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by demonicgallade

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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 220

Buried into the ground up to his neck, Timothy circulated his energy throughout his broken body. He was beginning to understand now, how things changed in Essence Collection. It would have been nice to reach his current level of understanding sooner, but that was just how things were.

As his energy circulated through his body, it began to change. It became powerful, durable, lasting. The energy of Essence Collection would always be stronger than the levels below it, but the way in which it was stronger differed between cultivators. The traits Timothy was imbuing into his energy were what he wanted. What he needed.

He picked himself up out of his hole, holding his broken bones in place with his energy. His energy didn't transform all at once, but even if it had with his body in the state it was he wasn't going to make up the difference in power compared to his opponent. But he didn't have to do that all on his own.

Chikere came to stand next to him, her eyes closed. It seemed she was still under the effects of the illusion- in fact, it seemed that having found her susceptible they focused it on her and barely bothered to try to confuse Timothy or Hoyt. He was more certain that was the case with every moment, as his senses began to clear.

He didn't have long to think about what was happening as the mid Essence Collection man landed and charged forward once more, doubtless ready to finish crushing Timothy with his fist weapons. There wasn't much to be done about that, since Timothy had barely stopped the last one. But he held his sword and shield ready, tilting the point of his sword to stab out towards his opponent. If he couldn't stop him, he might as well try to injure him.

At the very instant his sword began to move, Chikere flashed past him, looking much like a prickly bush of swords. Most of her attacks went wide as the man halted his momentum, sending dirt flying everywhere.

There was a strange moment where nothing was happening, but as Timothy stepped forward to stand next to Chikere he found she was only idly attacking. She didn't know where the target was, after all… yet she'd so precisely charged the man in front of them he found it difficult to believe.

Seeming to find Chikere's an unacceptable threat, the mid Essence Collection cultivator spun on his heel, kicking towards her with reinforced greaves. Timothy couldn't reach his shield over to Chikere's side, so he did his best to parry with his sword. Then Chikere was once more a flurry of movement, blades slicing out and up in an almost undodgeable wall of swords.

Timothy was embarrassed it took him so long to realize what was happening. Chikere was a sword cultivator, and while she said she could sense any sword nearby no matter what, that wasn't the sort of thing normal people took seriously. It sounded like an exaggeration. But as the enemy cultivator drew back from Chikere's attacks, Timothy changed his parry into a pathetic attempt at a slash towards him. His attack was too slow to matter, but Chikere charged forward following his movements.

A few moments later, the battle was a strange dance where Timothy was moving his sword as a sort of conductor's wand, directing Chikere while not even being close to the enemy himself. Though he wanted with every fiber of his being to protect his friends and companions, he was aware his body and remaining energy weren't up to the task.

Timothy wished he could sense Hoyt's fight, but that section of the battlefield was hidden from his senses. He could only hope his friend was doing well, because despite Chikere's skill with the sword, it was greatly blunted by having no awareness of her opponent's weapons. The only saving grace was that her nine swords focused together to cover the whole area in front of her, and the Essence Collection cultivator was finding it difficult to attack her without leaving himself vulnerable to his arm or leg getting chopped off- or just being fully impaled.

As he tried to circle around, Timothy turned and swept his sword. Chikere's movements weren't always of the same magnitude he wanted, but he began to apply energy to his sword as if he were actually attacking, and she responded to that intensity. It was only a short time before the Essence Collection man had circled around her entirely, and then he broke forward to attack Timothy.

The only thing he could think to do was flip his sword around, hoping that Chikere would take the signal and move towards him. He wasn't quite confident enough to spin around and show his back. She moved with great speed, but he wasn't sure if she was fast enough. Blindly running across an uneven forest floor slowed her down somewhat.

Time seemed to slow as the man approached. Then there was a *clink* sound as Chikere's swords hit the man. Then they did it again and again.

A young man's eyes lit up as he sensed a powerful energy from the other side of the battlefield. "Finally!" he shouted. Since he no longer had to be stealthy, he threw away all pretense of that in one glorious motion.

His powerful legs threw him into the air, his limbs shimmering as they became more akin to burning fires than actual arms. As he landed fire exploded around him, though he did his best to avoid scorching some of those on the battlefield. Mostly that was because he landed with one of the enemies between himself and the person he was currently helping out.

The woman with the warhammer was obviously surprised at his appearance. After all, nobody expected a member of the Glorious Flame Palace to actually be stealthy. Truth be told, Anish was merely the closest thing they had. He was able to keep himself calm and low intensity on the outside, when he really had to. Though on the inside he'd been building up pressure, and he released all of that at once as he screamed and breathed a gout of fire over the enemy at the same time.

The addition of a fresh Essence Collection cultivator was a sudden shift in the tides of battle, and with one of their members immediately defeated the attacking group hesitated a moment too long before they thought to retreat. Anish caught two of the remaining four around the neck, pulling them against his flaming body. When they tried to impale him with their weapons he just laughed.

Stabbing fire wasn't of much use. Though nothing was impossible for cultivators, Anish made sure they didn't think he was hurt. They were a bit busy with trying to escape his grip and not be turned into piles of ash to properly inspect if they'd actually damaged the fire man with their attacks. Just as he liked it. They could both turn to nothing. They already had what they needed.

One of the group actually managed to break away from melee combat. Anish wasn't ready to give chase, and none of the others were in the state to do so either. But the old man among the group swiftly pulled out a bow. A different bow than the one he'd used at the beginning of the battle. He sure took his time drawing it though. The final fleeing opponent was beyond the treeline before the bow was pulled back to the man's ear, and he still didn't take the shot.

He continued to build energy though. Anish was certain that the old man wasn't an Essence Collection cultivator, but he couldn't help but swallow as he thought about facing the attack. If only it hadn't been so unfortunately slow, he might have killed the survivor. Why wasn't that woman giving chase? They really didn't want any escapees here.

Then Anish got it. Because shortly after Anish could no longer sense the fleeing cultivator, the old man took his shot. The twang of the bow hurt his ears, and the arrow… disappeared. At least, his eyes couldn't track it- though his energy senses followed it for a distance before he also lost it. Then he felt a brief flash as it impacted. From the look on the man's face, Anish could only conclude it was a success.

The old man turned to him. "Hello again Anish. Good to see you."

Anish knew the old man, but his brain took a moment to conflate all of their meetings. The last time was in the secret realm. There had been a huge incident there, and it involved the rest of the cultivators present as well. Then before that had been at Everheart's Tomb. That was the one that took him a moment to realize. Certainly the old man there had been an anomaly since it was supposed to be for new cultivators, but Everheart could make whatever decisions he wanted. The old man hadn't tried to trick him or anything, so Anish didn't care.

Anish grinned, "Hey. This time, I actually got to fight. Imagine that, huh?"

"Can you stop her?" came a calm voice from beside Timothy as Chikere's swords continued to strike the frozen statue in front of her. "She might actually shatter him."

Timothy's eyes flicked between the woman besides him and the man encased in a thin sheet of what must have been extremely sturdy ice. He quickly twirled his sword and sheathed it. Chikere didn't lower her weapons, but she stopped attacking.

"Thank you," said the woman.

The fog on Timothy's senses cleared, and he first felt Hoyt with two more ice statues… and half of one. Chikere's face twitched, then she opened her eyes, actually focusing on the features around her.

"Frostmirror Sect, right?" Chikere asked. "You're late?"

"Were we?" the woman Timothy was fairly certain was Elder Adelina showed no expression as she responded to that remark. "I do not believe so. Any delay was merely because of the difficulty of freezing someone from inside out, energy and all."

On the other side of the battlefield, Timothy felt Anton. The others were there as well, but their energies had all settled down as the battle was ending. But Anton fired a shot into the distance. Timothy would bet he hit, too. He didn't like his chances with blocking that even if he was at full power.

"Come then," said Elder Adelina. "It seems one of your companions could use some assistance." Timothy creakily turned his body. A lot of bones were broken and he was just holding himself in place with energy, so he preferred not to make any swift moves now that he didn't have to. As he watched, Elder Adelina walked over to Velvet… and encased her in ice. "Oh come now, don't give me that look," she said to everyone around her. "She's in a protective stasis like the others. She got the largest dose of poison of any of you. I assume if you had a way to help her with that you would have already done so."

"... is it safe?" Anton asked.

"Safer than leaving her as she was," Elder Adelina replied. "And unlike these few over here, I didn't freeze her core so her cultivation should not be damaged."

Everyone was so exhausted they didn't have a retort for that. Anish seemed to have disappeared off into the distance, but he came back not long later carrying a body. "Well I'll be damned," he said. "You actually hit."

"Of course," Anton said. "I wouldn't waste my energy for nothing. Not when we could be attacked again."

"You won't be," Elder Adelina confirmed. "Unless there are spare fools who wish to die. Now all of you should deal with your various wounds." Then she sniffed. She stomped the ground, creating a small crater, then gradually filled it with ice. "And bathe. Anish, melt it."

"I don't have to take orders from you," he said testily. Then he sniffed. "But they could use the bath."

Of course, it would take more than just water to clean off the musk of the giant skunk, but there were options available to the cultivators. They could at least lessen the smell somewhat before returning to the city. And they certainly needed to treat their wounds. Cuts and stabs were everywhere, but Timothy wondered if he could just get someone to carry him back to town, since there weren't any parts of him that weren't at least a little broken.

Chapter 221

Beyond just the single success near Sarton, some other members of the same group were found and successfully captured. That was harder than it sounded, because even though the group hadn't yet figured out that their weapons gave them away their members were often skilled and more importantly extremely unwilling to be captured. If a cultivator was willing to give up their life, it was only a small effort to tear themselves apart with their own energy. Most wouldn't, unless they expected to be subjected to extreme torture, because everyone seemed to want to live. Yet they seemed to have little regard for their lives.

It wasn't impossible for a cultivation sect to have dedicated groups of fanatics willing to give up their lives for something, but usually it didn't go so far. It wasn't a surprise though. Even back in Black Soul Valley they had been willing to sacrifice themselves to empower a formation pushing one of their members towards ascension.

For those same reasons, interrogating them was difficult. Even if their energy was restricted from leaving their bodies, they could still kill themselves easily enough. Only if their energy was completely drained- or if it was frozen- could anything progress in that area. Doing either of those was not so simple, and required someone of a significantly higher rank and usually a bit of stealth.

Elder Adelina of the Frostmirror Sect was in early Life Transformation, but even she took some time and the element of surprise to be able to freeze the energy of the mid Essence Collection cultivator that had been fighting on Chikere, Hoyt, and Timothy's side of the battlefield. So far, he was the highest cultivation person that had been captured- and even if the group didn't know how they were being discovered, they quickly enough learned they were being pursued and began to hide themselves even more carefully.

The interrogation process by the alliance of cultivators was long and slow. Regardless of whether or not ethics were considered, prying useful information out of a cultivator with torture was rarely possible. As many of those they captured were practitioners of illusory techniques, it was difficult to gain information through those methods as well. But slowly they pulled bits and pieces of information out of the captives.

The first few times they were nearing useful answers, their prisoners died in rather violent explosions, even without access to their own energy. After that, they were more careful with their interrogations and eventually managed to discover formations carved into the very souls of their captives. That meant if they were close to revealing sensitive information, their souls would be torn apart and they would die along with their memories. But once such formations were known about, they could be studied and counteracted.

The more Catarina interacted with the soul killing formations, the more she realized how far the hole of forbidden techniques went. She was only at the far edge of interacting with the process, allowed to study what was learned but only under strict supervision. Just thinking about modifying the very core of a person, especially for reasons that clearly weren't in their own best interests, sickened Catarina.

Interacting with another person's soul on the level where the formations could be sensed and properly observed was another level of forbidden technique all on its own. Trying to unravel the formations without causing it to activate in any way- whether the intentional fully destructive method or anything else- was quite difficult, even for Elder Rana and the other formation masters involved. Catarina wasn't considered a true master herself yet, and she found it difficult to make sense of how some of it worked.

The formations were easier to unravel on the weaker members, but they also had less information. The only concrete information was an actual name for their group- the Twin Soul Sect. There was some speculation as to why they would be called that, but delving into knowledge of cultivation techniques was harder. The more complex information was, the harder it was to get someone to say it either through coercion or subterfuge.

They didn't actually have twin souls, but a careful inspection revealed that each member had two cultivation techniques. The one they displayed to the world, and the dark, often illusory related technique that they all made use of. That information was discovered by capturing some of their members who held weapons from the same maker, before they had revealed any other form of connection. Interrogations of such people were done cautiously in case they turned out not to be connected to the same group- but only one actual mistake was discovered.

One man in particular had managed to survive one of their attacks and found that their weapons were better than his own. When the man- Jameel- found out why he had been captured, he gladly gave up all the information he had. He was reluctant to allow an in-depth look at his soul, but with the solemn vow that nothing would actually be done to him as long as he was not a member of the enemies, Jameel accepted and was declared clean.

The various sects provided reparations to him in the form of cultivation resources. Perhaps that might not fully make up for being captured and interrogated, but he was just a member of a sect of mediocre power and wasn't willing to raise too much of a fuss after at least being compensated.

With the information gained from the others, techniques to determine members of the Twin Soul Sect were being developed one piece at a time. It was hoped that they would be complete before the group discovered the full measure of what was happening and went completely underground… but if it was possible to sense their true cultivations, they couldn't really hide permanently. Even if they managed it, the attacks would be forced to stop. But such things weren't accomplished in just a week or a month, and the research still continued.

Though some might have liked to keep quiet the news of Everheart's tomb- which tantalizingly offered information related to ascension- since Everheart himself clearly didn't want that, the news spread. There wasn't just one place that notifications of the tomb's opening came from, but all around the continent. As for the location… it seemed to be everywhere. At the very least, many places claimed to be an entrance to it. As far as anyone could tell, they all seemed equally legitimate. Which is to say, being related to Everheart… all highly suspicious and seemingly powerful.

With many locations all promising access to the same place, nobody was in control of who entered. Though generally nobody was allowed to restrict access to such places, an alliance of sects in control of a given country might conspire to keep out certain enemies. But with at least a dozen different locations toted as the entrance, none of them better than the others, it was impossible to restrict access to any specific group. If they could not go one place, they would find somewhere that wouldn't reject them.

Even universally reviled sects like the Flying Blood Cult would be able to arrive at some of the more remote locations without being spotted. It had to be assumed that Twin Soul Sect members would be coming as well, though picking them out might be more difficult. The various bits and pieces of information about that weren't public knowledge, but instead only known to the Order, Frostmirror Sect, Glorious Flame Palace, and a few others including the Ears of the Fox. The Ears of the Fox fully intended to sell or otherwise distribute the information to others, but given that they couldn't be fully sure who to trust they were still holding out on that so as to not alert the Twin Soul Sect.

One of the various entrances was more or less smack dab in the middle of the Order. Unlike many of Everheart's other tombs, this had not been hiding in a plateau or under a dry lakebed, posing as an otherwise inconspicuous location. At least not in the same way. Because instead of opening up, a structure actually came out of the ground… right under a farmer's house.

The entire farming family had been out in their fields when it happened, and then their home was just… up in the air, atop another building. That was unfortunate for them, but they reported it to local authorities- and just everyone in the nearby towns who would listen to their crazy story- and the Order quickly got word.

Though getting a house down from atop the flat structure that had pushed itself out of the ground was not simple, retrieving everything from inside was rather simpler. While it wouldn't be quite the same, a replacement home was being built. The land it was on was still occupied by the new structure, and the Order couldn't make any promises as to whether it would be usable again in the future. That would depend entirely on what happened with the tomb.

Each Everheart was different. The one in the middle of Graotan was a portly man with a huge cask of ale strapped to his back, constantly drinking from a mug in his hand. Even so, Anton heard he'd been extremely helpful and informative. Concerningly so, given Everheart's proclivities for being unpleasant.

He had given the information that "a few thousand" people could enter through the particular entrance in Graotan. Beyond that, he'd also informed people that they could be stuck inside the tomb for several months, and that they would need to bring supplies for that time. And of course there were those same words thrown about again and again.

"Ascension," the figure said as he gestured with his mug. "You all want to know about it. It's just about time, too." A drunk Everheart grinned, "You'll be… surprised."

Anton didn't like the sounds of that, but from his experience he knew that Everheart wasn't evil, or even truly malicious except against those who came into conflict with him.

"Senior Everheart, there's no limit on who can enter?" someone in the crowd standing nearby asked with obviously strained politeness.

"None at all. As long as everyone can fit in the building, it doesn't matter. Fun for all ages!" Everheart's projection downed his mug, sloshing some of it onto his shirt. "More fun for quick studies though. I like geniuses."

Unlike many times with similar events, most of the cultivators around were from the Order or otherwise local to Graotan. Anton could tell some weren't from the area, but as long as people were on good relations with Graotan access wasn't restricted in any way. Notably missing were most people from Ofrurg, but for most of the country there was a closer entrance regardless. Only somewhat western located sects like the Grasping Willows were present. Likewise, there were cultivators from eastern Ambati, southern Estary, and northern Droca.

Most countries didn't have a centrally located entrance. Unlike Graotan, many other countries had two or three entrances scattered about. There was no clear pattern that had been found, except that they were generally similar distances apart. At least it seemed that Everheart hadn't predicted where countries would be centuries after his death, just placing entrances to this place wherever he could. Usually somewhere remote, though one appeared in what had become a bustling city in Estary.

It probably wouldn't have been easy to keep it a secret while building them, but once they were placed underground… they could have stayed there the whole time without any fuss. By the amount of earth they brought with them, the entrances also hadn't been shallow. Perhaps hundreds of meters or more deep in the earth, beyond the range of the senses of even Life Transformation cultivators, unless they had reason to look underground at the exact spot the entrance was located.

"Ah, it's time," Everheart said. "Everyone in! Hurry up!" he clapped his hands. "I haven't got all day. And neither have you."

Some people hesitated, but those who knew Everheart hurried as he said and the rest followed quickly. Nothing horrible happened as they stepped inside the big cylindrical building that had come out of the ground, though even Anton could tell there was some sort of formation at work, slowly building up energy.

"Hope nobody's late," Everheart said. "I was very specific about that. Now then, you're all in. Going down!"

Anton felt his stomach jump for a moment as power washed over him, and then the sky went dark. Except not quite.

"Just kidding," Everheart laughed uproariously. "This is Ascension we're talking about. Why would we go down?"

The sudden darkness caused Anton to look out the door, where he saw the night sky. Except something was wrong with the moon. It didn't look the same at all. It was too blue and… cloud-covered. Anton's eyes widened as he realized what had happened, and it seemed many others had come to the same realization as himself.

Chapter 222

Everheart was known for many things. Many of the things he learned ended up frustrating large sects and stealing resources from them. Among those things, large scale teleportation was not commonly known. At the very least, Anton hadn't heard of it. Any sort of teleportation was exceptional, including the portals to transport people into secret realms like the Luminous Ocean Society had once maintained. Yet this was on a wholly different level from what he knew to be possible.

Even if done through a formation, there had to be a huge power source hidden somewhere. Though as Anton looked around what he was fairly certain was the surface of the moon, he realized perhaps he was standing on it. Certainly, he couldn't measure the amount of energy beneath his feet in any of the scales he was used to thinking in. Even the whole of the Order's defensive formations paled in comparison to just what was immediately around him.

Everyone else was still in their same positions relative to Anton himself, so he turned to his companions and smiled. "Well. The moon. I'm quite impressed."

"Yes yes, everyone's properly amazed. How exciting, et cetera." The lone figure between all of the teleportation points was clearly Everheart, and of course a different form than any other. He looked like a teenager, casually leaning against a statue of… probably himself. "You have no idea how boring it gets up here after a couple centuries. So dull. But I had to be here to direct you and stuff."

Everyone waited patiently as he stood there. Silence hung over everyone for a good minute, before someone timidly spoke up. "Umm… senior Everheart?"

"What?" he frowned at the individual who spoke up.

"Weren't you going to direct us?"

"Sure," Everheart said, gesturing over his shoulder with his thumb. "That way. I'd hoped someone would have figured it out on their own though.

Indeed, that was the only direction that had buildings beyond the circular teleportation zones everyone had arrived in. But nobody had wanted to move and ignore important instruction from Everheart. Important instructions that were seemingly not going to happen. Nobody said anything further, but just began moving slowly.

Just as Anton was starting to be impressed by how many things Everheart built, Anton noticed something. The design of different buildings and even different parts of buildings were different… and somewhat haphazardly connected. Surely things could have flowed more smoothly if it were intentionally done, but it didn't seem to be the case. Though Anton didn't think he was qualified to critique architecture on the moon.

As Anton walked, he felt strangely light. That wasn't discongruous from what Grand Elder Vandale had speculated, based on his own calculations and others before him, but as far as Anton knew nobody had actually experienced it. Even cultivators who could fly stayed close to the planet, the thinning air above the mountains making it impossible to survive in the void between planets.

He could feel that, above him. There was air to breathe all around him, but not far above the effect of a formation ended and there was just… nothing. Nothing at all. Not even air, which was usually what was in a place where there was nothing. Anton had an ominous feeling, but he couldn't tie it to anything in particular.

As thousands of cultivators were pressing forward into one of the exceptionally large buildings, Anton found the time to get a good look at people. The groups he recognized were expected. This was the sort of thing everyone wanted to come to, though it wasn't actually everyone who came. In addition to limited space, sects didn't want to just abandon everything they had. There were missions to do, unresolved conflicts with foes, and some simply didn't trust Everheart.

Anton didn't blame them. Everyone could have been dead just now, with very little they could have done about it. But with some understanding of his motivation, Anton trusted that he didn't intend to just kill everyone out of spite.

Ahead of them in a large hall was the same teenage Everheart. Anton's senses had never left him, but suddenly he was standing leaning against that particular wall. Not that his changing places was particularly shocking, given the situation.

"The first test is to pick a door," Everheart gestured to the wall behind him, which had hundreds, maybe thousands of doors all along it- layered in rows on top of each other, even. "Those who are unworthy fail, or whatever. You have… I dunno, a minute? That seems like plenty."

At the arbitrary and casual mention of a time limit, some people began to panic. Reasonably it wouldn't take long, but they couldn't spend much time considering either. Anton took a quick look at Catarina and the others. "Any ideas?"

His own senses were scanning the doors, but he couldn't spend even a second on each of them. Not that he could feel much with so many different energies reaching out and disrupting him.

"Let's just start moving forward," Timothy said. Everyone was edging closer to the doors, but only a few people had broken away from the crowd. Nobody really wanted to be the first to pick, but they also couldn't afford to wait.

"They all seem the same to me," Catarina said. "The room is the problem. We have to hurry."

Even as she said that, Anton understood what she meant. It should only take cultivators at their level a few seconds to run across the grand hall and reach a door, but those who were out front were showing clear signs it wasn't that easy. It was something that wasn't unfamiliar either, but more like an old friend. Increasing levels of energy pressure bearing down as people moved further into the room.

It had already been ten seconds before the group broke into a half-run. They quickly slowed down as they went from normal atmosphere to surpassing the top of the peaks in the Order to something akin to the top of the tower in the secret realm. They were able to continue forward, especially since they didn't have to fight directly against it, but their movement slowed.

Those who had been leading the pack weren't the first to reach the doors. Just as everyone was beginning to realize the hurry, someone was already there. From out of the crowd, bowling over people between himself and the doors. It didn't seem the man had any intention to harm anyone, and indeed it had to be said if he wanted to he could have easily done so. He was a good eight feet tall and nearly half as wide, a mass of muscle and flesh… but also possessed of significant energy. Life Transformation, and not just the early stage of it.

With the promise of information about ascension, any number of Life Transformation cultivators appearing wasn't even in the slightest bit strange. The man from Crunching Hippo River seemed to completely ignore the pressure along the way and chose a door straight in front of him, not stopping to inspect them.

As the door was opened, Anton could see a swirling vortex of light. The man stepped through, and then there was nothing except a solid wall. He and his companions shared glances, then began to move all the more quickly. It seemed that each door might only allow a single person through, and given that they were already on a time limit they couldn't afford to take their time.

The crowd rushed forward, and Anton realized as everyone was moving one particular instruction missing that Everheart previously had in place. No mention of a prohibition on fighting. It seemed others had realized this, because they began throwing attacks at each other as they ran. Of course, those attacks couldn't be as serious as in a real battle. Nobody wanted to anger the whole crowd around them, or find themselves surrounded by a vengeful sect. But if they could push people away and back some people didn't hesitate.

The next cultivators through the doors were once more Life Transformation cultivators. Though many had a duty to defend their sects, there were some with more than necessary to keep their younger cultivators safe… and some who simply found the information about ascension too tempting to wait. There was a silent discussion among cultivators from the Order, which ended in Kseniya waving her hand to signal that the other elders could move forward.

Anton and the rest had been in front of the pack, but now they were struggling to keep ahead of some of the early Essence Collection cultivators. But even as doors began to be used, there were still a myriad more. Anton was more concerned with simply getting to a door in a timely fashion and uninjured instead of specifically beating others there. They raised their energy, at the border to Essence Collection or just beyond it.

Their group pushed through the pressure more or less in the middle, not finding a lot of time to spare. Hoyt was first through a door, then Timothy, Catarina, and Velvet jumping through doors above and around. Anton was about half a step behind, and he found the most convenient doors were already taken. "Excuse me," he gestured to Everheart. "May I?"

The teenage Everheart rolled his eyes and moved off of the door he was blocking. "Whatever."

"Thanks," Anton said. He didn't want to have to jump up a handful of doors to swing one open, and he wasn't sure of those had been opened or not. He had the hope that his door might be special, but it was not. Even so, nobody saw him come out the other side.

"Alright," Velvet said. "That's all of us. Umm… where's Anton?"

Everyone else had come out in a large circular room. Instead of having multiple layers of doors stacked up, they simply went around the whole perimeter of the excessively large area. Even with hundreds of people around, meeting the particular people they were looking for was easy.

"He was right behind us," Catarina said. "I'm sure there were more doors nearby."

They all looked at each other for a few moments. It couldn't have taken Anton long to just run parallel to the wall to find another door, even if he was having trouble. And more people were appearing. Yet as they waited another ten or twenty seconds, suddenly the flow of people stopped.

They recognized others around them. Chikere hadn't been with the Order to begin with, but she had made it through. Lev was only in the middle of Spirit Building, but he and several others from the Grasping Willow sect had come through along with a good portion of others from the Order. There was nobody in particular that they actually noticed was missing, besides Anton.

Everheart once again stood in the middle of the room. "Wow. Seriously. I can't believe you people want to survive with a crop like this."

A quick glance told people that less than half of the doors had been used, which meant that most people simply didn't make it in time.

Everheart continued, not really looking at anything in particular as he spun around. "At least all of you are worthy, for whatever that's worth. We've got a few more tests to put you through before I bother gracing you with my knowledge and all that. Time to get moving." He gestured to a small seam in the wall, which turned out to be a long hallway leading out of the room.

Catarina ran up to Grand Elder Kseniya. She had intentionally lingered behind them and some of the others, coming through at the last moment. She should have seen what happened. "Grand Elder," Catarina inclined her head politely. "Did you perhaps see what happened to my grandfather?"

"He went through a door," she said.

"But… he's not here," Catarina felt around once more. "Do you think there are other exits?"

"No," Elder Kseniya said clearly. "I am certain this is it."

"But… he's just as worthy as the rest of us."

Elder Kseniya nodded, "According to my understanding of Everheart's standards, that should be the case. But perhaps he chose a wrong door. By my count, others are missing as well."

"So that's it?" Catarina said. "Just because he randomly chose the wrong door out of thousands of identical ones, he's out?"

"I wouldn't be surprised," Grand Elder Kseniya said. "If you have complaints, I would keep them limited. Everheart is not fond of them. Your grandfather should be somewhere safe, if nothing else."

Anton was somewhere he didn't recognize. He couldn't sense anything around him, though it wasn't the same as the vacuum of space he had only recently become acquainted with. Instead, his senses were blocked. He wasn't sure exactly what that meant, but it made him feel anything but safe.

Chapter 223

Every group was taking stock of their members as they walked towards whatever the next challenge would be. It seemed that quite a few people had not made it through, despite reaching the doors. Yet nobody could say what had been right or wrong about any particular door. A few people had theories, but the single minute had not been sufficient for anyone to focus on anything other than simply arriving at their destination.

The Order was missing exactly two people. Anton, and a late Essence Collection cultivator known as Emma Strand. Despite her cultivation she wasn't one of the elders, instead leaving the greater responsibilities to others. The Order had a specific limit on the number of elders regardless, and not everyone wanted such a position.

Most large sects had at least one person missing and usually more, which wasn't a surprise. Random chance would indicate that those with greater numbers would also be more likely to be involved in random failures.

Twisting turning maze-like hallways led to empty rooms in all directions. As Anton traversed through the area, he took careful stock of what he could do. The door he had come through had no portal back through it, simply a white-painted stone wall. There was no instruction on what to do, no guidance… and so far, no other people.

He couldn't say for sure if he might be alone, because his senses were severely limited. Though he was aware of significant effects from formations around him, his energy senses didn't extend much beyond his body, and even his hearing was somewhat muffled to more what he would expect from a normal person.

Along with empty space, the area was filled with a moderate amount of traps. A scythe swung vertically across a doorway as he opened a door, and Anton leapt back. When they weren't active, the traps were very hard to detect. Perhaps he had just gotten too used to relying on energy senses. Was that what this area was about? He couldn't be sure.

One step into the hallway he sensed a pressure plate being depressed immediately, and he rolled back into the room as spikes stabbed out of the walls. This was still considered moderately trapped by Everheart's standards. It wasn't as if every single tile on the floor was individually trapped, after all.

As he turned the corner to a new hallway, Anton saw it extended for several hundred meters. Even with his distance vision impaired by the formations around, he was still at least able to make out figures ahead of him at the two hundred meter mark. Even just around the corner he hadn't sensed them, but it was impossible to miss them fighting once they were in front of him. Especially with something coming almost straight at him.

Anton dodged to the side. He still felt the energy from the hurled spear brushing against his side as he did so, even though it was not aimed towards him but just down the hall. He actually somewhat admired the straight trajectory only minimally affected by gravity. It was a high level of accuracy over such a distance, though he also supposed that it wouldn't have particularly changed its likelihood of striking its intended target if it hit the wall or floors a hundred meters back.

Both figures appeared to be in late Essence Collection. Anton would have gone back around the corner and entirely stayed out of the conflict except for one thing- he recognized one of the figures. While he had to admit he barely knew Emma Strand, Anton couldn't very well just ignore a member of his own sect as she fought.

The hallway had very little in the way of offshoots, so it was just a straight path between him and them. Emma was on his side, wielding a long pike while her opponent seemed to have a limitless supply of spears to throw. If a non-cultivator had the same spears, they would have been much too large to throw. As it was, they were treated more like vastly oversized darts. Stabilizing fins were created with the use of energy, much like the fletching Anton added to Spirit Arrows.

He began to fire arrows one at a time, carefully avoiding his ally. For the most part that involved shooting in the upper corners of the hallway, since she moved back and forth avoiding attacks at a rapid pace. Though Emma had a weapon with great reach, her opponent held her at bay with another spear held in his off hand while he continuously forced her to avoid his throws. It was a strange but oddly effective fighting style, though both combatants were somewhat restrained by the size of the corridor.

Everywhere the spears went they left behind a trail of ice on the nearest surface, one that greatly diminished by the time it reached Anton two hundred meters away. It didn't seem as if the spears were ever going to change trajectory, but Anton gave them a wide berth just in case the spearman decided to try to impale him.

His own arrows were rapidly fired in response, merely pestering the man with higher cultivation. Anton thought about using some of his ascension energy, but he didn't know what other battles he might end up in… and he would need a proper opening to actually affect a late Essence Collection opponent. But he could at least pester this particular man and keep him on his toes.

The battle seemed fairly even, with or without his participation. Neither side was seriously injured yet, though Emma had a few scrapes along her sides and arms. She radiated a form of heat that was melting the ice around her, and though there was briefly water it soon became steam. Unlike Hoyt, she didn't leave behind lingering trails but instead seemed to have focused her energy more internally, or rather more on augmenting her body than on actual energy projection. Her arms moved rapidly, and her pike thrust in and out with blinding speed. Yet it was something another Essence Collection cultivator could keep up with.

Anton's arrows weren't as effective as he would like, so he took closer and closer routes to Emma. If she was actually forced in front of his attacks, he could dissipate his shot nearly instantly. Any lingering remnants that hit her would be quite easily negated by even the thin layer of energy she had defending her rear. She had at least twice as much energy as he did, and it also had the increased quality and density from Essence Collection. All Anton could hope for at the moment was to be a tipping point for his ally.

He thought things were going well when she managed a thrust that tore through her opponent's helmet, scraping against the skull and almost taking off an ear. Though it was supposed to go through his head, he would at least have to deal with the rapid bleeding from a head wound. Or more specifically, devote some of his energy to preventing that.

Very few cultivators actually had more blood than anyone else of the same size, since there were just very strict physical limitations. They were just able to better manage bleeding wounds, returning blood to their body or operating at full capacity with a smaller amount than a normal human. They could even recover blood more quickly, though for most people that wasn't practical in the space of a combat.

A counter spear thrust by the ice cultivator forced Emma back, as the length of her own weapon actually became a brief disadvantage. She quickly shifted her grip backwards, but by that time her opponent had disengaged and was at a more optimal distance for himself.

There was a sudden shift in the man's temperament, and then Anton felt something he was much more familiar with than he wished to be. Though the icy feeling remained, it darkened as the light in the hallways dimmed and twisted.

Even as Anton felt his senses being distorted, he knew the effect had to be many times stronger focused on Emma. Yet she was also stronger. Even so, the sudden change in cost her dearly. A spear was thrown towards her which she dodged by a narrow margin. At least, that had obviously been the plan. But the narrow margin of error she had was actually false, and the spear actually pierced into her left thigh. Her energy defenses prevented it from taking the whole leg off, but the muscle was severely injured.

She didn't remain idle in response, however. She stepped forward even with her injured leg, beginning a quick series of thrusts. Along with that, Anton fired arrows with as much energy as he could muster, trying to match her pace. Since they both practiced the Ninety-Nine Stars, there was a certain flow that allowed them to match up. It wasn't as strong as when amplified by a proper formation, but his arrows aimed both to create openings or take advantage of openings left by her. A few arrows struck with little effect than to waste a portion of their opponent's energy, but that might be sufficient. Emma managed to clip the man's right bicep on his throwing arm, and that weakened his offense.

The moment he appeared like he would turn and run, a simultaneous thrust and arrow from Emma and Anton pierced into his chest. The body of an Essence Collection cultivator wasn't usually much stronger than someone in Spirit Building, and Anton's fully powered attack slipped through where Emma pierced his energy defenses, straight into the man's heart as the spear shattered his sternum.

Emma pulled back a moment later, wary of any last ditch efforts. Fortunately the damage had been sufficient that the man only managed a few half-effort throws which Emma handily dodged- and they weren't aimed straight down the hallway towards him, so they got nowhere near Anton. Anton still stood outside of the trajectory he thought they would take had they been aimed at him, but as the man fell unconscious from his wounds he felt any illusory effects fade.

With a flick Emma's pike was cleared of blood, and she turned towards Anton with a smile. "Glad to see you. You're the first ally I've spotted here. Everyone else wanted to attack me on sight… or ran away. Though I suppose that's only a small sample size." Her voice carried easily down the hallway as she began to walk towards Anton.

He moved forward as well to be in a more comfortable speaking range. Shouting two hundred meters wasn't exactly good for conversation, nor was it subtle- though it was possible nobody would hear them given the design of the area. They met about halfway, though Anton moved a bit more since she had her injured thigh. "You're actually the first two I saw," Anton admitted. "I hadn't expected to find a sectmate fighting a member of the Twin Soul Sect."

Emma nodded. "That would explain why he was so keen to attack, though. I'm sure they'd rather we don't develop any more Life Transformation cultivators." With her current cultivation she wasn't at the brink, but while she was advanced in age she might still be able to make that journey. "Have you seen anything resembling a way out?" Emma asked as she began to apply ointments and bind her leg.

Anton shook his head. "Not even close. I haven't even seen any other entrances than the door I came in. I imagine if I were to retrace my steps it would be well concealed in the wall. We'll have to look about carefully, for both secret tunnels or traps."

"The traps shouldn't be too much of a problem for me," Emma said.

"I could see that," Anton said. So far even he hadn't been concerned about the danger they posed. Someone an entire stage ahead of him shouldn't have any trouble at all. He casually inspected her cultivation. He'd been able to feel she was at late Essence Collection as the two cultivators threw their energy around. "I wonder how long it will take me to reach the fiftieth star like yourself," Anton said. He began to inspect a nearby doorway, since there was really no clear path it seemed as good as any.

"Oh, it shouldn't be that long," Emma said. "You're Anton Krantz, right?"

"That's right."

"Then I'd bet no less than a decade or two, if you live that long."

Three factors saved Anton's life, at least for a moment. First was watching her fight and seeing her cultivation up close. The second was the ominous way she said that final line. And the third was the door Anton hurriedly threw between them as her pike thrust towards him. Maybe a bit of Instinct thrown on there helped as well.

Even so, he still felt the pike pierce through his side, below his left ribs. It was a clean stab with barely any energy radiating off of it, so the damage was actually concentrated into that one point instead of tearing up all of his organs. As the pike pulled back for another thrust Anton was already leaping through the doorway, traps be damned.

Chapter 224

There was no time for complicated strategy. Anton just ran, turning to fire behind himself as he did so. He had no grand illusions that he could surpass the entirety of a realm to defeat his opponent. The only comfort he had was her injured leg, and that he'd managed to avoid anything immediately fatal during her first attack.

His first shot was comprised entirely of the energy from beyond death, aimed straight at the door she was about to burst through. His arrow reached the door before she did, but instead of impacting it simply went straight through. It was unfortunate that Emma properly registered the danger, but it was late enough that she only half dodged, allowing him to graze her side as his attack slipped past her energy. It wasn't a large victory, but he would take everything he could get.

Anton spent no time dwelling on why she would attack him. That much was becoming more obvious with the second, as her cultivation shifted. He wondered why she had concluded the fight with the other member of the Twin Soul Sect instead of showing herself. Did she not care about killing another member of her true sect? Was she simply concerned about being exposed or missing the chance to kill Anton? Those thoughts cleared themselves out to be considered later, assuming he survived.

He ran backwards, firing more arrows as he moved. Her leg was injured, but if he didn't make her movements difficult it wouldn't slow her down enough. All she had to do was reach him once more, and a more serious attack without having to hide anything could simply kill him.

He hoped he might lure her into a trap with some power behind it, but he couldn't count on that. He might even run into one himself. As for hoping that he might run into an ally, Anton rejected the thought. It could be just a supreme coincidence that both of the other two people Anton had seen were from the Twin Soul Sect, but Anton wasn't going to chance it.

Conserving his energy was pointless. He had to perform at his maximum potential just to keep some small manner of distance between himself and Emma, and she didn't even have to get into a normal melee range with that pike of hers. He shot in quick succession to try to slow her down, but when she powered through his first few attacks instead of straining her leg he quickly fired an arrow with ascension energy. If only he had reached Essence Collection he thought he might have a chance of causing serious damage, but at least she dodged to the side with enough vigor to strain her injured leg. The wide hole looked painful, and being dressed didn't matter when she moved in a way that reopened it.

She slowed down momentarily, but he wasn't uninjured himself. Everything he wasn't using for movement or offense went to minimizing the strain on his wounded stomach. That meant he didn't have anything for defense, but it was pointless anyway. If she managed to hit him, he couldn't defend unless she decided to toy with him. Since she didn't seem trained in ranged attacks, even if she improvised something he thought he could shift his energy to defend. Otherwise, it was a waste.

Anton moved backwards in small leaps, hoping that his random movements would avoid pressure plates on the floor. Perhaps he did, but a gout of poisonous gas went off all the same. He was glad he was already moving and had minimal exposure to it, but he had no idea how he triggered it. Perhaps it simply sensed movement or his energy instead of having a mechanical trigger.

Just as Emma was about in range- which still put them more than five meters apart- a wall of spikes stabbed out at her from the side. Anton was absolutely sure he'd stepped in the same spots as her, but he wasn't going to question his good fortune. The wall of spikes got him a full second as she dodged back and then shattered them, her momentum stopped.

Anton still didn't feel comfortable with just turning to run, because her maximum speed should be higher than his own without hindrance, even with her leg. If he could make things a bit worse, though, he'd have a small chance.

Using his extra second, Anton retreated while pulling out another bow. It was more conveniently located than the bottom of his bag now, having needed to use it before. The bone bow was exceptionally hard to pull, but he made use of his 'normal' energy to create a string for it and augment his muscles. Then he drew up on the power of Fleeting Youth, both the energy of ascension and beyond death.

Unlike before he had known how to separate them, this was an intentional move to make use of both of them together. They weren't randomly mixed, but used in parallel. The energy of death and reincarnation formed a coating around the substantial power of post ascension energy. He knew he was still far below the attack of a Life Transformation cultivator, let alone a true ascended cultivator, but he made use of what he had.

The most important part of his attack was the speed. After all, Emma could simply dodge out of the way of such a telegraphed attack if it were the same speed as everything else. He could redirect his arrows, but over the distances at hand it wouldn't be as significant. He and his arrow flew forward towards her, aiming straight at her middle. If she did nothing he might pierce her heart, if she dodged too slowly he might hit either lung or at least a shoulder or bicep. If she dodged quickly, she might strain her leg more. All options were good for Anton.

Of course she chose the one thing he didn't think of, and couldn't do anything about. Instead of dodging, she simply stabbed forward with her pike, her energy already gathered to smash through the spikes and of course Anton. As soon as he saw her moving he tried to curve around, but her energy wasn't as tightly concentrated as her first attack. She didn't need to prefer density, but just total power. His arrow scattered even as she built up momentum towards him.

The distance between them closed. Anton wasn't fully certain how much there was as she was making use of an illusory technique to blur his senses, but he'd faced the Twin Soul Sect enough to at least be cognizant of her presence. She was clearly not specialized in that, but instead in more direct combat. Her pike thrust out for him, going beyond its already large reach with the extension of her energy. He was moving as quickly as he could away, but it simply wasn't enough.

"Wait a sec," came a voice from behind him. "What was that?"

Anton found himself unable to move his body- but the inability to move included the attack coming towards him and Emma herself. Anton's head, at least, swiveled around. The teen Everheart was frowning as he looked at Anton. "Which thing are you asking about?" Anton asked carefully. "The bow? Her response? The energy from me?" He'd seen Everheart do something like this before, and he hoped he might be coming to help. But he didn't want to be arrogant about it.

"The energy. I want to know."

Anton narrowed his eyes. "You don't recognize Fleeting Youth? Are you from before then?" Just the technique name wouldn't give anything away if this was an illusion or an imposter of some kind.

"So that's what it feels like, huh?" Everheart said as he leaned against the wall. "I can't believe someone's actually using it effectively. Crazy. Well, good luck."

"Wait!" Anton shouted as quickly as he could. "Can you… help me?"

The turning figure of Everheart looked back over his shoulder. "Oh yeah. You're about to die, huh? Well, I'm sure by now you know I'm not omnipotent or anything. Tell you what, though. Since this deathtrap isn't meant for you, and you're using my technique, I'll give you a chance. You want to take a left at that hallway, and avoid the right half for ten steps. Don't make it too obvious. Beyond that…" he walked forward and placed his hand on Anton's shoulder, yanking him to the opposite side of the hall he was dodging towards. "That should be enough. Bye."

The wall exploded, and Anton knew he would have been turned to mush had he even been grazed by the attack. But he was suddenly on the other side of the pike. He still had some backwards momentum, and he twisted his body to keep that as he ran at full speed. Swinging her pike into the wall and the surprise at Anton's sudden change in position held Emma Strand back for just long enough.

The turn was not far, but Anton knew he wouldn't be fast enough. Not with just his legs and normal energy. It felt like a waste to use ascension energy for anything other than an attack, but he drew upon it to propel himself forward. He would still have enough for one more attack, and he knew he would need it.

He made a tight cut around the corner, angling himself towards the middle of the hallway but not crossing over. He wasn't sure how tight of a margin there was on the 'right half' but he really didn't want to push it.

Emma was just behind him, and almost in range once more. Anton turned, his side aching with the movement, drawing his bow for one final shot. Emma was thrusting towards him, and nothing had happened. Well, perhaps this was just how he would go. Anton wanted to at least make sure there was an obvious arrow hole on her before he went. If Chikere could sniff out swords so easily, Grand Elder Kseniya would recognize damage from Anton's Spirit Arrows. At least the traitor should be exposed.

Then the hallway disappeared in front of Anton. At least it felt like that, because the smooth white surfaces were suddenly in front of his eyes, as if he were looking at dead end. Except that wasn't quite true. There was still a good half meter of space in the middle. That was where his arrow was going, and where Emma was sandwiched between the walls. The impact from the sides stopped her forward momentum, and thus her pike only nearly impaled Anton as his arrow struck her directly in the chest.

If he hadn't used his utmost power, his attack might have done nothing. As it was, the deathly energy carried the ascension energy partway through her defenses before it felt resistance. That was enough that he punctured through between her ribs and into a lung.

Then Anton was running. Emma wasn't dead, and still had plenty of energy left. The walls that crashed into her from either side seemed to have gotten the worse end of the exchange, with deep cracks on them that were widening as she pushed back against the walls, destroying whatever mechanisms caused them to collapse to begin with.

At least the battle had been short enough that Anton still had reserves of his normal, Spirit Building level energy to call upon. They helped his legs carry him swiftly away, and he hoped that he could avoid the pursuit of a woman with an injured leg and a hole in her lung.

When Everheart showed up and said the next test would be after a ten minute delay, nobody questioned him as to why. Nobody was able to relax, of course, because at any moment he could say the time was up and that they were going to do something else in a very short time frame with little explanation. Even those who hadn't been to Everheart's tombs before were aware of his proclivities for mischief like that.

Catarina looked ahead, seeing an indoor conservatory. There were all sorts of strange plants. If she had been in any other sort of mood, she would have sought out Lev and the Grasping Willows to consult them. Instead, she couldn't help but think about Anton. Her grandfather was missing, and she wasn't sure why. If he'd failed the test, he should have been safely taken away… but somehow, her heart wouldn't let her believe that. She clutched her chest, wishing it was possible to send energy or luck or anything to someone in a location she didn't know about by sheer virtue of caring about them. But such convenient things weren't possible.

Chapter 225

Anton was looking forward to reaching Essence Collection. It would be a significant step up in power, solidifying his presence in the world. And, if he reached it, that would mean he hadn't died. He still had so many things to do. His ideas about teaching everyone to cultivate were only just starting to bloom beyond his individual efforts. And if he were going to die, it certainly couldn't be to someone from the Twin Soul Sect. He wasn't sure what their agenda was, but anything that involved culling the talented members of other sects was worth opposing on principle.

And it would shame to die in a deathtrap made by Everheart not meant for him. He hoped it was meant to kill people like those from the Twin Soul Sect, but he only had barely substantiated conjecture to go off of there. At least Everheart had been nice enough to lead him to a good trap. Now he was able to just run and Emma couldn't quite catch up. It seemed that any of her control of illusory techniques had gone out the window as well.

The Order had around two hundred Essence Collection cultivators. Anton knew very few of them, and Emma wasn't one. Given what he was learning today, he doubted anyone really knew her. She'd clearly managed to behave in a manner that fit in with the Order's principles, at least wherever it was visible. He had no way to tell if she had truly been well behaved for the decades or more she had been part of the Order or had just been causing trouble outside where she would be watched. Something to look into if he survived.

When he survived. Cultivation was nothing without confidence. If Anton let himself believe all was lost, it truly would be. His attacks and defenses would be less effective for the despair in his heart, and he couldn't afford that. Believing he would live wouldn't necessarily make it happen, but it clearly couldn't if he didn't try.

Anton had just enough distance between himself and Emma that he was able to focus more on what was in front of him. A distorted area that signaled a trap of some kind, possibly tuned to a certain level of energy. That was something he was learning to pick out as he moved through the area. Pressure plates existed. He was pretty sure there were invisible tripwires made from diamondsilk or something with similar properties. Sensing formations had to be another thing, and the way some things reacted to Emma and not him indicated the easiest possibility was the cultivation gap. Though he had to wonder if some might only target him as well.

He turned through a doorway, trying to subtly step over a tripwire in the path. His energy senses barely stretched to arm's length with the restrictions around the area, but they still functioned at reduced capacity out to that distance. And his training helped. While he wasn't trying to lock onto something at the horizon, focusing towards a single point still let him significantly stretch his awareness.

He didn't have time to scan the whole room he arrived in, instead picking a path seemingly at random. He noticed a few traps along the way, and hoped that any other trajectory through the area would have more. His stride lengthened for a single step to pass over a pressure plate. The first one was easy, but the second time he did it he fell into the secondary trap.

It had been too obvious, so he should have known better. But it was too late, as the obvious trap had better hidden pressure plates on both sides, which he found out when he triggered them.

Fortunately they just shot some sort of poisoned darts from the wall. Avoiding the trajectories of projectiles was well within Anton's wheelhouse, and he only ended up with one of them scraping against the outer layer of his energy as he moved. A loss he couldn't really afford, but at least Emma was running into more trouble. And still suffering more blood loss. She'd done an excellent job with her first wounds, but the bruising and maybe even broken bones from the crushing wall traps and the damage to her lung were obviously taking their toll.

A cultivator who had surpassed Body Tempering might be able to jog for a whole day without rest, but a sustained run was quite different from the frantic movements in combat. With blood loss and only one lung working, Anton found himself impressed that Emma was merely huffing and puffing. He just hoped the ragged breathing was actually degenerating as he thought, but that might have been wishful thinking.

His own side ached as he breathed, and while his lungs were still in good shape his diaphragm made his side twitch with every breath. Too much energy was devoted to managing the internal and external bleeding, but he wasn't able to recover from wounds mid combat, nor did he even have a chance to stop and stabilize the wound.

At the far end of the room was another door. As Anton ran through, he marveled at how smoothly it opened. It was sort of a dumb thought, as it hardly mattered if the door creaked… until he saw what was in front of him. Making a snap judgment, Anton closed the door behind himself, glad that it closed with only the slight woosh of air.

Emma was annoyed. Though only one wound had been caused by Anton himself, the very fact that it had taken her more than a single attack to kill him was a failure on her part. She hadn't thought he would react to the attack, so piercing through his energy to directly destroy his heart had felt like the right move. She should have just taken advantage of her cultivation advantage and been more excessive, even if it would have left her more vulnerable for the next fight. There shouldn't be many people able to challenge her, and if she came across a Life Transformation cultivator she could avoid them.

She frowned as she thought about how Anton had dodged the second attack. Some sort of space bending technique? She hadn't heard about that. She'd been studying up on all of the quickly advancing members of the Order, in case she came upon a chance to remove them. It had been strange that an old man was on the list, but he'd nearly kept pace with the top geniuses he came in with. If he'd reached Essence Collection, he might have even been able to kill her when that stupid trap smashed into her from both sides.

But that didn't matter, because she was going to kill him. Closing a door wasn't going to stop her. In fact, she no longer had the patience to open it properly. She could tell it wasn't made of any particularly special material, and if it was trapped smashing it open with her pike would keep any consequences away from her. This was all Everheart's fault. It was quite smart, really, tempting everyone with promises of ascension and then just killing them. Emma just wondered how he would be harvesting them. She hadn't felt anything, but she wasn't a formation master either.

The door burst open, wooden splinters flying down the hallway. It led almost immediately to a crossing intersection, and Anton could have turned to either of the sides. She charged forward, ready to turn either direction. Perhaps he'd shoot an arrow at her injured leg, though his energy was too weak to damage her unless he could use whatever that forbidden technique was more. Most of the higher ups in the Order knew about it, but for some reason only Anton practiced it. Emma had thought it must not be that good, but it turned out to not be the case. It actually felt like… ascension energy. Not that she had much exposure to that.

Emma was wholly prepared for arrows or even axes coming towards her, possibly empowered to a level that could cause her to actually dodge. She was ready for traps of any sort, and if she ended up pressed between two walls once more she would focus her defenses to the sides and forward.

She was not expecting to have her vision turn red as she was swarmed with blood from one side. Her own blood rebelled briefly, a portion of it pulling away into the swirling cloud, but she redoubled her grip on her body. "What the hell?" she shouted at the passing cultivator. "We're allies, you know."

The swirling cloud of blood resolved into the figure of a man with an exceptionally annoying grin plastered on his face. "Allies? With you? I don't remember being paid for that lately. You must have been thinking of when I hadn't yet seen an injured cultivator come waltzing into my sight."

"Cut the crap," Emma said. "Where'd the archer go?"

"What archer?" the man said, genuinely unsure. "Haven't seen any. Unless that guy I killed a few minutes ago was an archer. Have you been stalking me?"

"No. An old man in Spirit Building."

"Pfft," the man from the Flying Blood Sect laughed. "You got this injured by a Spirit Building cultivator?"

Emma glared at him. He was only early Essence Collection. An easy opponent, normally. "No. It was someone else."

"I believe you," the man said, "This much." He peeked through a small gap between his thumb and forefinger. "Either way, I'd like whatever you have on you."

Before Emma could react, her thigh and left lung simultaneously started attacking her from the inside. So he hadn't just drawn her blood out during that earlier pass, but also inserted a bit of himself. She began to tear it out of her while at the same time thrusting forward with her pike. It didn't matter if she was injured if this man would fight her head on.

Anton held his breath. Only exceptional senses would have been able to hear him even if he let it go, but the risks were simply too high. He was slowly working his way back towards the ground, so there wouldn't be a thud when he touched. Emma had just charged down the hallway towards the member of the Flying Blood Sect, who had been waiting in ambush looking in an entirely different direction.

Obviously Anton wasn't so skilled as to sneak by him, so he did the next best thing. The hallway wasn't particularly wide by the door, so he had held himself across the top of the hallway, arms and legs outstretched wall-to-wall with his full height. The leeway was so little he actually had to extend his fingers and toes to press against both sides, but holding himself like that for a short time wasn't too difficult.

He was just glad Emma hadn't looked up. If she had, a simple spin of her pike and he would have been dead. But he could tell her senses hadn't been trained to any great heights. She was a brawler. There were some like Chikere who honed their senses to deal with ambushes, but the restrictive forces of the formations around them had fortunately limited Emma's casual perception to less than two meters above her head.

Anton touched the floor, careful to not step on the shattered remains of the door and make any noise. There had been no guarantee that the man from the Flying Blood Sect would actually attack, but given their reputation even a short distraction might have been enough. He'd even drawn Emma down the hallway and kept Anton out of her peripheral vision, so he was quite thankful.

Anton really wished he could get the treasures a late Essence Collection cultivator had on her, but Anton was going to prefer his life over loot. Though he was making his way back towards where he had first found them. If nothing else it was a set of slightly familiar corridors if he encountered someone else. He also wasn't quite sure if the spear thrower had actually perished. He should have been tipped off even more by the fact that Emma hadn't looted him immediately.

But maybe that was just pessimism. There was nothing wrong with people being friendly and taking a few moments to talk to an ally before looting a fallen foe.

Anton walked slowly, beginning to properly deal with his wound as he went. He needed a proper doctor, but he had to make do with eating some pills that would start the repair process, stitching the outside holes closed, and continuing to devote a portion of his energy preventing blood from going all the wrong places.

At least it was easy to recover his energy here. Natural energy was quite abundant. More than enough for a Spirit Building cultivator to recover his stores in a reasonable time.

Though if Anton was right, he wouldn't be a Spirit Building cultivator for long. He wasn't ready to try the last leap immediately, but another combat with an Essence Collection cultivator- even one that was mostly trying to survive- helped him focus his mind. And there were a few strands of insight from the battle. The Vessel of Insights was active without requiring him to focus on it. He doubted Emma had many insights of consequence during their battle, but he would at least have some of his own to review.

Chapter 226

A trail of blood slowly found its way away from the location of the first battle Anton had witnessed. The optimal choice would be to simply leave the area, but since Anton didn't know any way to do that he was instead going to do his best to make sure no members of the Twin Soul Sect survived.

At the end of the battle it hadn't seemed particularly strange that Emma didn't finish with a decisive thrust, instead letting her opponent faint from his wounds. It was logical enough, but she had neither moved to restrain or finish off the man. Another point he should have noticed. It might have saved him a huge sideache. At the very least, he might have gotten less impaled.

Anton looked at the blood, seriously considering his ability to kill a late Essence Collection cultivator. A heavily injured one, certainly, but conscious once more. He had recovered his reserves of natural energy to about halfway full as he walked, up from around a quarter. Those reserves would allow him some mobility, but his opponent should have more energy left. Using energy properly while about to pass out from blood loss was difficult, but not impossible. Anton found it unlikely that his opponent had no healing pills of any sort, so he should be at least another step away from that edge.

He couldn't really hurt the man unless he found him dying in a trap. That possibility might be sufficient, given Anton had no idea if he could leave. If he was going to die to someone, he might as well take someone else out. Or perhaps he was just growing a big head.

As he breathed in, natural energy flowed into him. More than that, he made use of Fleeting Youth to try to replenish his reserves of the additional sources of energy. They lingered, not in his dantian with the rest of his energy but just out of his reach, waiting to be called upon should he need them. There wasn't much of either, but he took comfort in the thought of using them.

He decided to follow the trail of blood, on the theory that at least he knew the status of that particular foe. If the spear thrower got into a battle he might be able to sense it ahead of time. With no other hints as to if there was a direction out or how to get there, he might as well go somewhere new. Occasional drops of blood continued to lead the way, which encouraged Anton. Imperfectly closed wounds were a good sign. Even if it was only some remnants from a bootprint every ten or twenty meters, he was able to follow the trail. After all, against stark white corridors a little bit of red stood out sharply.

He was in no hurry, chewing on some dried foods in his pack. He couldn't afford to sleep, but eating would refresh him somewhat. If he had the time and a proper place he could cook up some tubers for a good meal, but eating them raw was… unpleasant at best. It made even the energy they contained indigestible.

His footsteps were quiet as he walked, from many decades of hunting and avoiding startling animals. As there were no sticks or leaves to crunch under his boots, he simply had to keep them from echoing off the walls. Muted senses or not, it was foolish to make extra noise. He kept his energy close to himself, not wanting to alert anyone he came across.

A few traps blocked his way, but some were already triggered and others avoidable. Anton smiled as he saw the tiniest drop of blood on the tip of a spike coming out of the floor. Every little bit helped.

He began to sense something as he walked. Something full of power. Energy. Whether an enchanted object, rare material, or special herb… Anton could be sure every cultivator wanted it. It was the sort of thing that could change a cultivator's fate.

Really, the trap couldn't have been any more obvious. Anton almost walked past the door until he saw it was slightly ajar. What caught his eye wasn't the massive crystal, taller than a man. At least, that wasn't the only thing. It was the source of comparison for the size of a man. The spear thrower.

Anton could just hear the man's breathing from his location, which meant it was still pretty ragged. He had his whole attention directed away from Anton towards the crystal. Anton looked at the door. Would the hinges support him, or betray him? He didn't want to make a bet on either.

His eyes moved to the floor. Scorch marks and other signs of battle damage traced a general path through the room. It seemed the man had been at this for some time, carefully picking his way through the room. He'd certainly triggered some traps, but he wasn't visibly more injured. With a layout of traps like that, Anton would have a few more in strategic locations around the man. Which meant Everheart would have an absurd amount that had somehow not been triggered yet.

Unlike the trapped hallway in the first tomb, Anton found that most of the traps had not reset in this place. So if he couldn't count on that happening, there were a good handful of directions the man could take just on the ground if he was suddenly attacked and had to dodge. Anton considered them, and the angles involved with reaching him or the crystal.

Ultimately, he determined that he would need to perform at least five simultaneous shots all capable of piercing through a late Essence Collection cultivator's defenses. Or… maybe not with quite as much power, given the injuries. But the threat would have to be there to even make him consider dodging.

Before committing to anything, Anton considered several options for the deathtrap he was currently in. First, it was possible that nobody would be able to leave. Everheart had saved him for a moment, but he hadn't just brought him out of the area. Thus, even if he wasn't the target Anton couldn't bet on getting out. The second possibility was that one or a few people could leave. Maybe the top few would be allowed out, or maybe there was a secret to be found. Either way, Anton had to consider his chances of succeeding at either. Given the cultivations he had seen so far, he doubted it.

If nobody could get out, whatever he did wouldn't matter. If someone could get out, he didn't want it to be anyone from the Twin Soul Sect. That made his decision. He had to at least try. He needed simultaneous shots that were intimidating.

His energy spread out, seeping into the room. It was the basis of Falling Stars, but the ceilings weren't so high he could build up much momentum by relying on gravity. The intimidation factor of the ability came from Grand Elder Vandale's own power anyway. He had to go with what he could do.

A half-dozen arcs of energy solidified throughout the room, forming into proper bows a moment later. The only thing that had stopped Anton from being detected- as far as he knew- was the massive presence of the crystal overwhelming his own energy. So perhaps his attacks would be ignored accidentally. That would be ironic. Still, a bit of ascension energy on the tips would make them feel much more dangerous. As for their actual danger, he couldn't quite say.

The room was too small to fire sequentially and change the speed of arrows to match. All of them had to fire simultaneously, and Anton put as much as he could into the shots. A moment later the arrows were flying, but Anton was already nocking another half dozen arrows. He had some energy left, and he knew he'd need to use it.

In the end, the spear thrower noticed his attacks and reacted appropriately to the perceived threats. He dodged approximately in the direction Anton had predicted, an unexplored area of floor that might or might not have traps. It had half as many traps as Anton wanted, but a single trap spraying a gout of acid was sufficient to disrupt the extremely injured man's energy. The next half dozen arrows pushed him one step further towards the crystal. Not a one of Anton's arrows hit him, but of the dozen darts that shot out from the ceiling as he moved, one found its way into his shoulder.

The wound itself wasn't much. A slight puncture. But combing the amount of blood the man had already lost and the near guarantee of poison on said dart, any injury was significant. Anton didn't let up, though he only had two more rounds of shots in him. If his opponent realized he lacked power and simply charged towards him, there wasn't much Anton could do. Yet the man was taking his arrows seriously, so he once again aimed them. Six out of six arrows were dodged flawlessly, without stepping on another trap. Anton didn't touch a hair on the man or his clothes. Unless one were to count the dart sticking out of his right shoulder, which was not his.

The dart snapped at the narrow tube on its front, only slightly shifting in the wound on the man's shoulder. It hadn't quite been the effect Anton wanted, since he'd intended the shock of his hit to tear the sharp point through the man's shoulder, but it still did something. Specifically, it let blood out. Just a drop or two at first, but it was something. And another round of arrows were on the way, just three, but with a bit more focus.

It was too bad that he'd had enough, and swatted them out of the air with a spear in his hand. It seemed he'd figured out Anton's attacks were all bark and no bite. Anton was standing visible in the crack of the doorway as the man stepped forward and threw a spear at Anton.

Even with a minuscule amount of energy remaining, Anton dodged to the side a half step before the attack reached him. Its accuracy was impeccable… but it wasn't as if it could immediately change directions upon coming out the door. Like the others it continued straight onward into the wall on the other side of the hallway.

Anton could feel the way the man's energy fluctuated wildly. He stepped once more into vision, taunting his foe with his presence. At this point, whether or not the man pulled the needle in his shoulder out he would bleed more every time he made use of his arm… and it seemed that he'd failed to consider how his forward step for throwing would affect his position among the traps. His hair had caught on fire, which wasn't deadly by any means but he looked as if he could barely stand.

The spear thrower stepped back from his lunge to toss his other spear at Anton. It was clear he wasn't thinking about much at all, since the attack didn't even get half as close to Anton as he stepped out of view once more.

Then Anton heard a silent thud, and several explosions following it. He waited ten seconds just in case before poking his head into the room. Just a charred corpse. He had enough energy to take a single shot with his actual bow and a physical arrow which went through one ear and out the other. If he hadn't been dead before, he was now.

Anton sunk against the wall outside the room and sighed. "I'm done."

"Aww, really?" a disappointed voice came from next to him. It was of course Everheart. "I wanted to see more of my technique in action."

Anton shook his head. "I can't. I'm all out."

"You aren't at least going to go in and loot his body?"

"Why bother trying?" Anton said. "It's just stuff. And I don't know if there's a way out of this deathtrap."

"I'm gonna be honest, it wouldn't be a good deathtrap if I'd made a way out," Everheart said. "But… I wasn't just a psychopath who enjoyed causing trouble for the sake of it. I had a purpose too."

"I hope it gets fulfilled," Anton said, closing his eyes and slowly circulating his energy. If any enemy came upon him like this he would die, though he'd die without any energy regardless.

"Hope is for suckers," Everheart said. "Real cultivators make the impossible happen. Enjoy your camping trip."

"Okay," came a voice in front of the increasingly impatient group. "Wait's up. You can all go in now. Have fun collecting valuable plants and crap. There should be some fun beasts to hunt too." Everheart looked at the group and waved his arms wildly. "Well? Go!"

Seeing that there would be no more instruction, they went- though one brave soul had gone on ahead. Despite their instantaneous reaction, they were not first into the forest.

Chapter 227

As the words "Enjoy your camping trip" faded, Anton felt like something tugged on the back of his shirt. Anton frowned as he opened his eyes. Suddenly having everything feel normal was quite a shock, and so was finding his back against a tree instead of a white stone wall. And the fruit hanging from the tree seemed far too delectable. Anton looked at them carefully.

"Not everything is a trap you know," came a voice from nowhere. Anton continued to inspect the fruit from a distance. "That includes this fruit, specifically. I just want to be clear on that. I can't have someone who learned that technique just die here. Especially after I went to all that trouble to add a way to teleport you out."

Anton grabbed a fruit and took a bite. His teeth broke through the red skin into sweet flesh below, and he swallowed. Energy rushed into him freely. That was a good sign. He just hoped it wasn't poisoned. But Everheart could have just killed him or left him. He might as well trust him this far.

As he got to the center of the fruit, Anton found a core with a number of seeds. The core was harder to bite through, but still quite flavorful and brimming with energy. The seeds themselves had abundant natural energy. Anton looked over the tree in front of him. There had only been the single fruit hanging from its branches. He'd heard of several sorts that had very few fruit. Some said they only bore one fruit per century, but Anton doubted that. They would have died out long ago, the way cultivators went through things.

He took a good look at the soil around the tree. The tree itself wasn't particularly tall, but very few things grew around it. It seemed it took the majority of nutrients, leaving only a few types of undergrowth with different needs around its roots. No other tree dared to grow near it, though some overshadowed it, hiding it from the light of…

Well, it wasn't the sun. Because despite how high the ceilings were, they were certainly in a constructed underground area. Still, the light in the sky produced an energy reminiscent of the sun. It might even be the same energy, transferred to this place through some convoluted series of formations. That seemed like something Everheart would do.

Anton thought to look for another place to plant a seed or two. Then they could grow tall and strong into more trees of the same kind. They couldn't be too close, though, or they would compete for nutrients in the soil an energy to absorb. Anton could feel the tree pulling in the natural energy around it now that its fruit was gone, beginning the long process to produce another.

Soon enough he found a place, but as soon as he was about to press a seed into the ground, he stopped. The seeds had enough energy in them that they could push him over the boundary between Spirit Building and Essence Collection. The thought was tempting, but he actually stopped because he remembered something. Something about Everheart, specifically.

Though he was currently meandering through a large forest, he hadn't forgotten he was still in one of Everheart's tombs. On the moon, even. The circumstances were slightly different, but he had the feeling the facility wouldn't be lasting after they were gone. Just like the others. No, though he would like to give back to this forest, it was better to preserve the seeds for elsewhere. And he thought that there were probably other trees of similar rarity that could use some help surviving.

He wasn't sure exactly when it happened, but sometime after he resolved himself to collect seeds from the area simply to preserve them beyond the inevitable collapse of the area they were in, he felt himself step into Essence Collection. If it had happened a day before he would have not found himself in nearly so much trouble… or perhaps he would have been taken more seriously and thus perished quickly. That was hard to say.

Since he found himself safe for the moment, he stopped. He hadn't run into anyone else yet, and he needed to rest to help his side recover. He looked inward, still finding himself quite certain he'd just reached Essence Collection. He still hadn't formed the twenty-ninth star, but he had begun the process. Essence Collection would consist of a set of thirteen and then seventeen stars, the next two primes. Unlike previous stages, each star was more nebulous. He took a look at the cultivation manual, reading through it once more. He simply needed to collect essence that fit him, and then refine it into some sort of focus.

Simple, if Essence were simply natural energy condensed into a more powerful form. It was that, but it was also more. He mulled through the few strands of insight he had, pausing as he saw Grand Elder Vandale's and a few from Kseniya. Those were still too much for him to absorb, but Emma had a few he was going to absorb.

They were of very little help to him. Despite the fact that it seemed like she had cultivated the Ninety-Nine Stars to the stage they would call Constellation Formation inside the Order, as he absorbed the insights he determined that Twin Soul Sect members only half cultivated the style they displayed to the world. A greater focus was placed on the actual cultivation technique behind that. It was unfortunate that he couldn't find any weaknesses in the few strands he absorbed, except that small tidbit.

It was unsurprising to Anton that the few pieces of information he got indicated that the Twin Soul Sect stole cultivation, both the energy and a mutilated form of their insights, from other cultivators. While it seemed possible for them to advance to the point of Essence Collection simply by their own training, eventually they would have to kill and steal. Not that any of them seemed reluctant to do so- even from each other, for the most part.

Anton stood up, after how many hours he wasn't sure. The light remained the same, but since there was no real sun it might simply be constant. Either way, his side was healed somewhat and his cultivation stabilized in Essence Collection. He even had converted some of his stores of energy into the more powerful form of Essence, though it was difficult. He didn't quite fully understand his connection.

While that might have seemed like a problem, the Ninety-Nine Stars manual indicated it was best if it happened naturally instead of seeking out a connection. Recalling what he was doing, he could have assumed it was some connection to plants and farming. He'd been a farmer all his life, after all. He didn't think that was wrong, but it was also an incomplete picture.

He would have more time to ponder the specific details later. For the moment, he should explore the forest for whatever test was going on, and possibly other people. Preferably allies.

Timothy stood at the vanguard of the group, not that it was any different from normal. He was just more aware of his protective position. It was part of him now, since he'd reached Essence Collection.

With him were the usual group, Velvet, Catarina, and Hoyt. Anton was still missing, having never arrived through the doors. They had invited Chikere, but this time she had decided to strike out on her own.

He wasn't sure if Chikere's cultivation method dealt with the stage differently, but he had the feeling her essence was just 'swords'. Her devotion was admirable, but Timothy didn't have that same sort of tie to his weapons.

They were simply tools used for a purpose. A proper cultivator took care of their tools, but in the end they were simply objects. His sword and shield let Timothy protect people, sometimes proactively and sometimes defensively.

He scanned the forest around them, looking for enemies. He wasn't as good of a scout as Velvet, and if Anton had been around anything he could notice would be spotted a kilometer away through the trees… but he had to at least try to contribute. He'd actually developed a pretty good danger sense, at least enough for him to react to unseen threats in time to protect his allies.

So far they had run into a six limbed and two-headed bear that tried to tear them apart, though that one wasn't hard to spot. Fending off all of its attacks had been difficult for the time it took Hoyt and Catarina to chop off an arm, but after that it had gotten quickly more simple. By the time it realized it was in danger, Velvet had already hamstrung its rear legs so it couldn't advance or retreat. The creature seemed edible, so they cooked it up. It was far too large to eat all at once, but they preserved much of it, the strong energy doubtless being something that would help them later. And of course some of it would be saved for Fuzz, but he wasn't present at the moment. It was a bit too much for Alva and him to come to something focused on ascension. Though of course Timothy knew he wasn't that close either.

Anton hummed quietly to himself as he walked through the woods, picking up seeds from every plant he didn't recognize. Even the ones he was pretty sure were poisonous might have medicinal applications when properly handled. So far the forest had been fairly safe, though his experience had helped him notice some particularly dangerous plants around. The random ivy crawling along the ground was suspicious enough for him to be cautious, and the dead body of a rabbit nearby was a giveaway.

From what he could tell it had only brushed against a few of the leaves, suffering a fate much worse than just an itchy irritant like normal poison ivy. There were large blisters and sores that had to have developed very rapidly before the creature perished. Anton decided it was best to avoid touching anything with his skin. He pulled out a small box he had for just such situations. He stretched out some tendrils of energy to pluck some green berries and place them in the box.

Even with only brief contact, he felt something trying to dig its way through his energy towards him. What an awful plant. He'd have to carefully consider if he wanted to actually do anything with it. He hadn't seen it down below, so it might have been wiped out. And he wouldn't necessarily mind that.

His trail next brought him to a clearing with a small lake. A watering hole for animals in the area, no doubt. He decided to wait, uncertain if he might run into anything coming to drink. He didn't need to hunt, but he would enjoy some fresh meat and wanted to see what lived in the area.

Among the creatures he was pretty sure he saw entirely regular squirrels, normal size with no energy at all, as well as a giant boar. He wasn't in the mood for a troublesome fight, so he left the boar to its own. About an hour later, he saw a doe deer enter the clearing from his hiding place. It was a specimen of fine health, with a lustrous coat. Not only that, but he felt the spark of energy from within it. Such a creature would be a fine catch. If he estimated its value, it would be enough to fund the whole of Dungannon for a year just off the skin alone- it was of such a quality that a cultivator could certainly make use of it for something.

He raised his bow, preparing to fire. Fine dining for the near future and perhaps a nice set of boots and gloves, maybe even a jacket, was just one shot away. But before he finished gathering his energy, he released it. The doe was pregnant. It would be a shame to kill her before allowing her to birth the next generation. Though if he was right she would not survive long regardless.

Anton looked around, finding a large oak nearby. He carefully climbed up, plucking a handful of fist-sized acorns that were just about ready to fall. He could have shaken them off, but the noise would have startled the doe.

He walked carefully, avoiding making any noise as he approached. At three meters, one eye locked onto him. He slowly placed down an acorn and backed away, leaving them in a trail that was easily followed.

The creature moved cautiously, unsure if he was a threat. Anton wasn't really certain about that either way. It was true that most of the animals he had raised had perished by his own hand, but at the same time most of them wouldn't have been born, produced offspring, or lived nearly so long without his involvement. A deer was something that was normally not kept in captivity, but then again… Fuzz was a wolf, and Catarina had handled that easily enough. Anton wasn't sure if he could bring this creature with him, but he wanted to try.

Chapter 228

Communication with a human was extremely simple. The rise of cultivators led to a single language being predominant. Just sharing a language wasn't enough, but Anton had taken his training seriously. Insight, Voice, Emotion, and Earthly Connection all on some level involved communication with others so misunderstandings would be rare.

Animals were another thing entirely, but Anton found that natural energy went a long way towards expressing his thoughts and desires. If one were trying to be duplicitous in some regard, a cultivator's energy might still reveal their true intentions. Even when very tightly controlled, it was a part of a person on a deep level that could reveal their inner self. Anton supposed that was even more true after passing the threshold for Essence Collection.

When he approached the pregnant doe with friendly intentions, he had thought she would simply skitter off. The acorns had let her closer, but animals weren't so easily dealt with. Yet he managed to get the doe to follow a trail of food and eat from his hand. He had thought she would be especially cautious considering her current state, but he was wrong.

He kept himself friendly as he tried to talk to her, knowing she probably wouldn't understand. Even if Fuzz certainly seemed to know when he was being spoken to and the orders he was receiving, that was developed over a longer time. Just because an animal possessed natural energy and some intelligence didn't mean it would instantly understand speech. And Anton doubted there had been anyone around who could speak in a very long time.

But the deer came along with him. Not at a quick pace, but Anton found that just as well. It gave him time to find tidbits for the creature to eat as well as gathering samples of the various plants around him. He even found more types useful for improving his cultivation with the density of energy they contained. The forest was nothing if not abundant with life.

Sure, some of that life wanted to kill him- but it was easily deterred. His eyes locked on a small pack of wolves circling around. They had interesting coloration, orange-red fur with patches of brown along with their golden eyes. But they clearly wanted to eat either himself or the doe. He didn't even have to fire a shot, summoning his energy and simply glowering at the creatures.

Perhaps it was pointless to spare the lives of creatures that wouldn't live more than a few days, but it was also pointless to fight them. Even if the creatures were some component of whatever test was taking place around him, Anton found it unnecessary to kill them when he wasn't going to make use of them and they wouldn't be hurting anyone.

As they continued onward, Anton realized something. While deer didn't always travel in packs, it was strange for a pregnant female to be alone. Perhaps something had happened to leave her solitary, which led to her taking protection from wherever she could get it. Namely, a strange human.

Having spent most of his interactions with deer hunting them, Anton was surprised how much his companion moved around at night. She slept lightly and didn't seem comfortable staying in one place. Anton was glad he didn't require much sleep, because he was quite sensitive to such movement in a dangerous place. Nothing actually approached them, but the pair ended up watching out for each other regardless.

Early in her life, Chikere had found that sometimes people made fun of her intelligence. She had come to terms with the fact that her strict focus could make her seem stupid to some people. After she began cultivating and was more dangerous, she mostly didn't interact with people at all.

But she wasn't stupid. She knew that swords didn't just naturally grow in forests. But she sure as anything was going to go where her senses led her, even if her senses also said that it was a sword tree.

Along the way she encountered a number of creatures that took exception to her passage. She gave them all the chance in the world to not die. All they had to do was stay outside of the reach of her swords. Otherwise, they would find themselves in several pieces. That included plants that also seemed to think she might be tasty. Instead, she ate them. And most of them weren't even poisonous. As for the one that was, she simply ground the poison into nothing inside of her. It didn't prevent a stomachache, but at least she didn't have to deal with whatever the real effects would be. If it had been a terribly strong poison, she would have just sensed it before she ate it.

She continued towards the sword tree. Or whatever it was that felt like one. She had no inklings that another direction would be more interesting, so the choice was easy.

Previously, Chikere had come across plants that were said to have swordlike leaves. Razor sharp blades and all that were a common theme among plants. After all, nothing big could eat you if it cut itself to ribbons trying. Small things still would, of course, unless they were particularly stupid.

She'd never seen anything quite so accurate to describe her current situation, though. If the leaves of the tree in front of her weren't swords, she didn't know what swords were. They even had something like a hilt. The tree stretched into the sky, right up to the ceiling that was trying really hard to look like something else. Some hundred or more meters at least.

A leaf fell towards her, completely unaware that it was supposed to flutter in the breeze. Instead, it was like a conscious attack. Parrying such a simple thrust was easy, even with the speed from the acceleration of gravity. One single attack was nothing.

As Chikere touched the base of the tree, feeling its rough bark, a strange vibration went through it. The leaf-swords were tightly packed, much like the needles on a coniferous tree. As the vibration rose up the tree, it shuddered and dropped more dangerous projectiles. Chikere always had a sword in hand when walking through dangerous territory, but she had to quickly draw another half-dozen swords to parry the myriad of needle-swords falling on her. Some were wide bladed and some were simple points, but all came down at her in a way that couldn't truly be dodged. Any movements would result in moving into more falling needles.

The first spray of death came and went quickly. Then it was over with no further fuss, Chikere standing amid a field of blades. She picked one up, swinging it. For something formed randomly, they were quite good. Easily in the top one thousand, though if she counted them then they would fill the entire category below a certain point and push everything else out. They were fine, but not impressive.

Unlike the one at the very top point of the tree. Her eyes were drawn to it, the way the branch formed a hilt and crossguard while a blade that narrowed to a fine point rested atop it, so sharp it almost hurt to look at. So apparently swords did grow on trees. But Chikere still knew people wouldn't believe it.

She licked her lips. Now she just had to get to it. It was obvious that any movement on the tree itself would send a shower of blades towards her. Despite everything that had already fallen towards her, she couldn't even discern any blank sections of the tree, so dense it was with blades. Well, at least they provided an easy way to get up. Fallen leaf blades stabbed into the trunk of the tree next to her, forming a spiral stairway. She would have to continue forming it as she went, but she would have plenty of things to help her as another shower of blades began to fall.

Catarina crouched down, glaring at a patch of mossy ground growing on hard ground. Everyone could discern the energy coming from the area, and they knew better than to underestimate strange plants. But Catarina seemed especially focused.

There was only one thing that could catch her attention so fully. Formations. The problem with this formation was that it was covered in moss. She'd thought to pry it up and remove it, but something stopped her. Was it dangerous? Certainly the energy the moss contained was significant, but it should be easy to scrape up. And she didn't really need to do that, because the moss was growing exactly over the patterns in the stone below. Everywhere she could sense it, the moss grew.

She remained at the edge of the area, despite the formation being inactive. She had no idea what might cause it to activate, and that was what was bugging her. In fact, if her senses weren't lying to her she wasn't sure the material involved could withstand channeling the power of the formation. She didn't instantly understand what it did, but it wasn't a trivial plaything. It stretched for a hundred meters in a large circle, and had many intricate parts.

The formation wasn't active. Yet… it wasn't not active. She felt the flow of energy around the area, with simple dead stone beneath it. Was it possible for air to form the necessary components for a formation? Catarina stowed that thought, because while interesting it was likely fruitless. But it did lead her to the proper answer.

"This moss is a formation," Catarina said.

"I could tell it covered one made of stone," Hoyt said, "Nature doesn't tend to create many large circles. What does this stone formation do?"

"Nothing," Catarina said.

"Is it really a formation then?" Hoyt asked.

"It can't not be," Catarina said. "But… I meant precisely what I said. The moss is a formation. Not concealing it or covering it. The moss itself is responsible for the formation."

"Well," Hoyt said. "That's intriguing. What does it do?'

"Sparks curiosity," Catarina said matter-of-factly. "And attempts to lull people into reaching the wrong conclusions about its existence. But it could do… anything?" She tilted her head, "The problem would be growing it." Catarina stood up, pulling out her sword. "I have to have it."

Anton didn't really know how he would practically bring the doe away with him when he left. It might just be a pointless endeavor, and she would remain behind in the forest after this particular trial was over. Yet he had to try. He was quite certain she came from a lineage that had long ago disappeared. The wolves had been too hostile to work with, but he found other interesting things.

The current subject of his attention was almost missed by Anton. It wasn't that it was hidden from his sight, but instead by their very nature he almost ignored them. Ants. They weren't unnaturally sized ants possessed with great natural energy. They were just normal sized- or maybe slightly large- dark colored ants. But what was interesting about them wasn't how they looked, but what they were doing. Specifically, crossing a stream.

For Anton and the deer, it was a couple of steps. For the ants, it was over a hundred times their body length, potentially including antennae. At first it didn't look like much. Just a trail of ants moving to the edge of the stream. He presumed ants had to drink somehow, so it made plenty of sense. But they weren't returning with tiny beads of water, but instead slowly gathering. Several of them stepped out onto the water. Surface tension kept them afloat, and locking limbs with ants behind them kept them attached to the shore.

Then another ant climbed over them until it was at the front, locking itself on as more and more crawled over them. The width of the chain increased slightly as they went along, from a single ant wide to two or three in places. The route across the stream was hardly efficient- the flow carried them at an angle close to the shore. But the motion of the ants continually swayed the ropelike structure out into the middle of the stream, until it was long enough to touch the other side.

Ants began to walk along at an angle, the long trail marching to the other side of the stream where Anton spotted a dead bird. A mighty feast for a colony of ants, he supposed. He was so engrossed with watching their progress that he didn't notice something sneak into his bag.

Chapter 229

Though Anton had for a few days had no encounters with other cultivators, he was certain they would be around. He wouldn't mind a whole forest that he could scour for interesting goodies all to himself, but even Everheart wasn't that generous. The fact that he'd gotten Anton out of his deathtrap was already close to the limit of what Anton believed possible. How Anton ended up inside it was another question. There must have been some criteria, but he hadn't been given an explanation.

Anton looked at the doe traveling with him. She moved fairly quickly, given her pregnant status, but not nearly as fast as Anton might have gone without her. He wondered once more if it was a foolish idea to try to bring her along. What would she actually provide to the world? Assuming he was right and this deer was of a type that could no longer be found, did it matter?

He could tell she would be more durable than a normal deer, even discounting the energy he felt from her. Nothing amazing, but at least comparable to a mid or late Body Tempering human. Perhaps it was better to go for boots and gloves after all. Even if she gave birth, her child would have to mate with normal deer from below. But it seemed sad to think that this particular species of deer would be gone forever if he did nothing.

There was no way that this habitat stayed beyond the opening of the tomb. Even if this particular one didn't instantly collapse, it would have to eventually run out of the energy keeping the area functional. If Anton understood correctly, the moon shouldn't be able to maintain the air they had or any of the life present. It should be without air, or practically so at least.

His step into Essence Collection made him consider his actions. Should he care about this? Was it just thinking about what he could get out of the deer that was why he wanted to save it? He thought not, and he found inside himself real compassion for it. Though he still had to consider practicality. He might not even be able to leave with it.

Before that point, however, he had to get through whatever this trial had. The next of those things were the two people in the distance. His energy senses were able to range further than before, though depending on how much energy a particular person or thing was throwing off he couldn't sense more than a kilometer or so unless he focused in a particular direction. He'd be better at Horizon Shot now, but still had to get closer to someone to find them. At least for the moment.

The two cultivators ahead would tell him what the trial was, either through words or action. He had no intention to reveal himself to them immediately in case there was something competitive. He didn't recall any specific prohibitions against fighting in this place, but that could have changed.

Anton snuck closer. The doe followed behind, but at least seemed to understand the intent for stealth. Her footfalls were quiet, though her energy was still able to be sensed by those who were ready. He didn't really have a way to explain that, but he gave it a try anyway. The doe probably couldn't understand speech, but she might learn like Fuzz.

The energy of the two cultivators ahead of Anton was getting riled up, as if they were preparing for a fight. They hadn't sensed him, but were instead facing off with each other. He didn't recognize either of them, nor even the sects they were from. One was a young woman, and the other woman was somewhat closer to middle age.

As for the reason for the battle, there was a particularly tantalizing fruit tree nearby. Anton couldn't hear their words, but he sensed all of those details and put together the situation.

Cultivators fighting over resources was nothing new, but it seemed unnecessary in a place as abundant as this. Anton moved closer, trying to gauge whether he should interfere.

The younger woman held a large sword in her two hands. The other wielded a bow, and took her first shot when the younger began to charge towards her. The archer immediately ducked behind a tree, concealing her movements and attacking from the sides and back as she moved around.

The sword wielder seemed unable to track the movements of the archer, but was alert to the attacks themselves. She turned to face each arrow head on, swinging her sword in a sometimes wild fashion. Some portion of the time she actually managed to cut the arrow out of the air, but the rest the attack directly struck her breastplate. It was actually an extremely beneficial maneuver for her, as she was able to avoid the weak points on her armor being targeted. Her energy would be worn down from defending, but that only mattered if she didn't have more to spare.

From what Anton sensed, the battle could go either way. Though the current way it was going was terrible for the trees. In addition to swinging at the arrows, the woman with the large sword began to chop through the trees that were providing hiding places for the archer. It was an excessive and probably unnecessary use of energy, but as she amped herself up Anton only felt her output increasing. Her energy wouldn't last forever, but her opponent would have to last along with her.

With fewer trees, the archer found it harder to conceal herself- and the other woman was simply chasing after her with her sword, getting faster as the battle continued. Then the archer made a wise decision.

"I give up, you can have it!" She turned and fled directly away from the berserker with the two handed sword, fleeing towards further trees. A nice swath of trees had been chopped down around the target in question, and upon hearing the somewhat older woman's surrender the woman stopped chasing her. But she didn't let her guard down.

After a short time it became clear to Anton that the archer absolutely meant what she said, or at least had no intent to sneak back around soon. He felt her running off at an angle to his right, but she'd go far past him. Not that it would make any difference if she encountered him. She was late Spirit Building like the other woman, but even if Anton had simply matched her in cultivation level, her skills weren't that impressive. Just adequate, relying on her ability to conceal herself to fight her opponents. Someone with good instinct was a difficult opponent.

Anton continued to walk the same way he had been going, which more or less lined up with the two handed sword wielder and the tree she had fought over. He felt the flaring energy of the woman as she watched for the archer to come back, almost daring her… and then he felt her hit her limit and drop.

That was the problem with her type. They were able to squeeze out large quantities of energy, but sometimes conservation was important. Doubtless her particular technique didn't just switch on and off so easily, but still. The woman was now on her hands and knees, panting for breath. He felt her drawing in energy to aid her recovery.

"Nice instincts," Anton said, "But you're a bit lacking in general perception. That could get you in trouble." Anton leaned against the tree, which had a fruit with a dark green bumpy skin on it. The woman turned towards Anton and glared. He plucked the best fruit from the tree. "Here, catch."

It almost hit her in the fact, but at least her reflexes were good enough for her to catch it. "What is this?" she said.

"That's what you were fighting over," Anton said.

"...What did you do to it?"

"A reasonable question," Anton conceded. "Nothing at all." His bow was raised in an instant, and an arrow nocked and flying past her head before she could even react. "If I wanted to kill you, I'd just do that. No need to poison a perfectly good fruit for it." He smiled at the woman. "Go ahead, I'm not here to bully people."

The woman kept an eye on him as she spun the pear shaped fruit around against the stationary edge of her sword, cutting through its thick skin and into the flesh below. Then she peeled away some of the skin and bit into the fruit. Anton could tell from her expression that it was good, and certainly quite full of energy. It should help her recover and perhaps advance her cultivation some.

"Can I have the seed when you're done?" Anton asked.

"Could I stop you from taking it?" she said.

"No, but I wouldn't force you," Anton shrugged. "The Order of Ninety-Nine Stars isn't in the habit of robbing people."

"I'll likely just eat it, then."

"I wouldn't," Anton said. "It seems… unpleasant." The seed was actually a large pit, perhaps five centimeters across. It was smooth, but that didn't mean much. "I can tell from here your sword didn't even scratch it. Attempting to digest that would bring great pain. Anyway, if you intend to use it for something I do not mind, but I would like one to plant." Anton gestured to the tree, "I could even take one from these lesser fruit. I imagine the tree produced should be much the same."

"You a gardener?" the woman asked.

"A farmer, among other things," Anton said.

"How about a hunter?" she asked, looking over Anton's shoulder towards the doe.

"Sometimes, but this time I thought to try raising another type of animal."

"Good luck with that," the gruff woman responded. She threw the pit at him, almost as if she were trying to hit Anton with it- but with just the force of her arm it was an easy catch. "Go ahead and take it. I agree, I'd rather not have that thing going through my guts."

Anton nodded, "Thank you very much. I'll be moving on now. Many things to collect, and all that."

As Anton continued to move through the forest, he continued to find many interesting edible plants. Many of them were familiar but with a touch of energy and likely more potency than normal. He gathered at least one of everything for the sake of seeds, and piled extras of various fruits and vegetables into his storage bag. If he had taken the time to carefully look inside he might have noticed a handful of very small figures chewing on some of the various foods inside, but as he only tossed things onto the pile his senses never slipped into the modified space inside.

Needle-leaf-blades fell all around Chikere as she continued up the tree towards her prize. Avoiding them wasn't terribly hard, since they fell without intent. They did sometimes tumble in hard to predict manners, but she wasn't going to lose to swords without wielders.

She almost didn't notice a pair of blades as being different until they were swiping at her. Those she had to dodge instead of merely deflecting them, sending her stepping along a large branch behind her. As for what attacked her she saw… nothing. Just the tree, normal as could be. Though two particular leaf blades stood at an odd angle on a section that had otherwise become bare.

Then the branch in front of her moved, revealing a pair of eyes to go with the branch and leaf blades. For a moment Chikere was concerned that the whole tree was able to move and attack, but she quickly discerned that the creature in front of her was an independent entity. As blades fell from above she found it had a hard exoskeleton, harder than even the bark of the tree itself given the lack of dodging or avoidance of the falling blades.

Chikere had to dance back and forth on an ever-shrinking branch until she found a good opening for her strange opponent. She was extremely familiar fighting humans with swords, but something that's front limbs were swords was another matter. And when those swords were also parts of a tree, she thought she was quite reasonable to have been thrown off guard.

But while her opponent was quick and durable, it had already lost the element of surprise. Once she knew it was something that could attack her, all it took was a few quick parries and chopping at its joints to turn it into a pile of dead twigs. Her blades slicing into it clearly told her it wasn't a plant at all, merely some sort of insect with a carapace that looked like bark.

So she'd have to watch for more of that on the way to her prize at the top. The good news was that its forelimbs were actually in the top one hundred. Still unnecessary, but perhaps they could be enchanted to be turned into something great.

Chapter 230

It was only after several more days that Anton noticed a strange, uncomfortable feeling. After he was aware of it, he found it hard to place but unfamiliar. It wasn't anything so obvious as someone or something following him around. He knew that feeling well. No, it was something else. Something about himself.

He wasn't terribly familiar with Essence Collection, but everything about that felt absolutely right. All of his energy felt perfectly alright. It was the energy that wasn't quite his that was the problem. Anton had always been aware of the unnatural nature of having energy from beyond ascension and drawn from future incarnations- but now it felt unstable. Much like when facing the techniques of the Luminous Ocean Society.

That was it. At least, Anton felt a certainty that a majority of the feeling he had was due to that. He had actually avoided excess combat during the week or so he'd been wandering the extensive forested area. Ascension energy was something used for emergencies, so when he wasn't actually calling upon it he barely felt it.

Yes, something in the area was destabilizing that energy. As for what it was, as far as Anton could tell… it was everything. Beyond the lifeless soil and a majority of the stones, every plant and creature that had been injected into the ecosystem had some small effect on disrupting ascension energy. That included the fruits he had been consuming. Anton had the feeling that he would be in a sorry state if he had actually ascended himself, instead of just stealing away the energy with Fleeting Youth.

That also included the pregnant doe he was with. Anton carefully summoned a handful of energy- kept quite literally contained in his palm. It was likely enough to kill a normal person or a low ranking cultivator, but as far as ascension energy went it was only a minimal amount. It wavered in his hand, still functional but less in his control.

Then the doe licked his hand. He felt the energy get wrapped up in her tongue and pulled away. His most immediate concern was not losing it, but what happened to the energy. It wouldn't just disappear. His question was answered almost immediately, as the doe began to radiate a stronger presence- though composed entirely of the energy he was used to. Anton was tempted to try it again and see how much the doe could absorb, but in her pregnant state rapid ingestion of energy might not be advisable.

The doe still nudged his hand with her head, as she did when he was hiding acorns. Anton held out both his hands. "It's gone, see?"

The doe flicked away her head, as if turning up her nose. He suspected she didn't believe him, and technically that wasn't incorrect. He could summon more whenever he wanted, especially in that quantity. It might not be a good idea, though. He'd wait at least an hour to see if there were lingering effects.

With the majority of his worry assuaged, Anton continued on his way. He felt drawn towards a certain area, and had the feelings others would be as well. Hopefully he might encounter some companions, either his usual group or at least cultivators from allied sects.

Devon had a less than optimal start to his cultivation. He was only taught it at all to spice up arena battles, and had little resources given to him. He had to make do on the merely adequate amount of natural energy that had been available to him and his own skills. After he had been freed, his grandfather had helped him re-lay his foundation, but he stuck to the core of the technique he had been taught, despite it not being deserving of a proper name.

The core was the only thing the same, however. Devon had modified it on his own, finding it inefficient, but with the experience of Anton and elders in the Order he'd turned it into something else. He didn't draw upon the semblance of the stars to empower himself, but he had adapted to temper every part of himself just like the Ninety-Nine Stars.

The decision had been made out of stubbornness, but since his cultivation hadn't come to a screeching halt Devon supposed it had been right. Or at least, not the worst he could have made. He was progressing regularly, and given time he might match the group of his grandfather and companions. Being effectively a year behind out of six meant it would take some time to properly catch up, but the biggest issue was that each was at peak Spirit Building if they had not yet stepped into Essence Collection. He would only hold them back right now.

Devon also found himself as something of a loner. Though with that said, he hadn't elected to wander through Everheart's tomb entirely alone. He was with three others from the Order. Kalpana, Allen, and Marcio. The first two were closer to his own age of around five decades, while Marcio was a good ten or fifteen years younger. The last of their number was a young man who interestingly enough used a fighting style similar to Devon himself, though with a very different origin. His name was Lev, a member of the Grasping Willows.

Elder Varela of the Grasping Willows had been present for Devon's rescue- a bold and honorable move for someone from a smaller sect who had little to gain. Except, of course, the friendship of a cultivator who was merely starting out on the path to true power. Or two, since Devon himself had advanced quite far since that time, surpassing the Elder in question.

After he was saved by Anton, Lev had been training hard to catch up. Devon understood that feeling, but given that his grandfather was advancing at more or less the rate of the top tier of cultivators, it wasn't such an easy feat. Only time would allow the gap between them to lessen, perhaps five or ten years and the power gap between them would be marginal. If they could actually keep up.

The group of five had come across quite a number of fortuitous encounters in the wilderness they were wandering… or perhaps it would be more correct to say they'd found a number of intentionally placed prizes. Even if every fruit being perfectly ripe was a product of Everheart's formations, the fact that it was made that way for the trial led to them being more rewards.

There were challenges, of course. Beasts that wanted to consume those very fruits or who were simply territorial. There were many dangerous plants as well, but Lev was able to identify them- even if they were unfamiliar species of plants. The Grasping Willows emulated an exotic plant of the same name, and Lev's experience nearly dying to a strange parasitic moss had led him to widen his knowledge of plants even further.

"We're getting close," Kalpana commented from the head of the group. She was the member of their group most trained in scouting. "Unfortunately, it looks like we'll have to deal with another group coming in."

Despite the different circumstances of this particular place, most cultivators were following the general rules laid down for any such group excursion. Regardless of whether or not they thought the rules were good, it was beneficial to follow along. That included trying to minimize conflicts, especially deadly ones. While killing your opponents would silence them once and for all, regardless of official actions grudges would form. Allowing others to leave a conflict with lives intact was generally safer for both sides. Especially since so far there hadn't been any extremely problematic groups, like the Flying Blood Cult.

Devon's thoughts worried that he might have just caused them trouble, but as they drew closer it was determined that the group was from the Desert Hippo Sect. Devon didn't know about them, but Kalpana had some information. "They're a combative bunch," Kalpana explained, "But they don't have the reputation of being thieves or murderers. They likely won't give up this prize without a fight, but we should be able to arrange some terms. If I identified them correctly, of course."

"Any connection to Crunching Hippo River?" Devon asked.

"The origin of their styles, I believe, though they are currently unaffiliated."

At least that meant a lower chance that they had a Life Transformation expert just wandering around, though the Order had more than one anyway. Devon and the others would just prefer they stay out of this entirely.

As they approached the area with the treasure that they had sensed, they found a group of six large men waiting for them on the other side of some sort of berry bush. The dark skinned men ranged in size from a tall, lean warrior to an absolute giant close to two and a half meters tall and finally to a man thick with fat. For the latter, it had to have been an intentional choice- cultivators had many methods to burn away excess fat if they so desired. Even if they didn't, they tended to end up thinner simply because it was a chore to eat beyond the level required to build and maintain muscle.

It was the giant who spoke as they approached. "It seems we come upon the same prize together," the man said with a booming voice. "There is only one thing to be done. We fight for it."

"See?" Kalpana said, looking at the others. She then raised her voice to be heard by the men from Ambati. "What terms should we fight on?"

"Given the size of our groups, it seems appropriate to have a series of matches. Three in total, with two victories claiming the prize."

"And what of the others?" Kalpana asked.

"Of course, we will be standing by for the sake of ensuring there is no foul play. Either from ourselves, or a third party interfering."

A fight of five versus six wouldn't be in the favor of Devon and the rest. If one of their members were sequestered in a match and they were betrayed, four versus five wouldn't be much worse. "What else?" Kalpana probed, "The rules of the matches."

"They continue until one side is defeated. Usually, that would be through surrender, but clear incapacitation will of course count as well." The large man gestured nearby, "There is a sufficient area there to fight without leaving the rest."

The group discussed among themselves, but nobody had any objections. All that mattered was that the members of the Desert Hippo Sect intended to keep to the terms. "Very well," Kalpana said. "Who shall go first?"

"Kayode," the giant said. "You are to go first," he waved a man forward. "Your side may pick whoever you please."

"I'll go," Devon said. His cultivation was close enough to his opponent around the border between mid and late Spirit Building.

With no objections from his side, Devon moved forward.

Once they were both in place five meters from each other and out of close proximity to the rest, the start of the match was called by the giant after they declared their readiness. A moment later, Devon had a massive man barreling towards him.

Devon could feel the ground shaking, a combination of the man's weight in muscle and fat as well as his energy propelling him forward. Though a certain sort of honor might have compelled him to meet his opponent head on, practicality called for a different response.

Chains of energy shot forward from Devon to either side, wrapping around trees on either side before meeting in the middle. Two more went directly forward. The charging man ignored both entirely, letting them wrap around his legs and arms respectively.

As the chains wrapped around the tree snapped taut, Devon found himself thrown forward. He tried to slow himself and his charging opponent by dragging his feet into the ground, but it hardly helped. Devon might have been able to hold on until the trees snapped, but he would settle for what he had. The man's momentum slowed slightly at least. The chains wrapped around his arms didn't do much, but as their imminent collision approached he pulled the arms in towards the man's sides.

Then Devon leapt forward, sailing over the man's head while at the same time releasing the chains attached to the man's legs. He didn't just drop them, but thrust them down to meet their counterparts down below, where they formed into a single loop. As soon as that happened and the chains hit their full length once more the man staggered. Happily enough, he fell forward- though the trees cracked and groaned under the force and Devon's chains strained.

A simple fall onto the man's face likely wasn't a significant victory, so Devon had to hope that he caused some damage or at least made him expend more energy than he'd used himself. Though he was also moving to take advantage of the opening of his prone foe. It seemed unlikely for the man to be terribly agile, so despite his tough body and strong energy defenses he had to take the opportunity. He held the man's arms tight around him and charged back towards the man, since the spikes clearly weren't enough on their own.

Chapter 231

The heavy warrior from Ambati lay on the ground, with Devon's chains wrapped around his midsection pinning his arms to him. Devon was able to control the length of those chains with some level of flexibility, so though the man attempted to roll away as he approached the chains remained taut. Even just rolling on the ground the large man provided great force, but Devon held on. Unfortunately, though he kept the man's arms bound, he couldn't stop him from twisting to his knees, then to a standing position.

If this had been a deathmatch with a hated foe, Devon would have targeted the man differently. He didn't just rely on creating chains to fight, but had a proper sword for when he needed to cause more damage. He might have tried to lop the man's head off… had the situation been different. Instead, he settled for a kick to the head. It would snap the man's neck back as the chains held him in place, but his durability was unquestionably enough for him to survive that.

That was Devon's plan, and it happened just like that, even as the man spread his legs and lowered his stance. Solid boot connected with chin directly, and though the man's energy certainly softened the blow Devon felt the force pierce through. What he hadn't expected was for the strain on the chains to grow to the point they snapped, the man's arms breaking free. Because of that, he hadn't expected the palm that struck him in the stomach, either.

The angles involved and the general situation were kind to Devon. They spread the impact out over his leg pushing against the man's face and Devon's whole torso. More than that, he went flying into the air- much better than hitting the ground and having all his momentum stopped at once, where he would be injured on both ends of the attack. Instead he had a moment to orient himself in the air.

A handful of chains whipped out from him, grabbing onto different trees and extending their length so they didn't suddenly hit their limits, but gradually stopped him instead. Then Devon yanked himself forward, not heading back towards the ground but keeping his height in the trees. Facing the man head on would only result in worse injuries, and his cracked ribs were quite sufficient for the moment.

A few moments later he was directly above his landlocked opponent- though he knew that hiding in trees wouldn't be a viable long-term strategy. Even before he started his next move the heavy man was walking over to one of the trees he was anchored to, doubtless planning to rip it out and possibly use it as a projectile.

Before that happened, Devon began dropping coils of chains beneath him, and then himself. One after another chains sprouted from around him and the other chains of energy he had already created, covering Kayode from head to toe. Though the man grabbed several and tried to rip him apart, Devon was capable of continuous high energy output, after which controlling the chains actually consumed very little effort. As even the large man wasn't able to snap his chains with ease, it was sufficient.

His chains twisted and pulled the mans arms to odd angles before once more clamping them to him, doing the same with his legs. Devon began to squeeze as his heel came down on the man's head with surprisingly little reaction. But the chains tightened, the blades on them certainly pressing into the man's body everywhere. Except for his head and neck. Devon strained as his chains tightened, wondering if he even could damage this man. He was about ready to pull out his sword and place it to his throat when the man spoke.

"I surrender."

Devon quickly loosened the chains, reabsorbing as much of the energy as he could while they faded away. He wasn't terribly surprised to see that Kayode didn't actually have a scratch on him, though he took solace in the fact he was certain he'd punctured the man's energy. He just had very thick skin.

Kayode put a dark skinned hand on his jaw, carefully touching it, then patted the top of his head. "You are strong," he finally said. "Though the Desert Hippo Sect is more straightforward in our strength, it would be unfair to claim you are otherwise."

"You're extremely strong as well," Devon said in return. "I've never had anyone of a similar rank to myself snap my chains."

Kayode smiled, taking his stance and putting his arms at his side. "It's all about technique."

Devon blinked in surprise. He hadn't thought that the heavy man, large from both muscle and fat, would admit to something besides brute force. But seeing the way he wiggled his arms, Devon could imagine how the stresses on the chains would shift and find weak points. Though it would still require great muscular strength, energy, or some combination of both.

"I suppose we should announce our next fighter," Devon said.

"We can choose first," the muscled giant who was their leader offered.

"It is more fair if we offer at least one of our fighters first," Devon said.

"I'll go," Lev volunteered. Everyone else nodded. Despite his rather small size, he was one of the better fighters among them. It would be easy to underestimate him. But it didn't seem the members of the Desert Hippo Sect planned to do so.

"Then I shall fight," the giant himself stepped forward. While Kayode was a tall man, and quite large overall, this man was two and a half meters in height, and nearly ended up as wide as Kayode despite the lack of fat. He left behind him on the ground a large hammer, either determining he wouldn't need it- or simply out of lack of desire to escalate things to a deadly level. After all, with the size of the man and the weapon, Lev couldn't really afford to get hit even once. "I am Bongani."

"Lev," said the young adult who was several times smaller than him, overall. One arm hung limply at his side.

Since Bongani was one of the participants in the fight, Devon determined the countdown was his responsibility. A few moments later, the fight began.

Just as Kayode, Bongani barreled towards Lev the moment the match began. Yet given the power and durability displayed by his previous companion, it was not a reckless move but simply the most efficient one. Lev stood his ground, a skinny fellow with no visible weapons. Even his hair and beard were not terribly long, a feature that Elder Varela of his sect made use of to fight.

But Lev had weapons that were more than just his body. Roots sprang up from the ground, helpfully torn loose by the previous battle. They held onto Bongani's legs as the trees themselves bent and twisted, striking Bongani directly one after another. All of that together slowed his charge just a bit, though there were shatters of splinters as the trees snapped.

The giant took another powerful step forward before punching forward with his left arm. Lev wrapped around it with both arms- including the one that hung limply moments before- and yanked, throwing the man past him- though Bongani simply turned his tumble into a full flip and landed on his feet before twisting on his heel. If the man had not been so large, he would have gone much further and in fashion he was less able to reorient. He had a smile on his face, but so did Lev.

If Bongani had been a lesser combatant, relying simply on his size, he would have been sorely disappointed to find that cultivation was about much more than a strong body. Yet on the other hand, if Lev had presumed that his energy could simply overcome the man despite his clear focus on his body, he could have made a serious mistake.

As it was, Lev had gone all out. While his throw hadn't damaged the man, he still left a few lingering presents along his arm. Tiny pricks of energy that didn't seem like much, but would actually begin to drain him. Lev wasn't going to go so far as to use all the insights he'd gained from the parasitic moss, but there were some levels that were too far for what had so far been a friendly series of matches.

If the battle dragged on, Lev's ability would drain Bongani to the point he became vulnerable. However, the giant was powerful and not very far at all. Even as he turned on his heel, he kicked out towards Lev. When Lev retreated, Bongani re-angled himself to turn the attack into a trip.

Lev was pulled away by a nearby root as Bongani came down on his midsection with a thick arm and a fist the size of his head. For several exchanges, Lev and Bongani seemed unable to get an advantage, but the giant was more agile than he looked. Lev also found it difficult to keep his energy implanted in the man, and the more he focused on that the less he could drag him around into just the right areas to restrain him with tree roots or bludgeon him with their trunks.

Eventually Lev just barely managed to dodge a punch, and knuckles scraped against his ribs. "I surrender," he said, backing away. Then he inclined his head. "You could have hit me with that, without compromising your own defense."

Bongani nodded, "Only through the advantage of experience. I have more years as a cultivator." He shook hands with Lev, though the smaller man's hand was entirely encased inside his own. "Though I have the feeling if you had gone all out, I would not have fared as well."

"Maybe. Or if you used that hammer, I might be a puddle of goop on the floor."

"I admit to being a bit slower with my weapon. But I suppose it could have ended that way."

Now that it was the third match, and seeing how Bongani had treated it, Devon and the others weren't concerned that the group would suddenly go back on their word and try to seize the prize, the berry bush with everyone standing around it. Taking advantage of the matches to weaken them would have been possible- though it was still reasonable for Devon and the others to accept. And having stood fist-to-fist with them, there was no deception to be found.

But there was one more round to take into account to see who actually won. The man from the Desert Hippo Sect who went next was the tall, lean member of their group. It was hard to imagine his fighting style would be close to the others, given the very different body type. He wasn't small by any means, but it would be difficult for him to throw around his mass as a weapon.

Kalpana stood across from him, a hammer in each hand. "I hope you'll excuse my need for a weapon. I doubt I could put up a proper fight with just my fists."

Her opponent nodded his head, "I too shall be making use of proper weapons. I trust we will both know when to stop." Up until that point, the skinny but tall man had his body concealed by a cloak. If anything, it had made him seem wider in body. Some of that had actually not been him, but his armor. Specifically, spikes that extended along his arms and legs, as well as from his chest and presumably his back. "I am Alhaji. Though it is well known that few hippos have spikes, it is the duty of cultivators to improve the aspects their origin lacked."

Kalpana grinned back at the man then gestured to herself. "Kalpana. You could have just said you were a spiny hippo, though, Alhaji." Kalpana held her hammers out, spinning them around with her fingers. "It's not like these boys are made from stars, or anything like that."

After they completed their introduction, the countdown began. Everyone was tensely watching the match, though the uninjured members were also remembering to keep their eye out for third parties who might interfere or seize the opportunity. While either side could swallow their pride and admit defeat to the others, one of them would be walking away with some very special sort of berries.

Chapter 232

The tall and skinny man covered in spiked armor, Alhaji, faced off against Kalpana who wielded two warhammers, one side of each head with a spike while the other was blunt. This would be the final match of the three, with one win for either side. While Kalpana's weapon were indeed suited for her opponent, she wouldn't necessarily have an easy time getting in a solid blow that allowed her weapons to pierce through his defenses.

As the countdown finished and the match began, Alhaji charged forward. The members of the Desert Hippo Sect all had a similar straightforward style, but Kalpana judged that just because his movements were simple didn't mean he would be easy to strike. He moved with great speed and momentum, forcing Kalpana to make the choice between counterattacking and protecting herself. If it were a battle to the death, one she was certain to have ample time to recover afterwards, she might be willing to take a swing at his vitals in exchange for a hit.

The tall man crouched low, at least compared to his height, his arms outstretched to cover a larger area. She ducked under and took a swing at his side, but his assault had actually made it difficult to land a proper blow. He also reacted to her ducking around him, swinging his arm like a spiked weapon that scraped along her skull, damaging her energy.

She didn't expect him to swivel around on his heel, nearly instantly reversing his momentum, but she reacted nonetheless. With one hammer she knocked his arm up, and with the other she hammered into his side, knocking him off course. She thought she might have cracked one of his ribs, but she couldn't be certain. This group was tough.

A flurry of hammers and spikes twirled around as Alhaji began to show what else he could do besides a straightforward charge. Punches and kick and leg sweeps all came with the added danger of spikes sticking out at odd angles. He was obviously familiar with their location, never hindering himself but always using it to make Kalpana's life more difficult. But while she was kept on the back foot, she was actually planning her attack. She slowly gathered energy, preparing for the right moment. When it came, she struck without hesitation. Alhaji overreached a bit too much with a punch, allowing her a moment to swing up one of her hammers, the spike driving into the inner side of the elbow. He was trying to move past her, but that allowed her to yank him to a sudden halt. Her other hammer came down on the spot she had battered before, striking with intensified force as sparks flew even before hammer struck armor.

She aimed slightly down, piercing into his ribs at an angle where she wouldn't hit his heart. That was a courtesy that was appropriate, though other than that it couldn't be said that she held back. Even as she managed that, Alhaji reached around with his good arm to try to pull her in and crush her, but she danced away. They faced each other for a few moments before Alhaji reached up to his side, where blood was flowing freely. "I surrender. It is your victory."

As he said that, the remaining members of the Desert Hippo Clan inclined their heads, backing away from the bush that was the object of their contention. Both sides had injuries ranging in intensity, but they should be able to recover in a relatively short time frame. Going any further would just leave them vulnerable.

"Good fortune to you," Bongani and the others said as they began to turn away.

Devon quickly gathered the others around, whispering to them, then called after them. "Wait!" The Desert Hippo Sect turned, looking back curiously. Devon pulled a handful of berries off of the bush, tossing them. "It was a good match. You should take some." Before they could object, Devon continued. "Just promise us this. If you are able to grow the plant first, share the details with us."

Bongani had easily caught the handful of berries, looking at them in his hand. "Grow them?" he questioned.

"Absolutely. My grandfather would kill me if he knew I didn't at least try to grow something like this. The instant gratification of a little power is nothing compared to the eventual payoff. At least, if something suitable is found."

Bongani nodded, "Very well. We shall try some soils near us. Though none are quite like this area."

Both sides parted peacefully from there. Devon knew it was only a small chance that they'd actually get anything in return, but the Desert Hippo Sect members would be leaving with a good opinion of the others. While they might never meet again, there could be a need for some allies in the rest of the tomb.

"Alright, that's about it then," a voice appeared from nowhere, and though Anton had only heard this particular iteration of the voice several times before he wasn't going to mistake Everheart for anyone else. "All of you have had your fun gathering everything as you desire. But you didn't come here for fancy plants. You came here for Ascension. And while I can't guarantee even a single one of you will reach that point, some of you are going to come away from this armed with new knowledge."

Given the general way the voice was speaking, Anton presumed that everyone else heard along with himself. He didn't suppose it would respond to questions, though he didn't have a good one ready anyway.

"I've opened up the final trial. Some of you are much closer than others, but that's fate. Or whatever. I don't know if that crap actually exists, but I won't hear any complaints about it. Everything goes to those who can get their hands on it first. And I mean it. Touch any of that stuff in there, and it's yours. I don't mind little squabbles happening, but once someone has something that's it. I expect you all to be civil. After all, nobody would want to miss out on valuable information about ascension."

The more he reiterated that point, the more Anton wondered if it was some sort of prank. It was possible Everheart really didn't care about handing out the information, having already ascended or died himself, but the mere way it was said made him wonder what information Everheart could actually have. Then again… if this place was made after he raided the Luminous Ocean Society- which was quite likely- he might have some exceptional secrets.

Or the most difficult place to get to would have a note that suggested something like climbing a mountain to achieve 'ascension'.

As soon as Everheart finished talking, Anton could sense where the next trial was. It was extremely obvious… and also quite nearby. He calculated in his head the chance that the timing was random, and determined… he didn't know. It was also possible that there was more than one entrance to the final area, though he could only sense a single concentration of power. If there were others, their presence was overwhelmed by the one he felt.

As he walked along, Anton looked over at the doe. "I don't know if you'll be able to come with me. But I suppose there's no way to know except to try." He continued to walk towards the energy signature he sensed, just fifteen minutes away by his estimates. He felt other people nearby as he approached, and Anton was quite certain a few Life Transformation experts slipped in ahead of him. They were the ones to which information on Ascension was most important, after all.

He soon found stairs heading down, the opening sticking out in stark contrast to the forest around it as if it had torn out a part of the world around it. In fact, there was half of a rock on the edge of it, cleanly cut. So nobody could have possibly stumbled upon the final trial early, since it hadn't existed.

The doe was reluctant to go down the stairs, but Anton helped her along, supporting her weight as needed. She clearly didn't enjoy the process, but she also wanted to stay with him. She was able to walk down the stairs, at least, and after the first few she was less nervous and clacked her way down until the hit the bottom which led directly into an open room. Three doors stood across from them.

Everheart's voice came to Anton once again, but this time it sounded more authoritative. More imperial. "Ascension. Each bit of knowledge can bring one closer, but likewise misinformation can lead one a step away. What is ascension?"

The three doors before Anton had no labels in the traditional sense, but he felt something from each of them. One of them carried a great power with it, and he recognized it. Yet the same sense was down other corridors as well, though less potent. The first seemed to be the easiest solution. Ascension was the great power that came beyond Life Transformation. The other two hallways were harder to interpret.

"I don't suppose you could tell me what each one is supposed to mean?" There was no answer, either from Everheart or the doe nor anything else. Anton shook his head. "Wonderful." He almost went immediately for the easy answer. It should bring him forward, and he had to get to prizes first. But… it didn't feel quite right. The second hallway seemed to register as 'a different source of energy'. That was right, too.

As he walked towards it, Anton took one last look at the third hallway. He wasn't sure how, but it resonated in his mind as 'a place cut off from the rest of the world'. Anton stopped. All the answers seemed to be correct. But was one more correct? From what he had learned… the third was actually the most important, though only part of the full picture. He decided to traverse that way, to see if he could determine what Everheart was actually looking for.

He ended up in a small room with a tiny pedestal in it. On the pedestal with a shard of crystal the size of Anton's pinky nail. Yet it was filled with an overwhelming amount of energy.

"All answers are true," Everheart's voice came. "But some are more true than others. Reach for your prize, if you can snatch it."

Anton carefully reached forward, wondering what was going to attack him. Would it be the crystal itself, or some other trap? In the end, however, there was no danger to him. Because there wasn't actually anything there. As he touched the crystal, his fingers went through it and it scattered into light.

"A basic understanding of ascension is hollow and empty. Perhaps it will grow into something, and perhaps it will not. Until then, it is intangible." Anton would have just preferred if Everheart had simply said, 'no prize' instead of taunting him with a reward. But there was still more to explore. "Given that ascension is a place cut off, what does that mean for you?"

Anton was beginning to understand that the hallways that split off weren't exactly even a specific answer, but rather limited by his own comprehension of things. The second hallway was a complete blank for him, with nothing there. The first spoke of breaking free from the world to ascend. And the third was like it, implying a barrier in the way.

The difference was unclear, but Anton was inclined to move towards the latter. Because while a barrier might indeed prevent them from ascending easily, it wasn't necessarily keeping them trapped either.

The doe wandered along behind Anton, seeming to be unsure about the strange stone rooms but otherwise not reacting to anything.

"Barriers go both ways," Everheart's voice spoke as Anton stepped into the next room. "Is that sufficient?" Once more there was a pedestal.

Anton approached closely, taking a good look at the shard of crystal, ever so slightly bigger than the previous one. Perhaps he could have attained the other, if he knew what he was doing. He could feel the dense energy, one he had handled before himself. He was unsure how it might be solidified into a crystal, but ascension energy was certainly familiar. He reached out for it, trying to control it. But it once more faded into nothing.

"Upon ascending, a cultivator has reached the peak of his path, becoming something akin to an immortal." Everheart's voice spoke with clear authority. "None can hope to stand against them."

Anton immediately rejected the first thought in front of him. 'Ascension makes one undefeatable'. Of course that was not true. Unless people who had ascended simply couldn't fight. By the standards of the world he currently lived, he imagined that ascended individuals might indeed be unstoppable, but compared to their peers, there had to be those who were stronger and those who were weaker.

Setting that aside, Anton was immediately drawn to the third hallway. It spoke to him of fragility and weakness, a mere hollow and brittle form covering up the truth. That didn't ring quite true to him, but something drew him to it anyway.

Once more there was a small crystal, marginally bigger. He tried to make use of a small bit of technique he'd learned to counter ascension energy, hoping to snag the crystal, but once more it was gone.

"Everything is finite. Everything has its weaknesses," Everheart declared as he stood in the room. "Until, in the end, one goes beyond ascension to reach true immortality."

Anton didn't hesitate, finding his answer immediately. Perhaps it was the cynic in him, but the thought of 'everything dies' resonated with him too strongly to even consider other options.

"A pity," Everheart commented as he entered the next room. "You know so much, and have such talent, but you'll never reach ascension."

It took a moment for Anton to register an actual form standing there, talking to him.

Anton shrugged, "I know. But I made this choice."

Everheart snorted. "Hah. If I was actually here, I'd slap you for that. Most people don't have a choice."

"I don't know if giving it up was really a choice, though. Nothing says I would have made it."

"Don't pretend you aren't a genius," Everheart said. "I didn't think it would matter for this place, so I didn't take stock of everyone's cultivation time when they came in. But knowing you used Fleeing Youth, I had to know how long you've been practicing. Six years to reach Essence Collection might put you into the second rank of geniuses, if you weren't a century old." Everheart shook his head, "I thought you'd maybe started training Fleeting Youth, oh, four or five decades ago. But you're still new at that too." Everheart's eyes drilled into Anton. "Do I sense some damage to your lifespan? I don't suppose it was Candle Wax?"

Anton nodded. "That's right."

"Look, just because Fleeting Youth functions better at the end of your life didn't mean you had to push yourself there."

"I'm not that careless. I had to save someone. I've not used it in quite some time."

Everheart looked at Anton a while before nodding. "Yeah, sounds about right. Listen. If you make it through Essence Collection- and I can all but guarantee you will- you would have reached Ascension. But it's gone now. And don't tell me you didn't guess that. At the very least, you had to at least be aware of this messing up an unknown number of reincarnations."

"An unknown number?" Anton asked. "I was under the assumption that I might not reincarnate at all."

Everheart shrugged, "Maybe not. I have to point out I didn't actually use that one. But I'm good enough at predicting side effects to tell you that your next few incarnations, if you have them, will be perfectly normal people."

"That sounds wonderful," Anton said.

"Too bad you can't ascend now," Everheart said. "I'm sure someone like you could do a lot with it. Well, I'm sure when the time comes you'll come up with something better anyway."

Chapter 233

"... what?" Anton squinted at Everheart. "What's 'better' than ascension?"

"If I knew that, I would have done it," Everheart said. "Besides, do you think I know everything? I'm just making wild conjecture. It doesn't really matter though, if you reach the peak of Life Transformation while keeping up with your Fleeting Youth training you'll kick the ass of anyone below Ascension. And that's all that you need." Everheart's teenage form leaned against the wall casually, "Though you'll die of old age pretty quick, I bet. How's your lifespan holding up?"

Anton shrugged, "I've got at least two decades in me right now."

"Not bad," Everheart said, "Should have another fifty though. That late start really made things hard, huh?"

"I suppose so," Anton said, "But I have nothing to compare to."

"Yeah, well," Everheart shrugged, "Look, I don't actually know everything, even everything Everheart knew. But I do know that you have to carve out your own path. And I had a thought that maybe ascension wasn't the only one. The only way to find that out for sure is to do it, or die trying. Though it may do you some good to hang around for a while…"

"Because of the ascended individuals coming to attack, I presume," Anton said with as much casualness as he could muster.

"You know about that?" Everheart said. "Others too, I hope?"

"Yes. We found the secret realm of the Luminous Ocean Society, and sifted through their ruins to find some techniques that can combat ascension energy."

"Good, good," Everheart continued to nod. "Then you might have a chance. Not at winning, of course," Everheart quickly clarified, "But of not being completely wiped out."

"Will you help us?" Anton asked.

"I'm just a projection. Besides the knowledge and crap contained here, I can't really do anything."

"I mean Everheart," Anton said.

"I'm dead," Everheart's projection said. "Everyone knows that."

"Or you ascended. You should have a pretty good idea of whether or not that happened," Anton said. "And given this place, I can't imagine you got close enough to guide others without taking that step yourself shortly after."

Everheart shook his head sadly. "You make the assumption that one precludes the other. But I know you know that even if I ascended, I'm dead. Too many enemies. And, if, just if I survived somehow… do you think I'd help? I may have messed around with these stupid tombs, but I'm ultimately just a self-serving asshole. This was a fun little side project. If it lets you all kill a single person when they come, well… that's just a little revenge I set up for myself in advance."

"I don't believe you," Anton said. "This is far too much work to go to, too much expense, just to maybe kill someone who might have killed you."

"I appreciate your optimism kid, but you know what they say. You can't take it with you."

"..." Anton found Everheart very difficult to read. His flippant nature was certainly an intention affection to a certain extent, but some parts of him were genuine. "I have it on good authority that you can, in fact, 'take it with you'. Otherwise there would have been a pile of stuff left behind whenever people ascend, and these raids would be pointless."

"Crap," Everheart said. His expression looked genuinely upset. "I didn't think of that."

Anton couldn't help but laugh. Because either Everheart had really missed the fact that he could bring his wealth with him, or he'd set up a whole lot of complicated places for the sake of pushing others onto a path for their own protection and never once tried to get anyone to appreciate him for it.

"Don't laugh," Everheart stomped his foot.

"One of us has to," Anton said. "And I figured it wouldn't be you." He walked forward, looking at the pedestal. "You can't actually get these crystals, can you?"

"Nah," Everheart said. "But one guy's coughing up blood every time they disappear. It's hilarious."

Everheart left in short order after the conversation finished. Anton hadn't gotten anything but a better understanding of his conscious and unconscious thoughts about ascension, which he supposed didn't count as nothing. But he didn't get anything to help boost his cultivation, after the forest at least.

He didn't end up with any more questions, eventually arriving in a room where several Life Transformations cultivators stood, looking at the wall. On the wall was a large circle, with two needles protruding from it and hanging parallel. One pointed directly upward, and one slightly to its left. If Anton recalled correctly, it was similar to a timekeeping device. Most cultivators had no need of them, and few people had need for precise timing. Such devices were usually large and clunky, though most didn't take up a whole wall. Anton felt it with his energy senses, and instead of the expected formations running, the thing sensed a large collection of metal rods and gears.

"Any idea what this is?" one of the Life Transformation cultivators asked as Anton entered. He was the one Anton knew was from Crunching Hippo River, though he didn't know the man's name. The large man waddled over to Anton, and Anton knew he wasn't just asking, he was demanding to know.

"I don't know, senior," Anton said. "Except that it might be a timepiece."

"For what?" the man asked, though he clearly didn't expect Anton to have that answer.

Anton looked at it anyway. "I hope it's not until the next potential invasion. Because if so, it doesn't appear we have much time."

The man squinted his eyes, grabbing Anton's shoulder before he could even sense him moving. "Invasion by what? What do you know?"

"Senior," Anton explained calmly. "Information from the secret realm and ruins of the Luminous Ocean Society indicated an attack in the past. One enough to erase them, and probably other very strong sects, from the history of the world."

The grip on his shoulder relaxed, though Anton himself did not. "Foolishness," the man said as he turned away, though his worry was plain for Anton to read.

Though the hands on the clock seemed to be completely stationary, Anton could feel them moving. It was ever so slow. If it was actually a measurement from the last incident, then there was less than a tenth of the time in between remaining. Though given that it had been several centuries at least, Anton thought they might have a few decades. At least that thought was slightly comforting. It didn't look good though.

More and more people ended up at the end of the final trial, speculating on what it might be. Among those people was Grand Elder Kseniya, who raised an eyebrow at Anton's presence before her, but didn't say anything more. He could have simply been closer or chosen answers more quickly, though Grand Elder Kseniya knew that not everyone would arrive at the end. His eyes indicated he had things to say, but also that they would best be said in private. She also looked at the doe he brought along with him, but had little to say about it.

Another hour passed before Everheart appeared, his annoying teenage form leaning next to the clock. "This is good enough," he said. "I'm sure many more people can make it here, but all the high ranking cultivators are present. Now, I'm sure some of you might be wondering what happened to those people who didn't make it through the doors. You might presume they were taken back to the beginning, to be returned down below. But actually, they're dead."

A pile of equipment suddenly appeared in front of him. Everheart judged the reactions of everyone in the room, which ranged from apathy to disbelief to a little bit of anger.

"Now, I'm sure you all are wondering why they would be dead. Some of your sects are missing a few members that bolstered your numbers, it seems. Except… you aren't. Only fakes are missing, cronies for those who think themselves better than you." Everheart shrugged, "Hell, they might even be better, but the point is they were lying to you."

There were a few whispers among the crowd, and Everheart picked up on them.

"That's right. The 'Twin Soul Sect' among others. Tainted by those not from here, traitors now and in the future. Willing to give up their lives for the promise of one somewhere better."

"How foolish," one cultivator said. "Nobody can help you in your next life."

"Oh, I don't know about that," Everheart said. "I'm sure someone could. I don't know if they were actually going to follow through on the promise, but whoever is involved definitely could, if they chose to." Everheart looked at some of the people in the room. "Tempting, right? It's not so hard to find someone's soul after they're dead, if you know where to look. You can help it along, guide it into the right new birth or any number of other things." Everheart's face blackened as he glared at them. "Or you can tear it to shreds and make sure that they'll never live again." Everheart spit on the ground. "Don't even think about following through on that temptation. If you seek out those from beyond this world, I promise that when your fellow cultivators tear apart your body, I'll do the same with your soul."

Anton wasn't sure if he Everheart could actually do that. Oh, he absolutely believed Everheart had the ability, and that everyone who had been brought into the deathtrap would have had it happen to them after they died… but outside this place of control, Anton grew more skeptical. But he wasn't going to contradict the man either.

"So it's true then," Kseniya said. "Influences from beyond ascension who somehow influence people here."

"More than that," Everheart said. "They can come for a little visit. Sometimes." He gestured towards the clock. "Shouldn't be long now. So in addition to what you know so far, here's what I have to say about Ascension. Screw it, and everyone who dips their filthy hands into our world. But on a more practical note," Everheart said. "I know you found the Luminous Ocean Society. Good job."

Anton wasn't going to mention that Everheart had learned that tidbit from him. That seemed a bit unnecessary and likely to get him in a pointless squabble.

"I saw their place too. They had some nice techniques for fighting ascension energy. And they still got wiped out to the last man. Because let's face it, none of you are strong enough. All of you together, and your sects, and everyone who didn't make it here…" Everheart shook his head. "Probably also too weak. And I'm going to say this. If you know any techniques that can fight them, they won't let you live. They'll stomp you out and remove you from history." Anton realized he couldn't move. "So that's why none of you have the choice but to learn it. Everyone's going to know how to fight them, whether you like it or not. If you don't want to get wiped out, you'd better make good use of it."

Anton had never felt so intimidated by someone telling them he was going to learn something, not even when Grand Elder Kseniya dragged him off for training. Now, he found himself being pulled into a different place. At least his mind.

Information bombarded him from every angle. Some of it hurt less, not because it wasn't dense but simply because he had some idea about it. He had the feeling that he was being inundated with a bit of ascension energy as well, but he actually had experience with that. Along with his beginning study of the techniques to fight it, he was actually not all that harshly affected. At least that was what he determined later when he was returned to his body and found only passed out individuals all around him, while he himself was able to sit up off the floor briefly and look at them before he passed out for a good twenty hours.

Chapter 234

If anyone were to sort various cultivation techniques by whether or not each it would likely be connected to a righteous sect, anything involving light would come out on top, well in the direction of belonging to a righteous sect. That was the perception it had, and truthfully perception influenced cultivation in great ways.

But some people didn't care about how they were perceived, and would even take advantage of incorrect assumptions. Though there were no assumptions to make about people in this situation. Bright light filtered down through the watery depths around the Luminous Ocean Society, and the invaders shone like golden bells the way the pearly white teeth of a vicious animal might glint in the light.

Nobody from a righteous sect would implement a plan to rob others of lower cultivation just because they could, and the invaders displayed every aspect of villainy. The disciple of the Luminous Ocean Society took up a defensive stance with the others, despite knowing that resisting was futile. While they might have techniques to counter the ascension energy of their opponents, it didn't suddenly stop them from having higher cultivations.

The disciple's eyes shifted as he picked out a target. Early Essence Collection. That was the limit. How those beyond ascension could have such cultivation was a question for the academics, if anyone survived to ask them. How they even managed to be present at all was a more important question, one that couldn't be answered.

A streak of light curved through the water as the Luminous Ocean Society disciple moved to flank their target. Spear crossed with staff and light scattered in all directions as the two cultivators fought. It might have been a beautiful sight, if the purpose of both sides was anything but killing. One side to defend their homes, and the other because people dared to stand up to them.

With each thrust, the Luminous Ocean Society disciple impacted defensive energy. It wasn't so easy to break through the blinding light protecting their opponent, but that wasn't the actual goal. Each stab also carved off a bit of ascension energy, sending it spiraling into nothingness. Each strike was one piece that could never be used again. Even if the disciple fell here, nobody else would have to face the energy that didn't belong in the world. Though it didn't seem that the Luminous Ocean Society had any chance of surviving this conflict, perhaps their sacrifice could open up the path for others.

A Life Transformation elder stood confidently against an opponent with cultivation beyond what could be achieved. A true ascender, come down to bully those weaker than themself. It was disgusting. And what could be done? Very little. With the amount of ascension energy they had built up, it was enough to slaughter two or three Life Transformation experts wholesale. The complete annihilation of their energy, one after the other.

It was a shame it was harder to disrupt those at higher cultivation, or a well timed strike might disperse everything they had built up. But the elder kept their calm and confident position. As if they wouldn't die. But obviously that was untrue. An attack with more power than their entire arsenal washed over them, leaving behind nothing but a crater in the sandy floor of the ocean. Not even a strand of hair, a drop of blood, or a fingernail.

While the attack was certainly quite powerful and able to wipe out a Life Transformation expert all at once, it wasn't the sort that disintegrated a body. The elder smiled as they stood behind the attacker. A little bit of bent light and so much power was used up. This was already a victory.

The invader's hand thrust out towards the elder standing behind them, a beam of light twice as tall and wide creating an inescapable attack, the speed of light undodgeable and the power irresistible. Nothing was left. Because, of course, once more there had never been anyone there.

It was difficult, creating an illusion realistic enough to fool a powerful cultivator so easily. Light was key, but incorporating other elements was important. The cultivators of the Luminous Ocean Society manipulated the mind indirectly, manipulating light and sound and energy instead of the brain. Realism was difficult to achieve, and the fatigued elder floating above the invader made that clear.

But the elder had already won. Two blasts of energy. And there would be a third. The invader raised their arm, gathering irresistible power once more. It was arrogant. Excessive. A well focused beam would still kill the elder at a fraction of the cost, but the ascender seemed to not care. When their arm flicked downwards towards the bare sandy floor, the elder of the Luminous Ocean Society didn't even blink.

As their body was well and truly torn apart layer by layer under the final attack, only a smile was on their face. Three full, excessively overpowered attacks. Now the ascender was nothing but a peak Life Transformation expert. If only there was someone remaining to fight them, they could be slain like anyone else.

Though Anton had been one of the last to go comatose, he was not one of the first to wake. As he came to his senses, he felt others around him. Most were in meditation, processing the memories that had been shoved into their head. Anton had no way to know if they saw exactly the same ones, but he knew the subject, at least, should have been the same. The downfall of the Luminous Ocean Society, as well as some glimpses of the invaders.

There was no visual connection to the Twin Soul Sect, but there was the implication that there was more than just a single group of those who would descend into the world to scour it of resources. A coordinated effort, without an easy target to strike. The only way to handle such a thing would be for the whole world to be as prepared as possible.

Anton looked at the clock. Its motions were still nigh-imperceptible. Decades, but how many? That was the question on his mind. Whatever time they had, it would need to be enough. Anton had the feeling that, now that Everheart had thrust upon every major sect the tools to fight ascenders, they would either win… or the world would be annihilated. Though the second was always possible even if they didn't fight back.

Despite Everheart's words, Anton truly couldn't tell if this was an effort to defend the world he was born in or something meant to screw over those in a world that had hated him. Maybe it was a bit of both, though Anton firmly believed Everheart wanted people to survive. Otherwise, he wouldn't have devoted a number of his tombs to improving the cultivation of newer cultivators.

When the opportunity came up, Anton found his way over to Grand Elder Kseniya to consult her about Emma Strand. While it seemed that the majority of important sects had at least one member of the Twin Soul Sect slip in, it was still not something they wanted aired publicly.

Grand Elder Kseniya listened to his account, staving off those who might listen in with her energy, then nodded as Anton finished. "If Everheart is to be believed, she should have perished now." Kseniya looked over at the pile of equipment. "As for everything else that implies, we will deal with it later." Though it was full of valuable equipment and extremely tempting, the surrounding cultivators had avoided jumping on it like hungry animals. At the current moment several sects were sorting through everything, and keeping an eye on each other while they did so. While nobody might trust any of the individual sects involved with such a task, the fact that they also didn't trust each other meant it should overall end up without trouble.

The things that were easily identifiable as belonging to specific sects went in one pile. Nobody would dispute those, and after everything that happened nobody wanted to start a sect war over one person's equipment, even if there had been some powerful Essence Collection cultivators and perhaps even a Life Transformation expert or two. The next were those of somewhat debatable origins, while the last were those clearly belonging to independent cultivators, before they perished.

While the third pile appeared quite large, if it were to be split among the various sects and extremely rare independent cultivators who held sway on that scale, they wouldn't net much in the way of wealth.

Anton looked over at the scene as things began to be distributed. He felt a strange feeling that he couldn't quite place. "Grand Elder Kseniya," he cautiously began. She didn't care if he used her title, but they were in public so he was being formal. "Would you say that the trials of this tomb are finished?"

"I do believe so," Elder Kseniya said. "The final people just woke up moments before."

"Then… we need to go." Anton felt a slight tremor. "Everyone!" he called out. "I don't know how familiar you are with Everheart's tombs, but it appears to be completed now. I suggest we run."

Anton didn't wait to see if anyone was going except for other members of the Order. He was glad quickly run into Catarina, Devon, and all of the others.

"Where did you-" Catarina began.

"No time!" Anton ran with the doe not far behind him. "I'll explain later."

"Why would- oh." Devon was the quickest to pick up on what he was saying, but nobody hesitated more than a second. They all hurried towards the fortunately quite visible exit, bringing them back out to the surface of the moon.

Anton looked down at the planet below. It was a beautiful sight, one he wished he had time to dwell on. But they were running towards the teleporters. Even those who hadn't heard Anton's initial proclamations were picking up on what was happening, as the ground began to tremble more.

As Anton arrived at the teleporter… nothing happened. "Dammit Everheart, don't tell me you put us through all that just for us to die."

A laugh rang out near his ear. "Of course not. I mean, not here. You'll definitely all die, though. Everyone does."

That didn't comfort Anton, but simply getting acknowledgement was good enough for him. "I presume all these teleporters will activate at the last moment?"

"Oh yes. I had to make sure people would have time to get to them."

"And the fact that there was no warning…?" Anton said.

"You warned them," Everheart pointed out from his position nowhere.

"I hate you," Anton said flatly.

"Mission accomplished!"

As everyone began to gather in the teleporters- some in different ones, Anton was fairly certain- Anton realized it would likely be quite troublesome to activate them early to begin with. It had to take an unfathomable amount of power to transport someone to the moon and back.

Despite the number of Twin Soul Sect members and others who perished in the deathtrap, the teleportation pads were still packed. As the last straggler stepped onto one, there was a powerful burst of energy. And then, it was night. Proper night, not the strange sensation of being on the moon.

Then there was a loud cracking sound. Anton looked up, and then began to sprint out of the teleportation platform. Of course those were also supported against their future selves, however that crap worked. A few moments later, everything was rubble, and Anton looked up at the moon. He kept staring at it for several minutes, then breathed a sigh of relief. Thank goodness. There was some chance- a small one, but a very real one- that the whole moon would have collapsed. Instead, there were no visible differences. Actually… Anton thought he saw one little dimple look different. But that could have been his imagination. And if not, well, what was a little bit of change in the surface of the moon when the whole thing could have split in half?

The time passed for a poetic disaster, and the moon remained whole. Or at least, close enough. Anton pat the doe who had actually managed to come with him on the back. "Welcome to your new home."

Inside his bag, something else stirred that was also in its new home.

Chapter 235

The Order was quite fortunate to have one of the teleportation locations in central Graotan. Since all of their members would be as safe as possible well within the borders, Grand Elder Kseniya was able to leave them behind and return to meet with the other Grand Elders before twenty-four hours had passed. That did result in the meeting being called at odd hours, but emergency meetings functioned quite that was, and Kseniya was quite certain that some information would be time sensitive.

"I'll just give a quick summary," Grand Elder Kseniya said as she addressed the other eight. The ranks had changed significantly in recent years, including Kseniya's own position. "Everheart did something that resulted in around a hundred high cultivation members of the Twin Soul Sect, maybe more, dying in some sort of deathtrap. Plus some others he rooted out for whatever reason." Kseniya shrugged, "Also Anton for a bit but apparently that was a mistake." Some people might have had questions about that, but Grand Elder Kseniya didn't stop for a moment. "Emma Strand was one of them."

Kseniya tossed a bag onto the table, inside of which it was easy enough to sense the woman's equipment and whatever had previously been in the storage bag.

"There's nothing incriminating in there, but from the fact that she didn't come out…" Grand Elder Kseniya shook her head. "Plus, Anton was nearly killed by her."

"I know you said we will get to that point," one of the new Grand Elders, Laszlo Fodor, interrupted. "But it seems like Anton's entanglement with that should be treated very seriously." Grand Elder Fodor was young, as far as Life Transformation cultivators went. He should have been close to Anton's age, in fact, somewhat over a century. Of course, Laszlo had been cultivating for the majority of that time instead of starting six years prior.

"About that," Kseniya said. "We've had some of you practicing techniques for detecting Twin Soul Sect members. Grand Elder Vandale…"

Vandale nodded, "I do believe I have had sufficient time."

"Myself as well," a man nearly as old as Vandale- but with a significant gap in cultivation- brought attention to himself. Einars Zajoc had not been particularly inclined to seek out the position of Grand Elder, but with so many positions becoming available at once someone had to fill them.

"Wonderful," Kseniya said. "Then first we should have you inspect each other, then myself and the rest of us."

Grand Elder Fodor sighed, "I would hope that none of us were traitors, but as one of those who was recently promoted in position I agree it is quite reasonable to have us all checked. Emma Strand was not close to a position of Grand Elder, but from what I recall she was a solid member. Or at least appeared to be."

"Performing regular missions, but not standing out in any way," Kseniya nodded. "We'll have to check everyone. I imagine it won't be terribly quick."

"It should be possible in a few weeks," Vandale said, "The problem being those who aren't present at the moment. If Everheart was accurate in whatever he was doing we shouldn't need to concern ourselves with the group who went to the tomb, which is a relief."

"It was on the moon, by the way," Kseniya noted.

Everyone looked at Vandale, who smiled. "It's still there." There was a collective sigh of relief. Nobody could say for sure what would happen with Everheart involved.

All of the Grand Elders gathered around as they were checked one and then two at a time. Just for the sake of surety, they had both Vandale and Zajoc check everyone. Only then could they really relax. But the Grand Elders were just nine people out of thousands of members of the Order- and while it was good news that none of their Grand Elders had been compromised, they still had to check the rest of the Life Transformation cultivators. If even one of them was compromised it would be a great loss. Late Essence Collection cultivators like Emma Strand weren't much more populous, with only a few dozen of them in the entire sect. Losing one wasn't a huge blow, but too many more- before whatever upcoming troubles there would be- could weaken the Order enough for problems to occur.

When the returning members of the Order came through the gates, Anton spotted Grand Elders Vandale and Zajoc nearby. Before they said anything, Anton gave a bow to Vandale. Though they were certainly friends, being properly formal in public was still appropriate. "Grand Elder Vandale. I assume Grand Elder Kseniya has already spoken to you, but I would like to request a meeting in private."

A powerful energy fell around them, but its power was comforting. Vandale's energy made Anton feel safe, though if it had ever been directed at him in anger he would have of course felt otherwise. "Speak freely," Vandale gestured towards him. Anton took note that Zajoc was included, but that didn't bother him.

"We need to get everyone checked to make sure they aren't part of the Twin Soul Sect. As soon as possible."

Zajoc snorted.

Vandale grinned at him, "See?"

"Fine, fine. I won't doubt your expertise," Zajoc inclined his head back to Anton and explained. "Elder Kseniya said much the same thing when she arrive ahead. That's what we're here for."

"Oh, my apologies. Where should I line up?"

"Right there is fine," Vandale said. The barrier of energy around them dropped, and Vandale smoothly transitioned into addressing the incoming group. "Thought I doubt any of you were worried, yes, Elder Kseniya returned safely. There are some things which had not yet been publicly announced to the sect- things intimately related to oddities you encountered in Everheart's tomb. The full details will be explained, but the short explanation is we need to check all of you to make sure you aren't hiding membership in the Twin Soul Sect. Just line up behind Anton there. This may take some time, and nobody will be allowed to leave the sect grounds until we are complete."

Nobody objected, and they began to start checking the return group. It was unlikely that Everheart would have failed to root them out, but they had to check. While nobody liked being a suspect, the fact that after they were checked they immediately were given tasks that required a level of trust made everyone feel proud. While not everyone wanted to guard the perimeter of the sect, this was a time where everyone had to take part. And to make sure nobody would be leaving, they needed everyone to participate.

Vandale and Zajoc were worried that perhaps their training in the new technique was flawed, since it had only recently been developed. Perhaps if they knew they were being checked- and it was quite impossible to hide it- the members of the Twin Soul Sect could hide it. However, they finally found two more traitors. Both were in Spirit Building, one found by each of them Vandale and Zajoc.

It was concerning that several of their members had actually been spies- and not just for rivals, but part of a group that seemed quite set on sacrificing everyone else in the world for their own gain. Yet the Order was actually better at vetting their members in other ways- members of the Twin Soul Sect obviously had little regard for morality, so if they weren't careful in their actions the Order would deal with them regardless of whether or not they were found for that reason.

Other sects also began to conduct their own investigations, even if they weren't quite ready. The Frostmirror Sect ended up rooting out more than a handful of high-ranking members, which wasn't all that odd considering they had no emphasis on morality. But just because the Frostmirror Sect didn't think that anything was always wrong it didn't mean they would abide by traitors.

The Frostmirror Sect operated from a logical standpoint. They didn't commit crimes not because they felt there were objective moral standards they thought they should follow, but simply because going by agreed upon rules kept them safe. Even if the rules weren't formalized, they would prefer not to anger anyone of great strength. Likewise, keeping within certain boundaries made it easier for them to gain and retain allies. On the other side, minor infractions that could be explained away let some things slip through the cracks.

Information about what happened on the moon spread quickly. Sects were suddenly performing internal investigations- spurred on by the sudden fact that the Twin Soul Sect would realize they were not as secret as they wanted to think. From the perspective of the Sects performing the investigation, things were bad. From the perspective of the Twin Souls, things couldn't be any worse.

Many of their high ranking members died suddenly in the tomb, and though there had been some indication that people were catching onto their schemes suddenly losing contact was a problem. Even those who hadn't been present were rooted out from sects they were hiding in. Majken knew that they had their own safehouses and groups that were not part of any sect, but things were looking bad. The only thing she was optimistic about was the fact that secrets died with the high ranking members in the tomb, and that she had kept her identity concealed.

She had been so close to sweating as Grand Elder Vandale checked over her. She was only early Essence Collection, nothing compared to Emma Strand- who she hadn't even known was also a member of the Twin Souls. Still, Vandale could crush her with one hand. A pinky maybe. But it seemed the technique for rooting them out wasn't perfect.

After the inspection was over and people were finally allowed to leave the sect, the first thing she wanted to do was flee. Promises of abundant cultivation resources in the next life were all well and good, but if she died without accomplishments- and at the same time as a whole bundle of other people- she doubted it would mean anything.

But leaving immediately would be a dead giveaway. There weren't any good missions to go out on. On the other hand, Majken needed to get in contact with someone. She hoped her contacts weren't among the myriad of those who died. There were some related sources who should be able to get her hooked up with the Sect, but Majken had the feeling some of them would be keeping their heads down. Or turning traitor, since the whole plan was blowing up.

What a mess. She'd have to figure out some way to get something out of all of this. It would just take caution and care.

As soon as he sorted through his storage bag, Anton was extremely aware that every piece of fruit and every vegetable he had collected had been consumed. It had been enough resources to let him cultivate like a king for a year- or more likely a sect leader, since kings were an extreme rarity in the cultivation world. The only consolation he got was that all of the seeds were still intact, just with all of the valuable energy-infused flesh eaten off. He didn't see anything that could be the cause, but it didn't seem to have happened to others.

So while his cultivation wouldn't directly benefit, he could still work with Elder Howland to reproduce some of them. It might take years for some of the plants to grow into a usable state, and some of them might fail… but Anton wasn't doing all of that for just himself.

He just wanted to improve the state of things overall. Even with more details about what would be happening in the future, Anton stuck to that idea. While the thought of people scouring the world for resources and benefiting from his work make him unhappy, it really wouldn't be possible to try to stop the invaders without raising the quantity and quality of cultivators throughout the world. Even if it was just Graotan, anything that could be a thorn in their side and cause more of them to die would be a benefit in a way. And if they simply consumed all of the cultivation resources before the invaders arrived, they wouldn't get much out of it.

Of course, not everything would suddenly go away. Equipment would be needed for the battle… hopefully a century away, but at least a few decades. It wasn't possible to prevent them from getting that, nor from tearing apart any structures or fields that were still being used. But it certainly wouldn't do to hoard resources for later generations. There would only be a few generations at most, depending how they were counted.

By Anton's standards it would be two or three, since he came from a background of a mundane person where a person growing to adulthood and having a child defined the length of a generation. By the standards of cultivators it would likely be Anton's generation that was involved in the fighting- even people starting cultivation a few decades after him would be part of his generation. After all, the variance in time it took people to get to higher ranks of cultivation- late Essence Collection and Life Transformation- could be from a handful of years apart on the small end to a hundred or more between those with the most and least talent.

Anton's previous thoughts of just making sure that the weakest people had some cultivation and were able to stand up to the rest now seemed inadequate. In a way, ascenders returning to invade them for resources was a more extreme example of exactly what he wanted to stop. And he was sure as hell going to do it. He might also die, but he was going to do it no matter what.

Chapter 236

It was not usually the job of a great queen to find her own passage, but the portents had been clear. At least, clear enough. There had been no guarantee that the new being, the strange creature so full of energy, would bring any change. Yet it had also been very clear that, no matter how great of a queen one was, there were always greater. Well established ones, who controlled all the local colonies and would happily destroy any others who tried to set up too close, whether or not they were her own daughters.

But the great queen didn't leave because she was afraid. That would have been undignified. No, she was instead going on an adventure. An adventure that mostly involved rolling around in a pile of food for a while. That was one good thing about the large ones with the energy, they were very good at gathering food. Then again, they would need it. Each one was massive, the weight of several fledgling colonies put together!

An impossible opponent to fight, yet they would likewise find the great queen and her armies impossible to snuff out. Or perhaps impossible would be going too far. Very difficult, then, despite the fact that they would be unable to crush them with energy. But even the scrawniest of that kind was many orders of magnitude larger than any proper ant. But that was as things should be. A colony with every member the size of any of the larger creatures would inevitably swarm the countryside, devouring everything in its path… until there was nothing left to devour. Then they would perish.

Such was the fate of many foolish ants who had come before, oversized or not. They didn't think about the long term, didn't consider restraint, didn't plan for lean times. In fact, most ants didn't think at all. An unfortunate defect, but the great queen did not share that flaw. While most of her brood would doubtless be without thought as well, she would still provide proper leadership for them. And that meant only consuming what was necessary.

At the time she'd snuck into the bag, that amount had been all the food in sight. However, they left behind the seeds. No doubt they would be scattered about to grow more in the future. Building up a new colony would be difficult, and without a proper stomach full of food and another one or two full of energy, how was a great queen to produce sufficient offspring to compete with other, lesser creatures in the area? She had only a few soldiers and workers, with just enough mates to last for a season.

To arrive in a barren land nearly devoid of energy was a great blow to the colony. Yet in a way, it could be considered a boon. While consuming energy would allow the colony to grow quick and strong, they would need sufficient numbers before they could compete with anything beyond the standard level. A long-tongued devourer-of-ants could devastate a colony with insufficient soldiers to drive it away, no matter how much better the great queen's colony might be than their lesser ilk. The sheer difference in size meant that they could only bite and worry at the weakest parts of any large creature.

At least, until they grew strong. While lesser ants might live weeks or months, some up to a year, the colony of a great queen was much more robust. Even the least of the workers could live for many years, and a great queen shared a lifespan rivaling those with great energy, the humans. At least, that was the information that had been passed down through the generations from queen to queen. Humans had not been seen in many ages. Until just a few days prior. It was a portent of great change, and instead of resisting it, going along with the change had seemed like the most reasonable option.

Given how the colony was shaping up in the last few weeks, it seemed correct. Their numbers swelled from a mere handful to hundreds, and soon enough they would number in the thousands. Then they could do more than simply scavenge. They could hunt the many-legged transformers or perhaps if they were ambitious a sticky-footed leaper. Though simply finding a path to a berry bush or a pile of acorns beneath a large oak would likewise be sufficient to grow their food intake.

More extreme tactics would have to wait. While they might bridge a large gap with their bodies, they first needed sufficient numbers, and sufficient need. Sending workers on three day scouting trips to find a morsel of food when many lay within easy reach was a sign of mismanaged colonies. While foolish ants would assume the first food they found was the best source, those who were more sophisticated could be more efficient. Even the workers who had little thoughts of their own had a sense of time and distance.

Any stockpile of food could be vetted by whatever more intelligent scouts arose in the coming batches. Though it took quite a bit of food to produce exceptional brood, the food to maintain their survival afterwards was nowhere near as extreme- more than made up for by their increased capacities as each could guide a thousand or more of their less potent brethren.

But things must be taken step by step. The eventual goal of world domination, where ants would scavenge every scrap left behind by humans and beasts, would have to come slowly. So slowly that the humans wouldn't even realize that everything they didn't consume was snatched away. They would be left in shock and confusion as each and every crumb they left behind was consumed by one of the great queen's descendants, never to be seen again! And each worker would be strong, swift, stealthy, and smart.

Yet there were impediments to the plan. The humans and large beasts were too lofty to notice the ants, and none were the horrible monsters that fed on their kind almost exclusively. But there was competition nearby. Other ants, other crawling insects who wanted to feed on the same scraps. But they would have none of it! Or at least, not that much. The many legged transformers were actually quite tasty, and it saved them the trouble of digesting so many leaves themselves. But everything that got in their way would perish! Or walk and/or fly away! So it was decreed!

A wave of motion set through the small colony of ants as their queen was excited for… some reason that most of them couldn't understand. But excitement seemed to be a good thing, so they relished it.

When talking about it academically, Catarina understood that moss that could grow into the shape of a formation and in fact be a formation might be dangerous. After all, formations were dangerous. But when she actually had to keep it contained, Catarina became frustrated and confused.

The former because it limited her ability to study it. The latter because she didn't know how to contain it. If she used a formation to keep it in line, it might grow in such a way as to accidentally disrupt that formation. Natural formations could grow out of plants, but this particular moss was much more potent than most plants, and the effects more significant.

"Just keep it in a covered pit," suggested Elder Rana. "Until we determine how it spreads and what it can grow on, keeping it contained is the priority. Spores won't so easily swirl up and out of a pit, and even if we were to replicate a similar shape with a constructed room any doors leading in would upset the motion of the air. So it goes in a pit."

"That makes sense," Catarina acknowledged. It wasn't really a surprise that someone older and more practiced than her thought of simple solutions, but it was so simple she should have thought of it herself. Containing something that had unknown interactions within a formation would be dangerous, but if it otherwise functioned like a normal plant then it could be kept somewhere on its own without too much worry. "I suppose we should still have a large formation to contain it if it does spread, but not close enough for it to mess with it."

"Agreed," Elder Rana said. "There are places set aside for such things. And it may not be a problem. You said it was growing on stone, laid out in the same patterns as the moss. It might simply fill whatever area it is in, which will not result in formations accidentally. But… we must be certain of that before placing it wherever we feel like."

Catarina sighed. "Grandpa Anton has it so easy. All his plants are easy to take care of."

"And yet they are still well contained. I'm sure they require constant care as well, to grow in a new environment."

"It seems like it will take some time," Catarina replied. "Shrubs and trees aren't like tubers that grow fully in a single season."

"There are benefits and drawbacks to all sorts of plants," Elder Rana commented. "Some things are only good for stuffing oneself full of energy, while other things have special medicinal properties. And everything from that place seems to be a bit special. I wish I had gone myself."

"Some people had to stay and keep the Order together," Catarina pointed out. What she didn't mention was that Elder Rana, while quite skilled in formations, had long ago reached her limits in cultivation and thus didn't need to learn about ascension. Though perhaps going might have actually brought her past the midpoint of Constellation Formation… or it could have reminded her of her failures. "I have the feeling there will be more trouble coming in the future."

"Things have been quiet for weeks," Elder Rana said as she began to actually start digging that pit. "This pleasant downtime might continue for months or more… but I wouldn't bet on much longer than that. Not now, and not I imagine not until the end of whatever is coming."

"That's just life though," Catarina pointed out. "Times of good and times of bad. You have to take them as they come, according to Grandpa. We just have to try to encourage the former."

It took a month for Majken to actually get in contact with someone who knew what they were doing, who had a connection to the Twin Soul Sect on a larger level. While they'd taken large losses recently, they were spread out across the continent and even to the others. Getting help from afar was unlikely, but there were apparently a significant amount of them still around. Allies, too.

Majken was fortunate to be one of the few left in a major sect. Since their ultimate goal was to disrupt them as much as possible, that meant she still had a chance to pull things off. All she had to do was not screw things up and reveal herself.

So she went out on missions occasionally, and she trained, and she talked with others. It wouldn't do to be antisocial, to stay withdrawn from the others like Emma Strand had. That had always been Majken's opinion, and the fact that she was free of suspicion justified that to her. She might not have been close to anyone, but many people had known her for decades and fought alongside her.

Majken might have appeared rather weak to them, but that was simply because she had to hide her true cultivation style. While she could mimic the feeling of the Ninety-Nine Stars, she couldn't truly practice two different core cultivation techniques. She still had to know it inside and out, in case people asked questions she should know at her level, but she never really felt it.

She almost wished that she could actually practice it. Apparently, it was rather pleasant most of the time. A nice warmth, a feeling of growth. Not a consuming darkness that was constantly trying to pull her under. The power behind it was nice, and Majken only almost wanted something different. But the Twin Soul Sect's power would be sufficient to allow her to gain significant merits with her current position, merits that she had to believe she would receive in her next life. And maybe then she could practice the Ninety-Nine Stars, away from all the stuck up old men that were concerned about how the power was used instead of just relishing in it.

Power was power, and those who didn't have it didn't have a right to complain. Unfortunately that also meant Majken herself, if she screwed up and got herself killed too early. She needed to find something. A weakness. A simple hole in a formation wouldn't be enough, and she didn't have the skills for that regardless.

But maybe another excursion, or something that would distract some or all of the Grand Elders and the other most powerful members. If she could find such an opening and take advantage of it with the others… she'd certainly be on the fast track to an easy reincarnation. Preferably somewhere with a higher energy density and abundant resources, and she didn't much care if those resources were taken from everyone around her.

Chapter 237

Very rarely would a group of thirty Essence Collection cultivators be gathered together at one time. Though the Order might have more than that technically present somewhere on their grounds, they weren't often brought in for a single meeting. An exception would be a meeting of all the elders, but these particular individuals had few of the elders among them.

None of them knew what they had been called in for, though Grand Elder Matousek quickly answered their unspoken questions. "Normally, the Order isn't in the habit of conscripting individuals for particular tasks. We tend to let the rewards speak for themselves, and let people fill in positions as they please. However," the man paused as he looked over those in front of him, "I'm sure you are all aware that we are not in normal times. There are many issues yet to be resolved with the Twin Soul Sect and others who share similar temperaments. Not just here in Graotan, but elsewhere as well."

Anton nodded to himself. He'd noticed many people going out on missions. He might have volunteered for some himself, but he was focusing on other areas. The initial plantings of various things he had obtained were being worked on by himself and Elder Howland, and he was planning to travel about Graotan checking on the various groups he'd started along the path of cultivation. Even if they were still maintaining everyday jobs, he planned to uplift them to a greater level. Unfortunately, it seemed like some of his plans might be interrupted.

"Now, don't be too concerned," Grand Elder Matousek said. "We're not sending you off into some sort of battle. There may yet be some, but today, we are calling upon you to be guards. The borders of Graotan are kept secure thanks to many like you, but at the moment we are spread so thin we need all of you to just make up for those who are now occupied with other important missions. Even with you, we might be a little bit thin."

Anton knew that a large number of people had been heading out on missions as of late, especially those with higher cultivations, but he hadn't thought things would have come so far. He thought the Order was usually more cautious, and while he understood striking while the iron was hot, this seemed more extreme than usual. Of course, Graotan was usually more than safe. Though it bothered him to think of it, what happened to Dungannon was not a major security flaw on the scale of a nation- and the borders had been more closely watched in recent years. The only real incident had been when the Order intentionally drew an attack for the execution of of three criminals, one of which had been Van Hassel who was the leader of the attack on Dungannon and other places.

The Twin Soul Sect might have an unknown number of forces arrayed throughout various countries, but Anton didn't imagine they would be able to easily gather up a combined force capable of threatening the Order, not with everything else going on and so many other sects trying to root them out.

Someone else in the room believed differently, and in fact had been working on a plan for an attack at the first possible opening. Because while it might be suicidal to attack the Order with the current state of the Twin Soul Sect, that didn't matter as long as they died doing something meritorious. And being the insider who arranged such an attack would be an exceptional merit.

When Anton thought of the duty of a border guard, he had honestly though he would be going… further. At the very least, he would have thought he would be far enough to not see his house. And he technically couldn't most of the time, but not because he was too far away. There just happened to be a mountain that got in the way. Technically that was the main thing that stopped anyone from seeing anything, but the important part was he could shoot his house with an arrow from his current position. He couldn't guarantee being more accurate than hitting some part of his house or maybe his yard, but he really wasn't far at all.

Ambati was to the west of Graotan, and while most of Ambati was neutral or even positively inclined towards the Order, every border had to be watched. That included the one just at the foot of the mountain upon which the Order had its main facilities. He wasn't sure if it was fair that he got the cushiest job- where he could actually go home to his bet when he was off duty- but someone had to draw this location. He wasn't the only one, either.

Border guards didn't work alone. Along with a number of Spirit Building disciples, Anton worked alongside a rotating group of others, one Essence Collection member at a time. They were the most important, because their senses could range the furthest. Even with every cultivator in the Order, it was impossible to secure every piece of the border all at once… but they could catch the largest threats. Other disciples patrolling the roads as well as other sects could handle the rest. It wasn't a perfect system, but it couldn't be. It could only be good enough.

For the most part, Anton had little to do. However, even just watching for enemies approaching could be training. While it would be a problem if he pushed himself too far trying to sense them and exhausted himself, riding the line of expanding his senses to the limit while still preserving himself for the entire shift was a good practice, if a bit boring. But on a job like this, boring was better than anything else.

After a couple weeks Anton was well into the rhythm of things, when he sensed an oddity. He wasn't quite sure if he'd sensed anything, but he had to carefully sweep his senses over the whole area without focusing on any one point to avoid alerting his target. He sensed it again, and knew there was a problem. Unfortunately, it was one he would have to wait to reveal. At least Grand Elder Vandale was still present, even if many of the others he trusted were away on missions.

"We know," Vandale said matter-of-factly as Anton revealed a traitor in their midst. "Zajoc and I investigated every single person, you might recall," Vandale's grin revealed sagging skin and the weakness of age, but his eye still sparkled with life. "I do appreciate you bringing it to our attention, of course. I cannot claim to be perfect. But, we were already aware that Majken Albrecktsson was actually a member of the Twin Soul Sect. And that is all I will say on the matter at the moment."

Anton was prepared to ask 'why', but Vandale had just said he wouldn't answer. Besides, Anton was pretty sure he could figure it out on his own. In fact, he was pretty sure that they'd expected him to figure it out. It had seemed strange that he ended up with only a few of the different possible options. While the pairs were said to be arranged to cover weaknesses, Anton had the best sensing range of anyone and could have gone with anyone- but instead himself and a few others were the only ones paired with Majken, which resulted in them having fewer other partners.

Anton idly wondered where everyone was, and how long he was expected to be placed on guard duty. But they'd very specifically not called out a timeframe… perhaps because that might tip their hand.

Anton still had no name for the mother doe, and he wasn't sure if he should. In theory, she could live just fine without him- especially since she had the energy to be a dominant force in the forest that entered the Order's lands.

She was getting closer to giving birth, and while that might slow her down she was still strong enough that he didn't need to worry. But he did, and he brought treats as well. The doe wasn't particularly fond of the tubers from Ambati, but she liked some of the leafy plants he'd gathered even if they held less energy.

Some of what he brought was actually grown in Windrip, by those in the cultivator community he had started. It would be difficult to deny the effectiveness of what happened there, and while other places weren't going quite so strong- either from less guidance by Anton or the particular sets of talents- it was becoming clear enough that Anton's methods worked. Not just teaching people early cultivation, but also how to improve the overall amount of natural energy in an area.

As he'd long before discussed with Elder Howland, certain plants required abundant natural energy to grow. If an area was too weak they could deplete everything around them and still not grow, though if those tending them willingly gave what they gathered themselves they could supplement the demand. Once those plants grew, however, cultivators who consumed them could grow stronger. And some plants actually had a net positive output of natural energy, once they passed a certain threshold.

The area around Windrip in particular was showing great advancements, and if it could expand significantly enough… Anton hoped that the restraints around the Order keeping their own area of abundant energy could actually be relaxed. Ultimately, his goal was to build up all of Graotan to at least match the lowest levels of the Order. The natural energy would still be gathered to the highest density atop the mountain, but everyone else would have the same energy available as a disciple of the Order.

But that time was still decades off. Decades Anton hoped he would live through, but wasn't certain of. He certainly doubted he would die of old age, but he wasn't going to stay out of important conflicts just because he might be in danger. Especially an upcoming one, related to his mandatory guard duties.

Though perhaps her rate of cultivation was not the greatest among her peers, that didn't stop Majken from being ambitious. Likewise, just because she wasn't the stealthiest didn't mean she couldn't keep a secret. It was all about staying calm. The Twin Soul Sect wouldn't have survived long if their members couldn't handle themselves appropriately.

Majken couldn't quite stop herself from getting a little bit excited about the upcoming event, but she had a good excuse. A new sword was sheathed at her side. It seemed only appropriate to spend the resources she had been building up while she could, as it would allow her to be more effective in the upcoming battle. And it wouldn't be strange for a guard to want to purchase a new weapon either.

She had other abilities that extended beyond melee combat, of course, but from the perspective of the Order that would be her general area of speciality. And her real abilities could still be used with the weapon, just not with the glowing, obvious energy of the Ninety-Nine Stars.

Majken knew she shouldn't disparage the technique so much despite the fact that it was technically incomplete. It was still far better than most available techniques. Even the Twin Soul Sect didn't have an easy path to ascension, though it would never be easy. And Majken was well aware she wouldn't have gotten to ninety-nine or a hundred stars on her own regardless.

Still, it was just so… blatant. While some people might occasionally restrain their energy, other members of the Order were like glowing beacons. One of those she was often placed on duty with was one of those. He was an old man known as Anton Krantz. An archer, and probably capable of causing quite a ruckus once he noticed people were coming. And that wouldn't be long.

He was clearly ready to fight at any moment, his energy arrayed out from him in all directions. She was actually a little bit impressed that he didn't leak away so much energy that he tired himself out, but he was able to maintain that state throughout the day. He was watching. Watching for people coming from the west. Maybe even the north or south. But he wouldn't be watching for people coming from the east… directly behind him.

He was still in Essence Collection though. She had to make sure her first strike would take him out. For that, she needed to use her true ability. It only took a tiny instant to reveal her proper cultivation and empower her own attack, stabbing for his heart. Just one instant where she focused all of her energy into an attack. Which left her quite surprised when she very briefly saw an arrow flying through the air. It was strange though, because for it to have that trajectory it would have had to go through her. And who could have shot it?

Chapter 238

For a regular person, even the average cultivator, consciousness ended with death. For Majken, she was aware it would be different. She was definitely dead. Of that she had no doubt. It was unfortunate, but the attack would go on regardless. Her merits would be diminished, but she knew life would go on. A different life, of course, but still very much hers.

It was a strange thing, to keep her consciousness after death. Strange, but good. She knew the process of reincarnation could take some time, but she might not experience most of it.

It only felt like a few short moments before someone arrived out of the nothingness around her.

"Hello," the figure said.

"Hello," Majken replied in kind. "Are you the one in charge of reincarnation?"

"You could say that," the indistinct figure said. Majken tried to focus her eyes, but it was difficult when she didn't actually have eyes. "I've been waiting for you."

With words like that, it would be easy for Majken to believe she was someone special- but she was well aware of the things she had done for the Twin Soul Sect. "Is it just you?" she asked. "Can you keep track of everyone?"

"Oh yes. It's not terribly difficult," the figure said.

"I don't know exactly how you keep track of merits," Majken said. "But I was one of the few who managed to stay as an insider on a large sect. The attack is still ongoing, I believe."

"Don't worry," the figure said. "I know enough to give you exactly what you deserve."

It was at that point, when Majken heard his tone of voice, she realized she'd made a mistake. Promises of rewards in the next life for fanatical sacrifice in another seemed like a tall tale, but she had been provided adequate proof to convince her of the possibility and actual sincerity of the claims. Even now, she didn't doubt them- because if she was simply going to be abandoned, then nobody at all would have come to see her.

"...Who are you?" Majken managed to ask shakily. She wasn't sure how she was trembling without a corporeal form, but it happened.

"Who, me?" The only part of the figure to become distinct was a maniacal grin. "Just a local looking out for his hometown. Or maybe it's better to say, the guard dog he left behind. Now then, your reward is ready."

"... What is it?" Majken was afraid to ask, but she was also afraid to not try to delay as long as possible. Would it be some sort of eternal torture?

"Though you won't have any chance to act on this, I should point out that the difference between thoughts and speech here is purely a matter of perspective. But it's not eternal torture. That's far too much work. Instead, you get nothing."

Nothing didn't sound all that awful. And perhaps it wasn't, but Majken would be unable to compare it to anything because she was very quickly nothing herself.

Anton crushed an orb that was always handy. Communicating long distance wasn't always easy, even for cultivators, but for extremely simple messages it was possible. In this case, the message was that his orb was broken. It was tied to a certain location, and so they would know there was trouble where Anton was. The exact kind of trouble wouldn't be clear, but Anton didn't know what it was anyway. Beyond Majken, of course. She was dead on the ground behind him, but the fact that she had been willing to attack him meant she was expecting something from the Twin Soul Sect.

Even as he scanned the horizon for any signs of an attack, Anton found that he was quite pleased with how his technique was developing. Ultimately he thought it would be weaker than Falling Stars, or more accurately less energy efficient, but it fit him better. Its effectiveness wouldn't always be so good, because in an actual battle people would have more focus on their defenses. It was something he could hardly have considered seriously before he stepped into Essence Collection, but with that step and the increase in his power it was viable.

It took practice to form a cloud of energy that could instantaneously form an attack anywhere within it- and 'anywhere' was a stretch- but it had served its purpose. Anton was unsure if it would ever be his primary technique, but he could think of times in the past where it would have been useful.

Grand Elder Vandale might have many kilometers of range with Falling Stars, but Anton could only form bows in the area around him, ten or twenty meters. They were not as good as having a proper bow- the physical structure of a bow added to the power along with his own muscular strength- but he'd gotten it to the point where a bow formed purely from energy could be a real threat instead of merely a distraction or emergency weapon.

The field around Anton was slowly fading away. He hoped it might seem as if he himself were fading away as well. Either way, it was pointless to maintain it at the moment. It was merely there because he knew Majken would try to attack him at some point, and it had worked marvelously for his counterattack.

The Order was just up the mountain. Anton knew it might take time to marshal forces, or even to decide who needed to come, but he waited nervously as he watched the horizon. He thought about what he knew, and about his own position. He was, at least at for this particular shift, the leader of this border squad. A squad which was counting on him to give them commands.

Anton was quite glad that all of them would be able to feel Majken's cultivation. At least he didn't have to explain that part. Now, how should he proceed? First, some assurances to the gathering squad. "I know this appears quite alarming. Another traitor in our own midst after the Grand Elders personally vetted everyone. But I'm sure all of you can puzzle out the truth of the matter here. She was being watched very carefully."

Anton wondered if the other two had figured it out. The Order wouldn't just leave them helpless, even for a sting operation. Anton sensed something to the west, but at the same time his eyes went up the slope to the very peaks. Of course. Even he could make a shot from that distance- if he was the one atop the mountain, anyway.

"Enemy forces are coming. If the circumstances were different, the task of preventing a group from crossing the border would be our top priority. However, the Order has been alerted. This is not something we can handle with just one squad, capable as I'm sure you all are." Anton kept his voice calm, and it help that he actually felt that way. A little bit, at least. "We will be withdrawing towards the sect itself, where we shall join up with the other forces." Anton honestly wondered if their presence was necessary at all, except to make the bait not too obvious.

Thus, Anton and the squad of Spirit Building cultivators began making their way away from the border post. Anton was glad none of the others were personal acquaintances, because it would have made him worry about them being attacked which would ironically have diverted his focus from Majken.

He walked at a measured pace, keeping mental track of the energy signatures behind them. If they broke off from the rest, there might be a problem- but there were an unknown number of enemies gathered together. Unknown, but certainly very large. And growing.

Anton led the others until they arrived at the next layer of guard towers, well inside the Order's land instead of on the border of Graotan. While a full defensive wall might have been nice, it was simply impractical. The Order certainly had the resources to construct a wall, but what good would it do? It could slow those in Body Tempering and perhaps Spirit Building. Beyond that it would have to be excessively large to not be easily surmountable or destroyed.

The guards towers were practical for sight, and as a place for watchers to have shelter during cold seasons.

There were walls around the inner compounds of the Order, and beyond that there were the formations at the border. They were mainly used to stop beasts from leaving the forest, but they went around the entirety of the Order's lands. Anton knew they would do more than just what he'd seen- or other formations hidden in the area. The exact details weren't something he was privy to, but it didn't matter.

Anton recognized Marcio Armani atop one of the towers. Anton preempted any questions and called out to them. "Enemies on the approach from the west. Too many for our squad to deal with, or perhaps even delay significantly. I've sent the alarm ahead, but even so I don't think we should delay here long."

"We can't just abandon our posts," Marcio responded.

"There's a reason nobody lives on the western slopes," Anton countered. "But I'm not saying we should abandon anything. We'll hold here, together, and make a proper judgment of the incoming enemy forces."

There was plenty of room in the towers for another squad, though their defensive value was minimal. If it was a matter of equal forces, or even two or three times their numbers, then archers atop the towers attacking while defensive positions were held in the stairways would be valuable. Instead, Anton made sure that there were quick ways to get down, so they could retreat quickly when the time came. The structures were meant for small-scale battles, but Anton knew this wouldn't be small-scale.

He sensed several Essence Collection cultivators coming. There were likely more he hadn't sensed, but that wasn't the end of things. The Spirit Building cultivators were easier to sense as a group, several large masses that might have totaled to hundreds. Either of those things might have been a real battle, though not necessarily one that required Grand Elders to participate.

Anton was more concerned about the Life Transformation expert he sensed, and whether there might be more of them. Those with higher cultivations were generally easier to sense, with the caveat that those who practiced stealth techniques to a higher proficiency would become more unknowable the greater their cultivation.

Anton stood atop a tower, taking aim towards one of many Essence Collection cultivators he sensed. Giving away his presence might be a tactical blunder, but not responding in any way might be even more suspicious. The entire group was advancing at a pace that Spirit Building cultivators could keep up, and unlike in some battles the stronger cultivators hadn't rushed to the front. A technically correct tactic, letting the weaker forces absorb some of the damage, but not a style the Order preferred. Striking out ahead of the rest of the forces was still a gamble, but at least the stronger cultivators could fight alongside their brethren.

He took a shot as soon as he could see a target with his eyes. Marcio stood next to him and followed his lead. The younger man had once outclassed Anton in cultivation, but his growth wasn't quite able to keep up. Thus, he was simply in late Spirit Building, which still meant his shots were quite dangerous. Along with Anton's own attacks, their first few shots actually managed to injure one of the Essence Collection cultivators who had been just behind the front ranks. It wasn't serious, but it might slow them down.

Anton wished he had more orders. He knew the general plan for situations such as this, but he wanted to give as much time as possible for the others to prepare. He should have also asked just how many people were actually around. He knew that, technically, Grand Elder Kseniya was supposed to be away. Yet he'd certainly seen her. Vandale wasn't up for traveling to begin with, so there had been no effort to pretend otherwise. But the others? Anton was certain their numbers weren't quite so diminished.

Chapter 239

Battles between regular humans and cultivators were very different. It wasn't just the level of power each individual could display, though that was a large factor. Unlike the Order, some sects had standardized martial training that applied to everyone, but even so they would still not be arranged in a rank-and-file format like normal soldiers. Besides the fact that all but the largest sects could barely put together the numbers required for a mundane formation of people, staying in such positions would be a weakness.

Closely packed men were easy targets for wide area abilities, or even any ranged ability that didn't care precisely who it hit. And when those targets took years or decades to reach a decent level of usefulness, it was understandable that battle would focus more on individuals. The ability to fight as a group was still important, but it didn't follow such defined structures.

Arrows flew behind Anton's group as they practiced a fighting retreat. Even if they were prepared for pitched battles, with the difference in numbers it would have been pointless to take a stand. They would have simply died for the possibility of killing a handful of enemies- as a group, not per individual. Anton didn't want to let anyone die, but he understood it was a possibility. But if it was going to happen, it had to be worth it.

