if Devon was closer to middle aged before he began cultivating, Anton was actually almost able to be considered young among cultivators at his rank. A hundred years for mid Spirit Building wasn't that strange. There were many 'elders' younger than him, though they were elders more related to their duties regarding the sect.

Maybe that was it, Anton pondered. He had likely added ten to thirty years to his lifespan through cultivation. Even with burning some of that… he could have decades left. He wasn't planning to rush to employ Candle Wax, but maybe he just wasn't as close to the line as he thought. Though he had to admit that couldn't be the only factor. He would just have to stick to it. He felt the eighteenth star creeping up on him… and wondered if that would pull him further from his comprehensions. He wasn't even close to picking out what flaws the technique might have, either. But a few weeks wasn't a fair attempt. He'd have to keep pushing himself, though he figured it was alright to silently curse Everheart for not providing better training guidance. Then again, if he understood correctly… Everheart hadn't been able to practice it himself.

Chapter 152

The eighteenth star was on the horizon. With some determination, Anton would be able to reach it. Strengthening the connection between body and spirit was the true beginning of the second half of Spirit Building, and he could already feel the changes without completing the eighteenth star. But he stopped reaching for it. The further he went in his cultivation before properly cultivating Fleeting Youth, the less he would benefit from it.

While to the current point Anton had found his own progression sufficient, he could feel his disadvantages from age accumulating. Having a good cultivation technique mitigated that, but he knew if he wanted to continue in his cultivation, he would have to concern himself with people like Anish from the Glorious Flame Palace. People who were at the peak of Spirit Building in less than five years. To match that he would have to accelerate the pace of his own training back to two months per star.

That simply wasn't possible to keep up for two more years. And, while strict cultivation rank wasn't everything, it was common that those who progressed quickly also obtained other advantages, powerful foundations and techniques that would augment their abilities.

Anton could continue as he was, and he might continue to be above average… but his aspirations didn't end with simply killing a pair of men. He didn't know if he could reach the level where he could change the world, but he was going to take every chance he had to improve himself. Even if it was particularly difficult.

The problem was that Fleeting Youth promised to augment his flow of energy. The question with what arose, and he didn't know how to answer it. Training the body allowed it to store more energy and make use of it more quickly and efficiently. This was because the dantian and meridians were part of the body, bridging the gap between the fully physical body and the spirit. Energy was connected to both.

Every living thing produced natural energy, as well as some things that weren't considered to be alive like certain types of stone or crystals. The augmentation to energy wouldn't be coming from his body- he was already using that energy, and the technique made it clear that wasn't what it relied on. Instead, the power came from age. That wasn't a quality that seemed to lend itself to being drawn upon, even in the context of the other things Everheart did.

In a way, Anton could comprehend how there might be something to draw on by drawing on the value of something's future. He couldn't give an explanation for how it would be done, but if two pillars were both able to last a hundred years on their own, the idea that together either one of them could end up lasting two hundred years vaguely made sense. One of the pillars would merely appear to be intact. Or something like that. But with age, there was no future to pull against. After death one would merely…

It was strange to admit he didn't know. Anton knew there were several theories as to what happened after death. Moving on to some sort of afterlife was one. Some proposed life simply ceased, the spirit fading into nothing. Another was entering the cycle of reincarnation to be born again once more. In fact, if he thought about it, life ending in nothing was more of an exception to the more common beliefs. So the question became whether he could draw on whatever happened after death.

And whether he should.

But as those thoughts passed through his head, he was able to reconcile why it wasn't useful except at an advanced age. Creating a connection with something required closeness, and of course training that connection would take time. The requirements began to make sense, though he didn't find that he was actually significantly closer to making use of the technique. But he felt he had passed an important hurdle. As for the rest… he would need to consult with others. Perhaps they would know about possibilities for what happened after death.

Dozens of scents tickled Fuzz' snout as he sniffed the ground. He was smelling for something big. Some people might have said that big didn't have a smell, and they were right. Sort of. Because if you went about it right, smelling for a big thing was just like finding it any other way- by there being more of it. More smell made a bigger thing. Sometimes. Not always, because if it were always true than skunks would be the biggest things, and they weren't. Fortunately Fuzz had known to avoid them since that one time when he was a little pup. Rolling around in the dirt and rubbing his fur off on trees and splashing around in the water had barely done anything. It was awful. Almost as much as the death moss. But at least that led to having his current pack, which was good.

The one known as Elder Tshering didn't want just something big. There were lots of those things around. It was entirely possible to find creatures larger than the boar overlord that they had eaten. Very tasty. An oversized elephant would do. But it wasn't just about big body. It was about big energy. Another overlord, or something like it.

Fuzz almost buried his snout in the dirt. Sometimes traces of energy seeped into the ground and stayed there. He sniffed. Mmm, nothing here. But if he crossed something's path, he would smell it. He smelled lots of things, but nothing that mattered.

Ooh, a bug! He ate it. Very crunchy. Usually they didn't make them big enough to be a proper mouthful, but this one was at least part of a bite. There were those ants, but they were probably too big.

Sniff sniff. Oh! A person! And another person. Frequent tracks indicated there was probably a village or something nearby. They should go meet them. Fuzz liked people, though he found that people didn't always like him for some reason. Even when he was being friendly.

Elder Tshering did not choose to involve himself in managing the Beast Forest because he was good with people, but he did understand that it was better to introduce yourself to the local populace before running around in their woods. He wasn't sure if the group of several hundred people was properly in ownership of the area, but it was best to avoid conflicts.

At first glance, it had seemed like a group of traveling cultivators like themselves. Technically that was still true, but the scale of things was much different. The Ghameita tribe were nomadic and had several hundred members, nearly all cultivators. Most were in Body Tempering, but Anton took great interest in that aspect of them.

As for Elder Tshering, he didn't care about it so much. After some assurances that they didn't intend to cause any trouble, he was able to speak with one of the village elders, an old man in Spirit Building. "Have there been any problems with powerful beasts in the area?" he asked.

The old man shook his head. "No. In fact, it is perhaps the opposite here. We used to follow several herds around the area controlled by the Clear Lake Sect. The herds began to roam further and we eventually arrived here with the herds smaller and weaker. We have had to hunt more dangerous beasts as we pass through areas rather than our preferred quarries, but there has been nothing particularly dangerous."

"Do you know what made the herds you follow change their patterns?"

"Not directly. It seems the herds were attacked by something, as we were regularly finding their members dead. The attacks must have happened at night, because we monitored the herds during the day and saw nothing irregular. Strangely, we even found some that had not been consumed at all, merely with puncture wounds that killed them and little more." The elder bit his lip, "When we fed on the bodies, some of the villagers became sick. But it was clear that the animals did not die from a disease but an attack of some sort. A strange result."

"Indeed," Elder Tshering admitted. He continued to ask questions- about the nearby area and where they came from. It seemed the villagers of the Ghameita tribe had little interaction with the Clear Lake Sect except for occasional members who tried to join them. They rarely returned, except perhaps to pass through on their way to something else- as expected of cultivators. Many who chose to devote themselves to cultivation left their old lives behind.

It seemed the Ghameita tribe hadn't been able to investigate more deeply. With herds to follow, they kept on the move. While they could make up for a day or two of lost travel, it was difficult on the weaker members of the tribe. Staying in the same area also meant they were able to gather less local food and had to rely on dried foods. In short, they were busy keeping their daily lives stable and had no time for much extra.

Getting directions to the Clear Lake Sect was slightly harder than Elder Tshering had anticipated. They had information it was to the north, but there weren't any convenient rivers to follow to it. However, they were able to learn about a series of landmarks, and the group was on their way- the next day, after Anton had a chance to talk to them all about their tribe-wide cultivation practices.

As the group approached the area described by the Ghameita tribe, it became ever more clear that something was off. In areas so obviously brimming with vibrant plantlife it was expected to see large herbivores and predators. Instead, the majority of animals they spotted were smaller. As they approached closer to the Clear Lake Sect, they found some plants were dead or dying with no obvious cause. No blight or damage that anyone could find, simply once-healthy plants that had perished. These were subsequently being fed on by large swarms of insects, but for the most part the normal kind. Nothing that would be more than a nuisance to even a normal human.

With no clear results, they continued to press forward towards their destination. With the warnings from the Ghemeita tribe they kept watch at night. It was during Anton's watch one night that their first real clues surfaced.

Everything seemed normal for the night, except for perhaps how quiet it was. With tempered senses Anton could still hear smaller animals moving around and the sound of various insects. At first he didn't notice anything strange as the sound of insect wings grew louder. The pitch was a bit off, but any number of things could have caused that. But when he idly turned to look towards a particular droning sound that continually grew louder, he spotted something unnatural.

The moonlight revealed the figure of a mosquito- not the size of a knuckle or anywhere close to what he would expect, but closer to the size of a small dog, its body a half meter in length and its wingspan several times that. Without even stopping to think about it, he fired a shot at it. Though the creature noticed his attack coming and tried to move, his control over his arrows allowed him to redirect his shot, nearly splitting the creature in two as his arrow struck between its head and thorax. There was a loud crunch as his arrow pierced its carapace, but it fell to the ground.

The sudden aggressive use of energy woke everyone else, and soon enough Anton was showing them the giant bug. He held it up for them to see. "It was generally moving towards us. Perhaps it had no intention to attack, but… regular sized insects are bad enough. I think I might have spotted a few more in the distance, but they're unfortunately difficult to distinguish from birds."

Elder Tshering nodded, "An unnatural find, to be sure. More importantly… I sense a small amount of energy within it. Not directly its own, but from some magical beast it may have fed on. This may be connected to our problem… and even if not, I do believe it would be for the best to remove these creatures."

"Gross," Catarina commented as she poked it with her sword.

Fuzz silently concurred by not attempting to eat the body even after it was left alone and everyone returned to bed so they could be well rested for the morning.

Chapter 153

In the morning the group continued onwards towards the Clear Lake Sect. When the line of trees broke to reveal the lake in question, those with the best eyesight immediately showed concern.

A large lake stretched to the horizon, but as for signs of a cultivation sect inhabiting the area, they were not immediately apparent. There were a few buildings visible to one side, but that was hardly enough to make up a sect.

"I don't feel anyone," Anton commented, "Anyone else?" He paused, "There's something in the lake though. First, we should check out the buildings."

They didn't want to intrude on the territory of a sect, but they didn't have a clear path to find them. As they approached the few buildings in sight, the shape of a poorly maintained road revealed itself. More than that, however, they saw the crumpled forms of buildings. Even the few structure they saw standing were basically single walls tricking them by the angle.

As the strongest among them by a significant margin, Elder Tshering was the first to approach. "The damage is old. Plants have started growing over everything. The buildings clearly didn't fall apart from age, however."

Everyone began to comb the area. A few minutes later, Fuzz started barking. Though there didn't seem to be any immediate danger, it wasn't possible to blame him for his concern. In the middle of one of the groups of buildings was a large tree with black bark.

Catarina moved towards it, striding around it in a circle. "The flow of energy here was disrupted, long ago. It seems likely this was part of some attack. Likely another cultivation sect." She reached her hand out to trace her fingers along it, "It's not active anymore. Just a remnant."

The group continued to find more similar signs throughout the area, trees with dark black bark and even a few with leaves that were much the same. Almost as if the trees were burnt charcoal, though in actuality they were healthy and aside from the color unremarkable scraggly trees.

Yet as they searched through the remnants of the buildings, it barely seemed enough to be called a sect. The Ghameita tribe seemed to have thought they were significant in size, which was strange considering they were similarly expansive. Then the group moved towards the lake.

There, they saw the rest of the sect- or at least what it once was. The sunken remnants of piers stretching out into the lake and the structures they had supported were clearly visible on the bottom of the admittedly clear waters. Clear except for the thousands of squiggling figures of various sizes that were currently inhabiting the lake.

"Mosquito larvae," Elder Tshering declared, "And not a one of them smaller than my finger. That explains that large one. With the numbers here… there must be many more. Explains the lack of… well, much of anything around here."

A regular mosquito might drain a little bit of blood from a person or animal. The amount was so small that it was a mere nuisance unless they happened to be carrying a disease. At a greatly expanded size, however, each one would likely kill or at least severely weaken whatever it drained from.

"Why aren't there any flying around?" Timothy asked.

"A good question," Elder Tshering considered, "Perhaps they are more sensitive to light than their smaller brethren. We were able to see them at night, after all. They often come out at evening, but this might be more extreme."

"... What do we do?" Alva asked. "I don't think I can shoot that many arrows."

"Ha!" Elder Tshering laughed, "A good point. Well. I do believe we'll have to find some way to clear them out, but doing it by hand is… infeasible." He gestured to the lake as a whole, which had oversized larvae as far as they could see. "They're all throughout this thing. A calm lake with no flow, inlets or outlets. A perfect mess." He crouched down at the edge, looking into the depths. "I wonder if the Clear Lake Sect kept such things out of their lake, or if they were raising them. Either way, it seems clear that after they were destroyed- I'd guess just within the last few years based on the other events- these mosquitoes became extremely prolific."

Catarina nodded, "The area has strong enough natural energy that it could be primarily responsible for their size. With just a few mutants or a leading magical beast they could have rapidly expanded in size over a few generations." Catarina poked her finger into the water, withdrawing it as one of the squiggling wormy creatures leapt towards the disturbance. "I can set up a formation to wipe them all out."

"All of them?" Elder Tshering asked, "Across the whole lake? Where will you get the energy for that?"

"From them," Catarina said. "Using their life as energy to support it."

"Ugh," Elder Tshering shook his head, "Is this one of Everheart's ideas?"

Catarina nodded, "Yes. It is… the most reasonable version of one of his techniques. It can be strongly tied to a single sort of creature."

"What about materials?"

"My formation flags should suffice. However, they will need to be spread out over a longer distance than normal. People will need to prevent them from being disturbed. Likewise, everyone will have to contribute to stabilizing the formation. Except Alva and Fuzz."

"Hey!" Alva began to complain before Catarina held her hand up.

"You don't have the right training for that yet. Besides, you will be taking on the important job of patrolling the whole perimeter and assisting people when they need it."

"How long will this take?" Tshering asked.

"Several days of continuous work. It should be relatively easy from moment to moment, but it needs to be a continuous process to be most effective." She looked up at the sky, the sun approaching the horizon. "I imagine the mosquitoes will react poorly to it, though the larvae should be restricted to their location. We should start in the morning, if they truly do not like the light."

"Good," Tshering said. "We'll have two on each watch for tonight, since we're in unsafe territory. Just keep 'em away if you can."

Timothy stood at the edge of the lake, watching. Catarina had almost made her way around the whole lake, and he could feel the fluctuations of energy. Though he would never be as good as her, he was at least passable with sensing the flow of energy and what it might actually do. In this case, he only felt the vague sense of danger from the formation. The additional runes scrawled in the dirt next to the formation flags added a level of complexity beyond him.

It was already late afternoon once more, but the formation was just beginning to start functioning. He felt the energy flow, and he watched as many of the wriggling forms of the larvae curled up as the formation tore vital energy out of them. Somehow the others seemed to know when they were dead and began feasting on the bodies almost immediately. Perhaps that was something they did to their weakened members regardless.

As the power of the formation grew, Timothy sensed something behind him. It had been speculated that the mosquitoes would retaliate, and here he could finally see them. He readied his shield and took a stance as the first one flew towards him. His sword easily cut through it as his shield deflected its proboscis. He was slightly concerned as he felt its feeding mouth tear through his energy, but his actual armor was quite sufficient for defending against them, as long as they didn't have any energy of their own. One by one, then two or three at a time, more mosquitoes attacked.

As he chopped through them, Timothy was glad their attacks weren't coordinated. They were really incompetent in a straight fight, it seemed. Not that he felt safe, but as long as he was aware of his rear he could take them out. If anything, the largest ones were easiest to deal with. Despite some level of protection from their exoskeleton, it was barely sufficient to do more than keep them together. They had to be able to fly, after all, and even if they had some natural energy supporting them that limited how much they could weigh, and thus their durability and power.

Devon was used to fighting with inadequate defenses. He didn't always have his choice of weapons or armor in the arena, and thus he knew it was quite important that he was able to defend himself without. Using his energy to absorb a blow was feasible only if he could come out a clear victor- he couldn't know if any particular wound would still be around when the next battle came. Dodging was the best option if it was possible, placing the least strain on himself. And a step before that… killing opponents before they could get within reach.

Chains made of energy extended from him, ranging from one or two meters to almost ten in length. He could only control a handful at once, but the longer ones were quite useful. He wrapped one around one of the assaulting insects, using it like a club as he slammed it into others. Though they didn't have much mass, they did have a large enough cross section to make it fairly accurate. Even if they dodged his chain directly, he could get wings and legs tangled up until whatever specimen he was holding fell apart.

There were lulls in the fighting. Sometimes he would only face one bug in several minutes or a half hour, and other times he was facing a dozen at once for as long as it took for him to destroy them. He couldn't afford to be slow in case more arrived, and he took his rest where he could. By the time the morning sun began to peek over the horizon, he had piles of the creatures- and bits and pieces of them scattered about.

Fast feet patted across the ground, four paws in total. Alva rode atop Fuzz, keeping her eye above them in the morning light. She didn't mind bugs so much, but giant bugs were another thing. They were dangerous, if nothing else. Somehow they were able to tear through her energy defenses, like those stupid western creepers. She hadn't let one impale her, but she had a cut along her shoulder.

Fortunately, she usually was able to kill them with a good shot to the eye. Eyes? Whatever compound eyes were. Hitting a mosquito in the eye sounded difficult until you realized those eyes were a good centimeter across or more. Then it was easy, and Spirit Arrows happily drilled right into their brains. Or whatever they had in their head, because she honestly hadn't seen any brains come out of them.

Up ahead she saw Anton. "Grandpa!" she waved. "I talked to everyone. No more mosquitoes so far since the sun rose. Catarina said some of us could go hunt them wherever they were staying, like you suggested. The formation is stable enough."

Velvet was glad she ended up on the hunting team. Remaining in place and fighting things that came to her was just… awful. Her weapons were too short to easily kill the mosquitoes before they got to her, and there were too many close calls with proboscises nearly jabbing straight through her. Even the few scrapes she had gotten didn't properly stop bleeding, and she'd had to pull out some of the medicines Anton made sure everyone had. Before she'd had a storage bag she wondered why she was carrying a dozen different types of things for extremely specific circumstances… but now that she needed it she would have been fine carrying twice as much. Though with a storage bag as long as she didn't get anything terribly bulky, it didn't matter how much she had except for when trying to dig it out.

Now they were following Fuzz around as he looked for caves and stagnant hollows beneath trees, and just generally sniffed for the mosquitoes. Once or twice he'd tried to stick his nose in a cave only for Alva to pull him back as bugs swarmed out, a dozen or two at a time. Fuzz was actually the most vulnerable to them, as their proboscises could likely jab through his tough hide and fur. They were actually still extremely thin, which made them easy to break if one had the opportunity- but Fuzz had no weapons that extended beyond himself. His best bet was to stay away.

Some of the holes he found seemed too small for anything but normal mosquitoes to live inside, but they always found at least some. Some of the 'smaller' fist sized ones managed to fit in knotholes in trees and other places. But fighting the things during the day, even if it was disturbing when they swarmed out of a cave, was much simpler. They were more sluggish, and with nobody moving around alone they were able to make use of teamwork to resist their numbers. If they wanted to be faster everyone could move individually, but they found it best to be cautious.

When Fuzz came across a wide mouth of a cave- just barely as high as a person but a dozen meters wide- she was quite glad to have Anton, Alva, Fuzz, and Hoyt with her. The others were maintaining the formation still, but their group was trying to help lighten the strain that would come from the next night. As Hoyt lit the cave with a lantern and she saw myriad mosquitoes ranging from slightly large to waist height, she was extremely glad she wasn't alone. Especially since all of her stealth abilities seemed to be nearly worthless against these creatures. She readied her daggers as hundreds of pairs of wings started droning together.

Chapter 154

As Hoyt saw all of the bugs underneath the low overhang, he immediately stepped forward, sweeping his axe across the area. While he didn't contact more than one or two, he didn't have to. A trail of fire lingered behind his swing. He was still practicing the technique. Eventually he might make it last for minutes or more, but currently it was a handful of seconds. That was still enough when concerning a swarm of insects ranging in size from large to catastrophic.

The mosquitoes were relatively fragile, only threatening because of their great numbers. Those that tried to reach him through the flames caught on fire and spread to others, while those that held back still allowed the group some breathing room.

Fuzz was clawing and biting his way through the swarm, Alva having let him go ahead while she stood back with Anton. The both of them continuously fired arrows, some piercing through multiple insects, but the swarm seemed unending.

Hoyt and Fuzz simply couldn't hold them back forever, where they were nicely contained in the cave. The press of bodies was enough that they would eventually get out, no matter how many trails of fire he left. They could let them go, but if the creatures instead attacked they would have to deal with numbers on all sides. While many of them were smaller, they had the annoying ability to pierce through energy defenses.

Maybe if he… Hoyt stopped the thought before it could continue. They would be fine. He just had to push himself a bit harder to make certain of that. Flames roiled around him as he swung his axe back and forth, aiming for the larger mosquitoes, especially the ones that had the signatures of magical beasts. He thought all of them had some amount of energy, but those with more would be a danger if they were allowed to roam free.

As they started pouring out of the low overhang, Hoyt wondered if it might not be safer to go inside. However, as he saw a portion of the mosquitoes turning towards the lake, he knew they couldn't just take a defensive position. While mosquitoes weren't usually a swarming insect attacking in groups, instead relying on stealth… with their size he could see the behavior had changed significantly at well.

Their other allies were at the lake. Alva and Anton were already shooting the more dangerous specimens flying towards the lake. Hoyt remained at the mouth of the cave for just a bit longer, until he could no longer take advantage of the shape of the area to hinder more creatures. "After them!" Hoyt was the one to lead the charge towards the diverted group, though he didn't move far ahead as he still had to help protect against the ones swarming them.

*Clap*

Elder Tshering squashed a buzzing insect between his palms. Well, most of it anyway. It was a bit too big for that, but bugs deserved to be squashed. Even excessively large ones. They all deserved it for trying to drink his blood.

His methods of destroying the insects might be inefficient, but he managed to match the continuous stream that found its way towards him. He had no need to do any better at the moment. He was monitoring the situations of the others, and if they needed support he would be able to offer it… but otherwise, he didn't mind a nice relaxing fight with a swarm. Except for their ability to pierce through defenses, they weren't any worse than the ant swarm- and he didn't need to think about them fleeing.

Then he spotted a big one. Head to abdomen it was about the size of a human. Its wingspan made it seem much greater, though its relatively sleek profile could also fool him into it being smaller. If he counted the length of its proboscis, it was half again as long. He could sense the energy radiating off of it as it approached- not all of the energy its own. He wasn't sure what magical beast it drained, but it seemed to have provided a boost to its power.

He moved to intercept it. The others would have their hands full dealing with the numbers around them- no need to burden them with a big threat. Besides, most of them wouldn't be able to catch it as it zipped about. Even he had a hard time approaching it, but it got the message he intended to fight it when he flung a rock the size of its head at it, narrowly failing to connect.

It turned and shot forward at him. It was all he could do to dodge to the side to avoid being impaled. Its acceleration was nearly instantaneous as its wings vibrated with great intensity. That was the problem with creatures like these, going outside the bounds of what was normal. They could act in ways unanticipated. While Instinct might let someone dodge, it still required a certain level of speed to pull it off.

With the creature not being his sole foe, he had to get a bit serious. Instead of merely connecting with his bare fists, he started widening his energy. Slapping these bugs wouldn't be enough anymore.

He spun in circles as the man-sized mosquito continuously attacked him. His hands and feet swept out at the surrounding enemies, crushing them while he tried to find an opening to attack his primary foe. Timing his attacks to hit it while it passed was difficult, considering he already was pushing himself to keep dodging it. Each pass it got closer to striking his heart, predicting his movements and instantly redirecting itself in flight.

Finally, he found an opening. It charged straight towards him and he countered with a fist. His arm should match its reach, preventing it from impaling him. He was mostly right. His fist directly struck one of its legs, sending it flying off the creature. However its forward momentum continued, its proboscis stabbing into his upper right shoulder. He had still tried to dodge, after all. He wasn't going to let it get an easy hit just because he wanted to counter, but it had gone right through his energy defenses and even slipped into the joints of his armor.

Immediately he felt his blood being drawn out at a nearly impossible speed. He rallied his own energy to pull back against it, while at the same time grabbing for the creature's head. Then he crushed it.

It was still an insect after all, subject to instinct and sometimes self preservation… but it didn't quite have the level of processing to truly understand his strength. He did have to admit he'd also underestimated it a bit, as he yanked the proboscis out of him and shoved a bandage in to keep the hole plugged. He tossed some pills into his mouth. He might regret the way he quickly dissolved them later, but it was better to be effective now rather than later. He could already feel the power of the formation rising to a crescendo, and he needed to provide his support.

There was no point for Catarina to fight any of the mosquitoes coming for her. She had more important things to do, so she ignored them as she ran about the formation. As they followed behind her they found that they should have been afraid of her. Because they were targets of it, just like their larvae.

The adults were more durable, but simply being in the formation weakened them. Their vision was hampered by the daylight as well, which was useful for Catarina. They all tried to jab into her, but she led them around on a merry chase. What she really needed was for everything to align properly, and that included both the cultivators from their group and the concentrations of enemies. She hadn't anticipated a large swarm of them during the day, but she could adjust for that.

Catarina stabbed her sword towards a formation flag, shunting it into a different position as she passed. She sliced trails into the ground behind her, altering the flow of energy as she simultaneously spread her energy throughout the formation as a whole, guiding its actions. If she'd done it right, it should be close to the maximum amount of energy it could support. When that happened, it was supposed to disgorge all that energy at once, in a way that resonated with the mosquitoes only. The remaining ones, of course. Perhaps a third of the larvae in the lake were already dead.

She passed by Timothy, who stepped behind her and sliced through the swarm of mosquitoes after her. "Thank you!" she hadn't asked him for that, but it really made things easier. All she really wanted was to move that flag.

In discussions about formations nobody talked about how physically exhausting it could be. They talked about mental exhaustion, having to keep track of all the changes and implement them. Perhaps people didn't cover enough lakes with large formations where they had to physically move around to manage it. Perhaps even Everheart didn't, though he couldn't have always been able to produce perfect formations that didn't need modifying. She imagined he was the sort that frantically dealt with problems as they cropped up and later said he had everything planned from the beginning. She was at least willing to admit she planned to fix her problems along the way, whatever she missed.

Nearly there. Just a bit more. Elder Tshering started providing a strong stream of energy. Just what she needed. She guided it with tendrils of her own energy. The formation reached its limit and…

Blood splattered on her face, as well as nearly everywhere else. Ah. Well, at least it worked. She hadn't intended for them to literally explode, but then again, what should she expect from pushing so much energy into all of the mosquitoes around them?

The lake was red, but not because of the sunset. Not only because of that, anyway. Well, at least she seemed successful. Any remaining larvae should die as the formation trickled to a halt. Then they could figure out how to keep the situation from returning to how it was.

"Fish," Elder Tshering suggested. "I noticed the lake had a severe lack of them. If there were fish of various sizes, they could feed on the eggs and larvae. Most of them have perished, but if we just leave it they'll doubtless attempt to spawn again. With fewer things to feed on it might be different but," he shook his head, "It's not worth betting on it. We will of course also inform the closest cities and sects of what happened so they can help monitor it, but we should do what we can."

With fish being the solution, that was what they got. It turned out storage bags could also store water, and live fish. It wasn't a good long term solution, it seemed, but as they ran to nearby bodies of water to retrieve fish and back it was enough. After a few days they had a good hundred fish in the lake. They had an abundance of larvae to eat, dead… but still full of nutrients. The fish didn't care.

While they doubted that dumping fish into a giant stagnant lake would completely solve the issue, they took other reasonable steps. While it couldn't reasonably be called Clear Lake anymore, hopefully some plantlife would take a liking to it and help clean it up from all the junk in it. Perhaps animals would move back into the area now that there weren't swarms of creatures feeding on them and roaming into the surrounding region.

Elder Tshering grumbled to himself. He should have been more careful about the stupid mosquito. Though it didn't cause too much damage to his shoulder, the junk it injected into him willingly and unwillingly was messing him up. His shoulder still refused to stop bleeding after several days, and he was getting tired of holding his blood inside himself with his own energy. That was fading, but his focus on that had given whatever disease the creature carried a chance to stake a hold.

He was confident that he would root it out eventually, but for the moment his whole body felt like crap and his blood wanted to ooze out of his pores if he so much as breathed wrong. It was a good thing they'd dealt with the problem all at once, because several of them were carrying lingering troubles. If they were still having to face swarms of bloodsucking insects they might not do so well.

Instead, they were walking along well traversed roads back towards the Order. Elder Tshering had seen enough of Ambati to get a picture of what had happened. As with most things, there were multiple factors contributing to the troubles. He might return later to take another look, but he had a duty to bring all of the disciples back unharmed and he wanted to make sure it stayed that way. Besides, Anton had that insane technique he was planning to consult with the Elders about. Getting that to the Order sooner rather than later was probably a good idea.

Chapter 155

When they returned to the Order, the physicians were fortunately able to help everyone deal with the various maladies caused by the mosquitoes. They had better advice beyond simply taking medicines. Some of them would just boost the ability of the various things inside them to continue making them ill.

As cultivators, their stronger bodies and ability to resist sickness had to contend with similarly improved health problems. It was unlikely those without powerful cultivations would have survived against the mosquitoes at all, but if they had and any of the sickness spread… the whole northeastern section of Ambati could have been devastated.

But that was purely speculation. They had gone to the area and dealt with a problem they stumbled into to the best of their abilities, and prevented further issues as much as they could. The Order couldn't know the full ramifications of what they prevented. However, they were rewarded in a reasonable fashion under Elder Tshering's discretion, in addition to the rewards from the Temitope clan's mission.

As for what had happened to the Clear Lake Sect, it had been determined that the mosquitoes weren't their downfall. Instead, they were a result of what happened afterwards, when they were no longer managing the lake. The results were fairly clear- destroyed buildings and missing resources. Another sect had destroyed them in some sort of conflict... inadvertently causing the events by suddenly removing their stewardship of the area.

Atop a peak in the Order's territory, Anton sat with Grand Elder Vandale. He knew that most people couldn't so easily meet with a grand elder, but since he had the ability he planned to make use of it.

The Vessel of Insights was fully active, drawing in only a small part of the abundant natural energy in the area. He had asked for the permission of Vandale. Even though it would not harm anyone, people could be quite sensitive about anything close to themselves. That included insights into cultivation. While the Order was fairly open with sharing between their members, having a conversation and directly absorbing something were different. Vandale did not mind Anton activating the vessel, though Anton wasn't sure if he could actually absorb an insight from someone at the peak of Galaxy Construction.

Anton had just shown Vandale Fleeting Youth. There were few others he could think of that were so qualified to study the technique. Perhaps he might gain something from it, though it was supposed to be practiced earlier in cultivation. If nothing else, he could determine whether it was something worth sharing with others. Anton wasn't willing to give it up, but if they could create a copy he wouldn't mind it. Copying a technique wasn't as easy as transcribing words from one paper to another, but instead required a certain amount of insight into the technique.

"I'm having some troubles with it," Anton admitted. "Drawing on intangible forces… is a difficult concept. I'm sure the power has to come from somewhere but..."

Elder Vandale nodded. His single eye was focused on the technique in front of him, reading it again. "It's hard to believe this was out there, just waiting to be found. Though perhaps it wasn't even quite finished in the time Everheart walked the earth. The truth of that depends on when he actually died… and if his projections were able to fill in insights he hadn't yet completed." Elder Vandale nodded, "But, regardless of all that, I can confirm this is a completed technique. It should work, though to what magnitude I can't be certain. As for advice regarding training it…" he shut his eye for a few moments as he pondered. "What do you know about ascension?"

"Not that much," Anton admitted. "I do know that it can be called the end goal of cultivation. Theoretically, someone who achieved one hundred stars in our cultivation technique would achieve ascension."

"That's right. I'm sure you've heard all about people exploding, imploding, or just ceasing when trying to reach that point, in this or other cultivation techniques. It is unlikely all of those are successes, but at least some of them are. At that point, the cultivator merely cannot exist here, in this world."

"That implies they exist somewhere else, though. Right?"

"Indeed. As for what sort of place it is… since information doesn't easily pass back and forth, it's quite mysterious. What is known for certain is that it must be a place of great power to sustain those who have ascended." Elder Vandale looked up at the sky, "It possesses a great draw for those who wish to go even further. It is said one must give up all worldly attachments to ascend."

Anton shook his head, "That makes no sense. Is not that very desire for cultivation and personal power a worldly attachment?"

Vandale shrugged. "Perhaps. I myself had others that kept me from making the step, along with lacking the proper insights. My chance has passed, though I'm not sure if I regret it or not."

Silence lingered for a time before Anton responded. "I think… I was at that point, briefly. Beyond worldly attachments. I had accomplished everything I desired, lived a full life. My family was prosperous." Anton smiled, "I simply didn't have any cultivation to allow me to ascend. Then everything shattered. I doubt I could attain that state again."

"You don't have to," Vandale said. "I believe there's more to the world than just that. I'm certain you do as well, given your choices to go beyond your personal bubble to help others. If you can't ascend later, or even suddenly become unable to cultivate further than you are now," he waved his hand, "What does it even matter?" He set the scroll down and tapped his fingers on the table next to it. "You said you got this while seeking other information from Everheart?"

"That is correct. He told me to choose between that and notes on how to raise the level of cultivation of the lowest members of society."

"I hope you found that too. And something useful. Not his crap about only feeding people food imbued with natural energy. It's not even possible. Even if every farmer switched to solely raising our most efficient crops, there wouldn't be enough food. People would starve."

Anton's thoughts returned to the notes he'd read through. "I do believe that one was labeled 'currently nonviable'."

"Hah. Well, don't take anything in those notes as wholly correct. Think about them first. Everheart was the type to come up with ideas and throw them around every which way, and whatever he saw worked he continued to pursue… with no thought to the damage caused by failed ideas."

"I gathered something like that," Anton said.

"Good then. Now, about ascension. I almost let us be led away from that discussion entirely. The higher realm… whatever it may be, it is a great source of power. It is also postulated that after death a spirit may ascend to the higher realm regardless. So if there is a connection to death… you may connect to that power. But there is also the matter of reincarnation. This technique may deal with both."

"What does that mean?" Anton asked.

"It is known that individuals may reincarnate. Likely everyone, though it is unclear. The process by which a spirit loses its memory of previous lives is unknown, but it is known that sometimes people reincarnate with memories. Very, very rarely. But if they were great cultivators in a previous life, they undoubtedly became so once more, with the previous knowledge and a younger body. As you have described, Everheart draws on strange future intangibles. Reincarnation should be one of those."

"So if I practice this technique… I can't ascend or reincarnate?"

"That… is entirely unclear. The amount you draw from those places isn't necessarily limited. A realm of boundless power and an unlimited future… yet I doubt that drawing on such power requires paying back an equivalent amount." Thoughts were clearly swirling through Vandale's head, as Anton could feel the Vessel of Insights reacting so much it was trembling constantly. He actually had to brace it and weaken it for fear it might break. "But I have no doubt it would make ascension more difficult as well as possibly weakening you afterwards if you achieve it. Likewise, you might not give up all hope of reincarnation… but no doubt you would be weakened in the future."

Anton nodded. "Well, it doesn't matter. Who can even say if I would experience either of those? Even if I have things I wish to do in future incarnations… I can't give up what I desire now for them. If that's even really me still."

"Indeed," Vandale said. "Though the prices might in theory be heavy… in practice, it should have few side effects except what is necessary to practice it. In short, given the age requirements you must continuously advance as time passes, until you can go no further. Then you will die of old age, as is natural."

"Since I already was prepared for that once," Anton smiled. "It's hardly an issue, is it?"

"Right?" Vandale smiled. "A perfect technique for someone in your situation. That said, training it might be difficult enough you would be better off without. That is entirely up to you."

Anton nodded. He looked inside the vessel of insights. He had the feeling it had only gotten a portion of Vandale's thoughts, and even then he was afraid to try absorbing any of it at the current time. But later, once his cultivation had advanced… he would have something to look forward to.

A satisfying sound of hoe striking dirt rang out as Anton tilled rows into the ground. He'd acquired a personal plot on the Order's land, opting to begin his growing efforts in the most optimal location possible. He doubted he would profit much from his efforts. Good land with formations to properly control the climate for growing in any season was quite expensive.

He was planting the portion of tubers he's gotten from Ambati. Though the soil was different, he could adjust the factors as he pleased- and actively farming it instead of letting it grow in the wild would be more efficient. He wanted to see what its limits were- especially the lower ones. What was the minimum ambient energy it could be grown in? How much space did it need? Was the labor something that could be accomplished by normal people? He was hoping that at most it would require low level Body Tempering. He had the confidence to assist nearly anyone to reach that point.

Once a full harvest was completed, he planned to share with Elder Howland and the settlement in Windrip. He also had plans to spread them even further. He knew that they would inevitably end up in Ofrurg and be used for ill purposes, but he couldn't give up on the good it could do just because someone would also misuse it. Those with wealth might feed young cultivators and slightly benefit their growth, but they were already doing that. This was just one more factor… but one he hoped that normal people could be involved with- and benefit from.

Everheart's notes were quite expansive. He'd clearly actually tried some of the efforts. The perspective he came at things from was quite different from Anton's, but the goal of building up the cultivation of those at the lowest level was still the same. Everheart's goal had been to equip people for revolution, to overthrow the cultivators and oppressing them with sheer numbers. Especially those cultivators Everheart had personal grudges with. His notes rarely considered the cooperation of sects, as he admitted that even if the common folk was a Body Temperer it would hardly impact those with better talents for cultivation. Thus, he expected sects to be selfish and not bother. Anton had the good fortune to be working with the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars, who was at least supportive of his efforts even if they weren't involved in all of them.

But he couldn't expect them to suddenly pour resources into his ideas. They had now barely two years of results, and while his efforts in settling a group in Windrip had been successful, there was no guarantee it would scale up to cover the country. Though Anton was encouraging people to do so even now. A sizable portion of his incoming resources were spent on others with no expectation that he would receive anything in return. With the group in Windrip being prosperous they wanted to pay him back for the land at the very least, but he just encouraged them to continue to expand and spread his ideas. He knew he couldn't manage everything on his own, and he didn't have some sort of special sense as to who needed what. Well, he could glean quite a bit of information when he went and visited a place, but those who lived with the people could learn what a community needed as well. Just a bit more slowly.

Anton knew that the answer wasn't always 'more cultivation', but the ability of people to work more efficiently was a serious benefit that couldn't be discounted. The important part was making the training possible. A farmer might be able to temper their body while they worked- but if they couldn't take time off to go hear about how Body Tempering was done, it simply wasn't accessible to them. Likewise, if they had to pay… where would they find the extra funds? Charging people when they later became profitable seemed reasonable, but that could also hinder them at an important moment of growth. Quite a difficult conundrum to deal with, until the point where every parent was able to teach their children how to cultivate at least at the basic level. Even then, that would miss those who became orphans, depriving them of important opportunities.

It was simply impossible to think he could solve all of the world's problems, even at the level of commoners… but if he could improve one aspect at a time until he no longer lived, Anton would be content. He would do what he could, and not concern himself with what he couldn't.

Chapter 156

Though directly absorbing insights from Vandale was far beyond Anton's current capabilities, he was still able to receive some guidance in the old fashioned way. Conversations with the man were always enlightening, and Vandale clearly enjoyed them as well. Anton couldn't match him in actual age, but there was a certain morbid connection between two men close to the end of their life speaking with each other.

While it was certainly possible Anton wasn't at the end of his life, he had touched on that point, felt the completion of his life. That was something important if he wished to cultivate Fleeting Youth, but he still needed some time before he could complete the first step.

The question then became what he wanted to do with his life. Anton had no desire to grow in cultivation for the recognition he would gain. All the personal recognition he'd ever needed had come from his family and friends. He was quite satisfied with how his life had been. But he still needed power. Power to change the world.

A perfect world would look different for everyone. Even those Anton didn't think were objectively incorrect about perfection could have reasonably different opinions on what was best. Of course, Anton also had to take into account the actual restrictions of the world. Simply having everyone be prosperous and with unlimited resources to do whatever they pleased was a fantasy, not a perfect world. But he could think of something better.

To him, a perfect world very much involved solving problems personal to himself. He understood that, but that was simply where his heart lay. He wanted a world where everyone was safe from the likes of Maximillian Van Hassel- and that included those who happily consorted with him. A world free of slavery, where every person had a chance to make something of themselves, become whatever they wanted. A world where the basic needs of everyone were properly provided for.

If he was happy to settle for a country, Graotan was truly not too far from his ambition. However, it was clear that it still didn't meet his standards. The Order wasn't perfect or unlimited in power. They couldn't protect every person or solve all their problems, no matter how they tried. Nor was Anton sure if they should have to. He certainly believed that the power the Order possessed came with a duty to make the world a better place, but that wasn't just doing things for people. It was empowering others to do it for themselves.

It didn't have to be cultivation that provided the solution, but Anton couldn't think of anything more clearly able to fill the gaps. As much good as the Order accomplished, they were basically forced to spend time counteracting the oppression of evil cultivators and the dangers inherent to the world. They were in a stalemate unable to make real progress. But if the people of Graotan were more able to defend themselves, that would allow the Order to do more. Yet the people of the Order had their own ambitions and goals. Even as a righteous sect, their members could wish to do more than just spending their time charitably.

Since he knew he could teach others to cultivate and the effect that was happening, Anton knew he could continue that path. That was ultimately what he wanted. Everything else would be a distraction, perhaps necessary steps along the way. If he obtained insights leading to other solutions, it wouldn't suddenly invalidate his efforts along the way. He could be proud of what he was doing. As it was, he was just getting started- but he was only a measly few years into his new life as a cultivator. That was nothing. Anton was resolved to accomplish so much more.

A slow, deep breath out and in hardly made Velvet feel less nervous. She was standing outside Anton's place. No doubt he would have noticed her already. She knew her worries were basically unfounded at this point. He wasn't going to suddenly try to take vengeance for her past stupid mistakes. He wasn't going to suddenly betray her. Her inner voice told her that was true, but there was always those stupid memories and the thoughts in the back of her head. They weren't her, not anymore at least. Yet she couldn't directly quash those thoughts. If she did, she thought she might break.

She felt she was improving. The sad thing about her progress in Spirit Building was it let her know how messed up people could be. She knew that every cultivator had internal issues to face, but she couldn't help but feel hers were the worst. And she could blame herself for it.

Not just herself. She knew better than that. But she was certainly partly responsible for some of her own problems. Now that she was trying to overcome things, she wasn't brave enough to go alone. Or to ask for help. So she took control. It was amazing how she could move around in battle with her two daggers, facing enemies left and right… but knocking on a door was hard.

She didn't know how long it took for the door to open. An eternity, an instant… it could have been either or anything in between. But suddenly Anton was there. His presence was comforting, but in a way that made things worse. She didn't know what to say. But apparently he did. "Velvet! Good to see you. Come on in. I'll make you some tea."

The tea was hot. It barely mattered on account of her tempered body, but it reminded her that the world existed around her. The scent of it was soothing and cleared her mind. Slowly. By the time she was on her second cup she was ready to say something. "I need your help," Velvet admitted.

"Of course," Anton smiled. "What's the problem?" When Velvet didn't answer, he picked up from there. "Stuck in cultivation? Giant magical beast you need help fighting? Secret realm you want help exploring?" Velvet could feel him judging her for reactions to any of those, but if the problem were so easy she wouldn't be worried about it. He continued, "Disputes with friends? No? I'm going to need a hint, I think."

"It's none of that," Velvet admitted. "I want you to come with me on a trip." She said that, but couldn't get to the part of why. It was stupid. A waste of his time. Anton had so many more important things to be doing.

"Sure. Can you tell me why? What for?" When Velvet didn't answer, he got to the point, "Do we need to bring others?"

"No. Just you. No one else."

"Okay. How far?" Anton asked. "I need to let people know how long I'll be gone."

"... within Graotan. A couple weeks at most." Velvet bit her lip, "Don't you want to know what for before you agree?"

"You need me, right?" Anton smiled, his face wrinkling. "Does it matter what? I can tell it matters to you so much you can't even say it."

"... It's just stupid." Velvet stood up, "I shouldn't have asked. I'll go alone."

"Alva!" Anton called before Velvet started moving. The girl quickly ran inside, with Fuzz next to her. "I'm going on a trip."

"Can I-"

"You can't come this time, I'm afraid. But there won't be any fighting or anything you'll really miss anyway," Anton looked to Velvet as he said that. She nodded.

"Oh. Okay."

"Make sure to listen to Catarina and uncle Devon, okay?"

"Fiiine."

Anton smiled, "It'll just be a few weeks. I'm sure you'll be fine until then. Maybe you'll even be at the eighth star when I get back, hmm?"

"Yeah," Alva scratched her arm. "Tempering marrow is weird though."

"Be careful with that, okay?" Anton rubbed her head.

"I know. I won't overdo it like that time I snapped my tendon..."

Velvet had heard about that. Alva was clearly sincere about her admission as well. The look on her face showed she'd learned to be at least a little bit cautious. She realized she hadn't actually been going anywhere, and that by the time she was out the door Anton was there with her.

"Lead the way," he said.

She didn't object. She did need him, even if the reasons were dumb. She thought cultivators were supposed to be able to do anything, but she couldn't even go talk to someone alone. How pathetic.

It wasn't too long before they were in north-central Graotan. Not terribly far from where they'd passed when coming back through Estary, but then again nothing seemed so far for a cultivator. Anton did note that they weren't traveling as quickly as they could. He could tell they were nearing the destination because Velvet was dragging her feet more and more. He almost wanted to pick her up and carry her ahead, but as funny as that would be he didn't think it would be good in her current mental state.

His attempts to get her to open up were mostly unsuccessful. He'd finally managed to get something of a straightforward answer the night before. He'd asked what she wanted him to do, so he could be prepared.

"Nothing. Just… be there."

His understanding of her told him that was true. It wasn't that she had chosen to waste his time by bringing him to do nothing. That was the whole point. As she said, she just wanted him to be there. He was emotional backup for whatever problem she was planning to face.

Velvet stood in front of her house. Well, it wasn't actually her house. It had never belonged to her, and didn't now. Maybe. She wasn't actually sure about that, but it didn't matter. It had belonged to her grandparents, and now it was in the hands of her aunt and uncle. She was reasonably certain she felt them inside, though she'd never felt them with real energy senses before.

She could just go in. She was strong now. But before she did she had to be prepared. She looked down at the daggers by her side. Even a regular person could realize their danger. That… wasn't how she wanted to do things. She unattached them from her belt and dropped them into her storage bag. When she turned back to Anton she saw him preparing to do the same with his weapons. "Umm… right. Thanks."

As she raised her hand to knock, Velvet realized she didn't know what she wanted. She just knew she had to come here. And her inner voice told her if she did things wrong she'd just feel worse.

Confidence. That was what she needed. Or at least to act like she had confidence. She 'confidently' knocked on the door, folding her arms in front of her chest and raising her head. Maybe she should have just snuck inside. Confidence.

She was able to return to a reasonable stance when she felt someone coming for the door, letting it creak open. A face with a few graying hairs and wrinkles poked through the opening. "Oh. Velvet."

"Carol. Aren't you going to invite us in?"

"... of course." The smile on Carol's face was fake. Fake confidence. Velvet knew she couldn't have recognized it before. "And this is?"

"My teacher," Velvet said. "We're just passing through."

"I see." Carol opened the door, and Velvet stepped in, brushing past her aunt. Anton followed along with her, though he maintained a friendly face. It wasn't fake, either. Velvet knew that. Yet she also knew that it only represented a part of him. When it was time to no longer be a kindly old man, he could change without it feeling wrong at all. Carol led the way into a sitting room. "Bert, you'll never believe who it is. Velvet came for a visit."

A wide man who was also showing the beginnings of age turned to look. "Oh. Is that little Velvet? How have you been?" His smile was perhaps the fakest thing Velvet had ever seen, but it looked pretty convincing on the surface. "What can your Uncle Bert do for you?"

"Hello, Bert." She could tell both her aunt and uncle noticed the lack of honorifics. She didn't respond to the question, instead looking around the sitting area. Unfamiliar furniture filled it. "What happened to the rocking chair?"

"Got rid of it," Bert said smoothly. "That old thing was falling apart."

Velvet disagreed. Bert had never liked it, maybe because of the way her grandfather had made it creak on purpose. She thought it was funny though. She scanned the house with her senses. She kept up her facade of confidence, even though she didn't even know why she was present. What was she here for? Did she want to stand up to her aunt and uncle, to see her old house again? Was there something else? Her senses swept through the small room that had been hers and now was full of junk, and out the back. It could be more than one thing. But how did she want to handle it?

She looked towards Anton, and felt his smile. It was a real smile, but it was only for her, she realized.

"I'm going to go take a look at my old room," she declared. She doubted she would like how it looked, but she wanted to make a point. She just wasn't sure who she was trying to make that point to.

Chapter 157

It shouldn't have felt like an accomplishment to walk around in her own house. Though Velvet wasn't sure if it was her home anymore. Nothing that made it home was there anymore. Her grandparents were gone. The room that had once been hers was indeed full of random things. Pots and vases and spare tables and chairs. Normal stuff for a house, but not her house. The only thing the same was the walls- and walls were the least important part of a home.

As for who owned the house… Velvet wasn't sure. Her aunt and uncle had claimed it after her grandparent's deaths. She hadn't even thought to dispute it at the time. Now… with nothing left of what made it what it once was, it didn't matter. The value of the house and the land were irrelevant to her.

Just to show she could, she stuck her head into the other rooms as well. The master bedroom didn't have much interesting, just typical furnishings and a jewelry box on the nightstand. Her aunt followed along looking worried, while Anton just stood nearby.

Velvet avoided looking at Carol and Bert as she moved past them. If she stopped, she might do something she regretted. Petty vengeance would be easy, but would it make the world a better place? She doubted it. Now she had more than just the Order's rules to worry about, because Anton cared. And that made her consider whether her actions actually made things better as well.

It was always in the back of her head that it might. That they deserved it. But at best, hasty actions would probably end up at a net neutral. She could always come back later. "I'm going out to the yard."

The yard was small, just a little fenced in area. Only one tree she vaguely recognized, but she had no real attachment to it. What she wanted was… yes, she'd sensed it properly, buried under the ground. She shoved her arm into the ground, pushing aside the dirt with her energy and muscle. It was so easy. She grabbed something. Several pieces, really. They were the only piece dumped into the ground that still resembled much of anything. Even then, the details on the little wooden statue were faded. It would barely resemble its former self even if she put it back together. But it was something.

"What's going on?" Bert asked as she once more moved through the center of the house. Velvet didn't respond.

As she was about to reach the front door, her aunt reached out for her arm. "Where are you-"

Velvet brushed her off, using her energy so that she couldn't wrap her hand around. She looked back, glaring. "Goodbye, Carol." She continued walking out onto the road, past several more houses. Then she curled up into a ball around a corner. She looked up at Anton, "This was supposed to make me feel better." She held the broken pieces of a childhood toy in her hand.

He sat down beside her. "Sometimes, it hurts before we heal. Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really." What was she even supposed to say? "They're just some people who I used to think were family." She looked down at the wooden figure. She could feel how it aligned along the breaks. There were definitely pieces missing. But there had to be a way to repair it.

It wasn't too long before she was ready to move again. It just hurt to remember her family. She hadn't thought about them much in years. Except when she was trying to forget, and then the memories were always stronger.

"There's one more place," she said. "Just more memories."

It was funny how short the trip down the road was. When she was younger it had felt like forever. It wasn't just that she could walk faster now, but she also had the freedom to go where she wanted. Her destination was just in the nearby city of Cardend, an hour's walk for a normal person.

The orphanage was right on the outskirts of the city. It was smaller than she had remembered. Certainly, it felt cramped. As one of the older children there hadn't been much room. But its height had seemed intimidating, once. Looming.

She almost didn't want to go in. It would be the same. Except, of course, the children inside would be different. They had been the real problem. She'd thought adults could see everything and were simply ignoring when the children were cruel to each other, but she now knew they simply couldn't do everything. Maybe they could have done better though.

She looked to Anton. "What do you think of this? Is it safe to teach them to cultivate?"

Anton frowned. "A difficult question. Desperate children, still developing. Without anyone around to properly guide them, I imagine there would be many pitfalls. Even if there was…"

"People die in accidents all the time," Velvet responded. "Those who are reckless, and those who are unfortunate. Children as well. But I doubt it would be safe unless they had a cultivator watching over them and keeping them in line."

"Quite a conundrum," Anton agreed. "I haven't been a child for so long, I somewhat expect everyone to act like a responsible adult at all times. Even Alva… is quite reasonable, for her age."

Velvet continued to stand outside the gates. "How long would it take to get here, if I moved quickly? A few days?" She frowned, "That's too much time for regular visits. But I couldn't give up cultivating at the Order."

"If everywhere were saturated with natural energy, it would make it easier. I don't think this is something that can change quickly. Maybe a few decades."

Velvet nodded, "I can at least talk to the people running it. See if they're really… doing their best." She stepped through the gate, then turned to make sure Anton was following. Sensing him was one thing, but seeing his supportive smile was another. She could do this.

"Sorry to bring you all the way out here for nothing," Velvet said after they left Cardend. "You could have been doing something important. You have so many people who need your help."

Anton smiled, "You count too. And while I could help more people in quantity, I don't know if I could do more for them. It's not like I spend every second on others anyway. I cultivate, wander, ponder. I'm fortunate to be able to worry about people in general because those I know and care for are… stable. But when they need help, I'm glad to offer it. That includes you. I've seen how you changed for the better, and would prefer to keep you heading in that direction."

"You shouldn't have to help me with stupid stuff, though," Velvet frowned. "It was just… walking. And talking to people."

"Some things are harder for different people," Anton said. "Personally, I find keeping patience for some individuals much harder than just filling them full of arrows. But having people around me that believe I'm a reasonable fellow helps me make more rational decisions."

"Like shooting people full of arrows later?"

"Exactly. Sometimes it needs to be done." Anton turned his head to Velvet to make sure she was paying close attention. "Don't think your problems don't matter. Everyone has a different life. I've only lived one, but I'm glad to be able to participate in others when given the chance."

Tensions between Ofrurg and Graotan were increasing. The Heavenly Lion Sect wasn't the only one bitter about Anton receiving recognition and reward in Everheart's Tomb. Other sects didn't like the Order simply because of its size and power, or because some of their rivals supported them.

Various parts of Ofrurg also took exception for having to admit wrongdoing in how they handled slavery. Those involved in the slave trade were especially bothered by Kohar's continued efforts to hold them responsible for their actions. But she had managed to hit them in their wallets, and that was likely the best result anyone could hope for. At least, at the current point.

Anton was hoping to completely abolish the practice of slavery, but Ofrurg wasn't the only place in the world that supported it. Just the one sharing the most border with Graotan. Of course, Anton had no expectation that he could accomplish that goal in just a year or two. As for other, smaller goals… perhaps those might be accomplished soon.

A secret realm had been uncovered. Unlike one of Everheart's Tombs, a secret realm could be extremely large in scale. Everheart was but one person- but secret realms were often connected to ancient sects. They were often training grounds, opening only rarely when sufficient time had passed. Sometimes they contained resources left behind after the destruction of a sect- as the name implied, the realm could be hidden or unknown. If nobody knew where it was located or how to open it, the secret realm could be lost to time until the formations that fueled it began to unravel.

With great opportunity also came peril. Conflict between sects was often heightened inside secret realms, regardless of official agreements. The sheer size involved meant that people weren't always around to see villainous deeds committed. Even so, sects and independent cultivators from all over would come to participate if the expected gains outweighed the risks. That would undoubtedly include certain people Anton wished to see again… for various reasons, good and bad. He had no doubt that the Heavenly Lion Sect and Anish in particular would be out for his head, but he had some people he wanted to find as well. It was unlikely that opportunistic people like Van Hassel wouldn't show up.

Normally whoever discovered the secret realm would intend to monopolize it, but upon entering they found it still had a great seal. It would require more than just a single sect or two to participate to open it up. When more than just a handful of sects got involved it was impossible to keep secrets, so the common thing to do was make a public announcement to not draw anyone's ire for trying. Whether or not Anton thought it reasonable, that was the way things were.

Together the sects and countries surrounding the area- Droca, an area to the south of Graotan- planned for a moment six months later. It was important enough for them to recall some of their scattered members from wherever they were for either the sect or personal matters.

The only issue Anton had was that it likely wouldn't end up restricted to newer cultivators. That meant it was possible to encounter more Late Spirit Building cultivators and Essence Collection cultivators. Life Transformation cultivators might be present, but they were few in number and likely wouldn't get involved in smaller battles. Still, Anton felt like he was somewhat on the weaker end of where he needed to be to feel safe. After all, three years of cultivation experience was almost nothing compared to some. Even if his cultivation advanced quickly, he couldn't imagine competing with Essence Collection even if his normal allies were by his side.

But by three and a half years… well, he didn't expect to suddenly catapult ahead. But he was confident in continuing to make improvements.

After three months Anton had to admit he'd still underestimated Fleeting Youth. He'd thought once he saw the path forward that he could stride along it just like any other. He'd expected to put forth hard work, but he hadn't expected it to begin consuming his days and nights.

He still took the time to seek out others for discussion about cultivation- either to give them guidance or to receive some for himself- but he spent less time doing so. The same was true of other forms of practice, though he never fully neglected everything. He concentrated on connecting to the mysterious idea of after his current life. He reflected on his thoughts just before everything changed, when he thought he would die of old age. Happy, but at his end.

Closer. Each moment brought him closer to initial completion of Fleeting Youth, where he would actually be able to benefit… but he wasn't quite there. He wondered if he had already spent too much time on it, instead of simply continuing with his primary cultivation technique… but worrying about his time was perhaps the opposite of what he needed to be doing. He needed to accept things. For that, he found himself once more at the edge of what had once been Dungannon. Not alone, though he had certainly tried to be.

He might have come to terms with some of what had happened, but he knew he couldn't ever fully be free of what happened. In a strange way, he likely wouldn't still be alive without the tragedy that had happened. It was probably for the best he hadn't been allowed to go alone. He steeled himself, then took his first step onto the overgrown road, a few comforting presences behind him.

Chapter 158

Time. When he had last been in Dungannon, his thoughts were about time. The time he needed to become strong enough to defeat Van Hassel and Slusser, and any others connected to what had happened. More than that, he'd promised himself to reach the peak of cultivation so he would have the power to protect what he needed to.

The experience wasn't quite the same as before. It was full daylight, so he was unable to see the stars. Yet he knew they were still there. Of course, there was always the brightest star of all- the sun. It was the most prominent and powerful due to its close presence.

More than that, he had the heart to speak to others. It felt somewhat morbid to speak with Alva about the places they could no longer visit, but he hoped it would be good for her as they focused on the positive memories. It also gave Catarina a chance to hear about the members of the family she could never meet.

As he walked through the ruined buildings, the plants overgrowing the area, he realized something. Each building in its place conjured memories of how things had been, though they were but shells of their former selves. Like corpses strewn across the pavement. It wasn't the same as leaving actual bodies to the elements, but he wondered if something should be done.

He had already gone against the idea of rebuilding the place. There was no point, except to try to catch onto an old life that had been lost. It was better to move past it. Still, that didn't mean he couldn't leave behind memories. But he thought things should be… better.

He looked around the area, and at the people with him. Along with Alva and Catarina were Timothy and a silent Velvet. "I know none of you signed up for this, but I could use some help moving things around. Cleaning up." He reached into the rubble of one building, piling bricks while tossing hunks of half-rotten wood away. "I have a plan for this place."

Catarina was quickest to get into a workflow, though Fuzz was perhaps the most eager about his duties. The wolf enjoyed dragging beams out of piles and out of the way. As they cleared away the first building to the foundation, Anton formed a small monument out of the collected bricks and stones in good repair. Carving into mundane materials was simple, and he left behind his memories of the buildings.

The project of clearing out a whole village was a monumental task for five humans and a wolf, but they were cultivators. They could carry much greater weights than normal folk, and were able to gather loose pieces with their energy. If they were willing to empty their storage bags, they could carry most of the destroyed remains of a small building. The hardest work ended up being picking out pieces that were still solid enough, and gathering materials for mortar to put together proper headstones and short snippets about the building and people.

The village itself was dismantled piece by piece, but in practice it was already nothing- leaving behind memories for others to share was the best legacy Anton could provide. Some day the carvings in the stone would fade as well and nobody would remember Dungannon, but he would give it its proper due. A peaceful village where people just lived their lives. If only every place could be like it- and remain that way.

Work was cultivation, and cultivation was work. Anton fully believed that. While it was indeed true that at certain points in cultivating the Ninety-Nine Stars little benefit would come from working the body, at all points it could be useful. As for those working with him, they were all in a stage where they could temper their bodies. Besides Alva, the others were working towards the eighteenth star, where body and spirit were connected. Shifting rubble wasn't necessarily the best training method, but nobody complained. They were present for Anton's sake.

At certain points, it was clear Alva had too much. Not of working, but of being in Dungannon with nobody around. It was a truly depressing place for the young woman to be. When she couldn't stand it any longer, she would go out into the nearby forest to hunt. On occasion, Anton would go with her- showing her all of the best areas. He would tell her about animals he caught to eat for one festival or another, and even pointed out where he found the deer for the party after she was born.

Perhaps his particulars were wrong about which deer was when, but it still allowed them to share a portion of the past they had been separate for. Alva had been too young to go out into the woods hunting when the attack had happened. Even at her current age Anton would have said she was too young- but she'd been forced to grow quickly. Even if she lacked his experience, she was at least as physically capable as Anton had been close to his prime- and she had the use of energy beyond that.

Even though the group was able to clear several plots per day, it took them more than two months to cover all of Dungannon. In a way it was extremely speedy, but it was a time where they found it hard to smile. Yet there was still the satisfaction of doing good work and the bonding it allowed with each other.

Fleeting Youth. A technique that relied on the power beyond life, when all things passed. To Anton, it seemed almost as if it were made for him, or someone like him. But Everheart made so many techniques in different areas, there were bound to be several that matched any particular person. It was like he had tried to do everything in the world. Perhaps he had.

And honestly, if it had been made for him, it would have been easier to cultivate it. Now that he was close to properly completing the first step, he had quite a few notes. Some areas could have been more clear, and some weren't quite right. Then again, could he really expect better from something nobody had ever truly practiced? The fact that it was basically functional was already astounding.

He could feel it. The power, sitting beyond the threshold. He knew that once he tapped into it there would be fundamental changes he couldn't reverse. As for the power… at first, he doubted it would be much different from the time spent cultivating to a higher rank, one more star. But once he achieved that point, he should be able to cultivate Fleeting Youth and the Ninety-Nine Stars in parallel, the technique making up for weaknesses in his aging body. Nothing was stopping him now except how it would affect his cultivation as he went forward- and he wanted to make use of it while he strengthened the connection between body and spirit.

After Dungannon, Anton was so close… just a single step away. Perhaps if he could find the right spark of inspiration. And one of the best ways to get those was perilous situations.

In almost the blink of an eye, it was time to head to the secret realm in Droca, along with an even larger group of those from Graotan than had previously gone to Everheart's Tomb. After all, that was just one of many- with somewhat known restrictions on who could enter- but this secret realm was a rarer opportunity, perhaps once in a few decades from what information had been gleaned through the barrier in place. In the wide world there might be more such opportunities in the same time frame, but travelling a few countries away or to another continent for such an event wasn't always possible. For example, while this secret realm was open to everyone from the surrounding countries, sects from further away weren't necessarily welcome. Independent cultivators were harder to filter out- but without allies, they were in a delicate situation. It was often difficult for them to compete with others, though they might form temporary alliances with each other or offer their services to a local sect, giving up a cut of their gains.

As they continued south into Droca, Anton realized why he'd had no encounters with cultivators from there. The land was poor, not completely barren but low in both proper soil and natural energy. The country was sparsely populated by both civilian and cultivator populations, though both were quite determined and hearty wherever they were. Their border security was merely a few late Spirit Building cultivators, but Anton gathered that was because Droca was also focused on the secret realm.

Though he had lofty goals to improve the world, Anton had to admit he hadn't thought about much beyond the borders of Graotan. He wondered if Droca was always in its current state. Something told him that wasn't quite right. The layout of plants and rocks, the flow of the sparse energy. He couldn't be sure. When he went to ask some of the elders travelling with them, Elder Kseniya accosted him.

A translucent Spirit Arrow weaved its way through the trees, avoiding stray branches and large trunks in the way. The target was intentionally placed in such a way that a straight shot simply couldn't reach it. As each moment passed, the energy of the Spirit Arrow strained. Soon it began to tremble- and then it struck a tree, stabbing around thirty centimeters into it. The remaining energy scattered, fading into nothing.

Anton breathed out slowly. It was one thing to keep an arrow flying over a long distance, it was quite another to guide it around obstacles he couldn't see. As much as he rode along with an arrow in flight to guide it, it didn't suddenly grow eyes or impart upon him new senses to guide it. Though the latter was sort of what his current exercise was about.

"More spirit!" Kseniya declared. "That's your problem. Your senses should be one with the arrow. Your spirit must extend with it to crest the horizon!"

He understood about half of Elder Kseniya's instructions. But understanding what she wanted and achieving it were different things. At least he got to watch her as well. He could gain some insights from that.

Anton wasn't the only one present, though it seemed he was the only one specifically pulled away. Elder Kseniya didn't mind if others watched or even made their own attempts, but she also made no effort to instruct them specifically. It was a bit uncomfortable to be singled out, but Anton couldn't refuse her instruction even if he wanted to.

He recognized some of the others who came along. Marcio was the one he knew the best, but there were archers of different ranks. At the end of the traveling day Elder Kseniya was adamant in ensuring Anton could use Horizon Shot, or at least something like it.

Elder Kseniya shot one more time, a glowing bolt of energy streaking off into the distance. Anton's senses couldn't even feel where it impacted, but he had no doubt it was exactly where she intended. "That's enough for now. Don't forget to practice."

After she was out of earshot- and then a couple minutes later in case her earshot was further than anyone expected- Marcio shook his head. "I wonder what it takes to get like that. I wonder, would I take genius in exchange for the ability to convey it to others?"

Anton shrugged, "I wouldn't. But perhaps we just need to shoot another ten thousand or a million arrows to have the right sense of things." Anton was quite serious about that number. If he didn't fire his bow at least a hundred times per day, he felt like he hadn't done it at all. After a few months that was ten thousand… and after a few decades it would be a million. Before he was a cultivator the amount he could fire his bow was somewhat less, and he had other responsibilities… but over many decades he felt he'd achieved somewhere around those numbers. But doing so as a cultivator was a whole other level. He looked at those gathered around, "Here's what I learned. We can put our heads together to see if we're missing anything but practice."

While the others might reasonably be jealous of him for getting Elder Kseniya's personal attention, the fact that he was quite willing to turn around and help the others easily smoothed things over. When he had been lower in cultivation than most of the others he was quite hesitant about offering advice, but in the world of cultivators there was little that was respected more than one's actual cultivation rank. Given that he'd at least been an archer longer than most of the rest of them put together, they were quite willing to listen. While he might not be able to show them all the one secret to growing stronger, Marcio and the others could sense how working together was helping them improve. It wasn't that members of the Order never worked together in the past, but Anton thought he had a pretty good knack for it. It didn't hurt to have the Vessel of Insights, either.

Chapter 159

There were reasons Secret Realms could maintain their hidden status, despite people looking for them. First, the entrance to them did not need to be large. Often they were little more than what was comfortably sized for a human, or a few walking side by side. Merely by their existence it could be concluded that there was a powerful formation in the works, either natural or artificial. Those same formations could conceal them as well as sustaining the alternate dimensions that they made up. Finally, many were intentionally placed remotely so that even if a sect was conquered the victors couldn't take away all of their resources. The latter depended on the purpose of the Secret Realm- some were intended for training disciples or sealing away prisoners. Upon investigation, the Secret Realm in Droca was not the latter kind, though it would be unlikely for anyone inside to survive to the current day even if it was.

Considering that this particular Secret Realm was accessed by several kilometers of tunnels- including some formerly narrow passages that didn't seem fit for people to traverse- it wasn't strange it had stayed hidden so long. The Black Earth Clan had only stumbled upon it while exploring the caves for unrelated reasons because its concealment formations were failing and it was starting to reveal the significant energy behind it. Upon finding that they couldn't enter on their own, they decided to announce its presence.

That led to the current situation, with many different sects gathering together in one of the larger caverns near the entrance to the Secret Realm. As people tended to do, they separated into vaguely friendly subgroups. With the intention to not be too quickly embroiled in trouble, the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars intentionally placed themselves several groups away from the Heavenly Lion Sect. The previous encounter between them had ended with only a small amount of bloodshed- but severe negative feelings. The two late Essence Collection cultivators from the Heavenly Lion Sect were present, their knees looking quite healed. Deeper among their number Zvonko could be seen. Though he had a long sleeve to conceal it, it was clear that his hand had not somehow been restored. If he'd been given the chance to retrieve it, reattaching it would have been fairly easy… but that hadn't happened.

It took some time to pick through everyone present, at least several thousand figures. This wasn't just an opportunity for the younger generations, but the sects as a whole. While the official language of truces on neutral ground would apply, a Secret Realm was generally large enough for different groups to be isolated. If someone was killed with no witnesses, what could be done? Even if someone had a particularly recognizable piece of equipment, there was nothing to guarantee that someone didn't simply come across their dead body. Of course, actions like that could still perpetuate further conflicts, regardless of innocence or guilt.

Nearly all of those Anton knew from the Order were present, disregarding certain elders. Oskar and Patricia were busy with their six month old second child- but Pete, Gerd, and even Alva were present. It was unfair for Anton to try to deny Alva her opportunity to show up when she was at the peak of Body Tempering. She was strong enough to participate along with the others from the Order. Besides, this would be her best chance to see Annelie again. It seemed that the Frostmirror Sect had not arrived yet, but there were still several days. Unlike Everheart's Tomb, things wouldn't just suddenly be started at a whim. The major sects had agreed upon a time and would be quite motivated to stick to it.

Along with familiar and vaguely friendly faces such as Lev from the Grasping Willows and the independent sword cultivator Chikere, there were more ambiguous figures such as Anish from the Glorious Flame Palace. Glorious Flame Palace members were just a bit too eager to try to enforce whatever form of 'justice' they felt was proper in any situation. In short, they were combative. But, despite their power they weren't significant threats. At least they probably wouldn't be looking to find people alone so they could kill and rob them. Anton had his doubts about the Heavenly Lion Sect on that matter. Though to be fair… he would happily kill any of them he found as well. But he hadn't been the one to start their various conflicts.

Anton was lucky enough to spot Masozi among the various milling cultivators. He had no affection for the man that had once been Tonina Potenza's guardian, but he could understand that it was just business. His involvement in the events had mostly been secondary. That didn't mean Anton would trust him or attempt to befriend him… but he had no intention to seek him out and kill him. He did, however, follow his gaze towards something unexpected. Tonina herself. She was among a group of cultivators in flowing red robes. If Anton remembered the symbol correctly, that was the Flying Blood Cult, from Ofrurg of course. "Three years sure doesn't seem as long as it used to. Feels more like a year and a half." Of course, that was because it had been a year and a half. She was still supposed to be imprisoned.

Devon narrowed his eyes from next to Anton. "You're right about that. I'm sure they have a good excuse for being off by a factor of two." The way his energy swirled around him menacingly wouldn't be noticed among everyone else around, though of course it didn't escape Anton's notice.

"What do you want to do?" he asked. "We can go cause a fuss right now." He turned his head to look at another section of their group. "Kohar has kept track of the situation involved. Or… we can look for her inside." Anton wouldn't consider himself a murderous sort, but where it involved family he didn't mind if revenge came where the blood was a little bit cold.

"I'd much prefer the latter," Devon said. "I'd rather not hear about stupid technicalities or get money thrown at me like it solves everything."

Anton nodded. "I do believe I shall converse with Kohar regardless. It might be usable as ammunition later." Devon nodded in return.

After Anton pointed her out, Kohar pulled out a large book of law as well as some other documents, muttering to herself and making notes. "Good. This should help with things."

Anton smiled, "I'm surprised you came here. You're not the most popular figure around."

"I had to weigh the pros and cons. I determined that for my intentions, I needed to improve my cultivation. This is a significant opportunity. With the Order providing official protection, I shouldn't be more at risk than anyone else in early Spirit Building. Most people will be seeking their individual opportunities and won't be looking for petty revenge." Kohar glared towards a group bearing the symbol of the Iron Ring. "And my looks weren't well known anywhere, even before I changed things up," she gestured to her hair, cut short against her head. "It's surprisingly easy to escape notice by changing small details."

Anton wondered if he should have taken some steps to disguise himself. He certainly had plenty of enemies. He couldn't be sure if the whole Heavenly Lion Sect would be out for his head, but certainly a part would like to get their hands on him. The same went for the Iron Ring and probably some groups working with them that he didn't directly know.

But disguising himself didn't seem right anyway. He wasn't too proud to stay with strong allies or to run away if he needed to. All of his friends and various allies knew the risks of associating with him, and of course the benefits. Unlike Kohar, his own cultivation was respectable enough to properly fight for his own sake. She'd only recently achieved Spirit Building, since her main focus had never been on cultivation. Her talent was decent enough, but she had higher priorities.

Since there were several days until the specified time to open the Secret Realm, the various clans, sects, orders, and independent set up camps in the large cavern they had gathered in. There were a few minor scuffles over the next days, but for the most part people kept to themselves. The cavern didn't have enough energy for everyone to cultivate to their full extent, so they tried to pass the time as quickly as they could. Then the time came.

By the morning of the agreed upon time, the Frostmirror Sect still hadn't arrived. Whispers and rumors abounded as to what could have happened. Even so, at the agreed upon time everyone began moving towards the Secret Realm. At the front of each group were of course their highest ranking elders. As they moved further into the cavern it narrowed- but a shimmering light soon became clear. It was only as wide as a barn at most, with a handful of people able to comfortably step through. The entrance to the Secret Realm.

Though it seemed entering wasn't exactly the problem. Cultivators began to pass through the portal without issue, having already checked to make sure it was safe. Even if the Black Earth Clan's information was reliable, the situation could have changed. Anton felt a strange sensation as he passed through the shimmering portal, as the far side was somehow colder than the cave they had just been in. It wasn't freezing, but still a bit uncomfortable.

On the other side he found himself stepping in sand, and heard the sound of waves. Anton had never been to the sea, but he knew what the salty smell represented. Yet he couldn't see it, either. There was a translucent barrier preventing anything but the vaguest fuzzy blue image. The barrier preventing entry. In a way, Anton supposed it made sense to place it inside the Secret Realm. It was easier to conceal that way… and angry foes were somewhat less likely to just destroy the entrance if they were trying to break inside. Of course, depending on the desires of individual groups they might prefer that access be cut off rather than letting anyone else have what was inside.

There was enough room inside for people to begin to spread out again, back into their accustomed groups. The various elders of the powerful sects were standing in front of the barrier, raising their energy as they prepared to break through the barrier, with the guidance of formation masters. As the last people were trickling into the Secret Realm and it was about to be opened, a woman flickered inside.

Her impassive face and the aura about her indicated she was a member of the Frostmirror Sect, at peak Essence Collection despite looking quite young. That said, many cultivators who were advanced in age did their best to appear young regardless of the truth. She made her way to the others by the barrier. "The Frostmirror Sect apologizes for the delay. We were held up by unforeseen circumstances."

"It's not a problem," Elder Kseniya laughed, "We would have just left you behind."

"It is good you are here to do your part," the elder from Glorious Flame Palace declared. "Everyone should contribute properly." He glared at those around, "It is important that everyone use their full effort."

Anton understood what he meant. While there was no doubt in his mind that their combined forces could break through the barrier- he felt it power fading, even if it was well beyond what he could deal with- nobody wanted to be at a disadvantage. If Elder Kseniya or one of the others didn't help but instead kept themselves fresh, they would gain an unfair advantage.

After a few more inconsequential comments, the opening of the barrier finally began. Gouts of flame along with spikes of ice and every other sort of attack rained down on the barrier. The various formation masters directed the attacks, with Elder Kseniya contributing with precise arrows stabbing into various key points. Each attack from the elders seemed like it would be enough to wipe Anton out of existence, though he had to admit he was still quite new to cultivation in the grand scheme of things and it wasn't so unreasonable. Three and a half years could hardly compare to fifty or a hundred.

The barrier began to tremble, waves flowing through it as it bent and distorted. Then, it shattered like glass. Ahead of him, Anton saw a vast sea- yet with islands clearly visible under the clear skies. The waters sparkled and energy flowed over him, no longer contained by the barrier. It was peaceful... yet powerful. Anton had to wonder what the ancient sects were like that they could make such a place… and what could have happened that they were no longer around.

Chapter 160

The way the far-off islands were visible to both eyes and energy senses made it clear something about the Secret Realm enhanced their presence. A clear feeling came from each of the areas, an indication of their threat- and their purpose. Many people surmised the same thing together, and there were murmurs about the good fortune that they had stumbled across a training facility of an ancient sect. Though it wasn't clear what the exact benefits might be, it was likely to be less strongly defended than some sort of armory or storage facility.

As people began to wonder how they might traverse their way to the islands, a fleet of shimmering boats became visible one at a time, settling on the shore. The various formation masters checked them over for tricks, but found them to be safe. At most they might fade back into nothing, dumping their riders into the water. While that would be embarrassing, it wouldn't be a significant hindering factor compared to the seas themselves. While they appeared clear and calm, just assuming they were safe was unreasonable.

After it was determined that the boats were safe enough, people began to scramble towards them. Those who were first to treasures had a claim for them, after all. Anton ignored the press of people. He wasn't going to be in the first wave of cultivators anyway, and if they ran out of boats… so be it. He had more important things to do.

He set his sights on those at the rear, specifically the Frostmirror sect. Though he was watched by some of the elders with a cautious eye, none stopped his approach. "Good to see you again, Diana, Annelie." He found them together like he had imagined, greeting them politely.

Diana inclined her head. "Senior Anton. We meet again." Her face was icy and cold, but there was something about her voice and demeanor that made her feel just a bit warmer. He could see in the depths of her eyes that she was not entirely without emotion.

Annelie also inclined her head. "Great-Grandpa Anton." Her eyes flicked around in various directions, finally settling back on Anton. Her face didn't smile at all, but he was certain that she did in the depths of her eyes.

"Whoa! Slow down boy!" Alva's voice came from further behind them. "Sorry, pardon me!" Fuzz kicked up a bucketful of sand with each moment as he ran joyfully towards Anton, before skidding to a halt and half-burying him. Anton simply hopped up and let the sand fill back in before he landed. "Uhm. Hi there. I'm Alva." Alva did her best to bow politely to Diana from the back of Fuzz. "I'm Annelie's cousin!" Alva smiled unabashedly, "Annelie! I haven't seen you in forever! I'm so glad you're alright!"

"Alva. I too am glad you are doing well. I heard that our great grandfather was able to safely retrieve you." Annelie bowed deeply but formally.

When Anton anticipated that Alva was going to jump off of Fuzz towards her, he put a hand on her shoulder. She looked down at him and he saw her lip trembling. Anton put on his most loving smile. "Remember what we talked about?"

Alva took a deep breath, then nodded. "Okay. I understand." She turned back to Annelie. "It's very, very good to see you again."

Anton could see and feel people around judging the interactions, and Annelie in particular. She might be a favored disciple, but that also came with higher standards. He almost laughed aloud when Fuzz sniffed her face and then licked it- the whole thing from chin to forehead, almost as wide as her ears. Annelie kept remarkably stoic during that. Her frosty energy gracefully removed the wolf saliva from her face and she calmly pat him on the head. "Hello there big fellow. It is good to meet you." Fuzz wagged his tail, along with the rest of his rear.

By that point, it was clear that the boats were unlimited in number- and people were quickly moving to board them. Alva and Annelie only had a few more moments before they had to break apart. Alva grit her teeth as she pulled herself away. Anton would have liked for them to have a proper reunion, but it simply didn't work out. For the moment, she would have to trust his word that Annelie was quite happy to see her. Once Alva stepped into Spirit Building she could discern those emotions herself- provided Annelie let her. Even Anton couldn't see any emotion in her after she turned away again. He only briefly caught Marsen's eye, and Marsen gave a confident nod as they did so, with a bit of a hidden smile. At least the altered training methods seemed to be doing their job. Emotions were still available when they were wanted. Anton still didn't fully agree with that method, but it was the best he could arrange for.

