Elder Cultivator

Chapter 995

The general understanding of what could be done with formations was constantly expanding, though it seemed to have stagnated in the powerhouses in the upper realms. That wasn’t quite true, but any advancements were generally adopted by individual sects instead of becoming more widespread. Actual information about what they were doing was limited, of course, but that much was clear.

With the information that had come in from the Numerological Compact and the Nighstar sect, Catarina had enough information to assimilate to last her a century. Regardless of the actual purpose of the facilities, the way they had functioned with connections to stars and deep dives into subdimensions was fascinating. The patterns that the creator- who was still suspected but not proven to be Everheart- had worked into the formations opened up entire new fields of thought.

“But what if I…” Catarina muttered, pacing back and forth in her lab. “No, that’s too, extreme, isn’t it? I doubt people would go for that…”

Timothy watched his wife, quite pleased with how things had gone. She was happiest when she had new things to obsess over. But she could spend a long time on topics that weren’t really practical. “What is it?” Timothy asked, startling her out of thought. “What’s the idea?”

“It’s foolish, really,” she said, shaking her head. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Are you going to stop thinking about it?” Timothy asked, walking forward and placing a hand on her shoulder.

“Um… eventually,” Catarina replied.

Timothy nodded. “Then you should probably tell me about it. So I can tell you that it’s crazy.”

“It’s just… connecting to stars opens up new possibilities. I could upgrade the teleportation stations we already have. Or someone else could do it. It’s not even that hard. Bolster our defenses and all that.”

“So?” Timothy asked. “Where’s the crazy part?”

“I’m still getting to it. You know how we created a spatial distortion field to focus enemy intrusions on fortified positions?”

“I do,” Timothy said. He should know, as defensive strategy was one of his main jobs.

“So, that. But more.”

Timothy frowned. “I fail to see how adding more avenues of attack would benefit us defensively.”

“No, no. More.” Catarina wiggled her fingers right in front of his face. “We can bend space so much further.” She arranged her fingers in a circle, then contracted them. “We just have to bring everything… in.”

Timothy took a slow breath. “Alright, you’re going to have to be more specific. Because what you just described sounds like a good way to collapse the Scarlet Alliance into a black hole.”

Catarina’s eyes lit up. “Of course, a black hole!”

“No,” Timothy said. “Absolutely not.”

“No, it’s fine! We can make use of their spatial distortion properties! There are a few good ones around here!” Timothy waited. “We just need to take advantage of that and then-” she did something extremely disturbing with her fingers that he had no idea how to replicate, though it reminded him of their recent trip where spatial dimensions were turning things inside out and outside in. Though it was worst when things were halfway. “Bam! All of our defenses are on the outside!”

“We have those,” Timothy said.

“But they’re not our best ones.”

“Our best defenses are on Xankeshan,” Timothy pointed out. “We can’t replicate that enough to defend our borders.”

“Unless…” Catarina drew out the word. “Everyone who came into our territory ran into Xankeshan first.”

“That’s…” Timothy shook his head. “Putting aside the matter of whether or not we can do that, it’s tactically unsound.”

“It’s fine. We’ll be in control of it.”

He sighed. “Look, just because it’s our most secure location doesn’t mean we should let people attack our homeworld.”

“Or maybe we should,” Catarina countered. “It’s normally undesirable because it would mean they had gotten past all of our other forces. The last line of defense. But if it’s the first line of defense and we can draw in ships from the whole region to come in after them?” She clapped her hands. “We’ll crush them. And the border planets will be safe.”

It still sounded crazy. And impossible. But… “Draw up some actual plans,” Timothy said. “What would things actually function like? Would it distort all of our trade routes? We need to go over how it would make us more vulnerable.”

If they could effectively force the enemy to attack where the Alliance wanted… that would be good. But it definitely couldn’t be that easy. He could already feel the labor expenses, material expenses, and side effects galore even though he barely understood what she meant. But letting her think about it would hopefully bring her to settle on something nice and sensible. Upgrading their teleportation pads so they could reinforce other systems would be nice.

-----

Chidi’s blade flicked forward. He felt the flow, and this time he was certain. His sword was exceptional in its design precisely for its lack of enchantments. In a real battle, his opponent would have cut his sword in half before he got to this point. He had been too slow.

He could fend off Chikere’s blades of blood for few moments at best, and if he failed to read the flow he ‘died’. She didn’t hold back either, piercing through his body- stopping short of actually killing him. The injuries were easy enough to recover from because of how clean they were, but it was a good reminder.

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When he was successful… her blades splattered to the ground, nothing more than lines of red liquid, squelching onto the ground. His sword went towards her throat and- was caught between her fingers. He shouldn’t really have expected otherwise. She could match his moves without energy just fine.

It was much more difficult for Chidi to continue his training than he thought. It wasn’t really a flaw in Negation so much as exactly how it worked. There were very few opponents he could spar against safely. If he was successful, formations wouldn't protect either party- but he couldn't hold back without making it uncertain whether his attack was going to land.

Chikere was open to sparring with him whenever he wanted, and she was a perfect opponent. The only flaw was that she was just one person. If Chidi fought a weaker version of Chikere? He’d certainly win. But everyone was different, and he was lacking breadth of experience.

He lowered his blade, as Chikere removed her fingers. “Getting more consistent,” she said. “You need to get more practical experience.”

“You mean almost dying.”

“Exactly,” Chikere nodded. “Your chance of death is pretty much the same as before. Negligible if you win, pretty much guaranteed if you lose.”