As he and Marcio pestered people with arrows, faster enemies sometimes reached their ranks only to face coordinated attacks by the melee-focused majority of the group. It was a bit of a complicated dance, where Anton and the others had to stay together and move as quickly as they could, hoping that some of their enemies would repeat the same foolish individual attacks. They did, though not so often as to make any significant change to their overall numbers when they lost people.

Anton himself was only barely able to hinder a few people as he also had to counter incoming attacks. They had the benefit of moving further away from their enemies as they fought, effectively reducing the enemies' range, but they weren't fast enough for that to be enough to protect them. Still, they were approaching a place with proper fortifications- and more allies. It was the south-side cafeteria, where Anton had regularly gone for meals until he moved to his new place.

It didn't appear to be a secure facility, but looks could be deceiving. More importantly, it was a centralized location that could bring in all of those around it, so Anton knew that at least in theory some people should be there. Once they were getting close, he was relieved to find that was the case.

One good thing about constant fleeing with a large number of individuals- there was no time for their enemies to set up a proper illusion. With so many different sources of energy overlapping, and not having the element of surprise, they simply didn't have the opportunity. As Anton and the others approached the cafeteria, supporting fire came from the building, more arrows and a number of fire-based attacks as well. The enemies held back, giving them Anton and the others time to get to relative safety.

"What's going on out there?" Anton recognized the figure of Daniela Selby. Thirty-seven stars, one more than when he had first seen her about a month after arriving. During the whole incident with Hayden. His own strength had multiplied many times over since then, but she was still an imposing figure.

"Twin Soul Sect," Anton explained quickly. "Far too much for us to handle. I assume since you're here the message got around."

"Just an alarm," she said. "But I suppose nobody had more specifics."

Anton explained what else he had seen, approximations of numbers and powers. "There could be more than the single Life Transformation expert," Anton finished, "But that's all I've noticed so far. I might expect more."

"That's about what I'd gathered," she replied. The wrinkled woman frowned towards the wide entry doors. "We should get you and Marcio up on the roof with the others. We need to hold this place." She looked around the room as she said so.

Anton nodded. He was well aware that the tactical position was of little value, but there was something important they had to protect. Specifically, all of the Body Tempering cultivators among those present. While they wouldn't be treated as helpless and would certainly be called upon to fight, if they were to retreat they could only condemn them to death as they would be unable to keep up. There were over a hundred of them present, as well as half that many Spirit Building cultivators.

That included Elder Howland. He had previously been stuck in early Spirit Building, but had now advanced to mid Spirit Building- going from the fifteenth to twentieth star in a few years. His position as elder wasn't for his fighting prowess, though, but instead based off his knowledge and the duties he undertook.

From the earlier shooting, Anton also knew Alva was present. He hadn't seen Fuzz, but he hadn't been focused on that in particular while moving.

He was glad to see that in addition to Elder Daniela Selby, there were a few more Essence Collection cultivators- one of which was Hoyt. It was no surprise that he might be present, because he often worked in the fields around the area- though it was little challenge anymore except for some more exotic specimens.

Anton passed by Pete and Oscar on the way to the roof. There were far too many people here to protect. He had to hope they had enough. Given the fact that the Grand Elders weren't here wiping them out, however, he suspected they thought there would be more and were trying to draw them out. Or it was being used as an opportunity to give people experience, but Anton wouldn't be betting on the assumption of being rescued at any particular point.

As he arrived on the roof and looked out, Anton was tackled by Alva- she leapt into him horizontally and hung on. "Grandpa! What's going on?"

"Basically what it looks like. An attack by the Twin Soul Sect, or at least some of them. Hopefully this is close to their limits." He knew they were large and distributed throughout many countries, but he hoped that what he currently saw was the limits of what they had. Hoped, but didn't count on.

Since they couldn't retreat without abandoning people- not that their earlier retreat had been without loss- this is where they had to take a stand. However, Anton wasn't sure if the enemy would want to fight them in a fortified position. Yet they weren't rushing around to ransack empty homes and fields. That could have been caution, but Anton suspected it was because this was more than just a simple raid. They wouldn't be here just for something they could get more safely elsewhere like resources, but for a serious attack. And that was how he knew they had to have more. What he'd already seen wasn't a match for even the limited numbers he knew were still present. Or even just Vandale alone, though it might cost him to use so much power.

After a certain distance, ranged attacks would diminish. Whether it was a hundred or two hundred meters, after a certain point it was inefficient to attack if there wasn't some more pressing reason. That explained why the others were holding back, but Anton saw no reason to not take a few shots here and there. The enemy was standing half a kilometer away, and that was well before the point he expected drop off in effectiveness. Not measurable anyway, since Horizon Shot went many times further. He killed a few Spirit Building cultivators before they wised up and moved Essence Collection cultivators to more prominent positions.

Then he killed a few more, because he could change his target halfway and have them going completely the wrong direction to intercept. Most of those he killed were early or mid Spirit Building, since it was quite optimistic to take out a late Spirit Building cultivator with just a few shots. It would be a significant drain on his energy to kill them if they were ready.

Even if he had some limits to what he could do, Anton felt empowered as he stood among other members of the Order. It wasn't anything so fancy as a special formation like Catarina could set up- though there were protections on the building itself- but instead a feeling of camaraderie.

Yet more than that, there was a deeper strength flowing into him. It was slow, but very real. Anton continued to fire at a moderate pace, where he found his energy reserves were hardly even draining. Later he would come to the realization that as someone whose Essence was communal based, the situation was akin to actively cultivating. It didn't suddenly push him to a higher rank, but it slowed his drain of energy.

The enemy wasn't just going to let him continue shooting at them forever. It wasn't even a minute before they began their assault. Five hundred meters was something most of the enemy could cover in ten seconds flat, but as they approached they came within range of the rest of those with ranged abilities around Anton. They certainly killed many, but hundreds still remained, mainly Spirit Building and stronger.

The leading group did the logical thing, which was to jump up onto the roof to take out the archers. Though the cafeteria was a tall building, they could still make the leap. Right into a protective barrier that they had to have known would be there. Or at least assume. Even so, the moment they made contact the first couple dozen enemies were vulnerable, and another handful of them perished before they were able to reach the ground and maneuver themselves properly.

Some of them began to bombard the building with attacks, both longer range and up close. Then the doors down below swung open, and the few unlucky souls in front found themselves carved open as Elder Daniela wielded a sword at a speed he wouldn't have even been able to see when they first met. Several others were with her, stepping back and forth across the threshold.

The attackers were momentarily unsure whether the barrier would still stop them with the doors open, but they also had little chance to try. Most of those who got close were either killed or knocked backwards into the masses behind them. While there were two wide doors swung open, a handful of strong people could hold their ground easily- and one of them was Hoyt, which meant there was now a large wall of fire in front. People had to choose between removing the fire, attacking properly, or defending themselves.

Grand Elder Kseniya could see almost every point in the Order's control, and those she couldn't see she could still take a shot at. But she didn't. She saw a Life Transformation expert hanging back from the crowd assaulting the southern side of the Order, but there was more. Another group, behind the first, circling around to the northern face. They had two more Life Transformation experts among them. She could probably kill at least one of them from where she was, but whichever one she targeted would likely survive long enough for any of the others to retreat.

It would have been a waste of all their effort keeping the mole alive and making themselves appear weak to start things too early. So Kseniya watched Anton as he shot into the crowd of enemies in front of him. She had seen him form a bow out of energy earlier. In her life she had done similar when the time called for it- a broken string or snapped shaft. She was the creator of Spirit Arrows after all, so it wasn't a foreign concept. She just hadn't ever considered doing entirely without a physical bow.

Clearly Anton himself still thought it was better, as he continued to shoot at his targets with a real weapon. However, Kseniya could still feel that field around him. It was easily recognizable, to her at least, as the basis for Falling Stars. It was simply kept more tightly contained- though some of that was doubtless due to Anton's current cultivation restrictions. Kseniya was pleased to see that he hadn't neglected above himself.

It would have been easy to create a ring around himself and ignore verticality, but his energy stretched out more or less evenly in all directions. At the moment it was doing nothing, but he should be able to call upon it at any moment and attack from somewhere completely unexpected. Not too bad, though she still had some gripes about his fundamentals. Several of his shots had been several millimeters off target, even before people dodged.

Chapter 240

Just sitting, waiting for an attack was nerve wracking. The central part of the Order had the rewards hall, armory, and other tempting targets for invading attackers. When the warnings of danger had come, many of the disciples of the Order were nearby.

Elder Evan immediately began to hand out weapons and armor and anything else that might help. It was foolish to keep it locked up when they might need it. If they survived, it would be given back.

If they survived. A morbid thought, but one that Catarina didn't think was unrealistic. After all, cultivators died all the time. Many of those who died today would be from the Order. Though specific information hadn't been distributed, it was clear this wasn't just a small scale attack. Otherwise someone else would be controlling the formations. Someone like Elder Galli.

Even if the Order didn't have an overabundance of qualified formation masters, Catarina thought there should have been someone better than her. But that thought didn't suddenly make someone else show up.

The idle thought to try to improve on the formations passed through Catarina's mind, but she knew better than to try. Even if she had the time to make sweeping changes and access to the materials, there was no guarantee anything would be better. She was a top formation expert among those at her age, but older formation masters were better. Elder Galli was able to make things on a whim she could barely comprehend, and Everheart… even though he had been gone for centuries, he still had formations that were nearly impossible to sort out.

The ones the Order had should function fine on their own… when they weren't getting seriously bombarded. When the enemy arrived and concentrated their attacks on one area, Catarina needed to be ready to respond accordingly. But she also couldn't overreact and weaken other parts too much. But if she messed up, it would only mean an army getting through to attack hundreds of fellow disciples, most of which were in Body Tempering or early Spirit Building. Catarina wouldn't be in too much peril, given her distance from the outside of the formation.

That was the worst part, knowing that if she failed others would die. She could accept personal consequences for her failure, but others dying left a sour taste in her mouth. Yet there was little hope that the formations would hold forever whether she was the one in control or someone else was.

Anton was working at the border. It seemed likely he would have been the first to face danger, but she couldn't let her worries cloud her thoughts. As the first attacks fell on the formations surrounding the compound, Catarina felt strangely alone. She didn't want to focus on that feeling, but she couldn't help it. She wished she had her grandfather, her friends… Timothy. The last one was the biggest because he had always been around, but now he was gone… out on some mission for the Order.

The assault on the fortified structure on the southern edge of the mountain was resulting in many deaths for the Twin Soul Sect, but they were making real headway. Several of their members had broken past the front ranks defending the doorways and made it inside, and the main defenders were injured as well. The ranged attackers on the roof were still causing serious damage, but soon enough they would tire.

A single Life Transformation expert could entirely tip the balance in the battle, but none of them joined. They would instead be looking for other opportunities. While they might receive some merits for slaughtering those well below their level, it would be very little compared to tackling the targets only they could handle. While wiping out the younger generations was valuable, crippling their leadership was also important. The time wasn't all that far away, and weakening a sect like the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars could allow enemies not directly associated with the Twin Soul Sect to take revenge, further weakening them.

The Life Transformation members also stayed out of the fighting to keep themselves as secret as possible. There was no chance they had all gone unnoticed, but it was a matter of measuring themselves against the others. It was known that Grand Elder Vandale was still present, but since none of the others had yet gone to reinforce the locations being attacked, it confirmed there were few of them. He wouldn't be alone, of course. The Order wasn't so foolish as to truly leave just a single Grand Elder present. However, if they merely had to deal with half of the Life Transformation cultivators of the Order, somewhere around ten of them… then the Twin Soul Sect was confident. Their own members might all die, but that didn't bother them.

Deciding that they had waited long enough, a dozen figures began to make their way up the mountain from various sides, along with several times that many spare Essence Collection cultivators. It was a shame that the Twin Soul Sect had fallen so far that they could only manage a real assault on a single target, but there had been massive damage to them at the opening of Everheart's Tomb. Before that point, they could have easily crushed any single sect. Though if they had tried that, it would have provoked much too strong of a reaction, resulting in an attack much more powerful than that at Black Soul Valley.

As they climbed into the denser energy that was gathered towards the top of the mountain, the Life Transformation cultivators coordinated their movements to arrive at the same time. All of them could feel Grand Elder Vandale, brimming with power and almost taunting them. Perhaps a cultivator at the peak of Life Transformation deserved that sort of arrogance, but no matter who else he had with him, they would all die.

Unlike in other areas, most of the Essence Collection cultivators remained back, away from the others. Except for a few sent into the dome structure in front of them to check for traps, the others remained scattered around the area to slow down incoming targets. Fighting only a small number of the Order's Life Transformation experts at a time would be more efficient, and their sacrifices would be meritorious.

Yet as they approached, nobody could sense anyone but Vandale. That made them nervous, wondering how they could fail to find the others. The leading Essence Collection cultivators stepped into the observatory with Vandale. One of them would at least be alive long enough to call out how many others there were.

"It's just me here, you know?" a deep voice echoed out from the structure. "What are you afraid of?"

A half dozen cultivators were thrown through the walls of the building, leaving it full of holes. Vandale stood in the middle, clearly visible.

Strangely enough, half of those who had been thrown out were alive. "It is… just him…" one of them spoke through ribs more made of breaks than not.

Silent glances from the Life Transformation cultivators indicated that they doubted that to be the truth, but few cultivators could be invisible in a wide open room. At most they would expect one in there. Easy enough for half of them to take out, with the forces being three to one. Any more and they might interfere with each other's attacks.

The other six remained distant, gathered around the mountain peak. There were other buildings that could be concealing enemies skilled at hiding their cultivation, or through the use of formations. They wouldn't let their guard down. And they were right not to.

As the half dozen stepped forward to surround the observatory, there was a loud sigh. "Is that all I can get? How unfortunate." The structure burst into flames, cracking and falling apart in an instant. At the same time power surged from Vandale, more energy flowed in a crashing ocean, forming a barrier around the seven cultivators in the center. "Well, this will have to do."

It was unfortunate that the observatory was the best place to hide the center of the formation. Vandale had hoped that it would remain intact for others to use, after he was gone. But carefully removing an expensive telescope would have tipped off those approaching. It would simply have to be rebuilt.

As huge lenses shattered from the heat around Vandale, his energy suffusing throughout the area, he took stock of his opponents. Two with spears, one with a myriad of different throwing weapons, one with no visible weapons, and finally a sword wielder and one with daggers. That spoke of how they would fight to some extent, but he knew the real event would be focused around whatever illusion they tried to deceive him with.

Vandale felt something squirming inside him, trying to get out. This would be just the time it was meant to act up, since it failed to kill him. The man who had appeared to be their leader had now ascended, but he'd left an unpleasant memory with Vandale on his way out. Vandale just hoped his own flames had left a mark on the man as well.

The squirming blackness inside Vandale couldn't be safely removed, but if he left it as it was it would disrupt his ability to fight. But things had already gone beyond the realm of safety. Even if none of his opponents were as close to the peak of cultivation as he was, Vandale knew that fighting six suicidal enemies was pushing himself. No, it was downright impossible. If he meant to live, that was. But just because his opponents didn't care if they died didn't mean he didn't care about their deaths. He cared about it very much, and would make it happen.

Inside of him, fires began to burn brightly. It scoured the blackness from inside of him. Vandale had a sudden feeling of inspiration. He'd long said he'd given up on reaching ascension, and while that was true as much as it could be, he found himself realizing he'd kept a tiny strand of desire inside of him. Once he burned that away, the path forward was clear. But he wasn't going to bow out and leave six dangerous enemies for his sect to deal with. Besides, given what he'd heard from those who visited Everheart's latest mess, he wasn't sure he liked the idea of ascension even if he wouldn't be abandoning people he cared about.

Power gathered above Vandale, forming into a number of glowing spheres of varying size and power. The power radiating from him might disrupt illusions from those around him, or it might not. But if he simply attacked everywhere, then it wouldn't matter if he could figure out his opponent's locations or not. A manic grin lit his face as he started raining destruction down all around him.

He twisted his body between the spears as they stabbed simultaneously, deflecting other weapons with his palms. For some of the rest he simply relied on the fires burning inside him to provide the power to resist. Meanwhile, explosions rang out all around him, bombarding his six opponents and scouring the land.

Vandale wasn't sure if the sword that stabbed into his gut from behind was an illusion or not, but it didn't matter. When he found himself in an awkward position he simply turned up the intensity of his power. Stars rained from the sky, but Vandale himself was another star. One near the end of its lifespan, but as an enthusiastic student of the skies, he knew that stars only grew more powerful near the end. But he also knew there was no going back from it.

Seven cultivators without regard for their own lives fought, and if there had been any structures still standing around them it would have been flattened and pitted within an instant. Six had the idea that they would be rewarded for their behavior, reincarnating into a life where they would have abundant resources to empower them in their next lives. They were unafraid of death because they didn't believe it was the end.

Vandale knew he might in fact reincarnate, but without special circumstances he wouldn't remember anything. For all practical purposes, he'd be a different person. But he was fighting without regard for his life because it no longer had enough value to keep. It was dwindling already, near its end no matter what he did. If he could save those of value to himself, he would take that trade any day.

Vandale continued to glow brighter, distracting from the falling stars up above. Before things reached their end, he made certain to feel the integrity of the formation around him. He could sense fighting beyond it, but the barrier held. Good. Vandale smiled as he pulled down the greatest falling star he'd ever created from above, directly towards all of his enemies. Of course, with them surrounding him it actually went towards himself.

If their illusions were hiding their locations, it might have seemed that they had a chance to survive. But nobody would be able to know what was real and not in the aftermath, because as the final Falling Star impacted Vandale, he also exploded from the inside out in a crescendo of power. The formation trembled around him and held… but inside of it the only thing that remained recognizable were a few melted pieces of weapons and armor.

Chapter 241

Though the formation encapsulating the battle with Vandale blocked off some of the sense of it, a battle with seven Life Transformation cultivators was something any cultivator would feel from more than a handful of kilometers away regardless. Once that battle began, more cultivators revealed themselves. Grand Elders Kseniya, Fodor, and Zajoc were among those present, as well as a significant portion of the 'absent' Essence Collection members.

All of that could be felt from far away, even where Hoyt fought to maintain some semblance of control over the enemies trying to break past him. He couldn't help but have lingering thoughts about the battle above, but his focus remained mostly intact. With a sweep of his axe he sent flying several approaching enemies. While he would have liked to slice them in two, he wasn't quite capable of that in this sort of pitched combat.

A barrier of fire protected the open doors, but it didn't completely stop the Twin Soul Sect. Some were strong enough to force their way through unharmed, and some simply ignored the consequences. Inside, they were met with those that had at least equal determination- if not always equal cultivation. But the defensive position allowed the Order to fight many-on-one as well as to cycle out those who had exhausted themselves for fresh combatants.

Hoyt wished they had a replacement for him, but the number of Essence Collection cultivators they had around was insufficient for him to take a break. Somewhere in the back of his mind he tracked the fight at the top of the mountain increasing in intensity, to the point he could hardly believe the energy was dulled by a formation.

Then the end came. He was very aware that his grandfather was going to die soon, regardless of what happened here. Hoyt himself hadn't been in on the details of the plan- avoiding riding on his grandfather's reputation meant he had to give up most of the benefits there- but he was aware something had been happening.

It was not strange that he chose such a death. Many cultivators would prefer to go down fighting, though not all of them considered the interests of those around them. While the recent movement of people had obviously provoked this attack, it was likely it would have happened eventually anyway. Controlling it in some fashion was the best that could be done.

As he felt the last vestiges of his grandfather's energy fade- through what he suspected were extremely weakened defenses- Hoyt put on another surge of effort. While he might not have wanted to gain his position through his grandfather, that didn't mean he wanted the man to die. While it seemed he was so old that it could happen at any time for the entirety of Hoyt's life, it had also felt like he might simply live forever. Hoyt knew that wasn't the case, but it was still something he wasn't ready for when it actually happened.

The fight was difficult where they were, but other Grand Elders were fighting with the other Life Transformation experts. The exact details of the battle were unknown, but Hoyt had the utmost confidence they would win. Then they could overwhelm the remaining enemies. They just had to hold on until then.

Waiting was the most difficult part of a battle. The anticipation of the start was painful… but once the battle started, it was even worse to not participate. Yet that was where Timothy found himself, sealed underground. Waiting. The same as he had been for weeks, ever since he'd been selected for the task.

Elder Rana was controlling a formation that kept them concealed, near the heart of the Order. Had it been an hour since the news of the attack? Or it could have been just a few minutes, or days. Everything was blurred together.

The only thing Timothy could feel outside of their underground location, a place he had grown far too familiar with, was a dim sense of energy. Several powerful groups. Then there was another, the strongest concentration all at once.

"This is it," Elder Rana said. "Everyone knows where you're assigned. Get going!"

Timothy was glad he wasn't assigned to the group that would be fighting against the Life Transformation experts. It wasn't that he was afraid, just practical. Early Essence Collection was no match for them, and while he was proud of his defensive prowess it would only take a slightly more than casual attack for one of them to break through, killing him or those he protected. He wasn't much good as part of a group attack either.

Where he would do best was supporting friends and allies he was familiar with. He wanted to already be with some of them, but since he had been chosen to remain hidden, he didn't really have a choice. If people were just allowed to excuse themselves from the operation, it wouldn't have remained a secret for long, no matter their intentions.

Timothy was assigned to go protect the rewards hall and the rest of the complex there. If he pushed himself, he would arrive in less than a minute. And then he would die, because he wouldn't have any allies who could reach him. Staying within the ranks it was only two or three minutes for the trip, as everyone moved at a quick jog. That was by cultivator standards. The slowest among them moved quicker than a galloping horse, even down the slope of the mountain. The paths were as smooth and even as they could be, but they still provided some difficulty. Given the situation, the path wasn't always the quickest way either.

As they approached Timothy felt the formation and thought of Catarina. While he'd associated her with them since the beginning of their training, this time he actually felt her influence. It wasn't necessarily something those unfamiliar with her would pick up on, but the way she proliferated her energy was quite comforting to Timothy.

Spending time with her in the same group it had not been possible to stay ignorant about formations, and he could feel gaps forming and being sealed at a rapid rate. People were breaking through… but they wouldn't have to wait much longer.

Once they were close, Timothy was one of the leaders of the charge aimed at the rear of the sieging group. His initial attack wasn't even quite sufficient to take out one of the Spirit Building cultivators, but that wasn't where his focus had been. When a dozen people turned to counterattack, he was prepared to deflect their energy. He didn't care where it went- back towards them or any of their allies- as long as it didn't go past him to the others charging behind.

Fuzz had sniffed out the secret underground den on the second day they had been constructing it. How would he not know about a place people were coming and going so frequently? However, he had been respectful of the larger pack's privacy. Though Fuzz didn't understand it himself, some places were off limits to some members of the pack. So he had stayed away.

It was only in the last day that he had smelled both Devon and Timothy, having wandered close. Those two were missed by the others, and they were supposed to be off on a mission. That prompted Fuzz to stick his nose inside, where he had promptly been captured after a little bit of play wrestling. He was careful with the members of the pack who weren't familiar with him, since they would injure easily.

It was not long before those he was seeking came, and it was explained that he would have to stay for a time. He didn't quite understand why, but he hoped it was not too long. And though a day and night passed, his hopes were quickly realized. Now they were out! Free to go deal with a group of enemies trespassing on the pack's territory!

Fuzz didn't understand exactly why they hadn't just been waiting outside, but it didn't matter now. Devon was much heavier than Alva, but Fuzz was constantly growing stronger. His actual size hadn't increased much in the last year, but the power of cultivation flowed through him. Fuzz knew he would never understand energy as much as humans did, but he made his best use of it. And he could use it to make his body stronger as well, a little bit at a time.

With Devon on his back, Fuzz darted down the mountain. The calls of the others indicated that perhaps he should slow down, but Devon himself encouraged Fuzz to keep going. Fuzz augmented his nose to smell for who he wanted to find. Timothy was going towards Catarina- and Velvet too though she was harder to sniff out. Hoyt, Alva, and Anton were all to the south. So that was where they were going. Family came before loyal pack members.

As they got closer Fuzz narrowed down the location to the food-place where he often received large chunks of meat. Even though he hunted his own food in the forest, he liked to eat with the other pack members. He knew they often gave him the parts that were hard for humans to chew, the disfavored pieces, but he enjoyed them all the same. And sometimes they gave him the parts they liked the best. They were good too, if a little soft.

Fuzz had time to think about all of that before they arrived. Then it was time to fight. The fire on one side of the building was Hoyt. He seemed fine for the moment, but atop the roof Fuzz saw trouble. Attackers were climbing and jumping through broken not-walls of the kind Catarina made. Formations, maybe, though Fuzz wasn't much for fancy words.

Alva and Anton were engaged in melee. Anton seemed to be functioning rather well with his twin axes- and somehow he was still shooting arrows- but Alva was weaker and less comfortable in her position. Anton was clearly making his way towards her, but there were many enemies in the way.

Fuzz picked up even more speed, aiming for one of the openings so he wouldn't hit his head on the air. He could feel Devon's energy atop him, ready to fight. Then he leapt the last thirty meters, landing directly on one of the attackers. Fuzz thought the impact might have killed him, but his teeth bit down on his head to make sure. A satisfying crunch.

A dozen chains lashed out at people around them, pulling people away from Alva. Devon hopped off of Fuzz, leaving him free to roam as he pleased. That meant he could go help Alva, who was facing away from him and fighting an enemy with clearly superior axe skills.

She had grown closer to the size of a full woman since he knew her, but she was still much smaller than him. Small enough he could stand over her with his chin over her head. He snarled at the wrinkly old woman she was fighting. The woman backed off, and Alva spun around to get a mouthful of fur.

"Mmmmmph!"

Fuzz took that and the hug to be words of happiness that he had arrived, and then Alva grabbed a handful of fur and vaulted herself up and around onto his back.

"Let's go Fuzz!" Alva called out as she unslung her bow. "We're a bit too close here."

Fuzz immediately leapt off of the roof. While his personal preference for battle was up close, he could always make use of his teeth and claws when they became necessary. The flying claws of archers were much more suited for dealing with opponents of the type available today.

Fuzz ran around the battlefield, circling around the area while Alva rained shots down on their attackers. Alva had great senses and accuracy, so he didn't concern himself with keeping a steady pace. They were well used to battle with each other.

Fuzz brought them towards a group of three away from the others, both of which were archers. One just used very big arrows and no bow, but the fact that their attacks went beyond their armlength made them an archer. Seeing them approach, attacks began to fly at them. Fuzz dodged and weaved, minimizing the amount that Alva had to duck down close to him.

She shot back, taking out the two archers before they arrived. But strangely enough she didn't shoot the third enemy, even as they stood there obvious. Perhaps she was just aiming, but as Fuzz charged forward she turned to shoot at people in a different direction.

"Fuzz, head back towards the battle!"

Fuzz took her command into advisement, and he absolutely would after he dealt with this last one. She could still hit the enemies from where they were, and since she hadn't deigned to fight this one it was all his.

The final opponent stood still as they approached, suddenly moving as they got near. A flying leap, as if they were trying to get atop Fuzz' back. It was a little bit hard to track them since he couldn't see or hear them, but his nose knew better. He reared up, mouth opening then closing.

For his efforts, he got a blade stabbed into his gum and another into his jaw. In return, he got both of his opponent's arms. Then the person was suddenly visible to his eyes, and they for some reason looked surprised when he batted them to the ground and then stepped on their chest. As if leaping towards a wolf had an option that didn't involve them getting bitten. How strange.

Chapter 242

At the peak of the mountain, Elder Rana had switched away from concentrating on the concealing formation to the fortifying barrier around Grand Elder Vandale and the area around that where a different battle was happening.

While the Order would have dearly liked to have every Life Transformation expert available when provoking an enemy of indeterminate power, to properly pull off the deception they had to have some of them very publicly make appearances. That also included being far enough for the Twin Soul Sect to be comfortable that they wouldn't be around, and indeed they weren't even rushing back.

With that said, Grand Elders Fodor, Zajoc, and Kseniya were present along with about half of the other Life Transformation members. The exact number of them around was never publicly available, but they had once had twenty. With some deaths at Black Soul Valley and some advancements due to recent events, they were at eighteen. Half had stayed while half had gone… but more than that portion of Essence Collection cultivators stayed since they would be less carefully counted.

Their assistance in the battle was not strictly necessary for a victory, but with the reckless abandon of the assaulting cultivators, any additional firepower was a boon.

Kseniya clicked her tongue as she rained arrows on the fanatics. She could appreciate devotion to a good cause, but such overzealousness for a cause that only led to a net decrease in the status of the world was anything but. Everyone was equally motivated as them to defend the Order, though Kseniya hoped that their willingness to die wouldn't lead into the actuality of it. At least, not more than they had to.

A few brave Essence Collection cultivators had already died. Even the practical side of Elder Kseniya wasn't willing to say it was better that they perished than her. Any one of them could have grown to the same power as her, and she just happened to be older and more experienced than most. The emotional side of her was burning with fury… and the practical side guided that fury to take advantage of every opening made by sacrifices, intentional or not.

She kept herself focused on the battle at hand, despite knowing her best disciple was just a short way to the south. She could glance over there and fire a few shots, sway the tide of battle. But every arrow was required where she was. A moment of distraction would allow her to fall deeper under the sway of illusion, instead of carefully tracking the real movements of her opponents.

Even when she lost track, she was building a prediction of how they would fight. A less practiced cultivator could easily fall into the trap of thinking they could predict their opponents, but Kseniya knew she could. And it was ever so easy to make slight adjustments to her shots at point blank range. Of course, the range she considered point blank was hundreds of meters, the outside of which was further than many cultivators' maximum ranges. But compared to Horizon Shot, everything else was like walking up to a target with her bow and stabbing it with an arrow.

One of the enemy Life Transformation cultivators was quite annoying. Cased from head to toe in armor that seemed extremely durable even in the normal weak points they took attacks with impunity. The armor was their weapon as well, so it was difficult to tell if they were planning to attack. Spikes stuck out at all angles, and they were quite capable of concealing exactly how much energy they concentrated at any one point. They could prepare to absorb an attack or stab a spike into someone with little indication of either.

Kseniya briefly wished she had trained abilities for pure power. She would even like to have a bow like Anton's- the bone bow that was excessively difficult to pull. That particular one was too weak for her use, but something similar would be convenient no matter how bad it was in normal circumstances. The only thing she could do was continuously hit the same point, trying to pierce through the armored figures' defensive energy and then damage the armor underneath.

Yet every time she struck, they fortified the point more and more. If she was unable to break through before, now it was completely impossible. Yet a full half of her arrows struck that one target at that one point- though she didn't neglect harassing the others and injuring them when the opportunity arose.

She stubbornly continued with her attacks until it reached a maximum level of strength and went no further. Someone with Vandale's power would have already crushed them, and those who relied directly on strength like Ivarsson had would take the opportunity to crush that point. But Kseniya wasn't either of them.

Though just because she didn't focus on power didn't mean she wasn't capable of it. She just took a different route. Kseniya continued shooting her arrows, a dozen shots flying across the battlefield before she stopped for a moment, gathering energy into a powerful arrow. It flew directly towards the strongest yet most battered point of her opponent's defenses.

That arrow struck at the same time as the other dozen, which had circled around behind him. They struck a different point, just below the skull on the back of the head- all of them together, as if they were a single arrow. Kseniya had actually performed an especially powerful shot to solidify the bluff, but even if she had aimed elsewhere her opponent would have simply shifted his energy. When it came down to an attack that seemed like a challenge, however, he took it head on. And then Kseniya took his head off.

Her arrows pierced not only through the spine but up into the brain. A cultivator of such power who didn't instantly die could cause quite a bit of trouble for them, and she didn't want any of that. They'd already lost enough. She had tried to avoid being shaken up by Vandale's death, but it wasn't possible to ignore. He was a pillar of the Order. His sacrifice was tragic, yet important. Without him pulling away half of the Life Transformation opponents, their losses would have been much more severe in the rest of the fight.

With one more down, and none of the Order's Life Transformation experts fully out of the fight, the battle quickly snowballed in the Order's favor. They couldn't afford to get careless, but Kseniya was a major threat that they couldn't even approach due to the others. Even if they had she was quite able to fight them off in melee range, but she was especially effective when unhindered.

Velvet was watching over Catarina in case someone had managed to break in and attack her while she was focused. Now the formation was so beaten and broken it was simply a matter of whether anyone made it to her in a frontal assault. Even so, Catarina had a stupid grin on her face. Velvet had the feeling she didn't know about it, but it was obvious why. Reinforcements were attacking the enemy's rear. That included Timothy.

Though Velvet didn't have any childhood friends she'd grown up with, the sense of relief she felt at the arrival of allies and a friend was clear. Yet that was what she felt with a very rocky start and a handful of years after that. Someone she'd known her whole life would have to be many times more… even if there weren't other feelings involved. Velvet knew Timothy felt more than just friendship for Catarina, but she had never asked if Catarina felt the same. But whatever she felt was strong.

"I'm going to move out," Velvet said. "The others should be able to hold people off. If you have to let the formation drop, now is the time." Velvet didn't wait for more than a nod of acknowledgement before she disappeared. She could stand around for someone to approach, but she preferred a more proactive style. People got especially careless when they thought they were safe.

With that thought in her head, Velvet paused atop the walls, looking down into the many enemies below forcing their way into the compound. She took a few moments to check her thoughts. She knew the Twin Soul Sect projected illusions, and that they could do it for many people. The question was if they had to know someone was there. Then she nodded. She felt something. A tingling of difference. Certainly weaker than what would be affecting others, but enough to distort her perception enough. Less than half a step in any direction, but it would be the difference between a clean slash to the throat and a small nick or even a complete miss. The same was true for defensive actions in the other direction.

The other disciple seemed to be fighting their way through it, but they could use some help. Velvet couldn't just yell some encouraging words and break them out, but she could look for the key figures. Someone had to be the main point of the illusions. There were two possibilities. It might be the obvious one, the man standing in the middle protected by everyone. Or it could be the woman on the right end of the pack who didn't seem to be doing anything.

Ultimately Velvet's decision was dictated not by surety, but by practicality. She wasn't confident in placing herself in the middle of a crowd of enemies. Even so, she thought it was slightly more likely that the less obvious target was correct. Unless it was a trick, but if she was going to consider psychology like that it might not be a trick but they could want her to think that. So she didn't waste more time thinking, and just decided to act.

She slipped down the wall slowly, hoping nobody would feel the disturbances her movements caused. It was impossible for a normal human to sense anything, and her presence was erased to the best of her abilities- but she was going up against experienced cultivators. Even if her Essence empowered her stealth, she had barely begun to mold it into shape, to let it grow. Knowing she was an up-and-coming genius could cause her to be cocky… but instead she thought about Anton.

If she couldn't even surpass an admittedly exceptional grandpa, then she still had a lot to learn. But on the other hand, he'd helped her develop her skills, and she would use them to their utmost.

Not a pebble or a blade of grass moved as Velvet slunk along the ground towards the side of the battle. As she approached she became ever more sure of her target's connection to the illusion as a whole. Perhaps her death wouldn't tear it apart, but it would take a moment or two for it to be brought back into place if she was taken out. A battlefield wide opening was something that had to be aimed for at all costs.

Velvet held her twin daggers. Even after all of Spirit Building she hadn't found weapons that were their equals, not that was being sold anyway. In Everheart's Tomb- on the moon- she'd seen some daggers she would have liked to get ahold of, but they were in the hands of Life Transformation cultivators. Now that she was used to their asymmetry, Velvet would regret when she had to give them up.

But that time was still far away. For the moment, they were still quite functional. Velvet reached her target and her arms slashed across her chest, scissoring the blades together. She might not have the power to lop off someone's head, but if she could damage either the throat or the spinal cord it was just as good. For a moment she saw no blood, as if she had completely missed. Then the illusion cracked and she knew she had aimed close enough to the real location. Her right dagger had actually struck her opponent's chin, but there was a slash into the neck and bone from her left. Her blades had already been moving for a follow up attack, and she did so with confidence.

A wave swept across the battlefield as combatants realized the illusions hindering their attacks had fallen away. A series of coordinated attacks pushed things in the favor of the Order- and the reinforcements attacking from behind were pressuring their enemies. It didn't seem as if they would surrender, and that meant the battle would have to be won with yet more blood… but Velvet was determined to make sure that most of it belonged to the Twin Soul Sect.

Chapter 243

The battle atop the peak was the first to resolve itself, but the rest quickly followed. With none left who could withstand Kseniya's attacks and no fear for her own safety she rained down arrows on the battles below. Several of the other top members of the Order were too injured to reach the battle in a timely fashion, but it was only a few moments later before the remaining Life Transformation experts reached the melee.

The personal power of a single cultivator wouldn't always stand up to the power of overwhelming numbers, but with the battles close to even or even slightly in the Order's favor they quickly tipped the scales. It was too late for the members of the Twin Soul Sect to run, but very few of them even made the attempt. They were already fighting with the intent to sacrifice their lives, but that willingness from the beginning meant they hardly increased in danger.

Grand Elder Matousek looked over the numbers gathered after the battle. They had ultimately come out ahead, thanks to the hidden forces they kept. But the losses to the Order weren't insignificant. Over a hundred late Body Tempering cultivators were dead, with similar numbers over the whole of Spirit Building. Several dozen Essence Collection cultivators as well. And the worst, at least in the aspect of security, was the loss of Vandale and two others. They barely had the numbers to have the Grand Elders solely composed of Life Transformation experts.

Over the course of less than a decade, they'd gone from twenty to thirteen. Numbers were down overall. Matousek knew that times of conflict had such results, but that didn't make it better. The only comforting fact was that there was a growing crop of new disciples… and some very promising prospects.

Beyond that, the conflict had driven many of the late Essence Collection cultivators who survived closer to the brink. The Order might come out stronger, if they could pull through, but the momentary losses were troublesome.

Counting cultivators before they advanced to the next stage was an ill advised practice, but Matousek was willing to bet at least half of one particular group would make it. It was unclear if Anton, the old man who had surprised everyone with his speed, would be able to keep going- but the rest of the group, including Vandale's grandson- were nearly guaranteed to reach Life Transformation. Unless they were killed first, which was why Matousek wouldn't count on more than half of them.

Matousek wasn't such a fool as to believe that the Twin Soul Sect was fully wiped out, but they would be cautious about making any future moves, especially against the Order. Now they just had to watch out for anyone who thought that the Order looked like a nice target. The borders with Ofrurg were already fortified, but withdrawing from there wouldn't be reasonable just yet. And enemies existed everywhere, even if they weren't always so overt in their actions.

Elder Tshering wasn't going to complain about being called out to a random field in Graotan to deal with some ants. He was well aware of the trouble insects could cause, having dealt with them many times himself. He was just confused as to what he was supposed to be worried about.

He only saw ants. Completely, positively normal ants.

He picked one up between his fingers, looking over at the local farmer who winced as he did so. "What's special about these?"

Before the farmer could answer, Tshering felt the ant bite into his finger. It didn't draw blood, but the very fact that it managed to pinch his skin was astounding. He was in Essence Collection, which meant he'd completed as much Body Tempering as most cultivators ever would. A little ant wasn't going to pierce through his skin, but that shouldn't have even been an option.

Tshering watched as the ant let go and chomped on another bit of his finger, completely ignoring his energy. "Well," he said. "I hadn't expected something like this."

The farmer looked relieved as Tshering held onto the ant. "I was going to warn you to be careful, sir." He nervously stood nearby with a shovel. "They're vicious little biters, and with hard bodies too. First noticed them crawling into my house when I tried to squish one with my finger." He held up a swollen finger, twice as thick as the others and covered in tiny pricks that were presumably bite marks. "Had to scrape 'em off with a knife, and even then they looked unfazed. I think I've only managed to kill a handful. But that's not the only strange part. 'Sides the way they swarmed my finger, they're far too organized."

Tshering looked at the ant mound in front of him, then around the area. "Are they a problem?"

"Well, they crawled into my house…" the farmer leaned on his shovel.

"Did they eat through your food stores?"

"Well, no. That's the strange thing. They swarmed a plate I left out overnight, but I haven't seen any poking around in my cabinets or anything. Cellar's fine too. But I'm worried… come take a look over here." The farmer led Tshering to a place not very far away on his property, where a small stream passed through. Ants marched across the shallow stream, walking along a long branch crossing over it. The farmer gestured, "Look, see?"

"I'm not sure what I'm supposed to see," Tshering answered honestly. "Ants do such things all the time."

"They might cross a fallen log or a random branch, but look at it. That's pine. None of these are pines. I saw that branch shuffling around one day, and then the next I saw it there over the stream." The farmer pointed with his shovel, apparently unwilling to get any closer. "Look, they even chewed off the extra side branches."

"There are still a few," Tshering noted, "Maybe they just broke off." Though he said that, he was at that very moment confirming with his own eyes the cuts that could have been made by many tiny mouths. "But I do see some connection there. Was there more?"

"You want more?" the farmer asked. "I saw them take down a squirrel. They all clumped together until it passed over then latched on at the same time. Didn't take more than a minute before it was dead, and they were taking bits of it back to their lair."

Tshering washed over the ants with his senses, but didn't pick out anything special. That was concerning, because he already knew they were. In fact, more than just not feeling special his energy senses felt a bit numb when interacting with them. "What do you want me to do?" Tshering asked.

"Wipe 'em out," the farmer said. He held up his swollen finger, "They're dangerous little beasts, not something normal folk like us can handle. We need you cultivators to take care of them. You believe me, right?"

"I do," Tshering said. The problem was that so far, the ants hadn't done anything truly problematic. They snuck into a house to eat food lying out. That was normal. Finding ways across a river was normal as well. While it had to be admitted that they were much sturdier and stronger than the ants Tshering knew, he wasn't sure if they deserved to be destroyed. He knew he could do it- though strangely enough it would have been easier if they were larger. The question was whether or not he should. "You own this farm long?"

"Twenty years," the man said with pride.

"Got any neighbors?"

"A few," the farmer said. "There's some empty land on one side. Nice stuff, but a bit too expensive. And I already have all I can manage."

"Would it be trouble for you to move?"

"Well, aside from my fields- which I suppose I could shift between seasons- I have my barn and my house just how I like them. Not really interested in giving this place up. Why?"

"What if we moved those?" Tshering asked. "We can keep them exactly as they are and put them down somewhere else, undamaged. We'll buy you that land and provide the assistance you need to get set up."

"Why?" the farmer narrowed his eye. "What's the point of that? For you, I mean."

"Well, I gathered you'd not want to stay here while we studied these ants. But I'd rather study them than destroy them."

"Really?" the farmer shook his head. "I don't know about that. Seems like they're liable to spread if you're not careful."

"I understand," Elder Tshering said. "We have ways to deal with that."

"Well… if you can really follow through on your promises, I suppose I wouldn't mind it too much. As long as you keep careful watch on these things. So far nothing's gone wrong, but I don't want to wake up to a missing cow. Or not wake up at all."

"Don't worry," Elder Tshering assured the man. "I will treat this with all the sincerity it deserves."

A great queen was not supposed to have to do anything herself, except the expected duties of laying eggs to produce the next generation. Indeed, it was a risk for the queen to even attempt another role, given her critical function in the functioning of the colony. Yet no matter how much intelligence the great queen imparted upon her subjects, their brains couldn't match her own. It was not a matter of arrogance, but simply fact. Those who could match her would become great queens in their own right, and there was no need for such at the moment. It would simply add unnecessary competition.

With all of that said, the great queen found herself forced to go inspect a concerning change in the landscape. The rest of the colony had the sense of great danger, and such a situation had to be verified. Thus, the queen took the long trek to her borders half a day's travel away. There she found that, indeed, there was danger. But it was not what the other ants sensed that was the problem.

The great queen had sensed barriers formed of energy many times after her birth. The information that had been passed down from the previous great queens indicated they had been set up by the last human in her species' memory. They were not impossible to bypass- but there had been no merit to it. Outside of those barriers had been only death, even for a species as hardy as the ants. There was no sustenance of any kind beyond those barriers. Food, water, not even air had been available.

Though the great queen had not studied them herself, she knew that such barriers came in different types. She sensed danger, but not as the others might have expected. The first barrier, in fact, should not harm them in the slightest. While others might die under the crushing weight of energy, their kind would not. Except in the rarest of circumstances, the energy that other species made use of was, at most, a source of food for them. But a more clever trap had been set beyond. It seemed that some of those humans that were capable of using energy had indeed been studying them. They knew of ways to kill them.

The question was why they had not done so. But the answer was actually fairly simple. There was no reason to. Even the great ants, despite their prowess, were so small as to not be worthwhile as sustenance for a human. That was the primary reason anything would be killed. The secondary matter, that of self defense, was also unnecessary. At least, the great queen hoped that they had not done anything to provoke a warlike response from the humans.

They were intelligent enough to know the food stores of humans apart from the crumbs they left behind. While there had indeed been an altercation with a human, the drones involved had done no lasting harm. But perhaps that had been enough. With no humans in living memory, perhaps the information about them was incorrect. Maybe they had killed the human. Perhaps instead it was a queen of some sort, though records indicated that only those with energy usually held such positions.

But they were not yet dead, and those of the powerful energy came to observe them regularly. So perhaps the situation was still salvageable. While the great queen was certain that they could kill most of the humans currently watching them, doing so would assuredly lead to their demise. For though humans were few in number, they were strong. Even one of those nearby was so strong as to be nearly undefeatable, with skin that could not be pierced by the jaws of a worker.

Indeed, one of the soldiers might do better, and there were other methods… but the colony was not strong enough to get into a war. Nor should it ever be necessary. Humans were, by most accounts, a good thing. Wherever they were would always have abundant food scraps for industrious ants to consume. While they seemed to find ants an annoyance, they were often allowed to remain as long as things didn't go too far.

So there shouldn't be any reason for humans to come for them. But then again, anything of intelligence developed curiosity. The great queen herself was full of it, and though she knew she should not she occasionally peeked her head out to watch the humans even as they studied her colony. But if she found they intended harm, she would have to find a way through the barriers so the colony could survive. It was too early to create a new queen, but perhaps she should begin the process.

Chapter 244

If Vincent had been anywhere else, he would have been happy to recruit most of the people he saw into the Order. Even if they were a bit older, many had already reached several stars of cultivation. With the improvements in energy around the Order itself, he figured most of them could reach late Body Tempering.

But the factors were quite different from a normal visit to a town. This was one of Anton's projects, so Vincent was not terribly surprised that everyone was already cultivating. The man had a talent for guiding people through the early ranks of cultivation- and Vincent imagined that would stretch ever onward as Anton himself grew.

That didn't mean Anton could magically grant everyone talent. Some people might never go beyond one or two stars in their entire life, but most people didn't even complete the first step of cultivation whether or not they had the opportunity put in front of them.

Anton encouraged everyone to do whatever else they would be doing, but better due to the effects of good health and some control of energy. Living a normal life, elevated somewhat. Farmers produced more and better crops. Weavers refined higher quality cloth. Blacksmiths worked more quickly and with more precision. Even merchants who got by primarily through thinking and talking could temper their brain, though that required care.

The difficulty for many people was finding the spare time to cultivate to begin with. If a common laborer had a few free moments, they would rather relax at a bar instead of spending it training. Even when they were able to integrate training into their normal work, the additional fatigue was off putting to many. The only thing that kept some people going was seeing the results of others. Anton did his best to encourage everyone, but there was only so much he could do.

Vincent paid close attention to how Anton worked. If he only promoted cultivation, he could have easily formed an elite class that took over. The fact that he was starting with those in the lowest positions helped prevent that, as well as his other teachings. He strongly encouraged helping and promoting others.

Currently, Anton was speaking with a warehouse manager who was having trouble understanding some of the ideas. "I do not understand why I should pay for workers who are doing nothing," the man complained.

"Training isn't nothing. It will make them more efficient at their work," Anton said.

"And I will pay them for that work, when they do it. If they wish to train themselves, I won't stop them."

"It is clear it has been some time since you performed any labor yourself," Anton gently replied. Vincent was certain that Anton knew the man probably hadn't ever had to labor himself, and was simply being generous. "One more hour of work is just one more hour. But if that energy can be devoted to improvement, you will see interest in the future."

"Even if I waste my money on them," the man said, "Once they grow strong they will simply leave me behind."

"Some of them might," Anton acknowledged. "But if they are treated well, most will treat you well in return."

The way Anton ended the conversation shortly after that indicated that he wasn't confident in the man actually listening to his advice. Vincent thought he might learn, but he would have to see others having success in the exact same way. Even then, the man didn't have quite the right temperament for it. He was the sort to think of immediate profits and considered everything that wasn't money pointless. Even if things like goodwill could lead to profits in the future.

Vincent was all too aware that ruthless merchants often made large amounts of money, both in the short and long term. However, if they ever ran into trouble they would be trampled over by everyone else trying to achieve wealth at all costs. Properly honest merchants could build a business that lasted for more than a lifetime. As long as their honesty didn't prevent them from being discerning with their trade partners. Just because they wouldn't take advantage of others didn't mean they had to let it happen to them.

After giving it some consideration, Vincent supposed that long-term business success would also be more important for those who cultivated. Adding even ten years of life would make a large difference for some. If anyone got twenty or thirty, they could spend easily twice as long as an active merchant.

"Anton," Vincent brought the man aside as he thought of something. "What do you intend to happen with those who reach the peak of Body Tempering?"

"I hadn't thought of it much yet," Anton said. "So far, those who have reached it were already ones with cultivation talent. They simply chose to join the Order early on. While the Ninety-Nine Stars is an excellent cultivation technique, I have no intention to try to make the complete method public. People could switch to a different method to continue their cultivation but…" Anton frowned. "It seems like it would be difficult."

"They could indeed simply join the Order. But while we have positions for anyone who wishes to practice trades, we keep most people centralized."

"I think the Order should likely expand more," Anton commented, "But I think there's a better solution for others. We don't want to force anyone into the Order if they simply wish to continue improving themselves. Perhaps we could develop a different branch that would allow people to continue… but also one that would feel markedly different so that nobody confuses them with official members of the Order."

Vincent nodded, "We do have a reputation to uphold. While a majority of those I've seen you interact with would do fine, some could use some careful vetting."

"That's how people are," Anton agreed. "Which is why I'm trying to teach people to treat others right. Now then, I could use your help with the next part. Since everyone is focused on improving in their own specific areas I have been very lax in martial training, but I feel if they are to be cultivators they need at least basic knowledge of martial combat. Otherwise, they would be easy targets for those with ill intent. I don't imagine everyone will simply remain in Graotan forever."

"Quite right," Vincent replied. "I would be glad to help."

The combat training really was quite basic. There was a bit of hand-to-hand as well as basic weapons training, and of course archery. Proper archery took a strong body, but anyone who had completed the first star was generally fit to make use of it. If not, the training would get them there if necessary.

"Now," Anton said during a point in training where everyone was either taking a break or repeating the same movements, leaving them with free concentration, "I'm sure all of you will become capable of defending yourselves properly quite quickly. Of course you will also want to defend your loved ones. Some will be too young or too old or too stubborn to cultivate themselves, so please take this seriously. In addition to that," Anton surveyed everyone to see their reactions, "I would like it if you could defend others in danger. I'm not asking you to go fight wars, but if something happens then after you secure your friends and family, helping the rest of your neighbors should follow."

Many were nodding enthusiastically, though Anton was certain that some were not truly in agreement. But they might come around.

"Now, I know a question that is on all of your minds," Anton continued. "What of the Order? Aren't we supposed to defend Graotan, defend you? The answer is we will, but we cannot be everywhere. And… I'm sure you don't want the Order interfering with you over smaller matters. If someone who cultivates gets too rowdy at a pub, you don't want a trained soldier to have to come deal with him. Better if the pub owner or some of the other patrons can settle that properly, I'm sure we'll all agree. I'm sure we'd all be happier if nobody ever got in conflict with each other, but to my knowledge that isn't possible to achieve. So do be aware of your power and that of those around you, and use it properly."

The very last thing Anton wanted was for anyone trained by him, either directly or indirectly, to cause a major incident. But even if he could focus on just one group of people, he couldn't see into the deepest inner workings of everyone's minds and see what made them tick. He could do a half-decent job of it though, weeding out those who just wanted to be stronger to use that power to control others. There were other cultivation techniques available for them, but they'd have to find them without Anton's help.

Alva stood tall and proud next to her grandfather. She had grown out of being a child and was now a proper young woman. Her training was going exceptionally well, especially since she didn't have to hold back on account of potentially causing harm to a developing body. While she might change somewhat in the coming years, she was now fully seventeen years old. Some people would consider her an adult, while others wouldn't- until they knew she was a cultivator.

There was something about riding around a giant wolf and having the ability to pick up a small house that made people willing to accept you as an adult. Alva knew that most houses wouldn't actually hold together if someone tried to pick them up, but that wasn't the point. The point was that she was now in mid Spirit Building, on the border with the late stage. She was strong, and proud!

But if she got too proud she'd find herself flopped onto her butt when she sparred with her grandfather. While she was technically closer to him in terms of stars, he was in Essence Collection and that was a gap that was difficult to deal with. That didn't even count the weird techniques he had to call on extra energy. She talked him into telling her about them, thinking there was some trick… and there was. It wasn't that he was hiding it from her, but Fleeting Youth just… wasn't going to work. She had no idea what it was like to be old, and her brushes with death had been more on the physical peril end than watching her friends and family grow old and fade away.

Alva grimaced as she considered the fact that there were different kinds of familiarity with death that people could have. The unfortunate thing about life was that it was inevitably tied to death, but as a cultivator Alva was going to do her best to minimize some of the possible avenues for herself and others she cared about.

"When can I fight alongside you?" Alva asked. "I feel like I'm never going to be good enough."

"That's not true," her grandfather quickly responded. "You're good enough." She rolled her eyes. He said that, but… "I just haven't had anything I needed to do. Just isolated training. It's good for me, roaming about teaching people, but even then I'm sure I'll need more practical experience soon. You and Fuzz can come along."

"Oh." Alva didn't quite know what to say. "That sounds… good."

Her grandfather grinned at her, as if reading her every thought. Perhaps he was, because his training in Insight and Earthly Connection were both very strong. "In fact, I was thinking of making a trip rather soon. My business will be perfectly peaceful." Alva couldn't help but frown. "So, of course, expect to be attacked several times at least. At least until we get close to the Frostmirror Sect. Then I'd expect people to be more cautious."

Alva could have tried to hide her excitement, but that would have just resulted in her grandpa teasing her with things like not getting to come along. And whether or not he actually meant it, it would hurt to think it for a second. So Alva simply nodded enthusiastically. "Great! When do we go?"

Chapter 245

The chances of an Essence Collection cultivator like Anton running into trouble he couldn't handle while on a journey were extremely small. But thinking like that would get him killed. During times of such turmoil there was always someone looking to take advantage of things. Those with ill intentions towards the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars would be happy to take a chance at the current moment of weakness, especially if they planned to blame a death on someone else.

It was more than just Anton being worried about himself, he also had Alva to take care of. Being willing to sacrifice his own life for her was little good if that sacrifice didn't actually help. And he'd much prefer to be around for any future dangers. He also had to make sure Kohar stayed safe, and the people who would be looking for her would likely be significantly disproportionate to her own power.

The rest of Anton's regular group wouldn't have let him go off alone even if he tried. The only thing that might have stopped them was how it might be seen in Ofrurg, a powerful group of cultivators entering their country. Because while they kept track of any cultivators, Essence Collection cultivators were a serious threat to almost any sect. But Ofrurg could feel whatever the combined thoughts of everyone there ended up. Anton and the others had official business in the area, and they weren't going to let a bit of discomfort to the locals stop them.

Unlike previous travel, carriages were being used instead of movement by foot. In normal circumstances Anton found that a carriage was both an unnecessary expenditure and slower, but the particular circumstances justified the expense. The significant difference in cultivation between the Kohar and the rest meant they would be limited by her ability to keep up, and in addition to that her ability to fight. The carriages were fortified to the point they should be able to withstand a determined attack from an Essence Collection cultivator, or at least weaken one.

The steelhoof horses pulling the carriage were a special breed that were fast and durable. If a battle happened, they could either pull the carriages or be released to keep themselves safe, to return after the battle calmed down. In the worst case scenario if the horses lost their lives, one of the Essence Collection cultivators could continue to pull a carriage. It wouldn't be quite as good, but there was no perfect way to handle the situation. Beasts that could compete with Essence Collection cultivators didn't grow on trees, notwithstanding the stories Chikere told about the blade armed stick/leaf bugs on the sword tree. Even then, they only managed that with numbers.

The only tamed beasts better than the steelhoof horses pulling their carriages would be specially trained by best taming sects, usually raised by individual members as they grew in cultivation. At the very least, even the Order did not keep anything of the sort on hand.

Even Fuzz was merely comparable to the creatures. He might actually surpass them in the future, and if one were to compare his combat strength it could be higher- but the steelhoof horses would be able to escape unharmed if they were free to move. And if Fuzz were particularly unlucky as he chased one, they might counter with a lethal kick.

The creatures were under the care of Elder Tshering and others working with him. Since they were going on official business, requisitioning them for use wasn't terribly difficult but not free. Simply maintaining the steelhoof horses was a significant expenditure that had to be paid somehow, and those making use of them were the most reasonable targets.

On the way out of Graotan, Elder Tshering had asked them to drop him by an interesting research site. He even invited them inside, though asked them to remain cautious. Anton was very curious as to what sort of creature might be found in the middle of Graotan, where there were no obvious deviations of energy aside from the formations that had been set up, so he and the others stepped inside.

Looking around, Anton was the first to make a comment. "Good farmland, like the neighboring area. It's not in use anymore?"

Elder Tshering smiled, "As of quite recently, in fact. Once we found the creatures here, we purchased the land."

"What is here?" Anton asked. "I don't see… anything." It was an area a couple kilometers across, and though much of it was still wild land there had been a significant number of fields in place. But it wasn't so large that he couldn't see and sense the whole place, but he felt nothing. Just a few regular animals. Frogs, squirrels, birds, and all of the normal life in an area.

"That's the thing, isn't it?" Elder Tshering nodded. "It's why we've contained them. Tricky, and at first innocuous. Stay close and follow where I walk as I explain."

As they began to walk towards the center of the area, Anton continued to scan for anything strange. At first he saw nothing. The only standout feature was a small mound of dirt, but it was just an ant hill. However, his mind returned to somewhere around a year prior. He'd seen some ants that looked just the same in Everheart's 'tomb' on the moon. Granted, he'd also seen ants that looked the same on the road, he just hadn't registered them. All ants were ants.

Black or dark brown for the most part, moving around in little lines. These were just the same as the others, maybe a bit on the large side but not worryingly so. They had groups of them going all over the area, but nothing was strange about that. Until he spotted a group of them forming themselves into a bridge between two branches, where a ripe apple hung.

Several ants formed the beginning of the bridge, holding onto the branch with their rear legs locked onto it. Then their front legs hooked onto the rear legs of those in front of them, and subsequent ants crawled over all of the rest until they reached the front. Overall they saved a significant distance moving down the tree and back up to reach the single piece of fruit, but most surprising was that instead of crawling down the stem one-by-one a few of them just gnawed at the top of it until it fell to the ground below. Then the ants walked back across the little bridge they made, which retracted. The whole line of them retreated down the branch they had previously been climbing, all the way down to the ground below where there was already a swarm of ants gnawing on the fruit and marching back the line towards their nest.

That was just about the time that Elder Tshering was beginning to explain the strange species of ants they had found. "... and they're smart, but so far not overly aggressive towards humans or anything large."

"Hmm, what a conundrum," Anton commented after thinking for a few moments. "I might have been the one to bring them back. Or any of thousands of others, I suppose. I saw these in Everheart's place." The fact that some of his spoils had been consumed heavily implied he had been a potential carrier of them. He just hoped that Everheart hadn't had something more dangerous anyone had inadvertently brought back.

"Well," Elder Tshering shrugged, "They're here now. Anyone could have brought some with them on accident. They're sneaky. If I told you one was crawling up your leg right now, would you believe me?"

"What?" Anton looked down. "No, I don't think I would."

"And right now, you'd probably be right. But that sweep you did with your energy probably wouldn't catch them."

"As interesting as that is," Anton said, "I suppose there's some greater danger than hard to sense ants? Otherwise these formations would be uncalled for."

"You'd better believe it," Elder Tshering said. "Besides being well organized- to the point they've even hunted something as large as a squirrel- they're difficult to sense with energy. Or affect in any way, in fact. I have the feeling that if you were to shoot one with one of your Spirit Arrows, it would walk away."

"Are you kidding?" Alva said from nearby. "Little ants like this?" Without even waiting for a response, she unslung her bow and shot at one of the trails nearby. A few ants were sent flying, but ultimately they returned to their line in an orderly fashion- some turning about to go seek more food.

"Alva." Anton crossed his arms and looked at her.

"Uh… what? They're just ants."

"Perhaps," Anton said, "But they're also said to be exceptionally smart. I would doubt they could think like you or me, but disregarding that you were told to be cautious here."

"I'm sorry," she hung her head.

"Proves my point pretty well though," Elder Tshering said. "They're durable against more mundane methods as well. Any of us could probably crush one, but it's harder than it would seem. We've been avoiding causing harm to the colony, however. The individual members don't seem particularly special, but many of them show heightened intelligence. At least many times what one would expect from an ant. But that also makes them more dangerous. Especially the full combination of traits."

"Smart and able to resist energy…" Anton nodded. "They could probably be a danger to cultivators."

"Weaker ones, certainly," Elder Tshering commented. "So far there's been no evidence that they can damage anyone who has completed Body Tempering. But there are some caveats there. We have reason to believe this is a new nest, and no understanding of how much they might grow stronger with time. And strangely enough, the largest ants with big mandibles, the soldiers… we haven't been able to provoke them into biting us. Aside from some initial interactions, they've completely ignored or avoided us as we studied them."

"Isn't that… I find that to be concerning, actually," Anton said. "The fact that they might be able to communicate to each other something like that."

"Same thoughts here," Elder Tshering said, "But I also have the feeling that… maybe they just don't want to fight? But even if they can communicate, it's not in a way we particularly understand- besides how they show each other where food is or that they want to build a bridge. Lots of touching, and we believe some pheromones." His eyes drifted to a particularly large ant poking out of the top of the ant hill. "Oh my, now there's a sight we don't see often."

The great queen sensed something. A familiar presence, even if the duration of their time together had been only very temporary. But there was something beyond it that drew her attention. A special type of exceedingly delicious energy. It almost provoked in her a desire to attack, but it wasn't quite right. Conflicting thoughts went through the great queen's head.

The energy didn't belong, but the person did. The energy was delicious and tantalizing, but it couldn't be reached. The final thoughts were the most important ones, the part that made her a great queen and not a normal ant. They were thoughts about if she should try to consume that energy.

Logic dictated that she would grow significantly more powerful if she achieved such a feat. However, she had not recognized the feeling before when she was a year younger, almost newly born. Nor would she have been able to obtain it regardless. Since she couldn't have it, logic also dictated that she should ignore it and try to obtain something within her grasp.

But the best part of being a great queen was that she was able to make choices and come up with plans. She had a particularly clever one. Since it had worked before, she would stow away once again. The colony didn't need her. She had already given birth to another, but instead of finding some way for her daughter to leave, the great queen decided she would be the one to go. Yes. She and a few choice others would stealthily stow away once more.

Though the humans were looking in her direction, they would not notice her, one among many. And she could sense the same magical room she had hidden in before, attached to the old human with the strange energy.

Chapter 246

"That's the biggest 'normal' sized ant I've ever seen," Anton commented.

Elder Tshering nodded. "And she keeps getting bigger. If they didn't build extra wide tunnels for multiple ants to pass through at once, I'd doubt she'd be able to fit on the surface. But she makes the trip regularly enough, poking her head out to watch us as we watch them."

Even though the creature they were commenting on was indeed 'large', the overall size was comparable to a single segment of a human's finger. A very large ant, but smaller than many beetles and nowhere close to the size of anything cultivators generally were involved with.

"Strange," Anton said. Does the queen usually leave the nest?"

"No," Elder Tshering frowned, "Generally she just peeks her head out."

"Should I be concerned?"

"Their movement ability is nothing concerning at the moment, and any Essence Collection cultivator should be more than durable enough if they wanted to chew on you."

"They do appear to be approaching," Anton commented. He decided to remain still, only moving his eyes to track the movement of the queen and the handful of others following along with her. Even without it being spoken he could feel Tshering's curiosity as well as his desire to see what the strange behavior would lead to.

With people watching from all sides Anton didn't feel the need to turn to follow the movements of the ant queen. Instead, he focused on listening for movement. It wouldn't have been possible if there were any noise but a slight wind whistling through the trees and the sound of people breathing. Even then, the sound of muscles tensing and heartbeats were louder than the pittering feet of a few ants, though they became clearer as they approached.

The group took a long arc out of Anton's vision before finally coming up behind him and crawling up the rear of his left boot. He was ready at any time to squash them if necessary. He didn't think it would be, but dealing with creatures stronger than they appeared he didn't want to be careless. Even if they couldn't kill him, there were vulnerable tendons and ligaments that wouldn't heal easily if damaged.

The weight of a few ants, even large ones, climbing up his leg was something he hardly felt yet seemed suspiciously familiar. If he hadn't been focused on it he probably wouldn't have noticed, but the way they made a direct line towards the magic bag on his left hip and crawled in suggested to him it had been done before. After they made their way inside, Anton shook his head, "Well, looks like the possibility I brought them accidentally has increased. What should we do about this?" Anton looked at Tshering seriously.

"A good question," Tshering stroked his chin for a few moments. "It seems they either don't care about being seen or don't understand speech. Yet they bothered to move around behind you, so they might have some concept of stealth. I'm interested to see why the queen would come to you again. She might just wish to get out of this area- presuming they noticed the formations. But I can't know without more information. Now I kind of want to just let it happen."

"Seems a bit dangerous, even if I was the one who accidentally brought them here myself," Anton commented.

"That's right, which is why I'll be coming along with you to help monitor the situation. This is my responsibility now. Though since I can't focus on a single task all day and night, I would appreciate some help of a formation." Elder Tshering's eyes looked to Catarina, who was standing somewhat behind Anton. "Could you make something that would detect them leaving that bag and alert us?"

"Easy," Catarina said. "Even if they do weird stuff with energy. Or maybe especially because of that."

"Well," Anton said, "I'll be counting on the both of you. If they just wish to tag along and chew on my rations, I'm not opposed to having these ants along. And it's better to know about them than to suddenly find stuff missing." Anton's eyes drifted down to his bag, "There's nothing interesting in there right now though. Just boring rations. They might just come right back out."

They didn't, though. Catarina quickly added a few dangling pieces onto Anton's magic bag that would produce the desired results- giving away they knew the ants were there, but they seemed content to ride along at the moment.

The journey continued quickly through the rest of Graotan, with no encounters of note. They simply passed citizens of the country and traveling cultivators with no excitement. Passage across the border was easy enough, if not terribly quick. Since they were relying on official documents to provide a good reason for their presence, the Ofrurg side gave them more than just a cursory glance. It was unlikely that their passage would have been denied without those documents, but they were meant to reassure the local sects.

It was inevitable that some information about their passage would spread. A group with six Essence Collection cultivators was noteworthy, after all. And some of them might have been specifically looked out for. Most of the direct grudges with Anton had already been resolved, but Kohar's enemies were still mostly alive. After all, she had only cause financial and legal harm with her efforts, and those responsible hadn't been so stupid as to directly come themselves to try to kill her.

A few years was unlikely to have made the Iron Ring Slavers or others forget about the penalties they'd been forced to pay for illegal enslavement, something they generally avoided getting caught for. More than that, her recent few years had been spent tying various groups to the Twin Soul Sect. While that group was significantly weakened right now, anyone who had been willingly working with them would find themselves in quite a bit of trouble. Even if some interactions hadn't been strictly illegal, there were many sects who would jump at any excuse to get revenge. Some groups she'd been putting the pressure on would be very glad if she disappeared.

That was related to their current trip. With the right payments and bribes- the difference being the source- they had moved closer to the ability to achieve some big moves. They would be looking for help from the Frostmirror Sect because they were powerful, local, and could be reasoned with rationally. Glorious Flame Palace would be willing to pounce on anyone they had dirt on, but a few battles wouldn't necessarily be as effective as some more subtle action. Though there would probably be battles as well.

The first stop on the journey was actually the Grasping Willows. They were a relatively small sect- though Lev's climbing power was helping them grow. Anton wouldn't have wanted to drag them into anything, but they were already involved through Elder Varela's actions years prior. They had remained safe due to having some local allies as well as their lands being fairly defensible. It had been enough that nobody was willing to make any overt moves against them, at least.

The path to the Grasping Willows was the same. After a turn off of the main road between Khonard and Sarton, there was a stretch of road flanked by the titular tree the sect emulated in their cultivation. Anton felt they were larger, even in the last few years, but he could have been wrong about that.

They were welcomed at the gates, their arrival expected. It didn't take long for Lev and Elder Varela to find them, since the sect was small and the arrival of so many powerful cultivators was easy to sense.

Anton looked over the two cultivators in front of him. Lev's hair and beard were growing longer, but they were still very short compared to the white mane of Elder Varela. Conversely, the older man had grown perhaps a single step or two in the time Anton had known him, while Lev had grown rapidly and surpassed his master in cultivation. He was on the border of Essence Collection, while his master still remained in mid Spirit Building, though slightly closer to the late part of that stage.

"Good to see you both again," Anton said.

"All of you as well," Elder Varela nodded. "Any trouble on the road?"

"Not just yet," Anton said. "I expect it's still trying to catch up."

"Good. Much more sensible than thinking you're safe. We've been holding on here, but I'm worried. Nothing dangerous yet, but some folk are buying up all the best materials for us to train. I don't know of anyone who needs the various seeds and plants we use, so I imagine it's to spite us. They've driven up prices, so we've had to do without. Though that's actually giving some of the disciples a different type of training."

"We've always grown some plants," Lev commented, "But some are consumed practicing certain techniques, so it's more efficient to buy some as well. Now we deal with more of that internally. We'd do it all, but we have limited space."

"At least inside the formations," Elder Varela commented. "But I believe you're here to help with that?"

Catarina stepped forward. "That's right. And… I have an interesting addition that should be quite beneficial to you. Though not immediately. It won't cost you anything, though."

The current agreement with the Grasping Willows was that Catarina would help with enhancing and expanding their formations, with them covering the costs of the materials. Catarina would be paid for her efforts by the Order, and the Grasping Willows would be helping out with some things they needed. Overall the value probably went in their favor rather than the Order's, but not to the point it would be a significant burden for the larger sect.

Catarina very much enjoyed working with formations. She especially liked ones that were different. Anyone could have slabs of rock and shiny metal, but people who could keep a copse of trees growing in just the right way to perform as a proper formation were a step above. The Grasping Willows mixed both, which Catarina supposed was the most efficient method… but she planned to lean them a bit more towards their planty roots.

From out of her bag she pulled a clump of moss. It was a hardy plant, and could live for quite a while without being rooted. It wouldn't do much just sitting in a bag, though. Instead, she placed it on a patch of stone on the ground, where it would also do nothing. Nothing but grow.

"More moss?" Lev asked from nearby. He was not an expert on formations, but he was able to help maintain plants and among the higher ranking cultivators in his sect.

"This moss is much nicer than the kind we found you with," Catarina said. "It just likes to grow, especially over stone like this. So you'll let it."

"And then what?" Lev asked.

"That's it. Just make sure it sticks to what I have laid out here."

"And the formation…?"

"This will be it," Catarina said. "No inlaid metals, no carvings, no pillars. The runes will be formed from this," she gestured to the lump, off of which she pinched a bit to place in another section. "Make sure to water it, and donating a bit of your energy wouldn't hurt. Once it grows to fill out this area, spread it around the perimeter of the sect in the lines I have designated."

"So the rock is… just a guide?"

"The moss will only grow on it," Catarina pointed out. "Which is why we had you clear out random other rocks in the area. You'll have to regularly clean up pebbles, but they should be easy to pick out. That's why I picked this distinctive brown stone here."

As far as materials went, stone that had no properties cultivators cared about was almost free. It wasn't actually free, of course- it still took labor and transport, but it was cheap for cultivators. This particular rock wouldn't withstand attacks from enemy cultivators, but if the rock itself could be damaged the formation had already been broken through anyway. At that point it was just as easy to break most stone, until the point it became prohibitively expensive.

It would likely require repairs by qualified formation experts, but the principles were easy to understand. The moss naturally grew to fit the stone, and it had the ability to channel amounts of energy that normally required durable and expensive materials. Since moss didn't just appear from nowhere but took time to grow it wasn't suitable for all applications, but as a supplement it was useful. And the Grasping Willows would treat the plants with the proper respect, instead of assuming that it would deal with itself.

"It spreads quickly," Catarina said, "But it will probably still take a couple months. Until it covers the whole formation, assume it does nothing. Because relying on it would get you in trouble. And that means the little bits and pieces scattered about. Make sure they don't get buried under leaves and the like. Along with Lev, the members who were trained in formations nodded their heads. "And with the other things I put together, I think my work here is done now. Our part is fulfilled- this moss is extra because I thought you'd take it seriously- so make sure to do yours."

"Of course we will," Lev said. "We're not exactly fond of slavers here ourselves."

"Great," Catarina said, "Because I'd really rather not have anyone else with uncles and cousins and nieces and all of that being taken away from them just because someone thinks they can get away with it."

Chapter 247

The storage bag hanging at Anton's side was being watched carefully by two of his companions behind him in the carriage, though it hardly seemed necessary to him. Each day they checked to make sure the queen was still present- she had to know they were aware of her presence by now- and Catarina's formations would detect her anyway. Nothing was fully certain, but as much as anything could be, Anton was sure of that.

As Elder Tshering and Catarina watched him, Anton watched the world around them. While it would technically be better to have them watching for enemies as well, the chances that either of them would notice something their two with proper training wouldn't was fairly low.

The Comvern Peaks were in central Ofrurg, not too far from the end of their journey. The steep mountains rose and fell quickly, leaving few functional paths. Of those, only one could be traveled by carriage. It was the easiest one to travel from any perspective, and the most direct. That wasn't a coincidence, but rather the path had been carved out by people wanting to travel for trade and cultivators who just wanted a consistent route. It was still easier to go around the mountains to the north or south, but enough people favored the direct route to keep it maintained.

When Anton noticed the first enemy, he wasn't sure if he'd made a mistake. It was obvious there was someone coming, but that was the catch. If their presence was so obvious, could they really be coming to attack? It only took Anton about a second to make the right decision- of course they could. They were just less skilled at it than many of the opponents he'd been facing previously. But stealth wasn't the only metric to judge people by.

"Someone's coming," Anton warned the others. "A few in front, across the bridge." The carriages were rapidly approaching the stone bridge- a far cry from rickety wood and rope bridges that often made up remote locations. "Two Essence Collection. But behind us a larger group is approaching. Four Essence Collection, I think, and more than a dozen Spirit Building cultivators. No, more than that for each type behind us."

Despite the fact that Anton had detected the enemies at a great distance, they had at least kept their energy hidden enough for them not to notice as they passed. Only when they started moving in behind did he actually detect them.

"What should we do?" Catarina asked. She didn't sound worried, it was just a question about how they would handle things.

"If the rear group is any bigger than I already can detect, it's a bit risky to fight them. Especially since we might get pinned in from both sides." Anton focused his eyes in front of them, picking out the handful of figures moving towards them but nothing else. "Our plans work best if we break through, though there are risks to either." Hearing no immediate objections, Anton made the decision. "Forward it is."

If the group had the luxury of time, Anton would have opened it up for discussion. However, even as he was warning people about what was happening their time to make a real choice had been ticking away. He flicked the reins, encouraging the horses pulling the carriage to move more quickly. Behind him, Timothy did the same.

In many cases, Anton would have given a warning to his enemies. A chance to back down. And in a way, he kept to that tradition. He just gave the verbal warning after he shot a half-dozen arrows ahead of them. "Get out of the way or face the consequences." Anton projected his voice so anyone ahead could clearly hear him. It didn't seem to immediately deter anyone, but it didn't hurt to try.

If he wanted to, he could have killed any of the cultivators below Essence Collection. Anton wasn't necessarily a merciful fellow with those who attacked him and those he cared about, but in this particular case he had a reason for them to live at least a little bit longer. Another reason to bring carriages.

Two enemies went down on the far side of the bridge, with others managing to avoid incapacitating energy through luck or skill. The problem with aiming at non-vital parts of opponents meant that it became easier to avoid the attacks for the most part, since the majority of vitals were in the center of the body. Of course, Anton doubted the woman with her arm hanging limply at her side thought she got off unscathed.

The hooves of the horses clattered onto the stone of the bridge. The whole thing was around two hundred meters long, counting the parts at either end that weren't directly over the gorge. The abutments were about a quarter of the way from each end, with the primary arch only covering one hundred meters on its own. It was still an impressively large distance for it to span, and wouldn't have been possible to construct without cultivators.

It was wide and sturdy, easily able to support the two carriages and the large wolf running across it, next to each other if necessary. Yet Anton could judge that it might not hold up so well to the Essence Collection cultivator with the large hammer ahead of them. He quickly shifted his target as he gauged the man's intentions. It would only take them ten seconds or so to cross the bridge as they gained speed, but the enemy cultivators were also very speedy.

Two uninjured late Spirit Building cultivators and the other Essence Collection cultivator were already stepping onto the bridge to block them. They clearly weren't eager to move far onto the bridge but they only had to keep them in the danger zone.

If the bridge collapsed, Anton wasn't worried about dying. Neither himself nor the other Essence Collection cultivators were at significant risk, despite the distance they would be falling onto rocky ground. He was more concerned about Fuzz and more importantly Kohar and Alva. Kohar was in the same carriage he was driving so he would have a chance to protect her if they fell, but he'd rather not deal with that scenario.

As he began to take shots at the man who was swinging a hammer that would certainly knock out a section of worked stone, the other Essence Collection cultivator tossed three small packets towards them. Anton stopped to shoot them out of the air, where they exploded into powder that began to scatter on the bridge in front of them- but much of it was also being carried off the bridge by the wind.

"You take care of the hammer guy!" Elder Tshering had already leapt out of the carriage and was running alongside it. "Catarina and I will deal with the others!" He darted ahead, taking a deep breath before he got close to the powder. Anton knew it was a good idea to hold one's breath when running through what was undoubtedly poison, but Tshering did one better. As the powder still hung in the air, he unleashed the breath from his lungs, augmented by energy to create a powerful gust moving it along with the wind. Only a few specks remained in their way.

The bridge trembled slightly. Anton was already back to shooting the hammer user, but he couldn't stop him in just one or two shots. He could try though. He called upon the power of Fleeting Youth, condensing a powerful shot. If the hammer user didn't defend he could at least cause significant injury. His arrow flew out, far beyond the reach of those blocking the bridge, curving to strike the man raining blows on the structure they were using.

Anton had to admire the man's gumption. As soon as he launched the attack the man readied himself, empowering his hammer as he took a great swing. It was a bold move, trying to strike his arrow out of the air while also striking the bridge. As for efficacy… Anton would say he was half effective at each. His arrow exploded on impact, shards of energy carving gashes into the man's arms as his hammer struck a decent blow on the bridge.

Alva had climbed to the top of the rear carriage. She couldn't think about the people coming up behind them too much. They were still hundreds of meters behind, which made them a problem for a minute in the future.

She knew she didn't have the power to even properly damage either of the Essence Collection cultivators, not directly anyway. But the one on the bridge throwing little packets of poison wasn't just conjuring them from nothing. Most of them came from around his belt. She had no idea what it would do to him if they exploded around him, but he had to know. That was why he bothered to dodge her shots.

He was still able to toss the packets, and she couldn't shoot them out of the air like Grandpa Anton- the man was using his energy to protect them until they got close to where he wanted- but if she made each attack a fraction of a second slower, she could buy time for others to get in range. Elder Tshering was almost there along with Catarina, with Fuzz and then Hoyt not all that far behind even though Fuzz started between carriages and Hoyt had been in the rear.

Two packets were lobbed over the first carriage towards the horses pulling the rear. Even before they got close, Timothy was out of his seat and standing on the horse's backs. As the packets descended, he raised his shield. A standard shield wouldn't do much to block powder, but Timothy wasn't the sort that would just block. His shield shoved forwards towards them, energy extending in all directions around it. The shockwave from his movement shoved the poison powder up and over even Alva standing atop the carriage, though she ducked just in case.

As Elder Tshering reached the poison user, Alva was already firing her next arrows. One towards a path his arm might take to throw something, one towards the storage bag at his waist, and one towards the belt on the other side where there were a few adjacent pouches that hadn't been opened yet. With a swift twist of his body, the man avoided all of her arrows except the one aimed at his arm, which he let dissipate harmlessly against his energy.

Unfortunately for him, Elder Tshering's sweeping kick was not so easily dodged. The Elder sprang forward, kicking into the man's side. It was meant to catapult him up and off the side of the bridge, but he at least had the capacity to throw off the angle so he merely was thrown into the wall, nearly toppling the cultivator next to him.

Alva took aim at the late Spirit Building cultivator on the right of the bridge, where Catarina was about to make contact. It was a target she could at least threaten somewhat, and Catarina could take them apart if she made a proper opening.

A chill ran down Alva's spine as she sensed an incoming attack. She didn't have time to turn to look, but she knew someone was leaping from the side of the bridge. She had no idea how they got there. Perhaps they had been hiding the whole time, but either way she wasn't prepared. She felt a blade coming for her, and then she felt warm blood on her face.

Alva slowly let out her breath and fired her shot towards the end of the bridge. That had almost been her blood. However, Velvet had briefly appeared next to her, and the blood instead belonged to the person who tried to ambush Alva.

It was possible Alva herself could have avoided the attack. She was beyond the twentieth star, a powerful cultivator in her own right. But even if she wouldn't have been able to, it didn't matter. Allies were meant to cover each other's weaknesses and empower each other's strengths. She still wished she was riding Fuzz instead of standing on top of the carriage, since he always helped her respond to incoming attacks, but Fuzz was currently leaping onto the cultivator Catarina was engaged with.

Chapter 248

If Anton and the others had delayed slightly, leaving the hammer user to do as he pleased, the bridge would have been destroyed- or at least practically so- before half a minute was up. As it was, Anton was peppering him with arrows that weren't enough to bring him down quite as quickly as he wanted. The hammer user was just knocking out stone bricks on the far side of the abutments, so the whole bridge probably wouldn't collapse, but if there was nowhere for the carriage to go it would either force them to stay or awkwardly continue on with someone carrying Kohar.

It was likely Fuzz could carry her and allow them to move quickly, but Anton didn't want to lose the carriages even if he ignored the monetary expenditures. As he continued to practice Fleeting Youth, his ability to draw on the two different energies expanded. He could use more at once and likewise make use of more within the same stretch of time. Thus, his most powerful shots with ascension energy could still only be used three, perhaps four times- but if he were to use a similar power to what he had before reaching Essence Collection it would be five or six instead of his previous limit of three.

They weren't in a situation where he could afford to conserve energy, and the only reason he'd delayed with additional attacks of the same sort was to throw off his opponent. His second shot with the power of Fleeting Youth was aimed to come in at a different angle than the first, to minimize the hammer user's ability to try to swat it out of the air. It arced up high, turning back towards the ground not because of gravity but because of Anton's will.

Once more the hammer user braced for the attack, gathering energy and preparing to strike the arrow out of the air. Anton was already gathering energy for a third shot. He felt something happening next to him, but he couldn't let it interrupt him. He felt a pinching, and a loss of energy, but his attack followed through. His first arrow was met head on, the hammer shattering it in an upwards swing, but that was another moment the hammer user wasn't attacking the bridge. And his follow up, despite the small loss of energy, still had the power to pierce through the man's shoulder, as he was unable to fully dodge or gather sufficient defensive energy.

It didn't kill the man, but it did achieve a reasonable result. In fact, Anton found it preferable for their actual goals- he just didn't have the luxury of allowing people to live. He felt Kohar behind him, grasping onto something through the opening between the driver and the inside of the carriage. That would be the source of the pinch, he was fairly certain. He felt more things crawling out of his magic bag, and quickly tossed it to the back of the carriage. He could deal with that in a second.

He had less than a full powered shot left with his ascension energy, but he was now facing an injured opponent. His shot through the shoulder had severely damaged some muscles, pierced a bone, and even clipped some veins by the amount of blood flowing. The blood would only matter if the battle dragged on, but the other damage would severely limit the ability to swing a heavy hammer. Likewise, the pain would limit the ability of his opponent to control energy.

One final shot was fired, intentionally directed to force his opponent to turn to get even a half-decent swing. This time, Anton varied the speed of his shot at the last second- slowing it down ever so slightly so the counter-swing missed. His own arrow went straight through the bicep on the opposite arm. But Anton wasn't done yet. Several normal shots followed up, battering the man's head with energy that would only partially slip through his defenses.

Anton continued to direct the carriage to the far right side of the bridge that was still unscathed. In the moments it would take the leading carriage to get there the others would have dealt with the rest of the enemies. As the carriages caught up to the almost-stationary cultivators, they hopped on- carrying fallen foes. As they passed, Anton leaned down and kicked the reeling hammer user in the head, then scooped him up unconscious.

Both carriages passed the end of the bridge, and they continued at their top speed down the road. It was likely that some of the following enemies could catch them, but not all of them. If only a handful of Essence Collection cultivators followed, Anton was confident his group could take them out despite having just finished a battle.

Before Anton was sure if the enemy would chase or not, he started shooting back behind them. Most of those for the ambush were barely at the far end of the bridge, two hundred meters away, but he took out a couple of the fastest Spirit Building cultivators before moving on to the Essence Collection cultivator that seemed easiest to hit. That was who Anton kept as his target even as people stopped chasing. Anton wasn't able to kill him before they got out of sight and though he could take a few more shots they were weakened significantly past the kilometer mark.

He turned both eyes to Kohar, who was holding an ant between her fingers. He looked down at his arm where he'd felt the pinch, but as he suspected it hadn't been physical. Just some energy ripped away. He folded his arms and looked at the ant queen. "What are we going to do with you, huh?" He glanced at the rear of the carriage, where a handful of wide-headed ants with large jaws were standing atop his magic bag. They looked ready to fight, but somehow they seemed to understand their queen was being held and would be in danger if they moved. At least, that was how Anton interpreted them, but he wasn't familiar with the thought processes of insect- except that they weren't thought highly of.

But there were always exceptions.

The carriages rumbled along the road. They could now officially be counted as within the Frostmirror Sect's territory, though there weren't any road guards or anything to stop them at this point. There was nothing important around them, just more mountain. The sect itself was not entirely located at the peak of the mountain, despite their proclivity for ice, but instead they also had some facilities next to a lake about halfway down.

The carriages would arrive that day, and while the horses would be fatigued they would be able to rest.

Each of the two carriages was quite spacious, but they were rather cramped now. The front one had most of the same people, but Hoyt was present now- and Alva was riding on top. In the rear carriage, Velvet and Catarina were inside with a tightly-packed group of captives. Catarina's concentration was focused on the formation of a myriad of small flags placed in too-little space.

All of the attackers were there, kept as alive as possible… but also with their energy suppressed. If they had been revealed as members of the Twin Soul Sect or other fanatics they wouldn't have thought they would be of much use- anyone willing to die would just die without revealing information. However, most cultivators had some desire to live. Many of them valued themselves above everything else. If they could get even a few of them to reveal some information, it could help their cause- though depending on what they knew it could vary.

"I'll bet they will say they were hired by someone in a cloak, their face covered by a mask," Velvet commented to Catarina. "As if they couldn't detect someone's cultivation, or the face beneath a mask. No half-competent would work for people they didn't know."

"Probably," Catarina admitted. "We can likely get them to talk though. The Order of Ninety-Nine Stars might not stoop to torture, but after we kill a couple uncooperative people they should be more compliant. But the Frostmirror Sect should be able to get them to speak, if they remain stubborn. They're less concerned with… morality."

It was only in extreme circumstances that the Order would even allow people to be tortured for information. It was both cruel and unreliable. However, there were reasons to speak of it. Specifically, the two women knew that some of their captives were awake. It would give them some time to stew. And Catarina really meant the thing about killing some of them, if they refused to cooperate. It would be swift and as painless as death could be, but killing people assigned to attack them was not unreasonable.

Along with the captives were a handful of ants. Though they were still contained, they weren't in restraints like the others. Aside from the fact that nobody had cuffs sized for an ant, this was Elder Tshering's attempt to see if they could properly communicate.

He'd made a lot of gestures- especially with energy- all of which were meant to communicate threats to the ant queen. Apparently she'd bitten off a chunk of Anton's energy, specifically the ascension energy he got from Fleeting Youth. That was a behavior that they didn't want… except they kind of did. Because if these ants could chew on ascension energy, they would be very useful in the upcoming invasion, or whatever it should be called. The problem was getting them to do what was wanted instead of just acting on instinct.

Catarina had seen the queen ant with her large hindquarters wriggling in Kohar's grip. For something that had an exoskeleton and no external facial muscles to make expressions with, she thought the creature had looked extremely apologetic. That could have been her Intuition failing her on an unfamiliar entity, but the others had agreed.

So Elder Tshering had made some attempts to communicate, and now they were inside the formation chewing on the cultivator's energy. It seemed the ants couldn't interact with it unless it was drawn to the surface- at least, within the limits they were willing to test- but that meant any practical use of energy would leave it exposed to their tiny mandibles. And they were extremely efficient in chowing down on energy once they figured out they had permission or orders.

It was simply a question of whether they could comprehend that they were only allowed to do that sometimes. If they couldn't, they'd probably have to wipe them out. Catarina wasn't particularly fond of bugs, but looking closely she actually found them kind of cute. It would be a shame if they had to be wiped out because of their danger, but obviously that sort of thing couldn't be ignored.

That was exactly why Elder Tshering had begun to study them in the first place, and come along when they decided to stick to Anton. He'd allowed it because he was curious, but also cautious.

Catarina heard rhythmic thumping in the front carriage. She didn't sense any problems, but she soon realized the source. That was Alva, bouncing up and down with excitement as they got ever closer to the Frostmirror sect, and Annelie. Though Catarina was fond of both of her cute cousinish relatives, she hadn't grown up with either of them. Thus, she didn't have the same attachment as they had for each other.

At least, Catarina really hoped Annelie still had that attachment to Alva. She knew Anton had worked with Annelie to modify her cultivation so that she didn't completely eliminate emotions and attachment, but even keeping things suppressed for a long time could make them fade out, like a pan over a fire.

On the other hand, suppressing certain emotions for a long time could lead to an explosive buildup. Catarina also wouldn't wish that sort of thing on Annelie, because it would make her life much harder. She knew Annelie had already gone through six years as part of the Frostmirror Sect, but as the Twin Soul Sect proved people could fake being a certain way for many years.

Catarina sighed internally, keeping her actions in check because one of the captives was watching with half-open eyelids. That one had definitely been thinking about that whole being-killed thing, and Catarina might suggest they start with him, or perhaps have him second in line. Though they wouldn't mind anyone volunteering information out of order either. If they could get some good dirt on whoever handed down the orders to kill them, everyone would be happy to forgive a silly mistake like trying to kill them. The first time, of course. But they'd remember if anyone made that mistake again, and wouldn't be nearly so merciful.

Chapter 249

It was well after dark when the two carriages pulled up in front of the gates to the Frostmirror Sect. Even so, the gate guards were ready and efficient. "Please state your business with the Frostmirror Sect," one of the guards stated flatly. He was a young man, but he spoke clearly and precisely.

Though Anton knew they could sense their cultivations, a formal answer seemed appropriate. "We are the group from the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars sent to finalize a special mission. That includes Kohar, the woman of law."

"You are expected," the guard nodded his head. "One moment and I shall fetch the liaison assigned to you."

Anton expected to wait anywhere between a quarter of an hour to a full hour, but as the young man popped into a nearby building and returned along with another man it seemed he really meant it.

"Greetings," the middle aged man with dark skin and hair inclined his head. "I am Elder Jyothi. We expected your arrival to be soon, so I have been made available to guide you as necessary. Follow me, and I will show you to the guest quarters." He turned around and began to walk, setting a pace that was more than a quick walk for the horses, but well within their capabilities.

"We might also need some… unplanned additional accommodations," Anton began to explain as they moved along.

"For your captives?" Elder Jyothi nodded, "We can easily provide that. If they are relevant to the situation at hand, the Frostmirror Sect would request additional information."

"They attacked us on the way, at the Great Bridge in Comvern Peaks," Anton explained. "It seems unlikely they are unconnected to our business."

"Were any casualties sustained to your party?" Elder Jothi asked.

"No, we managed to break through as one part of them tried to collapse or at least limit the bridge. The majority were moving in from the rear, though we noticed them in time to react appropriately."

"That is good to hear," the man said. "It is unfortunate that anyone would attempt such a brazen attack near the Frostmirror Sect's territory, a problem we will have to address in the future. But since you seem to have come out ahead, I shall congratulate you on your effectiveness."

Anton sighed internally. If the Frostmirror Sect leaned further from the righteous path it would be difficult for the Order to work with them despite their power. However, it seemed whatever logic they used to orient their actions had at least made them a tolerable choice as an ally. Their actual loyalty wouldn't be in question- they would only form an alliance they knew would benefit them, and would work hard to make sure things worked as they should. Since the Order would likewise do their best to fulfill their end, it was a good partnership. Even if one side failed they would only be disappointed instead of ready to pounce on the other in a time of weakness.

Not that the Frostmirror Sect was above attacking weakened opponents, but they understood the power of good will, and betraying allies wasn't worth the cost. Though the fact that it was structured that was why they were just tolerable allies. The Order wouldn't betray allies because it was wrong, not because of some mental calculations.

Still, even if the path was winding, the fact that they overall made choices that were morally acceptable was sufficient. Anton hoped for some change towards his conception of righteousness, and perhaps that would come about through working with them. He knew Annelie was doing her part as well, though there was only so much influence one young cultivator could have. But in a few decades… Anton anticipated a shift towards the better.

Besides Elder Jothi as their guide throughout the Sect, the others they were to be working with weren't immediately available. After all, though their arrival window had been anticipated, people weren't just waiting around doing nothing. That gave the group a couple of days to do as they pleased, and for many of them that meant seeking out Annelie.

Anton was obviously fond of his 'first' great grandchild- at least the first he'd known of- and Alva was primarily excited about coming on the mission for a chance to see her cousin again.

The Frostmirror Sect had placed some limitations on her actions previously, but they were more willing to let her be unrestricted given her own cultivation advancements and that of her visitors. She had proven herself to the Frostmirror Sect, and they didn't want to restrict their guests.

Though she didn't have to bring them, Alva showed up flanked by Diana and Marsen. As Anton looked over them, he assessed their cultivations as well as more important things. Late Spirit Building for all of them- not that he'd expected much different- but more importantly he felt something real under their frosty exterior.

"Let us go out on the lake," Annelie suggested. "It's quite nice out there."

Anton nodded. Implied, of course, was that it would be a safe place to talk. The Frostmirror Sect might not take kindly to him 'corrupting' the cultivation of some of their most promising recruits. There was a certain perspective where it was an appropriate concern, since messing around with cultivation methods could be dangerous, but the changes weren't actually all that big. He'd just helped them apply some principles of the Ninety-Nine Stars to their own cultivation.

Once they were out on the lake, Alva waited in tense anticipation. Her previous interaction with her cousin had been… not the best. Most of that had been her own fault, of course, but she'd taken her anger out on her cousin and ended up knocking both of them out of the tournament in Facraona. She hadn't exactly avoided her since then, but they also hadn't ended up near each other. She was thinking about what she should do or say so hard she didn't anticipate Annelie's actions at all.

Her body reacted well before her mind did, so she found herself with her head above water but no concept of how she got there. She could only manage a blank stare at Annelie. Then Annelie began snickering.

"I can't believe how easy it was to push you in! What were you thinking about so hard, hmm?"

"Oh…" Alva pulled herself halfway up onto the little boat Annelie was in, seeming to have trouble getting over it. "You know. Stuff." As she stretched her upper body over the edge of the boat, thinking of grabbing Annelie's ankle, she got a better idea. She shoved down and back on the edge of the boat as hard as she could, flipping it over instead of giving Annelie the chance to dodge her grab. That also ended up with Diana in the water, but that was a sacrifice Alva was willing to make.

After being completely dunked in cold water, it was easy to imagine that people would be unconcerned about being splashed in the face or dunked again. But the two of them quickly got into a brawl where they were climbing over each other and splashing each other, even to the point where they used energy to augment their attacks. It was all in good fun, but a serious tone from their grandfather stopped them.

"Girls…" Anton said, drawing out the sound and causing them to turn and look at him. He stood upright in his boat, looking at them sternly. Once they were firmly facing him, he kicked his leg out into the water in front of his boat, sending a wave over them. As they coughed and sputtered while holding onto each other, he chuckled. "Did you really think I'd let just the two of you participate in a splash war?" Then his eyes locked on another target.

Diana was treading water nearby. She had already flipped the boat back over, but climbing in wouldn't change how wet she was- and the boats were only for convenience anyway. Any Spirit Building cultivator could swim all day even without making use of natural energy. Anton dipped his hand in the lake, coating it with a ball of water the size of his head which he flung at her. He grinned as she locked eyes with him, startled. Nobody would be excluded on his watch. He reached down to grab another in case she needed more provoking, but she responded wonderfully.

An instant later Diana popped out of the lake as she formed a pillar of ice beneath her. She spun on top of it, forming a swirl of water which she shoved towards Anton. Near-freezing water, colder than the lake around it, washed over Anton, Catarina, and Marsen. Their boat didn't quite flip, but it was flooded and barely staying afloat.

By the end of the splash war, Fuzz had leapt from the shore where he was watching into the middle of the lake, unsure of how to participate in what was happening but very eager to do so.

It was impossible for anyone to fail to notice what was happening on the lake, so the rest of their companions joined them quickly enough. They had thought there might be some sort of private, mostly-family conversation happening but in the end even Elder Tshering and Kohar joined in on the fun.

As for what the Frostmirror Sect would think about such activities, Anton had a good excuse lined up if they asked. Splash fights were an alternative method of training that involved using the surrounding natural features to attack and defend in unexpected ways. It seemed Diana was actually best at that, and despite her former position as a grudging watcher over Annelie by her continued presence- now that Annlie matched her in cultivation- it seemed she was something of a friend.

Diana had at first been introduced to their particular little group because she simply failed to properly quash her emotions instead of doing it on purpose, but that was more a matter of personality than cultivation talent.

"Ah…" Diana said when she was back in the boat, quickly drying off with a surge of energy. "That was fun. We rarely get a chance to let some emotions show." She looked nervously towards the shore. "Do you think we went too far?"

"I don't see anybody who seems to have picked out that the three of you were also enjoying yourselves, if that's your worry," Anton replied. "The rest of us made enough noise to cover for the two and a half of you." Anton locked his eyes on Marsen. The young man was slightly grinning, which was a good sign in Anton's mind. That was about as far as he had gone in terms of expressing himself during the activities, but even the serious way he had participated was just his true personality shining through. He had real emotions inside, he just wasn't the type to have them on display regardless of cultivation method.

Some unlucky souls on the shore got fully drenched as Fuzz realized that playtime was over and shook himself somewhat dry. It was amazing how much water a large wolf could carry… and he was still very wet. Anton was glad he hadn't focused on his own sense of smell as much as some others, or he might have smelled him from the middle of the lake.

Alva and Annelie began to catch up with each other, though topics eventually broadened to their groups as a whole. Anton and the others had many adventures to recount, and the Frostmirror Sect members were the same. Eventually they came to some serious topics, the kind that needed addressing even if it wasn't actually part of their mission.

"We've actually been expanding some," Annelie said. "Inducting a few more people into our… whatever this is. Choice club, or something. People get freedom to have emotions and learn how to deal with them." Annelie shook her head. "It's hard. Sometimes I think it would be better not to have them."

"Emotions can cloud your judgment," Anton nodded. "But I would argue outside of combat, they should always be felt. Even if you ultimately go against what you feel, knowing what you feel is important feedback."

Even though he did not practice the same cultivation style as the others, Anton still found himself able to give them pieces of advice. He was still ahead of them in cultivation, and that included the very important step of having advanced to Essence Collection. He couldn't tell them how to do whatever would work for them, but guiding them to pay attention to whatever they truly wanted should set them on the right path.

Perhaps they wouldn't find something that suited them just like Anton, but he was very comfortable in how he promoted growth. He wanted everything to grow- plants, animals, and people- cultivators and those who weren't yet cultivators included. Teaching and nurturing were his cores, and he wasn't going to miss an opportunity even if some disciples weren't even part of his sect. Though he also made sure to not go too far and teach them something that would cause them trouble. He didn't know all of them as well as he would need to be sure how his advice might affect them.

That included his own great-granddaughter Annelie, but he was working as hard as he could to fill in the missing gaps from the time they had been apart. And Alva as well, who was returning to her former level of closeness with her favorite cousin. Perhaps things wouldn't be quite the same as when they were kids, but then again nothing in the world remained unchanged forever.

Chapter 250

Keeping a careful eye on the captives had been important, though after arriving at the Frostmirror Sect it was unlikely they would be able to escape. The containment facilities provided were high quality, and the Sect had their own guards. However, someone needed to watch the ants.

Elder Tshering still wasn't sure if they were a threat. Oh, they were certainly dangerous. But so was Fuzz, as well as any giant beast or one who could use energy. But even if it was possible to exterminate every dangerous beast, Tshering wouldn't do it. It wasn't just that they were useful for resources or training, but also that they deserved a chance to live. It was when they began to harm humans or damage ecosystems that they became a threat.

These ants had lived in Everheart's ecosystem for a few centuries or whatever, but the fact that they hadn't consumed everything there didn't necessarily mean anything. All of that stuff was crazy and dangerous.

If the previous seasons of study had been correct, they had some ability to moderate themselves. But he needed to know if they would do that around humans, and especially helpless cultivators. Because one of the first things they'd done was try to chew on him. The fact that they learned that they could didn't mean they understood they shouldn't. If they weren't a special creature, Tshering wouldn't have even bet on them being able to understand anything to begin with. Most insects were too small to have a brain that really functioned like he would expect, but there were always exceptions.

It might have looked a bit cruel to watch their prisoners to see if the ants would try to eat them, but he wasn't going to actually let them do it. Once they took a bite, whoever was watching would stop them. But they'd been good so far.

Elder Tshering sighed. There was no way to conclusively determine anything about them in a constrained environment where they knew they were being watched, but he wasn't going to just let them wander free without being as certain as he could be. Especially after one had sort of attacked Anton. Again, it was hard to tell their intentions, and that would require more testing.

For now, though, they'd been determined 'safe enough' around the prisoners, and it was time to deal with the prisoners regardless. Hopefully they cooperated easily.

Two Essence Collection cultivators and a half dozen others were all lined up in a seemingly random arrangement. Elder Tshering looked over all of them. It was a shame when the world came to a place that an old man like himself, who would have been happily dealing with beasts, had to take the place of an interrogator and executioner. But it wasn't as if he were dealing with unknowns here. He'd seen all of them engage in the attack that was likely meant to kill them, or the equivalent. They would have an easy, straightforward choice. He just hoped most of them would make the right one.

Completely not-randomly placed at the far left was the most troublesome and annoying of the Spirit Building cultivators. He'd been a real pain, annoying and uncooperative at every opportunity. As Tshering ungagged him, a stream of profanities came out of his mouth, followed by unimaginative threats. "... and then we'll tear you apart and feed you to your horses." Then Tshering gagged him again.

"I need you to listen to me very clearly. All of you here are going to cooperate with us to find out who hired you, or you die. Is that clear?" He knew the man in front of him had understood his words, but he hadn't acknowledged them. "I'm going to remove your gag, and if you do anything that isn't helpful you'll die, and then you won't even get paid. An easy choice."

Tshering removed the man's gag, and the man spit on him. So Tshering kicked his face in. It was brutal, but he wasn't going to shirk his duties as an elder and have one of the other members of the Order do it for him. And the spectacle would hopefully convince the others to be smarter.

He turned to the rest of the line. "I really don't want to have to do this. I can tell you aren't all fanatics like the Twin Soul Sect or Flying Blood Cult. You're just mercenaries who made stupid choices. Really, terribly stupid choices. Whoever hired you doesn't care about you. They might have paid you if you succeeded, or they might not have," Tshering shrugged. "You're all cultivators. You have a lot of life ahead of you. If there are threats to yourself or your family, we can help with that. You just have to help us."

Second in line was the young man, but Tshering didn't immediately go to remove his gag. Instead he went to the end of the line and removed them one at a time, ending with him. Everyone waited politely or fearfully, unsure what to do.

"I'll make this easy. Anyone who wants to talk can do so. We want to know who hired you, and every detail you can give us about that." Tshering's eyes turned towards the one previously third in line. "You look like you have something to say. Go on. Everyone here will either be in the same boat as you, or dead." That was one reason to have them all together at the moment.

"Umm, we were actually all hired through various mercenary guilds," the man said. "We signed up knowing there was going to be a big job, but not the specific details."

"See, that wasn't hard," Tshering said. "But we'll need more from you. When and where you were hired, whether it went through official channels or a guy sitting in the corner. But you don't have to blurt that all out now," Elder Tshering almost smiled, and he might actually have done so if they had been fully cooperative. "And you, at the front of the line. You had something to say?"

"They told us we were going to kill a Spirit Building cultivator. With guards, of course, but she was the primary target." The young man's eyes drifted to the back of the room, where Kohar was standing. "It was her. I didn't get a name though."

A few of the others, realizing they hadn't volunteered information yet, nodded in agreement. A few tried to speak, though one voice dominated. "Yeah, it was her. And the old man, if we could."

"Wonderful," Elder Tshering said. "You know what, I see a lot of eager people. Why don't we take you all aside so you can each talk freely."

Interviewing people who had been hired to kill her was not a common experience for Kohar. Usually in the past she had escaped such situations or whatever guards she hired had killed them. It happened once or twice, though, and she knew what questions to ask.

"Where were you personally hired?"

"Who hired you?"

"Was someone sent to coordinate everyone?"

The answers were different for the first two in most cases. That was because they had eight individuals from a larger group, and they'd wanted a lot of people fast while drawing from the nearby area. Because of course Kohar hadn't particularly advertised her presence back in Ofrurg. She was a bit stronger now, but given what she had seen the people who wanted her dead had a lot of resources, and they'd had time to think.

Nothing she had learned yet actually directly connected the groups she knew were responsible to the attack, but that was an exercise for the future. The mercenary guilds who hired them would talk eventually. It all depended on how quickly they needed it. Kohar had ways to get licenses revoked for hiring people to kill someone without a legal bounty on their head. A couple people had been hired more from the underworld side of things, knowing they were going to be doing something criminal.

Their contacts would be harder to track down, but the Frostmirror Sect could help with that. They could just show up somewhere and start freezing people. It would be quick, efficient, and brutal. The problem was convincing some of the people to give up locations because of concerns about retaliation.

There was still the Glorious Flame Palace to name drop. Kohar wouldn't call upon them first because if they were directed to a black market bounty area everyone would probably just end up piles of ash which weren't good for getting usable information, especially that would hold up in court. She didn't need everything to be resolved in court, but systematic changes would require some victories there. Otherwise they'd just have to kill everyone until they listened, and that required taking over the country. That was not feasible for a number of reasons, and probably immoral to some extent.

Kohar entered the next room. Standing in front of someone who could absolutely kill her made her nervous, despite the fact that the man was bound and guards were watching for any sudden movements. Without the ability for the large man to use energy Kohar might even prevail on her own, but she still felt fear. She wouldn't let it stop her though.

So far, the man who had been swinging the hammer was uncooperative. Unfortunately, as an Essence Collection cultivator he probably had more useful information so they hadn't immediately killed him. Perhaps he was counting on that, though she couldn't see how he expected to get out alive without cooperating. She had plans to go a different route now. "So. You had the hammer, right? You might think that the Order would be favorably inclined to just let you live because you technically didn't attack any of them."

Kohar shrugged.

"You might be right about that, actually. But you made a mistake. You know where we are?"

"Frostmirror Sect," the large man mumbled. Maybe he wanted to appear at least minimally helpful to improve his situation, or maybe he was just tired of sitting around. Either way, he at least responded with an answer he knew they both knew.

"That's right. And while you didn't try to kill any of them, either, you did damage a bridge. It's not technically in their territory, but they have feelings about people who damage infrastructure. Or should I say, things they do to people who damage infrastructure that they follow through on without feeling anything at all."

"They wouldn't torture me for breaking a bridge," the man said. Kohar just sat in silence, looking at him seriously. "... would they?"

"That depends on whether they thought it would deter others in the future. They might just kill you. It would depend on how memorable they wanted it to be. But that bridge is pretty important to people who live in these mountains."

The large man just turned his head, "I'll probably just get killed by you guys anyway."

"I could write you up a contract," Kohar said, "Or have someone from the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars swear on their honor. You have to have heard about them. They're the real deal."

"Maybe I believe you. Then what, you go kill whoever gave me the job?"

In Kohar's profession, nothing was more useful than her ability to read people, or at least it was equal with the ability to think quickly and having a good memory. The point being, she focused on that aspect of her cultivation much more stronger than improving a few steps of cultivation so she could hit people better. "So that's what you're worried about," Kohar said. "We can include others as well, on certain conditions. We're after people at the very top, or perhaps at the very bottom of a deep hole. Regardless, our offer could be extended to others, like whoever it is you care about so much, Mister…" she looked down at some papers in her hand she had already memorized, "... Sarto."

He tensed up when she said his name. Kohar was glad that the Frostmirror Sect was incentivized to keep track of as many Essence Collection cultivators as possible. There were thousands that they knew of in all of Ofrurg, but various details had allowed Kohar to narrow things down to this guy. Or another couple hammer users, but he didn't have to know that she sort of guessed.

"What do I need to say?" Sarto asked. "I can't ruin… someone's life."

"Tell us who that someone is so we can find them quickly, before anyone finds out the mission was botched and you were captured. Then we can promise to keep them alive, and even offer some benefits if they have exceptionally useful information." Kohar shrugged. "Or you can wait for us to figure it out, if someone doesn't silence them first."

Kohar saw the moment the man's resolve broke. He was willing to die so that a loved one could live, but the very real possibility that they would be harmed anyway was something he couldn't pass up. And though Kohar had no proof that someone would be looking to silence people, she knew enough to have sincerity in her voice when she'd said it.

Chapter 251

Back at the Grasping Willows, they didn't know about the attack that had happened. However, they believed that the others would stay on schedule. That meant within a few days they would be starting.

A group of Essence Collection cultivators heading to the Frostmirror Sect was a big deal, especially escorting a lawyer that many groups weren't fond of. It was just the sort of thing that was perfect to draw attention away from everywhere else. Not that Kohar wasn't going to be taking part in the upcoming work, but for something of the scale they intended she couldn't possibly work alone.

Even if things went quickly- and legal things hardly ever did- she wouldn't be able to be in multiple places at once. Even if a single person could handle the complexities of every portion of so many things at once, which was doubtful, it just wasn't efficient.

While Kohar was somewhat unique in her drive to focus on the law and using it to achieve relevant goals for the world, it wasn't as if she was the only person who practiced law. She was just the only one who cultivated to increase her capacity in that area. There were many cultivators and many who practiced law, but few found time for both. In her case, the fact that she cultivated made her tasks more efficient and improved her memory, both important when it actually came time to go to court.

Having responses prepared or quickly coming up with them kept opponents scrabbling and more liable to make mistakes. It was the same as combat, though usually with less blood and death.

The Grasping Willows resided near Khonard, which had been a target of much investigation in recent years whether they knew it or not. The fact that slavers were being targeted wasn't exactly a secret, so they should have had some suspicion. Many of the arenas, the main draw of the city, were deeply connected to the slave trade.

Some people might choose to fight for a living, but fighting to the death wasn't exactly a stable career. Such battles were more popular, but people who participated either had to be desperate or without any options at all. If fights were between two slaves, every match would have at least one person die- potentially both sides, and that was only individual matches.

That resulted in a bustling trade for new slaves, as even in combats that weren't intended to be lethal people could die. Only a few businesses shared similarly strong ties to the various slaver guilds in Ofrurg, like large farming plantations.

Khonard would be one of the centers of the plan. The Grasping Willows were mostly present to use their cultivation and influence to keep people safe while they worked- people Kohar knew, or that had been introduced to the cause by various means.

Nobody was just going to roll over and accept their fate. While Kohar had managed some financial damage in prior years, slaving was still a very lucrative business. Many sects in Ofrurg had financial foundations in the slave business. As a nation, Ofrurg could be considered more in support of slavery than against it, at least in terms of the power dynamics.

Even working with the Frostmirror Sect and nearby allies it was a risky course of action. But support extended beyond Ofrurg. Beyond the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars in Graotan as well. The attacks and abductions in Facraona had been partially resolved in the battle at Black Soul Valley, but there were obvious parallels to be drawn related to slaving experience. Estary had many sects on board as well, having lost some people to slaving excursions from Ofrurg. Droca and Floelor weren't without their troubles related to slavers either, and some of their sects would join up as well.

If things came down to battle, which it very well might, a portion of Ofrurg would find itself facing the rest of the country as well as everyone surrounding them- much of the continent. For a time their actions had been tolerated. Legal enslavement inside of Ofrurg wasn't something the other countries could directly combat, but various groups had gotten too comfortable with their illegal activities.

The last straw had been the Twin Soul Sect, traitors in the midsts of many different sects. Now that many had been found and exterminated, eyes were turning towards those who willingly associated with that group.

The legal action was just a catalyst, though it was also fully intended to be used as a method to change the laws of Ofrurg as well. Seeing the way slaving laws had been abused, policies could be changed. It might not lead to the complete eradication of slavery in Ofrurg, though that would be attempted, but they would at least add additional restrictions. Though if they bankrupted everyone involved in the slave trade, that would lead to a collapse as easily as modifying laws.

Lev and Elder Varela stood in front of the Potenza arena. While the most high profile crime had been easy for them to pin entirely on their daughter- and indeed, her insistence on not freeing Devon probably hadn't involved consulting anyone else- there were other shady dealings that happened under their purview. They were just usually more subtle and practiced.

Lev steeled himself. He knew he should be strong enough to take on most of the guards in front of them if they refused to comply, and that included the increased security that had been implemented as well as the potential for personal bodyguards of the master and mistress of the Potenza family. He knew he had the power, but a few years before he had not. It was only through the fortune of his life being saved and finding inspiration that he had managed to grow to where he was.

"Do you think they'll cooperate?" Lev asked Elder Varela.

"If they know what's good for them, yes. But I imagine our call to the city has tipped them off, and they will be planning something."

"Elder Rocha said she would be handling that," Lev said. "As well as some of the others."

"That's right," Elder Varela nodded, "Which is why all we have to do is watch and wait. We had the time to go through proper legal channels now, so we just have to prevent anyone from sneaking away and pretending they were never here."

Lev nodded. He clutched his right arm with his left. It was still useless, the core nerves having been torn out with the parasitic moss. It simply reminded him of what could go wrong… even as it also reminded him of how his abilities had grown. Controlling his own arm with his cultivation was not the way he would want things to go, but it certainly led to an interesting fighting style.

He smiled as people tried to slip out the back. Nobody was standing there and watching, but that was on purpose. He'd walked by there earlier, leaving behind a number of 'spores'. He had learned to burrow his energy through that of others, and he could achieve all sorts of wonderful effects with it. That included things like simply making someone pass out, if they were so careless as to let him burrow into their spine.

He wasn't sure who he'd caught, but when the city guard came by- hopefully with trustworthy people at the head- they would be able to point it out, especially the fact that they hadn't moved anyone even a millimeter. It simply wouldn't look good on their record to be slipping out. Little things like that could build up, until you had a monstrosity growing inside you.

Sarto had overestimated himself, and people he trusted to be at least accurate in their assessment of mission difficulty had underestimated the situation he had gotten himself into. Now he'd gone and gotten himself captured and he had to make a deal just to survive. Now he'd spend the last few days running at the quickest pace he could keep, to stay ahead of information that might be traveling.

The crazy part was that the information hadn't really been wrong. Six Essence Collection cultivators, two Spirit Building, and a wolf. Their numbers far surpassed that as they waited in ambush. Moving into formation to surround them was going to take less than a minute, and Sarto shouldn't have even needed to fight them. He was going to take out a section of bridge and leave things to everyone else.

Unfortunately, beyond the cultivations of the group they were attacking they were missing one key piece of information. They were going after geniuses. That threw everything off.

Sarto was well aware that geniuses died all the time. The ability to grow rapidly didn't necessarily make someone stronger at a given cultivation level, especially not when comparing to experience. But it wasn't always strength that won the day. Sometimes it was pure, unrelenting audacity.

That was the thing about geniuses. They were, by and large, psychopaths. Growing in cultivation at a rapid pace wasn't just about having the talent, but also being willing to accept the consequences for failure. And people failed- but not all of them. The less they failed, the more confident they became. That could grow into overconfidence, but it also led to making decisions quickly.

Hiding a large group of cultivators was never going to be perfect. They might have been discovered five, ten seconds early but that shouldn't have mattered. Not if they hadn't charged forward immediately, assessing that the front group was strong enough for them to overcome in moments.

That was another thing about them. They didn't hold back. Sarto had felt the old archer with the group throw most of his cultivation into battering him with arrows in that short fight, massive amounts of energy that seemed impossible to draw upon so quickly. If it hadn't worked he would have been drained dry, but Sarto couldn't say it was wrong because it had worked. And with an elder like that around, it was no wonder that the younger ones were just as crazy.

One of them had even waited in ambush for their second layer of ambush, taking out the assassin who had been waiting under the bridge. One of them, and the other had never shown their face. Not that Sarto blamed them. Psychos like the Flying Blood Cult and Twin Soul Sect might not care if they died, but sane people like himself absolutely didn't want their life cut short.

Which was why he was now leading a group of expressionless cultivators to go 'meet' his contact. He imagined they wouldn't treat Jan nicely, but honestly they were going to have to stand in line behind Sarto. Throwing him into such a slapdash mission was basically using him as a sacrificial pawn. They probably expected most of them to die before completing the mission.

Sarto cracked his knuckles. Maybe he could get paid for the mission too. He didn't fully believe he'd get his hammer back from the Order, or that the Frostmirror Sect would let him live… but if he took Jan's money and left while they were distracted finding information, they probably wouldn't bother tracking him down.

On the other hand… maybe they would. Perhaps he'd be better off seeing things through to the end. He had the feeling big moves were happening, and he might have been blessed with a second chance to get on the right side. Or somewhere in the middle where people dropped equipment from their dead bodies. He'd be fine with either.

Sarto slowed as they approached the small city where he'd been hired. "Alright, I've given you a description of Jan already. Tall, brown hair, crooked nose. But the best way to find him will be his cultivation. He practices the Enlightened Fire Style, I think. I'd say it feels… spicy. Should be easy enough to recognize among everyone else. As for the guild itself…" Sarto shook his head. "I'm not going to try to go through their records, but you deal with that however you want. I imagine this is all kept secret, but money has to change hands somehow so…" Sarto shrugged.

"Do not worry," said one of the women traveling with him. He heard the others call her Elder Adelina, though she didn't look particularly old. Then again, that just meant she had a pretty high cultivation. He couldn't quite make it out, but it was well ahead of his. She might have been pretty, if she didn't look like a dispassionate statue. "We will achieve our goals one way or another."

Sarto just really hoped those goals included keeping their deal with him. He hadn't heard anything about the Frostmirror Sect breaking deals, and the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars was supposed to be fairly upright- but he wasn't happy about betting on forgiveness. Once they approached and he felt the woman's power unravel, however, he was glad he'd decided to bet on not being able to do anything else. He couldn't believe she was a Life Transformation expert. They were serious about this thing.

Chapter 252

The great queen knew she had made the right choice, though her brash actions had caused a bit of concern. Even if her daughter would live on after her, it would be better for her to live on. Biting the exceptional energy had been instinct, impossible to resist. It was tasty, delicious, nutritious. But it had also not been intended for her.

A mistake. Humans were hard to read, but if the great queen had hesitated for a moment she would have realized the siren's call of that energy was tainting her reasoning. Of course it would be perceived as an attack by the humans. Especially as they were engaged in combat at that very moment.

Though their emotions and intentions were difficult to parse without proper pheromones or antly behavior, the ant queen found herself properly chastised. Restrained, but given a chance to show she knew how to behave properly. She had been hesitant to feed on the energies of those with her in the confinement, but eventually she determined that was what she was supposed to do. And the humans didn't kill her, so it had to be.

Now she was free once more. Under watch, but unrestrained. It was different in many important ways. One of them was that the humans- specifically the one with the tasty energy- had been interacting with her in a pleasant manner. She was being fed bits of energy.

She understood the matching energy signatures that denoted a group of allies. They had been the ones watching her, and the man with the special energy was one of them. Yet he rarely smelled of that particular form of energy. Even so, the great queen had determined that she might be able to work in concert with this group. She did her best to please.

She was smart enough to not just eat their energy, delicious as it might have been. She would allow them to pick her up and move her without protest, and the same allowance was communicated to her royal guard. Delectable energy was within her reach, but she allowed it to remain.

When a small morsel of it had rested in front of her, separate, the great queen hesitated. Was it a trap? A test? Bait? Or an offering. The first three were more or less the same- indicating she should not take it. But the way it was nudged close to her, she had to try. She nibbled on it, and when it wasn't withdrawn she consumed it. The movements of the large humans suggested no adverse reactions. Offered, then. But for what?

As a great queen of a colony of ants, she was brought food to meet her every need. But even in her position she knew that nothing was offered freely. A queen had a duty to the colony to produce future generations and to lead wisely. The offering of energy was unlikely to be without intent. She just had to parse it.

They wanted something. Perhaps it was her servitude. Feeding on the energy of others would make her useful to these humans. They had other creatures that worked for them, though few were intelligent. The creatures that pulled the wagons seemed to care for little beyond food and being taken care of. A reasonable life, for an animal. The large fuzzy one was different. It was full of boundless curiosity, and interacted in a way with some of the humans the great queen could only guess was friendly.

The creature was terrifying, as it could crunch her and her royal guard between its teeth. She doubted it would be possible to chew through it, so even if it swallowed them whole they would be dead. But fortunately it seemed to prefer larger prey, as it merely sniffed them and then left them alone. Or perhaps it obeyed the wishes of the humans, who at least for the moment didn't want her dead.

Servitude. A great queen reduced to that would be humbled, but if it served to the benefit of her colony perhaps she could stomach it. But she would much prefer if she achieved some sort of alliance. Humans were the biggest threat to her survival in the long term, and that of her colony. They might be able to spread, but it had been passed down through generations that humans had once tried to exterminate them entirely.

Then they had been taken into captivity for many, many generations. That was where they had lived for many years, thinking perhaps they might never see a human again. When they arrived, following one was the risky choice. But the limited bounds of their domain was unacceptable, and she had made the choice. She had already determined that they were now in an unbounded world, or at least one many times larger than before. It should have been where they were from before.

And after they were found, they weren't annihilated. But just because one group didn't do it didn't mean another wouldn't. Thus, an alliance would be beneficial.

The great queen was pulled from her thoughts by something extraordinary. A bubble of energy in front of her, smelling sweet. But she had learned, and she carefully took stock of it. The human had summoned it, and let it rest on the table away from him. If this was like the other, it was an offering. A most delicious one. She once again poked it, looking for a reaction. It seemed to encourage her, so she devoured it.

It was excellent. The future generations she produced would be strong. She herself was growing in power as well. Later, she would share some of the energy with her royal guard- it would not do to have them fall behind.

For the moment, she would study the humans to try to figure out their strange behavior.

"So," Elder Tshering said. "We've at least managed to make her not eat energy attached to us. Now we just need to teach her not to nibble on the Frostmirror Sect." He shook his head, "We might have messed that up, with the whole prisoner thing."

"At least she recognizes members of the Order?" Anton didn't sound sure about that at all. "Reading what an ant thinks is quite difficult. It's also obvious she had a preference for ascension energy. On that note… I would bet that was why Everheart kept them up there."

"A weapon, you think? It's a shame we couldn't retrieve everything else."

"Some of them might have just been to fill out the ecosystem," Anton shrugged. "But these seem like they had a specific purpose in being preserved."

"They're still kind of weak though," Elder Tshering said.

"Maybe," Anton agreed, "But there's something to them. WIth the ability to eat ascension energy, they're a powerful tool for the upcoming war. At Everheart's Tomb, people received various memories. Upon comparing them, there was something important. I'm sure you were told about that?"

"Yes. They can't regain ascension energy while they are here attacking," Elder Tshering said. "That's… actually very important. Now if only there was a way to teach these ants to attack everyone with ascension energy except for you."

Anton sighed, "I'm sure we'll figure something out. We have time. But no matter how useful they might be in such a battle, we need to make sure they're safe. They're obviously very hungry, but they're not ravenous devastators like some insects."

"This is going to be a lot of work," Elder Tshering said. "Though worst case scenario, we keep them contained in a formation in the middle of a volcano. If it fails, they die. And if the ascenders are coming, we can pull them out and chuck them by the fistful."

"Straight to volcanoes, huh?" Anton asked.

"They're very useful," Tshering commented.

There were some important differences that Kohar had to remember when in different courts. In 'normal' courts each side would present evidence and counter arguments in an orderly fashion. Most of the time. In situations involving cultivators, however, the rules became much more loose. If nobody was quite willing to enforce the rules, the courthouse became more of a battlefield.

But as long as it wasn't an actual battlefield, Kohar could adjust. She was ready for anything at all to happen after Jan was brought up for testimony.

Kohar had a bundle of carefully written notes. Too bad she would only get to use a few of them, but it was better to have them than not. "Now for our next witness." He was quickly sworn in. It was unfortunate that nobody trusted anyone else to create some sort of compulsory force to go along with the declaration of telling the truth, but it was procedure that should be followed, and the consequences of false testimony could be significant. Courts were very inventive sometimes. "So, sir, is it true that the Adamant Chain hired you to help organize an attack on members of the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars as well as myself?"

Jan looked decidedly unhappy to be present. But he kept his back straight and determined, even as he glanced over his shoulder towards a particularly cold looking woman. "That is correct. I met with one of their regular contacts, who I had previously made arrangements with. They paid in advance, before I understood the true nature of the job."

Kohar was quite certain he was stretching the truth on that last part. But she felt no desire to call him out on that. "I see. Do you know why they might have hired you?"

"Presumably to stop you from bringing this very sort of legal action against them."

"That man is a liar!" declared the advocate of the Adamant Chain, Izabel- a rare example of another woman in the same profession.

"Which part specifically do you mean to refute with that accusation?" Kohar spoke calmly. Impassioned words were useful for swaying opinions in the short term, but keeping a professional demeanor would ultimately allow her to make the right choices. If she said something hastily, it would weaken her position.

"All of it!" the woman said proudly.

"I see," Kohar nodded. "That also includes the previous business he alluded to?"

"That's right, we've never sent a representative to meet with Jan."

"I see. Yet you knew his name without me introducing him." Kohar smiled. Sometimes, it was nice when people just talked. "What do you think of that?" she turned to Jan.

"I do believe they're trying to pull back after setting me up for a fall. I stand by my statements, as well as the written testimony of specific times and dates."

"That's no good anyway," Izabel interrupted. "You can't force a witness to testify, and we know you captured him two weeks ago and forced him to be here."

"That is true," Kohar admitted. "Forced testimony is inadmissible evidence. I must admit, your people must have been just short from silencing him to know when we captured him." That was speculation, but it wasn't really possible to deny Jan's testimony was obtained via force. Sure, he had accepted doing it because immediate death was the other option, but he was only barely maintaining a neutral face.

And now he was looking a bit pale. Because he might just get killed, if the deal didn't work out. There were a few awkward moments of silence where it was clear he wanted to speak, before he finally managed. "... Am I still needed here?"

"You may go," Kohar said. "Unless they want to ask for a refund?"

Izabel frowned. She knew she'd messed up, as her own statements could lead to reasonable suspicion even if Jan's testimony was no good. But she said nothing, and Jan was taken out.

Kohar knew he would probably try to run. However, they might want him for later. Still, just because his testimony was no good didn't mean that he hadn't upheld his end of the bargain. That didn't mean he would be getting away clean… but the promise not to kill him would be upheld.

Kohar slapped a pile of documents on the table. "Now then, after your formal declaration you had nothing to do with Jan, it's time to present every documented instance of that happening." And another pile of papers, "And here is every time your representative performed official work for you in exactly the same fashion as he did with Jan." Kohar began to read.

To be honest, the piles of paper in front of her were slightly inflated in size. Yet there were so many details- including just one of the Adamant Chain's representatives unlocking the back door to his office with a key to enter pretty much every day.

Kohar had asked the Ears of the Fox for every detail they had on a few people, but she hadn't been expecting so much. The man in question was just an early Spirit Building cultivator in an administrative position, and the details stretched back to long before the point she'd asked for dirt. It made her wonder if the Ears knew what she had for breakfast the previous week.

As for the price of the information… with everything she asked for, the fees were quite substantial. And yet she also knew they were greatly discounted. Someone important working for them had an axe to grind with at least a few different slaver organizations. Though it wasn't as if they were losing money on the deal either. Kohar wasn't paying for it, of course. That price was coming from the coffers of the Order and some other sects.

At the end of the day, Kohar was exhausted. It was hard to prove their information was entirely accurate, but they had enough different things to overwhelm Izabel's prepared defenses. That was another nice thing about cultivator trials. Not all of her evidence had to be prepared in advance. That went both ways, but she was prepared to deal with a bit of spontaneity. And she did more than just declare something was made up, but provided reasons for it. Like signatures not matching.

It was unfortunate that ultimately only about half of the case would be decided on the merits, with the other half being based on who bribed the judge enough. Though the worst offenders in that regard had found themselves occupied with various troubles that prevented them from presiding over the case. Like being arrested, or out of town to later be declared 'missing'.

Chapter 253

The last time Anton had been around Sarton, he hadn't exactly spent much time in the city. It wasn't exactly a destination focused on travelers, and he'd been quite busy the last time freeing slaves. He wondered if things would have gone better at that point if he knew Kohar, but thinking about it at least some of those he freed were legally enslaved. Which meant he was technically a criminal here, but only if anyone could recognize him. Nobody at the mines could, and the attack on the manor had been in the dark. Even so, he would avoid going near that area in case any of the guards recognized his energy.

He wouldn't mind doing more of the same, but he knew he wasn't strong enough to handle everything through combat. Not yet. He could deal with all of the low level mooks the slavers would have. Since they mostly dealt with normal humans, their own members and guards were usually not beyond early Spirit Building in cultivation. They still had connections to sects, however, who would pose more of a threat.

At the moment he was on surveillance duty, which involved standing on the highest building he could get on without anyone complaining and looking around the city. The only thing that stopped him from seeing Sarton from edge-to-edge were the buildings being in the way. Likewise, it was very much frowned upon to lock onto people with energy senses in a city. Even so, he kept watch for trouble despite not knowing what it might be.

There might not be any trouble in the city. Anton wasn't going to bet on that, but if the right people were bribed and enough muscle was in the area someone might try something. Anton was sure there would be hell afterwards whether someone succeeded or not, but if someone calculated the price was worth it to take them out it would be done. So he just had to be ready, since legal and martial retaliation wasn't any good for people who got killed.

Nimble fingers tried to open a lock, ten blocks away. A tiny dollop of energy flew out, smacking the would-be intruder on the back of the head. Anton didn't know the circumstances of the woman. Perhaps she had a justified reason to be breaking in, but he would lean towards that being unlikely. The woman flinched as she felt the touch, spinning around. She then darted off into the night. It likely wouldn't stop her from further attempts, but Anton wasn't around to solve the city's problems.

Other than that, few people were on the streets late at night. Sarton wasn't a terribly large city, at least not compared to some Anton knew. Anton knew some people went unnoticed, but the streets nearby where they were staying were basically clear. He hoped things were going well beneath the ground as well, though he could only sense the closest parts of the sewers.

It was clear that someone had once had big ideas for Sarton, or maybe it was just that a number of rich people had been involved in founding it and didn't want to have to deal with awful smells. Even with the poor maintenance since whenever people had put things together, it was still pretty functional. In most places.

The choice to be the one scouting out the sewers had been Velvet's. It was practical, since Anton was most effective in wide open areas. Meanwhile, she did well in poorly lit areas and in close confines.

Plugging up her sense of smell had made her efforts tolerable. The problem was remembering what things smelled like and guessing what things smelled like. It was still pretty awful. Velvet was pretty certain that nobody would want to trek through the sewers, and could have just left and assumed things would be fine. But this was her duty for the moment. Because she had to admit that moving through places nobody wanted to be was exactly the sort of thing assassins would do.

Velvet herself might not fear assassins. She couldn't guarantee her own safety, but there were others who were more vulnerable. Kohar, obviously. Alva would likely be fine since Fuzz would doubtless notice someone coming. But even their strongest companions might not sense someone coming while they slept. No attempts to attack them had been made since the bridge, but that was why it was all the more important to keep vigilant now.

The tunnels beneath Sarton weren't as numerous as in some places, but there was still plenty of potential to get turned around without defining features. The biggest thing Velvet used for navigating was the direction of the flow… when things did flow. Someone really needed to come maintain some of these places before there were problems.

Then Velvet saw someone. That was the first person in several nights of activity, but she quickly followed after them. Anyone down in the sewer in the middle of the night had to be up to no good. They were good at hiding their cultivation too.

At least, Velvet thought that at first. But as she quickly began to catch up to them, even moving slowly, she realized she was incorrect. The man was navigating by torchlight, seemingly familiar with where he was going but not as quick as Velvet on the often-slick bricks. And from up close, she could tell he really didn't have any cultivation.

A few twists and turns later, during which Velvet slowed down significantly to keep distance between her and her target, she found herself looking into a section of broken wall, behind which was a sort of dirt cave. It had supports made out of rotting wood. Perhaps it had been a tunnel during the construction of the sewers, or maybe it had another purpose long ago. But the current occupants were clearly something else.

Along with the man- who had wrinkles and hair that was beginning to gray- there were a number of other gaunt figures curled up in various places. It didn't take much to make a guess at who they were. People down on their luck or escaped slaves, probably both.

But definitely not anybody that would cause them trouble.

Velvet had no idea what to do with them. Anton might know, and if he didn't he would probably make up a plan anyway. She knew that he didn't like to 'just throw money at people', but these folk really needed it. She left behind a few coins and some food. Too much food would go bad, too much money might just get them into trouble somehow. Anything more than that could be dealt with in the morning. They'd certainly be suspicious of a pile of food left in the middle of them that they didn't know the origin of, but if they were starving that wasn't going to stop them.

She began moving around the sewers once more, trying not to imagine what certain clumps of refuse might smell like. Further away from the group she had found was probably better, as anyone up to suspicious deeds would probably stay away from them… or remove them. But she didn't actually expect to find anything. And that night, she didn't.

Anton was very glad that he needed less sleep as a cultivator. He was the sort of busybody who always kept himself occupied, and he felt much better about taking time to do things that interested him instead of things that needed doing if he had more time in general.

Currently he was doing something interesting and important. Once more, he was with Elder Tshering and the ants. Normally they interacted with the queen the most, but for this particular task it felt more appropriate to try with the soldiers she had with her. The soldiers were much bigger than worker ants, but even so they were only about the size of his fingernail. Still well within the realm of normal ants. They were actually smaller than the queen, but they seemed like they would be more durable… or more replaceable, if something went wrong.

However, cultivators were capable of very fine control, which was exactly what he needed at the moment. He reached out with his finger and pressed down on one of the soldiers from above. It was a test of durability, though as soon as it bent its legs he relented. It actually took quite a bit of pressure to make it move. He could have easily crushed it, but that seemed unnecessarily cruel, especially if these were anywhere close to as intelligent as they thought.

The soldier skittered out of the way, but Anton put a finger in front to stop it. It could turn to either side still, but this was his only way to communicate he wanted it to hold still. He was once again very gentle, and this time the ant folded its legs almost immediately. Not the result he wanted, but it might do.

He looked over at Elder Tshering, then did the same motion with energy surrounding his finger. It was like a little bubble that extended the edge of his finger slightly- but even a couple millimeters would be significant on the scale of an ant. He pressed down on the ant and… nothing happened. At least, nothing that made sense. His energy sort of molded around the ant, but it didn't press down on it. That was not how he expected it to function, given the seven years he had been working with energy.

Elder Tshering was producing similar results. Anton repeated the motion a few more times, before the queen came running over and pushed the soldier out of the way. What did she want? Perhaps she was protecting the soldier, though that seemed opposite of what should be done. But when the queen pushed against his finger, he figured it out. It wasn't behavior that he would expect from an ant, but it seemed that it thought he was being affectionate. And perhaps the queen was jealous.

Since she had basically volunteered, Anton carefully touched the queen without energy. The tip of his finger sunk in slightly as he exerted a small amount of pressure, enough to be certain things would be safe. He tried once more with energy, which similarly depressed instead of holding the form he intended.

Then he moved onto the thing they were actually testing. Even if this particular group of ants ended up being helpful, that didn't mean the species as a whole was safe to have around. With their peculiar qualities and intelligence they could be extremely dangerous. But if they were particularly useful, they could take the risk.

Ascension energy surrounded Anton's finger. Left unrestrained it would annihilate what he touched, but he kept it more or less passive. He pressed down on the queen and found the deformation on his energy might be even greater than with his normal kind. And the queen didn't seem bothered at all.

He left a small 'drop' of energy for her and the soldier he'd been bugging as a reward. He generally thought of energy as something like a gas that he could change the properties of, floating around and insubstantial. But even if his only control over a bit of energy was to have it remain in place, the ants managed to slurp it up like it was a liquid, pulling on further parts of it to bring it into their hungry little mouths.

"Well," Anton said, "It's not a conclusive test. But initial durability indicates they remain unharmed by energy, including ascension energy."

Elder Tshering nodded, "That's extremely valuable. I had my suspicions, but if they can cause trouble to the right people…" Tshering nodded seriously.

There was a difference between being able to eat energy and not being squashed by it. The former was useful, but without the latter they could just be crushed. It would still require an expenditure of some sort, but they could be annihilated by the potential invaders if that happened. On the other hand, it made them more dangerous to everyone else.

In coming days they would be increasing the tests a little bit at a time. They might try cutting, which if controlled finely enough would simply leave a mark on the back of their target. If the ants ever flinched away they would know they'd hit a limit, but for the moment they seemed unconcerned.

Anton pressed from the side, finding that unless his actual finger touched an ant his energy wouldn't move them. It was as if they refused to interact with it at all unless they wanted to, though he knew it wasn't quite right. For one thing, though it was a very small scale, he felt the same sort of disruption of ascension energy like the techniques from the Luminous Ocean Society. It was unlikely there was a direct connection, but they might have come from the same source, with the cultivators developing their technique from a similar sort of creature.

Anton had another thought, and carefully gathered just a bit of the other type of energy he had. The energy from beyond death and reincarnation was even more insubstantial than the others, but he knew it was also quite dangerous as it could move through cultivators and greatly harm them. He expected to have no effect on the ants, but the moment he summoned some the ant queen skittered away.

Well. That certainly indicated something. He left a little bit of it sitting on the table just in case they were afraid of the unknown, but none of the ants moved forward to try to eat it and it slowly faded out of existence. Perhaps he had something that would affect them, but he didn't know a way to confirm it easily without harming something. Maybe he could find some workers or other less-intelligent ants of their kind. Having a way to contain them would be useful, if something went wrong.

Chapter 254

While many might have wished for a fire to warm their food, it was simply not a luxury that they could have. Cecilia sat with one arm wrapped around her legs, happy that they even had food. It had just appeared in the morning, with no idea where it came from. Some of their group thought it might be poisoned, but that didn't dissuade anyone from trying it. If it was poisoned, they would just die. Probably better than living in the sewers, hungry. Though both were better than being a slave. At least, in the opinions of everyone present.

The sewers were warm enough. For the most part, the temperature rarely rose or fell by that much throughout the year. Along with the hidden nature, that was what caused the group to try to live in the sewers despite the massive unpleasantness.

Cecilia munched on a bit of bread, still held in the small cloth wrapping it came in. She didn't want to get her dirty hands on the food and ruin the taste, even if it was a bit stale. A bit stale was the best thing she'd had in months. The best any of them had, unless someone wasn't sharing. Though nobody in their group had enough meat on their bones to have gotten much they didn't share.

"Hello there," a loud, confident voice announced itself. Cecilia immediately wrapped up the morsel of food in her hand and leapt to her feet, keeping her back against the wall. She would have moved to flee, but the figure was standing in the only entrance. The others glanced around as well. "Bit dark down here."

Of course it was dark. They couldn't exactly light a torch, even if they had one. The air was already bad enough without burning away all the good bits and filling the rooms with smoke. And there was always the chance of a gas explosion.

Then suddenly there was light, as the figure held out his hand. Streaks of light lit up a wrinkled face, with eyes that seemed to have no end to their depth. Cecilia felt like she was falling into them as she pressed against the wall.

"Hmm, that didn't go as well as I wanted." The light brightened, and the man's face was revealed more clearly. It was just an old man. Except for the fact that he could make light from nothing, he might have been ignored up above. "How is everyone doing today?" He looked around the room. His tone was… kind. But there was no way he was here for anything good.

Martin stepped forward. He was the oldest among them. The first to find this place, at least of those still alive. Sometimes there wasn't enough food, and those with the weakest bodies faded away first. "What do you want… sir?" Martin's voice was clearly trying to be firm, but he was tired and weak. And obviously afraid. Why wouldn't he be? This was a cultivator, come to take them back.

"I just wanted to ask how you were doing. Did you eat well?" the intruder asked.

That voice was trying to lull them into letting their guards down. Cecilia bit her lip, trying to ignore the feelings coming over her. The thought of safety. Something they could never have.

"I promise you sir," Martin continued. "We have nothing of value that you might want."

"I know," the wrinkled man answered straightforwardly.

Martin stiffened along with some of the others. "We won't… if you try to take us back, we'll just kill ourselves. They won't pay you for someone dead."

The old man sighed. "The world's really beaten you all down, huh?" He looked each of them in the eyes. When he came to Cecilia, she felt herself weakening. The thought that he might actually be friendly started to worm its way into her heart. "I can't blame you for that. It's pretty awful sometimes." He stepped forward, then sat in the middle of the room. "Some people like to take away everything from a person, and then reach for more. Personally, I'm in the business of causing trouble for those guys. So why don't we help each other out?"

Most people would place a handful of escaped slaves living in the sewers as a pretty low priority overall. Even Anton didn't count them as a high priority in the current situation. The fact that he was planning to see if any of them happened to have been enslaved illegally was a secondary matter. An excuse.

That said, he could only slip away for about an hour each day. Each time he went down below he brought a meal for the group. And of course, he began to teach them how to cultivate. At first they didn't believe him, but as they began to get comfortable with him and made some initial progress in their cultivation they began to trust him. It was difficult for them, with bodies weakened by harsh conditions, but a steady supply of food began to rejuvenate them and allow them to begin tempering their bodies, one little bit at a time.

After they began to trust him, it took some time for them to accept that he hadn't been the one to provide them the first food, and to find them. "Velvet is not very personable," he explained, "But she has a good heart."

Since the young woman herself wouldn't show up to take credit, there was little Anton could do even if people believed him. All he could do was pass along their thanks and how people were improving. That made Velvet smile, even if she tried to hide it. Caring about others wasn't a negative trait to Anton, but it was reasonable that it would take more than just a handful of years to recover from over a decade of unpleasant upbringing. Betrayal by family had to be something that lingered with you for your whole life.

Anton himself was very lucky in that regard. He'd grown up in a decent household and been able to do work that was more fruitful the more effort he put in. The visual representation of growing a thriving farm had filled him with pride, until it was torn away from him. In a few short years of cultivation he was capable of much more than just taking care of such a farm, and he would have felt worthless if he didn't share that with others. Cultivators liked to fight over limited resources, but most of them didn't even consider simply trying to expand on those resources. The fact that empowering people to protect themselves and do more of whatever they wanted also should eventually lead to a better cultivation environment made Anton especially eager.

It turned out that two of the people had been illegally enslaved. The older man, Martin, had been taken when he was a young man. With decades of working as a slave before he escaped and then years of living a squalid lifestyle in the sewers, the original slaver group responsible along with his owner were no longer present in Sarton. Anton took note in case they survived elsewhere, but there was little Martin could provide for their immediate needs. Eventually each story of how slavery could be manipulated and abused would contribute to their efforts to change the laws, but for the moment they were targeting those actively causing trouble.

Cecilia was the other, a young woman who was very resistant at first. Anton specialized in his connection to other people, but she had rejected his help from deep within her heart. She still didn't fully trust him, but he didn't mind that so much. She was decent at cultivation, and should reach the first star within a month or two. Perhaps cultivating the Ninety-Nine Stars might make her less useful as a witness, since the Adamant Chain would doubtless claim she was unfit to testify, but that wasn't a reason to hinder her cultivation. It was simply a reason to make use of every other method to crush them.

The weakest target, the woman who fancied herself a lawyer, was also the hardest to get to. She never walked around without an escort, and only ever went to and from the courthouse. The handful of Essence Collection cultivators were right out. Even if they could be handled, they'd put up enough of a fuss for the whole city to feel.

The Adamant Chain was on its back foot, so they'd called in some favors. Rhys was one of those. If it wasn't for a long history of working together, the Thick Marble Gang wouldn't have stuck out their necks for them. Even as it was, they were charging extra. These weren't a bunch of lightweights they were dealing with, but instead a group that continued to cause trouble. Their association with a powerful sect made things tricky too. They'd had to call in some muscle from some unsavory groups- and that was saying something, since the Thick Marble Gang got up to quite a bit, even if they publicly were the Thick Marble Group.

Rhys was one of the founding members, so he very clearly knew their origins. Tearing up backstreets, ambushing people on the road, and dealing in the drug trade were all things they'd had as their roots. As they grew in size they added on more 'legitimate' business, including working for slaving groups to help with 'acquisitions'.

Sometimes that was purely on the up-and-up. Even if someone was being enslaved for debt or a crime they wouldn't usually just give themselves up. Someone had to bring them in in that case. But of course enough people were enslaved without trouble that it was hard to be employed full time that way. Especially when someone with lower cultivation would do the job for half the price.

That was where people like Rhys came in, people who were willing to find extra bodies that could be sold for a decent price. Where they found them didn't matter, as long as it wasn't easily traceable. A few people going missing from the slums or a village wouldn't be missed, and people died on the roads all the time.

The young woman that was Rhys' target would definitely be missed, but they weren't planning to try to make her a slave. The final member of the group was a young woman in mid Spirit Building, which was a pretty impressive accomplishment. That meant she would be important, so capturing her would provide a significant amount of leverage. Ultimately it would probably result in a bloodbath to retrieve her, but Rhys wasn't going to be around for that. He was going to capture her, turn her over, get paid, and leave the country. Unless they made him another deal for being involved in the fighting, which would also require convincing him they had a good chance to win.

Versus a handful of Essence Collection cultivators, it could be done… but Rhys wanted more than a simple assurance on their side. They'd need more.

But first he had a job to do.

The young woman was very alert to her surroundings, just like the rest of the troublesome group. She was an archer, but that wouldn't matter if she didn't know there were enemies until they got close. The problematic part was that damn wolf. She liked to ride it around the city, and the aura it produced indicated it matched her in strength. The pair of them together would be hard for Rhys to deal with quickly, and if he was discovered the whole thing would be ruined.

But she wasn't always with the wolf. Sometimes it went off with one of the other girls, and sometimes it even left the city on its own. Rhys thought about following it and removing it, but that would just tip people off. Besides, he didn't want to traipse through the wilderness after a mangy, overgrown dog. Thing was missing fur everywhere, who knows what kind of diseases it might have?

Better to just leave it alone. The young woman was an archer, and there weren't good places to practice inside the city. They needed a lot of space, and the young woman would sometimes head out with the old man. Maybe a grandfather, some elder in her sect. Though his status was weirdly hard to pin down, since some sources said he was just a normal disciple.

Either way, that old man had keen eyes. It was a good thing Rhys was good at acting innocent. He could always find some excuse or other for why he might be around, and he avoided following when any of the stronger members were present.

But the only one leaving the building now was just the young woman. Alva or something. A quick bash over the head, a few broken limbs so she couldn't cause trouble, and then she'd be dropped off for the Adamant Chain to deal with. They had some plan for how to leverage a hostage. If they forced the lawyer woman and her group to attack first, they could wipe this group out and smooth over the damage later with more bribes.

Rhys walked along, blending himself in with the stone streets and buildings, feeling just like part of the scenery. Rocks could be many things. Durable, fanciful, or just plain heavy. But the thing that most rocks shared in common was that they were just rocks. Something people could pass over and ignore. Even a hunk of marble in the right spot was just scenery. Not that Rhys would do anything so stupid as to make a complicated pattern instead of just dulling perceptions. That kind of unnecessary flaunting got people killed.

Chapter 255

Complex plans were for the pack leaders. Fuzz didn't get any of that. They tried to explain, and ultimately settled on something he understood. He was to follow someone from a certain distance behind, as sneakily as possible.

Fuzz understood stealth. That was what the dagger lady Velvet did. He wasn't as good as her, because he was big and probably not suited for it to begin with, but he understood the basics. Breathe quiet, walk quiet, smell quiet, and stay out of sight.

The man he was following did three of those things, but as most humans he forgot the part about the smell. And a noisy smell it was, foreign stones tinged with blood and all the normal smells of a human.

Fuzz stopped. Distance was difficult with smell, but he could assess the way the thickness of the smell changed. He was still up ahead, but not as far as he should be. If Fuzz was smelling it right, he was on a long straight road that would make it easy to see Fuzz if the man just turned around. So he had to wait.

Then he moved, passing by a butcher's shop and carts full of food alongside the road. When he was a pup they might have distracted him, but Fuzz was focused and full of purpose now. He was also smart enough to recognize that he would just have those tasty foods later. The pack leaders were good about making sure he got extra tasty food when he did good, though he was always fed well regardless.

The scents of hundreds of people lingered in the packed streets. Seeing him coming, most people moved aside. Those who didn't could be stepped over if they were short enough, or nudged to the side. Some people were quite surprised when he did so, but the cultivators of Sarton were familiar with Fuzz. They would not panic to see him in the streets without anyone around.

Fuzz sniffed. It was strange, actually. He didn't smell anyone recent but the man he was following and Alva. Usually someone else would be with him. Perhaps they were somewhere else, or better at hiding. Velvet probably didn't need to hide from scent, since humans were bad at detecting it, but she had been practicing. Fuzz sniffed. Did he need to improve himself? Was he not good enough?

He picked his way through the city, occasionally stopping or increasing his speed as he felt appropriate. The changing wind made things difficult sometimes, as when it was blowing towards him he could detect more, and when it blew away he couldn't be certain if his target had stopped too close. He focused a small amount of his energy to his nose to enhance it. Too much and he wouldn't be stealthy, but he wanted to make sure he didn't miss anything.

They were getting near the edge of the city. The number of people was decreasing, as well as the distance between Alva and the man following her. Fuzz began to approach a bit closer. No mission of stealth was prioritized over a member of the pack.

The wind shifted, and he caught a new scent. It smelled like… fire. Not smoke, but fire. The difference was, one produced the other. Fire smelled like natural energy, when it smelled like anything. Or rather, it only smelled like anything when it was natural energy. He smelled fire up ahead, a familiar scent. Though he couldn't place any individuals.

Were they allies? They had not been in the city previously. They had been friendly in the past, but he did not know for certain if they were now. He increased his pace. Now that they were outside the city, the sneaky man could at any moment attack Alva. Fuzz needed to be able to catch him before he got to her. Other pack members or allies should be around, but Fuzz wasn't sure.

He closed the difference enough to be in visual range. The trees parted just enough to catch sight of his quarry. The man was also speeding up, and Fuzz more than matched his pace. The scent of fire was off to the side, perhaps not intending to participate in the upcoming battle. All Fuzz knew was they were luring the enemy out of his territory to somewhere he would have no allies, and this should be good enough.

Alva tried not to display her nervousness. Her allies would probably protect her, but she still had to watch out for herself to some extent. If she was careless for a few seconds she could just be killed. That was the danger of traveling in a group with Essence Collection cultivators, who tended to make enemies on their own level. Though the numbers of those enemies would inevitably fall off, there were still some. Especially now that they were making big moves instead of trying to avoid disturbing the overall balance too much.

She stopped in a long, empty stretch of land. There was an archery target set up about a hundred meters away. She didn't need an actual target, but they were still useful for measuring accuracy at a glance, compared to any hunk of wood. She pulled her bow off her back and began to fire arrows at it. Actual arrows, not just Spirit Arrows. There were two reasons for that. First, she had a handful of enchanted arrows that would have more or less the same weight as these physical arrows. She needed to make sure she was used to the difference between them and the Spirit Arrows, which had no inherent weight. Energy produced the same effects of having weight, but it wasn't the same.

The second reason was that she walked to the target to retrieve them. She had been ready to turn to fire on the man following her if he made a move, but he'd kept back. Alva trained with her grandfather who was an excellent scout, but she wasn't quite as good as him at sensing things. This particular man she only noticed because she knew he was there. That, and because there were very few rocks in this area. He managed to feel like a small one, but his presence didn't quite perfectly blend into the terrain. Enough so that she couldn't take a shot at him, though.

She plucked out the arrows one at a time, placing them in the boring half of her quiver. Then she spun on her heel. She could narrow down the man's location to a ten meter wide strip of land. She should be able to get visual confirmation of him if she looked there. She was already forming an arrow, preparing to shoot. Allies should be ready, and even if they were not for some reason she couldn't just let the man have the initiative.

Her arrow flew forward, a projectile formed entirely of energy. It was thin, only increasing in size where the limit of her energy density required, and to allow for proper aerodynamics. It flew towards her target, almost entirely hidden behind a tree. Just the corner of a sleeve stuck out, but she was certain it was attached to a person. Unlike her grandfather, she didn't throw herself into the arrow. It seemed she would need more than just a handful of years of experience with archery, even if her cultivation abilities were not as far behind. But she still had good control over its initial trajectory and could adjust to some extent.

The arrow went straight through the tree, poking a hole no wider than her pinky finger. Her target dodged at the last instant, such that she only managed to scrape along the edge of his defensive energy. She hadn't expected it to kill him, but she was hoping he'd take another tenth of a second to react. Or even a twentieth.

Dust flew into the air as the man suddenly pushed off of the ground, rocketing towards her. Alva began to back away, running backwards as she took more shots. The man just punched her arrows out of the air, while countering with thrown stones of his own that Alva had to avoid. But a moment later he had to spin around to deal with an approaching threat.

Fuzz leapt onto the man, who was knocked onto his back. No, he intentionally allowed himself to lay back, as his leg kicked up into Fuzz' midsection, sending him flying. That momentum carried the wolf towards Alva, however. He landed in a run as if that had always been his intention, though Alva had seen the serious way his mouth had been prepared to clamp down on the man he leapt upon.

Alva changed tactics, running toward Fuzz and leaping onto his back. Now she didn't have to worry about moving about, as Fuzz would handle that. The stone cultivator was already back on his feet, looking not at all injured. He looked Alva dead in the eye… and then turned to run.

Rhys was experienced enough in his line of work to know he'd been a goddamn idiot. There he was thinking he hadn't been underestimating his opponents. Taking them seriously. Keeping out of sight. He hadn't snatched up the first chance he got, or even the second, thinking they could be bait. Why had he come alone? Sure, nobody else had the proper stealth skills to keep up, but the Thick Marble Gang could have arranged some method to back him up.

That said, Rhys knew he could take the girl and the wolf together. The problem was that the wolf showing up was either terribly unlucky, or part of some bigger ambush. And he sure as hell wasn't going to stay around for it.

Arrows rained down on him from behind, slowing his retreat as he had to dodge some of them. He didn't want to waste energy by taking direct hits, not if someone else could be coming. Then gouts of fire rained down on him from all sides, expanding into a field of flames in mere moments.

Ah. They were actually already around. Of course it couldn't have just been luck. The question was, how could he survive?

Rhys plowed ahead through the fire. Any direction he went would take just as long to get out, so he might as well get away from one threat. There were a handful of fire cultivator around he could sense spread out around him. He saw the youngest and lowest cultivation was directly ahead and in early Essence Collection, not far from himself. So he broke away to his right. No way was he going to fight some genius. Besides the fact that it would allow everyone to collapse on him, he wasn't going to bet he could even take out the guy.

His skin blistered as the heat built up around him, the branches of the trees around him and all the leaves having been instantly incinerated. He could see the trunks starting to fall apart into charred piles, like he would be if he didn't break through. He held his fist up high, feinting a punch while instead he kicked a ball of dirt into the face of the man he was trying to push past. It almost worked, except the dirt combusted before reaching the man, who moved to block his sudden sidestep.

How was he going to survive? Well, Rhys knew one thing about these people. "I surrender," he stopped holding up his hands. They'd taken prisoners before, even gotten some of them to testify. Now that things had come to this, he had to take advantage of that fact.

Then he felt a smoldering where his heart had been a moment before. It hardly even hurt, his chest burned so fast. He even managed to look down to see that his senses weren't lying to him before the fire expanded and covered him.

"Was that necessary?" Anish folded his arms across his chest.

Elder Sarka raised an eyebrow at him. "What, you wanted to wait? It was going to happen anyway. Getting this guy to testify or whatever wouldn't do much of anything. And that's not what we're here for. We're here to take some people out." She gestured to the smoldering corpse. "And here's what we needed, evidence."

"It would have worked better if he was alive."

"Would it? Then we'd have to do a bunch of talking and stuff," Elder Sarta cracked her knuckles. "But since we're just going to melt that marble gang into a puddle, it doesn't really matter. We saw him with our own eyes. Nobody else matters. Or do you think there's an innocent reason for this guy to follow a young woman out into the woods?"

"I wasn't saying that, I just thought it would look better for Glorious Flame Palace if we had someone alive for a bit." Anish shook his head. "But whatever. Let's go melt a rock gang. Though I have to point out, Elder Sarka, that we don't want to completely obliterate their buildings."

"Yeah yeah, documents and crap. Don't worry," Elder Sarka waved her hand, spewing fire at a tree but somehow not catching it on fire. "I can handle it. That's why we brought more than just you five. Some overwhelming force to make up for having to control ourselves." Elder Sarka looked over at Alva and Fuzz. "You two alright?"

"We're fine," Alva said. "Is he alone?"

"Should be," Elder Sarka said. "But we'll escort you back to the city before we go pay these pebble guys a visit. Don't want your family getting mad at me."

"I can take care of myself," Alva said. "But I'll admit I'm not completely sure about opponents of this level. Let's go."

Chapter 256

Legal proceedings could drag out for a very long time for various reasons. Sometimes it just took a long time to read through piles of documents to find what was relevant, sometimes the courts were busy and could only see people irregularly. Sometimes one side or the other asked for extensions because they were busy with something, and sometimes they intentionally dragged things out in the hope that something would save them. Usually some piece of uncovered evidence.

The Adamant Chain couldn't be hoping for evidence, because they knew they were guilty of everything charged, and probably more than even Kohar couldn't find a way to prove or even tantalizingly suggest. They might be trying to come up with some more convincing falsified records, since she'd figuratively torn apart everything they'd produced so far.

There was one thing they could be stalling for that would make a big difference. If, say, an army showed up in Sarton ready to fight and killed everyone involved while professing no connection to the Adamant Chain. But that wasn't something Kohar was related to. There were others already attempting to deal with those problems. If a big battle reached her, she would die. If it was stopped, she would continue doing her job.

Kohar was standing, giving another speech that combined evidence with flair. The first was somehow not good enough for some people, so she had to use both. "For the last several years, because of severe malpractice on behalf of many slaving guilds including the Iron Ring Slavers and the Adamant Chain, detailed records have been required. I have here in front of me depositions from several dozen illegally enslaved individuals," before anyone could interrupt Kohar pushed forward, "As well as individuals from the various towns where the Adamant Chain's records claim to have been enslaved through legal means. We have reports of people enslaved for debts that weren't theirs, as well as for debts that had been paid and those with illegal amounts of interest financed through subsidiaries of the Adamant Chain."

Kohar paused, looking around the room.

"I am prepared to read all fifteen pages of that, and I will in a few moments, but next we have lists of people enslaved after being accused of a crime but without being convicted, or where they were convicted of crimes they were never accused of or tried for. And then there are all of the various locations where people were enslaved that don't exist. I'll start alphabetically. Agosbury, twelve individuals…"

Kohar wasn't going to let herself be interrupted easily, but when several figures burst through the doors she stopped. Guards tensed, including her allies from the Order. However, the figures just ran over to the representatives of the Adamant Chain, whispering.

"Your honor," Izabel said to the presiding judge. "We will have to postpone further proceedings. There is an active attack on the Thick Marble Group as we speak." She began to pick up the papers in front of her.

"On what grounds would the proceedings be postponed?" Kohar said, stopping her. "What connection does that have to the matters at hand?"

Izabel glared at her. "You know on what grounds."

"Do I?" Kohar asked calmly. "Perhaps you should state it for the court record."

"Your people are part of that attack."

"My people?" Kohar asked. "Who are my people? Do you mean my bodyguards, all of which are here with us in this very room? And you haven't given a connection. Are we at risk here in this room? Does the Adamant Chain work with them?"

This was Kohar's job too. Either Izabel admitted a connection, which she could use to cause them no end of grief, or she was forced to continue with things as they had been going.

Izabel was trapped, looking up at the judge hoping he would make some sort of declaration. However, he was as much in Kohar's pocket as the Adamant Chain's, which basically said he was being paid to be basically neutral. A risky position, if the Adamant Chain had any chance of being structurally stable afterwards. He might have judged he was less likely to be killed in revenge by Kohar's side both because they would win on the merits and they were generally more honorable. Though killing a corrupt judge would be within the Order's precepts, nobody was going to bring that up.

Judge Arron Sgro shook his head. "If there is no danger to us here, and no connection between the Adamant Chain and the Thick Marble Ga- Group, then we shall continue from where we left off. I believe Kohar had the stand."

"Very well then," Kohar straightened her back. "Brikbridge, seven people. And not even a hint of the presence of the 'official' who signed off on the enslavements."

Ultimately a connection between Kohar and the actions of the Glorious Flame Palace would come out, but not in a way that made her legally culpable. As it was, they were skirting the edge of legality, the sort that would always come out in their favor as long as they were still a powerful sect. They had an excuse to start an attack on the Thick Marble Gang, and no doubt would be able to tie many of them to various crimes in the region. And hopefully to the Adamant Chain, where Izabel's declaration of them not having a connection would come full circle to bite her in the ass.

In other places throughout Ofrurg, attacks were happening nearly simultaneously. For the purposes of communications, anything off by just a day in either direction meant it would be impossible to organize some sort of counter to everything all at once. Nobody was quite sure how deep the webs of connection between slaver guilds went. They would all work together in some ways, though as competitors they would also be enemies to some extent.

The important things were their connections to various groups. Ultimately they had the money and influence to call on various others to defend them in times of trouble, but when most of those allies suddenly found themselves facing trouble all at the same time it did them little good.

The Glorious Flame Palace wasn't only active in Sarton, but throughout the north of Ofrurg as a whole. The Frostmirror Sect wasn't ideologically opposed to slavery as a whole, but they were still active in the central and southern parts of the country. There were other groups from Ofrurg as well, and with Facraona in the east and Estary and more of the Order focusing on western portions of the country, there were few places that weren't being targeted.

The northernmost portions of Ofrurg touched on the coast, and one location in particular was called Ship's Haven. A small city of a few thousand people, much trade flowed through the area just like the river that carried heavy ore or ingots to them. That trade and those goods immediately flowed out to sea.

Most port cities grew rich, and while Ship's Haven was doing well for itself it was not exactly flourishing either. The basis of that was it was somewhat out of the way, the Wild Run being far too volatile for most of its upper length for actual transport. The majority of the goods actually went down other rivers running parallel, to be taken across the land for a portion before entering the calmer parts of the Wild Run and ending up in Ship's Haven eventually. As for why that would happen, it was simply because it was more economical. Ship's Haven had lower taxes than other ports, just enough for them to be profitable while drawing some trade from the better locations to the east and west.

It was there that Anton found himself, watching up the river for a shipment that should be coming. If the information was accurate, which it almost certainly was, a shipment of ore suitable for crafting Spirit Building and Essence Collection weapons would be coming. Various plans had been discussed, including following it to wherever it was eventually refined and smithed into weapons, but keeping it out of the wrong hands to begin with had been the ultimate decision.

Though many groups were disorganized, the personal power of many cultivators was still significant. While many groups had been ousted from their fortified positions, that simply left them roaming about the world plotting revenge and teaming up with each other. And while a shipment of future weapons wouldn't decide anything one way or another, keeping it out of enemy hands and taking out some of the cultivators guarding it would be a step in the direction of victory.

Though Anton might wish he was still primarily connected with the non-combative parts of this battle, Kohar was handling that while those with other skills did what they had to. She still had a squad guarding her wherever she went, but enough people were being pulled away to other battles that she didn't need a handful of Essence Collection cultivators keeping her safe at all time. And while some of her foes doubtless thought that being fined into poverty or imprisoned for their crimes were a fate worse than death, some of them were trying to keep their hands clean enough that they would survive.

"There it is," Anton declared. "An oversized barge, riding low in the water. Heavy with ores."

Hoyt nodded, "No doubt teeming with cultivators protecting it as well. Many of which should have ranged abilities."

"Unless they just stuck themselves on that boat an hoped for the best," Anton shrugged. "But I can see a couple bows. Who knows what else they have. You remember the plan?"

"Of course. Quite simple, really. We sink it. A few good holes up front and we remove any chance they can get it past. We'll have to dredge the bottom of the river to retrieve things, but we'll have the time."

Anton nodded. "Catarina?"

"I've set up the formation," she said. "I should be able to temporarily stop it and allow people to traverse the water in front of it. The footing will probably be… unstable, but it will be better than treading water while trying to swing an axe."

Anton smiled slightly. Nobody was going to suddenly forget their positions. They had more people with them as well, mostly Spirit Building cultivators, though Anish was here along with two other Essence Collection cultivators from Glorious Flame Palace. There were even a few participants from the Frostmirror Sect, like Marsen.

Anton was only talking because he was nervous. There was no reason to be, they were in a good position, but he just had a bad feeling. It could have been that Ship's Haven was just at their backs. Battles at their level could easily spill over to affect normal people. Even if nobody intentionally harmed civilians, it could happen.

No matter who claimed they could, cultivators couldn't predict the future. There were gut feelings that could turn out to be right, and perhaps cultivators were more in tune to the world as a whole and could make better guesses… but there was still no way to actually know what would happen, even a few moments away.

But as the barge got closer, Anton managed to sense something. There were too many people on that barge. It wasn't the wrong one. He could feel the cultivators guarding it, a mix of several different sects. Thick Marble Gang, a couple of those who had gotten away or not been present for the attack. Some others he only half recognized. And another… Heavenly Lion Sect? They'd been keeping themselves hidden, but either they had some sort of plan or this was a lone agent who had joined up with people who had a similar lack of morals.

The cultivators weren't the problem, though. It was the people. Normal, everyday, no-cultivation-at-all people. Maybe a hundred of them, chained to each other in and around the crates of goods.

"Captive civilians on that barge!" Anton called out to nearby. Others would pass the message on. "Be careful how you attack!"

That was the problem with what they were doing. If they were already going to wipe out as many slavers as they could, then those people and their allies would use whatever they could against them. And since they obviously didn't care about normal people but Anton and the others did… it was pretty simple. What was Anton going to do for them adding onto their crimes, kill everyone twice? He thought about that, but didn't know how. Everheart probably did, but that didn't mean Anton actually wanted to.

Still, having to limit their attacks wasn't too bad. It would restrict some people, and they couldn't sink the barge- unless they could take out enough of the enemies before they did, so they could get in there and rescue the prisoners.

The real problem came when the attack began. Anton had no trouble firing his bow indiscriminately. Even if he added on a handful formed entirely of energy, he could unravel any Spirit Arrow that missed his target- or rather, any that was dodged since his attacks didn't just miss. Before it could get half a meter behind someone, any arrow would be gone. He wasn't going to hit the wrong target. And while it might have been stroking his own ego somewhat, Anton was a significant amount of their ranged capabilities. There was Alva, of course, and many others had their own methods, but Anton was the best among them.

Unfortunately, the others weren't all quite as precise as Anton. Everyone still avoided hitting any of the people. They had that level of control. But a few spears and a bolt of lightning broke open some of the crates and barrels on board. The crates were mostly just ore, so at most they spilled out a few chunks of heavy material. The barrels, however, had a black liquid in them that happily spilled out into the river.

Anton didn't know exactly what it was, but he could sense danger as it began to flow past him. None of them were standing in the river- even when Catarina activated her formation they would simply be on top of it. But perhaps the danger wasn't to him, or any of them. As the black substance spread throughout the river, Anton thought of Ship's Haven. Was this something intentional?

"Alva!" Anton called out to his granddaughter, who was riding Fuzz along the river, moving up and down past the barge as she took her shots. He gestured to the river and to the harbor below, and she immediately understood.

She turned Fuzz, darting towards the city. A few balls of fire were halfheartedly chucked after her, but she shot arrows into those that she couldn't dodge, causing them to explode before they got close.

Nobody knew what damage the poison would cause to the city, but if they could at least warn people ahead of time they could keep them from drinking the water. The long term effects… would have to be dealt with later.

Chapter 257

Being chosen for a position that would carry Alva away from battle irked her, even if she knew it made the most sense. Besides, it wasn't like she had been chosen because she was weakest. Alva still remembered the stories of the beast hunt, where Hoyt had sprinted himself to exhaustion to go get help so that Thuston wouldn't be overrun.

Her story today would be a little bit less exciting, since she was riding Fuzz. Not only was the wolf much faster than the five star Hoyt had been, the distance wasn't even that much. A few kilometers maybe. The important part was that she had to outrace the river itself, with whatever that black goop was in it.

After the hail of fireballs and arrows stopped, it would have been easy. The battle wasn't exactly going to outpace Alva, and nobody could follow her. Except one guy, apparently. She'd nearly let her guard down when a jet of water shot towards her. Alva ducked, directing Fuzz to the side to get below the attack.

She could barely sense the figure swimming in the river, keeping pace with Fuzz running. Actually, they were a bit faster- as they demonstrated when she retaliated with a handful of arrows. The man in the water avoided her shots with ease, and while her arrows indeed dropped in speed when hitting the water he wasn't so deep she shouldn't be able to hit him. He was able to quickly speed up or slow down relative to the water, dodging in front of and behind her shots.

Alva was used to fighting while riding Fuzz, so his movements weren't really an excuse for her to miss. However, if she had her feet firmly planted on the ground she thought she would have done better. Especially if she were a couple hundred meters back from the river's edge, where she didn't have to dodge jets of water. The way they punctured through trees and rocks, Alva really didn't want to get hit by those.

She was fully confident she could beat this guy if she had Fuzz make some optimal movements to get her a better angle, but he was on a full speed dash towards the city. The black poison in the river wasn't far enough behind them that she could afford to stop moving forward. She wasn't sure how the swimming man had gotten through it, but perhaps he had simply been out in front to begin with. It could also not be that dangerous, but she wouldn't have bet one of her grandpa's broken bows on it.

While Alva could certainly avoid the jets of water, Fuzz was a bigger target so she had to be extra prepared to direct him. She could get him to jump as high as she wanted in an instant, but she had to predict her enemy for that. The easiest way was to fire back, even if she wasn't going to hit. Both sides unable to hit each other would ultimately be a problem when they got to Ship's Haven and there were actual things to damage, but until she could properly figure something out she had to at least keep the man occupied.

She had a few arrows that would really mess up anyone she hit them with. Hollow arrows that would cause excessive blood loss- slightly better than Spirit Arrows because they held the hole open instead of just making a puncture wound. Serrated arrows, just to make it hell to get out. Enchanted arrows meant to pierce through the most solid of defenses. Unfortunately, none of them would be any good if she didn't hit.

What else did she have? Not much. She could try for some fancy shooting to catch the man off guard, but he was in Essence Collection. Meanwhile, she had five years of experience with fighting and cultivation, period. She could wait for her grandfather to shoot the guy. He certainly could, but he was probably busy with the battle upriver. Lots of stuff was still happening there. He would doubtless feel her fighting here, and he hadn't done anything. Which meant he thought she could handle it.

What else did she have? Rope? Sure, that would help. Maybe she would ask nicely and the man would let her tie him up. She only had rope because her grandpa told her to have it. "Never know when you're going to need a bit of rope!"

Like it could stand up to an Essence Collection cultivator. It was some tough stuff, but she'd have to pretty much exhaust the guy of energy first. Or get the cuffs on him. She had some energy suppressing cuffs, but they weren't so powerful that he'd be incapacitated from just touching the guy. They'd have to be properly sealed.

Alva wished she had those stupid ants that were following them around. They ate energy, and if she could chuck a handful of them into the water at the guy they would distract him at some point. Probably. But all the ants were with her grandpa, of course, and they weren't really something meant to be tossed around regardless.

So rope it was. First she would start off with some cheap arrows though, so that her shift in style wasn't so notable. She could beef up a few barbed arrows and if they actually hit and broke through defenses, great. But she wouldn't count on it.

Catarina's formation did its job quite well, freezing the barge in place along with some actual freezing courtesy of the Frostmirror Sect. That let some of their more close-range members get into action, where they were met by similarly inclined opponents.

It was only a few moments later that they got to see what happened when fire mixed with the liquid flowing from the various barrels placed around the barge. It turned out to explode violently, creating blasts of steam. Those were basically ignored by the cultivators on both sides, but the left behind lingering clouds of awful smoke. The cultivators driving the barge seemed unaffected, but the attackers were clearly affected at some amount. As soon as they began to feel it trying to enter their lungs they began to expel it, but not everyone was immediately ready.

Several people began to hack and cough as the horrible substance coated their lungs, and that was only the immediate negative effects. But while it certainly weakened a few people, the biggest effect was still to make it difficult to actually sink the barge- and probably ill advised anyway. It was unclear if there would be lasting effects on the river, and there might still be unknown reactions.

There was no direct hindrance to Anton, but with the others being in a worse position he pushed himself to improve the speed at which he defeated enemies. He wasn't able to attack entirely unrestricted, but he was able to take shots at people as he danced around. He could even shoot multiple arrows at once instead of just in quick succession, as he was always growing more proficient with his technique. It didn't have a good name yet, but Spirit Bows was the working title. Boring, but properly descriptive.

Anton focused on a member of the Heavenly Lion Sect, a man making wide sweeping gestures with his arms and leaving claw marks on anyone who got close. He was causing the most trouble for people, and he didn't do well with arrows coming at him from behind. And there were always arrows coming from behind, no matter how he spun around. And even when he turned himself into a little whirlwind of claws, Anton still found openings around his lower body to attack. And of course shots directly from above were hardly affected.

As he took each shot, Anton carefully calculated when he should make use of ascension energy. He also had the energy from beyond death that flowed through most defenses. He had to make the best use of his resources, and he had to keep up the attack. That unfortunately meant not firing down the river at the man who dared attack his granddaughter. But he believed she would handle it somehow. She wasn't training for nothing, and she had Fuzz too.

Hiding the fact that she was doing something was impossible, so Alva simply opted to keep her riverbound opponent occupied by firing with just one arm and her teeth. Her mouth was reinforced with her energy and her neck muscles were actually pretty strong, but there were reasons people didn't do this. She needed a free hand though. First to pull out a pile of rope, and then to tie it into a net.

Alva had no idea if she was tying the best knots for the situation, but she couldn't ask about that now. Grandpa Anton had taught her a bunch of ways to tie ropes that were apparently used around the farm. And then he taught her a dozen more he said he picked up when he visited the Golden Isles and was on a ship for a while.

At least she knew some she could tie one-handed… with a bit of energy assisting. It wasn't as agile as using her actual hand, but she criss-crossed chunks of rope and they seemed to be holding together. She squeezed tight against Fuzz as a jet of water got way too close to hitting her. The good news about them was that they probably had to go in a straight line from the man in the water. They all had so far, though Alva wouldn't bet on it being impossible to redirect them.

Soon she had three piles of rope. That was good, because she was like a kilometer away from Ship's Haven. She really needed to get in there and start yelling at people to be wary of the river.

Alva's throwing arm was just about as good as the next cultivator. She was a young woman, so she would probably get just a little bit stronger as her body settled into its full size, but she could toss something heavy as well as anyone who didn't specialize in it. But it wouldn't be as fast as she wanted. She decided to take a hint from her grandfather, and created something like a bow out of energy. It was wider, and instead of just a string it had a sort of pouch in the middle. Like a sling. The grip was off center as well.

She took a bundle of rope and pulled it back. She felt the strain of her own energy fighting her, ready to snap forward. As the string snapped forward to fling the bundle of rope was carried forward. It couldn't exactly slide along the shaft of the bow like an arrow, and instead went straight into it. At the last instant she parted the front of the bow, letting the weird bundle continue through. Breaking the shape of the bow definitely lost her some power, but it was better than smashing through her own energy and losing power in two different ways.

The bundle of rope splashed into the water and unfurled, creating a large, if misshapen net that covered a large around directly in front of the swimming man. As it began to spread the man was already reacting, slicing through it with a blade of water. Then a blast from him shoved the severed halves away from his path.

As he smoothly transitioned into another shot at Alva, twisting onto his side and pointing a hand at her, Alva at least took comfort in the fact that she learned something. Like the fact that he could sweep his beams. That was knowledge she immediately used. She squeezed her legs around Fuzz and pulled back, as a beam of water that was aimed above both of them suddenly flicked downwards. Her maneuver encouraged Fuzz to stop their momentum, so they weren't in the line of the beam. And then Fuzz leaped forward, almost immediately getting back up to speed.

Alva was already loading the second bundle of rope. After she shot that one, she immediately followed up with two arrows from her temporary bow. They were kind of pathetic, as she had to use more energy when the physical string wasn't providing the twang.