It wasn't long before Alva and Anton split up. Though he would have liked to watch over her, the difference between mid Spirit Building and peak Body Tempering was significant enough that they weren't really an appropriate group. Going with her would limit his own opportunities while probably hindering her growth- he would simply have to entrust her safety to herself, Fuzz, and the other members of the Order. Of course, if there were any specific threats he became aware of, he would gladly take steps to help with them. But groups generally were finding their way towards appropriate locations for their cultivation level, and anyone who varied significantly would stand out in a bad way.

Anton watched as people boarded the shimmering, ephemeral boats. Some of them disappeared from sight as they set out on the currents of the ocean- a sign that distance wasn't quite what it appeared. He could spot some of them further out, already kilometers from shore even as they left a moment before and didn't seem to traverse the space in between. Among the people he spotted were Van Hassel and Slusser, along with a few others in the same boat. But this wasn't an appropriate time to deal with them.

Most groups settled to be a handful of people- too many and their individual fortunes wouldn't be considered, too few and they could be taken advantage of. Anton and the others were part of a stable group and had no current intentions to change in size.

Catarina waited at the head of one of the small vessels, with Hoyt, Timothy, Devon, and Velvet behind her. Anton was the last aboard, and then just the slightest nudge from Catarina's energy got them started. "It's all part of one thing," she explained. "The tides connect to everywhere, but not necessarily in a straightforward manner. We thought we would aim for…" Catarina pointed, "That island. It seems like it might encompass all of Spirit Building. There are others with more narrow focuses, but it seemed reasonable to us."

"I agree," Anton said. "Lead the way."

Looking into the sea below, Anton couldn't see how the currents moved- but even slight changes in their trajectory significantly changed their path. It wasn't a simple as pointing their boat in a direction and going with it. Even if they tried to push across the currents he doubted they would end up at their target, as the fact that the islands were visible around them seemed to merely be some sort of illusion.

His eyes caught sight of something in the depths below. "It doesn't seem this trip will be entirely safe. Be ready for trouble."

A fin trawled along the surface in front of them. He'd studied various beasts at the Order, but even without that he knew he didn't want to provoke anything first. If it would leave them alone, then both sides were better off. But if anything actually showed aggression… he would respond in kind.

As they began to near more beasts, Anton came to the understanding that they, too, were part of the training. Otherwise there was little chance that so many magical beasts would be mingling in the area without there being any far stronger or weaker than the others. Predators, too, and not just things trying to live their lives.

The first creature to attack was a shark. It performed a surprising leap out of the water, crooked rows of teeth clearly visible as it sailed through the air. Anton got a shot straight into the back of its throat, though Hoyt's response was more thorough- his axe nearly sliced it in half longways.

As the creature spilled its guts into the water, Anton felt the shift in the local attitude. Various sea creatures rushed towards the boat. The first two struggled over the corpse of the shark dumped into the water, but the others seemed to hope that those on the boat were easy prey. Untempered aggression wasn't a good survival tool, but it did make for good training.

Very few creatures vaulted out of the water to attack those on the boat, but instead most chose to attack in other ways. Timothy and Velvet hacked through the limbs of a squid that reached its tendrils up for them. When some sturdy fishlike creatures began to ram the boat from below, those in the boat had to change tactics. The boat was some sort of energy construct and seemingly quite sturdy, but it was clear that it was weakening.

Anton leaned over the side, firing down into the water. He found that his experience in that area was immediately lacking. Though he knew that firing a bow into a lake was ineffective, he'd hoped for slightly more with Spirit Arrows. Indeed, his attacks weren't entirely useless. He managed to poke a small hole in one of the creatures, but it wasn't significant enough to deter it. He shot again, focusing on pushing through the water. Each shot was a bit better, but much less than half as effective as attacking anything on land. And that was if he was only shooting a few meters down. Beyond that range, his arrows basically did nothing.

Catarina was guiding the boat and didn't take much direct action in the combat, but she provided it with protective energy, and did her best to redirect it away from attacks while still keeping it properly aligned to go the right direction. She was prepared to stab anything that came up on board, but those were very few.

Hoyt swung his axe down into the water, slicing great wakes into it. Though his attacks were also hampered, if he could reach anything below they were still able to be slain. And when his attacks dropped the water anything poking out could be attacked by the others.

Timothy was hanging over the edge, only one leg in the boat. He stabbed his sword into anything that dared get too close, and if it tried to gnaw on his dangling leg he would let it try- then yank it up out of the water.

Velvet mostly took advantage of others' openings, while mumbling about not carrying the right sort of backup weapons. Anton silently agreed that they weren't properly ready for fighting in alternate situations, even if extending the energy on other weapons could make them similar length to proper spears.

Fortunately, not all of the frenzied creatures were interested in attacking the boat or those on it- they were also quite happy to attack each other or feast on the dead beasts. That meant that it was important to toss any bodies overboard, but chucking them a bit away from the boat gave them a bit of leeway. It was the continual nature of the battle that made it most dangerous, and Anton was beginning to worry he might not be able to keep it up, since he had to increase his power with each shot.

But the creatures seemed to thin out given time, and soon enough everyone could see why. The waters began to grow more shallow as they approached the island. Anton frowned as he looked at it. "Did we somehow get around to the back side? This looks a bit different."

"I think you're right," Catarina agreed. "I'm pretty sure most people won't end up in the same spot."

The group was looking up at a nearly sheer cliff towards what seemed to be a small forest above. There were no convenient beaches in sight in either direction, and when they tried to direct the boat around…

"It's really fussy," Catarina said as it wobbled strangely. "I think this is the place we get to be, or we leave."

"Alright then," Hoyt said. "I guess we climb. I'll go up first." Something thudded against the bottom of the boat. "Then again, we can all go up at the same time. No problem with that."

Anton grinned. This place was challenging him with things he had little experience, though reasonably should have. It's just that it wasn't something that came up much while just living your life, though he was quite familiar with scrabbling up onto a roof when it needed fixing. A cliff was a bit different, though. He stretched his upper body a bit and prepared himself.

Chapter 161

For a cultivator who had completed Body Tempering, nearly any sort of climb was simple. When a finger or two could lift their whole weight, only very small irregularities were needed on the surface. As long as it could hold their weight, cultivators could climb up nearly everything. The cliff above the boat Anton and the others had reached was more than just a little bit pitted and scarred, with consistent room to place a hand or foot.

In a few places, the cliff was a bit too crumbly to climb safely- the climbers could hold, but the cliff could not. That was the major obstacle until they were about twenty meters above the water and their boat below. The climb actually became quite a bit easier as cracks in the rocky surface left gaps more than a finger wide all along their route.

Anton brushed against a root sticking out of one of the gaps as he pulled himself higher, but hadn't expected it to coil around his arm. Up until that point it had shown no signs of activity, seeming to be a normal if solid root. Even as it wrapped around him, squeezing against his defensive energy, he sensed nothing abnormal about it. But as he attempted to yank his arm away it refused to yield against him. Before it could crush his arm he held an axe with his other hand- nothing holding him onto the cliff but the root itself. He chopped away, once again admiring the sharpness of the blades from Everheart's Tomb. Though they had no special characteristics besides that and sturdiness, what else did a weapon need? Given the unfortunate angle he was only able to chop halfway through the root with his first swing, but the second disentangled him.

He quickly swung his leg out, kicking into the side of the cliff and pushing his energy inside to pull him back towards it instead of letting himself fall away. Though he didn't spot any beasts in the water, he would rather not discover their presence the hard way.

"Careful of the roots!" The verbal warning was largely unnecessary since the others were all able to sense what happened, but it was the polite thing to do. Anton continued to climb with one hand, the other holding his small handaxe. As long as he always had one limb holding him up, he didn't really run into any issues. His climbing arm was developing a bruise around where it had been nearly crushed, but he could still function well enough.

The group diverted to avoid the roots sticking out of the cracks, all of which still seemed perfectly normal. Anton chopped into a few that were in the way, and the parts that weren't chopped off pulled back into the rocky cliff. The climbers remained wary of any roots that might slide out of the cracks, but they were able to track them out of sight.

Timothy cried out at the discovery of something else. A snake suddenly appeared, barely thicker than his finger but with fangs just as long as it was thick. He had the one that had jumped out grabbed just below its mouth, prying it away from his other arm. Until it had moved it felt just like part of the rock- and in fact it still almost did, except for the part where rock didn't twist or wriggle. Timothy tried to yank it out and throw it into the sea, but it held firm, its body coiled inside a crack. It slipped out of his grip as its head and neck squashed small for a moment. It retreated, leaving behind a snake shaped depression inside the crack.

The fact that it had fit so perfectly into the spot indicated it had carved it out itself. Since they could presume other snakes would have done the same, they slowed down, trying to avoid the cracks altogether. Where they couldn't, they used their senses at a small scale, trying to notice minute gaps below the snakes- or where they bulged above the rock, their scale varying only slightly in texture from the rock itself.

Devon used his grasping chains to pull himself to the top first, and as he did he took note of the overly large pine trees with red needles. Even before he finished solidifying his footing, something flew through the air towards him. He dodged it, of course. "Careful! There's something in the trees!"

To open up the options for where he dodged, Devon moved away from the cliff edge. He avoided two more small projectiles, about the size of his thumb. Both of those sailed into the sea. He couldn't quite make out what was in the trees and lobbing the attacks, but one came from almost directly above him. He was agile enough to dodge to the side, but didn't expect it to explode when it struck the ground.

Normally he would pick out threats based on if they had natural energy, but the island they were on was suffused with so much that it blended everything together. The explosion of fire washed over him, not catching anything on fire but flash-burning some of the undergrowth- and singeing his left side. Nothing he couldn't handle, but he would have preferred not to have to use so much energy defending himself.

Devon was cautious about where he moved, since the plants themselves might be a danger even if not lobbed at him by something in the trees. He couldn't make out whatever it was, only noticing the projectiles as they launched. When one was thrown from afar and he managed to make it out with his eyes, he was a little bit disbelieving. It looked quite a bit like a red acorn. In fact, there were quite a few growing on the large pines around the area.

By that point the others were beginning to reach the top of the cliff. A few attacks came their way, but the majority continued to be launched towards Devon, who was closer to the assailants.

"Mind if I cause some trouble?" Anton asked everyone in general. Before receiving an actual response, he began to fire some arrows. With no specific target, he set about attempting to remove the enemy's means of attack. As far as he could tell they plucked the acorns off of the tree before hurling them… so if he could remove some of them, that would limit their options. He fired many arrows in quick succession. Using the techniques from Thousand Arrows, he could fire continuously and even several at once, as long as he didn't need to redirect his attacks or have significant force behind them.

In an instant several dozen acorns were shot- and they readily exploded. Interestingly enough, they didn't set off the others around them, and the pines remained unburnt. The only effect he had was to destroy the individual acorns and shake away some of the needles. However, the increased visibility allowed him to spot the culprits. Little fire-red squirrels. Even their tails flowed like flickering fire in the glimpses he caught of them.

Anton shot at them but they were quick as lightning, avoiding his arrows and disappearing deeper into the trees. In response, he continued his assault on the explosive acorns- hundreds of them at a time. The others all assisted in their own way, but they didn't have so many expendable projectiles. Tossing one of the pine needles wasn't enough to trigger the acorns without a bit of energy, but the others made use of them in handfuls.

Soon enough they had about a ten meter square area cleared. Surprisingly enough, there was only a small fire started in some of the brush below which burned out quickly. The trees themselves seemed unperturbed by the flames, except for a few cracked branches caused by the concussive portion of the explosions.

No more attacks came.

"Have we driven them off?" Hoyt asked.

"I don't think so," Catarina said. "It seems more like they simply can't reach us."

"Agreed," Anton said. "Ten meters plus their height in the trees seems to be about the limit." He squinted, focusing his eyes into the trees. "Those little things hide quite well. Don't see anything else. Either it's equally camouflaged, or this is the territory of those fiery squirrels."

"Ugh," Hoyt groaned, "Why couldn't it have been something else? At least if it was the trees themselves it wouldn't sound so bad."

"No matter," Catarina said. "We should continue onward. With Velvet's assistance I should be able to create a mobile formation that will hide us from them. If I'm incorrect… we'll face a couple barrages and retreat to here. They don't seem willing to come closer, so we can count on this as somewhat of a safe area." Catarina looked ahead, "If we have to clear our way forward, it will be quite an effort. There are hundreds of the explosive acorns in each section this size."

"I could also try to hunt them down," Anton said. "They're getting a bit careless over there, watching us. They stop moving. If we split up so they couldn't all keep eyes on each of us, we might make something of it. Though if we can get somewhere else, perhaps it doesn't matter. What do you think?"

"I'd prefer to hunt them," Velvet said.

"We can just pass by," Timothy said.

"I have to agree there," Hoyt agreed. "Others should be coming here. If we can sneak through quickly while leaving them to harass anyone else, we can make the most gains."

"Fair enough," Anton agreed. "As for what those gains are… any idea how we might harvest these? Normal acorns don't explode."

Hoyt shook his head, "I think we should hold off on these. I'm sure they have some value, but I wouldn't like my storage bag and all its contents to go up in flames."

"Onward, then," Anton looked to Velvet, Devon, and Catarina.

"Okay," Catarina stepped forward, handing formation flags to people. "It won't be as stable as placing them, but we've worked together on this kind of thing before. I'm going to blend our energy in with the rest of this place. Velvet's the expert on that, though, so I'll have her guide me where I mess up."

The group took a quarter of an hour until Catarina was sufficiently satisfied in their setup's stability, the five of them standing roughly in a pentagon with Velvet at the front. They started to move forward, but ran into no trouble- even as Anton noticed they walked right under a squirrel or two, oblivious to their presence. He considered attacking them, but they might also explode and then they wouldn't have deterrents for others or interesting and potentially valuable specimens.

As they moved along, there were signs of underbrush burning away before, though only rarely. It seemed likely that anything that couldn't survive regular gouts of fire without catching alight would have already long been driven out of the ecosystem. It wasn't too long before the woods thinned and then practically ceased, leading to fields filled with palm-sized yellow flowers. However, more interesting were the large stocks that stuck out next to them with great puffy heads.

"What sort of danger do you all reckon is in there?" Anton asked.

"Maybe nothing," Timothy said unconvincingly.

"It has to be the flowers, right?" Velvet said.

Hoyt and Catarina kept their speculation to themselves.

"Well then," Anton said. "We can certainly find out. But we only need to make it as far as there," he pointed. Further along the edge between the thinning forest they stood next to and the flowery field was a complex of buildings. "We could try to slip back into the fiery forest to get there, but I believe I see some of these plants amongst those buildings. Might be good to check these out while we're here, or in case we need to flee this way."

"Quite reasonable," Catarina agreed. "Since we are currently unhurried, we should make some proper investigations before touching anything."

Anton nodded, looking through the fields for anything odd, or anything else that might shed light on the actual dangers. It was hard to sense fine details at a distance, even with well trained energy, but he started from the roots up trying to pick out what might happen. In the end, he came up with a theory. Now they just had to test it.

Chapter 162

In his hands Anton held his bow, angled down but ready to be raised and drawn quickly should he need it. The forest full of fiery pines was just behind them, and head was the field of dandelions. The flowers themselves were almost the size of a sunflower, and the puffy seeds structures were the size of someone's head. A gentle breeze blew through the area as he looked, sending waves through the field. One seed pod floated towards the group, and Anton reached out with a strand of energy to catch it as it floated above.

From the actual seed to the stalk it was quite as he expected, but the small structures of the white puffy section were quite different than he anticipated. Instead of the structure of a feather it was closer to a myriad of tiny needles. Touching it with bare skin would certainly have dire consequences.

The only other thing he saw in the field were butterflies. They were quite large, with wings extending to about the size of his hand, fingers outstretched. Perhaps twenty centimeters wide. Large, but not concerningly so. Yet they were clearly part of the structure, and thus a potential danger.

"Let me try something," Anton said. "I think it should be possible to pass by without disturbing them." He gestured in front of them- and behind. "It wasn't quite clear to me back there, but this is not just a wild island. This is a garden. Each plant in its own place, not arranged like the wilds. Catarina, can you confirm anything about that? Something with the formations?"

Catarina looked around. "I'm not sure. But the flow of energy certainly indicates a separation. I thought it was caused by the different areas, but it might be driving it. Though it seems… weak?"

"Hundreds of years without any maintenance would do that," Anton remarked. "The squirrels seemed like an aggressive sort, but I think this area should be fine as long as we don't startle anything. That also means inadvertently being spotted while sneaking… so I'm going to straightforwardly approach the area."

Just as he said, Anton moved closer to the field and then into it. He had to summon all the flexibility he had, and the gracefulness of Swan Steps as he ducked and dodged around the various puffballs. He chose a path as far from the butterflies as he reasonably could, not quite on the edge of the field and occasionally venturing deeper where it seemed appropriate. He couldn't say it was a relaxing stroll, but avoiding obstacles that weren't actively out to get him was a nice change of pace. Soon enough, he found himself by the complex of buildings they'd spotted- in a cracked cobblestone street.

Anton called back to the rest of the group. "Seems reasonable enough. Follow along carefully. Don't move too quickly."

He had to point out some hidden dangers to the others, but they all made it over to him without anything attempting to take their lives. From the far angle, it was possible to see where the plants might have once been organized into rows.

Moving around the buildings was much easier. They were mostly intact, but it was clear the formations keeping them that way were fading. Over time damage had built up where the buildings should otherwise be immaculate. As for what was inside… the first was a dormitory. A symbol that belonged to the sect, a circle over a series of lines, was prominently placed in many locations. It didn't seem that the few dozen beds had been in use. There were no signs of people, just places where they could be.

The rest of the complex concurred with Anton's idea that it was a garden- or a farm of some sort. They found beds of herbs, as overgrown as the other plants but at least not appearing so immediately dangerous. They found drying racks- only a few herbs had been in place when the area was last visited, or perhaps the others had faded to dust like the first one Anton gingerly touched. Several were still good- tough roots that were shriveled but still felt somewhat potent.

In other places they found various tools for alchemical processes, in various states of stability. Some had weathered the test of time, and some were falling apart. They also found a small library- though it was a nearly full room of alchemical books, likewise in various states. Finally they came to a pill furnace- a big three-legged cauldron used for heating and mixing herbs to form pills. This one was as tall a person and clearly enchanted. Upon looking inside, there was only dust- and strangely, a written note.

"To those looking for the Seventeen Flowers Pill, the Nine Colors Liquid, and the Harmonious Sun Herb. I consumed them all. Better luck next time- E"

Though the message clearly indicated an ending, it continued.

"P.S. I would suggest looking around to figure out what happened here. People don't just abandon places like this for no reason. Must have had something important to do. Also, I left a copy of the recipe for the four elements pill and made sure to leave behind one living rock root, firepine, spiny dandelion, and of course the mangrove lotus. Also I changed the formations so you would end up at the hardest entrance- E" A poorly drawn face that seemed to be winking followed. That was the actual end of the note.

"So," Anton said. "Someone got in here before us. Before all of us. Someone named E. What are the chances it's not Everheart?"

Everyone frowned, thinking. "It might not be him," Velvet said. "He was pretty fond of using his whole name. But then again, maybe he wasn't confident in his own ability just yet."

"To sneak into this place when it took many powerful sects to open," Catarina shook her head, "That's something special. But also, Everheart has great knowledge of formations. And almost everything. It wouldn't be too strange… even for him to repair the entrance."

Devon crossed his arms and nodded, "But it could be someone else with an E. It's unclear how long ago this was. But the capricious nature of this note…"

"Yeah," Anton nodded, "It's hard to believe there'd be another one like him." He looked down at the note. "None of us are pill masters, but finding this recipe and collecting the materials seems like it would be beneficial. Let's look around, especially in the library.

Everyone did their best to judge which books were more important, though if this were the only location they got to, and they indeed found the notes for the Four Element Pill. It even had information on how to collect the materials properly. It was around that point when they first sensed other people- or rather they first sensed explosions in the firepine forest, and then people.

Anton looked at the others. "We should probably get going. The pill furnace…?"

"If it was Everheart who left it," Catarina pointed out, "It's probably not that valuable. I don't know if it can be put in a storage bag, either."

Instead of waiting for the other cultivators to show up, they grabbed the most valuable books- and Everheart's notes, of course. Then they quickly moved to gather two of the ingredients. The firepine acorns and the spiny dandelion seeds were immediately present for them to collect. Hoyt moved to collect the former with Velvet and Timothy watching, while Devon and Catarina came with Anton as he moved for the seeds.

It seemed that the various ingredients didn't store for long, and more importantly they couldn't be stored together. Thus, each person of the six could only have one of each in their storage bags. The other two were keeping things they didn't want around loose and potentially volatile materials. Just because they had instructions didn't mean they would perfectly pull them off.

Anton reached out his arm, holding a finger aloft. He tried to follow the method described to be enticing to the local butterflies. He was unsure if it would work, but as soon as he got it right several immediately approached. One of them alighted on his outstretched finger, while the others fluttered past. He carefully moved his hand to the puff ball. He was now more aware than ever that it could explode in all directions if improperly touched. The butterfly gladly fluttered up to it, however, and as it flapped its wings they began to fly off one at a time, a small gust of energy pulling them away. Anton snatched them up, grabbing the safe portion on the stalks and avoiding the top. He had a few boxes for storing things separately, which he quickly filled. He didn't want to keep spiny puff balls loose in his bag, so he had to stop after several heads and probably over a hundred seeds.

Hoyt carefully climbed up a treed, coating his hand with fire as he reached out for an acorn. He managed to properly grab the first one, but the second detonated near his palm, singeing him through his energy. He managed to finish gathering just as the other cultivators were approaching, having figured out a way to move past the squirrels firebombing them- which just involved running as they defended themselves.

Instead of possibly running into conflict, Anton and the others moved away. The new group was close to them in cultivation, though not from any sect they recognized immediately just from their senses. While the others might fight over materials in front of them, it was unlikely they would be followed for speculative gains. After all, it was possible for people on either side to get seriously injured or die.

They did seem content to leave Anton and the rest alone, or perhaps they took longer picking their way through the dandelions. Regardless, Anton and the others found that not the entire island was covered in deadly plants. Just most of it. Some of their journey was quite smooth, and some involved moving through firepines or spiny dandelions or both. They gradually sloped downhill, until they came to swampy lowlands at the edge of the island.

Beautiful flowers that could only have been the mangrove lotus floated on the shore, anchored into the sand. Though these were in fact the safest of the various plants, they still had to be careful of the sand crabs that lived underneath. They were quite protective of the plants and their roots.

"I'll gather these," Catarina said. "Devon, if you could make your way around to that cliff there?"

He nodded, "I see the rock roots. I should be able to coax them out."

Less than a quarter hour later they were done with their gathering. It was possible they might come across some more valuable things that needed proper storage, but for the moment four of them were as full as they could be with the different ingredients. As for how they would get off the island… when they stood at the shores with the intention to travel, a boat once more appeared for them. They weren't fully real, after all, simply constructs of energy.

Catarina plucked one extra flower, affixing it to the side of the boat. "This should help keep away some of the water beasts," she declared. "As for our next target, I see a larger island over there. Seems reasonably close to our level, still."

Anton and the others took a look. Anton nodded, "We won't be the first ones there, but it seems to be somewhat larger. If my eyes aren't fooling me more than I think, of course. This place has strange things with distance. Anyone recognize the symbol?"

Everyone shook their heads.

"That's the strange thing," Hoyt said. "I know quite a bit about some ancient sects, but this one was old enough for me to not recall it. Now, it's entirely possible I missed it- but it could truly be so old that the Order doesn't have records of them. Yet disappearing and leaving a place like this…"

Anton nodded. "Some of what Everheart says is garbage, but we should certainly carefully consider what happened here. Perhaps we can find more."

Catarina pushed the boat with a bit of energy, merely directing it to move and letting it do most of the work. Hopefully the warding flower would be of some use so they could be in peak condition when they arrived.

Chapter 163

Though the mangrove lotus doubtless had some effect on providing safety for the boat, the larger factor in keeping them safe was rather straightforward. The beasts in the seas had grown large and violent over the ages, but still had caution in regard to each other. When new factors arrived- that being humans- they were thrown into a frenzy. But as they entered a feeding frenzy to attack the humans and each other, their numbers dwindled. Now that some time had passed and everyone had reached at least the first island, the seas had to calm down somewhat.

That didn't mean that travel was safe, since the more cautious but also more dangerous predators still lurked in the depths, but it did mean the second journey wasn't such a constant battle. Though distance was hard to determine on the strange sea, they were about halfway to the next island they had targeted when the first curious beast approached. It was easily dissuaded by a warning shot from Anton.

The next one was more aggressive, coming from straight underneath. However, Devon was ready for it. Against a horde of undersea creatures leaning over the edge of the boat was ill advised, but when dealing with just a single target it was safe enough. Chains made of energy extended down beneath the boat, wrapping around the spear-like nose of the charging fish. He redirected its movements to the side, resulting in it briefly breaking the surface of the water. Devon held it still while it tried to dive back down as Hoyt hacked through it.

With the beasts more spread out there wasn't an immediate frenzy over the blood and body, and they were able to continue onward with only a few more interruptions.

The island they were approaching stood out from the others on the basis of having a large tower. A lighthouse, from the looks of it, but there had to be more to it than just that. For one thing, it would be pointless to have a lighthouse on a lone island in an area that seemed to have no fog or inclement weather of any sort.

Upon arrival it was clear that others shared in the same judgment, because there were at least a handful of other groups on the island. It was hard to tell exactly with different cultivation techniques and how they were spread out seemingly randomly inside the tower. As the group approached the entrance, they began to sense more about the tower.

The formation made no attempt to hide itself, and because of previous experience everyone recognized it as something similar to the pressure formations Everheart had. As they entered the base of the tower they felt the energy pressing down on them quite clearly. But unlike Everheart's, the formation was more or less arranged vertically. In short, the pressure seemed to increase as one went up the tower on the spiraling stairs. For an equal amount of effort from the formation, it was somewhat harder and more dangerous than what Everheart had. After all, climbing stairs was harder than walking on flat ground- it was just that neither were generally relevant for cultivators.

Fighting against the pressure while raising one's body higher would actually be a decent test. As for the danger, a cultivator who had completed Body Tempering had little to fear from falling down, or even tumbling down a flight of stairs. They weren't so fragile as to be damaged from either, but that was considering normal gravity- or equivalent gravity. With the pressure pushing them downward, if they fell the wrong way they would be facing multiple times the force. It would make little difference until the point someone collapsed, but that made pushing oneself to the limit more risky.

As they stood at the bottom of the stairs, the feeling of those up above became more clear. Some familiar techniques were sensed- including members of the Heavenly Lion Sect. One particular sensation stuck out to Anton.

"Zvonko," he declared.

"Should we be concerned?" Devon asked.

"Perhaps. I would suggest none of us get too far apart." Anton shook his head, "If I didn't know better, I would say that he wouldn't openly attack us. But considering the last incident between us, he clearly is willing to do so."

"A sore loser. Though he should be weaker now," Devon gestured to his own arm.

"Perhaps," Anton agreed, "But some people grow stronger in adversity. In addition, I didn't achieve that entirely on my own merits. He's late Spirit Building in cultivation. The Heavenly Lion Sect's technique is not poor, so my own abilities aren't a match. Previously Lev assisted me, and Zvonko was unable to gather much energy to attack or defend since it was a surprise attack. I'm not unconfident in standing against him now, but I certainly wouldn't assume my victory."

Velvet looked up the spiral stairs. "What's the purpose of this tower? Just training? Should we expect any sort of rewards?"

"It doesn't seem like a practical defensive formation," Catarina said. "I see no indication there was an exception for those who belong. So its purpose was likely training. The gradual nature of the increase makes little sense for anything else. As for rewards…" she shook her head.

Velvet sighed. "Right. They would probably be handed out by the sect. But there might instead be something at the top."

"It's worth the attempt," Hoyt said. "And setting up something like this for training is beyond even the Order."

Everyone agreed they might as well try- it was something they were all capable of improving with. As they began to climb the tower, they split apart based on the speeds people were comfortable with moving. For perhaps the first quarter of the tower- somewhat difficult to tell from the inside- they all remained together, feeling little effect of the pressure. As it increased Timothy naturally ended up in front, with Hoyt close behind him. Catarina was next, resisting the pressure with skill more than direct effort. Anton was somewhat behind, close to Velvet. While the others had all reached the eighteenth star- including Velvet- Anton was not quite there yet. It was also tiring to draw upon the mysterious energies of Fleeting Youth, so he kept himself to a moderate but sustainable pace.

Devon fell somewhat behind, though he kept a steady pace. He had managed to close the gap between himself and the others, but he was still only somewhere like the equivalent of the fifteenth star. He was the only one of them that didn't cultivate the Ninety-Nine Stars, so the measurement wasn't quite the same for him.

In the interest of staying together, Catarina attached herself to the front three. As they were climbing the tower, sensing with energy became less exact. Just because they could feel others ahead of them didn't mean they had a good grasp of the details. Recognizing cultivation style or individual was one thing, but their exact locations were more vague. Devon began to push himself to keep up with Anton and Velvet. Anton would have been happy to slow down- but he wasn't going to disparage his grandson for beginning his cultivation in a less optimal environment. There was little else keeping them separate but time. If Devon didn't want to seem weaker, Anton would happily maintain his pace.

Anton focused on the pressure around him as he walked the stairs. Each one was not too high, he simply had to properly raise his leg and firmly place it. The weight upon him made it harder than he was used to, but not yet unbearable. It was the way the pressure interacted with his internal energy that he had to deal with first. Creating a stable balance pushing back was the most optimal use of his energy, keeping him from being knocked down but not wasting any energy.

He focused on that aspect of the climb, but he was still aware of his other surroundings. The circling stairs were almost hypnotic in their repetition, but that made any changes stand out more. Not that he needed to be hyper aware to notice someone tumbling down the stairs, cursing.

Anton spread his legs, taking a solid stance as he stretched out his arm to the side. His arm wrapped around the torso of the tumbling man as he went head over heels down the stairs. The momentum he carried rocked Anton backwards, but he kept his feet as he anchored his energy to the tower walls and stairs.

"Hello there, young man," Anton greeted him as he stood him on his feet. "Careful of that step."

"Ha. Thanks." The young man brushed himself off, then got a good look at Anton. "Oh! It's you again. You're… Anton, right? You saved me from Everheart's collapsing tomb. I almost got trampled."

"Ah yes, I thought I recognized you." The young man was one of the Heavenly Lion Sect. If Anton recalled correctly, his own sect mates had ignored his peril. "I don't believe I got your name."

"It's Nowell, Senior Anton. I must thank you again," he bowed his head.

"It is not a problem." Anton looked up the stairs. "Did you run into trouble?"

"I… just got ahead of myself," Nowell commented.

Even if Anton hadn't noticed the burst of energy from above, the young man wasn't very good at lying, not that Anton thought that was a problem. He'd been quite willing to speak up for him when Zvonko said he stole the Vessel of Insight- though nobody knew what it was at the time. "Is that so?" Anton asked. "Well, you can continue along with us for a while at least. No need to rush. I would expect to take days to conquer this challenge, if we can. It seems a bit too much to brute force."

"I wouldn't want to be a bother…"

Anton shrugged, "Go at whatever pace you feel comfortable with." He started walking up the stairs at about what they had been going before, and Nowell naturally fell in step with him and the other two, though they were stretched out over a dozen stairs.

Nowell circulated his energy as they began to climb again. He had quite a few scrapes and bruises from the fall- and perhaps a bit more than that. He was fortunate to not have anything broken, at least, though the pressure of the area would doubtless make the wounds ache more than normal.

They began to pass other cultivators along the way, mostly those in early Spirit Building. They passed a member of the Frostmirror sect who was in mid Spirit Building, but he didn't even glance over at them as he continued at a set pace. Likely whatever he had determined was optimal.

Then they came face-to-face with another member of the Heavenly Lion Sect. He glared at Anton and Nowell, but did nothing as they passed him by. That might have had something to do with the way Anton rested his hand near his belt and the handaxes attached to it, but he couldn't say for sure. The next one was braver.

"Stop right there," a young woman radiating the aura of the Heavenly Lion Sect crossed her arms.

"Excuse me?" Anton raised an eyebrow.

"Not you," she said flippantly. "You have nothing to do with this. This is an internal affair of the Heavenly Lion Sect."

"Is that so?" Anton asked. "What a strange place to deal with internal matters. Because just a week ago I'm quite certain you all must have been in your actual sect, were you not? Why not handle it then?"

"... shut up," she said unconvincingly. "Just stay out of this."

Anton covered Nowell's mouth when he was about to say something that probably amounted to letting him handle it and it being his own problem. He smiled gently as he looked at the young woman standing in front of him. "Let me ask you something. Have you been standing there long?"

"What's it to you?"

Anton shrugged, "I was just wondering if this is as far as you can go. You seem like you should be able to climb higher. But maybe not."

"I can," the woman stomped her foot, glaring at Anton. "I just… have to deal with this."

"Why?" Anton asked. "This is a location for training. That is the best use of your time. Yet someone has you standing here, dealing with 'internal matters'... but why?" Anton stroked his chin, "It's almost as if they are afraid of others growing stronger. Do you think that's why Zvonko ordered you to block the way here?"

"Well, I-" she was a better liar than Nowell, but not good enough to avoid Anton's focused insight. "I don't know what you mean. He can't order me to do anything."

"A good answer," Anton said. He started walking up the stairs patting her on the head as he went by. "Try to remember that one."

"Buh- you-!" she balled up her fists, unsure how to react but clearly aware of how she was outnumbered. She glared at Nowell as he passed, but didn't make a move towards him.

After they were quite a bit further on, and out of earshot, Nowell thanked Anton once more. "I appreciate your help, really, but you can't always remain with me."

"That's true," Anton said. "Do you have your own group? Others from the Heavenly Lion Sect you trust?"

"Yes, a few here with me. We didn't think it would matter if we split. But I can meet up with them at the end of the day."

"Good," Anton said. "Though you don't necessarily need them." He suddenly stepped towards Nowell, pushing his shoulder. As he began to fall back, Anton grabbed onto his shirt. "You're used to balancing in normal circumstances, but you haven't quite adapted here. You should get some practice in a difficult environment." Anton stepped down to be parallel to him, the steps wide enough they could both stand on the same one somewhat comfortably. "You need to be ready for sudden changes, and not just the gradual push of the tower. I think the rest of us could use a bit of practice, too. Since we might end up fighting here."

Nowell raised an eyebrow. "Sparring? Here?"

"Just light sparring," Anton said. "Pushing and grappling, unarmed. I think we could all learn something." He had the Vessel of Insights active, so that if they really did learn something they might get a little bit extra for later. So, on an empty stretch of stairs, two pairs of cultivators began some of the slowest sparring matches for cultivators in mid Spirit Building. They weren't exactly slow, but the speed at which they moved was certainly restricted by the pressure. Any connecting blow felt more significant with the threat that they might fall down the stairs- though they very intentionally aligned themselves so that people would be more likely to impact on the outer or inner walls instead of beginning a rolling descent. Though Devon would later suggest they just try rolling on purpose to see how they could protect themselves.

Chapter 164

Climbing a tower under constant pressure was quite an ordeal- and once a cultivator reached their limits they had to descend safely, which wasn't as easy as it sounded. It was certainly less dangerous than fighting all day, but ultimately quite draining.

An important detail about the Secret Realm was discovered at the end of the day. Or rather, because the day didn't end. There was no cycle of day or night, but instead a constant light emanating from the sky. Thus, even at the time when it would have otherwise been night, it was still just as bright. However, just because the sun was up didn't mean cultivators would be. They still had to rest, and to do so they gathered into camps.

So far there had been no signs of rain or other inclement weather, but tents were still useful for the purpose of not being in the bright sun. While Anton had to admit that he liked an occasional nap in the sun, fully sleeping was easier with some proper darkness.

The others groups of cultivators were also gathering into camps. The Heavenly Lion Sect wasn't quite one camp, with two adjacent segments. Nowell and some others were in one, and the other had Zvonko and some of his loyalists. Of course, it was perfectly normal for disciples to hang on to other talented and favored disciples for a chance to share in success, but Anton hadn't seen either from him. But he had to admit that his experiences were limited- perhaps if they hadn't been willing to stand up against the scheme in Everheart's tomb, his group would have flourished significantly because of it.

Zvonko looked over while Anton was observing him. Anton was ready to shoot him if he even took a single step closer, not willing to risk the more experienced cultivator get close. But it seemed he had some level of restraint, because beyond a glare and flaring his energy, there was nothing else. Maybe he'd realized that he couldn't just attack people in full view of everyone.

Anton eventually took his seat by the fire in his own camp to check on what was cooking. It seemed to be smoking fillets of various fish. With a bit of seasoning they should be quite tasty, and of course they were as fresh as could be.

Among his various enemies, Zvonko was one he was most willing to bury the hatchet with. He hadn't suffered any serious losses, so it wasn't as if he was being magnanimous with that thought. He doubted that Zvonko would be interested in ending their strife, however. Even if it was entirely his own fault that he lost his hand, Anton knew he wouldn't see it like that. Perhaps he even somehow convinced himself he truly deserved the Vessel. Anton had seen people hold grudges over much smaller things.

Before the members of the Order went to bed, Catarina finished setting up a defensive formation. Even though the Order would certainly retaliate on their behalf if they were killed in their sleep, that would be little comfort to any of them. Likewise, even though the area should have been safe, they set up a series of watches. With six people each of them could take watch for an hour and some. Though Anton would probably be awake for half of the night anyway. He needed some sleep, but rarely more than a handful of hours. Nothing of particular interest happened the first 'night'.

In the morning, the group entered into a discussion with each other about how they would proceed. The three who had gone further ahead had already been caught up on the situation with Nowell. "Given their willingness to attack a sectmate," Anton said, "Even splitting into two groups seems an unnecessary risk. I understand that this will restrict some of you unfairly, but I think it's for the best we stay together."

"Of course!" Timothy agreed. "If we thought they'd be so brazen, we would have never gone ahead."

Hoyt and Catarina nodded.

"Actually," Catarina suggested, "I have an idea that should be beneficial to all of us. Assuming there's an actual prize at the peak, that is. If we work together, we should be able to go further. I can't guarantee we'll surpass Zvonko, though. A late Spirit Building cultivation is a significant advantage, even for an idiot like him." Catarina frowned, "How long do you think he's been cultivating? It should have been less than five years at Everheart's Tomb… a year ago."

"It has to have been close to five," Hoyt said. "Even with abundant resources, he'd need some cultivation talent to reach that point. Close to us, really. Though there's always the possibility that he just inflated his cultivation level somewhat. Pushing to reach higher tiers without fully completing each step." Hoyt shook his head, "But cultivation 'genius' and actually making wise decisions are not connected, as can be seen in many cases."

"Hmm," Catarina frowned, "I really can't promise we'll surpass him then. Relying on him being reckless seems a bit presumptive. But combining our efforts should increase our efficiency."

Working together to resist the pressure of the tower was somewhat similar to their previous efforts dealing with formations- the part where they felt the flow of energy, at least. Devon hadn't been part of their efforts in the The Gauntlet since his cultivation had been significantly behind, but they were confident he would be able to work with them. Nothing guaranteed synergy between blood relatives in regards to cultivation, but it was a fact that half of their group was related. Even if it didn't have tangible benefits, it provided a mental boost.

Catarina was the center of the effort. She was the formation specialist after all, and most familiar with manipulating the flow of energy on a larger scale. The pressure from the tower pressed down on them as they formed one large barrier with their energy, diverting it around them. It took a few hours of practice in the lower sections of the tower to be confident in their stability, then they began to proceed higher.

The first day of climbing together they made it about the same distance as Catarina, Hoyt, and Timothy had before- slightly more than halfway up the tower. They could have pushed further, but they took some time to spar with each other on the steps. Separating into two groups showed that if they were combining their efforts, whoever had Catarina at the lead was most effective. When individually resisting the pressure it was very difficult for Devon, who was still lower in cultivation. After some practice, it was determined that Timothy was best suited for leading the second group's efforts. He had practice with controlling defensive energy on a wider scale, related to using a shield in combat.

After spending time getting used to the pressure, the group began to descend once more. There was only so much they could do in one day, and they had other aspects of cultivation to practice… and some insights to go over. Each little sliver from the Vessel of Insights was barely a passing thought, and most of the time Anton couldn't glean much in the way of improvements for himself or others… but each little extra helped.

When they had climbed the tower, many people threw them interested looks. That was the same on the way down. It was possible some other groups would try to replicate their efforts, but if they were successful… that was their own merit. Using methods that other people had that worked could be considered stealing techniques, but if it could be done simply by observing then it was hardly inappropriate.

In addition to the various groups and individuals they had seen the previous day, there were new arrivals. The first one was a person they'd had little interaction with- but that little bit was generally positive. Chikere was an independent cultivator, focused on the way of the sword. While many cultivators used swords as weapons, she was one of the sort so focused on the weapon that her actual cultivation technique was secondary. She'd stood on the side of the Order during the conflict that didn't quite happen after the Tomb. Since she'd been able to just stay out of the altogether, that was some credit to her- even if it didn't come to blows.

She inclined her head to the group. "Greetings. Are you planning to reach the finish line before me once again?"

While some people might have been bitter when saying that, Anton read that she was actually curious. "That's certainly the plan," he grinned, "You'll have to put in a good effort to beat us."

She nodded, "Good. One cannot simply compete against themself indefinitely." She stepped past the group and continued on her way up.

"... I hope she doesn't just reach the peak right now," Catarina said after she passed. "She's strong enough. I thought she was in Essence Collection for a second. She was so close before, and she's certainly stronger now… but not quite there."

"I sensed the same," Anton confirmed. "It's not easy to make that step, it seems. Though without the stability of a sect, she's walking an even harder path."

The second person was much less pleasant to encounter. Devon was the first to react to the particular energy signature, his energy rousing itself to be ready for a fight. Tonina Potenza was just below them.

Anton put a hand on his shoulder, "You know I will support you, but do be aware of the consequences should you act. And the escorts." Devon nodded gruffly, but didn't settle down.

Tonina came up the spiral staircase surrounded by a handful of other cultivators. Members of the Flying Blood Cult, who she'd been with when they first spotted her outside the Secret Realm. In a way they were doing something similar to the group from the Order- but instead of working together, the five mid Spirit Building Cultivators were simply reducing the pressure on Tonina while otherwise acting independently.

Devon stepped forward, chains beginning to form around his arms. "You're supposed to be imprisoned for another year and a half. And it seems you didn't follow the restrictions even during that time."

"Hmph." She turned up her nose- an effect that was somewhat comical consider her position beneath them on the stairway. "And you were supposed to be dead."

One of the other cultivators next to her, a somewhat older woman almost on the border between mid and late Spirit Building, looked between Tonina and the others. "Are we fighting?"

Tonina shook her head. "No, Inha. This isn't the right place."

"Hmph. Too bad," she licked her lips as she looked over the group. "Maybe next time, then."

The stairway was just wide enough for the two groups to pass while brushing shoulders. Devon didn't push things any further, though everyone remained tense as they passed each other.

Anton spoke what everyone was thinking. "I anticipate further trouble." He put his hand on Devon's shoulder. "I know it's not easy to wait, but…"

"I understand," Devon said. "Besides, I'd like to be able to publicly display her head, before throwing it to Fuzz."

"Don't make Fuzz eat her!" Catarina chastised him. "That's gross!" Catarina paused, "Also don't feed him any other people."

"I wouldn't actually do that part," Devon said. "But I would like to be able to publicly defeat her."

"When we find the right chance," Anton agreed. "You're strong enough now, you know? Though I doubt it would be easy."

"No worse than some of the arena fights," Devon commented. He looked down at the chains of energy wrapping around him, mirroring his scars. "And quite a bit more fair than the worst."

Anton pondered how rules of propriety were most restrictive to those that hardly needed them. Those who were already inclined to behave decently were bound by formal laws, while those who would ignore them just hid behind them. Yet he didn't think that not having laws of any sort was the correct solution. Though if people ultimately only followed the law of the strong, he intended to be one of the strongest. Too many people avoided consequences for far too long.

Chapter 165

Several more days passed, and the tower found itself with a growing crowd. Not everyone who arrived chose to stay- some passed on to seek out opportunities elsewhere in the Secret Realm. However, many also chose to stay.

Keeping track of the progress of others was difficult. The distortion of energy made it difficult to discern more detail about others in the tower except whether they were ahead or behind, with perhaps a vague sense of distance. The only information the Order had about Zvonko's progress was that he was generally higher than them- and they had reached three-quarters of the tower's height. Chikere was ahead as well, and it seemed like either of the two could reach the peak in short order.

If Chikere were to reach the top first and receive some sort of exclusive awards, Anton and the others would not be upset. However, if Zvonko obtained something instead they would regret it. Even if it wasn't anything significant, nobody wanted their enemies to prosper. Together they continued to push ever upwards. As before, people began to copy their efforts. However, only a few groups could pull it off properly.

Even if they had the technical skill- someone who could lead the group's control and individual ability- it didn't always work out. Both groups from the Heavenly Lion Sect attempted to copy the efforts. Zvonko's group tried it for a single day, before returning to how they were previously doing things. The glances Anton had seen exchanged between members when he spied on them outside the tower seemed to indicate something had caused bad blood between them. He was actually somewhat happy about that. A petty victory, but a victory nonetheless. Though Nowell's group was generally lower in cultivation and considered to be less talented, they continued to attempt working together in a formation. Even when they made little progress for several days, they kept at it- until they were climbing the tower with great efficiency.

Not quite like those from the Order though. It was impossible to say their ascent was effortless. Each of them worked themselves to exhaustion at the end of the day, or as near as they could afford to be. But there was a large difference between tiring yourself out and being tired as a group. There was a sort of happy harmony that came together from shared trials. Each of them was able to go further because they knew the others were with them, and even if someone staggered they would share the load.

They climbed the tower once more. They quickly passed those low in cultivation who couldn't even make it more than a quarter of the way up. Yet about halfway up the tower the group from the Order found themselves being passed by determined individuals. But that didn't matter. They kept a steady pace, not hurrying through the lower levels nor slowing on the upper levels. Each step they took was much the same as they would do on a relaxed stroll.

At the three quarter point, the pressure bearing down on them was more than any of them could handle individually. Even with additional force pressing down on them as a group, however, the ability to distribute the load in a more bearable fashion allowed them to keep going.

Catarina's focus was unwavering as she minutely adjusted the flow with each step they took- when people were slow on their rotation up the stairs she coaxed them to retain their positions, each separated by a fixed distance.

They were passing late Spirit Building cultivators, including those who had rushed past them earlier in the tower. They continued until nine-tenths of the way up the tower. The top felt so close, yet so far. The weight pressing down on them strained their body and spirit, but they continued.

There were very few people ahead of them. One of those was Zvonko, but they were closing in step by step. Anton regulated his emotions so as not to throw off the others. His anger towards the man was quite valid, but unhelpful. The others would sympathize with his anger, and they could easily be thrown off together.

Zvonko came into sight around the bend and was soon a dozen steps above them. They kept going, each step adding more weight. Zvonko trembled in front of them as he tried to step higher. He took one step, then looked back. Though such an act could have easily weakened his resolve, it seemed to bolster him, his back straightening as he looked down on them. They stopped. "Hmph. I'm certain you all feel quite grand for nearly matching me," he grinned slightly, "But I came here under my own power. The six of you are merely cheating the system."

Anton knew he could fill Zvonko full of arrows. While fighting would disrupt their formation somewhat, the others could handle it while he made his move. Of course, then what? Declare it was someone else who filled him full of holes… or burned the body to ashes? There were so few people near them, though another member of the Heavenly Lion Sect was not far behind. Anton wondered if Zvonko realized they could kill him. Perhaps he did, and thought they wouldn't dare. But that wasn't the reason Anton chose. If he wanted the world to not be just about the strongest murdering others, he had to restrain himself. The others looked over at him, and he shook his head. Then he spoke to Zvonko, "I wouldn't brag about being incapable of basic teamwork, you know. Even the strongest cultivators are not able to ignore the weight of numbers."

They continued walking. They hadn't stopped because they couldn't continue, but because it was a safe distance to think… and a good place to spend some time adjusting. They returned to their pace, pressing upward. Zvonko just stared as they stepped up to where he was- and then past that point.

Rather than let himself be surpassed, Zvonko began pushing himself to advance further. His energy twisted and pressed against the crushing pressure, lightening his body. He bounded up the stairs two at a time. Anton's group continued to walk at a measured pace.

Eventually, they had to slow down. But they continued to advance. The top of the tower was so close they could almost taste it. Zvonko was ahead, but unmoving. The distance was close enough that they were certain Chikere was merely a few steps beyond that, something they were able to confirm as they rounded the spiral.

Zvonko was down on one knee, breathing heavily. Veins stood out in his face, and he somehow was both red and pale at the same time. Sweat dripped from him, pooling on the stairs. That was one area that matched the group from the Order. But they didn't let themselves stop until they passed him, taking as much of wide berth as was possible around him in case he got any stupid ideas. Timothy placed himself on the point closest to him, shield at the ready.

Then they stood between him and Chikere- who was standing, one leg up on a higher step but seemingly unable to continue. She was clearly fatigued, but not quite as poor looking as Zvonko. She turned back towards the group. "Are you once more going to complete what I can't?"

Anton shrugged- though lifting his shoulders was surprisingly difficult. "Maybe. But who says that you can't? I imagine you can keep going some. Sure, you might collapse onto your face… but I promise to catch you as you come rolling by."

Though his words were meant as both encouragement and joke, Chikere reacted much more strongly than he thought she would. At first it was a snort. Then a giggle. Then she burst out laughing. Hard enough that she fell over onto her rear, landing on a stair above her. But it didn't stop there. She continued laughing until she was so out of breath her face was almost blue.

Then the situation was rudely interrupted. "I don't get it," Zvonko said. "Do you think you have the energy to waste on something like that? You couldn't even take another step. You'll be down below me soon enough."

It took a few moments for Chikere to catch her breath. Then she stood up. She pointed her sword at him, arm trembling. "You speak big words for an ass-kissing sheltered disciple. I know fighting words when I hear them. You want to fight?" her sword gleamed with light. Zvonko just glared back. "No? I can come to you. It's not a problem."

Chikere took several steps down towards him. Zvonko's eyes widened… and he turned on his heel and started stumbling down the stairs. Anton almost wished he'd fully slipped and begun to tumble, but he would probably just claim they pushed him if that happened. If he wasn't injured, he could say whatever he wanted and little would come of it.

Chikere sheathed her sword before turning to Anton and the others. "Well, last time we met I failed at the end. Even if I do so again this time… I'll hold you to that promise. Be aware, I might roll pretty fast down these stairs," she grinned widely, involuntarily chuckling some more. Then she turned around and started back up the stairs. "... catch me. Pfft."

She didn't move quickly… but she continued step by step. Everyone else looked around at each other, then synchronously began to move. They were a bit slower than her. Chikere's energy was raising high, pushing to its very limits. Her whole cultivation was revealed, and they could feel the rate her energy was draining. She couldn't make it far… but there wasn't far to go. And something was changing.

Anton felt his Vessel of Insights trembling as they continued forward. Ten more steps. Seven. Five. They slowed. Three. Two. Each step felt like a mountain pressing down on them. One more step. Another. Then they saw it. A door. Chikere was just a few steps away as they saw it. They continued moving, but she hadn't stopped. Three. Two. One. She threw open the door and stepped through.

Then she began laughing madly. "This feels great!"

It took a full minute for the group from the Order to climb the last stairs to her, a mere few handfuls. But as they stepped out onto the roof of the tower, the weight was lifted from them and they felt like they were flying. At the same time, their cultivations so drained of energy were freed from their burdens. Energy rushed into them, filling them up.

Anton felt his own cultivation pushing through to the eighteenth star. Energy flowed from his dantian into his body and back, the connection strengthening. Devon was breaking through as well, and the others seemed quite close. But that was nothing compared to Chikere. After all, she had already been at the peak of Spirit Building, for more than the last six months. Now she was fully stepping through into Essence Collection, and the energy vortex she was pulling in from the surroundings flooded the area around them with energy- though the tower helped.

"Congratulations," Hoyt offered once everything had settled down. "Reaching Essence Collection is a big step, and even more difficult for independent cultivators."

Chikere turned to him and grinned. "Thanks. I feel great. Congratulations on your own advancements as well." She looked over them. "I have to say, being in a sect seems to have its advantages. But I'm not willing to give up my freedom. Still, maybe I can't do everything alone. How about an alliance?" She held out her hand. "It doesn't have to be anything big. We don't have to swear to fight to the death for each other. But I think we could get along. You watch my back and I watch yours."

Before anyone could even say anything, Velvet was in front of her. She used both of her hands to grab Chikere's outstretched hand, shaking it. "Of course I will. What else are friends for?"

Anton thought it was a little bit early to call them friends, having met approximately twice for short periods. However, he also couldn't say that they weren't friends. He offered his hand, though it took a moment for Velvet to give up her own grip. "Though my own cultivation is currently inferior to yours, I would be glad to accept your offer. Though be aware that I am absolutely flooded with mortal enemies."

Even though she had made the offer, Chikere seemed hesitant to take Anton's hand- until the thing about mortal enemies. "Great! It's hard to know a person until you meet a few of their mortal enemies. That guy was one of them, right? With the whole hand thing."

"That was all his decision," Anton shrugged, "But it does indeed seem to be the case. And likely much of the Heavenly Lion Sect in general."

"Yeah, his father's one of the elder's or something. You know how it is."

Hoyt tried to not react obviously to that, while being the next one to offer his hand. "As Anton said, I do not know if this is a fair deal for you at the moment, but I would gladly exchange aid with you as suits us both."

"It's fine," Chikere said. "I mean, seriously, he said he'd catch me when I was rolling by?" she looked at Anton and snickered. "Just imagining myself tumbling down the stairs and bowling people over," she giggled, "...but that's terribly dangerous." She frowned, "Though now that I'm in Essence Collection…" Hoyt slowly let go of her hand. "I was only kidding about that. That would just kill people, and if I'm going to do that…" her sword was suddenly in her hand, pointed at the sky. "It would be with this!" Her sword swiftly returned to its sheath with a snapping noise. "But seriously I'd appreciate backup if it came down to it. I can fight a half dozen, dozen chumps easily… but I have my own enemies as well, and some of them have lots of guys to throw at me, if they're okay with losing them. Which they are." Everyone else also agreed to the somewhat casual alliance, shaking hands one at a time.

Then they turned to look around the roof. With all of the relief that came from the pressure being released, they had sort of glossed over that it was more than just an empty surface. Though perhaps not much. There was only a single pedestal, on which stood seven black beads. Catarina quickly moved forward, checking them out as she leaned around them. Though before she could say anything, Chikere picked one up.

"Neat. It's surprisingly heavy."

"That could have been trapped!" Catarina said.

"Nah. This is a reward or something." Chikere stuck out her tongue. "It's not food, or a pill. Maybe materials?"

Catarina rolled her eyes and picked one up. She held it close, staring into it. "Ooh." She nodded seriously to herself. "I see. The tower also goes down."

Chapter 166

The first thing everyone did was to descend back down the tower. Unlike previous times where they had pushed themselves and then had to retreat, reaching the top of the tower had not only been beneficial for improving their cultivation, it had allowed them a chance to rest. They were fresh as they headed back down, and though they had to face the worst pressure at the beginning they were adept enough it was little more than a minor inconvenience. Not that they would be running up and down the tower- especially since a fall could still be a real danger- but they progressed downward to where it was simple to walk in a handful of minutes. Chikere remained near the group from the Order, though she relied on her own energy instead of attempting to synchronize with them.

They received various looks from people as they descended- friendly, unfriendly, indifferent, curious- but nobody seemed to have realized that they actually made it to the top. They likely just thought they were done for the day. And they were, but only because they anticipated that the next section would be harder. They each had little beads that Catarina predicted would let them head down from the tower entrance, and they wanted to do more than just take a break to refresh before attempting that. If nothing else, they had to spend some time stabilizing their cultivation from their breakthroughs- and a good sleep would do them wonders.

On their way down they passed by Anish, of the Glorious Flame Palace. Though Chikere greeted him and the others from the sect politely, Anton saw she was displeased about something. His prime tempering of Earthly Connection allowed him to make those judgements more easily, but he also thought she'd somewhat let her guard down around them. "Do you have a problem with them?" he asked when they were a safe distance away.

"Not with those people in particular. Anish is fine," she shook her head. "It's the Elders of the Glorious Flame Palace that are the problem. They several times suggested I marry into the sect. As if that wouldn't doubly ruin the point of being an independent cultivator. I'm not like this because I didn't have the talent to join up anywhere else, you know." Chikere shrugged, "Anish is just the one that is brought up when they broach the subject. After all, 'you must join with someone equally talented'." She rolled her eyes, "Perhaps he has that talent and anything else a woman might want… but that's only if she wants anything to begin with.

Anton nodded, "Marriage can be quite nice, but it's not all positives."

"You're married?" she asked. "Is your wife not a cultivator?"

"She wasn't," Anton confirmed. "Before you ask, yes, she's passed away. At a ripe old age, I might add. That was before all the troubles."

"... should I ask?" Chikere questioned.

"It's related to those enemies I spoke about," Anton said. With that, he gave her a quick summary of what happened in Dungannon, and his journey of cultivation.

"Wow," Chikere said, "You got a lot of enemies real fast. Maybe even close to as fast as I did!" she said enthusiastically. "And now you've been cultivating… three and a half years? That's amazing for an old guy."

When Anton didn't broach a response, Timothy interjected, "I remember when you used to complain about people referencing your age."

Anton shrugged, "I've come to terms that people will see me as an old man before they see me as a growing cultivator. Besides, I've had to accept it for other reasons."

"Oooh, mysterious reasons," Chikere's eyes sparkled. "Some sort of secret technique? You don't have to tell me, but I know you guys got something from Everheart."

Anton smiled, "He has so many forbidden techniques. Though we cautiously avoided the majority of them."

Chikere didn't press any further, and soon enough they were at the bottom of the tower. Though it was probably a bit early to sleep, it was difficult to tell what time of day it was supposed to be with constant clear and bright skies. Regardless, though they had refreshed their energy supplies they were still fatigued from their efforts. Chikere set up her tent as part of their camp, though it was basically just a piece of cloth held up by a couple of sticks. She didn't even have a bedroll, though clearly if she'd wanted one she had access. Any cultivator could get mundane supplies with no trouble. Instead, she seemed fine laying directly on the uneven rocky surface of the ground.

"I should have allies more often," Chikere declared. "It does wonders for getting a good night's rest, not having to sleep with one eye open." Anton had the feeling that she wasn't just using it as an expression- perhaps she actually had some way to be only half asleep. An independent cultivator had to be prepared at all times, after all. Especially those who were prone to making enemies.

After eating, they made their way into the tower. They waited for a moment that nobody was immediately watching. While what they were doing didn't necessarily have to remain a secret, it might be troublesome if there weren't more beads for others to access the area. It was yet unclear if there were simply seven and they had all of them, or if the tower produced one for each of them. Seven was not a number that would be randomly chosen, but it could have had significance to the sect who created the Secret Realm, or that could have coincidentally been what was left.

As they stepped into the tower, they saw the spiral staircase go up above them. However, as they pulled out the beads, Catarina stepped forward on the other side. The floor in front of them swam and shifted as they approached.

"There's still a barrier here," Catarina said. She pressed the bead to it, but her hand just slipped through. "Holding this should be enough, I guess." She took a few minutes to carefully examine the area, trying to determine how the barrier worked. Once she was satisfied in her curiosity, they continued onward.

Stepping onto the stairs felt like dunking in a freezing lake. Anton had done that several times when he was younger, before he was sensible enough to not do things that were painful. It came with a pressure just as strong as the top of the tower, but it bore down on them from all angles.

If it was just that, it would simply be a continuation of the tower. A reasonable test or training method, but that wasn't where things ended. As they moved down the stairs, it became dark. Of course there were no windows leading to the outside to brighten the area- they were underground, or perhaps under the sea. Regardless, once they made a full rotation there was no light left. A cultivator could still navigate in perfect darkness by their senses, but those too were muted.

Anton attempted to strike a torch- it never took him more than a strike or two, but the sparks weren't lasting long enough to light anything. He protected the torch with his energy and finally managed to get it lit… for a full second, before it flickered out. It was also possible to produce light with the use of energy- though anything more than simply illuminating a small area took a proper technique. Normally sustaining a small light was trivial, but while he was able to manage its creation Anton could feel it being pulled away. "Something about this place doesn't want light. Ah." He gestured, "The stairs. Instead of continuing to spiral along with the ones above, look. They turn."

Simply walking into a wall in the dark was nothing more than an embarrassment to a cultivator. Even a normal person might only hurt their nose- though stumbling into other things could be more dangerous. But if that was all it was, there would be no reason to specifically make lighting fail. It was part of the challenge, somehow.

Anton let the light fade. "It's difficult to hold on to it."

Velvet spoke up next, "I'm having trouble sensing things. Beyond the seven of us, I can vaguely sense the people in the tower above- but even less than before. As for the walls and floors." She kicked her foot at one of the stairs. "They're nearly invisible."

"That's the challenge, then," Catarina confirmed. "Sustaining a light source or sensing the area, while at the same time resisting energy pressing down on you. I imagine there are worse problems ahead than just the stairs turning."

"Hmm," Chikere swung her sword, which flashed briefly, leaving behind a transient trail of light. "This also has the danger that you fall towards more difficult areas. I guess that means if I go tumbling I want to be above you all." It was hard to sense if she was smiling or not, but at least there was mirth in her voice. "I'll go first, though I think I'll not go far for now."

Everyone proceeded slowly. They could barely sense the steps under their feet, but at least they could hear well enough. No one was so skilled in creating light that they were willing to split their focus for that task, so for the moment they were navigating in the darkness.

Something about the way their steps echoed tipped Anton off. "Hold on. We need some light." Chikere slashed her sword around the area. The light lingered for only a second, but it illuminated enough. "Aha. A pit. No, in fact it's just an open stairway." He crouched down. "If we went too far to the left here and fell off, we'd go down… two or three stories. The good news is, there's a landing there- nice and wide- to catch us. The bad news is… with this force pressing on us, we could easily break a leg or worse. It wouldn't be the same as an ordinary fall."

The group continued onward. With all of them sensing they could each notice different things, so they called out different things. A wall on one side. Straight stairway, curved, a full spiral for a while, and of course any ledges. Those always seemed to lead down to more of the descent and survivable falls, but nobody was much interested in testing that at the moment.

"I know I still feel capable of going further," Anton commented, "But don't forget that we have to climb up to get out. Even if the pressure lessens as we climb, we need to head back with enough energy to do so. I'm not confident in resisting this pressure with just my body."

"Maybe I should try that," Chikere said. Anton wasn't sure if she was joking, but she didn't withdraw her energy.

They all returned to the surface, and though the sunlight briefly hurt, it was a welcome relief. Everything they could see stood out so much more once they actually could, and having their senses unrestricted was like suddenly receiving a new pair of eyes.

As it turned out, there weren't just seven beads available. Over the next few days others managed to reach the top of the tower. Zvonko was one of them, but there were also a few others from different sects. Soon enough Anish would reach the top as well, but he'd arrived later and was still getting used to how the tower worked.

Along with new arrivals and people passing through the area came information about other islands. Most of the ones mentioned were already cleared out- thus the reason people continued to travel about. The new arrivals also brought other information, about the Secret Realm in particular. Though they doubtless had tidbits they were keeping hidden, a number of individuals agreed on at least the name of the group that set up the Secret Realm. The Luminous Ocean Society. As for what it was, nobody knew. Perhaps their sects had record of their existence, but nobody remembered reading about it. That was true of even the more powerful sects and some knowledgeable elders. Thus, the Luminous Ocean Society had to have been extremely secretive… or very old. Perhaps both. If nothing else, they hadn't been active in a good five centuries. But being entirely unknown when they had the power to create a realm of the size people were in… brought up many questions. Just like the ones Everheart had left. Anton wondered if he left notes elsewhere, but nobody had mentioned them. But why would they, if they thought it would provide them some advantage?

Chapter 167

For the majority of time training as a cultivator, Anton had been part of the driving force. Not that the others had been unwilling to train, but he'd took much of the organization upon himself. Though sometimes training was difficult, Anton liked to think that his own training was reasonable. He wasn't sure if what he was currently doing was reasonable at all.

Step by step, he ran up the tower. He was less than a quarter of the way up, so it should have been relatively simple. He'd been to the top, and started the descent, both of which were many times more difficult. But running up the stairs was hard.

His muscles strained as he moved. Even swinging his arms as he ran was tiring them out. His back ached as it held his body straight. He even felt his internal organs jostling about, his bones creaking. Missing from the equation was one important ingredient… energy.

Somehow, Chikere had convinced everyone to attempt climbing the tower without energy. At least she was sensible enough to actually start from the bottom, unlike when she casually mentioned it while they were at the very top. Though her cultivation technique was different from the Ninety-Nine Stars, a cultivator could always continue to temper their body. Whether or not it was useful or efficient was another question. Unless the focus of a particular rank was on some form of body tempering, time could usually be spent elsewhere.

In Anton's sake, he happened to be at a strangely inconvenient point in his training. The eighteenth star connected body and spirit. Now he was retracing the steps of Body Tempering, starting with his meridians- connecting spirit and body took the place of full body temperings. He felt he wasn't getting as much out of running up these stairs as the others, but he wasn't going to just leave them. There were far too many enemies around to separate from his allies.

Anton considered another angle as well, as his feet rhythmically impacted the stone stairs. Perhaps his training could be more efficient. Since he wasn't using any energy to support himself climbing the tower, his meridians weren't particularly in use- but the pressure was still trying to squeeze his energy out of him. Most things he could think of to do with his energy would end up having the same effect of reducing the pressure on the rest of him, but just circulating it internally would probably be fine.

That lasted for a short time, but people began to reach their limits. Anton had already been pushing himself pretty hard, but trying not to show it. He didn't mind being physically behind, but he didn't want to limit whatever benefits others might derive from this training.

Chikere was the exception to being exhausted, of course. She was now in Essence Collection, a very significant amount of cultivation beyond the rest of them. In addition to that, while as a group they were able to resist the pressure of the tower and climb about equal to her, without using energy they couldn't balance the load. They all had to work alone with just their own bodies.

She looked over her shoulder at the rest of them. "I'm going to continue on for a bit. The rest of you should go back down, before you start rolling."

Anton agreed, and though Timothy and Hoyt looked like they could go a little bit further they turned around with the rest of them. On the way back down, Anton continued to circulate his energy internally without actually trying to stop the pressure. It was like squeezing molasses from a pipe, but it still moved, if slowly.

Then he began to call upon the energy from beyond, the power of Fleeting Youth. It was more than just one definite thing. It was energy from future incarnations, from ascension, from places beyond. He thought it might not be accessible within the Luminous Ocean Society's Secret Realm, but it seemed no more difficult. It was just there, waiting. All he had to do was reach out for it. That wasn't as simple as it sounded, but it was there. Interestingly enough, the pressure from the tower seemed to have little effect on it. Perhaps that should be expected- though he only managed to gather a few small pieces of the energy, it was much denser than the natural energy from the world around him. It had more power condensed in one spot, so it was less restricted.

His body let him know that the world still had some balance. He'd be feeling their little run for longer than the others would, and his body wouldn't grow as much stronger with each star. But with Fleeting Youth he could make up for that small deficiency. Quite frankly, compared to most cultivators he was extremely well off. He was just in a position where he had to compare himself to talented friends and younger family who were acquiring their own supplemental techniques, and the Ninety-Nine Stars by itself wouldn't have been enough.

Though running up the tower without energy had been something of a fun diversion, soon enough they got back to the task of entering the lower portion of the tower once more. Most cultivators were still climbing up the tower, but a few dozen from different groups had actually reached the top and eventually determined that the beads granted access to the depths- it wasn't as if Anton and the others could hide themselves completely, and it wasn't impossible for others to figure it out. If one of the first following cultivators hadn't been Zvonko they would have even gladly shared the information. In the end he was only frustrated for a few hours, but that was good enough for Anton. If Zvonko had seemed to have any remorse- or at least no intentions to continue their conflict- he wouldn't have reason to care.

As they descended, Anton began to feel something. There were certain differences between different cultivation styles that could be felt. The stars of the Ninety-Nine Stars were like warmly glowing lights, Glorious Flame Palace cultivators felt like a furnace, Frostmirror Sect members nearly froze energy that touched them. Those traits extended to less elemental sorts of things, like when the cultivation style focused primarily on a weapon. Those cultivators tended to be sharp. Occasionally they felt like a weight hammer, but sharpness was the norm. Anton felt at least a dozen drawn blades below them, nearly flinching as he touched them with his energy- though they couldn't actually cut him with their aura. At least, not at their cultivation level.

Chikere commented on it around the same time Anton finished analyzing them. "Those cultivators are moving rather slow- oh. It's the Eternal Sword Hall." Chikere had given them an abbreviated list of those that might seek trouble with her- mostly those she sensed joining the area around the tower. "I'm surprised they reached here so easily. They arrived not long ago…"

"Should we risk advancing forward?" Anton began to ask. Then he smelled something behind them. Very few types of energy registered as a smell, but the bloody scent was unmistakable. "Do we have a choice? The Flying Blood Cult is behind us. It could be a coincidence."

The unmistakable sound of a sword being drawn came from Chikere. "Maybe they'll be smart and not choose to fight. But I'd be ready. It seems like…" she nodded, "Yes, one is at early Essence Collection, and another is peak Spirit Building. The others are all weaker. I can probably take the strongest two, but I'll need you to keep the rest off me."

"Of course," Timothy said. "We agreed to do so." He hefted his shield and drew his sword.

The group advanced downward. The particular section they were in had zig-zagging stairs, with open areas to the next layer. Though the pattern was regular enough that there would be no accidental falls… nobody was expecting any accidents.

As they approached, the sharpest among them stepped forward slightly. Specific features were obscured by the darkness and the difficulty of clear sensing, but at the very least it was clear he was the Essence Collection cultivator. "Return what you stole and we might let you live."

"Oh?" Chikere asked, swinging her sword around. "Do you mean this?" There was the sound of other swords being unsheathed, not from the cultivators in front of her but directly around her. "Or did you mean some of these?" The swords hovered in the air next to her. Then she pulled out yet another sheathed sword from her storage bag. That one thudded to the ground, causing the stairs to shake even back where the rest were standing. "Or this one, the prize of the tournament that I won and you refused to hand over?"

"All of them."

"Gladly," she said. Of course, the words only matched her action from a particular angle. The swords were indeed being moved towards the members of the Eternal Sword Hall. They just were going point-first.

Anton wished he was able to be more than a few steps back, but remaining as part of the formation was most important. Both he and the others would be weaker if he moved out of his position. And even if he was able to back up… he was concerned about the Flying Blood Cult. Even if they weren't actually intending to come for him, they might just decide to do it anyway. They were that sort of group, but nobody was able to find their base of operations. At least, nobody would admit to it. Some groups clearly were willing to work with them despite their murderous proclivities.

An arrow formed on his bow. It released… slowly. Like it was flowing through water. But his target, a sword cultivator in mid Spirit Building, reacted with similar speed. In fact, he was even slowed somewhat more by the pressure around them, barely managing a half-dodge. The arrow still struck him, piercing through his energy before glancing off of a rib- though Anton thought he'd cracked that rib as well.

Timothy and Hoyt moved forward at the front of the formation, flanking Chikere on either side. As several swordsmen charged up the stairs towards Chikere's left, Timothy raised his shield. As they tried to step past him to reach her, they found they could not. His physical shield was little wider than his body, but extending beyond that for a full meter on each side was a greater manifestation of his shield. The group of course directed their attacks towards him, but he remained firm. They staggered back, and one of them even teetered close to the edge of the stairs. Hoyt slashed his axe, leaving a trail of fire. It didn't last as long as it might elsewhere, but along with flashes of sword light the area became revealed to more than just energy senses.

Catarina balanced the energy of the group as they moved, and since there was no room for her in the front she moved to whatever position was optimal, focusing solely on that. The stairs were wide enough for several people to fight side by side, but a cultivator could cover a wide area. Velvet remained in reserve back with Anton, while Devon took advantage of the reach of his chains to hinder anyone trying to reach Chikere- except for her called targets.

There were at least a dozen swords involved in the part of the battle involving the strongest combatants- and with only three cultivators there, it showed how hands weren't the only method for wielding a sword. Chikere maneuvered her primary sword with two hands, and each of the others had a sword in their right and a somewhat shorter sword in their left. The remaining swords floated around Chikere, stabbing and slashing along with her.

Anton continued to fire arrows. The entire battle felt like it was in slow motion, yet both sides should have been equally restricted. That was what Anton surmised, at least, but it seemed like they were suppressing the extra members of the Eternal Sword hall quite handily with both a numbers and cultivation disadvantage. Dealing with either one of those made sense given the way they were lightening the load on each other, but both… his arrow shot into the foot of someone who telegraphed their attack on Hoyt attack a little bit too much. He aimed for a foot- so either they could withdraw their attack and dodge, or take the hit. They tried to do the former, but were too slow, and his arrow pierced into the top of their foot. His movements were as if the pressure of the area was much higher on them just a few steps lower. But Anton could sense that it wasn't. Perhaps the battle might be more in their favor than he thought- though there was still the approaching Flying Blood Cult to worry about.

Chapter 168

The energy of Fleeting Youth poured into Anton. It wasn't as potent as the effects of Candlewax, but the condensed power it held did well in the pressure of the tower. In addition, the consequences were much less severe- assuming the very things that would allow the cultivator to practice it to begin with. Acceptance that there would be no future beyond the end of their life. While that might seem natural for many, it was more than just the surface level. It was knowing that people could have something beyond death, and taking away from it. But since it would allow him to accomplish what he had to in his current life, why would Anton need anything like ascension or reincarnation? He had things to do… and that included filling people with arrows.

His Spirit Arrow swam through the dense pressure of the lower part of the tower, barely restrained by the great pressure. It flew swiftly and confidently towards one of the members of the Eternal Sword Hall. The man moved to dodge- but Anton's confidence was not misplaced. The arrow pierced through his uneven defenses, striking his heart and sending him crashing off the stairs to the level below- and even one more than that, as he rolled.

Though it seemed impossible, some of those they were fighting seemed entirely unable to resist the pressure they were situated in. That seemed odd because it was barely stronger than the top of the tower- and they had to reach that to get the beads that allowed them to enter the lower section. But they were incapable anyway. If Catarina had forced apart a group formation like they themselves were using, Anton could understand individual weakness. But for the moment he was willing to forgo understanding for exploitation. Each person he took out was one more that wouldn't be there when the Flying Blood Cult came upon them from the rear, one more that Timothy and Hoyt didn't have to keep away from Chikere. Though speaking of her…

A dozen swords flashed, many of them still entirely under the control of Chikere. Two cultivators danced around her on the stairs, one matching her in the very beginning of Essence Collection and the other in peak Spirit Building. Every time their swords crossed light rang out… and with each exchange Chikere seemed to take more of advantage. She could keep one of them entirely occupied with the sword she held in two hands while fending off another with several blades floating about her, leaving the remaining few open to slash at her opponents relatively unhindered. Of course it wasn't possible to infuse all of them with sufficient energy to slash straight through her enemy's defenses, but she fluidly shifted her concentration of energy to where it needed to be, starting with little cuts and stabs but constantly creating new wounds. For her own part, her sleeves were tattered rags and her hair was shaved in a dozen places, but there were as of yet no wounds on her body.

Devon yanked a chain back towards him, tripping an opponent who had not sensed him dangling it along the stairs next to him. If one was able to predict their opponent's movements, the nature of how the tower restricted sensing in its lower parts gave an advantage to subtle tactics. From over a dozen enemies they were down to merely two-thirds of that, but they weren't able to defeat them all before the Flying Blood Cult arrived.

Along with them, Anton sensed another energy. Not particularly hidden, but simply mingled among them. It seemed Devon sensed it as well. They both turned towards the stairs above them at the same time. Anton was already drawing his bow when Devon spoke. "I need to be the one to do it."

"I'll cover you," Anton said. As the group rounded the corner he was able to sense them well enough to know they already had weapons drawn. With Tonina there and the proclivities of the Flying Blood Cult he had no concerns that he was provoking opponents they would not already be facing- nor would he be attacking innocents unprovoked.

His target dodged, smoothly flowing out of the path of his arrow. Anton hadn't entirely expected his attack to work since he targeted the strongest of them- one at late Spirit Building- but he'd at least hoped for a graze. Instead… he hit the less ready target behind him in the thigh. There was no point trying to force his arrow into a loop when he could cause damage without wasting energy.

There had been discussions on how to fight the Flying Blood Cult. The Order of Ninety-Nine Stars and others recognized them as a danger and prepared various responses. Unfortunately, the results were inconclusive. As blood spurted out of the man's thigh it seemed as if he might be critically injured, but the blood swirled around him in a cloud. That was the very essence of the debate. The Flying Blood Cult controlled loose blood, using it as both offensively and defensively. Thus, causing them to bleed was dangerous. Except not injuring them wasn't a choice either. Counting on being able to kill an opponent in a single blow was just arrogant. And- as a few of them sliced their extremely sharp daggers along their forearms- they were quite willing to do it to themselves. But it wasn't as if they had an unlimited amount of blood. They were just crazy enough to fight with life-threatening tactics as their mainstay.

Arrows flew out from his position. Devon remained where he was, holding a defensive stance. Though he might have wished to charge forward, if he left the formation everyone would be significantly disadvantaged- including himself. And the Flying Blood Cult seemed quite willing to close the gap. They threw daggers with swirling clouds of blood around them as they advanced, but that was only to keep Anton on his toes as he continued to fire at them.

The daggers flew past them… but Devon's chains wrapped around them, yanking them out of the clouds of bloody energy before they could continue. His chains then tossed the daggers over the side of the stairs, where the control fizzled away in the dense pressure.

The leader of the group was the swiftest, and lunged at Anton with daggers in each hand. But Anton merely took a step back and to the side. That wouldn't have brought him out of the man's reach, except Catarina intercepted him, slicing at him with her sword. Velvet appeared as her dagger stabbed into his armpit, aiming for his heart- her stealth abilities magnified by the sense-muddling nature of the area.

Her dagger went deep, all the way to the hilt. She pulled her dagger back out, blood spraying everywhere. A deadly blow, but the man cackled with glee. The blood swirled into a cloud, pushing the two of them away.

Anton was only able to fire two more shots before he was forced into the melee. He had no interest in fighting the primary madman, but instead moved to support Devon. Timothy had moved back towards them, leaving Hoyt and Chikere to deal with the remainder of the Eternal Sword Hall- only a handful of cultivators including the two fighting Chikere. Timothy moved to engage the leader of the Flying Blood Cult, his shield blocking the swirling vortex of blood around the man. That left Catarina free to fend off some of the others while Velvet moved from position to position seeking advantageous openings.

Devon was facing off against another member of the Flying Blood Cult, who was crazily stabbing at him even with one of his arms wrapped in a chain being crushed, squeezed, and torn apart. Tonina was there as well, holding a whip. "You caused me quite a bit of trouble," she said, "Why couldn't you just die?" Though she was an arrogant and spoiled young mistress, the position afforded her significant training opportunities. Her cultivation was close to Devon's in mid Spirit Building, clearly having gone against the official restrictions on her training over the last year and a half, since she was in early Spirit Building at the beginning of her punishment. Her whip uncoiled towards him, moving at a deceptive speed as it continuously accelerated. But one of his own chains moved up to meet it. The whip wrapped around it, but the chains of energy coiled in return.

Though Anton wasn't specialized in melee combat, he kept up with his training with the dual axes. The fact that they were such high quality weapons taken from the prizes in Everheart's Tomb allowed him to at least hold off a few opponents. Though their cultivation nearly matched his, he found their movements a bit sluggish like the members of the Eternal Sword Hall. Not enough to take advantage of three on one, but he was able to at least keep causing small wounds as he cut through their defenses. While that meant there was more blood they could use, Anton was well aware that their reserves were limited. Even if they had more blood than a normal person, they would run out eventually.

Devon controlled his chains to fling the member of the Flying Blood Cult engaging him every which way, slamming him into the stairs or just yanking him back and forth through the cloud of blood around him. That kept him from being able to keep effective control over the blood, though some of it still reached his defenses and tried to squeeze their way in and tear them apart. Another chain was constantly reaching for the man's neck, but he seemed to have some amount of self-preservation instinct, and wouldn't let Devon achieve a truly lethal hold. On the other side he wrestled against Tonina's whip. That was in a lock, but she held a long blade in her other hand. Presumably so she could impale her opponent once she'd disarmed or bound them with her whip. Her whip continuously coiled around to try to get free while her other hand kept him occupied defending, and he wasn't quite able to catch her weapon. But even as she sliced a line of blood along his face- blood which immediately tried to tear him apart- he remained confident.

