Elder Cultivator

It was quite impossible for Anton to ignore that Airus felt like Xaphioth- and it was a simple atmospheric similarity. Their natural energy felt like it was part of one whole, even though there was no pathway from planet to planet. At least… not on the outside.

However, just as he felt something deep within Xaphioth, he felt the exact same thing deep within Airus. A connection of some sort. Anton didn’t really need to know much more than that to begin piecing things together.

It was more than a tangential connection. Various planets within a system could share a particular sort of connection, but this was different. It was deeper. Was it… a shared worldheart? How would that even work? Was it even intentional?

But it also answered other questions. Like how the planets could have even had conflict without space travel. However, Anton supposed that they must have once moved freely between them to be able to establish such a connection. Now, whether it was some sort of teleportation array or a continuous portal or some other method entirely, they remained connected. And even Anton could tell that attempting to undo that connection would be disastrous.

So at some point the two planets had drifted apart. Then they had come into conflict. Now, they had returned to being uneasy neighbors. The actual details would be quite different, but Anton knew stories of the sort. At least they were in a better state than Tenoun’a and Shrenn, both in terms of their current conflicts and their actual prosperity.

Nowadays, those two planets were merely the core of a healthy system. Their ancient conflicts had been settled, and there was no reason for anyone to try to steal what little the others had. Compared to active war, this place should be easy to handle.

-----

Limbani frowned, looking at what Anton had helped grow. “I see that it develops quickly, but plucking off each mushroom without using energy when it’s clumped together in such tight confines… it’s a rather labor intensive process.”

That was one of the perils of using mushrooms bred for use by meerkats. Humans were massively bigger. Even so, Anton shrugged as he held up some long tweezers, grabbing one growing from the back of a pillar. “It’s good practice. And they taste much better if they aren’t exposed to external energy at the last moments of their attachment. But there are plenty of other options.”

“Fair enough,” Anton said. Personally, he thought having a group of people good at harvesting these was worthwhile. But it wasn’t like these planets were starving. They were simply missing some variety they might like to have. Which was another good reason to use these mushrooms. But some people weren’t willing to put in so much effort for just food. “Perhaps Xaphoth will appreciate it more.”

Limbani’s reaction was obvious, even if he tried to hide it. He looked concerned.

“Oh, don’t be like that. I’m here to share knowledge with everyone. And I’m not making anyone more dangerous.” It was too bad he couldn’t get everyone cultivating, since that was best for the world. But if the planets got an imbalance in strength, he could foresee conflict. So he was willing to take his time and do things right.

It seemed that for the moment, however, they wouldn’t be part of any plans bridging the upper and lower realms. Regardless of whether they might be willing to help cause trouble for the Exalted Quadrant, Anton didn’t know the planets well enough yet. But knowing that he had the opportunity to nudge them onto a better path, he wasn’t going to ignore them just because they didn’t fit into his other plans.

-----

Though Velvet felt like she should be out on secret missions in Silver Fang territory, she was not. Yes, there were good reasons for her to stay out of further action there… but that didn’t mean she had to be happy about it.

But the sudden cessation of the war with the Silver Fang had brought forward other plans. Only one of which the Scarlet Alliance really needed her for that they could implement in the near future.

So here she was, planning to pass through the lower realms once more. Her ultimate destination was to be among the Spirit Slicing Sect, and then return to the lower realms. She would be stopping to speak with Crossed Antennae- though the plan wasn’t to bring her along. Not just yet.

Instead, Velvet was going to be bringing Runa to visit the lower realms. And to see the void ants living in harmony with humans. That was the sort of thing that people could hear about and not believe. Velvet had only experienced it for a relatively short time before ascending to the upper realms, but she constantly knew about it afterwards.

But before she was going to go off and do any of that, she was going to figure out what bothered her about this ambassador.

-----

It would have been so easy if Velvet could simply say that Vlasta was a problem because she was a darkness cultivator. Or because there was some specific issue with the Distant Shadow Sect. But as a spy and sometimes assassin herself, she didn’t believe that sneaking around was always a bad thing.

It was just important who was doing it and why. And Vlasta was either too good at sneaking around or she wasn’t actually doing it at all. The Scarlet Alliance had a constant monitor of her location and that of all of her aides from both the Distant Shadow Sect and the Creeping Fire Sect. Nobody had been seen sneaking off… not to anywhere they weren’t allowed, anyway.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

There was some political maneuvering, but they really seemed focused on establishing a proper embassy with the Scarlet Alliance. There were some security concerns there, and they were quite interested in computers and other technology- but some of that stuff was already being adapted by the great powers, if slowly. The Scarlet Alliance couldn’t keep a total lockdown on information while still functioning as they wished… though there were more critical pieces of information they held tightly.

Nobody cared if people were able to add up thousands of rows of data all at once. Basic computer stuff was not necessarily better than a practiced cultivator. How they ran their adaptive shields, or their formations? That was the secret stuff.

Vlasta didn’t even spend that much time trying to figure out either of those things. Velvet interacted with her occasionally, as her existence wasn’t exactly unknown. But Velvet also crept around and personally monitored her, trying to figure out if the Ambassador was doing something to fool their systems and people.

