Elder Cultivator

“You live too far away,” Velvet commented. There were a million other things she could or should have said, but that was what her mouth ended up choosing for her.

Runa chuckled. “I fail to see how that is my fault. I’ve always lived around here. You’re the one who lives so far away.”

“Maybe we can fix that.”

“As tempting as that offer is, I can’t just move an entire sect. And I doubt you’re suddenly changing your mind after all this time.”

“I owe them everything I am. Ever since I was a young and foolish individual. But I can see why you took my words that way. You haven’t been listening to the same things as myself.”

“And what have you been listening to?” Runa raised an eyebrow. “Certainly you wouldn’t tempt me with a secret and then not share.”

“We can reduce the distance,” Velvet said simply.

Runa nodded. “I would expect that the Scarlet Alliance would expand now. But that barely covers anything. Even if you start taking over Exalted Quadrant territory, it doesn’t really change the distance to a useful degree. There would still be hundreds of lightyears of enemy territory between us.”

“Yes. Going around is already faster,” Velvet agreed. “That’s how I got here after all. How do you feel about moving to the southern border?”

“I hear there’s a terrifying archer,” Runa said.

“Only if you aren’t friends. Anyway, you would be closer.”

Runa seriously considered Velvet’s words for a while. “It would effectively cause a split in the sect. We would also be vulnerable until we were firmly established. It could be centuries.”

Velvet grinned. “You should trust in the terrifying archer. Though I suppose it would be a bit much to monopolize him for so long.”

“At that point, we might as well move the whole sect. Or all of our sects. Our place here is a bit unstable. People will stop fearing the void ants eventually. Or they’ll fear them so much that they strike out in terror.”

Velvet nodded slowly. “Sorry about that.”

“We’d probably have been annihilated without them, so…” Runa shrugged. “It couldn’t have gone any other way. We must seriously consider your proposal, but if we start relocating we’ll likely face trouble. People will think we’re running, and there will be too many vulnerable moments.”

“It would be quite difficult to get the largest Scarlet Alliance ships here,” Velvet said. “But we might get Timothy or Catarina.” Velvet herself could hide a ship, or a small fleet. Not multiple systems worth of sects. It was more problematic since they had adopted the Scarlet Alliance practices of including the general population in cultivation, whereas normally they could have left random civilian population behind. “Moving planets is a bit rough. I don’t think we have the capability to do much of that.”

“Is this your main proposal?” Runa asked. “Seeing if we will move?”

“It just seemed relevant,” Velvet shrugged. “The actual offer is for general support to your group. We could also help jumpstart a border colony. It wouldn’t have to be your sect.”

Velvet also had some data for the twins that they couldn’t risk transmitting. The Exalted Quadrant might have progressed enough with technology to capture such transmissions, and Everheart absolutely could. They simply didn’t know the full limits of what he had. They didn’t want to find themselves missing a system’s worth of formation materials- or let him use them as a distraction for some other plan.

All the viable plans pointed to the sects repositioning to some extent. The main body of the Chaotic Conglomeration might get tired of void ants on their borders before the Exalted Quadrant. Where they were, the Scarlet Alliance couldn’t help pay them back for the risks they took. The knowledge they’d given simply wasn’t enough.

“So…” Runa commented. “No Durff?”

Velvet sighed. “We don’t go everywhere together or anything like that. Anyway, at the moment it’s a toss-up between whether his heart or lungs will fail first.”

“Oh. I’m… sorry to hear that. He’s an entertaining fellow.”

“It’s fine. Mostly, it determines which one we replace first.”

“... Replace? Aren’t transplants risky for cultivators?”

Organ rejection was a problem for mundane humans, as their bodies would fight against foreign matter. It could be even worse for cultivators who might instinctively lash out against something inside of them. It was trivial for a cultivator to destroy parts of their own body, but they’d have instincts to defend their own flesh and blood.

“Cloned organs are just like a cultivator’s own.” It was difficult to get stable genetic material from Durff at the moment. “Artificial ones can be specially tuned to feel natural, even if the materials aren’t.”

“Huh. So it’s not actually that bad?”

Velvet grimaced. “Despite his attitude, there are still risks. I don’t know if I could handle being around. I’ve had friends die but… I’ve been particularly lucky with close ones. Mainly respected elders in the sect rather than my own peers.” Velvet took her time to form her words. “You need to promise me that if a hopeless battle comes… you’ll flee. With as many of your sect mates and allies as possible, of course. You’ll have an opportunity to rebuild, if you survive.”

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“It’s difficult to give up ancestral planets,” Runa admitted.

“I did it. Every Ascender does it. It just so happens that the Scarlet Alliance has solved that issue to some extent, but that wasn’t true at the time.”

“Hmm. I never thought about it like that.”

“No, I imagine most of those in the older areas of the upper realms never thought about the people in the lower realms as much more than serfs, waiting to pay taxes.”

“... That’s not exactly wrong. Perhaps we should bolster our lower realms presence?”

“It wouldn’t hurt. It will be good for you here as well, as proper Ascension cultivators tend towards higher talent. You could even personally establish the sect. Oh, and you’re invited to visit the Scarlet Alliance regardless.”

“I- being away from here for so long would be something of a risk,” Runa said.