An important shift in the battle occurred as Chikere disarmed one of her opponents of his offhand blade. With the same motion as she did so, her sword followed through on his defenseless left side, stabbing into his chest and piercing his heart and lungs. That blood was far enough from the Flying Blood Cult that it simply pooled on the floor beneath him. But Chikere wasn't done. The disarmed sword came under her control to block the Essence Collection Cultivator along with her other floating blades.

That moment left him open to an attack from behind- Hoyt slashed down with his axe, leaving a trail of flame. Though he put his all into the strike, Hoyt barely cut through his defenses. That was the difference between mid Spirit Building and Early Essence Collection, after all. But the attack wasn't pointless- it sent the man staggering forward into a handful of swords, driving at him from all different angles. The ones that didn't pierce his defenses sent him closer to the edge, and off of it- but as he fell Chikere yanked both swords from his grasp. He only fell a single flight of stairs, but one leg collapsed as he hit the landing below.

With no more immediate opponents, Chikere and Hoyt were able to join the battle with the Flying Blood Sect. Without the advantage of numbers they would surely lose the battle, and Tonina seemed to recognize that. She abandoned her whip, completely leaving it to Devon as she turned to flee. He attempted to follow after her but the persistent fellow who had a mangled arm gleefully got in Devon's path. Devon glared, focusing in on all of him with all of his chains. He might be extremely durable, but without Devon having to split his focus his bones were crushed and his body pierced by the spikes growing from the chains- the blood falling to the floor as the man perished. A few moments later the rest of the enemies fell, and Chikere and the member of the Order raced after Tonina. She was already around a corner so Anton couldn't shoot her properly, but she wasn't so far it was hopeless to catch up. Until they suddenly ran into a wall and the pressure bearing down on them doubled.

Chapter 169

Until the very moment it sprang up, Anton had no idea they were walking into a formation. After it was activated, its boundaries were quite clear. A barrier in front and behind of them blocking their movement, and the more significant effects of increasing the pressure on them filling the whole area in between. Half of them stumbled at the sudden near-doubling of the weight on them. They could handle steady increases, but a sudden doubling was outside what they were prepared for.

Beyond the barrier- a transparent barrier that simply blocked them from moving forward- stood several figures. They had all seen Tonina pass that way, so her presence was no surprise. They also knew that Zvonko was present on the same island, and of course he had others from the Heavenly Lion Sect with him. But seeing Van Hassel and Slusser there was somewhat unexpected. Anton would have taken careful note of their arrival.

A light appeared in the darkness, and Van Hassel walked up to the barrier on the other side. He looked over the group, his eyes stopping on Devon. "Oh yes. I do vaguely remember that one." Then his eyes turned to Anton. "You really are an old man. Quite strange. Do you know how much trouble you've caused me?"

"Not as much… as I should have…" It was difficult to talk with double the pressure. Van Hassel seemed unfazed where he was, of course. "Should have just killed you… at the tomb."

"Perhaps you should have. But you won't get that chance," he smiled. "My companion here is a formation master, after all. You won't be getting out of here alive."

Slusser nodded, though his face wasn't quite as relaxed as Van Hassel. He was clearly working to maintain the formation. There was sufficient energy for it to run, but keeping it steady was another matter. "Yes, you won't be leaving. Our business partners were quite upset at what happened." He looked beyond them, then at Chikere. She was currently slashing at the barrier, making it wobble but it still held firm. "That won't work, you know. We hadn't expected someone of your caliber to join up with them, but fortunately you came along with your own enemies. They delayed you long enough."

Zvonko frowned, clutching his missing hand. "I'd love to defeat you personally for what you did to me, but this will have to do."

Chikere slashed her sword towards him, causing him to step back even though she couldn't pass the barrier. "Pfeh. Coward. I'll cut off your other hand too, once we get out." She turned to the rest of the group. "Hey why are you all just standing there? We need to break this formation!"

Everyone else looked to Catarina, who had a frown on her face. "Save your strength," she said. "It won't work like that." She stepped forward, barely managing to raise her leg high enough to reach the stair just before the landing the group was watching from. Sweat dripped down her forehead. She was the primary part of their group, guiding how they resisted the pressure. The sudden doubling was even harder on her. "You said you're… a formation master?"

"That's right," Slusser said. "I've spent decades perfecting my craft."

"You ever… see anything by Everheart?"

"Yes. That man threw his bizarre formations around everywhere."

Catarina slowly turned her head, the simple movement difficult. "Timothy. You remember... me talking about rebound?"

"Of course. I can't say that I understood it all though." Timothy kept his back as straight as possible as he stood next to her.

"Then could you please… stand there." Catarina pointed to a spot only slightly off from where he was. Timothy nodded seriously and shifted the half step. "Grandpa…" Catarina pointed almost at the ceiling, somewhere over Slusser's right shoulder. "There. As focused and strong as you can." She held her sword at her side as she reached into her bag.

Anton raised his bow. He began to gather energy, forming an arrow. Even as he built up to what he felt was a fairly impressive amount, Slusser laughed. "You won't shatter the formation with that little." Though he wasn't a master of formations himself, Anton knew that. To shatter a formation required overwhelming power. For a barrier of the sort in front of him, anything that didn't break through would be a waste. Using up half of his remaining energy that he needed to keep himself from being crushed seemed pretty foolish… but only if he didn't trust his family.

Everyone else tensed up as his arrow flew forward. Energy swirled around Catarina, gathered from the others. It latched onto the arrow as it struck the barrier- but instead of piercing through or breaking off, the barrier warped and stretched like cloth. The arrow slowed until it crawled to a halt... and then suddenly it rocketed backwards. As it did so the rest of the formation twisted, a portion of it directly in front of Timothy slamming towards him. His raised shield blocked it, but the downwards angle pushed him into the floor hard enough to crack the stairs he stood on. But as the barrier snapped back into position, it tore apart.

Catarina pulled her hand out of her bag, holding a dozen formation flags at the same time, throwing them into the opening. They spun around, twisting and pushing the barrier wide apart.

As the barrier opened, Anton realized why the group on the other side was standing so casually. They had been drawing the pressure away from their area specifically, not just amplifying the power of the tower. That made a significant difference, because at the same time as he suddenly felt half of the pressure lift off him they were hit with the full force of the pressure, and then some- and at a strange angle. Everyone who had been trapped was forced towards the opening, but the pressure that rocketed through shoved those on the other side backwards and up a flight of stairs.

Chikere didn't have the experience with the group to be certain that whatever Catarina had asked for would work, but she was the fastest among them. As soon as she was through the barrier she charged forward, slashing towards Zvonko. Luckily for him, one of the others at his side reacted to deflect the attack for him so he only lost a finger instead of his whole hand.

Anton moved forward in formation with the others, his first arrow flying towards Slusser who was still a crumpled heap on the stairs. He'd intended to use it to force him into a weaker position, but he found his arrow pierced straight into the man's elbow. Slusser flailed as he stood unsteadily onto his feet, glaring down at them. "How?!"

Catarina's eyes were sharp as she looked at him. "If you're a formation master… then you should know. You set up a formation inside a larger formation and didn't even consider resonant backlash."

Timothy and Hoyt charged as the front ranks of their group. Anton could see Timothy stumbling as he moved. There was no way the hit he took hadn't broken at least an ankle, but Anton had to admire his determination. Then again, it was a life or death situation. If he didn't push himself beyond reasonable limits, when would he? Though Anton supposed some people simply couldn't. They were the ones who perished.

Chikere kept one of the members of the Heavenly Lion Sect busy as she continued to target Zvonko, while the other three of them moved to intercept the members of the Order. Even injured, Timothy engaged two of them and Hoyt another one along with Van Hassel, who wielded a large two-handed sword.. Slusser charged forward, wielding a large glaive he swung at Catarina, who dodged agilely. He was in late Spirit Building, but his movements seemed sluggish… from more than just the hit he'd just taken. Devon extended the chains from his scars, pushing the limits of the formation to reach for Tonina. She dodged most of them, but one extended particularly far and wrapped around her ankle, pulling her down the stairs towards them as its spikes dug into her flesh.

Though Hoyt and Timothy were pressed to their limits to fight two at once, their efforts left Anton and Velvet unengaged. Anton began firing arrow after arrow, happy to use up his remaining energy as quickly as he could. As he pulled on the energy of Fleeting Youth, he once again noticed the strange slowness of some people. Zvonko was about what he would expect, but Van Hassel and Slusser were clearly fighting below their capabilities. But as he saw their energy struggle against the pressure, he concluded his observations. An arrow went straight towards Van Hassel's heart. He stepped back, up the stairs, but Anton diverted it to pierce into his hip. They had just arrived. Though they had to have one of the beads to get passage… it didn't necessarily have to be something they earned. If someone else gave up theirs- or they stole them- they could enter the lower area without any experience moving and especially fighting under the pressure. Late Spirit Building cultivations might make up for some of that, but it severely disadvantaged them.

Even though she'd already fought a hard battle against two opponents earlier, Chikere maintained an oppressive aura as she continued to attack Zvonko and his defender. It almost seemed as if she was steering away from killing blows to target their hands- until one of the blades floating around her swept from a slash closer to his waist to suddenly target his neck. He swiftly shifted his energy and managed to keep his head from being severed, but blood flowed freely from his neck.

Velvet made her presence known to the two members of the Heavenly Lion Sect by stabbing her 'twin' daggers into their spines. One toppled to the ground, while the other managed to avoid the intended effect. He still had a five centimeter deep stab into his lower back, but it wasn't immediately incapacitating. But as Timothy rushed forward towards him he had to throw himself away, wrenching the wound open even more.

Slusser's formation was dust in the wind, completely having slipped from his control. However, Catarina continued to throw formation flags around her as he swung at her with his glaive. When a flag tried to move past him he swung his glaive to bat it out of the air- and found his weapon froze in place for a moment. At the same time, Catarina lunged forwards towards him and aimed a stab under his ribcage. He had to leap back, abandoning his glaive to its momentary lack of mobility. Catarina caught it and threw it behind her.

Though he'd been firing a number of arrows, Anton now focused on just one. He caught Van Hassel's eye. "You don't often have foes that can fight, do you?" The power of Fleeting Youth and everything but the last few percent of Anton's internal energy combined into the arrow, streaking towards Van Hassel. The man twisted his sword to block, but Anton's arrow drilled through it- Van Hassel's energy was unable to properly support it with the pressure bearing down on him. Perhaps even more than a normal amount, based on the flags Catarina was throwing everywhere. The arrow continued forward into his chest, and out the back. It only managed to go through his lung and not the heart as Anton had hoped, but blood was coming out both sides- and flowing into the lung as well. That would have to do.

"How can you…" Van Hassel coughed. "It's only been three years…"

"Three and a half."

Van Hassel furrowed his brow, trying to figure out how a half year made a difference to cultivators. Then he collapsed onto his back.

Devon had Tonina completely wrapped in chains. He wrapped them around her arms, legs, head, neck, and many loops around her torso. He began to squeeze, dragging the spikes along her skin. He snarled as he did so… then he let the chains fade away. She flopped to the ground, barely conscious and only able to prevent herself from being crushed by the pressure.

"I hadn't thought you would show mercy," Anton commented.

Devon turned and smiled, "You think this is merciful? You have to learn to think like a stuck-up bitch. Actually, I was thinking we might cause a little trouble. Up for it?"

"Absolutely."

Devon turned towards Chikere and yelled. "We need him alive!"

She turned around as his other hand fell to the ground. "Um. Just alive, right?"

"Right."

"Good. Because it's too late for more than that."

Chapter 170

With some of their opponents unable to properly fight in the pressure of the tower and a few already defeated, the tides of battle continued to sway in the favor of those from the Order- with the help of Chikere, of course. Though her help was balanced out by the fact that they probably wouldn't have gotten into conflict with the Eternal Sword Hall. Though in that case, they might have instead had other opponents.

With Slusser divested of his halberd, Catarina was able to finish him off in a few attacks, and the last few members of the Heavenly Lion Sect were defeated.

Most people were just barely able to stand at the end of the battle. Anton was somewhat impressed with how together some of their defeated opponents were. If nothing else, their body tempering had been sufficient to keep them from collapsing entirely. Though the splotches appearing all over their skin showed they wouldn't last forever.

"I'll be right back!" Chikere said, walking with haste down the stairs.

"What are you doing?" Anton asked as she passed.

Her only answer was a single word. "Swords! Go ahead and start going up without me!"

Anton looked down at those lying around them. "That does bring to mind that we need to disarm the rest of them." The value of the equipment their opponents were each likely worth almost as much as their own- or possibly more. That didn't necessarily count the equipment from Everheart's tomb and certainly not the Vessel of Insights, but it was easy to see why many cultivators preyed on others. "It's not too late to just toss everyone down the stairs," Anton commented as they returned to a more steady formation and started making sure none of the unconscious or dead figures had access to weapons. "But I suppose the conflict will escalate regardless."

Devon nodded. "This is our best chance to pin something on them. They just tried to kill us after all. Even if it's just our word against theirs…" he gestured to Van Hassel and Slusser, "These two are wanted criminals in Graotan and officially expelled from the Heavenly Lion Sect, yet clearly still working with them. We won't get a better chance than that. And she," Devon grabbed the wrist of Tonina and started dragging her up the stairs, "Is proof of reneging on legal agreements."

"You've been talking to Kohar, hmm?" Anton smiled.

"It's pretty clear it's not effective to deal with people one at a time."

"I agree," Anton said. "Her working with the Flying Blood Sect might also help, though they have no official location to cause trouble with. But with them all working together…" Anton looked back down the stairs. "Perhaps we shouldn't bring up the Eternal Sword Hall. They're vaguely within reason, though they still broke the truce here."

Everyone started moving up the stairs, several of them dragging a body. Zvonko's bleeding stump was bound to potentially keep him alive. Tonina was in poor shape but still alive. Van Hassel was just barely still breathing, though Slusser was dead. They would all be dead soon enough if things happened properly, but bringing those who were still alive was the most appropriate. They might lie about what happened, but everyone who was honest would be able to confirm their deceptions. Not every cultivation technique trained Insight in the same way, but everyone had some ability to read others. Direct lies were easiest to detect. And the most important thing was what the Order thought.

Throwing bodies into magic bags was unpleasant, but having some representative samples should help their case. And while Anton seriously doubted the conflicts would be resolved in a court of law, it was the principle of the thing. Just saying they were right with swords, spears, and bows was no better than anyone else.

Chikere caught back up with the rest of them before they reached the surface. Her own cultivation was higher, so even though she wasn't able to work as part of a formation to lessen the burden on her, she was able to store more energy and replenish it more quickly. She wasn't exactly looking pristine as they climbed, but she still radiated a strong aura.

As they reached the surface, Anton didn't even bother to wait for people to notice what happened and begin crowding around before he pulled out a long tube and stabbed it into the ground outside the tower. It only took a spark of his own energy to ignite it, sending a blast of energy into the air. There were various forms of communication cultivators might use, but the most widely obvious was a signal flare. The particular properties of the ones Anton and the others had would make it obvious that members of the Order were in distress. While that might attract others as well, the situation was likely to escalate quickly regardless. Catarina and Devon added their own flares to the mix. More than a few wouldn't make anyone come faster, but it was important to indicate it wasn't just a small incident.

Many cultivators were at their camps outside for their rest periods- with no day or night, it just ended up being a constant cycle. Most looked curiously as a few half-dead people were dragged outside. Few were brave enough to approach, though Anton saw Lowell and waved him closer. "Might be best to cut ties with the Heavenly Lion Sect. They egregiously violated the pact."

Lowell looked down at Zvonko, shaking his head. "Stupid bastard." He raised his eyes to Anton. "Can you…?"

"I could vouch for you, but siding with us might bring you into more danger. You'd be welcome later…"

Lowell shook his head, "If I'm going to cut ties, I'd rather do so openly. Though I'd first like to hear about this… I can guess, but I'd like to hear what you have to say."

"Yes, there are a lot of curious people about." Anton took a deep breath. It was important to have confidence. He was going to be telling the truth, but it was important to look like it. "Zvonko of the Heavenly Lion Sect, as well as other disciples of the same, joined forces with wanted criminals and exiles of their own sect to ambush us, disciples of the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars!" Yelling an explanation at people wasn't going to make all the details clear, but he had to start somewhere. More people were gathering and clearly forming into different groups. Other members of the Order and their allies, people clearly trying to stay out of everything, and some of the members of the Heavenly Lion Sect and their allies. Like the tomb, though the elders weren't currently around.

Ironically enough, without Zvonko nobody in the Heavenly Lion Sect was willing to make any accusations- they all looked around as if expecting someone else to do it. Eventually someone did- from a significant distance away. "Under what justification do you hold one of our elite disciples?"

"I already explained, but I can add more details if you want." So Anton explained. Again, and again. More people arrived, climbing down the tower to see what was going on- and some came up out of the depths. The ambush was explained in its entirety- including the involvement of the Eternal Sword Hall. Even if they had some justifications for their conflict with Chikere, it was still against the pact to attack anyone, including independent cultivators. The others added helpful details, like how they mercifully left people alive, and how Tonina was still supposed to be confined.

The number and strengths of cultivators on both sides were balanced enough that nobody was willing to start an attack- or get into a very public conflict. That gave some opportunity for Anton and the others to begin recovering energy as quickly as they could. If there was to be a conflict, they wanted to be able to fight.

After about half of an hour, Anish of the Glorious Flame Palace emerged from below. "Explain," his voice boomed out.

"It's simple," Chikere was the one who spoke first. "Eternal Sword Hall wanted revenge on me for taking what they owed me, and they grouped up with these others to try to murder me and members of the Order, for various reasons. And besides every member of the Flying Blood Sect, they had three more criminals linking the Heavenly Lion Sect to a big illegal slaving conspiracy. So pretty much the usual for them." Members of the Heavenly Lion Sect were appropriately outraged at her words, but none were willing to say anything against an Essence Collection cultivator with at least two dozen swords floating around her, stabbed in the ground, and held casually in her hand.

Anish folded his arms in front of him, gouts of flame erupting from his nostrils as he breathed. "Given previous circumstances, I will give proper consideration to your words. But Glorious Flame Palace will work to make sure there is a full accounting of what has happened." For a sect not known for its measured and rational behavior, that was about the best they were going to get. But he wasn't the only one that had to be worried about.

Boats were approaching the tower island from all directions. The strange nature of the Luminous Ocean Society's Secret Realm made it difficult to tell exactly how far some people were, yet relatively easy to feel people approaching. That included a significant number of Heavenly Lion Sect elders and senior disciples- though Nowell and his group did nothing, the other members had their own signals to send. And with those signals came some from other factions, until people from all over were approaching. Anton had hoped that he would feel more members of the Order closer, but while they were certainly approaching, others seemed closer.

The first Essence Collection disciple of the Heavenly Lion Sect to bounded into the middle of the island in just a few jumps. He was relatively young- perhaps somewhere in his forties though he of course looked younger as all cultivators did. He held in his hand a punching dagger- the small weapon being quite atypical for many cultivators who preferred flashier and larger weapons. "You will immediately unhand our disciples."

"Does that count these criminal exiles?" Anton gestured to the prone body of Van Hassel with his foot.

The disciple was apparently savvy enough not to answer directly and somehow admit some sort of wrongdoing. "You must immediately release all of your unlawful captives. You won't get another chance."

"Alright," Anton said. "Done. No more unlawful captives. This is where I must inform you that any assault on us will be an additional violation of the treaties. Think carefully."

The senior disciple glared at Anton, his eyes shifting to the unceremoniously placed bodies. Though they were barely breathing and tied up in chains, their wounds had been bound and their bleeding stopped with ointments. "That was your one chance for mercy," he said- but he didn't make any move to attack.

Anton had all sorts of ways he could provoke the man to attack, but he really didn't want to be a driving force of a bloodbath. While the current conflict was going to inevitably result in more deaths, he was actually interested in minimizing those to his side. After all, if the battle was even the Order would only lose out. Killing one enemy for losing one disciple was not a fair trade.

It seemed the Heavenly Lion Sect had been arranged in such a way that their late Essence Collection cultivators were somewhat closer than that of the Order. Members trickled in on both sides, but the Heavenly Lion Sect's numbers were swelling with more powerful cultivators. Then an old man in Life Transformation came ashore.

"Master," said the disciple who had challenged them before. "They refused to free Zvonko and the others."

"Very well," said the old man. "Then their sentence is death."

Death. That was something Anton was familiar with, yet somehow still hadn't encountered. But as a blade came at him, he felt it. The elder wielded a punching dagger, the same as his disciple. He crossed the distance of a hundred meters between them in an instant, his strike aimed right at Anton's heart. Chikere moved to counter, but she was too slow. Except that his attack was suddenly moving only half the speed as it hit the barrier Catarina had set up. She wasn't just going to sit around waiting for an hour as a potential battle brewed. She created a defensive formation to protect them. And it helped, because Anton managed to only get stabbed halfway into his heart instead of all the way through it. Technically the blade hadn't even touched him, it was only the extension of energy sticking out from it that did. Of course, the follow up attack would kill him regardless. But halfway through, the man leapt backwards. Not only that, he continued to flee until he was on the other side of the tower.

Five arrows landed where he had been standing, and six more flew after him, three striking the tower and the final three barely being deflected by the man. Anton smiled. He hadn't even sensed elder Kseniya until after she shot- but he could just make her out in the distance extremely far away on the sea. Anton smiled, even as he was using all of his energy to keep his blood inside his body. That elder must have thought he could finish them off before any of the Order's powerful elders arrived, but he was wrong. Though his actions reminded Anton there were still several tiers of power he needed to climb. Still, surviving a single attack was something to be proud of- even as a group. He'd have to thank Catarina for her practicality later. When he could speak without blood shooting out of his chest.

Chapter 171

The Order of Ninety-Nine Stars was aware that times of change were coming. Trying to resist change only ever resulted in those who refused to be flexible, shattering under the force of the world. While ultimately they would prefer to avoid conflicts with other sects, that was only possible if they were willing to capitulate to their demands. And even then conflicts would arise, even if they were mere puppets. Of course, as cultivators they wouldn't accept that.

Having individuals who would catalyze changing times within a sect was both a blessing and a curse. Some would prefer to just endure through hard times, and those who precipitated changes were not helpful for that. Though personally Elder Kseniya was all in favor of those that actually did things.

She continued to fire Spirit Arrows even as she accelerated her boat. Did that old fart Lakatos really think a tower was going to stand in the way of her arrows? Because he was right. But she didn't need to let him know that. Her current shots were cleverly disguised as lethal, but not particularly dangerous- or draining. Once she was closer the tower wouldn't be a problem, but after the first few kilometers precise control really went downhill sharply.

She wasn't the only one approaching. Everyone had taken notice, though some sects weren't interested in showing up merely to spectate. The Frostmirror Sect, for example, wouldn't involve themselves if things didn't involve their own disciples. It wasn't as if they had an alliance with either side, so there was no need for them to get involved.

It seemed she managed to convince the members of the Heavenly Lion Sect that she would be able to lock onto them from where she was, as none approached while she was getting to the island. She certainly had no intention to inform them that if someone below Life Transformation had attacked- with a smaller energy signature- she couldn't so easily have targeted them. Then again, they would be less able to avoid her attacks.

Either way, she arrived without anyone she cared about dying. Though it looked like it was damn close. Anton's heart was barely functioning as one. As for some other dying people… now that she was close she was able to look them over. An interesting collection of foes.

"Elder Lakatos," Kseniya said as she leaped onto the island. "You will come out and explain why you thought it was allowed to attack my disciple." When he didn't immediately move, she shot five arrows- one circling around the tower towards him, and four others that stopped immediately in front of the disciples of the Heavenly Lion Sect. He moved out, though mostly to avoid the shot circling the tower.

"Your disciple broke the truce-"

The arrows stabbed into the disciples, though only as deep as a knuckle. Elder Kseniya drew another arrow and aimed directly at the man's disciple, who used the same punching daggers as weapons. "Without lying."

"You dare accuse me of lying?" He glowered at her, taking a stance. "I may have little choice but to hide when you aren't on the island, but with you here…"

"Elder Kseniya," spoke one of those surrounding Anton. Catarina, his great-granddaughter, if she recalled correctly. "I can give you the accurate information." It didn't take long- it seemed their group had much practice going over the details lately.

"Thank you. Now that we've heard that, Elder Lakatos of the Heavenly Lion Sect. Do you deny that your sect has been working directly with slaving criminals that your own Sect expelled?"

"Of course I deny it," he said. "It's nonsense!" He stepped forward, flaring his energy.

"Wrong answer." Elder Kseniya released her arrow, sending it straight into the heart of his disciple. She had considered stopping it at the same level of wound Anton had received, but that was not a mercy on the man's part. He'd fully intended to kill. Elder Lakatos tried to reach his disciple, but only got halfway there before the arrow was all the way out of his back. "I personally witnessed your fraternization at the latest of Everheart's Tombs. You should have thought before you spoke."

Of course, Elder Lakatos didn't just stand around doing nothing. But as she spoke a constant hail of arrows keeping him on his toes prevented him from reaching her- or any of the weaker disciples.

"You would really be better served by helping that boy out. It's just a hole in his heart. I didn't even completely annihilate it or turn his brain into a sieve. Take him and leave. That includes every member of the Heavenly Lion Sect."

"You wish to make us give up on this tower?" he frowned. "Fine. Hand over Zvonko and we shall consider it done."

"It seems you misinterpreted what I meant. My apologies." Elder Kseniya waved her hand at him. "You can come witness his execution if you wish, but he will not be leaving with you. And the entire Heavenly Lion Sect will be leaving the Secret Realm, not just this island."

"You have no right to do that," he said- bolstered somewhat by the members of his sect and allies around him. "Nor can you take captive one of our disciples."

"You," Kseniya waved her hand, "Law woman. Come forward."

Kohar stepped out of the crowd. "It's Kohar."

"Hmm. If you take up the bow I'll consider remembering it. Tell him what rules they violated and how nice I'm being letting anyone live."

"There are a number of things. Firstly, it is impossible to justify his attack because they weren't done with personal witness or a proper investigation. There are several sections of the rules that cover that specifically." Kohar obediently began to recite them. "It could only be justified if lives weren't immediately threatened, and each of the captives were properly treated. In such a case, the party who initially brought accusations gains the responsibility for the lives of the captives, but is allowed to retain control until a proper investigation is completed."

"She's just making stuff up," Elder Lakatos said. He gestured to the members of the Heavenly Lion Sect and their allies around him. "Come! Let us stop these miscreants hiding behind the veil of a 'righteous' sect."

"Yeah!" A voice boomed from afar, "Do it!" A flaming book struck the ground in front of him, cracking the stone. "Though I should probably tell you to read the stupid book before you do it." A man with wrinkled skin, bald except for hair made of fire rising from his head, stood at the edge of the island. He was Elder Medved, of the Glorious Flame Palace- and there were others with him. "It's a lot of pages, but you should be able to find them with the law wo- with Kohar's references." Elder Lakatos stooped down to pick up the tome- then cursed as his fingers were singed. "Ah, my bad." Medved smiled and let the flames fade away. "It was just for show."

As he read, Kohar continued. "Punishment for breaking the treaty can result in the death of all members involved. Previous actions merited that threshold but were generously deferred. However, in such a case when another violation is committed in a short timeframe- usually one to five years on the short end- the more severe violation decides the punishment.

"I dispute your reading of the law!" Elder Medved said.

"That is allowable," Kohar admitted, "However, that must be done properly and not through attacking for perceived faults. You did not, in fact, see any violations by the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars, did you?"

"They're holding our disciple! And that bitch shot another one!"

"After hundreds of people witnessed your attack," Kohar pointed out. "But I see I will not get a rational discussion with you. Perhaps you would prefer to bring it up with Elder…?" she turned towards the man from the Heavenly Lion Sect.

"Medved, young Kohar. And I would be glad to." He stepped forward, fire spiraling up and around him as he did so.

Things were a mere centimeter from exploding into chaos, but while the Heavenly Lion Sect and their allies might be able to handle the Order, they couldn't deal with them and the Glorious Flame Palace. Plus whatever bystanders might join in for a chance to loot some of them. The Flying Blood Cult… wasn't necessarily on their side. "You haven't heard the last of this." He picked up the fallen disciple, who was breathing weakly, and began to walk towards the shore.

"Neither have you," Kohar reminded. "Don't forget to wear something nice to the execution."

For most of his life, Anton thought that a heart just had to get blood flowing through the body to function. In most cases, that was a sufficient definition. However, when he had to push his own blood into his arteries the differences between proper pulses and continual flow began to emerge. He barely kept himself conscious, and the powerful cultivators around him didn't help with that. Though the pressure of their auras on him wasn't quite so restrictive, just because he wasn't physically oppressed didn't mean there wasn't mental baggage there.

He'd have to thank Elder Kseniya again. After he talked to Devon and reminded him that he knew he could be injured. Just because it was his grandson's idea didn't mean it wasn't something he would have done. Bringing people in for a proper sentencing and execution… while it was vaguely tyrannical comparing it to just killing people all over the place it was quite reasonable. Though they'd still killed everyone 'unimportant'.

He looked up to Elder Kseniya. "What do you think might happen from this?"

"Lots of things," she said. "A bit of justice. War. A shifting of the balance of power in nearby regions."

"Which is most likely?" Anton asked.

She looked down at him and smiled. "All of them together. You do manage to attract a lot of trouble, don't you?"

He shrugged. What was he supposed to say? Though he hadn't started this conflict, it wasn't as if he hadn't been looking for revenge on several of the individuals involved. He would have just done it in a different context. The results would have been the same if he died along with the others, because covering it up entirely would have been impossible.

"Hey uh," Chikere spoke up next to Anton, "Wanna see how I stitch blade wounds with energy?"

One of the elders from the Order scurried over as she was talking. "Why are you just standing there with an open wound and not saying anything?" The woman took out a box full of different needles, straight and curved. "I didn't even realize you were injured."

Anton shrugged, "Fuzzy head."

She sighed. "That's… good, actually. Now, this might hurt a little bit. Shouldn't wait for anesthetic."

If asked later whether having his heart stitched up was painful, Anton would have said yes. But in comparison to having a bone set, it wasn't really that bad. Her energy from the Ninety-Nine Stars synchronized well with his own, not disturbing him as she floated needles inside his chest to stitch him up. Her work was quick and accurate, so he could hardly say it was one of the most painful things he experienced. And it was just physical pain.

"There you go. Anton, right?"

He nodded. "Sorry, I don't believe we've talked. Your name?"

"You may call me Elder Peric. Though it seems you don't come to the medical ward… ever."

"I was there after The Hunt," he said.

"Really? I don't remember you." Then she frowned, "Wait, you were… in Body Tempering, weren't you."

"Sixth star or so," he nodded.

"But now you're at the eighteenth. Yes, I see. I thought perhaps there was just someone with the same name."

"There might be others," Hoyt spoke up. "But if it's an Anton you've been hearing about around the Order, it's him."

"Ah. Hoyt," she inclined her head. "I'd heard you were in the same team." She looked around- people had dispersed significantly, but most of the elders of the Order were still standing around defensively. "Missed you in the crowd." She looked at the others standing nearby, specifically Catarina and Devon. "Two members of your family, as well."

"And another," Catarina said, "but she's still a bit young."

"Yes." She looked at the three chained cultivators next to them. "I heard about what happened. Not in great detail but… he's the one responsible?" she gestured to Van Hassel.

Anton nodded, "Directly, it's him. But based on other information it's more than just that. It should have been done with the blessing of the Heavenly Lion Sect."

"Sounds like them. It's just usually hard to pin anything down on that sort. Good on ya. How are you feeling, by the way?"

Anton looked down. He'd almost forgotten the wound already. Though he was still missing some blood. "Thank you."

"Good thing to thank me now. It'll ache like hell later."

And it did. Almost as bad as his joints had in winter.

Chapter 172

The Order wasn't willing to withdraw from the Secret Realm right away, but they also weren't confident in safely escorting their prisoners back with just a small escort. So for the moment some of the elders were watching over the captives.

"Thank you for your efforts," Anton inclined his head. "I know you'd rather be seeking your own fortunes than standing guard on a few Spirit Building cultivators."

"Unlike you," an older woman responded, "We've been cultivating for quite some time. We're not going to suddenly make any improvements. Better to allow you up-and-coming disciples a chance."

They were all bound nearby with strong chains that prevented them from cultivating and gathering natural energy. Though they were very useful to restrain defeated enemies, they were not only expensive but impossible to use in combat. Even if an opponent was slow enough to have manacles slipped onto them, the chains wouldn't suddenly make them incapable of acting. Until they expended their energy they would be able to fight almost as normal.

Zvonko and Tonina had already levied countless insults at their captors and of course Anton and the others. At the current moment they were gagged, though they also grew tired of whining on their own. With their cultivation suppressed they felt sluggish and weak, even if they were technically more hearty than a normal human.

Van Hassel was a strange exception. He wasn't staying quiet out of an abundance of caution, but instead had a blank look on his face. He rarely seemed to focus on anything, except when Anton walked in front of him and his expression became somewhat confused. As if he was still trying to figure out how Anton could have been part of Dungannon, a random village full of commoners.

Anton wanted little to do with them, but after the previous events much of the Order's forces were concentrated around the tower. It was the most secure location for the moment.

As they descended into the depths below the tower once more, Anton was glad that they weren't focused on resisting the pressure with their bodies, because his hurt enough already. Even the small amount that filtered through their defensive formation of energy pressing down on his heart was enough. Though cultivators healed quickly from wounds, that was only relative to normal people. Since things like having a wide hole stabbed in your heart normally weren't survivable, the fact that he was still alive at all was already more than he would have expected before. Not that anybody had been prone to stab him when he wasn't a cultivator. Only a few times in the century he'd been alive.

Still, the stitches held him together- and if he couldn't handle walking around with some pain, he wouldn't have walked at all past ninety.

The battle had been over a week ago. If things had gone a little bit less in their favor their own members could have been taken down first and things would have tumbled in the direction of the other side of the battle. Yet because they had come out victorious, it was quite beneficial to all of them. Surviving life and death battles was always good for cultivation, and doing so under extreme circumstances even more so. The pressure of the tower had actually been beneficial to them because of how some of their opponents reached them. Though Zvonko had actually made it to the top of the tower himself, he and several others had climbed it again without the beads on them to obtain more for their plot. Though it allowed more people to come after them, they were unfit to fight in those conditions.

Van Hassel and Slusser in particular… Anton didn't think highly of their abilities. Then again, if they were particularly skilled they might not have chosen to prey on defenseless commoners. Though they weren't so weak they couldn't have done something more profitable. They seemed to have simply thought nobody would care about random villages. They were wrong, of course. In more ways than one.

But Anton knew he shouldn't dwell on that topic. He should be focusing on the descent. The Vessel of Insights had given him many thoughts about how to better deal with the energy from their own group and those they fought. Though they were all brief snippets they added up one by one until they were able to smoothly continue their descents. They were the forerunners, along with Anish and a few others. Even if there was no particular reward at the bottom, the glory of being the first was something relevant. Even if Anton himself cared little for it, he knew his younger compatriots could do with a morale boost. They weren't all thinking about things decades ahead of them yet. Yet they probably had the most future to think about.

The final leg of the tower ramped up the difficulty once more. The pressure was about the same as before, gradually increasing with depth, but simple things added up. Uneven stairs, some particularly tall. Narrow ledges. Simple slopes. All of those were dangerous with the pressure upon them. They had to make sure they could get back as well.

Then they came to the most dangerous parts. If the cuts in the stairs weren't so precise, it might have seemed like the stairs crumbled and fell apart- but everything was almost like new. But several stairs at a time were missing- instead dropping down to landings a floor or two below. A drop that size could break bones upon landing. More importantly, the pressure was working against them on the way up, meaning that they had to not go too far without considering if they could get back.

But another week of training allowed them to begin making the jumps, a quick hop that reminded Anton of times before he was a cultivator. It was so easy to get his sense of what he could do distorted by his new power. Fortunately, they didn't overestimate themselves. They hopped over holes and sidled across thin ledges and walked down stairs as the very stairs nearly cracked under their weight to finally arrive within sight of a door.

Anish was not far behind them, but they'd passed him up. Once they could see the end, there was no way they were going to turn back. It was quite tempting to just run down the last flight of stairs with reckless abandon, but they resisted. Most of them, anyway. Chikere broke off from the rest of them, stumbling halfway and only stopping herself by driving a half dozen swords into the walls on either side to slow herself. She quickly took the last few steps and opened the door.

"Ha. I win!" she stuck out her tongue at them and stepped through. They were less than a minute behind her, however. When they stepped through the door it was with great relief as the pressure lifted from them. Chikere was just looking at them waving a paper. "What's up with this, huh? Just a stupid note."

Anton and the others exchanged glances. "May I read it?" Anton asked.

"Sure. Doesn't say much."

The letter had an annoyingly familiar handwriting. "Congratulations on passing this test! Sorry I took all of the condensed essence beads they had here, but I needed them for my own training. Since I don't have any rewards to leave behind, I'll leave you with some thoughts instead. Why do you think someone would need to resist immense amounts of pressure? I'll give you a hint. It's not just for diving into the ocean to beat up sharks. -E"

Anton looked at it and shook his head, "Who wants to bet Everheart took all of the treasures in this place already?"

"I do!" Catarina said. "Wait, does that mean we're betting on the same thing?"

"I doubt any of us would bet against that," Hoyt said.

The same determination was soon made by the Order as a whole, and the other sects. It was still beneficial for developing cultivators to undergo the trials, and formation masters were deep in study of the whole area. A stable secret realm was a treasure in and of itself, even if there wasn't anything much they could take away unless they started dismantling buildings brick by brick. The exception to that were plants and parts from beasts. Living things had managed to survive, including several other herb gardens. Though the plants had often grown wild and gotten entangled with each other to the point they barely grew, the best sorts of herbs could be grown from new seed. There were also stores of knowledge to be gained- though key pieces were sometimes missing. Everheart clearly hadn't made copies of everything, but he'd at least been courteous to leave some useful pieces of information related to the herbs he replanted before he left. He was a selfish bastard, but he didn't tear the whole place up by the roots and leave it bare. Just mostly. If they'd actually arrived shortly after him, Anton would have bet on there only being one plant of each type.

Chikere was coming with the Order back to Graotan. Her official reason was she wanted to see justice done in regards to the captives- though the more likely reason was she was concerned about being ambushed by someone. But she was their friend, so nobody was going to say she couldn't use them for a bit of shelter. Even as they were similarly responsible for the ire of various foes that tried to murder them together, they fought back against them together. That was bound to deepen ties between people- or show they really weren't suited to work together.

Since most of the contingent of the Order was travelling together, nobody dared to bother them. Even if they'd gone as quickly as they could, the Heavenly Lion Sect wouldn't have been able to return to their sect and gather an army to attack. There was no guarantee that they weren't planning to, but the journey would be longer than that. The Order had already sent missives back to Graotan- and received replies. They were watching the border quite carefully.

After arriving in Graotan, the trials of Zvonko, Tonina, and Van Hassel weren't immediate. Though the Order could have justified immediate executions, they were prepared to give them as close to a fair trial as possible. They even reached out for outside judges, unrelated to the incidents. One was from the Frostmirror Sect- who nobody could doubt were going to be logical and calculatingly impartial. The second was from the Desert Fox Society based in Droca. Finally, the third was from Infinite Wisdom Palace in Estary.

The lawyers who had defended Tonina before were brought in for the defense of the three- but it was hard for them to raise a real defense. Tonina wasn't supposed to be present at all. That was the easiest case to open and shut. There were previous legal declarations from Ofrurg about that situation. If she hadn't been physically captured in relation to another offense they might have not been able to enforce a large penalty, but they had bountiful evidence. Van Hassel required bringing in more witnesses to his deeds, and that included people from Ofrurg to declare he sold them the illegal slaves. It took some pressure to get them to do so, but it shifted the blame away from them so they were willing. Slusser was also convicted for posterity- though he had perished in the battle.

For the sake of Zvonko, it took quite a bit of bringing in witnesses to put together the case. It wasn't sufficient to just accept the word of the accusers. That would hardly be a trial. Instead, witnesses were important. Nobody else was physically present for the fight, but there were people who saw his behavior- and most importantly, saw him conversing with Van Hassel and Slusser. Not just the association around Everheart's Tomb, but a few cultivators saw them sneaking together into the tower after Anton's group. That association and the previous attack as well as the reasonable certainty in the facts of the second attack were sufficient to also declare him guilty.

But things didn't just stop there. With Kohar's help to get it done properly, the Order put together formal charges against the Heavenly Lion Sect for their association with illegal slavers. Within the laws of Graotan all slavery was illegal, but the standards were sufficient even by Ofrurg's law in a way that couldn't be refuted entirely.

All three judges unanimously agreed to the guilt- to a level justifying execution- of the three parties directly involved. The judges slightly disagreed on how responsible the Heavenly Lion Sect was as a whole, but that was more of a political move. It wasn't as if they had any members beyond Zvonko in hand. But those matters would continue another day. Before that, the execution date was set- and movement in Ofrurg showed that it wouldn't go smoothly.

Chapter 173

The execution was planned to take place in the eastern part of Graotan. At first it seemed like an odd location. The Order's main location was in the southwest, and there was practically nothing close to where the execution was happening. It was just a small outpost with minor defensive formations. But the Order started showing how serious it was as it began to assign missions to people.

Nearly everyone received one of the missions. Anton was one of them, of course. The missions were mandatory with some exceptions, but Anton was tightly connected to the situation involved and thus entirely uninterested in refusing. He was assigned to a small little hamlet called Troutberk. It was more of a handful of farming families loosely knit together by proximity, really, plus a man who had made some deals with traveling traders and started a little shop.

"I understand," Anton was doing his best to convince everyone properly. "This is everything to you. But this place won't be anything without your family. You risk that- along with everything else- if you choose to stay."

A stubborn old man- though not quite so old nor stubborn as Anton himself- frowned. "You think some big-shot cultivators are going to care about our little hamlet specifically? They'll just ignore us."

"They might," Anton agreed. "But if they don't, everything will be gone. And they won't be in a friendly mood. Let me tell you a story. I'm sure you heard at least a little bit about the troubles years back. Bandits coming in from Ofrurg, raiding villages. Maybe they won't touch here, but…" Anton talked about Dungannon. The hamlet wasn't terribly far, but nor was it particularly close. It was actually closer to the border, but it was indeed small enough to be overlooked in most cases. No wealth in the houses, land, or people. But if the Order was right- and they had more information than just Anton himself did- there was a high likelihood of the Heavenly Lion Sect and perhaps some others trying something.

Anton could have easily pushed everyone to leave. It would be difficult for non-cultivators to resist the persuasion of voice, and the implicit fearful respect for cultivators would be sufficient to overcome their hesitation. But he had avenues for understanding as well. Nobody wanted to leave their home, worried that something might happen to it. That included their fields. The thought of losing a season of crops was more than most could bear. Even if they didn't live season to season, they had little in the way of savings. They were also concerned about their few animals- it was difficult to take them, but they couldn't just leave them behind.

Those were the surface problems, but Anton worked his way deeper. Some specific things were of sentimental value and couldn't be replaced. While Anton couldn't bring a house along with him in a storage bag, he could offer to help them with their smaller things. He understood it wouldn't be easy for them, but the risk to their life was very real.

The biggest issue was that old man Abramsen's wife couldn't walk at all. They had no proper wagon or even a large enough cart to carry her and other things, and getting her up on a draft mule was out of the question. But that was solved easily enough with the aid of cultivation. With a bit of work putting together something like a chair Anton could strap on his back was easy enough. It wouldn't be the most comfortable trip, but it might actually be more comfortable than walking.

The woman laughed slightly as Anton hefted her into the air and onto his back. She looked down at her husband and smiled, "If this fellow can do it, maybe you should be the one to carry me on the way back, hmm?"

"Good idea," Anton said- only half jokingly. He wasn't going to let a chance to teach a new batch of people about cultivation pass him by. Along the way, one family had trouble keeping a mule on the path. It kept trying to wander away- but a quick word from Anton fixed that. "Over here girl. Stay with us." The mule obediently came back.

"Well I'll be darned," said her owner. "Can you teach me that trick?"

"It might take a while," Anton admitted. Half of it was just knowing the right tone of voice, but the other half was related to Spirit Building. But being confident was key either way.

The little group from Troutberk eventually made it to the area set up for them, another day's travel beyond the fort where the execution would be happening. With the area simply flooded with members of the Order, it would be impossible for anyone to reach them without the Order being able to provide a response. Beyond escorting villagers, everyone from the Order was likewise assigned to assist with protection in the coming days. The execution date was still two weeks hence, but something could happen at any point.

Anton took full advantage of having thousands of new people in the same area- even though the border with Ofrurg was relatively sparsely populated, dozens of little villages quickly added up. He wasn't the only one trying to teach people cultivation, either. Vincent was still more interested in finding those with real talent, but he still wasn't going to refuse to teach people who asked. There were others as well, beyond Anton's inner circle. The movement was becoming a bit more popular, though it wasn't widespread throughout the Order's disciples yet. Though in a few years it might be, given they would have more incoming disciples who got a chance to cultivate from trying to teach everyone. Anton was still developing the methods to make that easier, but he was confident that everyone could reach at least a few stars. That was a serious benefit, compared to no cultivation at all. And old man Abramsen might actually be able to carry his wife around if he properly cultivated to the second or third star. Though that would take longer than the expected time frame- another three or four weeks would still be less time than it took pretty much anyone to reach the first star.

Though Anton wanted to stay with the civilians to keep them safe, he also had competing desires. He wanted to see the executions, and he reasonably should because all of this mess was related to him. Devon had also helped precipitate it. From a practical standpoint, the Order was expecting an attack and those with higher cultivations and those who could fight from a distance were placed where the epicenter of the action would be. As an archer, Anton quite fit that description.

He was still learning Horizon Shot, but his distance had improved. The actual range that it covered… that could wildly vary. Horizon Shot was both about distance as well as shooting at things that couldn't necessarily be seen, and that meant extending senses to be able to lock on to some sort of energy. While there was no way Anton could properly sense everything at a kilometer from himself, if he focused on just a tiny sliver in one direction he was slightly better than vague forms. He could shoot an arrow that far as well, though that was hardly to the horizon itself. On flat land, the horizon was about five kilometers away. From a proper vantage point it was significantly further, and he was aware Elder Kseniya could shoot much further. At least several tens of kilometers. In that case… he wondered if she could shoot over the border from where they were.

"Which one?" she asked, grinning. "Because let me tell you, that western border is way out of my league. Couldn't hit much to the north or south either."

That answered his question pretty well- the borders to the north and south were at least a hundred kilometers away. Not being able to hit anything there pretty much implied she could get an arrow to fly that far, but nothing else. Like he could shoot a Spirit Arrow two kilometers- if he just wanted it to go. Wouldn't even hit the broad side of a barn though.

Anton looked around, sensing the hundreds of cultivators nearby. It was more people than he'd ever seen so close together at the Order's main facilities, even. "Can't believe I'm responsible for all of this."

"You aren't," Elder Kseniya said. "They are," she gestured, not towards the prisoners but to the east. "The Heavenly Lion Sect and whoever put them up to this. Been pushing the Order more and more. It was time for us to finally show them what we think of that. I could have just made the decision to hand them over, you know? I'm not afraid of telling off our people when we go too far."

"I think you're somewhat biased towards me, though."

"Hmm, am I?" she grinned widely, "Because if you were the kind of idiot who caused stuff like this without thinking about it, I certainly wouldn't be. It's not like my fondness for you can be separated from how I expect you to act." She turned her head, eyes focusing. "There they are." She raised her bow. "One more step and someone will regret it."

Anton couldn't see or sense anything, but he knew that buried among the trees at the far edge of his vision were several border checkpoints. That was one of the biggest reasons for choosing the dinky little fort they currently stood in- even with recent reinforcements it was still small. It was atop a significantly sized hill, bringing them well above the landscape surrounding them. There were few who could take advantage of the extreme distance to the same extremes as Elder Kseniya, but it would allow them to intercept any groups moving through the area.

An arrow appeared on Elder Kseniya's bow, formed from the purest energy Anton had ever seen. Seeing her in training just wasn't quite the same as active combat- and he'd only seen her fire a handful of shots up close in such situations. "Border's closed," she muttered as she shot. Anton did his best to sense what was happening, but the arrow went out of the extreme of his energy senses nearly instantly. His eyes tracked it a bit further until it was too small to make out, before a moment later he saw a tiny point of light as it exploded at the far end. It seemed things had finally started.

Almost as if there wasn't someone regularly shooting arrows, the proper ceremony for the execution started. If anyone was planning to rescue Zvonko or the others, they were cutting things rather close. Actually… Anton supposed perhaps that was on purpose. Maybe they didn't want to succeed at saving them. That would require them to have other achievable goals, of course. That could be simply killing as many members of the Order as they could or the random people they might have still presumed were between them and Zvonko. Or they were really late. Though it was quite reasonable for powerful cultivators at least in Essence Collection to traverse the distance from the border in a quarter of an hour. That would expend some energy they might want for battle, however.

Hopefully the Order was fully prepared. There were more things happening that he hadn't been directly told about- not necessarily secret, but not things that every disciple would hear.

He was unable to sense any individual cultivators at the current distance of the approaching front, around twenty kilometers, but he was just able to make out a group. He might have thought it was just his mind playing tricks on him if he didn't confirm it with where Elder Kseniya was shooting at a measured pace. He doubted she was actually causing much damage at that distance, not shooting every minute or so- even if sometimes she fired a handful of arrows in quick succession. He could feel that she was only making use of something close to what she could recover, so that she wouldn't exhaust herself. Though her shooting was becoming more frequent as people approached… and it would likely become harder for people to defend.

"Got one," Elder Kseniya noted. "Quite a pain, really. There are a few fellows who are making things difficult. They're quite serious about this, it seems." She pulled a physical arrow out of a quiver. It was black and covered in thorns similar to that of a rose. "But so are we." The arrow streaked off into the distance with no visual effect wherever it arrived- but Anton felt a sudden shifting of energy on the other end. He couldn't tell the effects just yet, but there was bound to be something significant, because Elder Kseniya smiled.

Chapter 174

The approaching cultivators slowed slightly after Elder Kseniya shot the black thorned arrow. She still continued to attack in regular intervals, and soon enough the targets were close enough for those with less extreme ranges to get involved. That included attacks returning from the other side, but the defensive formations were sufficient to negate most of the attacks. There were only a few arrows and the like, while various sorts of energy attacks primarily composed of fire or lightning were the most numerous. A few members of the order responded by blocking the most concerning attacks, letting the others fall apart on the fort's defenses.

Behind them the execution was proceeding normally. It began with a list of crimes upon which the prisoners were convicted. The process had been rather thorough, and the list was rather lengthy- especially for Van Hassel. His glare might have had some power behind it if any of the convicts had access to natural energy, but they were little better than healthy humans in their current states.

Anton returned his gaze to the front, where people were just entering his range. The last couple of kilometers would only take the group a couple minutes to pass over- and that was because they were moving slowly for the sake of the 'weaker' members, none of which were below late Spirit Building. All told, there were close to two hundred cultivators- a majority from the Heavenly Lion Sect, but Anton spotted groups of Flying Blood Cult members as well. It was unclear if they actually had some real stake in the outcome- perhaps they were hired to rescue Tonina- or if they just wanted to take part in combat. From what he knew about them, it could be either.

In addition to members of those sects, there were many who didn't match either. Most likely mercenaries who thought whatever rewards offered would be worth the risk. With the numbers they had it wasn't possible to match the Order… but not everyone from the Order was present. They couldn't focus all of their power in one place and leave everywhere else defenseless, after all. Only five members at Life Transformation were present, about a quarter of their total, including Elder Kseniya and Grand Elder Matousek. The latter stood upon the walls of the small fort, a collection of light circling around him. Anton wasn't quite able to count with the way they shifted unpredictably, but there had to be eighty or ninety. Presumably one for each star of cultivation. Anton really wanted to see how they worked, but Matousek wasn't engaged in combat yet… and he had to make himself useful.

With so many targets he wasn't sure who to pick… but no one else seemed concerned about that. Some shot at the man leading the charge, a Life Transformation expert with an impressive aura. He was able to defend against everything lobbed at him, but repeated attacks should wear him down. Anton did see a small wound on his upper arm, perhaps where Elder Kseniya's arrow had struck and then been broken off. Pulling it out- with the thorns- would have ripped the wound open wider.

He scanned the crowd, seeing a face he recognized. Elder Lakatos, with the punching daggers. His heart twinged, mostly healed but not quite there yet. Then his eyes moved just to the right. The man's apprentice had come along, the same one that had almost led the Heavenly Lion Sect to attack before the elders arrived. He looked remarkably good, considering what happened to him. Of course Anton couldn't see a hole in his chest, but even if the man weren't covered he presumed it wouldn't be visible except as a scar. He wondered how many medicinal pills were shoved down his throat to be prancing around already.

Previously there might have been some mercy for him. He'd acted vaguely reasonably, which was above what Anton expected of the Heavenly Lion Sect. But choosing to come along with the attack signed his sentence. Anton focused an arrow, making it as powerful as he was capable of. Knowing Elder Kseniya he could predict how she would act to some extent, and that guided his hand.

The arrow flew straight for the man's heart again, the dense energy of Fleeting Youth bolstering Anton's normal reserves. Though he hadn't made it beyond the first tier of the technique, he was continuing to make strides forward with how he made use of the energy. It flew straight towards the man… and was sliced out of the air. Of course.

But as Elder Lakatos blocked the attack at his apprentice, Kseniya had already launched several of her own- even before Anton's arrow was flying. They followed unexpected curves, some seeming to have missed other targets and turning around to attack from behind. The movements Lakatos made to block the arrow brought him straight into the path of Kseniya's shots, which he only managed to dodge most of. One struck the elbow of his left arm, after which it hung limp. Anton continued to fire at the apprentice or any other targets he found openings for.

The three convicts were arranged on chopping blocks. No way to kill someone was particularly clean, but hangings were less practical when concerning cultivators. Beheadings were the most effective and conclusive method. There were rumors of certain powerful techniques that could allow someone to survive such extreme situations, but even then the body had to be left unattended. Either way, it was certain none of the three were powerful enough for it to be an issue.

The executioner stepped up, hood covering their face. In some places being an executioner was an honor, some a duty, some both- but even among cultivators who were more at home with death, few in a righteous sect wanted to be recognized simply for killing. A large blade was prepared and hefted. The leading member of the Heavenly Lion Sect collided with Grand Elder Matousek, his powerful hammer meeting her open palm. "You will free our disciples immediately."

"Interesting wording, Sand," Matousek said in response. "But you failed to provide a reason." The stars surrounding Matousek spiraled around her arm and up towards the enemy elder, forming into a man-sized fist and sending him flying backwards, aflame.

However, as the man Matousek had called Sand flew down the hill into the forest below, his form suddenly stopped, the flame extinguished. An old woman stood there, previously unnoticed. "No reason… hmm?" The aura that arose from her reached high into the sky, nearly manifesting into a solid form, shaped like a sleek great cat. "It's quite simple. If you surrender now, your deaths will be painless."

Anton was nearly rocked off of his feet as her power continued to rise- Marcio actually collapsed to the ground. Life Transformation, but not the early part like Elder Kseniya, not even middle Life Transformation like Grand Elder Matousek. Late Life Transformation, bordering on the peak. No wonder they had been willing to risk an attack. They brought along one of the sect guardians, the peak of what they had to offer. They generally wouldn't act unless there was a peril to the sect as a whole- which was, in fact, the current case. Though it was entirely their own fault.

"Enid Galli," Grand Elder Matousek spoke from atop the wall. "To think someone such as yourself would dare to step foot into Graotan once more."

Elder Kseniya took a few shots at the woman but the spirit arrows were either deflected to the side or, in one case, tossed back at her, forcing her to duck beneath her own arrow- apparently unable to disperse it.

The woman leapt forward, nearly flying through the air. Her arms swept out to the side, sweeping a dozen people off of the wall as the strongest among them tried their best to protect everyone. "You shall free everyone… at once!" Her voice roared so strongly that Anton's ears almost shattered. Yet the sudden burst of energy wasn't really directed at anything… and ultimately was less of a concern than the pressure of the tower. For him, of course. He doubted that Grand Elder Matousek felt the same as large claws manifested to attack her from both sides as Galli furiously swung her arms.

Matousek put her all into blocking the claws. "Continue with the execution as planned!" he called back. Her fists struck out to meet the attacks as everyone else was forced back, the walls cracking near the fight just from the after effects. The battle didn't take up just a small area, its effects spreading to everything around it as attacks tried to breach the walls.

The executioner's blade came down, chopping off Van Hassel's head. Sand had a particularly strong reaction to that, which Anton caught out of the corner of his eye as he hastily backed away from the epicenter of the fighting towards the other side of the fort. He certainly didn't want to approach the execution grounds. The blade was slowly lifted as Van Hassel's head rolled on the ground, and the executioner stepped forward towards Tonina, lifting the blade and swinging it down.

A tornado of blood suddenly fell from the sky, manifesting into a crimson figure. He clearly radiated the energy of the Flying Blood Cult, but Anton couldn't find any traces of a body. It felt like blood shaped into a woman's form but without any flesh or bones or… anything. But it also didn't feel like a simple projection of energy from somewhere else.

As the executioner's blade almost touched Tonina's neck, the bloody figure grabbed her and ripped apart the section of the execution platform holding her down. The woman once more turned into a tornado which began to carry Tonina up into the sky. Galli took advantage of Matousek's distraction to shove her aside, rushing towards the platform. A lion's paw the size of the entire platform slammed down, targeting the platform and the executioner, though leaving the small section with Zvonko in between two spear-sized claws. It struck the platform, the ground shattering. Yet when the paw was lifted, the executioner still stood in place… unfazed.

"Really now," came a familiar voice. "Is that all you have?" The executioner's blade was casually flung to slice off Zvonko's head as he raised his arms to the heavens. "I was hoping to get a bit more, but this will have to do." One eye glinted through the slits in the hood as an overwhelming aura matched against that of the Heavenly Lion Sect's guardian. A burning golden light shone around him.

Anton had felt that power once before. He'd met with Grand Elder Vandale on many occasions, of course, but the man kept his power extremely constrained. He'd only used it when the hunt went beyond all expected grounds and a nearby village was in danger, along with numerous disciples of the Order.

The air distorted as the sky went dark, except for myriad stars lighting everything. The stars began to rain down from the sky, the very first of them striking the tornado of blood. The tornado coalesced into a woman once more, several times larger. Her crossed arms blocked the meteor, but she was sent flying away- Tonina falling directly back towards the ground.

Another handful of stars crashed down towards Galli, and the rest were targeted at the strongest members of the Heavenly Lion Sect. Even when the stars collided with their targets, the aftereffects of the explosions didn't affect members of the Order.

Anton stood enraptured. It wasn't just a single volley this time, but a continuous rain. This was the peak of power that could be achieved in the world. Explosive attacks covering a wide range, yet controlled enough to not be indiscriminate. Instead of being intimidating, it was invigorating. Many of the others from the Order seemed to feel the same way, as the momentary disruption from Galli's presence was quickly overcome and people continued to fight.

The sleek lion of Galli and the tornado of blood from the unnamed figure had to continuously fend off attacks from Vandale while their own attacks were blocked by the golden ball of fire with Vandale at the center. The earth trembled and shook. Anton knew that no matter what the ultimate result of the battle, the balance of power would be shifting significantly, the world he was used to changing. He vowed to be a key combatant for the next similar event.

Chapter 175

After a fall from a great height, Tonina Potenza was barely able to move around. One of her ankles was broken, along with one arm- though the arm wasn't going to be doing much anyway with her wrists bound. She didn't know how people moved around with broken limbs, cultivators or not. People said that in the most desperate times people could overcome anything, but she just couldn't. Moving quickly just hurt too much. So she staggered along, trying to use one leg as little as possible. She had to leave. To live. She was too important to die in a stupid battle or be executed.

She just had to get away. She almost made it to the outer wall after having fallen far too close to the middle of the battle. Just a couple more steps. Then she was yanked backwards.

"You won't be going anywhere, young woman. You still have to face your crimes."

She tried her best to glare at the old man, but she mostly just winced as she accidentally put her weight on her bad ankle. She didn't want to see his face ever again. She got her wish, but only because she was suddenly facing the last sight of her life- a giant claw formed out of energy.

Anton was aware that many people present in the battle would want to kill him. That was why he'd done his best to stay away from the center of the battle- because although he was the one with the direct connection to the issues at hand, things went well beyond the squabbles with Zvonko and even the raiding by Van Hassel. To that end, he'd thought himself as safe as he could get in his current position. He was, perhaps, half right.

When he felt something coming up behind him, he didn't hesitate to throw Tonina between himself and the attack. Some of those participating seemed to have deemed her to be of some actual importance, so he thought it should make them hesitate. Instead, the attack barely slowed as giant claws cut through chains and a sturdy body that had surpassed the initial Body Tempering realm. That gave him just enough time to call upon his strongest defenses which he rarely had to use. Golden Armor wasn't practical in most cases because it took a significant expenditure of energy, and dodging or deflecting attacks was more effective. But when the attack came so quickly and encompassed everywhere he could consider dodging, he needed it.

He was sent flying backwards through a half-standing portion of wall. That was the good news, because it meant that he hadn't been chopped into little pieces. There was a gouge across his chest, a little below where he had a much thinner scar, but the gouge didn't even make it all the way through his ribs. A laughable caveat, considering the amount of damage he sustained.

Something almost yanked the bow out of his hand as he tumbled backwards, somehow coming to rest on his feet. There was no chance of him getting a successful hit on a Life Transformation expert like Enid Galli, but he couldn't possibly get away either. So he wrapped his bow in energy to achieve the greatest effect he could, trying to amplify the twang of the string and the snap of the limbs. He thought he did pretty well, but the Spirit Arrow that flew forward had worse momentum than most of those he had shot recently. So much for trying new things in the heat of battle. And a giant cat was leaping towards him, with the figure of an old woman buried inside the form.

Anton prayed for a well placed meteor, but none came. But even as he dodged backwards- completely certain he wouldn't get out of the range of the attack- the attacker stopped. Not of their own volition, but forcefully. He saw a bloody tornado wrapping around not just the arms and legs of the forceful lioness, but also the person herself in the middle.

The bloody tornado howled and screeched. "You killed my target you bitch!" Enid Galli was flung backwards while the tornado pushed off in the opposite direction. An enormous palm wrapped around the midsection of the cat as Grand Elder Vandale stepped forward. Several small stars flew towards the retreating tornado even as it fluttered over Anton's head, but they seemed to have little effect.

The lioness struggled as the giant hand held tight, swinging towards where a wrist or arm would be but finding no purchase. By the time she managed to target the hand itself, scratching it, she was being spun around- then tossed into the air directly towards an incoming star. The flames washed over her, wiping away the construct of energy and leaving behind only a charred corpse and some remnants of enchanted armor.

Anton watched Vandale's gaze follow the bloody tornado, but he ultimately turned towards the rest of the battlefield. Without a late Life Transformation expert blocking him, Vandale was able to rain destruction down on the enemies of the Order unimpeded.

He looked down at the wound on his own chest. He'd need to deal with that. And his bow… the string was snapped in two. For a moment he thought he'd broken it when he tried to augment it too much, but then he realized it had been broken before then. Any effects of the string propelling his arrow forward had been purely through the use of energy. In that case, he found the results quite acceptable.

Before experimenting with that more, he needed to stop the blood flowing from his chest and sit down for a while, maybe get someone to knit the muscles on his chest back together. He was no longer able to contribute to the battle anyway- mostly because enemies were being defeated as fast as he could consider targeting them.

Some cultivators risked themselves on big battles, going all out for giant gains. Soan was more of the type to take the easy jobs. Anything that paid enough he could buy himself something nice, some good booze or women or both. Sneaking across a border with everyone distracted? Easy. Everyone who was going to look for him was either somewhere else or chasing after intruders. That left only the easy targets left.

Unfortunately, the first village he came to was empty. Not a single person or animal in the houses. He broke open a barrel of wine, but found it wasn't ready yet. There wasn't much worth taking, so he broke a couple things and left. The next village and the third were also empty.

He finally came upon a lone farmstead with actual people. A middle aged man and woman but nobody else. Soan considered just killing them and moving on, but he was more than a handful of kilometers into Graotan now. He could vaguely feel the battle off in the distance, which already meant he was way too close. But he would get paid extra for bringing people back. Someone with a big grudge against Graotan as a whole, apparently. The two wouldn't be much good as slaves, but he picked them up anyway and started heading back for the border.

Every step took him further from the battle, and he was feeling quite happy with his little expedition by the time he was crossing the border. The Iron Ring wasn't so happy to take random slaves now because of some whole mess they got into, but they had already rigged up a system to falsify someone's origin. Of course, they passed the costs onto those doing the actual work. But this time he was getting paid a set fee no matter quality or anything else, so he didn't care. It was enough to live it up for a few months.

Crossing the border was easy, of course. Wide open land with no other cultivators around… except maybe a few on the same sort of job as him. He made his way into Veron before nightfall. He flashed the guards at the gates a little badge he had to show he was 'legitimate' and made his way to the Iron Ring- well, a back alley nearby. He knocked on a shadowed door. "I'm here for the deal."

The man waiting inside opened the door and poked his head out. "Good. Nobody followed you, of course?"

"Nobody from the Order even got within five kilometers of me. Now can we finish this up? I'm sure whoever wants these guys needs 'em quick."

The man didn't say much, but handed over a coin purse. Soan hefted it, sensing it with his energy. Everything seemed good. He stepped out into the alley and started walking away. Now, what was he going to spend this on? Could be anything. But wherever he went, it had to be somewhere warm. The damn streets were cold today.

Too cold. Like ice. Crawling up his legs and down his fingers. Covering his mouth and eyes. And whispering in his ear.

"You were right, you know," the voice said. "Nobody from the Order even got close. But that doesn't mean nobody did. And other people have reasons to prevent illegal slave trading." The figure of a tall woman- he presumed- stepped in front of Soan, her shape barely visible through the layers of ice. "Now then, you have two options. First, you can comply peacefully. Testify about who hired you and you could possibly even save your life. Or… you can have your extremities frozen off one at a time until you comply."

Soan didn't speak a peep. Though he was sure trying. If the crazy ice woman asked him to sing like a bird, he'd damn well do it. He liked his extremities.

"I'll presume that's a yes." His stiff body was lifted into the air. "I'll just put you with the others for now."

Devon sat next to Anton on a pile of rubble, looking at a bloody mess on the ground. "Are you sure that's her?" Devon asked.

"That, or that one there," Anton gestured nearby. "Maybe both."

"Hmm. Not as satisfying as I had hoped."

Anton shrugged, "You knew that already though. You're not just a kid, after all."

"Yeah… but I kind of hoped. At least it seems like things went well here."

Indeed, things had gone well, for a small war. Hundreds of people were dead, with the balance of those deaths leaning away from the Order. But that didn't mean nobody was dead. Some more experienced disciples and some of the elders had given their lives, and on other battlefields Anton knew many youths would lie dead, no matter how the Order tried to prepare. It was likely that some common civilians were dead as well, though the refugee camp had been sufficiently defended that they were unharmed there.

Anton slowly stood to his feet. "I need to go meet with someone."

Devon nodded as he walked away. "Take care."

It only took a few minutes for Anton to find his destination. It was a simple tent that felt empty, but was guarded by several powerful figures. "I'd like to see Grand Elder Vandale, please."

The guards stood there, expressionless and unanswering while clearly blocking the way- but a voice came from inside. "Just let him in."

The first time Anton had met Vandale, he felt powerful like the sun- even as he was drained. This time, the pressure of a formation keeping vast amounts of energy inside the area nearly overwhelmed him but Vandale himself felt more like a flickering candle. "Thank you for saving me."

"I almost didn't," Vandale said weakly. "Though nor for lack of trying. A single burst takes a lot out of me… a sustained fight even more so.

Anton looked around the tent. The flow of energy was uneven as various crystals produced it, simply swamping the room. "You should have Catarina come here. She'd have this place filling you up smoothly in an instant."

"Hah," Vandale sighed, "That might be so. The formation masters among the sect speak highly of her. But while I can bear to show myself like this to an old soul like yourself, I have to keep up appearances for the youngsters."

Anton nodded. "Perhaps you should. Is this…" he shook his head, "I hadn't thought things would end up going to this extent."

"It was bound to happen anyway. Except if we did nothing, we wouldn't have been prepared for it. It's not over quite yet, though."

"Will they really come back?"

"Who?" Vandale raised a bushy eyebrow, the one above his remaining eye. "The Heavenly Lion Sect? They don't have so many people to spare that they can throw away more. And outside of their defensive formations, they stand no chance now. Not that they did before, they just presumed… that I wouldn't be here. And they'll be wrong about that once more."

"... you're going to attack them?" Anton asked, though he was fairly certain about the answer.

"I only have a few battles left in me. Might as well do the world a favor before I go."

Anton nodded. "I understand."

"Not going to beg me to save my strength?"

"What for?" Anton asked. "It would only make everyone unhappy. I've seen that look before." In the mirror, mostly.

"There are others left who can defend the Order," Vandale said. "And I'll make anyone else with ideas think thrice before they consider an attack. Though the activity here indicated we still have a weakness."

"The civilians. But they could be stronger."

"I believe you," Vandale said. "You don't have long for your project, though."

"Really?" Anton asked. "What is it? How long?"

"I'm not sure. No more than a few decades," Vandale smiled toothily, "A blink of an eye in the cultivation world. But something big has to be coming. Things like this, cultivators like you and the other… they don't come about in every generation. But when they do, it's usually before a disaster." Vandale coughed slightly, "Sometimes that's the generation itself, but often it's something else. Of course, it may be unconnected. If there wasn't a bright young generation to face off against the next wave of threats… maybe things would just end. It happens to small sects all the time. And apparently large ones. The Luminous Ocean Society… disappeared from history."

"Everheart seems to have had some idea. He left notes there."

"Yes, of course he knew. Or at least wanted people to think he did- but in this case I'd bet on the former. But he's dead now."

"Or ascended," Anton pointed out.

"If that bastard ascended and I didn't make it, I'm going to strangle him in the afterlife!" Vandale growled.

"I thought you didn't even really know him," Anton said. He also didn't mention that if Vandale went to the afterlife- whatever sort it was, if it existed- it probably wouldn't have Everheart there. Especially not if he ascended.

"It's the principle of the thing," Vandale said.

Anton nodded. "I have a question. About your Falling Stars technique."

"Oh, asking about my personal technique now?" Vandale smiled. "Go ahead. Ask."

"Do you drop the stars from the sky to accelerate them with gravity?"

"It's not just that. It also produces a nice effect. But yes, I take advantage of gravity. I find that flinging each and every one myself is much less efficient."

"Hmm." Anton didn't have much else to say.

"I can show you how I do it," Vandale offered. "Later."

"I'm not sure I'd properly learn it," Anton said.

"I don't mind if you just steal the best bits," Vandale said.

"In that case, I'd like to try. Though I doubt I'll achieve any success at my current cultivation."

Vandale shook his head. "Not so much. It's not even really practical in Essence Collection. But there are some tricks that help. Might as well teach it to somebody. A few have tried to learn in the past… and one refused. Though I suppose he had a good point. We don't need any more of me."

Chapter 176

One old man crouched in a devastated field, a blank expression on his face. Another stood nearby, watching. Sometimes it wasn't the right moment to say anything.

"Why?" the first man asked. It was clear he wasn't seeking an answer- as if there couldn't be one. "Why me? Why my fields?" He reached down, picking up a handful of dirt. Sparkles of light reflected off fine grains among the soil.

Old man Abramsen was nobody of import. He was just another person living in Graotan, and thus there was no way his fields had been targeted specifically. Nor was there any benefit to those who did it. Properly ruining a field- with salt and some other strange minerals Anton could sense- was expensive, hard work. Several cultivators or one particularly powerful individual would have been needed to achieve what they did in the time available.

It wouldn't do any good for Anton to tell him it was his fault- and that was only true in small part. Despite him being the spark that lit everything on fire, the Heavenly Lion Sect had been piling tinder and kindling as high as they could. But it was more than just them- the others involved simply hadn't been sniffed out yet.

Abramsen laid down on his back, not minding the patches of mud in the field. "Maybe I should give up and die. I tried cultivating like you, but my progress is abysmal. There's no way I can seek revenge on whoever did this, or even feed myself and my wife."

Though he was dramatic about it, Anton felt he was quite entitled to his current stance. Honestly he expected more crying, but it seemed that Abramsen simply wasn't capable of that at the moment. "Let me tell you a story," Anton said, pulling up a log that wasn't particularly nearby when he started. "About a hero on a years long quest for revenge. At the end, what do you think happens?"

Abramsen sighed, "He succeeds and lives happily ever after."

"Perhaps," Anton said, "But I intend to tell you a true tale. What happens is… nothing. Oh, the hero gets revenge on those who wronged him. There is a rush of feeling, of course. A satisfaction. Nearly as significant as collapsing into a bed after finishing up weeks of work raising a barn. Nothing compared to seeing a new child or grandchild."

"Heh," Abramsen laughed mirthlessly, "You think I can have children at this age?"

Anton shrugged, "Likely not. But let me tell you something. The hero of that story might indeed live happily ever after. But it had nothing to do with the revenge. What is the point? People died. Maybe it was good for the world, in the end. Satisfying. But not as personally fulfilling as that man wanted." Anton looked around the fields. "But let me continue. You feel as if you have lost everything, do you not?"

"Even the house is gone. We're living out of a tent. Fields are ruined. Got nothing."

"Your wife feels the same way?" Anton asked.

"Certain she does," Abramsen said. "The way she said nothing instead of happily joking as we passed by says everything."

"Yes," Anton agreed, "It won't be easy to recover. We have a lot of work to do here." He stood up to look around. "You use that pond for anything?"

"No." Abramsen sat up slowly, first rolling onto his side. "Some years back a neighbor used it as a watering hole, but there's more convenient ones now."

"Looks fine to me," Anton said. "Want a salt pond?"

"What, going to dump all the fields in there? With no topsoil left, won't be much left of them anyway."

"It'll take some doing," Anton said, grabbing Abramsen's arm and pulling him to his feet. "Come on, I saw a shovel back there. Might as well get started fixing things up, if you're going to make things better than they were. Have to say, I think that's the best way to spite them."

Old man Abramsen sighed. "I appreciate your efforts, but even if you help I have no seed nor much of anything else."

"Don't worry about that," Anton said. "I've got a couple good kinds. Did you know there are plants that like salt? Drink it right up. As for the other, I hope you like potatoes."

Abramsen scratched the back of his head, "Wouldn't mind planting them. Maybe we can clear out some nearby woods? Nobody really knows who owns them. Could use 'em for a bit, I suppose."

"Sure," Anton said. "We can do that too. Now then, show me what you've learned about cultivation."

The Abramsens weren't the only ones in Troutberk that had problems, but they got the worst of it. Other fields had been torn up and tossed about, but they could be resown normally. It was quite easy for cultivators to knock down buildings, and so the houses of the hamlet had been trashed- but whoever came through hadn't understood the value of good strong tools. A majority of the ones they had to leave behind were still intact, not broken or stolen. There were still things that would be necessary for the rebuilding process, but it wasn't too hard to obtain them. Just a quick trip to the next village over, or the one after that. That might be a day's effort for some people, but Anton could travel more swiftly. And travel he did.

He popped up here and there about the villages as people began to return, buying or borrowing tools while providing much needed work for those whose homes and livelihoods had been damaged. There was a lot that could be said for someone who could raise up an entire side of a barn on his own.

But he didn't just solve everyone's problems. Anton could do the work of many people. Ten, twenty, thirty… it was hard to say. But there was so much to be done. "You need to spread your energy out more," Anton said. "Along your whole body, not just on your arms." Anton demonstrated with his own energy, making it as visible as possible for those who were new to cultivation. "Don't forget to support your back in particular. And if you anchor to your legs like so, everything gets easier." Anton took a deep breath. "Let the energy flow through your body, strengthening you."

He did that for himself as well, especially focusing on his chest. Regrowing sliced up bones was hard work, even with a bit of special medicine. The nineteenth star mirrored the second star, which in his case was his meridians. He was quite familiar with various different sorts of energy and was making significant strides. It didn't hurt that meridians were the part most inherently connected to the spirit to begin with.

It was fairly quickly that Anton ran out of seed for the tubers, but everyone who needed it got at least a little for their fields. The only thing Anton required from people was that they allow him to take some seeds from the final crops to distribute further. The tubers he'd gotten in Ambati weren't exactly potatoes, especially with the way they grew bunched together in big root structures- but they filled the same sorts of purposes in dining.

They were hearty plants, but that didn't mean raising them was without difficulty. After planting it was important to check for ravenous insects that might want to eat them- including burrowing ones. Even if the insects had no concept of natural energy, they were attracted to the plants that naturally absorbed it. The far eastern sections of Graotan weren't especially gifted in natural energy either, so the act of cultivators working in the fields was necessary to give them a boost. They would still be much smaller than what had come up in Ambati for a few seasons at minimum, but sufficiently productive to feed people with enough to sell.

Before the first harvest people needed some temporary supplies, but some of those were provided by the Order. Some villages also had stores they had managed to keep safe- either because they were hidden or nobody came through. The rest Anton took upon himself to acquire through hunting or simply purchasing from further away. Even for a cultivator it got a bit expensive to contribute to feeding so many people, but what else was he going to do with his money? Buy a new bowstring?

He did need to do that, in fact. His bow didn't work at all, and he still couldn't reasonably draw the bone bow. Taking its string for his other bow would likely just snap it in half. But that didn't stop him from hunting. If he needed to he could have caught animals with his bare hands. Disregarding he at least had axes, he had another method he was working on. If Elder Kseniya could call Spirit Arrows just what it was, then he could call it Spirit Bowstring.

In short, instead of using his energy to augment his pull on the bowstring, he used it as a replacement. While Spirit Arrows worked especially well because it eliminated the need to draw arrows from a quiver and simply condensing and sharpening energy would do well- and allow easy control- doing the same for a string was a bit more difficult. Anton knew it would still be better to have a string in place to augment. Technically that was true with arrows as well- but only if the arrows were of sufficient quality. Unlike strings, they were basically consumable. Even if they could be retrieved after battle, that wasn't the case for all of them- and to make each one out of fine material rapidly ballooned in price. Strings were supposed to last for a long time, and his had. Until someone far beyond him had broken it quite by accident. But he wasn't bitter about it. It's not like he was thinking about taking revenge in great detail. Though that was because the one most at fault was already dead.

In short, Anton didn't need a bowstring or arrows. Eventually he might not need a bow at all- current experiments showed that if he wanted to kill anything larger than a squirrel, he needed more than just his own energy control. Sharpening and condensing an arrow while also forming a rigid-yet-flexable bowshaft and all of the properties of a decent string… that was a bit beyond what he could do comfortably.

A veritable field of lotus flowers floated atop the pond. The flowers literally glistened and sparkled. It had been quite a bit of work to make that happen- first digging out mud at the bottom to make room for adding in the salty soil, and then managing for the other junk that was tossed in. Fortunately, mandrake lotus thrived in adversity. With nothing able to compete with them in salty and potentially poisonous water, they rapidly took over the pond.

"Now that I think of it," old man Abramsen commented. "You never told me what we're doing with these flowers. I'll admit they're a right beautiful sight, but for all that work I'm not quite sure what we'll get out of it."

"Is beauty not enough?" Anton smiled, "Because I have uses for them. Cultivator stuff. I'll be buying them." Anton held out a bag.

"What's this?" Abramsen looked in the bag, raising an eyebrow.

"Payment. For all of these."

"I'm not interested in accepting charity," he said. "That's hard to say after all you've done for me, but just handing me this much money…" he shook his head. "Especially since you provided the seed and did most of the work."

"You want me to be honest?" Anton said. "That's cheap. Consider it payment for letting me experiment with your pond and land. I'll be making significantly more than that off of these." Without a formal agreement, Anton was willing to concede more than he already had, but if he said how much he thought it would make Abramsen wouldn't have believed him. It would sound like a scam. One little pond would make more than all of the Krantz farm in a year from many fields and animals. "In a few years these won't grow here anymore, I don't think. They're rapidly desalinating the water. You'd have to live on the coast to grow these properly."

"I won't lie," Abramsen said, "A lot of things about energy cultivation go quite over my head. But seeing these plants you brought… a little bit of special care, and they grow so much."

"Just like people," Anton smiled. "I'd be lying if I said I didn't get any benefits here. A season to complete the nineteenth star isn't bad."

"Frankly," the other man said, "It seems unreasonable. Here I am barely struggling to complete the second star, and you say it gets harder with each step."

"Second is a real hurdle though," Anton reminded. "The prime temperings take a bit more. You work hard though. Keep at it… and you won't have to be surpassed by your wife."