There was very little difference between the first and second bundles. It was sliced and Alva sent herself and Fuzz to the side, where they hid behind the edge of the river. A trench was sliced into the riverbank, but the thickness of the earth diminished the power of the attack so much she was barely splashed by the incoming water. No more than the impact of a charging boar or something easy to deal with.

The third clump of ropes was even less like a properly formed net than the others, splaying out awkwardly in front of the swimming man. Just like the others, he merely pointed at it and focused a jet of water to cut it apart.

That was when Fuzz jumped into the river. Alva simply yelled 'get him!' and rolled off the side, shoving him that way. Her push barely moved him, but Fuzz was the sort eager to get into a fight. She'd constantly had to keep him from just jumping in after the guy to begin with.

The jet of water moved across the ropes before turning to Fuzz. It impacted him in the chest before suddenly going off target… as the man was entangled in the ropes. Maybe it was true that she could never have too much rope. Even the crappy, normal quality rope she had in her pack had at least done something.

Fuzz was in the water at the same time as Alva's first arrow. His jaw clamped down on the man bundled in the rope. She had to curve her arrow up as Fuzz tossed the man towards the shore, now a couple dozen meters downstream of her. Her first arrow didn't pierce through the man's defenses, but she had a glorious few seconds where the man was in the air.

He looked like a fish. Well, he looked like a man in armor that was trying to look like a fish. It had finlike protrusions that were either a really bad idea or somehow practical in the water. She might ask him, if he survived. But she was going to fill him with arrows first either way.

The man was much easier to hit out of the water. It probably helped that he was kind of entangled and didn't have anything to redirect himself, but either way she hit him with several of her best shots. None of them were powerful enough to pierce through his defenses alone, but they all hit the same spot even as he flailed and rotated in the air, driving through his defensive energy and then his armor.

She didn't stop when he hit the ground, or when Fuzz jumped on him. She was glad for that, because he managed to spin from his awkward position and carve a bloody gash into Fuzz' chest with the fin-blades on his armor, right next to a smaller one from his beam of water. But she continued to make her hole deeper, and the man was trying to repair his defenses there and not have his head crushed by Fuzz. In the end, neither worked.

Unless the man could grow a new head, Alva knew he was done. She hopped back on Fuzz, worriedly looking upstream before beginning to yell towards the town. Later Fuzz was going to get so many treats, but for the moment he was still needed for the best speed they could manage.

Chapter 258

It was unclear to Alva what she was supposed to say in the situation she found herself in. 'Don't worry about my blood-covered wolf he's friendly'? 'Sorry about the poison in your river we screwed up a battle and accidentally caused that'?

Those were both too complicated and basically unhelpful. She just yelled something succinct. "Poison in the river! Get out of the river!" She also added things like "Don't drink any of the water!"

Fuzz ran up and down the streets of Ship's Haven until she was fairly certain she'd covered everything. Then Fuzz collapsed onto his side. Alva worriedly started to tend to his wounds, but she found that the two large gashes on his chest had already begun to heal. He was still losing some blood and she stitched him up, but it was only partly the loss of blood that wiped him out, and more the fact that he'd been sprinting at full speed for an hour. But Alva managed to cover the whole city.

By the time the battle was over and Alva's allies returned victorious- though not without casualties- Fuzz was stable and the whole city was on alert. Nobody doubted Alva's words. It was impossible, actually. The river was running black, and likewise the sea.

"Was there any point to this?" Alva asked her grandfather.

"I imagine it cost them relatively little," Anton said. "And it restricted our actions. They likely didn't expect us to be so prepared, but they were ready for a battle."

"That's stupid," Alva said. "They just hurt all these people because they could?"

"And to hurt us," Anton said. "But you know what they're like."

Alva grumbled, but didn't disagree.

If a normal sort of poison had been dumped in the river, it could have killed things for the few kilometers it ran. It would certainly ruin the harbor, but more fish would eventually move in. This particular thing was not nearly so pleasant to deal with as a deadly poison. It clung to everything it passed, the shores of the river and rocks that diverted the flow. It clung to the boats and piers in the river and the harbor. The sands were coated with the stuff.

The harbor was full of dead fish, floating on the surface. Some adventurous birds had tried to eat them, but they found themselves reaching the same fate.

The blackness spread as far as could be seen from Ship's Haven, lingering in the water. Anyone or anything that touched it would get violently ill, dying in a matter of moments. Cultivators were the exception. As long as they avoided touching the blackness with their skin, they could avoid the effects. Even if they touched it, those with tempered bodies could resist the effects to some extent. Enough to survive, at least, even if some were bedridden.

Only a small portion of the inhabitants of Ship's Haven were affected, thanks to Alva's warning. A few who were incautious or who didn't get the message were killed, and a number of people died to well water they thought was safe because it had no blackness in it. But it seemed to have seeped through the ground, and even if it wasn't visible it was still deadly.

The only drinkable water in the city was what people had stored for various reasons. Other than that, the closest was several kilometers upstream. Though it lingered and clung to everything, it at least didn't spread upstream of the battle. Not much, at least. Nobody wanted to test the water within a few hundred meters of the black trails. The liquid had turned into a goopy slime upon contact with water, and it was difficult to remove.

Any of the townsfolk who wanted to try to clear the river had to be extremely careful to not get a drop on them. The cultivators could handle it, but it wasn't so easy to clean up. There were kilometers of river and shoreline. The biggest problem was how to remove it. Incinerating it released it into the air, seemingly less potent but not safe by any means.

Normally after winning a battle, there would be a celebration of some sort. At the very least there would be a time of rest and recovery. However, that simply wasn't possible.

Nobody in the alliance could claim to be fighting for people if they just let things be as they were. Even if it hadn't been their responsibility, they couldn't reasonably just leave the common folk to fend for themselves. And they were responsible, in part. Uncontrolled attacks could cause damage, and while they hadn't anticipated this they still failed to stop it. Of course, the vast majority of the blame was in the hands of their enemies who intended for such a thing to happen- or to slip by and continue with their nefarious deeds elsewhere. But the ones immediately present were already dead, and that justice didn't help anything.

Anton stretched his energy into the river like a large scoop. The best method they had found so far was using the very barrels that had stored the liquid to slop the gooey result back into. They were sealed, and when the resulting material dried out it became somewhat harmless flaky chunks.

Others were working next to Anton, plucking the majority of the toxic substance from the river. They were working their way through the city, now, down towards the harbor. Formations had been put in place to keep it from spreading further into the ocean, and hopefully whatever amounts were out there quickly became too minimal in amount to cause serious harm.

Anton was no stranger to hard work. He wouldn't mind staying for a few weeks- or months if that was what it took- to clean up this mess. That part wasn't weighing him down, but instead it was the people of Ship's Haven. Seeing their distress was bad enough. Much of their industry was fishing- transportation was secondary, but also momentarily unavailable. No ships wanted to come close and get contaminated, and only what was already too far down the river to turn around still came through.

"Why didn't you stop it?" a small voice said from near Anton. He turned to see a thin child- obviously malnourished even before the recent troubles. The little boy looked up at him with soulful eyes.

"We couldn't," Anton said. He would have liked to say something comforting or diplomatic, but those were beyond him at the moment. He reached out once more, scooping a pile of slop into a barrel- while making sure none of it got on anything around him.

"Aren't you a cultivator?" the little boy asked.

"I am," Anton acknowledged.

"Cultivators can do anything. Why did you let this happen?"

He well knew that this child was simply hurt. Unable to handle the situation, and looking for someone to blame. He knew that, and he knew that the other townsfolk still harbored similar resentments. But the worst part was that, while Anton was aware that cultivators weren't able to do anything, the actual limits were far beyond what a normal person could comprehend. It hurt to hear it said, not because of the pain in the child's voice but because Anton knew that it was possible to prevent it. Even if every barrel had been dumped, they could have prevented it from flowing downstream.

He still thought it was the right choice to fight instead of trying to deal with it immediately. Anton simply thought about his weakness. If Grand Elder Vandale had been present, he could have easily cleared the river as the goop began to flow through it. Or anyone on his level of power. But he wasn't strong enough.

"Even cultivators have limits," Anton said sadly. He knew that to be true, even if the back of his mind told him that they didn't. He understood that he couldn't have been stronger for this. Not in any measurable way. He couldn't blame himself or the others. The number of deaths here was actually rather small overall, and while it was a tough job he knew they would clear the area and make it so people could live properly.

He just couldn't help but think about things that would be worse. How many years would it be, until the invasion? A few decades. Things would be much worse then, and he would need to be stronger for it. Much stronger, as would everyone else. And here they were, bogged down in troubles relating to how the weakest in the world should be treated.

Anton's answer was the same as always. They might be weak now, but that could change. And with an incident like this, he knew many people would be very interested in starting down the path of cultivation. He didn't care what the people of Ofrurg thought about so many people practicing the first part of the Ninety-Nine Stars. Everyone who was going to cause trouble would do it anyway, so he might as well give the common folk a fighting chance.

With highs in determination also came the lows. Anton sighed. "I don't know," he said, shaking his head. He was drinking with Elder Tshering and Marsen, the disciple of the Frostmirror Sect. It wasn't something he did often, since he liked having a clear head and he'd seen what too much alcohol did to people and their families. As a cultivator he could negate most of the effects on himself, or purge the alcohol from his system, but he was letting it hit him as much as he could. His body still fought back, but that just meant he had to drink more. "I don't think this was what I wanted." His determination to change the world was great, but sometimes it wavered.

"Things are rarely what we envision them," Elder Tshering agreed. "But in a way, this conflict was inevitable. You are not responsible, but just one part."

"I know how much pain was caused to me, and I do believe something needed to be done," Anton explained. "But the side effects are too much. I don't know if it's worth it. So many people hurt, losing their lives or families or homes." The conflict had been going for half of a year now, and showed no clear signs of stopping. Though what Anton considered 'his side' was certainly winning.

"It would depend on what value you place on things," Marsen said.

"Can you place value on a human life?" Anton said, taking a swig.

"Yes," the younger man answered immediately. "People do it all the time, subconsciously. But if you take a calculated approach, I believe you will find that this has been 'worth it'. As a starting point, we can value all human life equally. Killing people or enslaving them detracts from that value, taking away what they should have." Marsen spoke without emotion. He was, in fact, able to feel things despite his position in the Frostmirror Sect. He could, but he often chose not to. That was just the sort of person he was.

"In that case," Anton said sadly, "We're deep in the negatives."

"If the only goal would be to have people alive, an argument could be made," Marsen said. "That swings wildly depending on how much you feel slavery detracts from a human life. It also depends on whether we intend to maximize for human life at this very moment, or overall." Marsen took a small sip of his beer, though he seemed uninterested in that part of the social setting. "A battle breaks out. Ten cultivators die. The overall impact on the world?"

"Negative," Anton said.

"What if one of them was Maximillian Van Hassel? What if all of them were an equivalent person?" Marsen looked seriously at the two older men. "How would that change the calculations?"

"It would be good," Elder Tshering said helpfully. "Removing that sort of evil from the world is good. That man in particular damaged hundreds, perhaps thousands of lives."

"It's not just people like that that die," Anton said. "I'm lucky that… I haven't lost anyone I cared about lately. But other people have. Good people."

"It's easier to destroy lives than to improve them," Marsen commented. "If good and ill die in equal numbers, the balance shifts in the favor of those who do good. A thousand more people don't die for five hundred more who don't get saved. But even if you don't want to calculate each person's individual impact on the future, a societal shift against those who are tumors on society changes the lives of hundreds of thousands or millions, within the next century. Compare that to the deaths in this conflict, and you can see it is overall good."

"And yet," Anton said. "Thousands of cultivators- those who deserve to live- and ten times that many of those who don't yet cultivate, they'll have lost their lives by the time this thing is over. And we still have to think about coming troubles. Some sort of invasion, just a few decades away. All this death…" he shook his head. "What does it accomplish?"

"Exactly what you want. A better world," Marsen said. "Besides, you know that some of these people would be on the invader's side, right? Dealing with some of this conflict now makes things better for later."

"It's still awful," Anton said, staring at the bottom of an empty mug. "Do you know how many grandchildren I have?"

"Quite a few," Marsen said. "And others who could be said to occupy that position despite lacking ties of blood."

"Exactly," Anton said. "Each and every one of them relying on me to not be an awful person, and to make things better."

"Seems like you've been highly successful thus far," Tshering commented. "What's the problem?"

Anton shrugged. "I guess I just don't enough old folk like myself. Sure, there are a lot of elders older than me, but they're not the same. Young at heart and all that." Anton looked at Marsen, who was young by pretty much any standard. "You're almost an old man yourself."

Marsen shrugged. "Maybe."

"Sounds like you just needed a chance to vent," Elder Tshering commented. "I'm glad to help with that, if you need it." His age wasn't all that different from Anton's, but he was hardly an old soul like him. The one who fit the most had obviously been Grand Elder Vandale. For cultivators, a couple years could feel like almost nothing- so anything more recent than that was etched into memory. Everyone in the Order was still feeling the loss, but most didn't have any connection to the man but respect for his power.

Anton eventually shook his head back and forth to clear it. "I'll get over it, I suppose. Still got lots of crap to do. It's just hard to believe things could get this bad, and know that it will get worse." He reached out onto the table, plucking up an ant with a fat abdomen who was crawling towards one of the empty cups. "No alcohol for you, queenie. At least one of us needs to stay sober here." He smiled slightly, wondering if ants might actually make a difference in an upcoming cultivator war. He sure hoped so, if only so he could see the face of some ancient master as he died to a bunch of vermin. He still had the 'memories' of the attack on the Luminous Ocean Society that Everheart had thrust upon people. Those ascenders were a bunch of arrogant pricks. He would show them. They were going to be covered in ants. And if he could get some low level cultivators to cause them trouble with some anti-ascension techniques, all the better.

Chapter 259

With each martial victory, Kohar was ready to remind her opponents that they were the ones who chose to escalate things to the level of a war. It was even ninety percent true. The last ten percent was the fact that a war was going to happen anyway, it was just going to have fewer deaths.

Unfortunately, just like in a physical war, the courtroom had wins and losses. Real battles relied on power and strategy, and it was the same in the courtroom. While Kohar was pretty confident in always having the moral high ground, that didn't always help in court. She also had the legal high ground as well, but unfortunately the enemy had reinforcements in the manner of a myriad of people willing to lie for them and some judges still in their pockets.

It was no good for their position if judges actually presiding over their cases died or disappeared. That was why they'd done their best to narrow the pool before things actually started, but some were quite happy to play both sides and either ultimately favored the slavers or was paid more by them. If there were a reasonable oversight on the judges their obvious corruption would be their downfall, but that was something else Kohar had to fight for.

But here she was, facing down something of a final battle. The other cases she'd been working on in and around Sarton had come to an end. Others elsewhere in the country were ongoing, but she wasn't directly responsible for those. Now she was back in Veron, close to the border between Ofrurg and Graotan. The Iron Ring Slavers were strongly based there, and some careful sneaking about, courtesy of Velvet and some others, had gotten Kohar some top quality dirt.

Several of their highest ranking members, cultivators who 'retired' into those positions to live in luxury, were currently in possession of people enslaved illegally. Not the company, but the individual leaders. Either they thought they wouldn't get caught, highly valued the particular slaves, or actually forgot about those particular crimes. Kohar didn't care which was true, because she now had a firm grip on their tender parts. She just had to not screw up.

Kohar locked eyes with one of them. An older woman, wrinkled and with a stern face. An angry, murderous one. She was glad she was safe in the courtroom, and had bodyguards beyond. Milushka Struna. She was an Essence Collection cultivator, though she'd stagnated long before and had been living a fairly luxurious life by relying on the business of the Iron Ring Slavers to support her.

Currently Izabel was making a desperate attempt to do something. With the way things had been going, Izabel wasn't exactly popular. However, she was also the best match for Kohar. The fact that she had some success with the weight of facts against her at every moment showed how good she was. Kohar might have even respected her if she hadn't devoted her life to working for the wrong people. There were limits to what people should do.

"... even if we were to accept this testimony, which I still contend is inadmissible, there are other matters to consider." Izabel was harping on the fact that the testimony of a slave wasn't allowed in court- a poorly worded that Kohar was going to tear apart later, hopefully permanently. "The time in question here is very important. Over two decades in some cases. That means any supposed crimes are well past the statute of limitations."

It was a valiant attempt. Unfortunately, when starting with a pile of crap it was hard to make it look like anything else. And even if one happened to polish crap to a fine shine, upon knowing what it was people still didn't want it around.

"An interesting conclusion," Kohar said. "I'll refute things in order. First, because none of these people are slaves, just illegally held, their testimony is of course valid. The time involved only exacerbates the severity of the crimes, it does not diminish it. Even if the initial capture happened decades ago, illegally holding someone captive is still a crime." Kohar had several sections of law to quote, strongly backing up her point. "And of course, the fact that these are still active, ongoing crimes means that the statute of limitations is meaningless." Kohar wasn't going to suggest it, but there was some chance that Izabel would somehow finagle a way that only the portion of time still within the ten or twenty year limit, depending on jurisdiction, would be counted.

Even so, she had enough to put some of these people away for life. Izabel had already tried the trick that they were ignorant, but with more than a year of ongoing litigation in related cases before this one even began and nearly five years since it was public knowledge that people were illegally enslaved, that wouldn't fly. If they had released the slaves sometime during that time, it might have. But they stubbornly held on for whatever reason.

Maybe, as cultivators, the 'for life' time of ten or twenty years, possibly more, wouldn't bother them too much. Especially if they could get it reduced later and get out. Which was why Kohar wasn't gunning for imprisoning them. Instead, she was going to hit them where it hurt. Up to this point, fines and fees could only be assessed on the slaving groups and some individuals they threw under the bus with some evidence that they acted independently.

The resources of their executives were off limits from such things, but Kohar was going to finally get to the juicy piles of cash and other less flexible property. She could already see the wealth adding up, multipliers for intentional and repeated disregard of the laws of the country making numbers go to great heights. Unfortunately, that would hardly make up for all the lives they had ruined, and people that had died. And the ongoing pain and suffering they would be causing that was technically still legal.

Though Kohar would get them to fork over as many slaves as she could as payment. Then she would hope they rotted in hell when they died. Which would hopefully be soon, though she had no control over that.

A week later, Kohar was sleeping peacefully. Other people were overseeing most of the actual physical transfer of things, and preventing valuables from being squirreled away where they couldn't be found. She'd done all the paperwork, and while there would be more… it was only a few piles. She was actually getting time to rest. It was nice.

She felt warm and cozy in her blankets. Actually, a bit too warm. And her blankets… were already kicked off. And it was bright. Had she somehow slept in until noon? She sat up and looked out her window, staring into the noonday sun. Except while it was certainly bright enough, it wasn't quite right. There was supposed to be one big ball of fire in the sky, not a wall of fire climbing up the walls of her building.

Kohar sighed. Well, this was it. She'd pissed off enough people, and they'd found their way to her. Now she was dead. She just hoped what she'd done would pave the way for others to finish the job.

It sure was taking a long time, though. Sure, it was uncomfortably warm, but with the entire outside of the building on fire she'd thought the inside would have caught by now. Maybe some burning beams crashing down on her head or something. She pressed her face up against the window and found the glass was just… warm. And she could just make something out beyond the flames.

It was a bit difficult to pin down the face, with the layer of burns. However, the wrinkles and general unpleasantness indicated it was Milushka. A woman very capable of killing Kohar if she got anywhere close.

Kohar was still waking up. While she knew many cultivators could spring into action immediately, she was not one of them. It took her a couple minutes to wake up, which wasn't a problem if she didn't have to fight.

She was still waking up, and she wasn't dead. She also didn't remember Milushka having fire-related cultivation. And if she did, the burns seemed like they didn't fit. Ah, that's what it was. Kohar hadn't been able to feel the other presence because it wasn't really contained to a direction. It was like looking into a bright light. You couldn't actually see it, until your eyes adjusted.

This was… Sarka. Elder Sarka, of the Glorious Flame Palace. Kohar didn't know she was in town, but she was certainly glad for it. Then she heard her voice.

"Alright, that's enough. You can back off now, and you get to leave with your dignity slightly intact while we later come and take the rest of everything you have for this attack."

Milushka snorted. "You think I don't believe you'll take everything I have left anyway? I might as well get a little something done now."

Kohar caught the old woman's eyes looking directly into hers, but it was too late to back up from the window. The old woman's very agile arms flicked as she pulled a pair of throwing axes from her belt. They streaked towards the window and Kohar. She felt the sharpness of the blades even before they sliced through her. Then she couldn't see.

Too much fire. But the fact that she could comprehend there was too much fire meant that she was alive. She touched her hand to her shoulder and winced. That was an actual wound, dripping blood. But she hadn't been chopped into pieces. If the axes had reached her, she would have died. But instead what remained of the axes lay in the street next to Milushka, who was on fire.

But only very briefly. Kohar thought she should have been turned to ash, but upon being able to see her figure once more Kohar kind of wished she didn't. It wasn't a pretty sight. And not because she was horribly mangled or something. Kohar had seen plenty of that in her time.

"I can burn whatever I want, you know," Sarka said. "Just because that's usually everything doesn't mean I don't have control. You should be happy that you get to walk away with minimal wounds. But you already lost your chance at dignity."

Dignity could mean several things. In truth, Kohar wasn't sure if an Essence Collection cultivator being completely overwhelmed by a Life Transformation expert would lose them their dignity. But something else would. Like having everything except their body burned away.

Kohar stepped away from the window. The attack had been so close, and she didn't want to look at a naked old woman. Kohar made notes to not piss off Elder Sarka. Not that she ever intended to make anyone that powerful angry at her, but most of them would just kill her instantly and she wouldn't have to regret it.

There was quiet in the streets for a moment. Even so, Kohar could almost hear Milushka fuming, her energy flickering angrily. What hadn't been burned away, anyway. Then she felt her turn and leave.

"Have fun on your way back!" Sarka yelled. "I'll send someone to make sure everyone on your route is awake."

Kohar wasn't sure if that threat was real or not, but she didn't really care. She just fell back into bed and hoped the fire would go out soon so she could sleep. "Thanks, Elder Sarka," Kohar said vaguely towards the roof. That was something she didn't want to forget. There was no response except perhaps a flicker of amusement from the fire.

The 'war' didn't end with anything that could be called a climactic battle. In fact, though deaths had escalated for a time, when everything settled down some disturbing facts were pondered by various groups involved. Specifically, a troubling lack of Life Transformation cultivators. A few had supported the slavers in various ways, but for something that shook Ofrurg to its core very few of them got involved.

Glorious Flame Palace had more than just Elder Sarka involved, and there had been others as well, but perhaps that was also the reason. If they couldn't match them, then they would just be throwing away their lives.

While ultimately that meant the total death count was less than it could have been, it meant that powerful people with grudges were still alive. That might even include those who would be powerful, as there was no telling how many ships had left for other continents, full of cultivators who would just be biding their time.

But at least for the moment, there was peace. At least as much as could ever be expected with so many different cultivation factions present, but minor squabbles were just everyday life.

Chapter 260

When everything settled down and there were a few years without any sort of major incident, Anton was almost confused. Not fighting for an extended period of time just hadn't happened for him before. But the conflicts that had been happening couldn't possibly continue, especially as they had escalated to involve the higher levels of cultivation. If conflicts had kept going at the same rate, in a decade or two there wouldn't be any cultivators left at all.

The world wasn't completely peaceful, of course. It was just that Anton had been embroiled in trouble very frequently since becoming a cultivator. A few whole years where he wasn't seeking revenge or looking for a lost tomb or assisting allies in trouble was an unfamiliar but welcome break.

He kept himself occupied, of course. Straightforward cultivation occupied much of his time, but he took time for others as well. The change to Graotan was becoming obvious, with nearly a decade of his plan to teach cultivation on a wider scale. Only a small number of people ended up joining the Order, bolstering their numbers somewhat compared to how things were before. Even then, it could have been random fluctuations in numbers and those joining just so happened to have been people Anton introduced to cultivation.

Vincent or someone else might have found those very same people and encouraged them to cultivate. Anton hadn't suddenly swelled the ranks of the Order, and the slight increase in number and quality of recruits was barely making up for those they had lost. It would still take decades before the Order could truly recover, especially considering the losses of Life Transformation cultivators.

But outside of the Order, throughout the rest of Graotan, there was a transformation. As people worked to make use of cultivation in everyday life, with Windrip and other places showing great success, more people became interested. Anton also developed more techniques for teaching people with low talent, enough to allow them to surpass the first two stars at a minimum. Many people could have joined the Order, reaching the third or fourth star or even beyond, but they were more interested in retaining the life they were used to. Except just a little bit more efficient in every way.

Even regular crops, tended to by people nurturing the land with energy, produced more than they would have otherwise. And in return, those crops improved the quantity of natural energy throughout the country. If nobody had been looking it might have been ignored, but Anton and Elder Howland determined it was between one and two parts in ten. Some places were more, and areas isolated from human influence changed less, but there was a real, noticeable improvement in less than a decade.

Cultivators had long lifespans, and were quite willing to devote significant resources to developing their sects. However, while what Anton was doing was significant, it wasn't something most sects would care to replicate. They were able to develop their own land, making use of the entirety of the effort they put in. Higher level cultivators needed more than just a small increase from the ambient levels of natural energy to properly cultivate, they needed energy density several times the norm at minimum.

This was true even of the Order. Though Anton thought there might be a day in the future where the energy flowed freely between the Order's lands and their surroundings, it wouldn't be soon. At the moment, it would be a significant loss to the Order. And maybe they would continue to build the natural energy they had ever higher, though there were limits to that.

It didn't really matter though. Anton wanted the Order to succeed, but he also wanted the everyday people of Graotan and elsewhere in the world to not have to fear cultivators. Cultivators didn't suddenly stop causing trouble, but with a bit of cultivation of their own… people were willing and able to stand up to cultivators. It was rarely relevant in Graotan, with the peace always having been enforced by the Order. Intrusions from Ofrurg hadn't happened in some time- the border security was still better than it had been and nobody in Ofrurg was planning to dip their toes into that trouble for quite some time.

Other places changed, though. Ofrurg a bit less than some, though Kohar's continued efforts to weaken slavery was overshadowing mmore of the other changes. Anton didn't spend so much time there, but he knew basics of cultivation were still spreading. The Ten Stars, as people were starting to call the incomplete technique. They weren't members of the Order of NInety-Nine Stars, but they were still able to attain that technique, where many cultivation techniques had been kept secret for various reasons. Even though it was incomplete, it was more than most could have gotten access to.

The change in perception about it was important as well. To the average person, a cultivator was a warrior. They spent their whole life training to fight, only to use their martial prowess to gain resources to grow stronger. That was still generally true, but a smaller devotion to cultivation and lesser talent could still achieve something for many. Their fights might not be with weapons, but instead their blades might be plows in the earth. With energy, every task became more achievable.

Travels brought Anton to Cruhull, in northeastern Droca. More or less directly east from the Order, with a short jog to the south. There were no laws against teaching people to cultivate- not in any country Anton knew of- but some places were more friendly to his methods. It had been some time since he'd been back to Cruhull, and Anton wanted to check up on some things.

As he walked around the city, he was pleased to find that a reasonable portion of the inhabitants showed some signs of cultivation. It was less than a percent of the adult population, but that was a significant change from where it had been before, usually one in a thousand or less. The Ten Stars was not the only simplified, incomplete technique that existed. It was just that usually people didn't spread cultivation knowledge freely. It seemed some local sect, at least, had determined that it was worthwhile to teach a wide spread of people.

Anton was also pleased to see a few people he didn't recognize with a familiar energy. He hadn't been around to teach them, and none of the others from the Order helping spread cultivation to everyone had been out this far either. He'd only been through when he passed through some time before. Perhaps some people had traveled, but from what he could sense throughout the city it was more than just casual teaching. Someone had been zealous about it.

That someone would be the highest ranking person with that same aura. There was a personal touch to it that Anton recognized, but he also felt something off. The power was that of the twelfth star, but things weren't quite right. Anton realized he should have come earlier, but he couldn't be everywhere at once, much as he might like to. Projections like Everheart's were not so simple to make, difficult and resource intensive and usually not long lasting. They were also tied to a specific place, something Everheart seemed to not have overcome.

As he got closer to his target, Anton grew more certain that it was Leo. When he was finally close enough to sweep his senses over his body directly, he recognized the young man, no longer a teenager. It was Leo, which meant the other presence had to be Kit.

Anton's feet brought him to some official looking buildings. City hall, it seemed. He spent a few minutes planning how he would get inside. He could just walk in- he didn't sense anyone who could physically stop him- but he didn't want to cause any trouble. However, he also didn't want to wait with the others who were presumably lining up to get into meetings with various officials.

"Excuse me sir, are you Anton?" A well-dressed young man addressed him. It wasn't Leo, obviously. Anton was focused on him and would have sensed the movement. He still noticed the man coming, but he had presumed he was looking for someone else as he stepped out of the hall.

"That's right," Anton said.

The young man looked at the bow on Anton's back, ultimately choosing to move past that. "Your presence is requested by the vice-manager of city services. If you are available."

"I am," Anton replied easily. It would get him in the building, at least. And since he hadn't announced his presence, there were very few in the building who would have known he was outside. And likely only one that knew his name.

Anton was brought inside, past a line of people waiting who seemed somewhat jealous to see him just waltz in. A few turns later, and he stood in front of a small office. Leo was inside, though almost unrecognizable from three years prior. His hair was longer, neatly trimmed but not shaved close. Instead of patches of stubble his face was clean shaven. His shoulders were broader, and he was taller. His clothes were nicely tailored, and decent material.

"Vice-manager of city services, huh?" Anton asked as the young man was looking up from the pile of papers in front of him.

"It's not nearly so glorious as it sounds," Leo replied. He gestured to a chair in front of his desk. "Come in, sit down. When I sensed you outside I wasn't sure, but I couldn't exactly go running out on my own. So I sent Stuart. Thank you, by the way, that should be all." The messenger nodded his head and returned out into the lobby. "Anton. You're… even stronger than before. By a significant margin. My own progress seems insignificant now."

"About that," Anton said. "How did you reach the twelfth star?"

Leo grimaced. "More than a year of hard work. I guess I'm reaching my limit."

"You don't have the full technique," Anton said. "So the fact that you continued to advance at all is impressive." It was actually a shame that he'd managed to press forward. Now he'd probably have to unravel some of that cultivation if he wanted to do it properly. He had likely focused on forming stars without knowing what he should be tempering. Maybe he'd been tempering his body still, because Anton doubted he would randomly stumble into the mental aspects. Then again, perhaps he had.

"Is that what it was?" Leo said. "I just thought I was supposed to enlighten myself to the rest on my own."

"There's plenty of that to be had, but without the guidance of those before you… you're going to miss out on a lot of important stuff." Anton looked around the room. "So what do you do here?"

"Almost the same thing I was doing before. Clearing out piles of crap. Though fortunately most of it is on paper now," Leo grinned.

"This was a pretty quick promotion," Anton said.

"Not really," Leo said. "I just recently got here, and the office of city services isn't an especially fought after position. The old man who was the vice-manager here retired and as the person who knew the tunnels the best, I was pulled into this. Though they still call me in for the worst blockages, the kind nobody can get to. I deal with more than the sewers now, but it's all about keeping the city together." Leo frowned, "I hope you don't mind that I taught some others how to cultivate. It makes for more effective workers."

"I didn't tell you not to," Anton smiled, "And in general I'd encourage sharing knowledge." Anton pulled something out of his bag. "Except for this. The full version of the Ninety-Nine Stars. I've seen enough to know you won't abuse it, and it's better than letting you screw up your cultivation. I assume you're not interested in actually joining the Order?"

"I considered the possibility," Leo said. "I wasn't quite sure if they would accept me… but that wasn't the reason I chose against it. I was doing necessary work here in the city, and though it was quite unpleasant I saw the benefits. I'm actually paid as well as the actual manager, given my extra duties."

"I'm glad," Anton said. "It's good to see people doing actual work. It's too easy to get wrapped up in power and want only violence."

"I doubt you had trouble with that," Leo said.

"I could have, at some points. Maybe focusing on killing would have been justified, but it wouldn't have been good for me." Anton shrugged, "I'm not going to deny being a warrior still, but I prefer to devote myself to other aspects."

"It's good to see you again," Leo said. "I owe you my life, and Kit's."

"Glad to be back," Anton grinned widely. "And whatever you owed me, it's more than paid off by you becoming a functioning member of society. And teaching others to cultivate, actually. That's something I'd like to encourage. Though do keep some discretion." Anton unfurled the scroll in front of him. "I'd suggest tempering your Insight. Useful in a position like this. Just don't share the completed technique without permission."

"What about Kit?" Leo asked.

"Of course you can share it with her," Anton said. "I was about to go find her anyway.

"She works at the herbalist shop-"

"About five blocks that way," Anton nodded. "I can sense her."

"... I thought my range was getting rather impressive."

"Relax, you're more than a handful of years and some important information behind. And your job doesn't rely on you sensing things from far off."

"I don't know about that," Leo replied. "I'd really like to pick out blockages without actually stepping down into the sewer. And maybe remove them, too."

"You'll get there. Just keep working at it. Though I might need to help you fix things up. You've taken a couple awkward steps in the dark, when I should have been here a long time ago to properly guide you."

"You never owed me anything," Leo shook his head, "A life like this was impossible without you, so I couldn't ask for more. Though Kit would be furious if I didn't at least suggest you stay for dinner."

"Of course," Anton said. "I'll let her know you asked. And I don't care what you think I do or don't owe you, there's no way I'm leaving you with a messed up cultivation. You'll have to put up with me for a while."

Leo grinned, "I guess we can do that."

Chapter 261

From between some broken sections of wall to a small apartment to now a modest home, Leo had rapidly moved up in the world. It wasn't filled with expensive furnishings or fancy decorations, but Anton could tell what it was that Leo and Kit valued. The number of rooms were few, but each individual room was spacious and comfortable. Properly insulated, too. It might not have been necessary for two cultivators, but resisting unpleasant circumstances was quite different than avoiding them.

They also had a cook. Technically it was just the mother of a large family that lived nearby who they paid to make extra for them, but it was one of the things they had wanted.

"Neither of us ever really got the hang of it," Kit shook her head. "We didn't have any interest in learning either. For the first few months just having a steady supply of food was more than we could dream of. But it's hard to deny that eating real food is… much more pleasant."

"We could afford to eat at nearby taverns now," Leo commented. "But it's unnecessarily expensive. Now that we've pulled ourselves up, saving money so we can't end up back in the gutters is an important goal." Leo shook his head, "I know that with our cultivations we could take care of ourselves anyway, but it seems better to be prudent. I know our cultivation won't just disappear, but it still seems unbelievable."

Anton didn't mention the possibility of their cultivation being damaged. At the point that it would actually cause permanent damage it would be more likely that they would die anyway, and it was unnecessarily dreary to bring up such topics. "Even for myself, after a decade, I sometimes wonder if this is real. But if my strength ever suddenly abandons me… I have my friends and family. Cultivation or not, we'll take care of each other. I'm sure the two of you will be fine." He looked at both of them, "We didn't have long to talk about your work during the day. How have things been?"

"Honestly," Leo said. "If problems weren't so constant in the sewers, I might be worried about working myself out of a job. Though that wouldn't be too much of a problem, since I could easily find something else to do. Just being able bodied and quick thinking, knowing how to read… it's great. Some people aren't sure about how to react to cultivators, though. It's nice that they're polite, but I'm certain some people only act that way because they're afraid I could kill them. And I suppose I could, but that's always true of people. Humans are… surprisingly fragile."

"Yet also durable," Anton countered. "The two of you survived through a lot with very little."

Kit moved the conversation onto more pleasant topics. "The herbalist business has been expanding. We've been developing techniques to grow more of the varieties ourselves." Kit smiled, "Less going out into the woods. And with the recent boom in cultivators, there are always people who need some of our herbs. I could probably start my own shop, but I'm waiting for there to be a little bit more business. I wouldn't want to draw too much away from those I'm working with. They've treated me well."

"What sorts of things are you growing?" Anton asked. He very much enjoyed that topic. Farming was something he could be wholly enthusiastic about, though he mostly worked in the area of foods, instead of plants for medicinal purposes or solely used for the energy they contained. The difference was that even the plants he handled that had high amounts of natural energy in them also had significant nutritional value. The density of energy was usually less than herbs had, but that just meant it was more reasonable to maintain a steady diet without throwing off the internal balance of a cultivator. Too much medicine, or anything really, could lead to trouble.

True to his word, Anton stayed around to help Leo- and Kit- get their cultivations back on the right track. He had enough standing in the Order to make the choice for the two of them to have access to the full Ninety-Nine Stars, even if they weren't official members. He trusted them to be responsible with it, and improving their own cultivations should only help them teaching those who were just learning.

The two of them had taught the basics to several others, to help them with their work. Since they were both new to cultivation they hadn't been perfect, but most of their students had some success. Anton saw there were a few problems, but instead of directly guiding the Body Tempering cultivators, he tried to teach Leo and Kit how to recognize where people had gone wrong. While it was important to work the body physically and temper it with energy, some of them had pushed too far too fast, to the point they had injured themselves. The simplified technique manual warned of such things, but reading it on a page and recognizing when it was actually happening were different things.

Fortunately, nobody had damaged themselves beyond repair. Some of them just needed a short period of rest, while others would have to carefully bring their body back in line. Either way, Anton avoided direct involvement. Even if he could live forever, he couldn't handle everything himself. Raising up the next generation to be able to follow along was the most important. Even if Leo and Kit were still youths new to cultivating, they had enough talent to reach Spirit Building and any experience at all was still more than the majority of people. While they might not be able to tailor their teaching to different people as well as someone more experienced in the world, they were still improving people's lives.

Anton truly believed cultivation was a boon to the world. Even if there were no wild beasts to contend with, the ground itself was enough of an opponent that humans would do well to have a boost. He'd seen the effects cultivation had on one person's productivity, and if a single individual could feed more people, then everyone else could achieve more in other areas. People following their passions and drives instead of just doing whatever they had to do to survive was everything Anton wanted.

Some people would inevitably be in positions they didn't want. Anton would hope those people were few and far between. With the abilities provided by cultivation, most people would be able to take care of their survival needs as well as find time to learn whatever they needed to pursue their desires. Anton's goals just happened to require more cultivation, as his ambitions had grown far beyond his previous desires of just living happily. He wanted to provide a world where everyone could just live. He couldn't create a world without tragedy, but he could prevent that which was unnecessary.

Even cultivators who misused their abilities to harm others didn't stop cultivation from being a positive force. It became murky, certainly, but the balance of power between people would always cause humans consternation. If the balance of power could be slightly less controlled by people born into families with piles of shiny metal, he would be happier. Of course those who were rich were more likely to be able to cultivate well, given their free time and access to better techniques or teachers, but with cultivation freely available enough of the masses would surpass those who merely had advantages of wealth.

But Anton's dream was far from being realized. Despite how quickly things seemed to be happening, the world wasn't going to suddenly change overnight. But he had the power to bring change to a large number of people, and he was going to follow through to the best of his ability.

Elder Tshering looked at the ant queen. She had been reluctant to leave behind Anton, but they had been reluctant to let the ants travel around as they pleased. With the time they'd had, the communication between human and ant had improved significantly. The ants had actually developed the ability to write, which confirmed their ability to understand language and higher level communication.

That intelligence was still the most worrying part of them, yet also the part they couldn't do without. And determining that they had intention had been an important step to things. Now, he was working closely with Elder Howland to manage the colony inside the Order itself. They had gotten approval from the Grand Elders, and the ants were still being carefully monitored… but Tshering at least wasn't particularly worried. At least, not as long as this queen lived.

The ants were ultimately dangerous, but he wasn't sure if they were more dangerous than a proper weapon in the wrong hands. At least he'd been able to confirm their actions and intentions were reasonable. Though they were capable of growing rapidly, they showed restraint. They didn't consume every source of food in an area, but instead moderated themselves for the sake of long term survival. In a way they were quite similar to humans. Possibly better than some, because there were many people who cared not if future generations could be sustained and would take everything they could get their hands on.

Since the queen guided the colony, they worked harmoniously to keep the balance. The original nest had another queen occupying it, but it seemed the development of the queens was a slow process. She was less intelligent than the other, and less able to communicate. But even so, she and her colony were properly respectful of humans.

Tshering saw a line of ants marching along his floor to his table. If the ants were any other kind, he would have done his best to keep them out of his house. However, they provided a useful service. They would find any crumbs on the floor that he failed to clean up, but they avoided raiding the larders. The same was true in the fields of crops. They would respect the food as it grew, but if any was left behind in the field after harvest they would eat it, along with food waste from various places.

It was honestly better than normal ants, because of the part where they wouldn't go anywhere they were unwelcome. Sure, it would bother most people that they could get anywhere they wanted to- but they were actually quite reasonable neighbors for humans. As long as you knew what you were getting into.

The risk that the ants presented… Elder Tshering equated it to having other people living nearby. If there was conflict it could be devastating, but when working together everyone benefited. And that was discounting the ants' most unique ability. The ability to resist and devour energy wasn't possessed only by them, but even things like western creeper had their limits to what they could bypass. Specifically, ascension energy. Not that they had many opportunities to test that, since Anton was the only person with a high proficiency in Fleeting Youth and the Order didn't know of any other methods to attain it. But given the circumstances of where they were found, it was believed they would be able to handle even more.

And quite frankly, though it was a bit callous to think it of an intelligent species, Elder Tshering would much prefer that when the time came any invaders would have to expend large amounts of ascension energy wiping out ants. That way, they wouldn't have that for his fellow humans. And if the ants truly remained unaffected or at least survived an attack… well, in that case they would be an asset comparable to Life Transformation experts. The Order wouldn't be betting on that, but they were certainly hoping.

Just like the techniques meant to combat ascenders. They certainly worked to disrupt Anton, but everyone who had gone to Everheart's most recent and perhaps final tomb was still mostly taking the fact that they would work at face value. But everyone had to try, because most of the strongest experts had the information burned into their minds in a way they couldn't forget, and the invasion was going to happen anyway. Simply knowing the techniques would make them a target, and that was one of the few things everyone agreed Everheart hadn't lied about or exaggerated.

But why not mention the ants? Maybe he just didn't think anyone would believe something like that unless they saw it themselves. Though in that case, they could have just never been reintroduced to the world. Just like many of the other things. Though Elder Tshering knew Anton had also brought along a particular deer, less remarkable than the ants but still notable. Others must have brought things they were individually interested in back with them. Maybe that was the plan- to provide many different options for people so they didn't feel like they were forced into anything. Which, ironically, meant they would be going along with Everheart's plans.

For a guy who had been dead for centuries, Everheart sure did cause a lot of trouble.

Chapter 262

Some time later, Anton found himself back in Graotan. Not at the Order, or anywhere he'd focused on teaching cultivators. He'd been to Carran a few times before, and while he had technically done some teaching about cultivation while he was there that wasn't the main reason for visiting. The main reason was visiting family. This time that definition would be expanding, at least in the official sense. Unofficially, everyone involved was already family.

Yes, while he might visit occasionally this time his trip to Catarina and Timothy's hometown was for one simple reason- a wedding.

It had been a long time coming, even by the standards of cultivators. A full decade might have passed for those who met later in life, but Catarina and Timothy knew each other basically their entire lives. Timothy's entire reason to cultivate had been to stay with Catarina, so it wasn't a surprise in any way. They were just… slow about it.

Anton was with Flora and Jasper, Catarina's parents. The path leading to Flora had been on the shorter end of generations, so she had technically been Anton's first great-granddaughter- not Annelie. He just hadn't known it. It was funny how, given enough time, generations could sort of flip on their head.

"It's about time," Flora said. "I thought I was going to be an old woman before Timothy proposed."

Instead of mentioning that both herself and her husband were slightly more youthful now than when he'd first met them, due to their progress into late Body Tempering, Anton played along. "You know they can hear you, right?" he grinned.

"Good," Flora held her head up. "Because they were making me worried."

"You know," Jasper leaned in conspiratorially, "I heard that Catarina was the one who finally proposed." He turned to Anton, "What do you know about that?"

Anton shrugged. "Well, I suppose you could ask them." It was, in fact, technically true that Catarina had been the one to make the proposal of marriage. It was just that Timothy had been setting up a whole big plan about it, probably too much as those plans never seemed to get completed. That resulted in Catarina asking when they were out on a mission protecting a village from some particularly troublesome beasts, instead of Timothy asking when they returned.

"Well, it's fine," Flora smiled. "But how long do you think it will be before I get grandchildren?"

"I suppose that's up to them," Anton said. The current times of relative peace were probably the best they were going to get, but things could change at any moment. But then again, they could have a significant period of peace. During Anton's century of life before he became a cultivator, he had rarely heard of any large scale conflicts between cultivators. The recent events in Ofrurg would have been the sort to come to his attention, even if it wasn't directly affecting Dungannon.

The actual ceremony was relatively simple. The only extraordinary thing about it was the variety of people who showed up from various surrounding countries. Ayotunde happened to be in the area, and many other cultivators the pair had interacted with came. That included a member of the family who had never encountered Catarina's parents. Annelie made her way over from the Frostmirror Sect. While her general activities might be monitored by the sect, it was no more than any other member. They simply had vested interests in knowing where their valuable members were, in case something happened to them.

The only thing extraordinary about the wedding was the quality of the feast afterwards. Even the local vegetables and chicken provided by the Rileys were exceptional, as they used energy to enhance their work in the fields which ultimately made its way into the animal feed. At the current moment their cultivations were higher than most of those working in the fields at the Order had been, at least when Anton first arrived. Enthusiasm for the work had improved over the past decade, and Elder Howland had some more regular workers at higher cultivation levels- along with Hoyt and Anton, of course.

After the ceremony Anton ended up chatting with Kellan, Timothy's father. "How's the woodcutting business?"

"Honestly," Kellan shrugged, "I spend more time taking care of the trees than I do cutting them. It's so easy that I hardly even need an apprentice or animals to help me drag the tree back. But trees are slow growing. This next generation should have some exceptional quality wood, but otherwise my work is remaining steady." Kellan stroked his beard, "I've already begun to buy up some surrounding land to expand where I can work, but I don't want to push things too quickly."

"You might come do some work for the Order," Anton said. "Our forests are extensive enough that we have trouble maintaining them. Of course, there's a bit of risk from beasts and the like."

"I'll consider it," Kellan said. "But I honestly like a bit of a lazy life. I worked for this, so it's nice to relax."

"Ever think of remarrying?" Anton asked.

"Considered it some. Thought I was too old. Now I feel closer to my prime, and I might consider it. What about you?" Kellan asked.

"What? Me, remarry?" Anton shook his head. "I was with Janina so long that it would feel strange to be with anyone else. And it's not like I'm filled with youthful desires anymore. Even with an extended lifespan, I'm still pretty old here." Anton wasn't sure if it was because of his late start on cultivation, his use of Candle Wax, or his cultivation of Fleeting Youth, but even as his cultivation continued to climb he wasn't getting any younger.

He had the appearance of someone in their sixties or seventies, though with excellent fitness. His hair was almost certainly going to remain gray, and he was quite content with that. Maybe that was why, actually. His body functioned well enough, so he didn't care about being 'younger' and all that entailed.

With a few more years under his belt, he found himself heading towards the midpoint of Essence Collection, the prime tempering of the forty-first star. Anton could feel the way his Essence was developing, focused on the promotion of growth. If he didn't restrain himself around plants, one could almost watch them grow. Or if they had eyes like Anton's, they could watch them grow. Effects on animals were less obvious, and he wasn't sure of all the ways he affected cultivators he was teaching, but he was able to help people develop more smoothly. How much of that was his Essence and how much was just experience it was hard to say.

If it were possible for Anton to spend the rest of his life just roaming around teaching people about cultivation, or just learning about their professions, he would gladly spend the rest of his life that way. And perhaps he could, if he didn't care about things actually continuing to function. Unfortunately even during times of peace, there were still troubles in the world. He also had a variety of favors he needed to repay to people. Just because there had been a coordinated effort to deal with affairs in Ofrurg didn't mean everyone benefited equally.

The biggest risks had been taken by the Grasping Willows. As a relatively weaker sect- though their position was changing somewhat- their involvement could have easily harmed them. Indeed, they had suffered a few attacks and lost some members, though the proportional harm was not particularly more than any other group involved. They simply hadn't been seen as a big enough threat to target… and their actual home was well defended.

Anton stood with Lev, who was now one of the strongest members of the Grasping Willows, looking at the plants that they were named after. "Do you really want these things bigger?" Anton asked. "Seems like it would make it difficult to move around safely."

"That's the point," Lev said. "And members of our sect, at least those who are allowed in this area, will not trigger the willow's defensive response." To demonstrate that, Lev walked to beneath one of the trees, well within the grasping areas of the dangling branches. He even brushed against some, and they didn't respond to the touch. "So bigger would be better, as long as the branches can still reach close to the ground. Even then, it could stop people leaping around during a fight."

"I'm glad to help," Anton said. "But I'm just one more person tending to some trees. You all know more about these than I do."

"You're not here for that, specifically," Lev commented. "You're here for something dangerous. More dangerous. There's a big old grandfather willow out in the woods. We sometimes make trips there, but we've rarely gotten some good time studying it. Since it's the basis of our cultivation technique, a trip might improve individual cultivations or allow for changes to the technique as a whole. Or we might learn how to grow bigger plants," Lev shrugged. "It would be very helpful to have a strong cultivator like yourself present on a trip, especially with your ranged capabilities."

"A grandfather willow, huh?" Anton squinted as he looked into the distance. "And it's… much bigger than the rest? I haven't really seen anything like that."

"It's not all that close to the sect," Lev said. "About fifty kilometers. And the particular terrain makes it a lot more subtle."

"Alright then," Anton nodded. "So the goal is to, what, spend as much time as possible in the area, study the tree?"

"And the other plants around it. Maybe some of them contribute to its growth, or it was just lucky. Either way, it's a good training spot for members of the Grasping Willow. Just not a safe one, or we'd have set up the sect there."

Elder Varela had been around mid Spirit Building when Anton had first encountered him. Now the man was only stepping into late Spirit Building all this time later. Meanwhile, Lev had already surpassed him and was one of two Essence Collection members going along for the trip. The rest were mostly Spirit Building disciples, with a few peak Body Tempering disciples as well. In total, there were about twenty people going.

Elder Evo was the other Essence Collection cultivator, and along with Lev he represented the best that the Grasping Willows had to offer. They were much smaller than the order, and had no Life Transformation cultivators at the moment. They might yet have one in Lev, though it would probably be another thirty or so years before he would reach it, if he had the knack. Lev certainly had talent and motivation, but people reached their limits in between stages of cultivation for many different reasons. Life Transformation was a big barrier that the majority of cultivators would never surpass even with limitless resources.

Anton wasn't sure if they were technically still in the Mossythorn Timberland. They'd been walking for most of a day, keeping pace with the Body Tempering cultivators. He supposed what the area was called hardly mattered unless he was planning to make a map.

The important change in scenery was the increase in grasping willows. While the sect had intentionally planted the troublesome trees in greater abundance near them as a combined defensive measure and cultivation aid, their current location was more natural. The plant-aligned cultivations of the others kept them from being attacked, and Anton was too strong for the plants to cause real damage to, but there were other annoyances as well.

Actual mossythorn vines, for example. They didn't look like much, but if you walked through a patch of them you would find yourself with a myriad of tiny little thorns poking into you. Unlike western creeper they didn't ignore defensive energy, but it was still something that needed to be avoided.

There were myriad poisonous plants, though most of them were only troublesome if ingested. The rest had pollen that needed to be avoided, but everyone present knew how to filter their lungs if necessary. Aside from a few other things, all they had to worry about were the beasts that could live in such a place. They ranged from small stinging insects and venomous snakes to bears the size of houses and snakes able to swallow a man whole.

Anton was able to lead them around most of the problems as they headed down into the valley that was part of the reason the grandfather willow hadn't been visible from twenty kilometers away. He could see it now, still overtopping everything else even with its position deep in the valley. Given its size if it had been on relatively the same height compared to the Grasping Willow sect, he could have at least seen hints of it from there. The furthest branches were already overhanging them from kilometers away, drooping along the ground. Anton was very cautious of those, because while he would almost certainly be able to free himself it would be much more difficult than the more modest sized specimens.

Chapter 263

"How close do we need to get?" Anton asked the members of the Grasping Willows. They were already within the domain of the grandfather willow, a canopy that stretched kilometers around it and dangled thin branches everywhere. Though, they were only thin by comparison to the trunk of the tree. While a normal sized grasping willow had branches no more than a finger in thickness, these were as thick as a man's arm. Much more difficult to cut through, but still apparently flexible.

"Going all the way to the trunk would be best," Elder Ivo replied. "Though we should soon take a break to attune ourselves to the grandfather willow. We would not want anyone to accidentally fall into danger."

Anton himself would simply have to deal with avoiding the branches, which could be difficult as the tangle of plants increased in density and began to overlap. He wasn't the one intended to benefit from this training expedition, though. He might still grow, but it was the weaker cultivators of the Grasping Willows that were the focus of their mission.

As Elder Ivo had said, they stopped for a time not much further in. They found a particularly large branch and gathered around it. Anton could feel the way their energy synchronized with the tree, feeling like little extensions of it in a way. It wasn't a stealth ability like others he had sensed, at least not to the same degree. They weren't so much attempting to fool people as they were the plant itself, and even that was not quite right. They sought to emulate the tree as more than just a way to avoid danger, but to capture a measure of its power.

It was the same with the Ninety-Nine Stars. Anton had forty stars inside of him, though they were a mere shadow of the power held in a real star. He doubted that even ascension cultivators could begin to match that level of strength, though he wasn't sure what sort of advancement they had beyond that point. Was it the end… or was there more to it? He wouldn't get to see, but that didn't matter. There was little point in having so much personal power. Anton much preferred what he was doing now, raising others up while not neglecting himself.

Eventually everyone was ready to continue, even the weakest of the group in tune to the point that the grandfather willow wouldn't trouble them. That didn't necessarily say the same for everything else, though. Which was part of why Anton was present.

Anton caught sight of a giant mantis hiding in the brush. It was much larger than a normal insect of its type, but the tall and thin insect was only about half the size of a human. That put its strange grasping claws at about the size of a shortsword or a long dagger.

It would have only taken a single arrow to take out the creature, but that would run counter to their goals. They were here to train some of the younger generation, and that didn't mean just bringing them to the grandfather willow and letting them sit around it for a while. Energy cultivation was important, but being able to make use of enhanced abilities was just as important. Combat experience was critical, and related to that was the ability to spot enemies.

He was fairly certain Lev and Elder Ivo had spotted the creature as well, but even if they hadn't it wouldn't be able to harm them unless they specifically lowered their energy defenses. The younger cultivators could be injured, but Anton knew he would be quicker than the creature if it came down to it.

As it happened, one of them did spot it in time. A young man named Roch, if Anton recalled correctly. "Orsola, we'll flank it from either side." The other disciple he spoke to nodded her head, and they both approached the creature at an angle.

The creature seemed unsure which of them to attack as they got close, but ultimately it didn't matter. It sprang towards Roch in the end, but he was ready for the sudden reaching movement, stepping to the side. As it moved, Orsola lashed out with her hair, long enough to trail on the ground if she had not restrained. Thick ropes of hair wrapped around the creature's left claw, binding the hook to the rest of the appendage. The inside had blades and hooks meant to sink into a creature and hold onto them, but the outside was relatively tame. At the same time Roch made a similar attack, but using the flowing sleeves of his robes instead of his own hair. His hair and beard were growing out, but were not at an effective point for combat just yet.

With the creature's weapons tied up, the two cultivators pulled to either side. It couldn't reach towards either of them with its insectile mouth, and instead simply tried to pull away. The two cultivators held firm for a few moments before finally it got free… in a manner of speaking. The arm on Orsola's side was torn off, and Roch still held on. A moment later Orsola slashed out with a sword at her waist. Once the creature was dead, the disciples turned to Elder Ivo for appraisal.

The man considered for a few moments. "A reasonable success."

"Reasonable?" Roch asked. "We subdued it with no injuries."

"Yes, the ability to foresee trouble is important. Your teamwork was top notch as well," Elder Ivo said. "But it was not a terribly strong creature. Either of you could have defeated it alone."

"There's no reason not to call upon allies when they are available," Orsola noted.

"That's right. But there are still more of your fellow disciples. Even if you wanted to leave most people free to watch for more trouble, a third member would have done you good. The two of you couldn't go in for the kill while holding it like that." Elder Ivo knew there were more flaws than that, but he didn't want to be too harsh. "Overall, an acceptable success in combat. But did you consider something else… like avoiding the creature entirely? That would have been the safest option."

"There's no guarantee it wouldn't come after us later," Roch grumbled.

"Fair enough," Elder Ivo agreed. "But I know you didn't even consider it. Not everything has to turn into a fight, even here on a training expedition."

There were more minor battles to be had, not all of which went quite so smoothly as the first. There were several injuries, though for the most part cultivators could avoid being actually injured with sufficient defensive energy. Either way weakened them for the future, however, unless their avoidance techniques were sufficient.

Anton took out several problematic creatures. Constricting snakes wouldn't quickly kill one of the weaker cultivators, even if they were left alone, but a venomous snake could strike swiftly and cause significant damage immediately. There was an acceptable level to the power Anton was willing to deal with. He could quickly kill most of the creatures they had come across, but he wouldn't always be able to make a judgment of whether someone needed saving in battle. So he thinned down the enemies to a more acceptable level.

In addition to using teamwork, their grappling abilities, and weapons, the Grasping Willows had another option at their disposal. The environment. There were the smaller offshoots of the tree in many places, and the branches that dangled down to the sloping floor of the valley and trailed along the ground were extremely dangerous as well. The natural inhabitants of the area were capable of avoiding the willows, obviously, but in the middle of combat they weren't always so lucky.

Roch and Orsola were the first ones to drive a creature back into one of the trees, entangling it without either of them having to risk themselves or expend much energy. They even allowed creatures to chase them into an area, stepping over or even on the branches of the grandfather willow. It truly didn't react to them, though Elder Ivo cautioned that they not linger in their contact.

At the current moment, Anton was looking at a bear six meters tall strung up by a large vine, which was wrapping yet another layer around it as it thrashed. It was pulled higher and higher into the canopy above them until it could barely be seen. He had been considering weakening the creatures, but the disciples had spotted it quickly enough and set up their ambush. They were all planning to remain out of reach, so it had been safe enough. In a real battle they could have tripped or gotten stuck, but with three Essence Collection cultivators watching out for them it was an acceptable risk. Unlike if they were engaging in close combat, where a small slip up could result in severe wounds, there would be slightly more time to react. Enough to take out a bear even of that size.

Though animals that had energy tended to grow to enormous proportions like that particular bear, in this area there were smaller creatures that survived through virtue of cunning and having sufficient energy. Being smaller was also an advantage, as it allowed them to slip under the dangling branches more easily.

Anton sensed the incoming group first. A sizable pack of wolves, several dozen in number. They indeed outnumbered the cultivators, but not by all that much. Their individual prowess Anton might compare to early Spirit Building cultivators. If one didn't include the Essence Collection cultivators it might be a reasonable combat, but obviously the wolves didn't have a proper sense of how strong they were.

When the battle actually began, however, it was clear they had a strategy that would normally have worked. When the battle began the wolves pushed forward aggressively, working in pairs to force people to retreat. It was exactly like the disciples had been doing earlier, except for one thing. When they stepped into the grasping willows, they were ignored.

Anton took a few shots at some of the wolves menacing the Body Tempering cultivators, the weakest of the group. Elder Ivo and Lev also contributed to those who were struggling, and soon the wolves were in a poor position. They had managed to push many of the disciples into positions that would have killed or greatly disadvantaged them, but when they were still able to fight just fine the wolves were unsure what to do. It only took a few moments for the disciples to rally themselves and go on the attack. The wolves had never really wanted to fight to begin with, so as soon as they began to take losses they began to flee.

It wasn't too much longer before the group arrived at the base of the grandfather willow. Instead of a tree it looked more like a giant wall of wood, but from the right angle the actual details came out, the various branches splaying out above them finally gathering into the great tree. This was what they were here for, though Anton knew that didn't mean they were done with the hard part.

They would be remaining in one place for a period of several days at least, which would allow various creatures plenty of time to take notice of them. Some of them would no doubt sense Anton and the other stronger cultivators and stay away, but not every beast could judge opponents by the level of their energy with any accuracy. And there was always the chance that there was something that would provide a real challenge, and wouldn't like the thought of other powerful creatures moving into its territory.

The Grasping Willows made trips to the area often enough that they cleared out many of the problems, but there was no telling what might have moved in since the previous year. For the moment, however, things were peaceful.

The disciples gathered around the trunk of the tree. It was the most boring part, but it had the important core of the energy of the grandfather willow, the part that guided the rest of the trees. It had enough power that even Anton thought he could gain some insights from studying it, even though he followed a completely different cultivation style. Though he wasn't sure if something like that would be of use to him. He would focus most of his attention on searching for threats, though he certainly wouldn't pass up the chance to observe such an impressive tree. It didn't move- except when entangling prey- but it had an interesting flow of energy throughout the trunk.

Chapter 264

Mosts of the beasts that came close to the group simply observed and then left. They were curious as to what the new creatures were, but they had no intent to fight. Not without reason, anyway.

Of course, 'reasons' were somewhat arbitrary, especially when considering the mind of a beast. Simply being present in a creature's territory might be enough for them to attack. While many animals looked at the risk factors involved, not all of them considered danger a significant factor in restraining themselves, if they could sense the power of those involved.

Over the course of a few days there were repeated attacks by various sorts of animals. There were packs of relatively smaller ones, which included one particularly aggressive bird, a species called 'rippers' if Anton recalled correctly. They swooped down together to attack those standing at the outer edges of the group, and would have been quite difficult for beasts to deal with. Even some cultivators might have had trouble, if they had neglected their ranged abilities. The Grasping Willows had significant reach and the ability to independently control multiple extra 'limbs' which helped against the pack tactics… and of course there was Anton.

The ability to fly was a huge advantage in the animal kingdom because it allowed a creature to get into a completely unassailable position. Birds were still prey for ambush hunters and the like, but generally they were safe in the air. A proper bow completely negated that advantage, and even transferred it into Anton's hands, where he could attack them from outside of their reach.

There were dozens of the birds, with large bodies placing them about half the height of a human with relatively compact wingspans. They likely couldn't fly without the aid of energy to support them, but wider wings would have been detrimental if they were flying among the trees. Especially trees so aggressive as the grasping willows.

With the long talons and eager energy, Anton knew the disciples would be getting plenty of experience without him holding back to let them fight. It was better for him to fight seriously so that nobody was injured. The first attacks by the birds were aggressive, swooping down and focusing on a small number of individuals. A pair of them even tried to snatch someone and carry them away, but their efforts were thwarted.

Anton was creating bows and firing at a handful of different opponents at once. Because of that, his respect for Grand Elder Vandale grew significantly. The first act of the man still stuck in his mind. At a great distance he had used Falling Stars to nearly simultaneously target hundreds of individual creatures. From a vast distance, as well. While it was true that they were unable to predict the attacks and were thus unable to avoid them, it was still impressive. Anton could focus every bow he had on a single target with relative ease, but firing each at a separate target was difficult.

Relatively, anyway. He was a cultivator in mid Essence Collection, and though he certainly had his limits… focusing on a few different targets while keeping the whole battlefield in mind was still viable. He couldn't singlehandedly defend the weaker disciples, but he rapidly put a dent in the enemies' numbers.

Even as the birds began to fall, as they were realizing that the new source of prey was fighting back much more strongly than they thought it would, he sensed something else. He didn't have much warning because his senses didn't extend as far in that particular direction, but he was certain he was the first.

"Burrowing creatures, watch out!"

He could have said 'worms' instead of 'burrowing creatures' but the method was the most important. They were under the ground, the closest of them ten meters away and rapidly closing that distance. It was only a couple seconds later when a slick, gray worm poked its head out of the ground.

The creature had no eyes, not uncommon for such a creature, but what it lacked there it made up for with additional 'heads'. The top portion of each worm was split into a half dozen smaller strands, though they were still as thick as a man's arm, and with rings of teeth that seemed to encompass their whole diameter. The disciple who had been the first target had managed to dodge out of the way in time, but he seemed to find it difficult to pick a target from among the writhing tubes. By the time he chose to try to wrap them together to decrease their independent reach, more were springing out of the ground.

A few of the rippers were still attacking as this happened, unfortunately distracting some of the other Grasping Willows. However, their reduced numbers allowed the strongest among them to focus on the new threats. Anton was already firing as many arrows as he could at the worms that were popping up out of the ground. Unfortunately until they breached the surface they were well defended, and they were also able to immediately reverse course, popping back into the soil where they couldn't be easily targeted.

With their focus on grappling techniques, once they got past the initial surprise at the strange multi-worms, the other cultivators were able to grab some of them. They often worked together, pulling different tendrils of the worms in either direction while a third struck at the momentarily still main body. Those who didn't have convenient allies often found their hair or robes, whatever they were using to entangle some of the parts, were soon chomped through by the free heads. Anton's Spirit Arrows found purchase in some of those restrained creatures, and some disciples had energy strong enough to keep their grip intact despite the biting teeth.

The one who had the largest impact ended up being Lev. Shortly after the battle started, he bent down to the ground and started proliferating his energy. Anton thought he was just trying to predict the movements of the worms, but he was actually up to something much more impressive. His energy found its way into the dirt… and then into the roots of the grandfather willow.

The soil that had been a barrier to defend the worms was suddenly not as safe as it had been. While even the weakest cultivators among them could chop twenty or thirty centimeters into the ground, the worms were able to instantly retreat several meters as their long bodies tightened and yanked them downward. Once underground they were quite mobile, almost swimming through the soil… but they had the weakness that every burrower had. They could change direction but the tunnel they made was where their entire body went.

So when thin roots began wrapping around their midsections, there was little they could do to avoid it. Anton found it somewhat disturbing that even when Lev began slicing them in half with ever increasing pressure from the thin roots, both halves continued to move independently. Even so, they were also clearly disadvantaged.

Blood began to soak the ground, and without their full length the multi-worms couldn't withdraw with the same sort of speed they had shown at the beginning of the battle. They began to be torn apart- figuratively and literally- by the rest of the combatants.

A few minutes later, Anton was firing a few last arrows into the most stable tunnels, chasing after a few fleeing worms. Perhaps they were a part of the local ecosystem, but they would have to deal with their numbers being thinned as much as he could. Anton didn't hate worms, and in fact he knew that some of them were quite good for the soil… but he also wouldn't accept them trying to kill humans.

There were a number of injuries among the disciples, and even Anton had almost been injured by one that sprang up underneath him while he was focused on a few other targets. Its teeth had chomped onto his foot and leg, but he hadn't dropped his defensive energy and resisted the damage. But it was closer than he would have liked. He needed to expand his ability to focus on multiple areas at once, so he would be able to make the most of his offense and watch around himself in detail at the same time. He didn't regret prioritizing the others in this particular case, and would have even been fine with some injuries, but he knew he wanted to surpass this particular limit on simultaneous action.

The trip to the grandfather willow ended up with significant insights on the part of many different people. The various strands the Vessel of Insights picked up were almost enough to let Anton cultivate the technique without further instruction, though to actually do so he would have had to give up the Ninety-Nine Stars. It wasn't ever really considered, but Anton appreciated the insights into the inner workings of plants.

Of those present, Lev benefited the most. He was the most prominent disciple, and soon likely the highest cultivation member of the Grasping Willows, so it wasn't strange. His aptitude had seemed somewhat average before his near death at the hands of the parasitic moss, but afterwards his progress had accelerated. The insights he gained from the experience that left him with a ruined arm were greatly beneficial, and he came away with a great determination to improve himself. Now, almost a decade later, he was more than just Elder Varela's favorite disciple. He was becoming a pillar of the Grasping Willows. And to think, they might have arrived too late to save him. Or Fuzz. Sometimes, seemingly simple decisions led to large changes in the future. Anton just hoped he was making good ones.

A doe waited in the woods in front of Anton, knowing he would come. His decision to bring her with him had been spontaneous, mostly out of pity and a bit out of curiosity. He knew that no normal creatures would have thrived in the ecosystem Everheart had set up, but he hadn't really thought much of it. The pregnant doe had merely been something he desired to protect, so he'd done so.

It had been a year after the doe gave birth that Anton learned exactly what special traits the species had. The assumed traits were simple. They were more physically robust than the average deer, at least the ones he'd dealt with before he was a cultivator. Both young bucks were more than capable of defending themselves from the creatures in the forest, even before their horns grew in.

Once they did grow in, they were like blades that sliced through their foes like butter. Some of that was the effect of their energy and not their physical makeup, but either way they were quite capable of taking care of themselves. So was their mother, once she was not heavily pregnant in just the wrong circumstances.

The next year a question Anton had was easily answered, as the doe became pregnant once more. They were indeed capable of breeding with the local varieties of deer, and though he couldn't yet be sure, he thought they ended up similar in strength. The advantages of the special ones were strongly dominant, at least, though Anton only had the pair of bucks and then another trio of does born from the original mother. He would be keeping watch over the next years as the children aged into maturity and had their own offspring.

But some slightly strong deer wouldn't have been much to talk about. Even if they were quite tasty, something Anton wouldn't even consider testing until their population was much larger, there had to be more to them to be worth Everheart bringing them along. They could have just been there to fill a missing ecological niche, but Anton quickly learned that was not the case.

Because there was no way that they accidentally were disruptive to ascension energy. Unlike the ants they didn't seem particularly resistant to it or energy in general, but something about their aura made it difficult to use around them. Anton imagined that if he wanted to use it defensively their horns might pierce through it, but he didn't have clear enough communication with them to try. He certainly didn't want to teach them to attack humans arbitrarily.

As for how much the deer would matter… Anton doubted it would be much. A bit of disruption might be nice, but the ants were such outliers from the norm that he found himself unimpressed by the deer. At least, in a relative sense. Something bigger than a human being a potential asset was quite reasonable. Ants that were smaller than some technically normal species being almost completely immune to the effects of energy were a much bigger deal. It was a good thing they could be considered friendly, though Anton hoped they wouldn't be too friendly to any invaders.

Chapter 265

It was difficult to plan for an invasion at a vaguely known time in an unknown place. The elders of the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars were no different in that regard from any others. Grand Elders Kseniya, Matousek, Fodor, and Zajoc were meeting along with the handful of others who were at least temporarily filling the positions. It was somewhat uncomfortable how temporary those positions had been with all the turnover in the last decade.

"This is a serious problem," Kseniya wasn't the most senior Grand Elder by a great deal, though strangely enough she was now in the top half despite her only being in the position for a few years. However, she spoke with the confidence of someone whose words were important. And they were, even if her perception slightly deviated from the norm. "At best, I can see less than a sixth of the way across the country. From this height, that distance of a hundred and fifty kilometers or so is my limit for how far I can shoot right now. Even if I expanded that, it's not enough."

"You are not responsible for defending the whole of Graotan yourself," Elder Matousek reminded her.

"Who else will? They could show up anywhere. Our position here is the best for our training, but it's far from centrally located. If attackers appeared in the east, even if a message immediately reached us we wouldn't be able to respond for days, or at least a handful of hours."

"I don't think that is as important as improving our defenses," Grand Elder Zajoc commented. "They'll be coming for the sects primarily, from what we know. Places with concentrations of resources."

"Maybe we shouldn't have any then," Fodor suggested. When he saw the blank looks on people's faces, he clarified. "If we minimize the amount of extra resources we have, preferably by using them to increase everyone's combat capabilities as much as possible, then even in the worst case scenario they get less. And in the best case, we drive them off with fewer casualties." He shrugged, "Obviously equipment will need to be distributed for use, since it would be foolish to give up our combat potential."

"The problem there is when and how to allocate resources, as it always is," Matousek commented. "There should yet be decades until it is time. Unfortunately we don't quite know more than that. Perhaps we will get a clearer picture as it approaches. For now, I suggest we continue our steady approach to raising our disciples. With the swelling numbers… our resources will be used up naturally anyway."

Zajoc grinned, "With Vincent and Anton, I can't think of a time recruitment has ever been so high. Our numbers could triple in a few decades. That's compared to before the recent conflict, even. Depending on the timeframe, we might even swell our ranks of Life Transformation cultivators to higher than it had been before."

Matousek nodded her head. "There are more than a handful of promising candidates."

"Let's be candid here," Kseniya said. "There are five who are guaranteed to reach Life Transformation in that time if they don't die, and there are a couple dozen promising candidates on top of that."

"If they survive," Matousek nodded slowly, "Which is far from a guarantee, despite their success so far."

"Vandale's grandson won't die," Zajoc commented.

"You can't guarantee that," Matousek said. "Even at the price of your own life. And even if it did, it would only be… of marginal benefit."

"Oh, his value would be much more than mine," Zajoc smiled slightly. "But I've seen him fight. More than just cultivation talent, I know he'll just refuse to die."

"That only works until someone cuts your head off," Matousek grimaced.

"I suppose that's true in most cases," Zajoc conceded. Certainly, the Order didn't have any techniques for miraculous recovery after such fatal events.

"I don't mean to drive the conversation in a negative direction," Matousek explained. "But counting on people to advance without issue is quite different from guaranteeing they will survive until that point. Unless we sequester them away, but in that case most of them would stagnate." Matousek shrugged, "That Catarina girl would probably be fine as long as we locked her in with cultivation resources, but it would hardly be worth it. We can't expect the world to stop for a while while we ready ourselves for this. Even if every cultivation sect focuses on this same goal- which we certainly can't guarantee- we'd all run out of resources without some adventuring around."

"Elder Howland has been doing an excellent job managing our crops," Fodor commented. "But it's not as if we have breeding programs for powerful beasts and metal deposits don't usually just migrate until they're under a sect."

"I remember that one," Zajoc nodded, "Heavy Mountain Gate was quite surprised to find their mineshafts filled in with ore after a few years of neglect. But it's certainly impossible to count on such fortune."

"Regardless," Matousek said. "We have built up significant resources over the years. Even if we are unsure of the specific timeframe, I agree we can afford to be a bit more generous in doling things out. Perhaps even some specific rewards for advancements in anti-ascension techniques. Though we don't want people to neglect their basic cultivation either."

Exact details would be hammered out over time, but that was something they both had too much and too little of. It was hard to raise up a whole new generation of cultivators to the peak in a few decades, but it was also difficult to manage resources on a scale longer than that. Perhaps there was a reason Everheart had chosen the particular timings for his announcement. Or maybe he just liked pushing people to their limits.

Anton stood atop the mountain, staring up at the sky. The flat ground he was standing atop was not natural in the slightest, but instead was the result of observatory rubble having been cleared away. Only some of the outer structure had remained intact after the battle that resulted in Vandale's death. It was unfortunate, but it was gone. There had been some talk of rebuilding it to respect his memory, but it hadn't yet happened. Vandale had been the only one who used the observatory regularly, at least among the Grand Elders. Personally Anton thought that was a mistake, but even if they were going to rebuild it it would take some time.

Large, carefully crafted pieces of glass didn't just appear from nowhere, and the original craftsman had died. Of age and nothing else. It had simply stood atop the mountain for many decades both before and after his death. It wasn't impossible to replace it, but it would take some time.

That didn't stop Anton from staring up at the stars. His bare eyes were much more effective than most people's, given his training focused in that area. He would still benefit from a telescope, and he had commissioned a small one… but it would be nothing close to the actual observatory.

All of the directly practical components of the Ninety-NIne Stars were well documented, so perhaps people didn't need to study the actual stars. But for Anton, at least, he felt more connected to things when he took some time to study the sky. It was kind of funny, actually, since every celestial body was incomprehensibly far away. Except perhaps the moon, which was just very far. He'd been there, though. He remembered the vision of the world from up above clearly.

And he wanted to keep it safe.

Anton finished his study of the stars and the moon, eyes lingering on other planets he could only see in vague detail. Were there cultivators on those? Vandale had indicated there wouldn't be, at least not on any planet they could see, but it was possible there were things that could survive in the extreme cold or heat those other planets would have. Though having a working ecosystem would certainly be more difficult.

When morning came, Anton found himself still staring up at the sky. It wasn't strange for a cultivator to spend hours or days focused on a particular task, but Anton found he was quite the opposite of that. His focus wavered even to the point that he did something he would usually have avoided.

He looked directly at the rising sun. His first thought was to look away, to shield his eyes… but in truth he didn't need to do so. A tempered body alone might not have resisted some amount of damage, but the steady infusion of energy enhancing his sight also helped reduce the incoming intensity.

It didn't stop Anton from almost falling off his feet, though. It was staggeringly beautiful, even as it reminded him of Vandale's death with its intensity. Red, orange, yellow, white. It was all of those things, and transitioned through them as it moved throughout the sky. Its intensity drowned out all of the other stars to the point they couldn't even be faintly glimpsed. Anton felt the heat on his skin, the sensation of the greatest fire that anyone he knew had ever felt, yet distanced enough to be simply pleasant instead of destructive.

Not that the sun was stagnant or calm. He could see many different shapes swirling on its surface, though he only knew they were moving from long experience. He knew they might be incredibly fast, but the various bits and pieces seemed to be standing still due to the vast scale of the star.

Having reached the midpoint of Essence Collection, Anton had been searching for an area of focus. His Essence of promoting growth could lead towards many things, but in the end it brought him to this point. Anton wouldn't have considered providing the widest possible spread of growth a 'focus', but he certainly felt it to be possible. Anton wondered how he could reconcile that with caring about specific people, but it was easy enough.

Even the sun shone more on some places than others. While Anton knew that was simply due to the angles involved and not a choice on the part of the sun, Anton wasn't a burning ball of fire in the sky. He was a person. A cultivator. He wasn't restricted to being exactly like the object of his focus. Otherwise he would have to burn up, and the Grasping Willows would have to actually become trees.

As he watched the sun move across the sky, Anton wondered what that particular focus might mean for his cultivation. While cultivators advanced mainly through the intake of energy and using it to temper themselves, for Essence Collection it was more related to concepts. He might indeed be able to advance by focusing on the wide growth of the world, not too different from what he'd already been doing… but how would that affect him in battle? His techniques?

He didn't know exactly, but he would have plenty of time to think about it, as long as he didn't spend too many nights and days staring up at the sky. If he was going to do that, he at least wanted to make sure he took time for practical things as well.

Though nearly everyone would have been quite content if the world continued peacefully for the next several decades, that simply wouldn't happen. Not everything required the attention of Essence Collection cultivators, but Anton couldn't resist the call of former allies. To the south, in Droca, trouble was brewing.

Perhaps most people might not have considered people they traveled with one time for a few weeks as close companions, but that didn't stop Anton from being willing to answer the call for help from Caeus and Printza, two young members of the Iron Fist Sect. They were not even located particularly far from the Order, though the general terrain of Droca was much rougher and less habitable than Graotan.

Most of his frequent companions were occupied, and none of them had ties to the pair regardless. Anton had only met them when on his way back Cruhull during the height of the Twin Soul Sect's killings. As it turned out, it was the best decision all of those traveling together could have made, since there had been an attack.

Anton could have gone alone, but he still recruited some people to come with him. Devon was free and inclined to seek out new experiences. There was also Alva, who was unoccupied and absolutely not going to let Anton leave her behind for any reason. It wasn't as if he could say anything was 'too dangerous' for her now. If it was too dangerous for her, he also shouldn't be going. While the difference between early and mid Essence Collection was not insignificant, it wasn't so strong of a divide as Essence Collection and Spirit Building.

So even if he still felt the desire to protect his young granddaughter, he knew he couldn't do so by excluding her from anything. So instead he would simply have to make sure both of them were as strong as possible so they could handle anything that came up.

Anton cared about Devon too, of course, but he didn't have the advantage of being young or cute. That was probably just as well, since it would help Anton make more logical decisions about how to fight with him. He worried about a possible day where he was in a battle along with all of his granddaughters and how he could focus on battle properly instead of unnecessary worry. Perhaps the mentality of a warrior still hadn't quite overtaken him, even after a decade.

Chapter 266

As their small group returned to Droca, Anton remembered his thoughts about it when they were passing through on the way to the secret realm. Something about the land's barrenness felt wrong, and that hadn't diminished since his previous visits. But it wasn't as if he could 'fix' a whole country just by thinking about it, and he wasn't the only one who knew about the issues. The locals were more motivated than himself, but nothing about it had changed.

The country had enough arable land to support a small population, and enough energy for people to cultivate, but it was hard to compare it to Graotan to the north. Its neighbor Floelor was not much better off, however.

One significant detail had changed, however. That was the secret realm itself. It was, more or less, extra land inside of Droca itself. It was a bit difficult to navigate, though not quite as dangerous as it had been shortly after opening. For the local sects, it was a great boon- and the possession of the area was turning to Droca's control, after the first period of years where it had been available to all simply for the sake of getting the support to open it.

From what Anton understood, the Iron Fist Sect- which he was visiting- and the Black Earth Clan who had been the original discoverers of the secret realm were controlling the area. Generally, they charged a small fee for anyone who wished to enter the secret realm and try their hand at the various challenges.

The Iron Fist Sect looked more like an outpost placed atop a rocky outcropping than anything else. They likely claimed much more territory around the area, but the actual buildings they had were condensed into a small area. It looked much more defensible than the Order, at least. Other than that, there was little going for it except presumably its proximity to valuable resources of some kind, beyond the stone that everything was built from.

The group of three and a wolf were only delayed slightly at the gates as the guards verified their reason for arrival, and then they were quickly escorted to a functional but austere meeting room, except for Fuzz who remained outside. Inside were Caeus and Printza, along with someone else from their sect Anton didn't recognize. Like the others, he was covered from head to toe in armor.

"Greetings," the man said with a strong voice. "I am Elder Magro. I have heard much about you from these two disciples."

"I am Anton Krantz, and these are Devon and Alva," Anton introduced them. "I see your cultivation has advanced quite well, Caeus, Printza."

"... has it?" Caeus' face was mostly hidden, but his body language spoke volumes. "It feels like we've only gotten further behind."

Anton couldn't honestly say they were wrong, at least from a certain perspective. They hadn't yet managed to surpass the barrier to enter Essence Collection, but they were still young so Anton imagined they would. Though he'd pulled away, their own cultivation speed was not poor. With the poor quality of energy in the area, Anton also had a bit of an advantage, unless they were able to spend much of their time in the secret realm.

Elder Magro redirected the conversation. "We appreciate your assistance on this matter. We would normally handle problems from within our own sect, but we've been plagued by a particular problem that we haven't been able to solve ourselves. These two were highly complimentary of your perceptive abilities. And your strength as well, but the Iron Fist Sect isn't lacking in that."

Anton nodded and smiled pleasantly. Elder Magro was a mid Essence Collection cultivator, so it would be hard for anyone to call him weak. Anton also felt others of equivalent strength throughout the Iron Fist Sect. However, few of them were in late Essence Collection. Anton thought his own cultivation was probably slightly ahead of the elder, though even considering the extended lifespans cultivators had, 'Elder' Magro was likely younger than him still. No more than seventy or eighty. That of course would imply he'd been cultivating for several times as long as Anton.

"Is there something difficult to find? I only heard there was a creature troubling the sect."

"That is what we presume," Elder Magro nodded. "Unfortunately, we haven't been able to catch even a glimpse of whatever it is. It could be a cultivator, but it wouldn't explain their activities. Not that it makes much more sense from a beast, but… well," Elder Magro shrugged. "There have been a series of holes dug in the area. Or perhaps it is better to say smashed into the ground. While a hole or two isn't a big deal, even a large one, the problem is they are often accompanied by earth tremors." Elder Magro smiled awkwardly, "Not a good sign when a series of tunnels snakes throughout the region."

"How do you know they are connected?" Anton asked.

"At first we only suspected," Elder Magro explained. "We noticed some tremors first, and then we started finding the holes. It was only when one of our disciples happened to be nearby when it happened that we were certain about the connection. Since that time, we've had elders nearby once or twice, but nobody has managed to sense what man or beast caused it."

"It's not some sort of natural occurrence, I take it?"

"Certainly not. You'll agree when you see one. Speaking of which, we'll be heading out tomorrow morning, so that you and your companions can take a slight rest from your journey. We'll take you to the area, and try to be there for another incident. They've been increasing in frequency as of late, sometimes more than once per day."

When they came to one of the known locations, Anton saw exactly what Elder Magro meant. The hole was too circular to be natural. Not smooth and round, but it ran a clear line into the ground until the bottom filled with rubble.

The holes weren't small, either. They were approximately four meters in diameter, and more than ten meters deep. If these were caused by a cultivator… well, Anton supposed if he'd gone down a different path it wouldn't be unreasonable for him to do such a thing a couple times per day. Or if he used ascension energy. It was just normal stone, after all. He tore off a chunk and crushed it in his hand just to be sure, but felt nothing special about it. It wasn't soft, but it wasn't exceptional.

"I can see why you would want to deal with this," Anton said honestly. "Even without any tremors. Fuzz, can you smell anyone or anything else that might have been here?"

Fuzz spent a good ten minutes sniffing around the area, ultimately shaking his head. That didn't mean he didn't smell anything, but nothing that he would tie to causing the hole. He doubtless picked up all kinds of scents, but nothing that stood out as not fitting. The same remained true as they visited some of the most recent locations, with no scents matching any of the other locations.

Anton didn't see anything either, though he wouldn't expect tracks in such a rocky region. He didn't sense any lingering energy, which was strange. "When did this happen?" he asked.

"This one should have been… the day before yesterday."

Anton frowned. If it had been a week he might have supposed the energy would have completely faded, but for something of the size they were dealing with it had to have taken a large amount of energy, whether caused by man or beast. Especially since it happened all at once.

He dropped down into one of the holes, motioning Alva to come with him. "See if you can learn anything from this," he said as he began inspecting the edges.

He didn't get much himself. The impact had to be in the middle of the area, or it wouldn't have been round. The edges were mostly the materials having shorn off at weak points, when they found themselves no longer supported. Beneath his feet the rubble continued for more than a handful of meters. He knew it was extremely suspicious, but that didn't tell him anything.

"I can't find anything," Alva admitted. "There's not really any sign of what caused this."

"I agree," Anton said. "I can't even find traces of the impact point. Though perhaps they got turned to dust, like much of the rest of this."

That day bore no fruit, so they returned to the Iron Fist Sect at the end of the day. They were all a little bit tired, mostly from the lack of anything really happening than from the physical exertion.

"Elder Magro," one of the guards saluted. "There is a message waiting for you."

He gestured for Anton and the others to follow. "I'm betting this is related to why you are here." It took him a bit to track down the message, which then led him to a disciple.

The disciple was a middle aged man with a mediocre cultivation, but he stood tall and proud in his armor. "Elder Magro," he said as they found him. "I found another hole related to your mission. A fresh one. I felt the tremors and heard the crashing, and immediately found my way there, but there was nothing."

Elder Magro sighed, "I didn't expect much differently. Even so, we'll check it out in the morning."

Anton had a thought about that. "Do the holes only happen during the day?" he questioned.

"Actually," Elder Magro frowned, "There have been at least a few at night."

"We should probably head back out now," Anton said. "If it's safe."

"Safe enough," Elder Magro admitted. "Anything that comes out in the dark around here I could handle… or any of you," he nodded. "Except perhaps whatever is causing this. Come on then, we're heading out." He turned towards the disciple. "Your name?"

"Guthini, elder."

Eight figures went back out into the night, four in heavy armor while the others were in lighter fare. Perhaps one of them did not have armor at all, depending on how one counted Fuzz. They wouldn't exactly be quiet, but it was likely whatever or whoever they were seeking could sense their energy anyway. But if they didn't look, they wouldn't find anything.

Guthini managed to get them to the location, with a little bit of adjustment to find his way in the dark. The stars were bright and they carried some light sources, but it was still nothing compared to the day.

"Not a speck of energy," Anton said. "Not that I expected different. Fuzz?" Fuzz began sniffing around, eventually coming back to Guthini. "Yes, he already said he came here earlier when it happened." The chance that the disciple was causing it was… miniscule. And reporting it would have been strange if he had. Just in case, Anton carefully sensed the man's cultivation. If he was suppressing it or hiding something like the Twin Soul Sect, Anton would have found it. But he was quite normal. Fuzz also accepted the explanation easily, but it seemed he hadn't found anything else.

They began to inspect the hole, but found it no different from any of the others except in location and exactly how the rubble piled at the bottom. This one had more of a slope from one side instead of a flat spread or a hill in the middle.

Then there was a tremor, accompanied by a loud rumbling sound. Not the sort of impact Anton expected, but he fired an arrow in the direction of the disturbance anyway. He went with the spirit arrow, his connection to it allowing limited sensing in the area. It was less than two seconds later that he reached the hole, and found… nothing. There wasn't anything fleeing the scene, no sense of energy… only falling debris.

By the time everyone ran to the site in person, the Essence Collection cultivators far out ahead of the rest, a few last pieces fell. And then it was still.

"Did you sense anything?" Elder Magro asked.

"No," Anton admitted.

"Dammit. What do we do?"

"Actually," Anton flicked his eyes around the area. "The fact that I sensed nothing actually tells us a lot." Anton jumped into the hole, and felt down, deep as he could. Sending his energy through rock was difficult, even broken up as it was. Ten meters. Twenty meters. He couldn't go much further than that, but he smiled. "Oho, there it is."

"You found it?" Elder Magro stepped forward excitedly.

"Not quite," Anton admitted. "But I found a clear pointer in the right direction. The reason we couldn't sense anything is we were looking on the wrong side of the hole. Whatever is causing this has been doing so from underneath. I can sense a bit of lingering energy down below, though not our quarry."

"Of course," Elder Magro nodded. "It only makes sense… though being inside a collapsing tunnel should be quite dangerous. And if it's someone or something burrowing… what are they trying to get to?"

"A good question," Anton shrugged. "But that might take some digging to find out." He gestured, "The physical kind, though talking to people might help too."

Chapter 267

"Something is working underground to create these holes. Collapses, really." Anton reiterated the situation. "That means we'll have to dig it out, and we might as well start with this most recent point. Though it might also be prudent to check things out from the perspective of the tunnels in this area."

"The Black Earth Clan knows the tunnels better than us," Elder Magro replied. "I should get in contact with them, since they're likely also concerned about what's happening here. Will you be safe here if I leave you?"

"I finally caught a sense of the beast. At least, it feels more like beast than cultivator. It should not be something we can't handle… but no battle is truly safe. We could hold off on finding our way through but…"

"Time might be important," Elder Magro nodded. "Come on Guthini. You'll return with me, and I'll have you make another trip out here with backup. Since we've actually found a real lead, it's best to be proactive about this."

With that, Elder Magro left. Left behind were Caeus, Priscia, Anton, Alva, Devon, and of course Fuzz. Fuzz almost began digging, but Anton stopped him.

"I have no doubt you would make the fastest progress of all of us, but you're also likely to make things unstable. Perhaps you could start at the top and dig a slope to make it easier for us to get chunks out?"

Fuzz nodded, happily clawing at the stone, pulling chunks of it away with every swipe of his paws. It wasn't quite the same as a normal wolf digging through loose soil, but it hardly seemed to slow him down. Anton and the rest, who all had hands, began chucking pieces out of the hole while they kept a careful watch on the stability below them. If it had collapsed once, it might do so again.

Soon enough Guthini returned with a handful of others, including an Essence Collection elder. The hole was just wide enough for everyone to work without disrupting each other, but they were getting to the point it was difficult to toss the larger chunks of rock out of the hole. Fuzz' work had only gotten him a couple meters down the edge, as he had to cut a longer and wider furrow in the stone to keep it stable.

The members of the Iron Fist Sect had sturdy bodies, as one might expect from people who spent all their time in armor. Anton was only able to keep up with them by advantage of superior cultivation, and he was used to hard work. There was only so much they could do with their hands, however. After a few hours of digging, while they were certainly making progress, they sent disciples off to get proper tools. The biggest problem was still getting large quantities of stone out of the area, and some were too large to fit through the mouth of a storage bag. They could break them apart, but as they got deeper the stone became more dense and difficult, and thus tiring to break apart.

They worked tirelessly, but by the time the rays of dawn shone onto the upper parts of the hole, they were only perhaps a couple dozen meters deeper. They were well below the point the creature had dug up to to cause the collapse, but yet more rubble was buried deeper below them. They had no idea how far it might extend, and if they actually came upon something they didn't want to fight it fatigued. Thus, they finally took a moment to sleep shortly after dawn, returning to the Iron Fist Sect.

When they later awoke, after a mere handful of hours asleep, they met up once more to return. Elder Magro was waiting for them, along with some members of the Black Stone Clan. This expedition was turning into a larger thing, and not quite what Anton and the others signed up for… but they wanted to see things through to the end.

The Black Stone Clan had sent over two elders, a man and a woman, as well as a number of disciples. "Greetings," the man inclined his head. "I am Pero."

"And I am Olimpia."

"Anton, of the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars."

The others introduced themselves as well, including Fuzz with a short bark. Alva enlightened the rest to his actual name.

Elder Magro explained what he could while they returned to the site. "The Black Stone Clan had noticed the oddities as well, including some collapses in the tunnels. They had not found any connection to the holes, however, making the same assumptions of something coming from the surface. They sensed nothing down below, at least."

"We hadn't expected something to be digging entirely new tunnels," Pero commented. "But it fits the evidence we had seen."

"Combining our efforts should be most effective," Olimpia continued. "If it's just clearing out rubble and stabilizing tunnels, we have plenty of experience. And whatever we might find should be of interest to both our sects."

When they arrived back at the site, the Black Stone Clan showed their expertise in the situation. They took over the sloping furrow Fuzz had been digging and turned it into a proper ramp, pulling away pieces of rock instead of digging them out. They acted more like they were molding clay with their energy, and they had much more precision. That also left the sides of the ramp more secure, which became important as people got deeper.

"If it goes much deeper than this we'll have to set up a proper mineshaft of some sort," Elder Pero pointed out when they were around a hundred meters down. If they weren't cultivators it would have already been too risky to work as they were with potential collapses.

His words turned out to be prophetic- or perhaps experienced was more correct. Either way, the tunnel continued ever deeper, winding back and forth in some places, but nearly packed full of rubble in all areas.

Several days passed, and there were discussions about what the purpose was. It couldn't have just been for traveling through, because it all seemed intentionally collapsed. Like weaker areas of stone were dug through for that very purpose. That made them ever more worried about the multitude of presumably similar tunnels now dotting the landscape.

Their work became more efficient as they got used to it, though it was also due to recruiting more disciples from either sect for the labor. There was now a constant stream of people moving in and out of the tunnel, each carrying a storage bag full of rubble.

One kilometer down. The temperature went from the ambient coolness of cave systems to uncomfortably warm. Special care was taken to make sure proper amounts of air were reaching everyone working.

Two kilometers. People began to question whether anything could create such a tunnel in just a few hours. But they hadn't found the end yet.

Three kilometers. People were sweating constantly from temperatures that were bordering on deadly for normal humans. Anyone who had surpassed Body Tempering could withstand much more for extended periods of time, but it was uncomfortable.

Several more days of work, and they reached four and five kilometers deep. Soon enough they could all sense it. A source of heat, the nature of which was pointed out by the Black Stone Clan elders. "We do not usually dig so deep, not without good reason. That source up ahead is almost certainly a magma chamber. It's not safe to dig near them. That said, it's not as if we are opening up the walls. This tunnel already leads there, so we should be safe enough. At least, from that."

The tunnel slightly leveled out as they approached, and more than that it was not as completely full of rubble. When they reached a point it was actually opened up for a significant distance, Anton sensed something as the heat washed over everyone. The same energy signature as before, but less muted now.

It was stronger than he had thought, though not worryingly so. It just fit in with the natural surroundings so he'd been off with the magnitude of its power. If it had been just himself and a couple others he might be concerned, but at the moment they had six Essence Collection cultivators and dozens of Spirit Building disciples.

"I sense it," Anton said. "We should be cautious." Just because he wasn't worried didn't mean it was appropriate to be careless. There was a great beast ahead, an overlord if anything deserved to be called that. "Its energy does not feel as strong as a Life Transformation cultivator, but it isn't too far from it. We can expect it to have an exceptionally powerful body as well."

Anton was picking out all the details he could. It was, unsurprisingly, about as wide as the four meter diameter of the tunnel. A long body, and with rows of legs. From what he could sense it seemed more akin to a lizard than an insect, but it was difficult to tell at their current distance.

He explained what he could to the others, and pondered the situation. Even for something of that size and power, it didn't make sense that it could create the tunnels so quickly. And for them to find it in its lair, when it seemed to constantly be at work…

His energy senses dipped into the lava which filled up a good portion of the chamber. He could hardly sense anything beyond the heat, but he knew there was something there. Many things, with a sense of life about them. Not the size of the overlord, but still perhaps a meter or more in any particular direction.

Back at the mouth of the tunnel, he saw the trail of rock, chunks of it in an obvious path to the magma. And around the large chamber, there were many openings at various angles. Some came more directly from above, and were empty. He couldn't quite pick out why things were done one exact way, but he began to get the picture. Among other things, he could just pick out a partial magma tube, where the magma must have once been able to flow out of the chamber they were in.

"I think there's a mating pair," Anton said calmly. "That's how they managed certain collapses close together, though they must still have powerful burrowing abilities. I also sense some young… in the magma, no less. These tunnels are to fill up the pool, though I'm not entirely sure why it had to be done this way."

Extremely long tunnels where most of the rubble didn't even get to the end, when there were closer sources, seemed unnecessary. But maybe there was a reason for it he didn't understand.

Elder Magro looked ahead, clearly trying to feel what Anton did. "I'll take your word for that. The question is, what do we do?"

"I'd say- run!" Anton reached out, gesturing towards a group of disciples that were milling about. He wave them towards him, and to their credit they reacted instantly. They probably didn't even sense the large creature burrowing through the rock next to them, but they moved forward out of its way just in time to get away mostly unscathed.

A monstrous lizard, the visible part of which had a dozen legs and a maw large enough to swallow a human, had burst through the wall, scattering rocks everywhere as it did so.

"To the magma chamber!" Elder Magro ordered, as well as the elders of the Black Earth Clan. "There will be more room to maneuver there!"

Anton absolutely agreed. He took a few quick shots at the creature, as he began to move, to allow the disciples behind him to start moving. Fighting the creature in confined quarters that it was accustomed to would be bad for them, especially if the other moved to cut them off. Which he thought he felt it moving to do. Elder Magro was the first into the chamber, just as the other creature was reaching the entrance. He didn't hesitate to charge straight for it, stretching his arms out so that it couldn't engulf him with its maw. The armored man collided with the creature and actually managed to push it back. A few meters, anyway, which was enough for several others to enter the chamber and begin a coordinated attack that drove it back even further.

Chapter 268

The magma chamber had something like a ring of stone around the edges that was possible to stand on, biased towards the side where most of the excess rubble had been going. Even along the edges the stone was nearly red hot, not quite molten like the magma filling the middle. There were a few standout 'islands' in the middle of the area but Anton wouldn't trust those even if he were wearing the exceptionally durable boots of the Iron Fist Sect.

But not trusting the safety of something and considering its usefulness in a battle were different things. A nice safe spot to shoot arrows from would be great… if it wasn't a trap.

Anton doubted it was anything intentional like that, but there were some important factors to consider. Like the creatures they were fighting not caring at all about the magma. They chose to live in the area, after all- and the dripping chunks still attached to the one that had charged them at the tunnel entrance showed it had taken a straight path over and through the magma.

So the islands in the center were relegated to the status of emergency jumping points, if anything. Something slightly less dangerous to stand upon for a few moments.

Elder Magro continued to pummel the second of the two great lizards, the one that had tried to cut them off at the entrance of the tunnel while the other popped in from behind. He was making space for the rest of the disciples to get out into the chamber, but it was hard to say he was doing any real damage. A few test shots by Anton helped him take stock of its durability.

Though his main effort was focused on the battle, taking shots to try to get the many-legged lizard crawling out of the tunnel to divert away from the weaker people they had with them, Anton couldn't help but think about how bad the situation could have gotten.

Some people might think that being nearly flanked by two beast overlords with an entire brood of young just about to pour their way out of a nearby magma pool was bad, and they would be right. That was bad for Anton and the others with him. But what would have been worse was if this generation of young creatures had been allowed to grow.

One overlord level beast was an exception. Something to be dealt with carefully due to its great strength. Two of them were a problem, because while an overlords offspring might be exceptional, a pair of them would absolutely have more troublesome children. Anton felt some eggs in the magma that were a meter tall, and the instability the two creatures had caused in the area for just this was already significant. With dozens more they might start toppling cities, either by accident or because they wanted new territory.

Devon had positioned himself to the side of the overlord that Elder Magro had been pushing back, his chains wrapping around a handful of the legs on one side, binding them together. Anton could feel the strain on them, how close they were to snapping already. But he restricted the movements of the creature enough that it didn't crush Elder Magro or some of the others who had entered the melee under its massive bulk. Though it repeatedly tried it anyway.

Smaller creatures began to crawl out of the magma, between one and four meters in length, and with no more than eight or ten clawed legs each. Many of the disciples had broken off to hold those off, along with Alva and Fuzz. The wolf was dragging the creatures out of the magma, ignoring the small bits of exceedingly hot magma that found its way into his mouth and on his gums. He flung them into the walls of the chamber and then pounced on them to finish them off. Meanwhile, Alva took shots at the best targets in the area, prioritizing the creatures targeting her or Fuzz.

Pero and Olimpia, the elders of the Black Stone Clan, were facing off against the other overlord, keeping it half contained in the tunnel. Every time it tried to step out, they worked together to raise up a section of rock, knocking into its chin or pushing against its legs and forcing it backwards. As they repeated those actions, it began to simply smash through the barriers- but during that time it wasn't clawing or eating or crushing anyway.

Anton drew back his bow, taking careful aim at that creature's eye. He condensed his energy and released at the height of his power, the arrow snapping forward. There was hardly any distance for it to cover, and it instantly reached the creature's eye. It pierced through the defensive energy and struck the eyeball itself… or at least the translucent film covering it.

He could convince himself that he'd done some damage. He was pretty sure he saw a mark where he hit, but it could have already been discolored. The point was, however, that he should have expected something that could withstand direct contact with magma for extended periods of time to be tough. That included the smaller ones, as the disciples were finding out. Though they appeared at least somewhat able to be damaged.

Out of his bag Anton pulled the bone bow. He found himself generally agreeing with Grand Elder Kseniya that it wasn't a good bow. It was difficult to fire, and not nearly quick enough. But Anton had greatly improved his own ability to create strings purely out of energy which this particular bow required. If he'd had more physical strength it might have been optimal for a certain style of shooting, but it seemed as if it were made for someone who focused on physical strength all throughout Spirit Building and even into Essence Collection.

Even so, he could still take a few good shots with it. He gathered a portion of his ascension energy. His maximum amount used at once had expanded, but his pool had grown even more. He could now manage four or five full power shots, instead of three. This time, when his arrow flew towards the creature it reacted, twisting its body so that its right side faced him, along with a myriad of legs. Two of them were raised into the path of his arrow, the creature moving even before his shot had been completed. It wasn't strange, really. Overlords that couldn't anticipate danger wouldn't survive for long.

His arrow pierced forward, penetrating through one leg and then the other. And that was… it. It didn't manage to reach into the creature's body or strike any of its vital organs. Still, he had pierced through some key parts of the creature's legs. They would be useless. He took solace in that, until the legs fell off.

With each leg being the size of a tree trunk, there was no way his shots should have separated the limbs from the creature. He'd pierced through some tendons and ligaments, functional but small points- he hadn't chopped with a large blade. But the limbs fell off, twitching angrily as they did so. One of the disciples helping the Black Earth Clan elders was taken off guard by the sudden turn and the fact that the dislodged limbs moved, resulting in several large gashes across his chest. The good news was that when he tumbled to the ground the wounds cauterized quickly.

Anton furrowed his brow as he looked at the empty space where the two legs had once been. It was a vulnerable spot, but as a wound it was strangely disappointing. There was no blood, after the first few drops of nearly glowing red-orange blood. Two legs out of thirty or forty. He could possibly cripple one of the creatures if he kept attacking in that manner, but he really needed to hit their new weak points.

Unfortunately, firing normal arrows at the smooth spots where there had once been limbs was difficult. The creature continually twisted and turned, sweeping those around it away. Lizards were biting at Anton's ankles along with most of the rest of his body, forcing him to deal with some of those and not the overlords. Denton had almost been pulled into the magma by the one he'd been entangling. And Fuzz…

"No! Bad wolf! This isn't time to eat, we're fighting!" Alva yanked on Fuzz as hard as she could, but she had no hope of physically maneuvering the giant wolf. Not unless she wanted to risk actually hurting him, and it would take more than one arm to make that attempt. She was now fully occupied by shooting the creatures that were taking advantage of the fact that Fuzz was standing still, trying to bite and claw into him. Some were successful, leaving furrows of blood on the stupid wolf. What was he even doing? He knew how fights worked!

At least the Iron Fist disciples that her grandfather knew were helping out. Caeus and Printza stood on either side of Fuzz, bodily getting in the way of incoming lizards and even grappling with them to flip them on their back. Alva always took advantage of that, as their underbellies were much softer. Her arrows sunk into them like she was shooting into blocks of iron, which was way more effective than the scales on the rest of their bodies. What were they even made of?

Unfortunately there was no way to answer that question. Instead she had to pick off as many foes as she could to protect Fuzz and the two disciples who were extremely stoic about all of the holes poked in their armor and themselves. Did Printza really have to let that one chomp into her forearm just so she could get a better grip on it? Alva took a few quick shots through the lower jaw while she held it stationary, her arrows reaching up into the creature's brain. An unnecessary move, but efficient at least.

If the only thing they had to fight was the small lizards, they would be fine. If they included the overlords, Alva probably thought they could manage as well. When adding on the fact that it was really stupidly hot she was less confident in their chances. Was it okay to take a second to chug some water? Alva reached for her waterskin but found it had evaporated. At least her magic bag was sealed, and she sent some tendrils of energy to pull out a handful of berries. They were supposed to be for cultivation, but they were usable as emergency energy replenishment. Yet Alva wanted them just for the juicy water inside.

She looked at Fuzz. He'd at least finished chewing on his target and was looking around for things to fight, but his mouth… was far too full of dried, flaky blood. Sure, some of that was from the creatures but more of it was his. His gums were oozing blood until it nearly instantly dried, and he seemed to be missing some teeth.

"Wait, Fuzz!" Alva pulled out a waterproof satchel, debated opening it and then just directly tossed it into his mouth. Fuzz bit down with an extremely unpleasant squelching sound. She really hated the sound of him eating those, and she also didn't like to look at it. Fuzz had grown fond of a particular variety of rabbits that were particularly… juicy. They normally looked fuzzy and happy and round, but that roundness was because they were plump with blood. There was probably some reason that was advantageous for them, but in this case it would at least temporarily get some liquid in Fuzz.

Even as he ate the satchel and the prize inside, Fuzz began to leap across the battlefield. "Okay we're heading over this way now thanks you two!" Alva vaguely waved to Caeus and Printza, whose confused expressions were unfortunately visible through various damaged bits of their helmets.

Alva wasn't sure why they were running across the battlefield, but she added her own shots to the most obvious target. The great lizard that had flanked them in the tunnel was now out of it and sweeping around the battlefield, with the other fighting half in the magma. Alva wasn't sure Fuzz should get in a fight with the creature, because for all his size he still seemed small next to something four meters wide. But she also couldn't say the battle didn't need the help.

When the creature reared up she took a shot at its belly, and barely managed to break through a scale. If it obliged her and continued to repeat that action she might eventually form some deeper wounds, but it wouldn't be easy. As it was currently sweeping its claws at two cultivators coated in rock, she could only try to distract it or watch for the other to leave an opening.

"Fuzz you're going the wrong way!" Alva yelled as the wolf ran towards the tunnel. "I'm not leaving everyone else behind! We need to fight! Grandpa and Devon are here!"

Alva knew Fuzz wasn't a coward. Usually he was so good in battles, even if he was a little bit incautious with his own health he always took care of her. So when he leapt through the air and pounced on an empty section of ground mouth first, she was extremely confused. Then she heard a crunch. She was pretty sure that was equally the sound of breaking scales and Fuzz' teeth as he bit down on the detached limb of one of the overlords.

"Dammit Fuzz this isn't time to eat, that will be there later!"

Chapter 269

Author's note: The combat in this chapter took a bit more of a brutal turn than most. Just a warning since usually things are less gory than this chapter.

Despite Alva's protests, Fuzz knew this was exactly the time to eat. He just couldn't have explained it to anyone if asked, both because of the inability to speak and the unclear reason behind it. Sometimes, there were things you just knew.

That was why Fuzz didn't give up even though it was really tough to chew these things. He didn't give up when he was being attacked by the small ones, despite them clawing at his fury. He wasn't going to give up on chewing through this big hunk of arm, despite the alarming number of teeth he was breaking. He fortified his mouth with as much energy as he could and it could barely overcome the durability and lingering energy of the limbs.

That was a problem. That was the problem Fuzz had, actually. He was supposed to be stronger than Alva so he could keep her safe. If he couldn't be stronger than her, he at least had to keep up with her… but ever since she'd reached the next level of power he hadn't been good enough. He doubted the pack would just abandon him, but he needed to keep up. The strong, chewy muscles beneath the scales he tore through would provide him that power.

Hopefully. Otherwise he was making Alva fight more or less alone for no reason at all. But nothing was going to stop him from chewing now. Not incoming creatures, not the pain in his mouth, and not a splash of extremely hot liquid rock from one of the two big lizards. The one in the pool of the glowing stuff was quite upset, and was splashing around with the clear intention to create a big mess.

When a huge chunk of that flew towards Fuzz, he dodged out of the way- Alva was still riding on his back after all. The arm was a bit heavier than anticipated so he was swung around and didn't quite leave the radius of danger, but as some of it splashed over his head he merely added it to the pain he was experiencing. He shook his head, flinging off the burning globules before Alva could try to brush them off with her hand.

Fuzz was hot. Obviously his fur was far too warm for such a place. Rocks weren't supposed to melt, but melt they had. It was a testament to his durability that his fur hadn't instantly caught on fire as he entered the area, though it was certainly smoldering now. His face was of course very hot where it had directly touched the lava. His own burned flesh was an unappetizing smell, especially when mixed with that of his blood, but he continued to rip out pieces of the inside of the limb he now held in his paws, most of the pesky scales discarded.

The hottest part was not either of those things, however, but instead Fuzz' insides. He was quite aware of the difference between energy and fire in most circumstances, but inside of him the line was really starting to blur. But he couldn't stop now. The heat and pressure inside of him built up until it finally cracked.

Part of his back split open when it did so. Nothing big, just a line about the size of a human's arm. A squiggly one, like the things Catarina made in his fur and had tattooed on him. Those didn't hurt. This one was painful, but in a good way. Like when you gorged yourself on too much of a beast and then had to vomit it out, it felt good to have the pressure relieved. In this case… Fuzz hadn't eaten too much.

He tore another chunk out of the arm in front of him, finding it slightly easier than before. He felt pretty good now, and some of his teeth were even straightening out where they'd been broken. The others would probably take some time to grow back, but he also had his claws. And he was feeling much better.

He focused in on Devon, who was fighting the big one that had splashed the hot rock on him. It was risky to bring Alva close to that, but Devon was a member of the pack too. Family of Anton and Alva, specifically. If Alva didn't want to go close, she was entirely capable of being independently mobile.

Fuzz readied himself, then charged- knocking aside the smaller creatures that tried to stand in his way. His newly empowered energy protected him while his body was beginning to knit itself into what he was certain was a stronger and more durable form. He couldn't wait for it to finish, however, because the battle wasn't over.

Alva remained with Fuzz right up until the edge where the big lizard was half-sticking out of the pool of very hot liquid rock. He was glad she chose to dismount there, because the big creature could attack her directly on his back with either teeth or claws. Plus there was all of the splashing rock.

Devon's chains surrounded him defensively, but they were not actively holding onto the creature. Likewise, the powerful armored man fighting next to him would occasionally strike the creature, but maintained a defensive position. Such a strategy might draw out the battle, but it would not win. Fuzz leapt forward and latched onto its foremost limb on the left side. He was large, but still significantly smaller than the creature. Even so, he could restrict its movements, and as power flowed through him he thought maybe he could drag it out of its defensive position.

His teeth pierced through the scales to find a grip and he yanked hard, pulling it back a single step. Then the creature's many limbs stopped its movement, and its overly large maw chomped down on his shoulder.

Despite his lack of scales, Fuzz' hide was extremely durable. His bones were too, which was very important in this particular case because it kept his front-left appendage from being severed. The teeth sunk deep, though, and the mouth yanked.

Fuzz had to choose between keeping his own leg and holding onto the creature's leg. If it had fewer of them he might have stood firm, but he only had four himself versus the many fours it had. And while the lizard seemed quite willing to give up its limbs, Fuzz was less certain he could grow his back.

So he let go, and found himself flung up into the air, sailing over the lizard. Such a slow and meandering arc would normally not have been a problem, but the landing place was a bit problematic. The good news was that Fuzz landed on his feet. Yet more good news was that the swirling energy flowing through and out of him kept his pads from instantly burning away. The best news was that he was sinking slowly into the very hot, liquid rock.

The reason the latter was good news was because if he had been fully submerged Fuzz wasn't sure how long he would survive. Even with his energy protecting him Fuzz felt the burns. He started running his way back towards the big lizard, wondering if he could hop onto its back and damage it there. His jaws couldn't get around its neck, but he might find purchase somewhere.

A flicking movement distracted him from the side. He half saw it half felt it, as something very large moved under the surface. Not another creature, but the same one. Its tail, lobbing globs of fire at the group fighting it. And a section of land nearby that was not quite so hot as to be melted.

Thinking wasn't for wolves. It certainly wasn't for wolves in the middle of battle. The most important thing he could do was be active. So he quickly changed his trajectory to his new target.

Fuzz would have liked to stand on the less-burning-hot ground and grab the end of the tail, but it remained firmly buried in the goop most of the time. Even when it flung chunks, it rarely broke the surface.

So he dove for it instead. Fuzz was very good at digging, and while the ground here was not nearly so friendly for a burrowing wolf as dirt, he ignored the way it splattered against his belly as he went a leg's length into the hot goop. The heavy density of it was actually quite convenient, as it flowed together more slowly than loose dirt. It would be a problem if he wanted it to keep its shape, but he only needed a very short time to reach his target. A nice, tender, mouth-width chunk of moving flesh and scale.

As his jaws clamped onto it, he also got a mouthful of the liquid rock. That was extremely uncomfortable, but nobody ever said battle was comfortable. Not real battles. And this one was probably going to get worse.

As Fuzz lifted and pulled, his feet sunk into the surface below. It took several yanks before he broke a chunk of the tail free from the material, then it began moving and thrashing to throw him off.

He let it pull him in a particular direction, but kept his feet planted as firmly as he could most of the time. His jaw remained clamped even as everything burned.

When his feet found the solid segment, he pulled upwards, standing onto his hind legs. It was something he would do only rarely, as he was not a human. He just didn't work like that. But he couldn't get enough height otherwise.

He then threw himself to the side, using his weight to snap the tail tight and that momentum to yank the creature towards him.

Devon felt great sympathy for Fuzz as his shoulder was bitten into, and great worry as he was flung onto the magma. The wolf was already pretty badly beaten up, and he didn't look like he could withstand much more. The intense aura of determination coming from Fuzz didn't help him feel better about that.

When the wolf diverted course he was almost distracted enough to get himself clamped between the lizard's jaws, but two chains flexed apart around him and gave him time to dodge away. Unfortunately, that brought him under the creature.

The chains were crushed and broken apart, which was a shame. He had developed a method to make his energy durable and more akin to a real object, but that meant when it broke it was more damaging than just a standard chunk of energy being broken through. Since he was already pushing himself to his limits to deal with the overlord, he didn't have the spare energy to form more chains. Thus, the two that protected him were simply lost.

While Devon hadn't expected Fuzz' detour, the beast was clearly even less prepared for it. It was actually yanked backwards, its front feet sliding back over the magma where it quickly sank. That left just its head and neck above the surface, a fact that Devon took advantage immediately.

His position below it was suddenly useful for a brief moment, as his remaining handful of chains looped around to either side and up and over the creature. Without the distraction it would have simply crushed him, but when its head came down the force was much less than the whole weight of its body. He broke one, maybe two or three ribs at most.

Elder Magro was quick to react, leaping up onto the creature's head as Devon's chains wrapped around its jaws. He punched an eye, and when an eyelid simply blocked the blow he grabbed firmly and pulled it open. Another translucent eyelid remained inside that one, which he grabbed with his other hand.

That left the creature relatively restrained and an easy target for Alva. With its eyes being nearly the size of a standard archery target, it was difficult for her to miss even with it thrashing about. Her first arrow barely penetrated at all, but each subsequent one broke further layers through the eye.

Elder Magro participated by kicking at the oversized orb, while Devon tried to keep the thing slightly still. The fact that it was dealing with assaults from both ends had thrown it off, but it was still overpoweringly strong. The nearby disciples were quick to leap to their assistance. The Black Earth Clan members formed layers of rock around the creature's forelimbs. Each was nearly instantly snapped off, but another was ready to form immediately afterwards.

Disciples of the Iron Fist Sect leapt onto the head as well, targeting the other eye and anything else they could vaguely guess was a weak point. Their efforts weren't useful for the damage so much as the extra weight holding the creature down, even if it made it more difficult for Devon to edge out from underneath its jaw.

Alva's arrows and Elder Magro's steel toed boots soon found their way through the left eye, and then into the creature's brain. Even though the brain was very small by comparison to its size, it still took several hits to cause significant damage, ending with Elder Magro's entire leg in the beast's head before it stopped consciously thrashing.

The creature still took some time to properly perish, but it did die. That freed up everyone fighting it to move on to the other creature, though all participants were at least a little bit bloodied and some were barely standing. But Devon knew that his grandfather was holding down the fight with the other one and they would certainly overcome it… though it wouldn't be easy.

Chapter 270

While he'd been distracted by swarming many-legged reptiles, Anton had lost some of his focus on the battlefield as a whole. He was still aware of all the battles happening, but he'd not really comprehended whatever happened with Fuzz. The wolf was looking exceptionally proud of himself, and also exceptionally burnt and bloodied. Anton hoped he could get himself away from the island in the middle of the lava with his remaining energy, but for the moment he had to help deal with the other overlord- one had been slain, and most of the offspring had been killed.

Not that their own side was without losses. There were dead and wounded members among the disciples of the two groups, those unfortunate in their positioning or unable to handle the swarming enemies and oppressive heat. If they'd been given the option they would have retreated to the surface- but now that things had come to this point it was better to finish off their remaining foe.

It was a good thing all of the Essence Collection cultivators were able to focus their attentions on the creature, because it was enraged at the death of its mate. It was spinning wildly, clawing at anything that came close with its myriad of limbs. Just because it was a couple short on one side didn't suddenly make it safe to deal with. The tail was also a problem, slamming into people as it passed or forcing them to leap over it. Teeth drove people away.

Anton focused on the weak points created by its lost limbs, with the intention to either cause it great damage or force it to defend against his attacks and ignore others. The elders of the Black Earth Clan were rapidly molding the rock to slow the creature, and others were converging on the creature's location.

There wasn't a particular moment that spelled victory for them, at least not past the defeat of the first creature and the gradual advance of their own forces. Armored members of the Iron Fist continued to pummel the creature until its scales cracked and the combined forces wore down the stamina of the great lizard.

Soon enough they had reached a point of certain victory, but the creature pulled off one more twist. In this case it was literal, its body spinning around and tail forcing people to dodge out of the way, with a few brave souls risking a swipe at the flailing appendage.

Previously that move would have led into some sort of focused attack on an individual, but instead it resulted in the creature facing the pool of magma, where it began to charge. However, despite the fatigue everyone had built up they wouldn't allow it to retreat. Perhaps it might not find another overlord as a mate, but it could still cause tunnels to collapse and might seek to harm humans in the future.

Without any prompting, Caeus and Printza grabbed onto the tail as the creature started its mad dash towards the magma pool. Devon grabbed a few legs from its right side, right behind the ones that had been severed. Elder Magro leapt in front of the creature, punching upwards into its jaw to try to concuss it. Reaching masses of rock from the Black Earth Clan tried to stop it.

Every effort was valiant, but the creature was unwilling to be restrained. Its tail detached, along with any legs that were restrained. One side of the creature was closer to being a snake than a lizard, and the other pushed unevenly as it bowled over the people in front of it, ignoring the damage to itself.

It was clear it wouldn't be stopped so easily, but those with longer reach continued to attack it, and of course Alva and Anton peppered it with arrows.

As it was about to dive under the surface of the magma where it would be difficult to follow- at least with any speed- Anton gathered his least used type of energy. The pieces from beyond reincarnation that were ephemeral. It wasn't as oppressively strong as ascension energy, but it was quite useful. His arrow flew forward, breaking its way through the thin layer of defensive energy the creature had left. Its scales would normally deflect an attack of the magnitude Anton was making, but the special energy let his arrow pierce through, interacting more directly with what he chose rather than what was in its path.

It had its weaknesses, but it was extremely functional at piercing through armor- and with the stores of energy of the creature depleted those defenses were unable to block it. It skipped past the outer layer of the creature's back and struck its spine, where Anton forced it to do as much damage as possible. A shot through the heart would take a long time to kill it, if a narrow hole would even be sufficient. Even the brain showed signs of taking too long to really kill it.

But the spine… it almost immediately went limp. It wasn't a shot that would have been possible if it was still focused on fighting or slightly healthier, but recognizing what one was capable of doing was important for taking advantage of such situations.

Depressingly enough, the creature still took some time to kill even though its back half couldn't move. Part of that was because people were being more cautious, staying where it was safe and jabbing their weapons into its sides to slowly bleed it to death. Some of that was because people were exhausted, and some of it was simply the thing being so tough.

Then came the clean up. They began with taking the bodies of the humans out of the area, both those unconscious and dead. Those lying injured would not be able to stabilize with the near rock-melting heat permeating the area. Those who were dead might still have their body preserved for a proper funeral, instead of an unintentional cremation.

Everything else was left for later, though Anton noticed Fuzz left with a leg dragging behind him, one claw clutched in his mouth.

Upon later exploration of the tunnels, the structural stability of the region was worse than had been thought. While the quakes had been felt quite locally for the most part, in a short time the collapses might have escalated to a greater extent. The Black Earth Clan set about the long task of stabilizing the area. Part of their work involved fusing the rubble in various tunnels into solid states, though they also had to dig out some areas to reach the deeper parts.

A few tunnels were useful for their own efforts and were repurposed, and others could be left as they were, as long as nobody wandered into them they would be safe.

They also had to unplug the blockages on the magma chamber, letting the magma flow through the ground on whatever path it had been before. As they did so, they found there were more eggs of the creatures still present. All of them were destroyed, though that didn't mean they just left the pieces behind. The shells were a good material, though not quite so useful as the creatures themselves.

The two overlords were determined to have been anomalies. There were certainly varieties of beasts that could live in extreme temperatures, but most of them would not have such troublesome tunnel-digging behaviors or excessive size. As far as could be determined, the collapses had been an intended part of preparing their lair to whatever standards they found acceptable. Much of the rubble was used to block up the flow of magma through the area to create the large pool.

As for why they didn't just take chunks from the area around them, perhaps they understood that it would make their own lair unstable. While the adults were able to quickly burrow through solid rock and didn't much care about tons of material collapsing atop them, their young were not quite so durable. But whatever their specific reasons, it could only be speculated upon.

Anton wondered if there was a way the creatures could have lived. While the cultivators had certainly intruded upon their lair, they hadn't been determined to fight until they were herded into the area and left with little choice. Even things that seemed like monstrosities to humans likely deserved to live… but they also couldn't be allowed to harm humans. And if they had been left much longer, they might have started collapsing large sections of city.

In the end, he and the others were paid what had been arranged, plus an additional amount for the unexpected level of dangers. Except for the disciples who died, the Black Earth Clan and Iron Fist Sect actually profited from the venture, in the form of the valuable corpses of the beasts. The Iron Fist Sect was especially interested in the scales, and how they could be enchanted to make even more durable armor than what they normally wore.

Of course, they didn't get all of the bodies of the creatures. Fuzz made away with pieces several times, including some consumed during the battle. Then he spent the next several days unconscious, recovering from his injuries and adjusting to the new, more powerful state he had reached.

While beasts who cultivated didn't have exactly the same stages as humans, and didn't have proper cultivation techniques, they still found ways to advance. Among other things, they consumed the same sorts of energy-infused herbs and plants that humans did, as well as absorbing natural energy from the environment. Finally, they had a method that was nearly unique to them- consuming other beasts.

Humans could gain some benefits from consuming the flesh of a powerful beast, but for the most part it amounted to little more than exceptional nutrition. Some techniques made better use of those resources, but beasts were the best at making use of it.

Anton was glad that Fuzz had managed to advance, for his own sake as well as that of Alva. However, he was concerned about the fact that a rune seemed to have formed spontaneously on him. That was something Catarina or those who focused on formations would have to be asked about- though Catarina would likely be the best for this particular case. She was the one who had started shaving runes into Fuzz' fur to help him recover after they rescued him.

If Catarina didn't know better, she might have thought she put that rune on Fuzz' back herself. It fit right in, completing part of the picture. But she did know better, and was slightly concerned at its appearance.

Alva explained it just appeared during battle, so at least it shouldn't have been sabotage by some sort of enemy… but it was still disconcerting.

Natural formations existed, but they had nothing to do with something like this. They were simply arrangements of sticks, leaves, stones, and anything else in an area that just so happened to take on the form of runes and total together to a formation that affected the energy of the world. They weren't shaped by something.

At least, that was supposed to be the case. At the current point in time they were so far removed from those who first studied formations that it would have been like asking what a specific person had a hundred years ago for breakfast. If they were alive they might guess, but they wouldn't know.

Natural formations were supposed to stabilize in their positions due to various factors… not pop into place. But nothing she'd read directly refuted the possibility of that happening either. Of course, the idea was so ridiculous that it shouldn't have had to be mentioned.

When something like that came up, though, it forced Catarina to wonder. Was there something deeper to this? A will of nature? Perhaps it was simply Fuzz' own will. It could have even been something he subconsciously picked up from watching her. He hadn't shown any particular talent with putting together formations, but he might subconsciously understand those inlaid upon himself.

Catarina smiled. She hadn't found a new puzzle to work on in a while. Dealing with all of the crazy formations Everheart left behind gave her a headache even when she understood them, but this was something she might be one of the first to learn about. Or at least she could assure herself that Fuzz would be fine. It wouldn't do to have their very oversized companion be hurt by something they could prevent.

Chapter 271

Of the many great things Everheart was responsible for- great in magnitude if nothing else- perhaps the most significant in the current times was his infusion of anti-ascension techniques into the minds of many of the greatest elites. Yet like anything else he did, it was not without its flaws. Merely having knowledge of such a technique didn't immediately make people proficient with it. Even though the memories thrust upon them gave them a small amount of experience, they would need to use the techniques with their own bodies to make optimal use of them.

So they practiced, at least the majority of those involved. Very few had any sort of personal interaction with Everheart, given his last appearance had been so many years before. Even those whose sects had held a grudge for the man were mostly convinced of the truth of his words. Enough to include the techniques among the others they trained, at least.

The only difficulty was the limit of what people could achieve merely through self practice, without any practical usage. There weren't exactly a large number of ascended people running around for people to practice with. In fact, that very scenario was the danger they were preparing to face. Though the theoretical timing of the event should still be decades away, the more experienced cultivators realized how quickly that time could pass. The difficulty then became finding a target for their practice.

That was an area with quite a bit of focus on it. The Order was willing to share Fleeting Youth, but that wasn't practical for many reasons. The requirements to practice it strongly overlapped with those who were the closest to reaching ascension, at least in theory. Actual instances of Ascension were rare, and there were none in the public records since the battle at Black Soul Valley. But just because they probably would not reach that point didn't meant most cultivators would be willing to give it up.

It was mainly taken up by those who had given up hope of advancing any further, generally those who couldn't even step into Life Transformation after decades riding the edge. Unfortunately for them, the effects were also limited by the fact that they were no longer growing. They were able to gain some proficiency in Fleeting Youth, but it was not as much as someone properly situated like Anton. It wasn't just that he had longer years of practice- after a few years, it was clear their rate of advancement in the technique was also slower.

Even if a talented elder in each sect was willing to give up the potential of ascension, they would still find themselves unable to provide for the needs of everyone. Other methods were being developed, including formations derived from Everheart's work and that of the Luminous Ocean Society. A formation that contained ascension energy was at least a viable test of whether or not it was possible to disrupt the energy, though it wouldn't measure up to actually being used in battle. Even so, such formations helped push people to a higher level in their techniques.

Because he was the first to use the technique and one of the most skilled with it, Anton was able to provide the most accurate representation of what they could expect, and with a significant amount of power. It was thus that he often found himself sparring with Life Transformation experts, though calling it a spar was perhaps a bit too generous. They had to lower their power output and speed for things to be even remotely a challenge. It was a bit unfortunate, as it meant the Vessel of Insights was able to glean less from them… except in the case of specifically anti-ascension techniques. Anton had a constant stream of those to internalize, though seldom had the opportunity to make use of them himself.

A deep breath synchronized with the way energy was pulled from beyond the world. Unless he was seriously mistaken, ascension cultivators would hold their energy with them at all times instead of gathering it when they intended to make use of it. All of his attempts to hold on to it in the long term were futile, and in fact Anton thought the more he tried the more it slipped out of his grasp.

For the sake of sparring he held onto the maximum amount he could at any time. In a way this was a disadvantage, as it left him open to disrupting attacks that would disperse everything he had gathered without effect. On the other hand, it meant he wouldn't telegraph when he was planning to make an attack with ascension energy. That was less relevant against new opponents who wouldn't necessarily understand what Anton was doing, but against those with proper training it helped.

Heat poured over him as Anton faced off against Elder Sarka of the Glorious Flame Palace. She was in early Life Transformation while Anton was still in mid Essence Collection. Over the past several years he was only managing a single star per year. That was still a significant rate, but he was beginning to see how years might begin slipping away from him.

The radiating heat from the woman was higher than the magma chamber a few years prior. That was what focused intent allowed, an effect incomparable to nature. Though by Anton's understanding, there were also natural heats that surpassed even that of molten rock and volcanoes. Not counting stars, of course, which were something else entirely.

Anton nocked an arrow on his bow. To most it would have appeared to be just a normal Spirit Arrow, but his studies of the stars had led Anton to develop some alternate forms for his arrows. It still didn't really match up to starstuff, but that was the angle he had come across the ideas.

Since Elder Sarka overpowered Anton, he was allowed the advantage of making the first move. Or at least… initiating it. She was under no obligation to let him finish it. As he pulled back on his bowstring she immediately began to move. Flames coiled around her as she began to charge towards him. He released the string, flinging his arrow forward. As it left the bow… it disappeared. The same instant, at least to the best reckoning of any cultivators, his arrow hit its target.

It was unfortunate Elder Sarka had prepared her defenses immediately, because that particular attack was less powerful than most of Anton's abilities. Less powerful… but much more swift. It reflected the properties of light, including a near-instantaneous speed of travel. Sadly, he seldom found a good use for it in spars. On the battlefield it would be much more effective as he could target anyone with their defenses down for even a moment, but against a single opponent they would be ready even if they didn't know what he was going to do. Unless they were exceedingly reckless.

Glorious Flame Palace cultivators might be seen as a bit over the top in some cases. Too straightforward. However, they weren't crazy enough to go into battle without energy defenses.

Anton changed tactics, firing his more usual brand of energy arrows. They were a nice balance of speed and power without any particularly special properties. As the woman charged at him with a spear he repositioned himself and occasionally changed up his method of attack. His other style of arrow was completely useless against Glorious Flame Palace cultivators, but he still had ascension energy to call upon. And that was the whole point of the exercise anyway.

The next arrow Anton shot had the energy to break through Sarka's defenses, even if she were to make full use of her Life Transformation abilities. However, instead of trying to avoid it the woman simply stabbed towards it with her spear. She was fond of using her fist in battle, and of course her primary method of attack was simply her flames, but she had conceded that when battling ascension energy something with reach was more practical. As Anton's arrow impacted her spear, there was an explosion of energy as it unraveled.

The undirected energy would be less dangerous than the focused energy of an arrow, but it was still enough to cause damage to a careless cultivator. It stripped away the layer of energy Elder Sarka had created around her weapon, and Anton followed up with another attack to take advantage of that fact.

It would have worked, too, if she hadn't already formed an attack of her own. Though her spearhead was devoid of energy, she had gathered some around her hands, one of which released the spear and lobbed a ball of fire at Anton, striking near him before he could finish gathering the energy for his next attack. He avoided most of the explosion, but the attack sent out ripples of energy that disrupted his gathering energy. What he already had was dispersed, and he winced as his connection was briefly cut off. He wasn't sure if the effects would be exactly the same on a real ascension cultivator, but they would also have more energy to disperse so the attack would still be extremely effective.

Half of the distance had been closed by Elder Sarka, and Anton was tempted to rush himself to try to land some sort of blow. However, he kept his firing rate intentional. A few normal arrows while he gathered ascension energy. He maneuvered around a large tree to mitigate the effects of another fireball, and the rippling energy. He focused on holding the energy to him and kept the majority of it, ready to use for an attack at a later point.

Anton had an interesting thought. If it were a real battle he might have followed through with it. Logically a real battle was no place for experimentation, but when a cultivator gained mid-battle insights it was often exceptionally useful to their exact circumstances. Anton didn't decide against using his new idea because he thought it wouldn't work, but because if it worked too well he might cause some serious damage.

Instead, he summoned up several additional bows of energy, each firing shots at Elder Sarka. He was able to maintain a higher level of output with such methods, potentially allowing him to break through defenses that were stronger than he could overcome with a single arrow. The technique also drained him more quickly, but that was always the tradeoff in battle.

With his physical bow, he nocked another special arrow while he at the same time dropped down to only using one extra bow. Its composition changed, from his standard energy to being fully formed from ascension energy. At the same time, the arrow he formed between his hands glowed the orange-red of flames. Both shot simultaneously, and as expected Elder Sarka focused on the attack of ascension energy. It was what their training was for, and it was absolutely the bigger danger. Even if Anton's idea worked.

His ascension arrow was summarily destroyed, even with the extra power and speed from using it as a bow as well as arrows. The explosion at least caused Elder Sarka to take a step back, though she was still restricting her overall output of energy somewhat.

His other arrow was essentially ignored as it struck her side. After all, it was formed of fire, something that the Glorious Flame Palace was entirely used to. Just because it was also fire didn't mean it would slip past her defenses, and it dispersed as it struck just below her ribcage. Most of it, anyway. A small core continued onward, piercing through her armor and even causing a small wound.

Her eyes widened in surprise, and she touched her side as if she couldn't believe what her senses were telling her. It wasn't a serious wound. Barely more than skin deep. But the fact that it had happened at all confused her. "What was that?"

"What did it feel like?" Anton asked.

"Ascension energy. But I was disrupting that."

She was right, of course. Along with the spear striking his attack sending off shockwaves, she also had a defensive technique specially suited to more passively disrupting ascension energy. Anton should have needed much more energy to overcome that barrier, similar to one of his full attacks- but his maximum output was limited.

"Every technique can be countered," Anton pointed out. "Even the anti-ascension techniques. The disruptive resonance they create makes ascension energy fall apart, but if the user of such energy knows it will happen they can attempt to work with it instead of against it. I just so happen to have developed some fire arrows, and they synchronize quite well with your energy. You were ready to block that, but not ascension energy synchronized in the same way."

"Pfeh. You sure you want to tell me all that? It'll just make this harder for you."

"That's the whole point of me being here," Anton pointed out. "I'm not trying to win a spar with a Life Transformation expert. Besides, you would have figured it out in another attack or two. Better to be helpful about it."

Elder Sarka nodded. "How much left do you have in you?"

"One more round, I think," Anton determined. He could only call upon so much ascension energy in any one period. It wasn't just tiring, but also as if he was pulling from an actual store of energy that had a limit. He couldn't be sure if that was actually the case, but it at least felt like that. As he practiced more, his limits increased so it was barely different from his personal energy except the fact that it did not dwell inside him on a permanent basis.

Anton raised his bow once more. He was looking forward to reviewing some of his own insights after this, and perhaps he might get something from Sarka's perspective as well.

Chapter 272

Despite its relative proximity to the Order, Anton rarely found himself in Thuston. There was little special about it except its position, which had almost led it to ruin. In the more than a decade since the unfortunate incident during the hunt, the town had changed significantly. It hadn't just grown in size- that would not have been outside of the ordinary. For the most part towns and villages grew larger, unless the pull of a large city was enough to siphon away the people.

The size of the village and number of people had certainly gone up, but what changed most was how they operated. In truth, the transformation of the village was less extensive than Windrip- but that was only because Anton had focused on that particular place with the former villagers of Dungannon and the escaped slaves. A majority of them had chosen to live there for a period of time, and while some of them had moved on they all took something with them.

Specifically, cultivation. The factors that prevented people from being cultivators were several in number, the foremost of which were lack of access to knowledge, limited natural energy, and the fear of the unknown. The third was related to the first, and the second could be solved. But like anything else, it took time.

Cultivators who tended the land had the biggest effect, the natural energy they put into their work more than returning itself when the plants grew. The effects were more difficult to make out in other areas, where people worked in the production of various goods. It wasn't clear if a hammer forged by a cultivating blacksmith added to the natural energy of the world or simply radiated the signs of its origin. But everyone needed food, and there were always plenty of farmers working to supply it. That produced the most regular and constant changes.

The area around Thuston was now to the point that it rivaled the Order's natural energy, at least at the border. Because of that, as a sort of experiment, the barrier had been modified. It no longer worked to contain the energy in that section, though it still kept any stray beasts from the forest away.

The eventual results weren't obvious yet. The energy from both sides was able to flow freely, which in theory would enhance the land around the area even where it wasn't worked by farmers with that goal specifically in mind. As Anton walked through the area it certainly felt richer, but Anton could have been fooling himself.

The eventual goal was to remove the barrier entirely, not restricting the flow of energy from around the Order. That was the idea, anyway, but with more powerful cultivators working the land on the Order's property it would grow more quickly. It at least seemed like a waste to just let it permeate into the surroundings. Perhaps cultivation sects would stick to their current models of containment, but Anton at least hoped that the rest of the country could have an uninhibited flow of energy throughout. Though he believed that ultimately it would pay off to let the energy flow freely even from the sects. On the current time scale, though, it might build up the land too slowly.

After all, there were only a few decades, maybe a handful, until a great calamity was coming. Whatever it was, it had drawn a handful of years closer. Anton almost wished he could see the clock Everheart had, but being in possession of such a thing might be a curse. If it were entirely accurate, it could indeed allow the various sects to prepare themselves to the fullest. On the other hand, it would only lead to worry as the day came closer. Anton could also imagine that it would lead to neglect of other things, like the focus on future generations.

Even the Order might abandon the idea of raising new disciples when it came down to the last decade, or perhaps the last handful of years. It might even be best for the survival of the world, but surviving wasn't the only thing worth considering. Survival was good, but prospering was better. A time where new disciples were rejected or put aside as unimportant would potentially alienate a whole generation of potential cultivators, and the great talents that might come from within them.

Yes, it was better to think that everyone might have the potential to grow into someone who would be able to affect the upcoming battles. Though others might reasonably disagree, there also wasn't much anyone could do since they didn't know the specifics.

Anton made his way through Thuston, casually observing anything. One thing he noticed was that there were a lot of children. When he'd first noticed the same elsewhere, he wondered if perhaps his memories were biased, but a few years of the same- and the ability to look at some records- indicated he wasn't wrong. More children were being born. A variety of factors might have influenced that, but the push of people towards cultivation seemed to be a strong factor that led to some of the others.

The increased productivity of the farms provided a surplus of food, and along with a general increase in prosperity that made people more willing to have children. Likewise, with individual prospects higher people felt more secure in their future. Finally, though for most people it wouldn't add more than a decade or two onto their lifespan, those who were past their prime and took up cultivating suddenly felt more youthful. With a stronger body, the risks of pregnancy on a woman were also lessened. Everything combined to a significant increase in birthrate, though it was unclear how long it might stay that way.

Anton was pleased with the quick results. For cultivators and old men, half a generation was extremely rapid when it came to changing the populace as a whole. More people than not dipped their toes in cultivation, with overall beneficial results.

Nothing was perfect, however. Cultivation had its own dangers, though they were primarily due to lack of understanding or patience. People could push themselves too hard and too fast for their body to keep up. That even applied to those with the greatest talent, since the pressures of society could push them beyond their limits. Cultivation was all about growing to surpass one's own limits, but it was how one handled it when they were on the edge that made the difference.

Likewise, even if they were successful in their cultivation, it wasn't universally good for the world. There were those who took advantage of their newfound power and used it to suppress others. Perhaps more than would have otherwise, since they developed feelings that would lead to a domineering attitude but might not have had the strength. The general increase in cultivation level of the rest of everyone still made them capable of resisting those who caused trouble, but some individuals were able to cause more destruction than they would have otherwise.

That was something that Anton would prefer to avoid, but he felt the benefits outweighed the dangers. Perhaps the world would develop in such a way that people could be steered away from negative paths. Anton tried to do that with some people, but he was just one person- and imperfect at that. Otherwise he would have been more understanding and prevented some of the rifts that happened in his family.

At the present moment, he felt his family was at a peak. As much as it could be with the loss of Dungannon, of course. He was in communication with Ashlyn once more, and he knew that relationship which connected him to Catarina could have been maintained if he and the others had been more understanding of her desire to move into a city. Anton still felt that the rugged life on a farm working with plants and animals was the best, but he knew that was just personal to himself.

All the growth of the common populace also led to the swelling of the ranks in cultivation sects. Though the sects had a majority of the power in the world, they were still only a small portion of the populace. It wasn't quite clear what the balance would end up as, but when Anton considered that some sects had Life Transformation cultivators and most people had previously had no cultivation at all, the balance shifted heavily in the favor of the common folk with just one or two ranks of cultivation. Not that any reasonable number of second star cultivators could be expected to beat a Life Transformation cultivator, given that they could simply withdraw from the area before they became too fatigued, but the idea that a hundred or a thousand determined individuals working together might pull it off was better than needing an entire city to even cause a dent to a Life Transformation cultivator.

At a more practical level, a village of second rank cultivators could fight off a group like Maximillian Van Hassel and the other slavers, or at least cause them damage. If they had a handful of fifth rank cultivators among them, they could have even done more than just drive away the danger. While the level of stronger cultivators would also likely go up, each subsequent rank was harder to achieve, and going from the fifteenth to the seventeenth star would only be around a ten percent increase in power for an individual, compared to a doubling or tripling in power for someone who went from no cultivation to the second star.

Anton shook his head. Here he was, thinking about low level problems when their world might be annihilated soon. Or at least ravaged to the point that everything he was building was pointless. But he firmly believed his efforts in that area would help in the long run.

As he walked through Thuston, a few people seemed to recognize him. Even with the vast difference in his current cultivation, his face and body had hardly changed, after all, nor had the fact that he had a bow slung over his back. Many of the villagers would recognize a member of the group that defended them, but Anton preferred not to take advantage of people's praises. Personally, he thought that was just what anyone with the power should do. And he received enough recognition as a teacher regardless, with people trying to give him their thanks- or sometimes bribes- which he didn't need and they couldn't afford. He would accept their thanks, and if he felt like he had to he would take what they gave him and use it to help others somehow.

Unless it was something like a home cooked meal, which he was always happy to have. It was strange to think that he had once eaten such food every day. Even when times were lean, a home cooked meal had more to it than one served at a tavern or restaurant, or even the Order's cafeterias, as tasty and nourishing as the food could be. It almost made Anton want to settle down again, but he'd done that. And he'd had quite a bit more of it than he personally felt he had the right to.

Now it was his time to defend others as they lived their lives. Besides, it wasn't as if Anton found the life of a cultivator distasteful. If he had, he would have given it up- or changed it.

Thuston was one of the last on the list of places in Graotan Anton wished to survey with his own eyes once more. There was just one more, before he set out for distant shores. Trade went around the continent on ships, and out to a certain distance the seas were safe enough. Beyond that, however, there was little travel back and forth. Yet it was known there were other continents with other cultivators, and it was important that they too be prepared for the coming calamity. They should already be aware, since some of their cultivators had made it to Everheart's 'tomb' on the moon, but it was unreasonable to just assume that.

Anton's eyes turned to the east. It was well out of the way, but he knew he should go once more. To the place which was not the same, even if it bore the name of Dungannon.

Chapter 273

Having been a human for his whole life, which was quite a long time though not extreme by cultivator standards, Anton knew that humans had strange behavior. When they saw something on a map and expected something to be there, there were often cases when they would simply make it happen. That was even the case when the 'wrong' thing was on the map.

Fifteen years had passed since Dungannon was destroyed, its people killed or carted off as slaves. The first handful of years it had laid empty, those buildings that still had some structure slowly collapsing. Sometime after that, Anton wasn't quite sure when, a group of people decided there ought to be a town there again. That was how many towns were first formed, and it wasn't odd to think that somewhere a prosperous town had once stood would be a good position in the future.

The area around Dungannon didn't have any exceptional resources, but there was good land for farming and a nearby forest where foraging and hunting could take place. Trade going from Thorpes to Alcombey and to the rest of Graotan would pass through the area, and those people would need a place to stay. And of course everyone had some basic necessities for living that would be best provided by others.

The new version of Dungannon was quite a bit smaller than it had been, but Anton actually remembered a time when the original had been close. When he was a young man, it wasn't much more than a few handfuls of families living close together.

Except for foundations, most of the buildings had been cleaned up. Nobody wanted to live in a village where half or more of it was collapsing ruins, after all. Most of the buildings weren't the same as they had been, though the main streets were still positioned the same. Some good cobblestone work there, and there was no point in redoing it.

As Anton walked through the town, nothing matched his memories anymore. The place he was most familiar with was also the most changed. Where the Krantz farm had once been was a small lumber mill, with only token gardens. Personally Anton thought it was a waste of good field space, but then again most of the land in the area was decent enough. It was close enough to the forest that it was convenient, and the lumber was much needed for the new constructions.

Anton was pretty sure he still technically owned the land. However, given that he'd made no effort to reclaim it in over a decade it was quite a reasonable assumption to assume that he, like the others, was dead and gone. He thought that perhaps he should make sure there wouldn't be any strange land disputes later. He certainly didn't need money nor want the land. He was done with Dungannon. This place simply bore the same name.

The only thing that was as he remembered it was the graveyard. Even that was different, as it was more properly apportioned with a short fence surrounding it, and the original wooden markers had been replaced. Anton smiled slightly. Though they had no obligation, someone had been taking care of things. That was a sign of good people.

His smile continued on the way back through town. Although there were many bitter memories in Dungannon, there were overwhelmingly more good ones behind them. Beyond that, Anton was always pleased by small villages of hard working people.

Now he just had to make his way back to the Order. A trip that had once taken a month would be only a week, if he took his time. He could keep to the normal traveling speed of a human without a bountiful cultivation, but he knew what he was now. He had things to do, and people he shouldn't keep waiting for too long.

The serious nature of the mission was cemented by the fact that two Life Transformation cultivators would be going along with the group. Two from the Order, and when they stopped by the Frostmirror Sect Anton expected one more. The danger might not be just from the seas and the beasts and storms and other obstacles, but also other cultivators. Different sources said different things about the lands beyond the continent that had made up Anton's entire world, and the only thing that was certain was the journey was a danger. The other details might all be true, or all fabrications of those who never actually arrived.

Anton wondered if there had been intercontinental trade in the past, perhaps before the previous attack when there were mighty sects like the Luminous Ocean Society. Surely they were not afraid of a few sea creatures, though whether it was worthwhile to make the trip was another question.

He also wondered if the Twin Soul Sect had a large presence elsewhere, or if they had also been pushed down. Anton doubted they were entirely defeated anywhere, and he was certain that at least some of their allies had a reasonable belief that they could make it to distant shores. That was where some people went after the recent war, while the others were driven into hiding elsewhere.

But all that speculation wasn't much good when he would know soon. A number of his regular companions would be going along as well. Hoyt and Velvet. Alva would be coming along as well, though without Fuzz. He was staying behind.

Marcio would be along for the journey as well, along with some of the other archers. That was partly due to the desire for a variety of fighting styles and partly because Grand Elder Kseniya was leading the group. It was best to have someone with great perception when exploring new- or at least unknown lands. It was hard to get better than someone who could sense to the horizon line.

There were lower level cultivators as well. Spirit Building disciples to swell their numbers, and to allow them to experience strife. Things had settled down for a while, and while that was good it also provided fewer opportunities for cultivators to gain battle experience and grow. Fewer, but not none. Anton recognized Jacob and Sterling, the former a long time guard at the Order who wanted to seek out new experiences and the latter the one who had introduced Anton to the Order, long surpassed in rank.

Notable absences would be Catarina and Timothy. They had elected to stay behind, Catarina because she was in the middle of some research on formations, and Timothy primarily because he wished to stay with her. They were married, after all. Anton would have hardly left behind Janina for an extended period of time to go adventuring, though he also hadn't been much of the sort before he was a cultivator anyway. Unless adventure involved a couple days in familiar woods.

Outside of the Order, they already had the first members join up. Ayotunde and a sample of several different groups in Ambati were coming along on the expedition, as they deserved the representation.

In addition to members of the Frostmirror sect, they'd be picking up a handful of others on the way to Facraona. They'd be leaving from the eastern port with a group of experienced sailors, though even their experience rarely took them far from the mainland. Mostly to some nearby islands which had interesting geographical features- and of course some unique cultivation resources.

Along the way to the Frostmirror sect a few people from different groups joined up. A few people from Infinite Wisdom Forest in Estary, Elder Magro of the Iron Fist sect, and a wrinkled old man from the Wandering Bush Sect. The people from Infinite Wisdom Forest clearly looked down on those from the 'Tumbleweed sect', but personally Anton found himself more partial to Elder Servaos.

The reception at the Frostmirror sect was about as expected, except for some specific details. Specifically, the opposing energies of two Life Transformation cultivators half a step away from being in combat, fire and ice straining against each other.

Glorious Flame Palace had initially declined to send anyone, but it seemed they had changed their mind. That included Elder Sarka, who was locked in a staring match to the death with Elder Adelina. Though the latter woman from the Frostmirror sect seemed expressionless, that didn't make her gaze lack intensity.

Anton made a note not to stand between the two of them. As allies the two sects were always tenuous, but the two individuals were liable to get into trouble. Anton just hoped it was the productive kind, where two rivals fought each other and made each other stronger, eventually becoming friends. Or however that worked. Most of those Anton got along with had been friendly from the beginning, and the others he simply didn't bother with.

Anish was also present as a member of Glorious Flame Palace, as well as another Anton had met at the same time. That was Chikere, the sword-obsessed cultivator. Though she wasn't directing any negative intent at him, Anton almost felt like he could cut himself if he wasn't careful. Anish waved with a wide smile as they approached, though for some reason Anton felt it was directed past him. At Velvet, maybe?

The reunion of two cousins once more was wonderful to see. Annelie and Alva were able to see each other frequently, but they still liked to see more of each other, despite certain rocky moments. But that was how life worked, sometimes. Especially with teenagers, but both of them had aged past that point some time prior. On the other hand, age didn't directly come with maturity. Otherwise, Elders Sarka and Adelina wouldn't be cracking the pavement between them. Was there some history there beyond being from sects that practiced widely different techniques? Anton wanted to know, but not so much that he would poke his nose into it. He liked his nose, and wanted it to remain intact.

Though he'd now seen the ocean more than a handful of times, Anton always found himself impressed by it. A vast, open expanse of water with nothing in the way. Rising and falling waves sparkling in the sun. And each one was subtly different. Directly north of Estary had the clear seas that surrounded the Luminous Ocean Society's main headquarters. There was a different look to the east in Ship's Haven, even before the temporary blackening caused by the poison. Here, it had more of a greenish hue and many floating bundles of kelp.

The crews that would be manning the ships were a rough group with tanned skin. Cultivators could protect their skin from the sun, but some liked the color and some didn't care. This group seemed to be a mix of both, and it made them somewhat distinctive compared to those cultivators who preferred a more 'controlled' look.

The ships were large vessels, made out of exceptionally sturdy wood. Anton could tell just by sensing it with his energy that it would be durable, and he also sensed the formations enhancing the ships. Anything less than the best would be pointless, since if they sunk at sea there was no guarantee even the best among them would make it to land.

A wiry man with scars up and down his arms and across his face stood atop one vessel as they were directed to them. "You made it," he said. "I'm Commodore Visser, leader of this fleet. The two main vessels you see here," he gestured below him and to the side, "They're the Azalea and the Skylark. When she arrives, I'll introduce you to my second in command, Arendse, as well as the other captains. Now I know you all don't like to take orders from those outside your sects, or lower in cultivation… but I'll need you all to respect any of the captains, or their replacements should it come to that." He focused on the highest elders, as he was in Life Transformation himself, if only the early stage.

Everyone agreed there would be no issue, and Anton even believed most of the people meant it. He was a little suspicious about whether those from Infinite Wisdom Forest truly meant it, and someone like Elder Sarka could mean it and then change their mind when something flared her temper. But nothing involving people was ever perfect, and they had to do their best to hold things together. Unless they wanted to keep their heads buried in the sand and hope that nobody remembered to put together an invading force, or that it wouldn't cover the whole world and leak between continents.

Chapter 274

The first few days of sea travel were somewhat interesting, but after the novelty wore off it was rather boring. That was the best that could be hoped for, since it meant nothing problematic came up, but it really was boring. Even cultivating wasn't easy, since there wasn't enough ambient natural energy for everyone packed together on the ships.

People were still able to socialize, talking and playing card games or otherwise idly passing the time. Some were better suited to those activities than others. Anton and Elder Servaos from the Wandering Bush Sect happily chatted, not just about cultivation but about life in general. Chikere had already wandered around to everyone on her ship who wielded a sword, but since there was no place to have a proper spar there was little depth of interaction. Anish stood in awkward silence next to the pair of Alva and Annelie. In turn, Adelina and Sarka were placed on the furthest ships from each other to avoid them interacting, with Adelina in the front of the formation- the Azalea- and Sarka in the Skylark at the rear.

The first obstacle they had to overcome was completely mundane- a lack of wind. While the various ships had a number of crew who could row, it would be a waste of resources not to include the various cultivators they were transporting. There were some complaints, but ultimately following the orders of Commodore Visser relayed through the various captains of the individual vessels. Unless it was something directly harmful, there was little justification to refuse.

Anton found it quite fulfilling to sit at a large oar, making precise physical motions at a measured pace and specific power. Most of the others performed well, since something all cultivators were used to was moving their body as they pleased. Everyone was physically capable, even if they had to make greater use of energy to keep up, but that wasn't the real problem encountered. The problem was people trying to do too much.

In the rear of the formation, one such problem was occurring.

"Slow down?" Elder Sarka flared up. "I thought the whole point of this was to go faster, why should I slow down?"

Captain Arendse sighed. She didn't think that should need to be explained, but such was the way of things. "First, it's important to keep timing. If you row as quickly as you can, using the most power, we veer to the side."

"Just put more people on the left, then," Sarka countered.

"Even if we did that, we can't really improve our speed since we have to keep pace with the other ships in the fleet. Not all of them can go as fast."

"Then stick me on one of them!"

"Do you want to sleep in a smaller cabin?" Captain Arendse asked.

"I- well…"

That was basically the end of the conversation. Captain Arendse kept further sighs to herself, though she certainly felt them. It was unfair that a woman like that had a higher cultivation than herself. They were both around the same age, maybe a decade off at most. Either way, Sarka shouldn't have been much later than in her sixties, which was on the young end of Life Transformation cultivators. But it should have been enough time to learn about ships, or at least act maturely in a new situation.

Then again, Glorious Flame Palace didn't focus on thinking about mundane matters. They put plenty of study into cultivation, and how to make better use of it, but day to day matters weren't their forte.

Arendse didn't expect everyone to be an expert in her own field, but certain basics should be obvious to anyone who cared to look. Seafaring wasn't a race, or at least not a sprint. Delivering goods in a timely manner was one thing, but it wasn't something that could really be rushed. That was the sort of thing that got stupid captains run into razorshoals or waylaid by pirates, if they didn't just sail headfirst into a storm.

When heading into unknown waters as they would be soon, it was critical to maintain control over everything. That included keeping the fleet together. If they weren't carrying so many different cultivators the space could be filled with more experienced sailors, and then they would be able to go faster- but not by all that much. There were simply limits to what could be done.

At least they were getting things like this out of the way where it was safe. It would let her know what not to assign the admittedly very powerful woman to. At least she should be good at fighting, when it came around. Hopefully without setting the ship on fire.

Beasts had many different motivations for doing what they did, though they were often not that much different from cultivators. Survival, growth, and protecting territory- which got back into the first one. Different distinctions and subcategories could be argued all day, but the point was beasts usually didn't just attack because they were bored. So it had to be one of those other reasons.

When a group of longnosed shipwreckers charged up from below, Captain Arendse didn't much care why. If it was territory, they had no way to know. If it was food, the timing was awkward. If it was for growth, it was basically the same as food, but they were attacking because the cultivators on the ship were strong, not despite it.

The first of the creatures speared through the bottom of the Skylark at the same time as the alarm was being yelled. It was a big one, to be able to pierce through the solid structure of the ship. Had to be at least as strong as an Essence Collection cultivator. Most of the others were deflected, though some of them carved out a bit of the hull as they went.

Then everything was on fire. Captain Arendse was going to strangle Sarka, difference in cultivation be damned, except she realized that it wasn't actually hot. At least, not where she was. The huge ball of flames covering the ship certainly seemed to be doing quite a number on the underwater creatures, however, and the water around the ship was instantly boiling.

A short time later, half-cooked fish were pulled up onto the deck. There was little point in leaving them to waste, after all. The big one had pulled out of the ship and retreated to the depths, but many of the others were not so fortunate as to survive even for a few moments.

The hole in the ship was quickly patched. Broken wood didn't usually go back together, but it could be plugged. Perhaps one of the cultivators had the right technique to actually repair it good as new without replacing a set of boards, but they likely weren't on this ship. They'd ask the rest of the fleet. At least it was easier to transfer cultivators away from port- they could hop over a significant distance and nobody needed to get the ships too close.

Now they just had to make sure that thing didn't come back for some sort of revenge. They couldn't afford too many holes, and it wasn't as if they could just stop by a port for some repairs. They were capable of doing the work themselves, but the supplies were limited. It wasn't like they could just use any random tree, and even if they stumbled upon an island with exactly what they needed, properly turning a log into part of a ship was an involved process, even for cultivators. It wasn't just chopping something into shape.

Commodore Visser addressed the fleet as they stopped at an island. "Here we are at Greatleaf Island. The last stop where we know what we're getting into. We plan to gather up some fresh food for the sake of a little celebration, and we'll fill up on water so we don't have to have anyone do the work of purifying it. After our little party, we'll be heading out into unknown waters, with the only knowledge being there's not much of significance within a week of here. Based on old records, we expect to take multiple months to reach any significantly sized landmass, and those only if we navigated correctly. Sadly, our star charts out this far are hardly up to date." He shrugged, "But it's not like we'll starve. Plenty of fish and large beasts, and we can filter water. We have that going for us, at least. So as long as we don't find anything dangerous enough to wipe us out, there's little cause for concern."

His speech wasn't exactly inspiring, but it wasn't really meant to be. It was just a statement of where they were, and where things were going. Uncertainty and danger weren't the biggest concerns in a cultivator's life, and with the gathering of powerful cultivators they had there really wasn't too much cause for concern. At least not for most people. Not all battles would be resolved in a handful of seconds, though at least for most they would have a bit more warning than charging fish with spearlike noses happened to give.

Anton never slept much, and while he'd been getting more than the absolutely required few hours of sleep each night, some of that was shifted to the morning. That allowed him to spend more time looking at the stars, which was quite interesting considering that this was the biggest change he'd seen from his usual location. Roaming around through the various countries he noticed some differences, but he hadn't exactly gone a week out to sea.

He saw Commodore Visser paying close attention to the stars as well, though for very different reasons. The other man was using them to navigate, though as he admitted that wouldn't necessarily be good forever.

"Need any help taking measurements?" Anton asked. "I can at least keep accurate notes." While Graotan was landlocked, Grand Elder Vandale had also possessed an interest in navigating by the stars, which he shared with Anton. It wasn't as necessary on land, but an interesting practice regardless.

"Might as well," the man said. "I'd thought to make new charts. A straight line journey isn't exactly the best way to gather information, but if we do it right we should be able to at least keep ourselves on relatively the same heading. Can't guarantee that the compass will stay accurate, and it doesn't exactly help us find our way back to a known point unless we manage to avoid any drift due to sea currents. Which is… extremely unlikely."

Anton nodded. Normally such a project was done over a long course of time, and preferably from stationary points. But if they could quickly take down locations of stars at a certain time and match them the next night, they could at least get a passing picture of how the sky changed. That was a place being cultivators was quite handy, as it allowed them to rapidly and precisely mark things down, even on a swaying ship.

They wouldn't be entirely creating new information, of course. The intent was to stay mostly along the same line of latitude, which meant they would see the same stars in the sky, except for the difference in timing throughout the night. After all, both they and the season were moving at the same time.

Anton learned quite a bit from Visser, who was glad to share what he knew. Getting some actual practice was good as well, since Anton had never really used the theoretical knowledge he had. Anton imagined he could have been a good sailor, but then again he likely could have handled any job. As long as he felt like he was getting actual work done, of course. Anton liked to see tangible results.

"What do you think we'll find?" Anton asked.

"Hopefully… a big mass of land." Visser shrugged. "I'd be quite happy to encounter some new islands. If we can plot their location then even if this expedition has to return for some reason, we'll make measurable progress. I know that the various sects would be disappointed at that, but sometimes flinging ships at things just doesn't work out. And we haven't even run into real danger yet."

Anton didn't say anything, so as to not invite bad omens, but following the Commodore's eyeline he found it wouldn't have mattered. Dark clouds were on the horizon, and he didn't have to be a seafarer to know that meant storms. The only question was whether or not they would be too much for them to handle. Of course, a single storm would not take out such a well equipped fleet- but it was possible for them to get worn down little by little.

Chapter 275

Anton didn't know what would drive ocean beasts to attack a ship. It was widely observed that creatures possessing a cultivation were more aggressive than others, at least in general, but he would have presumed the increased function such creatures had could make them see the danger.

Then again, humans underestimated new opponents all the time. A single encounter with the wrong target could wipe out man or beast, leaving them unable to properly tell the tale.

After going beyond Greatleaf island they were beset by numerous types of creatures, though none even as effective as the longnosed shipwreckers. Those had the advantage of being relatively unexpected. Others the sailors were ready for and could ward off themselves, or advise the traveling cultivators on.

At the moment, they were engaged in a bit of a staring match. As he got used to sensing deep underwater, Anton found himself growing more proficient with sensing deeper in the water. It was much easier than feeling through solid ground, but still a bit difficult. The real issue was keeping a sustained sense of things at a distance.

Yet nobody had trouble sensing their particular visitors. They would have had to be completely numb to energy, and even then would have noticed when the boat rocked suddenly as something bumped into it. A pair of somethings, even.

Anton could just about reach out and touch the fin of the shark he saw below the Azalea. It was high enough, at least, but too far out. He could see an open mouth with rows of teeth nearly as large as himself, though it was hard to say they seemed sharp. Very few things at such a size retained those properties on a smaller scale.

At the moment, the bigger one was trying to fit its mouth around part of the ship. Everyone was standing on alert, waiting on Commodore Visser's orders. Or that of their various sect elders, should they choose to defy his order to wait.

Personally Anton was in his camp. Not because he didn't believe they were a threat, but because he thought they might be. There was no doubting the danger they imposed, of course, but there was more to it. Like the fact that the way one of them was mouthing the ship wasn't really doing anything. It certainly must have had the capacity to damage the ship, but at the moment it was idly trying to take a bite out of something new.

If they provoked the creatures, well, even if they couldn't get a solid chomp on the ships they could cause significant damage. The other one was back with the Skylark, swimming around it. If either of them moved towards the smaller ships in the middle of the fleet there might be trouble, but for the moment everything was fine.

Even Elder Sarka of the Glorious Flame Palace was calmly watching them. Anton could feel the heat building up inside of her, but she hadn't actually started anything. But if the battle began, she and many others were prepared to attack as swiftly as possible, to minimize the damage the creatures could cause.

The larger shark caused the Azalea to sway once more as it tried to press its mouth against it. There was a small tearing sound as it scraped a small chunk away due to some teeth sticking out at an odd angle. Then it pulled back and began to swim away. The other followed. There were a few more tense moments, before someone tried to dive into the water.

They were stopped, not because it was a foolish idea, but because that other person had also noticed the tooth stuck in the side of the ship and wanted it for themself. Anton paid half a mind of attention to that, but was mostly focused on the withdrawing creatures, until they were far enough he could say they were truly gone. He eventually withdrew his senses to what he could easily maintain. It seemed they had only been looking to see if the new prey was easy to eat and tasty, and finding it inconvenient and wooden decided to move on.

The tooth was brought on board, where Commodore Visser claimed it. None of the other Life Transformation experts cared about it, and since it was his ship that it had pierced into there was little point in arguing. It was just a tooth after all, even if it was about Anton's size, though obviously quite a different shape. The damage to the hull was minimal, in the grand scheme of things.

"Shark teeth fall out all the time," Commodore Visser explained. "Usually from ripping and tearing into things. This one was probably loosened from something else."

With that, the incident was over. It became more of a curiosity than anything else, and was largely set aside from the minds of the travelers. Especially considering what immediately followed it.

Less than two hours later, Anton sensed a great presence under the water. Even in the few short moments it took him to get up on deck, the crew had entered a state of alertness, with Commodore Visser frowning down below as one hand rested on the oversized tooth sitting next to him.

"I don't like the feel of that one," he said. "Raise the alarm!"

Though he called for the alarm, his voice carried well enough that the other ships would have doubtless found themselves informed about the circumstances- were they not already wary of the approaching figures from below.

Anton couldn't see far into the murky deep. Ten meters at most, but by the time the creatures reached that point they would be practically upon them. Especially since their long, snakelike bodies continued much deeper below. No, that wasn't quite right. He followed the winding, bumpy creatures and found they widened along their length. He was having trouble sensing where they connected, but he was certain they must. Especially since the signature of energy was exactly the same from all of them. It wasn't anything so tame as a group of giant eels, but instead one creature with tentacles at least a hundred meters long.

"Ranged combatants, at the ready. Everyone else designated as rowers, at your stations! Prepare for double time! We're not waiting around to see if this thing is just curious."

Commodore Visser's words were quickly carried out, with Anton taking a position on the bow of the boat. There weren't a lot of places it was convenient to shoot directly downward, but on the other hand the creature was large enough it couldn't hide under the shadow of the boat.

They began to pick up speed, sails unfurling as well to draw every ounce of speed they could- though they still needed people ready for battle. It wasn't long before the reaching tentacles drew up short of the trailing Skylark, and then they pulled back into the sea.

"Stay on guard!" Visser's experience matched with Anton's own thoughts, as the grasping limbs pulling back didn't necessarily mean anything. If he'd known about how the creature moved, he would have been even more justified- but he was just cautious.

A few moments later, a giant wave raised the fleet into the air, splashing over it as they came down. All at once the creature had rushed forward, moving a huge amount of the sea with it. The creature then flipped around, reaching upward with an uncountable number of tentacles.

"So it's true," Anton heard Commodore Visser whisper to himself. "The legends of the krakens." Much more loudly, he began to give orders. "Attack! Defend the fleet, and maintain formation!" There were more specific details that were undoubtedly useful for the experienced sailors, but the rest were useful to the cultivators on board.

Anton immediately felt the water heating up at the rear of the fleet, while a section of one tentacle was frozen beneath him. He began to fire shots at the closest approaching tentacles. Shooting through tens of meters of water was difficult, but unfortunately Anton didn't have long where that was required. A couple seconds later the tentacles were almost lazily raised above the ships, coiling around anything they could reach. Anton fired upon one that was grasping the mast, not hesitating to use a chunk of ascension energy. On anything lesser he would have expected to sever something completely, but while he pierced through the creature's defensive energy and rubbery body, he only managed to explode a man-sized chunk out of it. Less than half the width of the tentacle in the upper quarter that was sticking onto the ship. Perhaps it was significant damage, but the mast began to bend regardless of the half-severing.

Many attacks more powerful than Anton were launched, though Commodore Visser's was the most… interesting. He lifted the shark tooth in both hands, an extremely awkward grip that nonetheless managed to be serviceable. The tooth was raised up and swung downward like a guillotine, severing one of the tentacles snaking over the ship. One of dozens, because while the creature certainly resembled the common octopus Anton had sensed on previous visits to the ocean, it was hardly the same.

The battle was swift, with attacks being launched at full power immediately. Despite the sturdy materials and formations augmenting them, masts cracked, hulls creaked, and one of the middle ships was crushed, snapping in two. The creature's limbs swept across the decks, knocking people off their feet or into the sea, and sometimes coiling around them in groups. In return, tentacles were frozen, burned, chopped, pierced, and otherwise devastated, but the ships and people on them were taking extreme damage as well. Anton could hardly keep track of any of it, and he saw more than a handful of cultivators grabbed by the creature and dragged under the water.

The Azalea was sturdy, but even she lost a mast, a trio of tentacles eventually working together to pull one apart. But as flurries of attacks came from both sides and blood poured over the decks and into the sea, the creature eventually withdrew. Anton could feel it was not dead, but hopefully its wounds would discourage it from making another attempt.

After that, efforts fell to snapping up anyone still in the sea, not already sunk or pulled under. Every cultivator could swim, though they couldn't necessarily keep up with the boats. Fortunately the long formation allowed the sailors and passengers on the snapped ship to get onto the trailing ships, including the Skylark.

Anton did his part helping downed sailors and throwing together quick patches, but his mind was elsewhere. It was on the kraken. As a mid Essence Collection cultivator, he was not at the top tier of power in the world- but he could at least see it. He felt the intensity of power Life Transformation cultivators had, and though he recognized the gap between his over forty stars and the sixty to the theoretical one hundred Life Transformation cultivators might have, he could imagine surpassing that gap. But that was the limit.

Something beyond that was… unfathomable. Anton knew the limits of humans. But then again, there was always ascension. Something beyond anything he knew. The kraken was not ascended. It was physically present, and while its energy was massive and powerful the sheer quantity of it posed more danger than the quality. Its size and bodily power compounded with that to create something greater than a Life Transformation cultivator. After all, they had more than a handful present in the fleet but could not kill the creature.

Certainly, the kraken retreated, but if it had chosen to fight to the death Anton suspected it would have won. Perhaps even if their cultivators had been at the peak of Life Transformation like Vandale. Comparing the final explosion of his power to the kraken, impressive as it had been, was insufficient. The creature wasn't invincible, but in only a few minutes it had wreaked devastation on the fleet, killing perhaps a tenth of their number- though the count was not yet finalized. Even if many were weaker cultivators, Anton could have just as easily found himself dragged under had he been caught.

The thought of death in battle didn't scare him, not as it might once have. Though he wished to at least face the coming invasion, he knew that others would make sure things went as well as they possibly could.

No, what held his mind wasn't the fear, but the power. It was unfortunate that he gave up the opportunity to reach such heights, not that he was arrogant enough to assume he really had a chance. Over however many generations, despite the prestige of the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars, they had not had one person reach the proper, hundredth star and ascend. It could be possible, but would he be the first?

Well, it was much like seeing rich folk ride through a small town. They were something that a commoner couldn't aspire to becoming. But Anton wondered what else in the world might have such power, and how there could be so much strength in a single being.

Chapter 276

"That was crazy," Anish reiterated to the two women next to him. "It was like fighting a mountain but… wetter." He grimaced. That wasn't very eloquent, but it was the only word he could think of. "Not something easy to burn up. What a pain to fight, huh Alva?"

"You think it was bad for you?" Alva shook her head. "Try fighting it with a bow. How am I supposed to damage something like that? Even Grand Elder Kseniya had trouble. I basically just filled it with a bunch of holes and then watched someone lop off the entire tentacle I was working on."

"It was quite… difficult… to use our abilities with it underwater," Annelie commented. With neither Marsen nor Diana along, she had a lot of time with Alva. But just two people got boring, so it was nice to have someone else to talk to. Anish was somewhat older and higher in cultivation, but it wasn't as if the two of them would precisely match anyone. Through differing methods she and Alva had both gotten extremely early starts on cultivation and didn't match with most of their peers. It wasn't as if they knew that many other people on the trip, either.

"At least ice abilities don't fizzle out underwater," Anish pointed out.

"That's true, but water carries a lot of heat and transfers it quickly," Annelie explained, "So most freezing wears off more quickly in water, or it requires a significant expenditure of energy."

Unlike the Life Transformation elders Sarka and Adelina, these particular two members of the Glorious Flame Palace and Frostmirror Sect got along just fine. After all, if a wildly different fighting style was enough to preclude friendship, the pair of cousins wouldn't be on good terms either.

Perhaps it was a boon that Annelie didn't fully practice the emotionless nature of the Frostmirror Sect, instead picking and choosing when it was appropriate to feel strong emotion. Alva was still more open than her, and of course the fiery man was extremely straightforward with most of his thoughts.

"Maybe next time I can work with you to burn it inside out," Anish said. "I mean, if there's a next time. But the others are all strategizing just in case it happens."

"How would we burn it from the inside? I don't practice fire techniques, though I might at some point." Her grandfather certainly did, but she'd eventually realized that copying everything he trained wasn't going to be the best for her. Her fighting style was so different, even though both were archers. She focused on mobility where he focused on his attacks- and sometimes many of them at once. She found that technique very difficult to properly utilize, even though her cultivation was sufficient to maintain multiple bows made out of energy.

"Well, you were saying you only poke holes in it, right? If you pierce deep enough I could dig in behind your shots, which would end up a lot better than crispy skin, which is all I really managed this time."

"How could I contribute to this?" Annelie asked, "Obviously it would be counterproductive for us to attempt to burn and freeze the same areas. At least, most of the time. If I freeze something first, rapid heating could cause severe damage to an area."

"I like how you think," Anish nodded. "We'll have to work on something like that."

In addition to strategizing about how to fight future krakens, or the same one should it be encountered once more, there were informal ceremonies for those who had died. That was all that could be done, with no bodies left behind- nor anything else to do with them. It was unknown when they would find land, though that was one of their next goals.

There was only a finite amount that they could store on the ships to repair them, and only so much work that could be done while in transit. Cultivators were capable of doing more while out at sea, but they simply didn't have anything suited to replace the masts. They needed single logs of great size, or something equivalent. They were able to get along without every mast on the capital ships, but it was preferable to at least have the repairs done.

Food and water, at least, were not issues. It was simple for the cultivators to fish for food through various methods, and purifying the water of salt was also easily possible through either boiling it or other methods.

Even with the aftereffects of the kraken attack the expedition was not in dire straits- but it was best if they have some success soon. It was likely too soon to run into another continent, or they would not have lost contact for very long, but intermediate islands were bound to exist. Their best lookouts were constantly scanning the horizon for signs of land, but there were other signs they could look for.

Commodore Visser explained. "Though the sea is harsh and mysterious, it follows rules just like everything else. Currents on the surface and beneath all form for reasons, and they're affected by landmasses. Same with the weather, with rain falling on the windward side of a mountain. Clouds form and disappear, so we can watch the skies for signs."

With little else to do, the various cultivators learned quite a bit about living on a ship from the professional sailors. They certainly wouldn't be able to do without them any time soon, but they were beginning to gain some efficiency as an overall group instead of individual sects of cultivators banded together.

A few days without running into anything willing to attack the fleet was a nice relief, even if a bit odd. It was without anything so esoteric as reading wind or wave patterns that the island was spotted- Kseniya simply sense it beyond the horizon.

In fact the island had a much bigger impact on something else, the abundance of natural energy it gave off being easily felt. From ten or more kilometers away most cultivators still wouldn't immediately sense it, but it was clear how the energy ramped up the closer they got to the island. It was a welcome sign, even if it indicated possible danger.

As they approached, however, all they saw was an extremely sizable and lush island full of trees and plants. They knew better than to assume nothing dangerous was lurking in the woods, but they were able to lay anchor and land ashore without trouble.

Anton could just imagine Fuzz running around sniffing everything new, but he was not with them on this journey. A giant wolf took up quite a bit of space on a ship, and even if cultivators could afford some extravagances his presence wasn't necessary. Beyond that, Catarina was working with him to stabilize his development. Spontaneous appearance of formation runes wasn't exactly something common, and it was interesting to study- and of course, she wanted to make sure it wasn't dangerous. While Alva monopolized most of the wolf's time, Catarina had been the one to initially save him after the incident with the parasitic moss.

A few small groups were sent out to scout the island, looking for dangers. Kseniya was with one, but she likely could have made up a whole group alone. She had the strength and ability. If nothing else, she could run away from anything that it was possible for most groups to defeat.

Anton's group was with Elder Servaos of the Wandering Bush Sect and a few others. Both of them understood nature, though Anton was more familiar with the sort of woods they were heading into. Servaos was more familiar with desert terrain, or at least less heavily wooded terrain.

Though Anton saw quite a variety of plants he might have considered dangerous before he was a cultivator, there wasn't really much of note to anyone on the island. They climbed over great hills that were large enough they briefly wondered if they'd stumbled into a peninsula of a larger landmass. However, as Anton and the others circled one way around the layout of hills they kept the ocean in sight, and before the day was over they met up with the other groups that had gone down the middle and around the other side.

"There was always a hill on either side," commented Commodore Visser who had scouted the middle path. "Seems like the hills are arranged in offset rows, no more than three widthwise. Five down the middle. I counted… thirteen in all."

"That's consistent with what we saw," Kseniya noted. "I was able to keep an eye on your group in the middle."

"Same here," Anton nodded. "It's strangely symmetric. I would expect this island to have one large mountain in the middle instead of this arrangement of hills."

