Elder Cultivator

In the fullness of time, Xaliima's mission was accomplished. And yet, it didn't seem sufficient. All of the effort they had put in, just to spot a system from a distance and determine that it was populated. It wasn't enough.

Xaliima of course consulted the rest of the crew. They could simply send a message with their coordinates and be done. No, they would do that no matter what. However, they might find more.

"Most likely, this system is under the control of the Holy Stars. But they might just be allied," Xaliima commented.

The communications officer agreed with Xaliima's assessment. "The readings we're picking up indicate cultivation overlap. Though this doesn't appear to be a stronghold of the Purified Wardens specifically. I think we must investigate further."

Everyone agreed. Not just the majority, but everyone. Xaliima didn't tell them that was her required threshold, or they would have felt pressured to do so. Obviously they were aware of the potential risks, but having accomplished their primary objective they could just leave. Perhaps they should, but that judgment was up to them.

Xaliima wouldn't feel like much of an Enrichment cultivator if she just gave up. She'd taken the risk so they could survive and get this far, and yet from now on the risk would be different. It could be more… but it also could be less. After all, they wouldn't have to approach Daria. Following her might be of some value, but learning more about the locals was going to be the priority.

They briefly retreated out of the system after deciding their course of action. They could still feel Daria- she didn't bother to hide her energy. Why would she? She was safe. They sent a transmission back to the Alliance. Then they repositioned and repeated the message, just to be certain. They hadn't noticed any signal interference, but they couldn't wait for a response. It would simply take too long. Thus, being thorough was important.

The scout ship approached the local star- a red supergiant. That was good. It was extremely bright and large, but not too hot. They could get quite close to absorb natural energy, covered by its wide flow. Nobody should notice a thing. Even if Daria placed her senses right on them, Xaliima was confident in countering her. Confident enough, at least.

Their next target was one of the outer planets, furthest from Daria. She would still be capable of sensing at that distance, of course. Even if the pull of a system somewhat limited how far her abilities might go, it was a relatively trivial distance comparatively.

Scans were taken of the planet, mainly passive. Specialized crew took a few active scans of particular oddities, but nothing that should be noticed. It would be less intense energy than the aura of an Essence Collection cultivator- not an attack but just their presence.

It was a gas giant with surprisingly few moons. However, there were a number of habitats- both around the planet and within it. It wasn't surprising that a group that could travel hundreds of lightyears would be advanced enough to inhabit the internals of a gas giant, but it hadn't been a guarantee.

Relevantly, however, the geography officer- a woman who also was responsible for climate data and other details- found some oddities. Or perhaps, some very familiar yet somehow unexpected traces. "They've developed the planet. Not just their cities, but the flow of energy throughout. There are even some large scale lifeforms scattered throughout. It's difficult to say whether it is plant or animal life, or whether it would even fit strict definitions. But it is… quite like us."

Xaliima nodded. "I suppose it should be expected. Building up planets is the best way to grow strong."

These people had Unity equivalent cultivators- assuming they weren't lying about the rest. If they were, their threat level would be much more comfortable but that was unlikely. For that, they needed a good base of natural energy. And… devotion. Though scans were hit or miss as far as that sort of thing went. Technology had a much more difficult time with intangibles of that sort. It wasn't properly energy, but it was still very real. The biggest factor was that nobody had needed technology for that particular purpose, so it was left with minimal development.

It was just that the recent battles had indicated it being an important factor. That was why they put in special effort to get back… just an approximation. A large flow, but not just a single one leading to Daria. Instead, there were even a couple 'angels' on the very gas giant they were inspecting, and many lesser cultivators that seemed to be connected on the receiving end as well.

-----

When Daria began to move after about sixteen hours in the system, the scouting ship had a choice. However, they had already made their plans, which were to do… absolutely nothing. To let her leave. They had already managed to collect enough data about the planets to be certain that this system was part of the Holy Stars. They had spotted traffic heading to neighboring systems. All of that information was added to their database.

Daria left… which made their task far easier. It wasn't that they couldn't be spotted by one of the Enrichment equivalent cultivators- Xaliima was only a match for them, after all. And new to her station. However, she and her crew were specialists with a ship designed for a particular purpose. Unless there were specialized watchers, there wasn't much risk.

Either way they were cautious- which was why they had stayed away from the inner planets while Daria was still around. They were also more heavily visited, with constant traffic in and out. There were always a number of ships coming or going, even here on the border of the Holy Stars territory.

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Focusing their audio scanners on certain occupied parts of the planet, they were able to pick up more information. Mostly trivial conversations, but there were frequent mentions of certain names. They picked out the name for the planet as well as the system based on the context from other planets. The system was known as New Celestia, a particularly pompous sounding name. The planets themselves were a bit more modest, but they had many 'holy cities' and quite a few 'saints' and of course the angels.

There was no indication that they had a second 'divinity' within the system. That had been a concern, though obviously Daria herself was quite obvious. Other might not be, if they had even decent training. If they were inactive, it would have been quite reasonable to completely hide their presence.

