Elder Cultivator

With constant war across dozens of systems, the fight between the Chaotic Conglomeration and the Exalted Quadrant came at a great cost for very little gain. The Conglomeration’s main goals weren’t the monopolization of the resources on various border worlds, but instead maintaining control so that they had a buffer zone between the Exalted Quadrant and their main planets.

Velvet had not been to any of those deeper planets, with the closest being Renov which was currently under stable control. However, after another series of victories, their group was invited to visit some of those core worlds.

It was impossible for Velvet to refuse. The spymaster within her wanted to learn as much as she could, and in general she found it valuable to learn about their semi-allies.

Yigora was the name of the planet they were set to visit. Runa was light on the details, telling them that it would be better to see it in person. Meanwhile, she was quite interested in their ship.

“Isn’t it problematic to bring this deeper into our territory?” she asked as she looked over some of the readouts. Most likely she could make sense of the current page of the console, but would not instantly intuit the rest of the operation.

“It’s more risky to leave it on another planet,” Velvet said. “Unless you want to constantly be looking out for it?” Velvet asked. “I do mean personally, of course. I would trust your people for most things, but I wouldn’t want the ship to explode for no good reason.”

“... It would do that?” Runa asked, slightly backing away from the console. Not that the ship contained enough power to harm an Augmentation cultivator. At least, not in a form she would recognize as a danger.

“It might,” Velvet shrugged. Though actual self-destructive methods were currently positioned to be manually activated, just in case there were people prying where they shouldn’t be. It would be annoying to lose a good ship to curious idiots. Unauthorized computer access- if they somehow managed to get that far- would end up with a full wipe, however. That would be rather inconvenient for its functionality.

“You people have such strange… tech,” Runa commented.

“It’s pretty cool, huh?” Juli commented. “Too bad we can’t show you the really good stuff. I… probably shouldn’t have even mentioned it.”

Velvet shook her head. “It’s not unexpected that we have secrets yet unknown. But I would certainly avoid sharing any actual details. No offense, Runa, but it would make you a valuable target for the Exalted Quadrant.”

“I understand,” she said. “I already have enough troubles. Though it might be nice if we could use some of this.”

“The Exalted Quadrant has started trying to make some tech, I think,” Velvet said. “They haven’t made it on any scale… but if it becomes a problem, we can at least share an equal level to help you keep up with them. It’s too much risk to do more than that.”

“I appreciate that very much. It’s not like we’ve ever done anything for you.”

“Maybe not your people as a whole, but you did. You supported me when I needed it,” Velvet said. “Plus, I’m still trying to get some new daggers,” she waggled her eyebrows. Obviously any considerations regarding tech would take place after she already had what she needed. That would just be for the sake of causing the Exalted Quadrant more trouble.

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When they finally arrived at Yigora, they found it quite odd. It was a gas giant, but with no ring or moons. Nor did it have orbital cities of any sort.

“You know,” Runa said. “I kind of made some assumptions about your ship… but it can survive some pressure, right?”

Velvet nodded. “As long as we don’t have to go into a star or the like it will be fine. Assuming we have full access to energy for the duration.”

“Obviously. Do you think our ships could withstand high pressure without upper energy? They’d turn into a pile of splinters. Or pressboard.”

As they got closer, Velvet was able to slip her senses through the thin barrier protecting the whole planet. There she saw an extremely strange sight. She thought it was odd for a gas giant to have no moons at all… and it turned out to not entirely be true. It was simply that these moons were inside of it. Given that each internal moon had its own barrier protecting it, Velvet doubted it was entirely natural. Though perhaps it was a consideration for those below a certain level, she also figured that most terrestrial bodies would crumble apart under the pressure if unguarded.

They did not approach the planet alone, but were escorted by the Spirit Slicing Sect. Otherwise, an unknown ship like them would most likely be assaulted, or at the very least very closely investigated. There was no point in risking any misunderstandings, as a single moment of misunderstanding could result in damage to the ship, and there was no good way to repair it within hundreds of lightyears. Juli’s knowledge could only go so far- many parts simply couldn’t be replicated without complex infrastructure.

Instead, they smoothly approached one of the ‘moons’ that was orbiting around the center of the planet. According to Runa, that was the capital.

Even with all she had already been through, Velvet found it a unique experience. No doubt there would be many people eager to inspect the formations that sustained various moons orbiting within a gas giant without losing momentum or being crushed or torn apart or any number of other things. It seemed like it would be an extravagant use of energy, but perhaps there were secret efficiencies that made it work. There were all sorts of tricks that formation masters could use, and Velvet only knew that she wasn’t even close to understanding all of them.

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In the area of novelty, Yigora was more impressive than Xankeshan. It was like diving into a mystical sea and finding strange cities hidden in bubbles. But aside from the barriers protecting the cities, Velvet found it to be typical cultivator fare.