"Never thought she'd be able to do so much from a seat. You said she might be able to walk on her own?"

"No promises about that," Anton said. "If it's just weak muscles, she'll be able to totter about with a bit more work. If it's deeper than that, it would require the help of someone with proper medical training- regarding cultivators."

"... sounds expensive."

"Right you are," Anton agreed. Then he clapped him on the back. "But hey, you can just carry her around if not. Aren't you lucky?"

Abramsen laughed, "Maybe I am."

Chapter 177

Cultivation improved the body and mind of a cultivator, allowing them to physically do more as well as their mental ability to process more input. Even if they had a body that could react in an instant to an attack, without their mind being able to give that signal in time nothing would happen.

The same was true outside of combat. Cultivators were able to do other mental tasks more quickly, including calculations and memorization. Each person still had their own strengths, but all were enhanced as their cultivation grew.

Each time Kohar managed to step up another rank in her cultivation technique, she was able to think more quickly and handle more at once. Yet it seemed like the things requiring her attention increased faster than she could improve herself. She wasn't trying to do everything herself, but those she was training up as assistants and lawyers simply weren't experienced enough yet.

The Secret Realm previously inhabited by the Luminous Ocean Society had been beneficial to her cultivation, and she was quite glad for the opportunity to go- but she had been hoping that more trouble wouldn't arise there. Perhaps that was a vain hope, because she knew that Anton and the others attracted trouble wherever they went. Or perhaps they simply found trouble that already existed and were willing to deal with it where others weren't. Either way, it resulted in more work for Kohar.

The one thing she appreciated was that the amount of trouble they caused opened up people for making errors, making it easier to find evidence. Tonina Potenza showing her face in public was the easiest thread to pull on, but it was cut off somewhere in connection to her family and their association with the Flying Blood Cult. The group was hard to track, so she could only go after the Potenza family's other connections. The association between Van Hassel and Zvonko was big. The Order already basically knew they were still working together in some capacity, but having them in captivity for the trial allowed them to learn more. They were quite willing to give up information on the other.

Then there were the executions, and the attacks tantamounting to an invasion that followed. It wasn't just the Heavenly Lion Sect that got involved. Working simultaneously was the Flying Blood Cult- though they seemed to not be associated. On the other hand, from what she heard about them the fact that the woman who roamed the battlefield as a tornado of blood ultimately ended up killing Enid Galli of the Heavenly Lion Sect didn't mean they weren't acting as allies before that point. Some of her words were important, referring to Tonina as 'her target'. Clearly not for assassination, since there was little point in doing so to someone being executed, and she got her hands on her. So it was rescue, or abduction. Once again, the fact that the Flying Blood Cult was working with her previously didn't necessarily result in the conclusion that they were rescuing her.

Then there were the other parties. Allies, or at least those who could be considered helpful associates in Ofrurg, helped gather some information on mercenaries hired to cause trouble in Graotan. Hundreds of those not from the Heavenly Lion Sect, Flying Blood Cult, and the mercenaries directly with them crossed the border in a rush, ignoring proper protocols. That bothered several groups of people. Some were just sticklers for the rules in general. The Frostmirror Sect was more on that end, though even they overlooked minor offenses. But they, among others, caught people being delivered to the Iron Ring Slavers, as well as other slaving companies. Of course, they denied knowledge of the individuals involved in the illegal activity.

The worrying thing was that they might be telling the truth. Kohar had no doubt they were still up to more crimes- even if she ignored the parts of slavery that were legal in Ofrurg- but recent events had caused them to be more cautious. The work was so widely distributed and seemingly random, with the destruction being unnecessary and expensive compared to the actual results. The Order had anticipated an outlash from the invaders, thus bringing as many as they could out of the way, but that had just been on the assumption that they would take out their anger as they passed by. Intentional things like overturning fields and capturing some of the few who remained behind were strange- especially people who had no value as slaves.

There were only a few dozen cases of people remaining behind and becoming enslaved that they knew about, a small percentage of the entire population in the area- and most of those were caught- but it was still strange. Those who did it only knew they were getting paid quite well, and those giving the payment weren't much more helpful- even with the Frostmirror Sect's willingness to interrogate people quite harshly. Either people were unwilling or unable to answer, both of which were concerning.

But Kohar couldn't deal with all of that. She had legal retaliations to deal with. The Iron Ring Slavers and others, while denying responsibility, had still been caught red-handed- and even if Kohar believed their claims, they still deserved the punishments. A corrupt organization answering for individual members' corruptions was perfectly just, and there was no way she was going to let them weasel out of it. The Potenza family either. Direct violation of legal orders followed by further offenses- though less easily provable given the circumstances- was something she could prosecute all day. And she would. As long as someone of sufficient strength came with her. Because there was no way she was stepping a foot into Ofrurg without bodyguards unless and until she reached Essence Collection- and that wouldn't be anytime soon.

Things of interest in the libraries of a large sect were first and foremost their cultivation and combat techniques, as well as various compendiums on blacksmithing, alchemy or other crafting pursuits. Histories were prized by some, and notes about other sects and their strengths and weaknesses didn't go ignored. Of minimal interest were simple records- ledgers for transfers of funds and how many herbs of what type were stored when it only mattered if you couldn't just take all of it. While the Luminous Ocean Society's Secret Realm didn't have vast treasuries for the taking- and many of what had once been the stores were cleared out by 'E'- even things they considered of little value could be quite meaningful to some modern sects. Any enchanted equipment that lasted through the ages was extremely valuable, and simply studying the active formations was a windfall for many.

But not everyone cared about the same things. Vilma Antonova was actually quite interested in exactly how many of each thing the Luminous Ocean Society had in the Secret Realm. The numbers were quite staggering. They would expect several thousand Spirit Building disciples to pass through the realm every year, and that number didn't always include those returning for additional chances at rewards. Comparing to the Order of the Ninety-Nine Stars, which had only about thirteen hundred Spirit Building disciples total, it was a stark difference. The records indicated that the Luminous Ocean Society was of significant note during their time, which was at least somewhat relieving.

The problem came in the small details of the records. Some of the language was so old it was hard to interpret, but some of the names seemed pertinent. The divine pressure training tower had some implications in its name, but the four elements resistance pill was given significant importance as well. One was to be provided for each disciple 'to help resist overflowing elemental energy'. From where, it did not say. But there were other references to worry things such as the 'convergence' and the 'harvest', perhaps two names for the same thing. The records indicated that was what the disciples were being prepared for, and that those who could not reach Life Transformation within thirty years would be put aside for those with 'proper talent'.

Vilma herself was at the thirtieth star in slightly more than thirty years of cultivation, and was considered to have reasonable talent. She knew she wasn't a genius or anything, but the fact that she was an entire realm besides what they considered proper talent was somewhat depressing. Though she thought with the resources of the Luminous Ocean Society she might have made more progress- but she wondered why they needed so many people in the highest cultivation realm.

The obvious answer was conflict with other sects, but nearly every sect was marked 'allied' or 'neutral' in their records, and it seemed conflicts had been 'minimal'. But the records available were minimal, since the Secret Realm wasn't the Luminous Ocean Society's main base of operations. The actual location was unclear, but it seemed difficult for something so grand to have been lost to time. Vilma knew about dozens of sects that had perished centuries prior and still had prominently remembered locations. But perhaps something would give more clues to where it might be, so they could at least search through what were presumably ruins of historical note.

Several years ago, when he had first begun cultivating, Timothy had done so with the intent to keep up with Catarina. His childhood friend meant a lot to him, and even if their relationship developed into something other than friendship he wanted to keep her safe. Simple motivations that had been able to allow him to deal with the trials of cultivation, to a point.

Having seen more of the world, he wanted more now. The world had many problems, big and small, but all of them had some connection to cultivators. Whether solved by them or caused by them- as everything, humans did both- it was important that stronger cultivators could do more. The way people affected things could be quite different. Timothy saw how Anton focused on those who weren't cultivators- or 'weren't yet cultivators' by Anton's words. At his current level he was aware that basically no one without cultivation ability could harm him in any way. If an entire city rose up against them, he might not be able to kill all of them, but he could cut swathes through them as he fled the city, uninjured. He wouldn't, but there were people who would.

Kohar dealt with things from a different angle. She had little direct involvement with the people she helped, but instead attacked the sources of their problem- organizations and sects, especially as they were involved with slavery. It seemed a difficult battle to fight, but when done right it could be enforced by those with powerful cultivations who weren't even strictly the allies of the Order. While some cultivators might think themselves above the law, if it came to affect other cultivators that attitude would quickly result in their destruction.

Timothy didn't have a head for law, nor the right temperament for detailed teaching like Anton. He didn't mind training with people, but he couldn't bring himself to pick out little problems and correct them all day. But he wanted to help people, keep them safe, and more than just Catarina and his friends. To do that, he needed to be strong. Not just a little bit strong. Recent battles had shown him how strong people could get. Even watching from a distance as he helped defend the refugees, the battle involving Grand Elder Vandale and others at the execution fort had been astounding. And while Timothy knew there were plenty of people with the strength to protect those who couldn't protect themselves, there weren't enough people willing to devote themselves to it. Timothy wasn't sure if he could commit to that forever- he was just a young man, and sticking with something for a decade would already be an accomplishment, let alone a century or maybe a few if his cultivation continued smoothly. But it was his current inspiration for cultivation, and as long as he didn't focus too much on growing stronger and actually did something along the way, he could be satisfied. The current Graotan wasn't a battleground, despite the events months earlier, but he could make sure he was ready if anything happened. And, though it was difficult, he would also devote himself to study of larger level strategy, though he had no say on those decisions at his current level. Perhaps if he found some ability there or in some other practical area, he could save more lives than he could with a sword and shield.

Chapter 178

Atop the highest peak in the Order of the Ninety-Nine Stars two men, both advanced in age but of vastly different years, looked down upon the world below. "I do not fully expect you to be able to make use of the technique at your current cultivation," Grand Elder Vandale noted. "It is designed for those with higher cultivation. As for actually understanding it, that is up to you… and to me. You will forgive me if some of the insights are difficult to comprehend. I've not often taught it to anyone. It was developed as my own personal technique, but as it draws on the Ninety-Nine Stars cultivation technique, it should be usable by anyone. In theory."

"Has anyone actually learned Falling Stars?" Anton asked.

"Not successfully. It was not appropriate for some, and others didn't have the capability." Vandale held out a single hand, a burning ball appearing over it. "Forming energy next to the cultivator is simple enough. A task everyone gets used to." Another ball appeared in the sky above, streaking downwards before dissipating above the ground. "Forming one at a distance is more difficult. Most importantly, it doesn't do well inside restrictions or the area controlled by another cultivator. Even if I successfully created one right in front of you, I wouldn't benefit from the acceleration due to gravity." He tossed the burning ball in his hand down the backside of the mountain, once again dispersing it in the air. "We will practice both creating a proper density of energy as well as acting further away from your body. Combining the two will likely be difficult, as well as controlling the descent to keep it accurate."

It didn't take long for Anton to create something resembling one of the stars that Vandale used, but he knew it was significantly different. His was more akin to a hollow shell instead of a dense ball of fiery power. As he tossed it forwards down the mountain he felt it quickly slip out of his control. He was used to fighting against gravity and not allowing it to take control. But he repeated his attempts, achieving some small amount of success with letting it accelerate under gravity's power while still keeping his own control over how it moved.

As he made each attempt, Vandale guided him on different elements. "The density is more important than the size. Small beads will be more useful for you at the moment, I believe. Simply allowing it to be affected by gravity will be sufficient with the same amount of energy." His ability to articulate his points in a clear and helpful manner made him a much better teacher than Elder Kseniya, though he could certainly learn much from both of them. "You might notice different arcs on your attempts compared to my demonstrations."

"I did notice that mine tended to crash directly into the ground, yes," Anton nodded.

"That is the expected outcome. Redirecting that momentum into the horizontal plane is an important step to really take control of the technique. I have a few tips for that, besides repeated practice."

Several days passed as Anton continued to practice. Each day he would climb up to the peak, since he couldn't very well practice anywhere else. The rear side of the mountain had one of the few bare slopes available, and he wasn't so certain in his technique that he guaranteed he could stop something that veered out of his control. Unlike Spirit Arrows where he had to focus somewhat to keep their form, energy condensed into a ball happily held its form unless specifically unravelled by his control- or by impacting something. The same principles of controlling energy applied to both cases, but the exact uses were new… and he had to practice. A few dozen attempts was all he could manage before needing a break, but he repeated throughout the day until he had hundreds of attempts each day, totalling well over a thousand total. For something like archery that would be just the beginning, and it wasn't much different for Falling Stars. But he at least had enough of the basics for Vandale to start guiding him in other areas.

"Good. You've become adept at smoothly redirecting the energy to keep whatever angle you want without crashing into the ground or overcorrecting, allowing the attacks to constantly accelerate." Vandale nodded as he held his hands behind his back. Then he raised one up. "Next is controlling energy away from your body. I want you to take it one step at a time. This factor and energy density are things you have little hope of replicating perfectly at your cultivation, but you should still learn them." He demonstrated how he spread his energy out over a large area, suddenly condensing it into a denser form. The way it was spread out evenly but rapidly became a solid point made it more diverse and harder to predict.

Anton already had experience with spreading his energy for the sake of sensing and the like, but over any significant distance it wasn't good for much else, certainly not the power required for attacking. They started with something simple, creating a ball an arm's length above his head. Anton was quite easily able to summon energy from within himself and raise it to that point, but pulling the energy around it into greater density was something unfamiliar. At the distances involved it would always be more efficient for him to raise an arm for the energy to originate from, but then he would be ultimately limited to just that. It was quite reasonable when in Spirit Building, but increasing the diversity of his abilities would provide significant value.

They gradually increased the distance, until about ten meters was the ultimate limit Anton could condense energy in, if he wasn't focused on one direction. If absolutely necessary he could condense a ball of energy a hundred meters away, but the way his energy all flowed in that direction it would be exceedingly obvious. Even if he could create an attack from anywhere along a long 'arm', it was nowhere near the diversity of attacking from anywhere in a sphere around him. Of course, just condensing energy didn't make it into an attack. Anton had a long way to go before he could even slightly replicate the true power of Falling Stars, just based on technique alone.

"I'm impressed," Vandale said. "You grasped the basics very quickly."

"It's not too different from archery," Anton contended.

"Tell that to Elder Kseniya. She'll disagree." Vandale grinned, his one eye squinting slightly. "But any ranged attack will have certain commonalities. The most important one is density. For now we'll be focusing on the densest energy you can create." Vandale held up his arm, a ball of fire the size of his head floating above it. Anton was able to watch as more and more energy poured into it without greatly changing its size. Vandale flung his arm, sending it into the air where it exploded. "Energy under pressure wants to be released, but if done right…" Vandale did it again, creating another ball quite similar to the first. Anton could feel the flow of energy was quite different, and a notable visual difference was that there was no flickering of flames. It was more of a pure yellow-white sphere. Vandale dropped it, and it crashed into the ground, breaking apart rocks under their feet and digging a hole several meters deep before it came to a halt.

Anton did his best to replicate the technique, holding his arms in front of him, hands apart on either side of where he formed the ball of energy. Even as he created it he felt gravity trying to drag it down. It grew and grew, but the density wasn't increasing much. Anton forced it into a tighter configuration, much like he used for Spirit Arrows. However, as he pushed himself beyond his limits and the ball gradually shrunk, he found it pushing back. It was all he could do to toss it away from himself before it exploded.

A gentle blanket of energy surrounded him, making the explosion like a warm puff of air. Anton looked to Vandale and bowed his head, "Thank you. I usually don't make mistakes like that."

"Hmm. That's where you're different from me. You're more prone to figuring out your limits and properly expanding them. I used to just push them as far as they could go, regardless of the consequences. When I miraculously survived, I learned my true limits. Go ahead and try again, without restraint. I'll protect you."

Anton didn't need to express any concern for Vandale. The idea that he even could injure the man was laughable. The man was practically eighty stars ahead of him, five times his amount- and they weren't all just equivalent in power but increasing as they went. It could take a hundred of him to cause danger to Vandale. And… while he knew the Grand Elder was conserving his energy, the small amount he could trouble him should be nothing to worry about.

That said, he wanted to at least have the sort of caution where he was able to tell what went wrong. Thus, he focused both on condensing the energy and seeing what fluctuations caused it to explode and slightly less on preventing that from happening, at least until he understood a particular problem. It was much more tiring than any of the other activities, and after a few attempts he had to rest. Several repetitions later he'd made more than twenty attempts, with visible improvements to his technique- though more visible flaws.

"Good," Vandale said, "But I know that's not actually the highest density of energy you can gather. During the battle I sensed something else."

Anton nodded, "Well, that's true. But it's barely my energy."

"Anything you can control is your energy. And I'm sure you'll want to use it regardless. I understand if you would like to keep that technique a secret, however."

Anton shook his head, "No, it's not that. I just can't use it much." He closed his eyes, concentrating. "The source is that technique from Everheart, Fleeting Youth. I've managed to reach the initial level of success in drawing upon the power, but the absolute quantities I can use are limited and it requires more of my own energy to draw it out. But, it is certainly the most dense energy I can handle."

Similar to before, Anton held out his hands across from each other. However, the initial ball that formed was smaller. The energy of Fleeting Youth drew on the future that would never be fully reached, primarily the power of ascension and reincarnation. Making repeated use of it pretty much guaranteed he wouldn't be able to ascend- though that was not much different from most cultivators in the world. As for reincarnation… perhaps if he reincarnated, future versions of him would be unable to use energy at all. He hoped to at least make the world a better place for them to live. Not himself, because that reasonably wouldn't be him. At least, in his opinion.

The smaller ball of energy still had the energy signatures of the Ninety-Nine Stars, despite Anton not having held it in his dantian and converted it from natural energy. But mixed in among it was raw power that didn't seem to be from any cultivation technique, but likewise wasn't incompatible with other energy. A ball the size of his fist contained more energy than previous attempts of him, and he continued to add even more. The process only took a handful of seconds- far too slow for most cases in battle, but he was focused more on stability than speed at the moment. With the energy naturally being denser, it seemed less prone to pushing back against him- though he had compressed it to the point it was straining somewhat. There was only so much power he could call upon and control at once, and he reached that limit. Normally he made use of the energy in smaller portions, while currently he held about a total of a third of the energy he could gather from Fleeting Youth all at once.

He attempted to fling it forward, driving it with his energy, but it sank like a stone, crashing into the mountain right next to them. It didn't so readily break through solid stone as Vandale's, but it had a solid impact and held its shape for a few moments.

"Interesting," Vandale said. "If properly formed into an attack, that's enough to give some Essence Collection cultivators cause for concern. At the very least, they couldn't just ignore it." Vandale nodded, "We should focus on making use of that. You can use a bit less and get used to controlling it in this form, then we'll work on the distance exercises. There's a lot of potential with that."

Chapter 179

Stepping out of a courthouse in Ofrurg, Kohar wanted to sigh. However, people were still watching. Letting it be known she was troubled would only vindicate them. Technically, her efforts were bearing fruit- it was simply that she wasn't making major progress. There were so many things she had to keep track of and the results just weren't enough. Taking down an individual or even dozens of idiotic cultivators who thought they could just grab people from Graotan wasn't much good, and the various slaver companies were able to deny wrongdoing by them as a whole. Their legal representation was better as well.

Incomplete victories were frustrating. Though she hadn't often fought on a battlefield with comrades by her side, her efforts were like winning a battle with dead allies. Was it even really a victory at that point? It was difficult for her to claim it that way. The Heavenly Lion Sect was under great pressure, but they chose to break apart rather than let themselves get destroyed.

The Order wasn't going to send an army into Ofrurg, but the Heavenly Lion Sect had plenty of enemies who were willing to take any opportunity, especially with one of their guardians dead. Life Transformation experts didn't just pop up out of nowhere. As soon as they had sensed their end coming, they split apart. Many disciples and elders were caught fleeing, but the vaults of the Heavenly Lion Sect were found empty, with much unaccounted for. Most of their strongest remaining members went missing. Disorganized individuals couldn't cause as much damage as a sect, but if any of them was willing to sacrifice their life they could kill a large number of normal people. Then again, most cultivators valued themselves first and foremost- if they could flee to live, they would prefer that to take revenge at a later date.

Though she was concerned about attempts at revenge against herself, Kohar knew she wouldn't be the highest priority. As long as she kept growing in cultivation and stayed safe, she wasn't really in much danger. Certainly not as much as others involved, fighting actual battles. For the moment, disciples of the Order were forbidden into Ofrurg by the Order itself except on business. Members of the Heavenly Lion Sect might end up elsewhere but forbidding cultivators from going anywhere would just result in every disciple stagnating. They would have to remain aware of the increased risks.

Though it was a long shot, Kohar had thought the blatant disregard for any and all laws by a mass of people might have resulted in some wider sweeping changes, especially with regards to slavery, but it remained much the same. It would have been easy to give up in despair, but she knew she had to keep trying. Working as part of the Order was her best chance to change the world in the ways she was capable of, not just through violence of threats of violence. More importantly, it was by trying to use the laws to protect normal folk. She was glad she wasn't the only one who cared about people instead of just individuals.

Replacing a bowstring was not terribly difficult, even on a fine piece of equipment like Anton's bow. It wouldn't be quite the same, but it would function. For someone else, at least. If Anton was going to be going to the trouble, he thought he might as well get a new bow entirely. He could certainly afford it, and the beast bone bow was still outside of his ability to properly use.

Elder Evan led him through the armory hall to show him bows in the general range he was looking for. "Twistoak and stranglevine," Evan showed Anton a somewhat strange bow where the entire upper and lower limbs were twisting corkscrews of wood. "It's got great power."

Anton held it and felt its draw, the way it bent and pulled. The strange shape didn't make it awkward as he was expecting, but it wasn't quite right. "It's a bit smaller than I'm used to. I generally prefer closer to longbow range."

"Understandable," Evan nodded, "We have more over here. How about this one? Springstone and great wolf tendon."

Anton took it in hand, feeling the strange smooth stone that made up the limbs. It would be a very strange sort of stone to bend, but he had to trust that the bow would work. He pulled back on the string, finding that it pulled back intensely but not in an unpleasant way. It certainly required drawing strength near his limits, but that was acceptable. "I like this one."

"Nooooo!" came a voice from next to him. "Grandpa, you can't get that one. Didn't you hear it was wolf tendon?"

Anton sighed, looking over at Alva. "You're right I suppose. Fuzz wouldn't approve." Perhaps it was silly to indulge her complaints. He could simply tell her it was practical. She was on the border between being a girl and a young woman, after all. But sometimes how things felt was important. Once it was brought up, he couldn't shake the thought of it being from something like Fuzz. Perhaps if it was actually him in memory- though Anton didn't like the thought of that either. "Anything else?"

"A tricky one. How about… this." He reached over to another bow, with visible rings on the woody structure. "This is hollowreed, both the main body is formed from it and the string was formed from its fibers. Unlike many of the others, it's not particularly sturdy. It requires proper application of energy, but enhances it quite well. According to Kseniya, anyway."

Anton took it carefully, feeling it with his hand and sinking his energy into it. It did feel quite fragile, but happily accepted his energy. If he were to shoot it, he would need to coat the whole bow in energy, but he did that already to enhance the power. It was simply that he wouldn't have any other option. He gave it a few tugs. "Mind if I test it at the range?"

It performed better than expected, snapping forward quickly and propelling his arrows with great speed. It didn't seem to be strained by the process of firing it, though he would have to be careful with it in combat- more than normal.

"That one looks good," Alva commented. "Fits you better."

"If you say so," Anton nodded. He did like it though. He ultimately decided to purchase it, after he checked out some others.

He had thought to give Alva his old bow, but despite how much she wanted to emulate him, it just didn't quite fit her style. She was more of a user of shortbows- though to be fair, her body was hardly big enough for anything else at the moment. She wasn't tiny, but she certainly hadn't reached her adult size yet. Bringing her along had just been because of her interest, but he thought it prevented him from making a hasty decision. He just wanted to be shooting again. Properly, and though he could do something much the same without a bow it wasn't quite the same.

Likewise, even though he greatly respected Grand Elder Vandale, he wasn't going to suddenly stop using a bow and switch to the Falling Stars- even if he could fully use the technique. And he couldn't. The principles were more important for the moment, and if he ultimately ended up using it as his primary fighting style, it would be many years hence.

Anton continued to buy a few other pieces of equipment, namely some armor. He had some temporary equipment he was using, but some of his actual armor had issues. Namely the big stab in the chest region. Even a fully diamondsilk undershirt wouldn't have stopped an attack from a Life Transformation expert without him being able to support it at a much higher level. The amount of power he could access with Fleeting Youth wasn't suitable for the purpose of defense, either, since that mostly involved distributed energy. Though Vandale's techniques would help him focus his defenses on a single point more quickly. He just had to be accurate about it so as to not leave himself open to feints.

After they finished acquiring equipment, Anton and Alva walked back together. The current accommodations were sizable enough for them, but Anton was thinking of moving to another place. More natural energy would be nice, but he also wanted a place he could practice archery- the yard was far too small. If it could accommodate some others as well, he would like it- he didn't want Catarina to suddenly have to take a trip up the mountain to visit him, even if she could do it in ten or fifteen minutes if she hurried.

"I miss Annelie," Alva said out of the blue as they were on their way.

"You were able to spend time with her in the Secret Realm," Anton mentioned.

"I know. But that was months ago. It just makes me miss her more now. I can't go visit her, and she won't come here."

"It wouldn't look good, and would risk her position in the Frostmirror Sect- as well as possibly her life if her connection to us is learned by the wrong people. They would defend her if they could, but…"

"I know," Alva said. "I can't believe we still have enemies. I mean, I understand that Van Hassel wasn't working alone, but it's just hard to think that so many people wouldn't like us. Only a few years ago I used to think everyone was a good person." She shook her head, "I was just a dumb kid."

"Everyone is, for a while. It would be nice if more people could stay that way, but the world doesn't allow it."

"Yeah," she looked down. "When will we be strong enough to do what we want? I thought when I became a cultivator that would happen, and then I thought it might be Spirit Building like you… but there's so much you can't handle still."

"I suppose we'll just have to reach the peak of the world, then," Anton smiled. "Because anything less won't be enough. And even if we reached that point, if we were alone it would also be insufficient."

"There's no way that'll happen," Alva frowned. "There's like… twenty people in Life Transformation here."

"Oh really?" Anton said. "I heard that they have high hopes for Annelie reaching the peak. But I suppose it would be odd if both of you did."

"There's no way I'm not keeping up with her!" Alva clenched a fist. "Next time I see her I'll be as strong as her, just you watch."

"Gladly. Though, if you meet her a bit sooner don't be concerned about it. Just be happy to see her again."

"Yeah," Alva nodded. "So… not quite that. But I won't let her stay stronger than me forever!"

Looking for a single person in a city could be an impossible task. Looking for someone without knowing what city or country they were in was even harder. Velvet wasn't going to give up easily, though. She couldn't just always hang around Anton. Especially not when he was busy training himself and others. She'd be able to learn from him, of course, but if they were apart for a while he could just help her fix any problems with her training all at once. That Vessel of Insights he had was quite useful, though much of his advice she knew was also just his.

Other people might be able to find Masozi, but she was well suited for it. It also gave her practical skills at stealth beyond just 'hide behind something'. Blending in and not being noticed was even better than being hidden completely, because then nobody was looking for you. And Masozi wouldn't recognize her. Of course, she wouldn't recognize him without having studied a drawing of him, but that didn't matter.

The man was suddenly important after a long time. Last seen by Anton in Khonard, and the trail was followed by her to hopefully end in Estary. He had been Tonina Potenza's bodyguard. She was dead now, but there was something strangely important about her regardless. Someone from the Flying Blood Sect had wanted her alive, and her family had fled Khonard after she failed to be retrieved. He might be the only one they could vaguely trust to know something about the connection there. Something about who the enemies of Anton and the Order were- because they were certainly enemies, even if some of them weren't showing their faces. Velvet stepped into a crowded tavern, scanning for faces and feeling for what the man's energy had been described as. She found… nothing. But she would keep looking. Maybe ask a few questions. No matter how much they wanted to, people didn't just disappear- and the man had to earn enough to keep up a cultivator's lifestyle somehow.

Chapter 180

Flashing the paper with Masozi's face on it would either be the fastest way to find him, or the fastest way to send him into hiding. Just because it didn't say there was a bounty connected to it didn't mean it wouldn't evoke those same feelings. Velvet went with a more subtle approach, looking for who in the tavern might be the most informed, who was paying attention. She kept her cultivation concealed, making her seem weaker and less important, though she didn't fully hide that she was a cultivator. The things she heard varied widely.

"Haven't seen him."

"Seems like a merc."

Many more unhelpful things along those lines were repeated, but she eventually got something useful.

"I saw him down at the docks, talking to the harbormaster," one man responded. "Might I inquire why you are searching for him?"

"I need to talk to him about something," Velvet said. "Do you remember what he was talking to the harbormaster about?"

"I might recall something, though my memory does get a bit fuzzy without my medicine." The man was at least straightforward enough to hold out his hand for the bribe or just payment.

"The information better be good," Velvet answered.

"It is accurate, I assure you. I have no intention to waste your time with fabrications." Upon receiving a modest payment, he nodded. "He was asking about boats going to the Golden Isles. You know the rumors?" Velvet shrugged noncommittally. "It has to do with that Secret Realm down south. Some sort of ocean sect from the past. It seems the ruins of their headquarters have been uncovered, and everyone around here is flocking for it." Velvet looked around the room, seeing how relaxed everyone was. "Everyone without good sense, anyway. Some of those ruins are buried in the depths of the sea. An awful place for cultivators to travel, I must say. Hard to survive there even without beasts chewing on you."

Velvet had heard something about that, though she hadn't been able to confirm a location from a reliable source. She would need to confirm whether Masozi had already left or not, and track down who might have carried him if he was gone. Though if he was going to those ruins, it seemed she would have to end up there eventually. She just didn't plan to do it alone.

It didn't take long for the Order to express interest in sending a group to the ruins of the Luminous Ocean Society. While closer groups and individuals might have already picked over the area, most of them would be looking for big scores. Anything of direct value, not information. News coming in indicated the place was pretty well looted already, even past the danger zones. It wasn't much different from what one would expect of a destroyed sect, and in a much worse state than the Secret Realm. But while the Secret Realm had been abandoned, it wasn't attacked directly- and the actual headquarters might provide more insights to what happened.

While it was still a time of high alert for the disciples of the Order, the fact that the location was on the far side of Estary made it slightly safer. At least, the location didn't favor anyone from Ofrurg- though what might happen away from civilization was another matter. Without a formal gathering of sects meeting anyone there was less likely, but it would also be easier for people to act as they pleased. The Order's interest meant they would be sending some elders as well as any disciples who wanted to volunteer after understanding what they knew of the risks.

Anton was extremely interested in going. He wanted to know what caused the downfall of the Luminous Ocean Society, and with Velvet bringing the word Masozi might be there as well it seemed even more important to go. Catarina was quite interested as well- the permanent formations around the Luminous Ocean Society had been useful for her to study. The Order was also sending Elder Loida Rana, one of the few fully trained formation masters. Catarina had started working with her recently. Timothy and Hoyt were also quite willing to come along, and Velvet had been the one to suggest it- so the entire group readied themselves for the journey. For Anton, that meant finishing up a breakthrough he was near.

Cultivation was mainly based on the circulation of energy through a cultivator's body to slowly improve them. In the Ninety-Nine Stars technique, jumps in power occurred with the formation of each star but the overall process was still gradual. Anton circulated his energy within him, focusing on his torso and the organs therein. He was careful around his heart, despite its apparent recovery. The twentieth star was parallel to the third star, tempering the organs once more. Perhaps if he had been another star higher his injury would have been somewhat less.

Regardless, the tempering helped with the healing and he was approaching completion of the twentieth star. Now he just needed to gather energy, easily enough done with the abundant natural energy around the Order. But there was something more. If the energy of Fleeting Youth drew from beyond ascension and reincarnation, then it was sensible that the very same energy could be used to cultivate. Anton had been quite careful with circulating the energy to begin with. As it flowed through his meridians he felt the weight and power behind it. Each strand of energy that made it to his dantian gathered others to it, almost devouring it. But it wasn't as if it destroyed the energy- it was still there, under his control. That control was just a bit more sluggish and stubborn.

If he pushed the energy through his organs too quickly he would damage them, but a slow and determined process pushed them to their limits and allowed them to go beyond. While normal humans could only easily train their muscles, energy allowed for empowering the rest of the body and more. As long as he didn't push too hard, he would benefit- despite the momentary pain.

The power of Fleeting Youth was akin to molten lead flowing through his body, compared to the comforting warmth of his normal energy, yet as he guided it through his body he only felt it burning away impurities. Though his body was improved in the process, it didn't suddenly make him younger. He would always be a bit behind those who cultivated their body as youths, until the point they aged as much as him- though he would be dead by then. While his cultivation had allowed him a certain amount of extra time, and continuing to grow would extend that, if he stagnated in cultivation for long enough he would certainly perish. That was true of anyone- he just had less extra time to deal with.

As he reached the point of forming the twentieth star, his body greedily sucked in energy from around it, condensing it. While he could certainly continue in that manner successfully, Anton continued to add just a bit more of the energy of Fleeting Youth. If he was correct, he might be able to maintain a store of it inside of him instead of being forced to draw upon it from outside every time. Not much, perhaps not even enough for a full-power attack, but that was without comparing it to a normal shot. If he could suddenly fire an arrow with several times the momentum, it could greatly throw off an opponent- even if they were ultimately able to withstand it. And if he was able to store that energy in himself, he could access it more quickly.

Fire flowed through his meridians into his dantiant, gathering into a ball. Just the smallest amount of Fleeting Youth's power was used to enhance the process, yet Anton nearly felt overwhelmed, like he stuck himself into a furnace. But he kept control over it. Though it was powerful, this was his fire. It shouldn't harm him if he didn't will it to. He almost felt steam blowing out his ears as he continued, but he kept it as the core of his next star. He had the feeling it could do much the same for different cultivation techniques.

He nodded to himself. That would be one reason practicing it later wouldn't provide the same benefits. And he would ultimately have more time practicing it, as he would continue to be at an advanced age while he practiced instead of being forced to cram it into a measly few decades after reaching the peak of cultivation. There was always the question of whether that was possible, but he was going to walk into that direction until he no longer could. Then perhaps he would climb or crawl or whatever was necessary- but he wouldn't let himself be deterred.

Anton felt deep down inside of him, the spinning stars that indicated his success in cultivation. One of them had a denser core than the others- each star was successively more powerful regardless, but this one was a fifth, maybe a tenth more than it would have otherwise been by his estimations. If he could maintain that until Essence Collection, he would be… several percent more powerful overall. That might not seem like much, but each little bit beyond what an already powerful technique like the Ninety-Nine Stars could accomplish equated to greater chances of surviving or thriving in future trials.

Devon saw his grandfather off as he left to visit the ruins of the Luminous Ocean Society. Now wasn't a good time for him to go along on a journey. Even though he'd had several months to refocus himself, his cultivation wasn't in a stable spot. It seemed that focusing and manipulating your cultivation technique and feeding off of trauma didn't last. But he didn't regret it. With Tonina dead, the memories of the arena and her final attempt to kill him didn't suddenly go away, but he was able to get some perspective.

He found a place to be alone and slowly formed the chains, slipping out of his scars to mirror the weapon that had caused them. It was harder with some of the fading anger, but that was fine. He'd noticed some flaws in his technique anyway, beyond its dubious origin. While it was simplest to form the chains from the point of his scars, that limited his forms of attack. He could certainly give up on that training and learn other forms of attack. In fact, now was the best time to change core cultivation techniques, and he could switch to the Ninety-Nine Stars like his grandfather. He might do that, but he would keep the chains.

Strangely enough, the chains were a sign of his freedom. He wouldn't be bound any longer, but his opponents… he had no reason to let them remain free. As for who those enemies would be, he could only guess. The Order still had plenty of enemies, and there were mysterious forces at work. But beyond organizations, Devon had a simple target- those who would enslave others. It was highly appropriate that a method of their downfall would be something they used on others. The spikes, of course, were more of an instrument of torture and not a proper part of chains or even the most effective weapon- but as an additional effect on restricting foes he found them useful enough.

All he had to do was modify how the technique worked. It would be more practical if they could come from his hands, at least in part. While some might care about the aesthetic of chains wrapping around their arms, it was ultimately less practical than if he were to grab onto them and manipulate them more directly. But limiting himself to two chains was silly. Other chains could still be formed around him to reach out and combat enemies all around him… and to protect his friends and family. And for those foes who deserved it the chains would either kill them- or restrain them to be brought in for a just execution. He wasn't going to commit to only capturing his foes alive, but if practical and useful he would be willing to hold himself back from immediate violence. If he could do it with Tonina, he could do so with anyone. Though he was certain it would take months of work to get back on track.

Chapter 181

No trouble befell the members of the Order as they travelled through Estary. Travelling in a larger group and more quickly than before was certainly a factor in that, as well as their movement along the main roads. For the most part Anton found it similar to Graotan- a pleasant country well taken care of. Most places were well patrolled, and the biggest difference was simply the variety of cultivators. Most of the cultivators in Graotan were members of the Order, not because of any particular restrictions but because it was a powerful sect with relatively easy entry requirements, as far as cultivation sects went. It didn't require any particular elemental affinity or harsh tests. The biggest reason the Order wasn't flooded with cultivators was the restraints on their actions. Many people just wanted to be strong and do whatever they pleased with that power, but the Order did their best to filter out those who didn't fit with their ideals early.

Estary kept a similar country but with more diverse cultivation styles, with the strongest sects forming an alliance protecting the whole country. While they were on good terms with the Order, they wouldn't necessarily help each other with disputes. It did seem that the Order was able to request some help from them during the execution incident- the countries together secured the border against cultivators flooding in, unlike the eastern border of Graotan which had been intentionally left somewhat lax.

Actually, the trip through Estary wasn't entirely without incident. There was one time where Anton sensed a group of wild beasts attacking a cultivator off the road nearby. It may have been the other way around, but the cultivator was clearly losing the battle. Anton took up his new bow, flexing the hollowreed structure as he formed a Spirit Arrow. Surprisingly enough the beasts seemed to be a combination of some sort of bird and canines on the ground, clearly working together. The birds harassed the cultivator while the other animals circled around and prevented them from running.

The flying creatures seemed to be the biggest problem, so Anton locked on to them one at a time, letting arrows fly. His shots arced over the nearby trees then snaked around the final few as they dropped in to pierce wings and torsos of the birds. By the time Anton was getting ready to attack the creatures on the ground, the cultivator had already rallied and taken out half of them. He still launched one final arrow that barely arrived before an attack coming from behind.

Beyond that, there was little of note until they reached the northern shore of Estary. The Shervista Ocean spread out before Anton just like in the Secret Realm, with the same smell of salt. The only difference was that it properly fell away at the horizon instead of having the strange distorted space inside the Secret Realm. Anton saw people out fishing on the ocean, not so different from the lakes he had visited before. He supposed there was little difference, except the ocean was salty and vast while lakes were mostly more moderately sized.

Members of the Order were packed into a ship with other cultivators heading to the Golden Isles. The boat hardly fit the few hundred people, and there was little chance to cultivate with so many different people in a small space- even as they were constantly moving into areas with more natural energy. The amount of natural energy covering the Shervista Ocean wasn't low, but it was not so generally high as to satisfy the needs of many cultivators at once.

With little better to do, Anton went up on deck. He saw someone up on the ropes around the ship and called up to them. "Hello! What are you doing up there?"

The man looked down at him and grunted. "Tightening the rigging."

Anton could tell his question hadn't gotten quite the response he wanted. "Need any help up there?"

"Not responsible if you fall overboard," the man said.

Since that wasn't a 'no', Anton climbed up to take a closer look. The man seemed a bit perturbed, but Anton stayed out of his way and only occasionally asked questions. He was able to keep track of most of what was going on around him with his energy, so he pretty quickly got a good idea of how the ship worked.

"While you're up there," a sailor called down from below. "Tighten up that line just a smidge."

A ship like they were on had hundreds of lines going all about in various directions, all with their own names. It was fairly easy to pick out the patterns, and while Anton doubted he demonstrated equal skill to an experienced sailor he at least didn't screw anything up. As days passed and he was actually of some help, the sailors became more friendly with him.

"Lotta strong cultivators like you come along here," one of the men chatted. "Not a one able to sail a ship themselves. Those that can have their own ships, big monsters made of strange materials. See them in port occasionally. None act like yourself. What are you learning for? Fancy a position on one of them ships?"

"Just thought I should know how it was done," Anton said. "Good to know things. Speaking of which, how's that cultivation practice I mentioned?" Many of the sailors had at least a small bit of experience in Body Tempering, though not all of them.

"Well you know," the man shrugged. "Natural energy's a bit sparse with all these people…"

"Not so much up here," Anton said. Those who could drain the energy to the top of the riggings were generally more powerful cultivators- and they wouldn't get enough to even bother with even if they reached that far, especially not with some of the others. Most people had given up on cultivating at all for the duration of the journey, as a couple weeks could be made up for in better circumstances. "Best if you do it at the same time you're working your muscles."

"You say that," said another sailor, "But how do we know you're not just trying to torture us?" The man was clearly joking, for the most part. "Right exhausting it is. Like having fought a whole storm meself."

"You should notice some improvements by the end of the week," Anton said. "I have to say, there's a lot of high level cultivation that's thrown about where it doesn't belong, while people are still early in Body Tempering. It's easy to get hung up on it. Follow my advice and the path will be a bit smoother, though it's still uphill no matter what. Gotta put in the work."

Sailors were no strangers to work, but extra work was something they'd rather avoid. But they all understood what greater cultivations could do for them. Anton doubted that most of them would reach the peak of Body Tempering with just his little bit of advice, but he couldn't just leave people alone. Sailors weren't growing anything, so he wasn't certain if they would have a reciprocating sort of growth with the environment, but they could still stand to be a bit stronger. That would help them if any cultivators wanted to cause trouble. Even if sailors were a rougher type than most, they still deserved to protect themselves.

The Golden Isles lived up to their name by the way they sparkled in the sun, no actual gold was involved but some beautiful yellow cliffs reflected light back and forth between parallel isles. In the strictest sense of the term, they might be considered to be one large island since they were closely connected under the water, but the various promontories stuck out of the water on their own and the name stuck nonetheless.

From that point the Order split up from the others on the same ship, renting a small fleet of smaller vessels. Their target wasn't quite part of the Golden Isles, and it was quite a long swim even for Spirit Building cultivators. When they arrived on the island with the ruins, Anton was somewhat surprised anyone even knew where they were. It seemed just like a normal island at first, topped with soil and stone. Only because he was specifically looking could he make out how some of the rocks might have once been worked stone, now smoothed by the tides.

A few cultivators were walking around the island, but the Order already knew where to look for what they wanted. On the west side the island sloped down gradually into the water… and it was possible to follow the trail of ruined buildings down into the ocean.

Anton took a deep breath and walked into the ocean behind some of the elders. He sunk to the bottom if he didn't do anything to stop it- he remembered floating on water before, but he supposed his body was somewhat denser now. He wasn't as much heavier as he might have thought necessary for the increase in strength from Body Tempering, but then again he wasn't an expert in that area. He was an archer. And he was… underwater. Not really the optimal place to make use of his skills, but he wasn't entirely incapable either. Everyone had received some basic instruction for fighting underwater before coming to this place, but actual combat was always different. Archery was somewhat more difficult as the water continuously slowed down the arrows, but with his energy continuing to propel them forward they would still be able to reach significant distances with some amount of power left. It would just be less.

As they continued underwater, Anton kept track of his own breath. He could still go further before he had to reach for the surface. The sand beneath his feet continued to be littered with stones, but they were starting to actually be connected to each other and not just individual pieces. He thought he even saw a wall, though as they got further from the sun it was harder to tell. Then they ran into a barrier.

Anton hadn't sensed it beforehand, but apparently the elders weren't surprised. They gathered together several formation masters, including Loida Rana, as well as others studying formations. That included Catarina, of course. It was an uncomfortable minute while they worked. Some disciples swam the hundred meters to the surface to get a breath of air. Anton felt his lungs beginning to ache but he still had more in him before he had to consider moving for air. It was a bit harder to hold his breath with the pressure- all of that water weighing down on him was significant- but the training in the tower had prepared him for this. The tower couldn't have been just for that, however- or they could have just used any of the water around. Surely making a formation that allowed people to breathe would have been easier to sustain. Even just occasional pockets of air… no, there had to be something more to it.

Though Catarina wasn't part of their little formation at the moment, Anton and the others were able to slightly lessen the burden of the water on each other. At the current depth they could handle things alone, but they found water was quite different from the tower. It pressed in on all sides, not just crushing from above.

Just as Anton was getting ready to push off and use his energy to make himself buoyant, a bright light appeared in front of him. The elders waved people forward with their hands and gesturing energy, and everyone began walking. He couldn't really make out what was ahead because of how bright it suddenly was, and by the time his eyes adjusted he'd already stepped into open air. More than that, he was dry.

He found himself in a sunny, dry room with tall ceilings held up by pillars- or at least, in theory. Half of the pillars had collapsed as well as some of the ceiling, revealing the ocean above- but it didn't pour into the room they were in. There was little of note where they were, but he could see- and now feel, once past the barrier- other buildings ahead of him. From what he could tell, most of them also had air inside them. At least, it seemed that way- though the water distorted things.

Instead of being dark like the seafloor had been heading towards when they arrived, he found it to be quite sunny. Luminous, even. He couldn't determine the exact source of the light, but it seemed external to the building he was in from the shadows. It flowed in through the far doorway and broken ceilings and walls. What a strange place. But then again, who was stranger than cultivators?

Chapter 182

Seeing the rays of light filtering down through the water and dancing upon the sand and various structures filled Anton with a sense of wonder. It was like he had come to a whole new world full of bountiful flying creatures. But of course, they were swimming not flying. The difference was… what? One was in water and one was in air, he supposed. But fins were not so different from wings. Flying was simply more difficult because air didn't support as much weight.

After everyone finished filtering into the area through the outside barrier, the formation masters keeping it open stepped through. They let it slowly close behind them. Elder Rana explained what she knew to the gathered disciples. "It should be possible to leave the formation under your own power, if necessary. It is mostly meant to prevent intrusion. Even then, it appears to be disabled in many places." She gestured towards the beasts outside, "Others will have found or created alternate entrances, so be wary of their presence. It is better to stay clear of other cultivators instead of getting into conflicts." She stepped forward along with some of the other elders, "We will be going towards what we perceive as the center of the sect's ruins. The closer you are to us the safer you will be, but there will be no guarantee of finding anything beneficial. Current reports indicate much of the area is empty, but we know there were at least a few valuable finds by certain cultivators."

Anton and the others gathered to discuss what they would be doing. "I am interested in what information will be found about what caused the destruction of the Luminous Ocean Society," Anton said, "But we don't necessarily have to be there to find it."

"I'm interested in studying the formations around the area," Catarina said. "There are many of them. Or at least… remnants of many of them. They are much less whole than the Secret Realm."

"There might be some minor formations concealing leftover equipment or materials," Hoyt mentioned. "Even things considered less valuable by the Luminous Ocean Society or those who destroyed them might be of some use to us."

"I have no objections," Timothy said. "I doubt we'll suddenly start taking odd risks now, so I'll support whatever we decide."

"There's also Masozi," Velvet reminded them. "We should keep an eye out for him. Though Anton will be the best able to recognize him."

"Yes, that's right," Anton agreed. "With no way of knowing where he might be, however, picking anywhere is fine." He looked to Catarina, "Where are you being led?"

"There are holes in the outer formation nearby," Catarina said. "I'd like to take a look at some. It's unclear to me from here if they are the result of natural decay or direct damage. It's mainly an illusory formation to begin with. Thus the light not passing beyond it."

With that, they picked a direction and set out. That involved stepping out of the nice, air-filled entryway into the water of the ocean. Anton had expected more bare sand, but there were various plants and small animal life of various sorts. Beyond that, there were strange rocks that seemed to be growing on the outside of the buildings. Not the barnacles- Anton had learned about those on the ship. Instead there were colorful rocks. He couldn't ask any of his companions though, at least not without using up some of their air. From what he had heard, speech didn't sound quite right underwater anyway.

Anton kept his eyes open for threats. None of the sea creatures swimming above or walking on the sea floor seemed to be dangerous at the moment, but he had a sense of further off beasts and cultivators that might become a threat.

He had to make consistent use of his energy to keep them clear of saltwater. He was likewise keeping it out of his ears and nostrils. All of those were accomplished by redistributing the pressure over his whole body- and the rest of the group as they maintained a sort of formation. Theoretically Anton could have let some of the pressure through to his head. He was moving towards the twenty-first star, which for him would be the Spirit Building tempering of the organs in his head- placing them under strain as he cultivated could help him temper them. However, only his eardrums and eyes would really be affected… and he wasn't sure he wanted to risk damage to them at the moment. Perhaps if they had extra time towards the end of the excursion he would try it.

The formation surrounding the area was quite visible from the inside. In addition to there being regular pillars to serve as the core of the formation, outside of it was only the normal amount of light that would reach the ocean floor. A couple hundred meters below the surface like where they were had only a small amount of light -enough to see by, but not for a significant distance. Where there were holes in the barrier, bright light poured through lighting up a portion of the ocean around it. He hadn't noticed them from the other side because of the way the light diffused and bent in the water.

Of the several Anton could make out, it was soon obvious which one Catarina was heading for. She kicked off from the ocean floor, using a bit of energy to increase her buoyancy as she went about a dozen meters up from the ocean floor. The others followed behind her as she looked at the cracked pillars surrounding the hole. Anton was never going to be a formation master, but he still paid attention to how the energy flowed and what parts Catarina took special interest in. If nothing else, he could confirm those were critical points of some sort if he had to destroy a similar formation.

One moment Anton was moving to see carvings in one of the pillars up close, the next his bow was up and aimed towards the hole in the barrier. An arrow dug through the water towards a strange creature that seemed to be mostly fishlike, but with a spear-like nose. His arrow pierced into one of its fins after it deflected off of its scales and defensive energy. He'd sensed the aggression as it approached the opening in the barrier. His single arrow had been meant to kill it, but the water hindered his attack. The creature, however, wasn't slowed by the water at all.

It shot forward rapidly towards Anton, only to be deflected by Timothy's shield, stretched to the limits of his reach as he swam upward. The deflection forced it to swim past before it turned around. Anton fired another arrow, focusing on piercing through the water resistance. With the level of energy he was sensing from the spearfish it was unlikely to be able to break his defenses- but letting it make the attempt would be foolish. His arrow managed to sink into the side of the creature about a finger, but it mostly dug just under the scales instead of piercing deeper like he intended.

Hoyt was in position to swing his axe, while Catarina simply held her sword towards the creature point-first. It made sense- if it was difficult for her to pick up speed, she could simply use the opponent's speed against them. The slowing of the water caused Hoyt to miss as the creature passed by, though he avoided its attack. His axe left a trail of heated bubbles that would have certainly still scalded the creature if they connected. Before the spearfish reached any of the others, it was suddenly stabbed from both sides.

Velvet appeared in the center of all of them, her arms raised to stab twin daggers at an angle into the creature. The force of its own momentum drove them half their length in, but after that she was able to use her power to pierce through it, not relying on the speed of her weapons but instead the leverage of her arms against the creature. Blood clouded the area as the creature perished.

With a few exchanged glances and gestures, the group swam and walked back towards the nearest building with active formations to keep out the water. Once inside, they discussed what they had experienced.

"The force of the water is stronger than I expected," Anton admitted. "Especially on the bow itself. I won't have much more range than the rest of you here. Though any amount isn't insignificant still."

"It's difficult for me as well," Hoyt agreed. "My axe won't be much good. I have other weapons but I might do better without. Depending on how much the sea creatures are concerned about boiling water."

All of them had seen the sorts of attacks that worked, and discussed what they might do. Catarina and Timothy had to choose between using higher quality swords only for the purpose of stabbing or using the longer reach of a proper spear but with lesser enchantments and materials. The potential need had been known to them already, but it wasn't the same until testing it out against a proper opponent.

"I saw what I needed to there," Catarina said. "That area, at least, was just normal decay. The Secret Realm doesn't have the same tidal forces the actual ocean has, and thus similar forms of decay didn't happen. There are a few more small buildings like this around the edge that we can hop between while checking out the other holes, then I suppose we should move more inward. There will likely be more interesting things there, but also more dangers from cultivators if nothing else."

The next break in the barrier was similar to the first, but the third had an entire pillar missing, with no indication where it could be. Perhaps it was buried under many layers of sand, but none of them could sense it. As they moved along it seemed that more than half of the buildings were flooded with water, but they stopped once more to talk about what they had seen.

"If the pillars weren't so large, I'd be interested in taking them," Catarina said. "They should have valuable materials, but it's not practical to take much of it."

"I've noticed something odd," Velvet said. "Outside and even up on the island, most of the traces of buildings were buried. Here, while there's damage to many and some have collapsed they all remain solidly in place atop the sand."

"Ooh," Catarina grinned, "That's an interesting thought. I just assumed the formations that still worked here were mainly for keeping out water, but you're right about that. We should take a look." She looked down at the floor which was put together out of large stone slabs. "This… might take a bit of work."

Pulling up each stone took quite a bit of work. In addition to the weight, simply getting a grip of any sort was difficult at first. They finally resorted to cracking a few stones and pulling out chunks. Yet even that took more effort than they thought it would, since the formation protected the structural stability of the building. As for the original purpose of the building they were in, it was unclear- but given the needs of a sect, it was probably for housing like many others.

After lifting up one layer of stones, there was another- but this one inlaid with formation runes. "Not just carving, but inlaid with metal?" Catarina grinned. "We have to get some of this." She bent down to look at it carefully. "It shouldn't have any dangerous reactions to remove it." She stabbed her sword into the stone and pried out a shape of reddish metal. "Aha-" was all she managed to say before the water rushed into the room and swamped them. Catarina tried to hide the look on her face, but Anton read it clearly as embarrassment. Well, destroying the formation might make it harder to do what they were doing- but if they could salvage some metals able to be part of a formation for so long, it should be worth working while covered in water. But before they did the same in any other building they were going to more thoroughly make sure there wasn't anything they'd prefer to keep dry.

Chapter 183

Dismantling parts of the buildings had never been the plan- it was just the only way Catarina was able to study the full extent of the formations on the buildings. As she pulled out a part of the formation- still keeping the water repelling features intact- Catarina shook her head. "It feels kind of weird to be taking apart a place where people lived, even if it was a long time ago."

"Sects rise and fall," Hoyt said. "Many of them get plundered and dismantled less respectfully than this. Kind of like that group over there."

"Agh!" Catarina looked at the next building over, aghast. "We have to stop them!"

Before anyone could say anything she had already lept out into the ocean. Anton and the other followed after her, as she was looking surprisingly serious. Catarina reached the group of cultivators and started gesturing at them with her sword. Anton couldn't make out her words with all the water between them, but a moment later the group of cultivators responded with something and drew their own weapons.

Anton quickly began to fire arrows. While shooting from the water into open air meant his attacks were slow and more easily dodged, he didn't have to hit to be useful. The first handful of shots drove people away from Catarina, letting only one man charge forward. As his spear stabbed towards her she parried it to the side, then struck his jaw with her palm. Based on the way she 'gently' nudged him along the floor out of the way, Anton determined that she was interested in taking them down nonlethally. A difficult task against equals, but the handful of cultivators were only in early Spirit Building. There was some leeway in fighting them.

When Hoyt entered the room, he created a wall of fire wherever he moved. Nobody was willing to go through it, so he easily split the group in half. Two were left to deal with Timothy and Catarina, though they were clearly outmatched. Anton had to support Hoyt as the other few tried to take him out, shooting arrows into arms and legs where they shouldn't cause permanent damage. Velvet appeared behind one of them with a dagger reaching around to the front of his neck, and the man dropped his weapon.

A few minutes later they were all disarmed and knocked to the floor, and Anton finally moved forward out of the water. "What's that?" Catarina pointed to the floor with her sword as she looked at the group. Where she pointed was a blood-red yet metallic inlay.

"Enchanted rubysteel," said one of the men, kneeling. "It's quite valuable."

"No!" Catarina emphasized her words with her sword. "Well, it is, but more importantly that's one of the prime runes of the formation. It controls all of the energy moving throughout. If you just yank it out it will explode and destroy everything!" Catarina stomped angrily about the area. "And you didn't even finish clearing the building first! See here under the rubble is the head of a spear you missed entirely." She threw the spearhead at the group, where it trembled in the ground between them. "You'd do better to go around picking that stuff up than messing with formations."

"We're… umm…" the man looked around at the others with him. "We're sorry?"

"Good," Catarina nodded. "Also, make sure to leave some intact water wards in each area. Unless you want to swim to the surface every time you need a breath?" The group didn't seem happy about being chastised by a woman younger than them- but she was also higher in cultivation along with her allies, so there wasn't much they could do. And she was right. "If you see anyone else making dumb decisions you should straighten them out too. Getting yourselves killed means you don't get any profit at all."

With that, she turned to leave. The group of cultivators looked quite relieved at that. One of them looked at the rubysteel runes in the floor and sighed, but didn't make any moves to try to pull it out.

Having studied enough of the formations in the area, Catarina led the group generally deeper into the Luminous Ocean Society's territory- and also deeper into the sea. The pressure increased gradually, but not to a level they couldn't handle. Of more concern was how many of the buildings were missing large portions of them, clearly from damaging attacks and not the ravages of time. Anton even saw burn scars on the stones that made up much of the buildings, half-covered by some of the strange 'corals'. Some places had lumps of stone below indicating portions had melted. While he knew cultivators could melt stone in extreme circumstances, having it be so frequently visible was concerting.

As they were walking along the bottom of the sea he sensed something. The slope of the sand was gradual and fairly consistent, but the harder ground underneath was actually filled with very deep craters. Only his energy senses could discern that at all, because meters of sand had piled up atop the area. Anton knew someone like Elder Kseniya or Grand Elder Vandale could cause craters like that, but even the two of them working together wouldn't have been able to affect such large swathes of area. He had no way to prove it, but the damage also seemed somewhat incidental- the attacks would be intended for cultivators, after all, not random patches of ground. But the fact that a massive battle had happened wasn't actually news.

"This one goes underground," Anton commented. Most of the buildings had foundations that were set into the sand and reached down towards bedrock, of course, but few of them actually had more structure beneath. At least not that Anton had noticed.

The top level of the building was flooded. Anton saw barnacle-encrusted weapons scattered against a wall among various things growing inside. When he picked one up, the structure of the weapon crumbled away, bits and pieces breaking off. No matter how well enchanted some weapons had been, they hadn't been able to withstand centuries.

The group looked around the area, trying to find a way down to what should be lower levels. It was taking some time, and Anton was about to leave to go get a breath of air when he saw one portion of floor was covered in sand and various bits of plantlife- but with the corner of a rug peeking out. Surprisingly, the rug didn't fall apart as he grabbed it. With a flip the sand slowly drifted through the seawater off of the rug- and underneath he saw a perfectly intact handle. He didn't sense any energy, but he waved Catarina over just in case. When she gave him a sign that everything was good, he pulled up the trapdoor. It didn't give for a moment, then something snapped and it opened.

Inside were some stairs- and Anton could see the visible signs of a formation keeping out water. He stepped inside with Catarina, signalling to the others with his energy. "I'm surprised this formation is fully intact with how things are above."

"It's not, actually," Catarina explained. "It seems like it still had a minor concealment component. There should have been more to it before." Once the others joined them, she gestured downward. "The formation isn't exactly steady, so I'll be going first."

It didn't take them long to step out into a large room with something like a furnace in the middle. Considering the presence of anvils and molds around the room, it appeared to be a forge of some sort. There were tools, still radiating hints of enchantment, scattered randomly about the room. The room had hardly any dust covering the surfaces, though the air was a bit thick and not the best for breathing.

"I would have expected a forge to have access to air," Hoyt commented. "Beyond that maintained by a formation. Perhaps over there?" He walked over to a wall, where there was a closed vent. "I'd bet this is it. I'd also be reasonably willing to bet that this place would flood if I opened it. Not that I see a way for fresh air to get in even if I thought it worked."

"Why would a forge be secret?" Catarina asked.

"That's the question, isn't it?" he asked. "There's nothing here but a handful of ingots."

"More like two handfuls," Anton said. He gestured to some small bars that didn't look like anything special. "Those and-" he turned around. He didn't see any ingots, but he sensed them. "These…?" Anton walked over to a small wooden table that had escaped decay. As he moved, he was able to make out some slight forms. Tilting his head back and forth, he realized there were indeed some ingots that were nearly invisible. He reached out and picked one up. It was cold to the touch, about a hand long and half as wide. A significantly sized ingot, but what properties it had was unclear.

"These are stuck, I think," Timothy commented as he tried to pick up ingots from the other table. "Let me just…" he got two hands on one at the top of the pile and yanked. There was a scraping sound as it slid off the table and then hit the ground with a cracking thud. Timothy just looked at it and then slowly stepped back. "... Almost lost a toe." He bent down and used two hands to lift the ingot, straining as he did so. "This is… really heavy." He brought it to his waist and slipped it into his enchanted bag. "Whew. I think a few of those might push this to capacity."

Everyone but Anton hurried over to the table to try to pick up an ingot as well. None of the rest had an easier time than Timothy. In fact, Hoyt was the only one who managed to pick one up without using energy to augment his strength. Both he and Timothy had cultivated muscle at the second star, so they had recently completed the Spirit Building version of the same. Catarina and Velvet had done their tempering later, so were a bit lower in muscle power at the current moment.

"There's one left," Catarina noted.

Anton walked over. Seeing no reason to embarrass himself, Anton gathered his energy as he reached out for the normal-looking ingot. He hefted the ingot and gently placed it into his bag, where its weight was no longer a concern. "We can also split the others. Then we should be-" he looked towards the stairs at the same time as Velvet.

"Someone's coming," she confirmed. "We should prepare ourselves."

Anton hurried over to the other ingots. He had no idea what they were, but they were bound to be valuable. If nothing else for their near-total transparency. He tossed some to the others. He wondered why they hadn't been taken. Clearly this room should have had much more, but it had been sealed when they arrived. He took a stance in the corner of the room, looking at the stairs. Though the cultivation of those he sensed was below his own, there were at least a dozen of them. Or so he'd thought, but now he only sensed a handful. "They seem to be concealing themselves," Anton said. "That doesn't bode well for our chances of talking." Even as he tried to keep a lock on them, the few presences he sensed were moving around the area above, and then faded away into the water until he couldn't sense any of them. Yet simply observing when they hid gave him some idea. "They seem to be water-focused cultivators, perhaps."

"That means we might not just be able to wait for them to run out of air," Hoyt said. "Though they have to get tired eventually, right?"

"Maybe," Velvet said, "But if they're good we won't know if they're gone. If they get fatigued at the same rate as us we can afford to wait, but if they can stand around for a day… we might be in trouble. Or if they can bring more allies." She looked towards the vents Hoyt had spotted. "I might be able to get close enough to spot them, if I sneak around. I don't know if we the rest of you could climb through this… subtly. Wouldn't want them to catch us in it."

"I don't know if I have any better ideas," Timothy said. "But if that starts flooding this place we basically have to step out and fight."

Catarina was already patrolling around the room, at first trying to scratch the floors and walls with her sword but when that didn't work placing formation flags and plates around the area. "We should at least be ready if they attack. And I might be able to extend this to up above, though I'd have to do it as we fight."

Anton looked at the stairs. "I might be able to shoot where one was, but if they're moving… I can't say. There's also some small chance they aren't actually hostile, but I wouldn't bet on that."

Hoyt punched the air, his fist leaving flaming trails. "If they come down here I can pull out my axe, but I'm ready regardless. Velvet, if you can get us information- great. But don't risk yourself. If they're really water cultivators they might move faster than you expect."

With that, the group prepared themselves for a fight. If they could put up a good enough showing, any enemy might retreat regardless of whether they could win. Anton planned to do just that. Once he had a target… he was poised to quickly take them out.

Chapter 184

It was clear to Velvet that the vent wasn't made for people to move through it. She could be considered fairly skinny but in parts it wasn't even as wide as her shoulders as it bent and turned. Velvet hoped that people appreciated what she was doing- bones weren't meant to bend or move the way she had to. Doing it quietly was even harder… though as she reached the end of the vent she realized people probably couldn't hear her anyway.

That was because it ended under a meter of sand, kept out by the still-functioning wards. Velvet reached up tentatively, but her hand wasn't stopped by the barrier. She was quite capable of digging through sand, but doing so without making it obvious to anyone nearby was harder. Sensing things with energy worked in all directions, but even the best cultivators she knew of couldn't pay full attention to every spot at once. If she kept the changes small enough- and most importantly kept her energy concealed- she could stay concealed.

Velvet pulled her head up into the sand, arms lifting her on the edge of the stone vent. She continued to rise slowly- somehow it was more worrisome to not be breathing while covered in sand than while just underwater, even though in both cases she had to keep her mouth and nose sealed.

If people had been looking at just the right place they might have seen a small rise in the sand, but sand shifted all the time as the water and living creatures swirled it about. She stepped up onto the sand, using her stealth techniques to avoid disturbing the sand and water around her as much as possible, and even the concentrations of natural energy. She wasn't far from the building above where the rest were. She slowly made her way over towards the building. If she hadn't been expecting people, she likely would have stumbled right into them. They were so well concealed it took her a full minute to pick out a single person in what otherwise appeared to be an empty room. It might have been faster if she could have used her energy to actively search, but that would have alerted all of them. Even though her friends below would surely back her up, Velvet didn't like the idea of having to deal with all dozen or so enemies at once.

The hiding cultivators looked just like the water around them- which meant basically invisible. The only thing that allowed her to notice them was that with the shifting currents the way light refracted changed slightly, occasionally revealing them by distorted patterns of light beneath them. Even their footprints in the sand were nearly invisible, a hundred times less obvious than those from the Order. Velvet could nearly match them, but she hadn't been trying when they first entered the area.

There wasn't much she could do but slip away, back towards the vent. She couldn't sense it with the passive traces of her energy, but she remembered where it was. She slowly wiggled her legs into the sand and when she hit air she was able to confirm she was right. She continued downward until she dropped into stale air, but it was enough to take a relieved breath. Then she shimmied her way down the vent and out.

"I was able to spot them," she reported, "But they're nearly invisible, shifted to look and feel like water. I'm not sure if they can keep that up in battle, but I don't have a way to point them all out. If a few stay hidden they could attack at critical points… it would be quite dangerous."

"Should we call for help?" Anton asked. "It would be good if we could rely on ourselves, but trying to do so unnecessarily isn't a useful form of bravery."

"We could," Catarina admitted, "But you said they're shifted to be like water?" Catarina asked, "What are the chances they can also become invisible out of the water?"

"Not terribly high," Velvet said. "They seem to be water type cultivators, likely from somewhere vaguely local. Unless it's an entire sect devoted to stealth…" Velvet shook her head, "Then they should be revealed."

"We haven't conclusively determined hostility," Anton noted. "I would prefer not to give up any advantages, but they must already know we noticed them. Otherwise we wouldn't stay down here for so long. Plus, they have to have noticed us obscuring our sound." They wouldn't just be openly discussing their plans without some effort to make sure they weren't being overheard.

"Right," Catarina nodded. "Actually," she pulled out a formation flag with a finger on her lips. "I have a plan. We should call out to them to make sure if they're hostile or not." Catarina quickly wrote on a piece of paper. 'If Velvet places this on the roof I can create a temporary expansion of the water-repelling formation, exposing them'

Anton nodded. "I suppose that's the only choice. Everyone else?"

They all agreed. Velvet once more began to climb out of the area, concealing herself as she went. Anyone else coming out would surely be placed in an awkward position if they were noticed along the way. Otherwise the best solution would be for them to just leave. No unnecessary fighting risking their lives- or unnecessary killing. Catarina began shifting around some of the formation flags to support the upcoming changes.

After determining Velvet should be close enough that a distraction would be useful, Hoyt took a position at the bottom of the stairs with the others. "We know you're there! Come on out or we will presume you're hostile." He used his energy to project his voice into the water. Doubtless it would be somewhat distorted so he repeated his proclamation with slightly different wording. If they really weren't hostile it would be best if they didn't fight. Even if they were, they might get scared away which would be good enough for the moment.

Catarina kept her eyes focused on the stairs, then she nodded. "Now."

Everyone began to move up the stairs- even Anton, because from his position he could only fire on a narrow angle at the top. Hoyt and Timothy were at the front, and just as they were about to stick their heads into the water… Catarina's energy flared and it suddenly receded. At the same time, Timothy and Hoyt stepped out of the trapdoor, standing back-to-back. Anton knew they were outnumbered, so he gathered the energy of Fleeting Youth to begin the battle with some momentum. As the water pulled back, figures stood out in clear contrast to the air.

The people that were revealed had clearly modified their bodies- gills could be seen on their necks, though there were a number of sects that did the same when primarily situated around the ocean. For anyone else, the expenditure of effort and danger of permanently altering the body weren't worth it.

It didn't matter who they were- they way they were poised for an ambush and the fact that they hadn't even tried some sort of negotiation allowed Anton to take the first shot without guilt- though perhaps his attack was more simultaneous to some of theirs. His arrow was just faster than the nets they threw and their lunging spear thrusts. The room around the secret entrance wasn't large, and an arrow could travel a handful of meters in no time at all- especially boosted by the most powerful energy Anton could handle. His target was halfway through throwing a spear when the arrow pierced through his torso at an angle- piercing through a lung and her heart and possibly clipping her other lung. The spear continued from her hand, but without controlled energy augmenting it the power it had was limited.

Timothy raised his shield on one side, expanding his energy to cover that entire side. He moved his shield to redirect a spear while a net impacted with no effect- it wasn't able to wrap around and entangle him. On the other side, Hoyt swung his axe to parry a spear while at the same time leaving behind a trail of fire. Unfortunately, that didn't stop the two nets that entangled him in an overlapping fashion, and he kept his energy more tightly knit around his body.

Though it didn't look very elegant, Hoyt dodged further incoming spears and darts by flinging himself into the trapdoor and down the stairs. That left Timothy briefly open from the back and he was likewise forced to retreat temporarily while blocking and parrying stabbing spears. Anton's next arrow went straight into the shoulder of someone trying to get behind Timothy, almost removing the arm. He only had another couple of shots with the full power of Fleeting Youth, but this wasn't a battle where conserving their energy would help.

A few moments later the battle had fully shifted to Timothy at the top of the stairs facing the attacks of nearly a dozen opponents at once, with Hoyt still disentangling himself. One person's energy couldn't resist so many, but Timothy wasn't exactly alone- Catarina and the others gave him some of their energy as well as him having some augmentation from the formation. That meant instead of being fully impaled he only ended up with a half-dozen stabs and gashes at the weak points in his armor.

Another arrow pierced through the air, past the wall that was Timothy, and into the eye of one of the men attacking them. Breaking through energy and armor together was difficult, but if he was simply accurate enough armor was less important. And not everyone could keep an eye on him at the same time. Since he felt safe, he was able to attack unrestrainedly.

Catarina helped free Hoyt, and the two of them rushed forward to relieve the pressure on Timothy. Hoyt swung his axe in a wide arc, forcing people to dodge back or simply knocking them away if they didn't move. Flames lingered, limiting their movement options. Catarina took advantage of their position to attack the legs of those above them.

Another woman in the group had excellent instincts and managed to avoid one of Velvet's stabbing daggers as she came up behind, protecting her neck from being fully impaled. But she still received a dagger a good fifteen centimeters into her guts, stabbing up under the joints in her armor.

With a handful of grievous injuries or deaths in just a matter of moments- and lacking the element of surprise- the enemy group began to retreat. Anton took a single shot at one of them at they retreated, hitting the back of the thigh. He hadn't chosen mercy nor was he restraining himself from additional attacks- he simply didn't have an angle to shoot at the others before they fled in all directions and disappeared into the water. Though they weren't entirely hidden either. Anton saw blood trails heading in several directions.

"Quiet Shore Palace," Velvet stated as she inspected one of the fallen enemies. "They're local. Not a great reputation, though also not much worse than what's common of cultivators. They ambush and steal if they think they can reasonably get away with it. Especially cultivators who are unfamiliar with water-based combat."

"Unfortunately this expansion in the formation won't last long," Catarina said, "And we shouldn't give them the time to regroup anyway. Let's continue closer towards the center, being around more people will at least make them consider if they won't be caught in the middle. There might be more enemies, but there will also be more allies- or potential allies."

"Agreed," Timothy said as he was applying poultices and bandages to his wounds.

Hoyt helped Velvet with the bodies. "Kind of morbid, but they chose to fight us. We can't just let them come back for what was on their companions."

That was the world of cultivators. Killing and looting was highly profitable for the victors. Some conflicts ended before death- many cultivators would be willing to accept a surrender if it meant they could get the contents of someone's storage bag and not have to deal with someone desperately fighting for their life. That was where ambush situations came in- if the ambush had worked, several of them might have died or been seriously injured instantly, and the rest couldn't have overcome so many opponents.

As they moved out into the water they hurried between buildings that had air, minimizing their exposure to more attacks of the same nature. Then up ahead Anton sensed something. "We should hurry," he said. "There's conflict brewing… and if I'm not wrong it involves Masozi. I'm not terribly thrilled about protecting his life, but if he has useful information…"

Going from battle to battle was tiring, but sometimes there just weren't convenient opportunities to rest. Anton knew that it was important to push through those times and draw out everything you could.

Chapter 185

Up ahead a handful of cultivators were surrounding one Anton recognized. A fight hadn't broken out just yet- it was clear the half dozen early Spirit Building cultivators surrounding Masozi were cautious of his somewhat higher cultivation. Nobody wanted to be the one to approach first, risking themselves.

To add to that, Anton fired an arrow towards them. He intentionally let it pass just by the head of one of those gathered around, trying to make it clear that he could have hit. Even if that was not the case, the display of his power that was on the stronger end of mid Spirit Building was sufficient to dissuade the group. They stepped away, and though they might have tried to quickly defeat Masozi before fleeing they chose to prioritize their safety. They turned to flee, and Anton let them go. He didn't know what their reasons were- perhaps they had a legitimate grudge to avenge- but he needed Masozi alive.

Masozi turned towards him, and his face clearly showed a moment of considering if he could run. Anton lowered his bow to indicate he didn't intend to kill the man. While Masozi might have been involved with helping Tonina get away with more mischief, if it hadn't been him someone else would have been in the same position. He at least had the good sense to distance himself from her when he was aware of the full implications of what was happening. Tacitly supporting legal slavery wasn't something Anton believe a good person could allow, but that made him no worse than the majority of Ofrurg. If Masozi was concerned with his life first and foremost, the Potenza clan could have kept him safe instead.

When they got close, Masozi hadn't moved- and Anton gestured into a nearby building with proper air. It was much easier to converse there. "What do you want?" Masozi asked.

"Straightforward and to the point," Anton nodded. "Fine. You must have heard about recent events in Graotan."

"I heard Tonina was executed. I'm sure she deserved it," Masozi shrugged. "That no longer has anything to do with me. I believed I was operating inside the law. Not much point in taking out your grudge on me now…"

"I don't intend to kill you," Anton assured him. "Nor do I intend to harm you in any way. But you might know some things I need to know. Since you were with Tonina for at least several years, you should have been aware of what was going on around her. She had some connections to very powerful people, beyond the Potenza clan."

"You want to know about that, huh?" Masozi shook his head. "I don't suppose you'd accept it if I said you're better off not knowing?"

"Not really," Anton said. "They're already enemies of me and the Order." Anton changed the topic- or at least seemed to. "What quarrel did you have with those fellows from earlier?"

Masozi shook his head, "Don't know. Perhaps they just thought a lone cultivator was an easy target. Or…" he frowned. "Could be someone out for revenge."

"You know what we want," Anton said.

"It's not like I have anything clear for you," Masozi said. "Just a few things here and there… but even that could get me into serious trouble."

"Maybe it already has," Anton countered.

Masozi sighed. "Fine. How about this… I heard some pills were found here. Duality pills, they were called when sold. I got a small piece of one, still potent after all this time. I suspect there are more. If you can get me a whole one- or something just as good- I'll take the risk. That's already counting that you might just kill me if I don't cooperate, by the way. I'd feel slightly safer if I broke through another level or two, though."

"What if we find more?" Anton asked, "Or nothing at all?"

"I want a fair split, if we're fighting together, with the first pill being mine. If there's nothing after say… a full week, I'll tell you what I know. I have to still be alive for that, obviously. You have to swear to give up any grudges as well."

"Sounds like you're planning to get more than just a single pill out of this."

Masozi shrugged, "I don't think it's unreasonable to try to get as many resources as possible to protect myself. And while you have certainly surpassed me since we last met, I won't be a burden on your group either. It's only a stronger reward in my favor if we're only able to get a single thing."

Anton considered the deal, consulting with the others briefly. Masozi wasn't weak- the only reason he'd backed off in their previous confrontation was that Anton had Elder Varela at his side and was exclusively targeting Tonina. It was true he hadn't advanced much since then, but this wasn't a long-term deal where he'd need to keep up for months or years. Just a week. The others agreed to the splitting, though they did first have Masozi be more specific about the value of the pill he was looking for. It would indeed be quite significant if they only found one, but if there were more it wasn't a huge concern.

It seemed unlikely that things of such value would be found just sitting around anyway- perhaps the real origin of the pills he had seen was from somewhere else. On the other hand, ancient sects were sometimes obscenely wealthy. In the end, they agreed. Anton offered to compensate the rest if they lost out on their portion of the profits, but nobody was concerned with that. All of them owed Anton quite a lot, even if it wasn't in a way that could be paid back with money, or at all. They also provided help to him, but their debts weren't the sort that actually cared about money. And if they found real stores of riches, missing a single portion wouldn't be too concerning.

Even underwater, Masozi was quick- Anton remembered him getting almost halfway to him between arrows in the arena. He wielded a short spear with strength and grace, clearly having put in time practicing various weapons. His energy was indeed a bit weaker than the rest of them, but his addition to their numbers was still a benefit.

As they moved deeper into the ruins of the Luminous Ocean Society, battle with underwater beasts became more frequent. It seemed that most of the creatures lived away from the barrier, except the occasional one that wandered through one of the holes. At the current moment they were fighting against a handful of perturbing squid, with various tendrils of different lengths.

Spirit Arrows were fired into their bodies, but Anton wasn't certain about the placement of their organs. Disabling limbs one by one was difficult as well, and they took special care of their eyes. If his arrows could go the same speed as on the surface… well then, the squid would have to have been stronger to maintain its relative level of battle prowess. In the most dangerous places there were many beasts that could match mid Spirit Building cultivators.

Hoyt seemed to have the easiest time of all of them- as the squid reached out for him to grab onto him, the water bubbled and boiled around him. Anton could feel the significant amounts of energy required to maintain the effect, but the results spoke for themselves. Even if one of the squid briefly wrapped an arm around him, it would quickly pull away. The way they pushed through the water was impressive.

Anton watched above him as some of the squid hovered above the sea floor. In a way being underwater meant everything could fly- he could also dodge up while swimming if he wished to, but that would just open him up to attacks from below. Maneuvering without feet on the ground was also difficult. But just sticking to what he was comfortable with might be a disadvantage, so Anton tried to replicate some of the squid's movements. He didn't have a large number of tentacles to push against the water, but creating a sheet of energy did just as well. He could even make it intangible as it moved to its starting position, so he could continuously push without slowing down. The downside was that controlling anything of the sort was one more application of energy at the same time as others, weakening his offense or defense or both. Yet the extended energy could also catch on to the incoming tentacles and push them away. The long ones were of most concern, while the shorter ones were better at grabbing.

Timothy had quite a bit of difficulty at first, since the squid weren't attempting to batter him down with force. The longer tendrils first ran into his shield or the extension of it with energy and slowly reached their way around to try to wrap around his arms and legs. Re-angling his shield would do nothing against such a determined action, but eventually he just realized that his shield still limited the angles their attacks could come from. And though these beasts had tough bodies and the benefit of defensive energy, he could still thrust his sword into an oncoming limb if the enemy was careless.

Catarina was able to fight against them well enough, whether using her accustomed sword or a spear, but formations out in open water were quite difficult. Anton could see that placing a number of flags might form a defensive cylinder, but to cover the top and bottom she had to adjust the shape into a sphere by placing flags above and below. And flags didn't just happily remain in place without being physically stuck in something- she either had to hold them at the right position with her own energy or rely solely on being close to the sandy floor. She was still able to guide the flow of energy between members of their group to support those who needed it most, though the complexities of positioning were increased with the more frequent addition of a third dimension. Normally it was more difficult to fly or jump over someone's head than to just go around- and against cultivators at least, being unable to change trajectory was dangerous.