"Doesn't seem to be volcanic," Visser agreed. "But the important thing is it seemed safe, unless any of you noticed anything. I didn't see much larger than a pig, and a small one at that. I'd recommend people stay in groups regardless, in case something was hiding. We weren't entirely thorough." He looked around them, "Some nice trees here, though. Should be able to replace the mast on the Azalea, though it won't be quite as sturdy I imagine. It'll take a bit to treat it though."

"How long?" Kseniya asked.

"Maybe a month, possibly less if it goes well. It's not a process that can be rushed all that much, even with the use of natural energy." He grinned, "Should be fine though. Plenty of food here, and it's not fish. I like fish, but not every day. And the fruit's fresh, instead of dried and basically tasteless."

Anton could have pointed out that the dried fruit was better than most common folk had to eat on a regular basis, but the diet of a cultivator was as elevated as everything else. There were all sorts of foods that could aid cultivation, and Anton thought he'd seen some on the island. He hadn't stopped to gather much of anything since they were scouting, though.

The break from the monotony of traveling over the sea was a welcome change. The island had food in the form of fruits and other plants, as well as small game including birds and the aforementioned small pigs. It was sizable enough that the company of cultivators could subsist for the whole month without destroying the ecosystem, which was important to Anton for a number of reasons. If nothing else, they would likely be coming back this way and would want to make another stop.

The abundant natural energy in the area was also greater than most of the area around the Order, except perhaps the highest peaks where most of the grand elders dwelled. Even then, it was a close match. The cultivators who had been cooped up and only able to grow with the aid of whatever they'd brought in them could now spread out and have their own spaces where they could draw in as much natural energy as they pleased.

It was a good island. Anton liked it quite a bit, and happily spent most of his time just studying how it was arranged. Was it artificial in some way? The overall symmetry of the island shouldn't be an accident, though stranger things had happened in the world. He didn't feel it was a formation, though perhaps he simply wasn't attuned enough to such things.

It simply sustained life in a relatively peaceful manner. Obviously animals ate the plants and some ate each other, and a few plants ate insects, but compared to most places he had been it was practically free of violence. Except for what the cultivators enacted upon each other.

In officially approved spars, of course. The beaches were a good place to make use of some energy in a way that didn't involve awkwardly attacking something in the water beneath a ship. Fighting more as they were used to was good for people, and the various dangers in the journey- mostly the kraken- had allowed people to gain some insights.

Even the weather was good. If one simply wanted to survive, the island was a paradise. Paradise was one of the names proposed for it, and it ultimately transformed into the Paradise of the Thirteen Hills. An odd name for an island, but it had to be chosen with some haste to stop Elder Sarka from proposing more names like Thirteen Volcano Island. The fact that the hills weren't volcanoes didn't deter her, and Anton had the feeling that if they pushed too far she would try to make them be volcanoes.

It was interesting to see the way cultivators matured with their extended lifespans. Or perhaps it was simply the way people worked. They matured exactly as much as they wanted to, and seldom more than that.

Chapter 277

A convenient island like the Paradise of Thirteen Hills was something they wanted to return to, given the chance. They ended up staying only three weeks instead of the intended month, due to the ease of finding the needed supplies to repair their vessels. The reason it took more than just a single day or two was that proper seasoning was required so that the pieces didn't warp later. That took constant work from some of the cultivators to dry it out without damaging it, but they were able to devote themselves to that task without worry. Everything was cut to the right proportions and finalized without much trouble.

Sails had also been damaged during the fight with the kraken, as well as some smaller battles. Those were harder to replace since they required more complex materials, but spares had been brought along for just that purpose. Even great rips could be quickly sewn together by the work of deft hands.

Though people were eagerly gathering supplies, Anton and others made sure they weren't taking too much. It was quite a large island, so it wouldn't have been possible to cause serious damage to the local ecology just by taking supplies, but the materials for a mast for one of the flagships took an extraordinary tree. Nothing could guarantee another of the same size would grow, but Anton made sure to provide a little help to some of the trees that had potential, donating some of his energy and making sure their soil was good. A little work over a couple weeks probably wouldn't matter, but it was best to start thinking about such things now.

As they got ready to leave, Anton continued to think about how it was strange. The whole island, of course. He could see how such a place might have abundant spiritual energy, but it seemed abnormally high even for that. The shape made it seem artificial, but beyond the symmetrical layout of hills nothing even indicated the presence of cultivators. While the plants were healthy and strong, the trees large and durable, they hardly seemed like something cultivators would plant. The fruit was tasty and nutritious, but it didn't carry huge stores of natural energy to absorb. The animals were mostly small creatures that lived in harmony, nothing large and tough that could be turned into weapons or armor. It was just an island, happily sustaining its little ecosystem.

But eventually they set off, after taking careful notes so they could be as likely as possible to find it again. There were no other nearby islands known to compare in location, but they did their best.

There were many things that could be fought, but one thing that people might say was undefeatable was nature itself, and more specifically the weather. Anton would have agreed with that assessment at some point, but he had grown to believe quite differently. A determined enough group of powerful cultivators could do anything.

That included fighting a storm. Sure, sailors might talk about fighting a storm, but they really meant sailing through one- or weathering it, really, since they wouldn't have sails unfurled in such a case.

Their fleet followed all of the normal protocols for a storm, except for what might have normally been the most important. Spreading out a fleet during a storm was simply logical- the ships were the only thing that could be slammed into by the force of a storm, and if that was avoided there was one less danger to deal with. But instead of that, they pulled into a tight formation, the center boats pulling out to the sides so they were more of a diamond shape instead of a line, but the front and rear flagships collapsed the formation to a smaller area, with only a handful of meters between them and the pair of ships in the middle.

Some people were on duty at the oars, keeping the ships in the same relative positions. Their efforts were assisted by members of the Wandering Bush Sect, who created a sort of thorny barrier attached to all of the ships, holding them in the same position relative to each other with some leeway. After all, a fully rigid barrier would just be asking to be torn apart.

Others were on duty shoring up the defenses of the ships, combining their natural energy to create a large barrier. It wasn't as good as a proper formation set up by a formation master, but unlike any other enemy the storm wasn't looking for weak points to break through, or even cognizant of their existence. It simply threw wind and water as it pleased, raising waves that would overtop even the flagships.

The barriers were to prevent that, and others worked with them to counterattack, slashing apart the waves, which lessened how much of the impact hit at the same time. Waves crashed against the ships but due to the tight formation danger could only come from a limited angle, instead of every side of every ship.

Anton was on lightning duty. His job was to shoot arrows into the sky wherever lightning was building up, or at least anywhere that might threaten the ship. Provoking smaller bolts before they became too powerful was good, but what was even better was finding a way to redirect the strike elsewhere. Lightning was eager to seek out a target, and if he made an easy path for it to travel it would gladly strike the sea. That was an area his training with Vandale came in extremely helpful, as he had a large domain around him that he could control the flow of energy. He didn't even need much power, just briefly forming a smooth path. The lightning would inevitably blast apart his control, but the power only came after it had chosen its path and was safe.

It was still disconcerting to see lightning bolts strike immediately next to the ship, but once it touched the water the lighting dispersed in all directions, diluting its power. Even bolts that were one, two meters wide and sufficient to vaporize Spirit Building cultivators were not a problem. The stronger bolts, those that could cause serious damage to Essence Collection cultivators or more, cause great gouts of steam as they struck the surface of the ocean, rocking the ships and deafening the people fighting against the storm- those without sufficient defenses, anyway.

The formations of the ships strained at those moments, as even a small portion of such a bolt had the potential to cause damage, but the various cultivators held, and Anton and others assigned to such duties continued to strive to push the strikes further from their vessels, which were otherwise the most tempting targets on the sea.

The methods of the Iron Fist Sect were a bit unorthodox in that area, as they worked either alone or in groups to strike directly back against the lightning. It seemed highly inefficient, as Anton could see Elder Magro leap into the air and punch a bolt of lightning, negating it instead of letting it pass through or around him. But at least such efforts prevented collateral damage. Anton only hoped they had properly paced themselves to outlast the storm, which had been going on for some hours already, and showed no signs of stopping soon.

An arrow flew past him, striking the water beneath the fleet. It wasn't a missed shot, but instead the work of Grand Elder Kseniya, who was on monster duty. Because for some reason a number of the sea beasts thought the middle of a storm was a good time to go to the surface to try to find food. Or something like that, because Anton could hardly imagine that there was ever food on the surface, but something about the storm drew some of the beasts upwards.

Some of them were interested in the lightning itself, which the cultivators were quite happy to let them have. As long as they stayed away from the ships. That included some of the longnosed shipwreckers, though Anton thought they might have been a slightly different type. Their noses were slightly more rounded instead of spearlike, though certainly still quite capable of bashing through a hull or another beast's side. At the moment, however, they were sticking their tips out of the water to be struck by lightning, which seemed to empower some of them. Anton kept his eye on them, though Kseniya would be first to react if they actually did anything threatening.

A gust of wind was deflected by the combined efforts of several warriors, keeping the wind from blowing away the weaker members. Freezing water splashed over everyone. But the cultivators held.

Another hour passed. A strange swelling of the waters caused one of the ships in the middle to capsize. Normally overturning would be the end of a sailing vessel, but its crew and passengers were made up of determined cultivators. Instead of immediately swimming for shelter on one of the other ships, they banded together in the water to try to right the ship. They began to join together much like those providing the outer barriers, a wide gathering of energy providing some leverage to press against their ship, flopping it back upright.

It was heavy in the water, practically sinking, but it began to be bailed out with buckets made of energy and of actual physical wood, with some cultivators skilled in manipulating water being the most effective. No doubt their supplies would be soaked and rather unappetizing, but the vessel would not be lost.

Kseniya and other defenders kept them safe from beasts who thought their legs looked somewhat appetizing, arrows of pure energy along with gouts of fire, ice, and thorny protrusions of plantlike energy.

Just above the fleet a large gathering of lightning began to build up. If Anton didn't know better, he would have actually thought it was targeting them. But that should not be the case… unless they had stumbled into some sort of defensive formation of an isolationist sect. The flow of energy seemed to be entirely natural, though.

If he let the bolt of lightning strike straight down, or really anywhere below it at most angles, it would be devastating for the fleet. Even indirect impact might break through the defensive barriers of the larger ships, and the smaller ones would be annihilated. He absolutely wasn't going to let the lives and the effort of the soaked sailors go to waste.

A dozen arrows made of energy, impractically oversized for most purposes, were nocked on a number of different bows formed of the same energy. The lightning above continued to build, but it wasn't quite ready to release. Timing would be more important than speed, though he wanted both. His arrows shot out all around the cloud in different directions. Others picked up on what he was doing and added their own efforts, forming a web of energy spreading outward from the center. Anton did the same, with as many different arrows as he could maintain at once, before finally shooting an arrow almost horizontally, letting it curve around through the clouds towards the center. He wasn't sure if he was the one to trigger it, if it finished building to its peak, or something else had… but everything went white.

He couldn't see or hear, but he knew one thing. It had worked… well enough. At the very least, the great mass of energy hadn't come down in the center of the fleet. Instead, it had spider down around it, creating many separate bolts on all sides. He felt the strain on the formations of the ships and those providing the barriers, but it had gotten far enough away, and distributed enough, that they managed to hold on.

Hopefully, there weren't more like that. If there were…

Anton shook his head. Nothing lasted forever, not even this storm. In fact, as the lightning had snaked through the clouds above, a brief opening was formed. It wouldn't suddenly bring an end to the rest of the storm, but it would give them a moment of respite to catch their breath.

As he saw the stars beyond, Anton wondered what level of power one would have to reach to disperse such a storm with individual effort. They didn't have any peak Life Transformation cultivators among them, with most being in early Life Transformation. Even Grand Elder Kseniya herself was technically part of that group, though close to the next threshold.

Vandale could have probably done it. If not when Anton knew him, then when he was somewhat younger- he'd been at the peak of Life Transformation for some time. But without someone like that, they simply had to make do with working together. Anton wasn't opposed to that at all, but it wasn't always possible to guarantee such an excellent group of allies would be available.

Chapter 278

The ocean journey continued to pass with only minor incidents that the fleet was able to handle without suffering irreparable damage. Islands were few and far between, with none having the same abundance as the Paradise of Thirteen Hills. Some were inhabited by vicious beasts, but those were relatively easy to deal with.

Over the course of a week, islands became more frequent, and with signs of people. Then Kseniya spotted someone. Someone, and not something. It didn't take long for her words to spread throughout the fleet.

Plans for the first contact had already been made. Though the size of their fleet had been planned for the dangers of exploring new spaces, it would be quite easy to think it was an invading army. Thus, most of the fleet would be staying at a safe distance.

Though their expertise was required for the expedition, the sailors were not particularly invested in the goal. Neither the Commodore nor any of the captains would be involved in official negotiations except as became necessary.

One of the smaller vessels was selected to approach the island where cultivators had been sensed, carrying Elder Adelina of the Frostmirror sect and Elder Tola of Infinite Wisdom Forest. The pair of Life Transformation cultivators were a show of strength, but also of how reasonable they were. There was no intent to start conflict. Other people with a history of properly restraining themselves were picked to go as well- since anyone being provoked into a fight for whatever reason would reflect poorly on their group. Anton was among them, as well as Hoyt, though Anton didn't expect to be directly involved in any conversation.

With one vessel moving forward, the rest of the fleet remained distant- though that didn't mean they couldn't help. Among other things, Grand Elder Kseniya was well within her firing range if anything went wrong. Not that they would be advertising that fact to everyone they approached.

Unsurprisingly their arrival was met with an armed contingent of cultivators. They had intentionally been obvious in their approach. The hundred plus gathered cultivators wouldn't be able to actually do much if it came down to a fight, though. They had not a single Life Transformation cultivator among them. At the front was a woman in late Essence Collection who still retained much of her youth.

Her voice was imperious, though Anton detected a hint of nervousness. It was justified, of course. "Halt! Redfin Reef is the territory of the Rising Waterfall Sect. We have not received word of the passage of a group such as yourselves. What is your business here?"

The words were clear enough, though it was the biggest change in regional accent Anton had heard. Some places still had local languages, but cultivators spread throughout the world and formed a common language that permeated everything. The roots of that still held even here.

"Is Redfin Reef isolated from the rest of the continent?" Elder Adelina's words didn't exactly inspire comfort, but her point quickly became clear. "We come from the continent far to the west, with the intent of meeting with as many people as possible."

"From the west, you say?" The woman looked disbelieving at first. "Perhaps that is true. I do not recognize the sects any of you are from. We should properly introduce ourselves. I am Elder Darejani of the Rising Waterfall Sect."

"Elder Adelina of the Frostmirror Sect. We have with us members of many sects, and represent a combination of interests. Among others we have members of Glorious Flame Palace," she gestured to Anish, who was one of the most restrained of that particular group, "Infinite Wisdom Forest," Elder Tola bowed, "The Order of Ninety-Nine Stars," Anton felt eyes on him and Hoyt, "And many others."

The woman from the Rising Waterfall Sect took a moment to absorb the names and likely tie them to energy signatures in her mind to recognize in the future. "And what is your intent?"

"We come with a warning… one it is possible your continent has been apprised of, but of great importance to all of us." Elder Adelina paused dramatically, "Have you heard that several decades hence, an invasion of ascended individuals shall be descending upon the world to scour it for resources?"

Elder Tola looked quite surprised, which easily answered that question. Anton didn't blame her, nor did he blame how she didn't immediately accept the words. "Is that so. Then you are here to do what, unite us all under your banner to fight against them?" That was a polite way of talking about conquering people.

"That would be quite impractical," Elder Adelina explained, "It is quite an arduous journey here, and we hardly have the spare resources to attempt to manage another land. No, we just want to make sure you're ready to fight. Because frankly, we don't know if anyone will be. Even ourselves."

"... Perhaps we should talk somewhere more comfortable." It was unlikely that Elder Tola would be immediately convinced. Cultivators had ways of reading the truthfulness of others, but there were ways that it could be unreliable. Even if people didn't intentionally train to overcome such detections, they could be honestly mistaken about information they believed to be true. Anton was quite certain it would take some talking to convince them, but at least they would be willing to listen.

Their group came and went from Redfin Reef without any physical confrontations, which included the normal sparring that might occur when different sects met. While such activities might build up bonds of friendship, they could also lead to negative outcomes if anything went wrong. It could be anything from a malicious act to simply having different understandings of how far it was appropriate to go in a spar. It was better for the group to be more established in the area first.

They stayed on Redfin Reef for a week, not because of any necessity but simply so that the Rising Waterfall Sect could send notice ahead to the mainland. No doubt they would be met with stronger cultivators when they arrived, but that would simply mean they could get in contact with all of the right people. The strongest cultivators still appeared to be in charge, and it was unlikely that would be untrue anywhere, at least not to a significant degree.

While there wasn't much time to offer proper training of any sort, they did leave behind copies of anti-ascension techniques. That was to prove their intent, and one of their main purposes. If they were forced to leave and only those techniques remained behind, it might be enough. Though personally Anton had other goals. But everyone on Redfin Reef was already a cultivators, so he couldn't exactly start his great plans. Getting permission first would be best, anyway. He didn't want people to think he was trying to start a really slow uprising.

The port city was approximately the same size as the one they had left from in Facraona. The one they'd left from had been quite impressive, easily one of the largest cities Anton had seen, but it barely compared to Blackstone Harbor. The namesake rock made up the majority of the streets and buildings, and the whole city seemed to be carved from the dark stone. Doors and awnings were colored to contrast with what would have been an otherwise stark and dreary harbor, and the people themselves walked around in brightly colored garb.

An entire large dock was nicely set aside for the fleet, and they were escorted to it as they approached the harbor. Many other ships were present, but their group drew many stares. Even those who weren't cultivators could tell there was something different about them.

As they had been expected, a group was ready to meet with them shortly after they weighed anchor and settled down. Word had been sent back to Redfin Reef which relayed how the local sects would be willing to meet, and Anton found them quite reasonable. Even if they asked them not to bring any archers along.

Sure, many others could kill at range- but those who carried around a bow made it obvious. It was better to not make people nervous. But on the other hand, as it was a meeting of cultivators, they wouldn't be asking anyone to go in unarmed. That was simply asking for too much trust, and would easily sway the tides of battle in certain cultivators' favor- and they had no way to predict which ones.

The rules were reasonable, but it ended up with an odd mix of people going. Oh, elders from various factions made sense. The fact that both Adelina and Sarka were on the way was a bit concerning, but Anton was fairly certain it would be fine. But the fact that Chikere was going along… well, it seemed that their arbitrary standards were just that. And while it was simply discouraged, for archers to be in the group of those who went to the meeting, Anton was fine with letting some of the young folk take on the diplomatic tasks. He was still free to wander the city and he was sure he could find something interesting to occupy his time.

It was difficult to not immediately draw any of her swords when they stepped into the audience chamber. Strong cultivators were one thing. The impression the Life Transformation cultivators were giving off was enough to make Chikere twitchy, but she could handle that. She knew it was all bluster. But to find an actual enemy present, that was another matter entirely. She could have been halfway to him in a moment, ready to cut off his head. And probably dead that same moment, though not by that guy. After all, he had a sword. Chikere could lose to anyone else, but if she were going to lose a fair sword fight she might as well just kill herself. Though given the general nature of such things, she wouldn't have the chance.

Instead of drawing her swords, she took a deep breath and simply imagined slicing the wide man to ribbons. It wasn't just an idle fantasy either. She could see how he was uncomfortable sitting, and from that she extrapolated how he might stand, what stance he might take. She took note of the calluses on his hands and the particular muscles he'd developed. That wouldn't tell her the whole picture, but he wasn't exactly demonstrating how his energy would flow in combat. This was a peaceful talk, after all. At least, that was the idea of it.

And there sure was a lot of it. Talking. So many words going back and forth, saying so little… and yet so much. The pleasantries by the group present in front of them were the right words, but they were clearly intimidated. That was why they insisted on being raised up higher than her own group. That was also why there were formations in place to protect them, but that wasn't her problem. Unless she ended up fighting the sword guy.

But she wasn't going to start that fight. She was putting on her best face, as a representative of independent cultivators. She was fully on board with the whole plan to make sure everyone was ready to fight the invaders. Who did they think they were, planning to just force their way into the world and take all their swords? And maybe other crap too, Chikere presumed. But when they came for her swords they would find themselves facing the first through thirteenth best swords she'd ever laid her hands on, excluding the one sword that a respectable master had let her swing once. She was thinking about how to get that one while only half-listening to the conversation going on around her, until something caught her attention.

"While your words relay an honorable goal, in theory, you have provided us no proof of anything." Chikere's eyes focused on the sword guy. Why was he allowed to talk? "Personally, I find your motives suspicious."

"Of course you'd say that. You're a member of the Twin Soul Sect. That's literally your entire purpose here."

Chikere had every intention to play her part and let things happen as they were supposed to. She really did. But sometimes, her body acted on its own and she really couldn't stop it. Not that she would, since it had saved her life hundreds of times before. But usually it was her arms and legs and only rarely her mouth. Even in those cases, it was usually just biting down on a sword swinging at her face. This time, her vocal chords had been involved.

"What did you say, junior?" the man said in the third most condescending tone she'd ever heard. But he wasn't quite as old as some of those she'd met before, so he probably just didn't have the practice.

"I said you're a member of the Twin Soul Sect. You know, the guys who are going around pretending to be part of other sects and sabotaging us so the invasion can work. So of course you'd say you were suspicious of our motives." Chikere felt the stares of more than a handful of Life Transformation cultivators boring into her, including the icy and hot glares of Adelina and Sarka. "What? Can you guys still not recognize swords? I thought maybe you were just playing dumb."

Chapter 279

Things were going well. The Life Transformation elders were activating abilities Chikere knew would fully reveal to them that the man she'd pointed out was a Twin Soul sect member. Once he was exposed, they could just stab him and be done with it. The people here could grow to trust them for removing a traitor and everything would be fine.

But of course she'd forgotten that people were weird. Elders Sarka and Adelina had not used their detection abilities earlier because they were a bit invasive, and she saw from their faces the confirmation, but there was no stabbing. Or firing or icing.

Ah right. Politics. Probably some people up front were friends with who they thought the sword guy was, or were even actually in cahoots with the traitors. But as the pressure of angry glares bore down on Chikere, she stood firm. The sword guy's look was especially sharp, but if Chikere was afraid of sharp, she would have scared herself to death long ago.

The sword guy spoke up again. "That's a pretty wild accusation to be throwing around, junior. What evidence do you have?"

"That's pretty easy. Your sword is made by their guy, and they all have a feeling to them."

"Hmm…" the noise came from someone in the group up above, but Chikere couldn't pick them out for some reason. There weren't that many old dudes up there, but it was still hard to place. "Iiinteresting," the voice mumbled. But nobody else seemed to acknowledge it.

"This sword?" the man raised an eyebrow. "You say it marks me as some member of a traitorous sect?"

"I guarantee it," Chikere stared swords back at him. Some people stared daggers, but they just didn't know how to do a proper look. If she tried a little bit harder, she might make the guy's eyes bleed.

"Well, good for me then," the man smiled happily. "I just so happened to have picked this off someone I killed. He was a traitor, hmm?"

"No," Chikere said. "It's you. Because that sword was made specifically for your hand… seven weeks ago."

"Stop making things up," the man said sternly. "This is no place for games. Which sect is she from?"

"It was eight weeks," a low but powerful voice said from one of the positions among the visiting cultivators. As it spoke, Chikere felt a sudden sense of danger. Like she was sliced in half… except she wasn't. And it wasn't targeted at her. Where had that sword come from? And also the person holding it at his side. He hadn't been there… had he? An old man casually stood up from a seat, strolling over to the sword guy. Perhaps he had been there. He certainly didn't look like much. Hadn't looked like much. But now… Chikere wanted to fight him. Even if it meant dying. The old man held a sword in his hand- not his own, but the blade of the sword guy. "You said this sword is the mark of a traitor? I've sensed blades of this master before. Mostly recently. I do agree, they're quite distinctive." He casually held the blade against the throat of the man. "So, you found this sword on someone, you said? Interesting."

Nobody said anything. The group of cultivators below were waiting to see what happened, and everyone else among the council that had been waiting seemed to be too intimidated to speak. So Chikere spoke. "Are you sure it was eight weeks?" she frowned. "I thought it was seven."

"That would depend on your opinion," the old man said as he continued to casually hold the blade against the other's throat. "When is a sword a sword?" When the metal first touches fire, when the blade is quenched for the final time, or when it finishes being sharpened?"

"The last one," Chikere said. "Or when it falls off the tree."

The old man cocked his head. "... tree?"

Chikere hefted up one of her swords, still in its sheath. "This one grew on a tree on the moon."

"Oh. Everheart's place." The man clicked his tongue. "I never trusted that guy close enough to throw him. But I heard that it was quite an interesting trip."

"Umm," one of the few women on the gathered council spoke up. "Swordmaster Rahayu, I believe you will have opportunities to continue that conversation later. I trust your word that the sword was made when you said, but does that preclude it from being something Elder Lestari got from an enemy cultivator?"

"Oh yes," the old man nodded. "It was absolutely made specifically for his hands."

"What a waste," Chikere commented.

"Right?" the old man grinned toothlessly. "Anyway, you got something to say in your defense? It shouldn't be that hard to figure out where you got this sword, but the thing is… I already know. So why did you lie about it?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," the man who was probably Elder Lestari said nervously.

"Wow. You're either an idiot or a terrible liar," Swordmaster Rahayu said. "Someone clean that up."

Chikere hadn't even seen the cut happen, and somehow the man's head fell to the floor before she noticed. How could that even happen? "Fight me!" she shouted at the man. She had to know. She really wanted to live to be a grandmaster, but not knowing would make her life terrible.

Swordmaster Rahayu's eyes locked on hers. He didn't say anything, but as she drew her swords he lazily pulled his out. And then she died. A sword straight through her chest, from the back no less. And it was real. Her sword were barely even halfway stabbing behind her when it came out of her chest, spraying blood.

"Nice," she heard before her consciousness left her for the last time. "I'm taking this one."

Watching Grand Elder Kseniya's expression told Anton many things about what was happening in the meeting with the local council. First surprise and worry, then she relaxed. She even smiled slightly, before twitching. Anton saw her nearly fire an arrow, but she restrained herself.

"What's going on?" he asked. It was unlikely things were so tense that she couldn't afford the tiny amount of concentration to talk, and if that was true she'd just ignore him.

"Well," she said. "The bad news is that there was a member of the Twin Soul Sect among the council. With him dead, it'll be a bit harder to work with whatever sect he was part of, at least until they're properly convinced about him. Then again, one of the locals did the deed. So the good news is that, and that he's dead. And also that Chikere isn't coming back."

"Is that… good news?" Anton frowned. He thought Kseniya was fond of Chikere. They shared a certain brashness and devotion to their craft, even if they didn't use the same sorts of weapons. "What do you mean she's not coming back?"

"She got stabbed through the chest and carried away."

"That sounds bad," Anton pointed out.

"I suppose when you just hear about it, yeah," Kseniya nodded. "But she was grinning pretty widely. And from what I can tell it's just an eccentric swordmaster eager to get a new apprentice."

"... is that how swordmasters pick apprentices?" If Chikere wasn't his point of reference, Anton would have thought it was crazy. "Well, how's the rest going?"

"Eh, it'll work out. And I don't even have to shoot anyone, probably."

When she woke up, Chikere didn't even care that she wasn't dead. She just couldn't get over the fact that she hadn't seen through the movements. She reviewed the moment in her head over and over, and she couldn't help but think that she'd seen the man casually walk up to her, circle around behind her, and slide his blade into her chest. She touched it… and felt the wound. It went straight through the center of her chest, slipping between her ribs and just avoiding her sternum. And also just over her heart and narrowly slipping past some important veins and arteries without nicking her lung.

She stood up, holding a sword in her hands. She tried to walk, but tripped. Something wasn't right about it. She tried again, and ran into the wall. It wasn't just the difference in energy between her and him. There was something else to it. And the movement of his sword. Chikere bit her lip. Too bad she only got to see it once.

"Are you going to sleep all day?" she heard a man shout. "Get out here!"

It was him. Swordmaster Rahayu, apparently. She was outside as soon as her legs would carry her there. "Fight me!"

And that was basically what they did. Though it could hardly be called a fight. It wasn't that he didn't take thing seriously. Every movement was sufficient to kill or maim Chikere and just stopped short of it. Or aimed somewhere she wouldn't die.

Within the next hour, however, she found herself with a dozen more holes in her chest, arms, and legs. She had deep cuts elsewhere, leaking blood all over. And she hadn't even managed to touch the edge of the old man's robe.

"Bind up those wounds and sit down for breakfast," he said. "It's… only a little bit burnt."

Chikere really wanted to keep going, but he had a point. She was ravenous, and there was the slight issue that she might bleed to death if she didn't close up some of the wounds. And she had more than enough battle to digest for a while.

"... where are we?" Chikere asked after eating the first plate of food. All she could see around them was a little hut and a small copse of trees. There wasn't even forest beyond it. Just nothing.

"Home," he said. "Pretty good energy up here, apprentice."

"Apprentice?" she said questioningly. "My name is Chikere." She looked around. "Do you have an apprentice?"

"Rahayu," the man said. "And the apprentice is you."

"Oh," she nodded. "Okay. Does that mean we get to fight more?"

"In a minute, yeah. First tell me why you're here."

"I presume because you brought me here."

"Not here. Blackstone Harbor. Or Aicenith in general."

"What's an Aicenith?"

"Continent," he said.

"People name those?" Chikere frowned. "I suppose that makes sense. I don't know the name of ours. But we're here to warn people about the coming invasion. Everheart warned about it. I know you don't like him, but-"

"Eh," he said. "When will it be?"

"A few decades?" she said. "I'm not quite sure."

"Well, doesn't have much to do with me, then," Rahayu shrugged. "Probably. Unless they hurry it up."

"We're supposed to convince people to prepare to fight people who had ascended. There are some techniques- not only from Everheart." Chikere swung her sword, demonstrating one of them. "They disrupt their energy. We're here to teach people about that and make sure they're preparing to fight however they want. Also the Twin Soul Sect thing, since they work for them."

"Alright," the old man nodded. "But why are you here?"

"... to fight people."

"Good enough. Let's get back to it then. Maybe I can improve that technique you showed me," his sword swept through the air, making her skin tingle. "It's far too general for my tastes. Gotta have the right edge for a sword."

"Yeah," Chikere nodded. "Good idea. I haven't had time to do that yet."

"Then let's get started. I know at least one or two things a young folk like you should learn, but I really don't like teaching idiots." Chikere blocked his sword as it stabbed straight for her heart. For real this time, but she actually stopped it. "Good, you have plenty of potential. Some people aren't ready and make the trip down the mountain the hard way."

His earlier references had indicated they were high up, but upon looking around more carefully Chikere realized the reason there was only the hut and a small copse. There was nothing else around, even ground. Just sheer cliffs. Was that a skeleton at the bottom? Well, didn't matter. This guy had a lot of experience, and she needed to fight it out of him.

Chapter 280

Marvelous Rabbit Mountain was more than its name implied. The Marvelous was obviously just going to be puffery, and the diminutive creatures they were named after hardly had traits worth cultivating, at least upon casual inspection. They were cute little creatures that hopped around, hardly something that warriors would train based on. They much preferred lions and tigers and violent beasts.

But clearly they had been doing well for themselves. Alva observed high walls and disciples of quite decent cultivations as they approached the gates. She was just following along. Elder Adelina of the Frostmirror sect was leading their particular contingent. Marvelous Rabbit Mountain wasn't that big of a deal that they deserved one of the Life Transformation cultivators to personally visit during the first wave, but there were political reasons.

The guards remained very professional as they approached, politely greeting them. "Welcome to Marvelous Rabbit Mountain, cultivators from the Brogora continent." The smiles varied in genuineness between them.

"We greet you in turn," Elder Adelina responded in kind. "As was discussed at the council, we have come to provide techniques necessary to deal with a looming threat. We hope that your sect and all of the others will make good use of them."

"Yes, we had… word from the council. We are prepared to receive your group for as long as necessary." One of the guards bowed his head. "I will show you where you need to go." The other guard looked slightly relieved at the volunteer.

The group followed along behind Elder Adelina. Alva was there, and of course Annelie. But for the sake of showing solidarity among their group, Anish was present as well. There was nothing wrong with him, but he really was showing up quite often.

Alva might not have called the place a mountain, though it was certainly on a mountain. There were also very few rabbits, though she'd spotted some in the fields outside their walls, running wild and digging in their little burrows. It was probably best that Fuzz wasn't with her, since they likely wouldn't want to see him eating their namesake animals. Alva could have probably made him behave, but it was probably easier to just not have him around. Though now she was tempted to eat one of the rabbits.

That wouldn't have exactly strengthened their reception though. "People sure look busy," Alva commented about the lack of people coming to see them. Even if they didn't say anything, she would have expected more gawkers. Of course, she knew why things were this way. She just wanted to see if the guard would say anything, and it was better for her to bring it up than an elder.

"Well," the guard shrugged. "Many people were quite fond of Elder Lestari. Or at least respectful."

"And you?" Alva asked.

"I… didn't know him well," the guard hedged. "He was strong, though." Perhaps that was the politest way he could say he didn't like the man without being worried about whoever might be listening in. After all, suddenly learning that an elder was some sort of traitor was hard for people to deal with, especially people who relied on his influence. "Is it true that he was…?"

Elder Adelina answered that one. "I discerned the truth of it for myself, before Swordmaster Rahayu acted. It was unfortunate that he was so swift and final with his actions."

Alva nodded. It was kind of hard to ask the guy questions about who made that sword when he was dead. It seemed rather suspicious on Rahayu's part, and apparently after that the Life Transformation cultivator had stabbed and kidnapped Chikere. But the thing was, had the situation been reversed- with Chikere stabbing and kidnapping the old man- Alva would have thought little of it. That was just the way she was. Perhaps their personalities were simply the same type of sword-obsessed. And also not amazing about thinking ahead except in a fight.

"The elders here did mention that his body gave off a particularly different cultivation method… after. How did they conceal it? How do you discover it?"

Just in case, Alva carefully activated the technique that would resonate with Twin Soul Sect members and make their cultivation known to her. Unless this particular Spirit Building guard had some sort of secret technique to extra conceal his cultivation, he wasn't one of them.

"That information is what we are here for," Elder Adelina explained. "You will get the chance to learn how they might be revealed. The sensible way. As well as techniques that will be required to fight some forthcoming invaders."

"Really?" The guard lit up at that. "I thought you'd only teach the elders."

"That would be wasteful. They would have to teach you afterwards regardless," Adelina pointed out. "And we have more experience. Though I personally will not be instructing you. Probably one of these three," she gestured towards the others.

The guard looked at Alva. He was older than her, maybe thirty or so, but her cultivation was much higher. She hadn't thought about it much, but she was here to help teach, wasn't she? She might even end up instructing some of the elders, depending how many there were. Essence Collection wasn't a shabby cultivation level, especially outside of the largest sects. She was just sort of used to everyone she knew being stronger than her. Well, even that wasn't true. But there were enough people she couldn't catch up to, like Hoyt and Velvet.

Marvelous Rabbit Mountain was on lockdown, much like the Order had been after learning about the Twin Soul Sect and some ways to detect them. The same with how most of the people around them now called the 'Brogora' continent had responded.

Alva found herself in a room with several people three or four times her age, plus a few others like Mansur, the guard who had been eager to learn the techniques. Alva was doing her best to act like she knew what to do, which was only half true. The half she knew was how to make use of the techniques. The half she didn't know was how to teach anyone else how to resonate your energy in a way that would reveal members of the Twin Soul Sect without necessarily giving away you were doing it. Then there was the method that was more obvious and revealed them to everybody.

Her grandfather made teaching people seem so easy.

"Okay everyone, first, focus on your own internal energy. You are all familiar with the Magnificent Rabbit Mountain's aura. Take hold of it. Let it move, through your and then around you and then through everything else." As she explained, Alva sincerely hoped the actual demonstration she was giving was clearer. "Who wants to try first?"

Mansur stepped forward, "I will!"

Oh good. It was much better him than one of the elders. He would get to be the one to make most of the mistakes that everyone made. He did alright, but when his energy spread out it impacted her own. Not strongly, but noticeably.

"Good," she said encouragingly, "But don't forget this isn't an attack. At least, not this version. It should barely be noticeable, you're just trying to detect if someone's hiding something. It's not even meant to pick out hidden people, just those who you can see who might be faking their cultivation."

Mansur nodded enthusiastically. At least the others were paying attention, and some of them were subtly practicing on their own. They wouldn't want to look worse than a junior, after all. Especially not with a woman only in her mid twenties instructing them.

Though Alva had told Mansur he was doing well, he knew at least some of it was out of politeness. He'd made some pretty bad mistakes at first. Following that, she at least had run short of criticisms for his form. The only issue was he couldn't tell if it would actually work. As far as he knew, she wasn't one of the Twin Soul Sect. He wasn't either- though he should have known if he was. The elders he'd trained with weren't. Random disciples felt exactly as he expected them to.

The Marvelous Rabbit Mountain cultivation technique wasn't just about hopping around. It was about calmness and bursts of powerful motion, of awareness. It was many things, but all of them felt like home. Every disciple Mansur passed was a member of the family. Mansur presumed Elder Lestari was too, but that trust had been betrayed.

It wasn't that he was personally affronted. He really didn't know the man. But Mansur wanted to protect his home, and letting people working directly against that inside was antithetical to his nature. He absolutely had to make sure there weren't any traitors. Not that he'd really have much chance.

They were on lockdown while the elders learned the proper techniques, and they'd already been looked over by their visitors. That meant they had to be clean, right? Though Mansur hadn't actually heard anything about that. Where there was one traitor there might be more, and though he hadn't heard of anyone they could be dealt with quietly.

But everyone he felt was fine. A group of five training their bodies, two people practicing burrowing techniques- good for catching enemies off guard with unexpected movement capabilities. Everyone felt normal. Two elders chatting, one of them who felt like a calm night sky looking down on a field and the other who felt like… an empty husk.

She was fake on the outside. Mansur didn't know if she was actually as she felt, but as he casually brushed past her he felt the difference. Beneath a layer of something, had he actually found that Elder Citra was one of the traitors? She looked over at him, peering into his soul. Mansur didn't move, not his body nor his energy. But her eyes were merely taking note of passing disciples, and quickly left him.

When he dared to breathe again, he quickly made his way towards where the guests were staying. Perhaps he had been wrong, and was just seeing things. He didn't really know what to expect, so he could have messed up. But if he was right…

He wanted to leap as quickly as he could, but it was much better to remain stealthy in such times. He was so focused on worrying about what was behind him that he almost ran into the fire man.

"Hey. What's up? You in a hurry?"

Mansur blinked. "I- well, I'm not sure. I was hoping to speak to someone… about what Honored Guest Alva was teaching."

"Sure, come with me. I was just on my way over to say hi."

Some of the members of Marvelous Rabbit Mountain lived in burrows, but practical disciples and guests lived in houses. The guests had bigger quarters than Mansur, but he couldn't really complain about that when they were all higher in cultivation than himself.

He was glad that the fire man- Anish- was not taking him to see the Life Transformation cultivator. She was cold, emotionless. And so much stronger than him it was terrifying. Though so was interacting with a woman younger than him and at least a few times as strong. Or two of them, as the case happened to be. Rumors said that they were cousins? They looked alike enough, at least.

The fact that they seemed to be close friends could have gone for or against that statement, but the two of them were found in the same sitting room. Anish had casually knocked on the door, then opened it when there had been some sort of subtle sign indicating he could enter.

"This guy had something to talk to you about, Alva," Anish pointed to Mansur.

"Honored Guests," he bowed his head to the two women. "I have… a delicate matter to bring up. The technique you were teaching me, well… I thought I sensed something from someone. I was wondering if I might be incorrect, since you have already vetted everyone."

"Who?" the icy Annelie asked seriously.

"Elder Citra. I must be clear that I'm not certain but-"

"Yeah, she's one of those on the list," Annelie nodded. "So don't worry about it."

"Worry about… what? Having a traitor among us?"

"Or being wrong. Because the first one won't be true forever, and you weren't wrong." The way the woman said it so matter-of-factly was almost concerning.

"You knew about her? Then why is she still here?"

"What did you think the lockdown was for? Who did you think you were going to practice on?"

Mansur looked sheepishly between her and Alva, and the grinning Anish. "I suppose I didn't think about that. But won't she be a danger?"

"There aren't enough of them to cause trouble, and they will be dealt with by your elders when the time comes. But until then, they're around for practice. So don't panic if you find more… but you can go ahead and come to us and we'll tell you if they're on the list."

Mansur bowed his head. "Oh. Okay."

Alva's words cheered him up. "You did great, by the way. Only a couple days of practice and you already really found someone. Did they notice you?"

"I'm not sure," he admitted. "I thought maybe, but they were just scanning everyone."

"Show me, and I'll estimate." So he did. The result was… "Decent. I know what to look for, so I can tell when you're doing it. But you might actually get away with it. Keep practicing. You're one of the first to find anyone, and this is an important skill to have. On par with the anti-ascension techniques we'll be distributing later."

Mansur left, feeling somewhat satisfied with himself, though slightly confused. At least he was good for something besides just standing outside the front gates.

Chapter 281

Even as he arrived at the base of the tall spire of stone, Anton knew he had been noticed. There was a sharpness, as if a blade had been held to his throat. He wasn't entirely ready to say it was just a feeling, either. A sword could only cut what it could reach, but perhaps Swordmaster Rahayu's reach could extend all the way to where he was. A peak Life Transformation expert should certainly have abilities that he could barely comprehend.

"Hello up there," Anton called. "I would like to speak with you, Swordmaster Rahayu!"

His voice didn't even echo back to him, but instead there was silence. Not that he'd expected much different. The locals had all told him that the man wasn't particularly sociable, but he also wasn't known as being a violent psychopath. Not as sword cultivators went, anyway. He wasn't social, but he didn't just kill those that approached. Anton had to at least try.

Perhaps one of the Life Transformation experts they had brought should have been the one to make the trip. Here Anton was, just a mid Essence Collection cultivator. Not an insult, but not really an honorable visitor either. But Anton was chosen for several reasons. First, all of the Life Transformation cultivators were dealing with those who cared about that kind of thing. They wouldn't be able to impress Swordmaster Rahayu with their cultivation anyway, so they thought it best to continue with what they were doing. It also wasn't a particularly strong lead, since the man might not know anything about the smith. But Anton did know Chikere, who was supposed to be in his favor.

As Anton began climbing the rock face, he supposed Rahayu had a strange way of showing favor. Anton fully believed that training should push people to their limits, but he didn't think injuries had any place where they were avoidable. He was of the opinion that people could remember something that almost caused serious injury as well as if they had been actually wounded. Rahayu seemed to be different in that regard. Though he was clearly avoiding causing fatal or irrecoverable injuries, he also wasn't doing the minimum damage possible.

Hands and feet stretched for places he could push up the cliff face and hold on. He might have created his own little places to hold on if this had been any other stretch of rock, but wearing away at the stone pinnacle where the swordmaster lived seemed a bit rude. So it was better to take his time.

Besides, then he might not interrupt the sparring happening above. He kept his senses away from the swordmaster, once again to avoid seeming as if he was intruding on the man, but Chikere's state told him a lot. She had numerous cuts and stabs all over her body. Her face, arms and legs were filled with wounds both fresh and scarred over, and her torso had more holes than a colander. Anton wasn't even quite sure how she was standing, but she was- though her body itself barely managed to maintain its position. The swords she had around her were doing their best to seek out the swordmaster and attack him while still blocking for her.

Anton wasn't sure if he could count the infrequent interactions of her swords and Rahayu's as parries, but that was the closest thing he could call them. Her blades never got close to the old swordmaster, and his sword never failed to meet its mark.

The pinnacle was tall, but there was nothing about it that particularly prevented Anton's climbing. With his muscles and energy he was easily able to pull himself up with just a single finger finding something to grip, and he could easily manage at least that much.

When he reached the top, Rahayu was just sheathing his sword. He found it odd considering that Chikere was still standing, her swords moving, but Anton realized that her expression was blank. She didn't seem to be conscious… which gave him a good reason not to approach her.

"Swordmaster Rahayu," Anton bowed his head. "I have some questions for you, if you're willing." There was one more reason Anton had come- alone. It was possible he was a member of the Twin Soul Sect. They would certainly desire a lone swordmaster to be among their ranks, and his origins were not particularly well known. The fact that he had killed one of their members before he could spill any secrets was something that needed to be investigated, but the easiest way was to simply try to find out. And Anton was one of those who had the right combination of skills.

He did his best to subtly infiltrate his energy into Rahayu's. The more obvious move was a more straightforward sweep of energy, feeling over the man and sensing the depths of his cultivation. That was a mistake, not because Rahayu took issue with his probing but because he was so open.

Without any form of resistance, Anton found himself in the man's dantian. There was no trace of anything hiding, only a great blade of indefinable attributes. Its size and shape were a mystery, and Anton felt it could have been anything from a single edged curved sword to a straight double edged blade. But either way it was sharp, and merely feeling it cut him. The moment he was there he felt himself split cleanly in two, and he stumbled onto his knees.

Rahayu didn't react much as Anton gathered himself together. Anton felt pain, but found he wasn't physically damaged. In normal circumstances if his energy was cut through it would hardly matter. At most, he might lose access to whatever was severed and require some time to restore his reserves. In this case he wasn't cut off from anything, but instead something deeper had been cut. His Essence, perhaps, or the spiritual side of his dantian.

"Don't worry," Rahayu said. "It will heal. But you ought to be careful."

Anton nodded. "I understand. But I had to try." He shakily stood to his feet. If he was a sword cultivator, he felt like he might have been able to glean an important insight. Even as it was, he definitely felt something. Was that how Life Transformation worked? The man literally formed the core of his soul into a blade. He had avoided probing so deeply on any others, but he'd spent plenty of time with Vandale and Kseniya. He had the feeling they hadn't gone so far. He wasn't sure what that meant though.

"You feel like that other archer," Rahayu said. "The one out on the ship."

Of course he'd noticed her. If someone could attack from a certain distance, another cultivator should be able to respond in some manner. And Rahayu was a significant margin higher in cultivation than Kseniya. "That's right, I've learned many things from Grand Elder Kseniya."

"Not a copycat, though," Rahayu nodded. "Perhaps you might have gone further in your cultivation if you followed the path she blazed, but you'd never reach ascension that way."

"I can't anyway," Anton mentioned. "I had to give it up for something else. Even if I reach peak Life Transformation, I can't ascend." Anton wasn't sure what it was that made him speak so freely. The man wasn't particularly friendly or anything, but then again what did he have to hide? At least about that. "I haven't asked my question though. When you and Chikere first met, there was a man. Lestari. You both indicated his sword had been made recently by someone. We were hoping you knew who that someone was. Or could at least point us in a probable direction."

They would have followed up on that lead earlier, but other matters had been more pressing. Like getting along with the local sects. It had also taken some time to track down exactly where Rahayu lived, since the information wasn't widely known even if it wasn't secret.

"The one who smithed those swords, you say?" Rahayu frowned. "Never seen him. Would have remembered someone who could make swords like that. So I don't have any information, except that he didn't come to Blackstone Harbor."

So that was that then, Anton supposed. Alva and some others were currently working with Marvelous Rabbit Mountain and would bring any information about Elder Lestari's recent activities if they could, but this might just be a dead end.

"What do you even care about this Twin Soul Sect for? Were they a big problem where you came from?"

"I thought you knew about them, given how you killed him so easily," Anton replied.

"Nah. I just don't like people lying to me. Especially in such an unrepentant manner."

"I see." Anton didn't really have any reason to worry about that, as he wasn't prone to lying, and had no reason to here. "They're part of a group working to destabilize the sects here before the invasion by ascended cultivators."

"I can see why you might be concerned about them," Rahayu nodded. "Not that it has anything to do with me."

"The invasion will be coming within the next few decades. I don't imagine you'll be dead before then."

"Of course not," Rahayu said. "But if they're coming here, I doubt we'll meet up."

It took Anton a moment to realize what he meant. "You're going to ascend?" he asked.

"That's right," Rahayu nodded.

"I don't know the specifics, but it's not exactly what it seems. Though I suppose that's information from Everheart."

"Well, despite my personal distaste for the man…" Rahayu pondered. "I have to admit he's probably right about that. But I plan to check it out for myself."

"You make it sound so easy," Anton smiled idly.

"Well, it's not like I'd have made it here without supreme confidence. I just have a single step to go, and I have the feeling I'm not far from figuring it out."

"While that might be true, the Twin Soul Sect might come kill you anyway."

"You think so?" Rahayu stroked his chin. "That might do it, actually. Think you could spread the word about me killing some of their members a bit? I don't want to have to hunt them down."

"... sure," Anton said. "I can do that."

"Great. Oh, and you might try to the northeast. For that smith. Seems like it was quenched with lakewater from Niverlam Depths."

"I appreciate the guidance," Anton inclined his head. How the man would know something like that Anton didn't bother to ask. At the very least, it was a direction to go in.

Since his primary business was done, he looked over at Chikere, still standing there unconscious with her swords swirling about. "Is she going to be alright?" he asked.

"She'll be fine," Rahayu assured him. "I'm not going to let someone with her potential die so easily. Gotta set myself up with someone to spar against in the future."

Anton nodded. That made about as much sense as anything else the man had said. Niverlam Depths, was it? He'd have to gather up some others and take a look, though it would be better not to be too obvious about it.

Anton brought along exactly two others. Life Transformation cultivators would be too obvious, though Essence Collection cultivators wouldn't be ignored either. But they could at least be mistaken for locals by casual observers. Not local to the area, of course. Nobody had a cultivation technique that felt much like the Ninety-Nine Stars. But it was possible that they could be assumed to be from elsewhere on Aicenith, instead of a part of the group of foreign cultivators that had recently arrived. That would give them a chance to not spook off this smith, and whatever connection they had to the larger Twin Soul Sect.

The other two with him were everyone present of his most frequent companions- Hoyt and Velvet. With Timothy and Catarina still back home, it was just the three of them. Anton considered bringing more members of the Order, but they should only be necessary if there was a fight. They planned to avoid that, though Hoyt would be there in case of that trouble, and because a group of one old man and one young woman who were pretty clearly not a master and apprentice would be more suspicious, even if it would also mean they were less stealthy as a group.

But if everything went right, they could gather information through safer means than sneaking around cultivators who were bound to be of high ability, or at least protected by those who were. If this were the same smith as had been supplying weapons back home, the Twin Soul Sect had to be taking care of them. And that also meant they had a way to get between the continents. Maybe it was basically the same, but they wouldn't have sent an important member on an expedition they weren't reasonably certain would keep them alive. Or maybe they would, if it kept them from being captured and pried for information. It wasn't as if they were afraid of death.

Chapter 282

The city of Erygan was on the closest shore of the Niverlam Depths, and was the most sizable of the handful of settlements around the great lake. No cultivators troubled Anton and the others on the way, and no beasts or the like either. Of course, if there had been anything that severely impeded their travels the vast majority of the local denizens would be unable to go anywhere without fear of mortal danger. There were still certain places in the world that would be a danger for Essence Collection cultivators, but nobody lived there, except the most eccentric cultivators.

The entrance to the city had wide gates that looked as if they had never been closed. At least, not in a generation or more. Guards were passively checking travelers, but they didn't interfere much. Since he had to start at some point, Anton casually began to ask questions. "Excuse me. We're here looking for a smith…" An innocent enough question that might lead them in the right direction, if they were lucky.

"Then you've come to the right place," the guard replied. "We've got boatloads of them."

A large city should indeed have many smiths to take care of the needs of all its citizens. Anton tried a slightly different approach. "Well, we're not just looking for any smith. We need those of a certain caliber…"

The guard looked them over, appraising their cultivation. The man himself was in Spirit Building, but didn't seem particularly interested in Essence Collection cultivators appearing. "You need masters, grandmasters? We got some, like I said. Something about the lake draws them in."

"I see," Anton nodded. "Thank you." Even if he knew more specific details about who they were looking for, asking too many questions in one place would become suspicious. And if there were many people who fit the bill, it wouldn't even lead to much.

Obviously Swordmaster Rahayu had left out some details. There was no way he didn't know that many smiths made use of the Niverlam Depths for their work. Unless they all happened to not make swords, but even that would be a stretch. A Life Transformation cultivator would undoubtedly know many details about the world around where they lived regardless of their particular interest in it.

"It seems our search here will be a bit more difficult than we thought," Anton said to Hoyt and Velvet. They were still looking for someone who had arrived in the last year or two, but that information was likely insufficient. Perhaps Anton should have interrogated Rahayu more thoroughly, though he'd felt the man had said all he intended to.

"How many could there really be?" Velvet asked. "Even in a city of this size?"

As Anton's senses spread out over the city, he avoided prying into any place with more than a token amount of resistance, usually formations set up for that exact reason. The caliber of a smith who could make weapons suitable for someone around the peak of Essence Collection wasn't so common, but there had to be at least a dozen locations throughout the city that were possible suspects. And several dozen more atop the lake- which is where the majority of smiths seemed to be.

Great stone wharfs extended from where the main streets met the lake, spidering over the surface in seemingly random fashion. Anton wasn't quite sure what the particular placement was for, but it seemed quite a lot of effort to go in so many directions instead of having one larger wharf upon which all of the smiths rested. Then again, perhaps they simply didn't get along.

His question was answered quickly enough when he sensed someone jump into the lake with a heated blade, diving deep beneath the surface. He followed them downward until he couldn't anymore, a depth of at least a hundred meters. What he learned was that the bottom of the lake was filled with hollows that went much deeper than the rest of the lakebed around them. He might be able to learn more from up close, but that was the limit of what he could sense from out in the city.

Of the three, Hoyt was not the one most suited to gathering information. However, splitting up would save them time, with each of them having to go to fewer locations. Hoyt also had the excuse of asking around for someone who could forge him a new axe. His was suitable, but felt a bit inadequate for a mid Essence Collection cultivator. He would be in mid to late Essence Collection for a significant amount of time even if his cultivation advanced smoothly, so it was worth the effort.

The Order had significant stores, but he'd found nothing that suited him. He could have commissioned something back home, but hadn't found it important. But since they were here, he might as well take advantage of the opportunity.

Hoyt surveyed the weapons displayed by a woman in early Essence Collection. There were only a small handful of them, as most customers would want something made to fit them specifically. The fact that she was lower than himself in cultivation wasn't a concern, but he just didn't find the weapons fit him. Apparently he hadn't been able to keep that look off of his face.

"I think you might do better somewhere else," she commented candidly. "I'm more attuned to the chill nature of ice, and my weapons reflect it. I wouldn't normally recommend him… but perhaps the hothead across the way?" she gestured to another nearby wharf where a large man could be seen hammering away at a billet of metal that would at some point become a weapon, or the core of one at least.

The way sparks flew wildly made it obvious why the wharfs were all made of stone. Even if it was rather simple for cultivators to put out a fire atop a lake, others would have more difficulty- and nobody wanted to walk on half-burned structure, wondering when it might give out. With a large number of smiths who were concerned about easy access to the lake, most of their forges were open to the world.

Hoyt scanned the wharfs for a way around, but they didn't easily connect to other places. "Just go ahead and hop over," the woman said. "Nobody minds. The wharfs are for wagons bringing in shipments of metal and coal, rather than the customers."

"Oh, thanks," Hoyt nodded. "You weapons are certainly of sufficient quality…"

"I know that. But in your hands they'd hardly be useful, and that would make us both look bad. So hop on over there without concern."

Hoyt nodded, looking down into the water below. He wasn't concerned about swimming. That was trivial, even with heavy weapons and armor. But the very thing that made the lake attractive for the smiths was also a source of danger. Dense natural energy was usually connected to dangers of some sort, which meant a high probability of either creatures living in the depths or something else hazardous to his health.

Though if it was that dangerous, the wharfs probably wouldn't remain standing. Anything that could affect Hoyt could certainly tear apart even sturdy stone, just as a side effect of whatever it was doing.

It was only a dozen meters or so to the other smith's wharf, so Hoyt indeed just 'hopped' over. He landed softly, but a moment later a glowing white bar of metal was thrust into his face. He stepped back defensively.

"Hold this," the smith demanded.

Hoyt tentatively reached out to take it. It was hot. The sort of hot that would kill most people, since it was still uncomfortable even in his hands. As he was attuning more towards the fiery aspects of the stars, that was saying something.

Yet the metal still held its shape, not melting and hardly softening. Though it wasn't completely firm either, as the smith demonstrated when he grabbed Hoyt's finger's and squeezed them around it.

If he wasn't so off guard by the man's actions and the apparent lack of hostility he would have attacked at that moment. He wasn't so careless as to just let someone get a hold on him most of the time, but the man moved so naturally it was hard to follow.

A moment later he snatched the metal rod out of Hoyt's hands and thrust it back into the fire, sending waves of sparks towards Hoyt, some of which landed on the lake and shot up gouts of steam.

"Excuse me sir," Hoyt tried to start the conversation. The loud clanging would certainly prevent a normal person from hearing him, but the smith had to either be deaf or able to protect his ears from the sound. From the way he talked, Hoyt presumed the latter. "I'm interested in looking at weapons."

"It's not done yet," the man declared.

"I haven't ordered anything," Hoyt pointed out. "I can wait until after you finish whatever you're making for your current customers, if necessary. But I was hoping to browse some of your previous works…"

The man didn't seem to be interested in what he was saying. Hoyt understood he was focused on his work, so he glanced around the forge. Notably absent was any sort of storefront of any sort. There was an attached building, but it was just an empty room with a cot. Hoyt could sense it, because there were no protections at all.

The formations on the forge itself were quite extensive. He supposed they would have to be, to contain that heat. Even with special materials there were limits to how much heating and cooling any material could withstand.

Once again the metal billet was thrust into Hoyt's hands, now slightly different in form. "Jump in that one. As deep as you can go," the smith gestured to Hoyt. "Hurry!"

Sometimes it was easier to just go with the flow. If nothing else, the man would owe him some answers after this, though there was no guarantee he knew anything useful. Being used as some sort of menial worker wasn't exactly appealing, but he had to admit he was interested in the process.

He jumped into the lake, towards the indicated hole. He wasn't sure what was special about that particular one, and thought at first that it was just the smith being particular. A sort of arbitrary favorite. But as he approached it Hoyt felt the weight of a mountain bearing down on him, an unfathomable solidity that was simply oppressive.

Steam billowed around him as the lakewater flash-boiled, the billet being much hotter than even the first time it had been thrust into his hands. Hoyt had to focus his defensive energy to protect his hands and all of his front, until it became necessary to balance it all around him due to the pressure building up as he slowly sank into the hole.

He could feel the natural energy forcing its way into the metal in his hand, replacing the heat inside of it. Hoyt was quite certain more was going on than he could comprehend, but he didn't understand it. All he knew was that his hands were still hot and that he was beginning to sink more rapidly.

Though the smith had said to go as deep as he could, Hoyt quickly became concerned that wasn't an issue. The bigger problem would be getting back up. He spread out his own energy to slow his descent, carefully measuring the pressure around him and his own breath and stamina. Fortunately he felt the metal cool and the transfer of energy into it ceased well before he was nearing his limits.

He then began to swim towards the surface, wary of what felt like beady eyes peeking at him from the walls around him. The pockmarked surface of the hole hadn't seemed like much on the way down, but swimming more slowly upward it felt like something was waiting to happen.

Yet he reached the surface without incident, pulling himself up onto the wharf. "If you could explain why I'm the one-"

The metal billet was yanked out of his hand and replaced with what appeared to be an oblong conglomeration of a few ingots, unclear in form. "That one," the smith pointed. "Quick-like. Down and up."

Well, if nothing else, being remembered as some guy who gave away free labor would be better than the foreigner that asked too many questions related to a certain smith. On that topic, Hoyt realized he hadn't actually probed the smith on the surface. His instincts told him that the man wasn't a member of the Twin Soul Sect, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

Chapter 283

When he didn't fight it, Hoyt's weight dragged him down into the waters of the Niverlam Depths. The second vertical opening he was directed towards felt different from the first, less the weight and sturdiness of a mountain and more the inertia of a rolling boulder. It was the sort of thing that only really made sense as a cultivator, since water should normally only have the properties of cold and wet.

As he dropped into the area with the half formed chunk of metal in his arms, he suddenly found his movement arrest. No, that wasn't quite right. He was still moving, but no longer accelerating downward. Yet he still felt the weight pulling him. It was a strange experience, but soon enough the chunk of metal in his hands cooled off, pulling in the strange attributes.

It was when he tried to start swimming back towards the surface that things got weird. The difficulty of swimming with a great weight was easily overcome by expanding out his energy to push against a larger area. But when he made the attempt, he didn't slow down. He wasn't going fast so it should have been easy to shoot towards the surface, but he simply couldn't change his momentum.

Most of the feeling came from the chunk of metal in his arms. If he let it go he thought it would probably be trivial to do what he wished. But if he wasn't willing to face a little bit of a challenge, what was the point of being a cultivator at all?

Hoyt rallied his energy, spreading it out to all edges of the vertical shaft he was drifting down. His energy scraped against the walls, finally getting a firm hold and slowing his movement a little bit at a time. Chunks of dirt and rock tore apart as he slowed his movement, straining his energy until he finally came to a stop. Starting to move back in the other direction wasn't any easier, his outstretched arms of energy straining to pull himself up.

From out of a small tube on the side, much too small to be called a tunnel, a twenty centimeter wide eel pounced towards him, ugly face and teeth biting at his leg. He tried to swing the crudely constructed piece of metal, but it didn't follow his movements. Even so, that motion pushed him back away from the eel. Then he pulled, kicking forward and sending a foot up into the thing's jaw. It jerked strangely, hardly veering from its course towards him but also having its head collapse from the force of the blow. The abundance of strange natural energy in the area must have overwhelmed the creature's senses if it thought it was a match for Hoyt.

His extended energy pushed him upward once more, and after he was finally moving he slowly gained speed until he shot out of the top of the chasm, where he suddenly felt the pressure of water slowing his speed. He wasn't far from the surface though, so he quickly popped up next to the pier. The future weapon head in his hand was somewhat more willing to move as he directed after he got out of the depths.

Despite his fascination with the strange smithing process at this lake, he still made sure to investigate an important detail. His energy twisted, as subtly as he could, reaching into the smith who he didn't have a name for. He certainly didn't feel like a member of the Twin Soul Sect, which was good enough for Hoyt at the moment.

After handing the smith the hunk of metal he was holding Hoyt expected to immediately be tossed back into the lake with another chunk of white-hot metal, but it seemed the smith wanted to work on the same piece he had just brought back. That gave him a couple of minutes to rest, refilling some of the natural energy he had expended and watching the smith work. He was making a wide-bladed axe head, one that would have been oversized if it wasn't intended for use by a cultivator. More than fifteen or twenty centimeters of blade started to become excessive when against a human opponent, since it more than covered the size of any vital point. But some creatures cultivators fought could be quite large, and wider blades could be helpful. On the back end, there was an almost comically large counterweight, almost like a hammer head.

Hoyt was only just barely ready when the axe head was tossed to him. He'd been expecting it, but it was several times hotter than the last time- and starting to become sharp, so he had to catch it the right way.

"That one," the smith said. "As deep as you can."

Water and fire were usually mutually exclusive things, but the water inside the next hole was as much like fire as any water could be. On the way down gouts of instant steam boiled off of the axe head in Hoyt's hands, but once he was within the domain of the depths below it stopped. If anything instead of the water cooling the axe head it began to get hotter. The water itself had that same sense of heat, but fortunately most of it was concentrated around the axe head and not Hoyt himself. That let him focus his efforts on containing the heat there.

He thought it might reach a point where it had enough and stopped absorbing, but unlike the other times it wasn't cooling down in the water so he had no way to judge if and when that might be. It only seemed to increase as he drifted further downward, picking up speed until the drag of the water matched the pull of gravity.

He vaguely sensed more eels on the way down, but as long as they stayed in their little tunnels he was content to let them be. He was busy focusing on the axe head. Did he want to try to stop it, or encourage it? He didn't want to ruin the smith's project, but he also didn't want to injure himself. As the burning heat grew in intensity, he knew he'd need to stop it soon before he could no longer handle it.

But it wasn't the intensity of flames that was the problem, not exactly. After all, he was able to create flames of great power and they weren't an issue for him. He just needed to be in control of the fire.

That made the decision easy. He began to guide the fire in the water into the axehead he held. It wasn't just fire, though. There were all sorts of properties that fire could have, and this one meshed quite well with the Ninety-Nine Stars.

As he controlled the energy going in, he also began to take control of the energy coming out of the weapon. It was clearly not going to stop radiating heat, but it didn't have to be a problem for him. Not if it was attuned to the right sort of energy signature.

The intensity continued to increase steadily, until there was a surprising change in the surroundings. He hit the bottom of the lake- the bottom of the unknowably long vertical shaft he was in. He couldn't sense the surface of the water, but that wasn't a big issue. The real problem was the person he was looking at.

A middle aged man with fiery hair waving in the water. There was an intense look on his face, a heat that poured from him. And a very familiar energy, almost like the Ninety-Nine Stars but not quite.

Then he disappeared, and Hoyt found him staring at a pile of bones. A skeleton. He couldn't help but reach out an arm. When he made contact, the skeleton crumbled to dust, and the dust crumbled to nothing. A wave of energy washed over him, but most of it ended up absorbing into the burning axe head.

Though it was certainly still radiating energy, the heat of the metal itself had cooled. Hoyt looked upwards, where he found that several large masses of eels had conglomerated at various levels, watching him. He didn't have the patience to deal with them as individuals, and he wanted to return to the surface quickly.

He pushed off the sand, blade held in front of him. He built up momentum and speed, while the fire released from him and the partial weapon he held. He knew what the fire was now. The fire of a falling star. And though he wasn't actually falling right now… the effect was much the same as he barrelled through the masses of eels above. The smart ones turned and fled back into their holes, but some tried to chomp through him, presuming that they wouldn't burn from just a little fire. They were wrong.

What felt like a mere few moments later Hoyt broke the surface of the water, flying into the air. He twisted his body, awkwardly shifting the hunk of metal in his hands that really didn't like changing directions- but was much more able to do so outside of the first area of water. He tucked in his legs and flipped over so that he wouldn't smash through any part of the smith's hut, though his impact on the wharf nearby cracked some of the stones despite his best efforts to spread out his impact.

Hoyt looked at the combined axe and hammer head in his hands. He needed to own this weapon, even if the smith already had planned to give it to someone else. He just wasn't sure how to say that.

The smith didn't seemed concerned about the chunks of rock that were falling into the lake below, stepping on the structurally sound parts of the wharf and plucking the piece out of Hoyt's hands. "Excuse me, grandmaster smith…" Hoyt believed the man had to be a grandmaster of some sort to work so quickly. The man didn't seem to hear him, as he was immediately grinding the blade, then swiftly placing attaching it to the handle he'd made earlier. Then the weapon was thrust into Hoyt's hands. Instead of asking what he intended to ask, Hoyt questioned, "Where do I go with this?"

"Wherever you want," the muscular man said.

Was he supposed to pick the last attribute it would have? But it hadn't even gone in the fire again, and wouldn't need quenching. He didn't really get the sense of that, though. "I would like to purchase this axe, if I could."

"It's not for sale," the man said. Before Hoyt could say anything more, he continued. "I just had to make it. Got some nice hunks of metal from a meteor, and just as I was refining them you walked up. I thought it would suit you perfectly. So you have to take it."

Hoyt blinked. Could there be so many coincidences in the world? Surely not, but he wasn't a huge believer in fate, either. Then again, being drawn to the location of an ancestral member of the sect wouldn't actually be a coincidence. It would just be something subconscious. Hoyt wasn't sure if it could have drawn him and the others all the way to another continent, but at the very least when they came to Erygan it was what pulled him out here. And the smith making him a weapon…

He looked over at the other smith he'd approached, the woman across the way. She just shrugged at him. So, it seemed the man was just like this. Not that it was all that eccentric among cultivators. "Thank you, I will gladly accept. If you need anything from me…"

"Eh, you did a lot of the work anyway. But if you find anything nice, I'd appreciate if you bring it to me. Oh, I'm Bomir, by the way," the man outstretched a large, calloused hand. Hoyt shook it.

"Forgive my prying, Grandmaster Smith Bomir, but do you do this often? How do you make money?" Hoyt knew that if he had to pay for the weapon in his hand, he might not be able to fully afford it, but he couldn't just leave the man as he was.

"Money?" the man raised half of an eyebrow, the rest of which seemed to have been scorched off. "What would I do with that? Can't eat it or fight people with it. Not very well, anyway. Besides, with this invasion coming I need to make sure as many people are equipped as can be." Bomir shrugged, "You just bring me some nice materials and we'll be even."

"You know about the invasion?"

"Sure thing," Bomir said. "People come from far and wide to get weapons here, and it's ramped up quite significantly in the past handful of years. Something about ascended fellows coming down to snatch up our resources." He spit into his forge, where it briefly sizzled on the coals. "But I'd much prefer we do the snatching from them, greedy bastards. Well, at least they gave us this lake."

"What do you mean?" Hoyt asked, looking down below. He could make some assumptions, but it seemed Bomir might have actual details.

"Well, I thought it was just legends passed down from centuries ago, but recent events might make it true. This was apparently the site of a great battle. And at the bottom of these holes, I hear there's the corpses of great warriors. Some of ours, and some of theirs. But all of them are here, so it's all ours now."

"I can confirm that there was… at least one."

"Got to the bottom did you? No wonder it took so long. I thought you had the right affinity but you stayed down there for a good while." He nodded, "That's why it feels so strong, then. Matches you quite well."

"Thanks," Hoyt nodded. "On the topic of increasing orders, can you tell me about any new arrivals here?" Hoyt leaned in conspiratorially, though it would hardly change whether anyone could overhear them.

"We got all sorts. You talking visitors, or… smiths?"

Hoyt tilted his head. "Well, I suppose both are interesting to hear about. If you've got the time."

"Time? Don't even have more coal for my forge. Got plenty. Just let me know who you're looking for, and I can probably yammer on for a while."

Chapter 284

Walking out on the wharfs which were basically just open walkways while trying to stay concealed would be a pointless endeavor, so Velvet was surveying Erygan proper. She would get to the point she actually had to reveal herself and talk to people, but she wanted to get a good measure of what the city was like first.

More cultivators than expected occupied the city. Cultivators tended to gather together in allied sects or other organizations instead of in cities, though of course there were many places that they frequented more often on their travels. Neutral ground where they could trade with each other was quite important, but usually that resulted in a few big trading houses in particular cities or organized companies that facilitated the exchange of goods between different cultivators.

Velvet couldn't detect a large number of anyone from a specific sect or style throughout the city, nor did they seem to particularly congregate in one space, unless one counted out on the wharfs where the smiths were. But smiths alone didn't make a complete population. People had to buy from them, and many of the more transitory sorts certainly did that. But there were also larger numbers of cultivators who seemed to have permanent residence within the city.

She eavesdropped on many of their conversations. Most weren't of use to her, without a specific reason to spy on individuals and learn about them. She picked out many bits and pieces that told her more, however.

"Heading out to the lake again?"

"Just need a few more insights."

"Good luck with that. I prefer to stay away myself."

The idea that the lake was special wasn't a startling revelation, with all those stone wharfs carefully constructed for the smiths and the amount of natural energy flowing out of it. But it didn't just seem to be a place to cultivate in general, but where specific places were sought out. And those places came with dangers.

Another small group was planning an expedition of some sort. She overheard some snippets that helped put together a larger picture.

"... think we're ready?"

"Should be fine… eels…"

"... more worried… deep waters."

It would make no sense for Spirit Building cultivators to be afraid of water at any depth- and if they were the things living in that water should be the problem. They made it sound like a harsh desert or volcano or something inherently dangerous.

Everything made more sense when she got back together with the other two, though it was frustrating to learn she had found little unique information. Hoyt shared what he knew about the lake, and how the smiths used it for their forging. "Something about the quenching process absorbs the various properties into the materials, or perhaps it is simply the best time for that," Hoyt explained. "I didn't really notice many others who seemed as if they were simply planning to cultivate, but perhaps they were in different spots. It's a large lake."

"I suspect so," Anton nodded. "They'd be looking for something particular. It seems the smiths set up near some local properties they like to use in their equipment. Tell us more about what you found, though. You said there was a skeleton?"

"I have the feeling it was some sort of ancient elder of the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars, or perhaps some predecessor? I didn't really get a long chance to make that discernment. I can only assume the various other areas are similar, with someone dead from long ago. Perhaps even the previous invasion, if Grandmaster Smith Bomir is correct."

"It's good to know that others do know about the coming invasion," Anton said. "We just happened to stumble upon the west coast which was least informed. Though word doesn't seem to have spread as much as I would like. Perhaps the Twin Soul Sect and others like them have been interfering." They were talking somewhere where nobody should overhear, but Anton made certain to conceal their speech, preventing it from traveling far. There was theoretically a smith at least sympathetic to the Twin Soul Sect nearby, likely very powerful. If they were in Essence Collection they might not be a big issue personally, but it was also likely they had allies.

"I've got a few leads," Hoyt said. "Bomir mentioned a few people who were getting wide varieties of customers with very specific sorts of attributes. That's not inherently problematic, but if the weapon doesn't match their obvious cultivation style, it could have some implications. I didn't check any of them out myself, as I'm sort of… obvious."

"I'm a bit wary for myself," Anton replied. "Even if our enemies don't have a counter for our searching techniques, which they might, there's always a possibility of them detecting it. We might not even notice if they do, which they could turn into an excuse to attack us… or they could simply flee the area. We're the outsiders here, so we have to be cautious."

"They should be too, though," Velvet said. "Not necessarily all of them, but if this smith came over from our continent… they might only have a few months or years on us. That might be enough for them to be favored over us, but that's only if we're involved at all. If someone else just happens to find out about them… well, cultivators don't like traitors. I assume the other sects here were zealously wiping them out after that whole thing with Everheart, since he forced some techniques into people's heads. Mostly for fighting people who had ascended, but some people learned detection techniques, right?"

"Most of ours came from the Luminous Ocean Society," Anton replied. "But there could have been some. And there's nothing stopping them from developing their own methods. The weakness of the Twin Soul Sect is that their method has to remain fairly static. Their core cultivation is set, and they can only conceal it through various means. Our best bet would be empowering the locals to deal with their own problems, though we can't know if that will scare off the Twin Soul Sect when they start making progress. I'd like for someone like Swordmaster Rahayu to help us, but people of that power are… not always reliable. He indicated wanting to fight them, but that could be ten or twenty years from now. Or just waiting until the ascenders attack without trying to stop anything."

"Let's do what we can, then," Hoyt said. "Perhaps scoping out these smiths at their forges might be a bit obvious, but they have to come and go from the city, or at least off the wharfs. Not all have the same sort of constant devotion that leaves them on the lake at all hours of the day. Personally, I'd like to try diving into some of the other parts of the lake, to see what sort of weird properties it has. I'll be least suspicious if I'm actually doing something. But I'll also keep an eye out for the people we're looking for. And if I find a few trustworthy people, I can send them to Anton. I assume you'll be glad to teach them any of the techniques they need?"

"Of course. Teaching is one of the greatest joys in life," Anton grinned. "Especially when it otherwise suits my own goals."

The list of notable smiths who had moved into the area 'recently' by cultivator standards was actually quite large. When adding in suspicious factors, it still left a handful which by random chance turned out to be a majority of women. Relevant bodily differences between male and female were greatly overshadowed by cultivation after the completion of Body Tempering, and negligible by Essence Collection- the effects of age were a larger factor by a wide margin.

The man, Aser, was the youngest of the bunch, cultivating as a member of the Blue Forest Mystery. The members of that group and the effects of their style weren't the mystery, but instead the mystery was related to the insights they were discovering along the path. In short, it was an incomplete technique- though very few could be said to be truly complete, with someone having reached the end of it and ascension. Some people just didn't like to admit it, or did so obliquely.

Next was Reshma of the Insect Shore Swarm. She was not quite so young, though from a sect that was reviled for the bugs they controlled and how they let them devour their enemies. Many cultivators preferred the idea their body would be at least somewhat preserved after their death, even if all of their equipment was stolen. Nobody wanted to be food.

Liljana was the oldest by far. That experience could make her a dangerous enemy, though her power was also waning because of it. She practiced a strange style called the Chain Fish that none had ever heard of, and it could have easily been a cover.

A bit less ancient than Liljana was a smith known as Brianne. She practiced the Hidden Flame style, which certainly made her quite suited for her job as she required less coal than others- and while coal was cheap, the sorts that high level cultivator smiths needed to achieve the temperatures they worked at was anything but. And having her own flames made the work consistent.

A woman named Putri was the final one of the bunch. She was a member of the Ochre Rock Society, who were some of her greatest customers and also suppliers of the various materials she needed.

A worrying issue was that all of them were in Life Transformation. That made them strong in their own right and also meant they would have more powerful allies. While many of the stronger members of the Twin Soul Sect had been taken in by Everheart's promise of information about ascension where they were subsequently entrapped, the unknown reach of the sect meant they could have many more members at that level of power. It was even possible that two or more of the suspect smiths were part of the Twin Soul Sect. Or none of them, potentially. That would be a fine result, but the members of the Order really wanted to root someone out. Each worked through their various methods, hoping they could find something, even if they couldn't necessarily act directly on that information.

The offer to instruct people in useful techniques for free was the sort of thing met with great suspicion among cultivators. That had been true around Blackstone Harbor, and it was true in Erygan. But after a month, Anton had a nice few handfuls of students. One of them was a young archer, who he was helping grow in that area along with the actual purpose of the offer which was to teach people Anti-ascension techniques. He wanted to teach them to reveal members of the Twin Soul Sect as well, but that was something that might get him killed if advertised publicly. He would prefer to have more allies in the area or a specific lead into one of the local sects before he attempted any of that.

Young Agus was a strange fellow, and a member of the Tomb Seeking Cult. They weren't a band of psychopathic murderers or suicidal people like their name might suggest… but that didn't mean they were entirely sane. In fact, they probably weren't… because they were dedicated to tracking down everything Everheart left behind and studying it with zealous intensity. That wasn't the sort of thing that Anton considered healthy and normal, even though he used a few of Everheart's techniques himself.

"Master," Agus bowed his head to Anton. "Is it true what they said, that Everheart lived on the moon?"

"I don't know about lived there," Anton said. "But he certainly set up some impressive facilities there. Did you not go yourself?"

Agus shook his head, "I was too weak at the time. I am not even in Essence Collection yet," he pointed out.

Anton wouldn't say that someone at the peak of Spirit Building was weak, but it was relevant that the young man had been cultivating for a similar length of time to himself. A couple years different maybe, but that was starting to become less relevant. He wasn't untalented, but his access to useful resources was… limited. The Tomb Seeking Cult wasn't exactly the most nurturing to their young disciples.

"It was quite impressive," Anton admitted. "Though I would also consider it quite wasteful."

"How so?" Agus asked.

"Like usual, it all fell apart at the end. Possibly even the giant forest he'd managed to cultivate beneath the surface."

"The trials of the end are to weed out those with the talent and will to survive," Agus said matter-of-factly.

Anton didn't have the heart to tell him it was probably some sort of prank or bitter revenge against long dead foes. At least the Tomb Seeking Cult had one thing going for them. After they learned that Everheart had set up traps for the Twin Soul Sect… well, they'd apparently grown quite zealous in their search. To the point of sort of neglecting some of their younger members, when they really should be teaching them the same things as Anton. Agus was learning from him sort of as a test, to see if he really knew what he claimed. They'd be quite surprised what Anton really knew about Everheart, though he wasn't sure if he wanted to reveal all of it at any point. Or if he even actually knew what he knew.

Chapter 285

One problem with picking out a single person from among the handful of suspicious smiths was lack of information. It didn't take a cultivator long to adjust their accent to fit with the changes of being on another continent. It might be possible that there would be a slip-up, but Velvet wasn't so familiar with the exact differences that she thought she'd notice it.

Another issue was that she didn't recognize any of the people involved. Not that she expected to have seen them, but she had memorized as many Life Transformation cultivators as possible. The publicly known figures had been a few hundred all told, and the Order even had information on those less public. These weren't any of them. Perhaps they'd concealed themselves well, or changed their looks. That didn't necessarily mean one would be in disguise, since there were permanent methods that could change a person if they were willing to commit to it. It was much harder to discern a permanent physical change compared to an illusion.

Watching people come and go wasn't so easy as sitting in one spot and watching the people step on and off the wharfs. Remaining in one spot for a long time was extremely suspicious, and those who came by with relative frequency would notice her. It was hard enough to not have Life Transformation cultivators notice she was looking at them. Concealing her intent was required, because fully hiding her presence was just asking for trouble when someone saw through. But if she was just another person whose eyes locked onto a Life Transformation cultivator it hardly mattered.

The important thing was her own mental state. If she treated them all as enemies, they would be more likely to feel it. But looking at the situation objectively, the majority of them- possibly even all of them- were not her enemies. If she kept that in mind and tempered her intent, it should keep her concealed. At least, she had no indication she'd been noticed so far.

As for where she was watching from, the simple answer was she became one of those coming and going, and merely varied the time of day she made the trip. As for where she went… the Niverlam Depths had a lot to offer. Most cultivators would take a little boat, whether or not they were of a high enough cultivation to walk on the surface of the water. Among other things, boats provided a small layer of insulation between the cultivators and the strange properties of the lake. That could matter if one area was the sort to pull a cultivator down into it.

Any Essence Collection cultivator has sufficient control and capacity of energy to walk on the surface of a lake. It simply required spreading out energy until the water carried the cultivator's weight. It was often a wasteful method when that was basically what boats did but statically instead of with constant effort- though depending on the factors a cultivator might maintain such a method indefinitely.

It was probably faster than paddling a little dinghy, but also considered rather arrogant. Not exactly the best for keeping a low profile. The slower pace also allowed Velvet more time to watch the people she passed, taking a similar route that brought her past most of the suspicious characters.

She wasn't ready to try probing any of them yet. That was the sort of thing that got quick results, but that result might be a quick death for her. And it might not even reveal what happened to the others. Velvet didn't intend to die, and dying in vain would be even worse. It didn't matter if she was probably in range of Anton's arrows anywhere in the city if she got her head lopped off before she could respond to an attack.

But thoughts like that led her to immerse herself in the most lauded pastime of cultivators- training. The best way to look like she was supposed to be around was to actually do what was expected. That involved going out on the lake and searching for somewhere to train.

At frequent intervals other little boats could be seen, as well as more permanent anchored docks. These were less durable than the stone wharfs but also less likely to be set on fire. And most weren't intended to be permanent.

Even when particular sects set up a platform in the water, they usually weren't a permanent fixture. Only large local sects contained permanent domain over any part of the lake, and while they might have taken the 'best' locations, Velvet found that highly subjective. After all, Hoyt had found a spot perfect for members of the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars. Sure, that area was now kind of obsolete- either forging his new weapon or destroying the skeleton had drained a significant portion of the energy that had been there- but there were things to study besides just a cultivation style.

Velvet's favorite she'd stumbled upon by accident, while shuffling along the bottom towards a vertical chasm that felt rather daggerlike. It was astounding how long the area had remained as it was, but there was a sort of overall resonance between what seemed to be a myriad of bodies. They hadn't actually reached the bottom of any others to observe more corpses, but they could imagine.

On the way there, her toe had dipped into the sand. Nothing odd about that, but the weight had felt off. Being sensitive to tiny changes was important for a scout, and so she danced around the area for a bit… before finally determining what looked like a patch of sand was actually just another hole concealing itself.

Even when she dropped inside, she couldn't tell it was there. Her senses were constantly telling her there was earth all around her, sand and rock making up the lakebed. But she was physically able to move deeper, and she did.

The sensation was nauseating over any significant period of time, and Velvet had to carefully maintain how quickly she descended. After a period between ten minutes and half an hour, she would usually return to the surface to stabilize herself and her thoughts.

The strange thing was, she felt nothing. But that was exactly what she was supposed to feel. Just being what should be somewhere was one of the ultimate forms of stealth. She had practiced similar techniques, but there was always more to learn. She also got to practice with it, as the creatures dwelling in the walls were quite adept in that area as well.

Velvet didn't relish the feeling of being bitten out of nowhere, teeth sinking into you when you were surrounded by lifeless rock and sand. Even worse was when that feeling was delayed and she was unable to counterattack the creatures. She knew there were things other than eels that lived in the other depths, but she usually counterattacked with the presumption that they were long and 'skinny', relative to other things. The eels were most common, from what she'd seen.

As for what they ate… there were certainly abundant fish in the lakes, but it wasn't enough to sustain the eels. Then again, cultivators also weren't plentiful enough to be the food source. If Velvet had to guess, it would be… the energy. The creatures had simply become part of the lake, living animals that hardly operated like natural beasts. Though she could be wrong, because they looked normal on the inside. At least to the extent of her knowledge. Maybe she would ask Anton.

But first she would dive once more. Velvet had at first focused on feeling like sand and rock, but that hadn't been sufficient to conceal her from the senses of the beasts. Among other things, the constant movement required her to shift the feeling she displayed continuously, a taxing mental effort that wasn't always successful. Just trying to feel 'natural' wasn't sufficient either, but she was getting the knack now. She was part of the lake as she descended- no, simply a part of the world. It just so happened that the lake was around her.

Attacks by beasts didn't stop. She was learning to sense them, as their own energy signatures were more practiced than hers but still imperfect. Her dagger clanked off of the shell of something hard, but a twist of her body brought her dagger into where she estimated joints would be. The more she did that, the more correct she was.

After a short time, Velvet swam to the surface, sitting in her boat. She breathed deeply. It was possible to sustain her breath with energy for a long time, perhaps indefinitely, but it wasn't the same as actually breathing. And the repetitive motion helped clear her head. If she stayed down too long, she might actually believe she was part of the lake, or rather simply a natural part of the world. The effects on herself were the most disconcerting. She wondered if the cultivator who had presumably died in that spot had done so by way of violence or simply had forgotten they were alive. That was a scary thought. She absolutely wanted to avoid that, as it seemed a very real possibility. But it was an effective technique.

Velvet was practiced enough in that and various other types of stealth that she naturally blended into the world. That helped her when Aser rowed out to a nearby spot on the lake. She wasn't hiding from him, but simply training. So whether or not he had noticed her, he hadn't really noticed her. But she certainly noticed him, when his energy briefly flared up and then sort of twisted in upon itself. It almost completely disappeared as he descended into one of the depths. It wasn't the same as the Twin Soul Sect's cultivation concealing abilities, but it felt sort of similar. Perhaps it was just an intermediate step, allowing him to access his true abilities while not revealing where he was from.

She managed to convince herself to dive again, though her focus wasn't on anything she was doing. She exited the lake with a dozen bite marks and a small, finger length worm with its mouth firmly attached to her ribs. She blew it up with a puff of energy and carefully inspected the area for remains of the weird parasite. It seemed to have secreted a numbing agent but that was no excuse for having not noticed it.

And Aser was gone. But that gave Velvet a chance to slip over to the area he had been in and inspect the depth he'd descended into. Just sticking a finger in didn't tell her much. A swirling mix of energy that didn't coalesce into one particular idea.

A quick dive told her that it was much more open than where she had been. Not physically wider or anything, usually no more than a few meters across, but just obvious. It displayed a kind of energy, and it was that. A small shark had dozens of different teeth, some coated in fire, some in ice, some a slimy poison… but each of them was a distinct entity. And none of them were allowed to bite Velvet.

It was a useful area. Though she couldn't immediately pick it up, given some time she felt she would be able to develop a method to convert her energy into different forms. The others already did that, but they all picked something related to the Ninety-Nine Stars. A core bit of cultivation that changed things. Hoyt used fire, and Anton practiced with that and light a bit. Velvet could probably work with either, but the swirling vortex promised things outside of her normal scope.

Just perfect for pretending to be from another cultivation style. And if she could become proficient, quite practical for taking advantage of the weaknesses of certain cultivators. The only problem was that it would be difficult to train if Aser were to come back. Even if he didn't have a real claim to the area, he was a Life Transformation cultivator and she was not. He also might not be pleased to find she was aware of what he was training.

How troubling. She decided to back away for the moment. He could come back at any time, though she imagined he would have stayed for longer if he was to return the same day. Either way, she should consult with the others how they wanted to proceed. Alone she could spin in circles forever until she made a mistake that got her killed, but the others would be able to guide her. Or at least make her feel better about whatever she decided on her own.

Chapter 286

Battle was all about movement. It started at the bottom of the body with the position of the feet and how the legs could propel a person. That remained true even for cultivators, as natural energy was most efficient when augmenting something physical. It became less necessary with higher cultivations where energy was the dominant force, but if one were trying to get every scrap of power out of themselves to fight at maximum efficiency, it had to be considered.

Chikere watched Swordmaster Rahayu move, how each step seemed to take him a dozen meters- which was practically an infinite distance as far as melee combat was concerned. The energy around his legs augmented his speed, but he also flooded the area ahead of him to ease his movement. That wasn't always a reliable prediction of where he would go, however. More often than not he used it as a feint, making her think he would move to a specific position when he went elsewhere. Even just a single step to the right or left could render her attacks useless. He controlled a large domain around himself, so the concentrations of energy were either for teaching her or throwing her off, which were the same thing.

Some people didn't pay much attention to the core of the body. Many people understood that the upper torso had muscles that affected the arms which of course were used to swing weapons, but the lower portions were important as well. The abdominal muscles provided balance and stabilization, important when making precise moves.

Arms swung and directed weapons. Their muscle power did contribute to attacks, but it was often better to make use of proper weapon positioning to maximize momentum gained from other places instead of just trying to shove a sword faster. Or other weapons, but Chikere didn't know why people would use those. Sure, at a low enough level different weapons had advantages in strength and reach, but the sword had versatility in motion that remained effective even in higher level fights.

The head was also important. Watching your opponent with your eyes was the easy one, but other senses mattered too. Hearing them move when they were out of your sight could save you, and the way people flexed their muscles could be heard even when the movements weren't visible on the outside due to clothing covering them up. Smell was useful too, it could reveal all kinds of information. And taste… was usually best not deployed. If you could detect a poison with your tongue it might already be too late.

Swordmaster Rahayu happened to use a single sword, while Chikere had long gone down the path of using as many as possible. The one held in her hands ways always the best, but there were limits to how many opponents could be fought off at once with a single blade. That's what she told him, and he generally agreed.

"With this sword in my hand I could parry or block attacks from a dozen worthy opponents, but there could always be more. Of course, if I cut down that many then I no longer have to count them among the numbers of my enemies," Rahayu smiled widely. "That's something you seem to understand."

Chikere nodded. "It has been in my best interest to win quickly."

While they talked, they continued to spar. At the current moment Swordmaster Rahayu was making use of different weapons. He was not as adept in their usage as he was a sword, but he was certainly more than capable of picking out the hardest moves for Chikere to deal with. Wide sweeping attacks that would break her guard if she blocked and force her into a disadvantageous position if she dodged. Long range thrusts with spears that forced her to try to slip past them to get a moment to attack. Close ranged attacks with daggers that made it difficult to bring her sword to bear- though those were basically countered by her additional swords striking from other positions. It didn't matter if she got a little cut along her arm or side if she impaled her opponent.

Not that Rahayu ever got injured. So far she hadn't even touched him, or even nicked his garments. There was nothing crazy about that given his cultivation was at the peak of Life Transformation and she was merely in mid Essence Collection. He had much greater life experience than Chikere, and her specialty in swords became a disadvantage against him. It showed her how far she still had to go, but she still found it disheartening. For one moment at a time, until they crossed swords again and she found her insight growing.

Then Swordmaster Rahayu stopped. "We'll take a short break here," he declared. "Make sure to stay ready to fight."

That was strange. Normally he went until Chikere passed out, but she could still keep fighting. Couldn't she? Sure, she'd run out of energy to carry her other swords and they'd dropped into the ground, but she still held onto her primary weapon. At least, she should have been holding onto it… but there it was, resting point-first in the stone. But it was closer than it should have been. Oh right, she had fallen to her knees at some point. … Maybe she really did need a short break.

Aser had moved to the top of the list. Anton and Velvet were keeping eyes on him separately, though it wasn't possible to safely watch him all the time. There was too much potential for something to go wrong. Anton had the advantage that he was capable of observing from a much larger distance, and if he was only using his eyes he wouldn't draw attention to himself. Unless the man looked straight at him, standing on the shores several kilometers away.

But that hadn't happened yet. Either he wasn't paranoid about people watching him- which seemed strange for a Life Transformation cultivator- or simply didn't think anyone could learn anything important from so far away. Or perhaps it was a matter of practicality. Even Grand Elder Kseniya's attacks from this distance would take some time to arrive, giving him a chance to react. Long enough, at least. Constant tension wouldn't do anyone any good.

Anton had to admit, the man didn't look like he was hiding anything. People came to him with a request, and he made them a weapon. Just like all of the other smiths he made use of the particular properties of the Niverlam Depths to quench the weapons or otherwise draw upon the different properties. He made weapons and armor of many different styles, small and large weapons as well as armor ranging from small bucklers to full suits of armor for the cultivators who made use of such. Anton preferred his lighter but still quite effective armor. He thought back to the days that a partial diamondsilk undershirt had seemed remarkable. Now it seemed hardly better than paper, but it had been useful until late Spirit building at least.

The variety of customers that came to Aser also wanted weapons enchanted in different manners, generally making use of some rare materials they'd gotten, either a particular bit of metal or part of a beast that naturally leaned towards a certain set of features. Fire, ice, lightning- all of those were common. There were even quite a few who simply went for the best durability and cutting edge that could be obtained.

Any one of those customers could have been a member of the Twin Soul Sect, though the most frequent were members of his nominal sect, the Blue Forest Mystery.. Unfortunately, Anton couldn't get close enough to confidently probe the man. The customers though… Velvet was watching for them, and they were fairly confident they could detect what they were looking for without being noticed. Even if someone took offense, they would at most be in Essence Collection- and it would be hard for Aser to find an excuse to join in battle if they weren't a member of his sect. Thus, they should be relatively safe.

Not knowing how many members of the Twin Soul Sect passed through Erygan regularly, and knowing how touchy cultivators were about being inspected, Velvet kept herself restrained from checking everyone who passed her by. But whenever she determined someone was going to the smiths they were observing- Aser might have been the most suspicious at the moment but the others were still important- she tried to pick out if they were part of the Twin Soul Sect. So far there had been none.

Velvet wasn't sure what that meant. Maybe there really weren't that many members of the Twin Soul Sect in the area. Maybe they'd heard about what happened at Blackstone Harbor and decided to lay low, in case this very thing happened. Or maybe they had the wrong people entirely. It was entirely possible whoever had worked here had already moved on before they arrived. Maybe they were an unremarkable sort, making the sword for Elder Lestari and slipping away before anyone really registered them.

That was the problem with observation missions. You couldn't be sure of anything until you were making great progress, or maybe even fully finished. Sometimes all you needed was a single bit of information to know what was necessary with sufficient certainty. In this case, they'd need more than a couple Twin Soul Sect members going to a single smith. After all, they could just have a preferred person unrelated to the one in question who undoubtedly made things with a specific flare.

Well, undoubtedly to certain people. Velvet wasn't going to disparage Chikere's connection to swords, having seen how it worked in action, but she certainly had nothing the same herself. Daggers were just convenient weapons for what she did, not her identity.

And what she was doing was blending in. She wasn't sure if she could seem like a natural feature in a city, but perhaps she would seem like an extension of a building or an awning. That sort of thing would be odd for anyone who saw through it, but they likely wouldn't bother with her if she wasn't looking for them. And statistically, she wouldn't be.

It was hopeless for Chikere to suddenly be able to injure or defeat Swordmaster Rahayu after a few weeks or months. He likely had an entire century of cultivation more than her, perhaps two. Just because she learned quickly didn't mean her energy would suddenly grow to catch up to him. Well, not that fast. She had broken through to the next rank in her cultivation after the first week, but the next would probably be several months away at least. Half a year, even. That was still rapid compared to the year she would have expected on her own, but that growth couldn't continue indefinitely. And while fighting wasn't just about cultivation, Rahayu had everything else that mattered there too.

It hardly mattered that Chikere was a whirlwind of blades. They weren't spinning and slashing randomly but with purpose, yet he always found a way through, untouched by her in the slightest. She couldn't even cut his hair, and he would slice or impale her as he pleased. She didn't care about the injuries, except that they made her spend time recovering.

At the moment, she had a sword stabbed through her shoulder, moving straight down through her ribcage and vital organs. She could only marvel at how it had avoided slicing anything important, weaving its way through her and shunting aside vital organs. It was even more remarkable because it was obviously not Rahayu's normal methods. If he used serious attacks, she would find herself cut in two from head to toe, or in any conceivable direction. Probably multiple of them all at once. He yanked his sword free, and Chikere set about closing up her wounds. It wasn't difficult, but once again she knew it could have been if he had the intent.

"That's enough," Swordmaster Rahayu stated.

"Enough… what?" Were they done with training for the day? She was still able to stand and hold her weapons. She did a visual check just to make sure, but she was still standing and decent on energy. Or was she supposed to leave herself injured for some sort of test?

"Enough training," he said. "I have other things to get to."

"When will we start again?" Chikere asked. A few hours of rest and contemplation wouldn't hurt.

"Never," he said. "We're done now."

"... What?"

His words hurt more than any of the wounds he'd caused to her up to that point. More than the mental attacks where she knew she could be cut in half, and was able to clearly visualize the damage.

"I'm done training you," he said simply. "You've seen everything I can show you. Everything. You'll figure it out."

But she was still learning a lot! Even if she might digest everything he'd shown her eventually, the rapid pace her cultivation had been increasing was addictive. "You can't stop now! What do you need?" Chikere begged. "I can help you get it. I know I'm not that strong compared to you, but please… I'll do anything."

"Yeah?" he raised an eyebrow. "Can you push me to ascension? Because that's literally the only thing I want now."

"Oh." Chikere couldn't really respond to that. She couldn't ask him to put his own cultivation behind hers. And she couldn't help him ascend. She hung her head. "I can't."

"Obviously not," Rahayu said. "The number of people in this world who have that capability are… extremely limited. At least individually. Your friend had a good idea though."

"Who? Anton?"

"Yeah, the archer," he nodded. "You can come along if you want. I'm heading to Erygan. I'm sure the journey will be good for you. You should really fight someone that isn't me. You might notice a difference."

"Okay," Chikere nodded. At least he wasn't completely abandoning her. And she really hadn't given him anything, so it wasn't fair to complain about him declaring the training over. She just wanted it to continue forever. "What's in Erygan?"

The air split in two as he looked to the north. "Enemies." The declaration was once again terrifying, as if she would die as a mere coincidence should she get anywhere near him when he was serious. It was like blades cutting into her. "And while I don't know that the ones there will matter, eventually they have to send a challenge." With that, he stepped off the edge of the little pinnacle he lived on. Chikere almost didn't react fast enough to keep up with him, but she dropped down behind him, landing and rushing to keep up with his quick movement. She knew he could go much faster and was holding back for her, but he sure wasn't holding back that much.

Chikere didn't even notice the single strand of hair, only a finger length long, that had settled to the ground during their last exchange. A hair that wasn't hers. Instead, she was far too busy absorbing the insights she had and moving her legs as fast as they could go.

Chapter 287

There had been an offhanded request by Swordmaster Rahayu that Anton hadn't really followed through with. From anyone else it would have been a joke at best. He'd casually agreed, but hadn't really followed through as there wasn't any sort of pressure or timeframe behind it. He'd mostly forgotten about it until it became convenient. Now, he wanted to provoke some sort of reaction.

Information was important to people in all walks of life, from what crops were desirable to where rare materials could be purchased for cheap to the strengths and weaknesses of individual cultivators, and the conflicts between different sects. People were always willing to listen to the latter.

"Have you been to Blackstone Harbor recently?" Anton said as he sat next to someone at a bar. "Apparently they had some trouble with a group called the Twin Soul Sect."

The young man shook his head. "Haven't heard of them. What happened?"

"Well, it seems some elder was not who he seemed. Swordmaster Rahayu found out, and…" Anton drew a line across his throat with his thumb. "That was it. I heard he's got it out for that Twin Soul Sect."

Normal people didn't want to provoke mysterious, powerful groups into attacking them. Even the Order had been hesitant to allow it, and they were much more than a single individual. But as far as Anton knew the request had been genuine. Swordmaster Rahayu wanted to fight, and he would doubtless find someone. If it could be an enemy of the whole world, it would be better for everyone. Except them, but they chose their path.

"Oh. I've heard of him. He's a powerful Life Transformation cultivator, right?" the young man nodded. "I don't want to get anywhere near that fight."

"Same here," Anton agreed truthfully. He still had things he wanted to do while he was alive. If nothing else he should be able to last until the invasion and die there.

There was some more frivolous conversation and exchange of rumors, but that was Anton's main contribution. Things with Aser had kind of come to a standstill. The multi elemental stuff he was cultivating was perfectly normal for a member of the Blue Forest Mystery and a smith who made a wide variety of weapons.

Nobody had a fortunate encounter that suddenly revealed anything about the other four under suspicion, and as Anton got a better picture about the limitations of Life Transformation cultivator's senses, he realized how dangerous it could be. For example, within the Ninety-Nine Stars cultivation technique, forty-two of the theoretical one hundred stars were part of Life Transformation. Even if people were only a short way into it, each step represented a marked improvement that only amplified the division between stages. Anton himself was only at the forty-fifth star, and someone in early Life Transformation would be around the sixtieth.

In general, sensing ability increased with overall cultivation. Anton wasn't willing to bet that he or Velvet were close to two and a half times better than the talents who could make it to the final known realm of cultivation, regardless of their individual specialties. So stirring up the nest by making the Twin Soul Sect nervous- or eager- was their best bet.

If a lone Life Transformation cultivator wanted to cause trouble, it was quite possible for them to wipe him out. They might have to make some sacrifices- Vandale took more than a handful down with him- but a lone cultivator was an easier target. In theory, at least. In practice, Swordmaster Rahayu was… specialized. Combat was a huge part of most cultivator's abilities, but most also had other pursuits. Except people like Rahayu, which made them more dangerous. Anton didn't plan to remind the Twin Soul Sect of that part, though.

A couple weeks was enough for rumors to take hold, if they had enough truth to them. Anton actually had more information about what had happened in Blackstone Harbor, but that information was already known. He focused on the part where Rahayu declared his intent to fight the Twin Soul Sect. It hadn't happened in public, but it was the sort of juicy thing people wanted to hear. And it was true, which helped. Nobody who knew about the man could say that it didn't sound like him.

They were now just waiting for fruit of their efforts- either their casual scouting, trying to pick up individual members of the Twin Soul Sect- or some information that led them to determine for certain who was involved.

Reshma had become more active, though it was possible it was simply because of the season and the local insect populations. Liljana was spending more time out in the lake away from her smithy. Brianne had been turning away customers as she worked on a particular batch of weapons. And Putri had disappeared- though it was uncertain if she had left town or where she had gone.

Then danger arrived. It cut through town like a hot knife through butter. Except it was a sword, and a known one at that. Anton was fairly certain that nothing was physically severed, but he felt the passage of Swordmaster Rahayu through Erygan, lasting only a few moments before he was out on the lake. Trailing behind it he felt a more familiar presence heading right for him. He went out to meet Chikere, only to find an extremely haggard woman. The various sheaths complaining her myriad of swords were dangling randomly around her, and some were dragging along the ground. She looked as if she hadn't slept properly for days or weeks… which was quite possible.

"There… you are…" Chikere staggered over towards Anton. "The Swordmaster… says he needs you to use that technique."

"Which technique?" Anton asked.

"The… discerny one. That reveals people."

"Ah." Anton didn't particularly mind using it, of course. "Where does he need me?"

"Out at the lake. With that smith lady," Chikere said. "Just go towards him."

"Right. I will. You should rest."

"... no. I need to see him fight her." Chikere started a pathetic jog towards the lake, barely the speed a non-cultivator could maintain.

Knowing he couldn't reasonably stop her, Anton swept her up, sitting her on one shoulder. It was the least awkward place he could think to put her, and had the fewest swords batting against him as he moved.

He quickly moved to the straightest avenue that led to the lake and the various wharfs there. It didn't provide a view of the entire area, but he could barely make something out. A few moments later and Anton wasn't the only one running towards the battle- numerous cultivators were interested in seeing what was happening. Most of them stopped at the shore of the lake, however. Getting too close to a fight between powerful cultivators could be dangerous.

Anton didn't have that luxury, but as long as nothing was targeting him he should be fine a little closer. Then he felt a Life Transformation cultivator barreling towards him. He was prepared to dodge off the wharf into the lake, since any strange effects that he might be drawn into would be better than being smashed to pieces. Chikere didn't seem as if she could handle too much battering, either. But before he could move he recognized the figure.

It was Putri, of the Ochre Rock Society. Their technique made them quite durable, as most earth sorts did. Perhaps that was why she was still intact as she flew towards Anton, back first. He was still going to dodge out of the way when he realized the battle was still happening. Putri wasn't really involved, and had simply been ejected from the area. Rapidly.

Anton gently tossed Chikere over to the side, spreading out his energy in the widest pattern he could maintain. Instead of creating bows he focused more on the string aspect, forming a large net. It wouldn't be as durable as something he'd practiced for a long time, but nobody was intentionally trying to break it. When the woman impacted him, he tried to remind himself of that.

The strings of energy snapped taut, stretching to their limits in the same instant. Chunks of the wharf were torn asunder as the impact threw Anton backwards, but the tendrils of his reach out to the side pushed against the water and slowed down the pair. Anton managed to take a look at Putri as he set her on her feet, and found she had a slash across her chest. Not terribly deep, though.

For a moment he wondered if he'd made the wrong choice, aided someone Rahayu was after… but an explosion of fire came from the buildings ahead- and Putri breathed a sigh of relief. Though he hadn't sensed the woman from up close before, her aura was much weakened, and she felt deflated. Even so, she turned to Anton.

"You… ah, one of the ones snooping around."

Having his paranoia justified wasn't particularly comforting at the moment, but he didn't feel any ill intent from her. And her energy was not terribly concerning in magnitude at the moment. Though Anton would certainly prefer to have Hoyt and Velvet as backup if it came down to it. He felt Chikere nearby as well, slowly swimming to the shore- but she merely pulled herself up onto the wharf to watch the fight.

It was suddenly much easier to see as a wall exploded off of a building, fire spraying everywhere. Then three more buildings in the way slid apart as something cut them at an angle. Anton was still a few hundred meters away, but he almost dodged out of the way of the blade in front of him. It didn't get that close though.

"Is he with you?" Putri prompted Anton.

"I don't know if he's with anyone," Anton said. "What about you? What's your relation to that battle?"

"Your snooping inspired my own," she commented. "I saw you teaching those anti-ascension techniques and was reminded of the elders to the east speaking of the Twin Soul Sect helping the invaders. Maybe from overhearing rumors about Rahayu and them which seem to be true. If Brianne is one of them, anyway. There could have been other reasons she took exception to my investigations."

Anton was listening to her, but most of his focus was on the battle ahead. His eyes focused, picking out every detail he could. The smith Brianne swung a great hammer which caused a burst of flame to sprout from the wharf below Rahayu. Instead of dodging or rallying his defensive energy or anything sensible, the man parried it with the tip of his blade. A three meter wide pillar of fire was obviously a bit larger than the tip of a sword, but the way it angled to the side of him Anton determined that the fire didn't care.

Brianne took a deep breath, calling upon her inner flame before breathing a cone that went out at least twenty meters. But it didn't touch Swordmaster Rahayu, as his blade swished upwards and cut it in half. It wasn't clearly visible from Anton's angle, but he could sense that the cone of fire split in half and went off to either side of him, with no lingering usage of Rahayu's energy to create a wall or something equivalent to block it. But unless it was a very well practiced battle, Brianne wasn't faking her attempts to kill him.

But the gap between them was just too much- she was in early Life Transformation and Rahayu was at the peak. A moment later he stabbed forward with her sword, stabbing through her as a pillar of flame burned around her. And then the fire went out.

Anton wondered why he was there, until Rahayu turned to look directly at him, then gestured to the woman- who was still alive. Anton felt she even still had stores of energy… but she seemed unable to make use of it.

Even so, he approached cautiously.

"There you are. Why'd you stop all the way back there?"

"It was a sensible distance," Anton said. "Quite safe."

"And I suppose you could have attacked if you felt like it," Rahayu shrugged. "Not my style, but understandable. Anyway, do that thing that reveals her. Chikere said you should know it."

Anton jogged towards them. Closer to a run, but he avoided hurrying. He didn't have to listen to Rahayu, though he did want to be in his good graces. He just also didn't want to end up burned alive.

Brianne glared at Anton, but didn't say or do anything. Perhaps that was due to the sword casually pointed in her direction. Anton realized he probably should have checked Putri while he was next to her, but he saw her staying where she was. If she suddenly disappeared… he could make some assumptions.

Anton gathered up his energy. Normally a sensing technique didn't take much, but he knew Brianne would show some resistance. Or at least, she should have been able to. When he reached into her all he felt was a sputtering fire. A fake one, covering up an unfortunately familiar duplicitous cultivation style. Anton pushed, and her cover up faded away, allowing everyone to feel her true cultivation. Not that many people were close.

"I see," Rahayu said. "It really is quite different. But your swords gave you away. You put too much of that into them." She glared at him. "Now then, someone like you has to be important to the Twin Soul Sect."

She glared more. "What? You want me to beg for my life? Swear revenge? Well, maybe I will. It will come when you least expect it."

"I doubt that," he said. "Since I'm always ready. And they'll be quite happy to meet me in Foulmarsh. They won't even have to reveal themselves as they try to save you."

"What?" the woman looked at him confused for a moment, then his sword twitched. Somehow, that led to her slumping to the ground.

"What was that?" Anton asked.

"A threat," Rahayu replied.

"Those cause Life Transformation cultivators to pass out?"

"Oh, I simply severed her consciousness," Rahayu nodded. "Just like I cut off her connection to energy earlier. It's not difficult against someone weak like her."

Anton didn't like the sound of that, partly because he was yet another step weaker than her. But perhaps there was some innate quality. He… would ask later. "You really plan to go to Foulmarsh?" Anton knew that was to the east of the Niverlam Depths, and full of all sorts of unpleasantness. Its name wasn't just for show, after all.

"Yes, that's where we're going," he nodded.

"When you say 'we'," Anton asked. "You mean the two of you?"

"Of course. And you and your companions, plus Chikere. Unless you don't want to fight the Twin Soul Sect."

Anton knew he could refuse… but he also knew that a lone cultivator without any backup at all would be much less effective. Even if Rahayu could take on himself, Hoyt, and Velvet together… they could help keep him from being swarmed. "I'll ask the others."

"That's fine, Chikere looks like she could use a break anyway."

Anton looked back at the haggard woman, hair stuck to her face with sweat as she sat in a meditative position. He wasn't sure if he would call swinging her sword from sitting a 'break', but she was the one who would be responsible for the consequences of that.

As he passed by smith Putri, Anton carefully scanned her. There was no reaction, and he excused his momentary stop by speaking. "It seems Rahayu plans to capture Brianne to use for ransom from the Twin Soul Sect." Some people likely overheard what he actually said, but it was a reasonable extension of what he'd said. But Rahayu really just wanted to be attacked.

The question was, should he be there? How much damage could he cause to them compared to the good he might do by being alive? And the others as well. If he went, it increased the chance that they would go. Chikere… was probably going to go regardless. She wasn't part of the Order, but she was still a friend, if a bit of an odd one.

Anton was going to officially discourage following after a potentially suicidal swordmaster. Hoyt and Velvet were worth too much, and had too much potential to just waste.

Chapter 288

"So you see," Anton explained, "Rahayu has likely put concern for his life out of his head entirely. Chikere is… the type who never really thought about that to begin with. If the two of you come along, it is at risk to your own lives."

"That's how battles always are," Hoyt pointed out. "And you're going, aren't you?"

"The potential the two of you have…" Anton shook his head, "Look, they'll need some support from me. I could be the difference between them being overwhelmed or causing some real damage."

"That doesn't explain why we shouldn't also help," Velvet pointed out.

"You've done this before, you know," Hoyt said. "I don't know what it is with… people like you… but you should be aware that it doesn't feel good to have people you care for sacrifice themselves."

More than the words, logical as they were, Anton was convinced by the emotion behind them, including a very real piece that Anton knew was directed towards his grandfather- Vandale. "Is it so wrong for me to try?" Anton shook his head. "The two of you could live a couple hundred more years, unless you entirely give up cultivating. Maybe even then. That's… quite a bit more to lose."

"Years of life don't mean anything if you don't share them with people you care about," Velvet said sternly. "And before you come up with some stupid response for that, you're one of the very few people I actually care about. The one who made me realize that I could care about people."

Anton just shook his head. "It's just… this upcoming invasion worries me. I want to see the world continue and grow, but there are threats both now and later."

"We'll just do as all cultivators before us," Hoyt said. "We fight here to grow stronger for later."

At that point, Chikere was approaching the group. "Um… I hope you've decided if you're coming. Because he's not going to wait much longer."

"Let me just hand over this letter," Anton said. "We might be able to get reinforcements before the enemies arrive. Hopefully they have to travel further."

As Swordmaster Rahayu walked along, Anton wouldn't have known he was carrying someone over his shoulder if he couldn't see her. The smith Brianne didn't seem to hinder his stride at all, and it was a rapid one at that. He didn't even use an arm to hold her in place, simply having slung her over in a way that apparently remained balanced. She'd made some attempts to roll off of him at one point, but Rahayu was not shy about cutting whatever muscles she used. It wasn't pleasant, but neither was betraying the world for… rewards in a future life?

Anton frowned. He hadn't had the opportunity before, so he might as well ask. "How do you know the promises to you will be upheld?" Anton asked.

Brianne seemed to be considering not answering, but then she glanced over at Rahayu. Anton wasn't sure if he cared, but as long as she thought he did that was good enough. And while Twin Soul Sect members didn't seem afraid of death, they were quite reasonable to not like suffering. "We received contact from those who had gone beyond," she said finally.

"Did you ever consider that maybe they were just fakes?"

"Impossible," Brianne said swiftly. "Their cultivation was made clear to us, great and powerful."

She really did mean it was impossible. While the Twin Soul Sect's cultivation technique was made to conceal their true cultivation, it was also surprisingly easy to reveal if you knew what to do. They were almost like beacons in the right circumstances. Perhaps they really could use that to be sure. Though members of their sect being strong didn't necessarily mean that they would all receive the promised rewards. There had to be some practical limit… but perhaps their backers were simply that expansive. Nobody knew how big the world beyond ascension was, or if they did they kept it secret. Even the Twin Soul Sect members didn't know the details.

Anton asked more questions, but he didn't learn anything new. It was frustrating, really. Everything seemed to be, at the moment. All that work to reveal her and Rahayu just waltzed up and found her. But that was how the world worked, wasn't it? Everything was simple if you just had the power. If Anton were stronger he wouldn't have had issue just going up to each smith and probing their cultivation. Perhaps he should have already requested Life Transformation cultivators from the sect, though they could have also spooked the smith off. That was the excuse anyway, but part of the truth was that Anton had wanted the success himself. An interesting thought he would deal with later.

Foulmarsh was not far away, and despite his exceptional sight Anton smelled it before he saw it. The wind shifted direction and brought a wide variety of unpleasant smells to him. The smells of rot and exotic plants and creatures that weren't much more tolerable. Yet the smell wasn't the complete reason for the name. Everything about it was supposed to be unpleasant. The only benefit… was that nobody else was around. Any cultivators approaching would be easily picked out- and presumably cut to ribbons.

Mud squelched on Anton's boots, pulling at them and threatening to rip them off. It would have, if he had not taken to using energy to bind them to his feet. A minor annoyance, but it was just one of many. The smells and insects were constant as well. Another problem was the temperature. It was swelteringly hot, in an unnatural manner. Compared to the magma chamber it was almost tepid, but it was constant. Well, almost constant. During the day it was muggy, but at night or certain random periods the temperature would flip, suddenly trying to freeze people to death. Everything was a constant drain.

They had set up camp in one of the 'nicer' places, where there were a few pockets of solid land a majority of the time. Except when it was raining and the marsh rose, or when the sudden freezes and thaws repositioned the somewhat more durable areas.

With a flick of his wrist, Anton fired an arrow that split through the body of a mosquito. They were worse than the ones in Ambati, presumably because they had been feeding off of more than just an unlucky sect of cultivators. There were snakes and turtles and even a variety of alligators that lived in the area off of which they fed, as well as some mammals. The reptiles seemed like they would be particularly vulnerable to the sudden temperature changes, but apparently they managed.

A snake leapt out of the water towards Anton, but he didn't have to move a muscle. Chikere was standing on that side, and she sliced it into several pieces before it got close. Most of the larger creatures were relegated to her, and Anton dealt with the flying insects.

Swordmaster Rahayu could have certainly cleared out the area, but he only dealt with things that came after him personally. There had been one alligator the size of a house that must have thought he seemed like a nutritious, energy-filled snack- but it found itself being dined upon instead. Anton was growing tired of it, actually, as the meat was rather tough.

He shot another mosquito about to land on their prisoner. It was possible they didn't need her alive any longer, but if members of the Twin Soul Sect arrived and determined she wasn't there, they might be less willing to approach, and to fight. They could hardly cull their numbers if they simply left, and that was their goal.

At least, it was the goal of the Order. Chikere… might just want to fight. The same might be true of Rahayu, but he hadn't really asked. It seemed a bit late after a week, but he thought he really should. "Swordmaster Rahayu. What are your intentions with this?"

"The same as anyone else in my position," the old man said. "Ascension." He tilted his head, "Why do you look so surprised?"

"I knew you said you were close," Anton said, "But are you sure this is the right way?"

"You're the one who gave me the idea," Rahayu pointed out. "Saying they might send people after me. That sounded like exactly what I needed, so here we are."

"I see," Anton nodded. He wasn't going to question what the man thought he knew. There were certain things about cultivation that just worked like that. He was probably right. And if not… he might just die. Or he could survive to do it again.

Chikere was getting impatient. It had been over a week they were remaining in one spot, and Swordmaster Rahayu wouldn't fight her anymore. Something about her being in top form when the battle came. The others were at least willing to spar with her, but they didn't take it as seriously. She was beginning to feel a difference from when she first started training with Rahayu, but she felt she couldn't bring it out without some real combat. And she wouldn't get close with those three.

She did have a large number of insights to still absorb from her fights with Rahayu, and there was pleasant scenery to look at. Specifically, the sword he carried with him. It was… exceptional. "Can I have your sword after you die?" she asked.

He looked straight at her, his gaze like a casual sword strike. She felt like she could learn something from all of his motions. "I'm not going to die. I'm going to ascend. So you'll have to follow me there. If you can take it, it will be yours."

Chikere clicked her tongue. That was going to take so long. She was at twenty years of cultivation, and with the rate things were slowing down it might take her a whole century to achieve ascension. Oh well, at least she would have something to look forward to.

"Ah, they do care about you," Chikere commented. "In some form or fashion."

Brianne rolled limply onto her back. "What do you mean?"

Chikere sighed. "I can't believe you don't even recognize your own work coming. Though I suppose you're kind of out of it now, huh? Still, it's disrespectful to not recognize them even without energy."

Anton was surveying the horizon in the direction Chikere sensed people coming. They seemed to be attempting stealth to some extent, but the denizens of Foulmarsh seemed to have other plans in mind.

"You only ever use one sword, right?" Chikere directed that to Rahayu. "So I can have that other one… right?"

"Don't need it," Rahayu agreed. "I don't care."

Chikere was nearly salivating at the approaching weapon. It didn't matter that it was tainted with the sense of the Twin Soul Sect, she could still appreciate something good. If she never took weapons from her enemies, how would she get anything?

"If you let me go now," the smith commented, "They might let the rest of you live. That has to be Swordmaster Vianne."

"That's right," Rahayu confirmed. "Didn't know she was one of yours. I'm glad. I was worried they might not send anyone worth my time."

"She won't be foolish enough to come alone."

"That's fine," Rayahu commented. "In fact, that's even better. Nothing like a fight with a couple Life Transformation punks to get things started. Maybe they'll try to tire me out first." He grinned widely, "This should be fun. You all ready?"

"As much as we can be," Anton commented. "I'm a bit concerned about their numbers. Four Life Transformation experts, one at the peak like yourself… that leaves us with quite a few opponents in Essence Collection. Nobody in Spirit Building though."

"Of course not," Rahayu said. "They'd be dead if they showed up, wouldn't they? Don't tell me you couldn't have put them down from where they are now. Speaking of which, shouldn't you be shooting?"

"The good targets are all hidden in the shadows of the Life Transformation experts. It would be a waste of energy." Even as he said that, Anton began to gather his energy, drawing back his bow. "Who do you reckon is the weakest of those four?" Anton asked.

"The kid who's overcompensating with the big sword," Rahayu suggested.

Anton didn't bother to point out that 'the kid' was probably older than himself. He simply continued to gather energy in a relaxed manner. This would probably be the last time he could freely line up a shot, so he would make the most of it.

Chapter 289

The weakest Life Transformation cultivator among the group- by the judgment of Rahayu- was a man who carried a sword that couldn't be held in any sort of sheath. It wouldn't matter if one was made, it was simply that said sheath wouldn't allow the weapon to hang off of a person in any feasible configuration. The weapon was about three and a half meters long, with a blade about twenty centimeters wide. It had to be massively heavy, no matter what material it was made from.

A single shot was formed on Anton's primary bow, aimed almost directly at the man. Anton made use of Ascension energy and the properties of light, balancing out the power with a shot that would be extremely quick. It flew towards the man at an undodgeable speed… but he had already moved out of its path before it left the string. If Anton had intended to hit him, he might have found that annoying. Instead, his shot went into the throat of one of the Essence Collection cultivators behind the man who doubtless thought they were safe in that position.

One down, a couple dozen to go. Unfortunately, they weren't strolling towards the group so casually anymore. They began to run at full speed, and Anton was suddenly concerned about their proximity to Rahayu, but the man was quickly moving to intercept the enemy.

The Life Transformation cultivators separated from the Essence Collection members behind them, leaving them alone- but also on alert for Anton's attacks. If Anton could make every single attack as powerful as his first shot, he could take them all out before they got to him. Instead, he could do it around five times in total, and he couldn't guarantee he would take someone out if they knew they were being targeted. There would still be quite a few of them and he would be weaker, so he only took one more shot using ascension energy. It was aimed at another archer, though clearly one whose optimal range of firing was somewhere less than five kilometers.

They dodged it, twisting their body to the side. Anton lowered his bow, intending to conserve his energy. Then his arrow came back around, striking them in the back. Or more specifically, striking the string of their bow that was still slung over them. It felt like a waste, since he could probably have used the bow… but only if he survived the battle. The archer only sustained minor injuries beyond a ruined weapon, their general defenses protecting their body sufficiently.

Anton continued to fire arrows, but at a more normal power level. He was trying to catch people off guard, maybe cause a little bit of damage to a joint or split people apart. He definitely didn't have enough energy to take out so many people on a vaguely equivalent power level all on his own, unless they simply lowered their energy.

The collision of Life Transformation cultivators drew his attention. There Swordmaster Rahayu faced off against the other swordmaster, identified as Vianne. But they had four Life Transformation cultivators, even if the others weren't at the peak. The shortest of their members kept his distance, engaging with a bolt of lightning from a hundred meters away that left a crater behind Rahayu. The other carried a heavy mace in two hands that he wielded with speed and grace Anton wouldn't expect from such a weapon. Then again, if a Life Transformation cultivator couldn't manage even that much they'd hardly amount to anything.

With a single swipe of his sword, Rahayu forced back the man with the heavy mace as well as Vianne, though it was clear he focused most of his attention upon the latter.

The one with the overlarge sword, labeled a 'kid' by Rahayu, moved past the man. It was likely he could have forced him to engage, but either Rahayu thought they could take him or had reached his own limits. It wasn't exactly something Anton was going to ask in the heat of battle, as an admission he couldn't handle more opponents would likely lead to their strongest member being swarmed.

For some reason the guy looked upset, his gaze directed specifically at Anton. Was it because he cared for the particular person Anton had shot down first, or was it just damaged pride from knowing he was fooled by the attack?

Anton fired about a dozen probing attacks as the man approached, finding that he was quite adept at swirling his sword to slice arrows out of the air. As he was rapidly approaching, Anton considered his options for melee combat. But it didn't come to that. The man came to a sudden halt when Chikere rushed at him, her over a dozen swords slicing simultaneously. The man counterattacked with his own weapon, the weapon carrying great momentum and speed. With the great power of Life Transformation behind it, it sliced through Chikere in a way nobody at her level of cultivation could dodge. At least, it certainly felt like it.

Chikere herself didn't even seem fazed as it sliced a ten meter long gouge in the ground behind her, simply slicing into the man as she moved past him. Unfortunately his defensive energy was enough to overcome her skill, so she wasn't able to break through. With the difference in cultivation he might be able to endure her attacks until she ran out of energy… had she been fighting alone. But Hoyt joined the melee a moment later, and Anton was already adding his own attacks to Chikere's whirling blades.

A flaming axe swept towards the man, but he blocked with his blade. Even so, the ground cracked beneath their feet and an explosion of fire filled the area. An instant later, the block transitioned into a sweep, aiming to slice through Hoyt's ribs. Perhaps he might have survived the single attack, but it turned upward and went over his head as Chikere's primary chopped sliced towards the man's wrist, making him have to choose between his hand and hitting the attack. Or rather, between not hitting the attack and having a hand, or losing a hand and likely failing to connect as he swung the oversized blade one-handed.

A few more moments of combat passed before the Essence Collection cultivators began to arrive at a range where they could attack. It seemed Rahayu was not at his limit, as he intentionally swept his sword to hold back half of the group, leaving Anton and the others to face only three-to-one odds and a Life Transformation cultivator.

Just then the world began to distort, half intentional illusion projected at the cultivators and half random noise to throw them off. Fortunately, everyone had fought against the Twin Soul Sect before- and won. Quite decisively in fact, whereas none of their opponents had fought against any of them before- with the exception of the two swordmasters seeming to have some history.

Even with the world distorted and changing, Chikere seemed to have no difficulty fighting the other sword wielder. Hoyt was having some trouble, however, and Chikere was spending more of her time parrying attacks meant for him than going on offense. With the addition of the dozen extra cultivators, Hoyt was fully on the defensive. Anton had several people pelting him with strange gray balls of energy he absolutely didn't want to touch and find out what they did, and another moving in to fight him with a spear. It wasn't possible to sustain that situation for any length of time, so he had to act quickly.

Over a dozen meters away, on the far side of the Essence Collection cultivators attacking Anton and the others, a half-dozen bows suddenly formed around one of the individuals lopping the wispy gray projectiles. The bows shot point-blank into Anton's chosen target, forcing her to dodge at the last instant. She managed to avoid three of the shots, but was distracted from Anton's main arrow, finding its way into her eye. At the same time, Anton narrowly dodged a spear that wanted to find its way into his guts.

Two more down. Anton took out one… and the world suddenly distorted to be more correct as one of those primarily focusing on the illusion suddenly found their vital organs destroyed by a pair of daggers. Velvet had come with them, so Anton knew it had to be coming- but even he had lost track of her. His sensing abilities and her stealth leap frogged in front of each other frequently, and this was one of the times she was ahead.

Several attacks were launched towards the falling body, but nothing happened except one of the grayish orbs striking the member of the Twin Soul Sect, melting the body into a pile of goop. That was unprotected, sure, but Anton still wanted to make sure not to let it affect him. That might not even be the only effect the strange energy had. As for Velvet, the target of the attack… Anton didn't notice anything. What he could feel of the opponents through the momentarily wonky illusion didn't indicate they thought they killed her.

Across the battlefield, handily out of way of stray attacks interfering with the other portion of the skirmish, Swordmaster Rahayu weaved his blade in a brilliant tapestry, forcing back Vianne while chipping into the large man's armor, as well as worrying away at the metal of the handle of his mace. He would have liked to slice through it in a single blow, but it was not only incredibly durable… but he was finding it hard to find an opening. One hand let go of his sword for a moment as he pointed a finger at one of the Essence Collection cultivators, slicing their head off. He had to keep all of his focus on the three Life Transformation cultivators, or he'd end up with more than just the few wounds trickling blood he already had.

His sword swept, knocking back three of the Essence Collection cultivators who managed to perform a block. The same move gained intensity at an area of empty space, which unfortunately the short lightning user recognized as the real attack. He managed to dodge under it with only a gash along his scalp to show for it when he was supposed to be chopped in half.

What a pain. He couldn't even get a single good hit in. His elbow split apart the head of another Essence Collection cultivator behind him, slicing it clean in two. There it was, an opening. His sword stabbed into the elbow of the mace wielding man, slicing tendons. The man stepped back for a moment, and then with a swirl of energy adjusted his grip and went right back to attacking.

Regeneration? No, it was much more active than that. Actual healing? What a pain. There had to be a limit to it, but that meant Rahayu couldn't count on building up crippling wounds on people. He had to take them out all at once. Which was really his preferred method of attack anyway. It was just that Swordmaster Vianne's attacks kept him constantly moving to places he didn't want to be. That was the problem of fighting someone at the peak of cultivation like himself. The problem, and the joy. If only there weren't other people interrupting it.

Then it came. The perfect opening. He sliced a long gouge across Vianne's chest, and all he lost for it was an ear. Blood dripped down the side of his head, but a significant wound like that… was suddenly getting healed by the man with the mace. He was just putting everything back together like nothing had happened. That might be a bit of a problem.

"That should be enough," Vianne said, though not to him. "Go deal with that other group. That punk should have taken them out long ago but he's having trouble with the girl."

The words seemed to have been directed at the lightning user, who began to circle around the battle. Rahayu's eye twitched. That wouldn't do at all. Did they really think two Life Transformation cultivators were enough for him, or did they just want to kill Chikere? Either way, they were going to regret that.

Rahayu's blade flashed. By pure coincidence it sliced through the remaining Essence Collection cultivators around him, but its real target was the man trying to slink off. A bolt of lightning countered, climbing up his blade and into his body- but it didn't stop his attack. The man was sliced in two at the waist, as if he weren't already the shortest of the bunch.

One of Rahayu's arms dropped to his side. A hit to his shoulder had shattered it, but that hardly mattered. He was still going to win. In fact, he wasn't just going to win. Chikere and her group were also going to win, or at least survive. Meanwhile, Rahayu had his heights beyond that simple level. He was going to ascend. He wasn't sure how, but as he hurriedly parried a flurry of blows from Vianne that left him with bleeding cuts along his arms and torso he knew he would figure it out. A little bit of combat was always good when you needed a bit of inspiration.

Chapter 290

"I can't believe he went off to fight people without us!" Alva yelled at no one in particular.

"He specifically sent us letters telling us about it," Annelie pointed out. "And it seems that this Swordmaster Rahayu is not the type who is patient. Besides, we might still have time to help him."

"I know, but… ugh!" Alva waved her arms into the air.

"I don't know why you're so upset," Anish said. "Didn't you want an excuse to get away from here and get into some action? I thought you were tired of teaching people."

"But we're almost done!" she protested. "We can't just spend all this time and then just abandon it."

"So what is it?" Annelie asked.

"What if he gets hurt? Or dies…?"

"That is the eventual fate of all cultivators," Anish said. "But your grandfather is strong."

"But there's only four of them! And that Swordmaster or whatever. Without Timothy and Catarina everyone's at risk…"

Annelie hugged Alva awkwardly, a motion she had not practiced much in her last fifteen years of life. "It will be alright. What's the real problem?"

"... he brought me with him on this expedition, but he still didn't bring me into danger. Like I'm still a little kid instead of almost thirty years old."

There was a long period of silence, then Anish finally came up with something helpful to say. "He went to Erygan simply for an investigation. There was just as much chance of us running into trouble here. Maybe even more. I would think of it as more of a sign that he trusted you to be fine. And you should trust the same thing of him. He's tough."

It was unclear whether Anton and the others had overestimated themselves or underestimated the forces the enemy would send after them. After sensing the four Life Transformation cultivators, fleeing might have been their best option. Then again, most of them couldn't escape from them on their own, and Swordmaster Rahayu wasn't interested in escaping, nor the type to assist them with such.

One Life Transformation cultivator was dead. So were more than half of the Essence Collection cultivators. Yet the Life Transformation cultivator pressing in on the rest of them barely had a scratch, and though Swordmaster Rahayu was only facing two opponents, they were now uninjured, any wounds they suffered recovered by the mace wielding expert. It didn't appear that he was overly fatigued yet, either.

"Focus on the weaklings!" Chikere called out. "I've got this guy."

The Essence Collection cultivators were approximately equivalent in power to each of the rest of them, but by comparison they were the weaklings. If Anton, Hoyt, and Velvet focused solely on them it would simply be two or three two one, which was… not great odds. But things were nominally worse for Chikere, who was fighting the Life Transformation cultivator.

There was just one fatal mistake he'd made. Even Anton could tell after watching their brief exchanges. He used a sword, but he wasn't devoted to it. Perhaps he simply had another focus, or maybe he couldn't achieve that state… but if nothing else, Anton believed without solid evidence that Chikere would be the one to come out ahead. And if not, she simply had to survive for long enough for them to take out the others.

Hoyt was a whirling tornado of fire, covering his area of the battlefield in a painted sea of sparkling flame. And though the method was entirely different, the force behind it reminded Anton of Vandale. The selective nature was also a matching factor, which was good for Anton because it meant he could run through the flames without killing himself. He was doing quite a bit of that as people tried to chase him down, as well as dodging the gray orbs.

Their body-melting ability was problematic, but injuries were something that could be dealt with. There was something deeper behind these, and Anton didn't like whatever it signified. It felt like… a connection to death. Not the sort of agreement Anton had, forged through the power of Fleeting Youth. The peaceful thought that he would die some day, and had accepted that. It was instead violent death, and perhaps the sort that caused more than bodily harm. Concrete information about the nature of the soul was rare, but if anything could harm it Anton supposed those orbs might.

Avoiding them was becoming a problem, and shooting them normally didn't disperse them. But when they decided he wasn't a worthwhile target and began aiming at Chikere, who was trying to have a solo duel… he had to try something. It felt close enough.

He gathered just a little bit of the energy from beyond death, leading into reincarnation. It wasn't just the potential energy he could have in future lives, but a different substance. His first shot was not enough to completely disperse the orb he aimed at, and Chikere had to throw herself into an awkward dive to avoid it, nearly getting an arm chopped off for her efforts. Making use of all his techniques to shoot quickly, based on Thousand Arrows, Anton continued his barrage with great intensity, breaking the attacks apart. He was fairly certain each of his own attacks consumed less energy than the enemy, but he had to deal with two opponents who seemed skilled in that area.

And then it was one, because Velvet was still participating in the battle. If Hoyt could hold on for a while longer, they might actually find themselves getting through the battle.

A sudden shift in the battlefield came as Foulmarsh decided that it wanted to be cold. Previously irrelevant small pools of water rapidly became ice trying to entrap the feet of everyone standing in it. Hoyt was at an advantage as he had already been boiling away the water beneath him, and he swung his axe in a vertical cleave, his target disappearing into the ground and leaving behind a large crater.

Rahayu faced off against two opponents, twisting his sword as he sliced towards his most heavily armored opponent. At least, he had been heavily armored, but was now peppered with damaged armor. He could heal his wounds, but the holes in his armor remained. Rahayu's sword sliced into the man's arm, severing muscle and bone… but not quite finishing the job. In return, Vianne sliced into his hamstring, forcing him to jump away with one leg, unable to take a proper stance. He grimaced as his opponent healed even that grievous wound in but a few moments, his arm looking nearly as good as new.

"Not good enough," Rahayu muttered to himself.

"Clearly not," Vianne said, taunting him. Even with his injuries, she remained at a cautious distance. "You can hold your own against those weaker than yourself, but you can barely scratch me."

Rahayu didn't point out that he'd sliced through a number of her ribs earlier. In fact, he didn't seem to be listening to her words at all. "With an injured leg… will it be enough?" He tilted his head, then nodded. He shifted from a two-handed grip on his sword to a single hand, then shook his head. He swapped to his left hand, and a sudden shower of blood came from his right, where it hung limply. "Maybe this… will be enough."

Vianne's eyes flicked over to her companion, and she nodded slightly. He charged forward ahead of her, weapon held defensively. Meanwhile, she moved around behind Rahayu, flanking him. Shadows wrapped around her blade as she heightened her killing intent. They struck at the same time.

Then the world split apart.

"Oh," said Rahayu. "That's it. I see now." He turned to face her, his sword still held up in the position it had finished his upward slash towards her companion. Vianne had swept her sword across Rahayu's back in a move intended to sever his head from his torso.

Vianne wondered what it was he had seen. Unfortunately she could not ask, as the moment he began to step towards her the world split in two.

At that same moment, a sword cut into Chikere's neck. It was deep, more than two centimeters. A fatal blow. She turned her eyes towards her opponent and glared. The words didn't come out right, but Anton had the feeling she was asking what was wrong with him. That seemed strange, as she was the one who had looked away from the fight. The only thing keeping her head on her neck were over a dozen swords blocking at the same time, locking the sword in place.

Without even bothering to pull away, Chikere twisted her sword, breaking the oversized hunk of metal the man wielded into a hundred shards. No… slicing it. Anton was having trouble processing everything at once, but his eyes settled on Rahayu in the last moment anyone would ever see him.

There was a cut in the air just the height of a person. Two of them, in fact, on either side of the man. They happened to be the locations of his two opponents, except only half of them remained on either side where the slices bulged out in the middle. And Rahayu stepped through one to disappear, a surge of power washing over the battlefield.

Chikere's opponent didn't react quickly enough to having his weapon suddenly dissected, but that was because it was simply something she couldn't do. Couldn't have done before that moment, at least. But she had watched the sword slash that triggered the ascension of Swordmaster Rahayu, and her insights suddenly added up.

Others reacted at different speeds, but the fastest was one of those who flung the deathly orbs. They were sprinting away from the battle before Anton could get a lock on them, and though they would be within range for some time… Hoyt still needed his help- fending off a half dozen opponents at once for sustained periods was at the limit of what he could handle. Even as the remaining handful of Essence Collection cultivators realized that their strongest members had all perished they were raining attacks on Hoyt, covering him in blood. Chikere killed her opponent, but collapsed unconscious where she stood.

Anton continued to pour himself into the battle, finishing off those who stayed to fight first and then shooting after the fleeing enemies. Unfortunately, with a combination of his fatigue and the fact that they could focus on him, several opponents got away with their lives. He would have liked to chase after them, but he chose to prioritize helping keep Chikere's head on. Blood was pouring out of her neck and she was breathing poorly.

"Do we stitch that?" Velvet said in a panic. "I can use a needle, I think. We have the equipment."

"Do it," Anton said as he used his energy to hold Chikere's blood in, as well as trying to push it back in somehow. He was lucky her energy wasn't unconsciously fighting him, though perhaps that was simply because she was completely drained, or even overdrafted beyond her limits. Hoyt staggered over, covered in wounds- but he still contributed his energy to help remove blood pooling in her lungs.

When everything was sealed to the best of their abilities and a whole mess of healing medicines was shoved into her or spread on her neck, she staggered forward. Anton caught her, but found himself being pushed back. He looked over his shoulder and shook his head. Rahayu was gone, and he wouldn't be coming back. Hopefully… ascension would be good for him, whatever it entailed.

Rather than fight against a dying, unconscious woman Anton let Chikere walk and simply followed after her to make sure she wasn't going to wander into the marsh. When she flopped forward he moved to catch her, but as she landed and a smile widened on her face, he made a realization.

For all that she seemed to have great respect for her short-term master, there was something she always cared about more. Anton wasn't sure if it was a good idea for her to hug the bare blade of Swordmaster Vianne, but wasn't going to try to wrestle it away from her either.

Chapter 291

The conclusion of the battle left everyone in various states of living, but they weren't exactly safe. Even if the Twin Soul Sect didn't come back, Foulmarsh had its own dangers. It had not been a significant threat to them when they were all in good health- and while they had Swordmaster Rahayu present- but Chikere was completely catatonic and Rahayu was gone. Ascended.

Looking at the bodies littered around them, it had to be said they had been lucky. Even if their own abilities were significant, Rahayu's extreme confidence had proven to be correct- but it could just as easily resulted in him being cut down along with the rest of them. At least, it felt like that.

Velvet was the one least injured of all of them, as she had been concealed except for the moment she was striking. Stray blows that had managed to impact her and a few well-timed counterattacks had left her energy drained but her body relatively intact. After helping stitch Chikere's neck back together she moved on to looting the bodies of the dead. All of the undamaged weapons and armor had significant value, though the way some of them were tied to the Twin Soul Sect was a bit unfortunate. Even the severed pieces of the oversized sword would be usable as materials for another weapon.

Anton got half of a bow, as the string he'd severed wasn't repairable. Whether he would get a replacement string or sell the bowshaft to find a whole piece was not yet decided. Either way, they had quite a few things to go through.

The most valuable prize was clutched against Chikere's chest, the bare sword of Swordmaster Vianne having been covered by Velvet carefully sliding the sheath onto it as much as she could. None of them were quite certain if she could even move, and whether or not she was a danger to them with a subconscious attack to protect her swords… her body likely couldn't handle it.

Hoyt was patching himself together, using large quantities of pilfered medicines. Only legendarily rare medicines were useful in the midst of combat, but his wounds were at least held closed and blood replenishing pills swallowed to begin their work. He had been the vanguard against the majority of the Essence Collection cultivators, and had taken the brunt of the damage. If Timothy had been around things likely would have been different, but Hoyt didn't specialize in defense, even if he was quite tough.

"Can't believe we survived that," Hoyt commented. "And I thought… well, I expected an ascension to have more flare to it. There was a huge ceremony with sacrifices in Black Soul Valley, and they almost didn't succeed until they killed the peak Life Transformation leader of the Flying Blood Cult. I heard it was quite something."

"That's not that different from what happened here," Velvet pointed out. "The deaths here weren't intentional sacrifices, but the death of Swordmaster Vianne coincided with Rahayu's ascension. It… might be a coincidence. But it might not."

"Nothing I learned from Everheart indicated that the death of another cultivator was required to ascend," Anton pointed out. "But that doesn't mean it wouldn't make things easier. A great release of power…" Though he hadn't been looking directly at the sword strike to remember it, he had felt the wave of ascension energy. It was only there for a moment, before quickly fading from the world. It seemed that it was unable to be sustained for long without a source. But as the only time he'd experienced such energy except through usage of Fleeting Youth, Anton thought his understanding improved. He'd have to wait to see, however. First they had to get out of Foulmarsh.

The role of carrying Chikere fell to Hoyt, since Anton would be needed to fend off foes from a distance and Velvet couldn't conceal herself while carrying someone else, which would weaken her ability to get the first- and often only- strike in combat.

They packed up their camp and began to move, as they still had some hours of daylight to make use of. The current frozen state of Foulmarsh made it somewhat more convenient to move, since they at least had solid surfaces to walk on- even if it was slippery, smelly, and far too cold. A few denizens of the area set their sights on the traveling cultivators, but they were easily fended off by Anton, who was able to either deter them with his early shots or simply kill them from a distance. There might have been a few who died unnecessarily, as he didn't want to get close enough to everything to determine if it was truly going to attack… but Foulmarsh was a dangerous place where things were constantly dying, so he didn't expect to change the overall ecosystem alone.

Shortly before night fell it switched over to unpleasantly hot once more, the ice rapidly melting and almost beginning to steam. The cultivators were all exhausted, even if they managed to recover some of their expended natural energy during the march. They bedded down in shifts, leaving one of the three conscious members on watch.

In the morning, Anton and Hoyt found themselves feeling ill. It had been over a decade since Anton fell sick from anything that wasn't injected venom, but he felt the beginnings of a fever. Hoyt was somewhat better than he was, but Chikere was both sweating and shaking violently as if she had the chills. Even Body Tempering cultivators were largely immune to mundane sicknesses, but the stresses on their bodies- combined with what Anton imagined was an abnormal combination of potential diseases in Foulmarsh- resulted in them falling ill.

The vast majority of their medicines- and those they had taken from the Twin Soul Sect- were intended for treating injuries and recovering from them. They had a few designed to counter poisons, but even those only worked against the most common types. Nobody had the knowledge to treat what they were coming down with, except the basics. Rest and nutrition were paramount. The first was… extremely difficult to get in Foulmarsh. Even if they could sleep uninterrupted, swelteringly hot weather or temperatures far below freezing didn't provide for proper rest. Especially for Chikere who seemed to have not recovered her reserves of energy at all, and likely couldn't have made much use of them while unconscious regardless.

"We'll need to move faster, I think," Anton said. "If these fevers worsen, we will gradually become less able to act. We can make it out of the area in just a few days if we have to. And if we recover quickly… at least we won't be smelling this place for longer than necessary."

Neither of the other two disagreed with him, though Hoyt would have it the hardest as he was carrying Chikere. Though a single person- and a dozen or so swords- wasn't actually that much additional weight. If those swords could have been placed in a storage bag it would have made Hoyt's job easier because of how they banged against him as he walked, but the weight itself wasn't that bad. In normal circumstances. Anton could tell he wasn't going to complain about it, but it added onto the effort of moving quickly.

Anton himself felt dizzy, but that didn't stop him from doing his best to focus on the area ahead of them, specifically scanning for turtles. Just one would do, but if he was going to get one it would be the biggest he could find. The sunlight made his head hurt as he focused on the horizon, but he eventually spotted it.

Truthfully he didn't need anything that big, but the creature also wasn't one of the monstrosities that would cause them trouble in their current state. Anton had been doing his best to steer them clear around them, with occasional input from Velvet who was constantly scouting ahead of the group and returning.

Anton almost could have sworn his target looked him dead in the eye as he took aim, but it was also possible it was his imagination. Either way, a few hours later he was cooking up a large pot of turtle soup. While preparing the dish he thought there was something familiar about the creature's shell, but couldn't quite place what.

"It seems the creatures here aren't afraid of fire," Anton commented.

"I noticed as well," Velvet said. "They're moving in."

"It's a bit late to stop now," Anton shrugged, which stretched some of his wounds unpleasantly. "They already have the scent of it. We'll have to fend them off."

The things to which they were referring were approaching bands of snakes and alligators, along with a number of mammals apparently attracted to the smell of turtle soup. Racoons weren't predatory animals, normally, but at their size and with cultivations that matched Spirit Building they could be whatever they wanted. The long skinny minks were known to be more aggressive but generally kept their hunting to smaller prey. But when a few of them could rise up on their hind legs to be as tall as a human, perhaps everything seemed small to them.

Anton started with a few warning shots, but barely deterred any of the approaching beasts. Even when he began to get serious, he couldn't always kill his target in a single shot, given he was trying to conserve himself for tens or hundreds of enemies. And his aim was a little off.

Hoyt stepped up, and while he could only cover a portion of the directions approaching the camp, he widened his area of influence by creating walls of fire that funneled anything that wanted to approach towards him- or a long way around. An alligator tried to sneak under the wall of fire by dipping into the water, but it quickly found its durable hide didn't withstand boiling water nearly as well as it did the normal nearly boiling alternative.

Anton's target soon became approaching avians, as there were birds large enough to potentially lift the massive pot of food he had cooking. He wouldn't mind sharing whatever was leftover, but the local beasts were clearly hungry. Though some of them were more cautious, staying back from the fight as it gathered momentum. Anton saw some of them pick off injured animals, and was glad that at least they weren't the only targets. Just the newest and least familiar. He did have to admit they weren't as intimidating as normal in their still-exhausted states.

The infighting among the various creatures only added to the chaos, but at least Velvet seemed quite comfortable moving among them, picking off some weakened beasts while also wounding others. Nearly even battles with a stronger but injured combatant tied them up longer, and when something died others inevitably began to fight over it or begin to drag it away.

The battles continued at various levels of intensity over the course of several hours, and Anton was wondering if it was worth the effort. But when the soup was finished and he tasted it, he decided it was worth it. While most of the ingredients were improvised by scavenging various root vegetables and random dried things in their rations, it was made excellent by the main ingredient. He carefully ate some himself before feeding it to Chikere, giving her only very small chunks of meat and carefully coaxing it down her throat so she didn't actually try to swallow and tear at her stitched neck.

Then he took over a majority of the fighting and deterring so Hoyt and Velvet could eat. By the time they were done, all of the beasts were either dead or busy consuming others. It was unlikely such wild behavior was common, but the presence of humans might have thrown things off. Foulmarsh was still teeming with life regardless, including a number of flying insects that seemed to want nothing more than to eat or drink the humans alive. Perhaps their current sickness had come from one of them, but much effort was spent on them regardless.

As he digested the meal, Anton wondered if the expenditure of energy actually outweighed their gains, but he decided it had. Even if his vision was still blurring and his wounds aching, Chikere at least was looking a bit better. But the rest of the trip it might be best to make do with rations.

Chapter 292

The next morning when Anton woke up, he thought for a second everything had all been a dream, and he was back home in Dungannon. His bones ached from the cold, despite the shelter attempting to stave it off. But he was not in his bed or his home, and fifteen years was an awfully long and detailed dream. The final piece was his wounds aching, not just from the fact that he hadn't properly rested them but a pulsing beat of infection, echoing with the ache in his head. Being sick was awful. He really needed to take a day working on driving out the infection and repairing his body, but they were also not somewhere safe. Even so, he began the process, finding it rather hard to make use of his energy and the infection quite stubborn. He started with cleaning out his blood and the smallest cuts as much as he could.

"How?!" a voice suddenly shouted from the next tent over, breaking his concentration. Chikere had suddenly sat bolt upright, her new sword still clutched in her arms. Anton stood with the intent to explain where they'd traveled, but soon realized her question was about something very different. She didn't seem to be paying attention to her surroundings at all, simply drawing the sword and swinging it. Her movements came at all angles, across her body, diagonally, vertically down and then back up. She repeated the motions with a sort of mad frenzy. Her body wasn't exactly in a great condition to do what she was doing, but Anton didn't know a way to stop her.

The others were all awake now, Velvet having been on watch. The three exchanged glances clearly concerning Chikere's state, but it only lasted for ten minutes before one final slash where she stopped.

"Phew. I've got it." She looked around. "Oh, hi. Where are we?"

"Still in Foulmarsh," Anton said. "Trying to make our way out."

"Okay," she nodded. "My neck hurts."

"You really shouldn't talk," Hoyt pointed out.

Chikere shrugged, but it seemed that hurt as well. Not that it was surprising, given her close-to-half-decapitated state.

With everyone awake, rations were distributed- with the softest ones given to Chikere since swallowing would be difficult. Her throat was quite swollen, some of the stitches strained. But she didn't complain beyond her initial remark that it hurt.

Then they were moving again. Chikere was able to walk on her own, and while that might have been ill advised in her state in other circumstances, not carrying her freed up Hoyt. Given the red and swollen state of his wounds, he seemed to be doing fairly well. That was good, because Anton was feeling a bit off.

His eyes blurred when looking at anything far away, and while he would have normally been able to supplement that with his natural energy, he was finding it difficult to rally it for any clear purpose. But he kept walking, step by step. He kept his eyes focused just on what was ahead of him, even as his vision narrowed.

When Anton collapsed, nobody was close enough to catch him. Toppling over wouldn't be a problem for a cultivator in most circumstances, but Anton was already in a delicate position. Hoyt happened to react first, rushing over to him and reaching out to help him up.

"Gah!" he almost lost his grip as he grabbed onto Anton's arm. "His body's hot. Like, sticking a hand into a furnace hot."

"What do we do?" Chikere asked. "Should we… cut out the infection?" Despite her normal eagerness for anything involving cutting, she didn't even reach for one of her blades.

"Too late for that, I think," Hoyt said. "It seems to have spread everywhere." Hoyt looked in his bag but shook his head. "I never thought to bring anything to help with fevers. Just wound healing and poison expulsion. The latter might help but…"

"It could also make him work," Velvet commented as she came back from her scouting position. "It's better not to use any of those."

Hoyt lifted him up onto his back, wrapping Anton's arms around himself to keep him steady. "We need to keep moving. Or rather, get back to Erygan as quickly as we can. Unless there's somewhere closer?"

Velvet shook her head. "Not of any size. And I doubt a normal town or village will have anything that will affect something like this. You're right, we need to get moving. And fast."

"I can cut down anything in our way," Chikere said. "Just point us in the right direction."

"I can fight too," Velvet pointed out.

"If it's convenient, sure. But you need to focus on the route." Chikere grimaced as she continued to speak. "I can kill things the fastest. How fast can you run with him?" Chikere asked Hoyt.

"Basically full speed but… I'm not sure if it will make him worse."

"A few bumps shouldn't make a difference. Let's go."

Then they were off. Hoyt wished he had some role other than running… but he was pretty good at that. While the physical capabilities of cultivators at their level were generally similar unless using a particular cultivation technique focused on Body Tempering, Hoyt did have the steady temperament to keep moving, and was less useful for other things. And while Anton's alarming temperature wouldn't kill either of the other two, he was also better suited to resist it while focusing on speed instead of defense.

With the increased pace, even with Velvet's guidance for what route to take, they inevitably stepped into the territory of numerous grumpy beasts. But one thing remained consistent about every encounter- Chikere defeated everything in a single blow. The feat was slightly less impressive considering she'd recently obtained an exceptionally high grade sword, but equipment such as that generally only allowed a greater maximum offensive power. Beyond a certain point a blade reached peak sharpness and mainly focused on durability and keeping the cutting edge. The impressive part was her only using as much energy as needed to cut down the beasts, as they were running into a sort of continuous stream of them and everyone was to various degrees weaker than normal.

Foulmarsh had giant leeches the size of a hand, hardly a problem for Essence Collection cultivators at the top of their game- but much more of a threat to unconscious ones. That meant Hoyt's job included keeping Anton safe more than just moving him. Patches of swampy water could have deceptive depth, and deep brush could hide many unpleasant creatures as they blended into the scenery.

When the temperature became cold, patches of ice that were normally not a problem became a greater concern. Hoyt wouldn't hurt himself if he stumbled as ice cracked or even if he somehow slipped and fell, but even though Anton wasn't exactly delicate he really didn't want to test how much more he could handle in his current state. At least Anton probably wouldn't have problems with the cold with the temperature he was outputting.

When night fell, they didn't stop to rest. While Hoyt felt his own health fluctuating, his body seemed to have better fought off the infection. Or he was fooling himself, but either way he wasn't going to just stop and take care of himself when Anton would have pushed himself for any of them. Perhaps he had, going until he collapsed with the intent not to inconvenience them. This was probably worse, but the intent made sense at least- and they could have ended up in the same situation regardless.

Hoyt channeled fire around his legs, burning through brush and leeches who thought they might try to jump up on the running thing. They liked warm-blooded creatures, but they found this target a bit too warm. Hoyt's flames also burned around Anton to protect him when necessary, but the rest of the time he tried to pull heat away from the man to try to have his body at something like a reasonable temperature.

"We have to go around to the south!" Velvet declared. "Something big in the way. The terrain's not too bad to the south."

Chikere nodded. She was absolutely willing to slice or stab through anything that got in front of them, but even she wouldn't pretend she was in optimal condition to fight. The throbbing in her neck reminded her of that with every step. But every time she swung her new sword, remembering Rahayu's last attack… she found herself almost getting lost in another world. It was almost enjoyable, though she knew it would be much more when they were no longer in a state of crisis.

Night turned to day again as they continued at the maximum speed they could maintain, and the land around them gradually became less wet… and less foul. It would still be some time before they were completely out of the area and into Erygan, but they were close.

Upon arrival in the city, they were actually able to attract a number of doctors simply by shouting. A handful of desperate cultivators was a great way to make some money, after all. Of those that showed up quickly, they chose the one that seemed least likely to rip them off- and most capable, though that was difficult to judge without seeing anyone actually work. Nobody was particularly concerned if they were charged somewhat excessive rates for services given the state of emergency… and the fact that they had come into quite a bit of wealth in the form of the equipment of three Life Transformation cultivators. Granted, the armor went from significantly damaged to cut vertically in two, but they also had some wealth of their own on them. Some cultivators carried everything they owned with them, since they could do so with the help of storage bags. Either way, they had enough.

Doctor Kephalos was an Essence Collection cultivator, and old man with sagging skin but arms that still seemed quite sturdy. He started diagnosing them even as they moved towards his office. "Foulmarsh. Fevers, infected wounds…" He scanned over all of them with his energy. "No leeches. Did he get bit by the mosquitoes? Or the flies?"

"I'm not sure," Hoyt explained as he tried to keep his breathing regular. "We tried to keep them away."

Kephalos took out a small yellow ball of medicine, flicking it with his thumb right into Anton's mouth and down his throat. "That should help with some of this," he said. "Would be better if he was conscious to circulate it properly." He looked over the group once more, "Two of you are from the same cultivation style. You could try to help with that."

"He's a bit stubborn about accepting energy intrusion, even like this," Hoyt commented.

"I could probably do it," Velvet said. "If nothing else, I could sneak my energy in?"

"Up to you," Kephalos said as he flung open the door to his office, revealing numerous vials of odd liquids and grinding mills full of various powders, along with dried herbs hanging down randomly from the ceiling. "Just be prepared for the backlash if you mess it up."

"Aren't all of those poisonous?" Velvet gestured to the herbs hanging around the room.

"They're not not poisonous," Kephalos shrugged. "Medicine is all about knowing what to mix and how." He began grinding something with one hand while mixing various powders together with the other, forming four little packets of different sizes. "One for each of you." He handed them out to everyone, with Anton's packet being the largest and poured directly down his throat.

He plied the group with so many different things that they began to wonder if they were all necessary, or if he was secretly setting up some combination of things that would result in them dying in his office so he could have everything on them… but when the temperature coming off of Anton reduced from a furnace to a nice crackling campfire they were somewhat reassured.

The immediate effects of the medicines on the rest of them were mostly nausea and a wave of fatigue- but the latter was at least partly brought about by the fact that they had stopped. They came to realize there weren't any beds for patients- except the one Anton had been dropped into- or any sorts of chairs. Instead they gradually slumped against the wall in various places, brains swirling from various activities and ingestion of various 'medicines'.

Chapter 293

Waking up was always a good thing, no matter how much you ached at the moment. Upon finding that it was less than when he had passed out, Anton was quite glad. The pain had been on a level he could deal with, but the other effects had obviously made functioning difficult. He hadn't thought he would pass out though.

The unfamiliar location was made more acceptable by familiar sources of energy around him, and he was quite pleased to see that his companions were alive and well. Better than himself, despite the fact that they had seemed considerably worse. Chikere, for example, felt quite vibrant despite being about one-third decapitated only a few days before. He swung his legs over the side of the bed, looking around with his eyes. Lots of things scattered about the room.

His eyes settled on the only unfamiliar presence in the room about the time the figure spoke. "How are you feeling?" the old man asked.

"Much better, thank you," Anton inclined his head to what he could only assume was the doctor who helped him- and the rest of them, it seemed. He felt traces of medicinal energy throughout all of them.

"Good. You should be able to stand now. That means you can get up and let me have my bed back."

Despite the man's awful bedside manner, Anton had to agree that he was well enough to move about. And looking around, it didn't actually seem like they were in a proper doctor's office. Just a room that he happened to bring them to.

The activity woke the others. Chikere was first to say anything, one hand still gripped on the hilt of her new sword. "You were looking pretty bad for a while there," she commented.

"Same with you, before that," Anton said. "We didn't know if you'd make it."

Kephalos interrupted, "I'd suggest you learn more about stitching if you do. Gonna have an ugly scar there, and it'll be hell to take those stitches out. But that's not my problem, unless you want to make it that."

"It's fine, I can cut them away when I need to," Chikere nodded. "Then it's just a matter of pulling them out."

"And the ones inside?"

"Just gotta cut them real thin," she said.

"Might work out," the man nodded. "Either way, you'll feel if you're causing actual damage. Now get going, got paid already."

Since his continued expertise seemed unneeded, they were happy enough to move out, though they had no specific target in mind for the moment. Their goal in coming to the area had been accomplished. More than that, even.

When they found a quiet place to talk- and made use of their energy to prevent people from easily overhearing- Anton asked about what happened while he was out. The summary wasn't that surprising, but they came back to the battle before it.

"Hard to think we survived that," Anton commented. "We shouldn't have, with the numbers against us. Even with Chikere, our chances against just that swordmaster weren't great."

"He wasn't a swordmaster," Chikere retorted. "He just happened to be in Life Transformation. But if it was skill with swords, I outclassed him."

Anton trusted her to be accurate with that judgment. For all that her confidence could seem like arrogance, he had repeated knowledge of her effectiveness. "Fair enough," he shrugged. "But the rest of us… you two have the talent, but the numbers should have overwhelmed us."

"Simple calculations of combat break down when it actually gets to it," Hoyt pointed out. "My grandfather took down more than a handful of Life Transformation cultivators with him, despite the fact that their total energy capacity should have been several times his. Cultivation speed is more than just a growth rate, but often equates to overall power. Even if it seems logical that someone at the same level who has been there longer might win by virtue of experience, that's not always true. And as a cultivator of similar time yourself, you should recognize that."

"Or maybe I've just been lucky," Anton shrugged. The further he got in cultivation, the stranger it felt to consider himself special. "But I can't deny we had something better to fight for. That's useful for bringing out the limits of our talents. Even if our goals were just to kill each other, they were after some sort of vague future rewards." Anton frowned, "It's a shame to think they might be getting some of those still. But it's not always people who deserve it who get good to happen to them."

"I do agree they were not as unified as they should have been," Velvet added. "They seem to have drawn from various different sects in the area, so they had little experience working together. And the four of us were still making use of Catarina's formation training, to a lesser degree than when she is around."

"Makes me wonder what we could manage once we're back together with those two," Anton smiled slightly. "But beyond that. Swordmaster Rahayu… ascending like that was something amazing to see. I know I mentioned it before, but it's a rare opportunity to witness."

"I mentioned it while Chikere was out… but we still don't know if it requires the death of another peak Life Transformation cultivator," Velvet said, looking over her shoulder as if anyone could be there listening in. "With the two we know about…"

"It doesn't," Chikere said confidently. "Though perhaps it made things easier? Either way, Rahayu simply had to reach the peak of swordsmanship here. The battle was a catalyst, but the death was more of a side effect than something necessary. I can't say anything with certainty for other types of cultivators though."

"So what next?" Anton asked. "We did what we came here for. With Rahayu gone, the Twin Soul Sect might want some sort of revenge. We didn't manage to kill all of them, either." In his mind, he replayed the image of the last pair of retreating foes. It was part regret, and part training. He knew he didn't have enough energy to easily take them out, but it should have been possible. A bit of something unexpected to slip past their defenses or take them off guard. The problem was they could focus entirely on him, as the only one able to attack them at such a long distance. The same was useful for dealing with people on the approach, as he had only been able to take out one that was surprised to be attacked as well as a few less substantial hits.

"Thinking about the next fight?" Chikere asked. "Well, I can say they'll probably be a bit upset about losing this sword. Even though they were the ones who came to attack us and lost it, people just tend to be that way." She held it in front of her horizontally, staring at the bare blade. "It's excellent, except the fact that it stinks like that smith lady and their cultivation style. But that will fade out as I use it."

"If they're coming after us, you think we should retreat to somewhere safer?" Hoyt asked.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, we could do that," Chikere nodded. "I honestly could use a break from fighting for a bit. Lots of stuff to digest."

Hoyt laughed slightly. "Of course you weren't thinking about that. Rahayu's the same type as you, it seemed." Hoyt paused, "It might not just be the Twin Soul Sect that comes after us. Swordmaster Vianne was apparently known, and there could be people connected to her who would come after you. Just for holding that sword, even."

"They can try," she said. "But they'll find their luck runs out. Especially if I'm with you guys. So I'm also happy to go wherever the rest of you go, since trouble will find us anyway."

"It always seems to," Anton acknowledged. That was the way of the world though. It just happened that trouble involved many more life-or-death fights now than when he'd been a farmer. "Oh. Kseniya's on her way. She'll be in the city in about an hour."

Velvet looked to the southwest, where she expected the woman to come from. "You sure? I can't feel her at all."

"Positive. She's locked on to our position."

"Next time you call for reinforcements, you should leave something for them to fight," Grand Elder Kseniya chastised the group. She wasn't quite serious, but her following words took on that tone. "Probably best not to run off towards danger ahead of them, either."

"Rahayu didn't give us much choice," Anton pointed out. "He made the declaration and the Twin Soul Sect happened to have people closer. You know how people are." Anton could have said old Life Transformation cultivators, but people all had their own things. "We thought it was better to not let him go alone. Or with just Chikere at his side."

"Looks like any more and she wouldn't have made it," Kseniya commented, looking at Chikere's neck. "Where's Rahayu? Don't tell me he…"

"Ascended, actually," Anton offered. "Which was his intention. I could tell you everything I experienced. It might help you."

"I wish," she frowned. "I'm not sure… my growth is sufficient to think about it. In terms of years, I'm still closer to the first half of cultivation. It took Vandale almost a century to go from seventy stars to the end. I'll not be much better than that."

"So long…?" Anton asked.

"Fifty years would be amazing," Kseniya noted. "I'm sure you've felt the slowing already. Each star more difficult than the last. More potent too, but it won't be a quick road. None of us here will be ascending before this invasion, at least."

"I'd prefer to stay and fight anyway," Anton said. "If I even could ascend."

"Don't always believe old people," Kseniya said, well aware both she and Anton fit into that category in different ways. "Everheart wasn't perfect. He could be wrong."

"Not about this," Anton said. "But it doesn't matter right now, does it?"

"Not really," Kseniya acknowledged. "I'm sure any elder would be glad to hear every detail of the ascension."

"It was amazing," Chikere said. "It was like… Bwooo! Swish!" she made the noises with her mouth, but the way she flicked her currently sheathed sword was a pretty fair reproduction. Like a painting of a great mountain, but at least accurate. And she could likely do better when serious.

"Well then, we should go meet up with your granddaughters," Kseniya nodded. "When I sensed you here I went ahead, but I'm sure they'll have a few words for you. They were worried."

"I'm sure they didn't need to worry about me. I'm fine," Anton said. Kseniya would doubtless see through that, but he didn't need the girls to know how close he'd come to dying. And how it wasn't even in battle, but just because he pushed himself low enough to be vulnerable to the effects of Foulmarsh. He could hope that the fleeing members of the Twin Soul Sect had fallen prey to similar infections, but at least one of those that had thrown the unpleasant gray orbs had been on the younger side, and likely more resistant. At least, that was what he thought allowed Hoyt and Chikere to pull through before himself.

He wouldn't be able to hide injuries and fatigue, but Alva and Annelie wouldn't believe he got out of the battle unscathed anyway.

Along with his granddaughters, Anton was glad to see that a number of others had come along to assist. He felt bad to have wasted the time of Grand Elder Kseniya, and even worse when he realized that Adelina and Sarka had come along as well. They got along about the same as before, which was just fine from opposite ends of the group and the minimum amount of interaction. But it seemed others from their sects got along just fine, as demonstrated by Anish and his proximity to Alva and Annelie.

Not everyone come just for him and the others. Their work had been more or less completed around Blackstone Harbor, with the local sects having enough of their members learning what they would teach to propagate the various techniques.

It seemed they intended to explore more of the continent, especially with regards to eliminating members of the Twin Soul Sect. Ultimately, the plan was to spend a few years in the area before attempting to return home. For some, it would be like a short trip, while for others it would equate to a much longer portion of their lives. But everyone who had come along was well aware that they weren't going to easily be able to go back and forth.

The route was planned. To the east, fortunately going south around Foulmarsh. Though Anton had learned that information about the Twin Soul Sect and the coming invasion had spread more in the center and east of Aicenith, it was better to see for themselves. After all, they were willing to put in the effort if nobody else was, or if they reached their limits.

Chapter 294

In a darkness brought about not by a great structure blocking out the sun but by a lack of anything and everything, a woman stood in a cage. How long she had been there she did not know. She arrived weakened, unable to break through- and the only natural energy in the area was channeled outside the cage, beyond her reach. Through focus and meditation she had been attempting to generate some of her own, but it was difficult. Something was off about the world around her, besides seeing nothing beyond her cage. She had no food, but didn't hunger. There was no air to breath, but she felt no need.

But while it was strange, it wasn't entirely unforeseen. She remembered dying, after all. The question was why she was constrained. She had full assurance that after her death she would be rewarded. Even though her life had ended in failure, it should not have resulted in something like this. Nor did she feel anything familiar about the cage… except something about the way the formations that formed it were arranged.

Perhaps she could puzzle it out. When that time came, she would cut through the formation. While she had ultimately been defeated by Rahayu, Vianne was still a swordmaster herself. Any who held that title would ultimately use similar methods to solve their problems. If she had a bit more energy, she might make the attempt even without full understanding. Waiting too long would be dangerous.

Even as she had those thoughts, a wraithlike figure showed itself in the void. It was a figure formed of skin and bone with little else, gaunt and bedraggled. Scraggly hair hung down over its face, joining with its bears to hang down below its feet into the nothingness.

Vianne gripped her sword tightly. "Come to torment me, have you? I'll have you know it will do you no good." The thing's presence had disturbed the natural energy. She could feel some of it. Not nearly enough to fill her up, but she absorbed what she could regardless.

The ghastly figure cackled. "Torment you? You think I have so much free time?" The figure's sunken eyes shone from beneath the tangled hair. "I'm far too busy for that lately. Got some very zealous people. Dismantling you and your companions had to be pushed down the line."

"Come to kill me? That threat won't work. I am aware I have already died."

"Not enough. Damned traitor." The figure stood in front of the cage without moving through the intervening space. "I don't care about individuals, or groups, or anything except myself really- but the whole world starts to be a scale where I care. Plus the thought that I could have had more stuff if the punks you worked with hadn't plundered it first really got to me." His hand moved to a lock that suddenly appeared on her cage. "So no, I'm not going to kill you. You'll just stop existing."

Vianne held still where she sat, but it was a ready stance with her hand on her sword. When the cage opened and the figure stepped in, she struck. Her arms moved, her blade swift and weightless. A simple cross-body slash that would incapacitate the man, as he was nearly drained of energy as much as she was. There were only two problems. First was that the space between them bent and distorted, and the second was that she didn't have her sword. But she knew she had it. Even if this place wasn't real, it was bound to her in more than just body. "How…?"

"Shouldn't you know?" the figure tilted its head, the hair tumbling in an unseemly manner over its gaunt frame. "Aren't you a swordmaster or something? What indeed could cause that?" A disturbingly pale tongue danced out of a barely seen mouth for a moment, perhaps licking hidden lips. "But since I'm in the business of trying to know everything, I'll hazard a guess myself. Someone liked that sword more than you."

"What? You're insane. A bound weapon is not just about liking something. There's a deep level of attachment a swordmaster has with her sword. An unbreakable bond forged in blood."

The figure looked at her empty hands, still acting as if they held a weapon. "That 'bond' looks pretty broken to me. Maybe someone just likes sharp swords a whole lot."

"Preposterous," Vianne said. "Besides, my will is strong. No matter the reason, I suppose it doesn't matter. I'll get a new sword soon."

With that, she moved. As quickly as she could, but also in a way that would be hard to track. Her remaining stores of energy weren't enough to do things right, but centuries of experience allowed for astounding feats. But as she began to move into the void, hoping to break free, a hand closed around the back of her neck.

"Didn't matter anyway," the ghastly figure said, its mouth near her ear. "But I do like your effort. Sadly for you, without that sword it's much easier to do this."

A chilling energy seeped into her, draining what little she had left of herself out piece by piece. Only then did she remember where she'd seen the formations before. They were the basis of much modern understanding of the technique, as much as that irked nearly everyone. She'd never encountered the man herself, but… Everheart was supposed to be dead, wasn't he?

As she turned to nothing, she couldn't help but think of that bedraggled body he had. While she doubted either of them had a physical form in this place, it was clear that even if he wasn't dead, whatever this was was barely alive. A state that was quite envious to her as her soul came apart from the inside out.

Over the course of the last fifteen years, many manuals for cultivation techniques had come into Anton's hands. Some were incomplete, like the portions of the Ninety-Nine Stars meant to be taught to the general populace. Others were to the full extent they could be, and would be considered complete even if nobody had reached ascension along the path they paved.

Studying them was useful to Anton, not because he was planning to rebuild his foundation with another technique but because not everyone was suited for the same style. He could also pick up the weaknesses of various techniques that way, but that wasn't his main purpose at the moment.

As the group traveled, Anton continued his favored activity of teaching those who knew nothing about cultivation. In the interest of not causing too many waves, he was preferring to choose local styles. Those wouldn't stand out as much, but there were issues with teaching them to people. Some groups were quite secretive about their cultivation techniques, and if any of those sects noticed someone with their technique they might seek to harm them. Thus, the best options became techniques that felt local, and the generic blend of different things that Anton was putting together.

The current version of the technique had certain weaknesses that would be of hindrance in battle, but if it was merely random civilians learning cultivation to improve their body and enhance their ability to work their jobs, it would do just fine. Anton wished that he had more time with everyone, but he did what he could in the short time they were in certain cities. Larger cities they remained in for a few days, and Anton consoled himself that they would be returning through the area at some point.

He simply couldn't do everything, and this wasn't his homeland by a large stretch, but he couldn't help but try to improve the lives of the common people. That did involve hunting down some local bandits or other problems, where local cultivation sects were too busy to take care of everything themselves.

Anton faced down a man who appeared neither young nor old. His skin had a reddish hue to it, not one of the natural browns that humans could achieve but something more akin to fresh blood. The man stood in the mantis stance, his arms held in front of himself. But it wasn't just his arms that formed the true stance, as there was also a superimposed form of a praying mantis, claws extended. The image itself was also red, as expected of someone from the Crimson Insect Society.

Less than half a kilometer stood between the two of them- a considerable distance, but not nearly so appealing when the man was on the border of Life Transformation. This was not an opponent Anton could beat while holding back in any way, and that included making the most of his limited ascension energy.

He could manage two or three shots before the man got to him, if he was lucky. He began to gather his energy, channeling it through his hands into his bow. The rigid wood became flexible as energy flowed through it, the string pulling back at an almost leisurely pace. Just looking at the arrow Anton fired, it seemed unassuming. Like all Spirit Arrows, it was less than a meter long and less than a centimeter at its widest point, discounting the 'fletching' it had. There was a resounding booming noise as the arrow flew, signaling its speed as it reached his opponent within a single second.

The man was already charging towards him at that point, and his arms crossed his chest to either side, striking the arrow. The force behind the blows was nothing impressive, but they carried with them a disrupting energy that destabilized the ascension energy that made up the bulk of the attack. The man was staggered for a moment, but pushed forward.

By the time Anton's second shot was fired, the man was a mere three hundred meters away. The difference in timing was insignificant, as the man almost leisurely sliced with a single mantis claw, disrupting his attack once more. The surrounding foliage received the worst of the unraveling energy, leaves and limbs tearing apart.

As the final gap was being closed, Anton pushed himself to the limits, drawing upon every bit of energy he could get his hands on. His proficiency with his own natural energy and the other types he had under his command was constantly growing, though there were limits to how much he could condense it into a single attack. But splitting it into multiple attacks simply took a few extra portions of concentration. On either side of Anton, two additional bows formed, a small portion ascension energy to allow themselves sufficient punch for their arrows.

His final three shots- one from his physical bow and the extra two from his sides- were let loose when his opponent was no more than ten meters away. Anton looked into the man's eyes as he implemented his planned defense. Once more his hands- and the mantis claws they were mimicking- sliced across his body. Anton's attacks were synchronized to force him to block only one of them, but the man managed to reach the leftmost arrow with the same strike, defeating the primary attack and one of the secondaries in a single move. The third arrow struck him in the shoulder, burying deep before shooting out of his back.

Then mantis claws were coming down at Anton, his feet already carrying him away. He dodged one swipe, then a second- countering with arrows of his own, hoping to capitalize on the damage he caused. But ultimately he could not overpower the man.

He held up his hands and dropped his bow, and a mantis scythe stopped just short of his neck. "I know you're not defenseless like that," the man said.

"It's about the principle of the thing," Anton said. "You beat me, Niall."

"My shoulder disagrees," the man said as his projected mantis faded away. "Did you have to be so serious with your attacks?"

"Absolutely," Anton nodded his head. "If we didn't take this seriously, would it even be training? Besides, if it was really serious that arrow would have detonated inside your shoulder. Instead it just left a nice, neat hole straight through it. Shouldn't take long to heal."

Niall inclined his head, "A fair enough point. I hadn't thought someone of your cultivation would be the most well versed in ascension energy but… it does seem to be true."

"I've been in an optimal state to practice Fleeting Youth," Anton pointed out. "At least it's good for practice."

"If I wasn't ready for it, you might just have killed me," Niall admitted. "I appreciate the training effort, though. Not many people are willing to weaken their own position for the sake of others they hardly know."

"We're just being selfishly altruistic," Anton smiled. "You'll be far too busy thinking about those invaders to want to fight me in the future."

The man laughed, "There is that, true. It's oddly comforting, knowing it's ultimately for the sake of you and your sects."

Anton nodded. So far, most encounters with local sects had gone amicably, and word was spreading of their presence. Some sects refused them, either because they had their own ways to train or because they didn't trust them, but they never pressed for more. If people weren't willing to learn, they couldn't make them. In the end, cultivators could be expected to make themselves as strong as possible anyway. Special techniques might make a difference against the coming invaders, but nobody knew if they would be enough. Especially since they hadn't before.

Chapter 295

Despite all of the Twin Soul Sect members who had been defeated or captured at various points, none of them- not even the Life Transformation experts- had a copy of the cultivation technique on them. From the information that had been obtained, when there were physical copies they were kept in secure locations, away from the sects the members pretended to be a part of. Most recruiting was done by finding talented young cultivators to convert to their cause. If they were found to be unwilling, they were killed. It was unknown what portion of aspiring young cultivators died to the Twin Soul Sect instead of any of the world's other dangers, but it was too many.

Anton could have been satisfied with the knowledge that the people on the continent of Aicenith were informed about their presence and working to eradicate them, but he would only be truly happy if they were gone entirely. Preferably with plenty of time left until the invasion, but it wasn't even certain to be possible to wipe them out entirely. Not if only some people put effort towards it.

