Elder Cultivator

Zazil found herself alone in enemy territory, a frequent occurrence as of late. That was her own fault, she supposed, but she didn’t intend things to be like that forever. She did not mind the years of solitude she’d suffered immediately upon her ascent to Domination, while it had been a complete secret. Now that it was not, she planned to figure out the optimal way to bring others with her. If it was simply guiding a ship, that would be sufficient. Only rarely did a Domination cultivator have to move at speeds only they could manage.

Long periods of solitude were a bit mentally draining, but that was not the main reason. Against her current opponents, Zazil found herself nearly invincible- but nearly was not good enough. Should she find herself trapped with an unexpected number of Augmentation cultivators, she could die. As unlikely as it was, that had been the main tactics their own Alliance used against Zaur Beridze, so it couldn’t be claimed that it would never work.

It would be shameful to fall to arrogance of her own. So she would gather an elite squad… when she had the opportunity. For the moment, however, she was rending apart ships and slaying the elders of the Tilki clan as efficiently as possible whenever they stepped into her domain.

There were a number of routes they could take- infinite, if they weren’t interested in efficiency and sense. However, practically there were set ‘highways’ connecting inhabited systems with very little deviation. The Tilki clan’s territory was significant, so it was expected that they would be using all of them. Thus it was that Zazil appeared along various routes for seemingly random lengths of time- some actually random, aided by a computer such that she would not become too predictable.

She didn’t want to one day run into two Domination cultivators. If she was lucky, she could run. The next step up from that was death, but that wasn’t the worst option. In the worst case, she was captured and interrogated. They wouldn’t be concerned with her continued existence afterwards, so various soul-searching methods might garner various bits of information. Things like that weren’t always accurate, but Zazil held far too many secrets. Even slightly increasing the chances of the Tilki clan producing Domination cultivators would be terrible.

And of course, she would still end up dead. So the only survival option was to flee. Standing alongside Ratna, they might strike a balance, but that was not a guarantee. It would be better to have further support if they could manage. Chidi or Vandale, for example. Or both, plus Catarina made formations.

Obviously they had to leave people to guard the core of the Scarlet Alliance, so anything close wouldn’t be practical. That was just the dream scenario for facing other Domination cultivators. Having a ‘fair fight’ sounded like a good way to get killed half of the time.

Despite her ability to do so, Zazil wasn’t actually killing every Tilki cultivator that passed through. The reason was simple- that wouldn’t actually cause them maximum grief. When she could, she sliced a ship in half with an expanded ring blade, her Domination energy happily projecting her attacks to concerning sizes. For dramatic effect, if she could catch some elders in the same slice that brought down a ship she would.

But she wouldn’t kill all of the weaker cultivators aboard. Instead, she would try to make certain they landed on local worlds where they could cause extra trouble and brew resentment against the Tilki clan for demanding people give them ships. If the locals made them disappear, that was acceptable. Most would probably give in, but it would still strain their reputation.

All of the stronger cultivators were slain, though. Integration cultivators would not be able to counterattack at the distances she fought from, only Augmentation cultivators- or a few exceptions that would ultimately be too weak to matter. So unless they brought five or ten Augmentation cultivators in a convoy, Zazil was safe to continue her activities.

She figured they had to change tactics eventually, but they were probably not expecting her to be in the territory she showed up in. Nobody was, because it was all territory that people forgot about. The places between what they valued, such that outsiders couldn’t even comprehend anything existed. Planets without resources, asteroids made of common materials, and of course the empty space that made up the in between that nobody wanted.

Even if her existence was known, people shouldn’t understand that she had a mobile anchor yet. That was generally not how they worked, and so far it wasn’t actually that much of a boon. It didn’t grant enough additional power yet… maybe it never would, but Zazil couldn’t comprehend another anchor that would fit her as well. So she just had to deal with it.

She would continue to grow stronger over time… until then, she would remain cautious while still advancing the causes of the Scarlet Alliance.

-----

The attack on Veiled Brilliance territory accelerated. Ratna was no longer able to patrol most of her border, instead standing as a bulwark against the greatest concentration of foes. In a way, they used that against her- gathering enough to be a threat to her and focusing elsewhere. But if they were truly serious, they had to bring their Domination cultivators, and they had not yet been spotted. Then again, if they were on the same battlefield as Ratna it might very well be the final day of the war.

Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

Or it could merely be the first stage of a decades long entanglement. She had to remember that Domination cultivators getting killed on the battlefield was far from the norm. Usually, they were able to retreat if they felt they were in danger. That was practical both for themselves and for their faction as a whole. It wasn’t merely self serving, since a lost Domination cultivator could demote a faction an entire tier- or more, if they were overly reliant on a single individual.

