Elder Cultivator

There was a significant period of time where Ratna was concerned about continued assaults from the Tilki clan. They were stubborn, and could call upon others to cause further trouble. But they were also patient… and after clearing her territory of enemies and confirming that their forces had withdrawn through various means, she was able to relax slightly.

Except for the troubles to the south. She’d lost another system. Ratna was going to directly solve that problem by slaughtering some people, but she didn’t. Because the information that spies came back with baffled her.

Sudin was alive. The Twin Soul Sect was alive.

That was less of a concern than it initially sounded like, but it was still a frustration. She’d felt him die, and she’d looted their territory. So even if he’d reincarnated without his anchor and somehow returned to Domination, they were less of a threat than they had been. Especially now that she had proper allies.

Still, she wasn’t happy at how many Domination cultivators were her enemies and kept surviving or returning to life. It was difficult to tell with the Swirling Swarm- had they always had spares, or was there something else going on? Ratna was more inclined towards the latter, just because the thought of having to face five or ten or more Domination cultivators from their ranks was too much to consider.

Actually, Ratna was pretty uncomfortable with how often she had to fight Domination cultivators these days. Usually, it was one skirmish every few centuries, not a huge war. But she wouldn’t have survived a proper war before, not against any powers of note or any pairing of foes.

She really wanted to help accelerate the connection to the rest of the Scarlet Alliance. Too bad they probably wouldn’t accept conquering the systems along the way… but some political machinations might do just as well. After all, why bother being afraid of Trigold Cluster cultivators that were far away and only had 1 or 2 Domination cultivators per sect when the Scarlet Alliance was right there and had… more than four. Depending on how one counted.

Returning to the matter of Sudin, if he wasn’t at full power she should just go in and cut off his head. But if he was, it was too risky. Even if she gave herself only a ten or twenty percent chance of being injured or killed, she couldn’t make many such moves. And just because they were officially enemies now didn’t mean she was actually less worried about the Twin Soul Sect. They had been fairly likely to cause her trouble in the past, and they might again. The main concern was that they were more likely to be able to recruit help against her.

That said, they hadn’t made a big announcement of the Twin Soul Sect’s revival. They should be relatively weak… and Ratna would be looking for opportunities to erase them for good.

-----

Anton was slightly surprised at the news that Sudin was alive- but for a style that was all about reincarnation, he wasn’t as surprised as he could have been that destroying his soul had been less complete than hoped. Personally, Anton would gladly see him come to the lower realms again. Sudin wouldn’t last long at all. So it was more of an inconvenience than an ancient foe rising from the ashes. Anton thought he would stay dead, but being wrong wasn’t that big of a deal. He’d lost centuries and probably cultivation- how could he catch up to the Alliance?

“Who was that guy?” Bear Hug asked. “All I know is I was supposed to deliver the message.”

“For that, you need to hear about the Twin Soul Sect,” Anton said. “Once upon a time, they infiltrated our planets… enticing cultivators with the promise of reincarnation and power.”

“Oh. Can they do that again?”

“I’d be extremely surprised,” Anton said. “Even if they could evade our detection- I suppose we need to consider that again- who would join them?”

“... Bad people?”

“Obviously,” Anton said. “But what I really meant was that we already promise power, and reincarnation is an option. There’s the Phoenix Revival Technique among others. I can’t believe the Twin Soul Sect’s method has a higher quality… not without infrastructure. Even if millions flock to their banner, I don’t think they can keep up with our growth.”

Anton told Bear Hug many stories, because they were curious. After some time, Bear Hug nodded.

“I understand. They’re very bad, and I will watch for them everywhere I am. If they touch any of our planets… I’ll tell someone.”

“Well, you don’t need to take responsibility yourself,” Anton said. “We have others.”

“I will watch.”

It wouldn't hurt. Anton almost hoped they would show up at some point, so that Bear Hug could have a victory. But it would be better if they didn’t.

This information should be spread to the others in the lower realms, however. Anton made certain that would be the case- though a more thorough annihilation was also on the table. Even if Sudin’s soul was rather resistant to being destroyed, they could manage it. Overall, the total number of enemy Domination cultivators was trending downward. Anton was a little bit disappointed he couldn’t influence the upper realms as much as he would like, but it was a bit greedy to want to contribute to more Domination cultivator deaths.

-----

Alin Kato frowned. “Assistant, why is nobody bringing information from the Disciples of the Beyond’s experiments?”

“Because…” the assistant drew out the word. “It’s deep within enemy territory that is still full of people.”

“Significantly fewer relevant individuals. Perhaps I shall put in a request for infiltration. We want to learn what they learned.”

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“And prevent them from using said information. Right?”

“Oh yes. Of course,” Alin nodded.

-----

Everheart grumbled to himself. Well there went decades of planning, down the drain. It was so hard to get good information from the lower realms, and hearing that Ramil had unique information about distortion beasts had very much motivated him.

And then he went and got himself killed, so Everheart just launched an attack on some border systems… and snuck onto Udor himself. It wasn’t that fun.

