Elder Cultivator

Chapter 716

As the rogue planet of Aipra casually drifted through subspace, it remained open to attacks by distortion beasts. However, despite that factor it seemed they were relatively infrequent. Then again, they didnt appear to be that common in general. Anton had only encountered a small handful in his career, though one sect on Ekict appeared to have techniques meant to make use of smaller ones. Their records had been preserved for study, but actual practice of the techniques as written was quite forbidden.

Somewhere around eight months had passed since the distortion beast attack. For a planet that seemed relatively easier for them to attack, Anton was uncertain how long of an average would be odd. Then there were other factors like lacking the gravitational potential of the rest of a system.

Regardless of what should be expected, another one did in fact arrive after eight months. This one was the largest he had ever seen, at least relative to the dimensions he could see. He noticed it because the already dim presence of stars slowly began to fade as the creature wrapped itself around Aipra.

Anton expected the planet to react with great vigor, sending all of their strongest cultivators to combat it. Alternatively, if Nalini was the only one he expected her to do something. But instead of either of those, another lone cultivator was the only power he felt.

Unlike most of the other distortion beasts, Anton didnt see anything directly threatening except the size of the thing. It was like a large leathery sheet but the menacing way it was moving to encircle the planet made it a clear threat.

The new cultivator had a simple power, making use of something Anton hadnt even considered. Energy reached up out of the atmosphere to grab nothing, but there was in fact something there. Random small bits of debris that Anton instinctually ignored as a natural part of the planet suddenly turned into dangerous projectiles. It only took a slight nudge to bring them out of their orbit and towards the distortion beast at an oblique angle. With the addition of energy to bolster their durability, they crashed into the creature. Each piece only made a small hole in a seemingly endless creature, but the damage quickly began to add up.

Like the time with Nalini, the sole defender was aided not by another active cultivator, but by the planet as a whole, people all over the planet reacting to the threat and focusing their devotion to the defender.

But of course, Anton was going to add his own efforts to the battle. He had already revealed himself, so waiting for the threat to draw closer was foolish. Anton had no idea what part of this thing was vulnerable, so he began to shoot anywhere he pleased, trying to discern some difference in the reaction. Instead, he simply contributed holes in different places than the planetary defender.

Except not even that. His holes were more precise and focused, but eventually he began to notice something. Smaller wounds simply closed up. And while he was certain that it must take some form of energy, he didnt know if it was a worthy endeavor to try to wear it down.

But he hadnt spent so much time cultivating for nothing. While he no longer had the bladed bow from the Million Sword Vault, it had still taught him a new technique. So instead of focusing in making as many holes as he could, he began with a few large gashes. But unfortunately, the thin wounds still meant that the horrible flesh knitted together. Strangely enough, despite its vast area, the creature seemed to be only a few fingers thick. Though that could be a matter of perception, as distortion beasts were incomprehensible.

The increasing power from the planetary defender was filling the distortion beast with more odd shaped holes than it could regenerate, but Anton was getting concerned about it closing in on the planet. If it just grabbed onto the surface and squeezed would it crush every cultivator outside of a barrier? Anton also wondered why the others were doing nothing. At least Nalini existed, and probably others. Some freezing arrows would be nice about now.

But lacking that, Anton began to focus on flaming blades shot from his bow, leaving burning gashes in the creature. Those certainly healed up more slowly, but Anton had even better ideas. Since the creature seemed uninterested in defending itself, he began cutting across his previous shots, removing a vaguely square chunk of the creature. Or at least, that was the plan- but while he certainly cut part of it loose, the position of the leathery flesh remained in place relative to everything else around it.

It was going to take more than that, then. Since he was causing some damage at least, Anton began to focus on creating the longest gashes he possibly could. From the ends of his bow extended hooks of energy, turning it into a single ten meter tall bow, upon which he gathered more energy, especially ascension energy. He followed an arrow as it left his bow, flattening into a blade and cutting through the ever closer distortion beast. Then he circled around and came at it from behind, sewing in and out of the thing at shallow angles. Ten meters at a time wasnt enough.

He was barely outside the atmosphere now. The guardian had launched most of the available debris, and was now tearing boulders off of mountain tops. Anton couldnt have imagined greater peril while simultaneously being fully unconcerned for his own life. He would survive. The cities would. But it could likely crush the bodies of those in smaller villages.

But Aipra had not survived so long to simply fall to an unexpected distortion beast. Anton felt a great pulse of energy from the planet as a whole as the creature drew closer, pushing outward into it as it wrapped itself more tightly around the planet. Surprisingly, a sizable portion of the beast tore away- and it actually disconnected from the rest. Somewhere around a third of the visible portions of the creature fell as the rest was blasted away- perhaps willingly, as the connoted portions of the creature seemed to intentionally retreat.

The falling mass of the creature was effectively a continent sized parachute as it fell. Anton wanted to do more to stop it, but he couldnt catch such a thing. Indeed, Anton wondered if attempting to cut it into smaller pieces would cause it to impact with more velocity. Gravity strained against air pressure, and the whole thing picked up speed, crashing into Aipra.

The vast distance it covered caused the crash to happen over the course of several minutes around different parts of the planet. Some buildings toppled. Some foolish individuals who were outside were crushed- though the distributed weight didnt always kill people.

It was a disaster, covering a large portion of the planet. Anton wondered if people could breathe. He immediately began to cut apart what he could, freeing people and focusing on buildings that were on the verge of collapsing. But he was not the only one.

