Elder Cultivator

Few cultivators waded into the ranks of the distortion beasts like Durff did. Instead, they sought to fight the beasts from the edge of their range, many cultivators working together against the bulk of an individual beast.

Yuval did the same, waiting for them to attack then launching his own counter. Flames clung to a particularly densely furred limb, which then withdrew into space beyond. If they were simply normal flames, they would have been immediately quashed. Without oxygen or even the normal concept of space around them, mundane fire would go out. But proper flames could linger and grow on almost any medium.

The downside, especially against cultivators, was that they could be put out by thinking foes relatively easily. Yuval couldn’t create a self-sustaining reaction that would function entirely on upper energy, so in most cases it was a waste of effort. Even most beasts would have enough control over their energy to put out such flames upon recognizing the danger.

Distortion beasts weren’t somehow less intelligent than normal animals with cultivation, but they did not think in the same way. Regardless of whether it could put out the flames or not, the furred beast clearly didn’t. Other flaming limbs appeared in various places around the city he was defending- but anything they caught alight Yuval was able to put out, as he was still the origin of the flames.

He couldn’t say he was solely responsible for defeating a powerful distortion beast, but he certainly caused it great trouble as its outer layer rapidly became charred by the flames. Allied cultivators found it easier to cut into the beast without its thick fur, hacking off pieces to leave charred lumps of flesh everywhere.

The cleanup was going to be a pain. Distortion beasts were not even always good as fertilizer, often filled with noxious toxins despite it making no biological sense. Sometimes their remnants could be formed into weapons and armor, but that usually took specialists.

The swarm of distortion beasts was widespread, assaulting the whole planet. Yet it was still within the realm that the locals could handle. Most likely it wouldn’t have been, had Zorka lived and the rest of the Disciples of the Beyond not been driven off. This was only a small portion of the attractive force they were intending to propagate.

It had to be noted that the Exalted Quadrant had their own forces on the planet, at least at the beginning of the event. The Disciples of the Beyond who had fled from the formation array were among the first to hop onto ships and begin departing the planet, but others rapidly followed. Some flew right into the approaching horde of beasts, and the Exalted Quadrant’s departure was unorganized. No doubt they had planned the attack, but it wasn’t supposed to trigger quite so soon.

It shouldn't have been a coincidence, and while Velvet and Runa would have gladly taken credit for their choices, it was clear there were other manipulations behind the scene. Not that Velvet was opposed, when it was for the proper reasons.

She recalled that the Prospect Shapers had been waiting for her approach, escorting her to Renov. They didn’t necessarily have any plans at that point- but diviners and all sorts of fate manipulators were generally good at detecting the presence of higher ranking cultivators. Thus, an Augmentation cultivator like Velvet showing up was a perfectly natural reason for them to be prepared.

The particular risk factors that had been mentioned potential as assassination targets had all seemed like good targets, but Velvet had ended up here. And at such timing as they actually killed Zorka and mostly disrupted her efforts. It could have been her own luck, but Velvet kind of hoped it was planned to some extent. Even if they couldn’t see the actual results, simply pushing people towards overall positive or negative ends was quite useful.

As for why, if they had a hand in things, they had not simply told Velvet and the others who they should target and helped smooth the way… various similar groups liked to be mysterious. Whether it was actually helpful or not was often in debate, but being straightforward might have changed other factors.

Or Velvet could be reading too much into things. But rather than wondering, she planned to investigate the matter. The results this time were about as good as they could have hoped, except arriving slightly sooner might have completely prevented the distortion beast assault. Velvet expected that the Prospect Shapers would have the fate of the entire Chaotic Conglomeration in mind with their efforts… but she wasn’t certain that would include the fate of individuals. Especially those who were not part of them.

As it was effectively her job to be suspicious, Velvet felt justified looking into the situation more deeply. Though she had to be careful, since if they did have ill intent then acting carelessly could get her caught in a web.

-----

“I can’t believe we were so successful,” Runa commented. “It’s hard to catch Augmentation cultivators off guard. Everyone is thrilled. And we couldn’t have done it without you and your team, so I’m very thankful.”

“You’re welcome,” Velvet replied.

“On that note… I’m sure you’re interested how the mining efforts here on Renov are going. I’m proud to say we’ve more than doubled our output.” Runa saw the look on Velvet’s face and nodded. “I know, that’s not good enough for you to wait in line for your turn. But I’m working on that. If everyone else is still on an accelerated timeframe for their shipments, they won’t worry so much if someone got ahead in line.”

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That acceleration of the mining was actually less relevant for the trajectory of the war as a whole compared to killing an Augmentation cultivator, and restoring full control of a planet to the Conglomeration’s hands was also a large factor. But for Velvet personally… the prospect of owning another voidsteel weapon was more personally relevant than the course of the war. At most, she cared about what happened to Runa and the Spirit Slicing sect, and general damage to the Exalted Quadrant.