“It won’t take as long as you imagine,” Velvet explained. “And we intend to continue to make improvements.”

-----

The largest group in the western portion of the lower realms was the Unified Sector. The former slaves of the Numerological Compact had an impressive start, overthrowing their shackles and freeing their planets, some of which developed into hiveminds. Over the following centuries, they had expanded into nearby systems. The rest of the Lower Realms Alliance was growing towards them- slowly- but after the dawn of the great exploration the Unified Sector had really begun to expand further.

Devon had not been born among them, but he was connected to them regardless. They were quite eager to implement some of the plans that the Scarlet Alliance had been raising. Being separate from much of the Alliance was difficult for them in various ways.

The plans to create spatial distortions had spread to the lower realms as well. After all, the closer everything was, the better. Whether or not they would actually implement it was another question. The basis in the upper realms were the stars, which wasn’t an issue except for the different energy they produced. There might be something more efficient. Devon had heard about all sorts of ideas. He wouldn’t have any part in implementing any of them… unless someone needed him to seal something for some reason.

“What are you pondering?” Aerona asked him.

“Unity,” Devon said. “The cultural kind, more than the cultivation kind I suppose. Though all of us have thrown off the shackles of the upper realms to some extent, so perhaps I really should think about Unity. Eventually.” There was no reason for him to rush, and unlike his grandfather he didn’t have an overwhelming need to protect everyone. Just certain groups.

“I think you should have a fair chance, soon enough. Bounty certainly made a difference, hasn’t it? I wasn’t even responsible for actually saving anyone, and I still feel it.”

“That’s not true,” Devon countered. “You saved everyone. Not on your own, but it was you and Anton who guided people to the planet to begin with, wasn’t it? I just swung it around for a while.”

Devon had to admit that such direct actions did result in outsized portions of Devotion coming his way, but he truly didn’t find his role that important. Paradise could have probably done it on his own. The turtle certainly would have put his all into it.

Aerona didn’t deny her contribution, after he brought it to mind. “I still know you have more.”

“You’d be a better Unity cultivator though,” Devon said. “I know it will take you a while to reach that level, but your path to Enrichment was almost the same thing. Just a bit less grand.”

“I hadn’t really thought about it,” Aerona admitted. “I just assumed you would reach it ahead of me.”

“I still might. I’m not going to say I’d certainly succeed, but I’m not going to just give up on cultivation suddenly. I’ll re-evaluate my chances on the threshold. I don’t think it would be enough gain for a terribly high risk.” Unless perhaps Aerona reached it first. Then the potential lifespan differences would concern him. Devon would absolutely risk centuries with those he loved for a greater number of them.

-----

“Me? A diplomatic mission?” Sly was startled. “Is this because I didn’t kill anyone important in the war? I would have gladly risked losing a limb if I knew this was the consequence.”

“It’s not a punishment,” Zazil said. “You’d be headed to the Hardened Crown. Now that the Exalted Quadrant is a bit more… subdued… we thought we’d open up real diplomacy. And even if that’s one of those most likely to result in violence, that violence is least likely to be a dealbreaker. You understand?”

“Ah. Yeah, I get it,” Sly nodded. “I go knock a few heads, tell them to settle down. We scuffle. I establish an Anchor there. It all sounds good.”

“Please don’t,” Catarina said. “The Anchor thing. You really don’t want to have it in enemy territory.” It wasn’t her job to tell him whether he was or wasn’t ready for Domination. Anyone who wanted her advice on that topic had already come to her and received what she could tell them. “We’re also not planning to establish a permanent presence inside the Exalted Quadrant, so…”

“I can’t promise anything,” Sly said. “You’ve gotta play things by ear. Unless you get your ear bitten off. Then you have to use your other ear, before finally you get to your teeth and realize you should have just been headbutting people all along. Either way, the Harder Crown will come out on top.”

Perhaps there was some deep wisdom in his words… or perhaps he was just talking for the sake of it.

They still had very few neutral or friendly parties in the surroundings. Koronis had been tolerable, but she was difficult to trust with where her focus had ended up during the war. She could have stayed embroiled with the Exalted Quadrant, but she’d come after Timothy instead.

The Scarlet Alliance mainly had Ratna of the Guardians of the Veiled Brilliance. A few minor sects in the territory around the Silver Fang were on decent terms with them as well. In the Exalted Quadrant, there was far too much bad blood. In the lower realms, the Trigold Cluster had previously been responsible for the majority of their troubles, but that had changed.

At least people would take their attempts at diplomacy seriously. They had Domination cultivators, and they had shown that they could use them. Fear wasn’t the best basis for relationships with others, but that was how most of the surrounding factions seemed to function anyway. The Alliance would rather have some formal relations that weren’t war.

That said, there were probably some groups that they’d have irreconcilable grievances with. The Fearsome Menagerie- or Yann in particular- wasn’t likely to forgive them for the leg that got cut off, even if it was technically by Rahayu. And the Swirling Swarm doubtless wouldn’t be pleased at losing two Domination cultivators, or whatever the situation had been. They didn’t seem to have been clones, but they’d seemed a bit weak. It was speculated that they might have shared a single anchor. What that would mean for the- presumably- single individual that remained was yet to be seen.