Velvet did just find concealing herself in the water, hiding her visible presence and blending her energy into the surroundings. She wasn't actually invisible, but she was able to take advantage of distracted opponents even in open water. Though perhaps she might be able to achieve true invisibility underwater in the future. Some of the members of the Quiet Shore Palace had pieces of their technique on them as well- none of them carried a full practicing method probably for the very reason that it would make it harder to steal. Even Anton didn't carry more than the Body Tempering section of the Ninety-Nine Stars to give to others. He was already familiar enough with the principles of Spirit Building that he didn't need to review them. Likewise, he didn't need to keep a copy of Spirit Arrows on him because the book wouldn't have anything he didn't know.

Masozi twisted and turned his body as he moved through the water, still restrained by it but agile enough to pierce any limbs that reached out towards him. The squid soon discovered that their prey weren't so easy to kill and began some unexpected tactics- one of them squeezed the blood out of one of their tentacles, and Masozi found it tried to eat away at his energy. He had to back up and take a path around the cloud of blood, giving the squid time to retreat.

Anton fired a few parting shots as the squid gave up the fight, feeling as the energy peeled off his Spirit Arrows as it passed through clouds of their blood. However, unlike the more widely disseminated defensive energy he kept around himself, the density of the arrow allowed it to continue without dissipating too much. One of the squid was slain, though the others retreated with varying levels of injury. Gathering the squid was a bit difficult with its acidic and energy-melting blood, but it seemed that second property quickly faded as the blood lingered and then thinned throughout the water. Some more sea creatures swam around the area, drawn by the scent of blood, but most of them chose to follow the trail after the injured creatures since the body had been stored. The others were still appraising the cultivators when they took the chance to step into a building to refresh themselves, effectively putting themselves out of reach of anything in the water.

Chapter 186

Though the ruins of the Luminous Ocean Society were not within the purview of any specific agreements by the major sects, that didn't mean people acted in an entirely lawless manner. Conflicts with the Quiet Shore Palace notwithstanding, conflicts between cultivators were fairly rare. After all, to risk their life in a battle where the benefits were unknown and the most likely outcome is a grudge didn't motivate many people. Most of the time, only people with specific targets ended up in conflict. It was possible Quiet Shore Palace was after the very ingots that were found, though how they would have known they were there without simply obtaining them was another question raised.

As the group from the Order continued to explore, a pattern emerged in the various sorts of treasures they found. First, unless it was well hidden- or formerly well hidden- there were only ever random discarded or displaced treasures to be had. Old weapons that might or might not still be enchanted, scraps of armor, pills that for the most part had lost their efficacy. It was all below a certain level- even the Elders of the Order hadn't found anything suited for anyone beyond Essence Collection. To be fair, equipment and pills suited for Essence Collection cultivators were still extremely valuable- but compared to what they estimated the Luminous Ocean Society once had they were quite rare. Most commonly there were pieces of equipment that Spirit Building cultivators would make use of.

Though they had an agreement with Masozi, Anton had highly doubted that pills would be scattered about in the sect just waiting to be found. He was right… sort of. There were more sealed underground rooms, behind what once must have been powerful concealment formations. Most of those the group found had clearly been broken open long before. It was difficult to count how many vaults they'd gone through to find them empty. At the current moment, they were breaking into one that was still sealed.

"A little bit more energy on the left," Catarina guided. There was a weakness in the structure of the formation there, and if they broke through it should crumble apart. It wasn't a difficult task, but sometimes it was hard to concentrate when being watched like hawks by nearby cultivators. If they could rush inside and get their hands on something before fleeing, they might be willing to take that risk. Some might actually look for a fight. It was better to try to deter them. "In a moment, we will pierce three quarters of the way through." Formations weren't like walls, where once toppled they were forever rubble. If the actual core of the formation- the various runes that made it up- weren't destroyed it would reactive assuming its energy supplies allowed for it. Of course, that all depended on the formation.

The barrier in front of them wavered and then broke apart, and the group stepped forward after Catarina. Before anyone could try to slip past, however, Catarina threw down several flags to repair the damage they had caused. The barrier reformed. Then she frowned.

"Hmm." She was focused on the outer edge of the room they had entered, but everyone could still feel how bare it was in the middle. "It appears this formation was broken through earlier and reformed. A shame."

The only thing in the room was a slip of paper. The paper was in a now-familiar hand. "Welcome! It seems you are third. A shame, that. I was hoping to find something good in here. Have a consolation prize -E"

It didn't tell them much they didn't already know, though it sort of extrapolated some information they already had. Everheart had been here as well- but those who destroyed the sect had broken through nondestructively before that point. As for the 'consolation prize', it was just a few notes on the structure of the Luminous Ocean Society's formation methods. Potentially valuable, but far from complete.

Masozi sighed, "I really thought there would be something in here."

"Unfortunately, we're a bit late. Those who came in first found everything easy," Anton shrugged. "I suppose we move on to the next place."

Before they stepped out, Catarina dismantled some of the formation from the inside. Permanent formations weren't made from flags but instead carved runes and specific placement of materials with elemental or otherwise useful properties. Centuries of use weakened all portions of the formation, but some amount of material was recoverable.

A few curious cultivators looked at the group as they left, but even with the most efficient methods of sweeping things into storage bags it was clear they wouldn't have been inside long enough to clear out the whole room. Certainly not enough to get into conflict over.

One of the most common sorts of buildings they found were dormitories, since everyone had to live somewhere. They found another one not far away, but it was more intact than most. There was a hole in the ceiling still, and the place was visibly flooded- but enough of the preservation formation remained functional that even flooded with salt water it was possible to make out the full shape of what had once been beds, covered in corals and plantlife.

Entering was a bit more difficult than they would have presumed, because the hole in the top had sealed up with the formation. Most of the dormitories never seemed to have had anything more than water repelling formations, but this one had proper defenses. What's more, they even had enough power for a counterattack. At least that was what Catarina managed to convey without being able to properly speak. She had everyone but Anton gather with her on one side of the formation, while she sent him off beyond a corner- where he could still see her. She held up her hand, then gestured like she was shooting a bow while making it obvious she didn't actually do that often. Once more holding up her hand, Anton readied himself. He circulated his energy through his meridians, intent on being able to form a Spirit Arrow with full speed at any moment.

When Catarina finally gestured towards him, making a hooking motion with her arm, he understood the idea. If the formation was going to counter, he simply had to attack from a different angle. He formed an arrow and shot it well off to the side of the building, looping it around to strike the side of the building almost as if he were shooting from the next corner over. The formation responded by sending an arc of lightning back along the path of the arrow. Not the angle at which it had been hit, but actually following the true path. Fortunately, the lightning dissipated rapidly and by the time it struck Anton- who had readied his defenses and moved- it was only enough to send him reeling backwards without breaking through his defenses. At least his efforts had been enough to draw energy away from the part of the formation Catarina was working on, allowing her to open the door. Anton followed after the rest to get inside, finding a strange thin layer of air between the inside and outside water.

Inside the dormitory were a myriad of bed-shaped masses of life, as well as a few things that should have once been dressers and footchests. A moment after they were all inside, a crab pinched at Anton. Not a giant crab, but instead one whose larger pincer was merely the size of a fist. But he had almost not sensed it in time, and even when he sensed it and rapidly pulled back his leg a slice of bone was cut off of his shin. A moment later the crab was halfway across the room, having already attacked Hoyt.

The first thing Anton and the others did was push off of the ground, but the crab leapt from floor to ceiling and back to take a swing at people. The speed of its claws cut and sliced bloody lines into the cultivators as they tried to counterattack. Anton found it hard to get a lock on the creature as it moved about swiftly and the others barely had time to start swinging their weapons by the time it was already past them. The heat from Hoyt's abilities didn't really seem to faze it, though it was only next to him for an instant as it attacked.

It was strange to find such a small creature with a cultivation that rivalled someone at the Essence Collection realm, but that was the situation they found themselves dealing with. The crab had power and speed, and even when their weapons managed to touch it its hard shell and energy resisted the blows. The only factor in their favor was that it was unwilling to strongly commit to attacks, making most of the wounds it caused superficial as it darted away the first instant someone responded.

Catarina began to throw formation flags about the room, but they were nearly instantly removed from their position by the scuttling crab, whether knowingly or unknowingly. Everyone gathered together to try to defend each other, brandishing their weapons where they expected the crab to attack from. It somewhat worked, allowing them to deflect it while it attacked. Anton pulled out his twin axes, turning the blades towards where the crab was moving. While he couldn't track its movements, predicting it wasn't all that hard. It was fast… but not particularly tricky in its movements. When one person stepped forward, they were immediately the target.

Anton gathered some energy on the axe in his left hand and then tossed it forward. He hadn't been certain about what would happen, but the crab rushed past, carving a gouge in the blade. It was painful to see that happen to his weapon, but it inspired the others to distract the crab with other things.

Masozi extended a strand of his energy towards one of the ruined chests around the area, covering it in an aura like his and holding his spear behind it. The crab rushed past, and miraculously he managed to catch one of its legs, taking it off.

With the creature slightly slowed, others began to land blows of their own, though usually not so significant as an entire leg all at once. The final blow was managed when Timothy slammed his shield into the ground, stopping the crab in its tracks- though it managed to cause quite a dent in the shield as it ran into it. Masozi's spear pinned the body to the ground, and though surprisingly the crab wasn't dead while a spear took up the whole center of its body, it was unable to counterattack or move. Its blood filled the area before it eventually died.

Once it was confirmed to be deceased, they looked around the room for further threats. They likely would have encountered them during the battle, but they wanted to be cautious. Then they quickly began looking for something of value. They couldn't sense any energy indicating powerful pills or enchantments… until Masozi tore open the top of one of the still-intact chests. He reached his hand inside and pulled out a little round ball, about the size of the tip of his finger. He showed it to the others, smiling.

There were another few unopened chests, each with several pills that still radiated energy as well as a few old books and an enchanted spearhead. Upon making sure that was everything to be found, the group moved to a building with air to properly inspect their spoils and get a fresh breath.

Catarina set up a small privacy formation, since openly eyeing their loot could draw other cultivators over and cause trouble. Masozi displayed the first pill he'd found. "It really is a duality pill. Good for soul and body enhancement at the same time. This one is just like the one I got a portion of." He shrugged, "The outer layer is a bit damp, but it seems intact."

In total they had enough of the same duality pills that everyone had three, with a couple spares being split among them in pieces. The spearhead showed no signs of damage from being in saltwater for centuries, though it wasn't clear if it was the materials or enchantments that allowed that. The books were of the most interest. The wording in them was old, because even though an abundance of cultivators tended to homogenize language as they travelled about it still changed over time. Language would still be quite different a few countries away, but cultivators were quick to pick up new speech. Though they were a bit difficult to understand, the books were clearly combat techniques. There was one exception, which appeared to be a journal. The enchantments and waterproofing on it were not quite as strong as the technique books, and soggy pages had bled out some of the ink- but there were readable passages. Perhaps they might find some actual record of what had happened, though that depended on whether a random disciple knew about what would be happening ahead of time- and whether they thought it worthwhile. For the moment, however, it was being carefully dried so as not to tear it apart while flipping through it.

Chapter 187

A small ball the size of a tip of a finger was between Anton's thumb and forefinger as he inspected it. Visually it didn't look like much, something like a ball of silvery mud. Certainly not something that should be ingested. So far during his cultivation career Anton had only taken a small number of pills, using one to help him break through to the tenth star and little else.

He had always been the sort to refuse medicine, but cultivation pills weren't quite the same thing. They weren't meant to be taken when sick or even when struggling, but to help a cultivator achieve a specific result by providing a substantial amount of energy with particular properties. Given the condition it had been found in, he found it surprising that it still had any energy signature at all. He could tell it wasn't in perfect condition- though he didn't have the training to fully appraise the pill- but it was still much stronger than the previous pills he had consumed.

Masozi had already consumed one of his without issue, and since all the pills appeared more or less equivalent it was easy enough to rule out it having gone bad. It shouldn't cause any harm, but it might be less effective. There were warnings in the Order about consuming excessive amounts of pills, but that wasn't even vaguely geared towards taking one every couple years. Impurities might build up if someone took a pill every month to push their cultivation forward, in addition to the efficacy decreasing, but if the pill was well made there would be no harm to consuming them less regularly than that. Anton wasn't concerned about the quality of the pill, but instead he wanted to ponder how to make the best use of it before he took it.

The energy inside it was gentle yet powerful, like a wide stream. There were some tendrils of connection as well. Masozi had called it a 'duality pill', though there was no way to know if that was the original name. The point being when Masozi had obtained a partial pill before- and having confirmed it when he consumed a full one just now- he was able to discern that it helped connect body and soul while tempering both. In short, it was extremely well suited for the current portion of Spirit Building Anton was in.

Anton stored it away. They couldn't afford to spend too much time cultivating in one spot, and more importantly Masozi had a deal to fulfill. After having consumed the pill he'd broken through to the next level of his cultivation technique, though Anton knew he wasn't too far to begin with. Seeing Anton looking over at him, he nodded his head. "I can easily tell what you want. I'm quite happy with how this deal turned out, the only thing I ask is that you try not to spread where you got the information I will share." Anton nodded. "Good." He waited to see that Catarina had set up a proper privacy formation. "I might be in more danger for being seen with all of you, but it's already too late for that. About Tonina, I spent a few years as her bodyguard, while working for the Potenza clan several more before that. Even during the first years where we had little interaction, it was clear she was favored. I assumed at first that it was just the level expected of the Young Mistress of a clan. She was talented enough and an only child. But while I might have considered her parents a more reasonable sort, taking careful consideration of their actions, they often conformed to her whims in ways that weren't beneficial to the Potenzas as a whole."

"That's likely to happen in any family," Anton said, "Though some descendents are more reasonable."

"Indeed. But I learned it wasn't out of fondness for her. There were occasional meetings with mysterious cultivators. I was never present for them, though they weren't fully silent as I was leaving the area. I overheard a few things, but nothing practical. No name of a sect or person, no locations. The Potenzas only referred to them as 'the organizers'. Or perhaps there was more emphasis. 'The Organizers', but it's still not the name of a proper group. I didn't look too hard to find out about them."

"Is it the Flying Blood Sect?" Anton asked. "They were working with Tonina when we captured her."

"No," Masozi shook his head. "Or at least, the organization of the Flying Blood Sect, if it can be called that, is little known. It seemed to me to be a separate entity, and I didn't sense any of the Flying Blood Sect's cultivation. Though perhaps they can all hide it if they wish to. Given their activities, some amount of concealment seems necessary for them to continue functioning. But I would go with the presumption that the Flying Blood Sect works with or perhaps for The Organizers."

Anton nodded, writing down everything Masozi was saying. Relying on his own memory was good enough in most cases, but proper notes might be needed later. "Any connection to slave trading?"

"Probably, but the Potenzas are connected to slave trading as well obviously. Or were…? I heard the Order was doing something there."

"They still existed last I heard," Anton said, "But that could have changed in the last few weeks."

Masozi nodded, "Right, well. The Organizers seemed interested in Tonina in particular, rather than the clan. I can give you my best descriptions of their members and when I saw them. There were a few I saw more than once."

Anton took down all of the descriptions. He wished he had the ability to draw, so he could have Masozi adjust them until Masozi felt they were accurate- but words would have to do. There were many things Anton wished he had time to learn but… actually, he had time to try them now. If he could at least make a little bit of progress in cultivation while he attempted new crafts and the like, it could be worthwhile. He was encouraging everyone to do the same with their day-to-day work, and doing so might help him teach others. Or he would waste time and learn nothing important, but he could afford to do a little bit of that. He wasn't currently so close to the end of his lifespan that he expected to drop dead at any time.

Not long later, Anton sensed a small group of other disciples from the Order approaching. They didn't seem to be in any rush, but they were clearly coming to their group instead of just passing by.

The woman at the front appeared to be somewhere in her middle age and only in early Spirit Building. That was actually quite a reasonable place to be at her age, and it was only the growth rates of those immediately around Anton that made her seem behind. She inclined her head to them as she stepped inside. "Seniors, the elders request that all of the members of the Order gather together by the end of the day, deeper into the ruins." She gave them more specific directions to follow.

"I understand," Anton said. "Did they give a reason?"

The woman turned her eyes to Masozi. He shrugged, "I assume it's some secret vault or the like. I have no stake in it." The woman neither confirmed nor denied, but Anton felt Masozi's guess wasn't far off. At least, she would have said if they were anticipating organized attacks or something similar, so there were few other options.

"We'll have to part ways soon then," Anton said to Masozi. "Would you like us to escort you to the edge of the ruins?"

"I would appreciate that, yes."

"I can make that somewhat more effective," Catarina said. "If we conceal just his presence as we move, nobody will know if he's still travelling with us or not unless they get within eyesight." Catarina shrugged, "Though visibility is pretty far here except when buildings get in the way."

They departed from the other group of disciples, who continued to seek out others from the Order. As they walked along in the bright water, Anton considered that he might want to learn more about formations as well. He'd actually achieved some basics when in Everheart's Tomb. He had little reason to focus on more since Catarina would clearly always be ahead of him, but knowing a bit more shouldn't hurt. He also wondered about enchanting and everything else. He was still getting used to the idea that his life wasn't necessarily at its end. As long as he made sure he spent enough time properly cultivating he should be able to continue for a while. He couldn't fully judge the remainder of his current lifespan, but it was at least a handful of years even if he suddenly stopped cultivating entirely. But no more than a couple decades either.

Travelling back to the edge of the Luminous Ocean Society's borders was simple enough, since the further out they got the fewer cultivators were around. Everything was fairly well cleared out, so they would only encounter people traveling in and out, and there was more than just one location they could do so from. The Order just entered through a more 'official' sort of entrance rather than any old hole in the formation.

Nobody was sensed nearby when Masozi departed, so he should be safe. If not… Anton and the others had more than fulfilled any obligations to him. They weren't really enemies, nor were they friends. He was just another cultivator that had given them all the information they needed from him.

On the way back, it became clear that more than just disciples of the Order were being called further into the area. Cultivators from other sects were travelling inward as well, and because of the general motion of people, so were many of the independent cultivators. Some still hoped to make lucky finds like the duality pills Anton and the others had gathered, staying to the outer areas and branching out to the sides but others hoped they might pick up something from whatever event was happening.

Most of the cultivators were gathering in a ruined library, already picked clean long before. Only bare shelves could be seen, but Anton was amazed at how extensive they were. The Order had a fairly large library of both mundane texts and those related to cultivation, but it could all fit into a corner of the building they were in.

One wall of the massive structure was completely gone- pulled outward, by the look of it. Anton felt the remains of the wall and a set of massive doors buried under the sand. The formations keeping water out of the area still functioned, but Anton had the feeling the area was swept clean long before the area was rediscovered.

When the group arrived, they saw the Elders of the Order meeting with some others from different sects. It was likely they were arranging the details of how they would organize splitting… whatever it was that was found. As for where that thing might be, Anton could at least make out the presence of a formation below them. Not directly under the library, but out and away from it. Even he could tell that whatever concealments it once had were faded away.

Eventually the elders pulled apart, shaking their head. Kseniya spoke to the members of the Order. "No agreement has been reached except that we wish to minimize bloodshed. It's the barest sort of provision and not fully binding, but it is what it is. In short, remain close to the elders if you want to be safe, or at least be somewhere you can quickly run to us. We would ask that you don't begin any fights. Of course, there might be nothing at all," she grinned and shrugged. "In a few moments we will begin breaking through the formation. We'll ask for contributions of energy from everyone. It's not a simple one."

Chapter 188

As soon as they arrived at a location with direct access to the formation, it was obvious how much more powerful it was than the one at the Secret Realm. The first layer was basically the same, and that was where problems set in. There were layers of formation built up on top of each other, seven of them in total. Each was progressively more powerful. No matter how durable a wall was, determined attacks would eventually bring it down- but that wasn't necessarily the case with a formation. In part, it depended on where it got its power from.

Dozens of sects gathered around, large and small. Their elders and formation masters took a position at the front, channeling energy from their disciples behind them. They simultaneously launched attacks at the direction of the formation masters, shattering the first layer of the barrier. Another attack, the second layer. Another, and the third. That was around the point where the first layer started reforming. The next barrage dispersed the reforming first layer while the fourth was merely weakened slightly. The subsequent fifth and sixth strikes shattered the reforming second and third layers while finally breaking through the fourth.

At that point, something started to become visible. The first three layers were more durable than when they had first appeared. However, the group continued battering at the barriers until they broke through the fifth layer.

Elder Rana, one of the preeminent formation masters from the Order, explained the phenomenon. "When the barriers reform, they seem to take on properties to protect themselves from the previous most effective damage! Prepare to alternate attacks!"

It took a few moments to organize people such that one group or another wouldn't attack for a moment, but nobody was willing to stop to rest and let the whole barrier reform. It wasn't the worst scenario, however. If the barrier adapted to the point that only one type of attack could break through they would be in trouble, since it would require six or seven different sects be able to break a full layer on their own. Instead it just required some people to sit out on individual layers while everyone else worked together to break through the next barrier. Then they could attack the one underneath that before the top layers began to reform.

After they broke through the sixth layer, Anton began to call upon the power of Fleeting Youth. It was energy he would never have, from future lives he might never live and the power beyond ascension that he would never reach. Why would he? He wanted nothing more than to make the world better for everyone. Leaving the world behind could hardly accomplish that goal, even if he managed to achieve what most people thought was impossible even for the best cultivators.

When the next attack struck, Anton felt his energy rebound violently. It pushed back against him, sending his energy into turbulent confusion. It refused to flow in its proper way, twisting through his meridians and dantian as it pleased and almost trying to break free. He had to stop contributing to the barrage and focus only on calming his energy. It was strange. The barrier hadn't counterattacked against anything else- nor had he noticed anything happening to others on a larger scale. It was only when he used the power of Fleeting Youth that he provoked a response. Since he valued his life, he decided he wouldn't attempt it again. In fact, he stopped dealing with the barrier at all. Nobody would miss a single cultivator's energy.

After a good half an hour of continuous attacking, the final layer of the barrier broke apart- and the formation masters were able to prevent it from reforming any longer. The barrage of attacks broke through the ceiling into what appeared to be a fairly standard series of hallways, branching towards many rooms that could be felt in all directions.

Cultivators started dropping into the area rapidly, ignoring the possibility of additional traps. Anton approached more cautiously, more concerned about the original barrier- but he was able to pass through the area without difficulty. When they got down into the corridor they began a determined run towards a door further down the hallway that nobody was inside yet. There were dozens of doors nearby, and perhaps hundreds of rooms or more throughout the sprawling underground complex. Fighting with others over unknown benefits inside was pointless when they could freely obtain something else.

The first room was a small armory. Dozens of weapons and sets of armor filled the area, all enchanted. Yet as they began to obtain them, Hoyt shook his head. "It seems like most of the power has faded. At least the materials should be worth something."

Timothy held up a shield, looking at it. "Is that right?" he wondered aloud. "I'm not sure if the power faded at all. It's just… weak."

"Why would a powerful group like the Luminous Ocean Society protect and bury things with weak enchantments?" Hoyt asked.

"I don't know," Timothy shrugged. "But it feels like this is all they ever did."

In addition to the equipment there were a few rolled scrolls- they looked to be forging and enchanting manuals, but the archaic language made it difficult to be certain with a cursory inspection. Regardless of whether it seemed valuable, they took everything in the room. Their storage bags were practically bulging as they stepped out of the room, seeing other cultivators wandering the hallways looking slightly disappointed. "Were the things in the other rooms crap too?" Hoyt asked asked a passing cultivator.

The man nodded. "Weak enchantments. We're hoping to get something for the materials, but they don't seem like much."

Weak enchantments. Uninspiring materials. It didn't seem like a secret vault of a powerful ancient sect, but there were small benefits to be found. At least fights weren't breaking out over the ownership of anything.

Anton heard something down the hall, then looked at the others. He did his best to direct his voice only towards his companions. "Someone mentioned technique manuals. Those, at least, have to be valuable if they're intact. Let's hurry further down the hallway."

It was impossible to determine the value of a technique at a cursory glance- some people liked to judge them on their complexity, but Anton was of the firm opinion that more complex techniques weren't necessarily better. Just harder to learn. A good technique would allow anyone to learn it to a high level of proficiency and still be effective for its purpose. In short, the version of Spirit Arrows normally available in the library and not the version directly written by Elder Kseniya.

They did find a room full of books, a veritable library. Their arms were full of scrolls and tomes and weapons without sheaths even as their storage bags were overflowing with things that fit more nicely inside. But though the rewards were overflowing, the cultivators were sort of sadly walking around in the halls. It didn't take long for hundreds of rooms to be looted- even moving in groups there were thousands of cultivators after all. Not a single weapon with high tier enchantments was found, and people had started looking through the techniques. Their complexity was low, and though they were hard to understand it was clear they were highly situational. It was simply a large number of techniques- and many copies of the same ones- describing how to combat one style of energy. Probably from a sect that didn't even exist anymore.

"What a letdown," Hoyt said.

"Mhmm," Anton said as he dangled a scroll in front of him. "I was sort of hoping for something…" he frowned as he looked at the technique. It would require some 'translating' to modern language for him to fully understand it, but there were odd familiarities.

When they met back up with the elders, who generally had larger storage bags, their arms were blissfully freed of their abundance. But most of the Order was looking only slightly pleased at best. Even the weakest people who came wouldn't get use from any of the enchanted equipment, unless they had nothing to begin with. With the surface level only having rare and waterlogged equipment, the haul was rather disappointing. Though they could have expected even less of value to be left behind after a sect was destroyed by another. Usually the whole area was picked clean to the last speck of dust. Unless there were things simply below the notice of the attackers.

Anton thought about the pills and spearhead, all highly valuable to someone in Spirit Building and probably even useful in Essence Collection. They might have even been more potent before. No sect would just ignore those… would they? Perhaps they had just gone unnoticed somehow.

Another week passed before everyone was quite certain that the entire place had been cleared- the only things of interest were the remaining formations and archaeological and architectural details. Not something the majority of cultivators would be interested in. The Order merely left behind those elders and like-minded disciples who wanted to stay, bringing the rest away.

Back up on the surface the area was teeming with boats. Cultivators wanted to leave and didn't want to swim across the ocean, and every boat that could was packing them to the gills where they could. The Order certainly could have gotten one of them, but instead they decided to be conservative, waiting for several days for space to free up. With people leaving, the area had sufficient natural energy for at least the lower disciples to cultivate- and that included people like Anton, who were still significantly weaker than those at the top. A single Life Transformation cultivator would take up energy that could be used by dozens of others.

Anton wasn't quite ready to try a duality pill. He was instead puzzling over some of the techniques he had available. They were all sorts of things, sword stances to specific combat techniques, archery and elemental control and everything… but they were all weak. The Luminous Ocean Society had to have had better. People had found a few manuals elsewhere that were good. But the vaults behind the seven layer formation… were full of crap. Maybe it was just meant to be a slap on the face for raiders, but it was a lot of effort to go to for a prank.

There was also the focus on dealing with a certain type of energy. It never said it directly, but as Anton felt out how some of the weaker techniques would work he could feel them clashing with Fleeting Youth. Not all of it, but specifically the portion related to ascended energy. He had no way to confirm his theory until he had more information, but what he found was highly suggestive.

No disciples were without any reward, but most didn't even get so much as Anton and the others- specifically the duality pills and the like. Actual remnants had been scarce outside of the vaults. One important discovery, however, had been some proper histories. Once again they weren't written in modern language so the full details couldn't be gone over in a week but it should shed light on the situation with what happened to the Luminous Ocean Society… and if it could happen again.

That was the most important thing. Sects fell all the time, but learning why it happened was important. Sometimes they were simply too overbearing and offended too many others, or one much more powerful sect. Yet the Luminous Ocean Society had been wiped out so thoroughly that nobody had records of them existing, nor of who wiped them out. Anton hoped it wasn't related to The Organizers. They had enough trouble with mysterious sects from Ofrurg right now, and there was no doubt there would be more of that in the future. The Order wasn't just going to accept the recent events and roll over. Nor would other parts of Ofrurg who found mysterious interference a threat to their power.

Chapter 189

There were a great many people visiting Elder Siekert for her ability to appraise enchanted equipment, but she did not bother to look over them one by one. Everyone lined up with the various pieces they had, including Anton and the others. "Quite a haul here," she said, "Though they seem a bit weak." She picked up and handled the first thing in the line- a sword- before moving on. "Interesting. Very interesting." As for what was interesting, it took her some time to say. "Such basic enchantments, yet skillfully made."

"Are they valuable?" one disciple asked.

"That depends," she said. "If you wanted me to enchant any of this to be usable as weapons and armor, you'd do better to just start me with a hunk of metal."

"Oh," the disciple hung his head. "I thought since they came from an ancient sect…"

"I didn't say they weren't valuable," Elder Siekert continued. "Just not… usable. I'll buy them all!" she declared.

One of her apprentices was standing nearby. "I'm not sure if the Order would-"

"If they don't think it's worth it, the Order won't last long. In that case, I'd do it with my own funds." She looked around, "I'll offer everyone a fair price. Each piece seems more or less equivalent, barring the materials. And if there were any forging manuals or the like, the Order would also be glad to reward you for them."

"What do they do?" another disciple asked, "If they're not usable and can't be made that way…"

"That," Elder Siekert smiled, "Will have to remain secret for the moment. Nobody will be forced to give up anything if they don't wish to, but I swear to you they are no use outside of studying the technique for a situation… that should never happen."

With little else to be said on the topic, people began handing over their equipment one piece at a time. Instead of tossing coins or the like to the disciples, Siekert simply handed out enchanted papers that could be exchanged for contribution points or equivalent value. If she actually had to hand out coins or the like it seemed likely that even a few storage bags wouldn't be sufficient.

Anton turned in most of his goods as well, since he trusted the enchanter to deal with them all fairly- but he kept a well-balanced sword in hand and waited around for everything to be over. Once everyone else had left except Siekert and the apprentices running in and out with the piles of equipment, she focused on him. "You have something to say, I presume?"

"I have some insights to provide on the situation," he said. Anton held the sword level in front of him, gathering energy. Not just any energy, but the mixed energy of Fleeting Youth. As he brought it to cover the sword like any cultivator would be apt to do, his hand twitched and his energy dispersed violently. The sword dropped to the ground, where Anton picked it up with his other hand. "I don't know if Vandale spoke to all of the elders about a technique Everheart left behind, but it purports to draw upon the power beyond ascension… among other things." He didn't need to mention it also involved post-reincarnation things. Those who had been cultivators for a long time seemed to be concerned about future lives to some extent, but Anton was already quite satisfied with the life he'd had. If he could make this one better, he didn't need an unknowable future.

"Your point being?" Elder Siekert looked at him neutrally.

"I just know the equipment must be made to fight… that. And of course, it should be obvious that it's related to the downfall of the Luminous Ocean Society… and perhaps others nobody can recall." Anton shrugged, "I just thought it would be useful to have some confirmation of your assumptions."

"Mmmn. No wonder Vandale took a liking to you. Quite straightforward." Elder Siekert shook her head, "It's best if I don't confirm or deny anything at the moment. If the Order as a whole should know, the information will be distributed. And of course, whatever Vandale chooses to share is up to the Grand Elder."

"I almost forgot," Anton said, pulling out the duality pill. "We found some of these. They don't appear dangerous, but I was concerned about long-term side effects." Masozi likely wouldn't have been swayed by that possibility so he didn't bring it up- but Anton wasn't planning to give up some of his future in exchange for breaking through a month or so earlier.

She plucked the pill from his outstretched palm, looking at it, sniffing it, rolling it around between her fingers… and then handing it back to him. "It's safe, if a bit faded. As long as you can handle the energy you can sense you'll be fine. Nothing deceptive about it."

"Thank you," Anton said. "I need to learn to do that at some point."

"You want to become an enchanting apprentice?" Siekert asked.

"Maybe someday," Anton said. "I still have many other things to learn first."

Anton held the first pill in his hands. He concentrated on where he would be distributing the energy, mainly around his head though of course some would disperse through his body as a whole. Once he finished breaking through to the twenty-first star, the second refinement of the head and the organs therein, his thoughts and senses would be yet another step clearer. He quite liked the thought of that, and was glad he'd done the same early on in his Body Tempering cultivation. But he could understand why others would prioritize differently.

He put the pill on his tongue, letting it begin to dissolve and run down his throat. As the energy hit his stomach and started to expand into his meridians and dantian he swallowed the pill. A quick flow of energy began to pour out of the rapidly decaying pill, and he circulated the flow through his body, concentrating on his eyes, ears, nose, brain, tongue, and little bits and pieces that connected everything. That included his spine, though some portions of that would better go along with marrow and bone refining.

Unlike normal cultivation, he couldn't just stop at any moment. He had to make use off all of the energy he consumed, even when continued application made his body sore and his head throb with pain. He could distribute the focus to other parts, but deviating from the established technique of the Ninety-Nine Stars wouldn't benefit him in the long run. Most things were as they were for a reason, and one thing that was certainly correct was focusing on the completion of one portion at a time.

As his body felt like it was reaching its limits, he directed the final portions of the energy into his dantian. It was quickly filled to maximum capacity, but he didn't want diffuse energy to make use of later- and he had more still to deal with. He began to compress it into a smaller ball. Each star was much the same in that regard, creating formations of compressed energy that could be drawn upon as necessary. The initial construction was important, as even when the energy from them was depleted a structure remained behind to be filled up at a later time. More density was preferred. Anton was able to make use of some of the energy to force the rest into a tighter ball, but it felt somewhat wasteful. But he had more he could make use of. A stronger energy that could help pull it together, the power of Fleeting Youth. The more he made use of it, the more proficient he would be with it in the future, and the greater his connection would be to the futures he would never have.

When the twenty-first star was finally finished, Anton inspected it and found it was the best yet by a significant margin. It was densely packed but he could draw on it as needed without worrying about it breaking down permanently. The more he could achieve similar results, the better he would do with higher tier techniques like Falling Stars and Horizon Shot.

A variety of technique manuals and notes were splayed out on the table in Vandale's observatory. He went back and forth between looking at them and looking up at the stars, either directly or through the telescope.

"You don't have to just stand there," Vandale commented to Anton. "It's not like you haven't already guessed at this secret."

"I only surmised a few things," Anton said, "I'm not sure how accurate I was."

"To be fair," Vandale waved his hand at the notes, "Neither am I. What do you actually know?"

"Just that the Luminous Ocean Society should have been destroyed by ascended cultivators… after they had prepared to fight them." Anton frowned as he thought, "I wasn't aware that those who had ascended could return. Then again, I know little about it beyond that it's possible, and that Fleeting Youth draws from that source."

"My information is not as much better than yours as you might think," Vandale said. "However, I can say one thing. If ascended cultivators were able to return whenever they wished and display their great power… they would. For all that cultivators like to pretend to be above worldly matters, even the Frostmirror sect and those like them are more worldly than they'd like people to think. Those who ascend cut away their connection to their lives here, but it's not possible to truly complete that and still remain the same person. There must be circumstances where they can come back here… or perhaps even to different worlds than the one from which they ascended." Vandale gestured at the sky. "I told you about the other planets. It is perhaps possible that other worlds have cultivators like us, and that others carry those who have ascended. Or perhaps they are under a different sky entirely. I'll never know for sure."

"These techniques…" Anton looked down at the notes about the techniques from the Luminous Ocean Society. "They're geared at fighting ascended cultivators?"

"Indeed. For the moment, the Order has classified them as forbidden. Not because we believe they have no value, but because publicly practicing these might be… problematic. We have no way to know if anyone is in contact with ascended cultivators. The one thing I do know, however, is that what happened with the Luminous Ocean Society and their peers will happen again. Likely soon." Anton swallowed. "Not to worry," Vandale said. "To a man my age, 'soon' is quite a bit longer than what even you might consider it to be. A century, perhaps a handful. Maybe it could stretch out for a millennium. I imagine as the time approaches it will become more clear."

"What should I do about it?" Anton asked.

"What indeed? Can you do anything about it?" Vandale asked. "Can I? It is unclear. But I think… that you should continue what you are already doing." Vandale placed his hand on the table with the techniques. "Though you had a different reason for it, we will need as many cultivators as we can get. Every person who can perform even the simplest of these techniques can disrupt the gulf of power, unbalancing those who use the power beyond ascension. In theory."

"It certainly works," Anton said. "I have access to a small sliver through practicing Fleeting Youth. The weapons, at least, are immensely disruptive- even just holding one."

"How hard is it to overcome?" Vandale asked.

"I'll admit that I haven't put that much time into countering it. I presumed I would simply not make use of such equipment."

"Understandable," Vandale said, "But I think it would be best to try. Learn to counter it… and then perhaps we can come up with a way to counter that counter. After all, the Luminous Ocean Society wasn't just sitting on their thumbs."

Anton nodded. "I understand. I'll put it on my list." After smithing and weaving, he thought. He doubted he could master those in just a few weeks, but to get down the basic motions would be something else. If he could see what subtle differences in cultivation different crafts allowed for, he would perhaps be able to help many more people cultivate. And he really wanted to learn everything. Not just about cultivation, either.

Chapter 190

The clang of hammer on anvil rang out at a steady pace. It struck repeatedly until it came time to quench the metal, steam billowing out of the bucket. Sweat dripped down Anton's forehead, as this time he wasn't just watching but making the attempt himself. It wasn't anything marvelous, just a building nail. It was little more than a slab of metal that tapered to a point, but he was just beginning.

It was possible for him to completely negate the heat of a simple forge with his energy, but it seemed outside of the spirit of the work. Besides, if he couldn't tolerate a little discomfort he would never have gotten good at anything.

When Grant had first started down the path of a smith, Anton had just started teaching him how to use energy. He'd barely reached the second star at that point, and while he had some experience as an apprentice his actual experience as a smith was limited. But with tempered muscles and the financial help to set up a forge, he'd begun his journey. Now, two and a half years later, Grant was nearing the peak of Body Tempering and had a steady flow of customers from Windrip and Stregate.

"It's possible to fortify the inner portion of whatever you're forging so that your hammer blows don't push it too far," Grant said, "Though it's really better to achieve that with pure technique. If you really do flatten something too far, it's possible to more directly alter the structure if you have to, but doing it wrong leaves the metal weak." Anton nodded. Altering things on a small level took very precise and accurate energy control to last. "You use some muscles more than others, but the most important thing is knowing how much strength to use. Just swinging harder doesn't help much, with normal metals. I haven't gotten much practice with anything cultivators use."

Anton continued to work with Grant, watching him smith. Most of his energy usage while doing so was internal, to improve his body as he worked. Anton had to bow to Grant's expertise in what areas needed to be tempered properly, but he could provide some advice on how. He regularly visited Windrip to help people with their cultivation, but he was constantly learning new improvements. While many of them were extremely slight changes, they could significantly alter the future trajectory of a cultivator. For those who just wanted to live, it probably wouldn't matter- and with just the core portions of the Ninety-Nine Stars people weren't doing poorly. But Anton wasn't happy with just settling for 'good enough'. If people were willing to work with him to be their best, he would happily continue improving with them. And maybe he would be good enough to make things better than nails soon enough. Unlike a regular apprentice, he could afford to fix things if he messed up from trying to learn too quickly. He wasn't going to be a burden on those he was learning from just because he showed up irregularly.

The next week, Derya took him out to the market. "The first part of weaving is picking good thread. It takes a practiced eye, but there's more to it than that." She had been an experienced weaver when he first helped her get set up in Windrip already, but cultivation had allowed her to take things to the next level. Since her work wasn't as physically demanding as blacksmithing, she'd been cultivating more slowly after achieving the most useful portions of Body Tempering. "You can sense when a spool of thread has a weakness. I do not buy from those merchants who regularly have poor quality thread. What good is it to just look good on the outside?" She held up one spool to the merchant, a young woman, "This one's bad in the middle, dear."

The young woman took it and set it aside, "I'll take your word for it."

"You wouldn't have to, if you would cultivate. You could pick it out for yourself."

"Where would I find time for that?" she asked. "I have to be here all day or managing shipments or taking care of the house."

"It's not all sitting on your rear in meditation, dear," Derya smiled, "It can be done at the same time as practical work. And it doesn't always take many years. I'd be willing to bet you could sense bad thread by next spring. Sooner, if you have more talent than me." She looked to Anton, "Anton's the one who taught me, and he's gone much further in just four years."

"I doubt I could compare to a proper cultivator," she kept her head low.

"You won't know until you try," Anton said, "And it will be good for your daily life to be more physically capable. You wouldn't have to hire someone to unload wagons for you."

The young merchant finally agreed to spend some time attempting to cultivate while Anton was in town. Anton wholly understood not wanting to take time away from work for unclear benefits, but soon enough he'd have the whole city cultivating if he could. Preferably people would be trained in cultivation once they were old enough, probably while they were apprentices. With Alva as an example it was clear that training from a younger age was possible, though it was still good to be cautious about it. If Anton had his way, Alva would just barely be starting cultivation and not finishing her second year.

Back at Derya's workshop, she continued to explain weaving to him. "I could make my own thread, and sometimes I do- but time I spend on that I can't be weaving, and I have to find the material still. I should probably hire some proper apprentices but not everyone wants their young girls to learn to cultivate, and I won't have one who doesn't. And of course the young men don't want to weave."

Weaving was much about patterns and repeated movements. Anton could remember things fairly swiftly, but it would still take time to get it down to habit. It would take quite some time to even begin to master even a couple of crafts, but spending the time allowed him to work on his goals of interacting more with common folk and teaching them to cultivate. Even if every person just reached two stars it would significantly change the way Graotan operated, allowing people to work more efficiently and to increase their prosperity.

A plain sword, unadorned except for a stylized guard, was held out in front of Anton as he readied himself for a spar. He had no particular intention to become skilled with swords, but increasing the variety of weapons he was proficient with wasn't his purpose. The sword in question was the same one from the Luminous Ocean Society, the one which disrupted post-ascension energy.

Across from him was Timothy, since he was the one most defensively proficient. Anton had practiced to the point that the disruption from the sword could be overcome when simply holding it, but making use of his energy in combat was quite a different issue.

As the spar began, Anton mainly kept on the offense, striking with his sword continuously. Timothy wasn't just letting him attack, of course. When Anton left himself open Timothy would counter, striking at his body. Though the attacks weren't serious, Anton still needed to make use of his energy to defend himself. As for the energy on his weapon, he wasn't using anything but the power of Fleeting Youth. Currently he was focusing on separating it into the different parts, since not all of it contained the type of energy he was intending to practice with.

Dense energy coated the sword as he feinted towards Timothy's left side. When he held out his shield to deflect the attack, Anton flicked his sword around to the other side. Timothy's right arm came up to parry the attack, and as their weapons clashed the sword was flung out of Anton's hand, the energy dispersed.

It was difficult to tell how effective the enchantments were. Anton had little practice with the energy- not decades or centuries like he could presume those who passed ascension would gather. On the other hand, he only had a small amount of that energy. If the disruption increased with the quantity, it could be very effective. Likewise, the enchantments weren't made to disrupt someone using the weapon specifically- it was supposed to be used against someone with the requisite energy. That would certainly make it more effective. In short, Anton was not yet experienced enough to give a proper showing of the efficacy of the enchantments, except to prove that they worked on some level.

There was as yet no indication if and when the next sort of attack by ascended individuals might be, but waiting would likely make any response too slow. If they got a decade of warning it would be pushing the development of proper counters- and thus improving the enchantments to be more effective. If they had a year of warning, they could only frantically have people learning techniques and enchanting weapons and armor. If there was no warning, they could only die helplessly.

Translation efforts were still undergoing, but it was clear that the Luminous Ocean Society had some sort of warning to make use of. More importantly, the Secret Realm seemed to be meant for training people with more than just the tower that had heavy energy pressure, and it was fully intact. While the Order didn't have control over the area, and anyone could come and go as they pleased, they could make regular expeditions to the area as long as they brought elders for security.

"Again," Anton said. He would continue until he was confident in maintaining his control without thinking about it… then Timothy would be the one with the sword. If Anton overcame all of that, learning the basics of the anti-ascension techniques wouldn't be terribly difficult either. It was problematic that Anton was the only one, at the moment, who could make use of any ascension energy. It could take him years to be relevant in that regard, since a proper ascension cultivator would be beyond Life Transformation in terms of power, or perhaps matching it except for the denser form of energy- but that was still quite a bit out of his reach.

Vandale stood in front of Anton atop the peak, holding a small ball of energy in his hand. It was comparable in density to a smouldering orb in his other hand, though Anton could feel clear differences. "This is it, I'm afraid," Vandale said. "In theory, I should be closer to the ascension energy and thus able to reach out for it… but it's difficult. In theory this was what I was trying to obtain for so many years, and simply that act makes me unsuitable for Fleeting Youth." His energy senses swept over Anton, "I see the practice of it is changing your core. You're still making proper advancements in the Ninety-Nine Stars, but you feel different."

"The ascension energy still isn't part of me," Anton said, "Nor do I think it can ever be. It's more like stealing it… or borrowing it, since it's quite willing to be under my control."

"Energy doesn't much care who controls it," Vandale agreed. "Even this ascension energy is simply not easily accessed from where we are. But I imagine Everheart knew more about it than anyone who had not actually ascended. A shame he is not around to ask, but I doubt his answer would be helpful regardless. Though he might have yet left information around."

"If he had a prediction on when the next event would be," Anton said, "I imagine he'd reveal a 'tomb' or equivalent at what he felt was an appropriate time before it. Unless he ascended, in which case I would presume he wouldn't have been interested in making it easier to defeat him if he ever returned. Even Fleeting Youth could have been completed before he became aware of those events."

"Yes," Vandale said. "I wouldn't count on any results from him. But we just have to produce someone of our own like Everheart."

"I'd never want to be like him," Anton said.

"Oh, I didn't mean an asshole. Just a genius," Vandale tossed both balls of energy into the air, letting them unravel and explode against each other. "We definitely don't need anyone with his personality. Just someone with the guts to make wide-sweeping moves. I'd be glad to try, but unfortunately I can guarantee I wouldn't be able to see it through to the end."

"... I'll think about it," Anton said.

"A bit too late for that, I think. It's already begun. So do try to stay alive for the rest of it all."

Chapter 191

Everything was better when everyone was together. It made Alva and Catarina and Devon and Anton happy, and it made the members of the pack that weren't of their blood happy. And the pack being happy made Fuzz happy. They also made him strong. The things Catarina did with his fur had grown into him and was a part of him now. She seemed concerned about that, but it didn't bother Fuzz. He was stronger than he could have ever thought he would be. His teeth and claws were sharp, his legs fast and strong.

Even when things were bad, it was better for people to be together. Something bad had happened, but Fuzz couldn't tell what it was. Every member of the pack was still alive and healthy, as far as he could determine. Devon's energy changed, but change wasn't necessarily bad. They didn't seem worried about that.

So Fuzz didn't worry about it. He just made sure to be as strong as he could be. Fuzz knew there were some things he could never do. Alva and Anton both used 'bows' and attacked from far away, but he couldn't do that. But he didn't need to, since they did it. He just needed to get within biting range- or a bit further than that since he learned how to extend his energy further. He was a big wolf, but for a few moments he could be a bigger wolf, with jaws the size of his whole body. Though usually that wasn't necessary- very few things were big enough to need such a big mouth to bite them. And it made him tired.

Fuzz did notice that everyone was trying to practice one weird type of energy. Unlike everything else, it didn't seem to do anything. Except sometimes Anton did something. He called upon a big power, a strong one. Then the strange energy made it fall apart. At first Fuzz didn't know why they would want to break apart Anton's power, but he figured it out. They were going to fight someone with the same power. It was a strange power, and the way they countered it was all swirly and weird. Fuzz couldn't figure it out at all.

It was already bad enough that humans had different 'meridians' than he did. They had legs that were like his back legs, and arms that were kind of like his front legs… but the number and arrangement of meridians wasn't the same. Humans had five fingers and toes, and they had meridians that went through all of those and to many places in their hands. Fuzz had four toes and meridians terminated in each of those and his foot pads. The way humans treated their arms and legs was also different, and they circulated energy around their body in mysterious ways that he couldn't understand.

But Fuzz wanted to learn. Many of their techniques were used with weapons, and he had no intention to attempt those. He was able to augment his teeth and claws well enough. But they could run fast without just pushing their legs further and change their energy into fire or different sorts of things. He saw all sorts of things in the "Secret Realm'. The strange thing was, lots of people knew about it.

Another strange thing about the Secret Realm was Annelie. She smelled like a member of the pack, and Alva spoke with her like that, but she didn't come back with them. Fuzz didn't like that. She also got upset when he licked her face- at least when the other cold people were around. Fuzz still didn't understand how human social interactions and energy techniques worked. They were both equally arcane, and he was still trying to figure them out. To do that… he needed Catarina's help. He'd have to pester her until she figured it out.

"Enough!" Catarina said as Fuzz pushed against her. "We can play later. I'm trying to practice." Fuzz whined and barked in what she thought was acknowledgement. "If you know that then why are you getting in the way?"

"Maybe he wants to spar too?" Alva said. "Is that it?" Fuzz barked. "Hmm… maybe it would be good to try to use the techniques even when not fighting against grandpa. So we get used to it quicker."

"I supposed that makes sense," Catarina acknowledged. "We don't have enough practice in combat. Mostly, I just find it makes my attacks weaker since I have to include additional patterns of energy movement."

"Alright boy!" Alva stood across the training field from Fuzz. "Come get me!" She readied her shortbow, firing Spirit Arrows towards Fuzz once he started sprinting towards her. Even with the whole length of the field she only got a few shots- and she weakened them as they impacted him, not letting them break through his energy. Then Fuzz was in front of her, and she wasn't able to get away. Giant fangs surrounded her head. She reached up to pat his ears. "Yes yes, you win. Though only because I was holding back." Fuzz pulled back. "Now go back over there!" Fuzz whined. "Well it takes me a lot longer to run across the field," Alva complained. Fuzz shook his head, and whined again. "Something else? You didn't really want to spar?"

She didn't really get an answer before Fuzz dashed over towards Catarina, stopping before he ran into her. As she held her sword out in front of her, he nudged her hand. "What?" she said. "You want to spar with me instead?" Catarina shook her head. "That's not really fair. It's hard to match my energy to yours and have us both be safe." He nudged her hand again, specifically. "What is it about that hand?" Catarina asked.

"I know!" Alva said. "You're circulating the anti-ascension technique." Fuzz nodded to confirm that. "He wants to learn it."

"Is that it?" Catarina asked. "You want to learn… this kind of energy?" She specifically focused on her left while keeping her right her normal balance of energy. Fuzz nudged his face into her left hand. "Well… we can try, I suppose. Maybe with a formation… but I don't want to overload you either." She scratched his head, "Hah, for some reason nobody writes about augmenting a pet wolf with a formation. I have to figure it all out myself."

In the world of cultivators, much of the news that travelled far was not good news. Except for specific important people, nobody was going to comment about someone breaking through to a new rank of cultivation or a sect having a good year of harvests or recruiting. Not beyond the borders of the nearby country or a smaller region therein. But when news was big enough- and usually bad enough- it could travel fairly far.

In truth Facraona was not terribly far from Graotan, even if Anton considered that the Order was mostly situated on the western end of the country. It just felt much further since Ofrurg stood directly between them, making it difficult to travel there directly. If he wanted to do so, he would have to go around to the southeast, through Droca. He would certainly travel there someday, but of all times not was certainly not the best with the recent news.

It wasn't something that was easy to keep quiet. Even if it mostly concerned normal folk and not cultivators, mass abductions were something that got noticed. It was a larger scale than what had been happening in eastern Graotan, where a number of villages were ransacked over the course of a decade. Instead, in the span of a few months several dozen towns and villages, totalling several thousand people at least, completely disappeared. By the time any sects in Facraona heard the news and prepared a defense, the abductions stopped. Though Anton supposed that it wasn't because a force capable of doing so without anyone escaping to spread the news- people only noticing when they didn't hear from neighboring towns- would not be directly afraid of a group of cultivators ready to face them. After all, if news of their presence only arrived a week or two after they were gone, there was little threat. No, Anton's opinion- and that of others he had spoken to- was that they had completed their goal. As for what they needed thousands of people for, there could only be speculation. It just couldn't be good.

Anton's first thought was Ofrurg. It was close enough, and they hadn't in the past much cared about slavery. Yet the information that came from Ofrurg didn't indicate the slave markets being flooded. That didn't rule out the location, but it did rule out a familiar reason for similar activity. Actually, the slave markets were looking rather empty according to sources inside Ofrurg. It might have been unconnected, but if not… someone with great resources needed a vast amount of people. And being willing to cause such a commotion was also a concern. Ofrurg wasn't a lawless place. Even slaves had a few rights, whether or not they were properly enforced.

None of the possibilities of what was happening to those people involved them living through it, whether they were being used for some sort of experiments or sacrificed for some foul cultivation technique. If it were the latter, it was actually somewhat confusing. Generally cultivation techniques that could advance with the deaths of others were more effective when cultivators were used instead of regular people. At least, that was Anton's understanding. The energy of a few thousand regular people was just a few hundred early Body Tempering cultivators, or at most a few dozen Spirit Building cultivators. On the scales involved, it seemed safer to target smaller groups of cultivators. At the very least it would be easy to go unnoticed. Just because no information had reached Graotan about where the people went didn't mean nobody noticed. It just meant anyone who noticed had been silenced, one way or another. Hundreds of people weren't so easy to just drag around the countryside, and it was all along the border. Another reason to believe it was probably Ofrurg, though it could have been a sect just residing in western Facraona.

The thing that bothered Anton the most was that there was no target to stop. If the Flying Blood Cult was involved- and it wasn't outside of the way they interacted with things, so it was them or someone similarly audacious- they didn't just have a known location they could storm the gates of. Or a mysterious other group. Was there a connection to The Organizers and whoever was attempting abductions during the attack at the execution? Probably. But their locations were unknown too.

It didn't seem too hard to Anton to just scour the whole country. Thousands of cultivators would certainly be able to find the Flying Blood Cult or whoever. But that was only feasible if Ofrurg as a whole decided to work together. And if the mysterious people were out in unclaimed lands and not just doubling up with some sect somewhere. There was no way every sect would be willing to have random cultivators investigate their grounds. And one or two sects wouldn't be able to scour the countryside and suddenly reveal groups that had been hidden for quite some time already.

It was frustrating, knowing there were people even more brazen than Van Hassel- but also better at covering their tracks. Anton would love to put an arrow through any one of them, but before he could do that he would have to find them without any leads. So instead, he did the next best thing- cultivating. Spending months doing little more than improving himself when there were active problems didn't feel good, but Anton realized that there were always problems with the world. He couldn't reasonably be expected to solve all of them. But if he had to pick a category… it would be cultivators destroying the lives of those far weaker than themselves. He was working at the problem from both ends. He would gladly kill anyone he could who was involved in such work, and he was also in the business of making sure people weren't incredibly weak. A group of cultivators might take out a hundred normal civilians without issue, but if each of those people had some cultivation? If they went beyond early Body Tempering into mid Body Tempering or later, a village was basically equivalent to a real army. If nothing else, it would make any battles longer and harder to cover up.

Anton shot an arrow through the head of an imaginary figure. He didn't bother with targets most of the time, since they just got destroyed. He knew whether he hit or not. He was working on expanding his capabilities. He tried firing his bow while using Falling Stars at the same time, but besides the fact that he was still a bit weak to properly make use of Falling Stars, it didn't feel quite right. But he'd figure it out. And then some people were going to suffer. Briefly, before they were wiped from existence entirely.

Chapter 192

Time. That was what cultivation required. For the moment, Anton had it. Even while spending time diversifying himself Anton still had sufficient time to improve the core of his Spirit Building cultivation. For him, the twenty-second star would be a refinement of muscle, connecting him to that portion of his body more deeply. It would be the final refinement before the true midpoint of the latter half of Spirit Building, which when taken as a whole meant he was close to late Spirit Building. A realm unfathomable to him four years prior when he was first cultivating, and yet seemingly insufficient at the same time. But he wasn't going to let the gap in cultivation between himself and the best in the world intimidate him. Instead, he would treat it as a lofty goal. If he gave up so easily, all the cultivators who strived for decades to not even get as far as he had would rightfully be able to call him pathetic. He had been quite fortunate to have the right temperament and talent while also obtaining the right opportunities to push himself forward.

Things hadn't settled down in the world. The abductions in Facraona still had not been resolved, though there had been no further activity. That made it seem as if whoever was responsible already had enough. Yet despite the troubles- or perhaps because of them- they were still going to go ahead with a tournament they were planning. It was the sort of setup where juniors of sects would get together to display their power and bring honor to their groups. This particular tournament had little to do with Anton- there were restrictions on actual age and not time since someone started cultivating. He supposed it was likely rather difficult to tell the latter, though of course Everheart had a method to do so. Everheart did everything, including a vast number of things he probably shouldn't have.

With the tournament being only a year away, Anton had no chance of making it to Essence Collection, also known as Constellation Formation, where he could participate. The cutoff for the Body Tempering category was thirty years, Spirit Building was sixty, and Essence Collection cultivators could be up to a hundred and twenty years old. Though even if Anton miraculously reached Essence Collection with five total years of cultivation he would be merely at the early stage, and much weaker than most of the participants.

Instead of participating, he would rather help others with their training. That included all sorts of people, from his most steadfast allies to an ever growing selection of people throughout Graotan.

The most powerful cultivators from the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars stood together. Half of their Galaxy Construction members, all ten qualified to be Grand Elders were it not for the hard limit on that title. The realm of cultivation known as Life Transformation to cultivators in general allowed for great things to be done, but only a very small portion of people could attain those heights. Along with them were about a third of their Constellation Formation members, sixty in total.

Grand Elder Vandale's single eye narrowed as he looked down on the valley below. There was nothing to see, at least not as far as his purely visual senses were telling him. "Do you think he would have wanted to come along, if he knew?"

"Absolutely," Elder Kseniya said. "But I think he would have heeded words of caution."

"Perhaps," Vandale shrugged, "But we're here." Vandale looked across the valley, to a frozen peak that wasn't particularly lofty. "Looking forward to being a Grand Elder?"

"You know I don't care about titles," Kseniya said. "And it's hard to believe that so man positions would open up with the forces arrayed here," she gestured towards a peak with heat waves coming off of it. "Our forces should be able to overwhelm them."

"That is entirely the plan," Vandale said, "And that is why I can tell you it will not happen so smoothly. Perhaps when you are old like me you'll understand."

Kseniya laughed, her wrinkly face smiling. "Nobody ever ends up old like you."

"It's time," Vandale said. "We can't wait any longer." He stretched out his arm. "I wonder what they'll think of this." He stretched out his hand, gathering energy beyond even the power of his own. The power beyond Ascension, and from future reincarnations. Yet it was only sufficient for a single attack. Among other things, he was not quite so brave as Anton. He did not have the fortitude to reach Ascension, but neither did he have the heart to fully give up on it. The same was true with future reincarnations. Perhaps he would weaken himself in his next life, but as surely as anyone did, he would have one. Even if it could barely be called himself.

The first falling star streaked down into the 'empty' valley, striking against a barrier that became visible by virtue of the way it resisted his attack. A full dome rising to half the height of the peak and nearly filling the entire valley below at its widest. Vandale smiled slightly, since while the barrier didn't shatter… it at least trembled under his attack.

From the other peaks, frosting ice and burning fire rained down. It was unfortunate that none from Facraona had arrived yet, but they couldn't wait. Vandale had already ignored the impatience on his nerves as long as he could.

The Frostmirror Sect and the Glorious Flame Palace weren't the only ones participating in the assault, but they were among the most prominent. It was their scouts who had perished to find this place, and them who called upon the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars for aid. Even with no formal alliance, Vandale and the others couldn't refuse the call- even if they hadn't felt the looming sense of dread.

There was little finesse involved in the barrage of attacks, but they were at least aimed for critical points in the defensive formation as guided by those with the proper understanding. Vandale could at least pick most of them out on his own, but he was also happy to have experts. Falling Stars rained down with other attacks from the Order, arrows from Kseniya and many others as well. Grand Elder Kunibert Ivarsson was the strangest of the lot. Though he stood atop the peak next to the rest, he swung a hammer with no regard for the distance to the barrier. He didn't even project a great image of it into the sky, enhancing its size. Instead, the hammer simply struck the barrier as if he were standing atop it.

His hammer pounded down in two hands, creating the first substantial cracks in the barrier. Black smoke spilled out of the formation as the area below gradually began to become visible. Kunibert continued to swing his hammer, battering the formation from all sides without taking a step from his position. Then the barrier shattered, revealing a towering castle shrouded in dark mist.

Cultivators with black eyes and shadowy faces stood atop the walls next to impaled bodies, slowly dripping blood. Vandale hesitated briefly as he realized that some of those who were impaled were still alive, or had been moments earlier. Then he narrowed his focus, protecting those who were moving in on the walls, where they had to attack at close range. He couldn't be concerned if lives were being used to power defensive formations. Those inside would not live past this day if they just sat and waited, and though he couldn't say what the exact consequences would be if they allowed events to continue unhindered, not one innocent soul would actually be spared. He would prefer if their deaths weren't through his own hands, but he was willing to act regardless.

Targeting individual enemy cultivators on the wall wasn't of much use, but though their figures and cultivations were somewhere concealed by the dark haze over the whole castle he was able to pick out some who were stronger, and thus more important. There wasn't just one layer of defenses around the castle, but he was able to pierce his attacks through every once and a while, striking down some targets he hoped were critical. During that time, the scent of blood thickened throughout the valley as cultivators clashed, even reaching him at the top of a nearby peak.

Kunibert was standing on the outer wall of the castle, sweeping his hammer through a handful of people trying to stop him. The impact did not knock them backwards, instead it tore through them like he wielded a blade instead of a blunt instrument- though leaving much larger wounds. But even as their blood sprayed around the area, it began to crawl towards the center of the castle. Kunibert looked up at Vandale, who nodded. Before Vandale even began his quick descent down the mountain, Kunibert was in the first courtyard, battering his way through blood-red gates.

Each swing of his hammer was enough to not only cause the giant gates to buckle, but also cracked the stone around them. One swing, two swings, three swings and he burst the gates open, which disturbingly splattered dark red liquid everywhere as they broke apart. His next swing was an upward one targeted at the portcullis at the far end of the hallway. There was no way he could reach it from where he stood, nor could he get the head of his hammer underneath it. But he struck it directly on one of the tips locked into the ground. Enchanted stone cracked as in return blood washed over Grand Elder Ivarsson. Blood, and cultivators resembling blood. The Flying Blood Cult was present, but they weren't the only ones.

Black fog still permeated the area, while the sect that held the castle struck only from the shadows. Kunibert continued to swing his hammer, battering it into the portcullis and cracking stone, while at the same time ignoring the poisoned blades attacking him, disappearing just as they were about to impact him. He stood behind the portcullis, swinging his hammer once in front of him without even turning around. The portcullis shook.

Then he was on the other side, a dozen attacks passing through his momentary location and clattering against the walls and floor. He reached down with one hand and grabbed the portcullis, yanking. It didn't quite move the first time, but the second time the final locks holding it into the ground broke and he pulled it up. Behind him cultivators were streaming forward, Frostmirror sect, Ninety-Nine Stars, and Glorious Flame Palace alike.

But he had already delayed enough. He rushed forward, stepping past enemies and sometimes simply never passing close at all, merely being in front and then behind. He felt his blood being pulled towards the central keep and the hundreds of lives inside. Vandale and the others were following behind.

A large circular formation was set up in the vast central keep, a hundred cultivators placed in an outer formation with two hundred more forming several inner layers. Around them was a grim reminder of all of those who had been captured, most of them with their throats slit littered around the floor.

Kunibert took a great swing at the figures in the middle, little more than a mass of swirling blood and shadow. The shadow raised its hand, catching his hammer. It seemed that bypassing the formations made his attack far too weak. His next swing hit several of those around the edge of the area, but he quickly felt some regret. Though the cultivators died, their blood pooled on the ground and pulled towards the center. That wouldn't quite work. He reached out an arm at what appeared to be empty space, pushing with his palm. Three people were ejected out of the formation. When he did it again… the cultivators let their chests be crushed instead of letting him toss them. Maddening. And he could see that the two in the center still had at least a dozen bound individuals around them that they were piercing with ceremonial daggers, one at a time. Fortunately, more allies were pouring in and they could hopefully provide more useful methods of breaking the formation.

Chapter 193

The first person to arrive to back up Grand Elder Kunibert was an elder of the Frostmirror Sect. She was at the peak of essence collection while remaining at a relatively young age for her level of power. Adelina, if he recalled correctly. There weren't too many names of Life Transformation experts or those who were close to remember but Kunibert didn't focus on knowing people's names.

"I'd appreciate help, if you can," Kunibert gestured to the multilayer formation. "You'd think that squashing the people holding this thing together would weaken the formation, but all that blood seems to be making the situation worse."

"I understand," she nodded, her face impassive. "Break me a way through the outer layer."

That was something Kunibert was well suited to. Just a swing of his hammer and he cracked a hole for her to slip through. She reached out towards one of the members of the Flying Blood Cult, who made no move to defend herself. Kunibert had no idea what sort of madness infected them that they had no regard for their lives, perhaps fanatical devotion to a leader… or some expectations of rewards in another life. Either their lives or deaths could power the formation.

But when Adelina touched the woman and killed her, there was no blood that flowed into the formation. How could it, when it was frozen solid? The purpose was accomplished by disconnecting the cultivator from the formation without spilling their blood. She was able to reach two more people before they realized what was happening, and they started to defend themselves.

Kunibert supposed he could accomplish something similar. If people wouldn't defend themselves, he simply had to accomplish an attack that would knock them back no matter what they did. He had to widen the impact area. He took a swing past the barrier, slamming someone outward. Normally it was better to condense his attack into a smaller area to cause the most damage, so he hadn't immediately considered the option.

Flames burst into the area. Medved was an elder of the Glorious Flame Palace, quite a bit older than Adelina yet stuck at the same threshold. Kunibert couldn't fault him for that, he himself spent several decades clawing his way into Life Transformation after all. It was a difficult step. And Medved was effective enough. The cultivators manning the formation now understood that they had to retaliate to keep the formation working, and a wave of darkness met the fire that swirled around Medved.

The tendrils of darkness attempted to seep into the elder of the Glorious Flame Palace, but where they reached inside fire burst out from him, burning it away. Kunibert wasn't certain if such a method could truly be considered a defensive technique as it clearly harmed the user, but preventing the intrusion of an enemy's energy doubtless deserved a prompt response. Medved continued to step forward towards his target, a wave of fire bursting from his hand and breaking through his opponent's defenses. Whether or not he got the message about their blood powering the formation, all that was left behind was a pile of ash.

All of that was well and good, but the progress in the center continued unabated. The final handful of sacrifices were about to be finished off, and whatever would result from that would ultimately be bad for the world. Kunibert wondered where Vandale was. Any of the others would be of help too, but Vandale was the strongest of them. And if Kunibert wasn't incorrect the two in the center of the formation were both at the peak of Life Transformation. He wasn't familiar enough with the Flying Blood Palace or the unnamed darkness sect to guarantee it, but he knew they at least had an amount of power close to that threshold.

With the help of Medved and Adelina, as well as others breaking into the area, the outer layer of the formation was falling apart. That made it easier to reach the inner layers. There was no more time for Kunibert to consider whether he could win an engagement with the two in the center. He had to go there… and not contribute any of his blood, if he could help it.

He stepped past the next layer of the formation. He couldn't afford to expend the effort with every attack, and had to be there himself. The two figures, bloody red and midnight black, didn't seem terribly surprised when he began to attack them. A big sweep of his hammer forced them back, and then he grabbed one of the remaining figures who had not yet been slain. He didn't feel anything special about them, but he hoped they were important as he shoved them out of the formation. It was easier than anticipated, but then again most formations weren't meant to stop attacks going outward. In return for his action the crimson figure impaled the last sacrifice, and the shadowy figure lashed out at him with some sort of whip. It coiled around his arm, energy burrowing into it.

An instant later Kunibert stepped away, but his movements brought the energy with him, though not the whip. He felt it intruding into him, ignoring his flesh but burrowing deeper into his meridians. He made a quick decision. His instincts had kept him alive up to this point, and he'd do his best to continue that trend. He dropped his hammer and grabbed his right shoulder with his left hand, then tore. His dismembered arm was tossed into his storage bag, and the open wound on his shoulder was sealed shut with his energy. He wouldn't contribute even a single drop of his blood if he could help it.

Kunibert felt the powerful buildup of energy in the formation and the two figures. Were they attempting to ascend? He wouldn't mind if they were out of his hair, but given recently acquired information they couldn't count on that lasting forever.

His hammer was in his hand and he was behind the bloody figure. He hoped that causing them injuries wouldn't somehow empower the formation, but he couldn't help it. A one-armed swing was significantly less powerful than he liked, but his aim was true. When the figure broke apart into a bloody tornado he knew there wouldn't be a solid impact… but this wasn't his first time hitting those without solid form. As his hammer swung through the cloud of blood, it trails of red dragged along with it, even away from where his weapon struck. A good few liters of blood splattered against the far wall while never even being in the intervening distance. If that was a normal person they'd be nearly out of blood, but this figure had many times that amount. Even so, he could tell it hurt them to be separated from some of it.

Once more the whip coiled towards him, but he was ready for the attack, despite the hidden nature of the energy. He realized he couldn't really resist it, so he absolutely couldn't let it touch him. Even if that meant stepping into the bloody tornado to give himself a moment. The swirling liquid had no real physical impact, but as it touched him he felt it pulling his blood away. To the best of his ability he pulled back, until he was able to simply be somewhere else. That location was behind the dark figure, with his hammer already swinging.

He hadn't expected to crush the man to a pulp, but he was a bit insulted that the figure stopped his attack with one hand again, even with the formation weakened. At least it looked like it took some effort. But Kunibert found the energy was still building, even as the second layer of the formation and the cultivators powering it were being defeated. He couldn't possible keep track of all of the powerful energy, as late Essence Collection cultivators and even a handful of Life Transformation experts clashed on each side.

Attack. Dodge desperately. Distract. Delay. That was all Kunibert could do. Even keeping his blood from flowing out of his shoulder became more and more difficult. Then he heard a loud cracking. At first he thought it was the formation, and he wasn't entirely wrong. But what the actual sound came from in that moment was the ceiling of the keep above. It had been fortified ot prevent the intrusion of energy, and that also prevented sensing to some extent- so even Kunibert was surprised when Vandale dropped down along with the ceiling. That very same ceiling hit the dome of the formation and was mostly deflected, but Vandale rode a portion of it down like one of his usual Falling Stars.

Vandale swept over Kunibert with his eye, clearly seeing his missing arm. "I'm sorry I was slow." Kunibert saw Vandale was not without some injuries of his own, though they were less extreme.

"I'd say you were right on time."

Vandale pulled Falling Stars out of the sky, forcing the two peak Life Transformation experts to dodge his attacks. Even the Flying Blood Cult leader had to be concerned about being destroyed by the power held within them.

Vandale wasn't the only one to come in from the roof, as more allies and opponents alike joined the fray. But for the most part, it was him and Vandale against the two leaders. The shadow dodged one of the Falling Stars with a significant amount of power behind it. Kunibert thought it would be a shame if it missed, so he batted it at the man. Even though he'd dodged, the man's defenses weren't inadequate. A barrier of darkness blocked the burning orb, merely rippling like a pond with a rock tossed into it as the light was snuffed out.

Then Kunibert slipped up. He'd thought that the blood on the floor below him was part of the ritual, but some of it belonged to the Flying Blood Cult leader. It reached up and grabbed onto his leg, sinking into his pores. At the same time, it pulled on his blood, exchanging his own for the intruder. Before he could make the decision of whether to give up the leg, the blood pulled out, leaving a dessicated mass up to his knee. It still supported his weight, but it couldn't really be called alive.

A burst of fire blasted the cloud of blood, forcing it to coalesce back into the shape of a man. Medved's wrinkled skin was also blackened from his own power, but he half-grinned as he staggered to the ground. The Flying Blood Cult leader backed away, skin scorched as they approached the darkness cultivator. Then at the same moment they attacked each other.

Darkness and blood swirled together, combining in a reddish-black mass. The blackness won out, and seemed stronger for it as the man smiled. Power overflowed from him as he smiled towards Vandale and Kunibert. "You were too weak. You missed your opportunity."

Kunibert felt the power of a massive falling star being formed above. The world began to tremble, both from Vandale's power and that of the red-tinged dark figure in front of them. Just before the man dodged to the side, Kunibert wrapped his elbow around the man's throat. He had no illusions about what that would mean for him. Darkness immediately started tearing into his arm, face, and chest- but he squeezed with all of his power, focusing on causing the most damage to the man as possible- and preventing him from defending against the attack. As it struck, he was glad for the way it burned him away- at least it destroyed the darkness that was like wriggling worms heading for his dantian.

Even if he was unwilling to accept Grand Elder Kunibert's sacrifice, Vandale couldn't have stopped his attack. He only wished that he could have done even more, because his actual target yet lived. Except for a line on his throat the entire front of him was charred to the point of showing muscle and bone, but that wasn't enough to kill the man. Vandale charged forwards. He called more Falling Stars from the sky, but the energy filling the man had reached a zenith, and he couldn't afford him a single moment to recover.

Vandale charged forward, flames flaring around him and air distorting. He held a dagger outstretched, focusing his power into its point. On the other side, a wave of ice bore down on the man. His own attack was met with a sword stabbing in return, but he would not give up his charge. It pierced through his chest, but he kept it away from his heart. His own attack struck true, piercing through the figure. Then there was an explosion, throwing him to the edge of the room and through the wall.

Vandale lay on his back, staring up at the sky. He would bet his life- what remained of it, at least- that his attack wasn't fully successful. It certainly wounded the man, but the explosion of energy registered as the energy of ascension. He clamped his remaining energy around the wriggling worms of darkness inside him. He felt members of the Order gathering around, protecting him. He hoped the rest of the battle had been settled favorably as he tried to drag the energy out of him but found it inevitably working its way into his dantian. Rather than let it take over, he did his best to seal it inside with his remaining energy. Then his consciousness faded.

Chapter 194

Comfortable energy surrounded Vandale, and he was quite pleased to wake up. Certainly he had some complaints. He had wounds all over his body and he was fully drained of energy. Most seriously, he still had wriggling blackness trying to eat him from the inside out.

He sat up and his one eye settled on Anton. "Hadn't expected to see you here."

Anton shrugged, "Elder Peric logically extended your permission to see you at any time. But I can leave, if you wish."

"Unnecessary," Vandale smiled slightly. "It's already too late to hide the extent of my injuries. The whole sect has to know by now, regardless."

"Most of the news was swamped with more significant details, like the deaths of other Grand Elders. Four others, in fact."

Vandale sighed, "I'd hope it would have ended with Kunibert and myself. But this wasn't unanticipated. Matousek remained behind to make sure we at least had a Grand Elder. Now the Order will be replacing more than half of our Grand Elders."

"The way you say that…" Anton said questioningly.

"Oh, I don't expect to live through this. Maybe a couple years, if I push it, just to be stubborn."

Anton shifted uncomfortably, "I'd hoped differently. This is dire news for the Order, in addition to my personal friendship with you. What happened?"

"I'm sure you've heard some sort of summary, but someone ascended. Almost stopped it. Wiped out a good portion of the Flying Blood Cult and that other group."

"Speaking of them," Anton said. "I presume those papers on your table have more. I did overhear they had some documents calling them Black Soul Valley. Or perhaps that was just the name of their location."

Vandale looked at the papers, taking a deep breath of energy dense air and flicking them over to him. "The summary is… nothing. It's unlikely that was the full extent of this group, and several high ranking members of the Flying Blood Cult weren't present."

"You don't have to tell me," Anton noted.

"Of course I do. Might as well tell you now, instead of forcing you to wait decades to climb the ranks and learn about them when they're still a problem." Vandale shook his head, "The good news is a significant quantity of wealth was recovered. The bad news is all of the deaths, and more of them are out there."

"Ofrurg is… in a tumultuous state," Anton commented. "Sects from Facraona stormed in demanding answers that nobody had. Some places took exception to accusations… true or not. I believe the conflict is still ongoing."

"Sounds about right. Listen," Vandale said. "The Order is somewhat weaker right now, but I have high hopes for the upcoming generation. That includes you. And your efforts… might make all the ones following you something more. We'll need that now more than ever, without me." Anton nodded. "Not going to encourage me? Say I can make it through?"

"I believe in your willpower and ability to persist," Anton said. "But I know death. I can feel its grip on you."

"How much of that is flowery words?" Vandale asked curiously.

"Until now, at my current cultivation, I hadn't felt it except as a vague idea. But I've been practicing Fleeting Youth quite vigorously, and I can feel a bit of the fires of life inside people. Bare as you are, I can feel the emptiness in you that should be filled."

Vandale looked down at himself, his eye resting on the bandages around his chest. "Speaking of which, I shouldn't delay cultivating any longer. I'll need every bit of energy I can get to persist."

"I'll be going. Do you want me to tell anyone anything?" Anton asked.

"Just tell them to handle things without me."

As he walked away, Anton felt the slow swirl of all of the energy on the peak around him. He had sort of expected a stronger pull, a rapid rushing of tides- but the way the energy was slowly but surely being pulled in reminded him of Vandale's weakness, despite his vigor in the battle Anton saw and even his speech upon waking up. And a slow, measured approach was reasonable. Anton was also not the sort to rush.

But he did feel a bit of pressure to move quickly, on the larger scale of things. He still had one more duality pill to make use of, and it could help push along his next refinement of muscle and continued connection of body and soul.

The Order had enemies in more than Ofrurg- though Anton had little interaction with most of them. But in this time of weakness, they might wish to take advantage. The forces of the Order weren't insignificant, even with recent losses, but the reminder that they could be defeated would encourage the wrong sort of people. It would likely be some years before his personal strength was relevant to the Order, but if he could help it those years would be less than another handful.

For shorter term goals, while he could not himself participate in the tournament in Facraona, he could ensure that those he knew would perform well. A sect with promising juniors was a threat, but also a valuable ally. As long as the balance of power shifted in their favor, it would be worthwhile. And being timid for the next several years could only harm the Order. Of course, Anton didn't control the policy of the Order as a whole, but he could at least speak to some of those involved.

That included Kseniya. Grand Elder Kseniya, if the other elders had anything to do with it. Though her cultivation wasn't as high as Vandale's, at her point in Life Transformation it was difficult for anyone to match her- and she was a threat to any sect that wished to cause trouble. Very few had answers for attacks shot from a great distance. Some had archers of their own or others with ranged techniques, but they would have to choose between defending themselves or their juniors and fighting back, if it came to a battle.

They often encountered each other practicing archery. Though Kseniya had her own places, she would visit any archery range around the sect. Sometimes she gave guidance, sometimes she merely watched. One thing Anton noticed was that often her guidance was unspoken, in the form of several shots at a target. He had gotten pretty good at discerning what she meant with those, whether it was a correction of stance or control of energy.

"Still insisting on trying to use that bone bow?" Kseniya asked as he arrived at a long, mostly empty field.

Anton shrugged, "Whether I use it or not, I definitely have things to learn from the attempt."

Even as he got close to the twenty-second star, his muscles strained as he pulled on the bow. He alternated between drawing it strictly with his muscles, a task he could barely accomplish, to adding his energy to bend it. Neither felt right, and he couldn't find a happy in between either. But whether or not he would actually use it as a weapon, it was excellent for purposes of training. Even Kseniya didn't deny him that point.

He felt the muscles in his upper body tense as he pulled the string and formed a Spirit Arrow. Despite the inherent power of the bow, he was unable to fully draw it- and thus it was less impressive than the one he actually used. But a few hundred shots with each several times per day kept him in practice.

At his current cultivation, Anton was able to keep the Vessel of Insights active a majority of the time. He picked up small little insights from all over the Order as he walked, but he'd also gathered some particularly tempting targets. Insights from Vandale and Kseniya were just asking him to devour them. But he was not so foolish as to try that.

However, he had something else. With the permission of several members of the Order, he had observed their cultivation of the Ninety-Nine Stars. These were Essence Collection cultivators, beyond the level of his current cultivation… but not so far ahead as Life Transformation. Simply observing them had given him some insights of his own, but they had their own gains as well, as many passing thoughts and insights would happen during a single session.

In the Vessel of Insights they were small thin strands, but filled with power. But not an inaccessible amount of it, unlike some of the others. At least, Anton hoped that wasn't so. He had prepared himself to absorb one, and was ready to make the attempt.

The small bit of insight rushed into him, but he felt as if he were being forced out of his body. Instead of resisting, he went along with it, his consciousness expanding into space. A field of stars surrounded him, and planets as well. He'd seen the planets in the night sky- and more clearly through Vandale's telescope- but he couldn't fixate on the ones around him at the moment. It was just a rush of feeling. As his mind expanded, he realized he wasn't starting from the world around him, but from the most condensed point of energy in someone's dantian, the core of their energy. The planets weren't true planets, but merely the suggestion of them. Yet he felt how profound cultivation could be.