There was no way to predict what sects they might be part of, and even then they had to be individually scanned. A good portion of them ended up at higher cultivation as well, making them more dangerous.

Their combat styles often matched the sects they purported to be a part of, and even when their true cultivations were revealed they fought much the same. Some switched to different styles of attack that they found personally preferable, but there were hardly any threads to pull on to guess where they might be.

Except Anton had seen several making use of the same techniques. The gray spheres, which happened to have a name. They were one application of the power of the Deathly Heart Technique. It wasn't a core cultivation style, but more of an additive secondary method like Fleeting Youth. In fact, upon studying it Anton felt it tapped into the same source as the power from beyond death. Without practicing it he couldn't be sure if it also had the same side effect of disrupting future reincarnations. If it did, Anton presumed that Twin Soul Sect members wouldn't practice it. But he had some reservations about trying.

The technique manual did mention negative side effects, but was decidedly vague about them. There was a method for avoiding them, but it wasn't the sort of thing Anton was willing to do. It involved killing people, and while Anton was willing to do so for the sake of protecting people, it wasn't the same when done to advance a secondary cultivation technique. Since people were going to die anyway, it seemed logical enough to try it out but… it felt like that would send him down a path he couldn't recover from. It was something more than just killing people, and while many of Anton's enemies doubtless deserved worse than death he wasn't comfortable without knowing exactly what the effects would be. The technique manual itself was vague, not necessarily because the creator didn't know but because anyone who was going to practice it likely wouldn't care.

Studying the technique gave him some additional ideas to counter it- none of which involved trying to block the attacks. His earlier instincts had been correct. While it was possible to block the effects, it was difficult. Avoiding it was better, or in the case of the spheres of deathly energy detonating them at a distance was preferable. That wasn't the only form it could take, either.

Techniques didn't just spring out of the ground, however. They had a source, either a specific person or a sect of some sort. Some were so widespread that their origin had been lost, but this was not one of them. It was used by the Whispering Watchers, a sect of significant influence in the northern part of the continent. While they weren't known as murderous psychopaths, they did get into conflicts as often as any large sect. It seemed they didn't specifically go on killing sprees to train the technique, but conflicts would inevitably happen.

With the evidence of just a few of them being part of the Twin Soul Sect it was a step too far to assume there was a larger connection, but it did seem like a place that might appeal to them on a larger scale. Even if others shared Anton's suspicions it wasn't easy to investigate them, beyond determining in passing that at least many of their low level disciples were not part of the Twin Soul Sect. In theory they, like the other sects, were conducting their own internal investigations. They seemed to have officially begun that before the conflict with Swordmaster Rahayu. Either they hadn't gotten to the few that joined that battle, had missed them somehow… or had chosen to ignore them. Anton chose to believe the latter, but he knew he was personally biased because of the Deathly Heart Techniques training requirements. But a bias didn't mean he was necessarily wrong, either.

On his combined quest to learn every occupation he could- and thus know how to teach everyone something useful for cultivation- Anton found himself outside a herbalist. There was nothing particularly special about this particular place, except that it was nearby- and that the proprietor wasn't a cultivator. In his time working the farm he had learned a number of folk remedies for various maladies, but he couldn't be called a real doctor of any sort. Even if he learned everything this woman knew, he likely wouldn't be able to do much with relation to what they encountered in Foulmarsh. Except maybe the stitching, but even then most people never learned to stitch someone from the inside out.

As he stepped inside, Anton was briefly reminded of Kephalos' place, with herbs dangling from the ceiling in various places- but he found this place to be much more organized. And he recognized the herbs as more mundane things, with primary functions that were not poison. A little bell above the door signaled his entry, and a surprisingly young woman came out of the back. She was hardly older than Alva, and while that might not be considered young for a non-cultivator, it was still young to be an independent doctor known throughout the scattered towns and villages nearby.

"What do you need?" the dark-haired woman asked. "Salves for rheumatism, perhaps?"

"I'll have you know I've always been much too stubborn to take pain treatment for such a minor thing. And I don't have that particular problem at the moment." He held up his hands, which while wrinkled had none of the joint problems he'd suffered before he achieved a certain level of success in cultivation. "I was wondering if you were interested in taking a temporary apprentice."

She looked around the shop, "You have a grandchild that you want to learn from me? I have to say, a few people have vied for such a position, but while I could use extra hands I have certain standards that must be met. Hardworking, capable, a fast learner. And not above performing the mundane tasks of fetching herbs from the forest."

"I've been known to do such in the past," Anton nodded. "Good for building character. And necessary."

"So…" she said slowly. "Where are they? I'd like to meet them."

"All of my grandchildren are actually quite occupied," Anton admitted. "I was interested for myself, actually. I assure you it will be worth your time."

"I doubt it," she said. "I have enough to deal with. No offense, but you're not someone I would consider."

"I can actually offer something quite worthwhile. You see-" Anton turned and frowned. "What poor timing. You have more customers coming."

It was actually a few seconds before the door opened, the bell ringing as the door slammed open with unnecessary force. Almost enough to topple some things off the shelves. In fact, enough that a particular jar could have fallen- but it found itself held back with a gentle touch.

Three large men shoved their way into the storefront, stomping towards the counter she stood behind. "Idalia! You're late on your payments to Birita."

Idalia crossed her arms. "I don't owe anyone anything. I own the shop and the land, and she's not a tax official."

"Sure thing," one of the men said. "But you still have to pay protection money."

"The only thing anyone needs protecting from is you. Now screw off before I call the guards." Anton was watching her face closely. She was brave, determined… but also putting up a strong front. Anton was also aware that there were no guards within three blocks at the moment.

"Go ahead then." The man leaned on the counter. "Call them. See if they get here before some sort of accident happens. Like something expensive falling." He swept his hand across the counter, knocking a bundle of jars to the floor. A sound like clay and glass cracking rang out. "Get it?"

"I don't keep much money on me," Idalia kept her strong front, but Anton could tell she was concerned. "I can give you some bundles of healing wort that will help heal… accidental scrapes and the like."

"We'll take it back to Birita and see what she says," the man continued to lean on the counter. "Bring it out."

Her eyes flicked between the men, her shelves, and very briefly Anton. She wasn't asking him for help, but she looked somewhat worried. Normally Anton would step up to help someone in distress, but he could tell she had a plan. She turned away and hurried into the back.

"Now then, I don't recognize you…" the man turned to Anton. "But there's a weapon tax in this area. Of course, if you're willing to give up that bow on your back the taxes will be waived."

Anton sighed. "This thing? I don't think you'd want it. It's cursed, you see."

"Sure thing," the man said. "But I'm sure we can handle it." The man reached out his hand and grabbed the bow, trying to yank it away. Anton didn't have to do anything and he was still only able to get it about halfway, twisting it over Anton's head.

"Well, if you insist," he shook his head. "If it gets into your hands, I'll be free of the curse." He reached up and unslung it. One thing about cultivator quality bows that was extremely nice was that they were able to stay strung pretty much indefinitely without damaging the string. It was a bit awkward to carry them that way, but he'd gotten used to moving around with a strung bow slung over his body. "Here it is, sir," Anton handed the man the bow. It immediately crashed to the ground, and the man cursed. "Alas," Anton sighed. "It seems the curse has bound it to me." He lifted it up.

The man looked at Anton, and seemed about to demand something more, but Idalia came back. "Here's your bundles. Now get out."

The other two men picked up the bundles of herbs while the leader continued to stare at Anton. It only took a little push of effort and some fire in his eyes to make the man back down. "Pfeh. Cursed bows. We're leaving, boys!"

They were out of the shop in a few moments, slamming the door the other way and causing more trembling. "Is it really cursed?" Idalia asked. "I don't deal with curses."

"You can decide," Anton said, carefully setting it down on the counter. "Don't worry, it won't hurt to touch it." As she began to poke and prod the bow, Anton talked about the incident. "Birita, huh? Don't know her, but she sounds like bad news." Anton was following the group with his senses, and wondered if they would go directly back to her… or shake down some more shops. "She and her men probably deserve the runs they'll get from that healing wort."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Idalia said firmly.

"There's nobody here but us," Anton said. "And I'm sure it will be fine. It will be a few days later, so people tend to fail to notice. Gotta survive enough little injuries before you pick up on it… or just get told by the right healer." Anton bent down and picked up the various glass and clay jars below the counter. "Here you go."

"Wha- I thought they broke."

Anton replicated the sound of cracking glass in the air. "Just a little mimicry. Easy enough to do with natural energy. I'm just going to be straightforward here. You have problems, and I could teach you to deal with them. In turn, you teach me, and we both win. But-" Anton held up a hand to stave off any protests she might have. "So I'm not holding something above your head, I'll also offer at any time to kill this Birita and her whole gang, then be on my way."

"I don't… what?"

"I'm a cultivator, you see," Anton gestured. "I'm interested in teaching that to people, and seeing how it can help enhance crafts like yours."

"Birita is a cultivator too, I think," Idalia said. "You should be careful."

"Perhaps," Anton said. "But that's my problem. Just take some time to consider my offer. Both of them." Anton picked up his bow.

"How heavy is that?" Idalia asked as he was going out the door.

"Don't know. Couple hundred, maybe. Doesn't matter much in either direction."

Chapter 296

In theory, Anton could have wiped out Birita, the leader of this thug group. She and her thugs probably wouldn't take long to kill, either. It was only a matter of whether or not it would be good for the residents of Arbington like Idalia. It seemed simple on the surface- Birita's presence was negative, a simple drain on the honest workers in the surrounding area. It might even be strictly negative- many thugs got 'protection' fees but wouldn't do anything if someone else caused trouble. Those were the cowardly ones, though, who didn't maintain their territory long. If Birita was smart, she would at least keep others from causing the same sort of trouble in the area.

Yet it was pretty clear that overall, she was a drain on the area. If she had the intention to actually defend the area, she could become more legitimate somehow. Anton knew that to be true. She was an Essence Collection cultivator after all. Early Essence Collection, but that was still significant.

And thus the other problem. Anton could remove her, but what would happen then? It was unlikely that she had no connections of any kind. Whether to sects or other purely criminal cultivators didn't matter, especially if they took issue with her death. What would happen to the people of Arbington then? Maybe Anton could protect them. For a year, even, and then they might be left alone. Or they could be killed the moment he left, either to return home or just because his sect called on him.

So for the moment she would stay. And meanwhile, he could learn from Idalia, and others in the nearby area. "Before we begin, I should make something clear," Anton started off his explanation to Idalia. "I firmly believe you will be able to have success in cultivation, and that it will make your life better. But… it might also become harder at the same time. Even if you have no intent to fight, you could be seen as a threat."

"You think so?" Idalia said. "You think someone would threaten to kill me? Because they're already basically doing that. I won't get away with bundles of cheap herbs for long, and eventually I'll have no business."

"I just wanted to make sure you're aware of the possibilities," Anton said.

"Enough," she said. "And I'd rather at least be able to stand up to a couple thugs. They… do you think I could beat them?"

"Those three?" Anton asked. "If you learn to fight a bit, even the first stage of cultivation will be plenty. They had no cultivation, though I must warn you that some of Birita's lieutenants do. And she herself is much stronger." Fortunately, Birita controlled a big enough area that she might not notice a few incidents in Arbington. Anton had followed the thugs with his senses until they left town, and later confirmed she and her thugs didn't have permanent residence in any nearby settlement.

"Then I don't mind. Though it's not a fight I'd like on my own."

"My earlier promise still stands," Anton said. "And I'll be making similar offers to others as well. Unless you plan to keep me occupied for sixteen hours per day."

"Surely not. Especially with the speed you came back with that basket of herbs," Idalia gestured. "I'd have hardly made it to the edge of the woods. If I didn't know better, I'd thought you prepared it ahead of time. But then you wouldn't have much to learn from me, would you?"

"I do have some knowledge of herbs. I was a farmer and hunter in a rural village for some time. But I will admit not knowing what all of these are for."

"We'll get started then. You already know that particular healing wort and its side effects. Some of these are to address that, in case those thugs come back with some demands. Whether they know it was my doing or not, I'd best be ready." Idalia picked through until she found one with red flowers. "This one's for minor aches and pains. Not as good alone as when properly mixed with some other things."

Anton listened carefully as she explained the basics of her profession. He especially focused on some of the physical aspects, how she ground things into powder. At first it seemed an easy motion, as leaves were quite brittle. When they weren't dried, however, some could be quite tough. And repeating the motions was enough to make a person tired quite quickly. Not a proper cultivator, of course, but focusing on those aspects first would make Idalia's life easiest. Even if she chose to give up on achieving a greater level of cultivation, she would be healthy and strong. She was young and healthy now, but when she got older her joints would thank her for it.

Not everyone was as willing to trust Anton as Idalia had been. He knew he could just display his abilities to stun or intimidate them into what he wanted, but he really preferred if they had a desire to learn. He wanted to teach as many people as possible, though without raising too much of a fuss. That sort of thing was difficult, but not impossible. Throughout the world, various people who were not cultivators made use of natural energy in small ways- in theory people who realized that and focused on it were the first cultivators. Attempting to cultivate without any form of guidance was dangerous and often fatal. After all, it only took a small mistake to damage the brain or the heart or anything important.

Such accidents could still happen with proper cultivation techniques, but that was usually due to the impatience of the students. Since Anton wasn't teaching teenagers for the most part, his students had heeded his cautions much more readily than they might have otherwise. Not that they were perfect, but mistakes seemed rarer than what he'd heard was the average.

Anton had studied many crafts with others, and thus was able to more readily guide anyone. Given some time he could come up with some specific starting points for anyone, depending on what they needed. After all, his observations included asking them what they made the most use of, and those who would know best were the ones doing the work.

"You can use your energy to widen the effective size of the pestle, or focus it on particularly stubborn bits," Anton explained. "But I would be cautious. Not only might you damage the tools, injection of natural energy into the herbs themselves might cause unexpected behavior. Generally an increase in short term potency, from what I know, but that includes bringing out normally inconsequential side effects." Anton shrugged, "I have heard you can focus on the particular of what you desire to enhance, but I have not trained in that area."

"I'd best be cautious then," Idalia replied. "Wouldn't want strange things happening."

"If it helps, you will eventually be able to follow the effects of medicine inside your body. Or any foreign substance, for that matter. Cultivators have to deal with many bodily impurities, such as poisons."

"You run into poisons often?" Idalia raised an eyebrow.

"Indeed. That includes the venoms of various beasts, including the sorts that don't usually have them. Some cultivators rely on antidote pills, though the best of them seem to just draw the poisons into them to be expelled later. We can also force it out manually."

"Seems like most medicines wouldn't be needed much, with that healing ability you talked about. Focusing on one area and all that."

"There are limits to what the body will do on its own. Though they can be transcended to some extent." Anton shrugged, "Some people focus on tempering their bodies far beyond what others find practical. I would never discount bodily strength as an advantage, but I find focusing on using energy as I please much more effective."

Having new students was great, and Anton was pleased that he found functional techniques that were suited for everyone. Even if most cultivation techniques had the same general process of tempering the body in all ways during their initial phase, some had elements they were suited to or specific attributes they focused on. Even the Ninety-Nine Stars, while capable of general effects, lent itself to pure expression of energy and aspects related to fire and light.

Even when Anton wasn't planning to teach someone, he thought about what might fit them. Sometimes it was difficult to pick something out. Did a woodcarver need to focus on the strength of their body? Tempered skin would be useful as well, but honing the blade of their tools to be optimally sharp was also a factor. Sometimes it was better to simply have nonreactive styles that avoided unwanted side effects.

And sometimes, a style fit someone too perfectly. That was especially the case when it was dangerous. Anton had no intention to teach anything like Candle Wax to others- it wouldn't be terribly helpful for most people, and would just result in them engaging in fights they shouldn't. Focusing on a strong foundation was better.

But when a gaunt man walked into town, dragging a shovel behind himself, Anton saw a connection. The man was like himself, if not nearly so old as when he had begun cultivating. But the look on his face and the dirt on his clothes told Anton a story. The story of someone who had buried those they cared about, far too early. It was also a story of someone who was lost, looking for direction. But he wasn't quite lost, as he marched determinedly towards Anton. Well, likely towards Idalia's store, but they were currently in the same location.

The bell rang as he stepped into the store. His shovel got caught on the lip of the door, and instead of picking it up he let it drop, propping the door open. "I heard tales… that cultivation could be learned here." He looked at Idalia, who was immediately obvious- but his gaze also found Anton, standing nearby. "Is it you, sir?"

"For what reason do you wish to cultivate?" Anton asked seriously.

"Revenge," the man said.

"Against who?" Internally, Anton bit his lip.

"Birita. She made my life like this. But… I know she is strong. And only indirectly responsible. Have you heard of the Gray Rock Sect?"

Anton nodded. "Yes. They are local to the area, are they not?"

"In theory, they are stewards of this region. But in practice, they don't have the guts to stand up to Birita and her thugs. Yet they have the gall to charge taxes in the region." Those sorts of words were dangerous, but the man seemed far beyond caring what would happen to himself. "Their taxes on land were quite excessive, when combined with Birita's additions. My wife… commented on the cowardice of their disciples as they came to collect. I tried to protect her from the retaliation but I got this…" the man gestured to his left arm- or lack of it, beneath a bundle of bandages. "So I'm going to kill him. And the rest of the sect, who won't bother to stand up against worthless thugs. And then Birita."

"Or you'll die doing it," Anton pointed out.

"Does it matter?" the man asked.

"It might," Anton said. "If you bring troubles upon others, it matters quite a bit. What would you do after?"

The man shrugged, wincing as he moved what remained of his arm. "Does it matter? I know it would never happen."

"You'd be surprised," Anton said. "What would you do?"

"If I really accomplished all that…" the man slowly shook his head. "I'd likely seek out others who caused people harm while exerting useless authority."

A dangerous ideal, but something Anton could work with. "Are you afraid of death?" Anton knew the answer, but the man had to say it.

"What difference would it make if I died? Perhaps it might have been better."

The man could be excused some melodrama in his situation. "What about something worse?"

"Like what?"

"Pain beyond your imagining."

"Physical?" the man asked.

"Mostly," Anton said.

"Don't care. I could always just die."

"Well then," Anton leaned close. "I have something that fits you, but you might end up with… powerful enemies. If you have the patience, you might train something else for a bit longer. Oh, and this won't be quick either way."

"How long?" the man asked.

"For Birita? A decade, if you're lucky, talented, and determined. I don't know the cultivations of the Gray Rock Sect, but if they're concerned about her… I'd expect something close to that if you're fighting alone."

The man snorted. "So long? Or perhaps it's short."

"Short," Anton said. "And I do mean you have to be all of those things. But there's a chance. Do you have a name?"

"Hiram," the man said shortly. "What should I address you as… elder…?"

"I don't have the honor of that title just yet," Anton commented. "But you may call me Anton. Senior Anton, if you insist, but I don't know if you'll have it in mind to be respectful once you learn what plans I have for you."

Chapter 297

Before Anton stepped too far, he reconsidered his actions. He looked at Hiram in front of him, and tried to compare to his own life. Hiram was like him, but not everything was the same. He had personally witnessed his wife killed, and lost his arm in the same incident. He had a known target with a location. He could go attack them at any time- which would of course get himself killed. He came seeking cultivation, but even the long, difficult path Anton offered was the 'quick' method.

The man might momentarily be suited to learn the Deathly Heart Technique due to his brush with death, but by Everheart's rather reasonable definitions, it would be a forbidden technique on multiple levels. It had the potential to harm its user as well as others, along with being a risk if any of the Whispering Watchers who considered it their sole property noticed him. Anton didn't think it was necessarily evil but… it was better to leave things be. No matter Hiram's own willingness on the situation.

"Come with me," Anton gestured to the man. While Idalia was quite used to Anton's presence, taking advantage of her shop as a place to cultivate was rather unnecessary. Especially when simple isolation might do better, and thus he led them out of town. Anton kept an eye on Hiram's missing arm, picking a few herbs to stave off any sort of infection. Anton could likely handle anything with his energy, but it was better not to do anything that might disrupt someone he planned to instruct.

Eventually, Anton found a nice pair of rocks on which they could sit, and did so one one himself, gesturing to the other. "I have heard about cultivators, but the stories of meditating in the wilderness I thought were… exaggerated."

"Well now, neither of us have a convenient place other than this… and it's better to avoid distractions. Cultivation is dangerous, you know."

"I know," Hiram said firmly. "But I'm prepared to accept the consequences."

"That's good," Anton said. "But if I were teaching you how to wield a sword- which I might, at some point- we wouldn't throw caution out the window just because it's meant to cause harm. It's much better to direct all of it to your enemies." Hiram nodded gruffly. It was clear he wasn't in a talkative mood, but Anton could hardly expect him to be. "First, you have to feel natural energy. For that, I find it's helpful to focus on a particular aspect that could draw it to you."

Anton began with the technique of the Glorious Flame Palace. He had permission to teach the basic form to whoever he pleased, and like other fire techniques it focused on a passionate drive. Hiram had that, and so Anton hoped to catch onto it.

The results were… much less than expected. At a certain level cultivators could sense affinity of others for cultivation, their talent. Anton was willing to admit that his first impression could have been wrong, when Hiram failed to connect with natural energy for a period of several days. Anton thought should have the talent, the way he'd felt it swirling about him when he arrived- an unconscious disturbance, but perhaps a coincidence that wouldn't be repeated. Yet Hiram continued to have effects without conscious control or even awareness.

Anton tried a few other methods. Guessing what the man had been suited for was all well and good, but he didn't have a plethora of techniques to choose from just for fun. People were all different, and expressed themselves in different ways. But nothing worked, even the Ninety-Nine Stars which Anton found was easy for most with any tiny spark of talent to begin, though not always immediately.

After two weeks, during which Anton would come to him every few hours to check on his progress, nothing happened. Perhaps he truly had no talent for cultivation. Anton had gone through everything in his arsenal… except the Deathly Heart Technique. It was only after much consideration- including repeated thoughts during that two week period- that Anton decided it was worth the risk. He had promised him cultivation, and he could see in Hiram's eyes that if he couldn't even begin the path… he would lose himself. Perhaps he would simply die, or get himself killed in a misguided attack on the Gray Rock Sect, but he could also do something crazy. Anton didn't know what, but innocent people might get hurt. Anton would be able to stop him, but it would likely still result in Hiram's ultimate death.

"I'm sorry I haven't been able to find anything suited for you," Anton said truthfully. "I have one more option, but it's more dangerous than any of the others. In fact, I could say it's quite… problematic. I need you to swear something."

"What?" Hiram asked. "Do you want me to swear I won't kill anyone with it? Because you know I can't do that."

"Of course not," Anton said. "I'm not a hypocrite. Or at least I try not to be. But I do need you to swear to only use it righteously. And yes, that can mean killing. You just have to make sure it's the right people."

"Fine. I swear it."

"I know you mean it, but that's not sufficient. We have some oaths in my Order. Loyalty to us doesn't apply to you, but the basic principles are the same. Swear to only kill oppressors of the innocent and those who are filled with evil- who harm others simply for their own benefit and have no consideration for the good of the world. To leave the world better than it was with your actions." Anton could have come up with something longer and more flowery, but that was what he needed. As for whether Hiram's ideas agreed with his own on the subject, Anton fully intended to have conversations with him about what he meant as they trained. If it even worked.

Hiram took a moment to speak, clearly taking some actual time to consider Anton's words. "Very well. I swear to only harm those who oppress the innocent, those who are filled with evil. I swear to leave the world better for having me act upon it." Anton could tell he meant it, in more than a transitory fashion. And he would certainly reinforce that in the coming days.

"Good." Anton nodded, "For this, you must focus first upon the concept of death…" Anton explained the very basics of the Deathly Heart Technique.

Even as he did so, Anton partly hoped it wouldn't work, despite his assurances that he would teach Hiram to cultivate. But only a short time later, within an hour, Hiram opened his eyes from meditation. "I felt it," Hiram proclaimed, though Anton was already aware of that fact. Now that he had connected to natural energy, Anton might be able to guide him on another path, but it would hardly be the most effective route.

Even while he was focusing on his passion of teaching, Anton wasn't neglecting his other purpose. He was mostly serving as a go-between for messages traveling through the area, a stable point of contact for the others, but it wasn't nothing. That said, he didn't spend all his time with the people in the local area, much as he would like to. Each individual could only handle so much disruption to their daily lives as they all had jobs to uphold. Except for Hiram.

Anton considered bringing him along, but Anton could go and return before Hiram would have made it anywhere. A journey of a few days for Anton might be weeks or more for a normal human- or one just beginning cultivation, the equivalent of the first star. It had been a shade more than a month since first teaching him the Deathly Heart Technique, and he was advancing disturbingly quickly.

Whenever Anton took a trip to spar with someone who needed to test their anti-ascension techniques, he worried for the man. There was a significant risk placed on the Hiram just for using the technique. But even after Anton explained in detail, the Deathly Heart Technique still suited Hiram, and the consequences had been accepted.

At some point, Hiram would either have to kill someone or start accumulating the side effects of the technique. Killing an arbitrary person was absolutely unacceptable, but Hiram's dark temperament didn't show signs of losing morality. There were plenty of targets nearby, and Anton had even convinced the man to think about the circumstances that forced those working under Birita to do so. If they enjoyed suppressing the local populace or openly killed people like the Gray Rock Sect that was one thing, but some might have been intimidated into joining to protect themselves. That didn't excuse their actions, but it did mean that nobody should slaughter their way through the ranks of either groups without thought. That included Anton, but Idalia seemed content not to call him on that promise just yet.

In a perfect world, something like the Deathly Heart Technique should not exist. It would be completely unnecessary, and nobody would have the drive to need a technique of that sort to begin with. But the world wasn't perfect, and that had to be dealt with.

Elsewhere, Grand Elder Kseniya had her eyes on the Whispering Watchers. Concerning news had reached her ears. Someone was looking for news on her favorite disciple. And it didn't seem like the friendly sort of inquiries, either. The rumors said that a disciple of Elder Naheed of the Whispering Watchers had died at Anton's hand. Kseniya had no doubt that it was true, but the acceptance of that fact also indicated that they had accepted the presence of the Twin Soul Sect among their ranks. Whether it was openly or simply by not choosing to eradicate them, Kseniya didn't care. Both were equally concerning.

She had traveled a long distance to get her eyes on this Elder Naheed, but the territory of the Whispering Watchers was significant. Someone of Kseniya's power might be able to get away with cutting across the corner of the territory, but actually crossing dividing lines or walls was another thing. And thus, Elder Naheed remained unseen. But probably not unsensed. There were only a few among the group that could be her, as there weren't an excess of Life Transformation cultivators in the world.

The Whispering Watchers had three such cultivators that were on the boundary between early and mid Life Transformation. One was a man, and another was a bit more on the far side of the gap. From what Kseniya knew that led her to the final option, a woman with cultivation somewhat greater than herself. That did make it rather hard to act on the situation immediately, not that even Kseniya was crazy enough to storm a sect like the Whispering Watchers herself. Even if she could shoot at them from outside their territory.

Having taken note of the elder in question, or at least a representative sample of the practitioners of the same cultivation technique, Kseniya was satisfied. For the moment. But she was absolutely going to be talking to the other elders about what actions they might take against the sect. And not just for Anton's sake. But… also for his sake. For some reason, Kseniya felt he was important. That could have been personal bias because he was an excellent archer, but if nothing else he was one of the members of the Order with the potential to reach Life Transformation. If he hadn't started cultivation at such an advanced age, she might have even picked him out for ascension.

But he had, and he was quite deep in Everheart's 'Fleeting Youth'. Kseniya herself had dabbled in it, but she couldn't convince herself to take the leap to actually practicing it. Knowing it would cut off her chance at ascension, slim as it was looking, simply didn't sit well with her.

That was another thing about Anton. His abnormal background made him different than many others, as he had easily given up that potential- with full knowledge he was one of the geniuses who might make it. The reason hadn't been just for temporary power boosts either, but because of a desire to protect people. He reminded her of Vandale, in fact- in a much different way than the man's grandson. A stalwart guardian of the sect, though Anton wasn't at the level of power to do such just yet. But if he could make it past the bottleneck of Life Transformation, he might surpass Kseniya herself in a mere thirty or forty years.

Chapter 298

It was common knowledge that cultivators were only good for causing trouble. Idalia knew that, but she'd still fallen for grandiose promises offered by a stranger. It only made things worse that so far, he'd kept his word. After an initial period of difficulty, she was starting to get the hang of cultivation. It really did make things easier. The tasks she did every day, carrying bundles of herbs to be dried or mixing and grinding powders no longer felt like hard work. Making use of natural energy to find things in the nearby forest was also much better than just using her knowledge and eyes. She could even pick out herbs buried under piles of leaves or tangled among other plants.

In return, she talked to the old man- Anton- instructing him on various herbs as well as the secondary requirements of her profession. People came to her as a healer in general, and when stitching and binding wounds was sufficient she could save poor families quite a bit of money. She could even afford to wrap up some pain killing herbs with the others due to how much Anton brought back from the forest.

"I hope you're not wiping the place clean," Idalia remarked on one occasion. "I need there to be some next season as well." She could grow a small amount of the most useful herbs in her personal garden, but the forest's bounty was much greater than anything she could manage.

"Don't worry," Anton replied, "I only take a portion from each area. I just cover a wide range."

That was one of the things hardest to pin down about the old cultivator. He seemed to walk around like a healthy young man, but she never saw him move so quickly that he could scour the forest in the time he was gone. But unless he could magically produce bundles of herbs with dirt on the roots, that was what he had to be doing.

She was getting the hang of using natural energy, but when she tried to get a sense of the man she felt herself blinded, as if dozens of bright lights shone on her. Even if her actual eyes were fine, her senses overloaded quickly. She wasn't sure if it was some sort of retaliation for snooping… or if he was just like that. He'd indicated he was strong enough to kill Birita, but Idalia didn't intend to rely on that promise.

On the occasions where he trained her to fight, it was obvious he had an abundance of experience. The initial phases of instruction were for unarmed combat and staves, which suited Idalia just fine since she wasn't planning to suddenly carry around a spear wherever she went.

He would demonstrate attacks, but when he used them in their 'spars' she couldn't make heads or tails of the movement. "It's not fair," she complained. "You're too fast."

"Am I?" Anton asked. His tone clearly indicated that he disagreed. "Keep a close watch. Because this-" Anton's fist was in front of her face in a moment, "Is no different from this." He stepped back and threw a simple punch forward.

"I find that hard to believe…" Idalia responded. Those were her true thoughts, but it was also true that he would have no reason to deceive her about that. Unless he just wanted to show off, but in that case he could find someone other than a herbalist to outclass in melee combat.

The more she interacted with him using the same moves, the more she realized he was right. Of course he was, but she couldn't believe how big the difference was between watching something from afar and having to react to it. And if she messed up, she would get hit by a fist that could shatter ribs at minimum.

Not that it ever actually did shatter her ribs. Anton didn't seem to be the sort of teacher that found pain to be a useful teacher. His attacks always connected, but they would seldom leave anything more than a bruise that would last until the evening. Granted, some of those were seriously painful- but it also let her know that her body was recovering more quickly.

Idalia wasn't alone as Anton's student. Though he spent as much time as possible teaching everyone personally, he was only one man. On regular occasions, usually a weekend when most people were off of work, he would organize group training sessions. There was a short amount of exercises, but they would usually lead into sparring shortly.

"Your bodies will grow best by performing the actual movements," Anton explained. "Which is why I have you all focus on training yourselves while at work in your daily lives. Your body will naturally develop what it needs. And while perhaps you might not need to fight, should the occasion arise you will regret not knowing how."

Most of them were matched against each other for the spars. Anton would sometimes just watch, and other times he would spar against them individually. And then very occasionally, as a group.

"At this time you might not have need of fighting together against a much stronger opponent, but it's important that you know how different it would be." Even when they used staves to extend their reach, Anton was always able to step in and strike them wherever he pleased. "It should also be noted that I could simply block all of your attacks without dodging. In fact, I could beat all of you without moving an inch, or making a single attack."

Idalia wasn't the combative sort, but a statement like that irked her. But Hiram was more easily drawn in by it. "Prove it." Hiram angled his staff towards Anton, enshrouded with the uncomfortable energy he cultivated. He never used it against any of the others, but Idalia could tell how dangerous it was.

"Very well," Anton said. He stepped towards the group, stopping right in front of Hiram. "Come at me, all of you." He settled into a relaxed stance with his arms at his sides. "I won't move from here. Come at me whenever you're ready."

Perhaps Hiram had been waiting for those words, or perhaps he had merely been psyching himself up. Either way, a moment later his energy flowed down his staff towards the end as he swung it over his head, bringing it down on Anton's skull with a resounding crack. There was a cry of pain and Idalia briefly wondered if Anton had overestimated himself. But of course, that wasn't the case. What had broken was not his skull, it was Hiram's staff- and perhaps one of his fingers. The injured hands didn't stop him from continuing to attack, spinning around in a series of kicks aimed at the old man's sides. Every impact had a heavy sound, but it was like Hiram was hitting a brick wall. Except he might actually chip a brick wall with those attacks.

Not wanting to be embarrassed, Idalia joined in but was more conservative with her attacks. Only a few of them stepped forward at once, since they had long learned that too many people attacking in an uncoordinated manner just tripped each other up. Three people was close to the limit, because with four surrounding someone some were directly across from each other, which led to awkward situations when the target dodged. With five or more it just grew uncomfortably cramped, even when nobody was directly opposing each other.

Each blow of Idalia's staff made her realize the gap between her and Anton- or any powerful cultivator. When they sparred Anton held himself down to their level, which even included things like his defenses. Thus, attacks that normally would feel like that had a real impact simply bounced off, and with nowhere else to go all of the force of the blow rebounded into the attackers.

Still, there were more than a handful of them. His defenses had to break eventually. That was the thought some of them had, and they put it to the test. But soon enough everyone was collapsed on the ground, unable to move.

"I don't want to give you all the wrong impression," Anton said gently. "Yes, you are weak… for now. To reach my level requires something on the order of decades of training. But instead of a looming fear, think of it as a caution of knowing your limits… and also what you can achieve, given time. After everyone has had some time to recover, we will be doing some tangible tests of strength, so you can see your progress in the upcoming months."

She sensed them coming before they entered her shop. There was something about the way Birita's thugs walked, like they owned the city… which they kind of did. And this pair stood out because they were cultivators. Mid Body Tempering, if her senses were correct. That meant their reserves of energy were at least double or triple her own, and their bodies tougher.

With one of them, the latter was obvious. Sasho filled the entire doorway as he stepped inside, and the very first thing he did was knock over a rack of supplies. He stepped forward, bending low, but Idalia just yelled at him. "Just stop it!"

He froze in place. "But… I knocked it over…"

The second figure stepped around him, patting him on the shoulder- which was as high as she could reach. "Don't worry about it Sasho. I'm sure she can clean it up."

"... Okay, Trix."

Idalia sighed as she looked at the two of them. "What do you want? I already paid this month's protection taxes. If you try to get more, you'll just bleed me dry and I'll have nothing." That wasn't quite true, since with Anton's help her stores had significantly improved… but she wasn't willing to give up more than she had to. Especially with half of a ruined shelf. The worst part was that Sasho didn't even do it on purpose, as far as she could tell. He just bumped into things, which was why she had stopped him from reaching to pick it back up. Things would only get worse if he continued moving.

"Orders from the boss," the thin woman known as Trix shrugged. "You're the best herbalist around, and she's got a special order. She wants you to get this umm…" Trix pulled out a rolled up sheet of paper. "... Tree Thistle. Says it needs someone who knows what they're doing to harvest it."

"Then why come to me? I've never even heard of it. I wouldn't know how." Idalia knew there might be consequences for refusal, but if she couldn't do it things should be alright.

"Too bad," Trix shook her head, "Because we come with instructions."

She tossed over the roll of paper, and Idalia reluctantly unfolded it. It seemed to have been a page ripped out of a book. It hurt to look at, especially with the various holes in it. "Let's see here… deep forest, only grows where corpses lay." Idalia shook her head, "What the hell sort of thing is this? I can't do this. I'll be devoured alive… and then you won't get it."

"You sure about that?" Trix said, stepping forward. "Because I notice you've taken up cultivation. Buuuut… it is true you don't seem that strong yet. Which is what we're here for. We're to escort you. Look, you're not getting out of this. The boss lady was very particular about having this thing."

"Fine." Idalia looked back down at the paper, continuing to read. "Must be uprooted whole and prepared on site by smoking the leaves and pulping the stem and flowers. Mind the spikes… dimensions… three to five meters?" Idalia's voice cracked at that. "There's no way…"

"That's what Sasho here is for," Trix patted him on the side. "We've got a big wheelbarrow too."

"So if you know where this all is and how to deal with it… why involve me?"

"You think we know how to do any of that mashing and stuff?" Trix shook her head. "No way. And we also don't know how to dig up stuff while keeping the roots intact. That seemed to be important for some reason."

Idalia grimaced. If only Anton was in town… but he wasn't, and even if he was she wasn't sure if it would be good for him to show up next to Birita. Even if he really could take her out, Idalia knew that someone else could easily take over… and they might be even worse. "Fine. Where is it then?"

"In the deep forest, right?" Trix gesture to the paper. "In the shadows or whatever it says there."

"Wait so… you haven't actually seen it?"

"No, but it has to be there somewhere."

Idalia frowned as she looked at the paper. It really didn't have to be anywhere. The sketch on the page indicated it looked just like a milk thistle, but at several meters tall she would have noticed it had she gotten anywhere close. Not that she ventured into the deep woods, but just because something could live in the environment didn't mean it did. And the thing about corpses… what was she getting dragged into?

Chapter 299

There was a thought in Idalia's mind that she was being brought out into the woods to be killed. Maybe she would die, but she didn't think that Birita's thug's would go through such trouble when they could just kill her in public. Plus, if they were going to do that it probably would have been different people.

The great size of Sasho contributed to his ability to casually destroy things- including on accident- but those big bones of his were also the least subtle bones Idalia knew. He seemed completely incapable of deception, unless he was secretly amazing at it and everything was an act. But that just seemed too improbable.

On the other hand, Trix might be capable of killing people maliciously, but she was generally better at solving things without violence. Idalia had seen her shake down some people and make them almost happy for the privilege. It was people like her that kept Birita's hold on the area from completely devolving into chaos. Idalia wasn't sure whether or not to appreciate that, since it would be bad for both sides if things turned into a straight conflict

When Idalia saw a patch of blood clot moss on a large stone, she stopped to scrape some of it off.

"What are you doing?" Trix demanded. "We need to keep moving."

"And I need to stay in business," Idalia retorted. "If I'm going to be away from my shop for an entire day, I at least need to get what I can." That was all true, but she was also trying to delay things so she could think of a way to protect herself. Unfortunately she was coming up blank, as either of the two could take her out. Maybe she could outrun them, but even if she did they would know exactly where she was going. It might be better if they died to something in the forest, but in that case Birita might notice them gone.

In the end, Idalia found herself with little choice but to go along with them into the deeper parts of the forest. After quite a few hours of walking, Trix stopped and looked around. "Alright, should be far enough. So where is it?"

"Where is what?" Idalia asked.

"The tree thistle. That's the whole reason we're here, remember?"

"How am I supposed to know?"

"You're the herbalist. Just look at the paper."

Idalia grumbled, but looked it over. The information only said deep forest in the shadows. That meant the thickest areas, which of course ended up with the most problematic beasts. Idalia didn't know that much about them, except to stay away. Even if she was a cultivator now, it didn't suddenly become safe just because she was a bit stronger. "It might be… this way, I suppose." She was already inside the region she wanted to stay away from, but she had some idea where the worst parts were.

Up until that point they had managed to avoid encounters with unfriendly beasts, but they soon stumbled into the territory of a large bear. Idalia swallowed nervously. Sparring with people was basically nothing like real combat, and despite how strong she knew Anton to be, he wasn't as terrifying as the several meter tall bear. Mostly because he wasn't trying to hurt her.

When the creature stood up on its hind legs and roared, all hope of backing away went out of Idalia's head. She clutched her walking staff tightly in her hand. At least she'd remembered to bring the thing with her. It was useful enough as a weapon, and for extending her reach.

Before she could truly bring herself to act, Sasho was already charging the great beast, his wheelbarrow left behind. She felt its sharp claws whistle through the air as it roared, with the man also yelling back at it as he pulled a large axe off his back and chopped at it. The results were immediate and bloody. A line of claws drew across Sasho's chest, but the majority of the spray came from the bear, coating him in from head to toe. And that was it, the whole fight… resolved in an instant.

It was kind of terrifying… but also almost assuring. While she wasn't sure about killing the bear in a single attack, Idalia felt that she could have dodged either the bear's swipe or Sasho's wild chop. So she probably wouldn't die instantly, if it came down to it.

"Sasho you big lug," Trix strode over next to him. "You need to wait for me to fight."

"Don't want anyone to get hurt," he said simply.

"You got hurt though!" she said in an exasperated manner.

"It's okay. I'll heal… eventually." Sasho nodded with complete assurance.

Seeing the wounds on his chest, Idalia wasn't sure if that was true. She was certain that even with a cultivators ability to recover their wounds quickly, since he didn't seem to be actively closing them he might just bleed to death before it came down to it. "I don't think you will," she said as she approached. "Let me patch you up."

In the short term, it might be better for her to let him bleed to death. But if Trix made her continue into the deep forest without him her life would be at greater risk, and they could hardly transport back the tree thistle without his bulk. She was able to lift quite a bit more than she had before she began cultivating, but even if it was rather light anything a few meters in height would be pretty tough to carry or even drag.

She took some of the bloodclot moss, some bandages, and a few minor herbs she was already carrying on her when they started the journey, applying them to his wounds. It wouldn't let him recover much faster, but at least nothing would get worse. "I'd try not to move too much after that," Idalia said professionally.

"Can't fight without moving," Sasho responded. "Can't do anything."

"Just… try not to strain it," she shook her head.

Trix looked at her suspiciously, but let her work. But Idalia wasn't so crazy as to poison someone right in front of her. Cultivators could detect some of that, and again- she needed them to survive this. For her own survival. Or maybe she could just run away. It was a shame to leave her hometown, but with Birita lording over the area she probably should have gone away long before.

As they got deeper in the forest, Idalia wished she had refined her eyes more. It wasn't as dark as night, but it got rather difficult to see. On the other hand, she was able to pick out a number of medicinal plants just by her energy senses. Some of them stood out, in fact, as they contained natural energy within them. She wasn't completely sure what they all did, but she could learn study them later- and perhaps get her hands on some relevant books.

Though she was ostensibly leading the way, Idalia was just wandering and hoping that they would run into something. Until a gust of wind almost knocked her out with a putrid scent. She almost immediately led them away from the area towards somewhere else… but then realized that might be what they were looking for. She wasn't sure what about corpses would make a tree thistle grow around them- since the soil usually had nutrients that were easier to access for most forms of plant life. "That way," she gestured. "That's our best bet, at least." She didn't want to sound too confident, because if they didn't find something she would be at fault. Even if she'd never seen the thing before.

As they approached the area, Idalia began to get a bad feeling. More than she already had, of course. The flow of natural energy didn't seem right, and she was beginning to sense a number of moving sources of it.

"Looks like we're about to run into some trouble," Trix said, confirming her suspicion. "Sasho, don't run out ahead. You need to stick with us so we can all fight them together."

"All of us?" Idalia asked nervously.

"Obviously," Trix said, drawing a curved blade. "We don't have the leeway to keep you completely safe. Besides, what's the point of cultivating if you don't fight?"

Idalia could have told her plenty of reasons to do it. Better health, more efficient work… but she figured it would fall on deaf ears at the moment. She clutched her staff as a loud buzzing became apparent, and the approaching blobs of energy resolved themselves into the forms of individual creatures.

Specifically wasps, each as long as a forearm with stingers nearly half that length. Idalia took a deep breath as they approached. Her position in the back seemed safe, but the way the swarm of dozens was spreading out they could very easily find their way around to her.

Despite the cautions from Trix, Sasho charged forward to meet them when they got close. His first swing sliced a few limbs off of one of them and chopped straight through another, but their wicked stingers pierced into him, his defensive energy only sufficient to keep their attacks from digging as deep as they otherwise might have.

Trix moved up close behind Sasho, nimble swinging her curved blade while keeping herself from being in the midst of them. Idalia wasn't far behind her, though she couldn't be as close as she liked for worry of interfering with the others- or being cut apart by their attacks.

When a wasp's form resolved itself in her vision, her body moved almost on its own. Instead of an incoming attack with a human-made weapon, it was the attack- but her instinctive parry turned into a decent sweep, catching the creature's wing and sending it veering off course where it slammed into the dirt. She didn't have time to pay attention to it beyond that, as there were more moving in fast.

Her staff spun around her, weaving a barrier of combined defense and attack- anything getting close would find itself thwacked by the solid wood of her weapon, plus some natural energy augmenting it.

Any time her staff struck a wing or one of the creature's limbs, the target crumpled- but if she didn't the right angle the creatures kept coming, their momentum carrying them to her with their nasty stingers. Some of them scraped against her defensive energy as she barely dodged, but one lodged itself into her left shoulder. She grabbed the creature and flung it away, yanking it out- but the pain remained. Along with something else. She had to make a snap decision about whether or not to try to deal with the venom during the battle, and decided she really didn't want to know what the full effects would be.

While it was all still in her wound she began coaxing and squeezing it out, unfortunately also with some of her blood. But blood would recover on its own.

Doing that while fighting at the same time was one of the hardest things she'd ever done, much harder than precisely measuring ingredients to be mixed into a salve. The swarm of wasps was slightly less numerous at that point, but she still had a few more close calls- including one with a particularly big wasp which looked intent to impale her through the heart. Her staff struck it right in the body, which was unfortunately only enough to shove it back a meter or two before it was coming right back at her. She clenched up and tried to keep her eyes open even as her instincts told her to cover her face- despite the fact it wasn't attacking there. She wasn't sure if she imagined a dull blob of energy washing over the thing, but her next overhead swing smacked it down to the dirt below.

She continued to beat the thing with her staff until it no longer resembled a nasty, flying bug. She probably should have been focusing on the other wasps, but it seemed they were either defeated or beginning to retreat. Sasho and Trix clobbered the last few around them, before taking a look around.

"Hey, you survived," Trix said. "Looks like you could use a bit of a patch-up though."

"Same with you," Idalia commented. Sasho had more than a handful of visible holes, slowly leaking blood, and Trix was clearly not unharmed. Both of them were pretty low on energy too. If she wanted to take them out this might be her best chance… but of course she was pretty exhausted herself.

Instead of doing that, she treated all of their wounds to the best of her ability. The two of them appeared a bit woozy, and Sasho seemed to be in significant pain, but all she could do was relieve some of the symptoms. Back at her shop she had treatments for normal wasp stings, but those were mostly relief for the pain and swelling. These things could have entirely different properties.

The wind switching directions once more reminded her of the task- and how awful the area ahead smelled. The group continued forward until they saw the bodies of various beasts lying in a pile. There were weird grubs- or maybe they were larvae- wriggling around in the bodies. A short distance away was their target- the tree thistle. Just as pictured and described, it was basically a milk thistle but several meters tall, with all of its other attributes scaled up as well. That included the spikes along the giant stalk and various leafy offshoots.

They were supposed to carry that back? Idalia looked down at the little hand shovel she'd brought to dig up herbs and shook her head. It was quite inadequate for the job. At least they had the wheelbarrow, but even that was looking rather small if they had to dig up the whole thing. Was this what cultivators always had to deal with?

Chapter 300

"Alright so," Trix looked at the tree thistle. "Do we just yank it out?"

"No!" Idalia unintentionally yelled. "What is wrong with you? Didn't you read the page?" she waved it towards Trix.

"Sure I did. It just said to uproot it whole."

"Stop!" Idalia called out to Sasho who had his arms wrapped around the plant. "You'll just tear it in half if you do that. And put holes in your arms, if you grab it tight."

Sasho looked down at his arms- which already had some wasp stings. "Ouch."

Idalia sighed. "Okay, look, the roots should go pretty much straight down. Apparently we need to keep this thing encased in dirt, so we have to dig… maybe a meter on each side? That's so much dirt though, it'll more than fill that wheelbarrow."

"It's all we have," Trix said helpfully.

"Why did Birita send you?" Idalia shook her head.

"Believe it or not, I'm one of the careful ones. And Sasho…"

"I'm here to lift it," he flexed. "I'm strong."

"I know," Idalia sighed. "And I'm here because…"

"You knew enough to have proper caution. Birita must have known that. Or… wanted someone to blame for screwing it up."

"Same could be said for you two," Idalia grumbled. "Why do you work for her anyway?"

"Umm…" Trix looked over at Sasho, who looked back.

"Because Trix does," Sasho nodded.

"It's complicated," Trix frowned.

"Yeah well, your complicated is making things awful for the rest of us." Idalia had gotten her confidence back after the battle. That wasn't her forte, but chastising unruly customers and working with herbs was. These two were kind of both… even if they were also much stronger than her. But she'd dealt with people who could physically overpower her before, it just so happened that both she and her foes were stronger at the current moment. She jabbed her trowel into the ground, drawing out a line. "We'll dig down from here, as deep as arm's length. That'll have to be good enough."

Going straight from a battle to physical labor was difficult. Idalia thought that maybe she was becoming too reliant on natural energy, but even her body was stronger- and she was just trying to do more than a normal person would. This was the sort of project that should really take a long afternoon with proper shovels, whereas they were using their hands and her trowel and Sasho's axe as improvised digging implements. It was foolish of her to assume they had something when she had seen what they were carrying. And they really didn't want to be here for long, because there could be more wasps. Or equally dangerous beasts.

As Sasho's axe chopped through the dirt, Idalia sincerely hoped the sound of roots being cut were nearby trees and not their quarry. Or that the author of the scant page she had was incorrect about the required intact nature of the… herb-tree. It was frustrating enough that all of the effects seemed to have been intentionally removed. What was Birita going to get out of this? It seemed fairly potent to Idalia, but would it be enough to empower Birita? If so… should she make sure that didn't happen?

Some people seemed to find the idea of sacrificing themselves simple. Either they had nothing to live for, or they thought that thing would do just fine without them. Personally, Idalia had a lot of life ahead of her still left to live, and wasn't planning to die out in the woods. But she'd been getting a better idea of how to use her natural energy to sense the effects of herbs without anyone ingesting them.

She carefully avoided the spiky leaves, navigating her hand to a place with the least spikes so she could hold her palm against it. Then she circulated her energy out and through the plant.

"I hope you're not doing something stupid," Trix commented.

"Just checking its potency. You do want it to work, right?"

"Yeah," Trix nodded. "We'd get in trouble if it didn't."

Idalia just nodded, keeping her focus on the plant. Aside from being full of natural energy and freakishly huge… it felt just like milk thistle. Just more of it. Maybe it was the same, or maybe she simply couldn't pick out what made it different.

Approximately an hour later- though a quite exhausting one- Idalia and the others stood around the plant, having dug up beneath it as far as they could. "Okay," Idalia guided, "The two of us will hold the dirt in place and help lift, but Sasho has to do the majority of the pulling. But we want to yank out the deep roots, not tear them apart- so try to maintain a steady strength." Perhaps it was pointless to hope that Sasho could do things precisely, but she still had the hope. "On the count of three… one… two…"

They all lifted at slightly different times. At first nothing happened. The main roots were buried too deep. Then Sasho roared, tugging with all of his might. Idalia and Trix barely managed to hold the dirt around the roots… but there was a snapping sound as roots tore off down below- and the upper half of the plant flopped over.

Sasho plopped the plant into the large wheelbarrow, his face dotted with prickles from the spines on the plant, caused even with his natural energy and tempered body. "There. Done."

"Aaaagh!" Idalia looked at the thing, with snapped roots and milky white goop leaking where the top broke apart. She hopped up into the wheelbarrow. "Okay. Umm. I'll hold this together. Just… get us back to town!" She grimaced. In the worst case… they could just find another, right? It wasn't as if Birita needed something so big on short notice. "She doesn't need this today, right?"

"... by sundown," Trix commented.

Idalia looked at the afternoon sun. "...Whyyyyyy?"

Nobody had an answer for her, of course, but Sasho started pushing. Every bump threatened to knock over the tree thistle or impale Idalia on its spikes, or simply snap off the top. Idalia was doing her very best to hold it together and keep all of it inside itself, while Trix tried to somewhat clear the way, chopping high branches that might cause them trouble.

It was miraculous that they made it back to town with some time left, but they weren't quite done. Idalia still needed to process the plant. It wasn't terribly difficult as herbalism tasks went, except for the size of the thing. "We'll go in the back," Idalia commented. "My workstation is right in there."

She'd assumed that Sasho knew that meant to stop outside the door, but when she crashed through- sending the teetering upper half toppling on herself and Sasho- she knew she should have been specific. But at least they were inside.

"Oookay. We have to work quick. Sasho, I need you to grind up the seeds with this mortar and pestle!"

He looked at the less than palm sized bowl in his hands. "Too small," he commented.

"Ugh… just… squash them in your hand? But drop the dust in uh… this bowl." She picked out one of the largest vessels she had. Though she would need more. "Trix! Go buy me some big jars! We need to store all this crap."

"On it!" Trix ran out, following orders easily.

Everyone wanted to succeed, at least.

From the flower to the milky sap from the stem to the roots to the seeds, pretty much every part except the thorny leaves were being used in the recipe. There were a few stabilizing agents that Idalia was fortunate to have plenty of as she began throwing things into pots, mixing with a frenzy.

Though she didn't notice it at the time, as she was exhausted, she actually worked above and beyond her capabilities. Cultivators under pressure could draw upon more natural energy than normal… as well as those working on something they found a connection to. It was both for Idalia, though she mostly felt panic until later.

When Trix came back with a dozen large pots balanced all over her, Idalia started her on some of the simple mixing. "Sasho! This needs to be crushed smaller! Really grind it to a fine powder!"

As Idalia was working, she looked at some of the herbs she'd brought from the forest, and what she already had in her shop. It would be trivial to add a little bit of something special. Birita probably wouldn't notice until it was too late, and the two with her wouldn't understand it didn't belong. It might not be enough to kill Birita, but chances were her wrath would be taken out on the two of them. Maybe things would find their way back to Idalia, but for the mere opportunity to take down the woman…

But despite the fact that Sasho and Trix were working for her, they weren't really like the others. Sure, Trix was snarky about things and absolutely collected the 'taxes' for Birita, but whenever it happened to Idalia she didn't feel so bad about it when it was her. And Sasho was big and clumsy, but probably didn't really get that he was doing something wrong. Even if she could guarantee she wouldn't receive a backlash, the fact that they probably would stopped her. And she had no guarantee that only Birita would be ingesting this concoction.

Actually, it seemed insane to think one woman would need all of this. Maybe she was planning to sell it, but if so she really should have taken her time with this.

Idalia shoved aside all thoughts of poisoning Birita- directly or indirectly. Until later, at least, if she could guarantee some actual damage and that only Birita would be harmed. Or at least only her and her worst cronies.

When Sasho and Trix hurried off- just as the sun was beginning to set- Idalia collapsed in a pile. Specifically, into the dirt. There was far too much of it in her workshop, as well as various dirtied and broken things. Her door was useless too. But… she'd survived the ordeal. Hopefully. Unless too much potency had been lost and Birita decided to kill her anyway.

"Need some help?" a voice asked.

She turned her head, realizing there had been footprints approaching. "Oh… Hiram." She closed her eyes for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah, I need to clean up." It took a few moments for something to come back to her. "In the forest… was that you? Taking out that wasp."

"It was," he nodded. "I happened to be approaching your shop at the same time as these two. I followed after you at a significant distance. They radiated quite a bit of power, so my own ability to hide myself wasn't that important. I decided in that battle the risk was acceptable, with everyone seeming quite distracted."

"Thanks, I needed it."

"I would have liked to do more," he said as he began sweeping around her, pushing things out the back door. "I also would have liked to take out those two."

"We shouldn't," Idalia said quickly.

"I know. It would just draw the wrath of stronger people. But those two didn't feel too far out of our reach."

"Yeah but… it's not just that. Those two… are fine people."

"They smashed up your shop and almost got you killed," Hiram pointed out.

"Yeah, but it wasn't really their fault. They're good people at heart, I think. Just… forced into working for Birita somehow. I think it would be better to get them on our side."

"Hmm…" Hiram contemplated for a while as he continued to sweep. "I hadn't considered that. So far, my encounters with Birita's group have only solidified their status as thus, and the Gray Rock Sect remains cowardly bullies."

"Maybe not all of them, though," Idalia pointed out. "Some people might just be biding their time, like us. Even those working for Birita… they have to be getting something from it. If they can grow stronger, maybe they can do something."

"... I almost wish you'd taken up Anton's offer," Hiram said. "Then we could be done with it. But perhaps instead of just taking the 'easy' way, we should work towards something… more sustainable."

"I agree," Idalia said. "I wouldn't ask you to try to hold your temper around the Gray Rock Sect, but I or some of the others could look into them more closely. And maybe we can ask Trix about others. Sasho… probably doesn't need to hear any of this though. He seems like the kind that would be bad at keeping secrets."

"Absolutely," Hiram agreed. "And when Anton returns, we might ask for some help spying on people. I am under the impression that he can sense things from… a significant distance."

Several kilometers away, Anton half-grinned to himself. It seemed things were going fine without his constant watch. But the issues still might outlast his stay in the area.

Chapter 301

Anton walked into Idalia's shop and pulled a stack of books out of his storage bag. She looked at him curiously and asked, "What's all that?"

"This is a selection of herbalist manuals covering the most common herbs useful for people in Body Tempering," Anton explained. "I have more for Spirit Building, but those are rather valuable."

"Knowing cultivators, I doubt I could afford the others anyway. Business is up, but not that much."

Anton set them down on the counter in front of her, "I'm not planning to sell them to you. I'm just giving them to you. I'll do the same with the others, but they're a bit too much of a temptation for others to steal with your current cultivation." Anton flipped one of them open, "In exchange, I need your experience in the field. I'm still missing some key experience to understand some parts of these."

"You've already read them? Then you might know more than me."

"For a short time, perhaps I might know more about these things in particular. And I'll admit to having studied some of them before," Anton shrugged, "But it's a matter of access to knowledge for you. And when you reach Spirit Building, you can look forward to some significant increases in mental processing."

"I don't even know why you'd want to learn from me, when cultivators seems to already know everything," Idalia frowned.

"That's simple," Anton explained. "Cultivators don't always think about what they're doing. They don't make medicines for headaches and common fevers. And they are likely to miss plants that are not imbued with natural energy even if they have valuable properties. Like those not used for fighting or recovering from a fight."

"Yet you seem to be trying to make everyone a cultivator," Idalia countered.

"Everyone needs to enjoy the benefits of using natural energy, and enhanced bodies and minds. Personally I also think everyone should know at least the basics of combat so they can band together to deal with problems. Beyond that, however, I find that non-cultivators tend to do a better job making a sustainable living. Or rather, I work with the people who do." Anton nodded to himself, "Most people fail to see the benefits of everyone cultivating, only thinking what it might cost them in the short term. Even if that short term is a mere decade, which shouldn't matter to serious cultivators."

Idalia nodded seriously, "And how long have you been cultivating?"

"Fifteen years," Anton grinned widely.

"Yeah, sure. Me too."

Anton didn't bother with correcting her thoughts at the moment. It was well known that cultivators took a long time to reach significant power- and that only the young were suited to start cultivating. Though Anton had already recruited some of the less young throughout Arbington. "Need help with that door?" Anton asked.

"Don't worry about it. Already called in someone to replace the doorframe and the rest." Idalia frowned, "Now I'm worried about how easy it is for cultivators to break in, though."

"I'd suggest a secret basement," Anton gestured downward. "If it's deep enough nobody will notice anything important in it. Put it below a regular basement so that nobody bothers to get close or wonder why you head downstairs. Or protect it with formations, but you need the strength to back that up. Same with storage bags that you carry on you at all times," Anton patted the bag at his waist.

"Seems problematic."

"That's the issue with having valuables," Anton shrugged. "And nobody properly enforcing the laws."

"Don't remind me."

"Too late," Anton grinned. "But this place is well on its way. Just needs a few years."

"And then what, we mob Birita?"

"Never underestimate a mob with pitchforks. Or proper spears."

Arbington wasn't the only town under Birita's shadow that Anton was spending time in, but it was the most promising. Other places had fewer people willing to put in the effort to cultivate, even though it would ultimately yield them more productivity than the time they lost. Some people had little leeway to make ends meet- though Anton was willing to help with that- while others simply didn't accept Anton's words that it was worthwhile.

He still kept coming back though. At the entrance to one of them, Timberville, he saw a pair of cultivators waiting. They were just newbies in Body Tempering, but he knew they worked for Birita. They weren't stopping anyone passing through, though. Just watching them.

He could have gone around them easily enough, but he also had no worries about approaching them. If they couldn't discern who to cause trouble with or not, it would be a favor to Birita to take them out. Though he'd rather not implicate the town, if he could help it.

"Hey, you…'re senior Anton, correct?" The tone of the woman leaning against the gate switched between an accustomed rudeness and very unpracticed politeness.

"I might be. Who's asking?"

"Birita wants to… has requested to see you. In person."

"Did she say that?" Anton asked, "Or did she say 'go grab that old bastard and bring him to me'?"

"I don't… recall her exact words," the way the woman was sweating indicated he'd gotten surprisingly close. Though Anton could keep a general sense of where the strongest sources of energy were in a wide area, his senses weren't so amazing that he could track every conversation, even of the important people. So he'd approximated from how Birita usually talked.

"I see. But you didn't answer my first question. Who are you?"

The woman tried to step back. "T-Trix, senior." The man across the way stomped up to Anton, his lips tightly pursed. Anton had the feeling he'd been told not to say anything, but was finding it difficult.

"You'd be Sasho then?" he said to the man. "Well, I won't cause the two of you any further trouble. You can bring me to her."

"Uh…" Trix looked around nervously. "Right now…?"

"That's your job isn't it? Seems like you should do it."

"Right. Sure. Obviously. I just thought… cultivators like you were busy."

"I am," Anton half-lied. "But that's why I'm going now. If she wants to talk, we'll talk. And I'm sure she'll appreciate the two of you bringing me over."

"Y-yeah. Right. It's um… this way." Trix kept nervously looking over her shoulder at Anton, which seemed completely unnecessary since he knew it wasn't what he looked like that was intimidating. Her natural energy kept trying to feel him out, then recoiling when it got close. And Anton wasn't even doing anything to cause that. "Is it true… that you're an Essence Collection cultivator?"

"That's right," Anton confirmed.

"So you're… pretty strong, right?"

"That's right."

"Mm. Uh, Birita is strong too. Just so you know."

"I know," Anton said clearly. "And if you're nervous about Birita having eyes and ears everywhere, it's likely much more limited than you think." They were heading out of town into the forest, walking at a fairly brisk pace. "For example, I know neither she nor anyone else is close enough to hear anything if you were going to say that this was a trap of some kind. Or that she's been especially testy lately. But you also don't need to say those things."

His words didn't actually make Trix relax any, but Sasho seemed relieved. "Oh good," he nodded happily. "Now neither of us have to say it." Trix sighed, but she knew the damage was already done.

As they walked along, Anton took stock of the little settlement up ahead. It was mostly a number of log cabins of various size and quality. The largest one of course contained Birita. The place was far enough from the nearby towns that she wouldn't be easily discovered, but Anton had known for some time. He hadn't gotten this close before though.

The palisade wall around the place was… nearly pointless. Though that was only if one considered Birita and not the others, who were much lower in cultivation on average. With mostly Body Tempering people and a small handful of Spirit Building cultivators, the walls could at least be of some use against opponents relevant to them.

There were guards on towers flanking the gate, a pair of archers matched with spear-wielding counterparts below. "Halt! Who goes there?"

"It's us! Trix and Sasho. We brought the one Birita asked to meet. Anton. This is him."

Anton looked up at the two guards, who were not only far too close for what he would have considered their optimal range but almost close enough he could leap to them to engage in melee before they could get a shot off.

"Uh, right. We heard about that. You can pass, but we'll be watching you."

They would certainly try, but the poor arrangement of buildings meant they wouldn't have a shot at Anton. Maybe it was intentional to not have a straight path to their leader's home, but the defenses didn't seem quite that intentionally arranged. As they drew close, Anton could sense Birita's chaotic energy. It was normally chaotic, but today it was especially so.

A few more people challenged them, and in the end Anton walked up to Birita's cabin with a number of followers trailing along to see what would happen. Trix cautiously knocked on the door.

"What?" A voice shouted from the other side. "I toldja not ta bother me!"

"At your request," Trix carefully left her name out, "We've brought the cultivator, Anton."

A string of unintelligible profanity poured out of the cabin, before some useful words. "Fine. Send 'im in!" Anton stepped inside, scoping out the place. Even if he hadn't learned from Catarina, the formations in the area would have been obvious. Inside was a woman with several scars on her face and arms, sitting in a wide stance on a wooden bench. Two jugs were laid out in front of her. She took a swig from one, grimaced, then a drink from the other. "You. Ant. I hear you've b'n causin' trouble round here. Teachin' people things they don't need to know." She waved her arms broadly as she did so. "Pretty stupid."

"What do you mean?" Anton asked. He wasn't trying that hard to actually fool her, but drunk as she was he didn't know if it would even matter. Drunk Essence Collection cultivators might still be dangerous and perceptive, but it certainly lowered their capabilities.

"They're cultivatin'," she frowned and sloshed one of the jugs towards him with her gesture. "Can't have that."

"Why?" Anton asked. "Are you afraid?" he let his voice carry, loud enough that those outside might overhear.

"'Course not," she spat. "Just don't like trouble. And you're trouble."

"I don't like trouble either."

"Good. Hey… waitaminnit. Didja just imply that I'm trouble? Huh?"

"What do you think?" Anton asked.

"I think… you're askin' for it!" She stood up angrily and stomped her foot. The gesture wasn't just one of annoyance, but seemed to activate the formations. "Men, get him!"

Anton stood still for a couple seconds. Then he smiled, "Barrier formations also keep people out," he explained.

"Fine. I'll take care of you myself!" she reached for a large sword on her back. Before she had it drawn, Anton kicked the jug of alcohol towards her. He immediately followed up with three arrows, simply shot from his energy bows instead of drawing his actual weapon. One of the arrows was made of flame, shooting through the extremely alcoholic beverage, splashing it over her and lighting it on fire at the same time. The other two struck two different points in the formation. Anton wasn't a formation master by any means… but whoever set this one up was several steps further away.

"There you go. Now they can get in." Anton walked calmly towards the door as several people burst through. He simply slipped past them as they attempted to swing their weapons, smashing up some of the adjacent furniture. "Pardon me. I'm quite busy, so I'll be on my way."

His movement replicated Vincents from when he had first watched the man, striding along uneven ground like he was floating along a river. A swift one. Anton had almost surpassed the man in cultivation now, but his example had been a guiding light for a time.

Though he seemed unhurried, Anton was not particularly interested in staying in the gang settlement to be attacked from all sides. He was just one man after all, and his purposes were better suited by not fighting… much. If he were simply interested in killing Birita, attacking while she was drunk might be best- but Anton had the feeling that was something of a constant these days. The burning alcohol wouldn't have really damaged her, but it would make her look back in front of her subordinates. That was more valuable than anything else.

At the entrance of the camp, completely ignoring the two archers shooting down at him, Anton turned. "Oh yes, but I almost forgot." He drew his actual bow, gathering ascension energy to make his shot have the most possible impact. He could have fired over the buildings to hit his target, but he thought it would make a better point if there were shattered walls in between. "Don't assume there's nobody stronger than you." A meter wide hole opened up in a straight line in between Anton and Birita. It was a complete waste of energy, damaging the buildings like that instead of having a tiny hole, but it was more theatrical. The woman was just managing to realize that the fire didn't matter when his arrow struck her hand, sending her sword flying out of her grasp. "Remember that. And the rest of you, think long and hard about if this is what you want to do." Anton glared up at the archers, who had launched a handful of arrows into the ground near him- accuracy wasn't a problem, but their inability to break through his defensive energy meant they flopped uselessly to the ground. The archers grinned sheepishly and dropped their bows.

Then Anton walked away, before the impact wore off and anyone realized that Birita was basically uninjured- including her. He might win that fight with Birita drunk, but the extra people could eventually become a problem. If he was going to kill all of her followers, he could have just done it from several kilometers away, one at a time. Instead, he'd hopefully cause some damage to morale… and he'd also gained some useful intel regarding the second, non-alcoholic jug she was chugging.

Chapter 302

After he knew Birita was aware of his efforts, Anton took some more precautions to protect people. It was already known that he was teaching people to cultivate, but she hadn't taken action about that just yet. Showing too much favoritism for one individual might be a problem, though. They could be singled out and made an example. While such information might already be known, Anton avoided approaching people when there were watchers. He was becoming increasingly unsure of his policy to let things continue as they were, but the budding cultivations of his students and the information he now possessed brought a little confidence.

Birita's thugs had better things to do than stand around all day watching for Anton- and they would soon learn that when they realized he never got within eyesight of them. But while they were wasting a week or two assuming they would notice him getting close, he was continuing to go about his business.

"This tree thistle," Anton discussed with Idalia, "It shares the same properties as the milk thistle? Except increased in magnitude significantly."

"I think so," Idalia nodded. "Among other things, it's supposed to be good for the liver."

"Perhaps good for heavy drinkers?"

She shook her head. "Good for them? Probably not. Used by them… sometimes. But it's better for them to stop. The side effects aren't great." After Anton explained Birita's actions, Idalia shook her head. "That's stupid. While it should theoretically help recover the damage to her liver to some extent, that's only in moderation. Taking that much of anything is just going to act more like a poison. And… taking it while drinking is just asking to magnify the stomach issues it can cause. She has to constantly be feeling sick."

"She appears to be quite irritable," Anton concurred.

"It's not normally the sort of thing that I'd say is potentially fatal, but huge swigs of the stuff I made?" Idalia grimaced. "Just how good are the bodies of cultivators?"

"Not that good," Anton offered. "I didn't feel her taking steps to filter it, either."

"So… maybe she drinks herself to death, or bloats herself to death. Either might take a while. Then someone else takes over and continues everything."

"Probably," Anton agreed. "But in the course of those months you and the others grow stronger, a step or two at a time. I didn't observe any sort of proper training going on in their camp, and that's reflected in their lower ranking members. They're not even trying to teach the ground-level thugs how to cultivate. You and the others already can deal with them."

"Sort of, yeah. But even if we take them out, all it would take is her flipping out to kill us all."

"So?" Anton asked. "What do you want me to do?" It was a sincere question, not some sort of deflection.

"I don't know. Killing her now actually invites retaliation. If we can wait until she offs herself somehow, it might lead to a violent transfer of power that would weaken their position. If you could take out the right people… or we could sway some to be reasonable… it might work out." Idalia sighed, "Because I do believe you're right that someone else would probably just move in afterwards. And despite the expenses, at least people aren't getting killed. Mostly. The Gray Rock Sect wouldn't be a good replacement for her, though they might end up… about the same."

Anton nodded. "That all sounds about right."

"If you're right and we could have Spirit Building people within a year… if we can just hang on that long, we could control our own destinies. If she dies. Either we can have you do it or… wait for the inevitable. Her doing it to herself, or pissing off some other cultivators." Idalia frowned, "But if she's going through that medicine so quickly, if it doesn't bring her down she'll run out. And then I'll have to find more. Once was hard enough, and I think I got lucky. If there's more, I could really use your help locating it."

"Absolutely," Anton nodded. "I'm quite happy to provide information. And protection where it's necessary. If there isn't more…"

"I kept some seeds," Idalia replied. "I could grow some, but I have no idea how long it takes and it would either seem suspicious or be too expensive or both."

"That also sounds right. If it really needs to grow on deep forests around corpses, I could also set that up."

"I wish you could just stay here forever."

"It would be nice, but there's more to the world than here. I'd prefer if every part of it was improved as much as I could. And of course, I don't have forever." Anton clarified, "I'll be returning to my home with the others soon enough. We never planned to be here any longer than two years at most, and we're past six months."

"I understand," Idalia nodded. "Just make sure to let us know before you go. So we can be ready."

"If I can, I will. At the very least, I can get a message to you."

"I can't believe they didn't let us participate in the tournament," Alva complained.

"It was for the purpose of empowering local juniors," Annelie explained. "Prizes going to outsiders would defeat the purpose."

"But why wouldn't they let us participate just to fight?"

"It would complicate things," Anish surmised. "And while you might be reasonable enough to actually mean you don't care about the rewards, they have no assurance of that."

"And why wouldn't they fight us outside of the tournament?" Alva complained. "It's not like I'm Chikere. I don't cut people in half! Or kill them at all, when I don't mean to."

Annelie shrugged, "Technically neither does she. It's just more often her intent. And her presence… has stirred up some of the sects here in the east. Something about their swords going missing. And of course there was the whole thing with Vianne."

"But she was evil!" Alva grumbled.

"Her sect refused to believe that. They claimed the corpse was tampered with."

"I bet they're in on it," Alva declared.

"Or just trying to save face," Anish shrugged. When Alva glared at him, he sighed. "Well, it's true. Some sects are quite adamant that none of them were traitorous members of the Twin Soul Sect, despite proof to the contrary."

"I thought a bunch of the old fogeys here were supposed to have learned stuff from Everheart, but everyone's so stubborn," Alva shook her head. "It just gets worse with age!"

"Agreed," Annelie said. "Our grandfather is still planting seeds of cultivation in the commoners here, even though he won't be around to guide them for long. I doubt the world will be as good to them without him around."

Anish frowned, "That's up to them, isn't it? At least they'll have a chance to fight for a real position in the world."

"Yeah!" Alva said. "It sucks to be weak and unable to fight back."

"I know but…" Annelie shook her head. "Not everyone's as lucky as us. To have the talent and proper teachers. Halfway cultivating might just feel worse."

Anish took his chance to speak. "The elders of my sect would disagree. Even if they weren't all able to reach the heights they imagined, merely having the capability to act with confidence to work towards their desires was enough. And… I suppose the rest of us are part of making the world a better place for such people to live. But enough of all that. What was the mission again?"

"Marauders. Reported by the Blue River Gardens," Annelie replied.

"Isn't this close to where your grandfather is?" Anish asked. "Do you think they're the same ones?"

"No, we're still significantly north of that. It's just that the Blue River Gardens lost a few of their members in mysterious circumstances. They recovered the bodies of one group, but the others…"

"That's a bit concerning," Alva admitted.

"Yes. One among them was an Essence Collection elder. The two of us should be weaker, and Anish… not much stronger. This is primarily a scouting mission."

"Do you think we should go ask for his help?" Anish asked. "It's only a few days out of our way."

"And then a few days back, and we've spent a week not looking for some people who could be alive. And letting the trail get colder," Annelie pointed out.

"No, you're right. It's just I'm not great at stealth."

"It'll be fine," Alva assured him. "I'll sense people way ahead."

"You've also gotten better lately," Annelie commented. "Much more than most of the members of Glorious Flame Palace."

"What can I say?" he shrugged. "Nobody likes dimming their fires. We're trained to be extremely open about things. Though it's not always as easy as it seems."

One day later, Alva stopped them. "I found something. Or someone." She looked around, her energy mimicking the movement of her eyes to some extent. "Or what used to be someone. I don't sense anyone nearby, but we should circle around just in case. If they're hiding on the far side, I wouldn't necessarily pick them out before we were visible." Alva bent down towards a broken branch, looking closely. Then she sniffed. "But I don't think anyone's been through here in a while."

The three of them kept their energy restrained as they circled around, Alva in the lead with Anish one step behind to support her if something came up. He was the strongest of them, after all. A guardian of sorts, for the sake of improving the relationships between sects.

Eventually they found their way through the hills, until they came upon what Alva had sensed. A desiccated corpse.

"Disgusting," Alva said, sniffing. "But… it doesn't smell bad. It hasn't started properly decaying. It just… looks like this."

"Is there any chance this is the work of a beast?" Anish asked.

"No way. Beasts don't rob people of their equipment."

"Why not bury it?" Annelie asked.

"No respect for the dead," Anish commented.

"Sure, but they had to know people would be looking for them, and it would be harder if they were buried, I think."

"Because they weren't planning to stay in the area," Alva decreed. "The first group was further north. This is more recent." Alva turned her head, surveying the land around them. "They were just passing through, and any delay in their presence being reported… was enough."

"What does that mean?" Anish asked.

"It means we need to hurry," Alva grimaced. "Because this should be someone from the Whispering Watchers. Heading almost directly towards grandpa." She started sprinting down the hill to the south.

"How many?" Anish asked as he caught up to her.

"Just one. But one might be enough. The lingering energy doesn't make it clear but… based on that elder…"

"Life Transformation," Anish commented. "We know one of them had it out for him."

"I can't believe they'd just- ugh." Annelie shook her head as she ran along with the others. "Maybe they want a war. Sending an elder to kill him, and all."

Anish deliberately slowed his pace to subconsciously draw Alva back to a pace they could all sustain for what would likely be a very long day of running. "They might have assumed that he is also an elder, given some of his characteristics. It wouldn't be such a political issue that way. If this is Elder Naheed, avenging a student would seem quite reasonable. Or perhaps they didn't care if it was reasonable."

"What about killing the people who saw them?" Annelie asked. "That seems like they didn't want to be known to be present."

"A good point," Anish agreed. "We can take a short break to recharge when we get close to a significantly sized city and send out some messages… including to the Blue River Gardens, for what little good it will do them."

Alva almost seemed as if she would insist that they run without stopping, but she knew that they could actually get there just as fast with the right breaks… and they would arrive more while more effective. The messages also might be critical… just in case things took the worst possible turn.

Chapter 303

Ever since he had begun cultivating, Hiram had grown used to feeling the presence of people more powerful than himself around. It wasn't as if there were suddenly more cultivators, with the possible exception of Anton. He was simply more aware of them. His recent growth had been enough that at least he felt the gap closing with some of the locals who had been cultivating before himself. Most were in Body Tempering, some Spirit Building… and then there was Anton in Essence Collection.

Hiram considered himself lucky to never have been close to Birita. Even if she had apparently grown more unhinged recently, she had always been petty and evil. Dealing with her goons had been bad enough, which led to his wife sparking the conflict with the Gray Stone Sect. They still had their coming, too. It would be a while, but he could feel he would make it. He just had to believe and put in the work. It wouldn't be easy, but he could devote himself to the task fully.

Over time he'd gotten used to the feelings of different cultivation styles around him, the handful that Anton was teaching to his various students as well as the others. But he suddenly felt one that he'd never felt before. At least… not from anyone else.

Death. That was the feeling of the energy, and what he thought would happen to him as it approached him. He didn't even get to fully consider running away before the suddenly detected presence was on top of him, looking him in the eyes. And then it was too late.

"You… are not a member of the Whispering Watchers," the voice was raspy and indistinct, but more or less directed at him. Or perhaps… simply not excluded from his ears. "You're coming with me."

Hiram had no ability to respond in any capacity as her energy wrapped around him as if he were simply a bundle of sticks and not a person. He recalled Anton's warnings. A deep part of him was filled with regret… while another part of him was filled with hope. That was just the way humans functioned, because even though he knew he would die… if he didn't, he might look forward to being as strong as the woman in front of him.

It was only a very short time later that he found himself bound in heavy chains, inside a room at an inn on the edge of town where he'd once rented a room. The stupid part of him deep inside thought to blame them for that, when it hardly mattered to his current situation and they would be just as helpless as he was. But the rest of his brain was hardly coming up with any solutions to his predicament either. Even if he wasn't being watched, he had the feeling he couldn't break out of the chains binding him.

"I'm only going to ask this once," the woman said. "Where is Anton Krantz?"

Hiram felt death wash over him. It wasn't just her energy, but something deeper. He felt her true intentions. In a way, that let him set his resolve. Since he was going to die anyway, he wasn't going to die while being a traitor to someone who he'd chosen to involve himself with. "Anton? Never heard of him."

Hiram felt his life being torn out of him. It was much the same as natural energy flowing through him, but without any of the care for his own safety… or the promise of anything more to come afterwards. But- right before the final bit left him- the flow stopped.

The woman clicked her tongue. "No, better keep him alive for the moment. He might come look for him that way."

It didn't encourage Hiram that she'd changed her mind. By any reasonable measure he wasn't alive anyway, nor would he be for long. And now he was being used as bait. He could only hope that Anton would understand the situation and let him die, since it would happen anyway.

The first flare of power could have been Anton's imagination. It was brief and indistinct, as well as incredibly far off. Ten kilometers, at a minimum. But as he focused his attention in that direction, he felt it once again… much more clearly. It was hard to mistake. He'd felt the cultivation technique before, and Hiram had been doing an excellent job practicing it. But the magnitude was many times different. Even if all of Arbington was composed of Body Tempering cultivators, they wouldn't be able to put a scratch on a Life Transformation cultivator.

Anton carefully extended his senses, doing his best not to allow his target to feel back towards himself. If she did, he knew he couldn't escape. Soon enough, he'd verified all he needed to know. He couldn't guarantee that the woman was Elder Naheed, but names didn't matter in the current circumstance.

She had Hiram. Beyond that, though Anton couldn't tell his exact state, he was just as sure as Hiram himself that the man would die. The logical choice was just to leave him. And when she killed everyone else he'd come into contact with, and perhaps all of Arbington and the surrounding towns and villages…? It was simply inevitable. Nothing he could do about it.

But Anton wasn't that kind of man. If he couldn't protect those he'd chosen to make a part of his life, what was the point? But Anton also had people who cared about him, and for their sakes he couldn't die pointlessly. So he stood, watching… waiting… thinking.

Where were the nearest people he could call upon as allies? It was unfortunate, but obviously Arbington didn't have much of anything that could help. Nor anywhere within a day's travel in most directions- and that was by cultivator standards. Grand Elder Kseniya had warned him of the woman, but simply in general- not that she was actually approaching. She had been watching the sect, related to the suspicions that they were related to the Twin Soul Sect. Proof was inconclusive, and all that was certain was that they had at least a few as members and hadn't removed them.

If he could somehow get a message to Grand Elder Kseniya… she might arrive within a day. Perhaps two, if she were a bit further. After all, the speed a cultivator traveled in normal circumstances and emergencies were entirely different. Just because as a young man he could run to town without issue didn't mean he did run into town. He walked, like a normal, sane person. The same was true with cultivators, even if they walked much more quickly.

If he'd simply been directly attacked, Anton would have found the decision making process easier. As it was, he had too many options… and none of them seemed to lead to anything good. He'd never spent so long planning a shot before. Especially not without knowing if he could even take the shot. Physically he was capable, but would it do any good? That was something else entirely.

How long would it be before she moved from Hiram to someone else? He couldn't be saved anymore, but anyone following him Anton was still able to protect. Taking the shot now should result in the minimal number of deaths.

He found himself at the top of a tree. There were plenty of similar size in the deep woods, where he'd been tending to the third batch of tree thistles. Atop his perch he wouldn't be fighting against the curvature of the planet quite so much. A nice twenty-meter tall tree tripled the proper distance to the horizon. With his target at ten kilometers, he even had some extra room to breathe on the far end.

His fingers fiddled with his quiver. Getting his hands on a copy of the Deathly Heart Technique had allowed some flaws to be discerned- mostly by the Life Transformation elders traveling with those from the other continent. But Anton noticed one independently, before it was explained more clearly by others. As a technique associated with death, its practitioners were also highly sensitive to killing intent. Killing intent was one of those hard to quantify things, and normally paired with the ability to sense danger in general. But in this particular case, it was truly that specific.

The truer the risk of death, the more they would be able to anticipate an incoming attack. But if an attack was not deadly… their senses might be muted to it. Just slightly, but that might be enough.

Anton's fingers settled on a black arrow. He only had one, and he only came into possession of it because of favoritism from Kseniya. A black thorned arrow. It came from a very obscure plant that had the slight issue of not growing anywhere with natural energy, and in very specific climates to boot. So far it hadn't been artificially cultivated, but from Anton's perspective it felt like a distant relative of the western creeper.

In short, its thorns almost completely ignored energy defenses… and if it hit just the right spot it could disrupt a cultivator's energy flow until they yanked it out, potentially causing more damage than when it struck them. She'd used one arrow during the execution, greatly hindering one of their opponents.

Anton doubted he could achieve a perfect shot, but with what he hoped was the element of surprise he would certainly try. He wouldn't aim for the head or neck. Nor would he aim for the heart. The capacity of something that ignored energy to strike the dantian in its metaphysical location below the stomach was not something Anton knew, but if it did it might also be a fatal blow. So he was aiming for a kidney. Something below the ribcage and important, but also one that could be done without. A normal person might go into shock and die from having a kidney destroyed, but a cultivator would be able to handle it somewhat. And hopefully… it would not be sensed the same way.

He hesitated, not because he was unsure about whether he should take the shot… but when he should. Exchanging his own life for Hiram… even he wasn't so selfless. It was likely too late for him regardless. But Elder Naheed hadn't gone anywhere in the several long minutes Anton had been watching. If she remained where she was, nobody else would die. Hopefully.

So he was waiting for something to make the choice for him. Then he felt it. Something unexpected but sufficient for him to decide, off to the north. Something that Elder Naheed would absolutely notice soon. His fingers pulled the arrow from his quiver. He raised his bow and nocked it on the string, pulling it back in one smooth motion. No special energy adorned the arrow, and what was there simply existed to propel it straight and true. The power of ascension and that from beyond death could both signal more than he was willing to give away.

His fingers released, the string snapped. Then the arrow was in flight. Normally Anton would have had another two or three at least on their way by the time it arrived, but his first one needed to strike… and the additional attacks might provide some semblance of warning.

Normally Anton would fly with his arrow, but in this case his connection to the arrow was shaky due to its materials. Even so, he felt it was perfectly on target, flying towards Elder Naheed, intending to slip just below her ribs on the right side. Her moving a single pace to the side required only the minutest adjustment in its trajectory.

Then he lost all sense of the arrow, and Elder Naheed's power flared up like a fire. A cruel fire, ravaging a city not because of carelessness or storm but because someone wanted to see it burn, to watch people die. A foul energy. And hopefully… a slightly diminished one. But it certainly charged towards him with enough speed for him to know his shot was far from fatal.

Chapter 304

"That felt like Grandpa!" Alva exclaimed. "Why couldn't he have waited just a little bit? We were almost there…"

The trio of cultivators picked up their pace, from running at a sustainable speed to sprinting their fastest, the landscape flying by.

"Do you think he noticed us?" Anish asked.

"Uh… probably," Alva admitted. "He was taking a shot at something further away than we are."

"In that case, he could be expecting our arrival. We should focus on speed instead of talking," Annelie pointed out.

The difference in speed a cultivator could produce when talking or not was almost negligible, but sometimes a single step out of a kilometer would make a difference in a battle between cultivators. They were still a handful of kilometers north of Anton, whereas his target had been to the west. Both parties seemed to be coming in at a right angle collision course.

Though none of those present were specialists in long distance sensing, the powerful energy of Anton's target became clear. They had the same deathly energy as the bodies they had found. At least they didn't have to warn him about the Whispering Watchers, since he clearly already knew.

Alva's grumbles about not having Fuzz to make her faster were only internal. Even so, she made a vow not to leave him behind even if it was awkward to take him along.

When the arrow struck the woman in front of Hiram, he almost felt his heart stop. The attack and the reaction were both overwhelming… the old woman's deathly energy unconsciously lashing out against the danger. Then she was gone, moving directly through the window and the portion of wall that got in her way. Hiram could sense her moving, or at least where she had been from the tremendous energy she radiated… but he couldn't track her at all. Nor had he noticed Anton's arrow before it struck. But it had to be his. He'd felt the man when he sparred with them. It was the same… but a thousand times more serious. Anton training with them had been like a soldier training infants.

How frustrating. And here he was, nearly dead and chained up. And at least partially responsible for Anton's upcoming death. There had been training to conceal his energy, and he knew he should take it seriously… but he just thought it was to blind the locals from knowing how much he was growing. He hadn't expected one of the Whispering Watchers to arrive.

Hiram struggled against his chains, but he could barely move. Even at his best, he couldn't have broken the chains. He could only stare out the window and now-open wall, helpless.

Then a face poked itself over the edge. "Hiram?" Idalia asked cautiously. "What's going on?"

"... Anton's in trouble," Hiram kept his explanation as short as possible. Even talking was hard.

"Anton's in trouble? You're in trouble," she pulled herself up. "You look like you're about to die."

"I likely am…" he nodded. "Cultivators are… vicious."

A rattling sound made Hiram realize Idalia was trying to undo his chains.

"Don't bother. There's no way… we could break them."

"You're really in a bad state, huh?" Idalia shook her head. "Eat this." She placed something in Hiram's mouth, but he couldn't even swallow it properly and she had to shove it down his throat with energy. When she did, he felt a little bit of vitality beginning to flow through him. "That's a basic vitality pill. Just learned it. Might be some side effects, but…" she shrugged. "Now let's get you out of here." She yanked on him, but he didn't move. "Oh damn. These are heavy."

She yanked once more and he hit the ground with a loud clanking sound. "Ugh" was all he could manage as the air was knocked out of him.

"Sorry," she said. "Maybe I could roll you… no, stairs might be too much. And this ledge would definitely be too much." Idalia shook her head. "You just wait right here. I'll go get the smith."

Hiram would have told her not to bother, but he didn't have the capacity to speak or the belief it would stop her.

She came back later, throwing a man up to the broken opening instead of coming through the door. She soon followed after.

"Yeah…" the dark skinned smith known as Bongani shook his head. "There's no way I can break whatever the heck these chains are. Even if we were at my forge."

"Crap. What do we do then?" Idalia asked.

"Well… they're a tiny bit loose. We can just wiggle him out. Hope he's flexible."

Hiram's flexibility had increased greatly in recent times, but he was currently feeling not very flexible. The chains had been overly tight, but he had wasted away instantly because of the woman's energy. Just enough for them to start getting him out a little at a time.

It took a lot of effort, shifting chains and even twisting individual links to make the slightest gaps, but there were no manacles clamping onto him. It was more than just wrapping his arms tight to his torso, but with some twisting they finally got one arm out. With that loose, the entire chain had enough slack for them to gradually begin unentangling him.

"I want this chain," Bongani said. "But I also don't want whoever owns it to come back and murder me for it."

"Should just leave me…" Hiram said.

"No way. We almost have you out now," Idala chastised. And it wasn't long before he really was out. "Now we have to get you somewhere you can rest."

"... take me to Anton," Hiram blurted out.

"What?" Idalia raised an eyebrow.

"Nothing… just a stupid instinct." Upon reflection, there was no way anything good could come of that.

"Could it help Anton?"

"Don't think so…" Hiram tried to shake his head, and managed a little wiggle. "Just a dumb thought. For if he won…"

"You think he won't win?"

"Did you feel her? It's… hard to imagine anyone who could."

Bongani hefted Hiramo onto his shoulder. "So where are we going? To a bed… or after that?"

Anton focused his next dozen arrows directly at Elder Naheed's kidney- or rather the arrow still sticking out of the area. He didn't think it would do anything except anger her, but that might be good enough. He was also hoping she might strain the area with violent movements, but she wasn't interested in dodging. Instead she plowed through his shots, which was actually good enough since she wasted energy inefficiently blocking his attacks. A single arrow was filled with reincarnation energy, but instead of its normal effects of partially ignoring defensive energy, his Spirit Arrow exploded. Unfortunately, the explosion wasn't concentrated in any point enough to cause damage.

It wasn't going to be long before the woman reached him. His reinforcements wouldn't arrive for at least half a minute after that. It seemed like a short time, but in a battle with a Life Transformation expert… Anton wasn't going to count on it.

He leapt out of his tree, taking off at an angle to the northeast. That should lead the groups to intersect earlier, and keep him from being caught quite as soon. As he ran, Anton gathered ascension energy for his first shot of about five. It was aimed the same as everything else, but with a little trick. If Naheed didn't notice in time, he might actually get something done.

The arrow flew, and with it a portion of Anton's consciousness. The gap between them was less than half of what it had been, though the arrow wasn't as swift. Its target was coming towards Anton, however, so the effective velocity was rather significant. Naheed's defensive energy awkwardly extended around the tail of the black thorned arrow, hindered by its particular properties- but it wasn't so long that she couldn't just extend her energy around it without touching it.

When the arrow impacted her defensive energy, it collapsed- from back to front. It didn't fizzle into nothingness, but condensed into a blunt mass striking her defensive energy… and forcing it inward, smashing into the arrow. It pushed it just a tiny bit deeper, but it got the results Anton wanted. Specifically, she ripped the black thorned arrow out of her wound, causing blood to pour out as the thorny barbs tore into her flesh.

A few more volleys of arrows, and she was basically on top of him. At a few hundred meters behind him, she began gathering her energy into spheres which she lobbed, much like the other members of the Whispering Watchers. Her accuracy was much better, and the stability of her attacks as well. Anton had been able to pop the spheres of the Essence Collection members with a single arrow, but now he was taking two or three. It was quite difficult to outpace Elder Naheed, but he kept it up until she reached him in melee.

Anton was quick, but not quick enough to continuously dodge the grasping hands of a Life Transformation cultivator. Even one slightly injured and irrational. She attacked without a weapon, her fingers serving like claws with deathly energy reaching beyond them. Little sickles, even, attempting to reap his life.

A simple scrape on his cheek tore something out of him with the fleeting contact. A more direct hit or prolonged contact might be the end of him. He didn't have that much life left to spare. That gave him an idea… but it wasn't one he was going to choose to make use of.

He had to slow her down for just a moment, and so he formed his energy bows around himself, peppering her with arrows. Some were flashes of light aimed at her eyes, disruptive whether or not they caused any damage. Others aimed for whatever seemed like a weak point at the time. The wrist just below her gathered energy claws. A leg as it stepped forward. And of course… her abdomen, where she was injured and her energy still wasn't entirely stable.

Then more arrows joined the battle, not from Anton's hands. He breathed a sigh of relief, even as she lunged forward at him and grabbed his arm. So be it then, he was going to try something stupid.

At the same time as life energy was draining from him, he knew it was still his. And though he hadn't specifically targeted any portion of it before… he was able to ignite it with Candle Wax. If he failed to target the correct portion he would hopefully at least get the temporary boost from burning his lifespan. Instead… it seemed his instincts were good.

Naheed was grinning wildly as she grasped onto his arm, until her face twitched and she screamed in rage. "You-"

"Me what?" Anton taunted. "Me, the one who isn't a traitor to the world like your students? Or me… the one who won't let you absorb my lifeforce?"

Naheed had pulled back, her arm pulsing with black veins. "Pfeh. I'll just kill that one then," her arm smacked away Alva's arrows as she turned. Anton was truly surprised at her actions. It was like she didn't even notice the other two.

Masses of fire and ice impacted around her at the same time. Instead of negating each other like would have been expected, frost began to form on one of her sides while the other had flickering fire. Both were being held back by her defensive energy, but having to deal with two opposite energies at the same time divided her concentration further.

It didn't help that Alva and Anton were shooting at her from the other two sides. She only hesitated for a moment, though, and turned to follow through on her promise of attacking Alva. Anish and Annelie were charging from either side, with Anish having circled around to the south. But Anton was having none of it.

His own power wasn't enough to stand up to a Life Transformation cultivator. But a quarter of one, now that was a different story. To be fair, Alva and Annelie were earlier in Essence Collection than himself, but Anish had a couple more years of training under his belt and was the prime genius of the Glorious Flame Palace. Either way, it was close enough.

It would only take the woman a couple seconds to close the gap between herself and Annelie, whose range was only a few hundred meters. At the very least, she would soon be lobbing orbs of death. Anton gathered as much ascension energy as he could handle… and then a little bit more. It hurt his hands just to hold his bow, but he didn't care. He simply focused the power around his bow and into the arrow, then let it fly.

His target hadn't changed one bit, and though Elder Naheed finally made an attempt to dodge to the side… the twin powers of the fire and ice restricted her movements enough that he was basically accurate. Anton's arrow struck her in the small of her back, an uninjured location… on that side. But it pierced through the defensive energy and skin and muscle to find very little, except some already torn up flesh. It flew out of her front… but the arrow was not yet done. It circled around to strike her chest at the same time as another shot was charged to hit her in the spine. She made the correct choice to focus her energy on protecting her spine, but that left her open to a small hole in her sternum. Sadly it didn't pierce into her heart, but it had already done more than could reasonably be expected.

Alva was fleeing perpendicular to Naheed's path, moving vaguely towards Anish. That was sensible, because he would be the most able to protect her in melee- even if it meant getting somewhat within range of the elder.

But getting to her wasn't so easy. Fire and ice crashed around her, its power multiplying as the two cultivators got into melee range. Instead of wide spreads of heat and cold, there was only a small area of fire and ice around the two cultivators. Both struck out, leaving behind remnants of their elements that clung to Naheed's energy, trying to seep through it.

She gave up on her chase of Alva, instead swiping her arms to either side, black claws extended. She managed to cleave through some of their defensive energy, but facing two at once she wasn't quite able to get a solid blow that would drain some of their life. But while her attitude upon first charging at Anton had been enraged, she had been almost casual about his subsequent attacks. Now she knew to take them all seriously… and they would find it harder to achieve subsequent injuries. Her destroyed kidney and the bleeding area around it might slow her down, but that just put it in the realm of their possible victory.

Chapter 305

Though it was theoretically possible to concentrate defensive energy on the location of an incoming attack, that method left people vulnerable to attacks which were easily able to change trajectories. Many cultivators preferred to concentrate on a particular point that could be moved. That could be a weapon used to parry or a shield like Timothy had. Doing the same with reinforced armor on the torso was possible, but limited their other mobility options.

Elder Naheed had large enough stores and a quick enough outflow of energy to be able to coat her whole body in a layer that would protect against the widespread fire and ice being used against her while still having the freedom to make attacks or concentrate energy on her arms to negate specific attacks. There was practically no angle she couldn't reach… but Anton experimented with different shots to try to find the optimal one.

Targeting her legs was no good- it was too simple for her to pull away at the last moment. Currently she was preventing further damage to her torso with her defensive moves, but even if Anton couldn't directly impact her he still had a plan. Any attack that caused her to move far enough to strain the muscles in her abdomen was what he preferred. That way she would worsen the injuries around her kidney and the hole that now went all the way through her. Anton wished he could have targeted a more immediately fatal organ, but he was still of the belief his attack would not have been successful in that case. Even just having to contend with bones would have severely hampered the attack.

Elder Naheed spun in a circle, a ring of power spreading out from her. It was formed of the same deathly energy as the orbs she threw. Anish and Annelie were forced to duck down to avoid touching it, and both of them threw themselves further back when it dropped down towards them even as it continued to expand. It forced them back to the twenty meter mark, which was likely close to the maximum size Naheed could sustain. Anton wouldn't put it past her to be able to expand just a bit further than that in a way that would be used when people got used to her attacks, but he didn't know for sure.

His arrows targeted the ring for a short duration, but Anton found it was much more stable than the orbs she lobbed. At best he was directly facing off against her energy, which made his attacks basically useless. At least the ring didn't seem quick enough to be a good defensive measure against the ranged attacks of himself and Alva. For one thing, it retained its shape- which meant it couldn't block things at different heights or at a further radius. But it did make it hard for Anish and Annelie to get close to Naheed.

That allowed her the freedom to move closer, within the range she was able to accurately lob her deathly orbs. She seemed quite intent on taking out Alva who had circled around her, perhaps because she seemed to be one of the weaker ones present. In addition to forming around her hands, they came out of the ring as it began to spin. Not all of the attacks were aimed at Alva, and even Anton who was the furthest away found himself forced to shoot down as many coming towards himself as he could while dodging the others, trying to avoid them as they burst.

With Naheed's attacks focused on Alva, the young archer found herself in the hardest position. Anton was trying to aid her with extra shots, but even with his energy bows he simply couldn't produce enough Spirit Arrows to stop the myriad of attacks. It only took one to reach Alva, forcing her to desperately parry it with her bow. It knocked her backwards, sending her to the ground, her energy in disarray.

At no point in the battle had Anton been holding back, but desperation pushed him a bit further. Though there was always the lingering thought of using Candle Wax, that might simply knock him out of the battle early. And life, though such was of secondary concern when his allies and family were on the line. Perhaps he should have been willing to sacrifice a few to avoid the trouble. If he had fled towards them, he might have convinced them to leave with him instead of fighting. He had no doubts they were coming to him for a reason, after all. But that would have likely resulted in the deaths of everyone Anton had been training in Arbington and them being chased as they fled, resulting in the same battle eventually.

Anton had continued to make use of ascension energy as he found openings, and as Alva lay on the ground, her energy fading slightly, he made use of the last of it to draw Naheed's attention once more- even as he moved closer. He hoped to make a tempting target.

The flame and ice bombarding the Life Transformation cultivator from either side began to wrap around the ring, restricting its motion long enough for the two others to run in towards the woman. That placed them inside the ring, a dangerous location- but it was also clear she wasn't focused in melee combat. Able to hold her own, certainly, but it wasn't her specialty. Anton made note that she didn't launch any orbs from the inner part of the ring towards them, so they were actually safer until it began to contract.

Flames so bright it hurt Anton's eyes ignited not only the leaves on the ground but the dirt and rocks several meters deep, at the center of which was Anish. He managed to reach Naheed and grab onto one of her arms, which was already slightly crispy. From the other side Annelie grabbed her other arm, coating it in a block of ice. Anton's arrows tried to find purchase where they could, but it wasn't quite enough. He could feel a buildup of energy from Elder Naheed, something that would be just as dangerous as the contracting ring.

Then, without ceremony, a single arrow pierced two knuckles deep into Elder Naheed's abdomen. Anton didn't even notice it had been fired, as it hadn't registered to his brain as important. But that was exactly why Alva had circled around her… towards the mostly intact black thorn arrow. As the arrow cut into her flesh, it punctured close to the metaphysical location of her dantian, the core of where energy was stored. Whether or not it directly damaged that, it did disrupt the buildup of energy. A large portion of it focused on the arrow, not completely immune to the effects of energy. The arrow itself disintegrated, while the rest of the rising energy shot out from Naheed in a much less controlled manner than it might have otherwise.

Thus, less than a third of the total energy ended up impacting the pair grabbing onto her. The power of it forced them back- but that just indicated that their defenses held somewhat, absorbing the momentum. The ring surrounding them shattered before they reached it, but as the wave of energy washed over him Anton knew nobody was walking away uninjured.

Everything seemed to stop for a moment. Alva stood across from Anton, face pale and bloody at the same time. To either side were Anish and Annelie, both still holding onto Naheed's arms… though Anish's soon dissolved into a pile of ash. As for the woman herself, blood spurted from her torso wherever had not been cauterized by heat or frozen over. But she wasn't dead yet- and her immediate movement was towards Anton.

She reached out for him, weakly pulling at his life force. Even without a physical touch, it seemed she was still somewhat effective. And she still had significant power, even after everything she'd been through. Enough to threaten Anton, if she simply tried to kill him with no notion of defense. As she drew closer, arrows pierced her torso but didn't stop her and the pull grew stronger. Before the two on the sides could reach her, Anton knew she would get to him.

So he gave into the pull… but only a little bit. It seemed she hadn't learned her lesson from before, as she greedily absorbed the chunk of life force he sent towards her… where it lit her on fire from inside. She exploded, a sphere of gray-black energy expanding outward and leaving behind only a desiccated body. Anton dropped to his knees, nearly devoid of energy and at least a few years lost. A small price to pay… if the woman was actually dead.

It could have been a single instant or an hour. Time stretched on as if nothing would ever happen again… but then Anton heard familiar voices in the distance.

"That was terrifying," one of them said in something approaching a whisper.

"Get me closer!" called the other.

His eyes drifter over to the figures that were still several hundred meters off. So his ears did still work. There was simply nothing making noise. Even the breaths of his three compatriots were quiet.

"Closer? Fine."

Anton watched as Idalia ran forward, carrying Hiram in her arms. Soon enough she stepped from healthy forest into the dead zone around where the fight had taken place, a realm of scorched and frozen trees which had been subsequently drained of life.

"Is this good enough?" Idalia asked.

"Need to touch her, I think…" Hiram gestured towards the fallen body of Elder Naheed.

"Ugh. I don't feel good about this."

Anton would have cautioned them against it as well, but as they stepped forward he felt Hiram's energy working, driving away the deathly energy permeating the area… and even drawing a small bit of it into himself.

Hiram twisted in Idalia's arms and flopped out of her grip, but he seemed unperturbed at landing next to the corpse. His arm stretched out and touched it. "I'm taking this back… you psychopath."

Though Anton couldn't sense it before he began his efforts, a small string of life force made its way into Hiram, who subsequently pushed himself up to his knees, shakily standing to his feet.

"The rest of you… come closer. I think… I can slightly reduce the aftereffects."

Anton happily approached. He trusted Hiram to try his best at least… and if he failed, what was a bit more damage to his life force?

As it turned out, it really was just a slight effect. Even though he felt Hiram's cultivation had leapt forward a step, there was only so much he could improve at once. A single step in Body Tempering was nearly insignificant compared to Life Transformation, but he also had the use of stores of lingering, ownerless energy. Anton felt a bit better after Hiram's energy gently worked on him. It was little better than pouring water back into a cracked cup, but the effort was at least sincere.

Anton imagined some of his wrinkles had deepened again, but the others appeared to be healthy enough. Momentarily drained, but they had plenty of life force to spare. They would all need rest, though.

After they returned to town and simply sat for a while, Anton looked at the others. Specifically, the three in Essence Collection. "Just to make sure we're on the same page. You were coming to see me for a reason, right? Hopefully there's not some other disaster on the horizon."

"We were nearby," Annelie explained. "And we caught signs of her. So no, there's nothing else… that we know about."

"Would have been nice if she stayed more intact…" Anton frowned. "Not that it really matters. Those who will believe the connection to the Twin Soul Sect likely did before the attack. The others… well, this attack will make it hard for them to openly support her. Though I imagine they'll twist it to say that we were responsible even though she snuck her way out here to kill me." Anton flicked his eyes towards Hiram. "Or… him?"

Hiram shook his head. "She seemed surprised to see me."

"Good, I think. I hadn't thought the danger to you would be quite this high." Anton frowned. "Unfortunately, it seems things aren't quite over. We're to have a guest?"

"Who?" Idalia said panicked. "Wait, is it Birita? Is she coming here?"

"Unfortunately," Anton said. "With backup." Perhaps he should have killed her before. Now he would find it much more difficult, even with several exhausted companions.

Idalia raced for the door, pulling it open. But instead of fleeing, she pulled a tiny pouch off of her waist, loosening the drawstrings and placing it atop the door which was left just barely ajar. "That's… all I can do. Sorry." She shuffled over to the rear of the room. "Should we just… jump out the rear window?"

They were currently seated in the common area of the inn Hiram had been abducted to. It was convenient, on the edge of town… and empty. Nobody was going to come back to where cultivators trashed a place within a couple hours of the event. "I think running won't do us much good," Anton remarked. "We'll have to face them honestly." Normally, with the three at his side he would have found a single Essence Collection cultivator and a dozen or so Spirit Building followers a trivial group of enemies, but exhausted and half-dead he was less sure. "Unless the rest of you have other ideas?"

They all shook their heads, and Idalia shrugged. "I already did what I could. I suppose it's too late for us to sneak into other rooms?"

"The walls are sturdy enough," Anton smiled. "Just go into the kitchen, you'll be safer from accidents there at least."

"Right." Idalia stood up and grabbed Hiram's arm. "Come on."

He let her drag him towards the kitchen, but he was strong enough to stand on his own… and he kept eyeing the door.

Chapter 306

Outside of the common room, Birita stopped for a moment to plan her actions and scan the threats. Anton was significantly weakened, and though there were a few others with them… Birita felt she could handle them. Alone might be difficult, but she brought her lieutenants with her for a reason.

She grimaced as her stomach turned and took a swig from her jug. She was almost out of the stuff. Then she kicked open the door. A bag of powder fell to the floor, and Birita waved aside the dust. "Well, what do we have here?" She sneezed, doubling over momentarily from the force of the movement. When she straightened, she did her best to gloss over the undignified act. "Just a short time ago you were all high and mighty," she said referring to Anton, "But here you are. Weak as a kitten. Having to resort to a low quality trap to think you have a chance." She sniffed, her nose itching. A tiny application of energy brushed it to relieve the urge. "And two cowards hiding in the back. Tell you what… the rest of you can run off as long as you leave those two and the old man behind."

"Like hell we will!" one of the women drew her bow. "We'd never abandon our grandpa."

Now that Birita thought of it, she saw the resemblance. Vaguely. "Interesting. A trio of grandchildren come to visit? An opportunity that's hard to pass up. If the old man begs me for forgiveness, I might spare you."

"Um… I'm not related to them," Anish pointed out. "We're just from allied sects."

"Fine, whatever. It doesn't matter. The point is, you're in my territory now. You have to-" the itching was growing stronger. She couldn't stop it. "You have to follow my rules." She focused on breathing through her mouth, but that didn't help the constant nausea she'd been hit with lately. Or the headaches. A swig of booze helped with that, extremely briefly.

Finally, Anton spoke. "This is who you follow?" Anton looked to those behind her, standing half in and half outside the door, blocking various escape routes. "Interesting that she was not brave enough to come alone."

"How dare-" Birita was going to say something more, but she sneezed once more. It caused her to stagger backwards, stepping on the pouch of powder and spraying it around the area. Birita managed to keep most of it away from herself, but the others around her began to sneeze. Her eyes focused on the kitchen. "You little worm!"

Two bows fired arrows towards her while the other two began to move forward, but they stopped when a pair burst from the back room. One was a woman that should have been a local herbalist. She was the one who prepared the tree thistle, but Birita was about ready to make an example of her. Especially when she grabbed a handful of powder from a pouch and blew it in her face.

Something about the circumstances made her instinctively draw a breath, which was exactly the wrong move. Her energy should have been able to filter out all of the particles of powder trying to enter her lungs, but everything had been off recently. She realized she hadn't drawn her weapon, but she wouldn't need that to kill a couple Body Tempering cultivators. Except it was a pain to get to them, as every step she took forward forced her back two, with arrows threatening to impale her. She was just about to order her subordinates to handle them when the nausea peaked.

She suppressed the urge to vomit, but her concentration was screwed up enough to allow the man in front of her a moment to attack. It was a strange form of energy, but nothing should have stopped her from blocking it completely. She slapped it away with her hand. The fact that it caused her to tingle was… concerning.

"Uh, boss. What should we do about them?"

Birita eyed the man who threw the strange gray orb as well as monitoring the two archers. "Kill them, of course!"

"All of them?" the man asked, somewhat nervously.

At that point, Birita noticed that there were more people present than she had thought. The two archers, and the fire and ice pair threatening to cut her off from her subordinates, but also at least a dozen others approaching. A bunch of early Body Tempering cultivators shouldn't be a problem but… some of the others didn't belong.

"Heya boss," Trix called from the pack, which included Sarto and some others who nominally followed her. "Looks like you're busy. But some of us were thinking we'd discuss a change in leadership."

"You're a bad leader," Sarto commented. "You make us do bad things."

"And you keep all the best cultivation stuff and booze for yourself," Trix pointed out, looking meaningfully at the handful of Spirit Building cultivators supporting her.

The entire time, the two archers weren't making it easy for Birita to engage in conversation. She was dancing around to avoid their attacks, wary of fighting four Essence Collection cultivators at once- even weakened from battle and wounds- and her backup wasn't helping. And the half-dead guy with the spooky energy wasn't helping.

"You know," the herbalist said. "You really should be careful with what you're putting into your body."

"That's not-" Birita sneezed violently, "Any of your business!"

"It is, actually. You're the one who forced me to get literal bucketloads of medicine to counteract your failing liver, and then didn't stop binge drinking. And you didn't ask about the side effects. How's the nausea?"

Much worse, with all of the arrow dodging she was having to keep up. If she didn't know any better she would have thought people were keeping her talking exactly so that-

At exactly that moment, she could no longer control herself. It only took a second of spewing her guts for her to be peppered with arrows from the side, piercing all down her side. How were they still so strong? They just barely survived a fight with a Life Transformation cultivator! Birita was so afraid to even get close to that battle, but when they came back nearly dead she thought… maybe…

Her last thoughts came when she realized her defensive energy had dropped entirely- and the chilling deathly energy reached into her and began to pull her apart.

Hiram stepped forward, deepening his connection with the dying Birita. He was under no illusions that he was the cause of her death… but if she were going to die anyway he might as well make it worth it. While his cultivation couldn't grow any more at the moment, absorbing strands of her life energy would suffice to not worry about side effects of his cultivation technique for a long time. And though she wasn't the sole cause of his trouble- the Gray Stone Sect was responsible for more personal grief- he still enjoyed seeing her die. He wasn't sure if that was his natural inclination of something sparked by the Deathly Heart Technique, but he was glad to feel something vaguely uplifting.

He glared at the group of Spirit Building cultivators that had followed her in, but they were already trying to slip out. The pair of fire-and-ice cultivators in front of them probably had a lot to do with it.

The local villagers stepped back to let them pass. It was a shame to let them go, but they could probably kill a few people on the way out if they were desperate. Even with Anton and the others. They still radiated the power of Essence Collection, but he felt the hollowness behind it. They personally weren't in much danger, but also were basically tapped out. Besides… this was a local problem, and they should take care of it if they could. Birita was out of their league, but honestly Idalia was surprisingly effective.

He decided to ask her about that. "How did you know that would work?"

She shrugged. "Everyone knows sneezing makes other things difficult. Anton's information about her health status made me a bit more confident. And some of that stuff magnifies the side effects of that thistle medicine she was vastly overusing."

"Yeah…" Trix wandered in and joined the conversation. "She's been a mess lately. Lots of throwing things at people if they even mentioned she seemed a bit sick, which kind of… eased this whole split," she waved to Sasho and the other former members of Birita's gang. "Then she was stupid enough to come attack Anton."

"Pretty decent timing on her part," Anton admitted as he sat back down. "Except that I'm not alone. And I would never let her hurt my cute granddaughters."

"These two are your granddaughters?" Trix asked. "Well damn. No wonder they're so strong. Younger than me too."

"Where did you get your cultivation technique from?" Anton asked. "A dusty, worm-eaten scroll buried in the ground?"Trix grimaced. He wasn't actually too far off, though the details weren't right. "I don't mean to disparage your efforts," Anton clarified. "But it feels like it's incomplete. And not of particularly high quality."

"It's… kind of all I could get," Trix admitted. "And I needed this guy to help me through some of it," she pat Sasho on the shoulder.

"This one is probably leagues better," Alva said, pulling something out of Birita's bag. "At least it's complete through the end of Spirit Building."

"... she said she didn't have anything she could share with us," Trix frowned.

"She didn't want people to be a threat to her position," Annelie guessed. "But if she had focused on empowering her subordinates, she might have created something… more lasting."

"If that one is no good," Anton said. "I've a small collection I can teach you from."

"You'd really do that?" Trix asked. "For us? We're kinda… some of the bad guys."

"I suppose I should consult Idalia at least, though she seemed to be slightly fond of you."

"Look," Idalia shrugged, "Trix helped enforce Birita's 'taxes' and all that, but she kind of made us feel like it wasn't so bad?" She shook her head, "And Sasho broke half my shop, but he never meant to."

"I'm sorry," Sasho said. "I thought… we were doing something good. Most people… wouldn't complain around me. I suppose… they were scared."

"Based on the state of your encampment when I was there," Anton said, "I doubt there's much left to give back to the villages around here?"

"We spent it all immediately." Trix shook her head. "Or rather, Birita did. Importing expensive booze from far away mostly. Doubt she even tasted most of it."

"I think there's a fairly simple solution here," Anton said. "I doubt those standing outside will be fully capable of just forgiving you immediately. But if you help them earn back some of their losses and provide some safety… I'm sure they can agree to let bygones be bygones." Anton's voice was loud enough for those outside to know he was more or less declaring it. Not that they wanted to fight against a group that was currently stronger than themselves, anyway.

"Does that mean we have to… work?"

"You were doing work for Birita, you know," Anton pointed out. "Better to do something practical. And you'll find your cultivations benefit you in various avenues of physical labor."

"... you'll really teach us how to fix our cultivation issues?" Trix asked.

"I can teach you personally for a short while, and leave notes for after. I'm afraid I can't stay here indefinitely, given the circumstances that lead to my companions and I being like this."

"... I felt the fight," Trix said. "Just a tiny bit. Like watching hawks fight on the horizon. It was terrifying."

"You should go check out the battlefield. From a distance, because it honestly might kill you if you stepped on it."

"... should have stayed a pickpocket," Trix grumbled. "Cultivation is way too dangerous."

Chapter 307

Though he truly wished to stay around Arbington, Anton knew it was dangerous for both himself and the locals. Thus, after a short few weeks he was on his way to meet up with larger groups from their alliance. The trio that had come to help him reported back to the Blue River Gardens, alerting them about the results of the mission that had put them in the area. Upon learning that the Whispering Watchers were responsible for what happened, their response was somewhat subdued. The person directly responsible had been killed, but they couldn't strike back against the sect responsible. Not alone, but perhaps they might contribute towards a larger movement against them.

That was Anton's current goal. If he had done something inappropriate to provoke the attack it would be a different story, but this was a direct result of killing disciples of theirs that were part of the Twin Soul Sect. It was just one more indication of the Whispering Watcher's close relation.

Anton traveled with the other three, cautious for further attacks. Even though Anton believed that the Whispering Watchers wanted to kill Anton, he somehow doubted that Elder Naheed's actions were officially authorized. Or perhaps they were, on the condition that she kill anyone who noticed her- but either one indicated they weren't willing to openly declare war. That might have worked if Anton had died, but it would be hard for them to weasel out of responsibility for the attack. Which was why the group was staying cautious, as further members might want to kill them to silence them. They'd sent word through various messengers but had no way to know if their messages had arrived yet.

And of course, none of them wanted to die. Even Anton, who had accepted death as an inevitability- a single step closer now, after the conflict with Elder Naheed- still didn't want to die. Especially for nothing.

Their destination was Prophis. It was still a reasonable distance from the Whispering Watcher's land, but generally in the same region. Not too close, but a decent base for staging any future actions. Anton had not been there, but from the size of the city and its location it was simple to recognize it when he got close. Plus, he began to sense familiar sources of natural energy. Friendly ones.

"We'll be fine now," Anton said. Their travel wasn't particularly difficult- four Essence Collection cultivators could go pretty much anywhere except traipsing through the lands controlled by higher ranking sects.

"Are you sure?" Anish asked. "We should still be twenty or thirty kilometers away from our destination. That's plenty of distance for an ambush."

"Well… I suppose if they sent more than a pair of Life Transformation cultivators. Or one mid stage one who was willing to die to take us out."

"That's… not just confidence in our fighting ability, right?" Anish asked. "Given that we only came out slightly ahead against an early stage one."

"Well, it's not just the four of us who would be fighting," Anton pointed out. "Since we're within Kseniya's range."

"Ah… I'd heard about that," Anish shook his head. "I suppose I should have expected it, given that you began that battle from… somewhere around ten kilometers, I believe. And if Elder Sarka is here, it would only take a few minutes for her to arrive."

"That's Life Transformation cultivators for you," Anton shrugged. "Another large step ahead of us still, just to reach the beginning."

It was strange to think that a distance that would have taken Anton half a day of travel to cross in his youth was only a matter of minutes to some. To be fair, that wasn't a casual stride but an all out sprint that even Life Transformation cultivators couldn't sustain for long periods of time.

The place where the meetings were taking place was a nice wide room. Elder Sarka sat on one side, Adelina on the other. They glared at each other, at the members of their sects who walked in with each other, and back at each other.

"Given how many people are here," Anton said. "I'm going to assume you received the messages we sent ahead. Unless there's some emergency meeting that we are interrupting?"

"No," Adelina said simply. "We have been anticipating your arrival, and Kseniya called us to convene when she sensed your approach. You said you killed Elder Naheed. Do you have her body?"

"What?" Sarka quipped. "You don't believe him? We even had suspicions about her."

"That is not the case," Adelina calmly retorted. "Anton has proven himself quite reliable, along with… our disciples. I was merely hoping we would be able to make use of it for something."

"Here it is…" Anton said. He was not fond of carrying corpses, and Elder Naheed was wrapped in preserving cloth. Her body had been kept chilled as well, nearly frozen. But even so, it state was rather pathetic. One arm was missing- the one that Anish had destroyed- while the other had broken off. The body was full of burns and cracks from where it had frozen and rapidly heated. "Unfortunately, her energy has completely dissipated now. Even if we had come directly, it only lingered for less than a day. At least, the most important parts. Our investigation immediately following the event determined that she was a practitioner of the Twin Soul Sect's core cultivation technique, but all we have now is this," Anton gestured.

"Tch," Sarka clicked her tongue. "They get away with something else. Well, almost. This time it cost them a Life Transformation cultivator. Not to disparage the four of you but… I'm amazed you pulled that off."

"The black thorned arrow supplied by Grand Elder Kseniya was a major contributor. And the fact that I was able to begin the battle with a not insignificant blow." Anton explained the situation in more detail than his message- including of course that she was likely to kill innocents. "I know that in a way it is my fault but-"

"Screw that," Sarka slammed her palm on the table. "This isn't a trial. Every one of those bastards deserves to be incinerated. Your actions merely changed the form their evil took. Nobody here has an ounce of sympathy for them." That was probably the nicest thing she'd ever said about Adelina, though of course they avoided looking at each other.

"That's right," Adelina nodded. "We're just here to determine how we retaliate."

"How do we feel about killing their disciples?" Kseniya asked. When everyone looked at her, she shrugged. "What? They were planning to do the same to us. And someone just stepped out of their territory. I could take the shot."

"I suggest we delay that thought for the moment," Adelina cautioned. "At least to keep the element of surprise."

"And much as I hate to admit it," Sarka commented, "We're not enough to defeat them on our own. If our full sects were here it would be a different story, but with just us…"

"A shame that Swordmaster Rahayu is no longer around," Kseniya commented. "But he chose the path best for himself. His strength would have been useful, but it was not as if he turned and fled."

"The Whispering Watchers are a dominant force here," Sarka complained. "No local sects can match them. It will take some time to recruit those from further, and since they didn't jump at the opportunity when we first told them to investigate…"

Adelina brought up another point. "It will also be dangerous to remain close if they catch word of us preparing an attack. If they are determined, they could wipe us out solely with their Life Transformation cultivators. Though that would likely be seen as a sign of culpability, I don't imagine any of us intend to be martyrs."

"There must be some who were on the fence, though," Anton pointed out. "And don't forget that Elder Naheed is not only another point of aggression… but also a Life Transformation cultivator they do not have."

"Good point," Sarka nodded. "That's actually a significant blow to their sect. Which also means they're likely aware of her death… or will be soon."

"The problem seems to be nobody wishes to lead the charge," Adelina explained. "Everyone would very much like to not have traitors in their midst when the invasion comes, but nobody wants to be the one to risk their own remaining experts. So I propose we send them an ultimatum. They can either join us now, where they had our cultivators… or we leave immediately and let them deal with the rest of the consequences."

"I… agree," Sarka grimaced as she said those words. "It's not our job to handle the affairs of another continent. We're just here to make sure they have fair warning. That's been done, so we can just leave. Though I'd much rather stomp out this sect before we go."

Elder Tola from Infinite Wisdom Forest added her contribution. "I agree with the idea. As for implementing it, I do believe we can go with Kseniya's suggestion, as well as implying that the others will likely have already agreed… and that there won't be any spoils left if they arrive too late."

"Of course," Adelina nodded. "I had not considered playing up the benefits. It is difficult for people to think of removing a problem as a positive, but if their stores of cultivation resources get filled, they will weight it against their potential losses in members. Along with the other reasons, it should be sufficient."

"And we do not have to fight them in their territory," Elder Tola explained. "Because once we have some backup, Kseniya can make life very difficult for them if they do not come attack us. Even if we have to step onto their territory, it won't be an issue once other sects are in agreement."

Anton added some comments, "We should also include others, like the Rising Waterfall Sect. And even Marvelous Rabbit Mountain. Even Blue River Gardens from the south should contribute something. The larger our forces, the less risk to anyone. At a certain point, the rewards will be small but not an important factor."

"That might take weeks," Adelina said, "Even with fast messengers and them hurrying. I am not saying it is a bad idea, but we must begin quickly. Elder Naheed's absence should be growing more obvious by the day. Even this gathering could be noticed."

"Agreed," Tola nodded. "We should split up into delegations and travel with haste. Those from our alliance who have not gathered yet should also be found, if we can."

"I'm staying here," Kseniya said. "They tried to kill my favorite disciple. I warned them about that."

"The range of your attacks will be of little help if you are alone," Adelina pointed out. "It would be a waste."

"Don't worry… I won't start shooting. Yet." Kseniya grinned widely. "I'll just be scouting around… picking out targets."

"That seems reasonable," Elder Tola replied. "If we are planning offensive action, respecting their borders is no longer necessary. Do be careful though."

"Of course," Ksenia tilted up her head. "I'm planning to be around for the invasion too. I promised that old guy I'd take care of the Order."

Instead of finding his way to a sect, Anton was given another task. Along with Alva, Hoyt and Velvet were present to bring along. Getting as many sects as they could involved was good, but one member of their alliance with significant power was not present. Not a Life Transformation cultivator, but on the border of Late Essence Collection. Also both difficult and very easy to find.

"Okay, so," Velvet pointed to some marks on a map in front of the group. "There were conflicts here, here, and here. Given the time frame it seems she's heading southeast. Most likely towards this point."

"What's there?" Hoyt asked.

"That would be Million Sword Vault. They're a sect, and their focus is pretty easily guessed from the name. And no, I have no idea if it's fully accurate." Velvet shook her head, "But we really need to catch up to her before she gets there."

"Absolutely," Alva agreed.

"Would Million Sword Vault be interested in joining our cause?" Anton asked.

"Maybe…" Velvet said. "But that's kinda… well, it's probably them or Chikere, if you know what I mean."

"Though I would probably place their entire sect above her in terms of combat capabilities," Anton frowned, "I would rather have our frequent companion live. So I suppose we should get moving."

Chapter 308

As it turned out, Million Sword Vault didn't make it easy to find them. It wasn't surprising, since they were said to be quite wealthy and had many enemies. But while their exact location was unknown, it had been narrowed down to a particular region of desert. Anton thought it was a small enough area that they would be able to find them from there, but the plan was to catch up to Chikere before she got there and ended up in some sort of deadly conflict. If they were lucky she'd be stuck wandering the desert for a while, but Anton was willing to bet she had a way to sniff out the swords when she got close.

The desert in question was the Scorching Mirror Desert. Even as they approached from more tolerable terrain nearby, the reason for its name was obvious. It was no surprise that a desert at its location would be hot, but the other aspect was obviously uncommon. Each grain of sand reflected light, scattering it all around and making it nearly impossible to see the ground- or much of anything with light constantly glinting in your eyes.

"This is annoying," Alva commented after only a short distance on the sands.

"It will probably only get worse," Anton shook his head. "And the heat of the sun is magnified by it reflecting back on us." The actual sands themselves were rather cool, but the air was supernaturally hot. As they were traveling quickly they breathed more heavily and consumed water more quickly. They had brought significant quantities with them in storage bags, but they would still need to refill in oases along the way, so they could manage the area around the Million Sword Vault where there weren't any known sources of water.

Sweating all day wasn't pleasant, but not sweating would have been worse. At least, they had to disperse the heat away from themselves somehow. Constant use of energy could make them more comfortable, but was a great exertion than just letting their bodies handle it.

Of great help were full body coverings they had, keeping their skin from being scorched by the sun. They were made from expensive silks that were extremely breathable. That was one comfort, at least.

At night, the desert changed. From an oppressive heat and blinding light, it was briefly a tolerable temperature. They also witnessed something wonderful. The reflective sands also reflected starlight and moonlight, creating a much less harsh light as they traveled. Then the temperature dropped, but they stayed warm enough by continuing to move. Keeping up a good jog for twenty-four hours or more wasn't impossible for Essence Collection cultivators. If they were closer and knew exactly where their goal was they could get there more quickly, but instead they ran through the night and into the next day.

Then, as the heat reached its highest point… they put up large tents and rested. The tents themselves were made to not absorb the heat, while staying open to the relatively cool ground beneath. That allowed tolerable temperatures for them to rest in.

The pace that they traveled kept most of the desert creatures from causing trouble for them. They were able to sense them ahead of time and go around, and anything that tried to chase after them was inevitably left behind. Except, of course, the strongest and fastest of them.

"I thought it would have given up by now," Anton said as he ducked and rolled to the side as a creature known as a twirl-horned antelope charged at him. It was a large specimen, easily ten feet tall before its antlers were involved, corkscrewing things that nearly doubled its height.

"I heard they're extremely territorial," Velvet said.

"Shouldn't we be out of its territory now, though?" Anton asked. The horns angled back towards him, coming to a fine point that could pierce through him several times over. Without as much momentum he had to kick the side of one to get himself fully out of the way.

"It seems they fixate on a target once they discover it," Velvet shrugged. "Should we kill it?" she held up her daggers.

"I didn't want to," Anton shook his head. "But it's not leaving us much choice. I don't know if we can outrun it. At least, not without risking ending up exhausted near something else." Anton drew his bow, "Sorry about this, fellow."

As he took his shot, Anton supposed that the creature should have either leapt out of the way- though he was prepared to curve his shot- or concentrated its energy to defend its neck where he was shooting. Instead, it lowered its head, placing its horns between it and himself.

A reasonable move, if he wasn't shooting an arrow. Instead, it was trivial to avoid the curling horns by flying directly between them. Yet without even touching the horns coated in natural energy, his arrow dissipated.

"Well," Anton said. "That's troublesome." Something about the horns created something that disrupted his energy, making the shot impossible. But he wasn't alone, so Anton continued to make the attacks to keep the creature's attention.

It seemed that Alva's attacks from the side and rear were able to cause some damage to the creature, though its hide was tougher than steel. Hoyt charged in with his axe at the ready, but found himself contending with its rear hooves kicking at him. The creature was able to maintain its defenses with its horns on the front and hooves in the back, without unbalancing itself like it seemed it should. It even shifted around, rotating its body while only placing its front hooves on the ground, sometimes only one at a time as it twisted.

When Hoyt moved in to attack its side, it twitched into a full spin, rear hooves nearly missing him and its horns only barely blocked by his axe, sending him flying back. The trails of fire he left behind near it seemed to not affect the creature with short white fur.

But Hoyt's attack allowed Anton to sneak a good shot in before it returned to focusing on him. He had also backed away so he was out of easy charging distance. The battle was decided when it lunged towards Hoyt once more and Velvet popped out of the sand, slicing the tendons on one of its front legs. It maintained a valiant effort to defeat them even afterwards- and never chose to turn and run- but it was unable to cause serious harm to any of them.

They took a short break after the battle. Anton sighed, "It's a shame to just leave it here for scavengers to eat. But those horns won't easily fit in a storage bag… and we don't have time to properly skin it."

"Agreed," Hoyt said. "If it was someone other than Chikere I might not be worried about a couple minutes here and there, but she may have already gotten herself killed… or seriously injured. Or will soon."

It was nighttime when they approached the last oasis on their planned journey. "Hmm," Anton pondered before they got close. "Looks like there might be some trouble."

"What kind?" Alva asked.

"The worst kind. Other people."

"... maybe they'll be friendly?" Alva said hopefully.

"They could be, but for them to be here…" Anton shook his head. "I doubt it. Velvet… I'd suggest hiding yourself as we approach." She probably would anyway, but communicating his intentions was the easiest way to make sure she would.

"Do we know anything about them?" Hoyt asked.

"We will soon. I should be able to see some sort of symbols, or intentional lack of them," Anton supposed. "They're all practicing the same technique. I have some unfounded guesses."

"Such as?" Hoyt asked.

"The Sand Blade… Tribe," Anton said cautiously. More people called them the Sand Blade Bandits, but they weren't necessarily much worse than most cultivators. "They're one of the groups that had conflicts with Chikere." As they approached closer and Anton got a clear look at their curved swords, there wasn't any more doubt about who they were. But he still hoped to avoid conflict- if nothing else because of the time it wasted- so they approached closer instead of immediately attacking.

As they were noticed, the group formed up into loose ranks, with one figure standing out front. "Hello there travelers." It was not a friendly greeting, but neither was it openly hostile. Yet knowing who they were, Anton found it suspicious.

"Hello," Anton said. "We're just passing through."

"Of course, you may do so," the man said, "But if you wish to make use of our oasis, we will have to charge you."

The oasis wasn't theirs, of course. While oases in common travel routes were all claimed in some legitimate matter, it was obvious that they were simply passing by as well. Even so, if they weren't unreasonable it might be easier to pay them off. "Is that so?" Anton asked. "How much?" He was also taking a measure of the man. Early Essence Collection, as well as two behind him. But they also had another ten cultivators in mid to late Spirit Building. So they weren't completely crazy for making such a challenge.

"Three golden coins per barrel," the man said.

The price was both excessive and reasonable. Excessive because the local golden coins were rather large, and even the most taxed oases were less than half of one of the coins for the same amount of water. But cheap because… by cultivator prices it was nearly irrelevant. "That is quite reasonable," Anton said, reaching into his storage bag to pull out some coins. Then he finally picked out what he was looking for. So that was it. He plopped a pouch of coins into Hoyt's hand. "That should cover it," he said.

Hoyt took the hint and walked forward with the payment, while Anton didn't break his stride, moving off to the side of the group towards the water. Hoyt plopped the pouch into the leader's outstretched hand, and he instantly scanned it with his energy. "Filling up a lot, huh? Well, that's fine."

Anton approached the oasis and reached into his storage bag, pulling out the first of a handful of barrels he personally was carrying. Half were still full, but they'd skipped the previous stop. "Excuse me," Anton gestured towards the leader. "Young man… is this the right size?"

"Yeah, it's fine," the man shrugged.

"Are you sure? Come look. It might be too big."

The man grimaced, but approached. "What? Looks normal to me."

"Oh, you might be right," Anton nodded. "Perhaps I was thinking of another…" he bent forward towards the barrel and the man, then grabbed his wrist. The man immediately raised his defensive energy, but that didn't stop Anton from yanking him forward into the oasis. A dozen swords were drawn simultaneously, but before anything else could happen, even before the man hit the surface of the water, there was an eruption. Water sprayed into the sky… and half of the oasis was gone.

At least, the water was- and in its place was a massive maw, chomping down on the leader of the Sand Blades.

Anton might have thought of some quips about rudeness, but was too busy forming as many bows as he could to bother with one. He fired a round of shots towards the weaker opponents before the oasis chomper finished closing its jaws and splashed back into the waters. Hoyt had known better than to step into the middle of the group, and found himself facing off against the two remaining Essence Collection members. Meanwhile, Anton and Alva bombarded them from both sides.

The fight was short and bloody, but the Sand Blades simply hadn't expected their ruse to be seen through. Yet the distance they had been standing away from the oasis and the sand on their skin had given away they weren't willing to approach. That hesitation came against them once more when the battle started.

When Hoyt was looking pressured by two curved blades continuously slicing towards him, brightly sparkling sand swirling about in the air to blind him… Velvet appeared behind one of them, and he was dead a moment later.

Bandits was a reasonable moniker for them. And Anton could see how they would have ended up in a conflict with Chikere regardless.

Then the water exploded once more, and a very angry leader leapt out. Unfortunately, the partially digested man was no match for all of them, especially not after cutting his way out of the oasis chomper.

"Well…" Velvet commented. "Now the oasis is… blood filled."

"It will settle," Anton said. "But we should help it along. I'm not particularly fond of trying oasis chomper blood." He looked down through what appeared to be clear water towards the barely visible form of the creature that was mostly a giant mouth and stomach. Their bodies refracted light in the same way as water did, and their organs and even teeth were nearly clear. Much of their structure was said to be made from similar materials as the mirror sands. It was a good thing Anton tried to learn what he could about potential predators in areas he was going into. He might not have sensed the thing at all and just counted on his eyes.

They filled up as quick as they could and looked out into the desert. "I hope she's still alive," Velvet said. "But I was also hoping we'd have caught up to her by now."

Anton nodded. There was a small chance they'd missed her, but if they'd gotten within ten or fifteen kilometers he should have noticed her. Which meant she was likely still out ahead of them… and closer to the Million Sword Vault, where a bunch of sword fanatics would inevitably end up in conflict with her and kill her. She was good, but they were an entire sect on their home turf.

Chapter 309

The headquarters of the Million Sword Vault was hidden among the swirling sands of an exceptionally barren part of the Scorching Mirror Desert. The positive effects of that was that there were few wild beasts to be concerned with… but that also meant there were even fewer landmarks to navigate by. If they knew the precise location they were heading to, it still would not have been a problem with a well trained sense of direction augmented with natural energy.

Unfortunately they only had an approximate region, and even if they found the right place they might not be met with open arms. More likely drawn swords, which was why they were hoping to find Chikere first. If they got close enough they might find tracks of hers, but the winds covered up any tracks within a few hours.

Anton, Hoyt, Velvet, and Alva tried to keep up their pace in hopes of minimizing the time they had to spend in the area. If they simply wanted to cover the entire region they could have separated and covered something like a quarter, but it was more important to stay together for safety.

"There!" Velvet pointed. "Tracks."

Anton nodded. He didn't have any sense of whether or not they were Chikere's in particular- an individual cultivators natural energy shifted away with the sands just as easily as footprints- but it was the best they'd found. "Heading that way… either we'll follow after Chikere, or one of the disciples of the Million Sword Vault. The only question is whether or not the latter would be heading towards or away from their headquarters. But we might as well follow it and see if it remains in the region."

While the entire area they were traversing could technically be considered Million Sword Vault's territory, nobody came to intercept them. That would give up the whole secrecy thing, after all. Though as they got closer it would be a different story. More than that, the reception had a high probability of leading to violence, so they truly hoped to catch Chikere. While steering her away from an abundance of swords might be difficult, she did have a sense of loyalty to her friends and would almost certainly be glad to assist them.

The heat of midday beat down on the travelers who were pushing through it so as to not waste any time. While continuously pushing themselves would be dangerous, when they were so close to their goal it was a necessity.

The tracks they were following were scattered far and wide, but becoming more regular and substantial. That meant they were catching up, and hopefully they were after the right quarry. Though even if they found a disciple of the Million Sword Vault, they might be able to get them to lead towards where they wanted, one way or another.

Several more hours of travel finally graced Anton's senses with something other than endless sand. A structure, barely distinguishable from its surroundings. They were in fact less than a handful of kilometers away, far closer than Anton would have liked. It was only at that point that he began to feel out cultivators… and they were a mere two and a half kilometers away before he sensed fighting within the walls of the compound.

The feeling of Chikere's attacks was unmistakable, but he was unable to get a clear enough sense to tell more than that she was fighting with vigor against multiple opponents. Anton was tempted to launch an attack, but giving them away too soon might make it impossible to access the structure, or draw the ire of people they did not wish to face. Even making it to what they could only presume was the headquarters of the Million Sword Vault was further than they wanted to go.

"Halt! Who goes there?" A figure barely visible against the gates, half revealed and half hidden by the blinding sun reflecting off of the sand and the structure itself, held one hand on his sword, finally sensing the group. There were more guards nearby as well.

That was the point that it might have been most advantageous to attack, or a moment sooner, but Anton stayed his hand- and the others followed his lead. "We are travelers, looking for a companion of ours…" He continued forward, so as to allow Velvet and Hoyt to be at more optimal range should a battle begin. Of course, the same would be true of the sword cultivators.

"Does this person have a name?" the guard asked.

Something told Anton that subterfuge wouldn't do them much good. Either they would fight now, or they wouldn't. "Chikere."

Some of the tension eased from the surrounding guards. "Oh. She didn't say she was expecting anyone else. Wait where you are."

The group kept their senses open for anyone coming to flank them or other signs of trouble, but it was only a few moments later before the battle around Chikere stopped… and she began to approach the front gates.

"Oh! Anton!" Chikere waved her arms as she saw them- still holding a sword in her hand with others floating around her. "How did you guys find me? Also, why?"

Though she was surrounded by a dozen members of the Million Sword Vault, they seemed more like an honor guard than menacing captors. That feeling was enhanced by the fact that more of them were more wounded than Chikere. That was to say, everyone was cut up- but Chikere a bit less than the others.

"We thought… that you might get into trouble," Anton smiled broadly. "But of course, if we were looking for you because of that, we'd have to constantly stay together."

"Yeah!" Chikere agreed unabashedly. "But you guys insist on spending a lot of time on boring stuff, so I went to find something to do. Do you need me for something?"

"Well, yes. The troubles with the Whispering Watchers have… escalated." Anton observed the other sword cultivators for their reaction, which was mainly to tighten their grips on their weapons.

"Oh yeah? Screw those guys!" Chikere flicked her sword, cleaning it of blood. She sheathed it along with all of the rest of the swords around her, and the escorting disciples did the same, though they kept one hand at their waist. "I don't know if I can contribute that much against a sect, though. Unless they were all sword cultivators," Chikere grinned. "Sometimes I have trouble with unfamiliar enemies."

"We need every Essence Collection cultivator we can get," Anton commented. "That includes you." Anton looked around at the others. "So… how have things been here? I expected… more people to be dead."

"Why?" Chikere asked.

"That's… the norm for you when interacting with other sword cultivators." Anton didn't think he should have to point it out, but he did anyway.

"Oh. But I only do that when they're awful or try to kill me. These guys are great!"

The one who had been guarding at the gate- some sort of senior disciple by his higher cultivation- took a chance to speak. "We would not harm the disciple of Swordmaster Rahayu without reason. Nor do we wish harm upon any who share our passions. But those who are unworthy of swords… they will find much trouble with us."

"Ah. I see. Truth be told, there is not much information about your sect available to outsiders." The rumors about them weren't good… but if he compared them to what was likely circulating about Chikere, it actually made perfect sense. They were at least similar in spirit.

"Do we need to go now?" Chikere asked. "Because I just got here yesterday."

"Leaving sooner would be better," Anton said. "But having found you, were are not in such a rush. We can stay as long as our stores of water hold."

"That's not a problem," said the senior disciple. "We have sufficient stores here, and will gladly share freely with friends of aspiring swordmaster Chikere."

As it turned out, their 'stores' were an entire underground reservoir, which actually led to learning some other things about the compound. Though there was a structure on the surface, most of it had been built down into the sands and even dug into the rock below. For the most part they were given free reign to go wherever they pleased, with the notable exception of the disciples' personal quarters and the areas reserved for elders.

Of note was that the 'vault' was not forbidden to them. Vast hallways led to a myriad of rooms filled with swords of all sorts… though at one end were the stores of things that were not swords, with a buffer area of things that might be considered swords. Daggers, for example, found themselves in the no-man's land.

Though they were allowed to wander as they pleased through the area, they were watched by the senses of one of the sect's elders. Just because everything was available for inspection did not mean they were allowed to walk off with it. That applied to everyone, and the scrutiny on them was no harsher than on the disciples of the Million Sword Vault itself.

Despite their vast stores, the Million Sword Vault was not hoarding its resources. Everything was on display, and everything had a method to acquire it. Much of that was similar to how the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars did things, with a system of contribution points being used to purchase them. But there were also other methods.

It appeared that they had interrupted Chikere while she was attempting one of those things. It was a trial that straightforwardly required her to face twenty early Essence Collection disciples three at a time and defeat them. After they were welcomed back in, Chikere and the others smoothly returned to that attempt, which resulted in Chikere's victory. Her talent for swords, at least, was nearly unrivaled.

"Yes! I got a new number two!" Chikere grinned as she held up her new sword. It was still a considerable amount short of her best sword, but swords such as that weren't so simple to obtain. Of course, from the number of times attacks had gotten within millimeters of the scars on her neck, it wasn't as if her battle was exactly trivial. She just always rode the edge of victory and defeat.

Though he wasn't particularly interested in swords, Anton still found himself browsing through the vault. It was there that he came across a supreme oddity. It resided in the no-man's land of things that might or might not be swords, and Anton honestly couldn't tell what he thought it was. But something told him it was a bow.

He stepped closer, looking at the piece that was clearly two swords sticking opposite directions out of a single hilt. A double-bladed sword, generally considered too impractical for use compared to simply having two individual weapons. Even for cultivators it rarely came into use. But this one was one step odder, as the blades were flat- of equal width, about two fingers wide its whole length. Even the ends were flat, unable to be used to stab. The holes in them didn't seem to be for weight distribution, but to go along with the string that sat nearby.

Anton was tempted to pick it up and test it, but he could barely wrap his head around it. From the way it looked the blades would have to bend widthwise to function as a bow… which couldn't be the most optimal, could it?

"Archery contest," said a voice next to him. Anton turned to see the elder in charge of the area, who he hadn't noticed because his energy pervaded everything around to begin with. Was he challenging Anton or…? "That's how you can get that. You just need to hit a target at… let's see, with your cultivation… five thousand meters."

Anton blinked. Was that all? Seemed simple enough. Though he didn't know if he would even want to use it.

"Oh yes. You must make use of that bow- and not cut off any of your fingers in the process."

That was… a very ominous condition. Anton didn't even need a new bow, really. He just turned to walk away… but found himself coming back a few moments later. "How many tries do I get?"

"Each attempt is a single shot from a position we designate to a target you must find," the elder said simply. "Should you find yourself with any fingers or portions thereof sliced off, our medics are very capable of stitching you back together, good as new."

That would explain why their sparring was so… intense. Though Anton really didn't want to have to find out if it really was good as new. As he considered picking up the string though, he realized how sharp it was. As if it was also meant to cut people. Were there even arrows that could withstand the pressure of that string? That wasn't normally a factor, but this particular thing that might be a bow seemed to have many unusual features.

Chapter 310

There was absolutely no need for Anton to get a new bow. He had a perfectly serviceable bow suited for someone at Essence Collection, and even the old bone bow that was slightly less of a pain to use now, but inefficient. He didn't need another bow, especially not one that was basically two or three swords strapped together, depending on whether you counted the razor-sharp string as another one.

He didn't need another one, but he just had to know if it was any good as a weapon. Since the easiest way to test it out was to take the trial, that was what he did. He was allowed to take some practice shots at the empty desert while they set up. There were several important factors at play.

First, only the center grip of the bow wasn't sharp. That one was fairly obvious, but it was still important to remember. The string itself was razor thin, which at first made him treat it delicately- but then he realized it simply wasn't using excess materials. Whatever sort of metal it was made out of was many times stronger than the black steel string of his first cultivator bow. That didn't mean it needed to be so thin, but perhaps it lost its spring or the draw weight wouldn't match the rest of the weapon if it was thicker. Or the creator of the bow simply wanted another cutting surface, like the two blades that made up the majority of the bow shaft weren't enough.

There was no information about the bow's origin. Million Sword Vault had simply obtained it in some conflict long in the past. Apparently some had tried to use it as a sword, but it didn't hold its shape well unless it was strung, and that got in the way of more traditional sword techniques.

As for actually firing the bow, Anton ran into a couple of problems that almost caused him to fail the trial before it started. His first arrow managed to pull back the string just a little bit, before it was sliced apart and the string snapped forward. The second he focused too much on durability of the arrow and not his aim. On the third attempt, he actually got an arrow to go where he wanted, but he could tell that the difference in power would be rather fiddly based on exact draw length.

The administrator of Anton's test was another elder, separate from the one guarding the vaults. Elder Wardah returned to Anton shortly after he was just getting used to firing the bow. "The trial is ready. Any further shots will be counted against it. Come with me."

She walked ahead of him, the swirling sands making vision pretty much impossible. The windiness of the area around Million Sword Vault seemed to be another reason it could stay hidden, though Anton suspected that a portion of it was simply killing whoever they didn't want to know. He now knew they were a 'reasonable' sect by some definitions, but it had likely been foolish to approach, even in pursuit of a friend.

Elder Wardah brought Anton to a seemingly random point. "Here," she said, pointing to the ground. "You must seek the target."

"Is there a time limit?" Anton asked. He got no answer. Well, it probably didn't matter. He stood in the spot she indicated and spread out his senses. What he was looking for was anything that wasn't sand. Then he found it, close to five kilometers away as indicated. He knew it was one of the targets, because that wasn't part of the test, though other unspoken factors could be. He took a deep breath, the coverings over his mouth and face keeping the sand away as he did so. He drew back the string while forming a Spirit Arrow and fired. His consciousness traveled through the mirrored sands until he struck the target, right in the middle of the bullseye. "Done," Anton said.

"Wait here," Elder Wardah said. She wandered off towards the target, picking it up, then returned. "Another. This way."

So they went to another, Anton keeping his senses mostly constrained to where they were in case finding the targets ahead of time was some violation. He didn't think the Million Sword Vault intended to fail him from something he didn't know, but they likely had some assumptions about how things should work that he wasn't familiar with. After the second target, she looked somewhat disappointed. Anton wasn't sure why, as it had only taken him a short time to find the target and hit the bullseye. Even by Grand Elder Kseniya's high standards, he didn't think there was much improvement to be made at his current cultivation level.

Anton found himself beginning to fatigue simply from remaining out in the desert heat. There was a not insignificant distance between each point, and Anton wasn't sure he could find his way back to the Million Sword Vault after wandering through so much featureless swirling sand. They arrived at the location of the third target- or rather once more five kilometers away from it.

"Target is that way," Elder Wardah pointed.

Immediately Anton's senses stretched out the five thousand meters, finding the target. But instead of shooting, he hesitated. She hadn't pointed out the other ones. He spread his senses, looking further. There was nothing else in that direction, but he searched around to the sides and behind himself. There it was, the same distance in the opposite direction. It wouldn't be a problem to shoot it but… he had the feeling there was something important.

"Is it one shot per target, or one shot per location?" Anton asked. Once more, Elder Wardah remained silent, letting him draw his own conclusions. Well, he could theoretically take the trial again… or just give up. He didn't need another bow, and so far it was just appearing to be a rather difficult to shoot oddity, not something exceptional.

Anton decided to go with the assumption that it was one shot per location. If not, he was going to look like he was showing off… which might not be terrible. But he really didn't want to fail a test that wasn't even that difficult.

He focused, aligning his flow of energy with the bow, gathering more power to take the shot. While both targets were five kilometers away, this was actually a shot that would push him to his limits- because they were in opposite directions. Not only was the end goal fifteen kilometers away in essence, but it involved a one hundred and eighty degree turn. Either one of those factors was easy enough, but Anton had to take this more seriously to get both, even for still targets.

Immediately after he released the arrow, Anton felt something was different. He was moving forward with the arrow as usual, but instead of slipping through the sands he was slicing a path. Somehow, his attack had widened without doing it consciously. Impacting a few extra grains of sand wouldn't matter, but over such a distance it was building up. He thought to narrow the attack again, but realized this was a feature of the bow he couldn't have imagined. How it was truly supposed to work.

When he reached the first target, he sliced it cleanly in half- at a diagonal angle. He was used to arrows being more or less a symmetric point, but now that he was a wide blade he had to think about the rotation. But first he had to loop the arrow back around.

The arrow flew for only a short moment before it was facing towards himself, but in that time it flew another kilometer. Fortunately, the extra distance wasn't as big of a problem as it could have been. Total travel distance mattered, but so did absolute distance from himself for the ability to keep control of his energy.

Soon enough he was flying past himself, with enough distance to avoid the cutting edge he now had. He reached the other target with enough force to pierce into it, slicing halfway through before his power faded. Puncturing both targets would have been easy, but he had to impart significantly more total force to cut them in half- and the drag from the sands really added up.

Anton breathed out slowly. "Well, that was it."

Elder Wardah silently went to collect the targets. When she returned she had only a hint of a smile on her face. "You pass. The weapon is yours."

As they walked back towards the sect, Anton wondered how she knew her way. There had to be some trick, but he didn't know if he should ask. There was something else he was more curious about though, and it seemed innocent enough. "Do any of your elders practice archery?" Anton asked. "I feel like the trial couldn't have been designed by an amateur…" He could have easily kept shooting the bow with only the minimal amount of force to hit the target, but the third phase made him impart more energy and thus discover the hidden feature of the weapon.

"Many of our members dabble in weapons other than the sword," Elder Wardah explained. "One of our Grand Elders designed this particular trial some time ago."

"Would it be possible for me to meet with them?" Anton asked.

"No," Elder Wardah said curtly. "She's dead."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Anton replied.

"Everyone dies eventually," Elder Wardah replied. Anton knew that but… that didn't mean people who survived felt good about it. But he decided not to press the issue any further.

"Look here," Chikere spun a sword almost uncomfortably close to Anton's face. "My new second best weapon!"

"I still say it seems kind of rude to call it that," Hoyt said from nearby.

"Why?" Chikere said. "That's what it is. It's very good, but not the best one I have."

"I do agree with him," Anton pointed out. "Many of these disciples would be very envious of that sword, and yet you have another."

"But I have tons of swords," Chikere pointed out. "And I use all of the best ones. It's not like it's going to be collecting rust. And they all had the opportunity to complete that trial before I got here."

"That won't stop jealousy," Anton pointed out. Even though he said that, it seemed the attitude towards Chikere of most of the disciples- and all of the Elders that Anton had seen- was quite positive. Whether it was due to very briefly being Swordmaster Rahayu's disciple or simply because Chikere was Chikere he wasn't quite sure, but she fit in with them.

One of the disciples approached. "Aspiring Swordmaster Chikere, I humbly request a spar."

"Sorry," she said. "Schedule is full."

"Oh, I had heard there might be one more position."

"There was," Chikere admitted. "But now Anton's in that spot."

Having not heard of that, Anton raised an eyebrow. "Am I?"

"Of course. You can't carry around a sword and not expect me to want to fight you!" Chikere's eyes twinkled.

So. It seemed they were on opposite sides of the sword-bow divide with regards to Anton's new weapon. Or perhaps it was simply that it was both, though Anton had no real plans to use it as a melee weapon if he could help it. He would still train for it anyway, because obviously if all battles went to plan he'd instantly kill his opponents with a single arrow.

"I suppose that could be good for both of us," Anton admitted.

He didn't think much of his chances of winning such a spar, given that Chikere had a few extra years of training that still kept a gap in cultivation between them. However, it had been quite some time since they'd had a serious match, and he could learn a lot from it. If nothing else, he would get some practice not dying against fifteen or so swords attacking simultaneously. He just needed to make sure neither of them got any injuries that would take months to recover from, because they had a goal to get to.

Chapter 311

With the addition of his new bow, Anton's limit for ones formed of energy was a half dozen. His arrows had no rotation that was important prior to his new acquisition, but now he had to get used to how they might cut, and focus on providing enough power to make actual use of the effect.

Since it widened the area of attack and made it somewhat like a sword, Anton was fairly certain that it would be a suboptimal weapon against Chikere. However, that also filled him with confidence to go all out in that regard. He could experiment without much worry of anyone getting hurt.

If the battle had started at Anton's maximum range, he might have stood a real chance. However, the battle began at only a few hundred meters, which meant he only had a few volleys of shots before Chikere got close to him.

His arrows flew together but not in anything that could be called an organized pattern. That would simply be easier to defend against, and Anton wanted Chikere to have to work for her success. She had somewhere close to twenty swords under her control at the moment, counting the one she held with her actual hands, but Anton suspected she could have more if necessary. That said, the space around her was quite crowded with blades already.

The many swords were able to cover attacks from all angles as well as multiple simultaneous attacks, but though Anton had a disadvantage in number of weapons he was able to fire multiple volleys to be in the air at the same time- and by changing their velocity mid flight they could all arrive simultaneously. Most of his arrows were parried or sliced apart, but one of them came within a millimeter of impacting Chikere's shoulder, slicing through her defensive energy. Yet he didn't think that he was actually that close to inflicting a wound on her. Her style was simply to allow attacks as close to her as she could afford without taking debilitating injuries… so that she could then focus on defeating her opponents.

As he expected, the sword-bow he held in his hands only created wider area attacks that were easier for Chikere to predict and deflect. But on occasion the power forced her to use two, three, or even five swords simultaneously to block his attacks.

Anton didn't let her close into melee, but he couldn't exactly stay away from her. He might be able to match her speed if he did nothing else but retreat, but he couldn't attack then. Instead he did his best to keep Chikere from chopping through his energy bows, her swords widening their spread to reach for them as they shot nearly point-blank at her.

As expected, he was able to use the bow to parry some of her attacks, and despite how difficult it seemed he was still able to continue firing it while he did so. It was well made, even if its purpose was rather odd. But in the end, Anton didn't have the necessary experience to overcome Chikere's melee expertise, and he soon found himself with three swords impaled in his chest. Chikere had kindly avoided stabbing into any organs, but didn't stop before piercing through him so as to make it very clear to all present that she could have.

"You win," Anton admitted without difficulty. She was still ahead of him in cultivation, and her combat capability was her only focus. "I would like to discuss wielding multiple weapons at some point." Though their methods were different, he imagined he could learn something from her. He wouldn't mind carrying around additional physical bows if it would be more effective than energy bows, though there would doubtless be some practical limits there. Bows took up a bit more space than swords, and Chikere was honestly hard to find under the various weapons she had at this point.

Despite what had initially been heard about the Million Sword Vault, they were reasonable folk. Anton and the others were sworn to secrecy about the precise location, but they didn't actually seem too concerned about whether or not they were found. Though if Anton and the others had come with ill intent, he doubted they would be walking away.

A new sect to train with for a while would be beneficial to them all, but they had limited time. It might not happen immediately, but the conflict with the Whispering Watchers was inevitable. The mission had been to come find Chikere and keep her from getting killed, and while the second had miraculously not been necessary, they had completed what they had to do.

And what's more, Million Sword Vault was willing to participate in the upcoming battles. It was a strange mix of official and unofficial support. There wasn't anything so formal as an organized draft where they sent a specified amount of their disciples to help. Instead, they simply made an announcement asking for volunteers… of which there were many.

That was how they ended up with several hundred people following them out of the Scorching Mirror Desert, close to fifty of which were in Essence Collection along with a single Life Transformation Elder. It wasn't clear how many of them were coming because they were battle maniacs compared to how many were coming to support Chikere- with the intent of sparring with her at a later time. In fact, Anton supposed they might all be interested in both options. But either way, the outpouring of support was more than expected. It wasn't expected to actually get them to join, as information on them had been vague- but they were quite eager to 'take out some traitors'.

Anton vaguely recognized the elder who approached him. Not from at the Million Sword Vault, but before that. It seemed Elder Vasu had the same idea, as the relatively youthful man spoke. "You were at Everheart's Tomb, were you not? The one regarding ascension."

"That's right," Anton inclined his head. "I was there."

"If I'm not wrong… I saw you in the final chambers. The ones that required passing somewhat arbitrary insights about ascension."

"I think it was designed for everyone to make the choice that fit themselves," Anton said.

"To an extent," Elder Vasu admitted. "But many failed to pass. I took note of you because of your low cultivation… which has improved significantly in the last seven or eight years, has it not?"

"I was able to make the step into mid Essence Collection, yes," Anton admitted. "Unfortunately, whatever insights I have into ascension are meaningless for myself. Since I can't."

"Is that so?" the man asked. "I would judge that we are actually rather similar in age, around a century. The barrier of Life Transformation is great, but for one with your insights I would expect it to be less onerous, regardless of what speed you advance through ranks."

"Even if I were suddenly to find myself at the peak of Life Transformation, that step is impossible for me. I know that for certain."

"Is that so?" Vasu asked. "Why?"

Though his words were polite, his manner was also quite straightforward. Not that Anton found that to be a bad thing. "A forbidden technique," Anton admitted. "Besides, I have too many attachments to the world to just leave it behind for a little bit of power."

Vasu laughed. "Just a little, huh?" he shook his head. "That may be so. But about the Whispering Watchers, you are sure they are traitors? Their impropriety deserves retribution regardless, but it would be good to know."

"Absolutely," Anton said. "You should be able to confirm it yourself. But in case you do not have access to any of the necessary techniques, I can teach them."

Vasu nodded, "Some of the other elders… did a thorough sweep of the sect after our return. I personally focused more on the anti-ascension techniques. Though they're rather difficult to practice without a target. "

"Ah, I may have neglected mentioning something in my haste," Anton admitted. "That forbidden technique allows me to use ascension energy… to some extent. While I can't say I'm a worthy opponent, I'm certain you could adjust your power output to determine if it works."

"I see. I assume it's related to Everheart. The man was fond of… weighing the present against the future for maximum benefits. Though I can't say I understand the mechanics of that."

"That's basically it," Anton admitted. "As far as I understand."

"Too bad," Vasu admitted. "If you're well versed in the technique… does that not mean you almost certainly would have ascended?"

Anton shook his head. "No. I'd be dead. And people I care about as well."

"Perhaps. But there was at least some path."

"Maybe," Anton admitted. The projection of Everheart present on the moon had spoken to him personally, indicating he would likely have reached ascension as well. "Do you think… there are other paths?" Anton asked.

"Hmm…" Elder Vasu frowned. "I… hadn't even considered it. And I find myself somewhat doubtful. Have you found something that indicates otherwise?"

"Not really. Just something Everheart said. His projection, I mean. I'm nowhere near old enough to have met the real man." Even the one on the moon admitted to not being the real one. After all, he shouldn't still be around but instead ascended. Or dead, most likely both by his own admission.

"Well, I certainly have no idea," Vasu admitted. "But I would never call anything impossible." A pause. "He talked to you?"

"Just his projections. I was fortunate to get some of his techniques early on, and that made further projections amicable towards me. As much as Everheart ever can be, at least."

"My interactions with his tombs indicated he was a difficult man to be around. But he knew his stuff. About this ascension energy… we'll have to find a time to practice."

"Perhaps once out of the desert," Anton said. "My usage here would be… suboptimal."

As it turned out nobody was willing to cause trouble for an army with the strength of a moderate sect- or a good portion of a powerful one. The journey took a few turns to avoid directly imposing on any sect's land so that they would not feel compelled to respond, but they arrived in good time. The approach to Prophis made it clear that more forces had been gathered from many places.

As they approached, Grand Elder Kseniya rode out to meet them. "Welcome back, Anton. I see you were successful in your mission." She looked over the army of Million Sword Vault cultivators. "I presume you are allies?"

"We are," Elder Vasu nodded. "I'm Vasu."

"Kseniya. I am a Grand Elder of the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars. I assume your position is much the same."

"Similar," Vasu admitted. "Though until I attain the level of Swordmaster, I simply retain the title of 'elder'."

"It doesn't matter, as long as you are willing to fight with us. I trust my disciple Anton explained everything?"

"Enough. Whispering Watchers harbor members of the Twin Soul Sect, maybe more than that. And they sent a Life Transformation elder to kill him after he killed some of their disciples in the conflict with Swordmaster Rahayu." Vasu grinned, "Which is extremely disrespectful. They need to learn to take one on the chin. Though I'll settle for cutting a few in half."

"They get along with Chikere very well," Anton said as a manner of explanation. "They leapt at the opportunity to help."

"You mean fight," Vasu laughed. "But joining a friend in battle is good as well. And the indirect disrespect for Rahayu won't be tolerated. Just because he's not here to chop them up doesn't mean everyone will tolerate it!" Vasu harrumphed.

"You speak as if he is dead," Kseniya frowned.

"Not at all. If he was dead… as long as no foul play would be involved, we would accept it. But he ascended, and they choose to disrespect his legacy. Plus there's that whole thing about betraying us to invaders? But that hasn't happened yet so we'll get 'em later."

"No matter the reason," Kseniya said, "As long as you are willing to fight alongside others we are glad to have you."

"Alongside, in front of… we'll fight wherever," Vasu grinned widely. "We might just carve a trail of blood alongside that one," he gestured to Chikere. "But I'm sure you'll find us quite effective whatever we do."

Chapter 312

The elders of various sects gathered in Prophis, discussing their strategy. There were many from both continents, representing a wide variety of interests. Gathering all the forces they could had made them formidable, but their actions weren't able to be kept fully secret. The Whispering Watchers had an opportunity to gather some allies of their own.

"How shall we go about doing this?" Elder Adelina of the Frostmirror Sect asked.

"Why debate?" Elder Sarka of the Glorious Flame Palace complained. "We should just go in and crush them."

"A straightforward attack suits us as well," Elder Vasu of Million Sword Vault confirmed.

"I am not fond of the idea of having to deal with their formations," Kseniya grimaced. "I think we should start by sending them a message."

"Good point," Sarka agreed. "Have to let them know why they're getting destroyed."

"And who would we send?" Adelina asked, "Who, that would not end up a sacrifice?"

"I have a solution that should please you both well enough. I'll be the messenger," Kseniya said, one hand tapping her bow.

"You'll kill one of them, then?" a younger man from one of the local sects asked. "We intend to stand and fight, but we only intend to take out the traitors. And their elders are all holed up…"

"They're all traitors," Kseniya declared. "And I can prove it easily enough. They sent an elder to kill my disciple first, so there shouldn't be any complaints if I start killing their disciples."

"For a righteous sect, that position is a bit extreme," a much older man commented.

"There's no point in letting an open sore like this grow and fester," Kseniya said. "And you can all observe my technique. I've been working on it. I find it's much too slow to verify someone's status as a Twin Soul and then shoot them."

"What does that mean?" Elder Sarka asked.

The Whispering Watchers had some idea about Kseniya's existence. She had not been inactive since coming to the continent, after all. But even so, they weren't fully aware of her capabilities. If they had been, they wouldn't have let anyone step a single foot outside of the bounds of the defensive formations surrounding their core.

The time from the spirit arrow being shot to when it pierced through the chest of the targeted disciple was insignificant, at least for those who were not at late Essence Collection at the minimum and able to sense it from far off. Thus, by the time the first arrow had arrived several more were on their way.

"Well, looks like someone got lucky," Kseniya commented.

The first disciple to be pierced through the chest looked down, knowing he just had a surge of energy go through him. But he looked to see no wound. Yet nearly simultaneous arrows struck his companions, half of which perished. Even Kseniya couldn't track the expressions on the faces of people at that distance, but it should be fear and confusion.

The other elders remained next to Kseniya. "I see," Sarka commented. "That's a good one. Only damaging people from the Twin Soul Sect? You should have shared that earlier."

"I know enough about myself that most wouldn't understand my methods… and there are some drawbacks."

"The attacks are weak, right?" Adelina commented. "But it reveals them at the same time. It's quite hard to deny. Not that we had doubts anyway."

"I don't see the point in sparing the others," Vasu said. "They are of the same sect, after all."

Kseniya shook her head, "Some might not know any better. But there won't be any mercy for those who join them in the coming battle. It is impossible for them to not at least have heard rumors about the truth of the Twin Soul Sect."

Even as she spoke, her hands moved- targeting any of those associated with the Whispering Watchers and the allies they had along with them. One Essence Collection cultivator from the Infinite Gate Society managed to block the attack, suffering a wound to his arm as he turned to flee. But the physical damage was not as important as the other, his true cultivation being revealed underneath.

Though the strongest elders could pick up what was happening, Kseniya summarized for some of the others. "Looks like the Infinite Gate Society has more Twin Soul members among them. Beyond Swordmaster Vianne, of course."

It was to be expected by anyone willing to stand by the side of the Whispering Watchers in the current time. Since they had been discovered, they had to band together to survive. At least, that seemed to be the most sensible reasoning.

Soon enough there were no more targets for Kseniya- her targets either lay dead, or were uninjured and given a second chance. Even the dullest of cultivators could recognize a pattern so simply laid out before them- though it was likely that excuses would be made to any allies who were not completely in bed with them. If there were any.

"Strange," Kseniya commented. "I would have thought that nobody would step out, but here come a few." She flexed her fingers, grip tightening on her bow. "But given their makeup, I think we can reasonably assume this is some sort of negotiation delegation. I bet I could still kill one though." Kseniya coughed, "When they inevitably make the wrong decision."

"That will just solidify any who are on the fence," Adelina pointed out. "We can quickly discuss when they are on the way back."

Even though the delegation seemed to be made primarily of Life Transformation cultivators, it still took them a significant time to approach. Of course, they were most likely interested in conserving their energy in case there was an attack- in which case they could make the thirty minute journey in a fraction of the time, only having to deal with Kseniya's attacks.

"Infinite Gate Society, Hungry Rat Cult… and some others," Elder Vasu commented. "Basically what our scouts told us. But it seems the Whispering Watchers are afraid to speak for themselves."

The delegation stopped when they were over a kilometer away. It was still rather close by some standards, and they were able to project their voices with ease.

"What is the meaning of this attack?" the man representing the Infinite Gate Society questioned.

"Why have you all joined up with foreign sects to cause war?" a relatively younger man with beady eyes asked.

In theory, a proper negotiator should have been arranged for on both sides. In practice, it was first come first serve. That meant Elder Vasu began with some cutting words. "Let me ask you this, how do you all feel about being stabbed in the back? Because that's what you're asking for. Unless you're all traitors. You could come a few steps closer and we can figure it out."

"We have no trust for your 'revealing techniques'," the representative of the Infinite Gate Society intoned.

"Ah, shaddup," Vasu waved his arm, cutting apart a nearby tree with his bare hand. "Your whole damn sect is corrupted, starting with Vianne. I was talking to these other fellows. Hey, rat boy. Bite off his head yourself and you'll see his true nature, with not a single scrap of energy from us."

The eyes of the one he referred to as 'rat boy' twitched. "I am properly addressed as Elder Farrukh."

"Sure, whatever." Vasu narrowed his eyes at the other man. "So, Lackey, have anything to say for yourself?"

"It's Malachy. And it's not even pronounced like that." He snorted, "Well, it is clear you have no intention to do any proper negotiations."

"It is simply that we are in agreement with his sentiments," an elder from Marvelous Rabbit Mountain- Elder Paula- made herself known. "Our sect has already purged itself of traitors. There does not appear to be any hope for the Whispering Watchers, but the rest of you might have some chance. Except perhaps Infinite Gate Society, it seems."

Though more words were exchanged, little of substance was communicated- except that they were to spread the word that anyone who fought on the side of the Whispering Watchers would be considered complicit- and the others ignored. Whether they would actually spread the words to the ears of their hesitant disciples would be another matter.

A discussion on whether or not to try to take any of them out happened while they were on the way back. It was decided to not be worth it. Not everyone was in total agreement on that, but some were still hoping that the battle lines were not set.

"I'm taking the shot," Kseniya said. Of course, that was only after her hands had already gone through the motions and the arrow was on its way.

Adelina sighed, but watched closely as her arrow pierced through the back of Farrukh. The elder turned and frowned, though he was already so far that they could not see his expression. "Wait a moment," Adelina frowned. "Did you… can you just ignore defensive energy as you please? Even if your arrow doesn't react to him his defenses."

"If only things were so simple," Kseniya grinned widely. "No, this technique requires a certain honesty to it. It doesn't work like that."

Adelina mentally noted that she didn't say that it couldn't be done, however. A simple misunderstanding, perhaps. Or perhaps Kseniya would be a fearsome opponent in the future. Not that Adelina expected to have any conflict with the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars. Glorious Flame Palace, maybe, but not the Order.

"Uuuugh I'm tired of waiting," Alva complained and rolled around on the ground. She wished she could be flopping around on Fuzz' back, but he was still on another continent- a choice she was never going to make again.

"This is how it is before every big battle," Anish commented.

"Precisely," Annelie affirmed.

"And I get tired every time!" Alva threw up her hands. "Just because you can turn off boredom or whatever doesn't mean the rest of us can."

"A lack of emotion is actually very much like boredom," Annelie commented.

"... I'm glad I didn't get stuck with the Frostmirror Sect," Alva shook her head.

"It suits me quite well, I think," Annelie said impassively.

"Yeah," Anish nodded. "Uh, everyone has to find the technique most suited for them."

"Do you think we'll have to do a siege?" Alva wondered. "I feel like they might make us."

"Elder Vasu claimed to be a master at dismantling formations," the other cousin pointed out.

"I'm pretty sure that just means he would chop it into pieces?" Alva frowned. "He doesn't feel anything like Catarina or the others."

"Oh. Right." Annelie actually blushed slightly, for the brief moment before she regained control. "It's likely quite effective."

Anish mulled something over in his head. "You were right, Alva. About Swordmaster Vianne's Sect."

"Obviously. How can you have a famous member of your sect who's a spy and not figure it out?"

"It happens more often than you might think," Anish shrugged. "Even some of the Glorious Flame Palace elders had to be removed."

Further conversation was cut off by a wave of energy from up ahead. The defensive formation of the sect wobbled and shrunk in size, the massive change in energy obvious to all but the weakest present- despite the distance. As for what it was doing, it became clear soon enough that there were components of it that could be moved, allowing a slightly weaker but mobile bubble of power to protect the advancing enemy ranks. It was powered not only by the core that normally maintained it, but elders from the various sects aligned with the Whispering Watchers. Its defensive power prevented any attacks at a long distance, and while Grand Elder Kseniya was the only one who could attack them at the beginning, she could cause enough damage on her own.

Various sects and groups within them began to maneuver with relation to the bubble. It would be optimal to surround it, but if any group got too close alone they might be attacked by the whole of the enemy forces at once. That was a deterrent to most, except for the disciples of the Million Sword Vault, along with Chikere. Glorious Flame Palace was more cautious than them, until they saw the approach- then they rushed to catch up. Other sects moved to at least form a semicircle that would be of some advantage to them. The only problem was the barrier. In theory, it could prevent attacks coming in but not going out- which meant they would soon be in range of many of the Whispering Watchers causing great damage.

Chapter 313

Two armies approached each other, only separated by a thin but powerful barrier. On one side were the Whispering Watchers and their allies- Infinite Gate Society, the Hungry Rat Cult, and a smattering of smaller sects and certain powerful individuals. On the other side was the alliance of cultivators from another continent, along with a number of local sects including Marvelous Rabbit Mountain from the western coast and the group from Million Sword Vault.

The barrier currently kept those with the longest ranges from attacking into it, but it was assumed that the Whispering Watchers and others would be able to attack out of it, at least to some extent. Barriers that worked perfectly in a single direction were rare, and nearly impossible while mobile. Perhaps certain formation masters might be able to make something workable, but more likely the barrier had flaws that could be broken through.

As the mobile forces outside the barrier were able to move more smoothly, they were in the process of closing the semicircle they had formed. Glares were exchanged across the barrier, some personal grudges and some simply because of the battle that was currently in motion. Farrukh of the Hungry Rat Cult was focused on Kseniya and Vasu. Malachy of the Infinite Gate Society had his eyes on Chikere, likely because she had Vianne's sword. The tension rose ever higher as the groups approached, just waiting to be broken.

Members of the Whispering Watchers began to gather their energy all at once, preparing for a volley of attacks. Outside, those with ranged abilities were focused on heading off their attacks to protect the majority of melee combatants. But neither were the ones to make the first strike.

Instead, it was Vasu. He stood alongside Chikere, where they were both in the front row of the group of cultivators from the Million Sword Vault. His sword had been drawn since the enemies began their approach, but once the front of the barrier was within a hundred meters he shifted his grip on his blade, taking two wide, diagonal swings. His sword cut an X into the barrier, momentarily tearing open a section that the group began to pour through.

Battle was engaged, and both sides surged forward. The side of the Whispering Watchers focused on intercepting those who came through the barrier while they began their bombardment of deathly energy, while in turn the other forces sought weaknesses in the barrier to break through. Simply bombarding it with attacks was possible, but would take more energy, ultimately wasting effort. If smaller groups could break through and reach the forces maintaining the formation, however, it would be different.

A kilometer behind the front lines were Anton, Kseniya, and others with longer ranges. They could attack from further, but were at a range that was both effective and hard for most to counter. Though they were fighting seriously, the barrier was a problem- for the most part they had to try to catch the orbs of deathly energy as they popped out of the barrier to protect their allies. Kseniya was putting in work, but she also had the capacity to casually chat while doing so.

"Personally I think they would have done better if they stayed behind their permanent formations," she commented. "Unless they don't have enough farmland, because I sure wasn't going to let them bring in supplies."

"From what I saw, there were some plots being farmed. The land itself seems arable enough," Anton replied. "But perhaps they simply rose to our provocation, or were swayed by the threat of annihilation." Talking slightly reduced his effectiveness, but he wasn't involved in any sort of deep tactical focus. He was just shooting arrows at every orb he could, piercing into them so they would break apart early. Their power wasn't in their physical form, but the effect they had on people- so they were intended to break apart, just later.

"Honestly though," Kseniya sighed. "Do they think we're all spring chickens? I suppose they don't really know me though," she frowned.

Anton felt just a tiny motion of her eyes, and he turned to look over his shoulder. "I don't sense anything yet."

"No, they're a bit better than that. But also still quite far."

"Should we…?"

"I'll make an announcement in a minute."

Anton was pretty sure that meant she would be shooting someone. But it was her prerogative to make the judgment of when and how to do things.

Ahead of them the battle was something like a stalemate. Few except Million Sword Vault had managed to break through the barriers even momentarily, and those inside would eventually be overwhelmed… but the enemy was being cut down as well. If there was a more lasting break in the barrier the archers could target those sustaining the core of the formation. There were several flags being carried, which were good targets- but taking out those holding them in place would also serve a purpose. Among them were many members of the numerous Hungry Rat Cult, staying in reserve. From what Anton had been told, they had another factor missing as well.

It was clear that the front line was becoming impatient, as some of the Life Transformation experts were beginning to make attacks more suited to smashing through the barrier than systematically break it apart. Everyone had to make their own choices of course, but the burning ball of fire around Elder Sarka seemed quite excessive. It was burning the dirt and melting the stone in the area near her. Anton thought maybe she was trying an alternative digging technique to try to get under the barrier until she jumped forward and smashed into it head on. There, she held open a hole with the bubble of fire around her, one that other members of Glorious Flame Palace were quick to rush through, unharmed by Sarka's fire. Other sects were more hesitant.

"Guess I was late," Kseniya said. She had already turned around to begin taking shots at the approaching enemies behind them- seemingly independents not associated with sects or who had found an excuse to be away. Undoubtedly Twin Soul Sect members, unless they were just suicidal. Individually, anyway. The full number of them was making Anton rather nervous about the situation.