“Except that now any small mistakes and I don’t win,” Chidi shook his head.

“That’s always true against any worthy opponent,” Chikere shrugged. “You just have more of them now. In a way, I envy you.”

He knew she meant that as the truth. And Chidi wasn’t going to pity himself for a path he’d chosen after careful deliberation. The issue was… “I’m afraid.”

“Good,” Chikere nodded. “You should be. Just don’t let it affect your performance. You have to grow, until there is no longer anything to be afraid of. Then you can fear only yourself.”

“It’s a bit… difficult,” Chidi said. “Finding proper opponents. We’re not at war, and I certainly don’t want to go start one. Fighting wild beasts is actually… much more difficult for me now. I practically have to cut them apart with my insight alone. The Everheart System is… a deathtrap.”

“I know a place,” Chikere said. “It settled down for a while, but people are still scouring the Bloodsoaked Nebula for remnants of ancient sects, and fighting over anything they can find. It’s not properly in Alliance territory and is still very much a lawless zone. While you’re there, you can even get something for me.”

“What is it?” he asked, curious.

“I heard that there are some promising sprouts of Dubet’s heart,” Chikere grinned. “I can give you the location, even.”

Chidi’s senses flickered over to her arm. “Are you finally going to do it?”

“I was planning to get it myself, soon,” Chikere explained. “It’s not something that can be cultivated normally, and it should be reserved for important cases. I’ve grown quite used to this arm. I only bring this up because it is an opportunity.”

Chidi nodded. “Should I bring Aconite?”

“I do believe that would be much more effective than constantly trying to ditch your best friend,” Chikere chuckled. “There’s no way you could go alone, so it might as well be on purpose. Having backup is always nice, too. And getting used to allied interference seems critical for your purposes. Starting with a consistent presence seems valuable.”

“Right,” Chidi agreed pleasantly. “I suppose this is my best option. I don’t think waiting will help.”

“Just follow your instincts,” Chikere said. “That’s my best advice.”

“I agree with your assessment,” he said. “And having an outside target should be useful.”

“Don’t prioritize it over yourself,” Chikere warned. “Your parents would try to kill me.”

Chidi waved her off. “I may be a couple centuries younger, but I know what I’m doing. Your guidance has been quite helpful, thank you.”

After he walked away, Chikere looked down at her arm. She didn’t like to lie to her apprentice, but sometimes it was necessary. Even if she hadn’t said anything untrue, it was deceptive. Her eyes followed him. No, he’d sense that wouldn’t he? Her senses caught the lingering feel of his blade, unique in its construction. She followed after him, not a single sword near her body.

There would be no point in him perishing while he tried to collect another round of Dubet’s Heart. Even if Aconite successfully returned with it, it would be an empty accomplishment. Of course, he couldn’t know anyone was watching out for him.

-----

Aconite sniffed as she looked down at the gas giant. “My senses are going to be greatly hampered by the gasses of this planet.”

Chidi turned his head towards her, opening his ‘eyes’. “Oh no, how awful.”

“It’s going to restrict you as well,” she growled. “The flow of energy will be disharmonious, even if you can overcome it.”

“I understand,” Chidi said. “I know the risks of using my abilities deeper in this place. I’ll make sure to test myself on those nice gentlemen coming to meet us.”

“Need any help?”

“If I get crushed by the atmosphere, yank me out.”

They were only early Integration cultivators. That meant Chidi could beat them even with the energy he had. The quantity of energy he wielded currently correspond to Life Transformation, but that wasn’t an issue.

The trio were set up to cover all ranges between them. A crossbow user with some fantastic enchantments wielded the weapon more like a gun- weapons with bulkier ammunition were more popular among cultivators, even when it was an option- but his accuracy was pointless when Chidi could cut his attacks out of the air. They were simply too slow, and their power relied on the bolts remaining intact.

Chidi dropped into the atmosphere of the planet, where the trio would have a harder time spotting him. The other two moved to intercept him, a setup where one would use their polearm to attack while taking shelter behind the frontline defender. Their teamwork was adequate, and Chidi might have praised them except for the part where they had come to attack without even having some sort of claim nearby they were defending. They probably just wanted his stuff.

A pick was crashing towards Chidi’s head as a halberd thrust towards him. From another angle, the crossbow fired towards his side. From the perspective of the other combatants, everything slowed down except for a sword. In actuality, if they were in tune with their weapons their attacks would have gone much faster.

The incoming bolt was immediately carried away by the planet itself, and the crossbowman would have been too had the event lasted any longer. Instead, there was a single sweep of Chidi’s sword, cutting through two people. Their armors were made of decent material, but without enchantments it was their insight versus his specially made blade.

When energy returned, Chidi turned towards the crossbowman, but Aconite had taken care of him. That was fine, he’d already proven he could do what he needed to. There was just a slight issue. He thought he’d negated the pressure, at least momentarily, but clearly that wasn’t quite the case. Blood trickled out of his ears. At least it was just his eardrums. Still, he’d have to be extremely cautious going any deeper. Perhaps his body would collapse in an instant. That would be the same for his enemies, though. Negating just his enemies was an interesting idea, but didn’t really mesh with his insights. If he didn’t go far enough, they’d likely still have use of their energy.

Learning to practically use his new abilities had already taken a long time, and he still had much more to learn. Like how to not die to the environment, apparently. That was something he’d only given slight consideration to.

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