Then he was back in himself. Anton couldn't say he suddenly understood how Essence Collection cultivators worked, but the insight did make him think more carefully about the arrangement of his energy inside his dantian. Each star was separate, and kept that way such that they wouldn't interfere with each other. Beyond that, they generally orbited around each other in patterns… but beyond the density and quantity of energy he hadn't given it much more consideration.

With his recent efforts into learning more about formations and the strand of insight, he thought to put more into it. He knew that shifting around the stars inside of him couldn't possible bring about the multiplicative effects of a true formation, or certain members of the Order would be inconceivably stronger than the others, but if he could attain more efficiency he would be a few percent stronger. By itself that mattered little, but each improvement in differing areas adding on top of each other was how a major gain was attained. And a little bit of power could make all the difference in injuring an opponent first, and pushing ahead for a resounding victory instead of a close battle.

As Anton slowly shifted his internal cultivation about, estimating where he might make improvements and then testing them, he wondered if it would help Fleeing Youth. If nothing else, being able to handle more energy would make his other efforts more efficient- but another thought came to him. Any time he wished to use the power of Fleeting Youth, the energy from beyond ascension and reincarnation combined, he had to gather it up- draw it into himself anew. If he could store some portion of that, he could significantly increase his power. The problem was that it wouldn't happily sit in his dantian, unlike his 'normal' energy. It just wasn't quite so cooperative.

Riding on the high of an improvement, Anton took the final duality pill. As he did so, he considered how each star related to his body. He knew each was created with relation to an aspect of his body, but few were localized except for the organs in the head. He couldn't paint a picture or form a constellation that represented their connection to him. But on the topic of constellations, though the stars were often far disconnected from each other, people made mental connections between them and called them something. In a way, that made them real.

Anton felt the rush of energy from the pill. He'd grown used to them after taking the few he'd obtained, to the point that even if he had a handful more he doubted they would achieve the same results as the first. But this one would be enough to push him to the twenty-second star and beyond. And maybe he could absorb some more insights from those ahead of him- but not too far. Perhaps he could absorb them smoothly, or perhaps he would he find flaws in them. Or they might even find flaws in him. He was happy to deal with any of them, for he'd long accepted he was full of imperfections. Even if he was sometimes a bit stubborn and slow with fixing them.

Chapter 195

The pleasant sounds of birds lied to Alva's ears. Today wasn't a pleasant day. She was out in the forest, alone. She didn't even have Fuzz with her. Well, she wasn't entirely alone. An arrow made purely out of energy flew past her head. By the time she turned and readied her bow, her target was already gone.

It wasn't fair. Just because her grandpa started cultivating a bit earlier, and because she had to be careful while she was young, he was better than her! Well, to be fair he was going to be a better archer than her even if their cultivations matched. The proof of that was the total energy in her arrows matched what she could accomplish. Hers were just a bit less streamlined and condensed.

Alva took off running. If she just stood still, her grandpa would actually hit her with the arrows. Even if he would make sure not to injure her, she didn't want to just accept a loss. She had to figure out where he was and take a shot. She fired off several arrows, but trees got in the way. Curving them around things was difficult, especially while protecting herself. She was at least able to duck behind some obstacles to protect from incoming attacks.

She had to admit that she was a bit too used to fighting with Fuzz. He was able to carry her quickly, and he even took care of a lot of dodging. There was nothing wrong with being used to having him around, since on real missions having him around was practical. Grandpa Anton always said to use every tool at your disposal. But right now, she was training for a tournament. That meant she couldn't just bring a beast with her.

There was no proof that there would be any matches in a forest, but apparently the terrain of the tournament grounds could be varied. Besides, Alva recognized she wouldn't get much from training in an open field. She wasn't going to suddenly get better at shooting targets she could see and dodging attacks that were obvious.

Eventually she collapsed to the ground, breathing heavily. She just couldn't keep up with her grandpa. He was supposed to be an old man, how did he manage? Sure, his cultivation was… nearly twice as many stars as her. And almost in late Spirit Building instead of early Spirit Building like her. But he was supposed to be old and weak!

Anton carefully controlled his breathing as he approached Alva. Given the vast gap in cultivation between them, she had done rather well. Enough to begin to tire him out, at least. The real difference was that Alva would be ready again given an hour or two, while he needed a bit more rest to regain his energy. He had actually expended a bit more than her, because even if he was keeping his attacks at a level she could react to he'd said nothing about not making use of his full energy capacity.

Besides, he wasted a lot of energy on arrows that hit her, making sure they quickly dissolved before breaking through her defenses. She needed to have good defenses, but that wasn't what this training was about… and he didn't have the heart to cause her even light injuries. Fortunately there were others who would help her in that area. Fuzz was actually quite good for that, because he was able to wrestle and bite and pierce through energy defenses while not hurting anyone in any significant way. When he chose to, of course. In actual battle against real opponents… they were never so lucky.

Perhaps if he were at Elder Kseniya's level he could instantly stop his arrows after breaking through energy defenses, but he wasn't willing to bet his family's life on that, or that of his friends. While tempered bodies might also resist some amount of damage, injuries would only slow down training- and they still had much to do. The tournament would split people into different groups based on cultivation rank, with those above a certain age disallowed. Alva might be able to have some success in the early Spirit Building bracket, though Anton wasn't sure if she could successfully fight against mid Spirit Building cultivators. Then again, not all cultivation techniques were equal. Whether or not she faced an opponent suited to fight against archery would also sway the odds around her.

A trio of cultivators stood around each other, each watching for movement from the other two. While there were likely no battles in the Facraona tournament that would involve facing off against multiple opponents, they weren't just training for that single event. They wanted to better themselves in general, not just for structured battles.

Devon faced off against Hoyt and Timothy. His cultivation level was at a disadvantage, but his actual technique was suited for group battles. He didn't have to be restrained by two arms, but could instead form as many chains as he needed. Though he did have a limit to how many he could practically control without losing focus on some and making them all weaker.

He made the first move, attacking Timothy on his left. Since Timothy was right-handed, his shield wasn't easily able to move to block Devon. When he parried with his sword Devon wrapped his chain around him. A flick of his sword freed it from Devon's grasp, but it delayed him long enough for Hoyt to slip past his shield and attack him from behind. Yet despite being in heavy armor, Timothy moved it surprising grace- ducking down under the attack and causing Hoyt's axe to collide with Devon's reaching chains.

Timothy rolled to the side to not stand up back into the trail of fire Hoyt was prone to leaving behind. He'd rather not lose any hair at the moment. It looked nice as it was. Timothy ended up on his feet with his shield towards Devon and his sword aimed at Hoyt. The two-handed axe was not terribly efficient for defending, but each chop sealed off an area for at least a few moments, making it difficult to attack him even while he remained on the offensive. Devon's chains tried to wrap around Timothy's shield, but he constantly adjusted the amount he was expanding it beyond the actual structure, pushing the chains away or even capturing them inside the expanding energy projection. Devon could simply let any trapped chains fade away, but he had to produce them again starting at his body, giving a moment of breathing room.

Hoyt found an opening as Devon struggled against Timothy, stepping forward and sweeping his axe down at an angle. He trusted Devon to be strong enough to resist his attack, so he didn't hold back much, his axe impacting with a trio of chains that bent to stop him. Yet he chopped through, striking Devon's shoulder and sending him staggering back, his energy defenses barely holding.

Then Hoyt had to roll to the side. When he stood back up he had a prick of blood on his throat, but that was all. Velvet had appeared from nowhere, and looked quite disappointed at how easily her surprise attack had been avoided. She wasn't going to stab much more than another couple millimeters deeper, but if she did so and stopped intentionally she could say Hoyt was dead. Unfortunately all of her companions had trained with her too much, and could actually pick her out… at least the moment before her attack. Training in Instinct was vital in such a situation.

Before the four could assess how the situation had altered, they felt a surge of energy around them, entrapping them inside a pentagonal barrier about ten meters on a side. "Ha! Got you!" Catarina said. The four combatants crossed eyes with each other and instantaneously came to an agreement. They broke off to different corners of the formation and attacked simultaneously, straining the formation in many directions at the same time. The barrier shuddered, and then broke. As they all began to charge towards Catarina, they sensed a powerful attack.

Everyone scattered in every direction as a streak of energy impacted the ground at their feet, tearing up the top layer of soil and spewing pebbles over everyone, including Catarina, a crater being left behind. The attack was easily traceable back to its source- if they trusted that the arrow went in a straight line. The five of them began to dart in that direction.

Timothy took point first, blocking one arrow and staggering to a halt. Hoyt charged ahead, splitting the next arrow in two and dispersing it. The next three arrows were split towards different targets, but Devon reached out chains to catch each arrow between the links. His chains shattered, but the arrows faded away with them. Catarina intercepted the next arrow before Timothy had caught up again and was ready to face more. Velvet was nowhere to be seen, but as they continued to charge forward the barrage of arrows suddenly stopped.

Anton held up his arms, a dagger to his throat. "It's not like I could take all of you out on my own anyway. You'd have to get pretty careless with your energy defenses. But seriously, working together to gang up on an old man. I expected better of you."

"Who's an old man?" Catarian said. "I specifically remember you distancing yourself from that tile for a while. Besides, if you were expecting us to do nothing after a bombardment like that you're seriously crazy, grandpa."

Anton shook his head, "I will note that none of you readied anti-ascension techniques in that moment. With it any of you could have knocked that arrow out of the sky harmlessly."

"Harmlessly, you say…" Hoyt shook his head. "It's still a powerful bundle of energy. Just because it scatters doesn't mean it isn't dangerous."

"Still true," Anton admitted. "Just remember that true ascended cultivators will be able to make more than just two attacks."

"Two?" Timothy spun around, maximizing the defenses of his shield. He jumped upward to meet the incoming arrow, which had to have been looping around a very far distance to remain unnoticed until that point. In fact, it was picking up momentum as it currently shot almost straight down.

Catarina leaped up after him. When the arrow struck his shield it exploded around it, leaving only a cone shaped area behind it safe. Catarina was in that area, but more importantly she was able to slow Timothy as he was rocketed backwards towards the ground. Devon also produced a dozen chains- without spikes- catching onto them as they approached the ground. The multiple layers of chains at least caused the impact to be spread over a greater time so that Timothy only left a moderately sized impression in the ground, not more than a meter deep.

"Bop," Anton tapped his axe on Velvet's neck.

She turned back to him and frowned. "That one doesn't count. You were dead."

"Probably," he admitted. "But you didn't make sure."

She snorted. "It was implied. But next time I'll make sure to note I stabbed you with both daggers."

Many people were focused on the upcoming tournament in Facraona, but Kohar was still focused on one thing. She hadn't even realized there had been a tremendous battle and was wondering why many of her various jobs had suddenly become easier, but she took full advantage of the few days the legal defenses of various slave trading groups failed. When she later learned about the battle in Black Soul Valley, she thought perhaps she should have done more. If even Life Transformation experts had risked their lives and lost them, why couldn't she? Though actually risking her life wasn't going to do much good. Kohar was making sure to stay with her guards, graciously provided by the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars, as well as in public places where nobody could pretend they didn't notice if she came under attack.

She also made the best use she could of various skilled couriers, quickly and stealthily carrying messages to different cities to respond to moves she had to deal with. Kohar had to admit that she was still weak as far as cultivators went, and insufficient even if she were to consider her potential in the field of being an advocate, but she continued to improve one bit at a time. Anton continued to stay in touch with her, and had even visited with her when she took a short time off and returned to Graotan. He didn't say much during that time, but somehow he always found a way to help with cultivation. Even when he was just talking about his grandchildren and how they were progressing. Maybe she just needed to relax. It was just so hard when there were so many things to do, and people needed them done now and not in a hundred years. Though admittedly, Anton continued to remind her that the ultimate goal of abolishing slavery would still be a long time off- whether through the law of the land or the law of the sword.

Chapter 196

Notes filled a table in front of Anton. At the moment he was working on transitioning them into a format useful for cultivators, or potential cultivators. These were just the segments covering smithing and weaving, but they were filled with far too many unnecessary details. Grant and Derya had advised him on the salient points for people sharing their professions. Some people might do better with different instruction, but the majority of those who understood their craft would do well with one set of guidance. And Anton didn't want to have a hulking tome that weighed as much as a person. Short pages that allowed people to integrate their work and cultivation together would be sufficient along with the general guidance that would be for all Body Tempering cultivators.

Anton was quite pleased that Vincent was making use of the current iteration of his work. Vincent still didn't spend much time with any individual, but he was good at finding those with cultivation potential. With some extra pages of guidance along with the early portion of the Ninety-Nine Stars, more people with good potential would be able to actually make forward strides in cultivation.

Vincent's recruiting efforts were more important now than ever before. Only by bolstering the younger generation's numbers could they guarantee that some of them would grow to a high enough cultivation level to replace those lost in the battle at Black Soul Valley. Of course, the chances of a single generation producing five cultivators with the potential to become Grand Elders was fairly low. Even if those around Anton all managed that feat, merely replacing their numbers would be insufficient. If the Order couldn't grow in strength, it would fall behind other cultivation sects- and there was the looming threat of trouble from ascended cultivators. With the details on when and how that could happen so unclear it wasn't possible to plan for it in particular, but having more strong individuals would always be better.

Anton felt like his efforts weren't enough. He was fairly certain he could help guide people through Body Tempering and early Spirit Building, but beyond that all of his experience was inadequate. He had recently entered late Spirit Building himself, with the year leading up to the tournament having flown by. Perhaps all his guidance might break down at some point in the future and lead people off the best path to the peak of Ninety-Nine Stars… or a hundred stars, though Anton wasn't sure if ascension was actually desirable or not.

Yet for all his misgivings, Anton couldn't do anything else but try. None of the elders had found any major flaws in his insights, and they had approved of his efforts. It was simply that nobody had taken the time to go into such detail about cultivating the Ninety-Nine Stars before, instead counting on the talent of cultivators and guidance received from elders as well as the description of the core cultivation technique.

Anton planned to look into other crafts and professions, empowering different people to be better. Cultivation could simply allow people to have more ability to perform everyday tasks, more stamina, more efficiency. Most people wouldn't cultivate because they thought they couldn't, or they didn't have the time- but if the time spent cultivating was the same as the time spent practicing a trade, who could say they had no time? It would simply take more effort at first, somewhat lowering people's results. Yet Anton knew people would see that they could achieve more with a small amount of investment in cultivation.

The delegation from the Order heading to the tournament in Facraona was headed by Grand Elders Matousek and Kseniya. It was a reminder of the strength of both 'old' and 'new' cultivators, though Kseniya certainly wasn't new except to a position as a Grand Elder. She was still making advances in her cultivation, though past sixty stars it could take multiple years to make a single advancement. There was a reason Life Transformation experts were never young.

Though he had no personal stake in the outcome of the tournament and couldn't participate, Anton was of course going to be cheering on his friends and family. He also wanted to see what sort of place Facraona was, since simply hearing about it wasn't the same. It was easy to assume they didn't care about the common folk living in their borders who were attacked en masse, only acting after it became a big public uproar… but the Order had failed to protect against similar things not long before. While Facraona could have learned from the mistakes in Graotan, they had likely not expected such aggressive tactics. Though their armed response had not made it to the battle in time, they had devoted sufficient effort to make their intent clear. After the battle at Black Soul Valley they had continued to look into those who had been more directly involved in the mass abductions, not content to let those who did the dirty work get away.

Anton might have liked to see eastern Ofrurg, but the Order was taking a more circuitous route to Facraona. While the intrusion of the Order might have been fully justified, Ofrurg was indignant that so many powerful cultivators from Graotan had entered the country without their knowledge. They had no political capital to actually sanction Graotan or the Order given previous events, but it was better to avoid traveling through Ofrurg at the moment. Anton wondered if there would ever be a time when it wasn't rife with trouble. He hoped so, but the last handful of years were not that time.

The members of the Order swung much further to the south than they needed to if they were simply avoiding Ofrurg. It was partly for safety, since there was no guarantee someone wouldn't get a crazy idea and sanctions afterwards wouldn't bring people back to life. However, it was also a good time to interact more with sects in Floelor, the country they were travelling through. There were intentions to establish or strengthen relationships with the various sects in the area, and one of the ways that was most common was to have disciples 'exchange pointers'. In short, they would duel each other. When a proper formation was in place and both parties were agreeable, it was good for demonstrating the power of both sides. That could be used either as a deterrent against causing trouble with the Order or encouragement to work together, since everyone would prefer to have strong allies.

The Wandering Bush Sect may not have had a glorious name, but they derived their name from a stubborn, troublesome plant. Their cultivation style focused on mobility and tenacity, forcing others to have a tough time trying to take them down. There was another name for them, though not one used by anyone who intended to be friendly. The Tumbleweed Sect. For obvious reasons, nobody wanted to be called a weed.

Maiara Blackwood felt that the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars had been treating them with a proper amount of respect, but she was a little bit miffed at seeing her opponent. Was she facing off against a little girl? Well, she supposed she was more properly a young woman in her early teens. But she couldn't have been cultivating for long. While it was somewhat disappointing to be matched with her, at least Maiara could pick up a win for her sect.

She held her buckler and shortsword at the ready. Even though she wasn't making use of oversized pieces of equipment, as a cultivator of the Wandering Bush Sect she shouldn't be underestimated. A buckler was no worse than any other sort of shield. It was better, in some ways, since it required a smaller amount of material and thus could be made of more expensive components.

The battle quickly began. It was of no concern that her opponent was an archer. She wouldn't let arrows past her guard. She swiftly moved forward, blocking the first shot from the young woman directly. Maiara had to admit there was a decent amount of power behind the arrows composed solely out of energy. Taking them head on would be inefficient, and it would be better to angle her buckler for future shots. Maiara had to admit she'd underestimated her opponent because of her looks, but of course their cultivations weren't too dissimilar. On the boundary between early and mid Spirit Building, in fact.

Maiara quickly closed the distance between herself and her opponent. That was key when fighting someone with greater range. The speed with which her opponent, Alva, managed to condense and fire energy arrows was quite impressive. She shot three before Maiara was even halfway to her. Then she began to move as well, dodging and weaving around the terrain of the battlefield, rocky crags and uneven sandy soil. Everything she did was to prevent Maiara from closing properly, but Maiara was extremely comfortable with the local arena. She wasn't slowed down much. Even when she was forced to dodge an attack instead of just blocking, she moved forward, flipping and twisting in small hops.

As she got close she could see her opponent getting desperate, firing arrows faster than she could fully power. Maiara's left arm darted and blocked one directly, not even needing to use energy to soften the blow. In the next motion she cartwheeled closer while avoiding two more arrows shot together. She was only a few steps away.

She almost missed the arrows coming in from behind her, circling back around. But the tenacity of the Wandering Bush Sect wasn't for nothing. She solidified the energy behind her and negated the attacks while still managing to close the distance to her opponent. Maiara thrust out with her sword at her nearly defenseless opponent, but Alva parried the blow with her bow. Most archers were concerned about damage to their weapon and would avoid colliding weapons at all cost, but it seemed this young woman wasn't afraid.

But one attack wouldn't be the end of things. Maiara began a series of thrusts and slashes, keeping Alva on the back foot. There was something awkward about her movements, like she wasn't quite used to avoiding attacks- but then again, how much experience could she have at her age? Being in Spirit Building was already somewhat ridiculous at such a young age. Most people weren't even beginning cultivation. There were often side effects of cultivating too quickly and too young, but Maiara didn't detect any from the young woman in front of her. Which meant she might have actually held herself back slightly.

She really, really couldn't afford to lose to someone half her age. Fortunately, even as the young woman managed to attack even while under significant pressure from Maiara's rain of blows, she couldn't easily break through Maiara's own defenses. Wandering Bush Sect cultivators were tough, and able to focus their energy on just the important points when defending. But this young woman was also clearly trained in predicting her movements, so she wasn't able to find the usual openings. Even when she got a strike in on Alva, she barely did any better than breaking skin. She just needed a little more. One solid strike and she could win the spar. It didn't have to be a killing blow, and in fact it was rather discouraged in most cases- even if the formation would prevent serious damage. But she needed something decisive.

There was something odd about Alva's stance as they continued to fight. She'd begun with her back up straight, tall and proud like any archer. But as she began moving more and more, she crouched down low, firing her bow from its side and keeping her profile small. She constantly moved her head back and forth as if peeking from behind something, but there was nothing in the way. And even though her defensive movements weren't quite as refined as they could be, Maiara couldn't find sufficient flaws to bring her down. Their energy levels were well matched as they continued to whittle away at each other, one quick arrow and thrust of a shortsword at a time.

When a draw was eventually called, Maiara had to admit that she'd underestimated her opponent. Even young and clearly not as experienced with movement techniques as other cultivators of her cultivation level might be, her archery was excellent and kept Maiara from attacking as she pleased, even after she closed into melee. Her shots were tricky, and Maiara couldn't help but think how much trouble she would be if she moved a bit faster, or had a line of other cultivators in front of her. Though in the tournament some people would likely try to pull off dirty techniques like specifically targeting her bow, so it was hard to say which of them would be more successful there. "Good duel," Maiara held out her hand. "We were well matched."

Alva nodded and extended her hand as well. "You should see me fight with Fuzz."

"Who's Fuzz?"

"My wolf." Alva seemed to look at someone in the stand. "My wolf companion. He's not really owned by anyone. Probably."

That explained some of her strange movement style, maybe. Though she wondered why Alva seemed unsure about her ownership of the wolf.

Chapter 197

Picking out a good mark was important. Choose wrong, and there are consequences. Leo had been fortunate enough to avoid any major trouble so far, focusing on those who were distracted. He only occasionally got to target those with actual money, only occasionally making an attempt when they didn't have any guards. The worst thing he could do would be to target someone being watched by someone else. He'd seen people lose a hand for that mistake.

Targeting cultivators was crazy. They could kill him and get away with it, or just catch him. They were strong and quick. But also rich. And he really didn't have any other options. He would stick out like a sore thumb in the good parts of town, and the cultivators were just passing through. He just needed one good haul and he could buy medicine for Kit, and maybe more. Then he could stop stealing, and she could stop worrying about him. But she couldn't worry about him if she didn't recover.

There was no way Leo was going to target some of the people he saw. Groups of cultivators packed together in fives and tens, and some strong ones walking along as well. Just looking at some of them sent shivers down his spine. He could tell a cultivator just by looking, even beyond their clothes, but some of them were on an entirely different level. Especially lately. There was some tournament or something up in Facraona, and with Cruhull being the biggest city in northeastern Droca, it was normal that everyone would pass through.

But along with the strong ones came weak ones. Disciples of sects were no good, as they were being watched. What he was looking for was someone on their own, not too strong or important. There. An old man. Definitely a cultivator, from the feeling and the weapons he carried, both a bow and a pair of axes. Not someone Leo would even consider getting in a fight with, but Leo knew something about cultivators. If they were old and not terribly strong, they had no talent. That made them less important, and easier to deal with. Probably wouldn't be as rich, but that was only by cultivator standards.

Leo kept an eye on him, making sure the old man was actually alone. He stopped to look at some of the nearby stalls, browsing the wares. That was perfect, but Leo knew the shopkeepers wouldn't appreciate him taking from their customers. He had to find the right opening. Somewhere where the crowd was thick, the man concealed as he moved to the next place.

The man pulled a coin out of a large sack at his waist. Was it a gigantic coin purse? How extravagant. And foolish. He paid for a little necklace of some sort, barely worth anything. Just a trinket. Then he stepped away from the stall.

Leo's legs moved swiftly, pulling a small blade. He gently placed his hand under the bag, making sure it wasn't too heavy. The weight shouldn't suddenly be noticed as missing. He didn't feel much inside, so perhaps it was mostly empty- but even a handful of coins would be enough. It was too late to go back. He cut at the bag, but his knife slid off. With some quick thinking he sliced the strings holding the bag to the belt, hefting it in his hand and pulling the bag under his arm as he moved away.

Into an alley and behind some crates. No footsteps following, so he risked a glance back towards the street. The old man was still oblivious to his presence. He continued, winding through streets and back alleys as he got some distance. He opened up the bag and saw… nothing. It was empty. He almost tossed it down in disgust when he saw something strange. When he held it at a different angle, he could see deeper into the bag. Like, more than an arm's length. He pulled the mouth wider to make sure he wasn't crazy, and light sparkled on a pile of coins… along with some books? And a bow. An entire bow. In a bag.

He was dead. Once the cultivator found out he took his storage bag, Leo would be dead. But he hadn't seen him… Leo reached his arm into the bag and pulled out a handful of coins. He debated throwing the bag away, but he just couldn't. This was enough to live off of for the rest of his life. It would be a shame to just get rid of it without thinking. And he hadn't been caught. It would be fine. Anyone could have taken it.

Just in case, he took a circuitous route to his destination, intentionally trying to throw off pursuers. He didn't suddenly die when he was alone in a back alley, so he was probably fine. But he couldn't shake off the feeling of being watched. He stood outside his first destination, then boldly opened the door.

It wasn't a proper store, really. It stunk like a proper apothecary, but it was dingy and didn't have any glass vials. Not that Leo had seen more than in the door of an apothecary. Where would he get the money for that? Actually, he had enough now… but he was already here. And while Old Haskell might be a bottom tier apothecary, at least he was honest.

"I need medicine," Leo said.

"What for?" the pile of rags behind the counter said, turning to reveal a hunched old man with wide eyes.

"Someone sick," Leo answered.

"What's the sickness?"

"Uh…" Leo didn't know.

"Rash? Fever? Vomiting? Any symptoms."

"Fever," Leo said. "It keeps getting worse."

"How much?" Old Haskell asked.

"One person."

"Got coin?" Leo held out his hand with a few coins in it. "Someone important?" Leo nodded. "Then you'll want this. The best bitterroot I got. One packet a day for a week, even after the fever goes away. Or you can get something cheaper…"

"I'll take it," Leo answered quickly. He was handed seven small packets, and dumped his coins on the counter as he quickly left.

"Good luck!" Old Haskell called after him. "Mix it in a cup of water!" Leo didn't stay to chat.

His feet swiftly carried him towards 'home'. It was a roof over their head, at least, and nobody came to kick them out. It was a half step better than other places he had seen, even. He just had to slip into a winding series of alleys and find the right pile of crates. Make sure nobody was watching. But there was nobody. Then he slipped behind the crates into a hole in the wall.

Technically this wasn't a room. It was some sort of hole behind the wall of some disused shop, but it was wide enough to lay down and long enough that two people could fit, if they folded their legs. Kit was wrapped up in their blankets, such as they were. Shivering and sweating at the same time. Even paler than she normally was, her dark hair matted on her face.

Leo needed a cup of water, apparently. He had a cracked clay one they shared. Kit was supposed to have drunk from it, but she didn't seem conscious enough, and it was still mostly full. He leaned over her to grab it and pulled out a packet.

"I don't think that will work," a voice said from behind him. "It's not that sort of sickness."

His head whipped around to see the face of the old man poking in through the hole. Leo stood to take up the whole width of the passage- which wasn't much. "Please, just let me give her the medicine. You can do whatever you want with me, but let me help her. Please." Leo somehow kept himself from trembling, even though he was going to die. Or if he was lucky, get taken away to the guards never to see the light of day again. Losing a hand might be worse, in some ways, than dying. Kit would want to try to take care of him.

"You think I'm going to kill you?" the old man asked. "Probably shouldn't have stolen from me then. As for the medicine, you can probably give it to her, but it won't work."

Leo shook his head, "Old Haskell wouldn't cheat me."

"Should be fine for a normal fever," the man said. "But it's not that. Too much energy swirling around in there." His eyes narrowed, "You can feel it, can't you?"

The old man was right. Leo had felt she was sick before she showed any signs. He just didn't know what it was. "What's happening?"

"Probably ingested something with too much energy. She go out into the woods lately?"

"What? No, she…"

He remembered a conversation. Asking about cultivators. Leo knew they needed special herbs to grow stronger. Though he didn't know what any of them were. Certainly nothing that Old Haskell had.

"Well, it doesn't matter." The old man squeezed into the area with Leo and Kit. He had surprisingly broad shoulders for how wrinkly he was. Then he suddenly disappeared. It was only after the movement was completed that Leo realized he had hopped over him. As he turned around he saw the old man standing in the air over Kit. His ankles were braced against the wall on opposite sides, just wider than shoulder width… but there wasn't anything he was standing on. Even so, he was bent over in that position, and pressed a finger to Kit's forehead. "Hey. Wake up." Her eyes fluttered open, weakly. "Follow along with me, will you?"

Leo felt him doing something. Cultivator things. Energy, flowing into Kit's body. He couldn't let him hurt her. He grabbed one of the axes from the old man's belt and… froze in place.

"Be careful with that. You could hurt someone you care about. And I'm trying to help. Leaving her like this any longer would be quite dangerous."

Since Leo couldn't move an inch, as if strong hands were clamping down all along his arms and hands, he just waited and watched. He had to admit that the gentle flow of the energy didn't seem like an attack. And… also that he had severely underestimated the old man. He wasn't weaker than the majority of the cultivators who had been passing by, just more subdued. He hadn't been showing off his energy, but now that he was making use of it Leo realized his strength. And he was prepared to die- he just hoped the old man really would help Kit.

"Just like that," the old man said. "Make sure to follow that same pattern, and let it rest in your dantian, down below your stomach there. Gently now. Your body wasn't really ready to accept an influx of energy." A moment later, the old man was behind Leo again, having moved over him in the cramped space without him being able to react. And Leo was no longer restrained. "Now, about you."

"I'll do whatever you want," Leo said.

"In that case, come sit outside. It's very cramped in here."

Anton looked at the young man in front of him. He was just short of adulthood, along with his sister… or friend. He didn't feel a blood relation there, but he could be wrong. "What's your name?"

"Leo."

"Alright Leo. Let's start with why you thought it was a good idea to steal from a cultivator."

Like that, he asked a series of questions that cleared things up. And at least the young man was smart enough to know it wasn't a good idea. It was for Kit, though he'd sort of surmised that. Anton couldn't fault someone for taking care of those they loved, but he disliked the method.

"I understand that work isn't always easy to get," Anton acknowledged, "But why, as a cultivator, did you think pickpocketing was the right idea?" By his reaction, Anton realized something. "You didn't know?" Anton summoned up a bit of energy in front of him, making it quite obvious- but still invisible. "Normal people can't sense energy. You stumbled into the beginning of cultivation all on your own?"

"I thought…" Leo shook his head. "I heard about cultivation. Gathering energy from the surroundings. So I tried to do it, but it didn't work. I've always been able to sense cultivators though."

Anton shrugged. It wasn't the weirdest thing he had ever heard. And it wasn't impossible to cultivate energy without a proper technique- after all, when it was first being developed fully formed cultivation styles didn't fall out of the sky into people's hands. "And the energy in the air around us? It's quite dense."

"Is it?" Leo asked. "It's… always like this."

Anton supposed that might very well be the case. "You haven't left Cruhull, have you?"

"No, sir."

"Energy density varies in different places. This city is above average in that respect. Now, I have a question. Do you want to practice a trade?"

"Can't afford an apprenticeship," Leo said. "Can't even get a job, looking like this. Not that I have any skills"

Anton had to admit that he was quite the sight of rags and dirt. "I'm sure someone could use a strong young man," Anton said, "But I'll admit that your looks leave much to be desired. We can get you cleaned up and find you something at a warehouse, maybe."

"I'm not really that strong…" Leo hung his head.

"Really?" Anton raised an eyebrow. "Ever arm wrestle anyone, in the last few years?" Anton looked at his skinny body. "But maybe you're right." Anton pulled out a hunk of dried fruit. Travel rations, rarely used especially since he was traveling with the Order. He'd catch up with them in a bit, but they were planning to stay in the city for the night anyway. "Eat this."

Leo seemed to be hungry enough that he ate without question. Half of what Anton gave him, then he glanced back towards Kit.

Anton pulled out more. "Finish that. You can give this to her while I figure out what to do with you." A troublesome project. He didn't want to teach cultivation to someone who might use it for criminal acts, but it would be near impossible for the young man to turn his life around if he didn't. Perhaps the young woman behind him would be key. She should be feeling better soon. She'd gone unconscious again, but for a proper rest instead of a fitful half-sleep with unbalanced energy inside her.

Chapter 198

It was a sad world that didn't have everyone working a job beneficial to themselves and society. Anton was aware that many people did not have the luxury of enjoying their work, but in a perfect world he believed they could find the right fit. There were some who even enjoyed the task of cleaning grimy sewers and holding together the underpinnings of a city. All of that turned on being able to perform a job properly and receiving reasonable compensation for their efforts, which Anton understood wasn't always the case. Often the worst jobs, unpleasant conditions and low pay, went to those who had no other options left to them.

Then there were those employed as criminals, officially or not. Those who sustained themselves simply by taking from others in one way or another, without any benefit to society as a whole. Anton could not claim to know the whole of what caused people to fall to crime, but there were some basic features. First, it could be easy. Why work for a week when you could just take a coin purse containing all of that money in a few minutes? Some considered themselves more noble, taking only from those with great sums of wealth- but it was easy from there to push the boundaries and cause greater harm than intended to the world.

Sometimes crime seemed to be the only option. In a large city like Cruhull, Anton had to admit it was more difficult than a rural village. Even if one had learned proper survival techniques, what plants were edible and how to hunt… only a small portion of the population could survive off of the surrounding wilderness, assuming it hadn't all been converted to farmland. And that it didn't have any dangerous beasts who would hunt those on their territory.

It wasn't possible for Anton to judge all crime, but he certainly had to be cautious about what he found was acceptable. Leo stole to keep himself and Kit alive. He couldn't fault that, even if it ultimately harmed others who could not afford the loss of a coin purse.

Leo had stepped onto the path of cultivation on his own, if just barely. The question Anton had was whether he should help him advance further along that path despite his crimes. His insight told him Leo truly regretted his criminal lifestyle- not just because he'd gotten caught. But he might always change his mind in the future, as he grew in power. If he was able to do whatever he wanted, what would it matter?

Of course, any cultivator could turn down a dark path. There was no way to stop that. Anton's thoughts to have everyone cultivate would simply mean they could match any with criminal intent and deal with them just the same.

He knew he was nowhere close to omniscient, but he felt good things about Leo. It was easy to take pity on a young man with nothing, but he felt no deception in the young man. And leaving him to fumble around with cultivation on his own would likely lead to harm to himself and others, including Kit. Anton had to at least make the attempt to improve things that passed in front of his eyes, even if he couldn't solve every problem in the world.

"I don't have long here," Anton said. "We're only staying for a couple days. Then we'll be passing on. But… I have the intention to guide you and your friend in your cultivation." Kit met the basic level of being a cultivator, even if the only energy she had absorbed was unintentional. Though she hadn't said anything upon waking up, Anton could tell she had been looking for something to help Leo. He would bet that she wanted to make sure it was safe to consume- and ironically it would have been, for someone who had some control over their energy. "The two of you must take solemn oaths to only use what I teach you for good."

There were special techniques to create a contract between cultivators, but they were unstable at best, requiring constant care and attention. Imprecise notions like 'good' were hard to enforce, while at best there could be some reaction from moving to a specific place or interacting with a specific object. Anton had no way to enforce anything, except to make sure the two knew that ultimately one path would be best for them.

"I will," Leo said. "... if I am able."

Kit nodded. She was half-hiding behind Leo, even though Anton had been the one who helped her stabilize the energy inside her. But who would trust a random old man anyway?

"Good," Anton said. "First, you will need to come with me. Between two walls is hardly a proper place to train. I can't stay with you for long or supply for your every need continuously… and I wouldn't if I could. But I can help you with this."

He practically dragged the two of them to an inn located in a different part of town. It wasn't luxurious, but he felt it was dry and the beds free of pests as he washed over it with his senses. The innkeeper looked a bit unhappy to have two urchins in rags brought into his establishment, but seeing the weapons Anton carried he didn't say anything.

Anton approached with a smile. He didn't want to cause trouble. "Two rooms for these two, with meals. For a week." Anton pulled out a small number of coins. "And baths." The innkeeper looked relieved at that statement. Anton looked at the two of them. "Speaking of which, you should have the first of those right now. I'll be back in a short moment with something better than rags."

Using his energy senses he was able to take the measure of a person to a reasonable dimension. He wouldn't be able to tailor them clothes with a perfect fit- partly because he wasn't a tailor- but he imagined he could get them something better than they'd worn in recent memory. Or perhaps ever.

He quickly made his way to a tailor, picking out some of the ready-made outfits they had available. Sturdy material good for working in. And it would fit, as much as it needed to. As for shoes… it was a bit harder to find ones just right. But he was able to run around between several districts and be back before they finished their baths.

After having them change and making sure they had a meal, Anton had the two of them sit with him in Leo's room. It was little more than a bed and a small table, but it had room for the three of them. As Anton pulled out a tome from his bag, Leo's face told him something. Though he asked politely anyway. "Can you read?"

Leo shook his head.

"No," Kit said with her head down.

"Well, everyone has to learn at some point. I'd like to say I could teach you to read in just a day or two, but that's simply not possible." Anton tossed the tome back into his bag. "So you'll just have to remember what I show you, and help each other when I'm no longer around. Cultivation is all about energy. The natural energy that is all around us, in varying amounts. I trust the two of you can sense it?"

Leo nodded, but Kit looked hesitant.

Anton held up his hand, gathering a small amount and making it visible to the eye, with more radiating around it. "The energy I use flows from within my body. At a certain point you will produce some of your own, but mostly you will be absorbing it from your surroundings. And you use it for more than just this, but to improve your body."

Anton began to explain things to them one step at a time. Just saying things didn't seem to be useful to them, but showing them how he drew energy in through his meridians and condensed it in his dantian made them understand. Leo was eager to try, but Kit was hesitant.

"Why…" she asked falteringly. "Why are you helping us?"

"Because I want to," Anton said.

"How does it benefit you?" she continued to question.

"It doesn't."

"I don't believe you."

There wasn't much he could do about that. But Anton had a response that he thought might satisfy her. "Well, if you insist… it makes me feel good to help others. And in the widest scale of things, having more cultivators will benefit my cultivation. For you see, energy doesn't come from nowhere. Neither does it just disappear upon use, becoming nothing." Anton continued to explain. It was fairly simple on its surface to explain the aspect he most directly observed, with farming. Cultivators grew plants with the benefit of natural energy, the plants grew bigger and stronger and produced more. In Windrip he felt the effects in more than just the plants and ground, but the various goods and crafts produced by the people there and how the energy spread out into the surroundings, amplifying the area. It was still quite a bit short of the Order's land, but in another decade or two it would at least be like the lower parts of the mountain.

Kit seemed satisfied with his roundabout explanation, except for one thing. "Why aren't you teaching as many people as possible how to cultivate?"

"You think I'm not?" Anton said. "I've worked with hundreds of people in Graotan, and they've taught others. The two of you should be able to teach others eventually. Don't be concerned that you'll suddenly stop being special… you'll have a head start, and being able to do practical things never stops mattering. As long as you are willing to learn how to do new things. Don't just get stuck in a rut." He didn't doubt that they would be willing to learn- they just hadn't had initial opportunities so far.

It was impossible to pack everything he wanted to teach them into a day. He also needed to spend some time looking for someone who needed work. Kit was still a bit weak from her bout with energy, but she should be capable in a couple days. Both were thin, but with a few days of food and body tempering they would show rapid improvement in their abilities. The most basic forms of labor required a strong body, and Anton just needed to find someone who would be willing to put up with them while they improved. Preferably he wouldn't have to bribe them to do so, because he'd rather set them up with a reasonable boss.

It was early morning. The sun wasn't even over the horizon. Leo and Kit stood outside with Anton. "So this is it?" Leo said. "You're just going to go and… we'll never see you again?"

"Who said that?" Anton frowned. "There's no way you're getting rid of me that easily. I'll be passing back through here in a month or so to see how you've done."

"... We might not be staying here anymore," Leo said. "Though I'd hope we could avoid going back to… the other place."

Anton had given them a few coins, but he had no intention to just throw money at them and presume they'd have no troubles. They had secured some work, and if they could keep it they should at least be able to keep a roof over their heads. A better roof than the one above the walls they'd been huddling between, obviously.

"I'll be able to find you," Anton said. "If you're in or around the city." After a few days he was quite familiar with their energy, and even in a city of over ten thousand people it wouldn't be hard to pick them out. They couldn't be out of the maximum range of his senses, though he might have to do a few passes around the city if they weren't in the section he presumed they would be. Poor, but not quite the slums. "I wouldn't try to teach anyone before then. Remember that it can be dangerous. If you feel any problems, it would be better to wait for me to return instead of pushing yourselves."

At least both of them were old enough he didn't have to worry about the same things as Alva. Speaking of which, she was coming to find him. "Come on grandpa. We're going." She looked at Leo and Kit. "Who are these two?"

"New students," Anton said.

"Okay," Alva shrugged.

Leo and Kit looked at Alva, clearly stunned. She was in Spirit Building, after all. The amount of energy she had was many times more than either of them- and she was clearly still a handful of years younger.

"Goodbye for now," Anton said as he waved to them. "Don't forget anything I said." He especially was referring to how they should properly behave. He hoped that since they didn't need to steal, they wouldn't. Kit was helpful there, because she hadn't wanted Leo to steal even to keep her alive… but young folk were volatile. He just hoped they didn't get up to too much trouble while he was gone.

Arriving back with the travelling members of the Order, Anton also saw some other sects nearby. That included Cloudtop Summit, and Firdaus the enchanter. Anton looked forward to catching up on what had happened while they were apart. He took one last glance over his shoulder at two people many blocks away and behind some buildings, likely unaware of his senses reaching out towards them. He'd just have to trust that they would be fine for some time on their own. Hopefully, he'd handled everything in the right way.

Chapter 199

"I see you have a new bow since we last met," Firdaus commented. "Hollowreed. Very springy."

"Works decent underwater too," Anton said. "As far as bows go, anyway."

"That's the caveat, isn't it?" Firdaus nodded. "Everything's got some limits. Like special forging techniques… very expensive." Firdaus shook his head. "Maybe if I win a few rounds of the tournament I can do something. Cloudtop Summit will reward those who do well. That's what this whole thing is about, showing off."

"Same with the Order. Though that doesn't have anything to do with me," Anton shrugged. "I'm just here to provide moral support."

"Can't you…?" Firdaus smiled awkwardly, "Ah, right. I forgot the tournament is limited by age. Personally I prefer Everheart's method."

Anton laughed, "Don't let anyone catch you saying anything good about him."

"Hah. Everyone at least has to admit that he was effective, regardless of how much they liked him. And nobody who knew him will be around to say anything to me."

Anton was fairly certain some of the Grand Elders of the Order had some sort of interaction with him, though it would have been near the end of his active period while they were still young. He was from a long time ago… the only reason he was so well remembered was all the trouble he caused and how many 'tombs' he left around. Plus the forbidden techniques. Really he just left a lot of stuff behind so people would be remembering him for a long time.

As they moved along, Anton felt the changes in Firdaus. It was more than just the improvements in cultivation since they'd last met a year and a half before, but a change to some fundamental parts of his cultivation. He still had the same sort of stormy feeling about him, as did the other members of Cloudtop Summit, but there was a new core holding everything all together.

And of course Anton couldn't fail to notice his new spear. It felt as if he was holding a bolt of lightning in his hand, though it was much more structurally solid and lasting. He didn't recognize the material exactly, but the whole thing was made out of a metal with a light blue sheen to it, haft included. The head of the spear was jagged back and forth like a bolt of lightning, with a wide guard sticking out to either side. It was not terribly oversized, as some cultivator weapons tended to be, but it was certainly a bit larger in size than most spears. The blade was not particularly thick but the whole spear was taller, perhaps closer in length to a pike.

Anton smiled, "I'm glad to see your cultivation has gone well." Firdaus was about keeping pace with the rest of them, though he'd already been behind the equivalent of two stars or so and that distance had been maintained for the most part. But Anton was aware that anything close to the pace Catarina and the others kept was quite good.

"You've also done well for yourself," Firdaus commented. "It's impossible to say what difficulties might arise, but I'd expect you and the rest to reach Essence Building without too many complications."

"Advancing to a higher realm always has its difficulties," Anton responded. "But we have high hopes." Certainly nobody seemed like they would suddenly hit a wall at the barrier to Essence Collection, just a couple stars away. As for Life Transformation… it was difficult to predict what would happen so many years away. On the farm he knew there were times of plenty, and also times of struggle. He hoped there would be fewer of the latter for himself and those around him. Though as cultivators, even most struggles could prove to make them stronger in the end.

With a year having passed since the big events in Black Soul Valley and the execution before that, Anton had reached the twenty-fifth star while the others were at the twenty-seventh. Though his technical cultivation level fell behind slightly, Anton was not concerned. In fact, he'd been holding himself back slightly in that aspect of his growth. Not too much, of course, because if he didn't continue to progress in cultivation Fleeting Youth would never make up for the loss.

Even though he wasn't gaining as much lifespan as the others, an extra year every few months equated to an ever-increasing lifespan. Until he got to the point where raising a cultivation level took longer than the time he gained, obviously. Anton wasn't just throwing time away to keep closer to the threshold for Fleeting Youth. His training in that technique and efforts in other areas took a significant amount of time. Learning from others and teaching them were beneficial to his cultivation, but the higher his own cultivation grew the less he learned from assisting those at the early ranks of Body Tempering.

Ultimately, he only had so much time. If he spent all of it cultivating to improve his own lifespan and none of it interacting with the world around him, what was the point? His much younger peers weren't single-mindedly focused on their cultivations either, but a smaller portion of their time was currently devoted to other things. But they had at least another eighty years to mess around with later, so it wasn't an issue.

Thinking about lifespans and when people might ultimately die seemed somewhat morbid, but Anton liked to think he was practical. He'd reached the end of his life and basically been granted a new one in the form of cultivation. As far as he was concerned, everything he was experiencing now was extra. And though there were looming concerns about the future, the weight of seeking revenge had been lifted off of him after the execution. That didn't mean Anton would suddenly be acting carefree, but he was able to focus on matters that pulled on his heart without wondering if he should be doing something else.

As with all countries, Facraona was just another semi-arbitrary border to cross. But borders were of significant concern to people, and more recent events had affected the landscape significantly. For perhaps a day of travel from the border, at the pace of cultivators, fields lay fallow and houses abandoned. At least, Anton hoped that most of them had been abandoned, but he was aware that that wasn't the case for all of them. Several thousands of people had been captured and sacrificed in Black Soul Valley, or perhaps taken elsewhere at the same time.

Only when they began to see people working the fields once more did Anton feel at ease. Unlike in Ofrurg, most of the workers weren't slaves. It was the unfortunate truth that some of them were, but to his understanding Facraona had more laws that regulated why and how people could be enslaved, the treatment of slaves, and even how long it could last. Since it was less profitable to own slaves, more farms were worked by individual families instead of being large plantations.

Along the road, they also saw patrols of cultivators. Not only was the tournament upcoming and thus people pouring into Facraona, but there were still concerns about security beyond that.

Anton felt the presence of natural energy throughout the area to be somewhat higher than in Graotan, and that implied that cultivators might be somewhat higher ranking as well- though that would depend more on the quality of energy in the actual sects territories and not the country in general.

Few of the patrols they met could have even been a hindrance to their group, but it wasn't as if Life Transformation experts were just randomly strewn about everywhere. Without them they could be little more than a delay for a group like the Order had, if they were intending to cause trouble. But a myriad of lesser cultivators could eventually overwhelm even the strongest person. The patrols should at least be enough to make the people feel secure in their safety, tenuous as any such thing was in the world.

The cities they passed through were quite different. Anton was certain that the general functions of the buildings remained the same, but the architecture was different than he was used to. Facraona had many older buildings, largely made of stone that emphasized arches and pillars. This was intermingled with generally smaller new structures made of wood but trying to mimic the same styles, with overhanging porches and open courtyards. Some were even lacquered to have the look of old stone, but to a cultivator it was easy to tell the difference. The older building practically radiated age. Actually, Anton thought that a good many of them should have once had functioning formation, and maybe they still had a few remnants of such.

That didn't include the newer buildings clearly housing cultivators, of course. They had the same styles, and a few were made of much more expensive marble compared to granite. Transporting massive intact pieces of marble must have been wildly expensive, even by cultivator standards.

The average population density appeared to be higher than in Graotan, and so did the general level of wealth. Given the presence of several large rivers and how it bordered the Shervista Ocean on the north, the amount of trade that flowed through Facraona was a huge contributor to that wealth. Yet as they walked through the cities Anton felt from afar there were still places of poverty and squalor. He wasn't sure if it was ever possible to fully solve issues of poverty, but Anton knew people could be doing more. And from his understanding raising up the level of the lowest people would still benefit everyone else.

But not everyone looked to the far future, not even cultivators. Often they were only concerned with what benefitted them most in the short term. To that end, Anton was quite willing to put in the work to show his idea would work, and that everyone else was wrong. And if he failed… well, at least he would know he tried to make the world better, instead of just his own life.

The moment the capital, Zraden, came into view over the horizon it filled more and more of Anton's vision. The first sight of it was not the city walls but in fact the looming presence of the arena, covering the top of the rise that the whole city was built atop. It was nearly a hundred meters high, and almost a kilometer wide. Even though Anton knew that the majority of the area inside was just empty space, the outer structure itself was impressive enough.

With each step more of Zraden came into view, from the top of the hill down the sides to the various other similarly impressive structures. The walls surrounding the city were only unimpressive when compared to the walls of the arena itself, twenty meters high at least. Anton was aware that the city and its surroundings housed more than a million people, the largest city he knew of. It made Edelhull feel small, despite that being one of the most significant cities in Graotan.

But the size of the city didn't make the Order's arrival less significant, except that they were but one of many sects. With the tournament less than a week away, most of those participating would have already arrived, or would be arriving soon. Nobody wanted to be late and miss out on their chance to take part in such an event. There were prizes for high rankings in each segment, though it wasn't as if Facraona was just giving away wealth. The influx of cultivators would benefit them greatly.

Even as they approached the center of the city to find their accommodations, Anton sensed several markets they passed had enchanted goods. While members of the Order could obtain such things from the sect for contribution points or amassed wealth, having them be publicly traded was more of a rarity. But Anton had to presume that the expense of the cultivator guards surrounding the marketplace would be more than overcome by the profits. Not just sect disciples would purchase from them, but also independent cultivators.

It was easy to see that while the sudden aggression had surprised them, Facraona wasn't so easily ignored. The cultivators of the Flying Blood Cult were notoriously crazy, and the other group in Black Soul Valley had been fully determined to die for the sake of the ritual. Though the information wasn't public, Anton was aware that a cultivator had ascended during that event. One of the few times it had been witnessed. Facraona was still planning to retaliate against anyone connected to the events, but some of the sects in the country would be hesitant to fight against a group that produced an ascended cultivator, regardless of whether or not they knew about their potential return. After all, to have a cultivator ascend meant having peak Life Transformation cultivators, and likely more than just a few. With the damage to the Order, it was enough to give anyone pause.

But hopefully the tournament could bring some sense of normalcy and stability to the cultivation world. Though grudges might form in a tournament, it was also a way for sects to get out their aggression when conflicts weren't deep enough to justify actually going to war with each other. It was a way to promote healthy rivalries while trying to weed out those that didn't belong. It might even work for its intended purpose sometimes.

Chapter 200

The tournament started with those of the lowest cultivation, and would work from Body Tempering to Spirit Building to Essence Collection. There wouldn't be a tournament for Life Transformation experts, though there was a time period arranged for some Life Transformation experts from those sects that had them to demonstrate some of their abilities. If it came to actual matches, even the impressive structure of the arena would hardly be able to withstand the battles, and keeping all of the spectators safe would require expending too many resources, or too severely restricting the participating cultivators.

In addition to that, Life Transformation cultivators were leery of showing off their full skills, as their enemies would want to use any weaknesses against them. Thus, it would be more of a ceremonial demonstration rather than a full exhibition. Those with lower cultivations might still be able to gain some insights, however.

There were very few Body Tempering cultivators participating that Anton knew. It wasn't that he didn't know many people, but instead that most of those he knew had already surpassed Body Tempering. The exception were a few of those he had rescued from slavery in Ofrurg who ultimately had chosen to devote themselves to cultivation as a lifestyle. Many of those he had taught were having great success while still continuing their trades, but some, especially those with higher talents, decided that joining the Order would be best for them.

Since the majority of cultivators didn't advance as quickly as Anton and the others, it wasn't strange for them to be in early or mid Body Tempering after a few years. Even late Body Tempering after three years was a sign of reasonable talent. Ultimately, however, aside from seeing some different styles, Anton didn't find much of interest in the Body Tempering tournament. Though the arena was massive and open, it was actually separated into many parts and multiple matches happened concurrently. The size of the area participants would be using would increase with each part of the tournament, so the more interesting matches would have fewer going concurrently. There would also be fewer participants, and so it wouldn't drag on the tournament forever to have individual matches at certain points.

In just one of many matches happening in the Body Tempering portion of the tournament, Gerd Aberg stood across from her opponent, Reynold of the Myriad Tool Society. She appeared much as she had when she first arrived at the Order. Her body was round with fat. She had thought that once she became a cultivator that would change, but it just never quite worked out for her. Underneath, at least, she was greatly changed.

No longer was she barely able to run, unable to pull herself up a rope. Even though she'd had some success in Body Tempering before attempting to join the Order, her weight had been a hindrance. It was like carrying someone else on her back at all times. That was still the case, but as she had reached the peak of Body Tempering… carrying someone else around on her wasn't such a big deal.

Strong muscle and a solid body were underneath her soft outer layer. She'd tried to take the advice of those around her to lessen her weight. She tempered her body with exercise, expending a great amount of energy. Even as she did so, she tried to eat less. With both combined, it was illogical that she would still have fat on her. But with months of feeling like she was starving to death and having lost no weight except what she lost in muscle mass, Gerd gave up on that. If she could not remove the fat from around her, she would have to be strong enough to deal with it. And she could.

If only she could advance into Spirit Building, she thought she might have a chance to create greater changes in her body. Having been a member of the Order for sufficient time, she was able to study the full version of the Ninety-Nine Stars cultivation technique. She had attempted to break through to Spirit Building many times, but something was missing. She asked elders for help, but nothing worked. Anton even offered to help her. Out of pity, maybe, or because she was friends with Pete and a companion of Alva.

His advice had been most helpful, even if it hadn't ultimately led to her advancing her cultivation further. She knew what she needed. A purpose, and a proper understanding of herself. If something didn't fit, she would have to change it. But none of that was as easy as it sounded.

So she was fighting in the tournament, because ultimately combat was one of the ways cultivators came to know themselves. Even in a constrained fashion, it could still be useful. If nothing else, she would experience different forms of combat.

Like the man in front of her. He was laden with as many different pieces of enchanted equipment as the tournament allowed, while Gerd had a hammer and some armor and little else of note. Gerd found herself a bit jealous at his appearance. Was he a favored of his Myriad Tool Society, to have so many things? Everything seemed to be specifically tailored to him as well.

Reynold had a shield, but no traditional sort of weapon. As soon as the match started Gerd charged towards him, moving more quickly than the man anticipated. She attacked without reservation, swinging down at him to see how he would respond. She had of course expected him to block with his shield, but she hadn't expected that she would be the one pushed back by the impact, her hammer nearly knocked out of her hands.

The man stood there unfazed as Gerd tried to figure out what had happened. His stance wasn't particularly sturdy. It wasn't that he had an unexpected weight to him, either. Thus, he should have been sent flying back. But at the moment of impact the force had all rebounded back at her.

He hadn't used his own energy to accomplish that, at least not the majority of the effect. It was something about the shield… and his boots. Though she had been the one thrown away, the man in front of Gerd didn't look terribly confident in approaching her. So she was happy enough to throw herself into another attack. This time she tried a sweeping strike, but the man turned his shield and once more her attack rebounded.

At the moment of impact he threw what looked like a small metal stick at her leg. Her defensive energy kept it from striking her, but it suddenly bent and snapped around her ankle at the same time as the shield once more sent her hammer flying back, Gerd desperately holding onto it to keep from being disarmed.

She didn't move as far, but it wasn't due to any special technique on her part. The stick that had become a band wrapped around her ankle was somehow weighing her down. She could feel the energy imbued in it making that one leg want to stick to the ground. Gerd wanted to try to remove it, but as soon as she focused on it her opponent attacked with a long metal whip, forcing her to dodge about- yet slowly and with great difficulty.

But Gerd wasn't going to let a little bit of extra weight, strange thought it was, keep her down. She adjusted her energy, distributing more to her left leg to counteract the resistance she felt while moving. Even restrained, she was still able to run about, to fight. So what if she was carrying another person wrapped around her leg? What was one more, anyway?

She moved in for the attack once more. Of course doing the same thing repeatedly was bound to get her in trouble, but she had some ideas. The first thing she had to do was dodge past the persistent whip. She had no doubt that if it wrapped around her arm it would cause all sorts of trouble, beyond just whatever injuries it might cause. Gerd put on a sudden burst of speed as she circled around, then leapt into the air. It was a bit more difficult with the extra weight on her left leg, but that would just make the force as she barrelled down on the man all the harder to resist.

Yet she found herself being tossed into the air regardless. She had a few moments to think about what was happening as she sailed straight up. First, the man from the Myriad Tool Society had simply shifted his shield to block her hammed, holding it above his head. His stance otherwise barely changed, and in fact it was the worst way to receive an attack. Besides some basic defensive energy to ensure its durability, she hadn't felt anything special about how he held the shield. Beneath his feet, however, his energy was spread out like a net, covering a wide area of the ground. That wasn't strange, since nobody wanted to be bashed knee deep into the stone floor of the arena and then have to figure out how to extricate themselves.

The strange part was that he hadn't changed anything about that. Gerd was pretty sure his energy had been arranged like that to begin with. As she started falling, the whip struck out at her. Unable to do more than tumble in the air to dodge, she had to defend against its strikes with her energy, taking them head on where she would have liked to be more efficient with her efforts. Whenever it seemed as if it might grab her, however, she spun herself around. It was going to make it difficult to make a proper strike, but keeping herself minimally injured was important.

As she rotated she took stock of Reynold's position directly below. He was just waiting for her to make another attack, and she didn't intend to disappoint him. Her hammer was surrounded by a mass of energy as she twisted her body to stop her rotation. As her hammer was about to impact his shield, the mass of energy on it withdrew. Her hammer struck the shield with a reasonable amount of force, but it only bounced her about a foot up in the air before she got her feet back on the ground. Her energy didn't disappear or get cancelled, but rather it was an intentional move on her part. She thought that he had been rebounding her with a special property of the shield- and perhaps that wasn't incorrect- but it also wasn't fully the case.

With her attack weakened, so was the rebound. Gerd got a good look at her opponent as she landed right next to him, inside optimal range for his whip. Everything he had fit him well, but he took care of it. He didn't just rely on the power of his shield, but made sure it held together under her attacks. It wasn't just going to get replaced. And she was beginning to understand something.

He wasn't anything special. He probably wasn't a chosen of the Myriad Tool Society, even equipped as he was. She'd seen other members of them with fewer tools, but this man in front of her wasn't a genius. Or maybe he was, because if she was right he made everything himself. It just fit with him too well, the flow of energy too efficient.

She didn't have time to ask, though, as she leapt forward and wrapped her arms around the shield. There was a slight repelling force as she hit it, but even as he expanded his energy to try to remove her grasp on the shield she yanked it towards her… and found his shield slipping out of her grasp for an unexpected reason. He went straight up into the air.

She applauded his efforts to clear her out of his landing zone with his whip, but she swung back with her hammer, letting it wrap around. It coiled more tightly than it properly should have, but she'd already expected something like that. Once it was solidly in place, she yanked downward. Reynold hit the ground at a reasonable speed, consequences of the moment of hesitation to let go of his whip. It was fully twisted around Gerd's hammer and wouldn't let go, but instead of concerning herself with that she threw both of them away out of reach.

Perhaps it was unreasonable to divest herself of her only weapon when she was aware her opponent still had more than a handful of tricky tools up his sleeve- partly literally- but something told her that confidence was key. She would fight with her arms and legs, even with one weighed down by a strange tool, and overcome whatever else Reynold had in store. But first she had to deal with that shield… and those boots.

Chapter 201

In one of many small platforms distributed throughout the grand arena in Facraona two cultivators were continuing a match, watched by only a small portion of the eyes around them. But neither of them could afford to think about anything outside what they were doing. Reynold might have seemed like he had the advantage at first, but he no longer had his whip. While Gerd had given up her hammer to disarm him, she was much more confident in close combat.

She kept light on her feet, as much as she could do with extra weight pulling down on her left ankle. She didn't have time to break off the hindering device, because Reynold would simply pull something else out in that time. Even now she saw him reaching behind to grab something as he was getting to his feet.

Gerd lunged forward, grabbing the top of his shield with one hand. If he went nowhere when she crashed head on, and up when she yanked it towards her… she shoved downward, leaning on the extra weight caused by the band wrapped around her ankle. Once again he moved in an extremely odd direction sliding forward towards her even as her arm pushed down on his shield. But while it was odd, it also wasn't unexpected. She was holding up an elbow that went straight for his head as he moved towards her with great speed, but he ducked well enough that she only managed to dent his helmet as he was flung past.

No doubt she shook up his head, but he wasn't down yet. Before Gerd could finish spinning around to kick him in the rear, he flipped up a short cloak he had, sending a wave of fire over her and forcing her to retreat. She might have been able to power through it, but she judged it to be safer to withdraw.

Both participants glanced off to the side, where their weapons still lay. Gerd was still confident that she would have the advantage with neither having a weapon, so she moved to keep him away from them, even if she couldn't get to them herself without leaving an opening.

She had to admit that Reynold was a tough opponent. He had various annoying enchanted tools and pieces of equipment, but if she was right and he had made them all on his own… she couldn't complain. She had access to resources to help her advance as well, and the Order's armory. She knew materials were cheaper, but she simply didn't have the skills to put it together herself.

Gerd felt something as they fought. A sliver of inspiration. It was itching at the back of her head, but she couldn't quite grab it. She could grab the shield though. Most importantly, she realized that if she shoved it to the side things worked almost like normal. Except for the fact that Renold's boots went along with it. That was the trick to them. They shared the force placed on the shield somehow, so a direct hit directly imparted the force into the ground, causing a rebound that only affected her, the shield, and the boots. Reynold himself could ignore the force. But because it rotated the force relative to the boots and shield, shoving down moved him forward. Up would probably push him back, but the sides were perfectly normal- or even strangely exaggerated.

Another stick slapped against her wrist as she pulled his shield to the side and punched at his shoulder. It curled into a band and weighed down her arm, but she still clipped him regardless. What was a little more extra weight. She was strong. And if she wasn't strong enough now, she would get there!

Gerd's left side was quite far off balance with the two enchanted weights, but she pushed through the awkwardness. She found that the one around her wrist allowed her to pull even more strongly on the shield, to the point she actually disarmed it from Reynold. With it in hand she swept it around to throw his feet every which way. It only took a moment for him to stop the connection between his boots and the shield, but the effort left him open to a kick, with her heavy foot. The enchanted band certainly weighed her down, but it also carried its own momentum once she got it moving.

Her own fairly normal boots collided directly with the chest of Reynold, sending him flying backwards. Gerd took a half a moment to catch her balance before she began to move towards him for a follow up attack but in that moment… "I surrender!" Reynold called from the floor.

Gerd stopped. "You… could keep fighting. I know you're not exhausted yet."

"Too late for that," he said as he sat up. "Besides," he tapped his breastplate. "If I allow you to hit me again, I'm just asking for you to cause a permanent break in this. Or my helmet. I'd rather not have to forge new gear."

"So you did make it yourself," Gerd nodded. "That's good."

He shrugged, "Not quite good enough, I guess. I didn't think anyone would figure out the shield thing. I'll have to work on that."

The inspiration was still digging at the back of Gerd's mind as she stepped out of the arena. She had the feeling that she could break through to Spirit Building. It would have been great to do it in battle, but the stories about people doing it were probably made up. She was exhausted. There was no way she could summon the energy required at the moment. It simply couldn't be done. But after a bit of rest… she would be fine to make the attempt. This time, she would succeed.

She wondered what that would mean for her place in the tournament. She was supposed to have another match later in the day, but if she was suddenly in Spirit Building… would she be disqualified? If so… she didn't care. If she gave up this opportunity just to get some rewards for advancing further in the lowest level tournament, she couldn't be sure if she would ever have as good of a chance again.

It was only a few hours after the match was over that Reynold realized he didn't get his gravity bands back from his opponent. It wasn't a huge problem since he could make more. The materials were fairly inexpensive since they were made from heavy but not particularly durable metal, with some enchantments to enhance the traits he wanted. But he supposed he should at least offer to remove them properly. It would surely be inconvenient to move around.

"Excuse me," he said as he cautiously approached the delegation from the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars. "I was in a match with one of your disciples, Gerd, and I realized I forgot to remove my restrictive devices. You can break them off without danger, but I thought I should offer to do it properly…" There was nothing to really be nervous about. He'd only been her opponent in the tournament, the two sects weren't enemies. And they certainly wouldn't attack him with so many people around. But it was a bit intimidating to feel the Spirit Building guards checking him over, and he thought he saw their Life Transformation expert look at him. He turned his eye away, though, so it could have been she was simply looking past him.

"We'll send a message to her," one of the guards standing at the periphery of the gathering said. A few moments later, a disciple was running back into the group, and several minutes after that Gerd shuffled into view.

"Oh, hello," she said. "Did you need something? I was told you were here to see me."

Had she already removed them? No, he could clearly see them on her left wrist and ankle, and the way she walked clearly indicated she felt their weight. Even if she… had just stepped into Spirit Building. The aura was faint, but distinct. "I came to remove the gravity bands," he pointed at her wrist and ankle.

"Oh!" she looked down. "Do you have to?"

"What?" he asked.

"It's just," she thrust her arm forward, "They seem like good training devices, or maybe they could help augment my attacks. I was kind of thinking I'd like to have some on my other limbs. Though not all the time, of course."

That wasn't his intention with them at all. Training, adding to striking power? They were restrictive devices. Reynold took a deep breath. No, getting upset wasn't the right response at all. He knew that different inventions sometimes were used for purposes unrelated to their original creation. It was a compliment that she would want more. "You can't remove them," Reynold commented, "Not without breaking them. And they're not so cheaply made that you'd want to do that regularly for training."

"Oh. Can you make some that I can take off?"

"Of course! Though they wouldn't be much good as traps then."

"I'd like to order some, then, if they're not too expensive."

Reynold thought for a moment. He'd rather someone wanted to use them as intended, but could he really give up a sale? Enchanters weren't always capable of getting everything they needed with their own hands. And if they actually worked for training, other people might want them. Though he doubted many people would. They were really annoying. He knew that, because the first set he'd made even he hadn't been able to remove. "I'm sure we can figure out a price." They wouldn't be expensive, but if she wanted them attuned to her own energy instead of his it would require a bit of extra effort.

Though the Body Tempering tournament had the most participants, it also had the most matches happening concurrently. After a few days the tournament concluded and the Spirit Building section started up. It generally began with those at a lower rank, and Alva had the chance to see Pete and Oskar fight on the first day, and she had her first match, but it was fairly simple.

Everyone received notice about their next opponent ahead of time, giving Alva a chance to research. The Crimson Trail Sect were a group of blood cultivators, but unlike the Flying Blood Cult they weren't violent and unrestrained. For them to be allowed into the tournament they had to meet certain standards, and they seemed to hold to them. Most important among those was maintaining lawful conduct as a sect, and not using blood from their cultivation outside their own sect members.

They practiced what would be categorized as a forbidden technique, but if they were to go by Everheart's definitions it would fall in the second category. It wasn't so concerningly powerful that great sects banned it, and it didn't have horrible effects on their opponents… but using one's own blood as a catalyst to increase power was indeed potentially harmful to the user. Among other things, they used a coating of their own blood on their weapons to increase power and control.

Alva also determined that her opponent was a woman. Older than herself, but even most of the Body Tempering cultivators were older than her. The more interesting detail was that she was also an archer. That would make the match more interesting than her first, she imagined, where she simply had to run around shooting at someone who couldn't catch her- even though she wasn't riding on Fuzz. At least the second match had more interesting terrain, as the pair of archers were now standing in a not-quite-empty field, with pillars blocking the area at irregular points.

Alva wasn't sure what she had expected her opponent to look like, but she certainly hadn't expected white clothing. When the woman pulled out an arrow, she half expected her to stab it into her palm, but instead she pulled out a vial and dipped the point in it. She was obviously not trying to hide her intent for once the match started, though Alva wasn't sure if one arrow would be sufficient.

Then again, she knew her grandpa and Grand Elder Kseniya could circle their shots around behind people. She would have to watch out for that. Maybe she could destroy the arrow? She didn't have too long to think about further counters as the beginning of the match was announced, and both participants raised and drew their bows almost simultaneously.

Chapter 202

Streaks of crimson and gold passed each other in the air as one physical arrow and one made purely of energy arced through the air. Alva was somewhat concerned about the blood on the tip of the arrow coming for her, but she avoided the shot and after it impaled in the ground it no longer had active energy surrounding it. It would certainly be extremely difficult to regain control of it at that point, so she only dedicated a small portion of her senses to watching it. There had to be some trick, but she sensed no danger from it with Instinct or otherwise.

Alva's opponent, Marlene, was of course familiar with avoiding attacks by archers as well. Even with some redirection of Alva's shot in flight it didn't manage to find purchase. Both of them had been in the open away from the pillars dotting the arena, yet they were still quite able to avoid the attacks. Her first shot hardly mattered, it was just a probing shot. Alva's next shot followed immediately behind, before Marlene could apply another vial of blood to an arrow. No matter how quick she was, it was impossible to draw two things in the time it took Alva to form a Spirit Arrow.

Yet Marlene hadn't even reached for the vials at her belt but instead immediately nocked another arrow from her quiver. Alva saw no sign of blood on the tip of the metal point, but it flew disturbingly quickly, faster than the first arrow had. Alva had to fortify the energy on her left shoulder to prevent any damage. She wasn't sure what sort of problems a blood user could create if she let herself get injured, and she really didn't want to find out.

Arrows crossed the paths of each other, and Alva wondered whether her idea to waste her opponent's blood was pointless, if she was going to shoot only a single arrow. It wasn't even nearby anymore, just sitting pointlessly in the ground like the other ones. She was so used to the rapid exchange of arrows she almost missed when Marlene grabbed another vial and dipped her next arrow into it because she ducked behind a pillar.

Alva's arrow was more than halfway to her already, aimed at her torso and circling around to the side. She decided not to veer off course to try to strike the arrow out of the sky, instead persisting with her attack. The act of dipping the arrow in the vial of blood appeared to require some stability, as Marlene didn't dodge quite as quickly as she should have. Alva managed to scrape her side, just barely puncturing her flexible armor. Her arrow didn't stick, but at least she knew her opponent would leave some openings if her own timing was right.

Marlene leaned out from behind the pillar for a good shot. There was a real sense of danger from the blood-tipped arrow as it flew through the air, but Alva had been dodging arrows much more difficult to avoid for months now. There were certain ways to make your movements unpredictable while being quick, and not just Swan Steps like her grandpa used. And the name was stupid anyway. Swans didn't do a lot of walking. The technique was useful, though, and Anton had helped her enhance it to be more effective at avoiding ranged attacks. That would be her major concern as an archer, after all. It was entirely possible to defeat many people before they even got to her. That was the optimal method, anyway.

Even though the special arrow didn't hit her, Alva felt pressured by the ones following it. They were shot at the same rate as before, but there was something...

Instinct told her that it was dangerous to dodge to her right, but Intuition said that Marlene was forcing her around to her left. She wasn't sure why, since there wasn't even a particularly tricky arrangement of pillars in the area.

The different parts of Alva's defensive senses weren't disagreeing, but instead part of the whole picture. Instead of dodging the arrow, she formed a quick shot of her own to shoot it out of the air. Though the chances of two small projectiles colliding was low, the arrow avoiding her attack would make it easier for Alva to dodge to the right. She just barely made it behind a pillar in time, and the arrow landed uselessly in the ground beyond.

She took a quick moment to take stock of what she'd semi-consciously recognized as a danger in the other direction. It was just the area where she'd started the match, and she had been dodging attacks just fine. There wasn't anything there but the same pillars and spent arrows. But when she looked closer, she saw just a trace of something. A lingering crimson trail to each of the blood-tipped arrows.

From her position behind the pillar, she was confident in her safety while she took two rapid shots at the stationary arrows. There was no difficulty in hitting a stationary target from less than a hundred meters away, and her arrows pierced into the blood tipped arrows stuck in the ground, splitting them from head to tail. Yet the crimson trails didn't disappear. In that same moment, Marlene took advantage of her lack of focus to shoot another blood-tipped arrow to Alva's side.

Danger. The whole area was filled with danger. Even though Alva couldn't detect anything special about the arrows Marlene fired, they were much more flexible in their flight paths and moved more quickly when there was one of the crimson trails in the area.

But it still couldn't compare to her grandpa's attacks. The only difference was that if she failed to avoid critical shots she would actually get injured and lose the match instead of just continuing until she got a hit or couldn't fight any longer.

Alva moved from pillar to pillar, slipping out of the danger zone. Just in case it mattered she slipped another shot at the third blood-tipped arrow, but she had the feeling she needed to disrupt those before they landed if she wanted to negate their effect. Obviously the crimson trails would fade away eventually on their own, but that could be a matter of hours when this battle would be decided in minutes.

She wished she had Fuzz to ride on, but she had to support herself. If she wasn't strong enough on her own, how would she survive in this crazy world? Her grandpa would always come to save her, but that wouldn't do any good if she died before he arrived. And she had to keep up with Annelie.

Alva managed several good shots as she moved out of the danger zone, keeping Marlene from reaching for another vial. She was feeling good about herself until one of the arrows Marlene nocked was suddenly blood-coated anyway.

Alva's current shot was too far to the side, curving around to attack from behind, and wouldn't be able to intercept the arrow, which wasn't even pretending to aim for Alva anymore. She let her half-finished shot continue as it would, where it would probably be easily dodged. She had to focus.

Grandpa Anton talked about becoming one with an arrow. That was what she needed if she was going to shoot this arrow out of the air. She formed her energy and some of herself into her shot, the snap of the sinew sending her rocketing forward. She knew that at some point in the future she would retain more awareness of her actual surroundings while doing this same thing, but for the moment she needed this tight focus. The blood-tipped arrow was flying to another spot on the battlefield, but she intercepted it halfway. It tried to twist and turn away, but she clipped it near the middle and split it in half, sending the two sections spinning wildly.

The crimson trail still existed, but only halfway through the shot of the arrow, and it was more tenuous. Disrupting it partway seemed to be as useful as Alva hoped it would be. It seemed Marlene had been as focused on that arrow as Alva herself had been, because she'd barely managed to dodge Alva's other shot, and hadn't had time to take advantage of Alva's focus.

Alva kept on the move as she tried to figure out how Marlene had coated that arrow in blood. She definitely hadn't reached for a vial, and her hand wasn't injured… but it was coated in blood. How did that happen? She only hit her in the side… where she wasn't bleeding. Or rather, the blood wasn't coming out from under her armor. Alva's eyes saw how a red line of blood slipped out from under Marlene's glove at the wrist to cover her hand. Had she really drawn all of that blood along inside her armor for that? Then again, it should be easy to control a bit of blood, and if she was bleeding anyway…

Unfortunately Alva realized that Marlene could now cover the battlefield with danger zones. Marlene could now shoot blood-tipped arrows about as quickly as she could draw them. Maybe there wasn't quite as much blood on some of them and they were weaker, but she began to coat the battlefield. Alva tried to counter a few of them, but she also had to attack properly and not just take a defensive stance.

Since she couldn't get a decisive blow, she aimed for a solid strike on a limb. That still involved aiming mainly for the woman's center of mass and expecting she would dodge away, but she managed to clip her shoulder and her thigh. Not enough to cause severe damage, and making her bleed more might be a mistake… but Alva couldn't just do nothing.

Faint crimson trails began to web across the entire arena. Every time Alva came out from behind cover she found herself in a harrowing situation. Marlene's arrows could twist and turn without the significant expenditures of energy Alva would expect the motions to require, and even remaining behind a pillar didn't make her safe.

She continued to take stock of the situation, trying to find an avenue to victory.

An arrow struck her thigh, and she forced it back out immediately. Now she was bleeding, but fortunately nothing special happened. Maybe that was due to the restrictions of what techniques could be used in the arena. If that was the case, Alva just lost- had this been a real battle. But she would have also had Fuzz, so she could just accept restricted matches were never quite representative of the real world.

The web of crimson seemed to cover the entire battleground, but there was actually one area it didn't cover. A rather significant one. Alva dodged one more arrow, leaping into the air over it. As she did so, she slung her bow over her shoulder. She needed to have both hands free to catch onto the pillar. They were about five meters high, too much for her to jump all at once. But she wrapped her arms on either side of one, creating friction to stop herself from falling. Then she pulled, throwing herself up high.

Marlene shot an arrow up at her, but as it raised above a certain point it wasn't quite as swift nor was it able to easily track her. Alva took every advantage she could with her unexpected maneuver, shooting a barrage of arrows as she continued to run around the arena, hopping from pillar to pillar.

She saw Marlene's jaw clench and smiled inwardly. The crimson trails were lasting and extremely efficient for following shots, but there had to be some limit to them. Taking advantage of a whole second layer of the battlefield, Alva was able to force Marlene to choose between trying to cover the upper part of the arena as well or making actual attacks on Alva. Defending herself had to come into play as well, and Alva had a better shot on Marlene from almost every angle now.

Golden arrows rained down, and Marlene had to spend more of her energy blocking attacks she couldn't dodge than making her own shots. It seemed that her attacks were actually in a way weaker than they were if she had been wholly without the crimson trails, as she had trouble adjusting the speed after they left her domain down below. Alva continued running around, grinning and shooting. It was a fun match.

Then Alva got a good shot, wrapping it around a pillar to fly straight towards Marlene's chest. But at the very last moment, Marlene ducked. That didn't mean she avoided the attack- in fact, it made it worse as the arrow pierced into her neck. There was a moment of stillness as a golden arrow pierced one of the jugular veins. Alva almost dissolved her energy, but the attack had already struck. If the arrow suddenly disappeared…

Marlene croaked, obviously having difficulty speaking. "That's my loss. You can… let it dissolve. I'll handle the bleeding."

Even though she said that, Alva waited for the match to be called and medics to rush into the arena before she let her Spirit Arrow dissolve away. She'd killed people before, but the tournament wasn't supposed to be deadly. Alva had no intention to kill an opponent who wasn't really an enemy, even if her techniques were a bit… disturbing.

That disturbing nature continued as the spurting blood swirled around in the air, flowing in a sort of ring out and back into Marlene before it was fully contained. Then the medics were stitching her neck up and Alva couldn't watch. Though she also couldn't fully look away.

Chapter 203

"Why didn't the formations work?" Alva asked. "They didn't stop my attack..."

"They did work," Catarina pointed out. "If they hadn't been in place, your arrow would have gone through the back of the vein, the arteries, maybe the spine at that angle. Instead you only punctured the front side of the vein, not completely severing it."

Alva made a disgusted face. "I don't want to think about that."

The best part about being an archer was she didn't have to look at what she did up close. There were some people who deserved whatever happened to them, but that didn't mean she wanted to see it. She'd already seen enough dead people to last several lifetimes.

Alva's next match wouldn't be for at least a day, since they wanted everyone to have the chance to rest, but she wanted to know who her opponent was ahead of time. Her match had been more towards the end of the first round, so her opponent should be listed soon.

It didn't take her long to find it… but when she did she just stared at it in shock. It was… some kind of weird mistake, right? But nothing changed no matter how she looked at it. She had to go find out. Maybe there was another person from the same sect with that name. That would make sense.

The atmosphere chilled as she approached the Frostmirror Sect. She understood the cold was their whole cultivation method, but did they have to make it so… unpleasant? A nice cool breeze was one thing, but it was unpleasant just to approach. Especially without any expressions on anyone's faces. Fortunately, Diana recognized her as she approached. "I assume you are here to see Annelie?" Before Alva even answered, she waved her forward.

It was hard to not run up and hug her cousin, but beyond the fact that it would be incredibly cold, it would also be frowned on by the sect members around her. She didn't want to make things more difficult for Annelie. But at least she was allowed to smile. The Frostmirror Sect could say whatever they wanted to their own members, but they couldn't force others to throw away their emotions. "Good to see you again. Have you heard…?"

Annelie nodded. "Yes. We are matched against each other tomorrow."

"What are you going to do?" Alva bit her lip.

