The Mech Touch

Almost every mech legion received their exclusive auxiliary qi cultivation methods. The legion commanders all felt how much care and attention the clan had devoted to their troops. The Larkinson Army served as the indispensable protectors of the Larkinson Clan.

Without the armed forces under its control, the clan would have never been able to survive all of the successive challenges and thrive to this day!

In a dwarf galaxy descending deeper into the throes of war, it became more important than ever to secure every possible advantage.

This was why all of the Larkinsons were highly receptive towards embracing mystical power.

Many mech pilots found this cultivation business to be weird, dangerous, and unfamiliar. It was decidedly out of their comfort zone, and they could not help but worry about what would happen if they suffered an accident.

Mistakes related to mechs mostly caused the machines to glitch and malfunction. The mech pilots usually remained safe due to the separation between metal and flesh.

Systematic cultivation did not offer this safety buffer. To cultivate was to promote their own self-evolution.

To put it in a different way, they directly tinkered with their own lives!

Nonetheless, those who fought most often against the native aliens feared systematic cultivation the least. The Larkinsons were already more accustomed to weirdness than usual, so all of these strange new methods were merely an extension of an existing pattern as far as they were concerned.

Almost all of the legion commanders were grinning at the moment. The Larkinson Clan was bound to rise even further after its clansmen began to practice the clan-exclusive cultivation methods.

The civilians and non-mech pilots could all choose from a variety of advanced qi cultivation methods. While they were not that different from the premium versions available in the Repository, they represented the future direction that the Larkinson Clan wished to take.

A future where every clansman could become extraordinary, and where the most excellent among them may have a chance to gain the power of gods one day.

As Ketis briefly indulged her own introspection before she resumed her presentation, she directed her attention towards the relatively new legion commander of the Eye of Yivaine.

Derrick Kronon was a relatively unfamiliar figure among the leaders of the Larkinson Clan. He was a former third-rater and a former citizen of the old Ylvaine Protectorate.

That meant his background was similar to that of the former legion commander.

After the now-maligned Taon Melin got exiled from the clan, the Eye of Yivaine suffered a leadership vacuum.

Derrick Kronon had little choice to step up as he was the only military officer and devout Ylvainan that could muster a measure of respect among the insular Ylvainans.

Even so, it was hard for the members of the Eye of Ylvaine to lift their heads up these days. Even if they had nothing to do with Taon Melin's missteps, they still felt their honor had been tarnished by the distorted expert pilot's missteps.

Ketis thought that the Ylvainans were taking the "betrayal" of their former leader a bit too personally.

It was difficult to shake them from their current malaise.

The Ylvainans were incredibly close and tight with each other. They literally treated each other as close brothers and sisters. Their common faith and belief in the Great Prophet's words bound them together regardless of their blood.

This made it much more difficult for the Ylvainans to get over the affair. Perhaps they needed a reason to close the chapter of the past and open up a new one. The cultivation method that Ketis was about to present might be able to do the job.

"Commander Kronon!" The swordmaster addressed the man with a slightly gentler tone. "The Eye of Yivaine is still underperforming in the past half year. While your troops are fighting adequately enough that few of us have complaints about whether they are doing their duty, their heart is not entirely in the fight."

"My apologies, swordmaster. We are... coping, but it is difficult for us to move on. I have been trying to nurture the rise of new heroes that can replace our former commander's role, but it will take time to see whether they have what it takes to serve as our new exemplars.”

Ketis nodded. “It is good to hear that you are pursuing a solution. Perhaps our gift may help. Our clan has devised the ‘Temporal Vision Auxiliary Qi Cultivation Method’ for you and your fellow Ylvainans. Compared to the other methods, it is the most difficult one to cultivate. This is mainly because it is more abstract than the others. You see, practitioners who cultivate this method must exercise and strengthen their prescience, their pattern recognition, and their weapon precision. On top of that, the method also seeks to increase the practitioner's affinity towards time.”

That caused multiple people to look surprised.

Time affinity!

Even if many of the gathered officers possessed a shallow understanding of systematic cultivation, they already understood that there were certain E energy attributes that were much harder to work with than others.

The time attribute ranked at the top in terms of difficulty!

It was hard for any cultivator to develop an affinity for time and be able to use that to manipulate this highly abstract and obtuse concept.

Even Commander Derrick Kronon had an inkling that this may not entirely go smoothly.

"Are you sure, ma'am?"

Ketis smiled. “Your Ylvainans will not be alone in this. The cultivation method is devised in cooperation with the Great Prophet. As long as your devoted members pray to him, he may reach out to them and give them a little help in comprehending the power of time. Of course, he is not their personal nanny or tutor. He is willing to lower the difficulty threshold, but he won't do all of the work for you.

If there are Ylvainans that fail to develop any affinity to time, then they may be better off practicing one of the more general qi cultivation methods offered by our clan or the RC's Repository. Perhaps it may even be better if these mech pilots transfer to other mech legions.”