His spirits weren’t lifted by the potential to kill Sudin himself. That portion of the Twin Soul Sect was inconveniently located. It was all the way on the other side of the Guardians of the Veiled Brilliance.

Perhaps he would establish another base off that way. There was always the possibility that everyone would gather together to destroy all of his locations at once.

Was it likely?

Increasingly.

He hadn’t caused much consternation for the Scarlet Alliance recently, but for everyone else? They were likely getting fed up. He needed a few more secret locations.

Maybe he could manage something during the end of the cycle, when people were busy with other things. Hopefully getting themselves annihilated in the lower realms. But no, he had so many other plans for that time. He’d be too busy.

There simply wasn’t enough time in a day. Not even for him. He had to study the new spatial distortions of the Scarlet Alliance, spy on the Tilki clan, provoke the Chaotic Conglomeration, distract the Swirling Swarm, and so many other things.

-----

Now that the war was more or less resolved, Misi found Catarina had more time. He wasn’t upset about taking years and decades delving into long projects. The time itself wasn’t the issue, just how consistently he was making progress. Unfortunately, his own abilities hadn’t advanced sufficiently to be able to self study. Nor were there enough experts that they could replicate the new segmented spatial distortions without Catarina’s mastery.

It still might not be possible, but it might solve two problems if they could link to disconnected regions. Unfortunately, that meant partial links or resizing regions or some modifications to territory. The Scarlet Alliance was the only power in the Scarlet Midfields now, ignoring the annoyance to their north. Everywhere else they had laid their mesh… but even then it was only a small slice of things encompassing a sizable but not complete portion of their population.

They wanted to expand that, so Misi’s complications complicated things even further. It was worth exploring, though, and Misi thought they might actually manage some test cases before the turn of the cycle.

-----

Velvet was tempted to take on a mission to the limited revival of the Twin Soul Sect’s territory… but she decided not to. Instead she would head back towards the Little Alliance. She was already upset at herself for missing the battles there, but it wasn’t easy to rapidly transition between locations. Even if she’d left immediately upon first hearing about it, she wouldn't have arrived in time.

That was why she wanted to return as soon as possible. She might not stay within their territory- they had plenty of neighbors to spy on that might want to push things- but she would be close enough. And she’d spent years training others to take on other spying missions for the rest of the Alliance.

Bear Hug was great, but they weren’t anything like talking in person. Strategically? Astounding. Emotionally? Adorable, actually. Velvet felt like they were friends, just not close friends. She wanted to get back to Runa, Durff, and the void ants. Maybe they should consider void ants in the core systems. If Misi was successful, they practically would. Though keeping those connections secret might be the better result.

-----

Even if she was eager to return ‘home’, Velvet did take the opportunity of being within the right realm to visit Anton and others. Anton in particular she consulted about her cultivation.

“I suggest standing behind a tree,” Anton said. “Nobody will spot you there.”

Velvet chuckled. “No way anyone would notice. But seriously, after listening to the… esoteric… routes that Aconite is exploring, I have stronger feelings about my branch of stealth. I know you’re not the right path, but you understand cultivation. What do you think about ‘the light of distant stars’?”

“Terrifying. But you’d have to consider how that anchor works. For example, would it be specific stars? Say it was every star beyond a certain distance… would that open you up to attack by anyone?”

“I was thinking… very distant. A sort of shadow in light idea.”

“Do not underestimate the malice of cultivators who know nothing about you,” Anton said. “Some group on the other side of the galaxy might very well choose to slay you for the slightest hint of power gain.”

“... I’ll be careful,” Velvet nodded. “Other than that issue…?”

“If it sounds good to you, and you find yourself as prepared as you can be, the choice is yours. Frankly, I don’t think being a powerful Augmentation cultivator is a terrible place to stop.”

“I have trouble hiding from Domination cultivators.”

“Ah. If that is your issue… I’d focus on that,” Anton said. “I’m not sure how. Perhaps that style of anchor would be the correct one. And of course, you mentioned Zazil’s unique approach.”

“That’s the other reason I think it really might work,” Velvet confirmed. “Sadly, I can’t just do the same thing as her. Different styles, and she wasn’t choosing that to hide in the same way. She’s a skirmisher, while I’m an assassin. She has no subtlety once she is revealed, it’s just a matter of appearing with power in places people don’t expect, and not being tied down. It’s beautiful for her.”

Anton nodded. “Distant stars sounds… lonely. But perhaps that is the most appropriate. If it’s not meant to be lonely… you might pick specific stars. Like mine,” Anton gestured broadly. “I can share.”

Velvet grinned. “I appreciate the offer. That wouldn’t be nearly subtle enough for my tastes, and their location in the lower realms might be another issue. But I do appreciate it.”

“Consult all of your friends,” Anton said. “About your choices, and if you really should go through with it. Or pick some other method to advance.”

“An alternate path?”

“I know it’s not that simple,” Anton said. “But you might improve your techniques within Augmentation. If you focus solely on Domination cultivators… you might fool them. If you want a practice buddy in a similar tier of power, I’ll volunteer. You have to come to me, though.”

“... I could stay a few more days. Can we test it out now?”

“It’ll be good experience no matter what you choose,” Anton agreed.