Once or twice Velvet thought that the woman’s eyes landed on her, even hidden at a distance. It could have been coincidence. Or it could be that Velvet wasn’t as good as she thought. That bugged her. But the most annoying thing? She couldn’t find any worrying patterns in Vlasta.

Was the woman interested in their Augmentation cultivators? Obviously. It would be crazy if she didn’t ask about them. But everyone who interacted with them was trained to not reveal secret information… and honestly, their very best had been observed by enemies from both great powers. Velvet herself had been around and killing in the Silver Fang before Koronis showed up.

-----

One day, Velvet happened to be observing Vlasta when a walking security breach showed up. Alright, that was a bit harsh. Durff was perfectly happy to not learn anything too important so he wouldn’t become that security breach. Actually, this might be a perfect opportunity. It would be immediately clear to Vlasta that Durff would answer questions easily. What she asked him should reveal her secrets.

“Oh, hello,” Vlasta said pleasantly. “You’re Durff, right?”

“Yep.”

“I heard you used to be a member of the Trigold Cluster.”

“I suppose so,” Durff admitted. “My aunt was part of the Disciples of the Veiled Brilliance, but I wasn’t any good at their techniques so I ended up on a very different path. But all of that was within the Trigold Cluster. So I was probably one of them.”

Vlasta nodded. Her dark, mysterious persona was somewhat laughable paired with Durff. “Do you… like it here?”

“Oh yeah, it’s great. I’ve learned so much from the various people here. Especially Sly.”

“Sly? Who is that?”

“The leader of the Harder Crown Sect. He was part of the Hardened Crown but they were jerks so now he’s not.” Durff shrugged. “Don’t worry, he’s not going to attack you just because he was from the Exalted Quadrant. Though he’d probably like to spar.”

Vlasta chuckled. “I’m not sure I’d really gain much given the style of combat I hear the Hardened Crown has. So is learning about cultivation your favorite thing here?”

“It’s the best,” Durff said. “And my friends. Some of them came from the Trigold Cluster too. Hey, do you want to join the Scarlet Alliance? You seem pretty strong. Oh wait, you’re working as an Ambassador so then we wouldn’t have one.” Durff closed his eyes to ponder through that difficulty. “You did say they were going to send another one though, right? So when you’re done you could ask. It’s way better here.”

“... Usually attempts to poach people are somewhat more subtle,” Vlasta pointed out.

“Why? I think telling people to join the best place is straightforward.”

“You think highly of this Scarlet Alliance. But you have no Domination cultivators.”

“So?” Durff asked. “We almost killed one. We have like, half a hand somewhere. And we’ll have some soon, I’m sure.”

“Oh? Really? Who?”

“No idea,” Durff admitted. “But we’ve got tons of amazing people. Sly is great. Tauno is pretty strong. Chidi is- well, he doesn’t count. Umm, Alva might do it. And I bet Velvet can too.”

As her name was called out, Velvet felt Vlasta’s eyes land on her for just a moment. No, Vlasta was just scanning the area wondering if she was hiding… right? “It’s difficult for a spymaster to reach Domination.”

“It’s hard for everyone, isn’t it?” Durff pointed out. “She’d just need a sneaky anchor. Which is probably better than that Zaur guy because he just chose a big building. I guess it was pretty durable but I could smash it to bits now if he stopped paying attention for a second.”

“Oh yeah? Tell me about that,” Vlasta said.

“The smashing part?” Durff asked.

“Exactly. I doubt we share any similar insights but… I’m still interested.”

“Well, it’s like…” Durff thought for a few moments. “It’s about weight. The weight of your weapon, and of your ambition. I’ve also been working on my muscles and they help a little bit.”

“Is that so? Very interesting,” Vlasta nodded slowly. “Personally, I don’t think I could manage any sort of body tempering.”

Durff tilted his head. “Maybe you could have your shadow grow strong. It’s kind of like your body. I assume you attack people with your shadow. I don’t know what else the Distant Shadow Sect would do.”

“That-” Vlasta chuckled. “An interesting thought, but one that would require more specific guidance. I’m sure some of that comes naturally to you, but most of us do well with detailed descriptions.”

Durff nodded. “That’s why I was so bad at Veiled Brilliance stuff. Like, what does the tangible intangibility of light even mean?” Durff tapped his chin. “I assume that isn’t secret because I didn’t get very far, but still don’t tell my aunt, okay?”

“I promise not one word on the subject will pass from me to your aunt… whoever she is,” Vlasta held her hand over her heart seriously. “For one thing, the Distant Shadow Sect is not on great terms with them.”

“Then I’d probably avoid their territory. They do have a Domination cultivator,” Durff pointed out.

“Yes, that’s not exactly a secret,” Vlasta agreed.

There were actually a few things that Velvet knew Durff could have revealed that would have been troublesome. Sly’s connection to the lower realms. Ratna being his aunt. A few other things like that. He wasn’t good at hiding things, but he also didn’t get that close to revealing them.

As for Vlasta… she asked far too many questions about Durff himself. Velvet didn’t like that at all.

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