Elder Cultivator

A vague fuzziness filled Catarina’s head as she slowly awoke. She actually couldn’t remember the last time she had slept a full night. Not that she really needed to as an Augmentation cultivator. But as had been pointed out to her, she did need to rest.

Though her brain was only slowly shifting to where it should be- at least by her elevated standards- she understood it was important. Today was the day of the final checks, and she needed to be at her best lest there be some mistake.

As it turned out, putting in a formation that spanned a great number of systems in all directions took a great amount of resources. It was only possible by using special insights into space and the power of stars. It annoyed Catarina that some of the latter tools had come from Everheart once again. The Scarlet Alliance had actually managed to begin moving past his expertise, developing new techniques of their own. But he just had to go and show off.

Catarina refused to believe it was a copycat, because simple solutions were better and Everheart certainly wasn’t dead. His system was as functional as ever before. While his various followers were currently missing, that was only more reason to believe they knew things others did not.

Rahayu would have been accepted among the Scarlet Alliance, as his methodology was no worse than most cultivators. He had simply sought out a practical way to grow his own strength.

Luksa was another matter, having been part of the Harmonious Citadel. While most wouldn’t remember her as an enemy, it was unlikely she would be easily accepted into their number if Everheart was actually gone.

But enough about him. Catarina didn’t intend to play into Everheart’s plans by thinking about him overly much. Whether it made him stronger or simply wasted people’s time, it didn’t matter.

She was just glad they were going to complete the project before the shift in the Tides of the World. The void ants would be revealed in the upper realms, and not working to exterminate them would show their connections. It would be nice if they could start colonies within the Scarlet Alliance before that, but that wouldn’t have worked for many reasons.

She just hoped they would be able to have them after. Though that might depend on what the void ants wanted as well as the local populace. The void ants deserved to live where they pleased, but they would also respect the opinions of the locals. They did have to live together, after all, and most of those in the upper realms didn’t have the history alongside void ants that some of them did. They were just people. Tiny, dangerous people- but that was no riskier than other cultivators in the end.

The next century or two would be tumultuous for many reasons. If the plans of the lower realms went well, the upper realms would be in shock. If they went poorly… then foundations of the Scarlet Alliance would be greatly disturbed. They could survive and potentially even thrive with just what they had in the upper realms, but to be their best they needed the lower realms. And as many of their members had friends and family still there… it was not a future anyone wanted to consider.

The last of the formations were around Xankeshan itself, unsurprisingly despite the fact that the majority were around their borders, scattered even in unpopulated systems in a spherical pattern. This was merely an extension of what they had already done, funneling travel to specific border worlds. It was finally time to connect Xankeshan to that.

Except, they wouldn’t be testing it. That was the worst part. Perhaps unsurprisingly it was a massive expenditure of energy to invert a sphere over a hundred lightyears across. Even if they were only technically affecting a thin shell on the outside, that was still a tremendous area.

Everything worked in theory, and in practice on smaller scales. Bringing Xankeshan to the frontlines would allow them to concentrate their forces where their best defenses were against attacks from any and all directions. The rest of their systems would remain safe. But while a significant number of people were aware of the project, the actual effects were less well known. Hopefully, secret from their enemies. They should just think it was an expansion of the already functional efforts to funnel people along a particular path, which it effectively was.

But since they couldn’t test it, they had to be extra careful. Catarina would pore over every inch of this latest system herself, and there were many others who were doing the same here and elsewhere. Koralo and her other apprentices were involved in the project, as well as pretty much every formation grandmaster in the Alliance.

Soon, it would be ready. No matter which side the attacks came from or when, they would have their grand formation. Though they could hope that their enemies would kill themselves off, realistically whoever survived would begin to find new trouble with their neighbors so it was a vain hope. And even Catarina’s practical side didn’t actually wish for the total annihilation of the Exalted Quadrant or Trigold Cluster. That would come with the deaths of countless trillions, and the results would no doubt be far worse than what became of the Bloodsoaked Nebula.

-----

Maheg noticed it first. Perhaps there were some advantages to being at a greater scale, tapped into the fabric of the galaxy itself. But Anton was quite content being a human still.

The shift in Maheg’s attention was quite noticeable, and the star had become more capable of communication over the last decades. A sense of worry and concern. Though perhaps not as much as it might have had, given what the event entailed. After all, it didn’t seem that any invaders had come here in the last cycles. That was about how long Maheg had been conscious, though that consciousness had also been less developed on the order of six and eight centuries prior.

But Anton fairly quickly recognized the beginning of the shift in the tides of the world. They still had a few decades before it actually allowed for ‘easy’ traversal between the upper and lower realms, but the time was coming. At this point, plans had to be solidified in short order on both sides.

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Maheg expressed curiosity, and even seemed to notice Anton’s worry.

Anton responded with both words and feelings. “Some enemies may come to our stars,” he said. “I do not know if they would come here. They come to plunder and destroy… and there is nothing much left here. But the other stars, they bear a grudge.” Anton sent feelings of war.

Maheg responded with its memories of death, and the pain that it felt. The star seemed to question why anyone would want that.