Perhaps being part of an effort to smash apart the Citadel of Exalted Light had dulled her sense of wonder. No doubt the palaces were marvelous in their own luxury… but Velvet had become accustomed to practical and widespread luxuries. The quality of her own accommodations on Xankeshan was not that many times better than the average person. There were also other issues that made everything feel outdated.

Others were more impressed. Misi and Juli had seen the Scarlet Alliance, but they were still a few centuries younger and thus more easily impressed. And Yuval was only used to the style of the Scarlet Alliance, plus the border regions here in the Chaotic Conglomeration. They were much more sparsely populated and this place was packed with people. Probably less efficiently than Xankeshan, but either way its streets were stuffed with people.

Their ship landed at a proper starport, and though it stood out as odd the style was still vaguely within cultivator aesthetics instead of the style of tech ships. It was meant to blend in as much as it could. Though there were only so many factors that could be accounted for, and the Chaotic Conglomeration wasn’t the same as the Exalted Quadrant in terms of how they made their ships.

When they stepped off the ship, Yuval’s energy suddenly flared. Chidi grabbed him by the collar, yanking him back.

“Let me go!” Yuval complained. “Didn’t you sense-”

“I did,” Chidi said. “Now tell me, are you going to fight an entire market full of people? Or the entire city? Or the entire Chaotic Conglomeration?”

“But- they’re treating people like slaves!”

“Yes. And there are better ways to resolve that than slaughter.”

“... I could buy them all?” Yuval suggested.

“They would have a new lot in place by tomorrow,” Chidi shook his head.

Yuval grit his teeth. “How can you be so calm?”

“I’ve seen many atrocities with my own eyes,” Chidi said. “It’s important to understand when and how you can make a difference.”

“But you don’t even-” Yuval stopped himself.

Chidi just shook his head, opening his empty eyelids with his head turned towards his brother. “I know what I said. It’s much easier to speak that way. Anyway, if you don’t like this… you need to convince people that there’s something better. And for their own interests, not something nebulous and difficult to comprehend like ‘righteousness’.”

Misi cleared his throat. “I could prepare a speech on the efficiencies of a developmentally focused society?”

Chidi shook his head. “I do believe we are several steps away from that being relevant here.”

Yuval grimaced. “Can’t I do something?”

“Sure,” Chidi said. “Grow stronger. Become a relevant factor that people have to listen to.”

“I still don’t like it,” Yuval said, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Good. You should hold to your convictions. I am not saying to do nothing. Just make sure that you actually have a chance of success.”

Velvet had little she could add to the conversation that Yuval and his brother hadn’t already worked out. She paid attention to Durff’s reaction… and while he looked displeased, this was not the circumstance that hit closest to his heart.

Personally, Velvet hadn’t been planning any sort of widespread upheaval within the Conglomeration. They were a valuable target for the Exalted Quadrant and she didn’t want Runa to be placed in danger. If she caused some sort of uprising or civil war, the Exalted Quadrant might take advantage and finally break their resistance. Though Velvet kept thinking about that whole situation and finding strange inconsistencies.

If it was just one faction within the Exalted Quadrant they might have struggled… but as a combined effort, why did they dedicate what seemed like so little to the war efforts? Maybe they had other problems she didn’t know about. Velvet would love to find out about a secret enemy they were battling against. If only.

Before they could continue onward, a young disciple of the prospect shapers approached the group. “Honored cultivators. The Prospect Shapers wish to meet with you before you meet with the Serene Pill Society. You are currently available.”

Velvet looked over at Runa. There had been no indication that the Prospect Shapers would be present locally- and Runa didn’t seem to have had any foreknowledge either. “There is no particular schedule for our current engagements,” Runa said. “And none would begrudge giving some time to some elders of the Prospect Shapers.”

Velvet nodded. “Then we will meet with them.” She hadn’t failed to notice that the disciple had already declared that her own group was available, and not the Prospect Shapers. “Should we go immediately?”

“Of course,” the disciple said.

They made their way to an extravagant inn, where each room had privacy barriers. Velvet maintained her standard paranoia regarding areas she could not sense, but didn’t attempt to pry- at least not until they reached their proper destination. Then, before stepping through, she probed beyond the barrier. “These aren’t random elders, are they?” she said, speaking to nobody in general.

“The Triumvirate is waiting,” the disciple inclined his head, opening the door and stepping to the side.

“They sound important,” Durff commented as he strode into the room first. “Triumvirates are like… people who always win, right? Like triumph?”

“If only it were like that,” said one of the three, a woman. “But alas, it is impossible to always win.”

Durff frowned. “You just have to not lose.”

“Not all losses result in death. Even you have lost, have you not?” A second woman said.

Durff tilted his head. “Do you count training? Otherwise, not recently. But yeah.”

The third was a wizened old man. “None wish to lose. But there is always something to learn from failure, if one is willing. Welcome,” he said, addressing the group as a whole. “We appreciate your joining us. We have important matters to discuss.”

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