Elder Cultivator

Chapter 883

A few months was both nothing and an eternity for cultivators. For interstellar cultivators, that was sufficient time to bring armies from nearly anywhere, though perhaps only without a level of caution. On the other hand, it was barely enough time to make improvements in any significant way. Even Life Transformation cultivators would expect to spend several years for each step of progress- those beyond that level could expect handfuls of years or as much as decades.

Even so, there were matters of technique that could be developed and improved more rapidly. Especially newer things. Varghese was dealing with one of those at this very moment, something he couldnt have learned before reaching Assimilation as it required being bound to something. In his particular case, a star.

Thinking as himself, the space contained within a star system was vast and nearly impossible to comprehend. Even though most times planets orbited in a small slice of the whole, the distances involved meant he could sense little more than vague presences most of the time.

Where he was now, there were no planets to pick out, but he could still feel his senses expanding. Not as himself, but instead as the star. Regardless of whether it was a form of neutron star that was supposed to exist, it did. And Varghese had formed a connection. Or perhaps re-formed it. Wasnt this the same star hed been bound to, after all? Though it could hardly be called the same after what had happened, an ultra accelerated supernova. He wondered what it would have been like, if hed been able to hold his connection during the process.

Hed never know, probably. And it was impossible for it to fill the same part of him as it once had, because that part of him was scorched and ruined. He was only hoping that he would be able to re-cultivate and scour that part clean, replacing it with something new. But time was necessary to be certain of that.

Along with the expansion of perception from the star, he also gained some control over it. He couldnt twist and distort the object as a whole. Nothing he could do could really change its form as a near perfect sphere, forced into that shape by gravity. But he could control tiny strands of it- ones that would have been kilometers across in a normal star but were thin as strings. Those would be sufficient to lash out and destroy anything he could think of, should it be in danger in the future.

But if he was next to it, he would have been able to defend it anyway. At least to some extent. No, he needed to know if he could reach other stars. And none was better to test with than his home star in Inistra. He reached through himself, taking advantage of his connection but nothing of note happened. Indeed, he still needed to amplify those aspects of his connection with his first star. At least he sensed he could do it from where he was. He didnt want to leave the star alone to die a second death- both because it would be bad for his cultivation and because it would be sad. Even though he didnt think the stars actually felt anything.

Another month passed, and Varghese was certain the process would be several times quicker if he were next to the star in person. But he was making progress. Enough to sense from Inistras star. He could pick out each planet, though with no level of detail that resolved into individuals. The exception was Anton, who was connected to Varghese through their shared cultivation style and in particular through their connections to that particular star. His strength also made him stand out. Varghese might soon be able to pick out the other Assimilation cultivators on Inistra, but there was at least a basic planetary barrier active at all times that hindered that.

As for his control over the star, he traced his perception over its surface, creating ripples on it. Tiny ripples, compared to the size of the star. He doubted he had the power to do anything else, and he didnt want to cause actual trouble. But feeling he had an effect was good enough. That was he knew his control properly worked at range. He even had his thoughts confirmed when Anton reached out to him within the star. It didnt seem like much- like placing a hand on his shoulder and acknowledging him- but that was plenty.

He would make sure he could manage something more. Perhaps a proper attack that could at least deal with anything that got too close to the star. Preferably more than a few thousand kilometers, otherwise they would be practically touching the star. Preferably some tens or hundreds of thousands of kilometers to get a reasonable distance.

As for the star next to him, its actual size was so tiny- only a few handfuls of kilometers across- that anyone targeting it would likely have to draw much closer. But he still wanted to be able to reach a similar range for a counterattack, just in case.

Rather than directing any of the matter towards something, Varghese gathered heat for a moment before shooting it out in a concentrated burst. That would ultimately make no difference to the star, as said heat was being expelled anyway. Varghese thought the attack was adequate, though hed want to keep working on it.

He found it easier to reach out from the star with a magnetic field, with which he could likely latch onto an enemy ship. Even if they didnt use much metal, there should be some, and other things he could magnetize besides. Cultivation wasnt limited to the base properties of materials, after all. Though it would be several orders of magnitude easier for him to tear apart a ship primarily made of metal compared to a similarly durable wood.

While he watched, more groups of local cultivators poked their heads into the system. None approached close enough to the newly formed neutron star that Varghese thought they would be able to distinguish him from the star- especially since the density of the stars energy itself overpowered his natural energy by an unfathomable amount. It would be like picking out a regular ant on a planet.