The task would have been easier if they could directly infiltrate the planets, prompting specific answers. However, nobody was that crazy. Even if they shared the same root language, their accents and habits would be completely different. More than that, their flow of energy simply didn't fit in with everyone else. They would need time to adapt to even consider it, but they were a scouting vessel and not an infiltration crew.

Broad scale observations was their goal, and they were up for the task. Their efforts were focused on circumventing the patrolling vessels throughout the system. There weren't many, but they took unpredictable routes. There hadn't been any signs of actual foes for them to be wary about, but of course Daria's return would have sparked concerns. She had clearly suspected she was followed, so warning the locals wasn't odd.

-----

The thing that bothered Xaliima most about what she saw was that everything was fine. No, it was better than fine. The territory was generally prosperous, poverty was barely visible, and almost everyone seemed to be a cultivator. Perhaps border systems were an exception in that regard, perhaps not. Either way, if not for other information she knew and things like the name New Celestia could have easily been a system within the borders of the Alliance.

Were there some cultivators living in luxury? Certainly. However, they weren't so far above the others that it was criminal. The society at least managed to appear relatively egalitarian in nature, which was a significant step up from many others. Xaliima hadn't personally seen them, but either of the great powers in the upper realms would have far less positive signs in any random system.

Perhaps it was just one. The border might be special. So they moved on, deeper into their territory. The next system was named Divine Apex. The name still sounded quite arrogant, but it wasn't that unreasonable. It was a good system, barely inferior to In'istra's system. Xaliima might have held some bias there, but she tried to see past it. EIther way, the total quality and quantity of energy, high population, and well built out planets with good balances of nature, farming and other necessities, and urban areas all spoke towards careful management.

The problem was that they were enemies. Billions of happy citizens didn't fit the picture of the arrogant raiders that had attacked Klar. There were a number of options, starting with the least likely. They had come with peaceful intent, not knowing that Klar was occupied. Or Maheg.

That was pretty easy to rule out given their responses when they actually were confronted about what they had done, but it wasn't that unreasonable to assume at least Klar wasn't populated. There weren't any humans there, at least. Killing and harvesting some of the local beasts would be seen as fairly reasonable.

But they had not reacted well when Anton spoke to them. Then they returned for war. It was common to respond to a threat with more violence in the moment, but they had gone far out of their way. It wasn't as if they had merely punched back- or rather, they made the first attacks to begin with.

Xaliima just thought that people that were good to their own people might be good to others. That wasn't always the case, but usually those sorts had a much smaller set that was 'their' people. Then a lot of outsiders who weren't important.

There must be something hiding below the surface. That was what she wanted to believe, though it was quite possible that they were simply awful to those they deemed enemies and 'good' to their own people. But it wasn't actually good to just care for your own, merely self serving. It wasn't bad either, of course. Just reasonable. Not expected, though, because usually humans liked to get as many unfair advantages over their peers as they could. Maybe they could dig up some dirt. Something to shake the Holy Stars. But it was better to continue to report what they found, scanning new systems and approximating a layout of the territory rather than chasing after some sort of dream.

-----

The Lower Realms Alliance received the message from the scout that chased after Daria with much relief. Not only for the people, but also for the information that began coming through. The information wasn't revolutionary- they were within the expected approximate area based on other factors. Beyond what had been properly scouted by the Lower Realms Alliance, hundreds of lightyears even beyond the furthest south systems like Klar.

As more information came in over the next few months, they focused on fortifying their border more broadly. They already knew it wouldn't be just Klar. Maheg hadn't yet received another attack, but it might. Sensors were set to catch anyone approaching, where they would then send to larger instant-comms stations built into nearby planets. That should give time for mobile fleets to respond.

The Lower Realms Alliance hadn't had to fight all that much lately. The last change in the Tides had been a couple centuries prior. There hadn't been any anticipation of a relevant intrusion during the next change in the tides, as the Scarlet Alliance grew in strength and the great powers weakened. That was even more true after the Swirling Swarm burst apart.

Yet even so, they were ready. It would take time, but they could mobilize forces to cover a wide area. More Enrichment or near Enrichment cultivators would be a necessity, of course. If they could focus on just a single defensive point, it would be simpler, but they needed viable groups that could cover a wide variety of positions. Anton, at least, could cover a wide handful of systems- a significant slice of space when projected into a plane that he could catch anyone going through.

They prepared their defenses, but they didn't plan any sort of attack. Just more scouts. An offensive war would have been difficult even if they had reason to annihilate the Holy Stars. As it was… they had suffered some losses, but nothing worth trying to wipe them out. Especially if they weren't strictly villainous. Their people didn't seem to need saving from oppression.

Though if they were a threat to other civilizations around them, the Lower Realms Alliance might have to act at some point. They weren't aware of any terribly near the Holy Stars, but they would be taking a closer look.