As for what made her late, even though the enemy was still far enough for everyone to react to, it was Elder Paula of Marvelous Rabbit Mountain. She leapt into the air, almost as if she were flying- positioned directly over the center of the enemy forces. As she fell she picked up speed, and she somehow twisted herself into a forward spin with a leg outstretched. Kseniya's shots were fired before she hit the barrier and cracked it, landing in the center of the area.

Elder Farrukh of the Hungry Rat Cult looked her straight in the eye, gathering energy. He turned to the man next to him, a late Essence Collection member of the Whispering Watchers. "Now!" he shouted. Then his energy took the form of two pairs of rodent incisors with the image of a great rat around them. Immediately, they sliced through the man next to him, as piles of actual rats burrowed out of the ground and chomped at the heels… of the group that had thought they were allies an instant before.

Elder Paula viewed the move with some suspicion, before deciding she could deal with them later if it was some sort of deception. Instead, she hopped forward, kicking a rather shocked member of Infinite Gate Society. The woman had swapped from using her energy to power the formation to primarily protecting herself in time, but it didn't stop her from being shunted far from her proper position. Along with the Hungry Rat Cult suddenly no longer participating in its stability, it began to fade and crack rapidly.

Even as that happened, Elder Farrukh locked eyes with Vasu. The two of them just shared a single word. Later. Personal insults leading to grudges could be resolved in the future.

Back across the battlefield, Anton had little freedom to focus on the lives of his friends and family… but the opportunity afforded by the Hungry Rat Cult switching sides was too good to pass up. Perhaps he was burdening Grand Elder Kseniya by trusting her to protect him from the encroaching attackers, but she hadn't spoken a word of complaint as he surveyed the area.

Alva was safely nearby, as her range was sufficient to affect a large portion of the battlefield along with the rest of the snipers. Even if she didn't have the same level of training in Horizon Shot as Anton, she could still shoot things within visual range to a high degree of accuracy.

Hoyt was chopping his way through a line of enemies along with some of the allied forces. Velvet was… probably fine wherever she was. Annelie happened to be fighting side-by-side with Anish, the fire and ice clearing swaths of opponents. Most battles were going fine, but he contributed a few shots wherever he thought it would do the most good. He just needed the right openings, and most people weren't focused on what some guy a couple thousand meters away might be ready to do to them when there was a spear right in their face they had to worry about.

Near the edge of where the barrier had once stood, Elder Malachy- who looked ready to remind anyone who spoke that it wasn't pronounced like 'lackey'- had managed to reach Chikere. Not that she was difficult to get to, as she was one of those at the front of the pack.

"You will return Swordmaster Vianne's blade to us," he said, stating it both as a fact and a command.

"Don't be stupid," Chikere said. "It's mine. Rahayu said I could have it."

"That fool isn't even here," Malachy held his blade towards Chikere. "Well, I suppose I don't mind doing this the fun way."

Against a sword wielder of her own cultivation, Chikere would have been confident. Against a Life Transformation cultivator like Elder Malachy, she was in fact still confident. Others might have told her that was incorrect, and she would have ignored them. And if she was wrong, all that would happen was that she would die- which wasn't as bad as giving up a sword she didn't want to.

A bristling flower of swords surrounded her, akin to a thistle. More swords wasn't necessarily better, but instead it was her preferred style which made it better for her. The clash of blades began, swords slicing and stabbing, clashing with each other as they were parried and dodged. Everyone around them backed off, not willing to get caught in the battle even as they were merely testing each other out.

Then a sword shattered.

"What the hell?" Chikere shouted. "You broke number fifteen! You'll pay for that." Her eyes narrowed in anger, as if Elder Malachy had killed one of her closest friends… which perhaps was not far off. Unfortunately, her combat style did not benefit from anger. Several exchanges later, two more of here swords were broken- and three were flung far out of their reach, across the battlefield.

"You're not worthy of that sword you hold," Elder Malachy sneered derisively. "Pathetic, like your master."

That taunt didn't have its intended effect, but it did cause Chikere to hesitate in confusion. "...Swordmaster Rahayu ascended."

"A wonderful fiction, but I knew the power Vianne had to hold. But history is written by the victors, I suppose. So I'll be writing the end to your little story." His words weren't just arrogance, as Chikere was finding herself with a myriad of cuts. So far she had kept the remainder of her swords intact, though some were now chipped under the ferocity of the man's attacks, one sword overcoming many.

Then, with a skillful feint, Malachy caused Chikere to overextend, twisting the blade in her hands and disarming her of Vianne's sword, which he then caught. He grinned.

"Number one…" Chikere looked at her empty hands.

Malachy let her have a moment to look and despair before he began his next attack, striking with Vianne's superior sword. He grinned as Chikere stepped forward towards him, swinging her arms as if she still held the sword in her hands. They swung up- to no effect of course.

An arrow forced him half a step closer, but he didn't care. The blades around weren't swift enough to catch him. His blade connected with her forehead, bringing with it the sound of severed flesh and bone while the woman uselessly swung her arms down.

But two things were wrong. His left hand no longer felt the hilt of Vianne's sword. And his right… seemed to have been severed, somehow.

"... how?" he asked no one in particular.

"I saw Rahayu ascend with my own eyes," Chikere commented. Even if he knew what she actually meant, that would have only answered half of Malachy's question. Instead he focused on Chikere herself. There was a cut starting on her brow and down to her nose, the source of large quantities of blood dripping alongside her nose and over her now-smiling lips. "It's okay number one," she said to a sword that was not supposed to be in her hands, but was anyway. "You're back with me."

A detailed response was not on the way. Instead, there were only more swords- and arrows. Malachy had no idea how Vianne's sword was now back in Chikere's hands, but he used his remaining hand to pull his own blade out once more. Even with his mistake, he was confident he could defeat Chikere, though the archer that seemed to have locked onto him was making things a pain.

Chikere continued her incomprehensible speech. "Fifteen, seventeen, and twelve are a loss… but the new number three looks pretty decent."

Somehow, Malachy felt his presence had been disregarded by her entirely. The archer clearly wasn't taking him for granted. And, though it no longer mattered, there had been another focused on him. But Vasu had already returned his focus to reaping the lives of those foolish enough to get within ten or twenty arms' lengths of himself.

Chapter 314

Despite the grievous injury Chikere had already inflicted on Malachy, Anton wasn't willing to leave her alone. It was already something of a miracle that she had matched a Life Transformation cultivator while merely in the late Essence Collection Phase. Of course, much of it hinged on a single blow that could just have easily ended up with her perishing. But Chikere had the apparently justified confidence that the sword would be in her hands instead of his. Anton had vaguely heard of weapons on such a level that they bound themselves to a wielder, but information had been sparse.

Anton had only spotted the battle at the critical moment, but now he was participating more actively to keep the pressure off of Chikere. Fighting an opponent with one arm might have seemed easy, but if battle was decided purely by effective number limbs Chikere would have won long before. Elder Malachy could move several times faster than her, and most of the time she was just barely holding her own. Attacks that she clearly intended to just miss her sliced into her flesh, leaving trails of blood dripping down her body.

In order to draw as much attention as he could, Anton amplified his attacks. Some were using ascension energy, and some made use of his new bow that made arrows function like wide blades. Now that he was aware of what was going to happen, he was able to lean into it and take some advantage of the otherwise awkward transformation. His arrows mainly attacked from behind Malachy, circling around so the man would have to choose between dealing with Chikere and Anton's attacks. There were also some enemy troops angling towards the duel, and Anton discouraged them from approaching by scything through several of them.

Chikere's attacks had only gotten sharper and more vicious since she sliced off Malachy's arm at the elbow, but he was also taking her more seriously. If he had taken the moment he disarmed her of her primary weapon to attack instead of trying to use it against her, the battle might have been much more in his favor. That sword had belonged to Swordmaster Vianne, but it was hard to say that it wasn't Chikere's weapon now.

The rest of the battle was more or less being won by their side, but it came with the caveat every battle did- there were casualties on both sides. That didn't make the battle pointless though. If it was a question of waiting until the invasion when the Twin Soul Sect had recovered and could fight alongside unknown powerful enemies or taking care of them ahead of time while they could, it was an obvious choice. Even if it was disadvantageous for the cultivators from Brogora, who were fighting on a continent that wasn't even theirs. Yet it was still the right thing to do, and even the practical thing- there was no guarantee the invasion wouldn't spill over between continents. In fact, it seemed quite likely. Either way, it improved the odds of someone being able to withstand the coming future, and that was enough. Not that anyone wanted to accept more casualties than they had to.

Hoyt pushed his way through the enemy ranks, leaving behind a trail of fire as he moved. He was treating himself like a meteor, his danger coming from momentum and heat. It was far removed from his grandfather's style, yet also incredibly reminiscent of it. That couldn't be helped. They used the same cultivation technique, and beyond that he didn't hate his grandfather. He just hadn't wanted to hang himself on the man's status.

He took a sharp left turn as he saw a two meter high pile of rats. As far as he could tell they were on his side, but that was all the more reason to avoid barreling through them. A ball of deathly energy from one of the Whispering Watchers flew into the mass, but the rats consumed the bodies of their fallen comrades in an instant and surged towards more enemies. Yes, it was best to avoid any of that if he could.

It was difficult to find a good target in the surge of people. Optimally Velvet wanted to take out the strongest she could kill quickly, as it was best for her fighting style. That meant no Life Transformation experts, obviously, but she now found herself entangled with a late Essence Collection fellow who refused to die. He wasn't even pretending to not be part of the Twin Soul Sect now and was fully displaying a power that made her somehow even more uneasy than the honest deathly energy the Whispering Watchers practiced. There was a gross feeling of something lurking deep inside them that she found hard to describe.

The cut she'd made on his neck didn't seem to be bleeding anymore, and not because it had healed. Velvet was pretty sure the man should be out of blood. Of course, she was also pretty sure he should be dead. At the moment, she was dodging around trying to avoid daggers he was throwing. He shouldn't be able to fight forever with such an injury, but he also shouldn't be able to so accurately sense her. Then again, no technique was perfect, and he appeared quite capable of keeping track of her once she had exposed herself.

Without knowing if any of her attacks would actually stop him, she wasn't willing to go in for a finishing blow. Perhaps it would be better to draw him towards a member of the Hungry Rat Cult. They seemed quite fond of biting hunks off of people, and even if the man somehow survived that he would be much less effective. Besides, the rat guys deserved it for almost being on the wrong side of the war.

Fire and ice together simultaneously froze and burned entire groups of people. Alva was watching that from afar, wishing she could contribute more than a few arrows. If Fuzz was around she could be closer up and more proactive, but she had to predict her opponents from a distance. Though it wasn't as if she was needed at the moment anyway. Anish and Annelie had really gotten good at working together, and instead of disrupting each other they simply made it impossible for anyone to defend in any concentrated way. They could defend against heat or cold, but not both at the same time. Except in the general sense that all defensive energy would, but very few defenses worked completely passively.

Alva settled for spinning around to attack some of those that were getting towards their rear group. Melee combatants had fallen back to assist them, but there were many varied members of the Twin Soul Sect that had shown up. In a way that was good, because they would have been hard to pick out if they'd simply stayed in hiding. She shot just as her grandpa had trained her, carefully and precisely. She was a little more haphazard with some shots when on Fuzz, but what was she supposed to do when she was barreling towards an open jaw? Shooting into it was always the right answer.

On that note, one of the enemies was riding on a giant wolf, but it was not cute at all. It was missing patches of fur and foaming at the mount, and it has spikes of bone jutting out of it at seemingly random angles. Even it didn't seem happy to be a rabid monstrosity, so she was trying to take it out. Its rider did nothing to defend it, so she shot him in the ankle, where his foot connected to some weird stirrups. Alva was pretty sure the wolf twisted so he'd take the hit when it could have avoided it.

One final arrow made its way towards the creature's eye. It went right into the thing's eye, and its head exploded. That… was an unexpected result. Technically the release of energy from the arrow could do that, but only if there was no defensive energy at all. Alva decided to get closer to the limping foe. She had to figure out what sort of crappy beast-taming sect he was from and teach them a lesson.

Soon enough the outcome of the battle was obvious to everyone, and the forces allied with the Whispering Watchers and the Twin Soul Sect began a disorganized retreat. They began to flee in all directions, including towards the sect grounds. Those might protect them for a time, but the defenses wouldn't last- especially with parts of them used for the mobile defensive formation that had carried the beginning of the battle.

They scattered in so many directions it was impossible to chase them all, and unwise. Splitting up to track all of them down would leave people vulnerable. The biggest problem was the remaining Life Transformation cultivators. They were the hardest to kill, but the focus became primarily on them as well. Kseniya was now harrying one of them in particular, since there was no tactical advantage to splitting her focus now.

That said, while the Life Transformation experts might be a threat it would also be hardest for them to blend themselves back into society. The names and general descriptions of nearly everyone of their strength were publicly known and carefully tracked, so those who remained would be able to identify them. But rather than hunting them down later, if they could kill a few before they left it would be optimal.

The remains of a battlefield was an awful place. Hundreds, perhaps thousands of dead bodies and pieces of such littered the area. Broken and lost weapons littered the area, and scavenger birds were beginning to pick through the remains.

In a pile of swords lay a young woman. Young for a cultivator of her strength, at least. Her actual age was more than forty years, though she wouldn't look any older for decades at minimum.

As Anton surveyed his unconscious friend, he wondered if her wounds were a step up from the last time. Having her head half-severed at the neck was pretty bad, but being a fraction of a second away from having her skull completely split in two was terrifying as well. Though it hadn't happened, which is why it could be considered better.

If Anton recalled correctly, she'd begun the battle with twenty swords around her, more or less. At some point during the fight with Elder Malachy she'd had fifteen or so. Now she had… a good hundred or more piled on top of her. One of them was definitely Malachy's, tucked in the fold of her elbow. The one that stood out the most not for quality but strangeness looked almost like a leaf, which meant the spawn of the sword-tree in Everheart's realm still ranked itself among those worthy of being pulled out. And the others… well, they would likely be sorted through once Chikere woke again.

Those Anton knew well had survived, but he couldn't help but wonder if he could have saved some of the others. Shouldn't he care about every member of the Orders, or every life? Then again, there was no way he could care about them as much as those close to him, or he would be torn apart after battles. Possibly literally, as cultivators were often more extreme in their emotional states. Except those who intentionally avoided it like the Frostmirror Sect.

Speaking of which, there was an interesting conflict happening. Sarka and Adelina hadn't gotten along for the entire trip, and now was no exception. With no actual enemies, they had gone back to glaring at each other. It was just that it seemed difficult, with Anish and Annelie happily chatting in between them. At least the future of the sects wasn't so crazy, though perhaps that was partly because of his own interference in the aspect of cutting off emotions. Annelie still had hers, but they were in control instead of completely gone.

Perhaps if she could express things emotionally, Adelina might not just have to constantly be dissatisfied by the presence of the Glorious Flame Palace. But while the two elders squabbled, it had at least never erupted into a real battle. As long as it lasted until they could get them back home, it would be fine. Then they could go their separate ways and never deal with each other again… until something important happened that required the input of their sects.

They could obviously pick different representatives, but both were chosen for strength and relative youth. Having an old monster at the peak of Life Transformation was good for a sect, but having those who would grow to fill in the gaps later was even more important. Especially with just a few decades until a big invasion.

Chapter 315

Troubles didn't just suddenly cease after winning a battle, even a critical one. There were various troubles that could occur if they were not careful, including conflict among the various sects. For example, the distribution of loot. The informal and somewhat rushed conglomeration of groups meant there was no strict agreement on how things would be done, but those tensions were eased by the Order and their allies from the other continent giving up the majority of what they should be entitled to based on their strength.

One exception there was Chikere, but it was hard for anyone to argue that Malachy's sword should go to anyone else. If there were any issues, she was backed up by Million Sword Vault, who had much in common with her. It might help that she contributed numerous swords that were below her top one hundred to their cause. While they might not be suited for use by an Essence Collection cultivator, anything she picked up had some level of quality inherent to it.

Though the Whispering Watchers were now effectively dissolved, there was still much work to do hunting down those who fled- and the threats made against those who had supported them weren't made idly. Other sects would fall under the combined might of the army. Anton might not have liked it, but he knew it was necessary- and there were reasonable heads that would limit any unnecessary slaughter. The death of any member of the Twin Soul Sect was absolutely necessary, though. All of those who thought of things in the longer term instead of the next decade or less would agree with him. Actually, though Anton would never condone it in any way, it was more logical to join them directly rather than be an ally of theirs… because they would inevitably betray anyone else when the invasion came. The one good thing they did seem to have was a bond of companionship for their actual members.

The follow-up efforts didn't need everyone to be involved all together, and Anton had other things he wanted to do. More productive things. He was still convinced that battles were necessary to make the world a better place, but that didn't mean it was his preferred method. Even if it was perhaps the fastest.

He still had things he wanted to teach in Arbington and the surroundings. He'd made some promises, after all, and it was the center of his movement to change the way people thought about cultivation on this continent. It would doubtless cause some conflicts in the future- but he firmly believed it was better to have a populace who could stand up against a sect and possibly overcome their rule than to tell everyone to keep their heads down and not achieve anything with their life.

"I don't get it," Trix shook her head as she frowned at the carefully arranged herbs in front of her. "This one cures headaches and causes minor gut side effects, and this one cures those side effects and only causes trivial headaches. Why is that not the right mixture?"

"Because," Idalia explained, "The mechanisms they work through are quite different. The headaches caused by the second are from a different sort of imbalance in the body. And though individually the technical symptoms seem to match up, together they lead to worse problems as they react with each other."

"Where do I put this?" a voice called from outside.

"Just outside the back door, thank you!" Idalia answered, as she always did to Sasho. It was only barrels and other sturdy stuff outside, and though he was quite helpful, he didn't seem to have a good sense of where his arms and legs ended. Or his elbows. Or how much strength it took to open a door. Idalia wasn't the only one having Sasho help out- she didn't have nearly so many heavy things she needed dealt with as some, and he wasn't good for precision tasks of any sort.

He'd been making some progress in a technique that Anton left for him, but he often needed help from others to understand it. Hiram, Idalia, and Trix were his go-tos for that purpose. Unfortunately, he'd been stuck on part of it the last couple weeks. Hopefully Anton would return soon, but Idalia knew there was no guarantee he would. If he was able, she had no doubt he'd be back… but having experienced the sort of people who were after him from an extreme distance, she thought that perhaps he might not. She had confidence in him, but upstanding people died all the time no matter how many people thought well of them.

"... I don't think I'm going to be an herbalist," Trix frowned.

"I should hope not. You hardly even pay attention. What about the other trades you've tried?"

"They're… fine. I don't know," Trix shrugged. "Can't I just be… a cultivator?"

"If you can get people to pay you to fight or stand guard all the time, absolutely," Idalia smiled. "But I'm inclined to listen to Anton's wisdom. It's better to do something practical. There's a lot to learn about how to make use of your body and mind from things other than fighting."

"... And I'm not strong enough yet," Trix mumbled. "I can't believe that freaking Gray Rock Sect. They were so afraid of us and now they're walking around like they own the place."

"They were doing that before you came around," Idalia said. "But their pause in overt activity seems to have given them the idea they have to make up for lost time."

"Can't you just poison them all or something?" Trix sighed, burying her face in the table.

"Of course not," Idalia said. "I don't have nearly enough for that. And I'd like to avoid getting any innocents involved. They're stronger than we can manage anyway."

"How are we even supposed to be able to catch up to people like that though?" Trix said annoyed. "If we can grow a certain amount in a year, so can they."

"It's about knowledge and teamwork," Idalia replied.

"Yeah, and numbers."

"Having greater numbers implies a level of teamwork, if anything is going to get done. But individual effort is important too. Speaking of which," Idalia gestured. "Here he comes."

The bell on the door rang as Hiram entered, a strong power tightly held around him. After a year of cultivating, he was on the verge of breaking through to Spirit Building.

"Tsk. What does he have that I don't?"

"Determination," Idalia quipped.

Hiram was close enough to overhear them and contribute. "And the fortune to witness a battle involving an exemplar of my same cultivation technique. Though from quite a long distance for the most part." He didn't mention the bit where he was able to steal some lifeforce, as that was a touchy area for cultivation techniques. "I'd like some more of the usual, please."

"Already?" Idalia frowned. "Using this stuff too much can be bad for your health, you know?"

"I'm properly purging the remnants," Hiram said. "And I don't care about side effects."

"You might not," Idalia admitted. "But some of us would like to have you stick around. It would be good to have someone dependable."

"I'm just going to be a killer," Hiram retorted.

Idalia shrugged. "Need those too, at least as a deterrent. And unless you cut things too close… you should be prepared to live through everything."

The first one Anton sought out was Hiram. There were several reasons, but the most important was that he was at the highest risk.

"Hello again," Anton grinned as he approached the man outside of town.

"... Hello," Hiram turned to see Anton. "Should I be worried that I didn't sense you coming?"

"Probably not. You're not at the point where it's worthwhile to worry about people like me… and there's something in particular about that." Anton pulled a ring off his finger and tossed it to Hiram. "It's enchanted with some energy concealing formations. It won't do much if you're active, but it's good for avoiding casual scrutiny. And… sorry."

"About what, exactly?"

Anton frowned. "Has the word not made it here? It should have by now. But I suppose what is big news for some gradually dilutes into being unimportant for people making an honest living. The Whispering Watchers have been basically dissolved."

"And that's bad?" Hiram raised an eyebrow.

"They were connected to some pretty bad stuff. The details exactly a secret but will take some time to explain, so I'll do it later. But now they're being hunted down. So I went to get you that," Anton gestured. "I also have plans to get you in contact with several local sects. At least to the point they know you're using a stolen version of the technique and aren't associated with them. That's safer now."

"Weren't they… a very strong sect?" Hiram asked. "The one who came after you was a Life Transformation cultivator. That is the peak of cultivation, isn't it?"

"Before ascension, yes. And they were very strong. It took the combined efforts of many to cause the damage we did. But you shouldn't need to worry about the full ramifications of that for… a few decades."

"The time scales cultivators think on is strange," Hiram said.

"Right?" Anton grinned. "I've been thinking that myself. Most of my life I thought season to season, with plans ahead for a year or two in the abstract. But working on a farm you can take things one day at a time. Concerning yourselves with larger scales changes things."

He met up with others, though none were likely at elevated risk of peril except for Hiram. Sasho did need his help though. "Try it again," Anton said, pointing to the boulder.

Sasho took a stance, clenching his fist and punching forward. Anton had to admit that the force required to cause it to explode was impressive, for someone only in late Body Tempering. "... I can't do it," Sasho shook his head as he looked at the pile of rubble in front of him.

"Don't say that," Anton shook his head. "Some things are hard for different people. Now, I can't say I'm an expert on Body Tempering techniques, but I've gone past your stage at least." Anton picked out a rock from the pile. "Try it like this," he poked his finger into the rock, leaving an oddly shaped hole that ultimately ended up with a ring or wheel. He'd done a bit more to get it to look nice, but the idea was the same.

Sasho grabbed a rock and pressed his finger against it. He strained for a few moments before the rock cracked in half. "... I'm too clumsy."

"That's exactly what the training is about," Anton pointed out. "If someone asked you to punch through a rock you could do it. Because you already know how. This is about finesse. The point isn't to get it first try, but to improve yourself." Anton hoped someone had use for broken bits of rock, but the farmer who wanted them removed from his field would be happy with smaller chunks. "Let's try another time. You want to pierce through. You should focus more on your fist and in front of in instead of just around it. Here," Anton gestured to a smaller rock, still the size of a man's torso but just laying flat on the ground.

Sasho nodded, looking at his new target. He steeled himself, tensing his muscles and maneuvering his natural energy before punching downward. There was a horrible cracking sound as his hand impacted the rock, and Anton saw the man's fingers and wrist were horribly mangled.

It only took him a single moment to figure out why. A butterfly had landed on the rock as he was punching. It wasn't some sort of cultivating beast, just a normal insect- instead Sasho had caused the damage to himself. Otherwise, he would have shattered the rock and maybe hurt the fluttering insect.

"Let me take a look at that," Anton said, snapping Sasho's fingers back into place. Sasho was tough, and waiting for him to agree wouldn't help. He winced in pain, but then it was all done. "What you did there was actually a very precise control of your energy. Unfortunately, it wasn't concentrated where it needed to be. See here," Anton kicked the rock, which caused Sasho to look at him horrified. However, when it broke apart it left a single pillar where the butterfly casually flapped its wings for a few moments before taking off. "We'll have to spend some time figuring out the best method, but I know you can do it." Maybe if he tied a bunny to the rock? But if Sasho messed up he was going to get hurt either physically or mentally. Maybe he could just paint something on. Well, he'd figure something out. At least Sasho wanted to learn, though Anton wished he had someone like Ayotunde around. The practitioner of Western Steel Body would be better for Sasho, he imagined. But Ayotunde was more than just a short trip away, so Anton would have to do well enough for the moment.

Chapter 316

The western shores of Aicenith greeted the group as they prepared to leave the continent. They had never intended to stay for long- and as cultivators, two years had not been particularly long for them. Their goal had been completed- making sure that others at least knew about the coming invasion. Now, they would be as prepared as they could be.

Now it was time for everyone to return home… except those who had died, and a few rarities who wished to stay. Chikere was one of those, though she had no wish to break off ties with the others. There was simply more world for her to explore.

More permanent relationships were planned to be set up, but a rarely traveled sea route full of danger wasn't a great long term solution. The Twin Soul Sect had some method, but the information was incomplete. They didn't like to leave behind records, and even much of the Whispering Watcher's archives kept as much information about them as possible secret.

But further efforts in that direction would be fully carried out by the people of Aicenith. The cultivators from the continent they called Brogora had already caused enough disruption to the local stability- even though ultimately it should be to their benefit, it was easy to overstay the welcome.

Commodore Visser hadn't simply stayed in port with his fleet, but involved himself in traveling up and down the western coast. But eventually, everyone returned to Blackstone Harbor where they would retrace the steps of their previous journey. Though there had been serious dangers on their previous passing of the route, they had no guarantee there wouldn't be something worse elsewhere. Their current goal wasn't to refine the route, but simply to return home.

Given the experiences from the previous trip, the Azalea and Skylark were repaired and fortified to deal with the troubles particular sorts of beasts would cause. The cultivators could deal with direct attacks on themselves, but the ships were vulnerable. Besides the flagships, the others received minor upgrades of their own. That allowed them to get by relatively unscathed, though there were always times the ships got damaged by beasts or storm.

A larger supply of materials to refit the ships had been brought, but the fleet still would prefer to restock along the way. That meant spotting islands with natural resources, but there had hardly been any on the route before. But there had been one island. It was slightly inconveniently located on the first half of the trip instead of the latter half, but the Paradise of Thirteen Hills had sturdy trees for lumber as well as plenty of wild plants to eat, and even some medicinal herbs. They didn't currently need it, but replenishing some of their stocks would be nice. Most importantly, they wanted to confirm the location of the island.

Grand Elder Kseniya consulted with Visser in his cabin. "So," Kseniya said cautiously. "These charts you have made, how accurate are they?"

Visser frowned. "I will admit they are not perfect, given the circumstances, but they should be accurate within ten or twenty kilometers. It's only a few hours until sundown. We can look again, but nothing should have gotten us far off course since last night. I can feel the currents, after all."

"I trust what you say to be accurate… which is why I have to say that the island is gone."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"It was not insignificant in size," Kseniya replied. "And it is not anywhere within fifty kilometers of it. Thus, it is gone."

"Could there perhaps be a concealing formation on it?" Visser questioned.

"That is not my area of expertise, but to my understanding… it wouldn't be sufficient. I don't sense the ocean floor within a kilometer of the surface anywhere. And I've had ample time to go over the area, again and again. It's gone. But I don't know what could cause an island to disappear."

"Perhaps the island itself had a natural formation that distorted the view of the stars?" Visser frowned, looking down at the records. "But each day seems to match within a sensible margin of error."

"I'm not saying you have to know," Kseniya shrugged. "But I will say unless you have methods that surpass my own, we likely won't be finding it. Instead of sailing around for a few days, we should simply move on."

"That's unfortunate," Visser said. "People were looking forward to it. What should we say?"

"Why not the truth? It's some sort of disappearing, phantom island. People might be disappointed not to return, but learning we had the fortune to stumble upon a mystery island when we most needed it… that's something to talk about, at least." Kseniya shrugged, "And this time we don't need it. So it's fine, right?"

"I suppose so," Visser admitted. "It's a shame though, because I was looking forward to a small bit on land."

The journey continued as it had before, with scattered beast attacks and semi-frequent storms. It was almost something that the cultivators could consider routine now, but except for the professional sailors among them it was hard to feel entirely comfortable. This wasn't their home, it was just a journey to bring them back.

The general mood dropped, not just because they had missed the Paradise of Thirteen Hills… but because they were approaching the area that caused them to need it. The world seemed to agree with the general sentiment of the passengers, as clouds darkened in the sky. By now everyone knew that storms attracted beasts towards things on the surface, and they prepared for attacks.

Anton held his bow, not the one that was half sword but his much more normal one. Though the ability to have wider attacks was valuable in some circumstances, the extra drag it caused in the water was immense. He could overcome it to still be somewhat effective, but he'd learned enough about firing into the water that his normal shots were better by far. In fact, fighting aquatic beasts was one of the best use cases for Spirit Arrows with the properties of light- water hardly restricted the motion of such arrows. Though he did find that there were some oddities when the arrows entered the water.

The first beasts to approach were a few squid and longnosed shipwreckers. They had never bothered to determine what the beasts gained from the attacks, even theoretically, but part of it must have been related to invasion of territory.

With a journey and a half under their belt, it wasn't just Anton that was more proficient at fighting underwater but the others as well. Swarms of beasts were simply no match for them, and they even handily dealt with the tiny hulleater barnacles. Those were creatures that the professional sailors dealt with in other places. They wouldn't immediately cause any damage, but they would latch onto ships and eventually eat holes straight through. Killing them before they got a firm hold was best, but the fleet also did daily sweeps for damage to the ships or anything sticking to the hulls. As cultivators, they didn't have to worry about performing such removals in a drydock- they could sense and even manipulate things from the top of the deck, if they took the effort.

A great bolt of lightning struck between the ships. Though none among their number counted themselves as formation masters, there were some who were proficient in such techniques that had helped organize them so that the lightning bolts would be less likely to strike their masts. That was good, because otherwise they had to anticipate the strike and have someone sacrifice a large chunk of their energy to stop it. Lightning preferred to strike the highest target, more or less, but there were ways to manipulate it. As the storm grew worse, protecting the ships became more important.

Then the warning came. Kseniya was the first one to detect it, but even as the announcement was being distributed through the fleet others began to pick out the power of the giant creature rising from the depths. The kraken had returned. It was swiftly apparent it was the same one, as many of the limbs were mangled- but it seemed to have grown more in their place, along with its grudge.

One of the smaller ships in the fleet was the first target, a great tentacle wrapping around it. Having some experience with it, the crew and passengers worked together to destroy the offending limb before the ship was crushed. Even so, a few boards were snapped, and a mast was thrown off kilter.

What followed was a mad battle with the sea and the sky, fending off lightning as well a the great limbs of the kraken. Attacks were launched on the creature both underwater and at whatever rose into the air to destroy their ships. Smaller tendrils wrapped around individual cultivators to varying levels of effectiveness based on their cultivation.

Anton's new bow found its place when limbs came for the Azalea. They were nearly uncountable so he obviously couldn't deal with them all alone, but he shot arrows that became like blades, cutting wide gouges in the tendrils, and sometimes severing them. The additional Spirit Bows floating around him were used for the smallest tendrils that were primed to attack individual people, as the larger limbs didn't care if they had a finger sized hole all the way through them. He could allow his arrows to detonate inside a target, but there was mixed success with that- and the possibility of collateral damage with so many others involved.

The Azalea still carried elder Adelina, whose ability to freeze the tentacles- even for a moment- allowed the forward flagship to mostly defend itself. In the rear aboard the Skylark Sarka's flames burned hot and bright- but did not burn anything she didn't wish to. But despite the fleet's prior experience with the kraken, it also had experience with them. Considering the battle with the Whispering Watchers had resulted in not-insignificant numbers of fatalities among them, it was hard to say they were winning. And unlike the last time, it didn't seem the kraken intended to withdraw to save its life.

"Just keep fighting!" Kseniya shouted. "We can do this!"

Anton agreed… but he wondered what Kseniya was doing. She wasn't the sort to bother with morale. Not usually, anyway. Then he sensed it. The vast majority of his focus was on the giant death monster below them, but some things were hard to miss. He wouldn't fail to notice lightning strikes around the Azalea, and he also wouldn't fail to notice an island approaching.

Of course, it wasn't just any island but a familiar one. Or rather, a familiar creature that apparently had never been an island in the first place. But the pieces clicked together in Anton's head, and now he remembered why the turtle soup had tickled his brain. A turtle shell had a fairly regular pattern of humps, which didn't change among varieties. Thirteen, to be exact.

Anton really hoped it didn't eat people. They might have more than a handful of Life Transformation cultivators among them, but they couldn't handle an island sized turtle on top of the kraken.

But he didn't have to think about it for long, because turtles were fast. When they wanted to be, at least. A giant wave splashed into the fleet, pushing some of the ships dangerously close to each other and disturbing their careful arrangement. Yet it was worth it as the creature dove down and started chomping at the kraken.

The kraken's tentacles pulled away from the humans and began to wrap around the turtle. There was a brief moment of hesitation from the fleet before they made the choice to focus on the assault. With the kraken mostly distracted, brave souls leapt into the water to try to attack the main body while those like Anton with attacks that were just as good from afar did their best to cover them from the stray smaller tendrils and the occasional other beasts who were still in a frenzy.

Nobody knew if they would have to fight the turtle or not, but at least for the moment they could take out a dangerous foe… and everything else could be determined afterwards.

Chapter 317

The largest contribution made to the battle by the rather sudden arrival of an island sized turtle was not when it bit off a couple limbs at a time, but when the kraken chose to fight it. There were still innumerable tentacles in play, and many of them were wrapped around the turtle's head and neck. The turtle began to pull away, swimming towards the surface even as the kraken's maw approached. Most of those watching could only barely make out the details and were in fact more concerned about the waves caused by the motion potentially slamming their ships together.

The kraken's maw was large enough to chomp down on the head of the turtle, but as it got close and opened up, the turtle's neck suddenly extended and its mouth opened, the island's worth of natural energy augmenting its mouth as it chompe onto an edge of the opening. It twisted and shook its neck, and the entire kraken with it. The kraken attempted to pull away, disentangling its tentacles, but it was too late. A huge, fatal chunk was taken out of it. As the piece tore away and the turtle swallowed, the kraken began to push away- but the turtle dove after it for another bite.

The whole time, Commodore Visser was shouting orders for the fleet, and they retreated as far as they could from the conflict. Either creature could easily catch up to them or they would have retreated from the kraken, but with them focused on each other they began to move away. But less than a minute later the battle was over, with the kraken little more than a mess of half destroyed limbs and part of a body that no longer resembled either squid or octopus.

The storm continued to rage, but without any beasts attacking- they were all either dead or had retreated at the turtle's arrival- it was easily tolerable for the fleet. As for the turtle, the fleet continued to move away, except for a small boat manned by several Life Transformation cultivators. Knowing the turtle's intentions seemed to be important if this route were to ever be traversed again, since a creature that could swallow their whole fleet in a single gulp was even more of a threat than the kraken.

If it intended to eat the Life Transformation cultivators, they would be able to escape across the surface of the water. Flying was a difficult task, but supporting oneself on the surface of water was simple. And though the turtle was faster than their ships, the cultivators would be faster without. The ships were to provide a place to rest, and the weaker cultivators still needed them.

A day later, the fleet found themselves resting at the paradise of thirteen hills once more. Atop the turtle's back, specifically. The creature was only drifting with the currents, very slowly considering it was wider than some of the currents and some went crossways with each other. Though it appeared to be in a state of hibernation or at least inactivity, the fleet had approached from the side, so as to avoid getting near the head. From the simple maps they had made on their first landing it seemed they had gone directly over the creature's mouth, but there had been no reaction. It was theorized the creature wasn't interested in anything as small as them, but there were some precautions that were necessary.

But the resources and stability it provided to repair their ships was deemed to be worth the risk. The fleet was currently anchored on the creature. It seemed the edge of its shell naturally rested under the surface, where the beaches had previously been. At the current moment the beaches were washed thinner than before, but the vast majority of plantlife had survived the wild battle, and that plantlife held the proper soil onto the creature's back.

"Do you think it should be called Paradise still?" Anton asked those around. The regular group, plus family. And Anish too.

"A turtle called Paradise…" Hoyt shrugged. "I'm not quite sure. It probably depends on whether it's going to be dangerous."

"Given the fact that it has a whole ecosystem up here, I'm pretty sure it isn't active often," Anton pointed out.

"I can't believe it had a beach," Alva commented. They were currently just beyond where the beach had once been, atop denser soil and grass. "How long was it inactive?"

"It still has some sand," Velvet pointed out. "I imagine something about it naturally attracts such sediment. But… it might drift for years without doing anything. It wasn't active when we first saw it after all, and it hadn't been. So it came to this part of the ocean over the couple years we were on Aicenith."

"I can't believe we didn't notice it was a turtle," Anish was looking at the ground beneath them suspiciously. "It still doesn't feel like it, though I can sense the shell if I go deep enough. Do I have to sense more than a few meters under the ground wherever I walk all the time now?"

"I have to say, sounds like a good habit," Anton admitted. "But even I didn't notice anything. I just thought the shell was some kind of bedrock. The weird thing is its energy. It feels like free natural energy rather than that of a creature." Anton made a little gesture, controlling it to swirl. "I don't feel as if it has anything of its own. But its size could be throwing me off."

There were many people on the expedition who were interested in the creature, but only a few people actually chose to stay for an extended period. Elder Tola, of the Infinite Wisdom Forest, as well as some of her subordinates. Perhaps all of them might have stayed if not for the effect it would have on the sect's fighting power, and how it might have looked if none came back.

Many names were thrown around. The Paradise of Thirteen Hills had been generally agreed upon before anyone knew it was a turtle, but afterwards knowing that they weren't simple hills it fell out of favor. Paradise was still supported, but some were leery of the name due to the massive violence and hunger they had witnessed. It was perfectly normal behavior for a beast to eat another, but it was disturbing to people when they considered possibly being eaten as well. Thirteen fit, but was hardly a name on its own. "Big Thirteen" and "Grandfather Turtle" were both suggested. Ultimately, everyone would have their own names for the Paradise of Thirteen Hills, which was most definitely not the peaceful island people had first thought it was.

Whatever they might have called the creature, it showed no intent to cause anyone harm, or even that it noticed their existence. Its head was deep in the water along with its limbs, and only those who were specifically seeking them out would notice that they were not some sort of stone supporting the island. And even Kseniya had not realized that there was nothing beneath the island- the shell itself was so think she hadn't even considered diving deeper, and her senses grew fuzzy around the point they presumed the creature's flesh would begin.

With the kraken dead and being digested, there were no serious threats ahead of them- and they were not far from familiar and relatively friendly waters. The last days of their travel were somewhat subdued in excitement until they finally saw the land of the continent, with a few false starts for outlying islands like Greatleaf.

They were close enough to on target that they even arrived back at the same harbor they had departed from, and then everyone split up to return back to their various sects. Those who knew about what had happened were very interested in their stories, but the news only really spread over the course of the next several months as people realized there had actually been an expedition- and one that could absolutely be counted as successful.

Fuzz was the second thing to leap towards Anton as they returned to the Order. He was truthfully not very far behind in noticing their arrival, but the ant queen was somehow even swifter to notice Anton's return. It seemed she had been quite sad that he was gone for so long, but bringing her along could have been quite a problem. Even other countries weren't necessarily ready to accept strong, intelligent ants living among them.

Alva, Hoyt, and Velvet received little enthusiasm from the ant queen, but Fuzz greeted them with the first of many enthusiastic licks to the face. After more than two years they were properly home again.

The first order of business was to meet up with Timothy and Caterina to catch up on everything that had happened. The traveling group relayed the things that had happened, from the weeks of travel to the meat of their time in the area.

"Its too bad I couldn't be there to see their formations," Catarina said. "But I've had plenty of things to study here. Elder Rana and I have been studying Everheart's teleportation formations, though they mostly destroyed themselves. We've been piecing things together from the rubble and everyone's recollections."

"I'm glad everyone came back safely," Timothy added. "Though I will miss Chikere. Perhaps when travel becomes more available we can visit her at some point."

"Maybe things will have settled by the time we're actually ready to build them," Catarina commented.

"Build what?" Anton asked, tilting his head.

"... The teleportation formations? The things I've been studying?"

"You can reproduce those?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Not fully," Catarina admitted. "But I will be able to. Anything he did can be reproduced. That's how formations work."

"Hmm," Anton frowned. "They're just so extreme… I kind of always considered his stuff to be more fever dreams than something that actually happened."

"The big problem is making teleportation formations that work more than once. If we borrow against their future potential they just collapse," Catarina shook her head. "It's very expensive. But powering them without is also terribly difficult. It's not worth it except… perhaps for rare trips between continents. Though we'd want to be quite sure that the Twin Soul Sect is wiped out first, hmm?"

"And the teleportation formations could make it easier for the invaders to reach us here- or to move across," Anton pointed out.

"Eh, that's easy enough. Breaking things is simple. If I could get access to Everheart's information up there…" Catarina looked towards the sky. "Like that formation that trapped you. Picking out people by their cultivation styles and ascension energy. That would be best. I might even be able to make it so that people didn't come out the other side." Catarina furrowed her brow. "Hmm, but maybe not. Everheart let people out into a death maze with no exits, right?"

"I can't be certain if that was by necessity or not," Anton shrugged.

"Yeah…" Catarina shook her head. "If only I had some proper instructions from him that were at a higher level. I have an old book, but all his best stuff doesn't have anything I know of. Unless he left behind an actual vault for a successor of some sort."

"Our best bet would have been the one in Ambati," Anton pointed out. "Since he led us there. But it didn't have information on high level formations."

"Could always be more," Catarina said. "That guy seemed to have thrown tombs down everywhere. I wouldn't be surprised if-" she stopped and bit her lip. "You know what I'm not going to bother anyone by saying that."

"That's ominous," Anton said.

"It's fine," she replied. "But I'll look into it just in case. It's kind of a stupid idea though."

"Which is why it makes some sense for Everheart to have done it," Anton replied. "But I think I'd rather not know about it, unless I can affect this theoretical worry somehow."

"Exactly. And it should be fine," Catarina repeated. "But other than a lot of studying, nothing much really happened here. Things have been pretty peaceful, you know?"

"I know," Anton said nodding. "When I came back I almost expected…" his eyes flickered between Timothy and Catarina.

"Expected what?" Catarina asked.

"Don't worry about it," Anton said. "It's not important." He had plenty of grandchildren of varying degrees, and pressuring people into having more wasn't good for anyone.

Alva had a little less tact though. "He thought you'd have babies. Why else would you guys stay behind?"

"I-I just was busy with all this research," Catarina said shiftily.

Timothy shrugged, "I'll admit to just wanting to be with Catarina. But as you can see, no kids."

"I kinda want to see them though," Alva said. "I bet they'd be cute!"

"I'm sure they will in their own time, or not if they choose," Anton said as he steered them away from the topic. "Besides, the same could be said of you or Annelie. Think there will be anyone on the way soon?"

"What? We don't- I don't even have anyone I-" Somehow, Anton's words made Alva blush like a young woman instead of a fully grown adult. And she spoke the truth, but Anton knew a little bit more than she thought. But some things weren't as obvious to those closely involved as a slightly more detached outsider.

Chapter 318

After a mere two decades of being a cultivator, Anton was able to see a significant change in Graotan. He was only familiar with a relatively small portion of it throughout the duration of his normal life, but it had been much the same throughout. Good land worked by numerous hardworking individuals. There were of course some bad apples in every town or village, but Graotan was a good country. That was made possible by the Order. Even if they failed to perfectly protect the country, they had done their best. They could have used their position to exploit the country for more resources to increase their power- individual towns and villages weren't much, but the numbers would add up to something real. Instead, the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars had given the people the opportunity to thrive in a world dominated by cultivators.

But while they had been unselfish, the Order's actions hadn't required any sacrifice on their part. The recent efforts, however, had cost the Order time, effort, and a not insignificant portion of their resources. And the country was different for it.

Nearly a generation since Anton began cultivating, and the country was changed. It wasn't suddenly a beacon of strength, but every town and village had people cultivating. With the knowledge and training made freely available, people were able to improve themselves beyond human limits, amplifying what they could do in their everyday lives. While some were content to accept a limit in their crafts that they would not go beyond, even they were swayed by the ability to complete their daily work with more alacrity. Others devoted themselves to deepening their abilities, creating useful goods and deep works of art that they might have never imagined possible.

There were a number among every sect who devoted themselves to things practical for cultivators- forging weapons and armor, sewing herbs that filled with natural energy, and studying formations. Art of various sorts was popular as a meditative technique. There was nothing wrong with those pursuits, but with cultivators being the main practitioners it led to truly very few great masters.

The Order had several thousand disciples when Anton joined. Approximately half of them were in Body Tempering, clumping at the peak of Body Tempering where most lacked the talent to break through to a higher level. Though no other sects had a large sway in Graotan, there were various smaller sects. All told, the number of cultivators had been in the low tens of thousands, compared to a population of over ten million throughout the country. Exact numbers weren't easily available with the current changes, but the new 'common cultivators' outnumbered those who cultivated as their primary focus. Hundreds of thousands at least, though still less than a tenth of the population. Those who were too young, too old, or too stubborn to make the attempt weren't part of the numbers, and some simply hadn't gotten the proper opportunity yet.

It was the problem of general education- people couldn't afford to spend time away from their work, even if ultimately they would come out ahead. Not everyone who supported the efforts worked so closely with people to help them maintain their daily work. But every major city had at least one, sometimes up to ten people dedicated to teaching people to cultivate full time. Most were disciples of the Order who received a modest stipend for their efforts, though Anton suspected that the positions would be coveted in the future, if those fulfilling them made optimal use of them. Much could be learned from the perspectives of others.

Except for his regular visits to Windrip, Anton didn't settle down in a single spot. The last handful of years had seen him constantly roaming around Graotan- and anywhere else on the continent that wanted him. Estary was the most receptive to the movement. While many sects throughout the countries would normally be against the efforts, the looming threat of a coming invasion made them willing to accept as many people who might have some effect on the war as possible. Nobody was sure if the invasion would happen in one decade, two, three… but four or five were the far limits. It had already been more than a decade since Everheart's last tomb popped up, and it appeared as if it might truly have been the final one.

The recent years could be said to be a time of peace- but they could also be called a time of preparation for war. While a good number of the most powerful sects had formed an official alliance, there were always conflicts among people. For the most part they had lately been kept from as much violence, but it would take work to see a real peace last a generation or more.

Anton hoped that the rising levels of natural energy in Graotan would be a sign to others. The Order understood, but even inside the Order there were some who didn't fully believe that everyone cultivating could possibly result in more natural energy throughout the land. Anton had to admit that a few years could be a random fluctuation, but he knew that the greatest changes were in the first areas he had established cultivators.

People worked at all of their tasks, taking in natural energy from their surroundings and putting it into crops and materials and finished products. The various pockets were beginning to merge together and feed into each other, and Anton knew that soon other sects would covet Graotan more than they had before. But if they were paying attention, a little bit of patience would allow them to produce similar results in other places.

Those who didn't have the patience but still had enough self control to behave properly would still be able to benefit. Graotan's borders weren't closed, after all. Though those associated with dangerous elements were kept out, most sects were welcome to visit. A few even chose to move, re-establishing themselves within Graotan's borders. And as long as they didn't cause trouble, they were welcome.

As Ayotunde was familiar with Anton, he sought him out first when he arrived at the Order. Even so, he was not present for a friendly visit but an official meeting. Along with Afi, the Matriarch of the Temitope clan, there were also other representatives of various portions of Ambati to the west.

"When are they gonna make you an elder, huh, Anton?" Ayotunde grinned. "You absolutely deserve it by now."

"I would not want to chase any of those others deserving the title out of their positions," Anton shook his head. "And I like the freedom I have now. I have no desire to leash myself here."

"Is that so?" Ayotunde grinned. "You can do what you like I suppose, but I imagine they'll foist the title on you when you reach Life Transformation regardless."

"If I do," Anton shrugged. "That would be at least a decade away still."

Ayotunde clicked his tongue. "You're gonna make the rest of us ashamed if you say it like that. Acting as if even being on the precipice in thirty years isn't an accomplishment. When we first met I had more than a decade as a cultivator and was only in mid Spirit Building. Now I can't even hope to keep up."

"Proper access to resources has certainly accelerated your growth," Anton commented.

"True, but some of that success we owe to you."

"The same is true in reverse," Anton pointed out. "I treat people like anything worth spending time on. I pay into them, and hope they pay back into me."

"Swift growth of friends and swift death of enemies," Ayotunde nodded. "It works well for you. Some are afraid of the risks."

"It helps to hit the point where you have nothing," Anton commented. "Then you're not afraid of losing something."

"That works until you get something important again. Then you become afraid again. How do you not?" Ayotunde asked.

"I got to the end, and was content. Even now, I think about what my legacy will be. I'm willing to die for any of it… but I don't plan to make it easy," Anton grinned. "But tell me about you. You have been gone for so long. Was your expedition successful?"

"To an extent," Ayotunde nodded. "The exact details aren't mine to share, but we found others. For the most part the ocean to the west is dominated by the Exalted Island Sect. They control the entire archipelago, which they renamed after themselves. The Exalted Archipelago. They were not terribly welcoming as a sect, but they did not forbid our passage- and the locals were interested to see foreign travelers, something they thought was an impossibility." Ayotunde shrugged, "As far as we can tell, they have eradicated the Twin Soul Sect since the time of Everheart's final tomb. Other than that, they prefer to be left alone."

"A shame," Anton said. "I'd like to visit… or more relevantly have another group to coordinate with. But peaceful contact is at least something. Our picture of the world is finally being repaired. Unless we're missing large landmasses… the Twin Soul Sect has been driven to hide in far corners, if nothing else. Though I wouldn't bet on full eradication."

"Very cautious. But for good reason." Ayotunde nodded contently, "Ambati has been holding together, but people have been growing weird potatoes everywhere. I hear that it is your fault."

"We got the permission of the Temitope clan to spread those crops. And they grow quite well under the care of those with only a small amount of training in cultivation."

"I looped around through Edelhull. It is almost difficult to recognize, with all the cultivators there. And most bearing the energy of the Order…"

Anton shrugged, "It's a familiar and generally useful style. The 'complete' style is still secret, though mainly for the sake of differentiating proper disciples of the Ninety-Nine Stars. Identification tokens have become necessary. They have little formations inside of them that make them hard to replicate or steal. Though the gatekeepers can still memorize all the proper disciples… for the moment. Our actual numbers haven't grown that much. Enough to bounce back from the wars, at least."

"Except for the Life Transformation experts, I imagine. They are not so easy to replace." Ayotunde shrugged, "Though your current generation makes that seem incorrect. All of the big sects have a handful of potential Life Transformation cultivators closely placed. And more following."

"It's a phenomenon that happens sometimes," Anton replied. "A surge in those with cultivation 'talent'. It's said to be signs of trouble, and I have no evidence to refute it… especially since we know something's coming this time. I just hope we have long enough. We'll need every cultivator we can get. Life Transformation the most, obviously, but even the Body Tempering cultivators… I fear will be necessary."

"That's enough of that," Ayotunde shook his head. "Or you'll make me an old man before it's my time. Tell me of the good things. Your cultivation… if I am correct you have surpassed the fiftieth star, correct?"

Anton nodded. "It sounds like it's halfway, but it's far from it. I have quite a distance to go still. What about you? Have you kept up with the shrimp and granny?"

"We work together from time to time," Ayotunde nodded. "Perhaps we will all work together again sometime soon."

"This looks familiar," Anton said as he stood in a circular room, about ten meters wide. "Much smaller though."

"It's for testing," Catarina pointed out. "And for the intended use, it will be sufficient."

"I wasn't trying to insult you. Modesty and restraint are good features. Features that Everheart will never have."

"Regardless," Catarina continued, "Thank you for being here for this. It is good to have familiar faces around for the inaugural test of the teleportation formation."

"Test?" Anton raised an eyebrow. "It's already been tested, right?"

Catarina said nothing, but Timothy came up to assuage his concerns. "It's already been successful with homing pigeons, larger animals, and then groups of beasts with cultivation. And some volunteer ants but… nothing happened with them." Timothy shrugged, "Either way, Catarina isn't the sort to be careless with this stuff. And neither are the rest of those she's been working with."

"Okay," Catarina said as she clapped her hands. Everyone in the area turned to look. "We're going now."

That wasn't an announcement to get ready. It was just her saying it was happening. A vaguely remembered flush of power washed over them… and that was it. Anton didn't even feel his stomach leap like it had the first time.

Anton looked out the door, but of course instead of the location they'd set up outside the Order's lands it was brilliant red stone hallways as far as could be seen. Anton felt himself sweating already, but less from the heat than worry about how careless Glorious Flame Palace seemed to want the teleportation pad to be inside their sect, merely for the sake of convenience. But it was just a test anyway.

Chapter 319

"That's great then," Catarina nodded. "It works."

They had teleported from outside the Order to the main headquarters of the Glorious Flame Palace. Without anything in the way of real fanfare, they departed and arrived.

Despite the lack of official fanfare on her part, there were excited cheers from all around them. Anton didn't have any real part in putting the whole thing together and just happened to fill in the numbers. He found it exciting, but some of those who had been more closely involved were much more enthusiastic. And the members of the Glorious Flame Palace, who were always quite expressive in their actions. Annelie also happened to be present, giving a fairly subdued but honest round of clapping.

"I'm impressed," Anton said to Catarina. "I didn't really expect it to fail since you were confident, but I'm still surprised. Teleporting like this seemed like the sort of madness that is exclusive to Everheart."

"It's not, though. There were traces of similar formations found in the Luminous Ocean Society's area."

"I never heard about that," Anton admitted. "Though it wasn't really relevant to what I was doing."

Catarina nodded, "It was long after you went. They also weren't immediately recognizable because they seemed to have been intentionally destroyed- likely before the attacks."

"It does seem to be a security hole," Anton admitted. "If anyone can just use these…"

"It's not quite that simple," Catarina said. "But we have to assume the invaders would be able to activate them. We thought of that, and these are designed to be disassembled easily." Catarina pointed out a few stones sunk into the floor that could easily be removed, without which the formation would be missing critical functions. "Those keystones can be removed safely by anyone."

"What happens if you try to teleport somewhere that has done that?" Anton asked.

"Nothing," Catarina replied straightforwardly. "Except likely a waste of a significant amount of energy. The test of doors Everheart had is actually a better representation of what is happening. They're more like portals that you just happen to be across the threshold of when they activate. So if they don't activate, they're nothing."

"That's comforting to know," Anton nodded. "Though I worry that agents of the Twin Soul Sect could just replace the sections that were removed."

"It would require them being in control of both ends and able to coordinate their efforts. And in the event of an invasion, the plan is to destroy the keystones, or perhaps more." Catarina shrugged, "Though keeping them out of important areas is also the best precaution. This one… was mostly meant to be temporary. Though the Glorious Flame Palace liked the idea of convenient travel to Graotan."

"How easy are they to use?" Anton asked.

"The process is simple. However… I should note that we had set up energy stored ahead of time for this test. If we were to activate even this small formation we would require the expenditure of the majority of ten Essence Collection cultivator's energy stores."

"That's not too bad," Anton admitted. "Especially if it could save weeks of travel between continents, for example."

"Unfortunately, distance is also a factor. From the shores of Brogora to Aicenith is several times the distance of this formation, requiring markedly more energy. A few dozen Essence Collection cultivators couldn't transport much more than themselves. There is a minimum amount of energy required for activation, and more based on the amount of stuff transferred. More or less."

"What about storage bags?"

"They only seem to care about the outer portion, which is insignificant. However, there are some calculations still to be made. Earlier tests had anomalies in energy required that we estimated to be inversely proportional to the beast's fatigue levels. The same might apply to humans."

"Which means…?" Anton understood all of the words, but her explanation was insufficient for him to do more than just guess what she meant.

"Higher level cultivators will likely have to exhaust themselves to travel through. Natural energy seems to be one of the factors of total quantity."

"That makes it a bit difficult to use them to send reinforcements… but helps with security issues."

"Except invaders could simply use objects storing energy. It's ultimately inefficient since most cannot be restored, but war is a time people accept inefficient."

"I feel like you've had these conversations with other people already," Anton admitted. "Sorry to make you catch me up when I don't really have anything to do with them."

"It's fine," Catarina smiled. "They're all valid concerns."

"So about going back home…"

"We walk. Or fill it up with energy and teleport."

"I think the latter is ultimately more efficient," Anton remarked.

"That's right. First I have to talk to those working over here though," Catarina gestured towards the red walls around them, and the people cheering and waiting nearby.

The world was changing so much Anton had a hard time keeping up. He wasn't sure if that was true for everyone, but having gone from not being a cultivator to witnessing lost techniques like teleportation formations be reacquired and put into effect he didn't know how to react. Plus there was re-establishing communication with the rest of the cultivator world, connecting more people together. It was all so much and felt too fast… but also too slow. Or perhaps, too late.

Anton wondered what Everheart was thinking. If he had an accurate time of the invasion, why not give it? Along with that, if he could have given a few more decades or a century… how much more progress would they have now?

The tomb of ascension even caused significant damage to the Twin Soul Sect, catching some of their members in a trap. It was a shame it hadn't gotten all of their highest ranking members, but no sect- even a distributed one like the Twin Soul Sect- would send all of their members to one place together. Especially when others could take the risk and ultimately give them the information they sought anyway.

If that had all happened a century before… actually, Anton could think of plenty of reasons why it wouldn't have gone well. If it weren't a time of crisis, there could be wars between the continents. And if the Twin Soul Sect had been weakened a century before, there would have been a century for them to rebuild and develop countermeasures. Anton wasn't willing to say that Everheart was right about everything, but he could at least understand there were reasons for what the man did. Ultimately, there was no way to say what was right, since only one course of action could actually happen.

At the current moment, Anton was taking a break. He wasn't the sort of person who could just sit around and do nothing of course. He still cultivated, and he was actually living with the Rileys in Carran. Catarina's father and mother didn't need him to work on their farm, but they also couldn't stop him. Nobody had ever been able to, but now at least they couldn't say he was too old. He was older, but cultivation allowed him to remain active.

"These are some good looking chickens," Anton complimented Jasper on his work as they fed the chickens in the morning. "That rooster… I feel like you don't have to worry about foxes breaking in with him on guard."

"That's right," Jasper nodded. "They've grown big and strong. Had to upsize the coop for them. But it also takes more work to keep them contained…" he shook his head. "They can peck through wooden fences eventually, and seem liable to wander off if we don't keep a watch on them. And while foxes might not be able to challenge them, some of the bigger beasties out in the forest might find them a good snack."

Anton nodded. "I hear Timothy's father has been keeping down the beast population, right?"

"Him and the hunters. The problem is, they're attracted closer to town now. Greater concentrations of natural energy and all that."

Anton nodded. That was one of the risks that hadn't been initially obvious, but it should eventually stabilize. And though the total number of those fully devoted to cultivation was not all that much higher, those who practiced the profession of a hunter could handle the local areas. It was the same sort of risks people always had to manage.

"I'm amazed at how these crops have changed," Jasper looked out over nearby fields. The Riley's farm had expanded over the last two decades simply because of their prosperity and ability to work more land. Everything they planted now thrived in an environment high in natural energy. Some of the plants had been developed in the intervening time while others had been taken as they were. Most of what the Rileys grew were still suitable for people who didn't cultivate, or only cultivated a small amount. Some had larger concentrations of natural energy that required a cultivator to process. They ate some of those themselves, and sold the rest.

If they hadn't begun to cultivate under Anton's guidance, the couple would have been at the age where they were considering retirement- or at least cutting back on the work. Catarina obviously hadn't taken over the family business, but they knew that would be the case two decades prior. Now they were both in Spirit Building and felt younger than when Anton had first met them. They wouldn't impress anyone with their cultivation speed, but at their current rate of advancement they would still be outpacing their aging for a while. Time would eventually catch up to them, but it got everyone.

Anton was aware of that for himself, but he was pretty sure that the invasion would get him first. He couldn't sit out of it even if he wanted to. He knew anti-ascension techniques, and Everheart had insinuated that the invaders would be looking to wipe out anyone who knew them. Though he could be lying about that just to spur people to action. That… actually sounded quite plausible. Nonetheless, it would hopefully motivate those who thought passivity might save them. Anton supposed that individual lives might actually be spared that way, but that wouldn't protect the world's advancements.

"So…" Anton asked. "How 's that queen going for ya?"

"I'll be honest," Jasper shook his head. "It's weird. Flora is actually the one who interacts with the ants the most. They can't communicate much, except we can tell them to stay out of certain places. Seeing them wandering around the house is weird, but they clean up crumbs and the like. They help clear the fields of waste, too. Hardly have to worry about other bugs, though locust are still a threat." He shook his head. "What are they for?"

"Do you really want to know?" Anton asked.

"Maybe not," Jasper sighed. "They're a defense against cultivators I guess. So we appreciate that."

Anton nodded. "That's the general idea. It's pretty safe here, but you never know what might happen." It wasn't favoritism for them to have some of the ants, either. Not entirely, anyway. They had been cautiously allowed to expand over the years, but their higher intelligence and ability to communicate on a small level eventually won out. While most of them seemed slightly less intelligent than the first queen that still liked to hang around Anton, they all understood the same things.

Moderation in expansion and cooperation with humans. They were specifically aware that if they made humans angry they might get wiped out. While it wasn't necessarily the best basis for a relationship… it was true. And while the ants were a threat in some ways, they were actually more of a threat to cultivators. If they chose to, they could attack and kill a cultivator. Perhaps a handful, before people caught on and wiped them out. The same was basically true of normal humans though. One colony might kill a few. And it also included, in theory, ascension cultivators. The risk of a few people dying- which hadn't happened at the hands of the ants a single time in more than a decade- was very easy to weigh against the mere possibility of taking out an ascension cultivator. Calculating with human lives was callous, but possibly necessary.

And again, they understood that cooperating with humans was better. People liked dogs even though dogs could kill a person. Besides, no matter what happened they probably wouldn't be a bigger threat to humans than humans were, so letting them live in peace was perfectly reasonable. Though Anton hoped that when the right time came, they would understand they were no longer supposed to be peaceful.

Chapter 320

As on many nights, Anton was outside looking up at the sky. It was relaxing to take in the natural splendor of lights. The connection to the Ninety-Nine Stars cultivation technique was another benefit, as he thought about how what he observed fit into how he cultivated, and what parts were worth emulating. But on this night, he was focused on the moon.

After learning about the practical requirements of teleportation, Anton was significantly more astounded by what Everheart had done to bring people to the moon. Thousands of people, many of who were in Life Transformation. All were brought while full on energy, an unfathomably large distance that also happened to be the smallest extraplanetary distance that had meaning.

What future had Everheart sacrificed? Enduring structural integrity and projections of himself were one thing, but the massive power required to move people was something else. That energy had to have come from somewhere, and Anton didn't believe it was just sitting around in crystals or other receptacles.

Unfortunately, Anton didn't have an answer to that question. Even Catarina didn't know how much power the future of things held within them, even though that was a feature Everheart used frequently. It was unfortunate that it always resulted in the destruction of whatever it was supporting, including the formations that allowed for it in the first place. Though perhaps that was also part of the plan. At the very least, Everheart didn't want people picking through his techniques too early and messing up his plans.

Anton wound his way towards the top of the mountain, where the observatory had once stood. At some point he wanted to replace it, but for the moment it was mostly an empty field with a small structure that housed a moderately sized telescope. Anton looked through it, focusing his vision. In a way, the methods cultivators used to see at long distance replicated the effects of a telescope, but it wasn't exactly the same. It wasn't just gathering more light from a single point and magnifying it. Thus, with the two working in tandem Anton could see more clearly.

The surface of the moon was rough and pitted- that was something that could be seen with the naked eye. Interpreting the details was harder, but Anton had used the observatory's real telescope when it existed to get a decent look at the moon. If he'd known it would be important, he might have studied it longer. As he scanned the surface, he idly thought about how Everheart had even gotten to the moon to begin with. Unless there was already a teleportation formation on the other end, he couldn't have teleported. And if there was one, the same question remained for some sort of predecessor.

Finally Anton spotted something. It was possible that he was projecting what he thought he might see, but he picked out a small scar on the surface of the moon. Not a crater from meteorite impacts, but a line. The sort that only rarely appeared in nature. One wasn't terribly unusual, but there were more… barely visible. He began to take careful notes of their positions, as much as he could. Fortunately it was a full moon so he could see all parts of the moon that faced down below.

The snippets he saw were anything but clean and regular. Perhaps they were simply random chaos, but Anton had the feeling they were something. Whether they meant anything anymore, that he didn't know.

As he looked, he continued to contemplate his own cultivation. Essence Collection was a cultivator finding what mattered to them. Their driving force. It was a mental connection to things, but that connection was a source of power in its own way. For Anton that was growth. The thought of growing himself, but also promoting growth in other people and in the world itself. For every cultivator it was different.

Though it was still eight stars and a major barrier away, Anton also considered Life Transformation. Beyond the point of mental connection, it was a process of changing the self to conform to the cultivation technique. For some this meant adopting the form of a beast, at least in their aura and method of attack. Those that cultivated various elements made it truly part of them, more than they could do at prior points.

For Anton, that would mean more than just having the 'stars' in his dantian, little orbs of stored power. It would mean becoming more like a star, culminating in… something. Ascension. Unfortunately, that was where the Ninety-Nine Stars fell flat. All of the Life Transformation experts Anton knew agreed that it was not a flawed technique, just incomplete. How to reach the hundredth star was still a mystery that hadn't yet been done… but it should be possible. Cultivators had an intuition for that sort of thing, and there was not really much else they could do to prove it one way or another except to have someone succeed. That wasn't likely to happen, especially not in the next few decades, before the invasion.

In fact, it was less likely not because some of the Grand Elders didn't have the potential but because if they did ascend that meant leaving the world behind. Everyone knew it involved cutting off their ties to the world, which was one of the reasons Vandale couldn't ascend. It would leave the sect weakened, and though Vandale had mostly been counting on younger generations growing up to support the Order, the threat of the invasion was a looming danger that trumped normal worries.

If the Order were the sort that retained cultivators who didn't care about their own sect things might be different. But while they certainly had some flaws and even some Twin Soul Sect infiltrators, overall the Order succeeded in its mission to have cultivators that were good and not just powerful.

But worrying about ascension was pointless for Anton, and even Life Transformation was still a good decade away even if his cultivation journey continued to go 'smoothly'. Though interestingly enough, conflicts actually served to drive cultivation forward more than they slowed it.

There were many things available for Anton to do, but in a way their usefulness was reversed from how much he liked to do them. His hands were absolutely unnecessary for the Order's farming, even as they continued to expand their work under the watchful eye of Elder Howland. At best he might serve that purpose by finding new crops- or more accurately convincing some locals in another country to introduce him to something good.

Guiding individuals on the path of cultivation was useful, but there were so many people he couldn't keep up, and so few who needed him in particular. Working with the various teachers set up in different cities was good, but didn't occupy him full time.

Ultimately the most useful job for him was meddling. Or mediating, if he were to use a nice term. To be fair, for the most part the Order was requested to provide their services in the area of conflict resolution. Other times they stepped in to stop squabbling factions when word came to them, and that was especially true now with the approaching invasion. Everyone would be necessary to even have a chance, and not all conflicts between cultivator factions didn't have a true right or wrong. Not everyone was the Twin Soul Sect, after all.

But regardless of right and wrong, both sides in a conflict would find themselves justified with certain things they took to be true. And perhaps their facts were correct, but simply incomplete.

He had been called into Droca on the suggestion of the Desert Fox Society. Though they were a local authority that could theoretically handle the troubles, they also weren't entirely neutral towards the parties involved. Thus, a more neutral entity in the form of Anton from the Order was sent in.

The information Anton had was a conflict over land between the Wandering Bush Sect and the Herb Cliff Sect. Anton had to admit he was also not entirely unbiased, but at least he had no particular stake in the conflict at hand. If nothing else, he was a bit more familiar with the Wandering Bush Sect and thus potentially inclined to side with them. Even so, being aware of that fact allowed Anton to counterbalance that point. This was one of the times it was appropriate to suppress emotion that might otherwise influence his judgment.

The bit of land was out in the middle of the desert. To be fair, most of Droca was desert, so it wasn't a surprise. This particular piece was simply uninhabited desert, due to it being rather distant from much of anything. That included both sects in question, or the matter might have been easily resolved.

At the current moment, there was a meeting just adjacent to the land, atop a nearby mesa. Both sects had set up some sort of camp on either end of the rectangular mass of earth. Now they were meeting in the middle, though they'd been having regular 'discussions' before Anton arrived. Fortunately, with minimal bloodshed so far.

"Greetings, elders," Anton inclined his head to both. "If the two of you could explain the situation here, starting with Elder Arvo."

The man nodded his head. His appearance put him as significantly younger than Anton, though based on his cultivation he was probably similar in age with a much earlier start. "For generations the Wandering Bush Sect has had claim over this region, making use of our exclusive rights to collect natural resources and study the excellent samples of our namesake. However, Herb Cliff Sect has begun to intrude on our land." Elder Arvo gestured to a scroll he had with him. "Here is a copy of our written approval, composed by sects both passed on and those still enduring."

Elder Thankarat was obviously eager to speak, and since Elder Arvo had completed his introduction Anton gestured for him to speak next. "And you?"

"The Tumbleweed sect-!"

Anton held up a hand to stop the man. "I think we would all be served best by using the proper names in this situation."

"My apologies," Elder Thankarat bowed his head. "The Wandering Bush Sect claims to have received the rights to the area long ago, but our claim is just as well established as their document claims to be. Furthermore, they are the ones who have recently begun to harvest our land of a variety of natural plants that grow in the area." Elder Thankarat also produced a document- similarly a copy of something purportedly ancient.

If Anton knew he would be dealing with legal documents, he would have brought along Kohar. Even if he could puzzle through them well enough, she was much more practiced in the area. Alas, she was quite occupied continuing her fight against slavery. There was a frustrating gap between the legal eradication of slavery and it actually stopping, and it wasn't just an issue in Ofrurg.

"I will need further details," Anton said as neutrally as possible. Thankarat's insulting tone and enthusiasm might have influenced him against them, but there were perfectly valid emotions behind it.

It took a week to squeeze all the details out of them- the two elders weren't necessarily those who most frequently visited the area, among other things. However, Anton was slowly able to build a picture of what had happened. In relation to their claims, both were equally legitimate, as far as he could tell. If the problem wasn't resolved another way he might have to view the originals to see if there were any changes from the copies, but they were from similar times. The areas in question overlapped in all of the important parts, specifically along a river where the fertility of the ground was highest.

Both were also telling the truth about collecting resources from the area regularly. They had records to that effect, mostly so they could track the value they were receiving. In this case, they were brought as proof of what the others were 'stealing'. The only question was how this had only come up recently. It seemed to be a matter of coincidence- the change of seasons had been slightly different in the last year, to the point that certain plants that Herb Cliff Sect coveted had sprouted later in the year, and various things that the Wandering Bush Sect prized appearing earlier. Thus, they actually encountered each other.

"Now then," Anton laid out the facts as he understood them. "The both of you have been decent stewards, not clearing out the area of its natural resources to the point that your sects never even noticed each other until recently. And for the most part, the resources you want are different- though I admit there is some overlap. The easiest option is to continue to do what you have always done, which is to share them. It just wasn't conscious before. To that end, I have written up a new agreement. It is not final, but it incorporates all the elements I think are important to your two sects."

Unspoken was that if they didn't come to some sort of agreement, neither side would really get what they wanted. While either of them would have liked to monopolize certain healing herbs and the like, that simply wasn't going to be possible. It was even possible for one side to sell off their rights to the other instead of taking the journey significantly away from their core of power each year, but Anton didn't anticipate they would suddenly be willing to stop a traditional outing of their younger generations.

Both sides- and Anton himself- would probably walk away dissatisfied. But if they could hold on for a few decades, it was possible the whole area would be wiped out and they would have nothing to fight about. What a pleasant thought to constantly be reminded of.

Chapter 321

Given the rate at which cultivators moved and their desire for exploration, it seemed logical that the whole world would have been scoured many times over, every inch picked through for things that were of interest. Of course, there were many factors that made that not the case. First, while those with higher cultivations were able to travel quickly they seldom paid close attention to their surroundings except to avoid danger. Even if they were looking for something in specific, certain treasures had ways of hiding from their senses. While it might not be specifically intended for cultivators, plants preferred to be eaten by specific sorts of beasts to spread their seeds. And that also assumed that everything interesting was on the surface… and more or less stationary. But the world wasn't static, but dynamic and ever-changing.

The fact of the matter was that the number of cultivators in the world was also not so many as to have explored everything. Especially with the huge loss that came some centuries prior, to the point that modern cultivators hadn't even been aware of the specific reasons things ended up how they were. Specifically, an invasion by ascended individuals. Information had intentionally been sewed to indicate it was just a war among cultivators, and while that couldn't change the memories of individuals, it seemed the Twin Soul Sect and those like them had worked behind the scenes for some time to make the matter properly murky. Along with time itself naturally confusing issues, few individuals remained aware of what happened- though some had dredged it up, like Everheart himself.

With all of that said, Anton understood how things could still be hidden, and so the mere fact that nobody had found them yet meant nothing. Especially with regards to his current target. Everheart had a track records for keeping his 'tombs' completely unknown until the intended time to reveal them. That was possibly partly by virtue of the simplest method of hiding something, putting it behind or under something else. In short, usually buried in the ground or in the side of a mountain where it was naturally difficult to sense with energy.

It was reasonable to assume that the most grandiose of Everheart's tombs was also his last, one tied to information on ascension and absurdly located on the moon- except for a large quantity of teleportation formations that had likewise been hidden until the time came.

It stood to reason that if there were more tombs they would reveal themselves when Everheart intended, but that assumed two things. First was that Everheart was infallible and nothing had gone wrong… and second that he didn't have anything intentionally kept secret.

The thought had begun scratching at the back of Anton's mind at some point, and he couldn't shake it. It wasn't a supernatural compulsion, but it still turned into something of an obsession. For all his uncertainty about the personality of the man, Everheart's work was impressive. So far there had been no complete notes on his prowess with formations. Anton also suspected he was the sort to keep caches of resources scattered about for his use, and they might not have all been consumed as of yet.

Anton could spout a dozen reasons, but truthfully he was just searching for something. Something that could help against the impending invasion, more than just sitting tight and waiting for it to happen. In normal situations, Anton would have been a fan of the status quo, nothing in particular changing as long as people were still given room to grow. But despite the rapid development in various areas, Anton still felt it wasn't enough. If the Luminous Ocean Society and others like them had been destroyed, it just didn't seem like enough. Perhaps in a few decades the Order would match up to some extent, but even a handful of great sects wouldn't be enough.

Perhaps nothing would. But Anton had to try, and Everheart had some of the answers. Maybe he wouldn't like the answers. Maybe they weren't even available in this world anymore, instead tightly locked up inside Everheart's head when he ascended. Yet that didn't mean Anton wouldn't find anything. And of course, he wasn't going to reject things that had no relation to Everheart. Any information on ancient sects that had been destroyed would be something to take note of.

All of that was how Anton found himself standing in the grasslands of Ambati, where the Enlightened Cloud Society one stood. "I see what you mean, Ayotunde." Anton spread his senses out, finding nothing but plants, animals, and dirt. Even ten or twenty meters down, there was nothing. "Every stone dismantled. Down to the last brick."

"The discovery was quite well known to the previous generation. I remember hearing about it. A place not on any maps, suddenly rocketing into the public view. Despite lingering dangers, the treasures in the area were tantalizing to seekers from Ambati and eventually the rest of the continent. And then…" he gestured. "It ran out. It has once more returned to not being on maps, because there is nothing."

"I didn't disbelieve you," Anton nodded, "But I still thought there would be more to see. I can't even tell where things were anymore. It's as if it never existed."

"Unpleasant to think about, is it not?" Ayotunde shook his head. "It is strange to think that the great treasures that were there might have been left behind not because they couldn't be taken, but because they were deemed of insufficient value. Truthfully, I do not know if the world has a chance against an invasion of such power."

"Perhaps not, but one thing I do know… the Luminous Ocean Society more or less stood on its own, defending its own lands. Many others might have done the same. Perhaps some manner of unity will make a chance for us. In addition to that… anti-ascension techniques are very widespread now," Anton nodded seriously. "We may not be able to win, but we can make the cost too great for the invasion to be worthwhile."

"I don't suppose the Order has any secret information to provide?" Ayotunde asked. "Numbers, strength, anything?"

"Not more than we've already done. I think I told you of the memories I was shown. I got the feeling that wasn't the whole of the enemy forces, but just a part. However," Anton held up a finger. "It is important to note that they weren't invincible. And it doesn't make sense to me that they would not value ascension cultivators more highly than we value Life Transformation experts. If enough of them can be killed, it has to be possible."

"It seems strange to me that there could be so many ascended individuals," Ayotunde commented. "And that they would attack us. How many people from here actually achieve ascension? Likely less than one per year. Perhaps even fewer."

"It is my understanding that they come from other worlds as well, worlds similar to our own. I don't know much more than that," Anton sighed. "That's the problem. The mystery. We don't know what we'll be up against."

"At least it is the same for them." When Anton looked surprised, Ayotunde continued. "Is it not? Can they observe us here without us knowing? If that is the case, I would not think that the Luminous Ocean Society would have kept anything secret from them. Like the vault of anti-ascension techniques."

Anton's eyes lit up. "You're right. They can't know what we're doing. At least, any knowledge of our world has to be imperfect for them. Perhaps it is passed along to them by spies or their techniques are limited. They might know we are preparing to fight them… but they might not. It would depend on whether the Twin Soul Sect can give them information. But I can't say I understand the reincarnation they are supposed to have. I understand the idea in principle, but it's not like we could experience it."

"I don't like the idea that even killing them is a success on their part in some ways," Ayotunde grimaced.

"Me neither. But on the other hand, if they are successfully eradicated we'll have a couple decades without them."

"That's something," Ayotunde shook his head. "But didn't Everheart leave a trap for them? Shouldn't he have known what would happen when they died? Why would he not do anything."

"Nobody is perfect. They can't cover everything."

Outside of what could be perceived in normal space, some version of Everheart grinned. His eyes were sunken, his body little more than skin and bones. He had no energy to maintain anything resembling youthful looks, not that anyone who viewed him would be given the chance to remember. But though he appeared about to die, his crooked grin wouldn't cease.

Everheart liked to talk. Preferably to others so he could inform them of how smart he was, but lacking a target talking to himself would do. "Heh. Those kids. They're gonna work me to death. I didn't think they'd send nearly so many people my way. Hopefully the numbers have slowed not because those bastards are holding out but because there are hardly any left." Everheart paced around in a place that was nowhere. "Stupid me. Why didn't I make some way to communicate with the rest? Ah, I know. I know. The costs. What good is a little certainty when it can be traded away for power?" Everheart spit. "If I were here I'd strangle myself for those thoughts. Can't live for free. Should have known a man can't live on the satisfaction of killing traitors alone."

He continued to pace. A trickle of energy continued to feed into him. There was no problem with that, at least. He just needed to keep himself together. After a long time of inactivity he'd been subjected to a flurry of work. Now he just had to keep it up for a few measly years. Decades. Whatever those were called. A couple centuries of nothing but waiting might have knocked a few screws loose.

If he ever had them to begin with.

"The worst part is," Everheart sighed. "Being stuck. Unable to make any progress. Knowing my demise is inevitable… well, that's another reason that I'd never check in on myself, for my own safety."

He swiveled as another one appeared. They weren't even worthy of a cage. Given how they were devoid of anything that could be called equipment, their sense of self was lacking. It only took a wave of his hand to remove them. Having never experienced it himself, Everheart didn't know whether or not they might still exist afterwards, but he knew enough to say that they would not be in any state to convey information or receive their promised rewards. The difference between a broken, blank slate and a new person was irrelevant for these purposes. That was left to the philosophers. Which was also him, on occasion.

The others had to wonder if they were people. Everheart knew they weren't, and the him here had that knowledge. But maybe he was more than just energy imbued with purpose. But the question was, if he was anything more than that… did it matter? He wasn't going to shirk his duties. Whether person or not, he understood that the job had to be done. He just couldn't help but wonder if the true Everheart would bother to reincorporate them. There hadn't been a method to do so when this one was made, but that wouldn't stop Everheart if he wanted to. But maybe there was no purpose to it. Useless memories that were better to not have, and little else.

Besides, the original Everheart might not have wanted to do it. There was no thought about it before, but this one's experiences told him that he would do it, given the chance. They would not be allowed to be individuals of any sort. That would be crazy. But perhaps somehow they might combine into the whole. That ought to teach him a lesson about making projections willy nilly. Hundreds, no, thousands of years of isolation forced into him all at once.

But while it was a nice thought, traitors had to be dealt with first. And then he wouldn't exist. It was stupid, but that was just the kind of person he was. It was just that for other people he left behind a smattering of semi-useful techniques and knowledge. He simply hadn't thought to leave anything for himself.

Chapter 322

Within a year Anton had exhausted the readily available options for remnants of ancient sects. Unlike the secret realm of the Luminous Ocean Society, most had not remained intact- and they certainly didn't have functioning training areas. Most were preserved better than the Enlightened Cloud Sect, though sometimes that was because the value of the materials in question was not worth the effort of dismantling. Others were saved by sects or clans interested in preserving history, though such cases were unfortunately rare.

As for finding more of Everheart's tombs, while there were always rumors about them cropping up in some place or another none were legitimate. Anton still went to check out a few regardless, but he knew that any real one would manage to have a further reaching announcement.

That could have been where he gave up. The time and effort he was willing to devote to such an endeavor wasn't unlimited, and tracking down ever more obscure rumors was bound to be a waste of his time. However, more options had opened up in recent years. Specifically, outside of the continent.

In the half a decade since the initial expeditions to reconnect with the rest of the world, travel had become easier. With a set route in place, attacks were minimized along the route. Beasts were either killed or learned not to attack the cultivators, though there were always exceptions. Even so, some manner of trade had been developed. Luxury goods for the most part, since each continent was quite self-sustained and the costs to ship low value goods were far too high.

Along with luxury goods there were of course cultivators. They were able to deal with risk and had reasons to travel long distances, seeking their individual goals. And while teleportation was planned, it took more than a handful of years for people to become comfortable with the idea of foreign sects just being able to show up nearby. Location was important- though whether people wanted the teleportation formations to be closer or further away was also something that had to be managed. It could provide significant benefits of detriments to a region depending on how things were set up. And while cultivators were able to move swiftly in some instances, in others they tended to drag on, like all human bureaucracy.

So Anton took a boat. It was a boring trip with no krakens or giant turtles involved- though it seemed there were some groups interested in tracking the general migration of Paradise he wasn't part of the standard routes.

Anton took one of the faster ships, built for speed rather than durability. That meant he was able to arrive in around one week rather than three or four. Sitting around doing nothing productive for two extra weeks was just a waste. He could always discuss cultivation with those on board, but he had no guarantee anyone would be interested or that either side would benefit. So he chose the faster option.

Then he had a whole continent to pick over. For the moment, he set his target on two different groups. The closer of the two was the Tomb Seeking Cult. He'd had little interaction with them outside of guiding one of their disciples for part of his time in Erygan, when he'd been trying to find the Twin Soul's smith. But if anyone would know about more of Everheart's tombs, it would be them. The second option was the Million Sword Vault, but they were closer to the far side of the continent.

The Tomb Seeking Cult took their obsession very seriously, and that reflected in their main headquarters… or lack thereof. They did have a central location in the middle-western portion of Aicenith, but it was basically just a section of roughly tracked wilderness with temporary structures set up. Lots of tents and log cabins, and no defensive formations. Anton wasn't even sure if they technically owned the area, but nobody seemed keen on removing them either.

Given that cultivators were prone to travel, finding his one acquaintance there was a stroke of luck. He could have easily been off on some mission… or dead. It was an unpleasant thought, but with the Tomb Seeking Cult being particularly zealous in their hunt of Twin Soul Sect members they had taken recent losses. But Agus was present and alive, so Anton quickly found his wave over to the man.

"Master Anton!" Agus greeted him enthusiastically as he approached. "I had wondered if we would ever meet again."

"It's something you can never know until you do," Anton shrugged. There wasn't much deeper meaning to that thought. It was just that eventually people would meet for the last time. "Well, take a look at yourself. You've advanced quite nicely into early Essence Collection."

"It is thanks to your advice," Agus inclined his head. "For what reason have you come to seek us here?"

"It's quite simply a matter related to your specialty," Anton explained. "I was wondering if you or the others had received word of any more of Everheart's Tombs since… the one fifteen years ago." It surprised Anton to say that last part, but time had been flowing rapidly. If he thought back he could see how all he had done filled the years, but if he did not focus they seemed to slip through his grasp.

"Not a single one, I'm afraid," Agus shook his head. "It is a matter of some disappointment among us, though there have been longer periods. I'd like to tell you something useful, but if we haven't heard then no one has. And if any of us had heard of one, we all would have. Asking the others won't change the answer."

Anton nodded. With the common thread between them being that specific thing, any tomb of Everheart wasn't something that could be kept secret- even by those higher up. In fact, it became even more important for them to share the information. "I suspected as much. In that case, I am interested in historical records of previous tombs. And perhaps visiting them myself."

"Oh! Well, Maxine will be very excited. She's the current keeper of lore," Agus explained. "Would you like to go see her now?" Anton nodded. "Then come with me."

He headed immediately for some of the more permanent structures in the area. The area around them was the most trafficked and thus had the least random undergrowth impeding them, not that it was a huge issue for cultivators- which was how the various paths managed to be rather straight between points of interest instead of winding.

The great libraries of sects were usually well guarded, but beyond the various disciples wandering nearby there weren't any standing watch. Then again, various nearby structures housed many of the higher ranking cultivators among them. The structure they were heading towards seemed to have been expanded upon as necessary, various horizontal and vertical extensions not matching any of the others in age or even necessarily style.

Inside was only a single person at the moment, presumably the lorekeeper Maxine. The typical image of such a person was old and decrepit, but Maxine was nearly the opposite. She wasn't exactly young, but she showed only minimal signs of age. She looked up as they entered. "Hello. I don't recognize you," her gaze focused on Anton in particular.

"I'm not a member of the Tomb Seeking Cult," Anton pointed out. "So that is to be expected."

"Really?" She raised an eyebrow. "I'd have thought you were. I sense the influence of some of Everheart's techniques on you."

"With how many he's made, I'd be more surprised if anyone didn't have something tied to his techniques in some way," Anton pointed out.

"Sure," Maxine shrugged. "But these are more specific. Not terribly often practiced. I sense some old scars from Candle Wax, and I believe you practice Fleeting Youth?"

"I'm surprised," Anton admitted. "Especially at recognizing the latter. I thought it was rather less known." In fact, before he obtained it he presumed no one had it. "Has it so quickly spread to this continent to the point you instantly recognize it?"

"Oh, you're from Brogora?" Maxine's eyes lit up. "I have so many questions! But first, yours. It's been here for a while. It's honestly practiced very little, except among us- a few elders who have desired a boost in power. Most wouldn't recognize it, but I have studied everything I can in detail. That one… I can't use myself. Not for a few decades at minimum. And I'm not really ready to give up on… certain things." She coughed. "But um. Brogora. Tell me everything you know about Everheart's Tombs there! It's so hard to get reliable information! I was thinking of going on a trip myself but-"

"Alright," Anton cut her off. "But I'd like to exchange some information. I'm interested in things local to Aicenith, for example."

"Absolutely! I believe that information should be freely shared. A lot of people hate Everheart's forbidden techniques, but they were just forbidden because it was dangerous for them! Or the practitioners, but I don't see why people complain when they're clearly marked." Maxine sighed, "People know what they're getting into. Why not let them?"

"Most people don't enjoy the prospect of themselves or others getting hurt. And encouraging forbidden techniques also encourages those being used against them to some extent. If everyone makes use of self-destructive methods to battle, it could result in both sides perishing and no victors."

"Same as regular wounds," Maxine shrugged. "People accept certain hits to land their own attack. I don't think it's much different."

Anton disagreed on a philosophical level, but she was entitled to her opinion. "I wanted to see a list of what tombs had appeared. And where."

"Ah, easy." Maxine waved her hand and a thin notebook flew off the shelves. "Here it is."

"That's it?" Anton raised an eyebrow. It was hardly more than a few pages, listing dates and locations.

"What?" Maxine shrugged. "They appear maybe every handful of years on average, which means no more than twenty a century. Less than a hundred total, including what we know of Brogora."

"That's… a fair point," Anton admitted.

"Also the description of what was inside each all are separate," Maxine pointed out. "Some of us have made extensive documents on traps and formations and other features. I'm so frustrated I didn't get to visit the last one! How was I supposed to know it was on the moon, and had its own ecosystem?" She waved her arms about. "He just said it was about ascension! Why would anyone but Life Transformation cultivators need to go there? Obviously I would have anyway, but not everyone could go…" she shook her head. "But, yeah. That's it. The whole list."

"I can add a few more on here, from Brogora," Anton noted. It probably wouldn't make much difference either way since they were basically all rubble now, but in the interest of completion he added the first one he'd visited, then the unannounced one in Ambati.

"Ooh! One that wasn't publicized? Fascinating!" Maxine reacted as he explained it. "A shame it was so broken down though."

"It was a strange one for that," Anton admitted. "Many others had their structural integrity compounded against their future… however that works. I don't know why one would be in such ill repair."

"Maybe he made a mistake," Maxine shrugged. Then she looked around. "Some members view him as the pinnacle of perfection, but I'm more cautious than that. Though he was amazingly impactful, even after his death."

"Or ascension," Anton offered the alternative.

"Right? Nobody knows!"

"He did say he's probably dead now though. Or rather, one of his projections," Anton nodded. "Something about too many enemies. It seemed some of them might have been ascended as well. Or perhaps he was implying making new enemies?"

"You spoke to his projections? Tell me everything!" Maxine was quite excited, sweeping a pile of potentially important papers and books off of her desk and placing down blank parchment and preparing to write.

So Anton explained what he had heard, as well as he could remember. His mind had been tempered which helped with recall, but there were still possibilities to forget details. Taking the time to properly reflect on a certain time period helped. After he finished, he was interested in trying to see if any of the tombs on Aicenith had been less destroyed than the norm. If anyone would know, it should be Maxine and the records of the Tomb Seeking Cult.

Chapter 323

Two figures walked through the unpopulated wilderness. An older man, and one much younger.

"I appreciate you coming along with me," Anton offered to Agus. "Being alone grows old quickly. And an extra pair of arms to fend off danger is appreciated as well."

"I'm not exactly doing this altruistically," Agus pointed out. "It's to return a favor, and maybe gain some standing within my sect."

"Decent enough reasons, but you were still the first to extend the offer. So I am thankful. What do you think we'll find at this next place?"

"Given the rest, a pile of dirt and brick," Agus speculated dismally. "Though I haven't actually been to this one. It's further than the rest."

All of Everheart's 'tombs' had been in out of the way locations. The man had a knack for picking areas where even cultivators wouldn't expand to in the course of time. Yet they were also reachable, appearing mainly in barren stretches of land. The Tomb Seeking Cult had quite thoroughly combed through the locations nearest to themselves, but they confirmed there was little remaining but collapsed facilities and occasionally extremely rusted weaponry with faded enchantments.

Anton had gone to confirm, not because he didn't believe them but to get a good idea of the state things were in. Some of the locations even had entirely new levels of topsoil that had formed over them in the time since they were active.

Now they were moving towards one at the top of a mountain. Carved into the stone where nobody would bother traversing regularly, it had still also been concealed until the designated time. If it had been intended as a sort of training it hadn't been obvious, as it mainly had traps and little explanation. Only warnings by a projection of Everheart to keep out… which of course had the opposite effect.

The journey did not take long for two Essence Collection cultivators, and they soon found themselves outside of what had been the entrance. Rubble had fallen to close the mouth, but if that was the only thing it would have been trivial to deal with. Anton carefully weaved his energy through the area, slipping between the cracks. This particular facility had seemed appropriate for Essence Collection cultivators, which meant it was actually quite a bit more extensive than the first one he had visited. Yet the branching corridors actually allowed him to get a decent picture of how it might have once been.

"I still feel the remains of traps in the walls- though in the form of rusty spikes for the most part. The treasures were at the furthest point, I presume?"

Agus nodded, looking at the copied documents in his hands. "That's right. Past a flooded chamber, I believe."

"It's collapsed now," Anton said. "But there's still a pool in some of it. And then-" Anton frowned. "Strange."

"What is it?" Agus asked.

"There's a sarcophagus."

"Oh, yeah. He loved to throw those around as decoys. It's listed here."

"Right, but this one is intact," Anton pointed out.

"That's… interesting," Agus admitted. "Think we can dig it out?"

"I'm not sure," Anton admitted. "It doesn't seem particularly structurally stable, but on the other hand the main damage seems to be to artificial supports. We might have to shore up the passageways. Do you have any experience with mining?" Anton asked.

"Nope," Agus admitted. "I was raised in the sect after my parents died. Mostly because they wanted loyal disciples." Agus shrugged, "I have to admit, it worked. I got to visit one active tomb, and was hooked from there. And I have no reason to give up on being a cultivator."

"Well, I have worked with a few miners lately," Anton explained. "We're not trying to take out veins of anything, so it's actually quite simple. We'll have to put in a bit of labor though."

Thus they started. The outer layer of rubble was mostly 'smaller' rocks, less than the size of their torsos. That meant they could lift each piece, which they chucked out of the opening into a nearby pile. It wasn't necessary to open the whole passageway, but Anton had them focus on one side where they could uncover natural stone. They added simple bracings made from nearby trees. Using unseasoned wood meant that their work wouldn't last forever, but it was more than good enough for a few days. Slicing apart the trees with any sharp instrument was easy enough, though Anton avoided using his swordlike bow because it felt like some sort of heresy. But Anton carried a selection of tools with him, and the extras he was able to purchase in a nearby town.

There were various routes they might take, but some paths had large chunks of stone regardless. Breaking apart stone was trivial, but breaking it apart without affecting everything around it was more difficult. Anton could have done it on his own, but Agus was eager to show off his precision with his spear, piercing into a rock as tall as himself and splitting it into neat quarters, which were then further broken down for convenience.

Each meter of progress took a few minutes even with their natural energy supporting them, and it was a very long pair of days for them to finally reach the sarcophagus. "What do the papers say about this one?" Anton asked.

"Let's see. We had no disciples in the deep chamber when it was discovered. We showed up a little bit later, but as the vault was looted the entire place began to collapse- the sarcophagus was only determined to be empty and that was all."

"It's not covering anything," Anton determined. "But this chamber isn't collapsed in the same way."

"Oh, you're right," Agus agreed. "I can still see the worked pillars. And they… don't seem to have a formation active."

"They're just worked stone. It can last thousands of years if left untouched. I think this was probably here before Everheart, who merely took advantage of it. This particular room, anyway." Anton placed one hand on the sarcophagus lid. It was carved with formation runes, but they were inactive. "This was some sort of defensive formation to keep people out, I think."

"That seems right," Agus nodded. "But it doesn't feel familiar. Most of us learn a bit about formations, given Everheart's proclivities, but he had a very specific style. This doesn't fit."

"As an expedition to learn about Everheart, it's a bit of a failure," Anton admitted. "But this is an interesting discovery regardless. What do you think happened to the body?"

"I would say it decayed," Agus frowned, "But looking at the quality of this thing, it had to be for a powerful cultivator. It should have lasted for some time. I'm guessing… Everheart took it to study."

"... Yeah that sounds right." Graverobbing wouldn't be beneath Everheart. In fact, cultivators weren't known for respecting the graves of those they could consider to be their enemies. The practice of burying people with valuables waxed and waned, but sometimes the prize was the corpse itself. Things could be learned from the corpse of a powerful cultivator, if someone knew how to look. Anton hadn't delved deep into that topic, but some weaknesses Twin Soul Sect's techniques were gleaned from the corpses of their members. A bit morbid, but practical. And they deserved it. "So who would it be?" Anton wondered aloud.

"Everheart had many enemies, and information about them often died with them," Agus shrugged. "I suppose I would note that the lid was removed peacefully. But that could simply be for practical retrieval."

"Right," Anton nodded. "I think we'd have to study the potential power of these formations more. For that, I think it would be best to retrieve it from here and bring it to some experts."

"We would very much like to study it," Agus pointed out.

"Of course, you're the first option there. But I hope you aren't averse to hiring outside consultants."

"It's more that they're averse to us," Agus admitted. "Some people find us… unsettling."

"I think the worshipful attitude towards a pretty terrible person is what does it."

"Hey!" Agus grinned. "We know he was terrible. But he was also strong, and other groups elevate worse people just because they're strong."

"Worse than Everheart?" Anton raised an eyebrow.

"He didn't go around slaughtering innocent people, or use them as test subjects," Agus pointed out. "That we've heard of."

"That's a fair point," Anton admitted. "The common person had little to fear from him."

With some difficulty they began to move the sarcophagus into their storage bags. Though it was little larger than a person on the inside, it was made of heavy stone. Anton suspected it was extraordinarily durable, but didn't attempt anything more than a superficial test in case it wasn't. Like many materials cultivators used, that strength came with its own weight. The lid was easy enough, but the main body of the sarcophagus required both of them straining with the majority of their energy, while the magic bag was stretched open to the limit to slide it in.

"Before leaving, I want to take some notes on the formation markings here," Agus pointed. "Some of them haven't fully decayed. This is Everheart's stuff. It doesn't seem new, but complete information is better."

"I'm surprised any survived at all," Anton admitted. "Given its future was bet against it. But I suppose it didn't need as much resistance to aging, so it lasted better afterwards?"

"It's hard to say," Agus admitted. "Replicating the effect is nearly impossible since most of the pieces of the formation to do so are likewise subject to the effect and destruction. The only hope is getting it when it's active, but Everheart preferred to keep most of that on the far sides of walls, where people couldn't snoop."

Anton helped Agus take notes, his limited training in formations with Catarina helping immensely. The biggest part was taking note of the locations of bits and pieces relative to each other, since everything was quite incomplete.

After surveying several more locations in a loop, none of which had anything else quite so interesting, Anton and Agus returned once more to the center of the Tomb Seeking Cult. Many of the people present were different, with the notable exception of Maxine. She was quite excited to hear what they found.

When they pulled out the lid, she nodded. "This is… definitely not Everheart's work. It's too… restrained? And enduring. He didn't make things to last forever. He made them to last exactly long enough for his purposes and no more. I remember reading about this sarcophagus, but since the place collapsed shortly afterwards everyone assumed it was crushed in the process- but since he didn't make it…"

"Do you know who might have?" Anton asked.

"I don't recognize anything right away," she admitted. "I'm not exactly a formation master, but I'm still familiar with many current and ancient styles. So it's a bit odd, actually. And this um… it seems to have been intended to decay the body faster?" Maxine gestured to some of the runes on the inside of the main section.

"Why?" Anton asked. "Couldn't they just burn it or something?"

"A good question, to which I have no answer."

"That means Everheart might not have emptied it at all," Agus pondered. "It could have been just a skeleton. A pile of dirt maybe?"

"Whatever it was has been cleared out," Maxine determined. "If it even worked at all. I can't tell what the power source would have been. It looks almost like it relied on ambient natural energy, but without any gathering ability? A formation like that would hardly stand up to one good punch from a Spirit Building cultivator, let alone anyone important. Or able to move this thing."

A few weeks of travel and investigation, and all they had come away with was a mystery. One that might not be related to what Anton wanted to find- though in truth, he was basically just confirming what he already assumed- that there was no useful information left. But perhaps this sarcophagus might reveal something interesting regardless.

Chapter 324

The Tomb Seeking Cult called in others they trusted to aid Maxine in studying the sarcophagus. Anton contributed what he could but his knowledge of formations was limited to the few pieces he instantly recognized. But that was exactly why having a variety of people with different specialties was important. Nobody could do everything, no matter how much time they had to learn.

The ultimate conclusion they came to was… confusing. "There's no way this ever did anything," Maxine proclaimed after weeks of thoroughly poring over the fine details of the sarcophagus. "No matter how much natural energy was present, it wouldn't be enough to activate it. But we did learn some things. Like, despite how it looks, the sarcophagus wasn't meant to last forever. It was supposed to fade away on its own, when its work was done."

"What was wrong with it?" Anton asked. "Why can't it work?"

"We can't tell," Maxine shook her head. "Everything seems highly intentional. It just shouldn't be able to function. Even if a Life Transformation expert were placed in the sarcophagus, the density of their natural energy would be insufficient to activate it."

"I think that leaves a pretty clear picture then," Anton waved his hand. "Doesn't it?"

"What else could-? Oh. Ohhhhhh…" Maxine's face lit up. "No wonder. Yes, of course. It had to be for someone who had achieved ascension. It fits but… why bother? If you were going to destroy a corpse, why do it slowly and inefficiently?" She frowned. "Something doesn't fit. I would expect allies to be preserved respectfully and enemies to be straightforwardly eradicated. Perhaps there's some cultural significance missing?"

"It could be," Anton shrugged. "But maybe it was somehow practical for something."

"It might help to see it active. Unfortunately that requires-" her eyes flickered to Anton. "Ascension energy. Do you think you could…?"

"I'm not going in there, if that's what you're asking."

"No no, of course not." Maxine waved him off. "That would give us a single instant of observation at most. A complete waste of your life. But you have practiced Fleeting Youth, and thus can call upon ascension energy. If you can activate it at all, that will confirm our theory to some extent."

"I still have less energy than a Life Transformation expert," Anton pointed out. "Just because I can call upon some doesn't mean it will work."

"Right, but I think you could possibly make a small portion of the formation react. We should try it. As for how to do that safely…" Maxine stood in thought for a bit.

Eventually they decided to have him extend a bundle of ascension energy into the sarcophagus, while others held up the lid. It would be set down to cut off his connection and contain the results of whatever happened when his energy interacted. There were a few tense moments leading up to the actual implementation of the plan but the end result was… a few runes briefly glowing. But it at least lent some credence to the idea.

"Right, so, it's meant to activate with ascension energy," Maxine said. "The natural energy we had here wasn't good enough. And it would take quite a lot. The question still is- why?" Neither Anton nor Agus had answers for that, and the other formation experts weren't much help either. "Someone like that, it should just take a flick of the wrist to destroy the body. Quite thoroughly, I imagine. If that's what they wanted to accomplish, why bother bringing something like this?"

Evelia was the one to answer that with some more speculation. "Perhaps they were worried about the recovery time? It's not actually that insignificant a portion of their energy, I imagine. A tenth or twentieth, maybe? Anton, how long does it take to recover your ascension energy?"

"Not terribly long," Anton admitted. "A day or two at most and I can draw upon it even if I exhausted my access. More or less the same as replenishing my stores of natural energy."

Evelia shook her head. "That can't be it then. It could matter, but to go through all this instead of just holding onto it for a safe day or two… seems excessive. It can't be that easy to make something like this."

"I'd have to agree," Anton said. "Especially considering this likely was part of the previous invasion. If it were easy to make this, why would they need anything here? Well, that question applies anyway."

"We can ask some people as we tear them apart," Maxine suggested. "This is our world and they can't have any of it!"

There were sentiments of agreement from everyone present. People were almost becoming impatient for the attack, though they also needed all the time they could to prepare.

Over the next year Anton went to visit the rest of Everheart's tombs on Aicenith, finding them just as destroyed as all of the others. There weren't any lucky finds like the sarcophagus, and the dangers were likewise destroyed. It was just a process of going from place to place and being ready to accept disappointment. Agus was quite apologetic that the Tomb Seeking Cult hadn't been able to help, but Anton reminded him he hadn't really expected anything. One continent had nothing, why should another?

During that journey he had passed by the Scorching Mirror Desert where the Million Sword Vault stood, and now he was returning to enter it once more. Some familiarity with the area helped him be more at ease, but it was still an unpleasant journey. He couldn't really use his eyes, and even his energy senses were distorted by the swirling reflective sands. But he knew where he was going, and the increase in cultivation had extended his sensory range somewhat further so he didn't even have to get as close as before.

He wasn't tracking anyone this time, but he also didn't worry about avoiding disciples. If he encountered any, he was planning to approach them. They should remember him, and his bow that he won from them.

"I can't believe you chose to come back here," Agus complained, but in a good spirited way. "It's very unpleasant."

Even though they were no longer looking for Everheart's tombs, Agus decided to remain traveling with Anton. He got cultivation advice, and having a traveling companion was useful in emergencies. Besides, without any other duties wandering the continent was basically the main objective of the Tomb Seeking Cult.

"I'd say you get used to it… but in truth you learn to very much appreciate shelter." He had a better tent this time, more suited to the desert. It kept a reasonable temperature inside even in the worst of the desert. It wouldn't protect against an actual flame attack, but it was excellent during the midday heat. Other than that, Anton relied on a special compass tuned to work in the desert where normal compasses often failed. "Not much further now."

A few moments later, two dozen swords stabbed into the sand around them, creating an uncomfortable barrier surrounding the two. Agus raised his spear and looked around in panic. Out from the sandstorm a voice called. "Who dares disturb the sacred lands of the Million Sword Vault?!"

"They're sacred now?" Anton asked.

"We have so many swords," Chikere said as she stepped into view. "How could it not be sacred?"

Agus immediately picked up on the distinct lack of hostility and relaxed slightly. "Seems like you were recognized. She's one of them?"

"The last time I came here she was in a bloody battle with over a dozen of them. So yes, they're good friends." Anton knew that Agus probably thought he was exaggerating, but that wasn't the case. Though 'spar' might have been more appropriate than battle for the friendliness. The blood was real though. "Is that one new?" Anton gestured to a sword.

"Good old number fifteen! Or new, rather." Chikere nodded. "That's the third number fifteen I've had since we last met. I've tracked down a handful of decent weapons in the last… year?"

"Eight years," Anton pointed out.

"What, really? I haven't gotten into nearly as many battles to the death as I thought I would have for that long. I guess having a sect backing me helps."

"Are you one of the ranking disciples?" Agus asked.

"Well, I'm technically more like a guest. But they respect all aspiring swordmasters and honored my master."

Agus leaned forward intently. "Ah, you're… the singular disciple of Swordmaster Rahayu?"

"You heard of him? Good! He was pretty great."

"Is it true you saw him cut his way to ascension? What did it look like?"

"Like this!" Chikere slashed the air. For more than a few moments, not a single speck of sand swirled into the area, leaving a strange gouge in the atmosphere. Then everything returned to normal.

Anton grinned, "Oh, much closer. You've made great progress."

"Right? Still not that close though," Chikere shrugged. "Sorry uh… spear guy. It's not really the same. But I tried."

"No it's…" Agus shook his head to deny her. "I just couldn't say anything because I was astounded. You're hardly even over than me," he sighed. "Too bad I wasn't trained by anyone that strong." He sheepishly turned to Anton. "No offense, master Anton."

"Don't worry, I understand. But she was actually quite strong before her encounter with Swordmaster Rahayu. They only trained together for a few months."

Agus began to sweat from more than just the heat. "Is that so? I… will have to think about that."

"Anyway," Chikere redirected the conversation. "I assume you're not just here to see me, are you? It's pretty far."

"Not just to see you, no," Anton admitted. "I was hoping to enlist the help of your sect in finding the remnants of ancient sects. Even those that have already been explored. I'm hoping to find… something. Some sort of clue. But I can't really say if I even know what."

"Interested in an expedition, huh?" Chikere nodded. "Elder Wardah might be able to direct you. He knows where everything in the vault came from, after all."

"I appreciate the suggestion," Anton nodded. "May we enter?"

"Of course. Though you should probably officially ask at the gates." Chikere flicked her swords back into their sheaths and began walking. "This way."

It was a relief to be inside the stone halls of the Million Sword Vault. The heat was much diminished, and Anton was finally able to see properly once more. A number of disciples greeted Anton respectfully, but more bowed to Chikere as she walked past. The reactions to Agus were mixed, from disinterest to pity to confusion. Spears were perfectly legitimate weapons, but carrying one in a place full of sword-obsessed lunatics he stood out. Nobody was hostile, but Agus clearly didn't belong. Anton intentionally chose to have the sword-bow visible instead of his less finger-chopping alternatives. But Agus would do better to not have a sword, because he might be challenged to duels that he wasn't prepared for.

After they found their way towards the actual vault area, finding Elder Wardah wasn't difficult. Upon Anton's explanation of what he wanted, Elder Wardah looked at him and nodded. "Information? Sure, you'll just have to fight me for it."

"Fight you…?" Anton looked over the man. He was a Life Transformation expert. One of the strongest in Million Sword Vault, no doubt. "To what end?"

"Oh, that's simple. I just need to make sure you can survive. Of course, if you only want the locations of the weak sects I can send you out with a pile of paper and a smile."

"I assume I don't have to win somehow?"

"Of course not. But you'll need to be serious so I can get a good read on you."

Anton nodded. "I know your doctors are unsurpassed at repairing slashing wounds. How are you with puncture wounds?"

Elder Wardah looked almost offended. "There are thousands of legitimate stabbing moves for use with swords, including varieties with very fine points. We can absolutely handle anything you can do to me."

"Good," Anton nodded. "I wouldn't want to run into issues because of a stupid assumption. Where do we fight?"

"Outside," Elder Wardah said. "Unless you want to be in here?"

"I'd rather have a bit more distance," Anton said. "Or a lot more, if that's possible."

"Having seen you shoot, I can't give you more than five kilometers."

"That… should be enough for me to at least show off a few moves." Anton knew it wouldn't take the man very long to travel that distance, and he'd be able to focus on dealing with Anton's attacks exclusively, but it was still better than starting close. But if the man was anything like Chikere, he didn't want to use his sword-bow against them. They were far too familiar with blades.

Chapter 325

Everywhere outside of the structures set up by the Million Sword Vault was more or less equivalent in terms of terrain. While there were gradual rises and falls in the dunes, none of them would make much difference for a Life Transformation cultivator.

Thus, the actual locations made little difference. Even Anton securing a position atop a rise would only make a slight difference- but he still made the choice because it would allow him to demonstrate a larger portion of his strength.

Elder Wardah, meanwhile, walked to a position exactly five kilometers away. Anton didn't see any tactical value of that exact position, but the ring around him that formed the other options were all quite similar. Between them, Chikere stood and waited for their signals. Once they both indicated they were ready she amplified her voice to shout, "Begin!"

As the voice reached Anton's ears, he knew Elder Wardah would be moving at the same time. However, he always had to redirect his arrows in flight. Most opponents were just slower. His first arrows were tests, aimed straight at Elder Wardah's core. As he planned, he was using his 'normal' bow. The other wanted to form blades with his energy, and fighting against that would not help his situation.

Wardah appeared to only have a single sword in hand, though Anton knew that wasn't something that limited a swordmaster. It was simply a matter of style, but he could still try to take advantage of it. His first shot was cleanly chopped in two by a one-handed chop. The next pair came from opposite directions at slightly offset times, but a single sweep dealt with both of them.

Anton had already begun to form his energy bows, a handful of them solidifying in the air around him. Anton found that he could sustain his maximum output of energy on several at once along with his main weapon. Attempting to condense denser energy resulted in instability that ultimately had little increase in power. Thus, the extra bows were good not just for purposes of distraction but to match his power. An exception was calling upon ascension energy, which had its own natural density that it was comfortable at.

Over a dozen volleys of arrows were launched at Elder Wardah before he got close to Anton. Anton had arrows fly in simultaneously on opposite sides and at oblique angles, attempting to take advantage of the man's single weapon. It wasn't necessary for him to directly slice apart the attacks, but that was all he had done so far. Anton would consider it a win of sorts if he could at least force the man to dodge, though in such a case his arrows could be turned around to attack the man again with minimal loss in power. His barrage seemed about to work when Wardah swept his other hand towards the ground, forming a sword of sand that he used to fend off a trio of arrows he couldn't with just one hand.

For a brief moment Anton wondered why the man didn't simply carry a second sword, but then the sword was tossed at him, spinning and slicing through the air. He dodged out of the way, his energy bows spreading further apart so they would not be simultaneously destroyed. The sword left a visible trail in the dust in the air and the sand beneath, one that did not collapse for more than a second.

After confirming that the temporary sword had turned once more into sand with no link of energy connecting it to Wardah, he focused his efforts back to attacking. At the closer range his arrows reached Wardah more quickly, but while he had less time to react Anton also had less time to set up complicated volleys. Taking careful stock of where the man held his arm and how he would have to reach down to the sands below to form a secondary weapon, Anton implemented a new plan of attack to compensate for it.

It almost worked, until Wardah formed a blade simply from the dust in the air. Abundant as the mirror sands were, only a small amount of mass was close to his hand in an instant. The blade was extremely thin, but was held together by natural energy while serving as a structure for it becoming a cutting edge at the same time. Freestanding energy like Anton's bows had some disadvantages that the ability could overcome. Anton found the idea intriguing, but he needed attributes that were more than just 'thin' to have a good bow, so the wrong materials would disadvantage him.

As the blade spun by him, spinning to cover the widest area it could, he knew that swords simply had different requirements but he had no doubt Elder Wardah would be effective in more than just the Scorching Mirror Sands.

The distance between the two cultivators was narrowing to the point that they would soon be in melee, which was effectively the point at which Anton would lose. Even the flung blades were a threat, and he had a few clean cuts that he hadn't been able to fully avoid.

But he still had a few tricks. He gathered ascension energy to his bow, as well as to another formed just to his right side. The rest of them simply formed arrows with standard natural energy, except one that subtly made use of the third energy from beyond death. All of his arrows launched together, focusing inward on a single target.

Elder Wardah's eyes flashed, and Anton could see he was finally taking the attacks seriously. His main blade struck down both attacks with ascension energy empowering them. That wasn't strange, since Anton was in late Essence Collection while the man was in late Life Transformation. Anton likely couldn't win this battle even if Elder Wardah didn't attack a single time. Though there were a few caveats. He might still be able to land a damaging blow, which was the intent with this particular volley.

Between two swords, his arrows were all swept away, though the two most powerful seemed to require serious effort to cleanly destroy. That allowed Anton's least threatening arrow to impact the back of Wardah's left hand, actually piercing through the defensive energy and into the flesh. Unfortunately, Anton wasn't quite ready for Wardah's suddenly accelerated movement carrying him forward into range to slice at him. He dodged to the best of his ability, while simultaneously continuing his own attacks.

A sharp pain in Anton's wrist let him know he'd failed to avoid the attack completely. It wasn't just a small nick either. He hoped that the medical expertise of the Million Sword Vault was as great as they claimed, or he couldn't predict how long it would take to recover from his wound- just that it would not be easy.

His own attack on Wardah had not been quite as effective, having missed the tendons in the back of the man's hand and currently only contributing a small amount of bleeding. On the other side, Anton could barely make use of his primary bow. In fact, a moment later he gave up on holding it in his hands entirely. The loss of muscle power was unfortunate, but at least he wouldn't have to replicate its properties with purely energy. It continued to fire arrows towards Elder Wardah, but despite Anton's best efforts it was already too late.

"I surrender," Anton said, even as he received a cut along his ribs from an attack he was unable to dodge. No, he had to amend that to through his ribs. And closer and he could have been chopped to ribbons.

He only had a single small wound to show for his efforts. That was certainly something, but he wondered if he should have made use of ascension energy sooner. On the other hand, that would have simply made Elder Wardah prepared to handle it at an earlier point. It wasn't holding back in the sense that he hadn't given his all, but he simply thought he was making the best timing. But there was no way to know if he was wrong without traveling back in time, which was impossible. Hopefully.

Elder Wardah lowered his blade while letting the transitory one fade away into dust. "Let's return to the infirmary."

Anton nodded, though even that movement very slightly twinged the muscles in his chest that were sliced apart. His current efforts were focused on keeping the sand out of his wounds.

Soon enough he found himself inside with one of the elders very skillfully stitching him up. Anton had to appreciate how smooth the cuts were, since that seemed to make the process easier. He didn't appreciate thinking about how close his hand had been to being severed, but the Million Sword Vault didn't like to hold back in any sort of battle, even for training. The only exception was deathblows, and short of that they simply learned how best to treat the wounds.

With all that said, it wasn't as if Anton was miraculously better after he was stitched up. His left hand would be unusable for more than a week, and his chest reminded him how many movements involved the muscles on his torso. In a way those were miraculous results, since a normal person couldn't have recovered from the damage to his wrist at all. Even with his experience recovering from wounds and encouraging healing in a proper manner, it was the sort of thing that would take many months to recover without special medicines.

Elder Wardah's wounds took little more than a few stitches and a bandage. Even so, he looked down at it and nodded. "Not bad. I wasn't ready for that at all."

"But you would be now," Anton pointed out.

"So? I previously saw your archery… and in a real battle, the first encounter with a specific opponent is often your last. Anything that only works once still worked once." Elder Wardah nodded. "And your target was good. If you had aimed for my neck I would have caught on, but aiming for my hand as it moved to deflect the other attacks was good. It was only a little bit short of causing serious damage. Likewise, your ability to avoid my attacks was also sufficient. As long as you are cautious, you should be able to survive even in the most harrowing remnants of the ancient sects."

Anton had almost forgotten that goal in the combat, but not quite. It also made him wish he could bring along someone trained in healing arts. His own efforts were sufficient to hold his body together, but he couldn't get anywhere close to the precision displayed by the healers here. Not that he even had the tiny needles. Now that he thought about it, was that diamondsilk thread stitching him together? Something quite similar, at least. How opulent.

"I'm glad to hear it. Where do you suggest I start?"

"That depends on what you want," Wardah explained, "If you're looking for potential equipment, most have been pretty thoroughly cleared out, though there are a few that may still have useful gear that we were less interested in obtaining."

In short, things that weren't swords. Though they clearly would take anything if there was not too much danger involved. "I'm more interested in information. Which sects seem to have done the best in the previous invasion?"

"That's a tough question," Wardah admitted. "In a way, those that are destroyed more thoroughly might have been more successful and received retaliatory judgment. But there was one…" Wardah nodded. "Yes. They were uncovered at the base of a volcano, the entire sect almost frozen in time. Many died there, and not just their own people. It was postulated that nobody survived the battle on either side. The armory was what we found first, but the rest was slowly uncovered from there. I think that might be what you want."

"I am interested in that," Anton agreed. "I suppose most records would be gone, but any information on the invaders, even just ancient corpses, that is also potentially useful."

"Very well. I shall arrange for passage to the area. Let's hope it's not eruption season, hmm?" Elder Wardah grinned, which made Anton wonder how often 'eruption season' was. But chances were, he would see what it meant unless the place was so uninteresting that he didn't stay long.

Chapter 326

A captain trusted by the Million Sword Vault took Anton on the relatively short journey from the Mantane Piers on the eastern shore to the island that once was inhabited by the Chain Harmony Sect. Agus continued to travel with him, and Chikere decided to tag along as well. There were also a smattering of Million Sword Vault disciples led by Elder Vasu, while Elder Wardah continued his duties at the sect despite his desire to come himself. Apparently being reminded of some of the features in the area encouraged them to send an expedition once more.

As they approached the shores, Anton took in the island in front of them. "I wouldn't have expected an ancient sect to have been here, if you didn't tell me," Anton admitted. "I can't feel much of anything."

"That's by design, I think," Elder Vasu nodded. "Plus the interference of the volcano. I'm sure you can sense it power."

"Yes," Anton nodded. "It's quite… distracting. It feels as if it could erupt at any moment."

"It does appear to be eruption season, so that feeling isn't incorrect."

"Of course it is," Anton sighed. "Besides the obvious dangers… don't the circumstances damage the remains of the sect? I heard there were bodies but…"

"Oh, they'll still be around. Just buried a bit. We dug out some tunnels to get to them from below, which should still be the same."

"That's… nice," Anton looked around. "I imagine everything else is fairly well picked through?"

"Pretty much. Except one area inside there. Some sort of trap. We use it for training though."

"What is it? Lava spilling from the ceiling, poisonous gasses, blades filling a corridor…?" The last one seemed like something Million Sword Vault would be fond of.

"Nah, none of those," Vasu shook his head. "Just an energy draining array. Suppresses everything in the hallway. That sort of thing."

"Like a weighty pressure? I have some experience with those."

"Not quite. It directly draws energy from those in the area. It's actually effective on all cultivations. It's quite impressive."

"What's beyond it?" Anton asked.

"Don't know," Vasu admitted. "No one's ever gotten past. We're pretty sure there aren't any swords though."

"Is it dangerous?"

"Nobody has taken the initiative to stay when out of energy. It could just kill someone," Vasu shrugged. "But as long as you aren't careless, there haven't ever been any surprises. That's just there, however. Plenty of traps exist in the rest of the place."

"And the rest of the island?" Anton had some idea, but he wanted to know Vasu's evaluation.

"Just a few wild beasts to fight through. Nothing important."

As his arrow cut off the head of a giant panther, Anton was bringing his definition of 'a few wild beasts' in line with Elder Vasu. He'd known they would be quite different even from just what he could sense at the shore, but he understood why the captain of the ship had weighed anchor so far from the actual land.

As the beasts came to attack, Elder Vasu had so far not made a single move of his own. Not that he needed to. Chikere held the front quarter arc of their formation by herself, and the other disciples held the sides. Agus held the rear with Anton, where it was his responsibility to kill anything that got too close. That basically meant Anton left a few for Agus intentionally, both to allow him a chance to gain some experience and to conserve his own energy.

Soon enough the uncomfortably numerous pack of panthers ceased their assault, with some of their members retreating. They seemed particularly aggressive, but perhaps that was because none of them had memories of previous times humans had come to the island and they thought them weak. Except for Elder Vasu the Essence Collection cultivators were vaguely reasonable for them to consider defeating, but humans made much more efficient use of their energy than beasts. Especially with regards to condensing energy onto a weapon.

After the battle, Agus did something to quickly recover his energy. It was more than just absorbing the abundant natural energy around them, or he would have created a massive vortex in the minute or two it took him to recover the half of his energy he had spent. "What technique is that, might I ask?"

"Everfull Cup," Agus replied easily. "I'll be exhausted later, but I can more or less choose the time within the next few days."

"Ah. Of course." It wasn't strange that the Tomb Seeking Cult would use such a technique. "Does it work in combat?" If it did, a person might be able to double their capacity, in a way.

"Not safely," Agus admitted. "If you're interrupted, you can immediately trigger the backlash… and it ties up your energy regardless. It used to happen a set time later, but we've developed it to be more convenient."

"Interesting." Anton knew there were probably more downsides he wasn't immediately speaking of, and he wouldn't ask for more in mixed company. He might not wish to share at all, but he likely would. It was just a question of whether or not Anton would choose to take on that sort of risk.

Before they could get close to the volcano, around which the remains of the Chain Harmony Sect were nestled, it began to rumble and roar.

"Here it comes," Elder Vasu said. He drew his sword. "Let's press forward."

Anton knew that the majority of a volcanic eruption should be rock and ash, but something about this volcano in particular made the downpour more molten rock than solid. It produced a sort of orange-red-black rain of molten rock that varied in size from standard raindrops to massive boulders. The larger ones were cut into pieces by the pack of cultivators as they approached, but there was too much of the small stuff to deflect or dodge. People just had to accept some level of impact and heat.

The temperature of the individual pieces was even hotter than that in the magma chamber with the great lizards back in Droca. However, the fact that it wasn't in constant contact allowed Anton to sustain a temperature where he did not burn, even as his energy was slowly worn down. The group moved forward swiftly, and if everything stayed the same they would reach the base of the volcano with plenty of energy to spare. Anton sensed some actual structure there that would hopefully protect them from the effects of the volcano.

No beasts bothered them on the way. Surprisingly enough, the lush forests around them were only partially on fire or crushed- much of the plants were surviving. It was a strange smoke and fire filled run until they got close to the base of the volcano itself… and the impending wall of lava.

"Looks like the entrance is sealed off," Vasu commented. "I'll cut us a path." With two swipes of his sword, both sides of a meter wide pathway were cut. A third flung spewing lava up to either side of his slices.

The group of cultivators charged forward, following his lead. Vasu's blade continued to flash every ten or twenty meters, cutting a conservative path for their next few moments. Then he hopped over an opening. "In there! Let's hope the formations still work."

Anton presumed they did, as the area didn't seem to be completely filled with lava. A few moments later, everyone found themselves inside a black stone hallway, the visible glow from the underside of a lava flow lighting the hallway in front of them.

It was there that Anton saw the first bones. "Are these… the ancient cultivators?" From what he had heard, they should have been more preserved than the few scattered pieces he saw.

"Don't think so," Vasu admitted. "These should be others who died here at some point. Nobody from our sect, or we would have retrieved the bodies."

"I assume that means there are traps here?" Anton looked around, feeling carefully.

"Some. Many don't work anymore for various reasons. Lack of energy or wear and tear. And of course you can see where the area was just destroyed," he gestured.

While Anton was still calculating the best path forward, Chikere- closely followed by disciples of the Million Sword Vault- was already moving. She ran forward at a high speed, not quite randomly triggering traps. Or rather, the way Chikere flipped and turned her way through an alarming number of blades indicated she'd chosen those traps in particular, while avoiding others.

"I'd suggest you follow me, after you see my path," Anton said to Agus. "I intend for something less flashy."

Unlike Everheart's traps, either due to how they were constructed or just time, the various openings for the blades and other traps features were quite easy to see. It helped that Anton's observational skills could penetrated through denser materials and see finer details, but some things were quite obvious, even if he hadn't seen blade swing out of the cracks moments before.

Anton began his route with some dart traps- or rather traps that used to have darts. Some of them still had a few, but most had been triggered so many times that the supply had run out. It seems they were either not retrieved or the mechanisms failed at some point. A flame trap was easy enough following that, and swinging blades in smaller numbers were not too difficult to avoid. Anton did get about a quarter of the same traps as the group that had run in front, since knowing how the attacks would come gave him a great leg up. Compared to facing off against attacks from Elder Wardah, he found it a walk in the park.

As Anton waited for the various gasses to filter away, he took note of several levers on their side of the trapped hallway. It seemed likely that those would add more complications when manually triggered, and of course in the case of an actual battle there could be attacks from cultivators thrown in… and perhaps barriers. Yet Anton was pretty sure this particular entrance hadn't come into play in the actual invasion. It was far too intact for that, when Ascension cultivators could have just smashed it apart.

"Alright," Elder Vasu said. "Let's stop by that formation first, see if it's still intact. Then I can bring Anton to look at the bodies."

It sounded a bit morbid that way, but it was technically what they were going to do. A good portion of the sect was untrapped, though Anton saw many signs that there had been formations in place. For the most part empty halls greeted them, as valuables- including furniture- had been taken away. He even saw indications that some pillars had been removed in various places, though the area still seemed structurally sound.

Everyone continued to be very aware they were walking further into a volcano when the ground shook, but everything continued to be as it had for centuries. There were several more half-trapped areas, but unless they were stumbled into on accident they were barely a threat.

Anton saw the runes making up a massive formation going down the hallway in front of them. It was merely a hundred meters long, and seemed as if a cultivator could cover it in an instant, but he knew it was much more than that. He curiously extended a strand of energy into the area, only to have it immediately devoured. He couldn't sense beyond it, and he found he couldn't sense around it either. As he felt out the wall through the ground, the outside of the formation reacted in the same way.

Others were testing the area in various ways. A few disciples simply stepped into the formation to feel it directly. Anton could feel the formation gaining power from their presence. Yet it also drew from the volcano itself, if he was right. He recognized many patterns in the area, but couldn't put together the whole of what he did. Not quickly, anyway. He simply didn't have the experience for that. As his knowledge of formations grew, the ones he had to deal with also advanced.

Anton moved forward to test the formation himself. It wasn't a violent or terrifying feeling as the energy drained away from him, but it was unpleasant. He relied on natural energy for many things, including maintaining the strength of his body. It was difficult to do without. No cultivators could- not even those who specialized in a continuation of body tempering beyond the early stages. Natural energy was still require during the tempering process, and used in battle.

After perhaps a tenth of his energy was drained, only a few steps in, Anton made his way back beyond the borders of the formation. He found himself quite curious about its purpose, and if there was actually anything beyond it. There certainly could be, if there was a way to disarm it. But he would come back later. There were other things to at least take a glance at first. Specifically, some preserved bodies.

Chapter 327

As they moved towards the location with the most preserved bodies apparently available, Anton noticed that the general amount of destruction was increasing. So they were actually approaching the major points of conflict. Walls were cracked open with flows of lava having poured through and solidified many times until the gaps closed. The structure was filled with many puncture holes, cuts, and impact craters.

The path that Elder Vasu took Anton on went around what he sensed had once been a large section of the complex and now was just nothing but dirt and layers of volcanic rock. Only a small number of former pieces of structure remained, bricks and parts of pillars and the like. Based on how strong he knew everything was, he could imagine what had to have happened. Thoughts of Vandale's final battle came to mind, and the final burst of power.

After circumventing around the area, they came to the first bodies. Anton wasn't quite sure what he expected. Partial skeletons, perhaps. Instead, there were two main varieties. Some of the area had clearly been dug out, revealing 'bodies' of cultivators. However, it wasn't really a body at all. It was compressed ash that was the burned remnants of what had once been a body. No material remained to identify an individual. These were common, but ultimately just uncomfortable to be around as the dying positions of so many individuals were revealed. A few remained standing somehow, but most were collapsed against the wall or floor, what remained of them anyway.

Then there were the others, nearly statues encased in obsidian and other volcanic material. But as Anton's energy probed them, he found that the bodies inside were intact. "How are they like this?" he asked Elder Vasu.

"The exact details aren't clear, but the general idea is that there was some sort of catastrophic eruption that covered all of them. As you can see the walls around here are long gone. The area was dug out, carefully chipped away to reveal individuals." Vasu shrugged, "Some of those who did so were the artistic sort, which is where you get the smoother, closer shapes instead of the blocks surrounding them."

Anton continued through the area when something caused him a sudden intake of breath. Natural energy still part of one of the individuals. However, it was simply trapped within the shell of stone around it. The man himself was not alive. But remnants of who they were still remained. "I presume that's the Chain Harmony Sect's aura?" It was strong like steel filled with a core of fire. A sect that lived on a volcano would obviously have some sort of connection to fire, even if it wasn't part of their name.

"That's right," Elder Vasu nodded. "They don't appear to have any allies here other than themselves, but we've identified a few enemies. Not all fire type cultivators, either." Elder Vasu brought him further, circumventing traps by way of walking over destroyed terrain. "See here."

Another man with a core of natural energy… but also a faint trace of ascension energy. Something about that danced at the edge of Anton's mind, but he couldn't quite draw the connection. He surveyed more and more before finally coming to a conclusion. "... Some of the invaders were in Essence Collection. Or even Spirit Building."

"What do you mean?" Elder Vasu asked.

"This woman here," Anton gestured. "The ratios don't make sense for anything later than Essence Collection, based on what I can handle. They might have faded unevenly, but the remnants of equipment I feel agree with me. The quality of this destroyed armor is too low for a Life Transformation cultivator, let alone an Ascension cultivator. And another factor… there are far too many of them. Even if they all matched up with the power of a Life Transformation cultivator, the Chain Harmony Sect couldn't have that many more Life Transformation cultivators than the great sects of our times. Even if they were much greater- say a factor of five, a full hundred Life Transformation cultivators here… it doesn't match up with just the bodies we see. And surely there were more invaders that weren't perfectly preserved."

"How could it be possible to ascend directly from Essence Collection?" Elder Vasu frowned. "It breaks the fundamental path of cultivation."

"I agree, but only if you make certain assumptions. For example, I have access to ascension energy through a particular technique. But I wouldn't think all of these would practice something similar. But there's one thing I know about ascension that it matches up with. The cultivators no longer exist in this world. Likewise, the invaders had to come here from somewhere. A place with ascension energy."

"Ah. I think I understand. Perhaps these individuals were born in such a world. They would naturally learn to access and control ascension energy."

"Right," Anton nodded. "I don't think anything specifically stops anyone from using it here, either. It's just that there is no access to it. It doesn't appear naturally and can only be snatched through unorthodox means. But that still doesn't explain why they would come here."

"The same reason anyone acts similarly," Elder Vasu surmised. "Barring some sort of grudge we have long forgotten here, they are after resources."

"What could we have that they wouldn't?" Anton asked.

"That's quite simple, I think. You already basically answered it. Natural energy. We have no access to ascension energy here, so it is logical to assume that they might not have access to natural energy like we use there. Or at least, it could be limited. Likewise things that grow under the care of natural energy but reject ascension energy." Elder Vasu was speculating, but growing more confident in his answers. "And if people are born outside of this world, cultivating through the lower ranks might be difficult. Yes that… well, I'm not going to guarantee my answers. But it shouldn't be entirely off base."

"Unfortunately, I don't know if it helps us. Unless we're willing to subordinate ourselves to them and give up the vast majority of our resources with no struggle. So far, the information has painted them as quite eager to take everything despite suffering losses." Anton shook his head. "Not that most cultivators would be content with living under their thumb. Except those who are swayed by the thoughts of the Twin Soul Sect, I suppose. But there's a limit to such people."

"One would hope," Elder Vasu nodded. "Though not everyone is eager to fight to survive. Capitulation might breed better results."

"If offered some sort of reasonable terms, perhaps. But we're already primed to fight… and they haven't been shown to have any mercy. Everheart might have forced us into a corner."

"We would fight anyway," Vasu commented.

"So would I. Ultimately, I'm glad that many people have no choice. I'm of the mind that there are things worse than death. Especially since I was almost there… the long way."

"I do recall it being mentioned you began cultivating late in life." Vasu pondered for a moment. "Given your cultivation growth in the recent years, I suppose I must believe it. You've nearly kept pace with Chikere."

"Well…" Anton shrugged, "She's nearly at the peak of Essence Collection. I've fallen a bit behind, but she's a pretty high bar."

"Yes. Not everyone can catch the eye of a master about to ascend. Her talent brought her to that point, and that bit of luck pushed her further." Elder Vasu nodded seriously. "But what's five or ten years anyway? You don't seem to doubt you'll reach Life Transformation. Just the speed."

"Perhaps I'm just overconfident. My previous experiences between the phases have only been temporary roadblocks. But maybe I was just lucky to have the right inspirations and thoughts at the right time."

"Maybe," Elder Vasu shrugged, "But luck is necessary for anyone to get far in cultivation. A bit of bad luck spells the end for even the most talented. And I'm not talking about getting in trouble- because surviving that might really be good luck. Though it might not even be something measurable. Regardless, back to these," he gestured to the various semi-petrified bodies. "We've learned some interesting things here today. Perhaps others can help advance our speculations and refine our understanding of what is true. Until then, the formation is actually an excellent type of training."

Though Anton did spend several hours of each day somewhat morbidly observing the corpses, he didn't learn much more. The rest of his time was spent training, or resting.

The formation, despite it probably not being intended for such, was absolutely useful for training. Specifically, Anton found that he could determine exactly how much energy he summoned outside of himself, and in a way he learned whether or not it was excessive for his purposes. It also gave him a good idea of what energy was vulnerable to enemy attacks, as he felt the formation reached the limit of what could be done without some sort of physical intrusion near the dantian. And at that point, you could basically rip someone apart from the inside.

The way it drained energy was certainly aggressive, but it didn't seem designed to be lethal. Perhaps that was simply the balance it attained regarding how much power it could use, but intent wasn't always visible from studying a formation. Not to those unspecialized, at least. Even so, Anton carefully studied the formation- taking notes for Catarina to look at if nothing else.

Everyone spent more or less the same amount of time in the formation before retreating. It wasn't a matter of retaining their energy better, but how far they wanted to push things. Chikere liked to skirt close to the limit, to the point it made Anton uncomfortable.

"What do you think happens if you run out of energy?" Anton asked while they were all on a rest period, gathering energy nearby.

"Dunno. Death, probably," Chikere shrugged. Her cavalier attitude towards death wasn't really not taking it seriously, but instead absolute confidence to avoid losing the last drop of her energy by mismanaging her time and distance. It was like how she fought battles, allowing enemy weapons to get uncomfortably close to causing serious injury just so she could be in the optimal location for her own attacks. Anton understood the theory of not dodging more than was absolutely necessary to conserve energy, but in his opinion she often was on the far side of the safe line. But she hadn't died yet, so whatever her threshold was worked well enough. It wasn't just good luck.

"Somehow… I don't feel that," Agus responded. "The death thing. People can survive without natural energy, and I don't feel any malice from the formation. I haven't seen any hidden tricks that would simply kill someone after they ran out either. Perhaps the sect was supposed to fight here with weakened enemies, then finish them off?"

"Maybe," Anton frowned. "But I don't see anything that would indicate some exception for members of the Chain Harmony Sect. It seems to absorb every type of energy. Even-" Anton stopped, then gathered a small bead of energy, flicking it into the formation. "Yes. Even ascension energy." The formation crackled briefly with the small surge of power. "Quite proficiently as well."

Chikere shrugged. "It would have to, right? To fight the invaders?"

"Yes, but… it requires an entirely different type of formation and a certain knowledge to affect ascension energy in the same way."

"Like the sarcophagus," Vasu commented. "Do you think this is meant to destroy bodies? It's rather out in the open."

"No. If anything, it's the opposite. It would preserve them. I'd even bet that it simply drains people of all energy and leaves them otherwise unharmed."

"Really?" Chikere nodded. "That makes sense. I'm going to test it."

"Wait-" Anton called after Chikere, but she had already leapt to a standing position and was in the formation. She was sprinting at a speed that rapidly diminished her half-recovered energy stores. He knew he couldn't stop her, either physically or through words. But he had to try the latter. "I was just speculating!"

"And now I'm speculating too!" With no restraint in how she was moving, Chikere rapidly burned through her energy as she sprinted down the corridor. Then she suddenly slowed. Her legs continued to pump for a few moments before she stepped out of the hallway on the far side. She turned to shout back. "See? It was fine."

Anton had to admit that even the power of the formation near her had died down, no longer receiving anything. He stood up and cautiously stepped into the formation. He wasn't going to attempt the same thing as Chikere just yet, but instead wanted to make sure there wasn't another layer. For example, Everheart had detected his ability to call upon ascension energy. The formation hadn't reacted to him before, and it didn't seem to do any differently after he called upon the energy. He considered trying to summon some while he was inside the formation… but dismissed that thought. That could remain an unknown until a formation master said it was reasonable.

Chikere wandered into the room beyond the corridor, and soon enough she wandered back. She could only run at a rate slightly more than a very fit human- her body tempering didn't continue particularly further than the Ninety-Nine Stars did, ending in Spirit Building. Thus, it seemed almost like a slow and trudging walk despite the way she moved.

"You guys should come see this. It's pretty neat."

Disciples from the Million Sword Vault immediately followed her, and Elder Vasu did nothing to stop them. In fact, he only hesitated a few moments before following her. Anton looked at Agus and shrugged, before continuing forward himself. If all that would happen was he was exhausted of energy, it would be no worse than a prolonged battle where he received no injuries. In short, a good one. For his side, at least.

Chapter 328

Despite the fact that Anton was completely uninjured, he knew the formation had done its job. He was completely drained of energy and would be unable to fight even an early Spirit Building cultivator. Even carrying his bow was a greater strain than expected, as he could not shield his body with even a small amount of defensive energy. The sharp edge weighed down on his thinly armored shoulder. Without any momentum behind it the cutting power wasn't much, but he moved carefully to avoid jostling it.

Since Chikere had already walked straight into the following room before without issue, everyone followed the same trail as her. However, the area really did seem to be devoid of traps. But, around a corner they came upon an astounding sight. Six corpses with perfectly preserved equipment, unaffected by the ravages of time. As for the bodies themselves, five of them were little more than bones. The five bodies were arranged around the sixth in the center, which was still bound to them by translucent, nearly intangible chains. The body in the middle was… nearly perfectly preserved.

Nobody approached as people waited for Elder Vasu to arrive. Anton walked up next to Chikere, whose myriad of swords hanging in sheaths around her always looked rather clunky. Without the assistance of natural energy, he thought it should be difficult to move. "Aren't those heavy?"

"A few swords will never weigh me down," Chikere said with her arms crossed in front of her. Anton could see some strain just to keep the position… but he supposed it was a form of training. Even if a cultivator wanted to train using only their physical body, when they had natural energy it was almost impossible to not use it. Even in the best case it was used for recovering the muscles and encouraging growth, so Anton didn't actually know if training fully without energy would be beneficial. It certainly wasn't fit for him.

Elder Vasu didn't take long to arrive, though it was clear he was being cautious entering the area. Everyone looked to him for what to do, but he didn't seem to have a specific idea either. He slowly walked around the arrangement of people. "They do seem quite dead, even the fellow in the middle. One would wonder why they would do this, though. If he was an enemy, at the point he was drained of energy and bound he could have been easily slain. If a friend, I would wonder what the chains were for. Unfortunately, we have not found intact versions of the Chain Harmony Sect's cultivation technique."

Anton didn't have much to contribute to that, as he agreed with everything Elder Vasu said. The body was preserved for a reason, but without any explanation they couldn't be sure what exactly was intended. Furthermore, though the energy draining formation did not seem to be present around them, the area was also devoid of any traces of natural energy for anyone to absorb and make use of. Anton was quite used to enhancing his senses with natural energy.

Elder Vasu stepped forward to take a close look at the ephemeral chains, but as he did so they shattered. Every hand in the room went to a weapon- or more than one- but besides the links consecutively falling apart, nothing happened. Even the corpse held still by them was balanced well enough to remain in position. "Well then. At this point, I believe it would be acceptable to search the outer bodies." As he said that, he stepped towards one and began the process. He carefully picked out the bones, laying them together in a single spot while separating the equipment. It seemed to be a full set of enchanted equipment. Armor was a given, though much of cultivators armor resembled clothing. Cultivators prized the ability to move easily over slightly more defense. There were only a few materials that were made into thick, heavy armor- and even those could do well enough in lighter configurations. Along with the armor there were boots, gloves, and various accessories that were clearly meant to enhance the wearers in various ways, though the exact details would have to be uncovered.

Finally there was a pair of daggers- and as hoped, a storage bag.

The others were all quite similar, though the exact equipment varied. The weapons seemed to be anything light, or perhaps the intention was shorter weapons. If restraining an opponent with chains, it would be a shame to entangle oneself in the process. That was what Anton presumed, anyway. As for the actual answer… that might be found within the storage bags.

Before opening them, the storage bags were studied carefully. Sometimes they had additional formations that were meant to protect them from theft. Most cultivators simply secured them with energy so that only a stronger cultivator could possibly take them away. Depending on the size and configuration, smaller sized bags could be worn under the layers of clothing and armor, though this made it harder to retrieve anything during a fight.

Ultimately it was decided that they would be opened away from the area, when people had their energy recovered and could defend themselves. As for the body in the middle… it was carefully checked over to make sure it wasn't simply a person in a state of near-death. It was almost crazy to think that someone might be alive after centuries without any form of sustenance, but with cultivators it paid to be careful.

By every discernable feature, the woman was dead- to the point that determining it had been a woman through the mummified features took some effort. At that point it could have been taken away, but instead Elder Vasu decided to be cautious. "I will stay here. I am not comfortable bringing this body out of this place." He already had a writing implement in hand and was scribing on a piece of paper he'd retrieved. "Bring this letter back to the sect. Have them send whoever they deem necessary. No matter the origin of this corpse, it requires further study and great care." Elder Vasu's fingers twitched as he wrote, as if trying to keep up with the rate he was used to. "Everything else can be brought back." He stood and gestured everyone towards the exit. "I will station myself outside of this place, since I don't much care for the idea of remaining here long term."

He was also little stronger than anyone else. Anton didn't expect him to say that, even if the Million Sword Vault was full of loyal cultivators. Actually, Anton wasn't sure if he'd bet on Elder Vasu or Chikere being the strongest without the use of natural energy. All he could say was that he was certainly not the strongest. Not without a more modest bow and some reasonable physical arrows. Even the black thorned arrows that were so special would simply fly less straight and true with no real benefits given nobody had a drop of energy in them.

Though maybe he could summon some ascension energy. But looking at the corpse, Anton knew that might be a bad idea. Despite the state it was in, he almost felt as if it could come back to life… and he wouldn't give it that chance. He didn't get the feeling that five people sacrificed their lives binding an ally.

Leaving the island wasn't quite as simple as it seemed. Though the eruption had ended- and even the fires that caused- the beasts living on the island didn't suddenly stop existing. It seemed that most of them had survived, in fact. Some of them were quite interested in trying to eat the rare humans. But even without Elder Vasu, they were able to cut down their foes. He had not been necessary before, but Anton found it was nice to have the fallback of someone stronger than oneself. That was why people brought sect elders along to places that were estimated to be far too weak for them. Security for their disciples.

But it wasn't as if Anton could expect to have elders watching over him anymore regardless. He was hardly a weak disciple that needed escorting everywhere. This particular place just happened to be an exception to the level of danger that was most common throughout the world.

Other than a somewhat harried escape from the island, which already had new plant growth springing up from the charred landscape, the trip was rather simple. Once on the boat moving away from the volcanic islands, they carefully looked through the storage bags. Each of them had at least one copy of the Chain Harmony technique, along with other useful writings, equipment, and a small amount of wealth.

Though the technique was very different from what Devon did with chains, having the technique of an ancient sect to study would certainly help his advancement. Anton was going to try to keep one of the originals, but if not he knew the Million Sword Vault should at least allow him to make a copy. The difference was… original versions had a sort of insight woven into them beyond just the words. It went beyond just the form and function, and though it didn't guarantee that someone would learn a technique more efficiently it provided that chance. Either way, it was much preferable to just scribblings copied from page to page.

It wasn't long before they returned with more people in tow, including Elder Wardah and another elder from the Million Sword Vault. In addition, there were some trusted allies to provide their varied expertise.

Anton returned as well, more out of curiosity than because he thought he could provide anything in specific. He was also interested in the training applications of the formation, though it was now clear it was intended for more.

If the Million Sword Vault had been a bit more ruthless they might have discovered what was beyond that point previously, but in the time since they had uncovered the area nobody had volunteered to stay until they ran out of energy. It was understandable that people didn't want to die, and while the Million Sword Vault wouldn't hesitate to kill their enemies, they also weren't the sort to use them as a sacrifice. The others who knew about the discovery were of the same mind, so several decades had passed with nobody deciding they needed to push themselves to the point of determining what would happen.

Though Anton supposed it was possible some disciples had fully exhausted themselves on accident and just didn't realize it. They could have thought they just barely made it out in time and that was all.

The study of the corpse began slowly, merely observing the sitting figure through sight. Sometimes that was from quite up close, but that revealed little more. Finally it was decided that little more could be learned where they were. Without energy to sense the structure of the cultivator's body, all they could really tell was that they had skin, which was hardly revelatory.

Before moving the corpse, every piece of equipment was stripped, replaced with simple clothes for modesty in case it was a person worthy of respect. There was also a magic bag on them, which was a subject of much enthusiasm. Then every Life Transformation and Essence Collection cultivator on the scene left the area, gradually recovering their energy back to their full stores. It was more than a week later that a group of four disciples carried the body out, passing through the formation. There was no reaction, as expected.

When the body got beyond… nothing happened. It was just a corpse, after all. But the cautions felt very justified to Anton. Shortly afterwards, he found there was something he was uniquely qualified to contribute. "If you would, Anton," Elder Wardah gestured. "We are fairly certain this was an ascender. If you could gently provide such energy, we would like to observe the reaction."

Anton nodded, "Of course." He stepped forward, gathering energy carefully. He knew that if this person was suddenly going to wake up, this would be the time. However, a single strand of ascension energy wouldn't give them much to work with.

Instead of anything overly exciting, he was able to observe an interesting reaction. His energy easily passed into the body as it would any other object, but the strand of energy he was using seemed to almost want to cling to the body. "Can I try something?" The various elder agreed after Anton explained. Carefully, Anton left the strand of energy in the body. He slowly let it leave his control. In normal circumstances, it would violently break down. Even if it was a very small amount of ascension energy in the grand scheme of things, that could cause serious damage to an inert object. But the body of this cultivator seemed to be more solid than most… and where he placed the energy in the palm it seemed to settle down.

It definitely wasn't being absorbed into the cultivator, but the body seemed to be a stable home for ascension energy. That solidified one thing, at least. After watching for reactions over the course of a day and finding no change, Anton was encouraged to add a little more in various places. Even if he used his full amount of ascension energy there was no chance for it to be enough to be a real danger with several Life Transformation cultivators around. Not much else of interest happened though- and eventually Anton was called upon to withdraw the energy. But since he couldn't store it in himself, he had to let it fade away in the atmosphere around them.

Chapter 329

While he waited to hear the results of what happened with the ascender's corpse, Anton returned to an area he had passed up. He hadn't exactly been avoiding the area around Arbington, but his travels hadn't brought him close. Perhaps his sense of time was getting screwed up even more, as seven years and around a third of his cultivation career didn't feel like all that long. Then again, time had a way of slipping from your fingers when times were relatively peaceful.

Anton was quite pleased to find that everyone he was searching for was still present. He was still quite some distance off, but he found Idalia and Hiram quickly. Even Sasho and Trix were somewhat pleasant to see, since that meant their rehabilitation had worked well enough.

The thing that pleased him most was that Hiram noticed his approach. Not immediately, but a reasonable distance away. Few people had the sort of range Anton did, and in late Spirit Building it would have been close enough to Anton's limit for him to properly defend himself. The man immediately changed his route to intersect with Anton, though that involved very little effort.

"Anton! You've returned. It has been… quite some time." Hiram bowed respectfully as Anton approached. "I thought we might never meet again."

"Every meeting could be the last. But something led me back here. Well, Aicenith in general. Nothing calls me to Arbington except for people I wanted to visit."

"I'm sure everyone will be glad to see you've returned," Hiram nodded. "You changed the future of this place. From one under the thumb of bandits to… well, at least we can live our lives."

"How are things with the Gray Rock Sect?" Anton asked, knowing that they still had members nearby. What took some a day to travel was potentially within Anton's senses, though only a small slice at a time.

"They have been holding onto what position they can. I don't think they understand how many of us are ready and willing to fight. Alas, your predictions were correct. I am not strong enough to take revenge alone just yet, and the others… most don't have a grudge worth risking their lives. So I wouldn't ask it of them."

Hiram had advanced to late Spirit Building over the past eight or so years. Anton knew that was quite impressive, even though his own advancement had been somewhat more smooth. He had the resources of a sect to rely on though, abundant natural energy and proper training resources. Though the area around them was beginning to grow in spiritual energy, it was still below the level of what most sects would settle for when choosing a location. Likewise, the various townspeople weren't so intrinsically connected, except by the origins of how they learned cultivation. Namely, from Anton. It had taken a few years to begin the process and he'd honestly only made progress with the best, but it seemed they had managed to continue teaching each other to some extent. That was the ideal, a society able to grow in cultivation together without being greedy.

But if people needed personal benefit from others cultivating, the general growth of the region's energy and the efficiency of other workers would be just that. As he passed through the area he saw many people taking advantage of leisure time, even in the middle of the day. Some were actually cultivating, but while cultivation was certainly hard work it was nearly always satisfying. The rewards of growing stronger were tangible to those who attained each step of cultivation and were something that could not easily be lost with a bad harvest or the ravages of age.

"How has your cultivation been, Hiram?" Anton asked.

"Quite well, with only a few lasting troubles. Perhaps you can provide some advice…" Hiram began to explain, and he would be the first of many who sought out advice.

While Anton would have liked to show up with all new techniques for everyone, all he had was a little more experience in cultivation. As far as the areas people were training, their specialized practice outweighed Anton's more abundant overall experience. He didn't mind that. In fact, he took heart in it. Nearly everyone was comfortable talking with Anton about their cultivation, since he gave them the knowledge to begin with. If they were stuck, simply explaining it might allow them to have some insights if Anton wasn't able to specifically provide advice.

"I think it is time," Hiram said to no one in particular- though Anton and Idalia were both close enough to easily hear.

"Time for what?" Idalia asked.

"Revenge," Hiram declared. "I would not wish to push your assistance too far, senior Anton, but… if all goes according to plan, you would merely be a deterrent force."

"I am happy to help a righteous cause," Anton replied. "But of course I would like to hear through all of it."

"Yes, well… in my heart I would like to slaughter the whole sect. But I do not think that would be the best for anyone involved. The Gray Rock Sect is corrupt and has been oppressive, but they still represent a decent measure of power. They possess a number of late Spirit Building elders who could match me. They are cowards who would not risk themselves against a single Essence Collection cultivator, but that is not the point. Engaging in a direct battle would result in losses on both sides, even if we could combine the power of the whole region against them." Hiram shook his head, "Just those who have been personally wronged by them beyond simple 'taxes' would not be enough. It doesn't have to go that far though."

"What was your plan?" Idalia asked.

"It is simple. We will call out the corrupt among them. I specifically recall the faces of the disciples who killed my wife. I will challenge them, and others will bring their own grievances. If they refuse outright… we shall simply have to wait. Then when the time comes, I intend to slaughter them all or drive them out of the region." He bit his lip, "Though the first sounds more brutal, if they shelter criminals so easily it is better for the world."

"It also gives them the chance to foist wrongdoing on just those specifically mentioned," Anton nodded. "I think I get it. They must understand the rising power around them."

"Exactly. And if they simply think to wipe us out… I was hoping you would provide your aid. Just having you standing on our side would be a major factor. You don't have to do anything."

"If they don't act, I won't… but if they intend to silence you, I see no reason to hold back. The only question is whether or not I should be present as a threat. They're more likely to attack if they think you have no backing, but… is provoking them into a conflict the right option?" Anton had an idea of his own answer, but everyone would consider different factors.

"I would like it if you were there openly as a reminder that they are not the only sect in the world. In fact, they are worth so little they could only lord over this region until a determined bandit showed up, when they fled with their tail between their legs." Hiram stomped his foot for emphasis. "A fact I would like to remind them of, but the group I have been working with would prefer not getting into open conflict. And there's that invasion to consider. While I don't place much hope on them, if the Gray Rock Sect produced an Essence Collection cultivator or two in the next decades… it's probably better to leave them somewhat intact."

Anton nodded, "An unpleasant thought, but exterminating people is not always an appropriate response. I can't say for sure that turning a blind eye to what their disciples have done is appropriate, but once human life has been lost there's no way to bring it back."

"And it would weaken us," Idalia said. "It's best if they stay around somewhat less powerful, to deter anyone else who might want to move into the region to try to take over."

That was a major factor in the minds of many. None were fond of the Gray Rock Sect, but they knew there were many who were worse. Even if they wouldn't stand up against a powerful enough group just moving in like Birita did, those who weren't local wouldn't necessarily know that. It was better to have them as a sort of buffer.

"Well then," Anton said. "The general idea is sound. Talk to the others so we can begin the arrangements, and find out whatever we are missing."

The general idea of storming up to the sect and demanding duels was a nice thought, but it could easily be construed as an attack. It wouldn't take much for things to just become a battle regardless of anyone's preferences. Thus, sending a messenger became the choice. The intention was to arrange for a specific date to settle grievances. As for why it would be taken seriously, the messenger was a large part of that.

Anton inspected the stone buildings that made up the Gray Rock Sect. They had a few hundred members total, mostly in Body Tempering from the feel of it. A couple dozen in Spirit Building, with two in at the peak. Perhaps they had planned to wait a decade to complete their advancement and deal with Birita, though whether that increase in strength would have helped would have depended on how her lieutenants advanced to support her.

The guards at the gates, standing atop stone towers, called down to Anton. The man who spoke was firm in his tone, but Anton knew he was terrified inside. "Halt. What business do you have with the Gray Rock Sect?"

Some cultivators who were strong enough didn't do well with commands of any sort, but Anton wasn't so petty as to react negatively to a guard doing his job. He wasn't going to act timidly, however. He let his energy be a bit more clear, so the guards could be certain they weren't mistaken about his power. "I bring a missive on behalf of many local residents." Anton unfurled a scroll. "It lays out grievances against the Gray Rock Sect that they wish to address personally."

The guards of course were not qualified to provide any sort of answer to Anton, but one did take the scroll, which was quickly sealed with Anton's energy to prevent it from being tampered with along the way. Not that it would benefit a random guard to do so.

"I will return in three days for your response," Anton explained. "I look forward to it."

The ultimatum Anton delivered detailed more than just grievances, but whether or not certain individuals would accept monetary compensation. Loved ones couldn't be brought back, but not everyone wanted to fight even if they had learned to cultivate. Likewise, a disciple of the sect might not be eager to get into a battle with a group eager for revenge. Then there was the implicit threat of Anton's presence, and while they didn't know exactly what extent he was backing up the locals it would make them think carefully.

The Gray Rock Sect had to agree to the format offered. Elder Anuja didn't like it, but she'd sensed the late Essence Collection aura on the missive. However, they had offered some slight modifications. She knew that the local populace had grown greatly in cultivation over the last years, but she didn't know how to judge their strength. Thus, a format that might be best for everyone was decided. It was more or less a tournament, but the strongest would be first in line. That included one Hiram, who had nearly reached her own level in that time. He had a death grudge with several disciples.

The crazy thing was he agreed to fight them all at once. They were only in early or mid Spirit Building, but even so… fighting several at once could be a great disadvantage. That suited the Gray Rock Sect though. The results of the event would be greatly influenced by the first few battles. If it was a series of battles intended for entertainment then the fights were in the wrong order… but if people with more minor grievances were to be given the option to surrender, they needed to see the results of battles that were going to happen anyway.

Anuja hoped that the Gray Rock Sect would win the first rounds to deliver a morale blow to the others, but her hope was just that. Especially since a cultivator like the one who had delivered the missive could just make whatever declarations they wanted and nobody could stop him. Maybe if the entire sect was willing to sacrifice itself, but who would be willing to make the first move? Not her, and anyone weaker would hardly last a second.

Elder Anuja sensed something disturbing along the road ahead. Yet she didn't jump to conclusions. In fact, she could easily sense the aura of Gray Rock Sect members there. As she rounded a bend with the others, she found her theory correct. There was a bundle of people there, all unconscious and uncomfortably tied together. Atop it was a note.

"Seems some people snuck out at night. You can have them back."

Personally, Elder Anuja thought it was a good sign. Not that they'd had disciples sneaking away to flee from the event, but the fact that they were alive. The disciples in question hadn't exactly been gently knocked unconscious, but that was their own problem to deal with. Their loss would ultimately be the Gray Rock Sect's… not gain, really. It wasn't even a neutral outcome. They would probably die and bring the sect shame, but that was better than angering a powerful cultivator. Some cultivators thought shame was worse than death, but most of them were already dead. The rest were willing to put up with inconveniences for something they couldn't get back.

Besides, they weren't guaranteed to lose, right? Though Elder Anuja had to admit that the others traveling with her weren't exactly enthusiastic after de-entangling the pile of half a dozen people. They were the ones who made the wrong people angry though, when they should have known better. That was her justification, at least. Either way, she intended to make sure nobody had reason to come after her in particular, and the other elders doubtless felt the same.

Chapter 330

After leaving his 'gift' for the Gray Rock Sect, Anton waited for them to arrive to deal with their grievances. While nobody wanted to be forced into a battle to the death, the potential losses to the Gray Rock Sect were much lower if things were dealt with this way. That wasn't including Anton, where there was the potential they would be completely and totally annihilated without even being able to see him. They hadn't gone so far off a reasonable path that he would do that… but their cooperation in the current endeavor was a conditional part of them being able to walk away without grudges.

Elder Anuja was one of their two peak Spirit Building cultivators, and she led the group- including the reluctant ones who had tried to escape. They were unwilling to face the consequences of their actions, but they didn't have a choice. Most of them would at least have the chance to survive. Technically, as long as they could win a single battle all of them had that chance. The battles weren't rigged, exactly, but the challenges had all come from people who believed they could win. There was little chance that all of them were correct. Some would probably get unlucky, and some might have poor estimates of their own abilities. But they all had to deal with the results themselves.

First was Hiram. He was the strongest of the challengers, and of everyone in the area Anton had trained. His determination had driven his cultivation forward. While he had grudges with Birita like the rest of the area, the triggering event was a conflict with the Gray Rock Sect. His wife had called out their disciples as they came to collect 'taxes' while they wouldn't even protect anyone from Birita. She was killed, and he lost an arm trying to protect her. One disciple had been easily able to do all that in a moment, but the others were equally at fault, approving the act. Thus, Hiram had challenged the four who had been together- all at once.

They probably thought they were lucky. Any one of them had no chance to beat him, but together… there was so much more they could do as a group. And they were right, in a way. Their chances of defeating him as a group certainly increased.

Hiram stood across from the four disciples, glaring. He held out his arm, gesturing for them to come at him. "Let's see how you do against someone who has some training… cowards."

The words weren't merely his opinion being expressed, though he did so wholeheartedly. It was also a method of achieving tactical superiority. They reacted just as he intended, rushing towards him in anger. They had the good sense to split up to come at him from every side, but that wasn't going to be enough.

An orb of intangible energy formed in his hand, not quite dark nor light but a mixture of both. As he flung it at one of them, the man held his arms in front of him to block. The defenses of the Gray Rock Sect were nothing to laugh at with bodies trained to be harder than stone. The early Spirit Building cultivator knew he should at least be able to take one hit from a late Spirit Building cultivator like Hiram, enough for his allies to get in position.

His energy defenses did him well, resisting a good portion of the attack. Unfortunately, his body itself was of no use against the deathly energy. Black lines drove into his body, pulling something out of him and sending a line of power back to Hiram. The attack still took more out of him than he regained, but he was not shy about launching another attack immediately at a different target.

Seeing what happened to the first disciple, the second dodged out of the way- but Hiram was able to trigger the orb to explode nearby. Once again it tore through energy defenses, though the damage was not as bad as the direct hit. The first disciple was unsteady on his feet as he tried to circle around to his position, but the second merely felt a bit fatigued.

A moment later they were all around Hiram, each taking a stance with their heavy hammers held towards him. They attacked together in a maneuver that was clearly practiced for this exact situation.

If they had taken Hiram any less seriously, they would have all died in that moment. Even so, a cloud of deathly energy formed about him. Instead of trying to retreat from the attacks, he chose to charge towards the third disciple, sweeping over him with the greater speed his cultivation afforded him. Hiram slipped under the hammer swing as he passed, his hand trailing down the man's arm as he went. Even as Anton watched the limb shriveled until it was barely functional.

The Deathly Heart Technique was not something to be practiced lightly. It was horrible to any touched by it, crippling whoever it did not kill. It was the sort of technique that could easily be called a forbidden technique. It had dangers to its own user as well, roadblocks that couldn't be surpassed without side effects- or killing someone. Yet it also didn't necessarily cross into an unforgivable line, as Anton saw it. The harm it caused would certainly be painful, but as it was followed up with a swift death it wasn't unnecessarily sadistic in function. With the end result being death, it wasn't much different from other techniques performed correctly. And sometimes… people needed to die. Hiram had been fortunate enough to have access to elder Naheed's corpse to avoid side effects, but Anton believed he wouldn't have killed anyone in an unjustified manner to progress. Thus, the negatives would have all fallen on his head.

As it was… Hiram was now simply getting revenge for his wife who was killed unfairly. The Gray Rock Sect had been no less thieves than the group led by Birita, and hypocrisy was possibly even worse than open evil.

With three of the disciples injured in various ways, Hiram pushed his advantage. He stayed away from the healthiest of them and found the swiftest opening to finish one of them off. The second and third followed suit. The final of the four then had to face off against an only somewhat fatigued Hiram.

And then it was over. The faces of those from the Gray Rock Sect were grim, while the others were hopeful. Hiram picked up the withered corpses of the four disciples and tossed them towards their sect, ignoring the equipment they had. He hadn't challenged them for the sake of receiving wealth, and he wouldn't do them the satisfaction of giving into his greed.

Then Hiram turned and walked away. Anton moved to walk beside him. "How do you feel?" Anton asked.

"Awful," Hiram spat.

"Good. Killing people shouldn't bring joy. Later we can talk about what will actually make you reach peace. Or at least, what works for me."

Anton knew it would be best for Hiram to be alone for a time, and he would let that happen… but that didn't mean he would take his eyes off of him. Or at least a strand of energy. Unless Hiram charged out into the wilderness as fast as he could, Anton would be watching over him.

Anton quickly returned to the conflict zone. "Well then. With the first match concluded, there is another." Anton called forth the participants. "Will you fight?"

Both nodded. The disciples of the Gray Rock Sect might have been intimidated by Hiram's victory, but they knew that the others weren't him. Most of the others wouldn't outclass those they challenged… but then again, they also were only going to fight one opponent.

"Very well then. Begin." Anton kept his expression neutral as he watched the fight. This was almost as important as the first match, because if the Gray Rock Sect won they would regain much morale. That would shape how everything else happened.

It came very close, but in the end the final blows exchanged resulted in a crushed shoulder for the man seeking revenge- and a punctured heart for the disciple of the Gray Rock Sect, his defenses having been chipped into a little bit at a time before they were broken through entirely. The challenger barely managed to walk away on his own two feet, but that set the tone for the following matches.

After the first few, the most grievous grudges were settled. One resulted in the death of the challenger. Anton wanted to interfere, but if he was going to throw away the rules there was no point. Nobody else would feel justified in their victories if they knew that their efforts meant nothing and someone else did all the work. Revenge wouldn't settle their hearts, but the other results would be worse.

"After this point," Anton announced, "Matches will not be to the death. The grudges between the parties are somewhat lesser than that point. However, accidents may still happen. Think carefully about whether you wish to persist." Anton didn't point out that the chances of him missing a deadly blow from cultivators in mid Spirit Building or earlier were basically impossible. People needed to understand the seriousness of what they were doing- on both sides. Sometimes it was better to accept losses and move on with your life. Anton had done that, at least before he became a cultivator. After, he had been able to overcome most obstacles. But he hadn't been even close to strong enough to prevent Grand Elder Vandale's death.

Some people chose to settle the battle with payment. Some fought before reaching that point, others continued until they were so injured they couldn't continue. Serious enough injuries were probably worse than giving up resources, but not everyone from the Gray Rock Sect believed that they would lose or get injured.

Anton stepped in to stop things were necessary. That included saving a few members of the Gray Rock Sect from what would have been deadly blows. He wasn't a neutral observer, but he at least wanted to be something close to fair. If possible, he wanted to avoid the situation where the Gray Rock Sect just formed deeper grudges with the other locals and ended up in a war at a later date. Some people would still hold anger in their hearts, but this was the best that could be managed without someone watching over the area for years and managing disputes.

The final grudge was settled with an apology. The cultivator's whole body was pressed to the ground, and for all of Anton's insight it was sincere. The Gray Rock Sect wasn't made up of just one type, after all. If they went around killing everyone who slighted them in any way, they would have attracted much more attention. Eventually, some righteous sect would have come to deal with them- once they were well known enough. Unless they grew strong enough. Unfortunately, cultivators who were evil but strong enough often were able to get away with their activities for a long time, as nobody was willing to go against them. Such instances were rare as far as Anton knew, but still very real.

"So what are you going to do with the rest of your life?" Anton asked Hiram. "I don't believe it would be a good use of your efforts to continue with your prior plan to wipe out the Gray Rock Sect. It would undermine the whole effort we made."

"I knew that already," he nodded. "I got my revenge. But I'm certain there are many more who have not been able to get theirs. I plan to seek them out."

"Be careful," Anton said. "Not only for your personal safety- that cultivation technique makes you a target, if people don't know who you are. Or perhaps if they do. In addition… not everyone's grievances are as honest as yours. Take special care to hone your insight. If something seems suspicious, it would not hurt to delay acting for a time of investigation. At the very least, you will be watching in case further harm is attempted."

Hiram waved his one hand, "I know, I know. I'm not a kid. Sometimes people are out to manipulate you. I get that."

"Pfft, not a kid? What are you, not even sixty?" Anton leaned forward. "That's basically a kid. So make sure to watch out for strangers."

"Yeah? There's an old guy I saw who carries a bow everywhere. Think he's dangerous."

"Oh, absolutely. Be careful with that one."

Anton continued to joke with Hiram for a time. The man seemed to be making the effort to move past his pain, but Anton knew it wasn't just gone- not with the seven years before, and it would still linger into the future. But at least he might prevent other harm in the future- or give people the chance to avenge themselves.

Chapter 331

Million Sword Vault's location wasn't exactly a secret but it was far from a convenient location to undergo any sort of concerted effort between sects. As such the body of the Ascension cultivator had been moved to another location- specifically what remained of the Whispering Watcher's main headquarters. It was a neutral area where everyone was invited to donate their efforts to learning whatever they could about the woman.

At first great care was taken to preserve the structural integrity of the body, but as the studies continued the efforts widened to anything not directly intended to destroy it. The body was uncomfortably durable, even by the standards of the Life Transformation cultivators present.

Anton himself wasn't present for most of the studies, but he kept himself apprised of what was being learned. Most of what ultimately proved useful had been speculated immediately, but confirming certain things was useful if they were going to be combating Ascension cultivators.

The first was that while the body seemed attuned to ascension energy it was less reactive to natural energy. It wasn't that it was necessarily resistant to attacks, but even in death ascension energy clung to it, while natural energy did not. Across the continent of Aicenith there were more who practiced Fleeting Youth than Anton, so he wasn't needed for all of the studies.

To compare to more familiar cultivators, while natural energy certainly faded from them after death they would still generally retain higher than the ambient level of natural energy. That effect could last as long as any parts of the body were relatively whole and was stronger with higher cultivation. Thus it wasn't unexpected for the Ascension cultivator to react the same with ascension energy, but it was odd that natural energy seemed to not react the same.

Unfortunately, with only one body to compare to it couldn't be certain if they would expect the same to hold true for all Ascension cultivators. Even so, along with the other information they generally agreed that Ascension cultivators shouldn't be able to easily replenish their stores of energy. That explained the Chain Harmony Sect's setup to some extent.

The body itself didn't have to answer all of the questions. Some of them were answered by the contents of the storage bag. The texts contained therein were preserved as well as could be expected when in an area without natural energy for centuries. There was nothing so convenient as a journal outlining the weaknesses of the woman nor her motivations for participating in the invasion. However, they did learn that she was from the Fearless Mountain Sect, which had no counterpart on either continent. She also possessed two separate manuals for the sect's cultivation technique. One for pre-ascension, and one for post-ascension. The latter was highly coveted by many but… it was soon found to be basically useless. Neither covered how one might ascend, and knowing how to train after ascension was not the biggest hurdle on any Life Transformation cultivator's mind.

That information did back up a certain idea. One that the ascension realm didn't contain those who just ascended naturally, but those who were born there and had to train to reach that level of strength. The possibility that they might be deficient in the less powerful natural energy seemed a reasonable enough assumption- and everyone pretty much agreed that cultivation from the beginning with just ascension energy would be impossible. At least for the vast majority of people. If there were exceptions, it hardly changed the basic idea. The energy was much too powerful to control initially without any experience or tempering of the body. The dantian would be undeveloped and unsuited for it as well.

If the invasions were happening so that sects could train up new recruits of some sort, it at least made some amount of sense. It might not be the sole reason, but knowing the motivations really didn't matter. The more important part was how they might stop the invaders.

It wasn't terribly surprising that the answer was to fight them, but of course it wasn't quite that straightforward. Everheart's final tomb had revealed information on anti-ascension techniques- or rather forced it into the heads of some of those seeking ascension. The point was, they were especially good at disrupting the energy. If it was difficult for the cultivators to recover, they could be worn down… assuming there was even a chance for that. It seemed that they had previously made use of direct assaults, smashing through what the sects had prepared. There was no guarantee that this time would be any different… but perhaps people would be able to prepare better, with knowledge of the previous time.

Anton certainly hoped so. It was possible that they were in an inescapable cycle… but no cultivator would just sit down and accept that as the case. They would fight. The entire world was not united on anything else, but except for what was hoped to be a small minority- one that included the Twin Soul Sect and similar groups they were in the process of exterminating- they were agreed that an invasion could not be allowed. They would fight. Anton just hoped they would fight together. Even if it meant abandoning certain locations or making sacrifices of people, combining forces would improve their effectiveness.

But he would be best served making those arguments to sects he had a longer history with, back on Brogora. The Order had an alliance with several powerful sects, but it would be better if it extended further. For that, he would return home- with the information he had gained. He just wasn't sure how much it would actually help.

It wasn't necessarily surprising to find that some cultivators were a superstitious lot. Cultivation was difficult enough to undergo for those not from a large sect, and it seemed that good fortune was required to continue advancement. So when the ship happened to draw close to Paradise, the captain chose to stop. The giant turtle was not something that could be met on every traversal- though the first journey had skewed that idea somewhat. Regardless, encountering the Paradise of Thirteen Hills was taken as a good omen. Not stopping would be a travesty.

Anton was surprised to see people already on the island. It would be rare enough to find it. For two ships at once to land would be even more rare. Except they didn't seem to have any. That was a matter of some concern. With more than a handful of Essence Collection cultivators… were they there to waylay incoming ships? Except only a single person came to greet the ship, the others remaining spread out on their own 'hills'. If they intended some sort of attack, it certainly wasn't very organized.

"Hello there!" waved the woman who came to see them. "Welcome to the Paradise of Thirteen Hills. I am Erin, a member of the Island Yenders. Feel free to take what you need. Timber and food are freely available, as are the local herbs. We only ask that you take in moderation. In addition, we ask that you replant anything you find. If you need expertise on how best to do so, we are available for consultation."

While it was certainly odd to find something like permanent residents, the woman's intent seemed genuine. Anton knew it was possible for someone to train themselves to deceive people expertly, but he was willing to accept the idea. He did, however, want more of an explanation. While others were taking time to stretch their legs- another reason to stop at Paradise regardless of whether or not there was good luck- Anton approached the woman.

"You said you are the 'Island Tenders'? Are you a sect of some sort?"

Erin shrugged, "I suppose we might be considered that. Yet we don't intend to claim the area as our own. Though the fact that most people would not choose to live here perhaps makes that the case by default."

"I've noticed there aren't any lower level cultivators here," Anton pointed out. "Did none come with you? I would think a place so abundant in natural energy might be appealing to them."

"You do know this is a turtle, right?" the woman asked.

"I do…" Anton said. "But I seem to be missing something."

"Turtles don't always swim on the surface," Erin answered. "Whenever Paradise gets hungry, you can expect a significant period of time when he is down in the depths eating anything large enough to catch his attention. At that time, it would be very difficult for a weaker cultivator to survive."

"Interesting," Anton said. "What about the plants here?"

"They are specially suited to surviving in this environment," Erin answered. "And something about his shell purifies away the salt when he surfaces. The soil and sand also cling quite strongly. Though we are not certain that would remain the case without full plant cover." She gestured to Anton. "Come, we might as well walk around while we talk." She led Anton on a trip along the beach, pointing out the plants along the shore. "See that tree? How long would you think it took to grow?"

"At least several decades," Anton commented.

"One year," Erin stated. "That is how long it took to reach a height of twenty meters. The abundant natural energy here accelerates the growth of plants. There are none that are truly massive, but the dives often cause tree falls. The trees quickly decay and become soil."

"Fascinating. I suppose it would have to be that way. About the younger disciples… have you considered structures with formations to keep out the water? That would also generally protect people from sea life."

"To be honest, we're not interested in creating many permanent structures here. It seems… rude, somehow."

"Perhaps you're right," Anton admitted. "I am just keenly interested in seeing younger generations grow strong. Since you live here… have you learned anything interesting about Paradise himself?"

"It's quite difficult to gauge his intentions in any way. He seems to eat when he is hungry, though he has never attacked a ship of cultivators. Other than eating, he just drifts along on the ocean currents."

"Hmm. I wonder how he would feel about invading cultivators…"

"It's hard to say," she admitted.

"It would be great if we could recruit him to fight for us, though given his normal speed I don't know if he would actually reach any battles. It might just be a vain hope," Anton admitted. "I just can't help but think about how everything will relate to the coming invasion."

"It is hard to ignore the impending crisis. Those of us here are training just as hard as everyone else, though with less conflict than the mainlands. Unless things have changed?"

"I suppose that depends on what you mean. I would personally say that conflicts have gone down in my over twenty years of cultivation experience. There are still squabbles and the like, but except for dealing with certain groups, large scale wars have been minimal. I hope it can stay that way."

"Agreed," Erin nodded. "What sect are you a part of?"

"The Order of Ninety-Nine Stars. From Brogora," Anton clarified. It was unlikely anyone at her level wouldn't have at least heard of them… but that was only on the same continent. Any sect that had multiple Life Transformation cultivators quickly came into public view, and the Order was well established. Based on her accent, Anton thought she was probably from Aicenith.

"You're a fortunate one. It can be quite difficult to advance without joining a large sect. They tend to monopolize the places with abundant natural energy. Except here, so far."

"I don't know if that will ever really change," Anton said. "However, there have been great efforts to teach more people to cultivate- and how to improve the quality of the natural energy in the area through long-term efforts. A sect might still have the best… but the difference might not be as large."

"Oh, interesting. Can the quality of an area's natural energy really be improved?"

"Of course. Large sects do it all the time. It is quite possible that much of what they have wasn't originally much better than the surroundings. I doubt much could be done with a place like this, however." Anton shook his head, "But this is actually an example of it working. These plants here seem to be fed natural energy by Paradise himself while in turn providing him with something like extra stores of energy. It's just usually not… mobile."

"I suppose I already knew it worked something like that," Erin admitted. "I just haven't had real opportunity to spend time changing the world on a more permanent basis."

"It'll happen. Just make sure it's for the better," Anton commented.

Chapter 332

Coming up with improvements for something named Paradise wasn't within Anton's capabilities. The great turtle seemed to have an ecosystem that was as good as it would be, at least without the skills of a more experienced expert involved. Anton doubted if there was anything that could be introduced without disrupting the balance. He just wondered if it was intentional or happenstance that things ended up that way.

Though everyone was quite happy to stop for a time on Paradise, they were also in the middle of a journey. Paradise didn't move quickly, but it was technically heading in the wrong direction. Anton and the others on the same ship bid Erin goodbye, though the rest of the Island Tenders had kept to themselves.