Without any intent to disparage her disciples, the Veiled Brilliance itself would be of little import without her. She did see some sparks of potential in certain individuals, but none of her current elders had any real chance to reach Domination themselves, not even with her direct guidance or that of the Alliance. That was expected, as it took a great many people over many centuries to produce one individual with the right potential.

Or a handful of them would be born in offset generations centered on a single place. Counting the number of Domination cultivators from Ceretos directly was difficult, but it could range from two to four. It depended if one counted reincarnations and a child that was not born there.

Ratna wished she could call upon the forces of the Scarlet Alliance- their fleets, specifically. However, that was more difficult than it seemed. They were willing to help, but while they could slip a few ships through here and there, larger fleets would doubtless be met with opposition along the way.

That didn’t mean she didn’t get some proper support, over time. Just less than what could have been, if their territories connected more directly. For example, a single ship could carry multiple Augmentation cultivators. The Scarlet Alliance wasn’t quite overflowing with them, but they had enough to spare. Then there were the Confluence cultivators. Or at least, that was what they were in the lower realms.

Not all of them were from the former Numerological Compact. It was more of a philosophy. An advancement path that was not quite divergent according to upper realms structures, but focused on different things. They tied themselves and others to a single vessel, bolstering their abilities far more than wielding a divine weapon ever could. There was simply more space for enchantments, and the way they wielded their energy in concert formed the whole group into something akin to a single powerhouse.

If they had an Augmentation cultivator as the base, they were even more impressive- but that was far more rare, simply because of timing. Uzun had naturally fallen into the more ‘balanced’ version where the entire crew was not bound together so tightly, so his case was more akin to wielding a powerful weapon and armor combined. Still an efficient use of power, but not quite as overwhelming.

Then again, the man didn’t spend most of his time fighting. He was a researcher at heart, making technological advancements that bolstered the Alliance as whole more than focusing on his own advancement. Otherwise, he might have been a Domination cultivator already… though Ratna couldn’t say what that would look like. But a ship as an anchor would be quite interesting. It would be a huge investment of resources, though. Simply continuing to use what he had shouldn’t be good enough.

-----

Constant fighting wore on Ratna more than it used to. Perhaps because she was older, but more likely it was because she saw alternatives. Being a better person perhaps came with disadvantages… but the upsides outweighed it. For example, there were better forms of rejuvenation.

Not just physical healing, but mental healing. Ratna wasn’t simply speaking of giving into excess, drinking and partying to forget your worries. There were psychological cultivators that developed proper guides to relaxation and recovery. And of course, friends.

Then whatever Bear Hug was.

“Durff says to ask you if he should come fight alongside you,” Bear Hug said. “So… should he do that?”

“I think it may be better for him to remain with his companions. If he were to make himself known on the battlefield… it might not be best.”

“Am I supposed to say the pause?”

Ratna gave a more well thought out version of the message. Bear Hug wasn’t yet a friend- it would take longer than a few years for that to happen. She was also more interested in befriending proper peers, though she had few.

An entertaining and pleasant companion wasn’t bad, though. One who reminded her of the good things in the world.

“Durff said that maybe his friends there-here will need him,” Bear Hug finally replied. “I’m also supposed to tell you that the herb crops on Second Gift are looking very good this season. People will have a lot of training medicines available.”

Overloading the body with too many empowered medicines could result in toxicity build up, but when the whole point was to expel upper energy and replace it with lower energy- for the purposes of temporary training- it was actually only a mild effect. More than simply allowing cultivators who had only ever lived in the upper realms to train with lower energy, however, Second Gift provided unique opportunities.

Ratna didn’t have access to the lower realms like the others- the pure tech ships were slower and would eventually be discovered in the many intervening systems outside of friendly control. She did, however, have access to one planet. Bear Hug was doing an excellent job of maintaining that status. The planet did most of the work on its own, but it would slowly unravel without them.

Some sects would pay a steep price to construct a room out of timbers imbued with natural energy for their disciples to meditate in. Ratna could just send people to that planet. Not too many of them, because they would disrupt the flow of things- but with that and exports she had great confidence for her growing younger generation.

Assuming her sects didn’t get wiped out in this war. She would fight with all she had to prevent that. She was not interested in abandoning her people just to survive. Besides, that would also result in abandoning her anchor. It wasn’t something that could easily be moved. She wouldn’t say it was impossible, because she’d recently witnessed an entire planet being taken over a hundred lightyears. But certainly not practical.

As long as she didn’t abandon it, however, it was safe. Attacking her directly would be a more feasible method to kill her, since she hadn’t flaunted it like Zaur.