None of those investigating caused further trouble, but Varghese still took note of how they were sneaking around through the system. At least, that was how he interpreted their motions, rather than as caution. Most likely they felt exposed, without anything to hide behind, but that was the state of things. Very few hunks of rock larger than a fist had survived, and most of those were just melted slag instead of anything recognizable.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

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As you can see here, Catarina said to the council present before her. Systems in the upper realms are concentrated around access to resources- or former access to resources. Some systems or individual planets reach a sort of self-perpetuating balance, others fade, and new ones develop. But the process can take quite a while. She moved around, pointing at the projected three dimensional image. As you can see, we have colored relevant systems. Those under the Scarlet Alliances direct control, those on friendly terms, those that are neutral, and those controlled by enemies. The latter are more or less only the Trigold Cluster and the Exalted Quadrant.

What about that sickly green system? Hoyt asked.

Thats Everheart. Obviously. He doesnt fit in any of the other categories. Fortunately, his system is out of the way, though it will have an effect on overall traversal patterns. As you can see here, she changed the image. There are a number of routes people take to travel there searching for fame, fortune, and power. Some survive and return with such, while the majority simply add to the systems resources. I would expect a predetermined balance to keep the maximum amount of inflow.

The graphic showed lines traveling between several clusters of systems, both from within their own alliance and then along the northern border of the Scarlet Midfields. However, there were more than a few wide sweeping arcs from the southern part of the superpowers on either side of them that all flowed into the Everheart System, which ultimately meant going through more of the actually occupied territory of the Scarlet Midfields.

It is these areas where we have the most concern, Catarina said. Our neighbors are not always reasonable with their actions as they enter and exit our territory. Indeed, they likely would say we dont even have a proper claim to it, and it would be difficult for us to refute that. At the very least, we need to manage the portions where they enter friendly territory.

And how do you propose we manage that? Tauno asked. We could potentially send out Augmentation cultivators to a few locations, but other than that there are far too many locations to defend without current manpower. Especially with minimal loss of life. He shook his head. Its not that I want to discount those who are troubled, but I dont think the expense is worth it.

Indeed, Catarina said. Which is why we will need to consolidate this territory and adjust the easiest routes.

So, what, we pick a few places to camp out and cause hell? That could just push people further into our territory, Tauno shook his head.

Indeed, Zazil added. Or it could provoke a larger scale response from either side.

Catarina shook her head. Thats not what I mean at all. See, the problem is that they are convenient routes. So if we simply make them less convenient, they wont take them.

And how do we manage that without military might? Tauno asked.

Its rather straightforward, Catarina said. Though it is a rather large project. What we want to do is this, she said, changing the image to an animation, which showed the routes snapping further outward as the bright spheres representing systems moved inward. You see?

Im not quite sure what Im looking at, Zazil admitted. Why did the routes shift? Can you even predict that?

WIth a high degree of accuracy, Catarina said. And they shifted because the systems got further away, making others more convenient.

So we hope for a widespread system drift? Zazil questions.

Dont be silly. Theres no way it would happen as we want, especially not on both sides. No, we just have to cause it.

... Im sorry? Zazil frowned. I dont think I quite understood you there.

No, you certainly did, Catarina said. We simply shift the relative position of these outer systems closer to our core, making them not only more protected but also the rest. Actually, many of you will have noticed that the entire area squeezed down slightly. That is not only the only way to practically manage this, but most likely the best result for our alliance.

... So youre proposing we move thousands of star systems, Tauno said.

Thats right, Catarina said. Ive gone over the numbers with the engineers and we should be able to accomplish this within a century, if we start now.

That Zazil said. Is quite a bit to believe. But lets say this was possible and not, I assume, horrifically expensive like most of your proposals. What happens if we expand our sphere of influence?

It would be simple enough to add a few more points into the mesh, Catarina said. Inevitably dragging their systems into a relatively similar position of our choosing.

And what happens if we expand all the way to the borders of the Trigold Cluster and Exalted Quadrant? Tauno asked. This seems like it would most likely need to expand in a sphere. We could only get, what, three quarters of the area in such a sphere?

Closer to half, actually, Catarina said. But we could pull in systems as necessary.

And what about the reactions of our neighbors? Tauno asked.

If we get anywhere close to that far, our relative power will be sufficient to stand against them, Catarina said confidently. As it is, wed be occupying about one part in one thousand of the whole of the Scarlet Midfields.

Is that true? Zazil asked. We stretch over more than a hundred lightyears. Wouldnt that be closer to a tenth? Ah She shook her head. I see.

Were not currently a perfect sphere, obviously, Catarina said. But if we were, we could have a greater barrier protecting the whole alliance. And pulling away from other systems would create a dead zone where it would be difficult to approach, especially in secret.

And if you had the funds now, you could start this project and be done in a century?

Oh no, Catarina said. Most of that time would be confirming that we wouldnt tear apart planets and stars. Constructing the formation itself would only take a couple decades.

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