Anton just shook his head. He wondered the same. But he did have an answer. “People seek power.” He indicated the energy of the weaker cultivators in the system, himself, and Maheg. “They want to grow stronger and stronger.”

Maheg swirled some energy above their fields. The moon was large enough that even with consistent efforts, they had only covered a small portion of the surface. Though neither of them were really pushing for maximum area, either. They just enjoyed watching the plants grow. Maheg seemed to be wondering about that.

“Yeah, not everyone is content to grow plants, or anything beyond themselves,” Anton said. “It’s just the way things are. I’m going to have to spend more time away. To protect those I care for.”

Maheg reached out towards Anton. It wasn’t just their traditional acknowledgement of greeting or departure, but something more. Even so, Anton responded in the usual way- but now his energy was not annihilated.

Though he could have reached for something more, he thought it was a particularly poor idea. “We can try that later,” Anton said. “The strength I might gain is too much compared to the risk of side effects.” Like being annihilated by Maheg’s energy, whether it intended it or not. Having two consciousnesses sharing an energy pool on such a level was not something they had good data on. The hiveminds didn’t count, nor did they actually share their internal energy in any significant way.

Maheg knew there were risks to it as well. But Anton appreciated it had offered, knowing he drew his power from stars. He just hoped his gardens there, at least, could know peace.

-----

Anton had not spent all of his time with Maheg for the last century, but it was likely the majority of his time when he was not checking in on the various branch heads of the Order. They didn’t really have anything they needed him for, but there were plenty of things people didn’t need but would appreciate nonetheless. Acknowledgement of their existence, their efforts, and the fruits of their labor were all valuable.

Since Anton could give them that, it would have been a shame to just assume they would be fine without him. Would they carry on? Absolutely. But why not aim for better when it was an option.

The lower realms were ready for whatever came their way. They’d been preparing vigorously, and Anton was certain they were taking things more seriously than the upper realms.

Not that the upper realms didn’t take domination, oppression, or vengeance seriously. But they weren’t fighting for their survival. Hopefully, they would be too much in their habits of victory. They might bring what they felt was an overwhelming force and find it lacking.

Though that wasn’t something that the lower realms would assume. That included the Alliance, the Shining Cooperative, and even the Adamant Federation and the Free Planet Guardians. The latter two were perhaps in the least stable positions, though the Trigold Cluster might blame what happened there more on the others instead of what remained. Or they might wish to crush them for their rebellious nature.

“What do you think?” Anton asked Lev, as they stood in the shade of the Grandfather Willow. “Are there enough of us?”

“Of what? Enrichment cultivators?” Lev shook his head. “It appears it’s more difficult to reach this level than Augmentation. Perhaps that is something to do with upper and lower energy or…” he shrugged. “We could always use more of our numbers. But… if you mean us,” he spread his arms broadly. “Then we simply must believe so. All of our allies both big and small will fight with all of their strength.”

Among the ranks of the Enrichment cultivators, there was of course Anton himself. Lev and Devon as well. Paradise, and through him Erin the head of the Island Tenders should count as well, though perhaps as one entity. At the very least, they would fight together and could cover only a single position. The Great Queen would count as well, most likely. Then Nthanda, though her path was divergent it was still powerful. Finally, some of their Ascension-class ships had been upgraded over the centuries to nearly match Enrichment, though that was with the benefit of large crews and modified versions of the Numerological Compact’s techniques.

Between them Ceretos, Weos, and Rutera had the most at Enrichment or some equivalent which was unsurprising given they had among the greatest amount of time cultivating. The Sylanis Cluster had a similar history and had even gotten a jump start on Worldbinding, but the war had been hard for their bigger sects and their recovery had been slower. They had several of their own, enough to defend each system at least.

In the former Compact systems, they had a number of Confluence cultivators including Byron. They strength they could reach when supplemented by others could rival Enrichment, though it was limited by their leaders even when they were entangled in hiveminds. None had reached a personal cultivation level high enough to fight independently, but they should be secure enough.

It was other parts of the Alliance that were in worse trouble.

Ekict was just shy of having proper Enrichment cultivators, but they were likely one of the prime targets. They would need support. And as far east as In’istra, Varghese had not quite reached Enrichment either. It wasn’t something one could just decide to do, and merely copying Anton was bound to be problematic despite sharing the same style.

To the north, there were a few systems off on their own including Nidec and Vrelt. They might face some retaliation, especially the Nidec as their Hardened Crown cultivators had withdrawn from the Exalted Quadrant’s influence. They were close enough to have one defender join them.

Then there was Akrys. It was unclear how their world had ended up in its state, but clearly someone had intentions for them at some point. If there was an invasion, however, it wouldn't be for revenge. In that manner, they should be able to fend for themselves. Anyone intending to harvest some well developed beasts would be in for quite a surprise to descend upon an entire cultivating civilization complete with Assimilation cultivators.

If they had the chance, the Lower Realms alliance would lend out some of their cultivators to the Shining Cooperative, but they had to take care of their own people first. Positioning their forces would be important.

But before then, they had a few more years of relative peace, to remember what they were fighting for.

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