"I'm going to fight. And you should as well. It's a proper tournament, after all. Someone must come out the victor in each match."

It was difficult to look at the face of her cousin and see only blankness. Even with her Insight being trained, if she didn't know better she would have thought Annelie really had no emotions at all. There had only been a brief time they really got to reconnect in the secret realm, but she knew Annelie was still herself inside there. A slight modification to the core cultivation technique and she was able to simply turn off her emotions when it suited her, instead of expunging them entirely. It still hurt, though. "Right. Only one can win. I know you are still ahead of me in cultivation, but don't think it will be easy."

"I would expect nothing less from a member of the Order."

Alva smiled a fake smile as she extracted herself from the area. She hoped that members of the Frostmirror Sect didn't have the expertise to read her true emotions underneath. But even if they could, would they care? As long as it didn't negatively impact a favored disciple, an outsider's feelings didn't matter. But it still hurt to not even be referenced as Annelie's cousin, but just the disciple of a sect.

By the time the match came, Alva had transitioned from depressed to angry. Annelie could have been a lot more welcoming, considering she went all that way to talk to her. Even if the Frostmirror Sect didn't place that much importance on family, she could have still factually referred to her as a cousin. They were even allowed to say niceties like 'it's good to see you again', but she got none of that from Annelie!

She even acted like she didn't care that they would be fighting each other. While Alva had to admit that it really wasn't such a big deal, since people who were close- sect mates or friends or even family- met each other all the time in tournaments it still deserved some acknowledgement that it wasn't just another match. Maybe something about how whichever one of them won would go on to win the whole tournament! Though Alva knew she was too weak for that. The difference between her cultivation and someone at the peak of Spirit Building was more or less double her power, which meant someone could fully defend against all of her attacks and still have enough energy left to attack her as if they were going all out. While she could be more skilled or efficient, it would hardly ever overcome such a big gap.

Annelie had no chance either, since the few steps of cultivation between them weren't enough to make her unsuited to fight Alva. And even if both of them were top geniuses, there would still be others at a higher rank than them. Catarina was participating, after all, and the rest of her grandfather's group were equally strong. Alva thought she might be a decent match for them if her cultivation was the same, but some of them were only barely short of peak Spirit Building. They would be the worst opponents to face, people with practical experience and a significant power advantage. Her familiarity with their fighting style would be balanced out with their understanding of hers, and overcome by her lesser experience. With less than four years of training, the fact that they'd started more than a year ahead of her was a huge gap to overcome.

When she got to the arena, Alva sighed. They ended up on a battlefield advantageous to Annelie, even. How unfair. Though she knew it was chosen randomly. The Frostmirror Sect was too proud to try to influence things like that.

The further one went in the tournament, the more varied the battlefield. This one happened to have a dozen or so pools of water scattered about, with trees that could be used for cover. The arts of the Frostmirror Sect gained an advantage from having a related element nearby, and an open battlefield was better for archers.

Her grandfather had taught Alva not to fight when angry. It tended to result in wasting energy through excessive attacks that were easily predictable. But how was she supposed to not be angry when she was so upset?

The instant the match started, Alva unleashed a flurry of arrows. Good luck freezing all of those! But of course, Annelie didn't need to freeze the half-dozen arrows. She just had to avoid them. Her face remained impassive as she trailed her sword behind her, narrowly avoiding the arrows headed at her. Annelie ran straight across one of the small ponds, ice forming where she stepped and frosty mist circling around her.

Stupid cousin with her stupid elegant technique. Then when she got close she would restrict Alva's movements and make fighting difficult and unpleasant, without even getting a crooked grin on her face.

Alva grit her teeth as fire formed around her. Her grandpa hadn't even been willing to show her a secret technique to beat Annelie, even though she was higher in cultivation. How was that fair? It was a good thing she hadn't just been learning from him. Hoyt's techniques weren't really that useful for her, since it required people to be up close… but seeing the Crimson Trail Sect's archery, she understood there was more than one way to use the same technique.

Only a small core of formless energy made up her next Spirit Arrow, with roiling flames coating the central portion of the arrow. She released quickly, as the flames were beginning to make her uncomfortable despite being under her control. Annelie stepped to the side, avoiding the arrow, but she had to dodge even further to the same side under the next one. Trails of fire lingered where the arrows had been, causing steam to rise from the area around Annelie where frost formed on the ground.

Alva continued to shoot arrows as quickly as she could, forcing her opponent to duck and weave and jump to get around the growing web of flames. She didn't just stand still herself, but circled around her opponent, leaving a trail of fire where she walked as well. That was the technique she'd originally focused on learning, but it was only useful in specific circumstances. But when neither the ground nor the air were safe, where would anyone go?

Explosions of steam began to pop up as Annelie forced her way through the flaming trails. Alva knew they could be stronger, but it would be difficult to maintain them. Well, who cared about that? This was just a stupid tournament match. It didn't even matter who won. As long as it was her and not her stupid cousin.

Neither Catarina nor Devon had been willing to give her a secret trick to beat Annelie either. What was family for, if they wouldn't help you when you needed it? At least she'd trained the stupid fire technique. It was annoying, because if she didn't control it properly it might catch her hair on fire or singe her bow. She could smell her hair burning now, in fact, but what did that matter? Hair would grow back.

Annelie was still dodging too easily. The trails needed to be bigger. Wooshier. Like a bonfire instead of a torch. For that she had to slow down, but Annelie was having trouble navigating the battlefield anyway. Some of the ponds wouldn't freeze properly, and she sunk into them briefly. Alva could afford to take fewer, better shots.

The worst part was that even though Alva was sweating buckets, Annelie's face remained calm and unfazed. Not a drop of sweat on her forehead. Just because she started cultivating a bit earlier, was she going to win? It was dumb. She probably didn't even shoot a hundred arrows a day, let alone a thousand! Yesterday Alva hadn't shot nearly so many, so she had almost an extra thousand for today.

If Annelie reached Alva, she would just lose anyway, so she didn't bother reserving any energy for defenses. Each arrow she shot was like a fluttering bird, if birds caught on fire and had no real shape. But fire spewed out in all directions, lingering behind for at least a few moments and making it hard for Annelie to move.

Then things lined up just perfectly, with Annelie leaping for the center of a large pond. She could certainly land on the surface and make ice, but could she redirect herself in flight? Only one way to find out. Another large bundle of fire shot out at her, the arrow arriving shortly after she landed on the pond, freezing some of it. With nothing else to do, the center of the ice melted- and evaporated almost instantly. A large fire-and-steam ball rose up around Annelie, and then she fell into the pond beneath her as nothing supported the remaining ice.

Ha! Served her right, to get soaked like that! She probably couldn't even use her stupid frost stuff now, or she'd freeze herself. Annelie was just dragging herself onto shore when Alva took aim once more. She wasn't even a little bit signed yet, and probably hadn't broken a sweat either. It was hard to tell with all that water dripping from her hair. When Alva's next arrow reached her it was hardly an arrow. It was just a ball of fire washing over her. Alva felt Annelie's defenses straining.

Who said you needed condensed energy to pierce through defenses? Who said you had to conserve your energy for a proper fight? Who said that fighting angry made people do stupid things and overtax themselves? They were all wrong, because Annelie had to surrender before she could even stand up again.

"Yeah!" Alva squeezed her bow and shouted to the sky. She won! And Annelie's stupid face was dripping wet and covered in soot at the same time!

There was a crack, and Annelie looked at her bow. Then she smelled it. Was that… a campfire? Wasn't her bow a sort of silvery platinum, and not black? Wasn't it supposed to be in one piece, not broken down the middle?

Alva reached her other hand towards her abdomen. She just wanted to make sure she was sensing in the right place. She was supposed to have energy in there, wasn't she? Ah crap. Maybe she'd overdone it. She flopped down onto her face in the dirt without even being able to continue her victory celebration.

Chapter 204

A small room. Quiet, except for the slow breath of two individuals. One lay in bed, asleep. The other sat nearby, vigilant. Anton knew that Alva wasn't in any particular danger for her health, but he still couldn't just leave her alone. And physical well being wasn't always the most important thing.

Eventually Alva began to stir, stretching. She looked around and spotted Anton. "Good morning, Grandpa. I… what happened?"

"Do you really not remember?" Anton asked, "Or do you just not want to talk about it?"

"Mmmn…" Alva frowned. "How long was I out?"

"Thirty hours," Anton declared.

"What? Wait, did I miss my next match?"

"You did. Though even if not, could you really have done anything?" Her energy was clearly still exhausted, more the burning embers of a campfire than proper stars. Anton hadn't sensed any permanent damage there, but draining too much could take time to recover from. "Especially without your bow."

"... Right…" Alva hung her head. "Still, I won the fight."

"Did you?" Anton raised an eyebrow.

"Didn't I? You said I had another match. So I must have."

"You won the match," he admitted. "But tell me, why were you having a fight with your cousin?"

"... she wouldn't even admit to being my cousin," Alva turned away.

"I understand," Anton said. He took some time to let his words settle before continuing, "You wanted her to acknowledge you. But you know what she would have been like if the two of you were alone."

"I don't want to be her family just when we're alone!" Alva buried her face in her pillow. "I just want us to be back to how we were before."

"I wish the same," Anton admitted. Even if the future where the two of them had no changes in their relationship wouldn't have him in it, and would be founded only on blissful ignorance… he wished that could have been the world they were in. "But it's not possible. She has to keep up appearances, you know."

Alva breathed out heavily. "But I don't care about any of that. It hurts."

"Have you told her that?" Anton asked. "Not everyone is skilled at reading others' hearts. You hide things just like her. Maybe even better, since she wouldn't expect you to."

"..." Alva remained silent, and Anton just waited. When she finally spoke, she changed the topic. "My bow is ruined, isn't it?"

"That's right," Anton said. "Both string and shaft are ruined. You'll have to get a new one."

"I guess… that technique doesn't work," Alva frowned. "That's too bad. I wanted to have something that was my own."

"What part of it didn't work?" Anton asked.

"Well, I destroyed my bow, didn't I?" Alva said. "I can't just get a new bow every battle!"

"I don't think that's the fault of the technique, is it? You were just careless." Sometimes, it was less merciful to beat around the bush. "If you actually practiced that technique, I'm sure you could make it work. If you weren't angry while you used it." That was one of the problems with teenagers learning cultivation. Hormones and emotions were especially volatile during that time, so in addition to possible unforeseen disruptions to their physical growth, it was easy to misuse their energy cultivation. The fact that Alva didn't burn herself was actually a testament to her skill.

"... I won't do it again," Alva said.

"Do what again?" Anton asked. "Get angry at your cousin? Overreact and use an unfinished technique and destroy your own bow? Which one of those?"

Alva squirmed in her bed, fully covering herself in her blankets. "I don't know! Any of them, all of them!"

"Good," Anton said. "Because you know you'd be feeling just this bad if I weren't here, and for longer. I'm sure as you work to earn a replacement for your bow, you'll have plenty of time to practice your technique." If they were in danger, Anton would absolutely provide Alva with a bow. But since she was capable of earning the merits on her own, it would be better for her to do so. She'd done the same with her first bow, but she probably hadn't thought she'd ever have to buy a new one, unless she were going for a big upgrade at a higher cultivation level.

Eventually Anton left Alva to herself. She would be fine, ultimately. It was just the sort of things that happened with every teen, just amplified somewhat by her power. Hopefully she could learn from the incident, instead of it causing her issues in the future.

The Courageous Heart Clan was a small clan from eastern Facraona. Small in number and small in stature, but not small in power. They were a clan instead of a sect, and their technique literally could not be practiced without the bloodline they shared. The full details of it were kept secret, but there were some obvious things about it.

First, it made them very small. About half the height of a normal human, though maintaining similar proportions. Among other things, their smaller size weakened their capacity for body tempering. Thus, they focused more on the energy aspects of cultivation, and on their minds. Specifically, they focused on mental attacks and trying to draw people into a battle of wills.

Academically, Catarina understood what that meant. Practically, she was uncertain. After all, it was a new sort of technique for her to be facing. Mental attacks were rare, since they require energy to infiltrate an enemy cultivator- if that could be done, then directly damaging techniques were often thought to be better. But of course, it all depended on what a cultivator was prepared for. Here in the tournament, Catarina was not afraid of any permanent damage being caused, so it was an excellent time to experience what they had. Though she prefer to win, if she could.

Having cultivated the Ninety-Nine Stars into Spirit Building, specifically Mental Liberation and Voice, Catarina knew she should at least have some resistance to mental attacks. But though those parts of her were trained, imagining she would perfectly resist an attack when first experiencing it was foolish. After all, if she went through all of Body Tempering before getting in a fight, she couldn't expect to be an expert. This was the same.

Catarina's opponent was also a woman, with the expected mid tone skin and dark hair of the Courageous Heart Clan. Her name was Naja, and she was just under a meter tall. It was strange, as her eyes told her the woman was much further away than her energy senses. Yet that part wasn't even a real mental trick, but just the strangeness of perspective.

Then the match began. Catarina was especially sensitive to the flow of energy around her, and perhaps her opponent knew that. Either way, her energy creeped out in all directions, so Catarina couldn't tell where an attack might come from.

Despite her curiosity with relation to mental attacks, Catarina wasn't simply going to wait for her opponent to attack. She moved forward, weapon at the ready as she pulled several formation flags and threw them about the arena. Her abilities to alter the flow of energy in the arena on a large scale were limited by the battlefield itself, and she had no intent to try to bypass the safety measures, but she could still do some things to help herself. For the moment, the flags were a precaution.

Naja wielded a spear, thin in diameter but more than making up for the reach she lacked from having shorter arms. Her defensive stance held Catarina at bay as Catarina moved to attack, trying to find an opening. A familiar form of combat feinting, attacking, parrying, and dodging began to play out. Catarina was almost drawn into a trance by the normality of all of it. But she pushed through, finding the right direction to leverage her higher strength and disarm her opponent. Though the difference between male and female cultivators in terms of physical prowess was narrowed, Catarina didn't focus on that aspect as much and thus rarely got to win purely on the basis of strength. It was satisfying to see someone unable to respond to her attacks. Her sword pointed towards Naja's chest, having pierced through her defenses.

It was nice to just win. Too nice. Something was off. She was certain she had exchanged blows with her opponent. She could still sense traces of where they clashed, and if her sense of the fine details of the energy around her was so far off then she had already lost. Catarina pulled back, uncertain about what her opponent was doing… or even if she was fully moving her body.

As they'd fought, Catarina's sense of everything but the exchange of blows had faded away, and now she found herself almost nowhere with just herself and Naja. She felt another attack coming from her side, and moved to parry it. She had to respond to it as if it were real, whether or not that was the case. As she clashed, she briefly saw the image of Naja there with her spear. Yes, she hadn't been defeated quite yet, but Naja's illusions weren't perfect.

The sense that there was nothing else around her was fake. Catarina knew that, but she couldn't get rid of it entirely. However, she reached down inside of herself and tried to separate out what she was really feeling from what she was being told to feel. An attack pierced into her leg. Was that real, or an illusion? It didn't matter, it was too late to stop it regardless. Naja didn't commit to the attack, so when Catarina reached out to grab the spear it was already gone, her leg bloodied.

"I thought the Courageous Heart Clan liked battles of the wills, not illusions," Catarina said to the world around her. Truth be told, the distinction between the two was pretty arbitrary. Part of it was that she couldn't attack in kind. But she had her flags ready still. She reached out for them, feeling their presence and how they affected the flow of energy around them. They couldn't do much directly… but by changing the flow around her, she should disrupt Naja's illusions. At least somewhat.

She felt a ripple, and lunged out to attack. Naja was certainly somewhere nearby, and if Catarina could sense her before they clashed she knew that, even though her victory had been an illusion, Catarina could overpower her. A smaller body had weaker muscles that could only move a spear so quickly, unless more energy was applied. If that was the case, the illusion would be weakened as she had to split her focus.

As Catarina was able to more quickly pick out Naja's location again and again, she realized something. This wasn't quite the first illusory technique she'd come into contact with. That honor belonged to Velvet. While her practical hiding skills were good, against a cultivator that could sense the physical location of everything around them there was no amount of skill that would be sufficient to hide. It took a technique that cut off the sense of surroundings, and that was what was happening here.

Suddenly Catarina's senses of everything around her came back- and more. She saw Naja in front of her, but also sensed her to the rear flanks. It was up to Catarina to determine which one was real at any moment, protecting herself while trying to counterattack. This time it was the rear left, something she realized too late to fully avoid the incoming attack.

Once she had a lock on her Catarina could have ignored the other figures, but all of the versions of Naja faded away. Catarina wasn't even fully certain she'd just taken a real injury, but she had practice fighting with dulled senses. Beneath the tower in the Secret Realm, she'd been forced to push her senses to the limit. This was the same, except now there was extraneous information. False tidbits. She sent her energy out, activating the formation flags at key moments to try to disrupt the flow of energy and weaken the illusion.

Overall, she thought she was doing quite well. Catarina was aware some of the wounds she thought she'd taken ended up to be ephemeral, but she also felt several wounds she hadn't noticed happening. But she kept quick on her feet, and she thought she was wearing down her opponent as well. Maintaining this illusion couldn't be easy, and she was forcing Naja to constantly shift it.

Her opportunity came when there was an attack directly from behind. If she was wrong about it being real, she would likely move straight into an attack, but she trusted her judgment. She dodged to the side while sending her cloak flipping backwards. It was something she had rarely used since obtaining it, but crackles of lightning arced from the scales as they impacted Naja. Using it on anyone not directly behind her was difficult as it was attached to her, but she kept it just in case.

The unexpected attack disrupted Naja long enough for Catarina to wrap her hand around the spear, yanking it out of her grip. Then she pointed both the spear and her own sword at Naja, who held up her hands. "I surrender."

She wondered if that, too, were an illusion- but then the feeling around her faded away. Outside of Naja's influence, everything that had been unreal felt almost obviously fake, as if looking on a dream from beyond it. At least she wouldn't have to worry about never knowing if she had truly escaped an illusion, but it also motivated her to potentially put in extra training in that area. If it were someone with malicious intent outside of a tournament, things might not go so well.

Chapter 205

One match after another passed, and the latter parts of the Spirit Building tournament ground away at the remaining participants until only two remained. Hoyt was one of the two. He wasn't quite at peak Spirit Building, but he was only one star away. That one star still made any hope of victory more difficult, but he wasn't going to give up without doing his best. He might not want to be his grandfather, but he didn't want to disappoint him or anyone else either.

His opponent was a formation specialist from Heavy Mountain Gate. She was a sturdy built woman, older by more than a few years but still well within the age requirement, and at the very peak of Spirit Building. The age difference meant more experience, and unfortunately 'cultivation talent' wouldn't necessarily make Hoyt overcome any difference in practical training.

What would help him, though, was advice from someone on how to defeat her specific brand of using formations in battle. Elder Rana would be the one most qualified to give him that sort of advice, but Hoyt wasn't interested in getting advice from someone much stronger than himself. He would understand Catarina's advice better anyway.

"You have to win," she said. "Because Eira beat the person who defeated me, if you defeat her with my advice, it shows I'm better at formations."

Hoyt wasn't sure if he followed the logic there, but he understood that Catarina's confidence lay in her skill in formations, and it wasn't undeserved. "What do I need to do?"

"The best thing you could do would be to reverse the formation to restrict her," Catarina said, "But that's not something easy to do without knowing exactly how her formation… flags… will be arranged."

Hoyt nodded. "So then…?"

"You could flip one over," she noted. "They're sturdy and not easy to move, but in the arena they won't be defended with a barrier so it's more feasible."

Hoyt nodded. Since formations required precision, most of them devoted part of their energy to ensuring their solidity to some extent. Either that meant a large barrier with the flags on the opposite side from the target, either trapping them inside or keeping them out, or individual barriers on each flag. The flags didn't need to be so well defended as to resist any form of attack, just well enough defended that attacking them would leave an opening for the formation specialist to exploit.

"You won't have to worry about her carving runes into the surface of the arena," Catarina noted, "Because not only is it disallowed in the rules… it just wouldn't work. So you only have to deal with flags. She might have other types of formations she hasn't demonstrated, but the biggest one is the pressure formation. You should be able to handle that pretty well…" Catarina stroked her chin, "She'll probably use that one, and if you disrupt it in the right way it can prevent her from setting up anything else. You'll just have to deal with it while also fighting her."

Hoyt didn't feel entirely prepared even after Catarina's explanations, but he'd worked with her on formation related topics before. While he'd rather have her there to handle that part, it unfortunately wasn't a group tournament. To be fair, Eira would certainly be stronger in the context of a group battle as well, but just having to deal with fighting and leaving the majority of formation matters to Catarina would make his life so much easier. But since that was the way things were in this particular tournament, he had to get all the advice he could before the match started.

Seeing her up close, Eira was even broader in the shoulder than Hoyt had thought as he watched her previous match. The build of a cultivator didn't always match with their actual level of bodily strength, but Eira's at least indicated that she didn't neglect cultivating her body. The more important thing was the large quiver she had on her back, out of which stuck several spearheads.

Hoyt readied himself, considering whether he should immediately attempt to disrupt her formation to stop it from being formed, or whether to spend that time in combat with her, trying to find an opening as she was distracted setting it up. He knew she wouldn't be exactly vulnerable during that time or she wouldn't have made it to the finals, but at the very least her hands would be occupied for a few moments at a time with something besides just engaging in melee with him. Catarina had laid out the pros and cons of each option, but ultimately the choice rested on him.

When the start of the match was called, he chose to move forward for a direct confrontation. He did prefer straightforward combat tactics, but in this case it was actually somewhat of a deception. If he didn't show any intent to deal with the formation, Eira would be surprised when he actually did it.

Though Hoyt started off with a movement technique, augmenting his legs with fire and rushing forward, Eira still had a few moments where she was undisturbed. That was when she drew the spears from the quiver behind her, one at a time. She didn't throw them at Hoyt, but instead the arena around them.

Formation flags were usually rather small things. Even in a storage bag, it was inconvenient to carry a pile of large objects. But a waist height flag had certain limitations on its structural durability and even the way it stabilized itself. The spears stabbed into the sand that made up the majority of the surface where they were having their final match, anchoring themselves deep. The flags hanging from them unfurled, revealing something akin to large battle standards. Several of them were in place before Hoyt reached Eira, but they weren't enough to create any actual effects immediately.

Hoyt understood that being stubborn about being too similar to certain people would limit his options in combat, so he didn't just run towards his opponent. In one hand he carried his battle axe, but his other hand remained available for ranged options. As spears landed in an emerging formation around him, he quickly tossed two small throwing axes, wreathed in flame. Eira deftly avoided them, but at least she had to divert some of her focus for a moment.

The trails of fire left behind by the thrown axes limited Eira's movement, but he had no concerns directly moving through the flames. Earlier in the tournament Alva had caused herself trouble by improperly using the same technique, but when sufficiently practiced and properly executed it wouldn't harm the user or their equipment. It wasn't meant to be used by channeling anger anyway. It could, but Hoyt found that was simply bound to tire the user out and have inconsistent results.

The technique had undergone much development during his use of it, but Hoyt preferred flames powered by passionate ambition. The core of it would always be the same energy of the Ninety-Nine Stars, but much of cultivation was about more than just the surface level effects. Fire might seem to be fire, but some burned bright and were fleeting. But the best example was always a star, which burned bright and powerful but lasted. An admiration for the stars was one passion Hoyt got from his grandfather, even though he preferred not to be seen as relying on him in any way.

His axe swept across in front of him, driving Eira back as she fought with a spear in one hand while still using the other to throw her 'flags' elsewhere. Wherever he went Hoyt left a trail of flames, allowing him to control the battlefield and his opponent's positioning. His movements pushed Eira back towards a point that would be outside the formation as it was currently laid out.

She did her best to keep Hoyt at bay, jabbing with her spear while steadily retreating. Several more spears went out, nearly finishing the formation. Hoyt pushed forward, winding up an attack as Eira threw one final spear towards a far corner of the formation. His axe chopped down vertically, but she dodged away to the rear, completely avoiding the powerful attack. But she wasn't his target anyway.

Instead, his axe chopped down into the sand. Though the top layer was light and fluffy, it became denser the deeper it went- and at the depth the spear-banners pierced to it was quite tough. Sand sprayed out in all directions, digging a half trench next to one formation flag and shattering the barrier protecting it.

Pressure began to weigh down on Hoyt even as he reached to grab the spear, yanking it upwards as the barrier struggled to reform. The small bit of pressure that the formation could create in a moment was nothing compared to what he had experienced before, and Eira had pulled away from his attack. That gave him enough time to flip the spear over, driving the cloth-wrapped portion of it headfirst into the ground. As he did so, he surrounded the spear with flames.

He had no intention to try to destroy the spear. It was enchanted to be durable, and it would be a waste of energy. In fact, it suited his purposes even better if it remained. Catarina had told him which specific flags would cause what effects if he inverted them, but the main thing Hoyt got out of it was that all would be beneficial to himself or detrimental to his opponent, which was the same thing.

The flames weren't there to damage the flag. They were there to melt the sand around it, turning it into glass. It only took a moment, and then Hoyt pulled the heat out of the area to use for his next attack, solidifying the glass and augmenting the flames surrounding him briefly.

Hoyt's axe deflected Eira's spear as it stabbed towards him, lingering flames sticking to the other weapon. A moment later they flickered out, and as many of the rest of his lingering flames also began to fade Hoyt realized he'd gotten the most annoying possible result. A general disruption of energy in the area. It would make it nearly impossible for Eira to set up another formation, but some of his techniques would also be less useful.

Even so, it only minorly disrupted the energy directly in contact with Hoyt himself. He was like a ball of fire moving across the battlefield, leaving puddles of melting sand around him as he moved. He was careful to not directly melt the sand under his feet, since he wanted to have a vaguely stable position, but he took little care for the rest of everything around him.

Though Eira was a formation specialist, her spear techniques weren't lacking. They were quick and powerful, and would have been quite a pain to deal with if Hoyt was under restriction. As it was he still found that her slightly higher cultivation allowed her to output just a bit more energy than he did. But him unexpectedly disrupting her formation threw her off balance, and even when she dodge Hoyt's attacks there were slight effects.

He couldn't hope for a good cut or even a bit of singed skin with every swing of his axe, but Hoyt continued to pressure Eira. She was sweating, from exertion and the extra helping of heat Hoyt was directing towards her with every attack. Though the fire was originating from around him, he was actually able to remain mostly relatively cool.

Hoyt stopped thinking about the battle, though that didn't mean he lost focus. His body knew what to do. He just had to guide his energy to do what it should. He fully intended to win, even as his shoulder and side were pierced by a spear consecutively. He got his own wounds on Eira as well.

Though sometimes he had been loathe to admit it, his flow of energy was much like his grandfather. He was the best example Hoyt would ever have, the pinnacle of power in the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars. One day Hoyt intended to reach that level of power, or maybe even go beyond it… but for the moment he could look to him as an example of what he could be. Maybe he would even stop being stubborn and take advantage of his presence while he was still around.

His axe swung down, cleaving a section of sand in two as Eira held up her hands in surrender. The fire around him faded. Perhaps he had done enough. Winning a Spirit Building tournament should show he had his individual accomplishments. Even if he didn't choose to learn anything from his grandfather, he should at least spend time with him in his last days.

Chapter 206

The fact that Hoyt won the Spirit Building portion of the tournament wasn't exactly a surprise to Anton. The surprising part was when he realized he was somewhat comparable in strength. It seemed like a blink of an eye since he'd begun cultivating. What was another five years in a life like his? Whatever balance of factors worked together for Anton to be able to cultivate at a similar speed to the best of the upcoming lower generation was something for him to be grateful for.

Yet while he saw boundless potential all around him, he was concerned about the future of the Order. If he was concerned, doubtless the elders who had been around for longer were even more worried. While the young generation might have the ability to replace the Grand Elders who had recently been lost, just maintaining the same amount of strength that the Order previously had wouldn't be good enough. Trouble loomed on the horizon, and Anton was most concerned that he didn't have any idea how far away it was. He almost wished he could go back to a life of farming, where he could anticipate the challenges of each season as the years passed.

Perhaps it was presumptuous of Anton to be appraising the younger generation like he was a more experienced cultivator than they were. Even so, he could say that more than just the Order had a promising next generation. That was good, but also concerning. Grand Elder Vandale had some observations about the rising and falling cultivation talents between generations, and when there were suddenly myriad talents… it could be assumed that great trouble was approaching. They had an idea of what that trouble might be, but not the true magnitude of it.

As he waited for the next section of the tournament, Anton idly thought about the future. Specifically, the growth rates of cultivators. If the best cultivators could reach peak Spirit Building in five years, more or less, then in twenty years they could have four batches of people. And by that point, an entire new young generation would be growing up. He wondered how many cycles they could have, and what the limit was as the population of the world grew. That was something he would have to spend more time delving into, and asking elders who might already have some of that information. Like Vincent.

Anton noticed a disturbing lack of members of the Order in the Essence Collection tournament. While they had a significant population of cultivators in the stage, many of them were older and either beyond the age limits or had given up on advancing further and thus found no benefit to participating in a tournament. While Anton was aware that at least some of those who might participate were occupied with important missions, it was still disheartening to only see a dozen of their members enter the final stage of the tournament. Anton knew very few of those participating.

Outside of the Order, he was most interested in Chikere's progress. She was still in early Essence Collection, but that was not unexpected. If she'd actually made it to mid Essence Collection since they'd last seen each other, it would have actually been more concerning. A talented cultivator could surpass Spirit Building in five years, but Essence Collection should take two decades at the barest minimum. Fifty years would still be considered good, and most people who reached Life Transformation took a hundred or two hundred years. So a couple years to advance several steps in early Essence Collection was still reasonable.

The Vessel of Insights lay quiet next to Anton, barely functioning. Even if using it wouldn't be potentially seen as interfering with matches, they were all too distant to pick up any insights. He preferred not to use it around those who hadn't given him permission, even if it caused them no harm. Thus, he kept it at a lower level of functioning, only potentially reaching members of the Order. While they were all simply sitting in the stands observing matches, it could actually be taken as cultivating. While the insights gained might be small, someone would likely learn something from each match that occurred.

That was Anton's main focus at the moment. He'd actually had some small ideas from watching Alva's matches, but there were other archers in the tournament. But he could gain insights even from those that weren't archers, if he looked at things the right way. There were fewer matches occurring at once now, so he focused his eyes to pick out more details from each. Most battles occurred in melee range, though a few people used archery or attempted to make use of formations. Even fewer made use of long range energy projection similar to Vandale, something that certainly couldn't be called archery.

Anton saw dozens of different movement techniques, defensive techniques, and fighting styles. What he learned from each match was quite minimal. Sometimes, it was merely that his eyes weren't always sufficient, despite the tempering he'd done to improve them. Those an entire stage above him were still beyond his ability to even consider fighting… at least in a one-on-one battle. And he wouldn't want to take on a Life Transformation expert no matter how many similar strength allies he had on his side. Well, not with less than a hundred or two hundred, anyway. As long as they knew how to fight together.

Eternal Sword Hall had more than a handful of cultivators in the tournament. Whether through coincidence or fate or conspiracy, Chikere found herself matched with three of them. The first was a young cultivator around her age… and several steps below her in cultivation, barely even having entered Essence Collection. Three sword strikes was all it had taken her to defeat him. The second she had defeated in two, but she received a wound in her shoulder in retaliation. She hadn't thought anyone would counterattack so viciously even when it would directly lead to their loss, but she had been wrong..

When she was matched against the third cultivator, Chikere realized this might have been their plan. Their hope, at least. Eternal Sword Hall wasn't in control of this tournament, unlike the local one they had refused to honor her victory in. Their influence shouldn't be enough to set her matches against them, but instead they had to rely on advancing through the tournament and randomly matching her. She hoped. If not, she couldn't really do anything about it as an independent cultivator.

The man facing off against her now was an old fogey. He was barely young enough to even be in the Essence Collection portion of the tournament, which had generous allowances for age. The trouble was that he was ahead of her in cultivation by several steps. Even then, Chikere was confident in defeating him. But the look in his eyes said he wasn't going to try to win the match.

She considered what he might be able to do. Even if she won, this match would likely be her last victory. Cultivations of those remaining were beginning to outstrip her significantly, until only those in mid Essence Collection and later would be left. Though she'd really like the experience of fighting someone more powerful than her in a controlled environment.

That is, someone with no malice towards her- not another member of the Eternal Sword Hall. She was used to their fighting style anyway, and had grown bored of it. There was nothing technically wrong with it, but it was so… rigid and inflexible. Overly proud of itself, like their disciples and elders.

Could she die? She thought it was possible. Formations weren't perfect. And while she would like to see the hell that rained down on Eternal Sword Hall if they killed her, she had no intention to die. She wasn't going to surrender either.

She drew the sword she'd obtained from the tournament as her prize- even though she'd had to steal it to get her hands on it. It wasn't even her best sword anymore, but it was still in the top ten, which meant it didn't matter too much if it was in her hands or not.

If her opponent was going to try to kill or maim her, she just had to be that much better. Since she couldn't kill her opponent- without backing it would be laughable of her to try, even if her opponent wanted to do the same- she would just have to defeat him with style and lose the Eternal Sword Hall as much face as possible.

Her feet shifted into the stance of the Eternal Sword Hall's main style. When the match began, she matched her opponent blow for blow. She was certain she had a name, but she wouldn't do him the honor of learning it. He was just number three. Or fifty something, if she counted outside the tournament.

Number three's attacks were predictable. Chikere found something interesting as they fought. The Eternal Sword Hall's techniques weren't the best in the world… but it seemed they were one of the best defenses against their own style. She could see how each move matched up and flowed into the next, the fighters on both sides dancing back and forth. She saw an opening, but it was a fake. No, a real opening, but if she took it her opponent would seek to mutually wound her.

Chikere and number three moved back and forth, trading blows repeatedly. Her cultivation was lower, but even though she didn't use the Eternal Sword Hall's techniques as her primary fighting style she knew how to use it more efficiently. She wasn't falling behind, but neither was she gaining an advantage. Perhaps she should give up on being stubborn, but she was waiting for something. All of the rest of her swords would hang from her waist until then.

A vicious swipe caused Chikere to lean back just slightly, but the actual attack was a thrust from another sword, drawn stealthily during the attack. Chikere drew another sword looted from a disciple of the Eternal Sword Hall. It was number ten, but it was enough for her to parry the blow. Unfortunately, the quick draw technique used was still part of the Eternal Sword Hall's techniques.

"You're going to have to learn something new," Chikere taunted. "How long have you been studying the sword? Eighty years? Ninety? It seems like you don't even know the basics yet."

Finally it worked. Number three only frowned slightly, but she felt the pace of his attacks change. And when she stepped into a stance only good for parrying one particular move he telegraphed, number three attacked with an unexpected move. Even Chikere didn't know what it was going to be, in fact. But that was the point.

The angle was all wrong. Too much power leaning to one side as he slashed up from beneath her on the right while chopping horizontally with his other sword from her left. There was no way she could hold her two blades that would match the Eternal Sword Hall's style to block those. In fact, she would be hard pressed to move her guard to catch either of them. So she simply stepped forward in a textbook double thrust.

It was probably excessive to block both of the swords on either side with four each, but it was better to be safe than sorry. And that way she could bind them from different angles so he couldn't even pull back. Chikere was somewhat disappointed her opponent chose to let go of his swords and pull back instead of letting her hit him, but it was the logical move. It seemed he was only willing to go to a certain level of risk against her, and having his kidneys impaled wasn't one of them.

There was a cracking sound. "Oh, oops. Your swords broke. I thought your energy would still be protecting them." The eight swords floating around Chikere continued to slice the former swords to ribbons. Nothing was easier to cut than a static object unprotected by a cultivator's energy. She could sharpen her own energy to the finest point without worrying about it holding up to an incoming attack.

There were no rules in the tournament about destroying opponent's equipment. Otherwise, someone could block with a weapon entirely unprotected by energy and their opponent would have to completely cease their attack. That said, she wasn't allowed to keep anything disarmed from her opponent after the battle. So… it had to become scrap metal.

"You surprised me, you know," Chikere grinned. "I thought the Eternal Sword Hall's technique was the best in the world, yet you suddenly used something different… so I reacted blindly."

The old man facing her didn't have just one pair of swords, but she could see the pained look on his face as he drew two more. He totally deserved that, aiming for the hardest places to heal and not what would have defeated her the most easily.

Chikere menaced with ten swords, one in each hand and eight more floating about her. She hadn't actually used the Eternal Sword Hall's techniques much before, but now that she had she was going to incorporate a bit more of it into her defensive technique. And screw the rest. She was going to crush this guy… and then lose spectacularly to her next opponent and learn whatever she could from it.

Chapter 207

The remainder of the tournament seemed to fly by, as Anton had endless thoughts to digest. Some of them were simply observations about what sects did and didn't show up. Obviously absent was the Heavenly Lion Sect, though it seemed a few of their former disciples did still participate. Just because they had been scattered didn't mean they had stopped existing. Though from the various efforts that happened, none of those disciples knew or were willing to give up information about any others.

There was no way the Flying Blood Cult would be allowed to participate in any sort of legitimate tournament. There were bounties for the heads of any of their verified members. Neither did they see any members of the group from Black Soul Valley. At least, Anton hoped so. If they were participating, they had some other cultivation technique to use that perfectly covered up their energy fluctuations. He himself had only a vague idea of what they would feel like, but Grand Elder Kseniya had participated in the battle and would certainly notice them. If they were so foolish as to publicly come into view in Facraona, they wouldn't have been able to accomplish everything they had up to that point.

Friends and allies like the Grasping Willows and those who sometimes fit the bill like the Frostmirror Sect and Glorious Flame Palace displayed their strengths in the tournament. The Eternal Sword Hall showed itself unrepentantly. They claimed- with evidence- that there was no actual collusion between them, the Flying Blood Cult, and the Heavenly Lion Sect. How strong that evidence was varied in the eyes of different people. Personally, Anton understood that at the very least they were arrogant to the point of being willing to ignore all sense of decency, especially in relation to Chikere's incidents with them. She certainly provoked a larger response from them, but they really had been the ones to wrong her first. They were more on the group of 'people to watch out for' than the 'absolutely evil and must be exterminated' side of things.

Other than that, there were a few sects that the Order had longstanding rivalries with. It was on the borderline of being enemies, but there hadn't been any wars… in the last century. Swarming Rat Palace was one of them, a group that was willing to push the extent of what they could get away with, and perhaps even exceeding the laws when they thought they wouldn't get caught. Just because they had a history of negative deeds didn't mean they were currently steeped in crime, but some of the same leaders were still in place. Marble Statue Hall were an excessively self-centered cult that never participated in any sort of righteous mission unless it specifically benefited them, and leveraged their power to gain benefits where they shouldn't require compensation to participate in suppressing evil sects.

Along with studying the sects, Anton also had various insights about cultivation and archery, though he couldn't be certain if any of them would ultimately benefit him or were just idle fancies he would end up dismissing. That would take time, like all of cultivation. Even if he was quick, he felt the gradual slowing as he approached Essence Collection. He felt he should be able to reach and surpass that hurdle- and once he did so he had more to gain from the Vessel of Insights- but nothing was certain in cultivation. Perhaps he would be unable to grasp some critical thought and get stuck.

But he had no intention to think about that. Everything was going well enough, and if his own cultivation ceased to advance, it hardly mattered to the world. And the world was ultimately what mattered, not one old man.

Sewers were an unpleasant place. The sort of place nobody would go to if they had any other choice, unless there was something for them to get out of it. That was never from the sewer itself, but the way it traversed around the city. The criminal underbelly of any city would make use of the hidden passage it provided, profiting off of its aversion to normal folk.

Torches were a danger in such a place, but Leo held one in his hand regardless. He needed to see where he was going. Hopefully if there were flammable gasses ahead, he would be able to sense it. He certainly wasn't going to stumble around the sewers in darkness. He had work to do. All he had to do was go to the designated location. Two streets over, if he recalled correctly.

The stone was slippery under his feet as he walked, but he strode confidently. Cultivation was an amazing thing, making him feel invincible. He felt as if nobody could stop him no matter what he did.

His head twisted, looking over his shoulder. Was there someone down here, following him? No, it must have been a trick of the light. A failing in his senses. He was quite alone. Just as planned.

He found his way forward, towards a section of the sewer that was terribly unpleasant. Sewage flooded over the walkway and Leo plugged his nose with his energy while also wrapping his feet, keeping them from slipping while also remaining dry. Well, mostly. He always found later there were a few bits here and there that got through. Made his shoes wear out so much quicker. But at least he had shoes. The last month had been profitable.

He found the section he was looking for. It was hard to believe that anything but sewage would be left down below, but all sorts of things made their way down below. Sometimes that included little nooks and crannies where anything might be hiding. It could be a rat, or it could be something shiny and valuable.

Leo crouched down, grabbing something in the muck. At least it was worth all of this. He pulled his hand out and hefted his prize. Not bad. Then he felt it. He was being watched. He spun around, chucking the brick in his hand at the approaching figure… who ducked out of the way without even looking like he noticed. Leo began to sweat. Was this payback for something? Had he offended the wrong people? Who could hire a cultivator so strong? He couldn't feel their energy, precisely, but that was how he could gauge how big the gulf between them was. Not that he was much of a cultivator himself. He'd only just recently attained the first star in the cultivation technique he'd been taught. He hoped it was enough.

He extended his torch, to better see his opponent and maybe momentarily blind them. "... Grandpa?" he said.

"Who's your grandpa?" the voice responded.

"Uhm… sorry," Leo bowed his head. "I heard several people call you that. Is it a form of address only for members of your sect?"

The old man standing in front of him snickered, smiling. "It's only for my actual grandchildren. And great-grandchildren. And the rest," Anton looked Leo up and down. "So, skulking around in the sewers, huh?"

"Uh…" Leo looked around. "It's not what it looked like, I swear. I just work here! I can do as much as a whole crew at half the rate and still make a pretty good wage."

Anton nodded, "Good to hear that. Most people are too proud to do menial work. Especially… here." Anton looked down at the water. "There's more than just that brick contributing to the blockage, you know." Anton swept his hand, and with a rushing sound the water level started to drop rapidly.

"... I was going to get to it," Leo said. "I can't sense that deep in the water yet, and I don't really want to… well, reach that deep into stuff."

Anton nodded, "I'll have to teach you a bit of energy projection. What about Kit? I didn't pass by her."

"She's doing fine," Leo said. "Listen, can we catch up somewhere else?" His energy reserves were weakening. He barely had any to begin with, and he'd walked quite a way while trying to keep sewage off of his new shoes. They were the only new ones he'd ever had, after all, and he had to treat them well.

"Lead the way," Anton gestured.

"I have another couple places I have to clear out, actually," Leo said. "There's another blockage four streets that way, and one towards the downtown. Maybe two or three near there."

"I see what you mean," Anton nodded. "Got quite a bit of junk built up in there." He pulled the bow off of his back, forming an arrow out of nothing. Leo could feel that one shot contained more energy than he had, maybe more than he had gathered during his whole time training. The arrow rocketed down the sewer paths, squeezing between grates and then turning a corner. "Done," Anton said. "Don't worry about those."

"Uh…" Leo said.

"Look, I'm a man who values hard work. But you can do that any other day. It's not a big deal to help you out once or twice."

"I was just… is it really unblocked? How can you tell?"

Anton nodded, "It is. And you just have to get a lot stronger. It's harder than finding a cultivator, I sensed you from near the edge of the city, but your sensing will grow rapidly as you form more stars. As long as you practice, at least."

"... I see." Leo couldn't do much else than trust Anton. He really didn't want to hang out in the sewers longer anyway. Maybe he'd pop down later just to make sure. But for now, he could change into real clothes. If he had another pair of shoes he wouldn't even wear his good ones, but how was he supposed to afford those in a month? Even with the wages of two or three people.

"I only suggested it," Kit explained as they sat at a tiny, cramped table in a single room. There were only two chairs, so Leo was standing. "He was trying to work in a warehouse, but he couldn't outmatch the strongest men, even though they weren't cultivators." The room didn't have much else except for a small cabinet with several dishes, pots, and two sets of cutlery, a stove, and two sleeping mats. It was a far cry from the inn that Anton had paid for, but it would also be extremely cheap.

"I just couldn't wait," he said. "I want to build up as much money as I can and get us to somewhere less crap. But we need at least a little extra money, in case one of us gets sick or something. And we could barely afford furniture, let alone a place to store it if we lost our housing."

"You've been thinking about a lot, I see," Anton said.

"Yeah. I always imagined what it would be like to live in a real place," Leo said. "Apparently it's a lot of work. But not so much that someone else couldn't have helped us." He shook his head, "But that doesn't matter. With your help, we ate out fill for two weeks. I felt stronger every day. Still not as strong as the bulky sorts, though. Think I can match them after tempering my muscles?"

"Perhaps," Anton said, "Though your build is naturally smaller, so it will take some time to surpass those naturally gifted in their best points. You're still growing, though. Maybe your body will be able to catch up." He tried not to look down on their poor surroundings. Honestly, the single room was several steps up from where they had been before. It was clean and fully sealed, at least. What he smelled of not-yet-cleaned dishes also indicated they were eating decent food.

"Cooking is hard," Kit said. "But it's so expensive to buy food that's already been made. WIth a stove I can cook all kinds of things! Even though it's mostly stew."

"It's only ever been stew," Leo said. "But eventually we'll have enough money to buy a big house with a cook and servants to do everything. Just you wait."

If that was Leo's ambition, it would be hard to accomplish it through the virtue of entirely necessary and practical labor jobs. Even if he did the work of a dozen people. Especially if he couldn't read. "I'm glad the two of you are doing well. Any problems with cultivation? I'm sure you have a few questions, I was barely able to give you the bare bones last time. After that, reading." Leo grimaced slightly, "I know it seems difficult, but you can hardly own a mansion if you can't read. There's more paperwork involved than you might think."

There was a lot to do, but this time, Anton didn't have to leave with the rest of the Sect, so he was considering staying at least a week. Maybe longer. He thought about sewing some seeds of cultivation throughout Cruhull. That… might be good, but ultimately it might cause trouble. He wouldn't want people to think that the Order was trying to take over the country, and he wasn't going to teach anyone a sub-par cultivation technique. Not that he really knew any others well enough to teach regardless.

Chapter 208

A single month wasn't enough to teach someone to read, even if they weren't occupied with other things. If they were willing to undergo repetition, adults or those close to it were able to learn to read more quickly than children.

Leo was focusing on his meridians for the second star and first prime tempering, which would generally smooth his cultivation and help him with energy control. That was something quite advantageous for his job, since he could send his energy into places that couldn't be seen to find and clear blockages.

Kit was studying to be an herbalist, a wise choice since her previous untrained interaction with herbs had been a problem. She had been a bit behind Leo in cultivation, but had now completed the first star and was going to temper the organs in her head. An increase in cognitive abilities and better eyesight would both be useful. She was still in quite the early stages of an apprenticeship, and was little more than someone sent out into the woods to fetch herbs. Her master was patient enough to let her learn things one bit at a time, even if she couldn't read yet.

Their growth made Anton happy with his choices. While before circumstances had forced them into a difficult position, now they had the power to grow beyond where they were. The results had been quite good with them, but Anton hadn't found others he was willing to take a risk on. There was every chance that Leo could have chosen to devote himself to a life of more effective crime, and that was the very opposite of what Anton wanted. Most of those he saw were only looking out for themselves, so it was difficult to judge how they might change if taught to cultivate.

During the time he stayed in Cruhull, disturbing news came to Anton. Cultivators had gone missing, many later found dead. Lone cultivators and those in small groups were the targets, but unlike the standard incidents of bandits preying on other cultivators it wasn't necessarily those who foolishly flaunted their wealth that were targeted. In fact, some of them were found with everything they had still on them.

The group from the Order was fine. Every sect that had traveled to the tournament in a larger group encountered no trouble, but some of the smaller sects lost their delegations. The patrols in Facraona had stopped several attacks, but they were unable to capture anyone alive. They either fought to the death or escaped. One thing that was consistent was that the cultivators worked in small groups themselves, but were Essence Collection cultivators for the most part.

Nothing else linked them together, including cultivation style or country of origin. No evidence was found on their bodies linking them to anything, except those who were known to be part of various criminal groups- bandits and evil sects. Yet the attacks should be related, because normally tournaments like the one in Facraona didn't have so many incidents. With enough cultivators involved it was inevitable that some would get into trouble, and people did like to prey on small groups… but the risk seemed disproportionate to the reward. They weren't just targeting people who wandered too deep into the wilderness, but people traveling on main roads.

Anton didn't know what he should or could do about the attacks, but it made him consider either leaving for the Order right away, or waiting a bit longer for things to die down. Either way, he didn't intend to travel alone. The same sentiment was shared among other cultivators, who would otherwise happily travel without any significant protection as long as it was through generally safe areas.

Another two months. Both Leo and Kit completed the second star, and were in a stable enough situation that they could continue learning whatever they needed to on their own. Anton kept up his own training, of course, but he couldn't train as efficiently in Cruhull. There was no guarantee he would have achieved the twenty-sixth star regardless, but he planned to make the final push once he was back at the Order.

He invited Leo and Kit to come along with him, but they declined- either because that was their true desire, or possibly because they realized he really didn't want them to come along. Anton had nothing against them becoming full-time cultivators, but he thought that it would be better if as many people as possible were cultivating but still fulfilling normal roles in society. He also didn't want to drag two young people away from their home into an unfamiliar place.

He still didn't find anyone else he wanted to teach to cultivate. There were many people working in the city that could doubtless benefit from cultivation to empower whatever they were doing, but Anton was still cautious about filling the area with cultivators of the Ninety-Nine Stars. He did speak to some small local sects about his ideas, but none were particularly enthusiastic about spending time teaching people to cultivate with no visible benefit to themselves. Still, they weren't entirely against the idea either- and he told them to pay attention to Graotan in the coming years.

Anton looked around the newest place Leo and Kit were staying. It was still quite austere, very little decoration and small in absolute size… but much more comfortable than their last place and somewhat roomier. It was likely that they would maintain the same living standard for some time, potentially even years. If they weren't going out and risking their lives in battle with wild beasts, and they were not part of a sect, there was a limit to how much income they could bring in.

Leo was starting to get a bit of a reputation for dealing with certain sorts of tough jobs- mostly in relation to sewer business. He was never going to be rich even if he somehow managed a dozen men's labor, but he continued to learn. Kit was further along with her reading than him, due to both her prime tempering and how it tied into her apprenticeship. She would help him continue to learn to read, and they could consult Anton's notes on cultivation. If they wanted to go beyond Body Tempering they would need more than he'd given them, but that should be years off still- especially if they were working on their own in a place with only moderate levels of natural energy.

Anton was with them to say his last goodbyes. "I'll try to keep in touch," he said. "I'll certainly write, but seeing me in person will be more rare. An old man like me can't cross a country every month, you know."

"You're better at that than either of us," Kit pointed out. "By a long shot."

"That's how it is," Anton shrugged. "Now, once you feel comfortable, I give the two of you permission to teach others how to cultivate. Or not, if that's what you want," Anton shrugged. "It's one area that's not liable to produce consistent results across all people, and without proper guidance people can get hurt."

"It's the same as any trade or craft," Leo said. "It's just… people are less likely to explode from the inside doing other things."

"Unless they take the wrong herbs," Kit smiled. "I do sort of wish we could take care of some of the other orphans, but we don't have that much for ourselves yet. I certainly can't be responsible for anyone else."

Anton nodded. They were still just barely adults, after all. He wouldn't expect them to suddenly start up a sect all on their own. "When you get the chance, pass my charity along in whatever way you see fit."

The cultivator mercenary hall was busier than it normally would be, at least by Anton's estimation. Yet a good portion of those in the area weren't actually mercenaries, but simply cultivators looking for a group. It didn't take long for the rumors of danger to spread and cultivators to begin clumping together. Anton poked around, looking for the right group.

He eventually came to a group that was just about ready to leave. Mostly young cultivators, talented enough to be below thirty and already in mid Spirit Building. "Going west?" he asked.

"That's right," answered a tall man. "But we've already hired a guard."

"Just looking for travelling companions," Anton said, "Not pay." He could tell which one of them was the mercenary, since he was older and stronger than the rest. Somewhere in late Spirit Building, probably fifty or sixty, maybe a bit more given how cultivators aged more slowly.

"In that case," the tall man said, "We'd be glad to have you. I'm Caeus. He's Hein," Caeus gestured to the mercenary, who had puffy eyes that made him seem to be constantly squinting. "We also have Gustav, Printza, Stojan, and Nkiru."

"I'm Anton," he introduced himself. "You planning to head out today?"

"Right now, actually. Are you prepared?"

Anton nodded, "Got everything."

As a lone cultivator it was important to stay on alert at all times. People were bound to get ideas if they thought you were an easy target. And sometimes no amount of swords would convince anyone otherwise. Chikere shook her head as she sensed two cultivators coming. Like her, they were in early Essence Collection. Doubtless they thought they could take her on. Maybe they were right, but did they really think she wouldn't take one of them down with her?

That was the weakness of people working in groups. They thought that long cultivators had to be the easiest targets, but Chikere wouldn't be alive if she were so easy to rob or kill. It was unfortunate that her accurate display of her abilities might have looked like she was overcompensating. Ten swords was a lot.

She wondered if she could run, but they'd caught her on both sides at a narrow part of the road. She could move through the rough terrain to either side but she would be slowed. So the simplest way was to just continue moving forward. If she killed the woman in front of her quickly enough, it would basically be two one-on-one fights which was much easier than two-on-one.

She suddenly switched from her relaxed walk to a burst of speed, at a distance she hoped they weren't expecting her to have noticed them from. But they had made a simple mistake in their concealment- they had swords. And Chikere could sniff out a sword from a kilometer away. Not literally, of course. Swords usually only smelled like metal, whether that was their normal materials or the blood staining them. But a sword cultivator could sense the sharpness of a good weapon as it called to them.

That was how Chikere immediately knew something was wrong when a dozen cultivators ambushed her from either side. They certainly had swords, but yet she hadn't sensed them. So much for surprising her target with her true skills. She had to pull out all of her swords, deciding on a nice two handed grip for her main weapon. Sword number ten still got to participate, floating around behind her back while two-through-nine flanked her on either side as two pairs.

Chikere didn't have time to waste on the trash coming at her from either side. Their exact cultivation was hard to sense, but that didn't matter when their technique was so sloppy. Limbs and heads flew everywhere as she charged towards the woman in front of her.

A battle between cultivators with equal cultivation could take a long time as they whittled each other down, looking for a perfect opening. Or it could take exactly one swing. Chikere knew that if her movement had been off by even a few millimeters she might not have survived the exchange, but she didn't have time to waste squabbling with someone. A nice confident attack with only a token defense was plenty if she parried the enemy attack in the same motion as she killed them. There was some sort of black fog that tried to block her attack, but that was why she'd put extra energy- to make sure she could slice through anything in her way.

What a waste of a good sword. This cultivator having it, of course. She didn't destroy it. It was going to replace number ten! As she turned around and saw no bodies on the ground, Chikere realized that the dozen extra attackers had simply been an illusion. Maybe she should have seen through it, but did it really matter when she could just defeat them?

The remaining Essence Collection cultivator was definitely real, but he seemed uninterested in continuing the attack. Chikere certainly wasn't going to chase him down the road, so she set about looting the one she'd killed, ignoring the trickle of blood dripping down her left arm. She wondered where these people were even from. It wasn't any of the usual grudges, but the magic bag wasn't as full as she would have expected for a bandit with previous successes. Certainly not lacking, though.

Chapter 209

Anton didn't know much about his travelling companions when they began the journey, but he at least knew something about Hein's origins. He was from Storm Mountain, a reliable enough sect with a decent reputation. The younger cultivators seemed to all be from different groups except for Caeus and Printza. Presumably they had all been out on various missions for their sects before learning about the increased danger on the roads. It would be slower to travel with some lower ranking cultivators, but there was safety in numbers.

Along the way, Anton learned more about the others. Caeus and Printza were both from the western portion of Droca. The two of them wore heavier armor than most cultivators, but the strength they had would be sufficient to allow them significant mobility as long as they had trained in its use.

Gustav and Stojan were from different parts of Estary. While it would have been more direct for them to travel through Ofrurg, Anton didn't even bother to ask about why they were taking their current route. Even if the people looking for his head in Ofrurg were mostly gone, Anton didn't feel safe traveling through the country. And he still probably had some slaving groups upset at his participation in causing them justified trouble. The two young cultivators likely didn't have the same sort of problems, but Ofrurg had been even less secure in the last few years.

The last of the group was Nkiru, and she was returning to Ambati, so from their current position it was equally efficient to go either through Ofrurg or the rest of Droca and then through Graotan afterwards.

Hein was just coming along for the job. Anton ended up paying for a split of his fees, because even though Anton himself was similar in cultivation to Hein, who was in late Spirit Building, having him along would still be useful. He could have just left all of the burden of the fee on the younger cultivators, but he was also using them for his own safety.

Even though the roads were more dangerous than normal, Anton was not particularly worried. The chances of anyone coming after them were probably a tenth or less, especially considering they were moving in numbers. Maybe less than a single percent. Yet even a very rare occurrence still deserved a cautious treatment. Taking no precautions to prevent such a serious risk at even a low probability would very quickly get people in trouble.

The pace of the group slowed almost imperceptibly as Hein tilted his head around. Anton could see his short hair begin to puff up slightly. Their eyes met and Anton gave him a nod.

"You feel it too, then?" Hein continued to scan the horizon. "Something in the air."

Anton felt it too. Something wasn't quite right, but yet he couldn't sense anyone. Not yet, anyway.

"Are you sure?" Caeus asked. "Is it not just the coming storm?" he gestured up to the sky.

"That's of no concern," Hein said. "In fact, I'd say it's a bit too far away. No, there's something closer."

Reaching out with his energy, Anton still didn't sense anything. He felt around like he was trying to find Velvet. It would have been convenient if she were nearby, because it was harder for someone to hide when they couldn't even tell where someone was coming from, or that they were coming. But the actual important thing was, he couldn't feel anything that felt like her or something similar.

That was how he knew his senses were being manipulated. Somewhere around twenty meters from the group, the minute fluctuations their energy caused in the air fizzled out to a smooth, uniform nothingness. Yet Anton could still see and hear, even the twittering of a bird.

He pulled out an arrow, drawing his bow back. The way they were looking around would let whoever was hiding know they had been noticed regardless, and he needed to test something. He looked straight at the bird, a fine specimen. He drew his bow back, carefully taking aim. If he was wrong, the bird would become dinner. Not a terrible result.

His mind flew forward with his arrow, not fully leaving the confines of his own body. As he went further the wrongness of their surroundings felt stronger, but it was only a moment before he reached the bird and pierced its chest. The sound stopped. "Ah," Anton said. "Just a bird." He lowered his bow and pulled out another arrow casually. He turned towards another bird. "Who wants dinner?"

Anyone who'd seen Anton fight previously would have immediately caught onto the wrongness of his movements. The biggest glaring change was that he drew physical arrows. The first one was plain and simple, with no special qualities. The second one, however, was specially made. A handful of them cost as much as his first cultivator bow… and that had been at a discount.

He took careful aim towards another bird, focusing his energy. Then he swivelled around and released his arrow behind them. His arrow swerved off course, not following his planned trajectory- but he could discern where it wanted to go. He assisted it in moving that way with all haste.

Then his arrow disappeared, blurring out of existence- but a small spot of red appeared in the air for a moment. "There!" Anton shouted. He wished he could have used more of his energy on that attack, but it would have been obvious he wasn't just trying to hunt a bird and his opponent would have been more prepared for the blood seeking arrow. Anton hadn't been sure of his enemy's exact location, but he had suspected they were in an illusion, and blood seeking arrows weren't fooled by such things.

As soon as Anton shouted, lightning crackled around Hein's body as he gripped a metal rod in his hand. The younger cultivators were slower to respond, but they at least drew their weapons and heightened their energy defenses.

The wind was picking up, but Anton knew he could compensate for its effects later. He fired off several sets of Spirit Arrows, three at a time. None of them would be quite so strong or as accurate as a normal shot, but he covered a wide variety of positions near his target. Unless the hidden figure chose to fling themselves to the side, they would have an arrow in their path if they tried to approach. Since they hadn't attacked yet, he supposed they might have to approach up close. He was half right about that.

The first arrow to be fired in response from behind them was yanked towards Hein's rod, as it vaguely became visible upon approach. It struck the metal rod directly, but Hein clearly minimized the amount of energy he used to defend it, letting it take the blow solely based on the material strength of the weapon. He was sent staggering back half a step, but the arrow shattered and fell to the ground.

Anton felt two of his arrows connect with something, not hard enough to break through the energy defenses but enough to let him know the opponent was rapidly approaching, from about forty meters to less than twenty now, just a tiny distance for Spirit Building cultivators.

More arrows came from behind, one curving around Hein's defense to strike Stojan in the side, while another more powerful shot directly came for him, making him take more than a single step back.

"I can't defend everyone!" he called out. "Stay closer to me!"

The young cultivators huddled closer together, Stojan pulling the arrow out of his side. The good news was that it hadn't pierced terribly deep, as it seemed to still have been slightly affected by Hein's metal staff.

Anton continued to fire towards his invisible target, getting a better bead on them as they approached closer. Moving quickly wasn't the optimal way to maintain an illusion, since there were two sets of feedback coming to a cultivator fighting with each other. He fired several more arrows, but he felt they were dodged or occasionally deflected.

Behind him, Anton felt the fear of the younger cultivators. Yet it was tempered somewhat by the safety they felt. At least there should only be a small number of people maintaining the illusion, otherwise they wouldn't be able to communicate. Individual illusions for each person couldn't be maintained easily.

The opponent reached Anton, leaving visibility as his dagger clashed with Anton's handaxe. Anton knew his opponent had to really be there, or he would already be dead. He did find that it was difficult to land any blows on the man, however. And another dagger appeared with the rest of him. Anton was still confident in defeating his opponent, but he suddenly began to shift around Anton, charging towards the Caeus and the others.

Before Anton could catch him, Hein spun, pushing the group of younger cultivators with his staff and blocking an incoming dagger strike. But Anton saw an arrow incoming from behind the man, and a staff attracting it wouldn't stop it from going straight into Hein's back. He threw his axe- it wasn't designed for that, being meant for melee combat, but it served its purpose. His axe caught the arrow, slicing into it. He dropped the other one back into his belt- throwing it at the back of the dagger-wielding cultivator had more chance to end up hitting the younger cultivators than his enemy. Instead, he drew his bow and began shooting past the group.

Caeus and Printza moved together, standing on either side of Hein. It seemed as if they had no weapons, but in fact their armor was the weapon. Heavy metal gauntlets, with thinner chain on the palms where it was necessary for flexibility. They punched and kicked towards the man with the pair of daggers, providing enough distraction that Hein could deflect his attacks with his staff, catching the metal daggers and yanking them off their intended course. The attacker still managed to dodge most of the incoming attacks.

Anton was matching the incoming arrows with his own. When they were targeted at others he shot them out of the air, and when they came for him he smacked them out of the air with his bow. Many were much closer to striking him than he would have liked, but when he compared to the best arrows he had seen… he would be embarrassed to be hit. Grand Elder Kseniya could kill him with any of a hundred arrows she fired in a few seconds, but his opponent wasn't even close.

But he did have a strong power. Anton was only breaking his attacks at the weak points, but if he were to directly clash with the power he was fairly certain he would lose out. That meant the archer was at the peak of Spirit Building or… possibly in Essence Collection.

Just in time, Anton noticed something. "Nkiru! Behind you!"

To her credit, without even thinking about it she spun around, swinging a weapon that was something like a sword combined with an axe, a wide blade on the top with cutting edge all the way down the handle. Her attack barely managed to deflect an incoming stab by a thin sword- and that was only with Gustav's reaction next to her, stabbing out with a spear to force the attacker to withdraw slightly. Stojan was injured, but he readied his own warhammer, very conservative in size but thus more able to concentrate the force of his blows.

With all the arrows being shot towards them, Anton had gotten a picture of the enemy archer's position. To their credit, they weren't just standing still in one spot… but they remained in one general area. Anton began to shoot back towards where they were, estimating where they might go from their previous spot. The fact that they had powerful energy that seeped through the illusion was also helping him to pick a spot. However, his own attacks were easily dealt with. The difference in power was becoming more apparent. He would need more.

Anton breathed deeply. The increase in density of energy at Essence Collection was certainly noticeable, but if it was just for a few shots… he could more than match it. He would just have to make them count.

Chapter 210

Three youths desperately faced off against a cultivator that outmatched them individually. Nkiru, Gustav, and the injured Stojan held their ground against the quick blade of the cultivator attacking them, doing their best to maintain their defense. Eventually they would be worn down, but they could hope that the other battles would finish in their favor and relief would come.

Hein and the younger Caeus and Printza were fighting the cultivator with daggers, who was still maintaining an illusion that made it difficult to keep track of his precise movements. With Hein matching him in power the two younger cultivators were able to slowly push that battle in their favor.

That left the most difficult situation of all. Anton faced off against an opposing archer. Not only could he not actually see his opponent, but he had the feeling that they were in Essence Collection. That only placed them a few steps in cultivation above him, but with the barrier between Spirit Building and Essence Collection it amounted to significantly more power wielded in an instant, and larger reserves.

Anton's body worked tirelessly. His legs were constantly repositioning him to try to find some measure of cover while still remaining in a position to intercept incoming attacks for the others. His upper body was more important for archery, his fingers and hands pulling the string on his hollowreed bow as it snapped forward with every shot. His arms and especially his back worked to provide the power necessary. Though each only contributed a small amount, he wore gloves, boots, and an undershirt that amplified his movements slightly. As enchanted equipment went, everything else together was not close in value to his bow.

Slowly, one shot at a time, Anton honed in on his opponent. The archer was well within the range of Horizon Shot, so even if they were somewhat concealed his senses kept something of a lock. Enough to counter them. Gradually, Anton moved closer- though he was vigilant of any arrows trying to slip past him. Whenever they did, he did his best to shoot them out of the air with the minimum amount of effort on his part.

He was already falling behind in remaining energy, though the real issue would be once his opponent got fully serious and not a battle of endurance. If they chose to make a few fully powered shots, he couldn't possibly face them head on. Unless he was prepared with the energy of Fleeting Youth. But that took time. Not much, but it was a step further away than his own internal energy reserves.

The rocky forest in between himself and his opponent was hardly a barrier to either of them, arrows twisting between the trees with little regard for them. But just because they could shoot around them didn't mean there was no effect at all. As Anton began to enter the area, his opponent would find it harder to target him precisely.

As they continued to fight, his opponent's illusion began to fade. He wasn't sure if that was on purpose, to conserve energy, or simply because they were distracted. Regardless, he kept his focus. Spirit Arrows flew one at a time or in small groups, tracking through the air towards a moving target.

Anton considered his other options. While Spirit Arrows were quite effective, removing the need for a physical form to project his energy onto, he still had a small selection of arrows for special occasions. The blood seeking arrow had been one of those, but it would be less useful here, where his opponent would be prepared to counter his attack.

A few barbed arrows, though the usefulness of an arrow that caused more damage when removed was debatable when he could just leave an open hole with a Spirit Arrow anyway.

As for Fleeting Youth, he could manage three good shots. If he tried to stretch out the energy into smaller doses, it wouldn't keep its main benefit over his regular energy- high density and power. He wasn't interested in a few dozen extra shots if they had the same impact as the rest.

Shoot. Dodge. Parry an arrow with his bow. More arrows to either side to stop attacks targeted at the younger folk with them. Anton found that odd. While shooting at his allies to throw him off was a perfectly reasonable tactic, the shots seemed too focused on them. If this archer was willing to commit to a serious attack and could injure Hein, the battle would greatly shift in their favor.

Anton planned to finish the battle before that happened. It wasn't a question of whether he thought he could defeat an Essence Collection cultivator by himself. He had to, so he would. His first of three shots with the power of ascension energy was gathered and released. It took a more direct trajectory to the enemy archer, ignoring several trees directly in the way as it drove a small hole through them.

The hole it made in his opponent was somewhat more disappointing, but Anton at least felt a sense of accomplishment at piercing through his opponent's energy, even if he only managed a shallow wound. Maybe those barbed arrows would matter after all.

Another shot. The energy of Fleeting Youth formed around Anton's Spirit Arrow, but it was in fact a normal shot. His opponent was already dodging out of the way when he released the actual shot an instant later with a barbed arrow, taking advantage of their heated movement.

They took a page from Anton's own book, though with more exaggeration. A great amount of energy gathered on their bow as his own arrow approached, and the enemy archer swung the bow like an axe, battering the condensed energy apart and cutting through some of the surrounding trees. It was excessive, but clearly they could handle an attack on that level. Which left Anton quite concerned. He could hope that his opponent could only manage something like that once, but hoping wasn't a sound tactic.

Anton began to fire more irregular patterns of arrows, shooting from the front but also having his shots circling around. By varying speeds he matched up the time they would arrive to strike his opponent, trying to find a weakness in their movements. They were no Kseniya, but he was unable to land a critical blow.

Then a response came, stronger than any other before it. A great bundle of energy. Even before it left the bow Anton was on the move, trying to put as many trees between himself and that arrow as he could. He spotted a few good ones, tougher than their average counterparts. They would make fine bows, or anything else. Too bad. They exploded out the back as the arrow pierced through, some of them fully snapping in half. And the arrow kept coming, curving at least as fast as Anton could move.

Even as he ran, Anton fired back. He couldn't afford to target his opponent, instead hitting the arrow with every shot, hoping to destabilize it more than overpower it. He might have been partly successful, but it continued on without ceasing. Could he counter it with his last portion of Fleeting Youth? Perhaps, but if he did so he would be left with nothing else. And the other battles were not going so well he could afford to rely on them or stall.

At the last instant, Anton stopped his movements. He gathered energy around himself and his axe, hardening it as he held his bow in his left hand. Golden Armor wasn't meant for protecting an axe, but Anton had more practical experience manipulating his energy around his weapons than around his own body. He wasn't crazy enough to strike the arrow head on, but he felt the timing. He swung up from below, intending to deflect it up even as he ducked himself down.

It almost felt like slow motion. He was pushing himself to his very limits, and while it was admittedly much slower than any of Grand Elder Kseniya's arrows it was still the fastest arrow that had actually tried to kill him. But his axe came up, striking just behind the head and driving it up at an angle. It deflected slightly, but he wasn't sure it was enough. He felt his axe shatter even without striking the shot head on, and pain. But he didn't seem to be dead.

In fact, the pain was only in his shoulder. Anton couldn't spend long taking stock of the situation, as a half dozen smaller arrows were already on their way. He grabbed the string on his bow and began to pull back, but found no resistance. And then he realized that the bowshaft was cut in two, about three quarters of the way up. He wondered if that had been the real target all along… though perhaps the shot had been intended to do that and kill him.

It wasn't too hard to chop a few arrows out of the air with an axe, but there was no way Anton was going to get close enough to use it to kill the enemy archer. Even if he had been fresh and full of energy it would be a foolish idea. Especially given how they sliced through a layer of trees around them without a blade. Too much power there.

What else could he do? Well, there was one option left. He had one more bow. But he could barely shoot it. So he would have to make the one shot count. He basically upended his storage bag to get out the bone bow, not having time to fiddle around with the contents to get something sunk towards the bottom. A moment later he had the bow in hand, though it still had no string.

Anton drew a blood seeking arrow. Though its tracking feature was unnecessary, the very fact that it was enchanted gave it a bit more power and durability. It would be a waste of the price if he had another option, but he didn't.

The fact that the bow had no string was not as big of a deal as it had once been. He had long been aware he could form a string out of energy, and it even willingly attached energy at either end. It seemed intended for that, but drawing the bow was still at the limit of his strength.

All of the remaining power of Fleeting Youth and as much of his internal energy as he could rally were gathered together for one final shot. The string on the bow had exactly the properties he wanted, and it only had to hold together for the one shot. His muscles stretched to their limits as he pulled back, trying to minimize his energy expenditure on just the draw.

Then the arrow was released, and he was flying forward. His opponent had clearly felt the shot coming, and was more focused on handling his own defenses than shooting at Anton- or anyone else. Though it was only a short moment before the arrow arrived anyway.

Anton saw his opponent's face for the first time, as he approached. Nothing special, just someone he would have taken for a grump and otherwise ignored on the street. Not that there was a particular look for people who were willing to attack random cultivators without even giving any demands.

The face was confident. He could obviously tell that Anton had expended the last of himself in the shot, and he held his bow with two hands, gripping the bottom of the shaft once more. Some sort of bone, Anton gathered, though he had no time to compare it to his own bow. Then bow and arrow collided. A moment later, he was bathed in blood, and then nothing more.

Anton reached up to his forehead. Good. He wasn't actually bathed in blood. He had a few wounds he'd picked up, but nothing covering him. Unfortunately, he could see his opponent still standing through the gaps in the trees.

They looked at each other. Anton held up his bow, trying to find more strength he could dredge up. Did he need to use Candle Wax? The loss of lifespan would limit his chance of reaching the later stages of cultivation. He was already close enough to the threshold to train Fleeting Youth adequately.

But those were unnecessary thoughts. He needed to fight and win. Then his eyes finally told his brain what they were seeing. The enemy archer straightened his back, turning his bow… but it was in two neat halves. Spurts of dark red mixed with black energy poured out of the man's sternum. He seemed to only realize that when he reached for an arrow and saw blood on his hands. Then he fell over, and Anton was able to see the wide hole in his back.

Fantastic. But the rest of the battle was still going on behind him.

Chapter 211

Heavy blades, warhammers, and even spears weren't meant to face off against quick swords. Gustav's spear had enough reach to barely keep their superior opponent at bay, the three cultivators struggling against a single more powerful opponent.

Only a small amount of effort could be taken on their part to watch the battle happening next to Gustav and the two others, where Hein, Caeus, and Printza were keeping another opponent on the back foot. They couldn't quite ignore that battle, because it could easily spill over to where they were.

As for the battle between archers, they didn't have the capacity to keep track of everything happening there. Yet there were some things they couldn't ignore. As they felt the energy of an Essence Collection cultivator, Nkiru and Stojan trembled along with Gustav. They were dead. It was only a matter of time.

Gustav wasn't willing to give up, managing a solid blow to the man he was fighting, not quite breaking through his energy defenses but staggering him back for a moment. The others remained fighting as well, but Stojan had been injured by the first arrow and Nkiru had several slashes and puncture wounds as she tried to keep the other two behind her.

The battle between the archers didn't end as quickly as they thought it would. It wasn't that the Essence Collection cultivator was conserving energy, but the old man- Anton was quite a bit older than Hein, their hired guard- made an attack that was far beyond what any of them could expect. Was it some sort of life saving treasure? Or maybe a forbidden technique. If any of them had any of those things they would gladly make use of them, but they just had to hold their own.

Another clash went in the favor of the enemy Essence Collection cultivator, and then a following attack made Gustav look over at the battle. The old man's bow was sundered. That was the end then. Or it seemed that way, until a moment later he upended his storage bag and pulled another bow out of the pile. He couldn't watch, his eyes once again locked on his target, but he heard it. The shot fired from that bow almost made Gustav deaf. And he wasn't the only one surprised.

In fact, their opponent was one step more surprised by the Essence Collection cultivator's defeat. Enough for Nkiru to take advantage of a slight opening, swinging her top-heavy axe-like weapon into his side and actually drawing blood. Obviously it was meant to have gone much deeper than it did, but it still forced the man to draw back. And then he turned to run.

Two arrows whisked past the man's head, but what finally finished him off was a bolt of lighting from the sky. Hein's arm was outstretched, the metal rod in his hand pointed like a spear. "I can't believe how long it took the storm to get here. Felt like an eternity."

The bolt of lightning didn't immediately kill the man, but Hein and the other two had already finished up the opponent they'd been fighting- his head was caved in to the point his face wasn't recognizable. And it was probably not an illusion.

Hein caught up to the fleeing man as the arrows he had to dodge slowed him significantly. He swung his metal staff up from below as the man turned to face him, but he raised his thin sword high to try to parry an incoming arrow. It brushed around his defense and struck him straight in the eye… or at least the energy defenses over his eye. The arrow didn't even seem to leave a mark. But the staff coming up dislocated the man's shoulder, broke ribs, and shocked him once more, sending him spasming onto the ground where Hein brought his staff down right onto his head, neck, and then torso repeatedly.

Anton slowly let out his breath, letting the bow formed entirely of energy in his hands fade away. It didn't require that much power to fire Spirit Arrows that were basically 'empty'. But to the best of his ability they still felt real, which caused the man to take them seriously. Fortunately Hein capitalized on the situation.

Unless he was greatly mistaken, all of their opponents were now dead. The first thing they had to do was take care of their various wounds. Anton had managed to avoid anything terribly detrimental to his combat ability, but he was losing blood. He strode over to the pile of stuff he'd dumped out and sifted through it for his medical supplies. A few poultices to help with bleeding and bandages.

He also took a few energy recovery pills. Despite what some people believed, they weren't of much use in combat. They were too slow to provide any benefit, and you had to devote a portion of your energy to breaking them down and integrating their energy into your own.

Everyone gathered together to discuss what had happened. Hein spoke of what he knew first- or rather what he didn't know. "I couldn't find any direct markings for any sort of sect," he said. "They all felt connected somehow, but the two I searched only had a few generic technique manuals on them. Anyone have more?"

Anton shook his head, "I don't recognize anything about them, but I agree with the assessment that their core cultivation method might have been the same. I also noticed they tried to target the young ones, and I don't feel it was to take out combat power before killing the two of us. It was like their goal all along." Anton held up his hands, "Not that I think that it's any of them in particular. We all know about the recent attacks."

"That was why we formed a group and hired Hein," Caeus acknowledged. "I never thought we'd actually be attacked though. You were the only reason we survived. And we had you help pay for Hein's services..."

Anton shrugged, "Likewise, I wouldn't have survived without the rest of you. And Hein wouldn't be traveling if it wasn't for the job. So I think everything turned out as best as it could. Despite the injuries. I'm taking everything on that archer, though."

Nobody could argue with that. Even though an Essence Collection cultivator was bound to have significantly more wealth than either of the two others, Anton defeated the man more or less on his own- while keeping his attacks away from the rest of them.

"Stojan," Anton said, tossing him a small pill, "Take this. An antidote pill." Anton looked at the others. "It's only a generic sort with small effects against any poisons, but the rest of you should take one as well. Whatever it was is slow acting, but I have the feeling we'll regret it later if we ignore it." Anton actually hadn't sensed anything in himself until he felt it in others. All of them had some measure of lingering poison. Maybe it had even been in the air, aiding the illusions as they breathed it in.

They did indeed find several poisons in the packs of the enemy cultivators, but they weren't clearly labeled- and none of them were experts in the area of poison, though they had some basic knowledge about common types for the sake of treating them.

By the time they were back on the road, Stojan was shaking, despite having taken both the antidote and other recovery medicines. Anton just quietly scooped him up. His muscles weren't that tired, since carrying a person used a different set than required to pull back that stupid bone bow. Even if he was kind of exhausted, it wasn't any harder than dragging a deer carcass through the snow on a sled. He was just glad the other young folk could walk.

Anton smiled at himself, as he was thinking of them as much younger than those he normally interacted with, even though they were likely only a year or two different. The biggest thing was their cultivation was much lower than his own, so they felt like they should be younger. But instead they were close in age to the others and just somewhat less quick in their cultivation progression.

Even Hein was probably young enough to be Anton's grandchild, though just barely. He could have easily been his son, though.

Rain poured down on the group as they walked on muddy roads, unwilling to stay near the scene of the battle. They couldn't imagine anyone else would be there, since a group of two late Sprit Building cultivators and one Essence Collection cultivator weren't that common, but the attacks were happening all over so those involved had more people at least in theory, even if not all in one place.

Guard captain Aaron sat in his office, going over various pieces of paperwork he still had to deal with. There wasn't as much exciting combat as people might think for someone in his position, but he was fine with that. Even though he was still young, he was more interested in stable opportunities than glory.

There were almost never attacks on cities anyway. At most he might have to deal with some boneheaded cultivators starting a fight inside or near the city. Cugan was a large enough city that even the most prominent sects would have to think two or three times before they thought about attacking it, and they wouldn't gain much from it except the ire of everyone in the country around them.

"Captain Aaron," a guard knocked at his open door. "There's a group of travellers approaching. Some of them look injured."

Aaron nodded. Was that good news? At least it wasn't someone going missing on the road. There had been too many strange attacks lately. Even if it was only a couple near Cugan, even one attack per year they couldn't resolve was a problem.

After he left his office behind he made his way onto the wall, where Aaron took a good look at the approaching group. If he had to guess, the two older folk were mercenary escorts protecting the younger members of the group. Only a single pair of cultivations matched styles. He recognized them as being from one of the smaller sects in Droca, but he couldn't recall the name. Metal? Steel? Iron? Iron Fist Sect sounded right. Though the iron part wasn't their actual fists.

