Elder Cultivator

Deep within Creeping Fire Sect territory crept several squads of scouts from the Scarlet Alliance. They had tracked Koronis to a particular location, but were careful in their approach as the area was being carefully watched. However, no matter how many people were assigned to such a task it would never be enough.

It was possible for cultivators to watch over a given system. It was also possible for a grand array to stretch between systems- but such an array would be extremely sparse. The Scarlet Alliance had created the largest such array that they were aware of, but they were also aware of the limitations of such things. The array was not a barrier that could prevent intruders from entering- only detected them, or when activated to its full extent redirect them.

The Creeping Fire Sect were not known for their expertise in formations, but it still required caution as the scouts approached. Any one of them being spotted would draw attention to their presence, causing a cascading effect that might get them all caught. While the scouts were aware they were risking their lives, and would even be willing to guarantee such a fate to succeed, failure was unacceptable.

Thus, they slowly crept between systems, their ships producing only the most minor ripples of energy. Around them were thousands of ships that carried quite possibly every Integration cultivator the Creeping Fire Sect had. Most likely however many Augmentation cultivators as well, though the difference was likely thousands to a few handsful.

Together, their senses stretched between systems- but feeling the mere passage of an object was beyond what such stretched senses could do. Even the best among the Scarlet Alliance would have to focus on a particular area, but the stretch of lightyears between each ship meant that they would only be able to detect fluctuations of upper energy.

The scouts were builts specifically to minimize their impact on such a thing, as they drew ever closer to their target, something everyone was able to sense without even trying. Koronis, placed smack dab in the middle of a large, empty area.

Though it was not entirely empty. A few small systems were there, though unpopulated to the knowledge of the Alliance. And most relevantly… the entire area was a nebula that stretched for several lightyears in any direction, odd branches stretching several times as far. While any particular stretch of space could be called empty, as a whole it was very much not.

Great waves of energy were flowing from Koronis, rivaling the power of a Domination cultivator. But just as Chidi had first conjectured and others had worked to verify, she had not quite made the final step. That was what they were present to observe.

Rather than pressing further themselves, the various scattered squads of scouts released unmanned probes, constructions as purely constructed from technology and avoiding the use of upper energy as was possible, except as necessary for certain key functions. One of those functions was sensing the flow of devotion.

Those probes would be constantly sending their data back to the ships, each of which would be recording as much as possible. As longer range transmissions back to the Alliance would be easier to detect, they were not planning to transmit anything unless they were actually discovered. The highest priority was going unnoticed, however, as they were supposed to be at peace with the Creeping Fire Sect- and did not want to cause trouble with a Domination cultivator.

But they couldn’t simply let such an opportunity slip past. So they took the risk.

The energy emitted by Koronis in any particular direction was mostly inconsequential- but that was only considering the effects of stretching over many cubic lightyears of volume. Being within just a few thousand kilometers of Korinis would have been a different story, as energy sufficient to shatter worlds twirled around her.

Like a great serpent or coiling dragon, her energy danced around her, diving into the nebula and reshaping it. Energy flowed rapidly, though on such a large scale it took days. Space warped, drawing in diffuse matter faster than it could possibly travel under normal constraints. It compressed and twisted around itself, creating a pattern that wove through and about itself, knots that seemingly started and ended nowhere as the entire nebula was transformed bit by bit.

The twisted shapes did not seem to lock in place, but instead writhed and swayed. The colors of the nebula intensified as the shapes began to look like both a mass of serpentine forms and bright flames flickering.

The cultivators watching simply looked on in awe- Creeping Fire Sect, Scarlet Alliance, and any others who had come to spy on the process. Every sensor the scouts had was strained to its limits as Koronis’ anchor reached its final form. It was quite clear that this would not be an anchor that was hidden through some form of obscurity.

Those directing the probes had wisely kept them out of the outer bounds of the nebula, though in some ways that had been a restriction on how quickly they could move in a given time frame. Unlike the scout ships, they were limited to sublight engines.

-----

The various squads of scouts kept apart on the return trip, so that if they were captured they would not all go together. Their most likely scenario to be caught would have been at the sight of Koronis’ advancement, but they were still cautious on their return trip. They arrived in waves, scattered from two months past the event to some who took an extremely cautious and circuitous route, arriving half a year later.

Analyzing the data from the various probes would be an exercise that would continue on for decades, at least. Some of what happened stretched beyond the capacity of the sensors, but they were confident they would be able to build up a picture from that and the testimony of the various scouts.

-----

There was another threat of a Domination cultivation that the Scarlet Alliance had to consider, or rather there was a threat that had been looming on their borders more or less since their founding. That would be Everheart, and while they had mutual enemies and were aware he had some fondness for his world in the lower realms… that did not make him less of a threat, if he wanted something they had.

Since his re-emergence after the end of the cycle they had managed to avoid any interactions, but while they would have loved to simply ignore him, that was a greater risk.

The individual sent to get in contact was, of course, Vari. She undertook the task begrudgingly, knowing it would be much worse for others. She wasn’t really afraid of Everheart, and her interactions with him directly had been relatively positive. She didn’t believe he would try to kill her… but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t die regardless.

She cautiously approached the Everheart System- the original, of course. Now there were many more, usually referred to by previous names or simply numbered. This would be #1, then.

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The system no longer appeared inactive, like it once had after Everheart’s most recent ‘death’. Now, it was once more brimming with obvious formations, and no doubt many more hiding and waiting to trap people.