Hearing that Ylvaine himself might reward his devoted worshipers with personal guidance melted all of Commander Kronon's concerns. The man bowed in gratitude.

"Thank you. I shall make sure that all of our Ylvainan mech pilots will prove themselves worthy to receive the Great Prophet's grace."

"This is an advanced cultivation method, Kronon. It is not as easy to progress as the simple ones. You need to take into account Ylvainan mech pilots who cannot get started or who can only progress at a snail's pace. Before you develop any misunderstandings, this outcome is not necessarily due to a lack of piety and devotion to Ylvaine. Every human is different. We all possess inherent or acquired talents and inclinations. Some of your mech pilots may not be cut out for developing a relationship with time."

The Ylvainan Commander looked thoughtful. "I understand. We should account for failure and a possible schism between those who managed to practice the ‘Temporal Vision Method and those who are not compatible with the scriptures. I know what I need to do to prepare our legion for the future.”

There was no need for Ketis or the others to mention anything further. It was not good form to interfere with the internal situation of another mech legion. The Eye of Yivaine needed to be able to sustain itself and solve its own problems.

Now that every mech legion had their new cultivation methods aside from the Swordmaidens, Ketis saved the "best" for last.

She turned to Commander Sendra Larkinson-Wodin of the Swordmaidens. As far as legion commanders were concerned, Sendra had worked to preserve the soul and traditions of the original sisterhood to the present day.

The mechs, the technology, the enemies, and the level of prosperity had changed drastically in the last two decades, but the Swordmaidens still remained the same in essence.

This was not just due to the efforts of Commander Sendra. Ketis, Venerable Dise, and the distressingly smaller number of original Swordmaidens had gone above and beyond to keep the original blueprint of Lydia's Swordmaidens alive.

Of course, changes and adaptations could not be avoided. None of the old-school Swordmaidens wanted to keep everything exactly the same. They used to live much shabbier lives in the past. What was wrong with embracing stronger mechs and making use of much better training facilities?

"Let me be honest with you all," the swordmaiden said as she began to grasp the hilt of her Bloodsinger. "I am split on the development of the Swordmaidens. A part of me wants to stick to promoting traditional swordsmanship among our fellow sisters, knowing that only a minority will be able to exceed their mortal limitations by sheer force of will. This approach towards cultivation has never been about trying to comprehend the laws of the universe or systematically building a fancy palace in your mind. True willpower cultivation is about being more stubborn than ordinary humans and trying your very best to bend the reality around you. I unambiguously believe that this is the purest and most proper approach that traditional swordsmen and swordswomen must pursue in order to stay true to themselves... and their swords."

Ketis grew more animated as she spoke. She channeled her excitement into her sharp aura as well as her personal greatsword. She sounded like a true warrior at this time.

"However, I have to acknowledge that what I have learned in the past few months and years is that there is no single correct approach towards swordsmanship. I have heard vague descriptions from Ves that there is a high chance that the alien swordsmen from Messier 87 fight by harmonizing with the power of the environment rather than appropriating it by force. I can roughly understand how this works. I have even used my own insights to help with developing a few qi cultivation methods that should resemble the cultivation used by the sword-wielding natives of Messier 87."

Her tone clearly lost a bit of fervor at the end.

“You sound upset,” Saint Commander Casella Ingvar softly remarked. "What is the problem, Ketis?"

The female swordmaster sighed. "I don't like it. I don't like to turn swordsmanship into an art that is more about manipulating the power of E energy than trying to cut your enemies apart with your overwhelming willpower. A qi swordsman is too dependent on the external environment to amplify his power. That is a clear vulnerability because, unlike mechs, E energy radiation is not exclusively under the warrior's control. Everyone is able to harness E energy. Willpower cultivators can even claim their sovereignty over it and deprive access to their enemies."

"So you think that setting your Swordmaidens upon the path of ‘qi swordsmanship’ is setting them up for failure?" Casella guessed.

"I suppose so, Casella. I know that many more Swordmaidens can become moderately more powerful by practicing a form of qi cultivation that is compatible with their swordsmanship, but... is this what our Swordmaidens will end up as? Sure, they may become as impressive as the Apocalypse Wardens introduced during the founding ceremony, but I cannot help but feel that a strong enough sword saint or ace pilot can forcefully erase all of their tricks and completely annihilate them if desired. I do not want to lead the Swordmaidens into the wrong path and cause them to die at a greater rate due to the inherent weaknesses of their cultivation approach."

Casella gave the woman a sympathetic look. “I can understand your concerns, but do you deserve to make this choice for your sisters? They are all mature enough to be able to make their own decisions. Just tell them the pros and cons of different cultivation methods and let them decide on their own future direction. Perhaps there will be many Swordmaidens that end up making the wrong choice, but that is life. Those that wish to wield the power to bend reality by force must be prepared to fail. Even if they end up squandering their potential, at least they tried.”

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