Then they were back to the journey. Anton couldn't wait for the day the trip could be done with a quick teleportation instead of a longer journey. He had the patience to wait, but he was constantly aware of more important things that could be done with his time. A couple decades felt like no time at all.

Seven more years brought Anton to the peak of Essence Collection. The fifty-eighth star was the boundary with Life Transformation, a threshold only two members of the Order had crossed in the last twenty years. That was out of over two hundred Essence Collection cultivators, some of which had been at that verge the entire time Anton was part of the Order. It was presumed that they would not surpass that point after such a long time, at least without some sort of fortunate occurrence.

Anton had felt the gap between stages deeply over the last year. He did not find himself aimless, but it wasn't a smooth transition either. He had one last method before he would have to seek out some sort of enlightenment. He knew he was extremely fortunate to even have his current option, because the Vessel of Insights was a potent and irreplaceable object. Anton didn't brag about having it though. It was better if everyone forgot about it, since Everheart had given it out to Spirit Building cultivators. Anton wondered if there were more like it. Perhaps.

He looked at the insights contained in it. Every strand from Essence Collection and lower had already been absorbed by him. It would still pick them up during his travels as he trained with various people, and Anton made sure to provide people at least as much as he learned from them. Usually more, since most of their techniques weren't applicable for his use.

Of the others, he still had strands of insight from Vandale and Kseniya. Other Life Transformation cultivators were included, and Anton considered himself ready to absorb them. All but one of them, anyway. He shuddered whenever he looked at one in particular. That would be the insight from Swordmaster Rahayu upon his ascension. It was more radiant than the others, and Anton knew it would destroy him to attempt to absorb it at the moment. Even Life Transformation insights would be difficult.

He knew that at best they would be somewhat incomplete, but Anton had the confidence to absorb at least some of the information- and to do so safely. He started with a strand from Elder Sarka of the Glorious Flame Palace. It appeared quite incomplete. Sometimes they were half an insight at best, as the Vessel of Insights was by no means perfect. During large battles it struggled to pull in everything it could, but much was left wanting. Anton wasn't sure when he'd come into possession of that particular strand, but absorbing it should provide some context. In most cases, anyway.

He picked it up gingerly and let it flow into him. The strand of insight wormed its way through his meridians into his dantian where he began to refine it, breaking it down into something useful. It was hot. Burning. Both the insight and act of absorbing it. Rather than risk damaging himself, Anton allowed it to flow out of him. Even so, he held on to what he safely could. Flashes. Fire and water. Things that burned and things that did not- and the selective burning of things that were reluctant.

And tentacles. It was part of one of the kraken battles. The incomplete nature to begin with and the lost pieces didn't tell him which one. As for the usefulness of the insights… he at least comprehended a bit more about fire. That was part of the reason he picked it. Stars were more or less fire, and the Ninety-Nine Stars was able to make use of the fire element when they chose to. He'd practiced it in the past, but he generally found fire was unnecessarily wasteful compared to the pure natural energy like the basic form of Spirit Arrows. It was more suited to wide area attacks, far outside his specialty. Still, he learned something. Perhaps later it would lead to something larger, and perhaps not.

The next strand. Anton didn't recognize the cultivator. As for the memory, it was chaos. Yet a chaos that Anton recognized. It was the battle against the Whispering Watchers, from in the thick of the action. All he absorbed were whirling movements. Spinning, twisting, almost dancing around. When he finished absorbing it, he couldn't help but practice a few. Most were impractical for him, as it required a flexibility beyond what he'd been able to achieve. But he still found parts he could incorporate into his movement. Marginal improvements, but that was the majority of cultivation.

Anton found another strand. Apparently he had been wrong about having no Essence Collection strands of insight left. It simply had felt on par in some ways, yet he knew this one was not. That was because he recognized it as coming from Chikere.

It was a nearly incomprehensible mess of swords moving around. Anton actually recognized it as from the same battle. Being up close and in someone else's head made it a completely different experience than his own and the previous pieces of insight. Specific things were seldom recognizable regardless, as it focused more on the memory of the technique involved. Anton wasn't going to suddenly become an expert with the sword, but Chikere shared one feature with himself he could hinge on. Using multiple weapons at once. Hers were physical blades compared to his own made out of energy. She merely used her energy as hands to control the weapons. The way she synchronized her weapons was quite satisfying to experience, and though it wouldn't apply directly to a different weapon form, Anton made sure to absorb all he could from the insights. Interestingly enough, she acted more like all the swords were a part of her and she simply had additional limbs.

In truth, Anton had been considering making use of more physical bows at the same time- but it was even more awkward to carry extra bows than swords. He had a couple in his storage bag, but pulling them out mid-battle was only for emergencies- or if he had a spare moment and one was significantly more suited for a specific task. The only real difference was with the sword-bow, which he couldn't cause not to form blades.

After one more strand, Anton found himself with enough thoughts to digest for the day. Or maybe the week. Either way, he made his way out of his home- now all to himself as Alva had moved into her own place nearly two decades before. She still lived nearby, along with Timothy and Catarina as well as Hoyt and Velvet in their own places. Anton casually searched for them and found something unexpected.

He didn't find himself comfortable at the peak of the mountain where the Life Transformation experts dwelled. It was still possible for him to cultivate higher up, but for everyday living a more moderate level was preferred. Though even where he lived was actually more inundated with natural energy than it had been when he first arrived at the Order. The power in the area was gradually increasing with the care and dedication of Elder Howland and others in the Order. And the changes around Edelhull and more distantly the rest of the country, of course.

He gradually made his way towards the unexpected change, specifically Formation Master Rana's workshop. But that was not the woman he was seeking.

"Oh, grandpa!" Catarina stepped outside as he approached. "Good news! I just came back from the intercontinental teleportation formation. The upgrades were a success!"

"Is that so?" Anton nodded. "I'm glad to hear that, but is that it?"

"Umm…" Catarina tilted her head. "Oh! I just heard from Rana that I'm going to be taking over as the head formation master of the Order. That's still a secret though."

"I'm not surprised," Anton said. "But… were you ever going to mention breaking through to Life Transformation?"

"Oh, that?" Catarina shrugged. "I guess that was important too, yeah. I had an idea when I was working on the formation." She held up her arms where the faded remnants of temporary tattoos could be seen. "So I threw something together. And then I broke through." She shook her head, "And no, I don't have anything to offer you on the subject. I don't think the same method would work for you."

"A shame, but I understand we are very different people."

Catarina pondered for a few moments. "I mean, I probably could actually… but if you don't do it yourself I'd probably have to be there at every moment you wished to cultivate. It's sort of a dead end. I just adjusted my body to be more in tune with energy, but it's not automatic."

"Doubtless something that a lack of understanding would cause more harm to have than good," Anton smiled. "Well, congratulations on your breakthrough. Have you told Timothy the news?"

"Uh, I was just told about the promotion," Catarina said.

"About the breakthrough?"

"Oh. Nope."

Anton rolled his eyes. It wasn't that she didn't care for Timothy. He knew the two were quite happy together, but she would also see him later in the day at home. And the improvement in her cultivation really wasn't the important part to her. Even though now she was one of sixteen in the whole Order.

Anton left encouraged. While his personal cultivation wasn't going so simply as to smoothly break through to the next stage, another powerful cultivator- and especially one he could trust- was absolutely a very important thing to have to deal with the coming invasion. Anton wondered if their entire group would be able to break through to Life Transformation. That would be an anomaly, but from what he understood there was a strange swell in talent among their peers. It could be a coincidence, but at least they had all achieved this point. If it took them another five or ten years, it would still be considered fast.

Anton truly hoped he didn't take that long himself, but given that he had first touched cultivation at a hundred years old it was a miracle he made it through Body Tempering. In a way Spirit Building had been easier. Perhaps that was part of the reason he was finding it difficult to advance. It was difficult for everyone, of course, but Life Transformation was connected to the body in various ways. It involved attunement towards particular sorts of energies. Catarina attuning to pure natural energy was rather atypical, but it made sense from the perspective of a formation master who could then weave it to function as she willed.

His legs carried him further up, towards Grand Elder Kseniya. Her cultivation path was similar to his own, though they had already diverged significantly despite his core being her own technique. She might have some advice for him, though she was also the sort that wasn't good at explaining things. She might not be aware, but most of the copies of Spirit Arrows in the sect library were written by himself to guide future users. The originals remained for the sake of posterity, and so people could compare with the original author.

He smiled as he walked. Whether or not he ever grew in cultivation again, he knew the world was heading in a good direction.

Chapter 333

A myriad of lights arrayed itself in Vandale's consciousness. Each of them was a potential point of attack, and he chose all of the best ones. His power gathered and was propelled down from heights above the area, releasing their energy in an explosion at his whim.

It was a small scene that Anton encountered containing only a minor insight by Life Transformation standards, but it triggered other memories of the man. They were friends, and despite their gap in cultivation and actual age they had a similar heart. Vandale had the most potential to ascend of any member of the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars in his same generation. He didn't fail because he didn't have the talent or the will, but because he could not bear to leave those he cared for behind.

He was not the only one the Order lost during that time, the number of Life Transformation cultivators dropping from twenty to thirteen. Only now was it finally recovering, though nobody could yet match Vandale.

The Order had not lost its stability, despite the setbacks. Other sects lost similar numbers, and the war with the Twin Soul Sect and Flying Blood Cult had practically eradicated their presence on the continent. Now it seemed they were nearly expunged from the world. There was some uncertainty about the Exalted Archipelago to the west, but the limited contact with them had indicated they understood the threat of allowing the Twin Soul Sect to remain. Ayotunde and those with him had been convinced that at least those they talked to were genuine in that regard.

Anton was not at ease though. He knew it was not his job to go into an area and solve all their problems, but issues of the Twin Soul Sect were a problem for the entire world. If he could at least know enough about the situation to determine for himself that they had eradicated them or at least were working on the issue, he would feel better.

He was not the only one with the same concerns. The Order and other factions were not satisfied with the results of the previous expedition, and the people of Ambati were most concerned about the possibilities. As Ambati extended to the western coast they were some of the first who might run into trouble, should the invaders gain a foothold in the Exalted Archipelago.

It was decided to send another group. They had to be of sufficient power to broker some respect without being so strong as to seem like an invasion. Even if the general desire of the Archipelago was to be left alone, some minor intrusions of their privacy would get the people out of their hair more quickly. Though it was much preferable to simply find groups more open to the exchange of information. It was the uncertainty that was the issue.

Anton volunteered to go, of course. Catarina quickly signed up as well. She had not been present with Anton for the first expedition to the Aicenith, and with her current studies completed she wanted to go. Of course Timothy would come along with her. Hoyt and Velvet were eager to join as well. Devon hoped to participate in something new. Alva was the last member of the Order, unless Fuzz was counted.

Glorious Flame Palace and the Frostmirror sect sent disciples as well. Anton didn't have any deep connections to the cultivators from the former, but he did know Marsen from the latter. As for the two he was most familiar with from those sects… they were staying behind. Anish and Annelie had responsibilities to their sects, though even if they didn't… they would still be staying behind for the sake of their children. Anton suspected they might even have another one underway.

Perhaps they weren't as quick as they seemed, given it had been more than a decade, but Timothy and Catarina still had no children, though Anton was fairly certain they wanted at least one. If they were normal people Anton would have been concerned that they would miss the opportunity, but besides being aged almost fifty now they still had the youth of someone in their mid twenties. Even if they suddenly stopped cultivating they would likely live to a hundred and fifty or even two hundred years old just based on their current attainments. Thus, they were still young.

Beyond all of those there were the cultivators from several prominent groups in Ambati. The Temitope clan that Ayotunde had taken service to was one participating, partly due to their familiarity. Ayotunde would be returning, and Matriarch Afi would be going as well. The growth of the Temitope clan in the last decades meant that her presence was no longer necessary for the clan's stability, and she wanted to take the chance to see a new part of the world.

The others from Ambati that Anton was familiar with to some extent were several members of the Ghameita Tribe that had been briefly encountered while looking for the Clear Lake Sect. The nomadic tribe was not deaf to the changes in the world, and they offered some of their younger members the chance to experience more of the world.

Then there was the Desert Hippo Sect. Devon had an encounter with them in Everheart's final tomb. They fought over over the berries of a particular bush, but they did so with honor. In fact, when the Desert Hippo Sect won the majority of the matches, they still allocated a portion of the berries to Devon and his temporary allies instead of monopolizing them. Anton remembered hearing the story when Devon asked him to help cultivate the berries. With Elder Howland's help they had come up with a good method around the same time as the Desert Hippo Sect. As promised, both sides shared the information- which allowed them and the Order to both produce healthier bushes. Now the berries were a favorite of many disciples of the Order… as well as a clan of special deer in the nearby forest.

Anton knew little about the others involved, but they were vouched for by various parties. Thus it was that in his thirtieth year of cultivation, Anton found himself once more on the ocean, heading to a group of people he hadn't even known existed. Yet the very fact that the knowledge had been lost meant it was important to reconnect. It couldn't have been an accident that many details about other groups of people had been lost to time. Otherwise there would have been more information available, even after widespread destruction. Cultivators could be quite covetous of any sort of knowledge.

The previous traversals to the Exalted Archipelago had not encountered the same sorts of difficulties with ocean beasts as the other ocean. There were certainly some attacks, but nothing on the scale of the kraken. Likewise, no island sized turtles had been encountered. It was expected that a creature like Paradise would be a rarity, and even if more existed it simply might not be on the route to the Exalted Archipelago. For one thing, the route curved to the south resulting in a slightly warmer climate. A majority of the Exalted Archipelago ended up further south than the southernmost part of Brogora. As for why the group left from Amabati, it was to avoid a series of nearby islands that were famous for great, destructive whirlpools forming between them. It was simpler to just take a longer route, and the currents and winds near the continent had been known to be favorable. Now it was an established route, despite it only having been traversed a small handful of times in the last decade.

One good thing about being over the open ocean was not having to worry about hitting anything. With the ships, or anything else. Specifically, Anton appreciated the ability to shoot off into the distance where he would at most disturb the surface of the water. Some fish might be spooked at the detonation of energy, but he wouldn't cause any major harm.

Some of his arrows instead fizzled out in the air. Anton chose arbitrary targets for himself, but hitting inanimate points was trivial. Even so, he could choose to target a particular piece of sea foam or a bit of kelp. The most important part was to continue practice. It might take him ten thousand arrows to see a tiny bit of improvement, but if he didn't shoot those arrows it would never happen. But ten thousand was not that many compared to what Anton had already shot. He might take another hundred thousand or a million before there was any noticeable difference, and even then it would take an expert like Kseniya to pick it out. Yet it was a way he could improve himself beyond advancing his cultivation to Life Transformation, a goal he felt no closer to after another year.

Fuzz had decided that he did not like being aboard a ship. It was much too small and cramped. When he was up on decks, people seemed to think he was in the way. They never appreciated when he tried to help with the sails or anything else, though perhaps that was because the sailors themselves hardly did anything. Most of the time the wind and weather didn't change so suddenly that the sailors had to be active at all points.

Since he didn't like being on the ships and people thought he was in the way, he went in the water. There were all sorts of interesting things beneath the surface he could catch. He wasn't that good at swimming, but he found that his energy helped make up for that. He could even make fins like a fish to propel him forward.

Fuzz liked to catch the various little creatures. Some of them had a lot of teeth, like the 'sharks'. They were interesting because they were crunchy but their bones were not like bones. They were definitely better food than the rations on the ships though.

When Fuzz came back onto a ship, people complained about him being wet. When he dried himself, they complained about that. Fuzz wondered if humans ever did anything but complain. At least Alva understood. She apologized for there not being much space. Fuzz was happy to put up with the various difficulties to stay with her- and the other members of the pack.

It was unfortunate that Alva couldn't ride him around. She weighed basically nothing, but he found that he missed her presence on his back. Eventually he coaxed her to get on even though they couldn't run around. When he jumped in the water she was surprised, but didn't really complain. As he dove underwater he found that it was extra hard to swim with a person on his back. On the surface of the water, he was not very fast.

That was until Catarina and Alva worked together to teach him something interesting. He could use his energy to stand on top of the water! It wasn't exactly stable, and would throw him off balance based on the shifting of the waves- but it allowed him to run around. That meant Alva could probably hang out on his back, and they got to run around, circling the ships.

Some of the cultivators joined them as well. While the ships could only travel up to a certain speed, cultivators at "Essence Collection" were able to support themselves on water and keep up with the ships. Most cultivators quickly got bored, but Fuzz thought that was because they didn't know how to enjoy the best things in life like running. Or eating anything you could catch in your mouth.

There were a couple problems with being out on the very big lake called an 'ocean'. One was that the water wasn't very drinkable. It was salty, which was tasty, but it only made him more thirsty. If he wanted to drink it he had to filter out the salt, which made it taste like fish. The second problem was that it was hard to smell stuff underwater. If he took a sniff water tried to get into his lungs. It was a lot of work to avoid that. Overall, though Fuzz enjoyed the ocean, he would prefer it when they were back on land.

Chapter 334

Picking out changes on the wide open sea was a trivial scouting task, since there were few changes of any sort that weren't notable. Even though Anton's mind was well away from the area, only a few moments after something came within his range he was able to focus in on a change. Atop the irregular pattern of waves was a ship- and one filled with cultivators. They stood out like a sore thumb among the otherwise uniform distribution of natural energy.

"Ship spotted to the northwest!" Anton called out. In truth, they were expecting some sort of encounter soon. If nothing went wrong they would be reaching some of the islands soon. Running into a patrol nearby only made sense.

Unlike the previous travel to the east, the numbers were small enough that everyone might have fit on a single large ship. For the sake of comfort, they had three that weren't quite as large- as cultivators they could afford some wastefulness. Having some backups was good as well- in the worst case they could all cram into two or even a single ship.

For the sake of the mission, it was decided that a single ship would approach directly with the other two lingering behind somewhat, so as to not appear aggressive. There was no way to hide that they posed some sort of threat, as concealing their cultivations would no doubt make things worse.

As they maintained their course for approximately half an hour the other ship approached them, then curved around to sail parallel to the lead ship. It was clear their ship design was far more maneuverable- and swifter. Part of that was the difference in purpose between the two types of ships, but it was clear they had streamlines the designs of their ships as well.

Since the other side had not spoken a word, merely closely watching from their decks, Matriarch Afi stepped towards the starboard side of the ship where she would be closest to them. "Greetings, citizens of the Exalted Archipelago. We come in peace."

The captain of the other ship responded, "And you may leave in peace as well. But you are not welcome here."

Anton quietly and carefully extended his senses, searching for signs of the Twin Soul Sect. He had gained mastery of the skill over the years, though recently had little practical application for it. He didn't discern any connection, which at least meant they practiced a different cultivation style. They could still work with them, or otherwise intend to betray the world to the hands of the invaders when the time came.

"Do you speak for the whole of the Exalted Archipelago?" Matriarch Afi questioned. "Such a grand nation as yours must at least harbor some who would be curious to speak to us."

The man stood in silence for some time, the matched speeds of the ship keeping them still relative to each other. Finally, he came up with a reply. "I heard tale of a southern group that expressed interest in meeting you, should those from your continent return. The Worthy Shore Society."

"Very well. If you could instruct us as to how to reach them… while avoiding the territory of those who would prefer to be without us," Matriarch Afi asked with a wrinkly smile.

Whether because of her polite manner or because he decided it would get them away the quickest, the man answered directly. "To the south. Two…" he looked over the ships, "Three days, turning south by southeast after a day and a half. Be aware of the dangers in the area."

"We appreciate the guidance," Matriarch Afi inclined her head. "If you could elaborate on those dangers…?"

The man shook his head. "Figure it out for yourself."

"Very well. We will be on our way."

There wasn't much else to say than that. Pressing further seemed likely to end up in a conflict, and neither winning nor losing would benefit those from Brogora. It was only negative outcomes in every direction. The lead ship turned, to be joined by the others a short time later when the plan was explained to everyone involved. Not that the plan was much. They simply had to hope the man's directions were accurate. No doubt he could give very accurate guidance, but he may have chosen not to. At the very least, the dangers were left completely up to their imagination.

But south they turned. Two days passed swiftly. At various points Anton noted ships to their west, but either they weren't sensed in return or they were deemed to be far enough away. He presumed it was the former, but he couldn't completely put it past them to have some who had trained their senses to extend as far as his own.

On the third day, they found themselves approaching an area akin to actual land. It was made up primarily of rocky cliffs and disjointed segments of land. The water grew more shallow beneath them, so it was mostly by technical definitions that they might have judged it to be one island or many small ones. Either way, it seemed they should be in the area.

"The distance between the various outcroppings narrows up ahead," Anton said. "It should still be navigable, but it will require some work to maneuver through the area." If he could not sense so far ahead, it was quite possible for them to be entrapped in a small area that was difficult to turn around and end up crashing upon the rocks. The question was whether they had been directed truthfully or if it was simply intended to get them into trouble. Warning them of the dangers could have been simply to make them think there was something beyond this area worth getting to, as they might have otherwise turned away. Then Anton sensed a ship. "We should be able to get to them within an hour… perhaps two, given the difficulty of the area. It seems a strange location though."

If the group had not been made up of cultivators, it was entirely possible that they would have simply run around on a shallow section. The ships proceeded one by one through the area, with everyone keeping their senses trained on the area around and below them. Spikes of rock that would be invisible due to the distorting nature of water and the darkness were avoided… or destroyed. Most of the cultivators weren't expert sailors, and while there were enough to man the ships they were not necessarily ready to respond to the various issues. Cultivators leapt off the ships to shove them away from cliffs that currents pushed them towards and to clear paths where it seemed they should have been able to get through. Anton stuck by his belief he was guiding them down the best path- but there were simply so many options and many were strictly worse. At least their vessels were slightly smaller than they could have been, as that sometimes made all the difference. It was better not to destroy much of the local terrain if they could help it.

"What about that ship?" Catarina asked after a time. "Are we getting close?" Matriarch Afi stood by to listen as well.

"About that…" Anton said. "It's been stationary." He scanned around the area at a larger distance and frowned. "There are more such ships. Definitely manned, but I don't sense anything that I would associate with a 'Worthy Shore Society'. No flags at all. Mixed cultivation techniques."

While technically their own group also had a variety of cultivation techniques, they still had at least a handful of most. They were a bundle of different groups… but Anton was finding it hard to see more than one or two that felt like they really practice the same from the ships ahead.

"Do you think pirates, perhaps?" Matriarch Afi asked.

"I'm not confident enough in that assertion to start shooting," Anton said. "But I'd assume so. Perhaps we should avoid them. If they truly are this Worthy Shore Society, we can at least not end up surrounded. It's going to take some work, but we can swing around to the west, and hopefully avoid them before they sense us."

"Let's do that," she agreed. "I'd discuss with the others, but we don't have long to choose, right?"

Anton nodded. They had anchored in this place for too long already. Someone could notice them by luck.

"In that case," Catarina said. "Should we activate the formations? We can hide our energy signature. I can make it look natural, too!"

"Maybe just a little bit. Anton can direct us around them, but if they're who we are looking for we don't want to completely slip past their blockade."

As they continued to move deeper into the area, they ranged between narrow passages that left barely a hand's width on either side of the ship and wide open areas that lasted for several minutes. One trouble that Anton had difficulty predicting was sand bars, since he'd mostly been scanning the surface- and couldn't intricately inspect every location if they wanted to keep moving. The lead ship passed through one, but the ship following behind was slightly off and ran into the sand bar.

"What terrible luck," Anton said. "The ships have just started moving towards us."

A large splash followed that, much more than any sensible cultivator would have made. Even the giant fellows from the Desert Hippo Sect were still human in proportions. But of course Fuzz wasn't. He was already nose deep in the sandbar, frantically digging away.

The third ship was far enough back to recognize the error of the second, so they too passed through the sandbar to a more open area. People were sent from both ships to help the one run aground. Some helped Fuzz dig, since he could only cover a section, while others simply set about lifting the ship. The difficulty was doing so without exhausting themselves too much. After all, potentially hostile cultivators were incoming. Everyone could sense them now, and they would be intersecting in less than half an hour even with the slow and roundabout routes required.

Ultimately the ship was set loose, but it took enough time that the group had to settle for readying themselves in something approximating a bay. It had some room to sail around, since fighting among the smaller crevices would only give an advantage to the locals. It also limited them to coming from a few directions- flanking the group from behind would require a much longer route.

Six smaller ships approached their three vessels. A few people held out hope that it was merely a cautious approach because they were unfamiliar, but it certainly seemed to be leading up to an attack. Three of the ships carried a Life Transformation cultivator, but the majority of those on board were in Essence Collection- and some Spirit Building. A sizable force that actually made it slightly more likely to belong to a proper sect. Could random bandits- or pirates- really have three Life Transformation cultivators? Anton thought about that, and decided that the answers would have to wait.

Matriarch Afi was still the voice of their fleet, and she stood at the bow of the ship to call out to the approaching groups. "Hello there! Are you perhaps the Worthy Shore Society?"

One of the three Life Transformation cultivators, an old man, stepped up to where he could be seen. "Indeed we are. So glad you've heard of us."

It was a smooth response, but everything inside Anton told him it was a lie. His stance was wrong, and the way he said us was emphasized too much.

"Wonderful," Matriarch Afi responded. "We are from Brogora and we have come in peace."

"Perfect," the man said. His words lingered in the air as the other ships were clearly getting into position. The six vessels were on the move while the three from Brogora had their anchors down. A vulnerable position. "That means nobody will miss you." With a wave of his arm, clearly a signal for some kind of an attack, numerous attacks were launched. Arrows were fired and onboard ballistae launched their payloads. Several cultivators launched balls of fire at the sails of the stationary ships, and some even threw strange crystals towards them.

All of the attacks impacted a single large barrier that formed over the three ships. Catarina's presence became quite apparent as she controlled the core of the power. At the same time, the anchors were released from the ground below, where they had never truly been lodged in the first place, merely held with a small amount of natural energy. As the initial bombardment was still happening, Anton already had his bow in hand. It would have been better if they could avoid conflict, but since this was happening they would simply have to annihilate the opposing group. Anton had already picked his target… and it wasn't any of the enemy cultivators.

Chapter 335

If they were going to fight a group of pirating cultivators, Anton didn't intend to let them have free use of their ships. He saw a number of shipboard weapons that couldn't be there just for the sake of fun. As the battle broke out his first shot went at the sails of what appeared to be the flagship, while his second targeted oars and third the various ballistae. His first shot was nearly blocked by one of the pirates, the wide blade intended to cut apart the sail barely twisting out of the way to avoid the man's parrying sword. The shot curved back around, slicing through parts of the sail from behind, and the enchantments proved inadequate to resist a peak Essence Collection attack.

His second shot was from one of his other bows, fired by natural energy but all physical. He managed to snap apart several oars in a row on one side before the rowing cultivators' energy stopped his own. As for his shots on the weapons, those were the sturdiest and barely took any damage.

The barrier protecting their ships held, and Anton was quite pleased with his ability to attack outward. It was difficult, but Catarina had developed to the point of being a formation master. Her Life Transformation cultivation helped her stitch together anything missing. Of course, just enduring a bombardment would eventually wear them down. A permanent structure might have the capabilities to resist such an attack but their three ships made an imperfect formation.

Barriers all had limits. This particular one was made with the intention of allowing people to pass through it, and that ultimately had to happen in both directions. But it still provided an advantage for the defensive side, who could attack outward at the approaching enemies.

Some chose not to rely on the defensive formation. Or rather, Fuzz took off running with Alva on his back, likely without considering the situation at all. The young archer was only a short way behind Anton in cultivation now, the main difference between them being her lacking decades of experience hunting with a bow. But in terms of practical battle experience, she still outclassed the Anton of a hundred years old. Her style had first mimicked his own, but now was its own thing that involved moved quickly and attacking from inconvenient angles to defend. Fuzz was fast enough that Anton wasn't terribly worried about someone catching her, and those who could attack her at range would have to contend with being shot in response.

Timothy, Hoyt, Devon, and many of the others moved towards the front line, supporting themselves on the water or what outcroppings of stone were convenient. Neither were as steady of footing as they would like, but their opponents had to deal with the same. Others remained on the ships, maneuvering them to try to get some advantage.

The first opponent to encounter Timothy was a large woman who held a two-handed curved blade. The force of her attack swung down towards him, but he raised his shield to block. He had long passed the point where that was anything close to a passive response- the angle of their connection was timed to provide maximum counterforce, sending the weapon flying out of her hand.

A moment after that Devon entangled her in chains before Hoyt beheaded her. Three against one might not be exactly fair, but it was her own fault for breaking away from her allies. Finishing her off quickly was the right move, and none of them were going to follow useless models of 'fairness' in an actual battle. Especially not when every person they defeated brought the numbers closer into balance for their side.

Marsen stood on a floating chunk of ice, finding having a flat surface made him more effective. It didn't tilt except at his urging and wouldn't break easily. Those who had tried found the attempt left them open to being frozen, and whether it was just a hand or their whole body such a result wasn't good for them. Marsen was focusing on the Spirit Building cultivators making their way over. Not all of them were capable of easily supporting their weight atop the water, but one of the leading ships had slipped into the barrier. It didn't have enough velocity to trigger the defenses, a balancing factor to make it otherwise more efficient.

Marsen hopped on board, causing ice to freeze on the surface of the ship. Even if he couldn't directly cause damage, locking oars in place and making sails inflexible greatly reduced the effectiveness of the ship. Marsen was close to the top ranks of his generation among the Frostmirror Sect, more through determination and willingness to experiment than raw talent. Though he did have to admit he would never have gotten to where he was without a good measure of the latter.

As others joined him on the ship to fend off the stronger cultivators, he slowed everyone they were fighting against. Some were less affected, but even if it was only a marginal change it could screw up critical timings on their part.

It was impossible for the cultivators to form solid lines with their numbers. Both sides were unable to completely prevent people from slipping through the gaps, resulting in the old man who seemed to be in command finding his way to Catarina. "Tough luck young lady, but even a specialist like you will never defeat me while holding together a formation." Water rose up all around the lead vessel, splashing over everything but mostly gathering around the Life Transformation man and Catarina.

"Is that so?" she said as she held her sword between them. "Then perhaps I should drop it."

The old man lacked any traditional weapons in his hand, but up close it was simple to make out the metallic claws clutched in his grip. Careful eyes would also see similar contraptions attached to his feet. The old man charged towards Catarina, shrinking the wall of water in towards them as he did so. "Good idea. Drop it and our artillery can get back to work."

Their weapons clashed as Catarina held her position, barely keeping the claws and water away. She couldn't afford either wounds or restricted movement, but she had to maintain her position at the center of the formation. The next several exchanges happened without any more words, simply Catarina's face wrinkling ever more in worry and concentration.

"That's enough," the man said. "You're hardly a swordmaster. With your power split up, I know you can't even harm me." He grinned, his energy sharpening around the hand and foot blades. He stepped back in, a whirl of attacks that Catarina barely tumbled through, and not unscathed.

Blood dripped from her forehead, shoulders, and a gash on her abdomen. Then the man twisted his feet, the claws grasping on the wood of the ship to thrust him forward with great speed, the claws on his hands going for her throat. But before they could reach her, he found himself stopped in place as energy suddenly collapsed all around him. An instant later, Catarina cut his arms off at the elbow.

"You're about half right there," she said as she stepped forward to lop off his head. "But as it turns out I'm actually at my strongest here."

The man might have still been alive for a moment, but he was unable to speak. At most he could wonder why the formation suddenly turned from an external barrier into a restrictive formation. If Catarina had been inclined to answer him, she would have been able to tell him it was always both.

She looked around for her next target. It had taken Velvet and Anton longer than she hoped to take out the enchanted ballistae, but they couldn't afford to have everyone dealing with those while they fought. If nothing else it could ruin their ships and make everything following difficult.

The pirates were quickly realizing that they had made a grave error. In addition to not recognizing Catarina's presence and status as a Life Transformation expert- even in the early part of the stage- the others were also no pushovers. Their greed and the thought that nobody would be able to track them down for revenge had caused them to overreach.

When they turned to flee, they found it quite a difficult task. Parts of their ships were crippled, and those who were able to swim at great speed or walk atop the waves- or who could simply jump between rock outcroppings- found that they had to contend with enemy archers… and even a few compromised and still quite enchanted ballistae. When the call to surrender went out Spirit Building cultivators capitulated first, followed by some of the Essence Collection cultivators. Many continued to choose to flee, but none escaped.

Restraints for so many cultivators were a bit difficult to come up with, though the pirates themselves happened to have some. The biggest part was divesting them of their weapons and armor, followed by Catarina setting up a temporary formation to suppress their intake and use of natural energy.

The leadership quickly discussed what to do with them. Unlike the Twin Soul Sect, these pirates weren't something they had an eternal grudge with.

"I think we should kill them," Matriarch Afi stated clearly, "The same as they would have done with us."

"While that's certainly fair," Anton responded, "We need to consider what the people of the Exalted Archipelago would think. And the Worthy Shore Society."

She nodded slowly. "True. But perhaps it is better that they know nothing."

"That's… impossible now," Anton admitted. "We just engaged in battle on the border of their territory." He turned his head. "They have… several elders who have clearly taken note of our presence. Their opinions will likely determine our fate here."

"Are they close enough to listen?" she asked.

"It's hard to say," Anton shrugged. "But I think not."

"Well, I think we should just go to them," said elder Chifuniro of the Desert Hippo Sect. "We can deal with the ships and the cleanup later. Best not to keep them waiting."

After some discussion of how they would approach the diplomatic situation awaiting them, they returned to navigating their way among the rocks, leaving behind the extra ships they had insufficient crew for. At least, insufficient without more individual training in the area.

They went more or less straight for the group Anton sensed. They were clearly of the same sect, and as long as the travelers hadn't been totally lied to they should be the Worthy Shore Society. As they got closer Anton became aware that the Worthy Shore Society was far more than a minor sect. The few Life Transformation elders he had felt meant they were not weak, but as they approached he felt more presences beyond a large formation they had guarding their territory. His senses were dimmed beyond that point, but he knew there were more than a few additional Life Transformation cultivators present. Thankfully, they weren't looming at the edge of the sect as if planning to attack.

Anton hoped that was because they didn't intend to and not because they could attack from where they were. But it was too late to turn around regardless- even as the fight began, it was too late to avoid their notice and judgment. He just hoped they were reasonable. Matriarch Afi had planned what to say, and they would have to go with that.

The navigability of the area only grew worse as they approached, but fortunately before it reached the worst possible parts they were stopped by the four elders. Two men and two women at Life Transformation, along with a great quantity of lesser disciples arrayed behind them.

"Who approaches the Worthy Shore Society?" one of the men called out.

Matriarch Afi steeled herself. "We are cultivators from Brogora, here to speak with you. We come in peace."

"You speak those words with blood on your hands," the man retorted. A pressure swept over them. "And captives as well."

"We were attacked by pirates. They intended to kill us all."

"Hmph." The man looked towards Catarina. "And you. You are stronger than her. Why are you not the one speaking?"

Catarina was obviously caught off guard at that question. "Well… I'm not very diplomatic."

"Perfect," the man said. "You will speak then. What happened?"

Sensing that it wasn't an option, Catarina explained. Briefly. "Well, basically what she said. They came to attack us, said no one would miss us, and then we killed them. I cut off their leader's head and we captured anyone who would surrender to see what you would say."

"This leader… who was it?" the man asked.

Catarina gestured to the body, which had not yet been disposed of. "I'm sure you saw it. That guy."

"The Sea Tiger." The man got a wide smile on his face. "He finally chose the wrong targets. Good. Somehow they were always ready to flee if we came after them. This time they ventured too close to our territory… and chose the wrong targets. So then, what is the purpose of your visit?"

Matriarch Afi knew just the right things to say… but Catarina was still the one in charge of speaking. So she got straight to the point. "There's an invasion coming in a couple decades. We want to make sure people here are going to be prepared so it doesn't cause trouble for us later. And we're worried about the Twin Soul Sect and people like them."

"We know of all this," the man said. "I personally returned from Everheart's Tomb of ascension, along with several others. But seeing that you have come such a long way, we should speak somewhere more comfortable. Oh, and just throw the bodies into the water, except that man's head. Some others here will be quite glad to see it."

Anton quietly breathed a sigh of relief. What was it about cultivators that made them show off the power and be intimidating, even when they were essentially friendly? Anton wasn't sure, but he couldn't complain too much as he'd used similar tactics to squeeze information out of people. When they were guilty they tripped up an awful lot, and there was much to learn from innocent panic as well. An unpanicked response was information of its own.

Chapter 336

The actual sect grounds of the Worthy Shore Society were much the same as the area surrounding it, with the exception that they inhabited the largest 'island' in the area. In addition to that, the sect ground extended via bridges to many of the other rocky promontories in the area, filling out much of the surroundings. The area was clearly difficult to inhabit, since there was little soil for growing any sorts of plantlife which was the basis for the majority of food. Even fish were difficult to get for the most part, as accessing the deeper parts of the ocean required navigating the surrounding area.

Like any sect who lived in harsh conditions, they were used to the struggles and found them worthwhile for the benefits. Defensive security was often one, but abundant natural energy was another. From the way Catarina was looking around with great interest, Anton expected there were either some natural or artificial formations involved in those aspects.

The reception by the Worthy Shore Society was overall positive but reserved. It was obvious they shared some of the same sentiments about foreigners that the rest of the Exalted Archipelago did. Anton didn't blame them for that opinion, as from his observations cultivators in general were difficult to trust. Even if a majority were safe, he would trust a larger proportion of commoners than cultivators. People with power thought they could get away with more, and they were right up until they overestimated themselves in the wrong circumstances.

There was something more to it than just distrusting new groups of cultivators, however, because they were specifically concerned about them being from outside the Exalted Archipelago. Anton wanted to ask about that, but doing so immediately didn't seem appropriate.

The visiting cultivators were all given appropriate accommodations. They weren't particularly fancy, but it didn't seem that the quarters for guests were particularly different in scope. Any other visitors would have received the same serviceable accommodations. As a Life Transformation cultivator, Catarina was an exception- though it hardly mattered since she would only be spending time in her room to sleep.

The visitors were allowed access to a portion of the library. It didn't contain the core cultivation technique or combat techniques of the Worthy Shore Society, but it did have quite a few things available. Anton couldn't possibly read it all, but one of the librarians was a kindly woman who helped him find whatever he was looking for.

"I must ask. How do the people here feel about Everheart?"

"He's an asshole," Librarian Jala stated simply.

"Besides the universal constant, I meant. What are the opinions on his techniques and the like?"

"Well. As he had a great proclivity for collecting and creating forbidden techniques, the opinion on such things varies." She shrugged, "But everyone will admit his talent and knowledge."

"I've studied most of the knowledge I could find," Anton admitted. "Though I primarily found myself interested in his studies on how to teach people to advance through the early ranks of cultivation."

"I don't believe I have seen any of that," Jala admitted.

"It was mainly in one cache. Though there could have certainly been more here. He was a prolific traveler, so I assume he came to the Exalted Archipelago?"

"Oh yes. He planted down a few of his 'tombs' here. It was quite a surprise to everyone with the last one though. A great teleportation formation revealed itself. Difficult to hide, that."

"Nobody had noticed any of ours, either. Though I suppose we have more continuous landmass to hide things in. What do you know of Brogora? Most of our records of the Exalted Archipelago were destroyed centuries ago, in the previous invasion."

She gave him a look which made Anton think that perhaps he had been too obvious. "It would probably be best to read it for yourself."

Jala helped pick out a few choice records for Anton to read through. They were copies- probably copies of copies- but he expected they would be accurate to what information was available at the time.

First were records of Everheart. It seemed he was actually from Brogora. The records spoke of many conflicts he had with various sects, but despite the attempt at a neutral tone by the author it was clear that they were at least a little happy that he'd taken some arrogant sects down a few pegs. And of course he ran off with a bunch of their stuff.

It was further back in the past than that for the time of the previous invasion. However, what was mentioned wasn't at all what Anton expected. He could hardly find a mention of ascension experts coming to take anything away. Instead, there were only cultivators of Brogora attacking the Exalted Archipelago to steal their resources for their own use- to empower themselves. Anton couldn't say that it didn't happen, but he still felt something was missing.

"I suppose I can see why you wouldn't be enthusiastic about our presence. But there's nothing here about the invasion of the ascended cultivators."

"Unfortunately, those records are private."

Anton frowned. "Can you talk about any of it? Whatever we could use to improve our own chances would be quite helpful. After all, even if we're defeated we could take out a few before they make their way over here."

"I would have to speak to the elders to say any more," Jala admitted. "But from what I have read… our information wouldn't help you. Everheart's visions at the tomb are certainly of more use."

"I see. I will wait for an answer on that then. In the meantime, I would like to see more of these other records, if I could."

It was clear that even in the time of the invasion that Brogora wasn't one unified whole. A large number of sects had been involved in raiding the Exalted Archipelago, to be certain, but it wasn't something that could be attributed to the continent as a whole. The different sources agreed on the basic facts, however. Anton could see why that might sour the Exalted Archipelago towards Brogora… but it needed a bit more. For example, they hardly seemed to be a unified whole. The first ship they had encountered on this trip was ready to send them back or fight them, but still suggested they come to the Worthy Shore Society.

None of the conflict was in living memory either. Practically nobody even remembered Everheart firsthand, let alone the invasion before that time. Vandale had even been too young to know the man personally, though there were some indications that perhaps Swordmaster Rahayu had.

Yet if humans were good at one thing, it was holding a grudge. With the only available information being what was written he knew everyone would be subconsciously influenced by it instead of reserving their judgment for things done by actual people and groups that currently existed.

At least they didn't seem interested in an organized revenge. If they had, it would have been done long ago, since they didn't need to be reminded of Brogora's existence.

As for Aicenith, it was further away. Not so far as it might seem, since going past the Exalted Archipelago would lead them to the other continent, but it was further than Brogora and theoretically a more difficult journey.

One thing Anton was certain of was that the Worthy Shore Society was not interested in revenge. There was no air of hostility, only caution. The cauton seemed unnecessary to Anton, not because he expected them to immediately be trusting but because they were strong. The sect had perhaps two thirds of the cultivators that the Order did, but they had more Life Transformation cultivators. They weren't all just old folk either, but there seemed to be a regular progression of them.

That information wouldn't be much more than an interesting piece of data except that the Worthy Shore Society didn't consider themselves one of the major powers in the region. They weren't just referencing the whole of the Exalted Archipelago either, but the southeastern section. No wonder a group of pirates had three Life Transformation cultivators among them. They weren't the strongest ones he had met, but it wasn't so easy to make that step. Anton was now keenly aware of that.

The natural energy in the region was… not the cause. It might be marginally higher than Brogora had been, but Anton didn't believe it would make such a difference. It was something else. Something Anton hadn't even thought to ask about, but simply stumbled across in the library.

"Cultivation manuals…" Anton stopped to look at them. "I thought you said these belonged in the restricted section, Jala?"

"Do they?" she questioned as she looked at them. After flipping through some books and unfurling scrolls, she shook her head. "No, these all belong here. Feel free to peruse them, if you wish."

So Anton did. He wasn't planning to change his core cultivation technique now, even if he could, but learning what snippets of knowledge others had put together was always helpful. A short time later, Anton found his confidence shaken. The Worthy Shore Society had a collection of cultivation techniques. Complete ones. Even to the point of ascension. Of course, a technique could claim to be complete and be missing key pieces of information- either on purpose or because it was flawed- but Anton didn't find any flaws. At the very least, they were more complete than the others he had seen.

The Deathly Heart Technique professed completion, as did the cultivation technique of the Twin Soul Sect. The latter was hard to obtain complete copies of, but pieced together it was clear they at least had guidance up until the end of Life Transformation, where the talented cultivators could make the last step themselves. But the techniques here purported to guarantee ascension… to those with a certain level of general talent and affinity for the technique.

"... May I copy these?" Anton asked.

"Anything in this section of the library may be shared freely," Jala confirmed. "Interested in studying different techniques, are you?"

"Well… they are complete after all," Anton admitted.

"I suppose. A bit low quality though, in my opinion."

Anton kept his reaction limited. He couldn't hide some surprise at the casual declaration that implied the Worthy Shore Society was a step above all of them. Anton had to admit that some of them felt lacking in other areas, but having a complete path was vitally important. "They're still very useful for study," Anton finally commented.

"I suppose so, if you were in the business of refining different techniques. You said you try to teach everyone to cultivate, right?" Jala nodded. "Finding something suited for everyone seems difficult. Or refining something that already exists."

"Well, I try. Though I can't say I have the ability to piece together a complete technique."

"Shouldn't expect that while in Essence Collection," she pointed out.

"A fair point," Anton admitted. He couldn't help but wonder if one of the elders would be able to fill in the missing hole of the hundreth star. It wouldn't be as satisfying as solving it themselves, but if it ultimately ended up with ascension cultivators from the Order… well, that hardly mattered until after the invasion anyway. In truth, Anton's main hesitation was appearing weak. The Worthy Shore Society might be decent folk, but other members of the Exalted Archipelago might want to take advantage of Brogora if they found they were lacking in complete techniques, and that they had fewer Life Transformation cultivators.

"I could open up the restricted section," Catarina offered when Anton explained his conundrum. "Then you could see the best techniques."

"That's not really… what I had in mind," Anton admitted.

The rest of the usual group was around. Timothy, Hoyt, Velvet, and even Alva.

"And the secret histories," Catarina prompted.

Anton pursed his lips. "I would certainly like to know that information, but breaking the rules of our hosts seems not only impolite, but very dangerous."

"They're not perfect," Catarina pointed out. "Their formations aren't on the level of Everheart."

"Nobody's formations are," Anton said.

"Not yet," Catarina acknowledged.

Timothy spoke up next, "I do agree that we should be concerned about the dangers. Here they are with vessels that could absolutely reach us, and yet they haven't tried. Probing for information might anger them unintentionally, but they're hiding something."

"Openly hiding things is better than not admitting it," Velvet said. "Have you talks with the leadership revealed anything, Catarina?"

"Besides the stuff about formations? No. I spent all my time studying them."

"And they let you?" Velvet asked.

"I might have offered some improvements," she admitted. "The thing is, they just don't have any formation masters here right now. In this particular sect, I meant. The formations should have been in a better state at some point and have been decaying. Which means they might have secrets I want." Catarina paused, "Beyond the ones that directly affect the fate of our continent, I guess."

"I haven't been denied access to the information yet," Anton admitted. "Jala said the elders could take some time to make the decision. It's only been a few weeks." Given the chance, he would gladly continue reading in the library for a year or two- especially if he was going to copy more information. Reading was much faster than scribing, even as a cultivator. The mind was always faster than the body. Anton considered developing a technique to use multiple quills to fill a whole page or several pages at a time, but that might just result in wasted paper. Then again, he could devote a week or two to see if it panned out.

"What do you think, Fuzz?" Alva asked. "Are they good people?"

An affirmative bark at least made everyone feel better, though Anton wouldn't put all of his trust in Fuzz. And even if one group was fine, throughout the entire Exalted Archipelago there would certainly be more than just one group of pirates who wished them ill.

Chapter 337

The library of the Worthy Shore Society continued to draw Anton's fascination- and he wasn't the only one. Reading through complete cultivation techniques confirmed something simple but important about ascension. It required a large amount of energy. That wouldn't be a surprise to any cultivator, but there were two general categories of how it was accomplished. The first method was similar to what happened at Black Soul Valley. A large ritual to gather 'lower energy', human sacrifices optional. That would allow a cultivator to forcibly ascend, after which they would in theory find themselves automatically attuning to the 'upper energy' from the world above. Attempting something similar before reaching the peak of Life Transformation inevitably resulted in the cultivator exploding when unable to handle the energy, which obviously resulted in their death.

The more 'correct' method was to form that connection and then make use of the 'upper energy' to make the final step. That would be similar to what Swordmaster Rahayu did. Cutting someone in half vertically was optional, and in fact any sort of attack wasn't strictly necessary. Even so, the expression of individual cultivators seemed to be relevant to exactly how the connection was achieved.

Anton was in another camp. His connection to ascension energy was indirect, through the concept that some version of himself would or could have ascended, and he was taking the energy from that. There was no mention of that in any of the records, but that made perfect sense. It wasn't a proper method to ascend. Anton was inclined to believe Everheart that it would actually make him unable to take that step. If he formed a bridge to ascension energy, he would suddenly find himself unable to control something he thought he was familiar with. At least, Anton could envision that situation.

But thinking about ascension was pointless for other reasons as well. The coming invasion was one, and the fact that he hadn't even stepped into Life Transformation yet was another. He was studying above where it suited him the most.

The methods provided by the Ninety-Nine Stars clearly worked, and Anton didn't find them radically different from the completed cultivation techniques. The theory was solid, he was just finding himself stuck at the moment. He was supposed to attune himself to a source of energy. This wasn't the same as the distinction between 'upper' and 'lower' energy, but closer to elemental in nature. Anton had no problem with making a choice, but he hadn't been able to find the right circumstances. Something was lacking, either in his ability to seek out a suitable area or his own insights.

Anton knew that spending a year or two dealing with that step was not uncommon, and in fact if that was all the time it took him he would be considered to have surpassed the step quickly. Even five years was speedy. Ten years was the point at which people began to doubt their ability to cross into Life Transformation… but Anton heard tales of those who had taken a full century to make the step. They didn't advance much further into Life Transformation after that point, but it still came with a significant increase in strength merely for crossing the threshold.

It was probably a bit rude to scan their hosts to determine if they were members of the Twin Soul Sect, but it was risky not to do it. The Twin Soul Sect was patient, and they could easily wait several weeks to lure people into a false sense of security before destroying them all. Anton had only one reason to suspect them, but being so straightforward about secrecy he felt a little bit bad. Ultimately neither he nor the others found anything, and the Worthy Shore Society straightforwardly declared that they and all of the established sects in the Exalted Archipelago were opposed to the Twin Soul Sect and would not allow them to infiltrate. Knowing about them was most of the way to prevent them from intruding, and they weren't lacking in knowledge or techniques.

After more than a month staying with the Worthy Shore Society, Anton finally received a response about records involving the invasion of ascended cultivators. He was the one who initially proposed the question, but all of the highest ranking cultivators were gathered to meet with some of the elders- and the sect head.

The sect head was a woman named Margriet Gelens, with a cultivation near the peak of Life Transformation. She was also… young. No signs of age marred her body, which indicated her cultivation had been swift and smooth. Anton found it a little bit hard to judge, but he determined her to be significantly younger than himself. For someone in early Life Transformation that wouldn't be particularly impressive. Catarina was only fifty years old, after all. However, it was still anticipated that she could take another seventy years to reach the peak of Life Transformation. That meant the sect head should have talent matching or exceeding the best that Anton knew.

It probably shouldn't have been a surprise, but Anton still found himself thrown off guard. He'd subconsciously been believing that his companions were the best the world had to offer, with himself barely managing to keep pace. Logically there should be someone who was better, but he'd so far not run into them.

Cultivation speed wasn't the only thing about a cultivator that mattered, but the strength radiating from the woman indicated she hadn't cut any corners. The good news was that it felt something akin to friendly, if serious.

"Welcome, guests. As I'm sure you were apprised, I am the head of the Worthy Shore Society. I have brought you here to let you know that, unfortunately, we are unable to reveal information you are seeking. However…" she drew out the word for a few moments. "We can offer you certain assurances. During the upcoming invasion, no danger will flow over to you from the Exalted Archipelago. It is also the case that the sects of the Exalted Archipelago have entered into a pact that we will not be the aggressors in a war with the continents."

Matriarch Afi took a moment to speak. "A pact… with who? How is it enforced?"

"That we cannot say. But be assured it is enforced vigorously." Sect Head Gelens continued, "Even so, we recommend you to limit your visits to the Exalted Archipelago, as it is possible for the terms to be interpreted in different fashions. At least in the territory of the Exalted Archipelago, you could easily be declared as attackers by those with ill intentions. The group of pirates led by the Sea Tiger might have used that excuse… or they might not have cared. It wouldn't have stopped us from eliminating them for other reasons, but we were unable to find the chance."

Anton wondered about that. For a sect this powerful, taking care of a group nearby shouldn't have been terribly difficult. Yet the displeasure at their existence seemed quite genuine. It could be some sort of unfortunate politics at play.

"It's difficult to believe you with just words," Catarina admitted. "However, the hospitality of the Worthy Shore Society makes me inclined to take it. I assume we would not be able to learn more elsewhere?"

"Others might even be significantly less civil about their rejection of your inquiries," the sect head nodded. "I truly would like to explain, but it is not worth the consequences."

"We appreciate you informing us in person," Catarina admitted.

"And so…?" Catarina asked after they were in private- with some precautionary anti prying formations. If nothing else, it would let the Worthy Shore Society avoid overhearing anything accidentally. "What do people think?"

"There is much to learn from how she said that they could say nothing," Matriarch Afi pointed out. "I believe that the terms of this pact are enforced by a powerful sect. Possibly a coalition throughout the Exalted Archipelago. However, I would not understand why there would be terms relating to war with the continents. Especially since they would seem to have an advantage."

Anton nodded. "Do you think it would be an issue to request information on the other sects in the area, so we can get a better picture? They should at least understand we aren't intending to invade them. But maybe that would change their mind."

"That could be good," Catarina admitted. "Knowing about the other sects could be useful if we plan any sort of future interactions. However, if we don't… I think we have everything we need to know."

"Forgoing the potential of future interaction would be a waste," Elder Chifuniro of the Desert Hippo Sect commented. "Especially given the wealth of knowledge a single sect possesses." He looked to the other elders from Ambati, "Don't you agree?"

Matriarch Afi nodded. "Of course we would not give up on that potential just because of a small risk. The Worthy Shore Society is friendly enough in their own way. If we don't specifically ask for strengths and weaknesses but simply the relations- even just to the Worthy Shore Society- we can likely get some picture. They must have the insight to understand what else we would want, and we can accept whatever choice they make on the matter."

Nobody had anything better to say on the topic, so after some details were discussed the meeting was concluded.

There was no long debate about providing information this time. The request was made and later the same day an answer was provided. They were willing to provide information… for a service. As for that particular service, it was a box.

With a single look at it Anton knew he would be of no help, not that he would have been able to stop Catarina from snatching it away regardless. The head sized cube was loaded with tiny inscriptions making a complex formation, and while Anton could follow Catarina's direction for purposes of breaking a large barrier, fine details would have to be controlled by her alone.

"Where did you get this?" Catarina asked Librarian Jala, who had been the one to deliver the device. Even as she asked she rotated it, looking at it from all sides.

"Golden Star Island," she replied matter-of-factly. "They could be considered… rivals of ours."

"Did they make this?" Catarina asked. "Or just find it?"

"It is believed that they found it. They have skill in formations, but we do not believe it is so great as to create something such as this." Jala shook her head. "Any progress you can make with opening it would be greatly appreciated."

"Got it." What sounded like an acknowledgment came with a click, as the box split open. "Ooh. Another box."

"Oh, that… already?" Jala's eyes were wide.

Anton shrugged, "She's a formation master, after all. She's been picking apart some of Everheart's best stuff, so I'm not surprised."

"This one is difficult," Catarina said to no one in particular. "It doesn't want to open. Seems like it's holding…" There was a click and a loud thud. "... Something bigger inside."

A two meter square cube now stood in the middle of the courtyard, and Catarina began inspecting it from corner to corner. It seemed to be the real challenge of the strange box, as by the end of the day she still hadn't made any progress, despite getting help to shift it over onto a new side every once in a while to reveal the hidden bottom side.

Anton was standing around to watch for a while, but he had something else to do the next morning. The Worthy Shore Society was already satisfied with Catarina's results, and began providing information. They simply hadn't expected something so significant right away, and thus were taking time to compile it. Perhaps they were still holding out, but they were already revealing tantalizingly concrete details about the strength of various sects over the course of time, and their relations with each other and the Worthy Shore Society. The information mostly indicated that it would be suicide to fight them… but also that they were far from unified, despite all being part of Exalted Archipelago.

Chapter 338

After another month Catarina found that the puzzle box only went deeper and deeper. Each step was more difficult, and the members of the Worthy Shore Society studying along with her had found themselves lost long before. Explaining the earlier layers to them was a good way to spend some time not fussing with the core of the puzzle box which had become increasingly difficult… and dangerous. It was entirely possible it was only intended to be opened by those who already knew the method, but because of the nature of formations it could always be picked apart.

It was simply more difficult to do so when formation runes were hidden on the inside surface, as Catarina had to figure out a way to sense them without triggering the outer defenses. But she could do it by sensing the flow. Unfortunately the last week had been a sort of deadlock where she was making no progress at all. That didn't mean she couldn't… but she had to focus on something else for a time while she digested what she had learned. Unfortunately, that meant she wouldn't be able to return to these studies for… an unknown period of time.

It had been more than a week since the Worthy Shore Society declared they had nothing more they were able to share. They were willing to host the group for longer, but cautioned them against staying too long. Everyone was frantically learning what they could, studying or copying available techniques. Catarina even learned a few things about formations from the library, though she knew there was probably more knowledge hidden. It was a shame to leave it in the hands of people who couldn't use it at the moment… but she had to accept it. For all of her progress, she hadn't actually given anything tangible to the Worthy Shore Society. They exchanged knowledge for knowledge, and she was invited back… at a later time. Given the general hostile stance of the Exalted Archipelago, that was the best that could be expected.

The Worthy Shore Society guided the group out of the location of their strange island, even going so far as to escort them a day out into the open sea. Nobody came close to disturbing them, but the gesture was still appreciated. They were at the very least pleasant acquaintances.

The general atmosphere on the ships was one of accomplishment, but there was also a bit of trepidation. Learning what they had, it was difficult not to. Freely distributing some of the techniques to people who were almost enemies- and certainly not established allies- meant they thought very little of them. Perhaps there was some generosity involved, but it still showed what they had available to them.

Even if the Worthy Shore Society was friendly enough, it was still uncomfortable that only a certain pact was stopping the Exalted Archipelago in general from retaliating for actual and perceived past wrongs. Even if they weren't interested in that, cultivators were often looking to expand by taking over other sects' territories. There were various excuses that were used to justify things to different extents, but power would ultimately be the victor. A coalition of local sects would stand together against most aggressors but if one side was overwhelming in force little could be done.

The journey had absolutely been worth the effort. The knowledge they gained, even if it came with some concerning revelations, was extremely useful. The Exalted Archipelago could be trusted to leave them alone… at least for the moment. And they were strong enough that if they were overcome by the invading forces, nobody else really stood a chance anyway. That meant the Exalted Archipelago could be set aside… for the moment.

On the return journey, promises were made to copy everything that people had gained and distribute them among the various sects and clans. Spreading that information to all of them meant that it would inevitably lose any secrecy, but at least they would be the first ones to be able to study the wealth of knowledge. The gears were already turning in people's heads for how they might refine their cultivation techniques to improve them.

One by one over the course of the next two years Anton's companions advanced to Life Transformation. He firmly believed that Timothy, Hoyt, and Velvet would have made the step regardless… but the additional learning helped. Alva was still slightly behind in cultivation, but she was right on Anton's own heels. He hadn't quite succeeded yet.

Part of that was making the choice to be cautious in his advancement. He didn't want to make a mistake and attune himself in a way that would lock him in a path he didn't want. He spent a large amount of effort with the elders of the Order studying the Ninety-Nine Stars, specifically focused on the Life Transformation aspect of it. Anton mostly deferred to their understanding, but he was part of the process. The refinements they made would smooth the path for themselves and future cultivators of the technique, but nobody could be certain if the completion of it was correct. There were a few of the Grand Elders hovering near peak Life Transformation, but even if they could break through they chose not to try. They did not know if they would be able to affect the invasion after ascending, and the sect could not afford to lose their strength- even if their numbers of Life Transformation experts had nearly returned to their peak, and would likely continue to increase.

At the end of all of it, Anton was certain of the path he would take. It was hardly different than the choice he would have made if he pushed himself, but sometimes that was just the way the world worked.

He stood in the reconstructed observatory, empty except for him. There were other enthusiasts of the nighttime skies in the Order, but that was precisely why nobody else was present. It wasn't night, but the middle of the day. Anton confirmed his condition. He was fully rested and mentally prepared. Now all he had to do was go through with it.

Anton began to gather the natural energy around him. The density around the peak was the highest anywhere in the Order, and it could easily fill him up. Now, he was pushing beyond that point, absorbing more than he could hold onto until his meridians and dantian strained, the energy compressed inside him. He looked through the telescope straight at the sun, an action more than sufficient to blind a normal person. A portion of his effort was diverted to fortify his eyes, and they slowly adjusted to pick out something more than just pure intensity of light.

As the sun came into focus in his mind, his energy also extended outside the observatory to feel how the sun's rays fell upon the world around him. It was light and heat and intensity of energy. The rays even dissolved into the form of 'pure' natural energy, though practically every sort of power ultimately ended up there.

The pressure continued to build up inside him. Anton controlled the strands of energy flowing through them, directing them through his body, and especially his dantians and meridians where the flow was greatest. The energy began to be consumed to power a transformation, but he continued to pull in more as quickly as he could, until he was overflowing.

Even though he was aware of what to do, the process was dangerous. His body began to ache as it was nearly torn apart by the power, but he kept pushing forward. Failure would mean, at minimum, a long period of recovery from internal injuries. In the worst case, death. But concerning himself with failure would only hold him back. He simply thought of his goal.

Power. Not for the sake of himself, at least not entirely, but to be used for the sake of those he cared about. The pressure and pain continued to build, but he pushed steadily forward, the fiery heat becoming part of him. Then, all at once the pressure released as if a dam had broken. He had formed the fifty-ninth star. The gushing energy found its way through him with plenty of room to spare, and the aches began to recede until they were a dull throb.

Anton smiled. He had believed he could do it, but that was the case with everyone who made the attempt, unless they were truly suicidal. Many failed, and not all of them got a second chance. He slowly breathed out, feeling scorching heat in his mouth and lungs as the air moved. It hurt. Not a perfect breakthrough, then, but he was quite certain he would recover given time.

"I'm afraid we have to make you an elder," Kseniya grinned at Anton when she next saw him. "We've recently refined the rules, and until such a time as we run into issues it's simply appropriate to have every Life Transformation cultivator retain the title of elder."

Anton nodded. With twenty Life Transformation cultivators, including himself, that left seventy-nine places for elders of Essence Collection- or lower. There were only ninety elders, but there were also nine Grand Elders. If there were circumstances that led to them needing more elders they would consider changing the number of elders as it was merely ceremonial, but for the moment Anton would be taking someone else's title. He didn't like that but… he had to admit that the title was fitting. And if Catarina called him Elder Anton, he would see how she liked it. Though he was far beyond caring about that little detail, since most of his peers were actually of similar age or older than himself now. Though the upcoming generations were likely to change that average.

Having achieved a long term goal, Anton wondered what he should focus on next. Improving his cultivation would continue, but he had a decade, perhaps two on the long end before the invasion? He wouldn't even make it to the midpoint of Life Transformation no matter how hard he pushed. As Anton took stock of himself, he realized that he had now spent a quarter of his life cultivating, though it hardly felt like it. Some days were tranquil and slow, but his mind always recalled his younger years and the time he had with Janina as if it had just been a short time before. People were strange like that.

Anton took a single glance into his vessel of insights. The lone insights of Swordmaster Rahayu remained there, tantalizing, but Anton knew better than to touch it at the moment. For all he knew, it might cut him in half. The insights were normally safe, but he wasn't going to chance it- or waste the insights when he wasn't fully ready to comprehend it.

What he could do was review everything he had been teaching people and improve whatever was lacking. His own power might improve somewhat in the coming years, but there was just enough time to raise up another batch or two of early Essence Collection cultivators, or at least Spirit Building. A couple decades of widespread cultivation knowledge was getting people used to it, but it could hardly be called universal. They would need everything they could to hold off ascension cultivators.

Some more practice with his anti-ascension techniques would be good too. He understood how important they would be, now that he knew more. Ascension cultivators couldn't recover their ascension energy- or 'upper energy'- while present in this world. He didn't know how easy it was for them to come and leave, but it at least wasn't simple. Otherwise they wouldn't be constrained to certain time periods, and half-exhausting one would be pointless as they would simply leave and return.

Perhaps they could leave and come back, but it would at least put them out of commission for a time. Anton had to believe that, or hope that they could just kill anyone without giving them a chance to escape. But that would be difficult, even if he shot arrows after them for a hundred kilometers. At least he would not have to worry about them outrunning his attacks. His light arrows were significantly more powerful now. He might even give Kseniya a run for her money. Actually, sparring with her was a great idea. He wasn't exactly close in cultivation, but there wasn't a huge rift between them either.

Chapter 339

The difference between the fifty-ninth star and the sixty-eighth might have seemed small to those who didn't understand, but even if each star was equally valuable a nearly fifteen percent increase in power was not something to be trifled with. Both were inside of Life Transformation, however, so they could vaguely match up against each other.

The two people in question were Anton and Grand Elder Kseniya. At the current moment they were fifty kilometers apart in the open deserts of Droca. Neither had anything resembling shelter, but mundane terrain would make little impact on their attacks regardless. The empty terrain was chosen so they wouldn't have to worry about collateral damage to anything of import. That included local communities, of course.

It was impossible for someone to call a start to the match. Someone standing in the middle shouting, if their voice could even travel to the two combatants, would take a full minute before it was heard on either side. Instead, the match started with Anton's movements. He was the one at the disadvantage, after all, so it was fair enough.

For the sake of experimentation, his first shot took on the properties of light. It wasn't a perfect replica, as true light seemed to arrive instantaneously, even at such large scales. But it was swift enough, weaving its way through the barrage of counterattacks that Kseniya lodged in its direction. A hit, but unfortunately Kseniya was able to predict the precise target of his attack and gather her defensive energy there to negate his attack. The shots she fired to shoot his own attack out of the sky weren't suddenly gone just because they didn't impact his own attack, and their trajectories were very slightly altered to target him instead. He already had his own counters on the way, of course.

The area between the two archers was like a curved arch of light as attacks went back and forth. Some collided in explosive detonations while others got much closer to their ultimate targets. Neither archer found much point in firing in a wider trajectory. Both of their senses extended well around them, so an attack curving around the side would simply take longer to arrive. Only when that was used to an advantage did it make sense.

Anton couldn't say he learned everything from Kseniya, but at minimum half of his style came from her. His one possible advantage was the number of simultaneous attacks he could manage. Kseniya had a higher rate of fire and could time multiple arrows to arrive together, but Anton had the advantage of shooting from multiple bows at once.

Whenever he could, Anton would disrupt a more powerful attack with a weaker light based shot. Kseniya's attacks weren't so flimsy that a slight disruption would tear them apart, but it was possible with the right angle and just enough power that he came out ahead. Even forcing an arrow to evade his own reduced its effectiveness slightly.

His feet were constantly on the move, even before the first shots got close. It was difficult to truly move unpredictably, but changing his direction at somewhat random intervals and facing some arrows head on bought him breathing room.

Both sides had a limit to the number of arrows they could fire as well as how many they could have in transit, as each required some amount of control and energy output. The small advantages were gained when either side could disrupt the other's rhythm, or pull tricks with their own.

After a short time Anton knew he had lost- but that didn't mean he was going to give up. Every moment taught him something. It wasn't just watching a great archer like Kseniya, but an intentional act on her part. But the mere fact that she was teaching him didn't make him feel able to let down his guard for an instant, as arrows whizzed past him from all directions, often detonating when they got close.

Even holding back for the sake of Anton's learning Kseniya would doubtless defeat him, but perhaps in a decade or two things would be different. The gap between them that had once felt completely insurmountable was now merely a matter of narrowing the distance piece by piece.

The barrage that finally got Anton involved dozens of arrows from all direction focusing in on him, cutting off his movements as they targeted every part of him. He avoided all but one of them which slipped between his ribs… then faded away. Anton was not so foolish as to think it wouldn't have gone through his heart and decimated everything inside of his ribcage if that was the true intention. It wasn't simply power that beat him, though, but technique. That made a much bigger gap than simply nine ranks of cultivation.

Everyone was growing restless, and the answer to that restlessness was ultimately an intercontinental competition. The looming threat of the coming invasion was felt keenly as everyone prepared for battle but failed to experience it. Not that there weren't conflicts, but they were kept to a minimum. The threat of death was never enough to stop cultivators, but the idea of complete annihilation was something different. And if it turned out that nothing happened, nobody would be concerned that they had been biding their time building themselves up.

Of course, for that the sects would need resources which were ultimately finite. Even though the continents of Aicenith and Brogora were not completely occupied, certain materials were prized above others. Even precious herbs which could be grown indefinitely were not easy to maintain. Some lesser sects lacked the resources or land or both to keep up.

Anton was a big proponent of the competition. It wasn't simply going to be a tournament, which would heavily favor the already established and strongest sects. In fact, they were not going to be participating… except as instructors. The Luminous Ocean Society's secret realm was the location chosen. It was designed for the sake of training, after all. It was more than just combat prowess that was going to be measured.

Growth was going to be a key factor. Given the option of different teachers people would be judged on how much they were able to progress given the closest thing they could have to a level playing field. Factors outside of combat would be measured as well. There were fields suited for growing various sorts of herbs, and materials were provided for smithing and enchanting. Formations would play a role as well.

Personally, Anton would have liked to cover more categories… but he had to admit that combat would be the most important in the near future. Preparing for that with weapons and armor as well as making use of proper herbs or medicines to aid cultivation or recovery were the most important. The ability to make a road that would last centuries would be better afterwards. If they survived.

Anton eagerly watched as hundreds of participants arrived every day, escorted in groups from various points around the continents. The intercontinental teleportation formations were being used primarily to transport people from Aicenith this year… and for the next event in five more years the plan was to go the other way.

Most participants were earlier in cultivation. There were many in Body Tempering- both those who were traditional cultivators and those who were part of the latest generation where there was a push to cultivate in any occupation. Career cultivators were most common, especially at the level of Spirit Building. A great number of Essence Collection cultivators would be present as well, even outside of the larger sects running things. Life Transformation cultivators were practically nonexistent among smaller sects, or they would stop being a smaller sect- but there were a few solo cultivators who made it. Chikere… didn't count. Not that there was anyone who could teach her much outside of the people she already had access to. Either way, she was enough associated with the Million Sword Vault that she wasn't allowed to participate. Not as a competitor, anyway. She would be available for selecting as a teacher. Few people would benefit from that choice, however. She was a genius sort, much like Kseniya- which meant those without the right understanding would just become more lost under her guidance. Choosing the right teacher was also a sort of test of aptitude.

The time for the selection finally came about, with random lots being drawn to determine who was allowed to choose instructors first. That was as fair as it could be, and there had been a few days for everyone to familiarize themselves with the options.

Anton was pleased when many people he recognized came to greet him. That included people from Windrip, Leo and Kit, people from Arbington, and many others. He was even more pleased when the vast majority of them chose someone else as their instructor. Most of them weren't archers, and even a few of those were better suited for learning from someone closer to their level.

Anton had people from both Spirit Building and Essence Collection under his tutelage, as well as a single student in Body Tempering. For the first lesson, Anton selected bows for each of them to make use of, specifically targeting an achievable but difficult draw weight. There was only one difficulty. One of the Essence Collection students was too strong. "What is your name?" Anton asked.

"Nthanda," the woman replied. Her dark skin and particular accent placed her as from Ambati.

"Is that so. You're a practitioner of Western Steel Body?"

She nodded.

"That's a bit of a conundrum. I don't have a bow suitable for you. I think you might not benefit from my instructions as much. Though you are welcome to stay for a while to find out."

She nodded again. "I will stay."

"Very well then. Each of the rest of you has been assigned a bow and some training arrows." Anton pulled out his own bow. "All of you are to aim downrange towards the targets. Don't worry about distance now. We won't be shooting just yet. I just don't want anyone pointing at each other." That put Anton in the direction they might shoot, but if he was going to get injured by something someone accidentally hit him with, he might as well give up his position. "Now simply draw back your bow like this, fletching just past your ear, and hold. Don't use any energy to augment your strength, just your muscles."

He was followed with a myriad of complaints about the draw strength of the bows assigned being too heavy. Anton took special note of those who managed to draw their bows, as well as those who failed but didn't complain and kept trying. Nthanda was simply holding her position without speaking, though that was to be expected. She was using her own bow, and the Western Steel Body was focused on training the body above all else even past the ranks of Spirit Building.

"Pay close attention to my movements," Anton said. "I will do it again. I assure you that you are all capable of drawing the specific bows matched to you. Let me show you. Make sure to engage all of your muscles and follow the proper motions. If you do so, you can draw the bow."

The lone Body Tempering cultivators was huffing and puffing, his face sweating, but he continuously adjusted himself to follow Anton's motions. Perhaps it was a bit unfair, but Anton had them continue the practice for an hour. Those who were able to draw the bow were told to fire arrows at the target, but not concern themselves with hitting or missing. Anton would return their arrows to them after they arrived at their destination, keeping everyone out of the line of fire.

Several students quit, angrily unable to accept the results. Anton shook his head. They were unable or unwilling to follow instructions, and they only complained instead of asking for specific guidance. One other simply chose to use their energy to start shooting the targets.

Anton approached the woman. "Perhaps you would do better to seek another teacher, if you will not follow my guidance." That was the nicest way he had to say she was being kicked out… and really, it would be better for her.

"I understand," she nodded. She apparently thought the same, perhaps believing him incompentent.

At the end of an hour people were exhausted. The Body Tempering cultivator had barely managed to fully draw the bow one, firing the arrow almost directly into the ground in front of himself after he did so. His name was… Ingram, Anton determined. At least he didn't give up easily.

"Well then," Anton said. "I see everyone remaining can follow instructions. You have the ability to learn." Anton looked to Nthanda. She had at least adjusted her stance to more closely match his, even though she wasn't restricted the same way the others were having to make use of the maximum amount of their strength to barely draw. "Next we will be shooting while making use of natural energy. Hand in your bows, please." Nthanda just looked at him. "As for you… I might actually have something after all." Anton hadn't intentionally made things difficult for her, but he really wasn't suited for teaching someone focused on strengthening their body. He pulled out the bone bow that had no string. "I will show you how to form a string. Then I want you to shoot with the minimum of energy, relying on muscle power." It should actually work well for her, given her cultivation style.

Everyone's strength required to pull the bow was higher when they were allowed to use natural energy. Anton demonstrated the best ways to make use of their energy to aid the process, and they spent more time just shooting- or trying to shoot. Ingram was perhaps worse at controlling his natural energy than his own body, though he eventually managed to shoot once before he collapsed. But next up was time for individual instruction, and Anton knew enough about everyone to get them started.

Chapter 340

Anton knew that a large part of the reason people would have chosen him as a teacher was to learn Horizon Shot. In truth, making optimal use of your body wasn't the main requirement for that technique. But Anton was here to make people the best they could be, and that meant starting from the basics. Besides, the requirements for Horizon Shot also involved years of training in sensing energy at a long distance- in the weeks Anton had available he could at best teach people to shoot to the limit of their vision. Useful, but not necessarily better than having good basics and being efficient with their energy.

It was inappropriate to have favorites in this competitive setting, but Anton couldn't help it. Besides he did his best to train everyone- he just couldn't help but focus on the front and rear of the pack. Nthanda was clearly very experienced with archery. If she had any flaws, Anton would say that it was a lack of proper instruction. If a cultivator was going to focus on training their body beyond the normal levels, most focused on the use of melee weapons. A sword could be swung with more force just by strengthening it with natural energy. A bow wouldn't provide more force beyond its limits, and reinforcing it with energy would only prevent it from breaking. There were techniques to change that, but that was the basic idea. Archery did make great use of physical strength, but it had the drawback that it became heavily dependent on the quality of the bow and arrows used. The Spirit Arrows technique removed the need for physical arrows, though specialized ones were still useful if available.

At the opposite end was Ingram. He was still in the basic stage of Body Tempering- either because he was new to cultivation or not particularly talented. Anton wasn't fairly certain he had no experience with a bow. Yet he'd chosen to study with Anton regardless. Anton had to admit he could teach other things, but if he was dealing with a group then it was most efficient to mainly cover his specialties.

The first round of tests… didn't go well for Ingram. He lost his matches and had no particular strengths outside of combat. In a normal tournament that would have meant he was out for good- but this one focused on improvement. Higher ranking cultivators were still going to get better resources because they could actually use them, but even someone like Ingram could get a huge boost to their success if they managed to perform well. Even though nobody was forced out, some people quit after the first rounds, seeing what they were matched against.

None of Anton's students quit though. At least, not those who had stayed through the initial training. He wasn't a harsh teacher, but he did have high standards. If students weren't giving their all, he would look at them with supreme disappointment. Anton didn't have time to delve into the depths of people's lives to see what might cause them to do poorly on certain days, but he got them back on track however he could.

"Remember," Anton instructed Ingram. "Circulate your cultivation even as you use your muscles. It is how they grow best in the Body Tempering stage." He was shooting at a stationary target no more than a hundred meters away. "Keep your eyes off of what the others are doing," Anton reminded him. "You're not at the optimal point to learn from watching them." He might also grow discouraged from seeing people who were better- regardless of whether or not he might achieve the same level. Anton couldn't tell just yet. Others had moving targets or even volunteer cultivators. Anton was watching everything, if not with his eyes then with his senses. The combined rate of fire of all of his students was easier to track than just Grand Elder Kseniya, so he was able to provide everyone the advice they needed. Shooting faster, slower, holding their breath before they released, or a slight adjustment in stance.

"Elder Anton," Nthanda said as he came to her. "I don't understand the creation of the string. It's not… right." She was using the bone bow that came with no string. Forming one out of energy was difficult, especially for a cultivator that focused more on continued body tempering. Admitting a lack of understanding was difficult for everyone, and Anton felt that was especially true for her.

"Here, let me show you." Anton formed a string in the air in front of her. "I prefer to start from a single point and work outward, but that might not be best for you. You can also work from one side, even making the motions as if you are stringing a bow while you form the connection," Anton demonstrated. "As for the properties you want, focus on the maximum amount of snap you can get. Go ahead and feel this one. It should be about right for you."

As Nthanda reached out to touch the string, Anton anchored it in place so it would act as if it were attached to a bow- specifically the bone bow she was using. She couldn't use it in the competition since it wasn't hers, but it developed her muscles by actually being tough enough to resist. Training her energy with the string was also useful, as ultimately it would allow Nthanda to surpass the limits of her bow. With just a portion of it requiring the use of natural energy, it actually suited her better. Ultimately, however, her ability to draw a bow was only going to be part of what she needed.

Beyond shooting as many arrows as they could fit into the day, Anton trained his students in fighting against other archers and against melee opponents. If an archer was far enough that their opponent couldn't counterattack, then target-style shooting was good- but usually they would have to defend themselves. Attaining distance was best, but even if that wasn't possible because of a faster opponent there were ways to use a bow in close combat. And for when that didn't work, Anton taught them how to quickly switch to their favored weapons without just abandoning their bow or leaving it awkwardly draped over them. Sometimes that involved using just a single hand to fight in melee while holding their bow securely in the other, and other times it meant quickly using a storage bag. The latter was inconvenient for rapidly switching back to their bow, but sometimes necessary.

Inside of the arena, Ingram took a deep breath. It wasn't a steadying breath as he drew his bow, but simply to calm himself down. He had completely screwed up the first rounds of battle, and though the competition was all about improving it would still be held against him. After all, if a bad start gave better results in the end everyone would throw their first matches. That was also why there was a week of training beforehand, so everyone could at least have some amount of control over their results.

He had been hoping to break through to the next level of his cultivation technique before this match. He wasn't even at the peak of Body Tempering yet, but he'd been making significant progress training under Anton despite being middle aged. In fact, that was the main reason he had sought the man out. His skill in archery was of secondary interest compared to his general ability to train people. Having started when he was older- much older, if the rumors were true- he had an idea of the various pitfalls. Ingram hadn't even realized how much his core technique had focused on exercise as the primary part of Body Tempering, minimizing the emphasis on how natural energy helped with recovery and growth during that process.

But now he'd definitely learned something, and that was why he didn't want to lose. It would make Anton look bad. Well, he also wanted whatever resources he could obtain for the sake of his future growth. That was only natural.

His opponent was a man from the Desert Lizard Sect. Ingram didn't know much more than that, because they were a small sect from the local area. He was from a whole different continent. However, there were some things his eyes told him. Like the fact that the man had scales. That was… not completely abnormal. Some cultivators tried to radically change their bodies to gain the strength of animals, and when it worked it was quite effective. Other times… they caused harm to themselves. At least this man didn't seem to have done that.

Beyond the scales, he also had claws. Seeing no other weapons, Ingram assumed that was how he would attack. The arena they had ended up in had some beneficial features for Ingram, including slopes and boulders to get in the way of a charging attacker. All he had to do was make use of what he had been taught.

When the match began and he drew his bow, Ingram almost broke it. He was used to pulling back with his full force to get the string just barely to his ear, and his arm almost went past that. Fortunately, he stopped. At least he knew his strength had improved over the last couple weeks. His first arrow flew forwards towards his opponent, who blocked with… his arm. It was a combination of gathering energy to dampen the blow and letting his scales do the rest of the work. Ingram knew he would have to be less predictable or have more powerful shots or both to really damage the man.

He had time for a couple more shots before the man got close. Ingram was already circling around a boulder, ready to shoot the man as he ran around it. He didn't expect it to be broken in half. At least he was able to sense the buildup of energy before it happened. When it shattered to pieces, it was clear the man didn't have much momentum left to attack him. Ingram got his first hit, but it only cut along the man's shoulder, partially dodged and half deflected by the scales.

It seemed to have been a massive waste of energy and an obvious opening for nothing until the man stomped, sending a cloud of dust and sand into the air- and towards Ingram. At their level it could only really cover one person, but being unable to see his enemy was a huge disadvantage for an archer. If Anton hadn't covered some better sensing techniques, he would barely even be able to target the man's torso.

The sand wasn't just blocking his vision but grating against his defensive energy- which was better than it scraping off layers of his skin. He ducked and dodged away from slashing claws while trying to find opportunities to shoot. Eventually he won, but not because of anything particularly amazing on his part. His opponent simply wore himself out, the boulder smashing and constant control over a cloud of sand being too much for cultivators of their level. It was anticlimactic, but if Ingram hadn't improved so much he likely would have been taken out. He just hoped he'd perform well in the following matches.

Nthanda looked up at the tower in front of her. "So you say that once I go through the tower, I will be stronger?"

"Of course," Anton said. "It trains people to control and resist energy… but for you I believe it would be something that could be accomplished without external use of energy."

She frowned. Somehow the man had known some techniques to supplement her training with Western Steel Body, even though he clearly didn't use them himself. She didn't mind, but the man had quite a bit of knowledge. Then again, some of the clans in Ambati had suddenly begun to grow rapidly in power from new techniques- it wasn't strange if it happened with others.

"I'll try it," she said. There was nothing to lose from making an attempt. So far, he had been a good instructor- even though he'd said he might not be the best for her. But he was a powerful archer, and Nthanda had heard the other from his sect was… difficult to learn from.

She stepped into the tower. She did feel the pressure. It was like a Body Temperer standing right next to her, maybe pushing on her a little bit. It increased as she walked up the tower, but even halfway she found it almost trivial. Towards the top it became more of a challenge, but she pushed against the heavy sensation. She was rather disappointing, but brought her prize back.

"I completed it," she said.

The old man looked at her. "What do you mean? You just started." He pointed to stairs that led down- stairs she could have sworn hadn't been there before. "You merely picked up the key to the entrance."

When she stepped down the first stair it was like she was hit by a boulder. Nthanda grinned. Maybe she would get something from this after all. Each step forced more weight on her… and she thought that maybe she could actually improve some muscles that hadn't found a challenge in a long time.

Chapter 341

The pressure encompassing the lower part of the tower was significantly more difficult to handle. Nthanda found it threw off even simple motions like walking. Unlike the upper portion, her normal senses were restricted. It wasn't just dark, even sound didn't work quite right. The times when she passed people on the stairs were the only time she could sense people, much in above or below and they would feel like they disappeared.

Isolation wasn't bad, but it was worse when she found it difficult to move. The pressure bearing down on her made her feel ten times as heavy, a weight that wasn't unmanageable but made every stair feel like jumping off a cliff with the pressure of her feet impacting. Then there was the thought of exhausting herself too much to climb back up. It was foolish to think that she would be allowed to die in the dark, but it felt like it.

When she almost stepped on something, it threw her off balance and sent her careening into a wall. For a moment she just lay on the ground, taking stock of herself. Nothing broken, it seemed, but she would be bruised. She could have cushioned her impact with natural energy, but even if she hadn't been training to go wholly without it… it was difficult to call upon in her current location.

As for the thing that disrupted her, it was… a beetle? No, that wasn't right. Its size would indicate that, but the shape was all wrong. It was clearly some sort of insect though, as long as her palm and two fingers wide. The thing scurried towards her, dipping over the stairs. Nthanda prepared herself to fight, though the thought was laughable. How could a simple bug harm her?

It stopped out of arm's reach and waved its antennae and front legs. Was that some sort of threat? It was laughable, except… the fact that it seemed to be unconcerned about the looming pressure of the area. It made her feel ten times heavier, but that was as a human. It wasn't that her weight was multiplying, but a force bearing down on her- more or less the same for everyone. An insect would crumble under that force, especially without any trace of natural energy. That was the thought, at least… but it wasn't dead.

Nthanda shook her head. A lone ant wouldn't matter anyway. She took a quick check to make sure it wasn't some sort of distraction, but didn't sense any more. "What do you want, ant?"

She wasn't actually expecting a response, but it waved its arms more. She couldn't interpret it as meaning something, however.

"I don't understand what you mean."

If the ant was just randomly doing something she would have expected it to react the same way to her voice, but instead it flopped down to all legs, pacing back and forth for a moment. Then it lifted itself all the way to its hind legs, almost standing straight up, while wiggling its antennae.

"Do you want to be picked up?" Nthanda held out her finger. If it tried to bite her, she would crush it. She wasn't sure what it was made of, but she was certain she could accomplish it. If it happened to be poisoned, she would just have to endure that as she made her way back to the surface. But if the thing was friendly, she couldn't just not try to interact with it.

It did, in fact, crawl peacefully onto her finger, then up her arm. She tracked it warily. Her body should be able to resist the sharpness of the thing's mandibles, but it was still awkward having it climb up to her shoulder and circle around her neck. Then it stopped on the other shoulder and pointed its limbs up the stairs.

"You want to go up?" The ant replied with something she was almost certain was a nod, though she wouldn't have been able to sense such a precise motion much away from her body. "Well, I could use a break anyway."

The ant seemed quite content to ride on her shoulder and do little else, though Nthanda felt weird passing the other trainees. Either nobody noticed it or they decided it wasn't worth mentioning, because she soon found herself outside. Maybe she could ask someone about the ant. Elder Anton would be a good start.

As soon as she approached him the ant leapt from her shoulder. She wondered if she had unwittingly brought something dangerous, but the man caught it behind it back, turning towards her and the ant. "Hello there little fellow. How are you doing?"

The ant waved its antennae and front limbs enthusiastically.

"Yes, I met the Great Queen."

More excited movements.

"You'll have to excuse me, I couldn't quite keep up there. I'm not that familiar with your language."

The ant was slower after that.

"Oh, sure, I can demonstrate." Anton held his other hand nearby, and out of seemingly nowhere an uncomfortably powerful energy filled his palm. Uncomfortable for Nthanda, anyway, as the ant jumped into it without a shred of caution and… ate it? "Yes, it works just like that. Though I'm not sure how it will be for real."

Since the conversation seemed to be coming to an end, Nthanda spoke up. "Excuse me, Elder Anton… what do you know about that ant?"

Anton shrugged, "I don't believe I've met this one in particular, but there are relatives. They're quite intelligent… and extremely energy resistant." He nodded, "They're allies in the upcoming fight with the invaders."

"Allies…?" Nthanda asked.

"Well, I'd hardly call them anything else. They're not pets. I'd generally not call anything intelligent enough to understand speech a pet. Except perhaps Fuzz," Anton shook his head. "Regardless, they have also developed a sign language using their front appendages. I am relatively familiar with the ants, but I'm still learning the language. I have to say it's much more natural than our initial attempts to have them write everything."

"Okay," Nthanda nodded. "Why was it here?"

"Good question. Why were you in the tower?" More waving of limbs. "Oh, I see. I could have told you there was no food down there. It's certainly a safe, defensible location- but it's an awful long walk to get food."

"It wants food?" Nthanda asked, reaching into her bag. "I'm sure I have something."

"Well, she might be interested in eating… but I believe the point was to scout out spots for a nest. Since that area's not claimed by humans, they can be relatively undisturbed. But it's no good without food." More waving. "Yes, you should have known that nothing would live down there. Few things can survive without protecting themselves with energy." More waving. "She's an exception, of course. She's one of the humans who focused on that." A final back and forth of wiggly limbs. "Well, I find natural energy quite useful personally."

The ant did something akin to shrugging and leaped back over to Nthanda, who held out her hand like Anton had. "I don't understand what you're saying."

"She asked if you want to learn to be like her"

"What, an ant? Can I? Should I?"

"I don't know the answer to any of those questions," Elder Anton shrugged. "But you could try. I think they're a fascinating object of study, though likely much more useful for a body temperer like yourself. If I suddenly had nothing to do with energy, I would just have to give up."

"Well… sure. I'll try. How do I start?" The ant on Nthanda's hand was so enthusiastic that the rear limbs got involved in the communication, making it pretty much impossible to parse. Not that she knew any of it anyway. She'd probably have to learn that, if she wanted to learn from… ants.

The next week Nthanda found herself back in the arena for another round of tests. She clutched her left hand tight. Her new thing would only be a secret once. She had to make it count, if it worked at all. If it didn't… well, she had other methods to use. In her other hand she held a long polearm with a blade. She would have preferred to make use of a proper bow, but she didn't have one to match her strength. Arrows were another problem entirely, though there was a certain point where they could be used nearly indefinitely.

The halberd was her backup weapon of choice since her less potent energy didn't allow for extending her reach with it. And it also had a lot of leverage to make use of her strength. The weapon itself had to be specially made to be more durable than others, since she would be reinforcing it to a smaller degree than other cultivators. That was an advantage in some ways, because if her opponent had only a limited amount of damage they could do, she wouldn't have to worry about her weapon at all.

Her opponent was a man who radiated a sense of fire. It wasn't anything familiar. Perhaps he was from Aicenith, though Nthanda couldn't guarantee she would recognize every style on their own continent. Especially not with the recent shifts in available techniques.

His weapon was a chain, quite a long one in fact. If he was able to properly control it then he would have the advantage of reach, but such things could be quite unwieldy. Regardless, the battle began with both opponents moving towards each other, Nthanda's hands both gripping her halberd while her opponent had separate lengths of chain dangling from each hand.

As expected one of his chains whipped out to their full length, fire wrapping around them as links tried to circle her from the side. Nthanda's options appeared to be best suited by trying to block it with her halberd, but she knew it would merely wrap around her weapon. That might even be what her opponent wanted- while she didn't want it yet. Instead she dropped down low, using the weight of her outstretched halberd to balance her backwards lean. Her opponent was at least half ready for her to duck, but he had obviously not expected her to get almost parallel to the ground and immediately get back on her feet. The flame surrounding the chain were hot, but at the distance of half a meter it was nothing that could harm Nthanda.

Her body sprang forward into a lunge after the chains passed over, closing the distance between herself and her opponent. The man had more than one length of chain, however, and the second coil held in his other and leapt forward to meet her attack. She pulled back to keep her weapon from being entangled and turned her thrust into a wide sweep.

The first set of chains was already looping back towards here, and Nthanda knew she wouldn't remain unentangled for the duration of the battle. Even so, she focused on avoiding it and trying attacks to measure her opponent. Even if she didn't need to avoid the flames, making her opponent think she did would be a nice advantage.

Her left arm was entrapped a few moments later, followed by the halberd briefly held in just her right hand. The chain wrapped around that too, locking her weapon in place. The flames were uncomfortable… but unfortunately for her opponent they couldn't really harm her. For the sake of expediency she gathered her natural energy to push for a deciding strike… and found that she could barely control it. Something about her opponent's techniques weakened her control. That would have been devastating if she needed her natural energy to fight.

Both her arms yanked suddenly, forcing her opponent to decide between being pulled towards her or losing his weapons. He thought there was a third choice- anchoring himself to the ground with his natural energy- but it was a fake choice. He slowed down slightly, but still moved. Slack formed in the chains from the combined effects of his movement and his distraction, momentarily limiting his control. He managed to twist himself out of the way of Nthanda's halberd as he moved, though she wasn't going to actually impale him on it anyway. It would have been half an impalement at best.

Instead, she clocked him in the jaw with her left hand. She hadn't even needed to use her special new technique. In some ways that was good, but she also didn't know if it would work. Well, the next match might tell her that. It would almost certainly be with someone stronger… or at least more suited to fight against her.

Chapter 342

It was impossible for Nthanda to undergo a fundamental change within a short period of time, and even though she had managed to greatly improve herself her peers were not remaining idle either. The next few matches were filled with equal parts wins and losses. That was how Nthanda discovered a serious flaw in her new technique. It was obviously incomplete, but she hadn't even gotten a chance to use it because of the way she had developed it. It didn't help she didn't have a proper bow to use either.

Perhaps it was a foolish notion to begin with. Working around the changes to her left hand made the rest of her tasks more difficult… but if it actually worked as she wanted, she was interested in completing the transformation. So far it hadn't been practical in actual combat, but that was her fault more than the technique itself.

She looked at her left palm. Unlike her other, it was not paler in the rest of her skin but darker than even her normal deep brown. It didn't have the same sheen to it as the ants' chitin, but it was only an approximation of the creatures. No matter how much a human cultivator might take on certain aspects of creatures, they remained fundamentally the same.

Nthanda's final opponent was a woman who hardly looked suited for her weapon. Cultivators didn't necessarily need muscle to wield weapons, but the woman didn't even look as if she was up to the same standard of body tempering as most cultivators, let alone Nthanda. Perhaps most wouldn't have noticed, but she was more sensitive to such things. For most the method through which they made use of their power didn't make much difference as it had to be dealt with regardless, but for Nthanda's purposes this was the best chance she would get.

Her opponent's weapon was essentially a spiked metal club. It was not quite as long as a proper polearm, but it had a good amount of reach to it. She might have called it a staff had it been symmetrical, but the way it was shaped made it clear only the top end was for bludgeoning, piercing, and otherwise damaging people.

The battle began with clashing weapons. Nthanda's opponent seemed to be aiming for her weapon directly instead of trying to avoid such collisions. It was a sensible enough technique given how well it worked. Nthanda was used to being able to force her opponent's backwards with her powerful strikes, but her opponent had remarkable stability through a connection to the ground. Furthermore, the impacts strained Nthanda's muscles to the point she couldn't just try to wear out her opponent's natural energy.

That suited her just fine though. There was no point in testing a trump card against an unworthy opponent. Nthanda continued to weave her halberd as she could, making use of her reach to hold off her aggressive opponent. She continued to fight until her opponent knocked her weapon to the side, not entirely by coincidence.

Her opponent rushed forward, the iron club swinging down at an angle that was not quite vertical to avoid her easily dodging it. Nthanda still had her grip on her halberd but it was too far to the side to bring it to bear. The club came down straight into Nthanda's palm.

One of the spikes pierced through her hand, and the force of the blow pushed her into the ground up to her waist. Yet the muscles and bones in her arms, torso, and legs held firm. Taking such a blow head on should have shattered something regardless of how much she tempered her body, but it lost some of its force the moment of impact… and was unable to maintain the followup momentum.

Nthanda's grip closed on the weapon. She didn't want to use such a reckless technique but it was the one most appropriate to testing her ability. And it had worked. Her opponent struggled to pull away, but could not force her grip off of the weapon. Nthanda did find herself slammed into the ground back and forth for her refusal to give up her grip, but the force of the blows was very little. That was because from her hand extended an area that mostly negated the energy around it. It barely extended beyond her touch, but that meant the most critical portion of the weapon did not have the additional momentum and power that it required to be a threat.

It wasn't even particularly tiring for Nthanda. Yet the technique wasn't without flaws. It didn't just weaken her opponent's energy, but also her own. That meant she was unable to protect her palm, and that meant the weapon had maintained its power up until the point of contact. But still, it worked well enough. It wasn't complete negation like the ants, but it suited her.

Soon enough her opponent realized that Nthanda wasn't going to let go or give up, and the halberd she leveled in their direction gave them incentive to surrender. Nthanda grinned. It was just one battle, but even if it didn't vastly improve her rating she would at least be walking away from the competition with great improvements.

Now she just had to figure out how to make use of the same with a bow. The strange bone bow that Anton lent her for training was just about right, but unfortunately she didn't have one of her own that matched. Perhaps she could develop the technique to turn on and off as well.

Anton sighed. Watching a skilled archer fight without a bow was a shame. He had to admit that Nthanda was much more skilled than himself in melee combat, but that was likely due to necessity more than choice. She'd chosen a difficult road, one that was difficult to travel without proper access to equipment. Though that was what the competition was for, wasn't it?

Despite the fact that Ingram was significantly behind the other students- and debatably less talented- Anton also admired the man for his determination. He had gotten quite far with a poor technique and little opportunity to learn more. Anton wondered how far he himself would have gotten had he not been given access to the Ninety-Nine Stars from the beginning. Could he still have developed to where he was now, or would he have failed to take even the first step, ultimately dying in the attempt? The latter wasn't a pleasant thought, but that was exactly one of the reasons Anton was so interested in giving others the same sorts of opportunities.

Few of his other students maintained his interest in the long term, though he still tried his best to help them grow. Perhaps they would become something more, or perhaps both sides would only remember each other in the context of a competition for resources.

There were others Anton was interested in though. Students that weren't his. One of particular interest was a young woman studying under Chikere. Or rather, the only student still with Chikere. The swordmaster had talent, that was certain, but the ability to learn and the ability to teach others wasn't always connected. Finding people with the right set of attributes to learn from Chikere was… not common. There were others like her, of course. Million Sword Vault valued many of the same things as Chikere, but as they were one of the greater sects they were not involved in learning here in this competition. Instead, it was mostly independent cultivators and smaller sects.

When the example that was given to someone was a single sword swing or a more impressive but immensely less comprehensible two dozen swords moving simultaneously on their own, it was expected that people would drop out. Combined with Chikere's casual nature towards injuries and her students decided they might learn better elsewhere. And they were probably mostly right.

The young woman seemed to be named Florry, as she had introduced herself to Anton previously. She was kneeling on the ground among a dozen swords, with one resting across her lap. Chikere seemed to be trying to explain some details of sword techniques, and the young woman listened raptly.

"And then a swish and flick, and you get a sword which grows on a tree. Though most of them were kind of bad." Chikere nodded seriously, "But you still have to defeat the sword bugs when you see them."

"How are things going here?" Anton asked.

"Good!" Chikere didn't seem disappointed that most of her students were gone. Actually, Anton wasn't sure if she would have noticed at all, unless they were carrying decent swords. "Hey, you… show Anton your new technique!"

Florry shook her head, as if she were coming out of some sort of daze. Then she stood up, knocking over some nearby swords in the process. "Yes, of course swordmaster Chikere!" Florry turned and bowed to Anton. "It's not much, but… I've been doing my best."

Taking the sword that had been resting on her lap and one more that was sticking point first into the ground, she held them in either hand. After lowering herself into a stance, her eyes took on a serious edge. She flicked the tips of her swords underneath the hilts of swords surrounding her on opposite sides, springing them into the air. They landed balanced on her own swords, nearly point to point at right angles. That was just the start, however, as her movements gradually gained confidence, speeding up. A moment later the swords were flicked forward, slicing through the air at an unknown target. Anton felt just a bit of energy controlling their motion, but their trajectory was set by the force of the two other blades propelling them at strange angles. The remaining blades on the ground likewise went towards the same imaginary opponent, arranging themselves in a disorganized pattern in the ground behind.

Anton had to admit it really wasn't much more than a party trick of sorts. Not that he would expect much better from a Spirit Building cultivator. Controlling a large number of swords simultaneously like Chikere was not going to happen immediately. Even so, Anton could feel it might develop into something interesting.

"Good. And the other one!" Chikere called out.

Florry closed her eyes in concentration for a moment, centering herself. Then the two swords in her hands sliced past each other once vertically and once horizontally, weaving in opposite directions. Despite his lack of training in swords, Anton recognized the shadow of a technique, mostly because the original had been burned into his memory. It was only a tiny fraction as impressive as Swordmaster Rahayu's final slash, but the presence was there.

"That's great," Anton said. "I don't believe you could do that at all last time I came by."

"I've been practicing," the young woman said. "But… I can't do much in real battles."

"Don't say that," Chikere commented. "I know you can do it." If it were anyone else, Anton would have been surprised at her punctuating her point with a sword slash. It was close enough to Florry to cause her to take half a step back. "You just have to react to your opponent."

"But what if I'm not fast enough?"

Chikere shrugged, "Then just react before they do anything."

Anton cleared her throat. "I believe she means to predict what your opponent will do and act accordingly."

"Didn't I say that?" Chikere tilted her head.

"Umm…" Florry spoke timidly, "Normally people don't call it reacting if you do it first."

Chikere shrugged. "What's the difference? Besides, it's important to make sure your actions don't change what your opponent is going to do. Unless you want them to."

"... I think I get it," Florry said.

Chikere nodded, "Good. But maybe you'd get more if you saw it in action. Say, Anton, are you busy?"

"I am not," Anton admitted.

"In that case-"

Anton held up his hand, "Only if there are trained doctors from the Million Sword Vault on standby," Anton cut off her request for a fight. "And we'd need to invite both of our students. Perhaps talking to others would be beneficial as well. I'm sure more people could learn something from a high level battle."

"Great! I'll see you when that's all set up then."

In short, all of the work had been hoisted onto Anton's shoulders, though it was just as well because he doubted she would be capable of organizing much. Unless there were the right people around to interpret some of her ideas.

Chapter 343

When putting on a combat for people to see and learn from, Anton was unable to work at his full capacity. Especially when doing so for lower level cultivators, most would only be able to perceive one of the two endpoints of the battle. If Anton actually cared about winning that would be a problem, but he had worked with Chikere to put together a reasonably viewable setup for the battle.

They started slow. Anton took a few dozen shots with his bow and Chikere cut them out of the air with her sword- or dodged them, letting them fly off into the sky. Both combatants focused on the skill of their movements more than the power, because teaching people the lesson that overwhelming power trumped proper technique wasn't useful, even if it happened to be true. Though obviously having both was the best option.

Anton brought another pair of bows into the equation, one the sword-bow and the other the bone bow. Chikere responded in kind by making use of more swords and not just staying on the defensive. She allowed herself to fight suboptimally and allow Anton points where he could retreat from melee so the demonstration could continue.

As the battle continued, it gradually became more serious. Neither side was trying to hurt the other, but at some point they stopped trying not to injure each other. Anton found himself with a myriad of small cuts that were indicative of what could have been much greater wounds. In response, he started a rain of arrows from those that had 'missed' and were simply circling in the distance. It wasn't a particularly useful tactic given how he could only maintain a few dozen shots at once, but it certainly surprised the students.

Some of Anton's shots made it through Chikere's flurry of defenses, and her ability to dodge attacks by a hair was insufficient against Anton's ability to predict her movements, forcing her into bad positions with a rain of arrows. He even made use of ascension energy, but the outcome of the battle had been decided from the start. Chikere was not only better suited to close combat but higher in cultivation as she had both the great talent and youth.

Anton was glad to have people to stitch his muscles back together, as he was not terribly familiar with recovering from debilitating wounds and never intended to be. It took him a long time to heal regardless of whether or not he could accelerate it with the use of natural energy, and he wasn't a fan of pain. Allowing himself to get injured in battle was sloppy anyway. He would tolerate injuries as they happened, but never voluntarily choose to receive them.

Even an hour after the battle had ended, some of the spectators were stunned to silence. Others couldn't help but try to discuss with each other, but putting what they had seen into words was difficult. Most people didn't get to see battles of Life Transformation cultivators, and it was even less likely to have been done for the purpose of teaching them. They would be given some days to digest the information before there were other demonstrations by different cultivators.

Several months passed in what felt like an instant to some. In the end it was an extremely lengthy and costly competition, and not just because of the distribution of rewards. Monopolizing the time of dozens of Life Transformation cultivators wasn't cheap, either in direct cost or because of what else they could have been doing. Anton firmly believed the value of teaching younger generations was worthwhile, and he was not alone in that belief, but some had required payment.

As for the rewards… they were distributed through the system that had been devised. It was complicated, measuring the growth of cultivators relative to each other. The important part was that everyone who put in the effort got some sort of reward beyond their learning. Everyone had some number of points to choose rewards, from cultivation resources of various sorts to equipment, some of which was unique. Certain things had requirements beyond the points, generally things that showed the cultivator could actually make use of them.

The Million Sword Vault provided quite a few pieces of equipment under those restrictions, quite similar to how they did things back at their sect itself. They had swords, of course, but the majority of things on offer were the additional pieces of equipment they had collected over the lifespan of their sect.

Anton added one of his own offerings to the lot. The bone bow wasn't really suited for him, but it was absolutely suited for Nthanda. Unfortunately just giving it to her might seem like a sign of blatant favoritism, so he had to require an appropriate amount of points to get it… plus a little challenge. All that had to be done was to hit a target with it. Anton had also contributed other bows of lesser difficulty for the same purpose.

Nthanda wasn't the first person to make the attempt to fire the bow, nor was she the first to succeed. However, the man who managed to be the first to hit the target passed up on his opportunity to obtain it, coming to the same conclusions as Kseniya. She wasn't even wrong. It was a bad bow… for most people. After all this time, Anton was pleased to have found someone it suited, and who needed it. When Nthanda finally saw that it was available, she hurried over to take her chance, and of course succeeded in hitting the target. She had been using the bow during training, after all.

Anton wasn't sure what sort of bow she would need if she ever reached Life Transformation, but perhaps by that point she would have been picked up by a sect who could help her obtain more specialized equipment. Essence Collection cultivators didn't just grow on trees- unlike swords, apparently- but not every sect wanted to welcome someone unfamiliar. Cultivators who were too strong could drive a sect in a direction the leadership didn't want by the influence they would naturally gain due to their strength. But even if Nthanda didn't join a sect, he saw a good future for her.

Then there was Ingram. The competition had caught him at an awkward stage of development… or perhaps it came at the perfect time. He had many flaws that needed fixing before he could really develop, and his results hadn't been that impressive. Cultivators in the Body Tempering Stage didn't get that many rewards, though they could still be meaningful for those individuals. Anton knew he had decent potential, but it was nothing so impressive that sects would be clambering to pick him up. Though if he was willing, Anton was going to invite him to join the Order. He was early enough in his cultivation he could change his core style, if he was willing to make the effort.

Then there was Florry, who had apparently been decided to be the apprentice of Chikere. That is, Chikere had decided she was now her disciple, and Florry didn't have the ability to object. Not that Anton thought she should pass up the opportunity, but the girl was rather timid and unable to express her opinions to Chikere. Personally Anton thought their styles were quite different, but that didn't mean they would be a poor match. Swordmaster Rahayu was extremely different from Chikere with his single sword style versus her… every sword style. Anton had to assume that was Chikere's ultimate goal, to wield every sword at once. Or at least, some sort of ridiculous ambition to that effect.

As various efforts to prepare the world for a coming invasion progressed, an ominous feeling descended over the world. Life Transformation cultivators were the first to sense it, a shifting in the skies and the very energy of the world. It was weak, at first, but gradually growing stronger.

Nobody had to ask what it was. It was the weakening of the barrier between worlds, forewarning of the invasion itself. By the best estimates it was still approximately a decade off. That was comforting, as that was sufficient time for talented individuals to reach early Essence Collection… or others to reach Spirit Building. For Life Transformation experts of the Order, it was enough time to advance between a handful of stars for those earlier in Life Transformation and with great talent to a single star for those closer to the peak, or closer to the limits of their abilities.

It was a warning… and a deadline. Comparing to the grandiose ancient sects like the Luminous Ocean Society, Anton felt the top ranking sects of their current time were lacking. However, he hoped it was merely in ornamentation and enduring fortifications… and not actual strength. He knew that at least the Luminous Ocean Society had some access to anti-ascension techniques, but with the whole of the cultivation world aware of them it should be more impactful. Likewise, it was impossible to say what percentage of the population had been able to cultivate during previous invasions, but the general population was developing rapidly in that regard.

Cities were growing larger as individual farmers were able to produce more higher quality crops to feed people. The changing world did come with some costs. Those with lower cultivation talent often found it difficult to keep up in their various trades and professions. That was unfortunate, but Anton knew that there would always be those who were less talented in certain areas. If a craftsman was exceptional at his job, he could still outperform cultivators with less experience and knowledge of the crafts. They would simply lose out to those who were good at both aspects, as cultivation made people better at both mental and physical tasks.

One more decade, more or less. Anton would be close to a hundred and fifty years old when it came. A hundred years in his 'normal' life, and fifty as a cultivator. If he was fortunate, he would surpass seventy stars by that time, placing himself just shy of mid Life Transformation cultivation. It was an arbitrary milestone, but it would let him at least provide some challenge to most Life Transformation cultivators.

As for ascension cultivators… he had no way to know for sure. Even 'memories' of the battles didn't really tell him everything he needed to know. If they couldn't recover their ascension energy, would they be the strength of peak Life Transformation cultivators? Would their insights make them stronger? Or, perhaps, they might be weaker due to their reliance on a particular type of energy they no longer had access to.

There were so many factors to consider that they had no way to know. Perhaps the Exalted Archipelago might know something, but further interaction there was risky. Even if the Worthy Shore Society and a few others were welcoming to visitors, the area as a whole was not- and they had the power to wipe out anyone they didn't like moving through their waters. Just accepting that they would not engage in aggression beyond their waters was necessary to even have any hope for the future.

The threat of the coming invasion filled Anton's mind, especially since he had many people he cared about. Family who had survived the destruction of Dungannon, such as Alva, Annelie, and Devon. Family who he had met after, like Catarina. New family… like the children of Anish and Annelie. That particular union was still causing changes in their sects, and especially the Frostmirror Sect. The faction that was merely learning to suppress emotions when they chose to was winning out over the old guard who had completely severed theirs.

But Anton didn't care about just family. He had friends and companions all throughout the world, but his desires to protect didn't extend merely that far. With the growth in his power, he felt an ever-widening responsibility for the world around him. He knew he couldn't actually protect the whole world with just the strength of early Life Transformation. Not even with all of his best companions or the sects he had influence in.

Unfortunately, he would have to limit himself in scope, at least at first. Working with the Order and the other growing sects within Graotan to defend what they had would be the first priority, after which they would seek out other locations of conflict… if they could.

There were only ten more years, as the skies beyond the skies cracked and weakened beyond mortal senses.

Chapter 344

Lately, everything was done with a sense of dread- more than even before. Previously Anton had thought he wanted a tangible sense of when the invasion would come, but now that the skies were constantly reminding him he felt that he would prefer surprise. But that was just his mind being indecisive and worried.

Even visiting friends was an activity that sparked little joy in him. If he didn't have any other purpose he might enjoy himself more, but there was never an opportunity to justify any sort of travel that didn't also serve a greater goal. At the very least he would be involved with teaching and guiding people along the way.

As he passed through Veron he took heart that they had at least done a fair job of eradicating slavery in the region. Fields were still filled with workers, but they had at least a bit more joy in their hearts and some manner of choice. It wasn't perfect, but things were better.

Anton could not help but wonder if the whole world was not locked in some strange form of slavery, working hard only to have the fruits of their labor snatched away from them. But at least slavers provided their workers with tools, food, and shelter. The ascenders were raiders who simply snatched whatever they wanted when the world was prosperous. That didn't make them any better or worse, just slightly different. And absolutely deserving of death. If Anton had a say in the matter, not a single person would be able to leave, and not a single leaf, shirt, or tool would be taken away. And he had some say, but it was rather arrogant to think that this time they would completely overturn the invasion, when they couldn't necessarily be said to be stronger than the previous iteration.

The only factors that were different… the particular sects and clans in power, the individuals making them up… and Everheart. Perhaps there had been someone warning for preparing previous groups, but Anton knew Everheart had to be unique. If not in intent, in the methods he used to achieve that goal. Whether or not it would help enough remained to be seen. To the best of his knowledge they had eradicated the Twin Soul Sect and those supporting them, but there could be other traitors in their midst.

Besides, if the Twin Soul Sect had any truth to their teachings, they would be reincarnated elsewhere, able to somehow impart knowledge, and be recognized. Their purpose as spies would be fulfilled, even if they couldn't take part in the fighting. Their enemies would probably be more prepared too. Hopefully they would fail to take the people of this world seriously. But counting on their enemies to screw up… was a terrible idea.

Anton passed through Ofrurg, taking only a fraction of the time he had first taken to traverse the area. Weeks became days, and if he had been truly pressed he could have gone even faster. But a Life Transformation cultivator running through the countryside was not a picture that would make the world feel safe. Even if they didn't think Anton was a cause of trouble, they would still wonder what was so bad that he had to rush. Not everyone was fully cognizant of the enormity of the coming invasion, but either way people didn't need more to worry about.

Eventually he passed through the Mossythorn Timberlands to the Grasping Willows. The guards at the gate recognized him. "Elder Anton!" they bowed their heads. He didn't directly have any position within their sect, but he would have received proper greetings due to his status as Life Transformation cultivator even if there was nothing else. "The Sect Head has been expecting you."

"Good," Anton nodded in return. There wasn't much else to say. He could have had them go ahead to announce him, but that would be slower than going himself. Besides, Lev should be able to sense him soon enough, if he hadn't already.

When Anton arrived, Lev was sitting with his back against one of the larger Grasping Willows. It was nothing compared to the grandfather willow. Anton could sense it off in the distance, looming over the valley below. If he wasn't mistaken, it had even grown somewhat taller, overtopping the height of its valley by a small margin and sticking up from the surrounding forest.

"Good to see you again, Anton," Lev gestured with his good arm to the ground next to him, and a pot of tea. "Come, sit."

Lev was no longer the young man Anton had first encountered nearly dead in the forest. He was still young by cultivator standards, but he had matured. He also possessed lengthy hair and a beard that trailed along the ground. They were useful parts of the Grasping Willow's fighting style, and a sign of prestige. Personally Anton thought they were a bit silly to look at, but that might be a benefit in its own way. A weapon that didn't look like a weapon was a great advantage.

Anton slumped against the tree, looking up at the sky. "How long, do you think, until everyone feels it?"

"It depends," Lev shook his head. "A couple years for those in Essence Collection. The last couple years, everyone will. It's not like people haven't heard, but knowing is almost worse."

"What I'm concerned about is whether the process will accelerate, or if they can break through early. Alternatively, they might not come immediately after and leave us waiting."

Lev smiled, "Perhaps, but you know cultivators. When have they ever waited to get their hands on something? Unless they are organized far more tightly than we can imagine, someone will slip through at the earliest possibility. So it would be earlier rather than later."

"Not particularly comforting."

The two of them sat for a while, chatting. Then Lev stood up. "Well, we might as well get going. No point in putting this off. I can't imagine it will be easy to refine into useful equipment."

"That's not my specialty, I'll admit," Anton nodded. "Though preparing wood is rather simple… usually. Are you sure this is alright? Taking pieces of the grandfather willow?"

"Of course. It's not as if we're chopping it down. And every plant needs pruning every now and again."

Without any weaker cultivators to watch out for- and with Lev's presence calming the tree- it was easy to retrieve a piece of 'branch' and some 'vine'. The difficult part with the former was carrying it. Anton wanted to have as much as possible for the enchanter to work with, and breaking it up into pieces might sully that. The vine… just barely coiled up to fit into a storage bag all on its own. It was like a great anaconda, thicker than a man's thigh for its length. Though the real anaconda was taken away by Lev. The creature had made the wrong choice in what it wanted to try to eat- and anything that attempted to eat a human was too dangerous to let live.

So Anton carried the branch, a rather 'skinny' one more like a tree trunk, twenty meters in length. It took a significant expenditure of energy to hold it up and keep himself from being shoved neck deep into the ground from the weight compressing all into the points of his feet. It was a rate that Anton could maintain, but only because he was a Life Transformation expert. Even then, he had to consciously and continuously control his breathing and replenish his energy from the world around him. At least the quality and quantity of energy was much higher everywhere he went.

Along the road, he was met with a myriad of strange looks. Any cultivator could recognize his power, which was why most did little more than look. Some cultivators didn't like being spoken to by those they considered 'lessers'. Ofrurg had greatly improved the effective rights of people, but the intimidation factor was still there, whether or not they would actually be in danger.

But some people recognized Anton. He knew he was only familiar with a tiny proportion of the world, but the distance that he could be sensed at was significant. Some people went out of their way to come greet him.

"What's that for?" Asked a carpenter Anton had taught the very beginnings of cultivation. "Planning to build a house?"

"Not currently, Bob. It's for a bow."

"... a bow for who? It's rather… large."

"The choicest parts will be used for the weapon. The rest will find other uses, but I am not a grand crafter or enchanter. I've put together a few hunting bows for everyday use, but I didn't ever truly learn the craft."

"Really? You seemed to have a pretty good sense of wood to me," Bob said as he strode alongside Anton.

"I'll admit I can manage pretty much anything to the standards of a mundane craftsman, or an earlier stage cultivator learning the ropes, but I'd rather leave the work to someone who spent centuries honing their craft." Technically she hadn't done much of anything for many centuries, but two hundred years was still quite a bit longer than Anton had been alive. While he'd been quite capable of all of the work he did on and around the farm, after becoming a cultivator he had learned there were greater depths to things he couldn't have imagined.

"Well, good luck with that then," Bob waved. "I've got some more moderately sized wood to go work with."

Anton was glad that he didn't have to go through a teleport formation to reach his destination. He was fairly certain he would not have been able to bring the branch with him. Fortunately Ella made her home in Droca. The Master Bowyer was said to be the best, and having seen some of her work Anton had to agree. Especially if they were going to be working with wood.

She was an old woman with wrinkled skin, but her hand remained clear of defects, and she still had the strength of a cultivator. "Well, let's see the rest," she gestured after Anton put down the giant log he had been carrying. "The string."

"I hope it's suited," Anton said. "But they are from the same tree, so they should at least have affinity." He reached into the storage bag and began to unwind the hanging vine, technically more of a dangling branch that grew further from the trunk.

"Excellent," Ella nodded. "I can work with this. Good potential with both here." She wrapped her hands around the vine-branch. "This needs to be condensed."

Anton watched with rapt attention as she began to run her energy through it. The process was slow, but she pulled and twisted the material with her hands while her energy worked from within. Very gradually the size began to decrease. Some portion of that was from material being removed, leaving a fine dust on the floor, but Anton was certain that the rest was increasing in density. He was quiet, not daring to interrupt. Several hours later, Ella pulled out a knife, slicing a several meter length of string from the rest of the vine. As bowstrings went, its over a millimeter thickness was quite hefty, but Anton trusted her judgment.

After that, the Master Bowyer took some time to inspect the branch he had brought, eventually cutting out a length of wood. Like the string, parts of it were whittled away while others were condensed, until she had a rounded rod that could serve as the basis for a bow.

Over the process of several days the process continued, both materials crafted and treated in various ways. The bow took shape slowly, but even once it was finished her work wasn't done. Ella unhooked the string and began to work on a different bench laden with formations. Various powdered gemstones, vials of beast blood, and numerous other things that Anton didn't recognize were involved in the enchanting process, ultimately resulting in a bow that looked simple on the surface, with few ornate designs.

"It is done," Ella declared. "Payment has already been received."

"Thank you," Anton inclined his head. "Though don't hesitate to ask for favors in the future, should you need them."

"I will remember."

"So…" Anton asked. "Is it safe to shoot it?"

She nodded. "Outside."

Anton didn't doubt he could shoot through an open window, or possibly a small crack in a structure, but it seemed rather rude to try. And as it was a new bow, it was possible his aim would be slightly off. He could always dissolve his Spirit Arrow, but it would be embarrassing.

The bow was… perfect. It wasn't laden with special qualities or odd features like the one made out of swords. Instead, it was made out of flexible-yet-springy materials, firm where they needed to be. It had power to it, and more importantly it matched Anton. Not only was it made specifically for his grip, but the materials were gathered by himself- and from something he had a history with, even if it was only incidental. When she explained those factors being important he had believed her… but now he was able to experience it. If only he could have a dozen more… but he doubted he would be able to maintain the firing of multiple bows of such power even if he had them.

Chapter 345

Until a spear of light came from the heavens, nothing indicated to Diego or his family that the current section of the road was unsafe. A bit uncomfortable to travel with a wagon, but that was how they were bringing their few possessions to the city. The youngest siblings couldn't walk all day either.

In the city was promise of teachings about cultivation. While they were able to farm just enough to feed themselves, Diego knew his parents were worried about the future. There were all sorts of rumors swirling about, but none spoke of long term stability. Since Diego had managed to learn a bit of cultivation secondhand from working on a nearby farm, they were taking the chance to go to the city.

He'd thought he could protect his family, but he didn't know about the dangers lurking behind the boulders and trees. The spear of light spooked the old nag that was pulling the wagon, sending the family tumbling about. One of the little ones was teetering on the edge as the wagon suddenly started speeding forward, and Diego picked him up and shoved him towards the front of the wagon. At the same time, a wheel hit a stone, knocking him off of the wagon.

He fell on his side, landing hard on the road. He heard his parents screaming, but he stood up. "Don't worry! I'll catch up!"

Calming down a spooked horse wasn't an easy task, and his father had enough to do just keeping them on the road. If anyone had to run to catch up, he was the best option.

It was unfortunate that there were a dozen bandits standing just off the road. Diego could sense their cultivations now that the first attacks had happened. Warning shots, he surmised- but they didn't have the intended effect. Not that there would be much for them to steal anyway.

When Diego turned towards them, he was surprised that the group looked confused. They had weapons drawn, but when they began to move towards him more spears of light impacted the ground in front of them. They had to be spears given their size and power, right? They faded a moment after impact, but gouts of dirt sprayed into the air where they landed. A few moments of no movement and one person tried to take a step towards Diego. Another arrow landed right in front of their toe, forcing them to jump back.

He had been planning to stay behind to keep them away from his family- maybe convince them they had nothing. But Diego wasn't going to disregard whatever good fortune this was. He took a tentative step just to make sure he could move, and when nothing came towards him he ran off down the road towards his family. They might not even know anything happened except something spooking the horse. That might be best for some of them.

It took a while, but Anton finally got in comfortable speaking distance of the bandits. He stepped into clear view and flared his cultivation so they didn't get any stupid ideas thinking he was out of energy or weak. "Do you know why you're still alive?" Anton asked.

The group of bandits looked at each other then shook their heads. "No, honored elder."

"Because we can't afford to waste lives. Even ones of scum like yourselves." Anton looked up at the sky. "Soon enough, even those like you will feel it. Before then, you're going to be learning something."

"Uh, yes sir. We won't do it again," a man that appeared to be the leader spoke up.

"Even if I fully believed that, that's not what I meant this time." Anton smiled. "You're actually going to be learning something. You will come with me, learn some specific combat techniques, and train yourselves. Then you will wait for further orders."

"Are we being conscripted?" the man asked.

"That's right. The other option…" Anton shrugged. The implications were clear.

Nobody was willing to risk doing anything. They were just a bunch of Spirit Building cultivators. Way too strong to be preying on poor folk on the road. Anton wasn't sure if they were from a sect or an unfortunate side effect of teaching everyone to cultivate, but he had been tipped off to their location by a local sect. The group of would-be bandits had not actually manage to do anything but reveal themselves, but it was close. The local sect would have taken care of them had Anton not come by.

He would not take them directly to the Order. Conscripting people wasn't a pleasant process, but times were dire. Even so, if it was going to be done it would be right. They would receive a proper trial- eyewitness evidence from Anton was all they really had, but those with proper training in insight could make a fair trial by judging what people said. Especially weaker cultivators.

Ironically enough, it would have been easier to just kill them. Instead, they would be taught anti-ascension techniques. When the invasion came, they would fight like anyone else. And like everyone else, many of them would die. Better against the invaders than in petty squabbles. The larger sects understood they couldn't afford to lose any manpower in the last few years, but some people didn't quite get it just yet. Conscripts weren't really different than slaves, but they could always choose to be dead.

Perhaps he was just justifying extreme measures to himself in the times of crisis, but if Anton lived through it he would do his best to make sure the region didn't return to treating people like property. And if everyone died, then at least they would do so with slightly better odds on their side.

Ten years hadn't been enough. What could be done? A new bow? Teach a few people? Settle a few disputes so people didn't kill each other and sentence a few people to a different death than they would have otherwise had. None of that felt good enough. Anton almost wished he had died as a farmer. Unfortunately, it wouldn't change the reality of the world. Blissful ignorance was still ignorance. Being able to at least attempt to make the world better on a grand scale was something worthwhile.

Anton looked down at the space beneath himself, where there was nothing but air. It could be called flying in a way, but for the most cultivators it really wasn't. He was simply holding himself up with a pillar of energy. It was a waste of effort in battle, where it could be severed easily and provided little advantage. Even so, it was something Anton had once found joy in. Being up in the air, surrounded by the wind… and closer to the sun. Though he knew the actual difference in his distance to the sun was miniscule, being away from everything else felt better. At the moment he could comfortably go about a hundred meters up, but he was only at a stable equilibrium much lower than that.

He slowly settled to the ground. It was a neat trick. Possibly useful for getting a better vantage, but he didn't need to see people with his eyes to shoot at them. Arcing his shot up into the air was just as simple from on the ground where he didn't have to concentrate on holding himself up.

Anton sighed, as he did often in recent times. Nothing was fun anymore. Even Body Tempering cultivators felt the rapidly approaching calamity in the sky. It was becoming ever more clear, and soon enough people would be able to count down the days. What else could be done before then? Anton didn't know. Perhaps he would be lucky and condense one final star, but Anton doubted it. It was unfortunate, but his current state of mind was not conducive to cultivation. Negative emotions could only support people in the short term. A decade of them just wore cultivators down, though Anton knew there were many more hopeful than himself. Hopefully they would be the ones to survive and lead the next generation to create a better world.

Another much older man watched from a closer vantage point. His eyes were sunken, his visage sallow. The energy that was meant to sustain him ultimately had to come to an end. In fact, if he knew himself, he was already overdue. He wondered what future was being sacrificed. Perhaps something simple like the power of the formations themselves. Or perhaps… him. This projection, and its memories. That would be just fine.

Everheart looked down upon the world. He liked to make people think he was omniscient, but that was not the case. If he had been, he wouldn't have bothered holding on for the last few months. Nobody more had come to him, entrapped in his web. Now… it didn't matter. The invasion would be proceeding regardless of who died. Hopefully there was enough uncertainty there to make them careless. The lack of people coming through might have tipped them off, but Everheart felt the distant figures in the sky. Nothing would change at this point, and he did what he thought was best. He only hoped it had been enough.

For a moment, he wondered about his true self. Was he dead? Or perhaps he was simply not coming back. The plan had never been to defend against the invasion himself, but as a projection tasked to a single task for centuries, he had much time to think. His focus might have made him more inclined towards the world, but he still hoped that Everheart would change his mind and return. But he had probably finally angered someone too strong for himself and died.

As the barrier surrounding the world faded away, brought about by some natural phenomenon that even Everheart couldn't claim to understand, he smiled. He had to believe what he had done would be enough. He faded away with that hope, his duty fulfilled to the best of his abilities.

Every member of the Order stood beneath the cover of the most powerful defensive formation any of them had ever perceived. At least they no longer had to wait or wonder. The sense of cultivators in the sky was clear to them. Ascension cultivators, brimming with power. Yet beneath that were those that were weaker, covered in some sort of protection as they approached.

Anton almost stood in awe. There was a level of power there that was unattainable for him. Yet those individuals were not the largest threat. Their numbers were limited, and they seemed to be distributing themselves to different parts of the world. The numerous cultivators that were the equivalent of Life Transformation were a bigger concern.

Soon, they would arrive.

It was Grand Elder Kseniya elbowing Anton that brought him into a sensible state of mind. "Hey. Want to take bets on which of us can take out more of them before they hit the ground?"

Right. There was no reason to wait for them to arrive. They were almost within range of Horizon Shot. Shooting upwards would slightly limit their range as they fought gravity, but not having to deal with obstructions… it was actually quite interesting. And they would only get one chance to try it. "Seems like the ascension cultivators are protecting them though," Anton commented. "How about we pick one and see how much these anti-ascension techniques can really do?"

"That's the spirit!" Kseniya grinned. "Alright… how about… that one!" Kseniya pointed, and nobody but Anton could follow it precisely, but he understood. Fortunately, there weren't many ascension cultivators coming in the bundle near them. Just a handful, along with more Life Transformation and Essence Collection cultivators than they had. It was fine. What were they going to do, kill him?

That, at least, was something Anton was unafraid of.

Kseniya shot first, but Anton followed up with a light element Spirit Arrow. Anton had been worried that all that training was wasted, but as their attacks hit the large barrier maintained by the powerhouse in the sky trembled. It was nowhere close to breaking from just a couple arrows, but it was clear it reacted poorly to their techniques. If they could destabilize it enough to stop for even a moment, then it would be their first victory- before the invaders got a single foot on their world. There were all sorts of flaws with the world, but it was theirs and nobody was allowed to say otherwise.

Chapter 346

Before his time as a cultivator, Anton had only been tangentially aware of falling stars. Now he had a much better understanding of what they were, hunks of rock falling through the atmosphere. The scene above them looked much like a handful of exceptionally large meteors falling, flames roiling around them as one Ascension cultivator covered for dozens of 'weaker' cultivators.

As the two with the longest ranges, Anton and Kseniya had already begun to launch attacks at one of the women. They were specifically relying on techniques made to disrupt ascension energy… and there were a few special arrows thrown in as well. The falling cultivator was unable to dodge or seriously mitigate their attacks with her own power, and everyone on the ground breathed a collective sigh of relief as they were able to sense huge chunks of energy being scattered uselessly. The techniques worked, but even two Life Transformation cultivators attacking unimpeded for a full minute were unable to exhaust the falling opponent's energy.

Neither archer was conserving their own energy, as this was their best chance to attack. At the final moment before the falling 'meteors' reached the barrier over the sect, they launched one final combined attack. Anton charged as much ascension energy as he could onto a single shot from his new bow, while his auxiliary bows did basically the opposite. He hoped to throw off the woman with a direct impact timed along with a dozen simultaneous disrupting strikes. It worked to some extent, creating a small break in her protective bubble through which Kseniya launched her own attack.

The Ascension cultivator instantly collapsed her defensive energy to protect herself, the attack merely taking off another portion of her energy but leaving her with at least two-thirds of the energy she had displayed from the beginning. The sudden retraction of her defensive bubble, however, left those she was guarding vulnerable. Anton and Kseniya barely had time for a couple weak shots, but others had just come into range. Dozens of attacks streamed out of the barrier, slicing through many of the weaker cultivators among the bunch. At practically the same time, everyone impacted the barrier.

The noise of the impact made all sound seem to stop, as reverberations of sound bounced everywhere as the barrier trembled. No, that wasn't quite right. The barrier held firm, but the mountain they were standing upon shook beneath it, and the world around it.

Somehow it held. Or rather, they were counting on it holding but hadn't truly expected it to work. If the enemy forces had broken through the barrier immediately, the Order was doomed. It might still be, but at least they wouldn't be going out without taking people down with them. Perhaps more devastating to some, everyone bounced off of the barrier or tumbled down the dome it created. Everyone, including the Ascension cultivators.

"You won't be getting in here so easily," Grand Elder Matousek declared proudly. "How does it feel, being trash that can't even fight people on their own level?" It appeared that Matousek was engaging in the time-honored tradition of hurling insults. Anton didn't expect anything to come from it, but he had forgotten something very important about cultivators.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY TO ME YOU PIECE OF LOWER REALM SCUM?!"

The woman who was the target of the archery attacks moved with a speed Anton could just barely track. The image of waves moved along with her as she pierced a short spear through the barrier.

Dozens of reflexive attacks launched towards her, though Anton and Kseniya found themselves ironically off target. After all, they had been aiming along her trajectory where they expected her to move. Neither of them had expected her to stop with her elbow barely through the barrier- but that was where she was when it reformed around her.

With a great scream she ripped her arm away, the motion wiping the topsoil from her surroundings with its force, breaking trees up to a hundred meters away. Yet the barrier was instantly whole once more, while the woman used an embarrassing amount of energy for no gain. Anton knew the barrier had to give out eventually, but the fact that it stood up to an Ascension cultivator made him proud of Catarina. Not all of the work was hers, but he knew it wouldn't be nearly so effective.

"Interesting." A much calmer voice cut through the area. It was deep, but echoed strangely despite the topography making that infeasible. "It appears the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars has done well for itself." One of the Ascension cultivators, a man covered from head to toe in long flowing robes, along with a full mask on his face, stepped forward. He radiated the aura of the Twin Soul Sect openly, unlike the woman. There was also something else to him. The scent of blood? "Perhaps this will take slightly longer than expected. But I have a proposal. The lot of you seem intent to struggle for your lives, so if you simply hand over your Grand Elder Vandale to have a bout with me, I personally will leave you be."

"You-" the livid woman glaring at the barrier briefly turned her gaze to the man. "You'd be giving up your portion of the claim to the loot."

"Shut up!" the man's voice echoed as if he were saying the words twice at once with different voices. "You're nearly half dead to a couple piddling Life Transformation cultivators." His head swiveled unnaturally back to face the Order's location, as if he had no spine. "We will give you a few minutes to discuss my proposal."

"They can't hear us through the barrier if we don't want to be heard," Catarina assured everyone. With that said… should we just tell him Vandale died killing a handful of the best members of his sect?"

Matousek frowned, "I don't think that will help. Having him temporarily not our enemy might be advantageous. More importantly, is it alright for us to be waiting here? The barrier…"

"Can last for hundreds of years like this," Catarina assured her. "Don't be concerned about that."

Off to the side, Anton and Kseniya were having their own little discussion while taking advantage of the likely brief respite to recover some of their expended energy. Hopefully what they had learned about Ascension cultivators was true, and they would be unable to recover their energy.

"I think the one with the x shaped symbol on his sleeve," Anton offered.

"That brat?" Kseniya shook her head. "If he's a favored disciple it's of some kind of crap sect. I'm thinking the blonde woman there."

Anton frowned. "I'm not really sure how we tell which of them is more favored or whatever. Profane screaming from others? But would it be number of people upset or how loud they yell?"

"I guess we work that out later. We just start with them and sort out who wins after all of this is over."

"Fair enough," Anton nodded. He had been listening to the discussion of the rest of the leadership, "Permission to start shooting important looking people?"

Matousek frowned for a moment, then nodded. "They don't deserve any sort of civility from us. Go ahead. Everyone should be ready for them to attempt to break through the barrier, and we don't want to give them too much time to study it."

"It won't help," Catarina commented. "None of them have the skills for it. They'll just have to bash their way through. They do seem like they were waiting for something though."

"Archers ready!" Kseniya called. It was several kilometers to the border of the Order's land, but everyone in Essence Collection of higher could reasonably be expected to shoot that far with the clear sight lines they had. "Fire at will!" she yelled as she took her first shot.

Anton felt the slightest bit bad for the Essence Collection cultivator he chose to target. He was a young man with a future… here to take away the futures of everyone present. So the slight negativity did nothing to stop Anton from putting a half dozen arrows through his neck from different angles. Most of them had been backup for when the young man inevitably blocked most of them, but when they all stabbed into him Anton wondered if he had been bamboozled by an illusion. If so, the illusion left a very realistic corpse. The same was the case with many others.

After the first instant most of the weaker cultivators readied themselves, though a few had been ready regardless. All five of the Ascension cultivators instantly moved to attack the barrier, and the battlefield was filled with people yelling various profanities and insults on both sides. The twin voices of the man who had previously spoken dominated. "Fine, I'll just drag him out then!"

Five strikes simultaneously hit the barrier. The spear-wielding woman resembled a great wave as she impacted the wall. The man with twin voices turned into a whirlwind of red and black. Two more of the Ascension cultivators were women- one created an explosion of black-red flames while the other performed a simple yet powerful strike with a dagger. The other man was large and burly, stomping the ground hard enough to make it tremble at the peak.

Against their combined might the barrier was unable to stand, and was torn open in front of them, rending apart a great swath of the mountainside, including many buildings. Anton knew that everyone had been given the chance to secret away prized possessions but still lamented the loss of homes. The whole mass of cultivators poured through the hole in the barrier, with the Ascension cultivators charging a moderate distance ahead of them. However, they had to turn back when the barrier reasserted itself with less than half of the others having made their way through.

Catarina grinned. Clearly she had intended something like that when she set up the barrier. The Ascension cultivators were forced to choose between supporting those already inside the barrier and bringing the rest through. They ultimately split up, with the earth cultivator and the woman who had shown little of her powers remaining at the barrier while the others charged forward with the rest of the army that was brimming with Essence Collection and Life Transformation cultivators.

There was just one small snag with opening the barrier again. They had the power to break it open, but not the fine degree of control to do that without causing devastation beyond it… where the rest of the group was waiting. Ultimately the man slammed against the barrier to weaken it while the woman cut open a section to let through several dozen people at a time. They had to repeat those actions continuously to keep the barrier open, wasting time and energy.

The group focused on offense rushed up the slopes towards the Order. The Order wouldn't just let them move as they pleased, of course. Those who could attack from afar bombarded the enemy, while those who needed to fight up close were positioned at key points on the slopes to intercept the enemies. There were further formations to aid them beyond the sect-encompassing barrier, augmenting their own offense and defense.

They would need every bit of advantage they could get. The initial clash of cultivators showed the Ascension cultivators completely overpowering their Life Transformation cultivators. Grand Elder Zajoc was covered by black and red flames, only barely resisting incineration. Matousek collided with the man with two voices. She appeared as a brightly burning fire, but did not physically transform unlike her opponent who was a tornado of blood and darkness. She somehow managed to get a cut with the halberd she wielded, forcing the man back. Her arms were covered in holes, drained of blood and dessicated. Meanwhile, the man briefly returned to his normal form, where his mask was broken and robes torn. Little harm came to the man himself, but his form was revealed to be blackened and charred all over from a previous battle.

Few could recognize him, as most who in the battle of Black Soul Valley had perished there or in later battles. However, the man was revealed as the head of branch of the Twin Soul Sect previously located in Ofrurg. He had ascended during the battle, while at the same time killing the head of the Flying Blood Cult… whose technique he seemed to have absorbed. Only a small patch of skin on his neck was unburned, testament to Grand Elder Kunibert holding him in place for Vandale to bombard with attacks. It hadn't been quite enough then… and now he was Ascended, with Vandale nowhere in sight. The others weren't something that could easily be ignored either. The whole of the Order understood that they might not survive this battle… but if they didn't, they at least were going to weaken everyone to the best of their ability so the next sect could have a chance.

Chapter 347

Though the invaders were through the Order's defensive barrier- or were about to be- there were still numerous options available to them. That included the formations which might do many things Anton didn't know about… and some smaller but no less impactful options.

As cultivators on both sides began dying on the frontlines, the Ascension cultivators were the focus of the battle. Without them the enemy forces were still very powerful, but not enough to take out the strongest members of the Order with a slight distraction. As it was, everyone had to be wary of them, and they attempted to take advantage of it.

Grand Elder Matousek was one of the oldest members of the Order, and had reached late Life Transformation so she was also one of the strongest. A whirling tornado of darkness and blood was cutting through the ranks and she had moved to stop it, bright fire holding him back. Their energies clashed, one without a direct physical form and the other barely protecting her vulnerable body. When it took too long to overwhelm her, the Ascension cultivator tried to push past her, seemingly uninterested in continuing the conflict. Matousek wouldn't let that happen, reaching out her hands to grab onto the insubstantial figure.

Though her actual hands added little to the equation, the projection of them that reached out had greater success, trapping a portion of the cultivator's energies. There were limitations to how such cultivators could function. She wasn't sure how far apart the vortex could stretch, but leaving behind a good third of it would be terrible regardless. For the man with two voices, anyway. If she could just destroy the third of his energy that she was holding onto, it would be a win regardless of what else happened.

He clearly wasn't going to let that happen, pulling back together into a smaller cloud of blood and darkness. Then his form condensed. A moment later spears of blackness pierced through Grand Elder Matousek. They seemed to be leeching something from her, but she still refused to let go of what she had captured, the fire burning around her.

It was entirely possible that neither of them noticed what was happening beyond the two of them. Matousek wasn't going to last long, but taking her out wasn't devoid of effort. Such self-sacrificial tactics would be heavily discouraged in any other situation, but when facing overwhelming odds, dying to take out a greater foe was perhaps the best possible option.

Those who came to her aid were too late. Soon enough, black veins began to bulge within Matousek's face, while every other part of her began to wither. She didn't have the intensity to end her life in an explosion like Vandale, but there was a final flare that covered the man. The detached portion of his power returned to him in tatters, and his clothing was destroyed even further… forcing the critters marching up it to leap onto him.

Even as the first bites of the ants started to pierce into his flesh he released a great burst of energy. A nearby compound of buildings was flattened in the explosions, and cultivators on both sides died. And the ants… continued to bite. The man screamed in rage, two voices echoing outward before he suddenly turned into the whirlwind of blood and darkness once more. That freed him from the ants, but they all got one final bite into his energy, pulling it away.

Around the battlefield the tiny energy resistant beings revealed themselves, primarily targeting the Ascension cultivators. There were enough of them to also attack some of the Life Transformation cultivators as well. But despite their strong resistance to energy, they weren't invincible.

They were larger than normal ants- some the size of a knuckle or more. That also made it easier to crush them, or attack them with a conventional weapon. It wasn't efficient but ultimately their body structures were easily defeated by human cultivators. They began to perish rapidly, but were a startling change to the battlefield to cause any injuries to the Ascension cultivators- and to nibble away at their energy reserves.

The invaders still possessed overwhelming force and continued to push their way inward. Soon enough they were at the core of the sect- not the peak where the elders lived, but the lower part of the mountain with the various functional buildings. Including the rewards hall and the armory.

Elder Evan stood guard outside the armory, making all he could of his Essence Collection cultivation. Other members of the Order stood guard as well, but they were barely able to withstand the assault. The moment that spelled their doom was when the enemies finished making their way in, freeing the two Ascension cultivators who had been tearing open the barrier repeatedly. The earth trembled as a giant of a man flexed his power, charging forward towards where hundreds of pieces of equipment lay.

The guards could not stand, flinging themselves to the side. The shockwave of the man's movements still killed and injured many weaker disciples, but there was no point in dying without being able to at least slow him down.

Then he was in the armory, where hundreds of weapons could clearly be felt. As for why the Order kept so many instead of handing them out to their disciples… it was simply the most efficient method. None of the best pieces of equipment remained. Just enough that their aura could be amplified. As the large man barreled inside, he charged towards the lone figure inside, barely considering the shield held up to stop him. And then he ceased moving.

Not of his own volition, but because his momentum was canceled out. Partly by the figure in front of him, but more by the formation in the area. The sudden forced the entire rebound of the man's movement into himself, though a number of scattered enchanted weapons shattered as they gave of themselves to power the formation.

Timothy and the few others inside the armory for the ambush converged on the Ascension cultivator. While he was still staggered from the backlash Timothy stabbed his sword towards the man's throat. He barely managed to touch his skin, but cutting through the man's defensive energy was good enough for him. Without the formation suppressing the man he might have not even done that, but doing anything to someone so much stronger was nearly a miracle. The combined attacks of several Essence Collection cultivators forced the man to divert some attention to them.

He regained his bearings in an instant, but as he stomped his foot on the ground he found that his energy didn't propagate as he expected. The surrounding cultivators barring Timothy were forced a step back, but none of them were rent asunder or sent flying. "Fine then!" The man yelled, raising a gauntleted fist, "I'll do this one at a time."

As his fist came towards Timothy, he realized how lucky he was. If it had been one of the other Ascension cultivators he might have been poorly suited to fight them. He was also lucky that his wife was currently the formation master of the Order and took special care in the area, knowing it would be where he would be fighting.

The gauntlet directly impacted Timothy's shield, and he rebounded as much of the force as he could. Nice, straightforward, and easy to predict. It still left a dent in Timothy's shield, and he would run out of energy before his opponent if it were just the two of them… but not being instantly annihilated was good. Even his anti-ascension shield technique could only negate some of the overwhelming energy.

Elsewhere, Hoyt felt an ominous energy approaching. A hundred meters away, a black and red tornado solidified into a person. "You… are a descendant of Vandale, correct?"

Hoyt just glared at him. His differences with his grandfather had been resolved, but the entire core of them was not wanting to be thought about only in relation to him. Still, he couldn't deny it. "That's right. I'll show you!" Hoyt hefted his axe, flames swirling around him. He couldn't claim to be stronger than Grand Elder Matousek, but the man was not without injuries. Blood and ascension energy were slowly leaking out of the man. Hoyt realized that stalling might be a better option, and shifted his stance. "But who are you? I don't recognize you."

"Who am I?" The voices screeched. "I"m the great leader of-" the man's face distorted as he spoke two sentences simultaneously. "The Flying Blood Cult/Black Soul Valley". He grimaced. "Your grandfather interrupted my ceremony, where I was supposed to ascend without issues!"

"I see," Hoyt nodded. "So which one is the real you, then?"

"I'm-" the man's face twisted. "Not going to fall for that." Then he leapt to the attack. Instead of turning fully into a vortex of life and blood draining energies, he simply extended curving spikes of it from himself. Moving the last hundred meters only took an instant.

Hoyt was ready, at least, meeting him with his axe and a wall of flame.

Across the battlefield, Anton was finding himself on the run. He didn't even have time to turn and face his opponent, though he still devoted a small portion of his energy to firing arrows behind himself with his 'extra' bows. A great wave of water was constantly moving after him, having designated him some sort of important target. Inside of it was one of the most unassuming of the Ascension cultivators, the woman who wielded a small spear. Anton absolutely couldn't let her get close, as a single blow would certainly take him out. He maneuvered his way through the battlefield past allies who had a spare bit of effort to help slow her down.

There were also other arrows focusing in on her. Antons made up only a portion. Marcio Armani and some of his fellow archery students were focusing on her as well. It was uncertain if it was the most efficient tactic, but working together to take down ascension cultivators was the plan to begin with, and he wasn't going to complain about the assistance. There were also occasional arrows from Kseniya, slowing down the woman every time she was about to catch up to Anton.

Unfortunately there were only so many places he could go. He was still fighting, even though it didn't look like it. He was considering if he had any special arrows that might help, but ultimately decided that they would have difficulty piercing the great mass of watery energy around her. So he chipped away at it, disrupting the energy more than destroying it.

When he found the chance, Anton spun on his heels, gathering ascension energy into his bow. A single arrow could briefly provide some real threat to an actual Ascension cultivator, he hoped. It actually managed to get close to her, and though she stabbed straight through it with her short spear, a shot from Kseniya managed to sneak through and hit her in the thigh, actually piercing a centimeter or so into the muscle. Not an optimal target, but it was something.

In the distance, Alva wanted to have Fuzz run after her grandfather. However, she knew that wasn't the best spot for her. After some initial assistance he had moved too far, and she would do better to help deal with the last Ascension cultivator. She had managed to reach Life Transformation herself, though she was a few years behind the others. Fuzz was hard to measure, but he was far from an ordinary beast. Even so, they couldn't defeat an Ascension cultivator with just them. But they were contributing towards the fifth member.

Specifically, finding them. They were some sort of illusionist. Not surprising, given what the Twin Soul Sect was known to do. The illusions covered every sense, even smell, but it was imperfect. The formations also helped, making the enemies unable to completely override the Order's senses on a wider scale. Even so, the last woman had caused a few people to attack each other.

Alva's job was to shoot anywhere that Fuzz pointed. She didn't always know what distance, but she had a vague idea of where the enemy was. Fuzz ran around at a speed even Ascension cultivators couldn't casually match. Fuzz hadn't pointed to her in a few moments and Alva wondered where to fire, when Fuzz stopped and snapped his jaws. She snap-fired her bow right in front of them, but that barely did anything except disturb the illusion. She swallowed as she was suddenly less confident in Fuzz' movement keeping her safe.

Chapter 348

Somewhere in front of Fuzz was a woman concealed by illusions. Alva tried to fire her bow where she thought the enemy might be while Fuzz swiped his paws at her. She considered running, but if the woman could catch up to Fuzz unseen staying together with him was better. Alva followed the woman's movements by the damage appearing on Fuzz, first some cuts along his snout and then one under his left shoulder. Even as she was registering that wound appearing, Alva was shooting immediately to her side, hoping to hit the hidden woman.

A slight weight was lifted from her shoulder as she saw a black blur the size of a mouse move past her. Alva had nearly forgotten- no, she had completely put it out of her mind- about the ant her grandfather had forced her to take along. And not just any ant. The queen ant was far from any image Alva had of an ant. They were either supposed to be on the millimeter scale… or a giant beast of some kind. Ants slightly longer than her finger were unnatural but not at all what anyone expected. That included the Ascension cultivator who stumbled backwards with a scream as her eye was sliced open.

Alva immediately shot an arrow as close as she could to the ant queen at her revealed opponent. Fuzz was leaping away to the side, ignoring her injured leg, but Alva was used to his movements. As she hung in the air for a moment, her first shot nearly made it through the hole in the woman's defensive energy. It wasn't enough, and she fired several more in succession.

The woman who had been concealing herself with illusory techniques tried to shake off the Great Queen. How foolish of her. The Great Queen was able to grip onto sheer glass in a tornado, the force of some neck muscles wouldn't do much. But the cultivator had found herself in a panic at running into truly unforeseen circumstances. They were all so reliant on their energy sensing everything around them, giving them warnings of approaching enemies. Few could even notice something jumping straight at their face without it.

To be fair, the Great Queen was a prime specimen. Among the ants her strength and speed were unmatched. In truth, her position was something of an abnormality since she didn't oversee a single nest herself, but instead guided her daughters. To survive they had to get along with the cultivators, but that didn't mean all of them. These invaders were foe to the entire world… and oh so tasty.

The chunk of the woman's eye the Great Queen had snatched was nothing special. No better than a deer or pig or any animal. But the energy she had… it was the same as Anton's. Which meant they were the most important targets. The Great Queen speedily added wound after wound on the woman's face. If she had one weakness… no, the Great Queen had no weaknesses. But if she were to have another strength, she would have preferred a greater size.

Finally the woman grabbed her directly, attempting to crush her. The woman flung the Great Queen to the ground below and stomped on her. But she was not crushed by her grip nor her feet. The woman was no stronger than Anton in terms of bodily power, and while many of the lesser brethren would have been annihilated by such an attack the Great Queen was the oldest and mightiest of them all. By default, since every one of the rest were her descendents, but still. Her exoskeleton was durable, built through a diet of fine energies over the course of decades.

The woman also didn't seem to understand that the Great Queen cared not one bit for how much of this 'Ascension Energy' barreled down upon her. It was merely food to be snatched up at her leisure. But for the sake of her weaker allies, she would focus on other tactics.

She shoved herself out of the dirt to the side, not because she needed to avoid the incoming stomp but because it was inconvenient to be directly below a foot. Instead she grabbed onto the side of the woman's shoe as it came down. It seemed to be made out of some special material, but to the Great Queen what mattered was that it did not go much above the ankle. She skittered up a body length and slipped her head under some defensive layers, nibbling at some important bits.

Humans were so strange, with all of their important parts accessible without hard shells. Those that had hard shells were unnatural and not nearly so complete in their coverage as they assumed.

When the dagger stabbed into the Great Queen's back, she felt it. That actually hurt. It didn't pierce all the way through her exoskeleton, but she hastened her journey inside the woman's lower armor until she was fully covered. Then she resumed her assault.

It was impossible for Hoyt to face an Ascension cultivator alone, even with the effects of the formation. However, he didn't have to. He was surrounded by allies, the strange dual-man having come deep into their defenses to seek him out. Flames filled the area, but Hoyt had studied with the cultivators of the Glorious Flame Palace and could exclusively harm foes if that was his wish. The small decreases in effectiveness were worth it for having allies be comfortable around you.

His axe wasn't much good for parrying, but the man's attacks weren't solid regardless. Streams of blood and darkness that sought to burrow into Hoyt and draw out everything that made him alive were the actual threat, not the man's fists. Two of the Order's Life Transformation elders were backing him up, wielding spears to restrict the man's movement. Hoyt could feel their conviction… and the way they were burning their power to fight higher than their normal effectiveness. Hoyt was prepared to die in this battle so that the sect could survive, but they were prepared to die for him. Not because he was Vandale's grandson, or at least not exclusively, but because he was part of the future of the sect. If they survived, Hoyt and the others in his generation would usher in a new era for the Order.

Hoyt swept his axe in a wide arc, sending a burst of flames out in front of him. While the two elders might be willing to give themselves up for him, he would much prefer they survived. He had never been holding back, but a new conviction inspired him to greater heights. Hopefully, it would be enough.

Alva didn't like the idea of being outdone by an ant, but then again it would have happened to anyone. It was an Ascension cultivator. Way out of her league to begin with. The Life Transformation cultivators peppered throughout the enemy forces, however… those were much more reasonable.

"Stay here, Fuzz," Alva ordered as she leapt off his back. Knowing that he wouldn't abandon her, she concluded, "Just keep away anyone who gets too close."

The tendons beneath his front shoulder were all cut up. If he wasn't so large he probably would have had the limb cut clean off by the woman. Alva gave one more glance at her and shook her head. She shouldn't worry about defeating the strongest individual, but rather achieving the most she could do.

Arrows flew out. With some actual experience using anti-ascension techniques, her understanding had grown significantly. It wasn't just those who had surpassed Life Transformation that were making use of the energy, the others were as well. But the remainder of their power was nothing impressive. Several quick shots went out, testing the defenses of different opponents. Two seemed unharmed, but everyone reacted differently. One woman simply shifted energy to block her.

She was the first target. An arrow streaked through the air. An actual arrow that was specially made to negate energy. Not in the way that the black barbed arrows did, though Alva had some of those as well. Instead, only the arrowhead was special. It was made from the chitin of the very same ants that were fighting alongside them right now. It wasn't quite as effective without being part of them, but as it pierced into the woman's upper back it did its job well enough.

The attack was meant to go into the woman's neck, but a slight deflection was an exceptional accomplishment given the circumstances. Before the woman could realize her mistake, several more arrows landed around the same area, opening a wider hole in her defenses. Some of them made it into her neck- quite deep.

She didn't die immediately, but Alva moved on to her next target. She would die, but weakening someone who could cause more trouble was a higher priority.

A shortspear and a watery woman wielding it persistently pursued Anton across the battlefield. He never stopped barraging her with shots, but there was only so much he could do.

"Your lower energy will fail you soon enough," the woman taunted him. "It would have been easier to just give up."

Anton had a response, but another voice interjected first. "Such choices are for people like you. Weaklings who can only fight against those they consider 'lower'." The words were punctuated by several arrows as Grand Elder Kseniya planted herself between the woman and Anton. "Since you didn't get my hints, I came closer. You're going to fight me, old hag."

That taunt wouldn't have been the first on Anton's mind, especially given Kseniya's apparent age being older than the woman… but it worked. Either because it was true, and the Ascension cultivator was much older than she looked… or because she was simply susceptible to such insults. Her spear was the first to speak for her, stabbing right next to Kseniya's head. "You'll regret that!"

"Will I?" Kseniya said as she shot an arrow directly towards the woman's arm from less than a meter past the front of the bow. "Try it."

Though Anton would have loved to just watch the fight, he knew Kseniya wouldn't be enough on her own. He was humble enough to get some more distance, especially since not doing so would be wasting Kseniya's efforts. Then he began to contribute his own string of attacks, while Kseniya somehow managed to avoid being impaled over and over again.

A large man leapt up in the air, slamming his heel down on Timothy's shield. He was reflected backwards, flying several dozen meters into the distance. Timothy understood that the man was trying to force him against the ground, and it was a fairly reasonable idea, but most of the man's power was lost without firm footing. Timothy took a slow breath, steadying himself. Just because the man hadn't killed him yet didn't mean he was winning. Frankly it was a miracle he had held on for so long.

Catarina's formations had to be part of it, but he felt there was something else. Their side was doing… a little too well. He didn't have a bad feeling about the circumstances like it was all a massive deception. It wasn't as if their side was going without losses, but overall things were going well. With the allies he could see Timothy knew he was still going to lose this particular part of the battle, but overall they might actually have a chance.

Apparently he had decided he had enough with how things were going, the large man began to gather a huge amount of power. If he were anywhere close in cultivation to Timothy, telegraphing such an attack would be a death sentence. Unfortunately, Timothy had nothing to rely upon but his blocking techniques. They were extremely effective against raw power… up until the point he could no longer withstand it.

Could he retreat? Not likely. So he just had to withstand one more. And then what? Well… at least the man would be weakened. Timothy took a stance, his sword held in front of him. He might not be able to pierce through the man's defenses as he charged, but it might slow him down just slightly and distribute the force of the attack over a longer time. Or he might dodge slightly, which would have the same effect, hopefully.

Timothy aimed his sword right for the man's incoming fist. Even with anti-ascension techniques tearing away at the man's power, he didn't even cut a hair. As the man's fist impacted his shield, Timothy felt his arm shatter. A moment later, he was extremely relieved at that… because he was still alive.

His opponent was technically alive as well, but the wide gouge on his throat indicated he probably wouldn't stay that way. Velvet had already pulled away after her attack, but the rest of those inside the area had also done their best to take advantage of the opening, forcing him to spend effort defending everywhere else.

Timothy had known Velvet was around, but she was able to hide well enough to make him feel like she wasn't there at all. Unfortunately she was vulnerable after an attack, especially a big one like that. Black flames tore through the side of the building and towards Velvet. The formation was supposed to keep people out… but the fact that they basically took down a single Ascension cultivator with it was enough. If Timothy lived, he'd make sure to complement his wife on the setup.

Chapter 349

A dagger stabbed downward, right into the wielder's own thigh. The Great Queen had proudly arranged herself nearby, marveling at the lack of control these cultivators had. With their energy they could immediately stop or reverse directions, but without it they might simply follow through with their momentum. Certainly the woman stopped before jabbing the dagger terribly deep into herself, but it was amusing nonetheless.

Though the Great Queen considered the battle won already, she did not begrudge those who chose to lend her assistance. While the woman was distracted and vulnerable they attacked with weapons of their own, and each time the woman summoned her energy to fend off their attacks the Great Queen took a portion for herself. Even though the woman seemed to understand how the Great Queen functioned now, she was unable to do anything about it.

… The Great Queen didn't count her leg nearly being taken off by an unexpectedly fast stab. This cultivator could still enhance her speed, even their energy couldn't enhance their cutting power. Moving around to awkward to reach locations was best, places like the rear of the thigh… or the Great Queen's next target, the lower back. While the woman was briefly distracted by something silly like a 'sword' or 'spear' or a few of each, the Great Queen continued to work her way under the woman's armor to her target. Then she bit down.

It was not quite so effective as it would have been had the Great Queen been able to reach the upper spine, but despite humans only having two legs the loss was catastrophic to their functionality. The woman fell forward, and though she quickly flipped herself onto her back her exhausted energy was unable to keep up with the incoming attacks. The Great Queen hungrily snatched up any ascension energy she could reach until everything stopped. Then she took a few moments to relax and digest some of the energy. Marvelous. Now it was time to look for the next target.

It was perfectly reasonable for the man who was a swirling mass of blood and darkness to ignore a buck deer charging at him. Its energy was at most comparable to a Spirit Building cultivator, irrelevant to him. Hoyt did his very best to not look relieved at the approaching creature, which was helped by the fact that he was still very much on his back foot.

The horns of a deer were normally rounded, if still capable of serious impact. These particular deer had horns like blades, which was only relevant if they could cause damage to begin with. When the buck charged into the mass of mostly intangible energy it should have done very little. Indeed, its horns simply slipped through the area without even pulling any of it apart.

However, a moment later the form of the twin-voiced man coalesced out of the mass, landing unsteadily on his feet. At the same time as the man shot out a spear of blackness, piercing through the deer, Hoyt chopped with his axe towards the man's torso. His attack was caught with a single hand, but the man's energy was still chaotic. A line of blood was the first sign, and then flames caught on the previously burned skin, working their way up the man's arm.

The buck died nearly instantly. It was unfortunate, but they did not have the defensive capabilities of the ants. Even miniscule amounts of ascension energy targeted at them could kill them… but the momentary distraction was worth the sacrifice. It was a trade the human cultivators would and had done previously in the battle, though not always to the same effect.

Hoyt had hoped to slay the man or at least cut through his blocking hand- but any amount of damage and disruption to his energy would have to do. While the man dispersed the fire, Hoyt pulled back to take a moment to steady himself. One step at a time would have to do.

Though Anton was suitably impressed by Kseniya's ability to dodge the shortspear, he knew she couldn't keep it up forever. Her opponent outclassed her in terms of energy, and even with the effects of the formation bringing them closer together they would eventually get a hit, lucky or not. He was making use of everything he had. He had access to enough ascension energy that he could get a couple more shots in before he ran out of that. Each was less powerful than a proper Ascension cultivator's attack, but it was still worthwhile.

What else was there? He had a few special arrows. Ant chitin arrows would be included with everything else. They at least made the woman take a moment to dodge instead of attacking Kseniya. Then what?

There were actual ants on the ground near him, then climbing up him. Having seen how effective they were in combat he was a bit weirded out. It was like having knives drawn across his skin. Even if it was by someone he trusted… he's prefer to avoid it. But they seemed to have a goal. That goal was… Anton's quiver?

They swarmed over one arrow in particular. It wasn't special, really. In fact, Anton forgot he had it. It was just made of a particularly durable wood, high quality… a bit heavy. But it wouldn't hurt to shoot it, since the ants chose it. He pulled it out. Then he gave it a little shake. "I'll shoot it but you need to get off the arrow."

The ants shuffled around so that they were only on one side of it. That… Anton didn't bother to think about it. They either knew what they were doing or he was wasting his time. He nocked the arrow and gathered as much natural energy as he could around it… which wasn't much, considering its riders. But perhaps that was why they chose such a heavy arrow. It could hold a greater momentum than the others, making up for their mass.

As the arrow flew through the air, Anton did his best to direct it towards the woman fighting Kseniya. Though the ants themselves wouldn't show up in her senses, an arrow with a very odd arrangement of energy would. The woman seemed to have learned from other events on the battlefield and turned her head. The distraction allowed Kseniya to get a small amount of distance moving through the watery aura of the woman… and to shoot several arrows into the woman's back, one of which actually cracked a rib.

Shortspear collided with arrow, its diameter large enough to completely obliterate the ants in its path. They were not nearly as powerful as the queen, and a moderate amount of physical force would be enough to kill them. But even as her spear approached and Anton tried to avoid it, they grabbed onto each other, fanning out like a web. The ones in the center were annihilated, but the rest continued forward, latching onto the woman's arm.

They were hardly bigger than natural ants, their mouths just large enough to gnaw at the woman's skin. But they did so. When her other hand slapped down on her forearm to crush them, those between her fingers latched onto her other limb. Dozens more had died, but dealing with them would take precious moments she really couldn't afford to spend in the middle of combat.

Kseniya had already taken the moment to prepare a singular, powerful shot. That was much unlike her in Anton's estimation, but he felt the elegance of how her power condensed. She was merely a hundred meters away, and the Ascension cultivator decided she was the priority target.

An instant later the shot was fired, but Kseniya's focus didn't allow her to avoid the incoming spear as it stabbed into her lower abdomen. Ascension energy should have destroyed her from the inside out, but the plethora of ants along her arm greatly limited the flow of energy there, even if they hadn't been able to stop her movement. The shot, meanwhile, had pierced through the edge of the woman's ribcage, cutting a slice along her lung. Not enough to be deadly, but certainly a step towards it.

Then Kseniya did the strangest move yet. Even as she was reaching for another arrow, she dropped her bow. With her left hand she grabbed onto the spear, while the arrow in her right was thrust towards the woman like a was a brief moment where the woman attempted to pull her spear away, but the very limited flow of energy to that spot and the fact that some of the ants had gotten through the skin layer made her reconsider. She dropped the spear to avoid being stabbed by the ant chitin tipped arrow, launching herself backwards.

The woman was much more concerned about the ants' progress, squeezing her hand tightly around her forearm and dragging it. The ants immediately crushed between her hand and arm perished, while the others were mostly flung away. She proceeded to try the same with her other arm while Kseniya pulled the shortspear out of her gut… and proceeded to nock it like an arrow in her bow which she had kicked back up into her hand.

Anton stopped shooting for a moment, but in every bow he nocked an arrow of light. If his prediction was wrong he was just wasting time, but he had a feeling…

The spear-arrow launched at the woman, who stared at it completely unconcerned. With a final flick of her arm she removed most of the remaining ants, then stretched out her arm. From the spear moving towards her with deadly intent to being grasped in her hand like it had never left was only a single instant. The weapon was never in the intervening distance. With such a connection, a warrior could never be truly separated from their weapon. But it did require an amount of concentration and will, during which the woman's defenses dropped.

The arrows didn't quite move at the speed of light. They were unfortunately weaker than his normal shots, partly because he didn't want to telegraph them too clearly and partly because that was a sacrifice made. But a dozen arrows still struck the woman, targeting her kidneys, stomach, and all of her guts below her ribcage. Her eyes would have been better, but Anton wasn't willing to risk an instant of circling around.

For a moment the woman stood strong, as if unaffected… but then she fell. A moment later, Kseniya collapsed to her knees, clutching her side.

The gout of black-orange flames washed over Velvet. Timothy could only be certain that the worst didn't happen because he lost track of her. He knew she would be wounded, but she wasn't a body on the floor or a pile of ash… and that would have to be enough.

He raised his shield as he faced the woman who had just unleashed those flames. Unfortunately, she was the type he was not effective in a battle against. Fluid, wide-area attacks were much harder to deal with. And extremely hard to reflect back.

A cone of flame washed over Timothy. The circumference of his shield was augmented by his energy to be as tall as he was, and he crouched down slightly to limit his profile. He wasn't going to last long like this, but holding his defensive stance was better than letting the woman freely kill him.

Instead of persisting with her course of action, the woman stopped. The same orange-black fire still surrounded her as she stared at him. "Hmm. How annoying."

The following movements weren't something Timothy could keep track of, and a moment later he was gripped from behind, one hand clutching his neck. At least he hadn't made the mistake of lowering his defenses in other places, or he would probably have instantly broken apart. Even so, the speed at which he was mustering his energy to protect himself was vastly overwhelmed by the amount of flames surrounding him. Just as he was about to run out of energy, the entire power of the sect's defensive formation focused on him.

"Hands off my husband," Catarina said as she thrust forward with her sword. She didn't actually give the woman the opportunity to let go, though. It was irresponsible to direct all of the formation to protect Timothy, but she didn't care. But it was also excessive, so she focused the suppressive part on the woman, rendering her unable to move, even if just for an instant.

Chapter 350

Black flames spewed in all directions as the Ascension cultivator broke through the condensed power of the formation, but not before Catarina pierced through her side, stabbing through ribs and into her lung. Her sword did not reach all the way to the woman's heart, but the black flames were unable to reach towards either Catarina or Timothy. As the barrier portion of the formation attempted to reform around the woman, she kept it away with her power, fleeing from the area.

Catarina chased after her, holding her focus on the restrictions of the formation suppressing the woman. That prevented her from counterattacking, but as it was no longer a case of ambush it was difficult to hold her in place. The formation hadn't been designed for that function, and as she lost proximity to the woman the restrictions weakened and the gap began to widen as the woman sped up.

The loss of the formation suppressing their enemies and augmenting their allies should have turned the battle against the Order, but the sudden change in scenery instead sparked a general retreat of the remaining forces. Three Ascension cultivators had been slain while the other two were wounded, but the remaining Life Transformation and Essence Collection cultivators had sufficient power to defeat the Order. Yet they retreated nonetheless. They weren't allowed to go freely, but as the cultivators began to scatter the Order focused on those who were easiest to catch. Once the rest were beyond the borders of their land, they didn't have the fortitude to chase them much further… a few lone arrows being the exception.

Allowing them to regroup in the countryside was not what anyone wanted, but the only possibility of chasing after them was utter annihilation. And while some of the invaders seemed to be gathering towards the nearby city of Edelhull… they would find it much more than a typical city.

Not long after the invaders left, there was a great cracking sound, and Catarina sighed in relief. Condensing the power of the formation onto one of the Ascension cultivators hadn't necessarily been the correct move, but it wasn't entirely uncalculated either. The majority of the main formation wasn't going to last anyway, and it was better that it was intentionally withdrawn instead of… annihilated. "I suppose that's the best I can do," Catarina commented to no one in particular.

An arm wrapped around her shoulder. It was a comforting gesture, but Timothy also needed it to physically support himself. "To be honest, I wasn't expecting to survive today. For anyone to."

"I don't know why we did," Catarina said honestly. "They still seemed to be able to overpower us."

After the battle, casualties were determined. Only a few anomalies were without injuries, ranging from more on the minor side to lingering wounds which might yet kill people. Normally a cultivator who survived a battle would be able to live on with the proper application of precious medicines, but they simply didn't have enough for everyone, despite their best efforts to prepare. And recovery medicines hadn't been at the top of their mind, since those were only useful if they survived.

As for the dead… close to a third of the Order had perished, from the very top of their Grand Elders all the way down to their Body Tempering cultivators. The latter were fortunate to have been treated as unimportant for the most part, as they were unable to influence the battle in a significant manner. Grand Elder Matousek was among the dead, but Kseniya survived… though her injuries were dire.

Another third of the members would be unable to fight for some time, either to injuries or complete exhaustion and often overtaxation of their energy. That left a small portion that were able to fight to some extent, but they were needed to help deal with all of the others.

Most of the invaders who didn't flee had died in the battle, but most of the others were killed. The Order simply didn't have the ability to watch over or imprison a large number of enemy cultivators. A few were picked out based on perceived importance compared to their actual cultivation strength. They would be interrogated later.

The dead invaders were stripped bare of their belongings and thrown into a massive pile, which was subsequently planned to be burned. They did not deserve the effort or dignity of being buried, even in a mass grave.

On the other hand, the Order had some of their number digging graves for their own dead. Anton was among them, moving almost mechanically. He only had the strength to move his body and little more, but he would rather exhaust himself this way than sit around doing nothing. One by one, his companions approached him. "You don't have to do this," Hoyt said. "I know it must remind you of-"

"No," Anton shook his head. "I need to do this. Precisely because of Dungannon." He held himself up high. "Because it's different. Look around us, what do you see?"

"Death and destruction," Hoyt shook his head. "For no reason at all."

"That's true," Anton agreed. "But what I see is every single person who survived. This time, I fought." He stabbed his shovel into the ground to punctuate his point, digging up a massive scoopful of dirt. "I'm not alone, dealing with destruction I could do nothing about. Those buildings in ruins there?" Anton gestured. "Pointless garbage. Everyone here was snatched from the jaws of death. Perhaps it could have been more. None of this should have happened but… we're alive. For now."

"About that," Hoyt looked around carefully, then lowered his voice. "Why do you think they retreated? People are wondering…"

"That one's easy," Anton retorted. "Think about it for a second. If they had stayed to fight, what would they gain?"

"All of our resources… which was theoretically the entire reason they were here."

"Would they?" Anton asked. "Disregarding the fact that we consumed most of them to augment the sect, only those who survived would get anything. And they didn't want to win. They wanted to crush us. They weren't expecting a real fight. Obviously some of them would die, but this… we made them know that any of them could die. Not just the guy next to them, but them." Anton's face turned into a mirthless smile. "And they were afraid. Afraid to die, because this place doesn't mean anything to them." He stabbed his shovel into the ground to begin the next grave.

"I see," Hoyt said. "I didn't think about that. It's everything to us, but to them… we're just another fortuitous opportunity to try to snatch up." He held out his hand, "I can do some as well."

Anton shook his head, "You're welcome to get your own, but I'm doing this until the job's done. I don't… hate it so much as the others. I have buried many others throughout the years." His face melted into an actual smile as he thought of Janina and the time they had together. "Not all deaths have to be bad. I'd prefer to be here, thinking of what these people accomplished."

Though it would take years to actually put things back together, cultivators were tough. Their dead were buried within a day, those who could still move around split between those taking guard and those working while the rest recovered as much as they could. The abundant natural energy that filled the Order's lands was absorbed continuously, but it did not dry up. More flowed in from the surroundings, deep and strong and seemingly limitless. It was not, of course, truly without limit- but the changes to the world allowed for such a phenomenon.

The invaders had been allowed to leave, but the Order wasn't content to just sit back and let them do as they pleased. They still took their duties to the people of Graotan very seriously, but running themselves into the ground wouldn't help. And the rest of Graotan wasn't exactly defenseless.

As they had sensed, a portion of the invaders had made their way towards Edelhull and the surrounding countryside… where they had been quickly repelled. The Order was a powerful sect formed from thousands of like-minded cultivators, but Edelhull was a city. Even before the recent decades of explosive growth they had tens of thousands of citizens. The invasion had caused an influx of people from the surrounding countryside, swelling their numbers to over a hundred thousand. And they were basically all cultivators, to some extent or another.

Even if most of them would not be trained to fight as well as a combat focused cultivator, the city still had a startling number of Body Tempering and Spirit Building cultivators. Even Essence Collection cultivators were more numerous there than in the Order- with the caveat that they bunched up towards the early part of the stage, representing the limits of what the average person could achieve over the course of decades.

It was unfortunately the case that some of the surrounding towns and villages were attacked, but such efforts were halfhearted at best… and the people fought back viciously. News was coming in from afar that there were other groups in Graotan- and across the nearby western and southern borders. But in a way, that was good news as well. Others had survived to bring messages, even if the messages were ill tidings.

But just because they had repelled a single attack didn't mean the Order was in the clear. No doubt the invaders would regroup and attack them once more… or join up with other forces and ravage Graotan or the rest of the continent. Surviving wasn't winning… but the enemy wasn't invincible.

A week later found Anton firing Spirit Arrows beyond sight. They were shot with killing intent, though not the expectation of getting a kill. Nor was he in any rush. The enemy forces already knew where they were, or he would not have given away their position with his attacks. It was possible for him to take a circuitous route in his attacks, but that limited the actual range he could be. Having nearly died to an Ascension cultivator, Anton wanted to stay as far away from them as possible.

"Ah," Anton said as he lowered his bow. "Look like I'm done for now."

"I thought the point was to keep harassing them so they can't recover," Timothy commented. "I know you're not firing any faster than you can sustain…"

"They put up a formation," Catarina commented. "It's not much, but whether or not he bombards it the duration will be quite similar."

"Exactly," Anton said. "Also, you can sense it?"

"Of course, it's my area of specialty. I'm mostly guessing about the quality. It kind of feels weak, compared to what I think they should be able to put up, but they didn't have formation masters among them."

It wasn't just the normal squad out harassing the invaders. That would be suicidal. Instead, they had about half of the Order's forces. Those who were uninjured and not assigned to protecting said injured, at least. Their group did happen to make up all of the Life Transformation cultivators, however. Anton wasn't sure if they had been drawn together by fate or coincidence, or if their talents had fed into each other… but either way, a group that all reached Life Transformation within less than forty years was an exception and had greatly inflated the Order's numbers.

The rate of advancement had also been higher outside of their group, but that had only amounted to an average of one Life Transformation expert every few years in the Order. That was significantly higher than the one-per-decade of the previous 'generation', but it could have been related to heading towards times of trouble.

Anton took another shot towards the barrier. It wasn't meant to do any damage, just be loud and visible so nobody could relax. It still wasn't entirely clear if the Ascension cultivators could recover energy as it had to be approximated from afar, but if they could it was not a quick process. That seemed to be true to a lesser extent for the other invaders. They were accustomed to a majority of ascension energy, and couldn't quite function properly in a world full of 'lower energy'.

So far the Order's interrogations hadn't yielded much information. Even if they were willing to go beyond their normal moral limits, the fact that they stuck to the tenets of a righteous sect meant they wouldn't know how to torture people. And if they did, they knew they would likely get inaccurate information. There were plans to take their prisoners to the Frostmirror sect or equivalently morally ambiguous allies, but the members of the Order weren't willing able to venture more than a few dozen kilometers through Graotan, with the current presence of invaders. Even now Anton could feel several groups, though most didn't appear to be so strong as the one that attacked the Order.

Another arrow, a reminder to the invaders and himself that he would not let things happen without fighting back. And neither would the rest of the world.

Chapter 351

Tracking all of the invaders was impossible, but the particular group that had attacked the Order had been marked by the formation. Or rather, a separate more subtle one unrelated to the sect-wide barrier. The latter was nothing more than scrap now, its power and its future expended. Perhaps utilizing Everheart's techniques hadn't been efficient, but they had needed every scrap of power the formation had been able to provide.

Now came the process of organizing the rest of Graotan to fight. Agreements had been drawn up before the time of the invasion, but because they could not know precisely where attackers would be coming, each sect and large settlement generally saw to their own defenses. It wasn't efficient, but few people could be convinced to abandon their homes. The attacks had mainly focused on larger cultivation sects, but by the time that had been determined it was too late to mobilize large numbers of people.

Now the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars was organizing with Edelhull and other nearby cities to make a march towards Stregate, with whom they had lost contact. Stregate and Windrip had grown together into a sort of unified whole, and they were either a critical location to provide assistance to, or a source of many potential forces. Possibly both.

The harassing tactics of the Order had pushed local enemy invaders away, but that made it even more of a priority to organize everyone they could from the city militias. The state of the world was unknown, but if similar invading forces had arrived at the major sects- and only major sects- the world was in a desperate state. Things were clearly better than the potential utter annihilation had they not prepared, but organizing forces was now key.

The damaged walls of Edelhull were still startling to Ghadir, no matter how many times she walked past them. No conflict had come to the city in her lifetime. How could it, with the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars a stone's throw away?

At first the call for guards had gone out, it seemed rather silly. But with people in general beginning to cultivate, it seemed a worthwhile endeavor. Those assigned inside the city were indeed necessary for stability, but a post on the walls… that was just a stable, riskless endeavor.