“Hey, anyone there?” Vari called out, spreading her energy as far as she could. From what she understood, the system maintained a similar ratio of death compared to previous times, unlike many of the others that had popped up within the territory of the great powers which had been completely annihilating all entrants. Vari waited around several hours, watching a few ships go in and out. The own ship that had carried her to the border was left behind, as any pilots were not likely to be afforded the same protection as herself.

Eventually, Vari progressed forward, wary of any threats. She passed by several planets, but managed to avoid getting drawn into any sort of formation that impeded her progress. Her goal was to reach the star, as it seemed those had become a vital part of Everheart’s new formations. Then again, stars did have a lot of power that wasn’t being used.

The first thing Vari felt was something coming for her neck. She wasn’t quite able to dodge, but she formed a compressed barrier of energy that at least let her keep her head. She readied herself and frowned. “I don’t have any swords, you know.”

“I am aware,” Rahayu said, slicing his way out of some sort of hidden space. “You should invite her disciple along with you next time. Chidi.”

“Perhaps I’ll ask him about it,” Vari replied, not necessarily intending to do so. Chances were that Chidi would actually go, and then who knows what would happen? “I’m here to speak to Everheart. Or at least leave a message if he’s not here.”

“I am,” Everheart said, appearing next to her.

Vari jumped back, startled by the sudden energy she felt. “I was more comfortable when you were at least nominally in the same realm as me.”

“Well that’s not my fault,” Everheart shrugged. “Maybe you should have just made yourself a Domination cultivator.”

“You’re like, six centuries older than me!” Vari retorted. “Also, my path of advancement was sort of… fixed. Now there’s not much of anywhere I can go.”

Everheart narrowed his eyes. “Are you sure about that?”

“Do you see any more members of the Citadel of Exalted Light?” Vari asked. She did get devotion from members of the Scarlet Alliance, but it wasn’t the same as what she’d done to advance, stealing back unwarranted devotion for promised unfulfilled.

Everheart looked around. “I suppose not. I assume you aren’t here for a cordial visit, though.”

“Maybe I would be, if you had couches.”

Everheart shrugged, pulling one out of a storage bag and setting it floating between them. “There.”

Vari grumpily took a place on it. “You know that’s not what I meant. You need an embassy or something. You could even create a communications device that we would leave out in the middle of empty space so it couldn’t do anything crazy. But having to come out here to talk to you is a pain.”

Everheart tossed a second couch for himself at what Vari presumed was supposed to be the most annoying angle, floating somewhere ‘above’ her. She refused to reorient her own furniture in response. “You wouldn’t want anyone to know we were in contact. Even I hesitate to admit I’m in contact with myself.”

“Maybe,” Vari admitted. She considered trying to conceal her intentions, but she knew she wasn’t good at that. “We want to trade information.”

“What sort of information?” Everheart asked. “Because I’m sure I’ve got it.”

“Domination and anchors,” Vari said.

“For what?” Everheart asked.

“The same,” Vari replied.

“Nah, don’t need it,” Everheart waved his arm. “In case you haven’t noticed…”

“There’s no way you don’t want more information on Domination,” Vari declared. “Next thing you’ll say is that you threw out all but one book in your library, since you already had one.”

“Fine, I’d be interested, but I already have all of the information. I know every Domination cultivator.”

“Even the new one?” Vari asked. “Were you there when Koronis advanced, taking very detailed observations?”

“Could have been,” Everheart said.

“In that case, maybe you’d like supporting evidence for your theories,” Vari continued on without a pause. “We everything you have on Domination cultivators.”

“No way,” Everheart said. “Out of the question.”

“Not counting yourself, of course,” Vari continued.

“It’s still very unbalanced. I’ll trade you one for one. And for you, the information will be complete.”

“We’ll need two,” Vari said, folding her arms in front of her sternly. “Because we know you hadn’t even ascended when the last advancement happened. So you didn’t get to witness one.”

“Perhaps someone secretly advanced that you don’t know about,” Everheart retorted. “Did you ever consider that?”

“If you witnessed such a situation, we’ll trade for that.” She looked him directly in the eye, despite how it made her neck twist. “Let us know where to make the exchange.”

“I’m not sure I’d be willing to exchange such information,” Everheart said.

“I don’t think you have it. So we want what you have on two others. It’s a fair deal.”

“Hmm. Only if you throw in a leg.”

Vari blinked. “What?”

“You guys have fancy limbs. I have someone in need of a new left leg,” Everheart said.

Vari was trying to figure out where the trick was. Certainly, the best ones were custom made and rather expensive… but he could probably still manage to steal one if he was after the technology. Ah, right. She’d forgotten. “We’ll need measurements. And preferably to get whoever this is in surgery.”

“We know how to connect up nerves here. Trust us to handle that part.”

“Fine. One mechanical left leg and all of our info on Koronis for everything you have on two other Domination cultivators.”

“Sounds good to me. But maybe you should have brought someone who could write a contract.”

“If you cheat us I’ll figure out who’s missing a leg and make sure they’re symmetrical,” Vari shrugged. Actually, she still expected there to be some sort of negative. But the actual goal was to give Everheart the information. Not because they wanted to share it, but so that he didn’t decide to come steal it from them and then take something else along the way. Whatever they could get in return was just a bonus.

They probably could have done better with a real negotiator, but then again… Everheart might have just killed them. He wasn’t necessarily the sort to randomly attack people, but there were only certain people he respected enough to interact with them peacefully long term. And at least Vari believed her life wouldn’t be directly threatened, much. Except for stuff like the Rahayu thing.

Vari was actually surprised he was still here, instead of deep inside the territory of the great sects killing their disciples. But maybe he was just on vacation.

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