As the group got close to the gates, he called out to them. "Hello there travelers. You look like you've had a rough journey." Cultivators got into scraps all the time. He didn't have to stop them, but he felt it was his duty to properly investigate. He openly scanned the group with his eyes. "If I'm not mistaken, you didn't just run into a group of wild beasts."

A puffy eyed man squinted up at him, but despite the look on his face he had a strong bearing. He also carried a metal staff. Was he a member of Storm Mountain? Either that, or someone aping their style, Aaron supposed. He would have to remember the energy signature if he was. It was important to be able to recognize important factions on sight. The man waved his hand from down below. "Indeed we didn't. We were attacked by a group of three cultivators, two in late Spirit Building and one in early Essence Collection." He pulled out a storage bag and tossed it up to Aaron. "We suspect they are related to the other attacks that have been happening as of late."

It only took a moment to scan the storage bag and find the three bodies in question. Cultivators had some portion of their energy linger almost indefinitely after death, at least if their dantians weren't shattered and their bodies hadn't begun to decay. Thus, he could recognize that the man's words were true. At least, about their cultivation levels. There was some chance that this mismatched group had been the aggressors. Though the old man from the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars made that less likely. They were a strictly righteous sect, though he was less familiar with them than Storm Mountain given the distance.

"I don't recognize the energy of this group," Aaron said. They seemed to have the same core cultivation style, but he couldn't be quite sure. "We'll have to ask you some questions. Especially if they're related to the other attacks." None of the men had bounties Aaron was aware of. Usually bandits of such power had some sort of history.

Hopefully they could shed some light on the situation, since very few people survived the recent attacks, and it wasn't even sure if they were all related. Many went missing, and others were found dead. In most cases, people only escaped and merely had vague descriptions of the attackers. Having their bodies and a handful of clear testimonies would be something else.

Chapter 212

Over the course of a week, many questions were asked to Anton and the others. Others got involved beyond guard captain Aaron, though the answers were always the same. Before the attack they didn't know anything about the three, nor did they find anything revealing afterwards. It must have been a dozen times that Anton allowed his storage bags to be searched, though he'd kept everything from the Essence Collection cultivator he'd slain in the man's own bags.

The investigation wasn't the only thing that delayed the group- many people still had injuries to recover from. Even though cultivators often healed more quickly, a deep stab wound still didn't suddenly recover overnight. Though after a couple days traveling wouldn't have been difficult, if they were to end up in another battle… there was some worry about whether they would survive again.

During that week, Anton took stock of his spoils. The enemy's bow… ruined. The string was good, but the bone bow Anton had couldn't make use of it. He didn't think modifying it to have a string would be the correct option. But he certainly wasn't strong enough to use it consistently yet. Unfortunately the other man didn't have a backup bow- like Anton, he hadn't really considered losing his bow. Anton just liked to use the bone bow for practice.

It was a shame that so many good bows had been destroyed in Anton's hands or related to him as of late. That seemed to be related to engaging in higher level combats with more powerful cultivators, where material strengths could be outstripped by energy.

His opponent's armor hadn't been all that much better than Anton's own- at least if Anton included the diamondsilk layer he wore. With a big hole in the chest, it was of little use. Anton resolved himself to get a full layer of diamondsilk along with some upgrades in every department. He didn't want his equipment to hold him back. With the wealth of an Essence Collection cultivator, in coins as well as in commonly traded and valuable materials, he had the potential to accomplish some of that. Though of course a good portion of the value had been in the two destroyed pieces of equipment. Anton wondered if parts of them could be reused for something.

The most valuable thing he gained from the battle wasn't anything he could sell to someone. The closer he got to Essence Collection, the easier it was to constantly have the Vessel of Insights active. He kept it constantly supplied with any excess energy, and the natural energy in the area had been sufficient for it to be active during the combat. Being able to review his own insights as well as those of the enemy archer was a great boon.

Anton only hesitated briefly before pulling out the strands of insight from the man. Though his actual cultivation level wasn't quite at Essence Collection, he should be able to handle the man's insights.

The Vessel of Insights worked in mysterious ways. Nobody had been able to fully explain it, but it didn't exactly capture the thoughts of cultivators. He could tell who an insight was from, the circumstances they were in, and of course the contents of the insight itself… but he didn't get access to their deepest thoughts and motivations during that time. Instead, it was just a memory of him performing a certain action. Sometimes it was just a very tiny change in stance, a slight shift in how energy was circulated. Repeating parts of the battle from his own perspective also helped deepen his understanding of archery, as well as Fleeting Youth.

The insights of the enemy archer were harder to digest than his own as he absorbed them into himself, but they weren't overwhelming. The level of energy that could be called 'essence' was actually easier to understand than what Fleeting Youth provided. Anton still had no ability to gather it himself, but he felt that once he completed the final stars of Spirit Building the insights would ease his transition to the higher stage of cultivation.

The investigation into the background of the cultivators quickly hit a dead end, but Anton secured permission for the Order to send someone to investigate them. Doubtless many others from Droca would be coming as well, interested in seeing who was causing problems. Guard captain Aaron swore he would keep them preserved… and that was the best Anton could hope for. It was possible someone might try to destroy the evidence, but it was also possible that there was really nothing to be found.

Yet the region didn't have so many Essence Collection cultivators that one could go completely unknown. Surely something about the man would come up at some point, some connection. Though Anton had some guesses about what it would tie into anyway.

Caeus and Printza's Iron Fist Sect wasn't large, but it still had an Essence Collection elder. Though they'd previously been intending to make their own way back, after the attack they got in contact with their sect. It took longer to get a response, but Anton and the others were willing to wait. Instead of a messenger, the Iron Fist Sect sent a full delegation along with elder Nonus, several late Spirit Building cultivators and a smattering of disciples.

Though their primary purpose was to inquire about the attack, they did offer to escort the group to the Graotan border, before bringing their own disciples home. Everyone was fully willing to take them up on the offer, even Hein.

"I might want to look for work elsewhere now," he explained. "Better to be somewhere I'm less needed than somewhere people might look for me."

Anton nodded. "I'd rather not try to fight an Essence Collection cultivator again. Any change in the circumstances could have flipped that on its head." The battle was extremely close, and he likely only survived because his opponent didn't think Anton was a true threat to his life. It encouraged him to continue improving his skills beyond where his cultivation lay, but it might be better to never get attacked at all.

Though it took quite a while, Anton found himself back at Graotan's border. He didn't know any of the guards, but apparently they were expecting him. "We're glad you made it back," they said. "We've been keeping track of any disciples out on missions and the like. Many were at the tournament with Grand Elder Kseniya of course, but some were otherwise occupied or broke off for their own purposes like yourself."

"Have there been many attacks inside Graotan?" Anton asked.

"Nothing that seems connected- only the usual rare incidents. However, our border security has already been on alert in the past few years." The member of the Order speaking with Anton shook his head, "Sometimes it seems there aren't enough of us, but we've managed to keep things secure."

"Hopefully the upcoming generations of cultivators will swell your ranks," Anton said. Even if most of those he was teaching wouldn't be striving for high cultivation ranks, he knew that his efforts were resulting in more cultivators joining the sect. He might even start rivalling Vincent in numbers recruited to the order, though only on a year-by-year basis of course. Vincent had a large head start.

Anton actually passed by the Order to head to the border, making sure Nkiru made it safely there. It seemed incidents in Ambati were more rare. The origin of the attacks seemed to be more to the east. Not necessarily from Ofrurg… but it also could be presumed to be nearby. No particular country or even sect had obviously been spared from the attacks, though even the larger sects usually only had a few attacks on their members. Even so, it had been hundreds in total throughout the surrounding countries.

When he approached his home, Anton was first met by Fuzz. The wolf leaped over the fence surrounding the yard, bounding towards him and nearly tackling him to the ground. He seemed to have reached some sort of limit for how big he was going to be, but Fuzz was already large enough that his tongue covered a good portion of Anton's face when licking it.

As he was wiping himself down, Alva came running over. "Grandpa! You were gone for so long, and then the attacks started." She looked down, "Catarina said we couldn't go get you."

"I told you he would come back," Catarina came up behind her. "See? Safe and sound."

Alva looked Anton over. "Where's your bow? Is that a new hole in your armor?"

Though he had it patched, the damage to his armor was still visible. "The answer to the second is yes. As for the first," Anton pulled it out. "It got destroyed. Let me tell you how." Anton greatly understated the amount of danger he had been in, which also involved not mentioning the cultivation level of his opponent. "In the end, we both destroyed each other's bows."

"You used the cool bone bow?" Alva said. "Awesome! But wait. You never actually said how strong they were. They sounded pretty strong. Peak Spirit Building?" Alva narrowed her eyes as she looked at Anton. "Or… maybe even early Essence Collection?"

Anton sighed internally. That was the problem with Alva growing her cultivation so well. It was hard to hide anything against someone trained in Insight. At least, Anton hadn't bothered improving his own deception skills, except for maintaining a neutral face in combat so his opponent couldn't take advantage of his emotions. "You think I could defeat someone in early Essence Collection?" Anton asked by way of deflection.

The question didn't even slow Alva, however. "Of course! You're the best!"

"Were they really?" Catarina asked, her energy probing him more closely. "You got injured. They must have been somewhere around there."

"I could have gotten injured in a fight with a peak Spirit Building cultivator, you know. I'm not undefeatable."

"Yes you are!" said Alva. "When have you ever lost?"

"I lose spars with Catarina and the others all the time," Anton said.

"That doesn't count," she rebutted. "You're never serious."

"Neither are they. We don't want to hurt each other."

"Alva has a point," Catarina commented. "If you really wanted to kill us, you have a significant advantage. Especially with that special energy."

"You all have a counter for that, though," Anton pointed out. "At least enough of one."

"That's right," Catarina said, "But I'm betting the Essence Collection cultivator you fought didn't. How close was it, really?"

Anton held up his thumb and forefinger. "About this close, really." The distance between his fingers might have seemed far, but if he was actually talking about how far he was from a specific attack killing him, ten centimeters or less wasn't much. While other attacks might get that close to hitting someone, dodging by a hair's breadth didn't necessarily mean someone was that close to dying.

Neither of his granddaughters- with different routes and number of people between him and them- let him be on his own for the rest of the day. Though since his injuries had already healed up there wasn't really anything they could do for him. But he enjoyed their presence nonetheless. But Devon's absence was telling, and caused Anton to have his own worries.

Grand Elder Kseniya had basically dragged Anton up the mountain. She plopped him in front of Vandale. "Guess what this one here did."

Vandale looked at Anton with his one eye smiling.. "There are many things Anton could have done. I could spend hours guessing. But I'm sure you'll tell me."

"He killed an Essence Collection cultivator. Another archer."

"Oh yes," Vandale said. "I heard something about that. The information that came from Droca on that was incomplete. They focused more on the fact that a group of attackers was defeated than the details. I was going to ask for a more thorough report."

"You don't sound excited," Kseniya said.

"Should I be?" Vandale smiled. "I'm happy that you lived, of course, but I'm not particularly surprised. Both of us accomplished something similar back in our time." Vandale shrugged, "It's the curse of having high expectations for someone."

"I just thought I should tell you personally," Kseniya said. "So when we went missing for a few months you wouldn't be worried."

"What?" Anton raised an eyebrow.

"It's training time," Kseniya said as if it were only natural. "And we don't have a moment to waste."

Chapter 213

Graotan was a good country. Devon believed that wholeheartedly, not just because he was born and raised in Graotan but because he had traveled to others and laid eyes on them himself. It wasn't just Ofrurg either. Obviously his experiences as a slave would negatively impact his opinion of the country as a whole, but even discounting that he found Graotan to be much preferable to the few others he'd been to.

Some of the goodness of Graotan was due to the fortunate fact that they had fertile land. When a country was prosperous, everyone could afford to be generous with each other. Devon believed it extended beyond that with all of the people working to hold up ideals that valued others.

Yet Graotan definitely wasn't perfect. It was impossible for the Order to oversee every part of it, and even if they could, mistakes would be made. Negative elements would crop up every once in a while no matter how firm of a foundation was laid.

Though the majority of cultivators in Graotan chose to join the Order- the requirements weren't particularly onerous and it had some of the best benefits- there were still other, smaller sects in the area. Most of them were wise enough to follow the rules set down by the Order. But some of them ignored them, or even completely went against them.

Even though its disciples provided security for the whole country, the Order did not impose heavy taxes. Most of their wealth was gained through the Order's portion of the missions its cultivators were hired for, and long ages of accumulation. Some of that wealth was simply a good reputation, and this particular group was damaging that most strongly. But their discovery came about from villagers concerned about excessive taxation.

There was no good name for the group, since they were simply pretending to be disciples of the Order. The general population didn't know enough about cultivation to prove them wrong, being unable to sense energy in any capacity. But from where Devon was, he felt it clearly. They were certainly cultivators, but their energy didn't match the Order's.

His current job was just to stand around looking intimidating. They already had the place surrounded, and the chances that nobody had noticed the group surrounding the structure were miniscule. It was likely that bringing a full group of Spirit Building cultivators was excessive, but the Order wasn't willing to risk the lives of their disciples- even ones like Devon who was making use of a different cultivation technique.

He sensed some combat taking place inside, but the main force was large enough to handle the entire complement of foes. He was just supposed to stop- or delay- anyone trying to flee.

It wasn't long before he sensed someone coming. He readied himself for combat, but he felt the cultivation of the Ninety-Nine Stars from within them. "Did anybody run this way?" a middle aged man asked as he stepped out the door Devon was watching.

"No, not yet," he answered. "Maybe try over that way," Devon gestured.

The man nodded and turned. That was when Devon's chains wrapped around him. He wasn't sure what the man had done to disguise his aura, but the group Devon had arrived with wasn't so large that he would forget the faces of those with him, and this man wasn't one of them.

"What are you doing?" the man said as he raised his own energy defenses too late, "I'm part of the Order!"

"We'll see about that," Devon said. His chains stiffened, pulling the man's limbs into the positions where he had the least leverage. Even if he were to use energy he would tire himself more quickly than Devon. He twisted and turned, fighting with all of his might- but Devon just wrapped the chains tighter. When the man tried to slacken the chains by darting towards Devon, he found himself held at bay as the chains suddenly stiffened. Then Devon extended more chains to bind his legs together. Now all Devon had to do was wait. After he covered the man's mouth to stop his protestations.

It seemed that the rest of the battles were indeed finished very quickly. Another member of the Order came out the door, this time one Devon recognized. The man took stock of the situation, looking between Devon and the man he had bound. "What are you doing?" he asked accusingly, lowering his spear towards Devon. "He's a member of the Order. Why have you detained him?"

"He's not," Devon said confidently. Though he was beginning to have a few doubts himself. "At least, he didn't arrive with us."

"Mmph!" the man bound in chains tried to mutely defend his position, but another party approached.

"Devon's right, Jacob," said another member of the Order, wielding a bow. "This man was not with us. We should bring him before the rest and question how he was here, if he was not involved. If he truly has a good reason, the only thing damaged will be his dignity."

"... right," the one who must have been Jacob nodded. "But Marcio, he practices the Order's techniques. And he's clearly in Spirit Building… and this fellow here doesn't use our style at all."

"Judging people on the basis of their cultivation techniques?" Marcio raised an eyebrow, casually holding his bow ready to be brought to bear should he need it. "I'm sure Devon will gladly come with us, and we can see whether any of this has been a misunderstanding."

"Right," Devon nodded. "If I was in the wrong, I'll happily apologize for the inconvenience and discomfort." But he was quite sure he wasn't part of their group.

Ultimately the man's origin was one of the worst situations. Not for Devon, since he ended up justified in his actions, but for the Order. It might have been the worst, because someone emulating the Order's energy signature, while worrying, wasn't necessarily as bad as the man actually being a disciple of the Order. Which he was. A genuine disciple of the Order involved with the taxation scheme.

There wasn't much to do but bring him back with them, wrapped in physical chains that restricted energy usage, and not just Devon's manifestations. Devon wondered if he could replicate the energy restricting effect himself, but that was an exercise for another day. They simply had to bring back this person- as well as all of the rest that had lived through the battle- to receive judgment from the Order.

"Edwyn Behrend," an imperious voice spoke out. "Given the preponderance of the evidence levied against you, is there anything you have to say in your defense?"

"I didn't do anything wrong!" he declared. "Those villages offered tribute on their own accord."

"An interesting argument," said the judge, "But ultimately unconvincing. It was their very testimony that they offered payment only under duress, with the assumption that you were working with the blessing of the Order. In addition, the crime of encouraging others to impersonate disciples of the Order is quite serious."

"It seems you had already made up your mind," Edwyn grumbled. "What is my punishment then? Exile?"

"No. Exile is only appropriate in certain circumstances. For someone in your position, the appropriate punishment is death."

"What? But none of the others-"

The judge's voice boomed out over his. "None of the others swore to uphold justice in all forms and willingly betrayed those oaths."

"I was just trying to make money," Edwyn complained.

"The Order has many ways to make money."

"Hmph," Edwyn snorted. "Manual labor? Demeaning. Cultivators shouldn't have to do that."

"Honest labor has value to society, but if you found it so distasteful… the Order has many different kinds of missions to undertake."

"So the choices were to work myself to death, or just die? I had no choice except to do what I did."

"If you expect to be paid for providing no value to the world, we clearly failed in our assessment of you," the judge inclined his head, "I apologize for that. But willful disregard of the rules will not be tolerated. You clearly went to some lengths to hide it, and the others have corroborated that you knew your sin. The sentence is final, stayed only for the appropriate time for exculpatory evidence to be presented, late as it would be."

"You know nobody will come with anything," Edwyn snorted.

"Indeed, we both do," the judge narrowed his eyes, "But that is because we are fully aware of your guilt. But if we were mistaken, we would not want to rush an execution. And we shall abide by the rules even where the situation is clear cut."

Kohar watched as Edwyn was dragged away. She almost felt bad. Not for him, in particular, but she had been the one to officially write the charges against all of those involved in the scheme. Usually she didn't deal in criminal matters, since the prosecution of crimes would be handled by whoever ran a local area. Sometimes she had gathered evidence or consulted on laws, but rarely had she been the one bringing the formal accusations.

The punishments seemed somewhat harsh for some of those involved. Exile and being stripped of their position wasn't much less than a death sentence, though she supposed cultivators could more easily handle that. Some of those involved seemed to have been sincerely unaware that they were doing anything other than properly collecting taxes, but they were still punished.

Of course, Edwyn had been the one to create the scheme to fill his own pockets. Yet there was little in the way of restitution coming from his possessions- it seemed to have flowed in and out of his pockets at the same rate. Money that had been spent on expensive wines didn't exactly disappear, but that didn't compensate the people of the villages that had given up their income to gather that money at the lowest level.

Mostly Kohar was disappointed at how little progress there was creating a larger change in the world at large. Laws were unequal everywhere, and the Order's own strictures were one of the few that actually weighed against cultivators. Other places didn't want to cause trouble with those who were strong and might have powerful connections, though the traditions of favoring cultivators weren't always in writing. That was the problem, even if the law somehow became perfect, imperfect people would be enforcing it.

Kohar watched Devon leave. He didn't appear terribly enthusiastic about the results either. Nothing was exciting about finding corruption. And what was worse, he didn't even have a chance to talk to Anton after he returned. Simply finding out that he was safe was some comfort, but Kohar knew seeing people you cared about also mattered.

Terrible power with undertones of dread streaked through the air. It was just energy, but any power used as a weapon brought along with it the fear of death. And the origins of this particular energy were half intertwined with death.

The last time Anton had struck someone with a Spirit Arrow using Fleeting Youth's power, it had pierced through their chest and exploded out their back. This time, even though no move was made to defend, it simply engulfed them in a cloud of energy, tearing up dirt and bending trees around the area.

"Not too bad," Grand Elder Kseniya said, "But I still think that bow is awful, even if it's power is decent."

Anton lowered his bow. He wasn't particularly far, but he squinted his eyes to look closely. As far as he could tell, she hadn't even taken a single step back. So much for surpassing his cultivation phase. An Essence Collection cultivator should at least be able to scratch a Life Transformation Cultivator, right? He hadn't felt her concentrate her defenses to any particular degree.

"I see several things on your face," Kseniya commented. "But I'll admit to not being a mind reader. So I'll start with some things I think will help. First… you're still not really strong enough to use that bow. And I do mean strong. It takes more muscle power than you can really manage. But beyond that… do you know what it feels like to get hit with that energy?"

Anton recalled facing off against strongly condensed energy. He'd actually been attacked by a Life Transformation cultivator, though the fact that he had survived hadn't been related to his own actions. "It would be a sort of suppression, probably. But also… maybe a bit of unexplained fear?"

"That's the problem," Kseniya nodded. "If people are going to be suppressed by the pure force of the energy, they need to be crushed. If they're going to be afraid… they need to be so afraid they can't respond. But yours isn't quite either. Explain to me once more how your technique works."

"It takes advantage of my cognition about my mortality, and my closeness to the end of my lifespan, to draw upon the energy from beyond ascension and into reincarnation." Anton thought for a few moments. "Ah."

"Do you get it?"

"I'm pulling on two types of energy."

"That's right," she said. "I noticed it because of those techniques from the Luminous Ocean Society. I've studied them more than you, I do believe. They quite easily interfere with what we believe is ascension energy, but that lingering feeling remains. They are so well mixed that I didn't immediately realize they were not one and the same."

"That's what I get, I suppose. Trusting in a technique Everheart created but never practiced."

She shrugged, "What can I say? Unlike… certain others… Everheart usually had no trouble creating clear instructions for making use of a technique. You certainly obtained the energy. So it failed to mention that you might want to separate the energies for different uses. That won't even always be true. A mix might be good… if it's on purpose, and not due to lack of effort."

"I understand," Anton said. "What's next?"

"Just a thousand shots for a little warmup," Grand Elder Kseniya said.

That was easy enough.

"Without using a bow," she added on. "I liked hearing about that bowless technique of yours." She quickly formed a bow out of energy, firing an arrow into the sky. "Just imagine if you break yet another bow."

So that was it. This was punishment for destroying bows. As if feeling bad about it himself hadn't been enough.

Chapter 214

Over time, patterns began to emerge in relation to the attacks. Suspicions became confirmations as information was sorted, unrelated attacks being filtered out as much as they could. Weaker cultivators were being targeted. Not just that, but younger cultivators. Those with potential. Though those who hadn't been promising students were rarely kept track of in fine detail.

There were more incidents than the one Anton was a part of where the attackers were defeated. Strangely enough, they seemed mostly unconcerned with preserving their own lives, and fought to the death rather than allowing themselves to be captured. Few cultivators had such fanatic loyalty to a cause, though if they thought there might be a worse fate in store for them if they were captured, choosing to die would make sense. In that case, though, they would likely be cautious about engaging in the attacks in the first place.

While capturing cultivators who were unwilling could be quite difficult, especially when they were always the attackers and thus thought they had the advantage, it did happen in a few incidents. Along with the bodies, it was confirmed that at least some of the attackers practiced the same type of cultivation as those in Black Soul Valley.

Yet none of them had so far been discovered in a city, going about their daily business. That meant they had to have some way to conceal their cultivation from others, or possibly allies. While cultivators might survive in the wilderness if they were strong enough, they would never obtain suitable weapons and equipment. Since there weren't frequent enough robberies or unresolved incidents for such a large group to have raised up cultivators who were often in Spirit Building and sometimes Essence Collection, it was logical to assume they interacted with other cultivators without them knowing.

Tensions between sects were on the rise. Nobody liked their disciples being targeted, and those with grudges against each other were suspicious of reports that their rivals were also being attacked. Some groups took the opportunity to have their own conflicts, as any excuse was enough to push things over the tipping point in some cases.

Time continued to flow, no matter how much it would be convenient if it would wait. Anton was not concerned about it from the perspective of his own mortality. Even if he hadn't come to terms with it long before, at the current moment he was still gaining lifespan faster than it was passing him by, though he couldn't say by how much.

It took a year for him to go from the twenty-fifth star to the twenty-eighth, and now he stood at the precipice of Essence Collection. He felt as if he could step into it at any time, but there were dangers associated with certain increases in cultivation. In early Body Tempering, a cultivator was not necessarily skilled enough to control the energy they brought into themselves, making it one of the riskiest times. Yet crossing the borders between the stages had its own danger as well.

Each step represented an increase in quantity and quality of energy, and with that came more stringent requirements to control it. Anton had gone smoothly from Body Tempering to Spirit Building in a moment of crisis, but it was not usually the best way. Of course there were always the stories of ancient cultivator geniuses who always broke through when their lives were in danger, surpassing stage after stage. They might even be true- but just because someone accomplished something didn't mean it was the best for them.

If stepping into a new stage was the difference between life and death, of course those cultivators who succeeded would be heard about. Yet all of those who failed would be forgotten to time.

Anton found the thoughts that most concerned him weren't whether or not he could step into Essence Collection and control the energy there. They weren't thoughts about his training with Ksenya, which continually pushed him further than he thought he could go. They were about people. Friends and family and those he didn't really have a category for. Everyone he taught how to cultivate, some learning more quickly than others.

He also thought about those from different sects, and people he didn't even know who were attacked and killed. What little information came to them from passing ships didn't change anything. His mind was so focused on what he couldn't do anything about, and all of his training in Emotion and Voice did little to settle his heart.

He almost envied those who cared nothing for the world like the Frostmirror Sect, but it was also his feelings for everything that inspired him to continue. And even the Frostmirror Sect was not entirely made up of heartless individuals. Despite what they liked to think, Anton was aware more than a few of them never truly completely severed their emotions. In fact, if they truly completed the task to the greatest degree they might end up doing nothing at all. It might seem purely logical to grow stronger and cultivate even without feelings being involved, but Anton didn't think that would be the case. Logic on its own never gave reason to do anything, but simply guided one on what might be the most 'efficient' way to do so. But different minds could disagree even on what might seem like clear points.

Anton certainly didn't intend to cut himself off from emotion, and simply suppressing his thoughts while he tried to break through to Essence Collection seemed like the wrong way. Yet he couldn't simply wait for current matters to be resolved. He would likely need as much strength as he could get in the next few years.

Grand Elder Kseniya had dragged him off to the north, through Estary to some small outlying islands. The reason was quite simple. There wasn't anything particular special about the area except for… nothing. That was what they were surrounded by. Kilometers of open ocean, with nothing in sight for him to hit. Not even land, for the most part, so he had no concern about doing everything at full power. Even if he targeted the water, at most he could only harm a few fish- but most of them swam deep enough his arrows didn't easily penetrate.

"I need to go," Anton simply said one day. He hadn't completed the training to separate the two types of energy he gathered from Fleeting youth, he hadn't broken through to Essence Collection, he hadn't even mastered Horizon Shot to Kseniya's standards. Though to be fair, that last one had extremely exacting standards. Anton considered it good enough for the moment to be able to fire an arrow to a place beyond his vision, even if it wouldn't strike any particular target.

"Okay," Kseniya said. That was it. No protests of any sort, warnings that he needed to complete his training, or anything else. "I'm sure they'd like to have me back at the Order anyway.

Anton didn't think the training was a failure. He'd made great strides in the areas he was pursuing, but simply hadn't been able to see any of them to completion as of yet. If only cultivation was so straightforward as putting up a barn. Every piece was created and put in its place, and then it just worked. But people weren't quite like that. Or maybe there were just more pieces elsewhere that he didn't know he needed.

On previous visits to Estary, Anton had just been passing through. The first time he was fleeing from Ofrurg, and then he passed through both going to and leaving the Luminous Ocean Society's ruins. He'd more or less gone through the whole country once more without really stopping to see much, but this time he intended to stay a bit longer.

Sometimes Anton felt his focus was too narrow, sometimes too broad. However, he couldn't help but look at the people of Estary as he walked past them. Nothing was particularly wrong with them, just as common villagers in Graotan lived their lives and would continue to do so. They grew up, farmed, practiced a trade, ran a shop, and everything else that humans did to occupy their time and survive to the next generation. He found nothing wrong with it, a good life. And far better than many in Ofrurg and other places where they might be slaves or face harsh environmental conditions.

But… it could be better. Life wasn't just about work and income. Cultivating to be more efficient at your work ultimately wasn't enough by itself- but the satisfaction of a job well done was one of many joys of life. Money was just bits of metal, but buying a present for a loved one who would love the gift as much as they loved you back was a wonderful feeling. Living a life without fear, beyond the normal ebb and flow of worrisome seasons and life events was ultimately something worth pursuing. And Anton felt that cultivation would help people do more of everything. And ultimately they would have less reason to fear the world.

Estary had a good relationship with the Order, but Anton wasn't just going to go around teaching people the Ninety-Nine Stars cultivation technique on a whim. For one thing, he wouldn't be there when people ran into problems. So instead of convincing common folk that they should learn to cultivate, he was more interested in the various sects taking up that burden. And if he had to convince them that ultimately the people and land would be improved to motivate them, he would do so.

Infinite Wisdom Forest was located in northwestern Estary, just a short way from the coast. Their name was rather grandiose, but they weren't an arrogant bunch for the most part. Their name was not intended to imply that they had infinite wisdom, but that they were seeking it. Though he'd only listened to a few conversations with one of their elders who came to preside as a judge in the trial of Zvonko and the others, he'd been quite impressed by what they said. And while he didn't expect to just be able to walk in and speak to high ranking elders, very few sects would turn away a cultivator at the peak of Spirit Building who wished to visit.

Though he showed up unannounced, the guards at the ceremonial entrance gate ushered him inside with few questions, except to confirm his origins. He was brought to see a man of similar cultivation, the peak of Spirit Building, though Anton guessed that he himself had been cultivating for significantly less time. "Elder Atwood, Elder Anton Krantz of the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars has arrived as a guest."

"It is a pleasure to have a visitor," Elder Atwood said, and from everything Anton could tell he met it. "To what do we owe the honor of your visit?"

"I wanted to consult with Infinite Wisdom Forest on a certain matter. Oh, and before we progress further… I should note that I am not technically an elder in the Order. There are a limited number of seats, thought I might hold one of them some day."

"Titles matter not, compared to the cultivation and understanding of a person. What matter do you wish to speak on? I'm sure you could find someone interested in nearly any topic you wished to broach."

"It's something of a personal quest of mine," Anton admitted. "It concerns the separation between those who cultivate, and those who do not."

"Do go on," Elder Atwood said with interest.

"Cultivators tend to remove themselves from the rest of society, either through physical distance or other methods. In many cases, it is a sensible approach. Cultivators must seek out places with high concentrations of natural energy so that they might grow stronger, and many such locations are too harsh for those who don't cultivate to endure." Anton paused to organize his thoughts. "Yet those who do not cultivate, even if that is because of poor talent, might still benefit from some minimal amount of interaction with cultivation. To most of those who do not cultivate themselves, those of us who do are mysterious and strange… and even terrifying in our power."

"Fear of the unknown and greater powers are not uncommon, nor entirely irrational," Elder Atwood commented. "But it is better to not cause such unnecessarily. Like your Order, we of the Forest try to grow connections to those around us so they feel like both of us belong."

"I am pleased to hear that," Anton said, "Yet I would wish for more. Many of those who do not cultivate, either because they have low talent or because they fear the danger, still might benefit from cultivating to a small degree. A stronger body allows one to be more productive in many arenas, and even a slightly extended lifespan could greatly affect some individuals."

"I would tend to agree," Elder Atwood said. "But I do not gather that you are purely speaking in hypotheticals."

"Indeed you are right. In Graotan, I have been guiding a number of individuals through the early stages of cultivation. I have seen the changes that can make, even if most remain in early Body Tempering."

"It must be a significant effort, to guide so many."

"It can be," Anton said, "Though in time I would hope that my personal involvement wasn't required. If every community had several who learned everything most people needed to know about cultivation, they could continue to maintain a certain level on their own."

"Interesting. But how would this be different from turning everything into a cultivation sect?" Elder Atwood smiled widely as they talked.

"Let me explain my thoughts," Anton began. He had quite a few things to cover, and though he wasn't sure if Elder Atwood or anyone from Infinite Wisdom Forest would actually do anything with those thoughts, at least someone was listening. If he failed here, at least he would learn something about how other cultivation groups thought.

Chapter 215

After the completion of Anton's conversations with Elder Atwood he met several others from Infinite Wisdom Forest. Their enthusiasm for teaching people to cultivate energy was not as great as his own, but he successfully convinced them to make some attempts with a small group of people. They were of course interested in the potential for the quantity and quality of natural energy to be improved, potentially removing the need to maintain some expensive formations around their sect.

Beyond the tuberous roots from Ambati, Anton had gathered a small collection of different sorts of crops that could be grown with only a small amount of natural energy, the sort that would gather and amplify it. There were even more he didn't have possession of, but knew about and was trying to get samples of. No matter how good one thing was, it couldn't simply be grown everywhere. Besides asking for a blight to overtake a country's entire crops, the soil would be depleted if not left to rest or maintained with proper crop rotation.

Elder Howland of the Order helped fill Anton in on what things to watch out for in terms of exceptional plants. Some produced more energy while they grew, while others absorbed it- but ultimately it was possible to end up with a net positive amount. And even those plants that fully contained energy within themselves were still useful to cultivators as food or medicines.

The reason the scale of growing such crops was limited was simply from a lack of manpower. The Order was generous with rewarding contribution points for those who worked the fields, but they were limited both by those who chose to perform the work and the absolute numbers involved. Even the largest sects numbered in the thousands, and that was quite little compared to even the countryside surrounding a single large city.

Even if the crops weren't necessarily of the extraordinary variety, they could be tended to more efficiently by cultivators who had stronger bodies. Even if oxen were plowing the fields, there was much physical labor for a farmer to immerse themself in.

Anton doubted that Infinite Wisdom Forest would care for his plan beyond increasing the availability of energy infused crops and spiritual herbs, but he hoped that was incentive enough for them to wish to make long term efforts.

Silence was pervasive in the observatory. Yet despite that, it wasn't quite so awkward as it once had been. Hoyt sat patiently as he watched his grandfather slowly move and focus the great telescope. "Come, come, take a look at this."

Hoyt stepped forward. Everything he was shown was interesting to look at. But this time, it was just blackness. "Is it focused wrong?" he asked. "I only see darkness."

"Mhmm," Vandale nodded, "Now feel it."

Though it was only a very faint thing, the telescope amplified more than just the visual acuity of the stars. They had a sort of feel to them, but it was so minor as to be overlooked when not specifically sensing. "... still nothing." Was this some sort of exercise to improve his abilities? Hoyt might not be so opposed to those, but he'd prefer to know if he was supposed to be training.

"Interesting, isn't it?" Vandale smiled widely, "Nothing at all. Or even… less than nothing."

"I don't understand," Hoyt admitted.

Vandale shrugged, "Maybe I'm wrong, but I'm of the belief that something is there. Devouring."

"Is it a danger?" Hoyt asked.

"Not to us. The only celestial object of note is our own sun and the nearby planets. Everything else is simply too far to concern ourselves with. But it is interesting to look at nonetheless."

Hoyt agreed. "It's quite something to look at." Even the blackness was so pure and rarely seen that it was almost beautiful. But he much preferred shining stars still.

Hoyt's eyes locked on his grandfather. It was unfortunate that the void reminded him of something. There was some force attached to Vandale, draining him. He still could use a majority of his power, but Hoyt had managed to learn that if he used too much the power could break free, killing him or perhaps doing something worse. He knew his grandfather would choose to die before letting it harm others, but that was the problem. Just because Hoyt didn't want him to pave his path of cultivation didn't mean he didn't want him to live.

"Listen," his grandfather broke the silence. "I know you don't want to learn Falling Stars from me. That's fine. It's not that great of a technique anyway."

"It's amazing," Hoyt interjected.

Vandale held up his arm, "It might look it, but the first generation of a technique is never going to be its best. Even most of Everheart's crap has been improved since his time. Anyway, the point was… I can still teach you other things about cultivation and controlling a fiery power like a star. It won't even look like my other techniques."

Previously, Hoyt would have refused. That would have been for several reasons, including stubbornness. But now, he found his stubbornness greatly diminished and even pointless. He was still not going to try to be like his grandfather though. "I'll gladly accept."

When cultivators could not resolve something quickly, it tended to drag on. From the perspective of the cultivation clans and sects, a single year was not long. The attacks felt more like a rapid flurry, taking advantage of the disorganized nature of the various groups. And disorganized they were, since despite the agreements between sects nothing truly bound the region together.

In a way, however, the attacks had some benefits. Though many youths with promising talent perished, the continued attacks forced different groups to work together to investigate. Black Soul Valley itself was still empty, just ruins that had been combed through many times in the past year. Yet clearly related cultivators still existed, some of them having fled from the battle but clearly they had enough members remaining that there had to have been more than one location.

Along with the suspicions on rival sects, with the information that the attacks made use of illusions some actually justified suspicions began to be formed. Those groups that were sensible were quite cooperative with trying to find the weakness of the illusory techniques used. Others remained stubborn, out of concern that they would reveal weaknesses of their own sect's techniques in the process. That cast certain groups in more suspicion, but no moves against them had been made as of yet.

One very cooperative group was the Courageous Heart Clan. Their own clan's techniques required their bloodline to perform properly, and there were features about them that easily put them above suspicion. There were many things that were possible with cultivation, but changing size in a permanent fashion was not one of them. With the Courageous Heart Clan being quite easy to verify as about half the height of a normal human and bodies from those who had been slain being around normal size, only the most extremely paranoid would conflate the two.

The problem was finding anyone with firsthand experience dealing with their illusions and surviving. At least, those who could describe how the techniques might work. There had indeed been juniors of illusion using groups who were killed, but they weren't so common that they'd had one of the lucky few survivals.

That was the biggest factor. It seemed that this group was well organized to the point of rarely failing, and nobody could point to an incident where their specific plans had been discovered in advance. And people still didn't know how to find them, despite the feel of their energy being known widely.

The best thing about wandering from city to city was stopping at roadside food vendors. At least, Chikere was a firm believer in that truth. Dumplings, sandwiches, pies, soups, noodles… all sorts of different things were available. The good ones you could smell from far away while walking down the road. In fact, most quality could be spotted from a distance. Fine buildings, fancy clothes, good swords… all usually discernible just from a single glance at any range.

This particular place had several of those things. The building itself was just slats of wood almost randomly held together, but the smells coming from the back were divine. Only a few passers-by were stopped under the overhang when Chikere arrived, but it wasn't lunchtime. Well, it was lunchtime because she was about to eat, but not the normal time for a meal.

This place happened to serve fish without smelling fishy. A tremendous accomplishment in Chikere's book. It did smell like frying oil, but that was something she considered good. She ordered a few filets when they got to her and wolfed them down. Delicious.

Her eyes roamed to other patrons of the establishment. They settled on a well-muscled old man. But the person himself wasn't important. It was the sword at his side. Something was familiar about it. As she got close, she realized it looked like number ten. "Excuse me sir. May I ask where you got your sword?"

He looked over at her, grunting. "Eh. Blacksmith and enchanter in Sarton."

Chikere waited for more details, but he was no more forthcoming than that. She simply nodded her head in thanks and began to walk away.

It was like number ten. It wasn't the sword that the other one had been wielding when she got it, but it certainly was related. Forged by the same hand. The only question she had was whether number ten was the best the smith could do… or if there were better available. With at least three similar in quality to number ten, she would bet the smith was capable of more. It was just a question of affording it. But she could sell the old number ten if she had to, and of course there were all of the other swords that had dropped out of the top rankings that she sold a few at a time.

It wouldn't do to flood the market, but that also meant she had a constant influx of swords. Other weapons, too. It wasn't like only sword cultivators came after her head. Just mostly that type. They seemed to think she was showing off with all the swords hanging at her waist, and cultivators tended to be the arrogant sort. Some of them were smart enough to not actually try to kill her, though. She extended the same courtesy to them, if not to their pride.

Sarton. It was as good of a target as any. It had been a while since she wandered through Ofrurg. She just hoped the border guards weren't the annoying ones that kept bugging her about where all the swords marked for the Eternal Sword Hall came from. There was really only one explanation, and they just wasted her time with the same questions over and over.

Natural formations were a strange phenomenon. A stick could represent a line or a more complex rune and fallen leaves could fill key positions, but for the most part larger trees and stones made up the majority of it. After all, if the wind blew and leaves fluttered away, it was hardly a formation but instead a random scattering of stuff.

Only in rare cases were natural formations really much of anything. When they were self-reinforcing, made out of durable materials, they could last for a long time. Catarina knew that people first studied natural formations to understand the more formalized formations they had now. She could see why… and she could also see why people didn't still do it. It was tedious to look at every little leaf in an area and hope that nothing changed to disturb a small change in the flow of energy before an assessment was complete.

The trickiest thing was making something look natural while that wasn't the case. Elder Rana had indicated that most of the time it had little value, except for luring someone into an ambush- but hiding formation flags was often easier. And if someone was so attuned to the energy fluctuations anyway, they could pick out either kind if they were looking.

Still, Catarina's first experience with formations had more involved the natural or semi-natural kind. It had been something of a miracle that she'd been able to learn anything about formations in Carran. Her hometown hadn't been much of anything special, but a nearby library actually had a few manuals on cultivation. Obviously they had the Ninety-Nine Stars cultivation technique, but they had a few other things as well. That had gotten both her and Timothy started.

As for why she'd studied natural formations, she simply didn't have special materials. Created formations using natural objects wasn't technically a natural formation, but rearranging local objects was a reasonable replacement for anything with proper materials when it was required.

Catarina now had the finances to make anything within a certain reasonable threshold, but she was still working on a formation making use of natural objects. It was strangely difficult to accomplish. Of course, Elder Rana reminded her that all of the anti-ascension energy formations were complex, and transferring them to a new medium was likewise going to be difficult.

Yet it wasn't any harder than some of Everheart's formations. They could get pretty complex and difficult to manage… with the capacity to go outside of the bounds of the user's intentions. They crossed the line into forbidden territory in several ways, and Catarina was always cautious with them.

The biggest difficulty with the formations that were supposed to weaken ascension energy was testing them. Her grandpa wasn't always around, and though they could use other formations to emulate the energy, it was both high in effort and expensive. There was a certain sort of feeling a formation master eventually got for how something would work, but there were still small details that could benefit from testing.

Catarina sighed. She hoped that she would have a long time before she needed these particular techniques. Or preferably, they wouldn't ever be needed at all. But that was probably just a nice dream.

Chapter 216

Sometimes people were bad at giving directions. For example, if someone mentioned a blacksmith and enchanter in a particular city, that someone could have given a name or potentially even a section of the city. But not having that information, Chikere was left to figure it out herself. Fortunately, even a very large city like Sarton only had a few dozen blacksmiths throughout it. Those that were blacksmiths and enchanters were only a small portion, and they were the same who worked with all of the high quality materials. People who weren't cultivators hardly needed better materials than good steel for anything they were doing, and certainly not at the prices people had to charge.

Since random people didn't necessarily know which blacksmiths also catered to cultivators, Chikere still ended up visiting a few of the regular smiths. Two of them didn't even have weapons at all, just a bunch of tools and crap like that. Totally uninteresting, if necessary. Some of the ones that did have weapons, however, were quite good. Even if the materials were just plain steel and without enchantment the swords were good. Not within the top one thousand she had seen, but still quite decent in their own right.

Eventually Chikere decided she'd gone to enough of the smiths she might as well see all of them. There were all different kinds of swords to look at with differences from tiny stylistic choices on the guard or grip to the difference between short curved blades and large double edged two handed swords. Chikere mostly used double edged swords, but there was no reason she couldn't use others if they were good enough.

But none of them were. Not a single sword in the entire city was worthy of being in the top ten, and very few of them could be in the top one hundred of swords she had owned. Nothing rivalling something she'd actually use… or that even vaguely resembled the sword she'd asked about.

Her eye twitched. The man at the roadside stall had been a liar. All she wanted to know was where he got his sword and he sent her to the wrong city. On purpose. It had to be. Nobody would forget where they got a sword.

… Okay, Chikere had to admit that perhaps some people wouldn't remember where they got a sword. But the flippant way the man had responded didn't do the man any favors. She was hoping she could find swords that matched the one she had taken, since it was so good, but the man had steered her wrong.

There was something she was missing. The sword she'd taken from her attacker and the sword that man had been wearing matched. Which meant if she could find other people with similar swords, she could track that guy down and make him apologize! Also, maybe they were attacking other people. She certainly hadn't recognized any of the ones she'd met from the list of people she'd antagonized.

For some reason nearby people flinched as she pulled out her swords even though she obviously wasn't going to slash them. She pointed her swords vaguely south, where she had been wandering. "I swear, flippant sword man, I'll find you!" What she would do when she found him was another thing. But she hadn't seen many people with swords like that. Just the two who attacked her- one who escaped- and the man by the road. It would be a bit silly of her to hope she'd just stumble into them. She had to look for help. Who knew things?

Oh, right! There was a sneaky organization that liked to find all sorts of things. Wasn't it the cat tails? No, that wasn't it. Dog nose? That was closer. Oh yes. The Ears of the Fox. They should have some sort of information.

"I want to find people with swords like this," Chikere held out the sword towards the woman who had come to meet with her. Since the sheath belonged with it, she didn't draw it out to show her, but Chikere dropped it into her hand when she held it out.

"You want to find a specific smith?" the woman looked over the sword very seriously, inspecting it up close. "There are no maker's marks or anything of the like, as far as I can tell."

Chikere shrugged. "It's not like it needs to be marked. Just find something that feels the same. It might not even be a sword."

"I need to ask an important question here," the woman said. "What is your intent? Are you planning to collect weapons? Track down a certain smith? Find something stolen?"

"Yes. The first two, maybe." Chikere tapped her chin, "Oh, and maybe take revenge on the group who tried to kill me with this one."

"These people," the woman said. "Did they use strange illusions?"

"Yes they did, actually. Do you know where to find them?" Chikere tilted her head, "If you just know about them off the top of your head, it shouldn't be too expensive, right?"

The woman working for the Ears shrugged, "Knowing about them and knowing where to find them aren't necessarily the same. But perhaps we can work together for our mutual benefit. If I understand correctly, the people you are looking for are being looked for by many others as well. What about this sword makes it recognizable as theirs?"

"It's just got the right feel," Chikere said. "The other specs aren't all the same."

"Would you recognize other types of weapons? Perhaps a dagger?"

She nodded. "Daggers are just really short swords."

"Pardon me then," the woman said. "I'll be back momentarily." She returned a short time later and spread out a small bundle of daggers in front of Chikere, on the table they were sitting at. "Are any of these daggers-"

"This one," Chikere picked up one of them. "See?" she held up her sword next to it.

"I am sorry to say I can't find any striking similarities between them," the information vendor said. "The styles are quite different."

Chikere licked the sword and the dagger she had. "No, they're definitely the same. They have that sharpness. Definitely the same enchanter."

"Well," the woman inclined her head. "I have to say that at the very least… you have some way to determine correctly. We can help you find them if you help us teach one of our specialists how to recognize what you do."

"Sure thing," Chikere said.

It took more than a few days for the right specialist to show up, but Chikere was willing to wait. She'd have barely even made it to the next town over and probably not spotted anyone. She'd probably have to wait weeks to come across whoever she wanted by random chance. The Ears of the Fox should be able to help speed that up considerably, right?

The specialist was an old man. His hands were rough and calloused from old labor, and he practically shone with enchanted equipment. Everything from a single earring he had to his gloves to his boots and everything in between was enchanted. It all had the same feeling, too. Though none of it had the sharp heart of a good blade.

"So," Chikere said. "Before I try to teach you how to recognize these things, how many people have you killed with a sword?"

The old man took her strange question in stride, simply thinking for a few moments before responding. "Twenty-seven."

"Eh," Chikere shrugged, "Good enough for a start I guess. So here's the thing," she pulled out the blade she'd taken from the ambusher and showed it to the man right up close. He didn't even recoil, like most people did. "Did you feel that? I can do it again."

"Go ahead," the man said, grinning lightly.

Chikere swung the sword a few more times, back and forth. "Its core really comes out when you swing it." She flipped the sword over, holding it by the point. "Give it a try." The old man took a few swings, but Chikere stopped him. "No no, it should have more… oomph. Really kill that shadow person in front of you." Chikere felt herself be cut in half vertically, as well as being sliced a dozen times horizontally. They were nice neat cuts, but they weren't efficient. Of course, the sword only actually swung next to her. "That's pretty good," she said. "That sort of sharp killing intent, you know? And the enchantments. It's like a hidden killing intent. Like holding that sword, it might turn around and stab you at any point."

"Yes," the man said. "I feel it now."

"Good," Chikere said. "Anyway, that's what makes it good enough to be number ten. And the other ones were like that too."

The man pulled out the dagger from before, dragging it through the air. "Oho, indeed. I have the sense of it now. Yes, these were certainly made together."

"Right?" Chikere said. "I'm not sure if it's the same smith, but… you know. They fit."

"Perhaps," the man nodded. "Different smiths, different enchanters… but one technique. They'd hardly stand out to most people."

"Pfeh," Chikere said. "That's just because most people can't recognize a good weapon if it's impaling them."

"Isn't that the truth, though?" the old man laughed. "Sharpness and durability are hardly relevant compared to certain intangible elements. I should have spotted this sooner. Thank you, Chikere."

"No problem," she said. "What's your name anyway? I forgot to ask."

"Stasiuk," he said. "Enchanter Stasiuk, generally. The Ears of the Fox have asked for my aid on this matter. Now that I have something to work with, it should significantly accelerate."

"Great!" Chikere said. "So how long do you think it will take to find them? A couple days, a week?" she frowned as she saw his face. "Two?"

He continued to smile widely. "You greatly overestimate how quickly people who don't want to be hidden can be found."

"Eh," Chikere shrugged, "I'm not sure about that. I'd bet you if I wander around the area for a week or two they'll attack me again. For whatever reason."

"Have they attacked you more than once?" he asked.

"No," Chikere said, "But nobody ever stops at just once."

"For them to find you, they'd have to know you were in the area," Enchanter Stasiuk explained.

"Good point. Should I just go out on the street and yell that I'm in town?"

"... if you are committed to this angle," Stasiuk said, "I think we could go with a more subtle approach."

"Oh yeah? What's that?"

"Actually," he leaned back slightly. "How about this. You just stay in the area. Maybe go out into the woods hunting beasts or something. Don't loudly announce your presence though."

"Good idea," Chikere acknowledged, "They probably won't attack me in the city."

"I feel like I should be appropriately transparent," Stasiuk folded his hands in front of him. "You would basically be acting as bait for us. You'll likely be in great danger."

"Can I be bait for you and me at the same time? Because I'm fine if that's the case."

"That… shouldn't be a problem. And the danger?"

Chikere shrugged, "What are they gonna do, kill me?" Her eyes flashed, "Because I'm willing to bet they don't have enough people for that."

Enchanter Stasiuk leaned back, pondering. Considering she'd already fought with the group once before, and that she should be aware of their expansive nature, he'd have figured she would know they had enough people. But the confidence with which she spoke told him that his own estimations of her strength were somewhat lacking. "Might I ask, young Chikere, how many people you have killed?"

"With swords?" she asked.

"Is it different?"

"I killed someone with my bare hands once," she admitted. "Let's see, it's been eight years… three hundred and eleven?" Then she shook her head, "Oh wait some of those were illusions. Three hundred even."

"How many people in Essence Collection?"

"That was only the last couple of years, so… twenty one."

"That's… a significant portion of a powerful sect."

"Eh," Chikere said. "I've only killed two or three Essence Collection cultivators from any particular sect. They seem to lose track of me after that."

Stasiuk was not so sure anyone could lose track of her, with a trail of bodies like that. While a powerful sect had more than just a few Essence Collection cultivators, each one was precious. They couldn't afford to lose one every few weeks. "Well," Stasiuk said. "You should probably consider whether or not you want to follow through with that plan. Staying in one place for longer will give all sorts of people chances to catch up. Eventually you might be overwhelmed."

"Yeah…" Chikere said. "I suppose that's possible. I should bring backup. I wonder if Anton and the others are doing anything?"

Chapter 217

Technically speaking, there was no need to try to draw out anyone if Chikere's method of detecting them was reliable. However, moving from one person to two people potentially randomly encountering someone still wasn't efficient. It might be possible for Enchanter Stasiuk to teach others, but the method was somewhat obtuse. Nor could it be guaranteed to work for everyone they wanted to find. If their method was discovered, it would be simple for people to hide their true weapons in a storage bag, or acquire weapons with different origins.

The Ears of the Fox had another reason to not wait. Besides the fact that Chikere's method hadn't been tested extensively, the sooner they could get information the sooner they could sell it, and there were many people looking to buy. They even had a bit of a personal vendetta, since some of their junior members had been attacked as well.

With Chikere's plan to draw people out involving members of the Order, it brought other factors into play. While their disciples could technically do whatever they wanted, the Order was also invested in keeping them alive. Beyond that, as a righteous sect they were invested in stopping the attacks as soon as possible even if it weren't going to affect their disciples directly. But if it was, they would want to take special precautions.

The problem was figuring out a way to keep them properly safe without scaring off the would-be attackers. More than that, even if they managed to draw out a group, gaining any benefits from the operation was questionable. Killing a few enemy cultivators might be beneficial, but it wasn't necessarily worth the risks. What they needed was concrete information that could be used to unveil more people.

Author's note: The last time Elder Matousek showed up I accidentally was referring to her as male. Whoops! I guess that's what happens when someone doesn't show up for a hundred chapters. Should be fixed now.

Grand Elder Bohdana Matousek hadn't been present at the battle in Black Soul Valley. That hadn't been her choice, but at the behest of the Order as a whole. Even if she would have been able to sway the tide further in their favor, someone had to stay to defend the Order. She couldn't help but think that some of the others would have survived, or Vandale avoided injury, had she been present. But excessive dwelling on the past never benefited anyone. It was important to focus on the task at hand.

Despite the Frostmirror Sect's location high in the mountains and the fact that many of their buildings were formed from ice, it was actually a rather pleasant temperature in the areas meant for visitors. With a bit of effort ice could be made not to melt until it was much warmer than the standard freezing point, making it easy to build with.

Even though ice was effectively free, the Frostmirror Sect was not cheap. The ready availability of materials allowed them to make walls many times thicker than most, all bolstered by formations to enhance their durability. They were also intricately designed, with beautiful carvings all along the walls. It was one of the few non-practical things that the Frostmirror Sect allowed. Though perhaps it was practical in a way, to have defining features on the walls to keep every corridor from feeling the same.

"Still freezing the place?" the final arrival asked brashly.

Elder Adelina of the Frostmirror Sect- still quite young despite her title and early Life Transformation cultivation- settled her eyes on the last woman. "Sarka. Just because Glorious Flame Palace cultivators like to sweat does not make this particular temperature freezing. It is intentionally made to be comfortable for the widest variety of people."

The fact that Glorious Flame Palace and the Frostmirror Sect were working together didn't make them suddenly friends. But Matousek was glad that at least that was as far as the words went. There was one more woman present, a woman from the Ears of the Fox. Robinson. This particular group being all women was simply a coincidence, since men also liked to be in on plotting and planning for combat.

Once they actually got started, there were quite a few ideas thrown around. Elder Sarka was of course more interested in a straightforward attack, but none of the members of Glorious Flame Palace were really suited for stealth. Their movements were generally obvious, and thus they were easy to avoid. Grand Elder Matousek didn't actually mind their straightforward nature, but sometimes it was unsuitable for a task. In this case, if they were going to put in so much effort they really needed to get something out of it. It wouldn't do just to risk the lives of their juniors.

The entire plan was predicated on the probability that there would be another attack if a particular group remained in an area with high visibility for some time. The Ears of the Fox actually confirmed the likelihood of something happening in regards to Chikere. Some people just drew conflict to them, and she seemed to be one. Likewise, Anton from the Order also ran into a significant amount of trouble. Probably not as much as Chikere since he was more careful about making enemies of large sects, but he'd ended up fighting off one of the attacks despite not being a target.

The Ears of the Fox would be working to subtly spread the right amount of information about their presence, while concealing certain other things. The others would be responsible for supporting as they could. The exact strategy wasn't agreed upon quickly. Even after a few days, there were still many discussions. Though she was one of the oldest herself, Matousek had the feeling that older cultivators seemed to lose track of how much time was reasonable. Every day, there was probably another attack- just because so much time had passed already didn't mean it wasn't worth being expedient.

In between discussions new information came in. It wasn't exactly relevant to their current situation, but it was important news for everyone nonetheless. Another one of Everheart's 'tombs' had shown up. Normally that would have been news simply worthy of disseminating to junior disciples as a tempering opportunity, but this one caused an itching in the ears of the highest elders. It was supposed to be related to ascension, and even those who weren't at the peak of Life Transformation were still interested in that topic.

Perhaps it was some sort of awful joke. It was entirely possible that people would gather together with hopes of learning about ascension, only for there to be nothing available to them except a taunt. Yet nobody seemed to believe it would be just that. While Everheart might overstate or understate certain details about the various places he'd made, the information he chose to reveal before the opening was never entirely incorrect.

But that disruption was only temporary- there was more than a year until they had to deal with that, and Matousek really hoped their plan wouldn't take more than a few days to formulate. After that, it might take a month or more of hard work to actually make it come to pass, but at least they would be implementing instead of planning.

There were few concerns in Anton's mind about whether he would actually reach Essence Collection. It was normal to spend time stuck at the border. He had in front of him many fine examples of that. Chikere, for example, had spent around a full year at the peak of Spirit Building before breaking through, and she was one of the few anomalies that tended to cultivate even more quickly than his own group.

Though on that topic… Hoyt had broken through to Essence Collection as well. Anton would not have been surprised no matter who made the leap first, but the circumstances had been what surprised him. He'd actually begun to spend time with his grandfather, Grand Elder Vandale, despite having avoided any interaction for the previous five years. He didn't think they hated each other or anything, but it was still a surprise. A welcome one, since Anton was all too aware that family could be taken for granted, even if they wouldn't always be around.

Catarina, Timothy, and Velvet were all at the peak of Spirit Building like himself, though they'd been there for longer. He had no doubts they would make the step soon enough. They had already been speaking with Hoyt about his experiences. Unfortunately, they couldn't just repeat what he did. Hoyt was quite a bit like his grandfather and had just forced his way over the gap. That wasn't impossible for any of the rest, and even Anton had more or less tried the same to reach Spirit Building, but it wasn't optimal for every cultivator.

Generally, a cultivator could sense for themself if it would be dangerous to push forward. It wasn't cowardice to seek an easier path, but wisdom. Not everyone worked the same way, and simply filling up with energy and pushing, even if a cultivator avoided injuring themself, would leave some parts of cultivation almost incomplete. Usually it was related to insufficient insight, if Anton's information gathering was right. It didn't always have to be about some sort of combat style, and sometimes it was more about a mental hangup of a cultivator. It was possible to ignore such problems, but they could grow just as much as the cultivator themself.

Anton was aware he wasn't perfect, but he couldn't pick out any specific issues about himself. Yet he could only seek out experiences to fill the gaps. Sometimes, those experiences were battles.

"I'm glad Fuzz isn't coming with us," Catarina said. "Even if he would be useful. Wolves don't really do well around… smelly creatures."

"I've never had a problem with a skunk before," Timothy said. "Normally I wouldn't go near them, and they'd avoid going near me. But a giant, rabid one…" Timothy shook his head. "Sounds awful."

"How would something like that come into existence?" Velvet asked. "There wasn't really information on it."

Anton had the answer for that easily enough, "Not everything that develops in areas with high amounts of natural energy is nice. Creatures that are already unpleasant like mosquitoes, well, you know what happens with them. Skunks prefer to keep people away, but there's always the chance that they ate something tainted. Perhaps another creature, or a plant that developed rotten energy."

"That can happen?" Chikere inquired. "I've never heard about it."

"Well, cultivators don't bother to go looking for things like that," Anton explained. "Unless they're looking for poisons."

Chikere rolled her eyes. "Poisons are for people who can't follow through with an attack."

Anton didn't use poisons himself, but for different reasons. When he had been a hunter, he wouldn't want to eat anything poisoned. As a cultivator, the time and effort to learn about and maintain a stock of poisons that would be relevant to his combats was just too much. He also didn't want to support any of the vendors of such things, since most didn't really care if poisons were used for nefarious means. Finally, Spirit Arrows weren't easily able to carry poison. He'd lately begun to keep a stock of arrows with different properties, but since he would use poison irregularly he'd either have to apply it mid-combat or worry about it losing its efficacy.

"There," Velvet pointed. "Tracks." At the size of the creature they were looking for, everyone could easily spot the tracks- but whether they would recognize them as the target was a matter of practice. The front and rear paws were different on skunks, which made them an interesting target to track. They were currently moving through a wet pine forest, so the ground was plenty soft for a large creature to leave extremely visible prints in.

Not long after, the wind shifted and they recoiled as an extremely foul smell washed over them. It wasn't just the smell, either. Anton felt his energy being eaten away by something. It was only a very small amount, like piddling bits of rain washing away at a mountain, but it was also extremely indirect. Not far from that, they spotted a wolf. Or at least something that had probably once been a wolf. There were a few claw marks, but it was mangled from much more than that. It almost looked like parts of it had melted… and the smell was strongest on it.

"Ugh," Chikere commented. "Why is there a weird goop all around it?"

Anton approached closer, his nose completely sealed by his energy and his defenses keeping away the lingering remnants of something awful. He bent down, looking closely. "It seems to be a mixture of liquified fur, dead leaves, and bark. Plus some mud and blood." He stood up. "The decay patterns are unnatural, but if I'm not wrong this should have been within the last day. We should be able to catch up to it soon. The sooner the better, since it shouldn't be able to spray an endless amount."

Anton really didn't like the idea of getting directly hit by whatever noxious gas had developed from a normal skunk's already extremely foul spray. The less it had, the better. They group picked up their pace, while keeping on the alert. They had been doing well not speaking about their actual target in the area.

Chapter 218

As the hunting group approached their quarry, they found several more bodies. At least for the sake of their stomachs, it was fortunate that the creatures they found were just mostly devoured carcasses. At least they hadn't melted away, and it was more natural.

Not that skunks naturally ate anything large like the boar in front of them. But then again, they usually weren't sufficiently larger than most forest creatures.

Just being bigger or more dangerous wasn't the concern that prompted the mission Anton and the others were on. The creature was also more aggressive, and most concerningly it had attacked and killed some humans. Even cultivators, though the last group also escaped. They were the ones who actually brought in the information about it being a skunk, something that could be guessed from its tracks but not the other signs.

"Now remember," Anton reminded everyone. "We have to keep some distance between each other. Not too far though, and we have to keep our eyes out."

If any of them had merely overheard a story of what they were searching for without the proof of a paying mission, they would have completely discounted it. A creature normally more of an annoyance than a danger chasing away a group that even had Spirit Building cultivators, even those in the early part of the stage, was quite unbelievable. Their group was a little bit excessive given what they already knew, but sometimes a mission had to be chosen for being the best match, not necessarily a good one.

It wasn't long before Anton finally spotted it. Since it was within eyesight, it was also well within the range of his attacks. "There it is," he said. "I'd like to get closer. Its aura is strong enough that if I attack now and it chooses to run, we'll have some trouble catching up to it."

Ultimately, he was confident in shooting it down if he put in his best effort… but he couldn't afford to expend so much of himself just for the skunk. Since the true mission was to be bait, they couldn't know when they might be attacked. Perhaps nothing would happen this mission, but that didn't mean he should allow himself to be exhausted. But looking like he was exhausted would be fine.

Chikere was the only one who was not part of the normal group. Unlike in the the training tower in the secret realm, Devon was not with them. He was still somewhat lower in cultivation, and given what they knew about the attackers having him around would just be dangerous. As a clear weak link he would be a target, and more importantly he might come with more opponents. From the patterns that had been seen so far, the attackers tried to outclass each individual of note, though they hadn't been seen to have excessive numbers ever.

Anton still had not fired a single shot by the time the group came close enough for it to properly be noticed by it. They'd spread out to encircle it, though they were cautious of how they approached. By the time it acknowledged them, it had no easy way to run. But it didn't seem interested regardless.

The creature was taller than any of them- and skunks were not tall, but long. Seeing a handful of humans, it was justified in having some confidence as it moved to attack the closest target. In this case, that was Chikere.

Against humans, she was used to winning a battle quickly. By finding the right opening, she could easily split someone open with a focused attack. She narrowly dodged a swipe with its front claws, moving in close and slicing upwards towards its neck with her sword. Normally such an attack would be sufficient, but even though she properly judged how much energy she needed to cut through its defensive energy, her sword only left a thin trail of blood along its neck. Its fur was much tougher than she had anticipated.

The creature was not just going to sit there and take attacks. It swiped with its claws, leaving large furrows in the ground and gouging out portions of trees. The rest of the group moved in for the attack, but it fended them off mainly by an aggressive offense. Even though its teeth were not large compared to its body, they were sharp- and it was large enough that its bites were mostly aimed for their heads.

A variety of attacks rained down on the creature, damaging it but not defeating it. In return, it finally landed an attack of its own, swiping down towards Catarina. Instead of attempting to claw through her, however, it hooked behind her leg and tripped her with uncanny intelligence for a beast. In the moment she was down, it turned away from her, using its tail to push away everyone around like a great club. Then it sprayed a noxious green-yellow cloud of gas and liquid towards her.

Catarina was already regaining her feet and pushing away, but it covered such a large area she wouldn't have been able to avoid it completely. Even so, it went far to either side of her as Timothy placed himself in front of her, his shield and energy deflecting the vile substance it sprayed. Even though it hadn't touched him directly, Timothy's face began to turn green. "Careful! That stuff even sticks to energy!"

There were a few things with strange properties of the sort. Normally a cultivator could simply retract their energy if something was on it, but when something actually attached doing so would only pull the attack into them. The other option that usually worked was to detach a portion of energy, but the cost of that depended on how deeply an attack had penetrated.

Even from where he was over a dozen meters away, Anton could smell the fresh spray. It wasn't so immediately sickening as it was on Timothy and Catarina behind him, but he didn't want to get anywhere close. He did have a new bow- he wasn't ready to attempt combat without an actual physical object to project his energy onto- but it was slightly less powerful than his previous one. Not much, and it was made up for by being thicker with more durability, but he had to focus his attacks more to penetrate the skunk's hide.

While the creature turned to focus on Catarina and Timothy, the others took advantage of its limited ability to fight them all at once, even with claws, teeth, and a swinging tail. Its spray was finite in usability, so they mostly had to worry about the physical threats that they were more prepared to resist. Hoyt, Velvet, and Chikere cut into its sides after they recovered from the sweeping attack with its tail. They were starting to manage deeper wounds. Hoyt's flames charred wherever his axe sliced through, widening the damage.

Before they could manage any lethal blows, however, the creature turned tail and ran with one final spray behind it.

"Don't chase it!" Anton called after Hoyt and Chikere, who were beginning to do just that.

"It's weak," Chikere complained. "We could just kill it now."

"Maybe," Anton said. "But I'd rather deal with it when it's even weaker. Those wounds aren't insignificant even for something of its size. And it will be easy to track it down."

Velvet backed him up, "We can just follow the trail of its blood at a moderate pace. If we do that while it runs, it will be more tired at the other end than us."

"And it will give us a chance to… clean up a bit," Anton looked over at Timothy and Catarina, who were currently puking out their guts nearby. The wind shifted and brought the fresh fumes towards them, though it didn't cling so much except when directly making contact.

Making their way widely around the lingering presence of the noxious spray, they began to follow after the skunk. The pair who had been directly targeted began to look better, and the acidic effects hadn't injured anyone, though even Anton felt it tear away at some of his energy as he went past. It was good for them to have a few minutes to recover as they caught back up.

"Ugh," Anton said as they nearly caught up to it. "It escaped into its den." There was a huge hole dug into a hillside. It seemed like it might be cosy to something the size of the skunk, but it would be spacious for them.

Timothy sniffed the air, then looked down at himself. "Are you sure? It doesn't smell any worse than… us."

"Skunks don't smell bad," Anton explained. "They don't spray their den. It's just as bad of a smell to them as to us. Or at least close."

"What's the problem then?" Timothy asked. It wasn't a naive complaint, but a legitimate question.

"Cornered beasts can get even more vicious. If it has a family in there…" Anton shook his head. "Well, let's just hope it doesn't. There was only a report of a single creature, though the activities of several could have been conflated." Anton looked into the burrow, then nodded. "Actually, we should just stay out here. I can sense it."

Everyone listened to his advice, gathering around while he created a Spirit Arrow, firing it into the den. There were a few twists and turns, making it an unusually long burrow, but the total length was less than a hundred meters. With how wide it was, the turning radius wasn't too bad as he zipped and twisted. Anton aimed for a weak point he'd spotted during the battle. Beasts who could use energy generally didn't do more than create a layer of defenses over their whole body or occasionally focus on their offensive parts- claws and teeth- but they often had weak points where they subconsciously focused less energy.

Usually that meant the spot wasn't a vital they wanted to protect, but that would do for Anton's purposes. He shot another arrow and then another into the same point, piercing through and digging deeper into the same point on the creature's side as it twisted around in its den, enraged. While some organs weren't immediately fatal, any wound that went deep enough was dangerous and Anton was focusing on just the single point. By the time he'd fired the fourth shot, the creature was charging out of the den with a strange hissing growl noise far removed from normal skunk noises.

When it reached the opening of the den, the creature suddenly stopped- spraying dirt and rocks into the faces of those in front of it. Instead of spinning around like Anton anticipated, it lifted itself up and bent backwards, aiming towards them in an entirely unexpected way. Everyone was prepared enough to scatter, but the spray was wide enough that most people got at least a little bit on them, which had a lingering smell along with the corrosive effect.

The exception to those who dodged was Chikere, who sliced apart the spray as a means of defense. It wasn't perfect, but in the same motion she carved into the relatively soft belly of the creature. Her return stroke widened the same wound before any energy defenses could be summoned to protect the creature.

Anton was further back and only had to dodge a small amount before firing a final two arrows. One went through Chikere's slash into the creature's inside and pierced its heart, and the other went wide into the woods to his left.

That was the point at which a dozen figures revealed themselves on all sides of the group, auras at late Spirit Building and Early Essence Collection flaring up in equal measure. It seemed their plan to be bait might have even been too effective, since there was one mid Essence Collection aura as well. Outnumbered and surpassed in cultivation, Anton really hoped that they were being watched over as promised.

Chapter 219

The battle broke out quickly, with the hidden attackers having presumably been waiting for the group to drop their guards after the defeat of the giant skunk. However, Anton had been fortunate enough to notice one of them hiding towards the end of the battle. His attack had done little but alert his companions to the presence of enemies, but it was sufficient to negate some of the element of surprise.

That was enough for others to react to a flurry of arrows and darts. The location of the cave minimized the angle of attack to a semicircle instead of from every direction, which allowed Timothy to block several attacks aimed for himself and Hoyt. Chikere deflected incoming projectiles with her mass of swords. Catarina managed to dodge the few attacks aimed at her.

The only person injured in the assault was Velvet, who had a dart pierce into her shoulder. The size of the projectile wouldn't contain much of a wound, but Anton felt the poison on all of the other weapons.

Everyone had a different response, but the strangest one was from their infrequent companion Chikere. "What the hell?" she shouted out into the woods. "Not even a single sword? What's wrong with you people?"

Somehow she seemed legitimately angry, as if personally affronted… and not as if people just attempted to murder her. Though her physical response followed the latter. Her aura sharpened even further as she charged towards the nearest opponent hiding in the forest, and she began cleaving her way through enemies. Anton recognized that most or probably all of those she was cutting down were illusions, but he wasn't sure if she cared- or how to convey the information in a timely fashion.

For his own part he was busy dealing with onrushing enemies that he was more certain weren't illusions. The initial volley of attacks had involved many participants, but it seemed most of the enemy didn't specialize in ranged combat. From what he saw, none of them were as good as the archer he had defeated, but that didn't give him confidence. After all, they were just a half-second away from melee range even as he fired shots at them and moved to close with Catarina and Velvet.

Catarina was throwing formation flags around the area as quickly as she could while avoiding incoming attacks. The first person to try to knock one out of position as they approached was met by a swift slash of her sword, forcing them away. Anton was already being hounded by three opponents and just managing to hold them off as he approached. Unfortunately… Velvet had fallen to the ground, her energy weakening. He wished he could do something for her, but he had neither the skills or medicines, nor the opportunity to assist.

Timothy and Hoyt pressed forward after Chikere, joining her assault on the half-dozen enemies on the other side of the battle. Chikere was immediately locked in battle with another Essence Collection cultivator and a late Spirit Building cultivator. The matchup was similar for Hoyt, while Timothy was simply defending against an opponent similarly at peak Spirit Building.

Though they had not all fallen in the initial attack like had been the intent, Anton and the others were still on the back foot. Worryingly, the mid Essence Collection cultivator was not participating in the combat besides firing additional poisoned darts from a blowgun. Though his skill was inexpert, his energy helped make up for that lack.

Catarina had somehow managed to get a tight formation setup, allowing herself and Anton to hold off the cultivators on their side, at least for a few moments. One of them dashed past Anton, and he was unable to stop them because one of the Essence Collection cultivators intercepted him.

Anton's eyes flashed as he twisted his right hand axe to parry an incoming spear thrust. He knocked it away and followed through with the axe in his left hand, swinging for the chest of his opponent. Instead of dodging, his opponent simply took the hit directly, relying on her superior cultivation and energy. That would have been the right move, if not for the sort of energy Anton's axe carried with it.

His weapon bounced off directly, not even cutting through her defensive energy, let alone her armor. Yet the woman recoiled anyway, clutching her chest with one hand. Even if he had used the maximum amount of post-ascension energy he could draw upon at once, Anton was unsure if he could have injured a well-prepared Essence Collection cultivator. At the very least, she wouldn't have just taken the attack head on. But he had learned to disentangle the two types of energy he was technically drawing on.

The most obvious and impressive was indeed the energy from beyond ascension. It was overbearing and forceful… which was why it had so easily made him overlook the other energy. It was energy from beyond death, and not simply another well of energy to draw upon but another kind of energy. A sort of energy even more immaterial than the other types, to the point it almost didn't seem to exist. But its effects could be very real, when the situation called for it.

Anton had been hoping to slice his opponent's heart or lungs in two with that attack. Cultivators rarely had much in the way of internal defenses, but through a combination of his opponent's instincts to defend at the last moment and his own inexperience he only managed to harm some ribs and muscle with what felt like minimal damage to the actual organs.

The woman who ran past him was wielding a warhammer. Practically sized, but with sufficient weight to crush whatever the blunt side impacted. Anton couldn't look away from his opponent, but a portion of his senses lingered on Velvet as the hammer swung down.

The sudden movement and cursing filled Anton with elation, as he sensed Velvet rise to her feet and the woman stagger back. It wasn't hard to pick out a dart stabbed into the woman's wrist, though she'd dodged the follow-up swipe by Velvet's black dagger.

Velvet's movements weren't as quick as they should be, which told Anton her fall hadn't entirely been a ploy. However, it seemed she'd managed to remove the poison before it caused too much damage, simply making it seem as if she was fully affected. He would chastise her for nearly causing him a heart attack, but they had to do whatever worked to protect themselves here.

There were supposed to be protectors watching, but they were still fending for themselves. Had they somehow been drawn away? Were they betrayed? Anton didn't like any option he could think of, but it seemed they would have to manage this fight alone. Catarina's formation supported her, Anton, and Velvet but the other three were on their own. Though they were seemingly doing fine.

In the few moments since the battle had started, the whole copse of trees where the others fought had caught on fire. The thing that appeared to be most on fire was Hoyt, but given his lack of concern it was clear he wasn't truly on fire. It was more like he was the fire. Everywhere he and his axe moved left behind a trail of fire. Trees ignited nearly instantly from the heat of fire produced by an Essence Collection cultivator. Yet it didn't burn Timothy or Chikere, only keeping their opponents at bay. Though Chikere didn't take advantage of Timothy's protection or the zone Hoyt had created, instead charging forward to attack.

The battlefield constantly shifted as foes appeared and disappeared, but Chikere cut through every place that anyone- illusion or person- had been as long as it came within her reach. She dodged incoming spear thrusts and darts by the narrowest of margins. Arms reached out to grapple her, but she sliced into the joints in the armor while avoiding being touched. Some of the blood that sprayed out was likely even real.

Then her companions disappeared from her senses as she was dropped fully into a world of illusion. There was no pretense made about it, as she was cut off from the feeling of the ground beneath her feet and the trees and even the air. That included the lingering remnants of the stench from the giant skunk.

She continued to hold in her mind the positions of all of the opponents she'd seen, real or not. If she moved in a particular manner, they would move like this. It would only work for a moment, but as she spun her swords around her she felt for feedback of any kind. Swords were the one thing she was confident wouldn't betray her.

Given her inability to directly sense incoming attacks, Chikere felt she was doing well at the current moment. She only had a few scrapes on her face and neck, and along her ribs. Oh, and someone had severed some muscles in her right arm, rendering it useless. But she still had nine swords at the ready.

She retreated back towards where her friends and allies had been. She felt a comforting heat in the area, and knew Hoyt was still present. And presumably aware of her on some level, since she wasn't having to resist his energy. Chikere hated retreating, but she recognized when she had to. There was only one more enemy that had popped up behind her that she had to cut down. Her sword slashed out, ready to take off his head. But the sword she held in her left hand stopped before it touched skin, and the others stabbed on all sides around the man in front of her.

She seriously hoped that nobody had killed Timothy and taken his sword, or she would be dead. But she felt a comforting hand on her back before the pair of them were suddenly forced back, a powerful energy scattering off of Timothy's shield but not completely negated.

From the impacts she was pretty sure they went through two trees along the way, though one might have been a tall boulder. Chikere felt a moment of concern for Timothy, but the way he disentangled himself from her and held his sword in a firm stance told her he was at most minimally injured. Perhaps it had even been his direct intention to disperse the force in several pieces rather than all at once.

The other side of the battle was still holding on. Anton had made use of both types of special energy twice, though only one of his three attacks managed a significant injury. That was enough to keep them in the battle but their opponents were gradually wearing them down with superior numbers and cultivation.

As one of the Essence Collection cultivators shoved Anton with a shield he was thrown off balance, almost moving into another attack. But his companions weren't idle either, and a moment later Anton smelled the most foul thing he'd ever smelt. Well, he smelled more of it. He couldn't imagine what the actual targets were going through as Catarina pulled every ounce of the skunk's spray into a sweeping vortex.

Had that been the purpose of the formation all along, and not the enhancing of their speed? No, she'd simply adjusted it on the fly, making use of the nearly forgotten feature. Even the Essence Collection cultivators looked sick, while one of the Spirit Building enemies was puking his guts out despite the danger. Another one didn't have the chance, as a moment of hesitation was enough for Velvet to slice his throat and stab him between two ribs.

Anton was off balance so he couldn't take similar advantage, but he at least managed to get to better positioning.

Timothy stood up, sword held out in front of him. He was absolutely certain that Chikere was susceptible to the enemy's illusions. Even if she only expended a small amount of energy when her attacks connected with nothing real, it was still wasteful and unfitting for someone of her skill. He'd thought for a moment that he might die when she turned towards him and readied her blades. A moment later he thought they might both die from the mid Essence Collection cultivator barreling forwards and punching with an oversized gauntlet… but he'd managed to block it.

The second one was going to be more difficult though. He freed himself from Chikere and the other body that had gone with them unwittingly, glad she had impaled the opponent he hadn't quite recognized as being present. He could at least hold on for one more attack to give her a chance.

The world slowed down as he watched the figure barreling towards him. He felt the power and knew he couldn't match it. His own energy was just weaker. Blocking an attack wasn't just about raw power, though. It was about redirection. He just had to manage something that was close enough to slow the man.

He breathed deeply, feeling the energies of everyone around him. Chikere and Hoyt were both in Essence Collection. The rest of them hadn't yet reached it, but he still noted the way his companions were approaching the threshold.

If Timothy were knocked back once more, Chikere would find herself vulnerable. If she fell, Hoyt would be in trouble, and Anton, Velvet… Catarina. He didn't want any of them to die. What was the right move?

He didn't really have time to think, but instead let his body move on its own. His shield tilted back, just slightly, his stance low. It was only a small step from taking the attack head on, but something about it felt right. The incoming energy was only a moment away from impacting his own, but at least his opponent was confident enough to meet him head on instead of trying to avoid his shield.

When the attack hit, everything cracked. Timothy's shield cracked. His arm cracked. Energy blasted deep into his body, shattering ribs and other bones he'd forgotten he had. Some of his organs split, but as the energy pierced deeper more of him cracked. His eardrums went more or less last, as an explosion of energy echoed out from deep inside him and reverberated in all directions.

At least his eyes still worked, and he was just able to make out the man somewhere in the air above him before he found himself buried in the ground.