“You think it’s possible?” Velvet asked. “Good, because I’m thinking that we might have to leave a bit sooner than anticipated.” It had already been around a year- from some perspectives quite a long time, and from others a mere instant. “There’s potential trouble on our eastern border. Maybe nothing will come of it but…” Velvet shook her head. “We also can’t remain here forever. We’ll be targets.”

“It’s unfortunate,” Runa said. “Because we always need more help. Together we stopped one push, but we are constantly being pushed back on other planets. We need some sort of stabilizing force to maintain our hold.”

“Grand formations?” Velvet suggested. “You could link several systems together, perhaps.”

“The resources that would require would be difficult to convince anyone to let go of,” Runa shook her head. “Besides, if some particular area then falls into enemy hands it’s that much more difficult to get back the land.”

“What is it you need, then?” Velvet asked.

“It’s difficult to say. More victories. A way to increase enemy casualties without increasing our own. More of our own Augmentation cultivators, to stand up against the enemy. And a consistent influx of well trained and equipped fighting forces. So, you know, just a few things.”

“It’s not easy,” Velvet agreed. “Hopefully the damage to the bottom line the Exalted Quadrant experienced during their invasion of the lower realms will blunt their impact further.”

“I hope so. Unfortunately, their attacks haven’t dropped off as much as we might like. And we could have lost an entire planet full of cultivators just now.” Runa grinned. “But instead the enemy did. You’re a good luck charm. Your people all seem stronger than they should be.”

“I’m not sure about that luck part,” Velvet said. “Winning is just habit for us, since we face so much trouble. We might be constantly beating back bad luck instead.”

“I bet there are many who would have clear opinions on that. Like the Prospect Shapers.” Velvet had asked Runa about them, obviously. If she didn’t start with someone she could trust who had a proper position, then why even bother trying to gather information at all? “I understand your concerns about trusting them directly, however. I can say they have been willing to risk themselves often enough that they have the Conglomeration’s best interest in mind, but you’re right about your group. But as you said, you’re also in the habit of winning. So keep at it. I’ll back you up as much as possible.”

-----

The earth shook around Durff, but only relatively small amounts. Previously he had moved planets- at least a little bit- but here he was working with far smaller quantities. A few tons or tens of tons at a time, as he continued to work in the mines with Mundi and the others.

Durff had rapidly grown in his understanding of proper mining techniques, and with his body being several steps above the rest of the miners they couldn’t keep up. Maybe with another few decades to temper their bodies they would close that gap, but his individual productivity was among the highest.

Not that anyone was upset about that. He led them in training, and being handed special techniques for free was something any cultivator could appreciate. Their increased productivity made them more valuable in the eyes of their Spirit Slicing Sect as well. Previously, their position hadn’t been one with much glory. Once they knew that Durff wasn’t trying to deprive them of steady work, they were quite appreciative of his presence.

In the null-energy zone of the mines, Durff swung his pick over and over. He wasn’t learning much about hammers from his movements, but he wasn’t battling with the rocks. This was his creative endeavor. He liked to see if he could predict the patterns in which rocks would fall or if he could make a smooth cutoff where he pulled rocks apart. Mining more efficiently was no longer his goal, but instead a side effect of a hobby.

There was one particularly good swing he did that took down an entire segment at once, breaking a two meter wide and tall area down into easy chunks, going a full meter back. A trivial amount of area to dig out with energy, but where they were it was a massive amount- especially for a single swing.

Durff stepped forward onto the rubble and did it again. How satisfying. He liked the sound of the pick, and the sound of the individual bits of ore rumbling around on the ground. The chorus of other workers was also quite satisfying. And it was much more comfortable than it had been previously. They still had purity birds as well, though they didn’t do much but sit around and be generally disappointed at the lack of toxins to ingest. So there was no singing, but they were nice to look at.

When Durff stepped out of the mines that day, he was in Augmentation. Many people had been expecting an earthshaking result when he advanced, and they were technically right. They had just expected it to be, if not more metaphorical, actually quite larger scale. It wouldn’t have been odd if he had to go break apart a planet or something.

But instead, it happened while he was in the null element zone of the voidsteel mines engaging in his hobby. It was training, certainly, but for his body and not his energy. Durff noticed the change when he got out… and accepted it.

“Oh good,” he nodded. And that was that.

Others had much greater reactions, especially those who hadn’t been expecting an Augmentation cultivator to suddenly appear. Obviously they quickly recognized Durff’s energy signature, but he made more than a few people’s hearts jump in their chest, worried that Renov was under attack somehow.

In a way, his advancement had seemed inevitable- but it was still somewhat of a surprise when it happened. His path of cultivation was circuitous, unable to be guided by the sect he was born into, but his determination had kept him going. He’d still managed to build a solid foundation and had constantly put in the effort. With some proper guidance from the Scarlet Alliance and his own insights, he managed to advance. What changes people might see would soon be revealed on the battlefield.

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