Ghadir had been assigned to both streets and walls many times in her career, happily collecting an ever increasing pay as her cultivation steadily improved. She trained to fight and even ended up in a few scuffles throughout the city, but she still found it hard to believe the news of some invasion coming, years away.

By the time everyone began to feel it, it was too late to regret days spent slacking off on training. Ghadir personally thought that nobody could push their limits every day. She had still taken cultivation seriously, but when the time came… it wasn't enough.

With the Order nearby, she had felt the strongest cultivators passing by, whether they came through the city or not. She at least had a general sense when Essence Collection or Life Transformation experts got close enough, even if she couldn't clearly identify them. There were Essence Collection cultivators among the city guard, and when the invasion approached their official transition into a militia had attracted a captain who was in Life Transformation. She had felt safe, knowing that the invaders couldn't possibly harm them… but she was wrong.

The attackers who came to Edelhull were only a small part of those that attacked the Order directly. The city had felt the shockwaves of the battle, but it had ended before they could do more than organize their forces. Nobody was in a hurry to aid them because… they had to be fine, right? The Order had been the pinnacle of Graotan for centuries, even before the cultivation boom.

But the limits of what Ghadir knew were twisted to the point of breaking. A random portion of those who retreated towards the city still had Life Transformation cultivators among the invaders, and the devastation…

Well, Edelhull was lucky that the Order had been willing to assist with defensive formations for little cost. The city had grown greatly and the materials for the formation had seemed prohibitively expensive. Ghadir remembered people complaining about how much of their taxes were spent on them, even as most grew more wealthy. Now, nobody would complain, except maybe that there hadn't been enough.

It was the first time she experienced battle and death. People were cut down like straw, men and women who weren't any weaker than herself. Yet the initial wave of the battle was cut short when they actually repelled an assault. Holes were opened in the walls, but soldiers organized to stop those making their way through. The invaders retreated, but not before leaving a scar on the city.

Ghadir was afraid. She found it hard to imagine anyone wouldn't be. She thought the stories were exaggerated, that it couldn't be possible the whole world would be at risk. But it was. She clutched her spear tight, remembering how she had stabbed an Essence Collection cultivator with it, despite being only at the peak of Spirit Building. Calros had been involved as well, and several others. Any of them could have died, but the anti-ascension techniques worked, even on those who weren't necessarily "Ascension cultivators". Ghadir shivered at the thought of them, as even getting close to them might kill her by accident.

She was afraid… but she didn't regret her choice to go on her current life path. She just wished she'd pushed a little bit harder in training. She hadn't believed these invaders could exist, but now that they did… she couldn't stand to let them stay. She glanced over at Calros, who was likewise pacing back and forth. He nodded.

These invaders couldn't have their city, their country- their world. They would fight, though Ghadir felt insufficient to make any real difference.

It was uncanny to be part of an army where one person could shoot an arrow beyond the horizon. Not only that, the old man did so regularly, declaring something about his targets. The strangest part was that Ghadir was able to see the results for herself, when they arrived at the location sometimes up to half a day later. That was at a 'leisurely' march, of course, but it made her feel worthless. She understood, practically, that there were hundreds like her, and only a handful like him- and that together they could make a difference- but it was still difficult.

"What is it?"

Ghadir started as the old man looked at her. Had she been staring? Maybe she had been. She didn't know when she hadn't been staring lately. "Nothing, Elder Anton," she hung her head.

The man slowly made his way towards her. It could have been intimidating, if not for his gentle smile. Ghadir was assigned to a squad near the archers, though she was pretty sure she was there to just be another body getting in the way and not because anyone thought she could actually help. The old man spoke gently, "No really, I mean it. What is on your mind? You have questions about me, perhaps?"

Well, she couldn't exactly refuse to say something now. "I was just thinking…" What was something inoffensive, "How long it would take me," Ghadir hesitated. "...or someone with the proper talent at my level to reach the same level as you."

"How long do you think?" Elder Anton asked.

That… wasn't an answer. And now she had to guess. "A century? Two?"

Elder Anton snorted. "How old do you think I am, huh?" Fortunately, he didn't seem to actually want her to answer that. Cultivators could take pride in their age, but also could dislike being called old. "A hundred and thirty, more or less," he offered. "Of which, that thirty some years is how long I have cultivated. And you… two decades, perhaps?"

Ghadir's eyes widened. Could that really be true? Wasn't it difficult for people to cultivate at an advanced age? But he was right about her. "I…"

"What a shame," the man stroked his chin. "The structures in place are still lacking." He shook his head, "But what can be done in a single generation?" His focus returned to Ghadir. "You learned the modified Ninety-Nine Stars, correct?"

"Well, yes." Edelhull was immediately bordering the Order, and the Body Tempering section had been available… forever. When she was old enough to begin cultivating had been around the same time as the Order was pushing for more people to cultivate. Sometime after that they distributed a version that functioned much the same but didn't have the same signature, mostly so that its practitioners wouldn't be mistaken for actual members of the Order. "I don't really have much talent," Ghadir admitted.

"That may be true," the old man countered, "But I imagine it's more of a lack of motivation. Oh, you may have been devoted to your duty but… you didn't need to grow stronger. Not really." She turned her eyes down. That was how she'd been thinking. "But you're close to that threshold anyway. What do you know about Essence Collection?"

"Well, um… you focus on something core to you to grow stronger."

"That's basically correct," Elder Anton agreed, "But remarkably vague. An Essence is something core to you, or to what you want. That can be power, but it could be protecting people or… swords. But it has to be the most important thing. If it's not… you have to make it that."

"... I don't even know what I want most," Ghadir admitted.

"That's the hard part isn't it?" the old man said. "Unfortunately, I can't tell you that either. But I can say that it's acceptable for it to be for your own sake, or for others."

Tomorrow would be more marching, but Ghadir couldn't help but lay away in her tent. Focusing on others was obviously the more noble path. She had a brother she wanted to keep safe, and his family. The city, too- and Graotan beyond that. She hardly had experience with anything further, but nobody deserved to be weak.

Yet it didn't feel right. All she could think about was her jealousy at the strength of others. Elder Anton hadn't insulted her cultivation speed, just pointed it out accurately. Even if he had, she couldn't have blamed him. She'd been coasting along, especially in the latter part of Spirit Building. Each small increase in bodily power was difficult to attain, and she hadn't really cared to have more. More wealth would barely make a difference, as she had everything she needed. She wasn't terribly interested in luxury beyond occasional meals somewhere nice. She only really cared about growing strong once the invasion came, and she began to fear for her life.

She was still going to fight, but she didn't know how to get stronger so she wouldn't have to be afraid. Even if she made it to Essence Collection, would it be enough? No. Not even the coveted Life Transformation was enough now.

It took a long time for her to fall asleep, and no answers came to her.

"What are you shooting at?" Ghadir worked up the courage to interrupt Elder Anton once more. "Are there enemies?"

"No," the man admitted. "It's just practice. I pick a target, and try to hit it… though usually I stop short. No point in sullying the countryside."

"Are you close to a breakthrough?" Ghadir asked.

"Nope."

"Then does it matter? We're heading for a battle. Why waste your energy?"

"It's never a waste," he said. "Though I will admit that training at times like these has to be conservative. I'm limiting myself to ten thousand or less per day." His eyes focused on her, and she could sense… something. Her training in Emotion was quite decent, but his greatly superior cultivation made him hard to fathom. "The second shot at Marrow really does better with constant work. You can even cultivate on the road."

She probably shouldn't have been surprised that he knew that was the area she was still lacking, before the final tempering. Twenty-Six stars, and lately she hadn't even managed one per year. "It takes a lot of concentration…"

"So did walking, when you were a baby," Elder Anton countered. "And talking. Now you do both without even thinking hard." Elder Anton held out his hand, "Start somewhere small. Just a little bit of energy circulated around inside your bones. Work your way from one end to the other and back, then you can do more." His energy formed a single path through his body, moving through every bone, "Trust me, it will be much easier before your bones are old."

"... I thought you said something about beginning to cultivate at a hundred. Was that not true?"

"It was. That's how I know it's not comfortable." As they walked, she made an attempt- and he guided Ghadir where she was lacking. Occasionally, he would shoot his bow into the distance. Sometimes, he summoned a great amount of power all around himself, forming bows in the air- and drawing a few physical bows he held separately. A great volley of them all at once made Ghadir wonder why they even had the rest of the archers. "That one was an enemy scout," Anton commented. "Ascension energy stands out so much here that they're easy to pick out. One moment."

Anton went on ahead, apparently talking to other members of leadership. That ultimately resulted in the pace increasing, as they didn't want the scout to be missed before they reached their next destination. The increased pace began to strain even a cultivator's tempered body a little bit, and doing so even more with her own energy made Ghadir wonder if it was a good idea… but she worked on a small piece at once, so she wouldn't end up exhausted. It shouldn't hurt to try, even if she was too late to really make a difference.

Chapter 352

The soldiers from the Edelhull militia were organized more tightly than the cultivators from the Order. They walked in ranks but were allowed some individual mobility. Calros took note of that, but also how the more experienced cultivators still retained their focus wherever they were positioned. He might have been serving as part of Edelhull's defenses for many years, but none of them really had to do much. Sure, they were stronger than normal people and had training in combat, but it just wasn't the same. They'd been able to fight against the few invaders who came to Edelhull, but Calros thought there was something fundamentally different between them and the real cultivators.

He sought out the familiar face of Ghadir. Years of working together had made them close friends, but he felt like he didn't recognize her in the last few days. It wasn't a bad thing but… "Ghadir. You've been talking to that elder. Are you thinking of becoming a true cultivator?"

Her grip tightened on her spear. "Do you think we can afford not to?"

"It may be too late for that," Calros shrugged. "The step to Essence Collection… it's not easy."

"You know, our parents' generation didn't cultivate at all. Even someone in Body Tempering was considered something pretty amazing. We're well beyond that level now. And if you're having trouble advancing, maybe talk to someone. Like Elder Anton. He might be able to help."

"You think so?" Calros shook his head. "Maybe for you, but I'm not… really much of a fighter." He held tightly to his spear, "Don't get me wrong. I don't intend to give up here and let these invaders take what they want. I might even die to stop them, but that's not really… me."

Ghadir looked at him carefully, "You're not afraid of dying?"

He shrugged, "As much as anyone I suppose I am. But I'd rather not live in a world without Edelhull the way it is now. So I'll protect it, because we need everyone we can get."

"Congratulations," Elder Anton said in a way Ghadir knew wasn't condescending, but felt like it anyway.

She shook her head. "I finally finished a step I should have completed long ago. Now it will take me… I don't know, months or years to complete the next step. Even if I could do it overnight, the peak of Spirit Building is barely different from where I am now."

"Just because you have a late start doesn't mean you should give up," Anton's kind smile comforted her slightly. "Otherwise, a couple years from now you'll regret it."

"Not if I'm dead," she pointed out. "You can't say I'm really strong enough to survive this battle."

"None of us are," Anton said firmly. "We just have to pick the battles that will get the best results for us. Be that surviving, or having the biggest possible impact on the battle." Anton leaned slightly closer, "But I can tell you a secret. Conviction will greatly affect your survivability in battle."

"Yeah, sure. Except the other side also believes in what they're doing," Ghadir pointed out.

"Just believe harder," Anton grinned. "But actually, I have to say that they're more afraid than you are."

"...Then you don't know how afraid I am." Ghadir was doing a good job of not trembling, the safety provided by the people around her not being sufficient as they approached an inevitable battle.

"I do, actually, but perhaps I didn't say it quite right." Elder Anton thought for a few moments. "You might be afraid, but that is mitigated by your bravery. You chose to fight against stronger opponents, after all." He held up a hand to stop her, "And yes, it was your choice. You could have fled into the city, but I know you fought."

"With all of my allies, we were stronger," Ghadir pointed out. "That's not necessarily the case here."

"I haven't quite reached my point," Anton said. "You know the battle at the Order?"

"What about it? You drove them away, even killing… three Ascension cultivators."

"That's right, we did. Why do you think that was?"

"Because you were strong? Prepared?"

"Sure, both of those things were true. But I will say this right now. They could have killed all of us, and yet they didn't. Not because of any sort of mercy, but because they were afraid. Every one of them, concerned about their own life."

Ghadir shook her head, "I'm worried about my own life."

"But would you be, if you were a Life Transformation cultivator? Or an Ascension cultivator? I think not. You see, their stake in this is less than ours. They're here for, what? Some crap like cultivation resources. But this is our world." Anton's eyes flashed, "And they can't have it."

"We can't win on conviction alone though."

"Good point. How many spear thrusts have you done today?" Anton asked.

"We've been marching so… only a hundred in the morning?"

"Do a thousand by the end of the day. Picture one of those who came to the city. Oh, and tell your friend that true cultivators can be anyone with a commitment to something. Not just fighting."

"... You could hear us talking?"

Anton raised an eyebrow, and she realized she was talking to the guy who regularly shot arrows several hours' march ahead.

The leadership gathered together, including many elders from the Order and the captain of the Edelhull guard, a woman who went by Oralie. She was young for her cultivation, on the level of the best geniuses. She was originally from Facraona, but for various reasons had ended up on Ofrurg and chosen to build up the guards there.

She looked at Anton and shook her head. "I can't believe I spent decades trying to get people to train to the best of their abilities, and then you show up and… well, I can already see the effects."

"I had the fortune to come into their understanding during a time of crisis," Anton pointed out. "And I'm someone different. Besides, you were too important to bring problems to."

"... I suppose I was quite busy with various things," Oralie admitted.

"People won't always take advantage of available opportunities anyway," Anton consoled her. "I think you did, well, to create a force that stood and fought for their city."

She nodded. "I guess we should let people get on with the actual reason we're here. Grand Elder Fodor just arrived."

"I'll have you know this is precisely the planned time of the meeting," the man in question pointed out. Side comments seldom went unheard at their level of cultivation, unless people took great care to conceal it. "We're not far from Stregate now. A couple hours' march. Our scouts have confirmed the city is under siege. Their barriers are barely holding on, but should at least last the night. They will have likely noticed our approach, but for the moment I believe out camp is concealed," he looked to Catarina.

"That's correct," she nodded. "If they haven't done something to disrupt Stregate's formations, we can assume they have no one who can find their way through ours. I imagine we have to run into some sort of formation master at some point… but not here."

"Very good. Elder Anton, if you would go over some of the other details of the siege."

Anton stepped forward. "They seem to be making use of more traditional siege tactics. That is, waiting out the durability of the barrier. It is extremely difficult to have one that can withstand large instantaneous bursts of power without a constant drain on the power sources. Given the invader's slow rate of energy recovery they seem to have elected not to commit much to a bombardment to speed things along. That might change with our presence here, but any changes on that front will be immediately apparent."

Grand Elder Fodor took over once more. "Optimally we would bombard them with attacks while they waited, but we both don't know how long that would last, nor do we have any guarantee that we would receive backup from the city when the invaders inevitably turn on us."

"Even if they do support us," Oralie commented, "Leaving the protection of the walls would be a death sentence for most of them. The vast majority of their forces will be somewhere around Spirit Building. Taking advantage of walls and defensive formations they can be effective, but outside of that it would be possible for many of them to be cut down by simply the auras of Ascension cultivators."

"Speaking of which," Hoyt asked, "Is this the same group that attacked the Order?"

"No," Fodor shook his head. "There appear to be two new and relatively fresh Ascension cultivators, and smaller numbers of others than the initial force that attacked us. Thank you for the question, Elder Vandale." Hoyt stiffened for a moment, and Fodor corrected himself, "Elder Hoyt, I mean."

"... No, it's fine. I'm just not used to the name. What's the plan, then?"

"Optimally, we get everyone in the city. If the formations still have power, Elder Riley will be able to enhance them to some degree. Then our various forces bombard them under the guidance of Elder Krantz."

"They won't just let us reach the gates," Oralie pointed out.

"I would imagine not," Grand Elder Fodor nodded seriously. "The Formation Master will be circling those with lower cultivation towards the city under concealment. If they have to fight, so be it. But the rest of the forces will be at another angle launching attacks. There is some risk to both groups, but the second should be able to break through the enemy forces to reach the city in the worst case. But if all goes well, they will endure the attacks until the first group reaches the city, then the second will fake a retreat to make their way around to the city."

"What ways could it go wrong… aside from them committing to an attack on either group?" Hoyt asked.

"They might begin the assault on the city before that," Fodor pointed out. "Though that would actually be to our advantage, unless they completely block off all the gates with their forces. However, this is where we have an interesting advantage. They are individually strong, but their numbers are not great. They have to either deal with isolation or hold together and leave parts of the city open. They might not actually care about people fleeing, as long as they don't think they're taking all of the resources away."

"There will be risks no matter how we go about it," Oralie shook her head. "I'm not sure if we can win."

"Ferocity seems important," Anton pointed out. "Making them believe we can kill them is enough. With that, we should leave clear paths of retreat for them. This isn't a situation where we have the forces to annihilate them all at once."

Grand Elder Fodor nodded seriously. "That's a good point. And they are still hopefully off balance at our resistance. The situation is hopefully… different than they expected."

"It should be," Catarina commented. "I have the feeling… that they were waiting for Twin Soul Sect traitors to come out of the woodworks when they attacked the Order. They're supposed to have infiltrated all of the major sects."

"Yet we killed them all. They should have gotten word of that, right? Their entire idea was that they could reincarnate."

"Maybe, but… some of Everheart's designs…" Catarina shook her head. "We know he hated them. There was an entire death trap set up on the moon that took out as many of them as possible. Everheart should have known they intended to reincarnate so…" she shrugged. "I don't actually know what he would have done, but it would be something to make their lives difficult. All of them."

"If they really haven't been getting any information…" Oralie clutched her spear, "We might actually have a chance."

"And if not," Anton stood up straight, "We'll take down as many of them as we can before we go."

Everyone silently agreed with the morbid sentiment. They'd been planning that for decades, but now the time had come for them to follow through.

Chapter 353

The city of Stregate was quite reasonably sized for being in a lower realm, and given the signatures of lower energy coming from the cultivators inside it should have plentiful resources. The defensive formations were annoyingly sturdy given that they merely had use of lowly energy. None of that should have mattered, however, as they should have already been taken down from the inside. The local members of the Twin Soul Sect should have infiltrated every major sect, and if there were settlements of this size they would be expected to do the same.

Elder Shyam could remember when he had done the same himself, back during the previous cycle. He had been successful, though he'd given his life for it. The rewards had been worthwhile, of course. After he was reborn he was raised through the path of cultivation with many rewards, and had reached the Integration stage. He was fully suffused with upper energy and could use its devastating power as he pleased.

He had admit that he was a bit restricted by the lack of decent natural energy in the lower realms, but he was still above all of the residents. He merely had duties to fulfill propping up the younger generations. Though he couldn't make use of most of the resources they would secure from this mission, he would be rewarded separately.

But the thin stores of natural energy irked him. Lowly energy was so inefficient, he could feel himself drying up. Slowly, but he had no time to sit around waiting. If the defensive formations did not run out of energy soon he would tear them apart himself.

The slightest bit of caution was merited given that another group of lower cultivators had shown up the previous night. They seemed indecisive in their determination to attack, or perhaps they were intending to sneak around for some sort of tactical advantage. Elder Shyam had not lost track of them, however. At their distance tens of kilometers away they wouldn't be able to do anything, but they could begin closing the distance at any moment.

Elder Shyam only had a moment to sense a fluctuation of energy before a disciple of the Phoenix sect was struck by a beam of light. It was an arrow, and it directly struck a woman's eye. Jagoda, if he remembered correctly. From the Phoenix sect.

Centuries of training didn't fail him, and he formed a barrier to block subsequent attacks. Yet instead of impacting against his aura, arrows simply swerved to target other cultivators outside of his reach, striking down those who stood on the fringes. It didn't make any sense. Sure, they had been standing rather carelessly with only the basic levels of defensive energy… but Jagoda had been at the peak of Essence Collection. It would have been one thing for her to be struck down by those at the peak of this world in a single blow, but the archer was only in early Life Transformation.

Several more disciples died or were injured before everyone strengthened their defenses. Elder Shyam sighed. He would hear about this later, regardless of it being the individual disciples' carelessness. But that was later. Now was time for revenge. "After me!" Elder Shyam called out. He looked towards Elder Mazhar, of the Boundless Skies Sect. He and those with him would remain in position sieging the city.

Shyam began to charge towards the archer. He was aware that the rest of the army was there as well, so he kept his pace moderate. Enough for the Life Transformation members to keep up at least. They would be able to break apart the enemy ranks before the rest arrived.

A more powerful but practically leisurely arrow flew towards Shyam himself. That was a bit arrogant. He batted it away with his hand. Then he winced. It wasn't painful, exactly… but tingly? Furthermore, he'd felt a wrenching of his energy. How was he so off balance? He, at least, had kept the opponents within his senses- there was no way he should have any difficulty blocking an attack from a mere early Life Transformation cultivator. Unless there was some trick to it.

Before he could finish that thought, his leg thorns pierced into his leg. The thin spikes penetrated through the textile armor he was wearing between the weave. Only a few of them, but it should have merely been an annoyance. Instead, he was bleeding. The plant was torn asunder a moment later as its grip on his leg tore it apart, but somehow it had pierced through his skin. Ridiculous. For the sake of efficiency he made note of the thorny vine. As for the arrows flying at him, he dodged them with grace and efficiency. It was better to not deal with them at all if blocking them produced unexpected effects.

Yet the arrows he dodged began to hit those behind him. Life Transformation cultivators who should have been able to withstand the attacks with ease were staggered, their defensive energy penetrated in a single blow. That was the limit of the attacks, and wounds were minimal- but Elder Shyam knew it shouldn't have been so easy.

Then he ran face first into a dangling strand of ants. He had thought it was one of the other hanging vines in the area, and it hadn't stood out as noteworthy. It should have been decimated upon contact, but instead… he had little bugs all down his front.

Anton was glad that western creeper was just as effective on ascension energy as normal natural energy. He would have been happier if the thorns had pierced deep into the man's muscles instead of being nearly superficial, but with only the man's own momentum to sink them in it was impressive enough for a simple plant.

"How are things going over there?" Hoyt asked.

"Practical experience does wonders," Anton commented. "My anti-ascension techniques are several times better than the beginning of the first battle. I knew we had all improved, but this magnitude…" Anton nodded. "This is what it's really meant to be like, I imagine."

"Good to know," Hoyt nodded. "What about our allies?"

"Largely being ignored," Anton said in reference to the ants. "At the very least, the enemies are still on the approach. They likely don't understand the magnitude of our small friends." Despite the ants being, well, ants, they were intelligent enough that their loss of life was best avoided. They were willing to fight and die on the orders of their queens, and for the sake of their homelands… but they weren't willing to do it alone. Still, they were brave enough to position themselves along the way. It was practical, since they couldn't move fast… but it still meant they were the first line of defense.

Soon enough the enemy's front lines were within range for those not possessing Horizon Shot. The same was true in reverse, with arrows and conglomerations of energy being launched towards them as well. Anton switched tactics, maximizing his number of bows to shoot down the attacks so his allies could fight freely. A simple hit would unravel an attack on the way before it got to them. Those who weren't ascension cultivators seemed to still have that type of energy inextricably tied to their effectiveness, and more so the higher their cultivation. In short, it narrowed the effects of increasing cultivation for their enemies.

The thorny vines and ants did little to slow the approaching forces, but it was better that they did not. When the enemy cultivators arrived, they were matched two or three to one. There were equivalent forces behind them, but they would not arrive for at least a few critical moments. Formations sprang into place as well, their components hidden among the natural trees and boulders in the surroundings. Nothing was as grand as what Catarina was capable of, but the previous best formation user among the Order- Elder Rana- was still present with them. Catarina, meanwhile, was bringing the soldiers to join with Stregate's.

Atop the walls of Stregate, Grant stood next to one of the contraptions he was most proud of. Sure, ballistae had existed for ages and were basically just big crossbows… but the scale of these particular specimens was greater. More importantly, the ammunition was relatively cheap but highly effective. It would take several cultivators to draw back the string and empower the bundles of smaller bolts with energy, but it allowed those who were not particularly skilled in ranged battle to participate.

In the distance Grant could feel a familiar presence. It was a bit vague and indistinct at that distance, but practically every resident of Windrip would recognize Anton's energy. Much of Stregate, too. At least among the highest ranking cultivators. Grant had made it to mid Life Transformation since he ended up in Windrip, but despite his cultivation lacking slightly compared to… well, Anton, he felt he had grown as much as could be expected. His abilities as a smith had grown beyond what he could have ever expected was possible, pulling strength out of lesser materials and raising better materials to great heights.

The enemy forces had half split towards Anton, but when the second group seemed to be considering joining them Commander Alfons ordered the first volley. They had to fight eventually, and now seemed to be the optimum time.

Though they were positioned over a kilometer away, metal spikes tore through the lesser cultivators among the enemy. They weren't precise, given how many were launched together, but they were accurate to the point that the siege engineers could target a specific region of the battlefield. They had ranged every position on the battlefield years before, and had kept up the condition of the instruments. Cultivators in Spirit Building and Essence Collection took out cultivators a step higher than themselves in the first volley. There were only around twenty ballistae on the correct side of the city, but a visible portion of the enemy forces went down. Cultivators hurriedly began to reload.

Then something strange happened. It wasn't the enemy forced beginning to charge. That was absolutely expected and according to plan. No, it was a lone arrow streaking into the side of one of them. It was absolutely overkill for the early Essence Collection target. Then there was another, exactly the same- piercing into the side of a man already dead.

Regardless of the improbability of two stray arrows hitting the same point, Grant knew that with Anton there was no such thing to begin with. If an arrow went of course, it was either redirected- or dissolved. Yet clearly there was no tactical value to killing a single person. Grant's arms worked hard as he helped arm his ballista. Was he being told something? What was it? It was Anton's normal Spirit Arrow technique, combined with anti-ascension methods of course. Ah. That was it. Anton was always better than anyone else at those, but it was different now.

Grant focused on what he felt. Anton had mostly taught him the basics of using energy, though the man had always returned to Windrip as the core of his efforts to teach everyone to cultivate. With word of the invasion, everyone had devoted effort to learning the anti-ascension techniques. Grant now wished he had a few more years devoted solely to that task, but it was difficult to practice something without any real method of observing effectiveness. Cultivators who practiced that one technique… Fleeing Youth, he thought, were few and far between.

With a change in how he empowered his portion of the ammunition, Grant thought he saw some of them pierce straight through a Life Transformation cultivators. His eyes could have been fooling him, but the man was at least injured. It was a shame they probably wouldn't be able to fire the ballistae at the approaching enemies more than a couple more times, but such was life. Every enemy they killed at a distance was one more the city didn't have to face. Some had thought them excessive, but now Grant had wished he had the time and resources to make twice as many.

Chapter 354

The positions on the battlefield would naturally shift to some extent, but the section of the Graotan army outside of Stregate intentionally circled around to be closer to the city. That had been the plan all along, since they had no other safe location they could retreat to. Counting on their opponents to just let them go was an unacceptable gamble, and the same was true for assuming their victory. Dealing with only half of the enemy forces had helped, but there were serious losses on both sides.

One Ascension cultivator was among their opponents, and though Anton had done his best to wear the man down as he approached, ultimately it was impossible for a single Life Transformation cultivator to defeat someone of that power even with anti-ascension techniques that were constantly improving in efficiency. Anton was glad that someone in Stregate had gotten his hints, and they were now more effective as well. They needed their best… or perhaps even more than that.

Hoyt and Devon were currently matched off against the Ascension cultivator. Devon was a few years behind, but had still managed to reach early Life Transformation. The Chain Harmony Sect's techniques and information from the Exalted Archipelago had let him continue to develop his style, and he now used his chains to restrict the movement of their opponent while Hoyt provided the main threat.

The man wouldn't just allow Devon to grab onto him, but Devon had more than a handful of chains weaving throughout the area around them. He was able to avoid interfering with Hoyt's movements while blocking the man's path. Hoyt spread flames throughout the area as well, forcing the man to move through it to attack either of them.

The combo was effective enough that Hoyt sensed the man might direct his attention elsewhere. Though it was a bad habit for cultivators in combat to engage in conversation, Hoyt supposed he had good enough reason. "You're quite strong. Who are you?"

The man glared at Hoyt, though willingly answered in return. "I am Elder Shyam of the Twin Soul Sect. I must admit I am surprised at how… enduring the lot of you are. Like insects." Speaking of insects, he had already divested himself of the chain of ants. Some were dead, while others had simply been flung away. Since they were lacking the use of energy, they had to rely on their legs for speed- and even if they were more powerful than a normal insect it provided an upper limit on what they could accomplish. "You will also be eradicated like them, as we can't allow continued use of these… annoying techniques."

Hoyt had two paths. He could taunt the man, indicating he was afraid. That might help, as enraged opponents were often easier to deal with. But it could also backfire, as if he was able to focus on either himself or Devon for a few moments he had the power to tear them apart regardless of the effectiveness of the anti-ascension techniques. Instead, Hoyt went with another option. "How unfortunate that you were stuck with the rest of these weaklings," Hoyt commented. The others might take offense at that, but they were already quite occupied by their own opponents. The words were good enough to keep the man engaged with Hoyt and Devon, at least, and the battle drawing longer was ultimately in their favor.

The enemy forces were barely twenty meters away from the walls of Stregate when they ran into a barrier. The cultivators loading the ballistae were just as surprised as the enemy forces, but their movements still continued to fire their last shot. Or what would have been the last shot. With the enemy packed in closer, it was impossible for everyone to dodge the weapons. Grant coordinated them all as he demonstrated the insights he'd picked up with regards to the anti-ascension techniques.

As for why the enemy army suddenly stopped outside the walls, it quickly became obvious. The formations on the walls only covered them and those atop the walls… a few moments before. Now, there was a small army positioned in front of the walls holding formation flags, which those with the training could sense were extending the standard defensive range of the formations. The forces had been invisible moments before but were now very clearly seen by both sides.

"Excuse me," Catarina called to the gates. "We'll be much more effective inside than out, if you'd let us in."

The question of whether or not the new group were their allies was rather simple. None of them had an ounce of ascension energy, and there weren't so many Life Transformation experts that nobody would recognize the Order's Formation Master. Grant was pretty sure she was Anton's granddaughter or something like it.

After giving people a moment to settle, and having received a positive response from those immediately on the walls, some of the soldiers below began to climb the walls. Normally they would have been prevented by various elements of the formations- and the soldiers atop the walls- but neither was the case at the moment. Yet the process wasn't expedient, and those with lower cultivations would find it nearly impossible.

"Open the gate!" Commander Alfons declared. "Hold positions inside the gate as we cover our allies from Edelhull!"

The attacking armies found that they were able to clash with the front lines of the group outside the gates to some extent, but they couldn't break through the combined soldiers and power of the defensive formation. Even the Ascension expert among them found his attacks repelled. He very quickly leapt into the air… and continued to fly upward. Flight was an extremely rare ability for cultivators, even those of great power, but it wasn't entirely unexpected that an Ascension cultivator could achieve it. When the man dove towards the walls from above… he found that the formation covered all angles.

On the ground, Catarina was guiding people in a fighting retreat. She carefully organized how their positions collapsed so that those holding formation flags wouldn't disrupt the overall effect. Some of that involved her personally adjusting thing, creating temporary runes or throwing flags that were quickly sacrificed to the incoming forces. While the defenses were still holding, everyone could feel them weakening.

Grant looked at the ballista in front of him. Unfortunately it hadn't been designed to fire at targets high in the air. Certainly not directly above. He pulled out his hammer and gave a few whacks to bolts holding it to the castle walls, then hefted it onto his shoulders. "Ready!" he called out to shake the others working with him out of their stupor. "Charge energy… fire!" He triggered the release with a bit of his own energy, projectiles shooting into the air.

There was no chance that even an especially well made and enchanted ballista was going to kill an Ascension cultivator… but it did produce interesting results. Only a few clipped the man as he twisted through the air, but a moment after that he was tumbling, bouncing off of the formation and towards the front of the area. It seemed even a minor disruption to his energy flow prevented him from flying.

The formation was trembling as Catarina coordinated the fighting retreat. Some of the ballistae were actually beginning to run out of ammunition, which was a mixed blessing. It was obviously awful that they were running low, but that meant some crews had been able to fire continuously… and if they took down even a few foes per shot that would equate to hundreds. The enemy forces only numbered in the low thousands, and some of those that had been killed were Life Transformation cultivators. The only forces that had died so far were the soldiers from Edelhull- and those from the Order in the other battle. They all knew it wouldn't last, but the more they could take out before it reached the inevitable melee on the walls, the greater impact they would have.

Though some of the soldiers continued to fall, the toughest soldiers kept their positions in the collapsing group in front of the walls. Unfortunately, it seemed they wouldn't be able to close the gates behind them. The enemy forces were pressed right up against them, and the formation likely wouldn't hold regardless.

Catarina was the last through the gate- simultaneous with several others. She staggered forward, her sword planting in the ground. Even as Commander Alfons ordered them closed the formation trembled one last time, then shattered as the flying Ascension cultivator shoved his palm through. Cultivators began to leap onto the walls, Life Transformation cultivators being the only ones who made it to the top immediately while the rest had to climb in several hops. The forces on the wall were only Essence Collection cultivators at best, but they were barely holding on with the advantage of numbers.

Enemies also began to pour through the gates without the formations able to stop them, and the gates could not be closed fast enough. Then the world shuddered as the formation reasserted itself violently. Those climbing the walls were blasted away, while the enemies fighting atop the walls were knocked off their feet. The gates swung inward with sudden force, sending squads flying- if they were lucky enough to not be crushed. The gates slammed together exactly around the Ascension cultivator's arm, which had not moved since the moment Catarina staggered inside and stabbed her sword into the ground.

Catarina slowly turned, holding aloft a glowing crystal and grinning. "You always have to bring a little backup."

A scream of rage echoed throughout the city as the Ascension cultivator pulled away… leaving his arm behind. With the formation back in place and only a portion of the enemy forces facing them- along with the forces of two cities- they began to truly fight, hoping to eliminate as many enemies as possible. Catarina stepped forward, grabbing the arm as blood dripped from it, her face curious.

The cultivators of the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars had hope that their opponents would act similarly to the others… and they were right enough. After suffering a number of casualties the invaders began to retreat. Anton very carefully focused on the closest enemies who were still engaged so that people wouldn't be reminded of how far away they could be with him still shooting at them. The Order's forces were also pulling away, heading towards another side of Stregate. Blocking in the enemy forces would have been tactically sound only if they had the advantage of strength, and even with anti-ascension techniques that was still iffy.

When the Order's forces were safely moving through the side gates of the city, Anton took a position on the walls and began to make use of his remaining energy bombarding the forces at the main gates. While Stregate had been able to mobilize most of their soldiers in that direction, they had to man the other parts of the wall in case the enemy forces had tried something tricky. Ultimately attacking a single point was better for the invaders if they had been able to break through, but Catarina was there to renew and augment the formation. She was still doing that, in fact, pulling out expensive crystals and formation flags and sturdier stone pillars of varying sizes.

Though Anton had certainly expended a good portion of his energy in the fight already, being able to pick and choose targets as the second group began to retreat as well. The invaders still had the ability to conquer the city if both halves worked together on the assault, but they first prioritized their lives.

Well, some of their lives. The thing was, Anton continued to take shots at them until they were well beyond fifty kilometers away… and those who were easiest to kill were also the slowest. Anton methodically set about killing those who were lowest in cultivation, killing dozens of early Essence Collection cultivators, and then dozens more. His fatigue was building up, but he had the time to find the best and most efficient shots. Then his arrows began to lag at the seventy kilometer mark, before he stopped firing after he shot several dozen useless arrows.

When the invaders stopped to make camp far to the northwest- almost halfway to the border with Estary- Anton considered whether or not he should continue to harass them. He decided against it, not because they didn't deserve to have people shot in the middle of the night but because giving away his true range was wasteful at the moment. Besides, he would like to be fresh in case they chose to march on Stregate once more. And if they chose a different target, he wanted to be able to join the forces following them.

Chapter 355

Reviewing the casualties from the battle was actually uplifting. Damage to Stregate's forces was minimal. Fully powering their formations once more would take some time, but the ballistae were a great success. They were a way for lower ranking cultivators to combine their energy without interfering with each other and to cause actual damage to the enemy forces. Edelhull's forces lost more lives, but they were minimal.

The Order… as the most visible threat and the basis of the distraction ended up with heavier losses. Yet because of Hoyt and Devon holding off the Ascension cultivator, the damage was much less than it could have been. More injuries than deaths on their side. They couldn't afford to wait while people recovered, but they also couldn't give up their momentum. It had only been a short time since the invasion began, and they needed to prevent the invaders from establishing footholds within Graotan. If they hadn't already, at least.

Heavy bags hung beneath Anton's eyes, but he wasn't going to let that stop him from working with the soldiers. Whether they were members of the Order or from either of the two larger cities, he wanted them to be as effective as possible. He was pleased to see how many people were willing to show up the day after a battle. Even if the soldiers of Stregate had avoided injuries for the most part, enduring a siege was stressful. Other days of training would be mandatory, but Anton suspected most of those who could walk had shown up even for this non-mandatory training.

"It's good to see you all," Anton addressed them. "This invasion was anticipated, and all of you trained to fight. The fact that we are still here shows the situation is not hopeless, and one of our best weapons is a certain form of training. Until now, it was impossible to get much practical experience fighting against Ascension energy. But over the course of these recent battles, many of us have gained valuable insights. We will demonstrate what we've learned, then individually guide and correct… as many of you as possible. Those who learn most quickly will, as always, go on to teach others."

They split up into smaller groups, between one dozen and several dozen per teacher, according to what they could manage. There were more with practical experience, but some were injured and others simply not suited for teaching or simply resting.

Anton would rest too, at some point. But first he had teaching to do. He demonstrated the differences in method he'd picked up with his bow, though as a method of arranging energy it worked for any weapon. Maximum disruption with minimum effort was the idea, and it was clear that nobody was ready for it.

"Don't forget that even the lower level cultivators among the invaders make use of ascension energy." Anton was going to comment on them being unbalanced because of it, but he wasn't sure he knew enough to confidently make that declaration. But he certainly suspected it. He also used ascension energy, but it was not part of himself, but something extra. Perhaps it was a perfectly sensible method where they came from, but while they were in this world they were somewhat less effective than it seemed they should be. Especially when their energy was disrupted by surprise.

A few more shots arced into the air, slowly and carefully drawn out to make it easiest to replicate the important parts. Then Anton's face grew hard, his stance changing. He still carefully performed his next shot, but it wasn't as slow as the others. It was serious. Anton was currently trying to solidify the information that he could only shoot seventy kilometers, and a scout of some sort had just crossed that line. They weren't strong enough to survive.

Few people noticed the difference, except perhaps the speed of that shot, and Anton returned to his more demonstrative speed. In between people were practicing attacks of their own, and Anton would guide them as he could- along with everyone else. But they couldn't train all day. Everyone needed rest, especially the teachers.

Three days later Anton made a show of leaving the city for a distance, at which he pestered the enemy forces. There were currently debates about whether moving to finish off this group or following after the first group to attack the Order was a higher priority. Gathering more allies was important, but if they left Stregate behind with a reduced complement of soldiers it wasn't clear if they would be able to hold on.

The enemy forces weren't without injuries of their own, and they seemed to have more difficulty recovering their energy here, but that didn't make them weak. They still had two Ascension cultivators, though the loss of an arm was a huge blow to the one.

The purpose of Anton's attacks were simple. Cause as much disruption as possible. Whether that was killing weaker cultivators or bombarding the Ascension cultivators to force them to expend energy didn't matter. They were either forced to make the choice to retreat further away- rather quickly, which would also use their energy- or commit to another attack. There was technically the option to just stand and let Anton shoot them, but while he wasn't going to say he could kill an army if they fought back… over the course of a few days if they just stood still? He absolutely could. A few thousand people with methodical shots… if they were all Spirit Building cultivators he could do it in an hour. Early Essence Collection wasn't much harder, since even if they were expecting him now there was a reasonable chance he could disrupt their defensive energy to the point he pierced through for a lethal blow in one or two shots. Life Transformation cultivators would take ten or twenty even if they were passive, but they could easily move out of range before that time.

But he could get lucky and cause an injury before then, which could take days or weeks to recover from. Even if they had amazing medicines at their disposal, it would at least reduce that supply.

When the enemy army began to move towards Anton, he continued to take shots as he retreated back towards the city. He only needed to move at a third of their speed and he would be inside with plenty of distance to spare. The Ascension cultivators might actually be able to surpass that… but Anton wasn't alone- and something about one of them having lost an arm made them hesitant.

"They're still coming," Anton noted.

"Good," Catarina said. "They're making the decision for us. If they really attack us in a defensive position we can deal with them."

"... And this time we won't have to let them retreat so easily."

The first battle had been to get into the city safely. The weaker soldiers from Edelhull needed the fortifications, while the stronger cultivators among them and Stregate could still benefit. The Order's members, too.

Anton ended up in the center-north of the city, surrounded by civilians who were willing to fight. They didn't have the training of the soldiers, but they weren't going to just let these invaders have what they wanted. And truth be told, those who could fight were basically all willing. Those who were too old and those who were too young along with many of the infirm were kept to a different part of the city. They had some soldiers defending them, but if the enemy forces broke into the city and didn't come for Anton, they were going to regret it deeply. Others with ranged abilities would fall back from the walls to join him when the time was appropriate, but nobody could match Anton. Alva's focus had resulted in closer range archery techniques, though she could still shoot a handful of kilometers when it came down to it.

As the enemy forces closed in on the walls they began to spread out in wider formations to avoid the ballista shots and other area attacks. That was good for their individual survival, but they might have done better to join forces to block the attacks. Anton wasn't going to tell them that, though. Instead, he ramped up his attacks another notch. Frantic shooting would tire him out too quickly, but he couldn't count on the battle being long either.

Because the enemies were actually committing to the attack, they spent less time under fire from the ballistae. They also didn't only attack the northern wall where the defenses were most concentrated, but some of them began to spread out to the sides. That meant the formation had to handle attacks from multiple directions as well as the soldiers needing to reposition.

A sustained bombardment made the recharged formations tremble. It was always possible for them to break through, but they had to be willing to expend enough energy. That task was made more difficult by the attacks launched on them meant to disrupt their energy in return- or kill them, when the opportunity arose. The enemy forces spreading out also provided a small advantage as more ballistae were able to be put into use.

Hundreds of the invaders died before they were able to break through the formation, which they did by having the two Ascension cultivators attack from opposite sides of the city simultaneously for the final blow. The cultivator who flew previously was now on the southern side of the city, but Anton had been watching and he simply didn't make use of that ability again. What a shame. He continued to shoot to the north while keeping track of the situation to the south. Especially the area around Catarina, where she had been stabilizing the formation.

Elder Mazhar of the Boundless Skies Sect wanted his arm back. It was ridiculous that this formation expert had been able to cause so much trouble, but he knew she was critical. And she had taken his arm. As the formation fell, he clenched his fist as he leapt onto the walls, landing with a gust of wind that blew away the nearby defenders. A dozen disciples of the Boundless Skies Sect followed after him, landing softly. Many of them could fly, but there was a certain archer that was annoying. He was focused on the north for the moment, but Mazhar wasn't going to draw his attention if he didn't have to.

The rest of their troops would have to deal with making their own way into the city. Mazhar and the others bounded across the rooftops, looking down at the streets below where people who were barely cultivators waited. It was strange, how many there were, but their numbers were of no consequence with them being so weak. They wouldn't even be able to touch the hem of his robes. Some began to try to scurry up to the rooftops, but he was past them before they could make any progress.

Up ahead was the formation user. He could sense her frantically trying to reignite the spark of the formation, but it had no power left to make use of. The few defenders with her wouldn't be able to protect her.

Fuzz ran back and forth behind the northern walls, not because he was avoiding anything but because he couldn't settle down. Alva was used to him moving in battle anyway.

The strongest opponent was right there within sniffing distance. Fuzz knew that if he did the right thing to bite the man it would work better. Everyone had been training that for a long time. The whole pack- no, every pack was doing so. This group of invaders would stand no chance.

Along with the scents of people was something small and subtle Fuzz might have ignored if he didn't know the source. He couldn't even feel the ants sitting on his head, not even the larger queen. Their weight was negligible and his energy senses didn't pick them up. Their scent was just that of ants… and it was something Fuzz was never going to underestimate.

"Fuzz! Head towards the big guy!" Before Fuzz could guess which that was, Alva clarified, "The strongest one!"

Oh right. That was why they had the queen. It was dangerous to take Alva with him, but leaving her behind would give away that something fishy was going on. Black energy swirled around the strongest enemy, energy Fuzz was absolutely not going to touch unless he did the special bite… and even then he knew he might regret it.

Chapter 356

As the formations failed, Anton was glad that the enemy forces had been given a target. Defenders on the walls were still killed, but the invaders only engaged enough to get through and push towards him… and Catarina. But the majority went towards him, as he'd been intentionally annoying. He was also a serious threat, though not alone.

The destruction to the city could have been terrible if the enemies weren't focusing on key targets, and the other strongest cultivators were all moving to intercept and draw attention, though some paths to Anton were left open to draw the invaders further in. That put some risk on Anton, but if everything went well they would cause serious damage. And if it didn't… at least they would take down a large enemy force with them. The ferocity of people defending their homes was not something that could be matched.

As he had been instructed, Fuzz charged towards the bad swirly black man. The strongest of the enemies. Was he afraid? Of course. Fuzz knew that the man was stronger than himself and Alva. But he also knew that a pack's power came from cooperation, and Alva and the others were smarter than him. In fact, he was pretty sure the ants were smarter than him. The thing was, they took being a pack one step further. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't something Fuzz could do.

Arrow fired from his back as Alva shot a quick several volleys, disrupting a portion of the swirling energy. Fuzz was a bit hesitant to stick his head into it, but he widened his jaw and did the best he could with his snapping jaws technique. And… the man pulled away. But Fuzz wasn't really trying to hit him anyway. He was just getting his snout close for the cylinder of ants that rolled off of his head and down it onto the man. The Queen was not part of the arrangement as her body size was much greater than the 'normal' ants, instead pushing it along with great speed and finally leaping forward to give it a final push.

Then Fuzz pushed away, bringing Alva out of reach of the draining blackness.

Shyam had seen the stupid ants before. Once his eyes focused on them he changed from an energy based attack to a wide slap. He could just crush them all against the wall and move on with his day. Yet his slap met with nothing but air as the side of the strangely uniform cylinder where he'd aimed his attack pulled apart some how into a strip. Shyam hadn't actually thought about the strange arrangement they were in with the ants woven together like a mesh before that point, and then they were on him.

He realized he'd missed something else when his earlobe was bitten off by an exceptionally large ant. By the time he could try to crush it, it was pulled away by the strange wheel of ants, spinning along with them over his head and down his neck. They circled around his torso, biting at him without ever stopping. Their movements were faster than the other ants, and the coordinated ways they avoided him almost made him think they could predict how he was going to attack. Which was nonsense.

But… the big one did seem to be a bit of a problem, with jaws big enough to bite more than just skin deep. Punching at ones self was difficult, but he gathered his power and timed his attack just right to hit the giant ant as it crossed his sternum. He fist crushed the creature flat against him.

No, that wasn't quite right. His knuckles certainly touched his chest, but it was not because the ant was crushed… but instead because his bones had given way. Elder Shyam coughed as he felt ribs piercing into his lungs, which made the whole thing worse.

Were these really ants?

Elder Mazhar and his squad from the Boundless Skies Sect took positions around the formation expert. She sheepishly hid his arm behind her back as he glared at her. It was almost as if she was taunting him with it. How foolish. "Well then, woman, looks like your formations have failed you. You'll die slowly for this. It will be such a pain to reattach that arm." There were a few Essence Collection cultivators around her, but even all combined Elder Mazhar could take out them and the woman. With the others, he wasn't worried. Any other reinforcements were still quite distant, so he didn't feel the need to rush. "You people are strangely resistant this time. What made you think you had a chance?"

The woman shuffled around nervously, tightly clutching his arm. He was going to cut off both of her arms before she died, just for fun. "Well, have you ever heard of Everheart?"

"What, that asshole?" Elder Mazhar frowned. "Oh right, he was from the world wasn't he? So what?"

"Well, he was a formation master," the woman said.

"And what, you're his disciple or something?"

The woman made a disgusted face. "Oh, no way. For one thing, I'm not that old. And he's kind of awful. Everybody hates him for coming up with forbidden techniques." She waggled Mazhar's arm as she talked, "I mean, can you believe he came up with killing formations that made use of specific people's blood?"

The thought processes of an Integration cultivator were even more rapid than other cultivators. Well before she was done with the sentence he had understood what she was saying and was moving… but it was already too late. Because he was trapped. All of them were. What's more, Elder Mazhar felt a pull. The stump below his shoulder twinged and his energy started to pull away from him in strands.

"Actually, it gets much worse than that," the woman said. "I can't say I understand it all, and I wouldn't wish the consequences on my greatest foe in the world. But… as you're from another world, I've made an exception."

Mazhar had already tried strangling the woman, but it seemed that he and the others were caught in a sort of ring. His arm was stopped before it could get to her, and there was a sting as he felt a surge of power drawn from him. He tried once more, gathering winds around his fist and punching with the condensed fury of a tornado. He was blown backwards, bouncing off the outer section of the ring.

A moment later his bandages tore off and blood began to flow from his stump. The others with him were launching attacks of their own, and while they didn't seem to be having the same troubles as himself they simply weren't strong enough to break through… well, a formation made from his own energy it seemed. But Mazhar sensed a weakness. It was a ring, but it couldn't continue forever, and didn't seem to have a top. He launched himself upward, flying into the sky- the others following.

There were many things to keep track of in a large battle, and Anton would have felt selfish if he focused only on individuals he particularly cared about like his granddaughters. That was why he was glad that they were also the same places with the Ascension cultivators. He could target the biggest foes and protect his family all at the same time.

To the north the one who had identified himself as Elder Shyam was learning that insects were something he should take seriously, but Anton didn't mind reminding him that people he called insects were also dangerous. He knew there were approaching enemies that he could be dealing with, but the citizens of Stregate were swarming anyone who got close. He took a few shots at key areas but focus mostly to the north and south.

One shot towards Shyam, and a wide shot from his sword-bow to the south towards the flying group that seemed to think he hadn't been paying attention to them. He swiped several of them out of the air at the same time, their flying technique requiring a careful balance of energy that they couldn't maintain when struck by anti-ascension techniques. The fall would barely harm them, but every time they expended energy to get away from a situation and to protect themselves as they dropped back into whatever it was Catarina had set up and were trying to flee… well, it wasn't going to go well for them.

Two arrows north, one south. West and east got one, then it was two south again where someone lost an arm. Sadly not the Ascension cultivator's other arm, but he was having a very difficult time getting above the rooftops regardless. Would Anton kick such a person when they were down? Absolutely. But he didn't mind letting someone else do it.

A squad of soldiers sprinted down the street as a wheel of blackness followed them. None of their attacks worked. Either they were completely ignored or the thing opened up and avoided getting hit. Even when they thought they caused damage, the building-height wheel seemed to be made of endless ants. Those who got run over by it… well, they only screamed for a few moments.

Their only option was to run through people defending the city. That was still a proposition that risked death, but at least they could predict their enemies strengths… and feel them. The worst part about the rolling arrangement of ants was that they didn't feel like anything. They weren't any sort of proper cultivating beast, and neither lower nor upper energy seemed to do anything except disappear when it impacted them. Except maybe get eaten, which was horrifying to think about.

The squad pushed past some defenders, happy to know that at least they would survive for a moment and those they shoved past would die as they were run over. Except it didn't work that way at all. The massive wheel of ants didn't even slow as it rolled over the people. The captain of the squad was lucky enough to at least see horrified faces on the civilians, but the fact that they still had faces meant that the ants could discern between people somehow. And then they got to him.

When the enemies began to retreat, nobody let them go. Perhaps one or two were allowed to trickle out of the walls, but they would be hunted down sooner or later. Sooner, if Anton decided they were a target. He wasn't up to following after them, but the others would… and when one of the retreating groups got to the seventy kilometer mark half an hour later, he didn't stop shooting. Enemy forces that had been thousands were now hundreds… and soon they might not even be that.

The Ascension cultivators were dead, along with all of those at Life Transformation. There was no chance that those who remained would be a threat to the city. But the costs… in a city of tens of thousands, there were more than a thousand dead just among the civilians. The buildings were mostly intact except along a few key fighting corridors where there was near total devastation. Soldiers from both Stregate and Edelhull had suffered further losses. But… they had won. The sacrifices were heavy, but they had been willing to give up everything.

Leadership was gathered together to discuss the battle. "Would it be possible to repeat that formation you made in the center of the city?" Elder Shyam asked Catarina.

"... if you get a living Ascension cultivator's arm, sure," she shrugged. "And give me a few days. And some luck. I have to personalize it to their cultivation style and honestly… I wasn't sure it would work."

"Fair enough," he took stock of her wounds, evidence that the formation had not held to the very end- though it had done enough. "What else could we learn or reuse from the battles?"

The Queen prodded Anton, and he interpreted for her. "She says the large killing wheel took too many soldiers and could only really threaten slower and weaker enemies. They'll be looking into other methods in the future."

"Ah yes," Alfons replied. "The citizens… complained about that. Though not terribly loudly, given the situation."

Hoyt looked around. "Before we do whatever we plan next, we need to rest. All of us. Our growing proficiency in battling these people won't do us much good if we all are run ragged, and though we could lean on the militia soldiers for support… the less they have to face themselves the more they will grow with us. And we have been growing. There's hardly a person among us who hasn't undergone a breakthrough, mostly minor but a few major."

Left unspoken was that he was only referring to those who survived. But the actual strength of their forces was, if not increasing, at least maintaining as they were able to coordinate with larger swaths of territory throughout Graotan.

Grand Elder Fodor hadn't spoken much yet, but he laid forth the various options. "Well then. We have several possibilities from here. After we take some time to recover, we will leave Command Alfons and Stregate with what they can manage. The next targets… securing the teleport formations, or moving into eastern Graotan to coordinate with more larger cities." He looked at the Queen's limb movements, "And further colonies, yes."

The teleportation formations were only in a semi-active state, but they had been left with the possibility to be used because of the way they functioned. There had been some foreknowledge that the enemies would be slow to recover their energy, and so going through the teleportation that required them to drain themselves of energy would be advantageous to those on the other end… and eventually allow for the continents to send backup between each other. The closer formations to places like the Glorious Flame Palace were temporarily disassembled since they might not drain enough.

Both options involved pushing into territory where the enemy forces were unknown, but where the initial consequences of the invasion should have been fully resolved. Especially if they waited for people to recover mentally and physically before they continued.

Chapter 357

Times of crisis made people realize what was important to them. When it came down to it and you could only choose to save so much, the choice came automatically. It wasn't unexpected for Lev to choose the Grasping Willow Sect. He'd devoted most of his life to it, and the same was true of his future, if he would have one.

That said, he chose to abandon the place. The grasping willows themselves that filled the area around the sect with its beautiful ponds and gazebos were part of what made it his most precious thing, but that wasn't all. It was really the people. In fact, even the Grandfather Willow didn't mean as much to him as the various elders and disciples of the sect.

With all of that mentioned, he still found himself among the roots of the Grandfather Willow. Just because he could abandon it didn't mean he thought it was responsible. It was a place of great power, exactly the sort of things the invaders would be interested in… chopping down and using for firewood, or whatever they did with the resources they stole from this world. It was also highly defensible.

When the initial descent had come a group had landed nearby, finding it to be a tempting target. When they moved in they hadn't expected it to fight back with such… intent. They would have been partially right in that assumption, but the Grandfather Willow wasn't going to give of itself so easily. Not for those who would tear it apart. Lev knew that somewhere Anton was making good use of the bow he'd constructed from a piece of it, but that made use of a fallen branch and a single vine. If people who didn't care were to look for the most useful part of the tree, they'd come for the heartwood and carve the entire thing apart.

But to do that they would have to get through Lev, who was wrapped solidly in a bundle of roots, bark, and the solid wood of the trunk. Only his head stuck out, facing up the valley towards where the invaders repeatedly tried to get close.

The first time they'd been moderately easy to repel. At signs of resistance, they backed off and took a look around the area. Members of the sect had scouted them going through what remained of the sect proper, though if the Grasping Willows had done it right there wouldn't be anything worth their time. Whatever they found, the invaders soon returned to the Grandfather Willow.

A single Ascension cultivator was at the head, but they also had a good number of Life Transformation cultivators. Meanwhile, the Grasping Willows only had two Life Transformation members beyond Lev himself. Since the previous generation had none, it was a great step ahead. However, it did make resisting the enemies somewhat… difficult.

The many tendrils of the Grandfather Willow flailed and grasped as the enemy forces marched. Lev directed and empowered them as he could, but often he had to leave them to their instincts. There was simply too much to handle.

The Grandfather Willow had great stores of energy, but it was hardly conscious and made no active choices. Lev in his current state was able to control that, fending off attacks that would have otherwise easily cut through the defensive vines. The only opponent he couldn't stop completely was the Ascension cultivator who roared with the power of a dragon. Not that Lev had met one himself, as the near-mythical creatures were basically extinct. Perhaps due to the efforts invaders desiring their valuable bodies. Though it was possible that the native inhabitants were also to blame. Even if they weren't hunted for their valuable everything, they were dangerous and were usually killed off when found.

Regardless, the image of the Ascension cultivator was a nearly solid representation of a ten meter high golden scaled beast, with wings and a long neck. The power of the teeth and claws were real regardless, but the roar was the worst part. Body Tempering cultivators had collapsed to the ground when the man was at the far edge of the Grandfather Willow's canopy, and they had to be moved to behind the great tree to protect them. Those who were somewhat stronger were knocked flying or momentarily stunned every time the man roared.

Lev twisted the branches of the Grandfather Willow to block the sound waves whenever he got the chance, but he also had to keep the Life Transformation cultivators at bay. Those who could fight were harassing the enemies from all sides, but the enemies were matching kill for kill, even with Lev controlling the Grandfather Willow. And they were getting close to the trunk, where he could be attacked directly.

Though it was more dangerous that way, Lev was glad they were making him a priority target. He wouldn't mind sacrificing more of himself to protect the sect. As the dragon claws swept through the hanging vines, Lev relaxed the energy surrounding them. It still protected them, but if they resisted the cut more than the force of the blow they would simply flail about instead of being destroyed. Flexibility was one of the best traits of the Grasping Willows, after all.

He was only a few hundred meters away from the main enemy force now. Such a distance could be covered in mere moments by powerful cultivators. Lev himself could not move, but he had no concerns for his main body. Instead, he was the Grandfather Willow, bending inward to fight the foes beneath him.

As they pressed closer, the ground shifted as he called upon the roots of the tree. Moving the roots would ultimately damage the tree, but if it could prevent it from complete destruction- or at least save some of the members of the sect- then it was worth it.

The plant wrapped around the approaching cultivators, catching one Life Transformation expert and crushing her. Others dodged, but even if they left the ground and moved through the air the tendris were there to wrap around them and force them into a dead end. Controlling so many different parts was wearing down Lev's mental ability, but he couldn't accept any less of himself.

Soon enough he was close enough to be affected by a roar. His position was unmovable, but he felt his head ring from the power. Some of the tendrils he was counting on were sliced apart or chomped through, but there were more to bring to bear. Not an unlimited number, but with the roots to call upon as well… it would be enough. It had to be.

As the Ascension cultivator got even close, Lev activated his other technique. It was one developed by him, not something he had sought out but instead something he made use of. Tiny particles of his energy were floating in the air, barely discernible amongst the background of the Grandfather Willow's great presence. That very energy was what allowed the rest of the Grasping Willows to hold together at all during the series of battles.

The tiny particles of energy latched onto the Ascension cultivator, but the man didn't seem to notice. Not at first, anyway. When Lev had firmly sunk his roots of power though the man's defenses and began the real assault, there was a strong reaction.

First, a roar. Not one simply meant for offense, but one of pain and outrage. Lev was making use of anti-ascension techniques along with his moss inspired techniques. He doubted he could control an Ascension cultivator's body, but he could certainly make his nerves full of pain… and disrupting the man's energy was extremely important as well. Lev swung a dangling tendril at the man, intending to enwrap him but instead simply battering him away as the man let the momentum push him. The ones beyond weren't fast enough to twist around him, but there was always another chance.

The slash of a claw from over a dozen feet away still scarred the bark of the Grandfather Willow above Lev's head. He couldn't move, but he had more than enough energy to call upon to shield himself from at least a few attacks.

The deciding factor in the battle was something that looked like just another hanging tendril… but was decidedly not. Instead, it was a great snake, and though they were often interested in finding their own prey among any cultivators who stumbled into them unwary… something had made them leave the Grasping Willows alone during their current occupation of the tree.

Perhaps it was recognizing a great foe, because the snake should have been able to sense the energy of the Ascension cultivator and how much greater it was. But not so much greater that the snake couldn't force its mouth around the head of the dragon for a few moments. Ultimately the snake was split in two from the inside, but a moment of stillness allowed Lev to entangle a root around the leg of the cultivator. Then another around the other leg, with vines moving to encircle the form of the dragon.

Every time one was cut by flailing limbs, two more were added. Lev was pretty sure his eardrums had burst because he could only feel the roars and not hear them. But he grasped and squeezed and twisted with everything he had, tiny particles of energy pushing deeper and deeper to disrupt.

When the cultivator's energy finally collapsed, he was torn asunder and crushed at the same moment, turning into something that no longer resembled a person. Even before that point others had taken the predicament as a cue to retreat… but Lev wasn't going to let them go so easily. The entirety of the Grandfather Willow's reach was his domain now. Without an Ascension cultivator to hold him back, he focused on the strongest cultivators one at a time. Perhaps a few enemies escaped, but some time later Lev found himself without any targets.

A wave of fatigue washed over him and he groaned. Then he slowly extricated himself from his attachment to the tree. He flopped to the ground as the whole thing unraveled. He tilted his head back and forth but otherwise lay still. If anyone looked closely they would be able to see small holes in his spine where he'd entangled tiny root hairs with himself. Lev knew what might happen, but as he lay there he only smiled. He'd had one arm that didn't work before. What was another arm and a couple legs on top of that, compared to the others in the sect? As worried elders and disciples alike crowded around him, he grew even more confident that his choices had been the correct ones. He'd needed every bit of power and connection to the Grandfather Willow he had been able to scrounge up.

If there were further enemies… he might be able to repeat the process, but he couldn't guarantee survival. Then again, who could in times like this?

Desiccated severed heads were held up by long pikes driven into the sand. Even outside of a sandstorm seeing them would be difficult given the reflective nature of the Mirror Sands, but anyone who mattered would be able to sense them. And they were there for a purpose. They were a message.

The message said that the Million Sword Vault would behead any invaders who got close, no matter how strong they were. The message also said that they had a lot of long, pointy objects that they didn't care about because they weren't swords. Some came from invaders and some they already had.

"Ooh!" a voice rang out in the swirling reflective sands, unconcerned by the raging sandstorm. "You can replace number seventy-two!" Chikere nodded. It was a shame, really, that none of the strong invaders had used a sword. There should have been sword cultivators among the invaders, but apparently they weren't fully able to choose where they arrived. Not that anyone arrived exactly at the Million Sword Vault, either. They had mostly landed in the desert around them where they were swiftly cut down. Sure, they killed many disciples as well- but that was the life of a cultivator.

"I'm not impressed," Elder Vasu commented.

"I know right?" Chikere shook her head. "Rahayu would cut these Ascenders in half."

"That's not what I meant, actually," Vasu shook his head. "You needed my help to barely beat one. I meant the swords. But I'm sure you felt that one fall to the west."

"Absolutely!" she nodded her head. "That's a clear number one replacement! Does that mean we're going to move out now?"

"That's right. Elder Wardah's arm is all sewn back on and is moving, and that was the worst of the problems. Well, of those that survived. His lung might even heal at some point."

"Alright," Chikere tossed the new number seventy-two into a bag. "Hey, did everyone hear that?" she called towards the sect grounds. "We're going to go get more swords! And maybe save the rest of the continent if it needs it!"

Chapter 358

Word from Ambati to the west was minimal, but what did come seemed to be good news. Some invaders had been repelled, and the rest were having the sects and clans unite against them. Droca was also doing well, though mainly because fewer invaders had chosen the area as a target. To the north… unfortunately, Estary seemed to be in a worse situation than Graotan. Enough that scouts reported sects just over the border being vacated or destroyed.

After some recovery and reorganizing of the forces, Graotan was doing as well as could be expected. Nobody wanted to think about how many lives had been lost, but the area of control was expanding to cover most of western Graotan. The teleportation formations were reconnected with, and fortunately they had remained secure. So far nobody had tried to come through from Aicenith which… was something.

There were some things that had been learned from enemy patterns. First, except for a few exceptions like at the Order itself and the attack on Stregate, the enemy forces had at first split up into smaller groups to spread out over the countryside. They stopped doing that primarily because everyone who had done so was dead. Right now the remaining enemy forces were mostly concentrating in eastern Graotan. That included the majority of the remnants of the group to land on the Order.

Their defeat was the current goal of the Order, and they were pressing forward with their army. The main sect was covering the southern and western borders just in case the situation there worsened and Stregate should be able to hold the north, so they simply had to approach the enemy.

Unlike a standard war, the enemy forces hadn't marched through Graotan to reach its depths but simply came from the sky. They seemed to have some knowledge of the geography but couldn't be said to be intimately familiar with it. Where they were forming up to fight back was defensible enough, but they were making use of the remains of a smaller sect- the Diamond Hill Sanctuary- and the battered and broken formations that remained.

"It does appear they've had some success in repairing them," Catarina commented. "I got closer with the scouting party to confirm that, and it's clear they do have some formation experts among them. As for masters… they either don't have any, or they're quite tricky."

"I don't know if we can necessarily bet on the latter," Elder Fodor commented. "I'd expect them to have the option to bring people more versed in formations than the majority of us here."

"Except we only deal with 'lower energy'," Catarina commented. "And formation masters worth their title would rather not subject themselves to a place like this. I imagine."

Formations masters had the reputation of being eccentric. Not necessarily like Everheart, but at the very least a bit pompous. They filled an important function and were few in number, so even if they were arrogant at least a little bit of it was justified. Then there were those like Catarina who were just obsessed, though hardly easier to interact with.

"Can we siege them?" Hoyt asked. "I mean a proper siege. Like Stregate. If we can starve them out…"

"That might be possible," Velvet commented. "But we can't be sure what supplies they have kept- or what they brought with them." Her skin was covered in burn scars from the first battle at the Order. It only took a single attack to put her out of commission for a time, and even now she probably wouldn't be at full combat capability. She was hopeful about making a full recovery, but that would have to wait to be seen.

"I would prefer we minimize combat if we don't have to," Timothy agreed, "But I don't know if we can afford to wait longer. Even if our borders are mostly secure now, if this group gets reinforced…" he shook his head. "I don't think we could survive that. Even if they continue their propensity for retreating."

"If that's the case," Catarina commented, "I need to get close to the formation to get a better look at it. Maybe even past the walls. If we can push in briefly and then retreat…" she shook her head. "Well, I'm not sure. If they follow us out then they lose the defensive position, but that implies us being able to break through easily. We might find that the formations are more solid than expected."

The discussion on how to approach the attack continued for some time before they solidified a strategy with the help of those leading the militia forces.

Leaves rustled in the wind as Jim sat by the edge of the river, waiting. He had a bow in his hands and a spear at his side and was ready to make use of either. The river in front of him had nearly drowned him when he was a young boy. He'd been swept away in a flood when the bridge collapsed. Now the bridge was twice as large, having been replaced shortly after and then again years later. Now Jim was old enough to have a boy of his own, and that boy was nearly a man.

The old man who had saved him felt like a hero, a powerful cultivator swooping in just when he had been needed. Yet he hadn't really been that amazing, as cultivators went. It had taken Jim some time to learn that, but as he grew to adulthood and the practice of cultivation became more widespread it seemed the man had only been in the early Body Tempering stage. That would make him barely matched with a fit man in his prime, given the man's age. But Anton hadn't saved him because he was strong, but because he was there.

The man had come back to Helmfirth Rill later, and was somewhat stronger. With Jim's current knowledge he understood Anton's cultivation was quite fast. Here he was, early Essence Collection after a couple decades of training, something geniuses had been known to accomplish in five years. It was a shame he didn't have to worry about things like one of the village's kids nearly drawing, but instead there was trouble with invaders. Their little out-of-the way village wasn't a prime target, but even they had a few special herbs they grew. These days, any village that didn't have at least a token effort put towards empowering their cultivators was just a collection of people going nowhere.

In his time as a cultivator Jim had dealt with a few vicious beasts and some ruffians that decided to take up banditry. The latter wouldn't have had any sort of cultivation in the world Jim was born in, but these days it was weirder not to. The first group found that even Jim's mother wasn't negligent in her training. Everyone was able to work so much more easily with a bit of cultivation, leaving them time to do more work… or just have time to spare, even after the time spent cultivating. A few ruffians with delusions of grandeur could be beat up by Jim's sixty year old mother, and if they were a bit stronger they'd need a couple other grannies.

Those who were a bit smarter and stronger either didn't bother with a place like Helmfirth Rill, or brought down the entire town's wrath. And one time there had been a larger bandit group brewing… for all of a month before the Order shut it down. Jim didn't know if Anton had been involved in that particular incident, but he knew the man was now an Elder at the highest level of cultivation- Life Transformation.

The invasion had hit the cultivation sects in the area pretty hard, though some held on against their foes. A larger force had congregated but there were still weaker invaders running around the countryside who thought they could have whatever they wanted. And twenty years ago, they would have been right.

Jim sensed the approaching group getting closer. They had gone to the bridge and sensed the defenders there so they were probably trying to sneak around. When the first one was about to reach the river's edge, Jim drew an arrow and aimed right for their gut.

They sensed the surge of energy from him and dove out of the way, meaning he only grazed them. There were a handful of others as well, from late Spirit Building to one in early Essence Collection. More than a match for Jim, even if he had techniques to fight them. But his attack would let the others in the village know what was going on, and he could delay them long enough for people to be prepared.

The Essence Collection cultivator leapt out over the river, no doubt planning to just step their way across. Anyone with solid control of energy could hold themselves up on water. Jim snapped off a quick shot, using the anti-ascension techniques that were so good at disrupting these people's energy. They deflected his shot with their and only stumbled slightly, but as their to dipped into the water a toothy mouth reached up for them. Normally Jim would have removed such pests from the river, but for the last year the town had just decided to let the beasties stay. The looming feeling of the invasion had been impetus enough to give up on some fish.

Other river creatures snapped at the trailing cultivators, and the first one was pulled halfway into the water before they killed the beast. Jim took a final shot that pierced their shoulder as the man righted himself, then held his spear at the ready. Reinforcements were on the way, and though this particular group hadn't learned not to underestimate the people of Graotan, they would soon. Though preferably they'd learn that lesson after they were dead so they couldn't join up with anyone else.

Erin watched the movements of Paradise expectantly. The Island Tenders had thought that perhaps some of the invaders would land on Paradise, but instead as far as they could tell they landed on the continents to the east and west. They were currently heading west to Brogora, much faster than Paradise normally traveled. At the standard pace it might take them a year or two to make a crossing, but now they were leaving an enormous wake behind them as they moved. That was of course expected of anything the size of an island moving with much speed, but it was far from the normal leisurely pace.

The Island Tenders had kept the land on Paradise's back well in shape for visiting travelers but they rarely considered the strength of the turtle itself. Not directly, anyway. As cultivators they might admire it or study it, but they rarely thought about it actually fighting. Before their establishment Paradise had joined a battle with a kraken, fighting alongside the cultivators. Now, it seemed eager to fight once more, but it was unclear what it could do.

In terms of power… Erin completely believed that if Paradise could get to the invaders it could cause massive harm to them. Even turning a portion of its massive energy would be enough to crush any cultivator Erin knew of. The problem was that, well, it was a turtle. A water creature. Even if it could move about on land, it might cause more destruction than the invaders themselves.

Or maybe Erin and the others were wrong about their current destination, and they would find themselves diving underwater after an exceptionally large fish. It was possible, but given the behavior shown so far it would be odd if this particular behavior wasn't in response to the invaders. Though they couldn't be felt directly anymore now that they had landed, Erin still felt an ominous presence.

Soon enough Erin spotted Greatleaf Island, which meant they were almost to Facraona's shores. As they approached the continent the turtle slowed back to its leisurely pace. No, had it stopped entirely? At first she thought nothing was happening, then the creature's head and neck slowly rose out of the water, creating waves that would certainly rock the ships in the nearest harbor kilometers away. Then the turtle spit, a mass of water equivalent in size to a lake flying through the air.

Erin hoped that it was aimed at invaders… and not anywhere near civilized territory. Maybe someone should go check on that. If it was helping the invaders then they could… do nothing, probably. Paradise hadn't attacked any of them, but it wasn't like he couldn't. Erin believed he was on their side though. And when that ball of water landed she would be able to find out.

Chapter 359

The very best scouts were ones nobody was looking for. Even if the invaders currently occupying Diamond Hill Sanctuary were aware that they were looking for ants, it was basically impossible for them to spot them all. Regular ants could be picked out by using their energy senses, but they didn't matter to either side. Hundreds of smaller ants crawled through the area, only temporarily slowed by formations. While those the size of normal ants weren't as intelligent as the Great Queen or the other older members, they were able to convey information well enough.

Diamond Hill Sanctuary- specifically the sect's grounds- was more or less what the name implied. It wasn't full of diamonds but instead shaped like a faceted diamond resting on its head, sharp angles and flat expanses coming to a peak. It wasn't a perfect match, but the sect founders had found the unnaturally shaped location already arranged in that manner and decided to settle there.

It once had a series of gatehouses leading up to the entrance, but the majority of those were destroyed. Even with the abilities of high ranking cultivators it was impossible to repair so much in a short time, especially without access to a supply chain providing materials. Thus, most of the gatehouses were still in disarray and the walls had crumbled in parts. Even so, attacking with an army only had one path up. Climbing the various sides of the hill made of smooth rock wasn't impossible for a cultivator, but to do so with haste while keeping safe was nearly impossible. With the forces from Edelhull and Stregate leaning towards the lower end of cultivation, such an attack would only get them killed meaninglessly.

The defensive position wasn't overwhelming with the damage to the defenses, but it was awkward for one reason… not giving the invaders anywhere to retreat. Everyone knew full well how viciously people fought when it concerned their own lives. Their opponents had been careless at first, underestimating them and only retreating when they realized the losses they would take. They could be nearly as dangerous as… an entire nation trying to protect their homeland.

Cutting the enemy forces off from leaving and slowly starving them might work, but there was no way to know how much food they had in storage. Storage bags, specifically. The actual proper kitchens were well scouted by ants. The cultivators of Diamond Hill Sanctuary looked to have food for several months, maybe half a year, but the current number of invaders was higher than the sect was meant for. In the end, the uncertainty of the time required- and what else might happen in the world while they waited- led them to choose an active siege.

The siege wouldn't just involve throwing boulders at walls. In fact, that was only a very small part of the plan. It certainly wasn't being ignored, but while cultivators didn't often make use of traditional sieging tactics they still had records of it. And even if most had no real experience in the area, replicating techniques was easy enough.

There were options like undermining, digging beneath the foundations of the walls to collapse them. The walls themselves were atop the cliffs so it would require significantly more burrowing than in other cases. Burrowing had a big advantage in that it innately came with cover, but enemy cultivators made the process harder as they could sense what would be happening under the ground. The walls also weren't the main problem at the moment. There was a more extreme version, however. If they hollowed out enough of the hill they could cause the whole thing to collapse. That would take a long time, but it would easily take formations with it.

As for actually throwing things at walls, Grant had put together a few cultivator-appropriate siege weapons such as trebuchets. Processes such as loading large weights were easier with cultivators involved. With high quality materials the machines could bear greater loads as well, which was important since there was no point in loading a weight that could not be hurled. Enchantments on the trebuchets would further enhance them, and like the ballistae they would make use of multiple cultivators as they fired. The siege weapons could certainly put holes in the walls, but breaking through defensive formations or targeting groups of enemy cultivators would also be valuable.

A squad of soldiers on a mission infiltrated the enemy fortress. They followed paths laid down by scouts before them, perfectly clear to those who could recognize the signs and invisible to those who couldn't. It was a long march through enemy territory, but they walked one by one through narrow trenches and cracks. Sometimes they even took a ride on one of the enemy soldiers without them noticing. They carried with them heavy packs of supplies for sabotage.

After a grueling trek they arrived at their destination. In front of them were mountains of food, the kind that would take an entire hive years to eat through- even if they were producing offspring as quickly as they could. But there were no offspring here. No queens. They were too valuable… and too noticeable.

The soldiers spread out to their duties, working together to bridge gaps when climbing was difficult. They chewed through stitching on bags of flour. Just a small bit in the lower corners, or it would take them all day. Some of the stronger soldiers worked together to chew through seals on casks, not enough to make anything spill out but enough to expose it to the open air.

The packs that had been strapped to them by cultivators with great manual dexterity were dropped into crates, mainly individual grains with fungus that would hopefully spread to fill whole batches. The soldiers worked hard, but aside from the tiny pockets of infection they left behind they had an infinite amount of food to munch on to keep their energy up. There was no need to bring anything back to the hive.

The next target were the bunkhouses. Once again, they targeted the weakest points. Broken tiles in the roof were painstakingly shifted to let in the elements, the process requiring dozens of soldiers together. The seams of pillows were gnawed through. Spare boots mysteriously found their soles separating.

The luxurious tents of the commanders, larger on the inside, were the final targets. There were specific instructions for how to slip under the lining to look for certain embroidered runes. Chewing through them would gradually cause the tents to fail. Doing it all at once would be far too noticeable… and might result in good soldiers being trapped in nothingness. Or more likely an explosion of energy that would involve real danger to their weaker brethren. It would also be too obvious.

The golden targets were actual storage bags where cultivators kept their most precious goods, but these were more durable and closely watched. The commander of this particular squad did not find any good openings, though he hoped the others might.

Grant folded his arms, "I'm not saying it's a waste of resources or anything, I just fail to see how making people slightly uncomfortable for a day is going to matter. By the end of the day they'll repair a couple tiny holes and then if anything more happens they'll be on alert."

"Ah, but you see," Grand Elder Fodor wagged his finger. "That is where your experiences fail you. How would you describe your profession?"

"A smith," Grant shrugged. "Maybe engineer."

Fodor nodded. "And how many smiths do you think they have? Maybe a couple. Maybe they have a carpenter, but I would doubt it. A seamster is unlikely, and even if they can technically stitch things up they probably don't have spare silk thread lying around. The point is, these are typical cultivators, and most won't do anything unrelated to war. And if we can make one have a stiff neck throwing him a little bit off when battle happens… I'll take that advantage."

Fodor reached his hand over to the nearby trebuchet, enhancing the next hunk of rock with his own energy. The great machine twisted, flinging the chunk into the air and causing it to impact on an invisible barrier. Invisible, yet the way it distorted the light behind it demonstrated cracks for several moments after the impact. That was already twice as long as the hour previous when they had first started.

Trebuchets enhanced with natural energy had far more range than most cultivators, but the invaders weren't without a response. While they had no snipers able to attack as far as Anton or Kseniya, they could at least cover the several kilometers to the siege weapons. A large orb of grayish energy was formed by a trio of cultivators in the city and lobbed forward… but a single bolt of light pierced through it, causing it to unravel high in the sky.

Anton was on defensive duty, since adding him to the offense when he could only hit a barrier was a waste. The load was currently split between many cultivators, and they were able to cycle them out with only the main engineers who had skill at operating the machines staying active. Around half of the army was active at any point, though a good portion were simply on standby in case of an attack. The enemy sallying forth from the city would be the best option since they would give up their advantages, but it was therefore quite unlikely.

"How long can we keep this up for?" Timothy asked. He was among the siege weapons in case a threatening attack got close. The weapons were worth the effort of defending.

"A few days at most," Grant admitted. "We're limited by how much ammunition we can bring in. We built up as much as we could, but we'll eventually run out. I could maybe throw together an oversized ballista that launches trees but… I'd probably need a week, and I don't know if we have the materials. That's longer than we seem to be planning anyway."

"That's right," Timothy nodded. "Catarina said she can only learn a little bit more studying the formations from out here. At most a couple days before she'll be ready. There will still be ammunition for these siege engines then, right?"

Grant nodded, "We have some set aside. And we took a few ballistae from Stregate, though they're no good until we get to the actual fighting." He squinted as he focused on the city. "Your wife can actually see something about the formations from watching this?"

"The bombardment should be helping, actually. Seeing how it reacts is important," Timothy nodded. "Even I have enough training to come to the same assessment… they don't have anyone worthy of the title of formation master with them."

"What if they don't have materials?"

Timothy shook his head. "That doesn't matter. Well, it does. But if the person is skilled enough they could whip something together with what we've seen. You should see what Catarina has done with random arrangements of rocks and twigs."

"Why have fancy materials if you can use… anything?"

"Because they imploded," Timothy grinned. "But it did stop the charge of a ten ton boar. Snapped the boar's neck."

"And here I am working with big rocks," Grant shook his head.

"This is great, actually," Timothy assured him. "You make things where many people can contribute, and they're much less… esoteric. But isn't enchantment related to formations?"

"In a way, but formations react to changing circumstances, or display wider effects. Enchantments are solidified."

Timothy was about to answer when he leapt up onto the structure of the nearest trebuchet, using that as a foothold to jump even higher out in front of it. A large dome appeared in front of him as he held out his shield, deflecting a ball of black-orange fire up and to the side. It was composed entirely of ascension energy, so it didn't hold its form to land and cause trouble that way. "Seems they're getting somewhat serious if that witch is getting involved. But that's great for us. It could take her hours to recover from just that attack. By the estimates of our tiny allies, the two Ascension cultivators are back to no more than two thirds of their full potential."

"Still pretty incomprehensible," Grant shrugged. But it wasn't his job to deal with them directly, so he could manage.

Chapter 360

Defenders had an advantage in a battle, but that was only if their fortifications could stand up to those on the attack. Against cultivators far into Spirit Building or later walls made out of granite performed little better than paper. More exotic and rare materials were needed along with enchantments, and walls weren't the end of things.

Diamond Hill Sanctuary's walls were strong enough to be a factor, but the previous damage limited their effectiveness along with the gatehouses. There was still some trepidation among the attacking forces, but if they didn't act soon the invaders might actually be able to put together an enduring foothold in the area. That was absolutely something they didn't want.

The siege was already active, trebuchets launching whatever sufficiently heavy materials were brought along or able to be found nearby. Cultivators launched attacks in both directions, though even with the defender possessing a height advantage few of them were able to reach the trebuchets to attack. Likewise, few individual cultivators from the forces of Graotan were able to actually do more than defend the siege engines.

Though the forces of Graotan had some constraints, the constant battering of the enemy formations were going to require a response from their enemies first. The enemies might be able to prop it up by providing their own energy to the formation, but that would be very much in the favor of the siegers. The invaders weren't able to recover their energy as quickly, especially the critically important Ascension cultivators. So far they had been provoked into launching several attacks from their fortifications, but without committing they were unable to cause lasting damage.

It was possible the defending forces were holding something back that would let them take out the trebuchets. If that was the case it would likely happen all at once. Otherwise they had to be hoping for the attackers to run out of ammunition- which would certainly happen eventually. Even with storage bags to hold large volumes of material, several siege machines constantly firing went through rock rather quickly. If they were in a defensive position around a stockpile they might be better off, but their current situation limited them.

The enemy might know that… but as it was it seemed that the formations might still be battered into nothing, after which they would be able to attack directly. They just had to wait for that time.

At the same time as the bombardment was happening, a group of cultivators slowly and patiently climbed the sheer surfaces of the Diamond Hill. They were more than sheer in a way, since some angles involved overhangs. Climbing up those required the use of natural energy which would normally give away their location, but they were carefully arranged to prevent that. Specifically, with the use of formation flags in a way Catarina had grown experienced with over the years.

They weren't truly undetectable. Even though she had brought forces to Stregate, seemingly appearing from being invisible, the technique only worked when those she was avoiding the notice of were distracted by something else. Either that or it took a large amount of natural energy to sustain, and someone like Velvet with a high proficiency in stealth to help. Velvet was with them for the sake of scouting, though she hadn't intended to be getting this close.

They weren't part of some sneaky assault, they were merely just climbing up the side- not towards the entrance nor entirely opposite towards the rear- for the sake of Catarina's curiosity. It was justified, because she could find a way to negate the enemy's formation if she understood it well enough. During the bombardment that was the perfect time, since it was at peak activity.

The group stopped just shy of the actual walls so Catarina could make sure there wasn't anything that would give away their position. They were about as close as they could be regardless. Even if the defenders were clumped away from them, they would still potentially be noticed. Like by the Ascension cultivators. Catarina was keeping half an eye on them as she studied the way the formation reacted.

The tiny infiltrators were happy to see that their work had provoked a response. There were all sorts of traps set… for rats. Because the humans would of course believe anything that could cause such damage to their supplies had to be rats. The growing mold was a different matter, but it seemed many of the supplies had been disposed of. They were already replaced, but the sergeant found something interesting as they checked on one area.

Someone was sneaking about. Not just any someone, but a non-invader cultivator. They didn't have the same tasty scent of ascension energy. That was too bad, because the ants were looking to pick off people if they could. Instead of remaining in position the sergeant decided to follow the unexpected human, carrying a storage bag full of freshly unsabotaged food.

They moved quickly, too fast for the individual ants to keep up. They were, however, able to increase their mobility by forming themselves into a variety of structures- mostly little wheels where they rolled around, providing power with the movements to accelerate. It was just enough to keep up with a cultivator sneaking around slowly, which let them spot the door as it closed. It fit firmly enough into the wall that no signs of it could be picked out. Not at eye level, anyway. There were slight cracks at the floor and the ceiling, so small it would take something like an ant to wiggle through.

So they did.

Following the narrow passageway down through the area around them they eventually came to a gathering of cultivators with similar energy. Though the sergeant was not of the same intelligence as the great queens, they were sufficiently intelligent to organize. And understand speech. The individual they followed was reporting on the status of the battle up above as food was distributed.

"Are they here to help?" asked one of the humans.

"I detected at least a few members of the Order. I doubt they know we're here though."

"I'd like to get in contact with them if we could," said the first.

The sergeant was already working on that plan from another angle, though it would be a bit difficult. No hive had interactions here as far as he knew, so they wouldn't know the sign language. Old techniques it was.

"What's that?" A sudden response from one of the nearby cultivator sent a spear piercing into the wall, a ring of ants narrowly avoiding being killed. While they would gladly give their lives for the community, it would be a shame to die. The extended aura natural energy should have crushed any number of insects, but it didn't even make them uncomfortable.

The ants tried to wave again, in what they hoped was not a taunting manner. While the cultivators gathered around they then quickly formed into a word. "Allies."

"Allies?" said one person.

"It's possible," admitted one of the gray haired ones, probably an 'elder'. "The Order has had dealings with some strange ants…"

How rude. They weren't strange at all! If anthing the stupid ants were the strange ones. But the sergeant continued to direct the group on what words to spell, with each ant knowing which portion it would belong to. They formed one word at a time. "Can… understand… speech…"

After a good ten or twenty minutes Catarina was satisfied with her studies. She could bring down the formation easily enough, though it would actually withstand the bombardment longer than it appeared on the surface. That was information that had to get back to the rest of the army. But first, she might as well get started. Catarina slowly and carefully carved a few unobtrusive runes at the base of the wall. Unless the formation specialist came by specifically to look at the area nobody would notice… and the rhythmic sounds of boulders and the like crashing against the barrier meant they were probably occupied.

She would have liked to go all the way around the whole perimeter, but she was going to have to be satisfied with breaking few at a couple small points. She wasn't going to risk getting caught, as the enemy forces could kill their little squad if they were spotted.

An hour later, the bombardment halted. The visible reason was that the trebuchets were low on ammunition, which was not entirely incorrect. The actual reason was regarding two pieces of information that had come in.

Many formations were powered by ambient natural energy, and the one that had been set up on the Diamond Hill was no different. That meant it would be able to recover to full effectiveness if left alone for too long. Thus, sustaining the bombardment would have been the right choice if they didn't have a plan.

Arrows still continued to hit it at regular occurrences. Though they were small they carried significant amounts of energy, creating rather large and intentionally quite loud explosions as they impacted the barrier.

"Grandpa," Alva cautioned, "You do need to rest for the battle."

"If I don't sleep, and they don't sleep because of that, I come out ahead," he countered.

"You only sleep like… four hours," Alva shook her head. "So do that. Then you can continue this. But if you try not to sleep at all, then I'm going to team up with Fuzz to wrestle you unconscious and we'll all be exhausted."

Anton didn't have much to say to that. Closer to the start of Alva's cultivation career she had advanced cautiously given her young age, and Anton had possessed a couple years of a head start. After more than thirty years that gap had shrunk significantly, to the point Anton was well aware that his granddaughter could basically match him. Anton had gotten into a bit more trouble during his career and maintained the advantage through decades of archery experience, but the gap between them was not large. She might even surpass him soon. If he made use of forbidden techniques he could swing the battle, but he would only use Candle Wax in an emergency. And using the power of Fleeting Youth against his granddaughter would just tire him out more and make him need that rest. "Fine. But you need to keep them up instead."

"Deal," Alva nodded. "I can shoot that far without trouble, at least."

With that, Anton took a short time to recover, while the rest of the army was busy preparing for an assault- though they were trying to look like they weren't. The good thing about an army of cultivators is that they could ready themselves quickly when it came time to fight.

In the morning, the actual bombardment began again. The long pause hopefully wouldn't have made the enemy realize the rhythm was slower- or if they did notice Grant hopes they would chalk it up to being low on ammunition. They were, even with what they had gathered the previous night, but it would last long enough one way or another.

It was impossible to disguise armies marching up a long gradient towards the Diamond Hill. They didn't even try, but the very act was a distraction for other things that were being put in place. Catarina wouldn't be attempting to invisibly sneak up to the enemy this time, since she needed to be where they would break through and attention would inevitably be focused there already. It was better instead to have her organize a defensive formation. As a mobile formation it would not be nearly as powerful as what the enemies had but it would at least help protect the weaker soldiers as they approached. There was ultimately very little cover otherwise. It would have been a dozen times worse if they had to fight through gatehouses along the way, but as they had been destroyed in the occupying force's attack they were mostly rubble.

The barrier shook under the bombardment of trebuchets and individual cultivators, showing weakness that was not quite what it seemed to be.

Chapter 361

Hundreds of soldiers moved swiftly up the ramp leading to the front gates, lower ranking cultivators standing side-by-side with stronger cultivators, making use of numbers and strength to push back the defenders. Not that there were many outside the final wall, since there was little left of the gatehouses to take advantage of. Those sent to slow them either had to be very eager for some sort of achievements or quite disfavored among the various sects of the invaders.

Not all of them died. Some were forced to retreat while others were simply knocked over the edge where they would have to invest effort to climb back up… and think about whether they wanted to risk being surrounded. Most did not, pulling away from the fight. Anton took note of them but reserved his energy for active combatants. Leaving anyone to cause damage in the surrounding countryside sat poorly with him, but the average civilian was not so defenseless as they might have once been.

As the Graotan forces surged forward attacks from inside the Diamond Hill Sanctuary bombarded them, the mobile formation controlled by Catarina providing some shelter while the attacks provided incentive to move more quickly. There was no slow and steady march but instead an organized charge.

The attackers reached the gates and were repelled by the defensive formations there. The gates themselves were only half-repaired, but they could have been wide open and it would have still been impossible to move inside.

A swirling vortex of darkness and blood surged over their frontlines as the first of the enemy Ascension cultivators took action. Those with greater power protected those around them to the best of their ability, but Catarina's defensive formation was failing in places under the bombardment of various attacks.

She was also distracted by black-orange flames aimed directly at her. The woman seemed to have taken her to be a priority target which was not strange considering how much she provided for the army. On the other hand it could have been petty revenge for injuring the woman in the attack on the Order, as Catarina had almost single-handedly chased her away at the end, focusing the full power of the formation on her. The flames rolled around Catarina, and while she had to take them seriously she was also empowered by Timothy standing with her, blocking the majority of the attack. When the flames tried to cling to them the energies were easily disrupted by their training in anti-ascension techniques.

The trebuchets continued to bombard the city at their slightly reduced rate while Catarina pushed her way to the front of the wall. She appeared to be doing little more than running about avoiding attacks, but a formation master might have realized she was using her movements to carve runes in the ground beneath her.

The sergeant stood proudly atop the shoulder of their insider allies. He had been the one to take the risk of contacting them, and now he would have the glory. It was time for battle, and the sequestered cultivators of the Diamond Hill Sanctuary had promised their support. The sergeant and the other ants had already gone back to the camp to relay the news and had returned to the city in the morning to let the insiders know that the coming attack was not just a feint of some sort. As for standing on a shoulder… humans were quite a bit faster than the younger and smaller ants. Even if the ants formed some of the faster moving structures it was tiring to keep up. In addition to that, the sergeant and his squad could provide protection for their companion.

It was impossible to miss the army outside the gates, which meant it was time to act. Weaker cultivators were mixed in among the others, given the opportunity for glory or the duty to participate. Either way, more of them gravitated towards the rear given the chance, and they were the first target of the Diamond Hill Sanctuary cultivators. The sergeant did not mind participating as well, but he and his squad remained poised for juicier targets.

The best ones were outside the front gates, but when a Life Transformation cultivator came for their ally, the squad was ready. The man stood waiting in ambush, concealed by the tasty powers of his energy. Of course, that was not much good against the ants who were resistant to the effects of energy in general- and had different thought patterns that illusions would normally not work on.

As a dagger stabbed towards their friend's side, the squad leapt onto it, chewing away at the energy that made it sharp and deadly. Their mere presence on it weakened it, and when it stabbed into their buddy's side it stopped with the tip barely poking into the armor. By the time the sneaky cultivator was drawing his arm back for another stab they were already working their way onto the man's fingers.

The sergeant had studied human anatomy, and while it was impossible to understand how it worked in a short time it was fairly easy to understand what made it not work. The tendons on the back of the hand were a fine target, as fingers didn't do much without them. The squad wiggled beneath the leather gloves made from something that would have been very tasty once and began their attack.

The result was a yelling and flailing cultivator that had been stealthy an instant before, trying to squish them but finding that his own gloves and flesh were pliable enough that he had a hard time destroying enough of the sturdy ants. There were losses, but to take down a priority target at Life Transformation the sacrifices were worthwhile.

A boulder's eye view showed that enemies atop the walls were swarmed with ants at the same time as the backline was facing fire. The boulder didn't have long to look at the scenery as gravity and momentum carried it ever closer towards its target. In a moment it would be expected to crash into the defensive formation. The soldiers in it's vision would have much preferred that instead of what actually happened, as the heavy projectile empowered with the energy of a handful of cultivators turned a small area of cultivators into twisted bodies.

Catarina smiled as the formation faded away. She couldn't have guaranteed that that particular boulder would reach the ground, but that was why the pace of attacks had been slower. Now the trebuchets would be ramping up with what they launched, taking out the most densely packed groups of enemies. They had a full day's worth of ranging information now, so they should be quite accurate.

She dipped behind Timothy as flames surged around them, quite certain some formation specialist was enraged at what she had done. If she'd had a little more freedom of movement or time to prepare she would have preferred taking over the formation for her own benefit but that wasn't so easy even for her. But negating it wasn't bad at all.

The Graotan forces were pushing towards her and the lady shooting gouts of blackish made the decision that she would rather not be swarmed by an army. With attacks seeming to come from everywhere others took the same cue, pulling back into the deeper parts of the Diamond Hill Sanctuary. If they had been more familiar with they area they could have taken advantage of the many winding paths up the hill to form strong defensive positions, but their knowledge only came from how the defenders had held off against them, and many of those areas were rubble still.

The invaders were more of a disorganized mess than an army, but they still had the unfortunate advantage of high cultivations. The soldiers from the two cities were making good use of their squads to fight together, but they would have been even more impressive if they had been another tier higher in power individually.

Hoyt took advantage of the moment of confusion caused by the defenses going down to push his way through the mostly destroyed gates and even the press of enemies. That was dangerous even with the guest in his helmet, but the target he was drawing after him actually made people open up. The swarm of blood and darkness that had a grudge against him because of his grandfather wasn't entirely discerning in who he might tear apart with his power. As he ran Hoyt left behind a trail of flames to prevent the enemy from following him, though obviously it only limited them for ground travel. They could still hop on buildings or be a swirling tornado.

Anton supported his allies against both Ascension cultivators, his arrows exploding inside the tornado mass in an attempt to destabilize it. Even if he didn't fully succeed it at least drained some energy from them, ultimately weakening both attacks and defense.

He had some ascension energy of his own to use, mostly just to spite them. He had improved in his ability to use it, and had about half of his total split between three different arrows, though all were aimed at the same target. The black-orange flames were menacing both Catarina and Timothy as well as a large area around them, and that woman would be easier to directly affect with his attacks. His primary bow and two others not made of energy took the shot simultaneously. The arrows actually ended up with slightly different speeds, arriving at marginally offset times.

The woman threw up a sphere of fire around her in an attempt to block them, and it held on. The first impact did basically nothing, the second scattered some flames, while the third barely even made a hole. But for that portion of Anton's energy, he felt a significant drop in the woman's reserves. The first battle had been hard for the Ascension cultivators and their slow recoveries had really set them behind. Now they were running low, and thus becoming vulnerable.

The moment after Anton's attacks, Timothy and Catarina pushed forward together backed up by shots from Alva and Anton forcing her to spread her defenses to the sides and rear. Catarina was not a specialist in melee combat… but she was still a Life Transformation Cultivator. She stood almost in Timothy's embrace as they fought, and the trust between them allowed her to focus primarily on offense, her sword strikes forcing the woman into the position she wanted and giving Timothy and others nearby brief windows to attack. Precise positioning of runes was important for a formation, and people worked much the same way. The flow of their energy could give away how they worked or even be altered to dictate their movements, consciously or subconsciously.

Hoyt continued to run after he was beyond the reach of the enemy army, drawing the man even further after him. Even running uphill he was able to continue to accelerate though his opponent was hot on his heels. Occasional swipes of his axe to leave gouts of flame in the air very slightly slowed the man, and Hoyt was not far from his goal. The very top of the Diamond Hill, where there had previously been some sort of ceremonial chamber. It had been toppled in a needless display of destructive ability, leaving the point of the hill more or less bare.

His speed continued to increase as he pushed more and more energy into just running. It was a risky tactic since if he was suddenly forced to change direction he would waste most of that energy, but the enemy following him seemed content to see him run. As he reached the peak of the diamond Hoyt leapt into the air. Some of his momentum would be lost, but he continued to push himself higher.

An amused chuckle came from the cloud of blood and darkness. Hoyt was high in the air leaping over the point of the hill, but his trajectory could easily be determined along with his landing point. It was quite a bit further down the hill, but the Ascension cultivator would have no trouble reaching it before he landed.

Which was the whole point. Hoyt was confident that the man would make it even as he began to accelerate himself back downward, flames burning around him. An Ascension cultivator would not resist a direct confrontation with him, especially not this one. And truthfully, even as he pulled out a rather poor representation of his grandfather's meteors he knew he stood no chance alone.

His axe came down as he impacted the swirling tornado, flames and blade clashing with darkness and blood. Natural energy could damage the intangible, but the stronger ascension energy was also able to resist it- even with anti-ascension techniques in the midst. Cuts began to appear all over Hoyt as the blood tried to pull his own blood from his body and the darkness tried to reach for something deeper.

As some of it came for his neck, mandibles chomped down on it. Blood and darkness couldn't be meaningfully harmed by teeth with no natural energy involved… but they also couldn't be what they were without the energy holding them in that form which was slurped right up by the ant queen taking a ride in his helmet and now poking out the bottom. He'd had to forego the gorget that should have filled that gap for something like this.

Suddenly the ascension cultivator found himself with a finger that was not only clamped in a jaw but very physical. Quick decision making allowed him to pull away, divesting it from himself. A reasonable enough choice, but the queen leapt forward into his center and he found that more vital parts of him began to be drawn back to physical form. When he manifested a hand to try to crush the ant queen, Hoyt was ready. It took careful aim to slice a millimeter past the ant queen towards the ascension cultivator's hand, but the queen was already chomping on the energy there- allowing Hoyt's attack to get through.

By the time the man realized he should have turned to flee, it was too late. A portion of the tornado eventually pulled into the air but by the time that happened there was a hand and some spare fingers on the ground, along with various bits and pieces of internal organs. As the tornado rose into the air weakly, arrows and other ranged attacks were launched into it, disrupting the energy holding that form one final time to form a mangled corpse. A pathetic sight of a powerful cultivator who could have entirely avoided the wrath of the people of Graotan if he had made better life choices.

Chapter 362

Once they realized they were losing, the invaders were allowed the illusion of a path to retreat. Some were allowed to slip by out the gates, while others found their ways to the edges of the Diamond Hill Sanctuary and fled over the walls, to various levels of success. But they weren't actually free from there- they were simply dealt with by groups to maximize safety. Or taken down by various individuals with sufficient ranged abilities.

From there, the forces of Graotan moved to secure a wider area, and were quite proud to find how well local areas had done at defending themselves. Smaller cities hadn't faced Ascension cultivators, but they came together to defend their homes with numbers. Not that numbers would have mattered without cultivation of their own, as they wouldn't have been able to defeat even an Essence Collection cultivator without.

It wasn't quite the scenario Anton had envisioned when he had the idea to teach everyone cultivation. His thinking had been much smaller, Spirit Building cultivators like Van Hassel that larger sects like the Order found difficult to catch. These invaders seemed to have similar motivations to Van Hassel, but less so to typical bandits.

Not all of Graotan had been successful in driving them away. Smaller sects and some towns and villages that fought back were destroyed. Completely demolished and stripped of anything of value. The latter was typical for bandits, but unlike with Dungannon wanton destruction was actually not a mainstay of bandits. It was wasteful to destroy a village when they might build up more wealth later, and it resulted in too much notice being taken of their activities.

Learning anti-ascension techniques might have provoked them somewhat, though information previously available indicated that was how the invaders had operated before. After all, the Luminous Ocean Society was the first to be rediscovered and was completely annihilated. The same held true for others.

The true mindset of the invaders was hard to determine, because even as they seemed individually concerned about their lives they were also quite resistant to answering questions. It was hoped that allies in Ofrurg might be able to help, but first they would have to regain contact.

If they were actually planning to venture into Ofrurg, a small group would have been insufficient even if it were composed of Life Transformation cultivators. Instead they were merely approaching the border, and their numbers weren't quite so small as they appeared.

"I don't know how you all can bear to be covered in ants," Velvet shook her head.

"They're just sitting atop our clothes," Hoyt remarked, "And we don't have to hide, so their abilities don't cause us the same sort of trouble."

It might have seemed like the ants being undetectable via energy senses should have made them perfect allies for a stealth-oriented cultivator, but in truth they made things more difficult for her. When she was trying to display a perfect falsehood of the world to her foes, points of nothingness would ruin the whole illusion. Having to cover for them added another layer of complexity to an already difficult task.

"I'm just disappointed there aren't enough of them with the intellect for using formations," Catarina sighed. "The queen can do her part, but the other ants just don't quite get anything that isn't a structure they form. Though it's pretty interesting what they do make."

"Most of them are only a few years old," Anton reminded her. "Except for the queens, most of the ants only live to a decade on the far end."

"That's a fair point," she admitted. "I doubt I would have been able to grasp much of anything about formations when I was five. Though I didn't have the chance until I was fifteen."

"Fuzz doesn't smell anyone," Alva commented. "Nobody's crossed the border lately."

Anton nodded. "That makes sense. As for beyond the border…" he stretched out his senses in a particular direction. He had been constantly sweeping the countryside, but there was a particular place he was looking for. Veron was just across the border, to the point that if not for trees and uneven terrain everyone would be able to see it. For him, sensing such a city was much easier than targeting an individual with Horizon Shot. "Veron looks to have run into some trouble. It's severely damaged, but… it still has people moving about. Mostly too weak to be invaders, though the entire city has a haze of ascension energy lingering around so I can't guarantee anything." He nodded. "But we can ask this approaching group."

It wasn't odd for a group of Life Transformation cultivators to attract attention, and a serious response to their presence had been organized quite swiftly. Only a single very early Life Transformation cultivator led the group, but there were dozens in Essence Collection and Spirit Building. Against their particular group Anton wouldn't give the squad an advantage, but perhaps he was biased. After all, the people of Veron had also weathered the invasion.

"Identify yourselves!" the man who headed the group called out.

"We are members of the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars," Anton replied. "And quite peacefully waiting on our side of the border."

Everyone relaxed a little bit, but it was clear their leader was still on guard. "If you are indeed from the Order, your presence would be welcome. However… we'll have to perform the test."

Anton was pretty sure he knew what the man was referring to, and took the moment to sweep the patrol with a test of his own. "Go ahead and approach. Borders at the moment mean little in comparison to the invaders."

It was clear the man was less used to the techniques meant to pick out the members of the Twin Soul Sect as he had to get much closer and was more obvious about it, but in a way it was better that way. The rest of the group with him would have been able to sense it as well.

"Good. You're not part of them. We learned the hard way… even though sensing these invaders is quite easy, the Twin Soul Sect's methods still conceal them from casual observation. We barely held together when our defensive formations were taken apart from the inside."

"Graotan was fortunate to not encounter that particular trouble… though they did seem to assume there would be traitors among us." Anton shook his head. They hadn't specifically checked for members of the Twin Soul Sect, but they also hadn't accepted random new people either. And while Anton couldn't guarantee his ability to read the Life Transformation cultivator in front of him, the Spirit Building cultivators were open books that corroborated his story.

"Forgive my manners," the man said. "I'm Commander Tallgate. All of you… at your cultivation, you would be Elders of the Order, correct?" Anton nodded. "I see. Then I-" he squinted. "Umm… you appear to have an ant on your shoulder?"

"I am aware," Anton said. "They are valuable allies in the fight against the invaders."

The man shrugged. Cultivators made use of beasts of all sorts, so even if he hadn't heard of these particular creatures he wouldn't question it. "If you want news about Ofrurg as a whole, I'm afraid we don't have it. We drove off the attackers and have been fortifying our defenses ever since."

Catarina looked into the distance. "I can fix your formations for you."

"We repaired them already, though we appreciate the offer."

"Oh. Then… I can upgrade them." That seemed her nice way of saying that the formations were so weak as to be barely noticeable… which was accurate even by Anton's standards.

"I…" the man shrugged. "Sure. I trust the Order doesn't intend to cause any trouble."

"Not with anyone native to this world," Anton grinned. "Though we don't plan to stay long right now. We're merely here to check out the situation."

As they rode towards Veron, Anton saw people working in the fields. Once, they would have been slaves. Now, they were cultivators able to handle entire fields by themselves.

"Things are pretty different in the past couple decades," Tallgate commented. "I used to be working in those fields. I still could, but… my life branched in a different direction."

Anton nodded, "But you're a Life Transformation cultivator now? You must have great talent." He did look quite young, though it was hard to tell with cultivator sometimes.

"I-" Tallgate shook his head, "I don't know about that. Would someone with talent let so many people die? Veron and the surrounding area had more than a handful of Life Transformation cultivators more powerful than myself, and I'm the only one who got through relatively uninjured. Two are gravely wounded and the rest…" he shook his head.

"The Order lost many as well," Anton commented. "The six of us… we're nearly half of what remains from what was briefly more than twenty. You don't get to choose who lives in a battle. Sometimes, it's old men like myself."

"He started cultivating at the same time as us," Hoyt pointed out. "Don't let him fool you on that part."

"Uh… I don't know how to respond to that," the commander admitted.

In the city, Catarina quickly moved to study the formations. She was already altering them when someone showed up to protest- then stopped themselves as they saw her working.

Anton hadn't been planning to actually come to the city, but now that he was present he couldn't help but do something. Clearing away rubble was within his capabilities, and he had some experience with construction as well. He's put together a barn or ten in his time, though structures meant to have more style and comfort than pure function he had little experience with. Even so, he could hold tools, lift things, and keep an eye out for people approaching the city who shouldn't be.

Though Graotan had stabilized internally, there was little time to rest. News from Ambati was still positive- in that they seemed to be fighting back with some success. Droca had less news, but no invaders appeared near the borders. The situation in Ofrurg was unknown on the large scale, but now that Veron knew Graotan was relatively safe they would be able to communicate if more news came in.

While some were assigned to that, Anton was on the northern border, looking into Estary. Sensing such a large amount of the world at once didn't make it feel smaller like he might have imagined, though certainly some places seemed closer together. Misty Hill Palace, for example, was not so far from the border that it was beyond Anton's senses. Or at least what remained of it. He only felt ruins, until he started finding bodies. No living cultivators, either from the Misty Hill Palace or occupying it. Whoever had participated in the attack had already moved on. Likewise, the border was empty of anyone.

Even though Estary had been friendly with Graotan they still watched the border up until the time of the invasion, mainly for purposes of cultivators trying to evade either oversight from either country. With them gone, it meant they were either occupied, or dead. Anton hoped for the former, and did not have enough time to closely inspect the area to determine the latter. Except at one specific border crossing, where the limited structures in place were still intact.

Things might not have seemed so grim if the nearby towns and cities weren't all destroyed or abandoned. Estary might need aid… but the same could be the case in Ofrurg. Even if Ofrurg was doing well, joining up with allied sects there would ultimately make everyone stronger. But time was an issue. Where would Graotan aid first? They couldn't reasonably split and aid both, or they would risk annihilation. It was already nearly a miracle that they had done as well as they had, and that was with a death toll that was as high as a quarter to a third of those in the country, though obviously the counts were not finalized yet.

Of course, Graotan could choose to fortify its own borders. There were even arguments for such actions, but realistically if they waited the invaders would simply have time to consolidate their forces and wipe them out. If they helped, they could at least work with others to minimize the destruction that could happen. Defending their homeland was all well and good, but defending their world also needed to be considered. And even if alliances with Estary were vague promises, there were several sects in Ofrurg that had sworn to aid each other during the invasion if possible.

Chapter 363

Venturing into Ofrurg shed light on the situation a little bit at a time. A proper force had been gathered, taking what Graotan could spare. At first there was little to see. Each place they came upon was either destroyed or in the process of recovery. For the latter, the Graotan forces encouraged the various settlements and sects to stay in contact with each other, as they had not encountered enemy forces on the road- or even a long distance away. Even if each only intended to watch out for themself, knowing what was happening could inform them all to be more effective.

Unfortunately, they found more destruction than anything else. Few sects had weathered the invasion, though it also appeared that some had abandoned their land to join forces with others, their fate yet unknown.

The Grasping Willows were not the most prominent or tactically significant allies of the Order, but they were the easiest to reach, not positioning themselves high up a mountain. Just from the status of the sect grounds it was easy to assume the worst, but living disciples could be felt among the ruined landscape.

Large swaths of the forest had been burned quite intentionally, though there seemed to be no purpose to it. The fire would have stopped at the borders of the sect, had its formations been intact. Because they weren't, the position lost most of its defensive value.

Anton was worried about one thing. He could not feel Lev among the disciples picking through the wreckage. One brave soul ran forward to meet them, exhaling with relief when they sensed allies.

"Where is your sect head?" Anton asked.

"Still up ahead. Near the Grandfather Willow. We are planning to move closer, after this."

Anton nodded. He couldn't sense Lev or anyone near the Grandfather Willow, but perhaps there was something he was missing. As they approached it became more clear. When he finally sensed Lev, and others with him, Anton realized they were so much more attuned to the Grandfather Willow that they felt like extensions of it, with Lev being nearly indistinguishable except for the fact that he was in the shape of a man detached from the tree.

The rest of the forces from Graotan generally broke off to rest or find ways they could help, but Anton continued forward to find Lev planting rows of herbs. The strange part was they were nearly grown, not seedlings. "I'm glad you made it," Anton said by way of greetings.

"Anton," Lev smiled. "I am glad as well. We almost didn't. What about Graotan? How bad was it?"

"Better than here, perhaps. We were well organized, and the largest cities were able to support themselves. Five ascension cultivators came for the Order, but we fought them off with all our might… and they ran away instead of killing us. With the time to recover, we eventually managed to kill the rest. What about here?" Anton scooped up some of the herbs, determining they had likely been plucked from the main sect grounds. And given the stylings of the storage bag Lev was pulling them from, these had been recaptured from the invaders. He began to help Lev plant them as he studied the man who still had something off about him.

"Just one ascension cultivator here," Lev admitted, "But truthfully we were not prepared. It was only by relying on Grandfather Willow that we were able to fight. Even then, it was close." Lev shook his head slowly. Anton finally realized what was odd. He was used to Lev using his own natural energy to control one arm, so seeing him control all of his limbs the same way almost felt natural.

"It seems like you made some sacrifices."

Lev shrugged, "I was too slow on some major insights. Perhaps I might have more easily swayed the tides of battle otherwise. But considering we expected destruction, is this not good enough?"

Anton nodded. "It will have to do. It is good to see you made it, but we will have to move on within a few days. We don't know what's happening elsewhere."

Lev looked directly into Anton's eyes. "Aren't you going to call upon us for aid? We are allies, after all."

"That…" Anton grimaced as he looked around at the trampled, burned, and uprooted forest around them. His eyes settled back on Lev himself. "It seems like it would be inappropriate."

"Don't make me beat you up and force you to take me along," Lev said. "I don't have to be next to Grandfather Willow to cause you trouble."

"I'd be interested to see you try, in other circumstances. But you would know yourself and your sect best. If you can fight, we do need everyone we can get."

"That wasn't so hard was it? Just because things are a little hard for us doesn't mean others don't need us. And if none of this-" Lev gestured to the area around them, "-is still here when we get back, so what? It will grow back. Grandfather Willow won't be going down though. Not without a full army that isn't attacking. And if we lose him for the sake of the world, I can just grow another."

"I like that confidence," Anton grinned.

Though Anton would have liked to spend a decade or two in the area helping put things back together, they had to get going. The next day they moved on, leaving behind the injured and some to watch over them- while beginning to put things together again.

Along the way they encountered more isolated groups, which were precisely the most vulnerable if any invaders should return to the area. Some were convinced to temporarily leave their land to shelter with others, while others were simply looking for a proper cause to join up with. The army from Graotan swelled with forces from Ofrurg.

Signs of invaders were beginning to appear, either markings of their passings or actively sensing them in the distance. Some came far enough within Anton's range that he could have shot or killed them, but unless they came close enough to get a proper sense of their army he left them alone. He didn't want anyone knowing exactly how far his effective range was, and he needed to conserve his energy. The last few weeks had been full of intense fighting and a deep fatigue had built up. Even when he recovered to 'full' his maximum was temporarily depleted. It should eventually recover or even grow given time, but he needed more rest. He only took what he absolutely needed to and pressed on. He could rest later… or never, if it came down to it.

Their next goal was the Glorious Flame Palace. No doubt that as one of the major sects they would have been hit harder, but no word had come from them to any of the places they had yet visited. Some cultivators relayed how they had sensed the descent of Ascension cultivators and other invaders in that direction- something that even the weakest cultivators were able to feel from afar- but nobody could say if the numbers they had sensed had all converged on the Glorious Flame Palace or what had resulted from it.

The slopes of the mountain where the Glorious Flame Palace dwelled were difficult to traverse. If they did not have the weaker cultivators with them the trip could have been cut short by several days, but the longer and smoother routes took more time. They got close enough for Anton to sense the general area long before they arrived, given their winding route, but Anton couldn't really tell what was happening.

Glorious Flame Palace encouraged the volcano they lived on to be more active, creating large amounts of heat useful for their training with fire. It could be directly controlled or simply studied for their training in fire. Yet Anton couldn't sense the heat. On the other hand, he couldn't sense much of anything. Formations of some sort were still intact, which hopefully meant their allies were holding on. As for enemies… they were likewise unnoticed.

When they finally got close enough to see the area with their eyes, Anton wondered if perhaps they had somehow stumbled upon the wrong mountain. Instead of an orange glow, Anton only saw ice covered peaks. Not some sort of seasonal snow, either, but a solid and reflective covering of ice.

The area began to become colder as they approached, cold enough to freeze even Body Tempering cultivators to the bone. With an army working together to fend off the cold it was merely an inconvenience that sapped their energy, but walking up icy slopes made them much slower. Even so, they approached the entrance to the Glorious Flame Palace… and almost died.

At least, the first to step foot close to the entrance felt that was as they went from freezing cold to burning heat. The core of the formation was still further inside, preventing them from sensing anything, but a small group of cultivators showed themselves a moment later. "Welcome to the… welcome," one of them said, bowing his head. "The Glorious Flame Palace and Frostmirror sect welcome our allies."

The situation made more sense with that information, though Anton couldn't help but wonder what led things to this place. He had been aware of the preparations the two sects had been making up to the point of the invasion, and at no point had anything like this been suggested.

Eager to get out of the cold, the army slowly advanced through the wide corridors. The initial blast of heat was greatly toned down after the first, and the inside was generally determined to be too warm instead of deadly hot. That would have been normal, except that the ice continued inside without melting. Was it an application of the ability to burn only what was intended? That would require some impressive formation work, though Anton was aware that both the Glorious Flame Palace and Frostmirror sect had formation masters of their own. Some were even on par with Catarina.

Once they were deep enough inside Anton was able to sense everyone, he could tell that the numbers of both sects were greatly depleted. It seemed the Frostmirror sect had lost nearly half of its members, while the Glorious Flame Palace was missing nearly a third of their number. There were scars of battle inside- recent ones, given the damage to the ice and underlying stone.

Yet despite all of that- or perhaps because of it- they were throwing a feast. And they quickly invited the entire army to eat with them. Since they would have had food to last a long siege if it came down to it, Anton wasn't surprised at the possibility, but the amount of fresh and rare looking food was unexpected.

His unspoken question was answered by the people he had been subconsciously wandering towards, those he was most eager to reunite with. It wasn't any of the most powerful elders of the sect, but instead Annelie and Anish… along with their children.

"We took it all from the invading group," Annelie grinned. "Some of this meat… belonged to their mounts. Yet they also had tons of fancy stuff, as if they were going on a picnic." She shook her head at that. "Come, sit down. You look like you need it."

"So does everyone else here, seems like," Anton said as he took a spot. There wasn't a plate, but someone from the Glorious Flame Palace threw one from the kitchen. This was no formal dining, but an exuberant celebration. "What happened?"

"Basically what you might have pieced together," Annelie explained. "We were here for the invasion. There was an initial battle where we repelled some invaders. Then the Frostmirror sect arrived, more hot on their heels. This arrangement," she gestured to the ice not melting in the heat, "Was sort of set up impromptu. Anish and I helped synchronize things."

Anton was reminded of the presence of more than just those when Josephine, the pair's oldest child, spoke up. "There was a lot of fighting, but the transition from cold to heat to cold made people weak. It kind of happened all at once."

"It kind of just fell together," Anish admitted. "We pushed to hard towards fire then ice several times- fortunately focused where the enemies were pushing their way in- before achieving this balance. Though it's only balanced for those who are permitted in the area. I hear those marching at the front almost became a bit crispy."

"I have full confidence Catarina would have warned them if the formation was not already being altered to allow our entrance," Anton grinned. "But what do you know about the rest of Ofrurg?"

Annelie shook her head. "This isn't the time for that. This is a celebration. Everything else, we'll figure out later."

Chapter 364

A brief celebration of being alive was something everyone had needed. Anton especially found himself being reinvigorated. It wasn't just physical fatigue or energy needing to refill, but mental fatigue from seeing so much destruction everywhere. Something that had been missing was that while many had survived the last harrowing weeks, it hadn't felt like anyone was really alive.

No doubt the celebration had been the idea of the Glorious Flame Palace, as the Frostmirror sect would have written it off as unnecessary. Though their viewpoint was being shifted by the upcoming generation, many of which had chosen to keep their emotions instead of fully cutting them off.

The next few days still found the combined armies overfilling the Glorious Flame Palace, as scouting groups were sent out in all directions to gather support and search for enemy forces. At the same time, the Frostmirror Sect and some of the other smaller sects from Ofrurg began their interrogations of captured prisoners. The goal was to learn numbers, locations, and overall combat strategy.

Very little information in that vein was forthcoming, not because their techniques were insufficient to extract information… but because it appeared that nobody knew. It wasn't just low level cultivators being kept in the dark, but rather nobody was really aware of the full extent of anything. Some were able to approximate numbers. Estimates of the total number of Ascension cultivators involved in the invasion were somewhere over one hundred, but not many more. As for locations, nobody knew any more than what they had already learned. The strategy was nothing, which in its own way explained the other things.

The invaders had come without a clear strategy in mind. They knew where they were landing there would be sects with resources, and they set out to plunder them. After that, it would be pretty much a free for all based on who could get to resources first. There was no strategy, because they didn't even consider the local cultivators as a possible threat. The weaker ones among them might die, but that was the case with any sort of training exercise. And that… was basically what this amounted to.

They were able to confirm some important pieces of information. The 'upper world' as they considered themselves didn't have the same resources available to them, and the cultivators below the 'Integration' stage cultivated more slowly without access to 'lower energy'. The Integration stage was basically synonymous with Ascension, with the caveat that it was the first step where only upper energy was used. It seemed there were more stages beyond that to reach what they understood as the true peak of cultivation.

The most revelatory information was about the deal with the Exalted Archipelago. By piecing together what everyone said it was determined that the invaders were all part of an overarching faction- in the loosest sense possible. They weren't unified like a sect and still had conflicts among each other. They were called the 'Trigold Cluster'. The Exalted Archipelago was tied to another faction- simply called the Exalted Quadrant- and thus was off limits. The two continents were fair game for invasion by the Trigold Cluster, but had to be left alone by the Exalted Archipelago since otherwise there would be nothing for them to steal.

It was a pretty morbid setup where they were treated as nothing more than something to be hunted or lands to be plundered, but it was not outside anyone's expectations given what they already knew. There were various reactions to this knowledge, including the Glorious Flame Palace declaring how they would hunt and plunder this 'Trigold Cluster'. Their enthusiasm was immediately quashed by the Frostmirror sect pointing out they had no way to get to the upper worlds to plunder them. Even if they could, fighting Ascension cultivators in their home turf was bound to result in tragedy. Though the Frostmirror sect did begin putting together a list of grievances against the various groups involved just in case there was ever something they could do. Perhaps if enough cultivators ascended they could band together to defeat them… or at least join up with factions that would fight against them. Though first everyone had to survive the war before thinking about ascension.

Scouting reports indicated invading forces were amassing to the east, specifically in the area of the border between Ofrurg and Facraona. They weren't amassing on either side of the border as if clearly moving into one country or the other, but instead seemed to find it a convenient place to convene. Much of the area was filled with mountains, providing them some defensive advantages, so it wasn't terribly odd that they would choose that area. The question was why they would hold their position at all instead of pushing for more looting.

The easy answer was that they ran into more troubles than expected. Since they expected no resistance, that wasn't especially odd. Facraona was a strong enough country, but it would have made more sense for the invaders to congregate north towards that coast or be pressed further south into Droca. Either way, the army combining Graotan and Ofrurg forces was preparing for some sort of assault.

Sometimes, Erin felt bad taking advantage of Paradise. She was safe atop his back and the Island Tenders seemed to not be contributing anything to the war. Other times, she rushed into nearby coastal towns and villages to assure them that the giant turtle was on their side. She hadn't been sure at first but Paradise's bombardments with huge jets of water were targeted specifically at the invaders. There had been times that unfortunate innocents had been caught in the frankly massive blast radius of some of the attacks, but Paradise at least avoided cities. The one exception being one that had fully been taken over by the invaders and was now an inland saltwater lake.

There was one time that Erin had actually contributed to Paradise's defense. One group had gone on the attack, charging Paradise with two Ascension cultivators at the head. While the Ascension cultivators kept his head busy and most of the others fought against his fins, some had snuck around to the tail to try to slip in under his shell and attack from the inside. They had actually caused some real wounds, and the Island Tenders followed them to chase them off. And then Paradise finished eating the two Ascension cultivators. The rest of the attackers were probably still buried in the depths of the ocean where he had slapped them to.

Now Erin's job was to take some of the medicinal herbs that grew on the turtle's shell and make poultices to help accelerate the healing of the wounds he'd sustained in the battle. The Island Tenders were quite glad that Paradise seemed to recognize they were helping, because none of them really wanted to be crushed to death.

A strange orange moss grew all along the tunnels of the Cruhull sewers. Leo felt entitled to saying it was strange even if he was familiar with it, because he constantly felt the urge to remove it. Yet it was there on purpose, the result of a long chain of herbalists wondering what to do with it before it finally came to Kit.

It was apparently from the moon at some point, though presumably it had been taken there by Everheart and had once been local. Either way, it had some properties helpful against ascension energies. A few weeks ago the exact scale of that was mostly speculative, as those few who could tap into ascension energies were limited in that capacity. After the invasion… Leo wondered if they would have survived without it. Oh, sure, they still needed every man and woman who fought against the invaders, making use of their hard fought cultivations. But the enemy cultivators were severely weakened as they entered the city.

The reason the moss was being grown in the sewers was because it required a warm, moist environment- and there was none better for that. He'd basically planted the first bit to see if it was a good fit, and then it had spread on its own. Now it was part of the area… but still weird.

As for how it actually affected ascension energy, it was unclear. The effects had clearly been weaker until the ground started cracking from the battles at which point some sewer tunnels were opened up. The concentrations of the moss were much higher in the sewers than what they had taken to try to use actively, the clumps they had gathered not doing much more than a handful of regular moss on its own.

Kit said it probably had something to do with the buildup of spores or something, but either way Cruhull had been lucky in many ways. And now, looking at the daylight streaming into the sewers, Cruhull was quite unlucky. Though Leo would rather be alive and smelling sewage than not alive at all. If he couldn't handle it, he would have let himself die long ago.

So now they were reconstructing the collapsed sewers- but with vents. Would they ever need them? Only if the invaders came back. But if they didn't have them, the concentrations of whatever it was wouldn't be able to be built up or be directed towards their enemies.

The damage to the sewers was on the scale that would have taken years- maybe decades- to replace. At least, in the world Leo was born into. Now with everyone cultivating, work involving manual labor was much more efficient. It wasn't just hauling and placing bricks but even the ability to repair cracks and breaks on the spot. There were some who had the ability to work with fine details that meant they weren't just patching bricks and stone but basically recreating them. That saved a lot of trouble with waste and carting heavy loads into and out of the city, though some bits and pieces were hopeless and there weren't enough people who could actually repair the damage.

Still, Leo found himself working his same job that was truthfully one of the least desired but extremely important. He just hadn't expected it to be defensively important to the city, except perhaps where the sewers exited the city- and nobody had tried to infiltrate that way. Maybe it was a coincidence, or maybe they realized they would die if they tried it.

Godslaying steel as a head, a leadwood shaft, and fletching from an emperor eagle made one of the best arrows Nthanda had ever had the pleasure of using. Technically the Ascension cultivators weren't gods, but the name godslaying steel rolled off the tongue better than anything else they could come up with.

She carefully nocked it on her bow, focusing her energy to create a string on the bow made from the bones of some ancient creature. Then she pulled, focusing on her muscles as she did so. Her arms did some of the work, but much of archery was in the back.

Nthanda carefully selected her target, then fired. If she was lucky, they would underestimate her shot as it carried only a relatively small quantity of energy. The quality was high, but they might think she was a weak Essence Collection cultivator or perhaps that it was a casual shot. If she was unlucky… they would take her attack seriously and still likely find themselves injured. This shot was one of the former, as it went straight into the heart of a cultivator who thought their defensive energy would be sufficient. That was optimal, as while these invaders might notice what happened to others, they could really only experience the effects on themselves once… and then they would be dead.

She felt her quiver, sighing as she realized she only had a handful of the crucial arrows left. For a moment she wished she had the abilities of Elder Anton, able to create arrows from her energy, but she knew immediately that it simply wouldn't work. They were on different paths, and hers was most suited for her. Especially with the refinements that Western Steel Body had gained from the Exalted Archipelago.

Across the battlefield, others were having similar success. The people of Ambati were not weaklings to be trampled on like these invaders might have thought. They were thought to be a bunch of scattered tribes with a few large clans and cities, and while that was technically true on the surface it had never been the full picture. Now with everyone's cultivation surging, they were far from the perception.

A certain village couldn't be defended? It was abandoned. Not the people, but the place. Even those who weren't nomads understood that their lives were more important than remaining in one position. And after the war, those who survived could return.

Ambati as a whole did not necessarily agree on many things, but this was something they came together for. This scourge of invaders would be removed from their world.

Nthanda traced a finger along the feathers of another arrow. They would fall, one at a time. Or two, if she could get some to helpfully line up.

Chapter 365

Additional observation of the gathered invader forces provided more insights for their chosen location. From the west and south they were concerned about the forces of Ofrurg and Droca, but to the east it wasn't Facraona that they were worried about. Not primarily, anyway.

All it took was one time for Anton to know. At first he thought there was a powerful storm, but it moved more quickly than any storm he had ever heard of. An Ascension cultivator… wasn't that strong, and the entirety of the feeling was made up of natural energy. Lower energy by the invader's terms.

He wasn't able to see it with his eyes given the mountain range in the way, but he could sense the giant ball of water. It didn't warp or bend with the friction of the air like would be expected, but kept its form perfectly. It struck the far side of the mountain at the foot. Anton wasn't even sure if there was a particular target since he'd been focused on the attack itself.

Afterwards, there was nothing. Not that was feasible to sense with his senses, at least. Perhaps he could have picked through the area for bits of debris to determine what they had once been, but any energy signature they might have once possessed was gone. It was just chunks of rock and mud and trees and maybe some bodies. And the lingering sense of Paradise.

That explained why they wouldn't head towards the coast. It also left things in an awkward stalemate, because the invader forces present were too much to reasonably attack. Even with the combined forces of Graotan and Ofrurg, the numbers were a close match. Fighting an entrenched group wasn't appealing for anyone who wanted to live. And since they weren't currently moving to attack anyone… throwing away their lives seemed unnecessary to everyone involved.

They would be dealt with, of course. It was simply a matter of when. Contacting Droca and Facrona to combine with whatever remained of their forces was the next priority, and if they could be trusted to remain there assisting Estary first was reasonable. But going around the enemy army forces with sufficient stealth would take days at minimum, probably more if they wanted to negotiate any combined form of attack. That would allow their enemies to recover much more than they wanted… so harassing them in the meantime was absolutely essential. They had defensive formations, but now there were multiple formation masters to match against them.

Graotan had a relatively centralized location on the continent and combined with Catarina being one of the primary formation masters creating the teleportation formations, that meant they had one of the big ones. The intercontinental teleportation formation was thankfully intact… and even active. It just happened to be watched by a mid sized army at the moment. That included most of the Order that was still in Graotan, though some others were back at the sect itself.

The other, smaller scale one that went between the Glorious Flame Palace and the Order had been reopened, though there wasn't actually much activity at the moment. At least emergency messages could be passed back and forth instead of taking days of travel even by the swiftest cultivator traveling at top speed.

Grand Elder Kseniya had recovered enough to participate, and was tasked with watching the intercontinental formations. So far there hadn't been a glimmer of any activity, though Catarina had determined the far end should still be active, unless it had been destroyed in a very select manner. As for why they didn't just disassemble the formation on their end, not only might they need it but it was actually conveniently safe.

It took energy to transport cultivators, especially if their reserves were full. That energy would normally come from them, but even if others provided it significant effort would be required to transport anyone strong. Either they'd get a bunch of exhausted people or a smaller amount of well rested travelers. If they were allies it didn't really matter, but if they were enemies… they were prepared to kill either. In the worst case where opponents they couldn't match came through somehow there were contingencies to destroy key components to prevent further reinforcement.

But now it was finally activating. Everyone could feel it, natural energy resonating in response to activities too far to sense. The power built up to a crescendo and then… a small army appeared, swords in hand. Except for the woman at the front, who appeared to be wrapped from head to toe in bandages, including her arms being bound in front of her.

Everyone was waiting for Kseniya to give the order, or to take the first shot if an order gave the enemy too much warning. But instead, she slowly and carefully lowered her bow. There was not a trace of ascension energy about the visitors, and she recognized one. Chikere wasn't quite as familiar to her as other members of the Order, but she stood out easily enough. Just standing near her felt sharp. Every Life Transformation cultivator had some sort of aura, but hers was the most casually dangerous that Kseniya had felt.

"Hi! I'm back!" Chikere wiggled back and forth on her feet before realizing she couldn't independently move her arms to wave. Kseniya felt the bandages- and beneath them some sort of plaster covering her arms- strain against the movement. Then Chikere shrugged. "None of you look like invaders so… is everything going well here?"

"Depending on the definition," Kseniya commented as she approached. "We have survived. From your presence, I take it Aicenith has dealt with the invaders?"

"Nope! Well, sort of. We got a lot of them. But the others are taking care of that. We just thought we'd come here because…"

"They ran out of swords," Vasu commented. "At least, worthwhile ones." His eyes drifted to one at Chikere's waist. Even Kseniya could feel the aura of slaughter it emitted, and she was far from a sword cultivator. "So we came here to offer our aid."

Kseniya had no previous interaction with Million Sword Vault, but from what she had heard they were pretty easy to interact with. At least, if you were willing to accept certain eccentricities. "I can't guarantee there will be any of interest here, but if there are… Estary or on the border between Ofrurg and Facraona is the best bet." She wasn't willing to send them anywhere else, even if she knew of a particular place that needed help.

"Great!" Chikere spun, turning vaguely to the east, then fell flat on her face. She somehow wiggled back to her feet without bending her legs then started stomping off in that direction.

"Is she in any condition to fight?" Kseniya asked Vasu, who was trailing behind. "She seems…"

"Can't stop her," Vasu grinned. "Besides, it'll take us a bit to get to our destination. By then her legs should be working."

"What about her arms?"

"No chance," Vasu said. "They got cut clean off. We know how to stitch them back on, but it still takes time to repair that. Not having use of her arms… well, hopefully her new sword will make up for that deficiency." Vasu nodded seriously, "And I get the next one! This should be quite fun."

"Fun, huh?" Kseniya shook her head. "And here we were just trying to survive."

"See, there's your problem. You care about survival more than your path. How are you even going to ascend like that?" Vasu laughed, "Not that I'm at the point I can do it myself."

A group made up of Life Transformation cultivators wasn't exactly stealthy on its own, but it wasn't feasible to travel with weaker cultivators without greater numbers, which had its own problems. It was just Anton, Timothy, and Catarina instead of more- since they also couldn't spare too many if there was an attack while they were gone. They did have a few extras with them to balance out their numbers, mostly because the queen didn't want to let Anton go off on his own. There were other queens and plenty of ants capable of communication still with the armies.

The group was currently making their way around the north, planning to move along the coast into Facraona. Avoiding natural hazards and beasts was fairly routine for them, and the only real danger was if they came across any invaders. Not all of them were grouped into one place, either because they didn't know about the gathering or because some chose to remain independent.

Taking out the weaker individuals would be easy, and when they approached nearby they did so. As for those who were further, even if Anton could shoot them… it would give away their position. Nothing could cover up a Spirit Arrow crossing many kilometers and ultimately killing someone- anyone with a half-decent sense of energy would notice from at least as far away.

Anton was willing to make exceptions if anyone was in danger, but the trend of people sheltering in larger cities continued. That was the right choice, given what had happened to most other places. It would be very difficult to recover from this invasion, even if the invaders hadn't destroyed fields for basically no reason. They weren't even stealing most of it, and chances were they would be gone before the end of the season. Anton certainly hoped so, given the speed cultivators could move at.

Running across an Ascension cultivator would be dangerous, though that danger was mitigated by their proximity to the sea as well as the ant queen. Some ants took on names to better interact with humans, though this one was always referred to as just the Great Queen. From a certain standpoint it wasn't incorrect, as there was a lot of danger packed into a small area.

The border of Facraona had no guards, though hopefully that meant they were all taking positions further south instead of simply gone.

"It's weird we haven't seen anyone yet," Timothy commented. "Where are they?"

"I sense people further to the east, but not many," Anton admitted. "We're not in the core of Facraona, but I'd still expect more people."

"Could they have been defeated?" Catarina asked. "Paradise might have driven them off on his own."

"I don't think so," Anton shook his head. "I would never choose to be involved in a fight against Paradise if I could help it, but it should only take a small to moderate army to defeat him. And I imagine he would make for excellent turtle soup and extremely valuable materials. It should have simply been the difficulty of getting to him while also dealing with others. Though I suppose there's also a question of whether or not anyone could actually catch him."

"I thought Paradise moved rather slowly?" Timothy mentioned.

"Only when… meandering. In the fight against the Kraken, he was swift."

The trio of humans made their way further into Facraona, where they found more of the same. Death and destruction with pockets of firm resistance. Attempts to contact some locations resulted in unfriendly welcomes, even though they were clearly not connected to the invaders. While they could have pushed their way close enough to try to communicate, they decided to look for a friendly sect instead. Or at least one they had prior communication with.

The Courageous Heart clan was at the top of the list, but they were on the far eastern side of Facraona. Instead, the Crimson Trail Sect was closer. Though their reputation was quite poor given their status as blood cultivators, Anton hadn't heard any factual allegations against them. It seemed they lived up to their tenants of using only their own blood for their techniques, which mostly meant they focused on other areas given their limited supply. If Anton were going to disregard a sect for using forbidden techniques, of those present he could only accept Timothy. And the ants, but he also had to exclude himself.

As they got close enough, Anton considered various ways to contact them. Ultimately he settled for something easy. He had a supply of standard arrows for emergencies, tucked away in a storage bag instead of readily available in his quiver. Since the Crimson Trail Sect had a strong archery bent, he would try to speak to them as an archer. He summoned the most bows he could at once, formed of energy. If he were actually trying to kill anyone he would have only a half or a third as many, and even that would be unsustainable. But for a single shot, it was good enough. A small cloud of arrows flew towards the Crimson Trail Sect, aiming for outside their walls. As they landed, they formed the other best way to communicate with people. Words.

Chapter 366

A hail of arrows landed outside the Crimson Trail Sect, spelling out a clear message. Yet not the one that would have been assumed from arrows. Instead, it simply stated, "Just want to talk. May we approach?"

Whoever shot all of those arrows was courteous enough to even consider the angle from which it might be read, making sure there was no ambiguity. The guards manning the walls didn't really know how to respond, and quickly moved to find someone both higher ranking and more qualified to provide a response.

Ultimately they made the assumption that the mysterious archer probably wouldn't require a response in kind. Given the distance the arrows had come from, they barely were able to sense Life Transformation experts present, the Crimson Trail Sect who only had a small number of such high ranking cultivators couldn't be expected to respond with actual arrows. Instead they did something much easier, which was to form their energy into a pattern that would spell out the response more simply. "Yes."

They were somewhat apprehensive about letting powerful cultivators approach in the current times, but if they were truly intent on attacking, asking to approach seemed rather silly. Unless they just wanted to put them off guard for an attack…

The Crimson Trail Sect did recognize the aura of the Order of the Ninety-Nine Stars whose reputation was somewhat assuring. Even so, they intended to remain safe behind the defensive formations on their walls.

A small group approached within visual distance, with one of them breaking away from the others to come all the way up to the walls. The old man stood only a short distance back, at a point it was easier for them to see each other. "Thanks," he said. "As I'm sure you can tell, we're not from Facraona. The Order of the Ninety-Nine Stars from Graotan, just in case you've forgotten. We were wondering about the local's aversion to… well, us. It's generally rather simple to tell the invaders apart from us…" the old man paused, "Though don't forget to check for members of the Twin Soul Sect. Anyway, that implies some other trouble. Am I correct on that count?"

The elder who had been called over nodded her head. "Yes. There have been troubles from other sects. Not just the invaders or remnants of their allies, but more. Specifically, we are aware of the Eternal Sword Hall taking advantage of the chaos to conquer other sects."

"That… they were actually involved with the Flying Blood Cult and the Heavenly Lion Sect, but weaseled their way out of being annihilated by blaming their actions on personal grievances. I'm not surprised to hear it, though, based on how they acted." The old man waved, "Thanks for the information. If there's anything else you can tell us, we'd love to hear it. Then we'll be on our way. Things like invaders, the Eternal Sword Hall… anything like that."

The interaction with the Crimson Trail Sect illuminated the pieces that had been missing. Several sects in Facraona had taken advantage of the opportunity, either because they had made some sort of deal with the invaders or because they simply thought they could get away with it. Facraona likely wasn't unique in having sects that wanted to do the same, but so far Graotan and Ofrurg had avoided that actually happening. Then again, Graotan had basically been under the Order's control and watchful eye while Ofrurg had undergone some… restructuring. The complete annihilation of several powerful sects and the slaving industry would tend to create at least a few decades of change.

Timothy shook his head as Anton explained the details. "Whether they're directly siding with the invaders or not, they're just as much enemies that need to be dealt with."

"It would explain why Paradise hasn't done anything though. If they don't have traces of ascension energy… they don't stand out as unnatural. Or whatever criteria he must be using." Anton tried to recall if he made use of any ascension energy while present on Paradise. He didn't really have cause to, so the only time would have been the battle with the kraken where there was a physically much more imposing enemy to deal with. Or lunch. And Anton didn't have lingering traces of ascension energy since it was pulled from… wherever it came from. The invader's world, presumably.

"I assume they weren't interested in an alliance, then?" Catarina asked.

Anton shook his head. "There's a bit too much danger and distrust at the moment. I did suggest the matter, though, and how we intend to attack the invaders. Everyone was clean of Twin Soul Sect influence, at least, and I sensed no other sorts of deception."

"That does lead to some problems," Timothy commented. "We can't exactly defeat a sect with just the three of us. And guests. Not one capable of causing serious trouble, anyway."

"I do believe the Eternal Sword Hall had groomed a small handful of Life Transformation experts as of late," Anton nodded. "That said, we could majorly swing any situation they became involved in. If their Life Transformation cultivators were matched by us, another sect could stand against them. Their numbers also have to have suffered some if they're attacking other sects. Though we certainly couldn't handle the dozens of Essence Collection cultivators that would come with them, or the hundreds of others."

Even as they spoke, the group had subconsciously continued further into Facraona, specifically southeast towards where the last news of the Eternal Sword Hall was. Catarina commented, "We can at least check them out. They're all just over the border of Life Transformation, right? Even if we say they're our equals, we have the Great Queen to sway that tide. If she will help."

Upon being mentioned, the Great Queen displayed herself more prominently, signing her willingness to assist them. Even against those who weren't invaders. While the other queens might not wish to get involved in sect affairs, the Great Queen got along with them personally.

"That makes things easier," Catarina said. "And there's no way they notice us before you spot them, right grandpa?"

Anton frowned, "Well, maybe." He looked at the swords the two of them carried. "It depends on whether they have the unnatural sense for weapons that some people possess. Even then, I should match them. It's just that your current weapons are quite fine specimens."

Everyone had equipped themselves to the best of their abilities for the invasion, and while Timothy and Catarina's swords couldn't rival what a proper swordmaster would covet they were still quite exceptional.

"They are the sword-crazy kind," Timothy commented, "But I don't think they have the same… conviction that Chikere does. Their whole feud with her started because she won a tournament and they refused to give up the prize. I doubt Chikere would do that."

"What, lose a probably rigged sword tournament?" Anton grinned.

"Well," Timothy shrugged, "I meant go back on a promise. Even if it was to give someone a sword she liked."

"I agree," Anton admitted. "The Million Sword Vault has the same sort of honor about them. Though even those lacking morality can have strength, firm convictions of some sort make for smoother cultivation. Even those who are dead wrong, like the Flying Blood Cult."

"They did have one of the few ascenders," Catarina commented. "Or… half of one? Regardless, someone who was at the peak here, and moved on."

"Then was killed by returning to seek vengeance. Is there a lesson there?" Timothy asked.

"The lesson is that this world isn't good for those with ascension energy," Anton shrugged. "Which might be the only reason it or any other 'lower realm' exists. Though we also needed proper warning and anti-ascension techniques and just the right amount of cooperation to make it as far as we have."

"And teaching everyone to cultivate," Catarina pointed out. "That's literally millions of Body Tempering and Spirit Building cultivators that wouldn't have existed otherwise."

"And that," Anton agreed. "Though I would have much preferred if people just going about their lives didn't need to protect themselves."

Without further discussion they continued their travels with the intent to help resolve the situation. Without armies they couldn't resolve anything themselves, but they could be the catalyst for some part of Facraona to begin triggering their own comeback.

Just in case the Eternal Sword Hall could sense swords, Anton kept the sword-bow from the Million Sword Vault stowed, and the other two did the same with their weapons. Anton presumed that there was some way to determine their presence even inside a storage bag, but it wouldn't be so easy. If an enemy were able to ambush them to the point they had no time to reach into a storage bag to retrieve their weapons, they would likely be dead anyway. Especially since Anton was continuously improving his sensing abilities. He could sense a narrow strand about a hundred kilometers distant if he focused, but he could detect pretty much any concentration of natural energy within ten or twenty kilometers in all directions which was more than enough for common interactions.

By following the signs that the Eternal Sword Hall left- either battle damage or simply the march of many people- they were able to track down their location. At first it hadn't been completely clear if it were the Eternal Sword Hall or some other group acting similarly, but it didn't really matter. It was confirmed when they came to Dralens, a moderately sized city that had seen the Eternal Sword Hall pass. The people of Dralens weren't exactly welcoming, but they were confident enough in their remaining strength after being attacked early in the invasion to allow the small group to approach. Unfortunately they couldn't be convinced to go after the Eternal Sword Hall in any force, but they would have likely slowed down the 'trio' anyway.

Anton finally spotted them in the vicinity of the Pink Pollen Sect, at least that was the only group in the area their information told them about. There was… nothing particularly impressive about the Pink Pollen Sect. They made use of various poisons in combat, but their reputation was not bad. They were just eccentric herbalists. As the trip approached a bit closer Anton detected what he presumed were the plants after which they named themselves. Colors weren't directly visible to energy senses, but he could easily surmise that the fields of large flowers were the namesakes in question.

"They seem to be gearing up for an attack," Anton commented. "Battle hasn't broken out quite yet, but… it likely will." They continued closer, with Anton constantly attempting to judge the two sides. The Eternal Sword Hall should be stronger according to their records, but whether their group could make a big enough difference was the key point. "Should we approach closer, or…?" Anton looked over at the others.

There was no question about whether they would get involved. It was merely related to how much of the enemy's attention they intended to draw. Anton could pester them from where he was, and if their Life Transformation cultivators gave chase they could either flee or do a fighting retreat. There was just the possibility that Anton alone would be ignored, at least for long enough for the Eternal Sword Hall to break through the walls. At that point Anton might not be able to do much, and if they focused on taking out the Pink Pollen Sect he probably couldn't stop them. Oh, he could make their lives terrible- maybe even kill one of the Life Transformation experts- but they wouldn't be stopped.

That result wouldn't be too bad, but it would mean the Pink Pollen Sect might be destroyed. After that, they would have to wait for another chance to further involve themselves, assuming they were able to keep themselves hidden. If not, they might be tracked down. The trio was quite confident that they could at least escape from the Life Transformation experts, but if more of the army somehow got close they could cause problems. It wasn't likely, but they had to consider it.

"There's a good spot for me to set up closer," Catarina commented. "It will either allow us to fight their elders more safely or at least give us an opportunity to retreat."

Timothy nodded, "I'd rather not let them have any more victories, if we can help it."

Obviously, Anton agreed as well. "It is a bit riskier, but that's just how it will have to be. I just have a strange feeling…" he swept his senses over them but felt nothing different.

"Is it a bad one?" Catarina asked. "I'd trust your instincts."

"It's not bad," Anton shook his head. "But we shouldn't reveal ourselves too early. If they begin the assault when we attack from the rear it will be more difficult for them to react… and we can see if they're hiding anything. There's also a small chance no conflict happens, and I'd hate to provoke it if it's unnecessary. Though we really can't risk letting them move on to another weaker sect, either."

What was it? Anton couldn't quite tell, though he swept his senses back and forth through the area. It strangely felt like something familiar, but he couldn't lock onto it. Was it Velvet for some reason? He didn't know any others who were particularly stealthy, but if she was close enough for him to sense she might as well have revealed herself to them. No, that wasn't it- but he'd keep an eye out. It would be a shame if he missed something critical to their survival. Anton wouldn't mind dying to save a large group of people but it would be worthless to die and not save them.

Chapter 367

It didn't take long before the Eternal Sword Hall launched their first attacks on the gates of the Pink Pollen Sect. Their handful of Life Transformation elders simultaneously slashed with their swords and nearly chopped through the defensive formations and the gates together. It likely wouldn't take them more than a few strikes. It had to be admitted that their technique was strong, but it seemed far too effective.

The immediate response from the Pink Pollen Sect was throwing tiny packets of powder towards the attackers, though they batted most of them away without trouble. It seemed the small packets couldn't be thrown far as more of the defenders shot bows into the main army. The Pink Pollen Sect's technique didn't focus on raw power, so many of the arrows were blocked without effort. Others were evaded, and some just missed. Or at least, they appeared to miss. In actuality they were right on target.

As the rain of arrows landed in the fields they struck flowers, spraying up pollen. The Eternal Sword Hall cultivators had walked through the fields just fine, but something about the arrows triggered the flowers. Cultivators began hacking and coughing, spreading out away from the clouds of pollen.

Nothing stopped the Life Transformation cultivators, however. They positioned for their next swings, gathering power for stronger attacks. As their swords swept towards the defensive barrier, two of them spun around to counter the arrows Anton was shooting at them, while the other attacks struck the barrier. Anton fully expected his attacks to be countered, but he didn't expect it to be done so casually. The two he targeted did have to halt their attacks but they actually shifted most of their energy to general defenses instead of augmenting their weapons.

Anton continued to harass the Life Transformation cultivators while occasionally attacking some of the others who were easier to actually injure or kill. After a couple volleys he also worked in the Pink Pollen's technique. Even their Spirit Building cultivators could do what they did to activate the flowers, so it wasn't too difficult for Anton… though he had to admit his first shots were imperfect.

The battlefield was beginning to be flooded with pollen, making it nearly impossible to actually see. For weaker cultivators that could be a problem, but for those inside the cloud the actual problem was the pollen itself. After the initial surprise the attackers were prepared to keep the pollen away with their defensive energy, though it seemed that most of them couldn't perfectly filter the incoming air. They had to choose between breathing and not being poisoned, and while they could get away with the former for a short time it was more difficult in battle. They still had to worry about the arrows and darts from the wall, after all.

Even with the weaker forces basically being in chaos, their participation was barely required to break through the gate. Only the five Life Transformation cultivators and slightly larger number of peak Essence Collection cultivators continued to attack the gates. The Pink Pollen Sect was not so prominent that they were prepared to resist that magnitude of attacks, and had merely been fortunate to avoid the attention of invaders thus far- likely due to Paradise's efforts. Unfortunately they weren't lucky enough to avoid opportunists.

As the gates were broken open, Eternal Sword Hall cultivators began to pour into the sect. Those leading the assault, however, broke off and began to move towards Anton and the others. It seemed they didn't want to take any chances, and they trusted in the rest of their sect to deal with the Pink Pollen Sect for a time. Anton hoped their judgment was wrong, but he had to focus his attack on the incoming enemies instead of the rest.

To his chagrin, even the six Essence Collection cultivators were consistently able to block his attacks. They crossing over from Essence Collection to Life Transformation was a serious step, but it didn't seem to be quite enough. The determining factor seemed to be their swords which they wielded with great agility. Their actual technique wasn't sufficient to deflect or dodge every arrow, but something about their swords seemed to read their intentions and augment them.

It wasn't strange for sword cultivators to have fine swords, even very exceptional swords… but it was strange to find so many that appeared to have the same origin. Then again, Anton wasn't a sword aficionado so he could have simply missed some connection the Eternal Sword Hall had to a master smith.

Before they arrived Anton managed only minor wounds on the Essence Collection cultivators as the group covered for each other. When they were finally close enough to engage the odds became nearly three-to-one, and if Catarina had not set up a formation with her flags they would have had to retreat. It was still being considered, but if they could hold them off for a short time they might be able to sway the battle back towards the Pink Pollen Sect.

Timothy managed to hold back half of the enemies himself- two in Life Transformation and two in Essence Collection. While his sword skills were inferior, his shield techniques allowed him to focus on harassing their movements while he kept himself safe. Fighting next to Timothy, Catarina managed to increase that to three and four, leaving Anton to deal with two Life Transformation experts and two in Essence Collection 'alone'.

But he wasn't really alone. Neither were the other two. Ants joined the battle on all fronts, with the Great Queen targeting one of the Essence Collection cultivators coming for Anton. While in most cases the difference between cultivation level was trivial to the ants, the Great Queen recognized the danger the swords could pose. She was large enough that she might actually be targeted directly, and thus she chose to remove an easier target.

That left Anton in a fighting retreat against two and a half enemies, with one being hampered by small but very bitey ants. Even if he kept his opponent at ten meters or more, Anton still had to avoid attack as he moved, the reach of the swords extending far beyond the blades themselves. The position was untenable, especially for Timothy who was slowly being worn down without being able to cause any real damage.

There was another twinge of something. Not quite hidden, but instead distant. Full of killing intent, but also friendly. Anton still felt he should recognize it, but he was too occupied keeping his limbs that he couldn't focus on the incoming presence at all. He hadn't felt such fear for being chopped apart since he was last at the Million Sword Vault. And though he felt his opponents had less skill than Chikere and the elders there, their swords had more speed and extremely sharp blades that cut through the ground and trees around them without even coming close.

A duck to keep his head on his neck, a parry to keep his arm attached at the shoulder, and Anton found himself moving merely to survive. He was quite glad for the sword-bow as it served well as a defensive weapon, while he didn't even have a safe moment to fire his bow made from the Grandfather Willow. At least he had the energy bows around him getting some use, though the closer ones were often severed by the attacking enemies.

Then he was hemmed in on three sides, the two Life Transformation elder working flawlessly together, as the third dealt with the ants harassing him. The Great Queen had more or less killed her opponent, but she wouldn't be of help to Anton at the moment. Timothy and Catarina were fighting off their group together and had no effort to spare for assisting more of the battlefield. Anton found himself flanked by Life Transformation experts, their attacks covering the area in a way he found impossible to dodge. Anton was prepared to sacrifice a limb or two escaping, but he hesitated.

The clashing of metal on metal rang in his ears and Anton leapt to the side as both attackers were stopped, launching attacks at them as he went. His hesitation was really more like a tactical delay, though it had been a bit of a gamble nonetheless. He hadn't been fully sure of who was coming, and they could have easily chosen to take the opportunity to kill one of the opponents instead of defending him.

"Nice swords!" Chikere commented, "Those can be the new three through thirteen!" Anton felt more than saw the glare from nearby. "Sorry. Four through thirteen."

Vasu didn't comment out loud as he drew the attention of one of the Life Transformation cultivators attacking Timothy, freeing him up to perform some attacks of his own. No other members of the Million Sword Vault were present, but bringing things into a sense of balance was enough.

Most importantly, Anton was free. It felt a bit rude to just leave Chikere facing two opponents alone when she had literally just saved him, but Catarina needed his help more. He focused his attacks on those two elders while Catarina led them through different parts of the formation that had varying levels of suppression to throw them off.

It was only after he was already doing that when Anton took a good look at Chikere. She looked almost the same as he was used to, fighting with a myriad of swords spinning around her. One thing was missing though- any sword held in her hands. Her arms seemed to be bound around her chest, and her legs were stiff.

It didn't stop her from using the swords floating around her to deflect the incoming blades, however. Tiny trails of blood appeared across her body as she barely avoided lethal attacks. Just as he was preparing to assist her, one of the swords was twisted out of the Eternal Sword Hall's grasp.

"I'll take this one for what you owed me for winning the tournament," Chikere said, "But there's still interest."

Anton was fairly certain she'd already stolen a large number of swords from them after that incident, but it didn't really matter. What mattered was the following move.

The blade floated into the air, controlled by Chikere. She thrust forward with it, stepping away from the field of blades that now solely dealt with the other opponent. He took a stance just like he still had a sword in his hand, grinning slightly as he thrust in return. When his heart was impaled he looked surprised.

"How…?"

"I stabbed you," Chikere commented. "Never been stabbed through the heart before?"

"... impossible. That's a… bound weapon."

"So what?" Chikere said. "The thing about bound weapons that they probably forgot to tell you… they're useless if you suck." With that she chopped off the man's head with what had moments before been his own weapon.

The battle began to quickly tip against the Eternal Sword Hall from that point. The Great Queen and Anton were free to attack distracted Life Transformation cultivators, and a single opponent wasn't going to last long against Chikere.

Vasu was actually facing the strongest opponent on the field, which suited him as the one who had actually been in Life Transformation for more than a handful of years. He engaged in risky moves in a different style than Chikere, ultimately winning out over his opponent by being willing to sacrifice an arm for the victory. His opponent withdrew his attack to try to stop his own arm from being severed, but his lack of commitment resulted in a swift defeat.

Timothy took an attack head on, his shield groaning in the exchange… but he reflected the force of the blow, sending the weapon flying. He didn't have any fancy techniques to take an opponent's bound weapon, but he still stepped forward confidently as he stabbed with his sword. His opponent caught Timothy's blade with his left hand, while his own sword reappeared in his right.

Yet Timothy didn't stop, barreling into the man and tackling him to the ground. Despite having control of both swords, there was no good angle to swing at Timothy. It was only due to the exceptional blade that he managed to even scratch Timothy's armor from an awkward angle. Meanwhile, Timothy pulled out a dagger as he sat on his opponent and stabbed for his eyes. There was only so much one could move in such a position, and though he was dodged once the second stab required his opponent to grab his wrist. But Timothy continued to press forward, extending his energy beyond the point of the dagger as he pressed against the man's arm and energy defenses, slowly piercing through and then finally running out of resistance.

If the grapple had gone on a moment longer Anton would have taken a shot, but he'd been occupied by shooting towards the Pink Pollen Sect. Now the only Life Transformation expert remaining was the one trying to get the Great Queen off of his sword's hilt while she chewed on his gauntlets and the energy he was trying to use to crush her. She could truly be in danger if he got a proper hold on her, but he was a lone enemy among melee opponents and quickly found himself with a sword through the back of his neck. Yet not deep enough to kill him… only enough to make him fall to the ground unable to move. It probably had something to do with confirming where the swords came from.

By the time the battle of Life Transformation cultivators was over, the Pink Pollen Sect was so full of toxins that nobody was willing to go near it. Anton continued to shoot into the haze but the others had to wait for some of the Eternal Sword Hall to begin fleeing before they could assist. It was clear that the members of the Pink Pollen Sect weren't all immune to whatever they were using, but they had been backed into a corner.

More and more cultivators were fleeing, and Anton continued to take shots. Until an old woman called out to him. "Don't bother." She coughed slightly and shook her head. No more enemies were present. "They'll die soon anyway. Thank you for your assistance. We'll thank you properly in a moment but…" she looked towards the rest of the Pink Pollen Sect who were currently trying to disperse the various toxins in the air and treat their own maladies.

The ultimate toll of the battle was heavy damage to the Pink Pollen Sect, which if had been against the invaders would have at least felt like some sort of victory. As it was simply against another sect from their own country, it could be seen as a big loss- though the Eternal Sword Hall was decimated. They might have had other smaller groups but unless the information was quite wrong they shouldn't have any more Life Transformation Cultivators.

Chapter 368

"Now then," Chikere was lecturing Timothy and Catarina, "To keep these swords you have to want them more than these dead guys. Otherwise they might be able to pull them away from you, even into the next life." Even though her energy wasn't depleted to any serious extent, the two swords she lifted to them were trembling. "Because we're long time friends, you two can have… number four and five."

Catarina raised an eyebrow at the shaking, then smiled. "Why don't we take um… some of the slightly less potent ones. I'd rather not have to match wills against a Life Transformation sword cultivator, regardless of their relative degree of attachment."

A great sigh of relief came from Chikere. "Oh. Thanks." The swords she was holding immediately stopped trembling as they found their way to her side. "You hear that four through seven? I'll be taking care of you from now on." Chikere tossed two others to Timothy and Catarina- using just her energy as her arms were still bound. "These two should suit you most of that batch."

"How did you find us?" Timothy asked.

Anton laughed, "I'm going to make a bet… that she was here for the swords."

"Hey!" Chikere frowned, "I also came this way because I heard you guys had come to Facraona!"

"And you hurried towards this battle because…?" Anton dragged out the question.

"Because they had nice swords," she admitted. "But when I was close enough to tell it was you it was also for that. And the first thing I did was save your life!"

"Well," Anton shrugged, "Probably just an arm or two, but since I don't have the expertise to reattach them… that's pretty close." He looked pointedly at her arms. "What happened there?"

"I temporarily lost the use of my arms for the sake of Number One!" Catarina grinned as she floated a blade in front of her. "I still needed Elder Vasu's help though."

Just looking at it made Anton hurt. "That's… a powerful sword."

"It's probably killed more people than I have," Chikere nodded. "Though I'm pretty sure most of those weren't in the hands of this guy. He was good, but not that good. If our cultivations were the same, he wouldn't stand a chance."

"You know," Anton said, "I would have expected your combat prowess to drop more with your arms out of commission. It seems they don't really matter that much with your style though."

Chikere shrugged, "You're half right on that. Sure, there's not that much difference in my effectiveness holding a blade in my hands or just with my energy… but it's still a significant factor. Because if I have a blade in my hands, people focus on that more than the others. And they have to, if it's the best blade."

As they talked she was stitching up her wounds. None were deep, but it was best to stop the bleeding as soon as possible. Even some of the shallow wounds were only a few millimeters from being critical, as the difference between skin on the neck being sliced and major veins being opened was miniscule. But that was how she fought, and perhaps all of the strongest cultivators, riding the line between life and death and consistently managing to come out on the winning side.

The Eternal Sword Hall had been the largest threat in the area, with the invaders suppressed by Paradise. Upon hearing of their defeat, the disconnected sects and cities were more willing to listen to calls to join together. It was difficult for them to immediately trust each other, and everyone was reminded that a mere few decades earlier the thought of combining the cultivators of any individual nation was ridiculous, let alone nations that kept separate borders.

Having seen how unified people fared versus the invaders, Facraona was fortunate to have received the aid of Paradise. Otherwise, it might have been systematically taken apart. Even as it was it got pretty close.

The next week involved the small but powerful group visiting as many major population centers as they could, cities and sects and isolated clans. From those places the news would be spread. Only a very small portion of those local to the world were a problem, and everyone else had to stand united against the invaders. There was only so much that could be done in the way of fancy speeches, however, and the people of the country would ultimately have to be the ones to pull themselves together after some encouragement. The Pink Pollen Sect had taken serious damage in the battle with the Eternal Sword Hall, but they also gained great sympathy towards the Order and were the first from Facraona to agree to join with the rest of the alliance.

During the same time period, others had contacted Droca, especially Cruhull in the northeast. They were one of the larger populations in the region and nearly directly south of the Cragtooth mountains where the largest known grouping of invaders was currently holing up. With their assistance they could pressure the enemy from three sides, and it might be possible to completely surround them if necessary. Though they were already loathe to move further north as that brought them closer to the sea, and potentially Paradise.

Though immediately swarming the mountains to deal with the invaders was appealing in one sense, it put too much risk on the attackers. The force in the mountains was more than powerful enough to wipe out a handful of the strongest local sects. In a defensive position it would be hell to root them out. They couldn't just be left alone forever, but an immediate assault seemed unwise. Even pressing them to tire them out was a risk, as they had already set up defensive formations by the time anyone was aware of their presence.

More importantly, they seemed content to wait. Nobody was happy to allow them to stay, but every sect and nation was already reeling from the first violent month of all out war. With the abilities of cultivators to move large armies quickly, more than a month of active conflict without a resolution was already an eternity. Even of those groups that survived so far, many had casualty rates from a third to a half of their total forces. Many were deaths, but some were injuries that could be recovered from… eventually.

Cultivators from the majority of Brogora with the notable exceptions of Estary and Ambati were gathered together to finalize their plans. "I believe we should move as soon as possible," Elder Sarka of the Glorious Flame Palace declared. "We cannot know how the situation might develop if we wait, and delaying might allow them to organize another offense on anywhere they choose. Perhaps even Facrona, if they figure out a way to deal with… Paradise."

Not quite directly opposite in the room stood elder Adelina, "The Frostmirror sect… agrees, for once. The longer we delay, the longer our fields lie fallow. The devastation wrought by these invaders cannot be truly recovered from until they are ousted, or preferably slain to the last of them."

"It is even possible for them to flee back into the stars?" the woman who was the representative of Heavy Mountain Gate asked. "One would think they would have done so by now if they could… otherwise we should be wary of some trick they are preparing for."

"A reasonable conclusion," Elder Adelina nodded, "However, we do have some intel on the matter. Though it stopped being a primary matter of concern after the invasion began, those with keen senses will note that the stars have not yet returned to their normal status. There is still a rift of sorts between the worlds that has not yet closed. Yet it is not fully open either. Based on our observations and… some careful questioning… we have determined that for the length of a season it is possible for entities to come from afar. The following season the barriers weaken in the other direction, making it easier to return."

Catarina interjected, "They came slightly into that time period, for the sake of ease of passage and stability."

"So there could be another wave of invaders?" someone asked.

"It is possible but…" Adelina shook her head, "Unlikely. We have received no indication that anyone was expecting further arrivals. Communications likewise seem limited in direction. Certain sects were offered bribes at the beginning of the time period… though few were so foolish as the Eternal Sword Hall to actually accept them."

Chikere spoke up at that point. "They did receive weapons of value to them, but I don't imagine they were of significant value to the invaders. They simply intended to stoke more local conflict so they could clean up afterwards and take everything for themselves. The real swords they kept for themselves. Compare these," Chikere said, floating swords number one, two, and four. "See the difference in quality? We are able to make better weapons here, though only by a small margin."

"I, um…" Elder Adelina looked at the swords. "I have some sense of what you mean but perhaps you should explain for the others."

"Right," Chikere commented, "Well, number one here. It was from one of their ascended individuals. A powerful swordmaster, and an unmatched blade. Number two here once belonged to Vianne, until her defeat by swordmaster Rahayu's blade. It was made by a smith from this world, though perhaps using techniques we were mostly unaware of at the time. The Twin Soul Sect was related to its creation." Chikere flicked another sword to float between the others. "Number three here was made purely by skills and techniques developed in our world. And number four through seven here were the prizes given to the Eternal Sword Hall. Fine blades, but certainly not the best the so-called upper realms could provide."

"That's right," Adelina continued. "Though they seem to have high quality herbs and materials, what they seem to be lacking are materials that develop more easily in the presence of 'lower energy' along with herbs and beasts that thrive here. This was guessed previously, but can easily be seen in their actions- how even now they are stripping bare the mountains and digging beneath them as we watch and wait."

"And if we don't act quickly," Sarka pointed out, "We can't be certain what will happen with Estary. If the invaders join forces, we might be in trouble. Aicenith seems to be handling its own issues for the moment, with enough certainty to allow Chikere and others from the Million Sword Vault to join us, but there is no guarantee the situation won't change for the worse. We need to crush these invaders. Though I won't suggest an immediate attack, but rather whatever we ultimately deem to be most effective."

Catarina gestured to the map of the Cragtooth mountains. "They enemy forces are located in this region. It is a rather large area, up to tens of kilometers on a side. It is not exact, and likely somewhat smaller than this representation, but it wasn't possible to get precise measurements for obvious reasons. Efforts have already begun to discern weaknesses in their defensive formations and organization of their forces within. If they were actually spread out throughout the area and we could quickly break through the formation… we might be able to sweep over smaller pockets of enemies. But if we make an attempt and it fails, we'll ultimately weaken our own position."

Discussion of various methods began. The Cragtooth mountains were difficult to traverse, though there were several routes up. Coming from the northern part of the range would involve a longer duration of difficult navigation that would be especially hard on the weaker cultivators among them, but it would also allow them to avoid the most difficult portions of the journey under the watchful eye of the enemy. Unfortunately it would also mean taking several days extra to begin the assault, which would likely be quite obvious and allow the enemy to prepare a combined defense.

Knowing that the invaders were from various factions it was proposed that discord might be sewn among them, but unfortunately that relied on having a safe method of communication with them along with some knowledge of how the involved sects got along. Bits and pieces had been gleaned through interrogations of captured prisoners, but ultimately they didn't have enough to go on. It was kept in mind for use during the actual battles, since they might be able to count on certain sects being marginally slower to aid certain others, but there was nothing that could be done immediately.

The ultimate goal was also discussed. While it was possible to pressure them from Facraona in the east as well as the areas to the south and west, it was also valuable to potentially let them push eastward. If they came into range of Paradise it would be of great detriment to them. Facraona of course didn't want to allow them into their land even for the duration of a battle, and it had to be admitted that they didn't need any more inland salty seas. One was enough, even if it was rather small. Still, it had to be considered as a factor.

Discussions went late into the night and dragged on through the next day before something solid was ultimately put together.

Chapter 369

"What do you think?" Anton handed the spyglass to Grant.

The younger man took a careful look, moving the spyglass minutely. "Shoddy workmanship on those gates, but excellent materials."

"That's not quite what I meant," Anton shrugged, "But it also answers the question better. You can actually tell something about the workmanship from here?"

"Sure. It's a bit faint with this thing," he tapped on the spyglass, "But the fixings are off kilter. I'd bet the masonry on the wall is subpar too, though you'd have to ask an expert."

"You think it's a facade?" Anton asked.

"No, it should be real. I just don't think they have any experts. They replicated the materials and form but lost some of the essence."

"Does it matter if we still have to tear it down?"

"Absolutely," Grant gestured vaguely with the spyglass. "If you hit those gates right they'll fall under their own weight, formations or not. They've set up a fortress, but they don't really have the technique."

"And those materials? They're from the Cragtooth Mountains?"

"Should be for the most part," Grant shrugged. "Could have brought some with them, or stolen some in their early successes." Grand carefully turned the spyglass over in his hands, "How does this work?"

Anton shrugged and looked directly at the fortress in the distance, "Don't know. It's got something to counteract that," he gestured towards the dark mass on the horizon.

Large-scale formations could block energy sensing, and if some effort was taken they could block other senses as well. For targets inside a formation there were various options including illusions, but for the outside the only real method was to lock down anything leaving the area. In short, light and sound would have to be stopped. Yet such methods were never going to be perfect.

"I suppose I should ask later," Grant said. "It's not perfect, but I can make out the important details. Very useful."

Perhaps realizing that an attack from the north was one of the easiest options, the invaders had focused on that side for their defenses. Yet they did not have very long to put together a sort of fortress and they were stretched quite thin. The fortress itself covered a much smaller area than the formations that stretched their effects beyond it, but in its current state reaching the fortress would still require a concentrated effort to break through the formations to begin with.

Efforts were being made to ascertain details on the actual formations themselves, but that information was being discovered a little bit at a time. At the current moment there was no way to set up a sustained bombardment to see how the defenses reacted, and Anton acting alone was insufficient to cause significant enough fluctuations to reveal much in the way of weaknesses.

Yet there were some universal truths about formations. They took energy to operate, and though the efficiency of how the energy was used depended somewhat on the skill of the creators it had its limits. With enough power any formation could be broken through from the outside.

If the defensive formations were relying strictly on the natural energy in the surroundings, they wouldn't last long against the armies. The chance that they were actually counting on the freely available energy was minimal, and more likely they had some sort of power source ready to assist it. Formations could even be powered by cultivators directly. Large groups could resist powerful attacks together. If the invaders were relying mainly on their own power, it would actually be advantageous to attack the formations even if they didn't break through. After all, the invaders would recover more slowly. But if they had another power source- which they almost certainly did- then the attackers would risk fatigue for nothing if they didn't make any progress.

The assault could only wait so long. Within a matter of days an attack plan was prepared and executed, making use of the various options available. A contingent from Facraona menaced the eastern side of the Cragtooth Mountains, threatening an assault. To the south the forces of Droca had fortified the area, though some of their forces were also being lent to the attacking forces.

The main contingent of the attacking forces came from the north, in a not unexpected but still logical route that allowed them to avoid vulnerability when navigating the mountains. Siege engines were disassembled and arranged piecemeal in storage bags. It would require some time to properly put them back together, but it was much easier than navigating steep slopes and rocky terrain.

The various advantages the locals had were all considered. Every scrap of information left behind by Everheart had been tested for efficiency and would be used if possible. As they had to advance on an enemy position it wasn't possible to rely on the growth of plants that hindered their enemy, but there were various beasts that could contribute to battle.

Specialized anti-ascension equipment was redistributed from those injured or killed to those who could still make use of it, bolstering sects who were not prominent enough to arrange for their own such equipment.

And then there were ants. Their ability to consume energy was useful in any battle involving cultivators, but especially where it involved formations. The distributed energy of a formation was more difficult for them to interact with than that of cultivators, but they had already begun climbing up from the southwest to harass the barriers- though not before the main armies were in position. Several decades of growth and expanding to new colonies had allowed their numbers to grow significantly, but alone they would be vulnerable to the enemy once they figured out how to fight them. A single cultivator could crush hundreds of them at once, and if they were not occupied by other concerns and could simply focus on the ants they would be only a fraction of their potential effectiveness.

A lone young man nervously stepped into a tall pagoda that was one of the few structures that had already been in place when they chose their current location. It was undignified to have to set up in the remains of a long destroyed or abandoned sect, but the young man certainly wasn't going to mention that. Everyone already knew, and as he was already delivering bad news he didn't want to make things worse.

Step by step he made his way up the stairs. It wasn't fair that he'd drawn the short stick, but that was what he got for coming from a smaller sect. He knocked carefully on the door where the Integration masters waited.

"Come in."

He opened the door carefully and stepped inside, bowing deeply. "Great Integration masters, enemy forces are approaching." He refused to look at the large table around which sat more than twenty Integration masters, representing more than a handful of groups combined together.

"We know," boomed an annoyed voice. "What else do you have for us? Stop wasting our time."

Of course they knew. But he had to deliver the information anyway. If he left anything out, they'd simply be mad about that instead. It wasn't his fault that this expedition to a lower world was a disaster, but everyone weak had to deal with the consequences. "Our scouts have observed the various groups and assessed their threats, just as they have been observing us. Along with the previous information, troubling news came. Among other things, there are… void ants."

"Ants?" One of the women scoffed. "They are of no concern to us."

The youth cringed. He could only report the information, and had no control over it. Fortunately, one of the other masters was on his side. Or at least they were happy to take advantage of the woman's ignorance.

"Void ants are no laughing matter… if there truly are any. But there can't be. They were wiped out two cycles ago. It was confirmed in the previous cycle as well… and by all of the reports leading up to this cycle."

A heavy pressure fell on the messenger, making it difficult to speak. More than just the thought that he might get killed for no reason, that was. "Scouts confirmed it, and they even captured one of the larger specimens to verify. They ranged between highly resistant and completely immune to the effects of both lower energy… and upper energy."

"Preposterous," the woman continued. "Exaggerated myths, no doubt, and sloppy investigations."

The youth kept his eyes away from any of the masters, to limit what they could intuit of his thoughts. It would not do for them to guess he wouldn't care if they were the ones swarmed by ants and eaten alive as long as he didn't have to be there.

"Is that it?" one more asked impatiently.

The messenger held out a sealed report. "There is also this missive. I don't know what is inside, of course."

"Then leave it behind. Go."

Upon receiving permission, the young man nearly ran. But he was more dignified than that, and slightly more cognizant of how that would make him a target instead of the piece of paper sitting on the table.

"Look, look," Chikere waved her left arm about. "I'm healed!"

Vasu rolled his eyes. "A full recovery will take several more months, even for cuts as clean as you had. Just because you have not had to personally undergo such surgery before now doesn't mean you should be unaware of the specifics. However," Vasu shrugged, "I won't begrudge you the choice to fight as you please."

"See, this way I can hold number one in my hand," Chikere said, lifting the sword aloft. "I haven't gotten to swing this guy yet."

"... please keep that sheathed," Timothy said with a grimace on his face. "I'm not concerned about that boulder you just sliced in half, but it has an uncomfortable malice."

"Fair enough," Chikere nodded. She tilted the point of the sword to match one of the gates in the distance, and the aura focused in that direction. "Better?"

"I suppose I'm fine now, but are you sure you should be amped up for a battle already? We're still quite far."

"Pfft, we could be there in like a minute."

"We could. But it will likely be an hour before we're actually present and set up enough to begin the assault. And you really don't want to be the one running in first." Timothy then sighed, remembering who he was talking to. "Well, it isn't safe anyway."

"Never is! But I won't be going in alone." Chikere looked around, "Where's your wife? I thought you usually fought side-by-side."

Timothy nodded, "When we can. But that's not always the best idea. She's currently conferring with the other formation masters. They're going to attempt to set something up."

"All the way out here? Is it just to protect the giant slings?"

"The trebuchets will make good use of defenses, yes, but there's more to it. It's just… even Catarina isn't sure it will work. They don't want anyone to be depending on a slim possibility."

"A new technique half developed and first used in a battle? I like that," Chikere grinned.

"It's more than half developed. Catarina just said there are some factors missing if it's going to work. I don't really know more than that, except that of course she'll influence things to make those factors happen somehow, if it's at all possible. Though first I believe they formation masters will be working on taking down the outer defenses with the rest of us."

The forces were approaching from the north, but they shifted slightly west. Since they were already approaching the level of the peaks, the terrain wasn't much more difficult and they could begin to circle around somewhat. In some ways the terrain favored them from the northwest, but more importantly the enemy's distribution of their forces and the weaknesses in the structures seemed to coincide vaguely in the area- plus they would be closer to the main force of ants if they needed to assist.

Some people had trouble hinging part of their plans on an army they literally couldn't see being in place, but everyone from Graotan which had the first of the ants- and still the majority of the nests- were quite aware of how effective they were. Yet nothing was perfect on its own, and even with all of their preparations it would be a difficult fight. But they wouldn't allow these invaders to escape the consequences of their actions.