Though there was certainly fear among the people- reasonable, given the conditions- there was no panic. They acted in coordination, making use of their own cultivation to begin to save themselves, then their neighbors. It was a thing of great beauty, even among disaster.

And even as people chopped up bits of distortion beast to free themselves, Anton heard people wondering if it could be used for anything. Do you think it could be made into a blanket? Or maybe a pavilion

Of course, along with the positive, there was the negative. Anton had no idea how many buildings were destroyed, how many people died. But even as disaster struck, Anton knew that Aipra had survived before, and would continue to survive afterwards.

The rogue planet being only slightly smaller than Ceretos meant that close to a third of the planet being covered at first seemed like an insurmountable task. Anton could only help so many individuals. And the planetary guardians seemed to be doing nothing.

Then a small mote of ice caught Antons attention. In effect, a miniscule arrow shot by Nalini. It drew his attention to her city. Knowing it must be for a reason, he approached. She stepped out of the city as he flew closer. Do you want something? Anton spoke awkwardly, unused to vocalizing their language.

You understand?

I speak enough, Anton said.

The old woman nodded. You recover quickly? Tire slowly?

Slowly yes, Anton agreed. But I will eventually run out of energy.

You fly quickly.

Anton nodded. Outside the atmosphere, at least. If he was going far, it was often more efficient for him to leave atmosphere to circle around a planet.

Can you deliver supplies?

Anton was honestly surprised he was asked. Not because he thought such a mundane task was beneath him, but because a powerful cultivator like her held the same opinion. He couldnt imagine people from the Trifold Alliance who didnt know him asking for that. Then again, Aipra might know nothing of other cultivators. What they had was a spirit of cooperation.

I can, Anton said.

You may enter the city, she gestured- and pulled out a token that he imagined would get him through the barrier. Follow me.

Around the city, Anton saw people scrambling to cut apart the distortion beast draping over the barrier, stacking it into piles. Inside the city, everyone was busy doing something, carrying tools or food or many other things.

Nalini brought Anton to a large warehouse, with neatly packaged foodstuffs. Water and dried rations. Not particularly exciting, but important. Bring these to the seventy-second county.

Where is that? Anton asked.

They are the most remote. At the center of this disaster, she pointed. You can find it?

How much of this do I take? Anton asked.

One pallet.

It was both a large amount, and very little. But that was how such things tended to be. Dealing with anything at great scale quickly reminded Anton of how much stuff there was. Okay. And what else?

When you return, I will direct you.

I can carry more.

Truly? We would not want to tire you. Or to lose anything. How much can you carry?

Anton looked in his storage bag. Maybe a tenth of it on each trip can fit in my storage bag.

A tenth of this? she gestured to the large warehouse. ... Storage bag?

Rather than try to explain with words, Anton put a pallet of stuff in his bag, then pulled it back out. See? Then he began loading more. Where else?

Have them direct you to other county centers. Larger places.

Anton nodded, filling his bag to just below bursting. Then he was off.

The next few days were filled with very little sleep. Anton had to slow his flight to match the rate he could replenish his energy- he couldnt draw much from the planet even if he wanted to, so he had to rely on his diminished connection to his stars. And yet, he felt he recovered faster than the individuals or the planet as a whole did. Aipra felt drained. And it would likely take a long time to replenish. Anton was confident they would manage as long as another disaster didnt come quickly, but even they hadnt anticipated something quite like this. Death and destruction, yes, but not in quite the manner that it happened this time.

Everywhere he went, Anton was given strange looks. A man whose energy clearly did not match, with a strange accent, who pulled things out of nowhere well, he already knew what things they were saying when they thought he was out of earshot. But regardless of their confusion about him in particular, everyone was grateful. The heads of the counties received their food and directed him towards the next, while immediately working on their own distribution and rescue plans.

During the course of a week, the leathery hide of the distortion beast- which was as far as Anton knew the only body part the thing had possessed- shriveled and dried out slightly. While that made it lighter, it also reduced its area, meaning anything wrapped around a building caused additional damage. And while there were cultivators all over the region, and coming in from neighboring sections of the planet as much as they could, it was clear they werent equipped to travel far. They traveled by foot, with nothing in the way of mounts, pulling wagons by hand to bring supplies to the outer edges.

The scene was both beautiful and horrific, as parts of the distortion beast began to smell and people continued to help each other. Anton thought it was quite fortunate that the beasts flesh didnt seem to be poisonous, despite the foul smell. At least, there werent any immediate consequences.

The citizens of Aipra worked with determination, feeding their hungry, healing their injured, and burying their dead. And each day, they cultivated, the flow of energy spreading throughout the planet- though clearly thinner in the damaged region.

Anton marveled at the hardiness of the people, and how they could keep a smile on their face- as much as they had smiled before, at least. They werent exactly dancing in the streets, but they hadnt given into despair before, and they would not now.

When interconnections between towns, villages, and larger cities were being reforged and any emergencies were finally dealt with, Anton allowed himself to rest. That involved picking an empty area and just plopping himself down for what he was fairly certain was a several day nap, after which he was hungry. He rarely had to eat, but without direct access to his stars eating would be more valuable to him. But he didnt feel like eating when the planet had barely enough food for everyone. Barely enough- but they still managed to store up for disasters, and distribute it among them.

Anton was going to have a lot of questions for Nalini, and he would hopefully be able to answer some in return. He didnt have great experience in enchantments like making storage bags, but he could translate some information he had on him to help in various ways. Aipra was able to survive, but he wanted to do whatever he could to help it thrive. Even if he brought it just one step closer.

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