Elder Cultivator

The design for this particular formation was Chikere, of course. Few people from their inner circle would associate swords with anything else, despite the fact that both she and Timothy technically used them. Catarina didn’t have same deep focus on that area, but she did know formations. The swords were simply set to follow the optimal flow of energy in the area to assault her enemies. Or at least as optimal as she could manage on short notice. The stones she’d scattered about served as miniature formation plates to add complexity that she didn’t have time for. The rest was made up for by the area’s abundant upper energy.

The six weaker cultivators found themselves fighting against the better swords with their backup weapons. Or perhaps their actual weapons and the good ones were only used as bait. Of course, those secondary weapons were also trying to rip themselves out of their hands and slay them, so they were finding things to be rather difficult.

Catarina stood back to back with Timothy, fighting against the three Integration cultivators. At most two could attack either of them at any time, which happened to be Catarina more often than not. That was because Timothy was more easily able to defend himself, and they wanted to exploit that. Yet even when she was behind him, Timothy would reach back with his shield or sword to parry blows she couldn’t.

It felt like both of them were learning a lot. They’d sparred with others, but there hadn’t been any serious battles against Integration cultivators before now. The attacks of their opponents were strong… but seemed to be lacking in finesse. It wasn’t personal style either. The trio all used their upper energy like they were trying to cut mountains in half, and the other six used it to blast away the weapons attacking them.

Despite their inefficiencies, Timothy and Catarina would have been hard pressed if they weren’t fighting inside one of her formations. The enemy’s weapons were trying to betray them, while the other two were augmented. Timothy sustained the first wound, a slice along his arm. Then one of the six, nearly having their head chopped off by one of their swords. Catarina’s stomach was pierced by a blade that never technically touched her- but she hadn’t been able to fully guard against the energy extending its reach.

Then one of the six lost a hand, and Timothy flicked a sword away from one of the trio- only for it to return with intent to kill them. At that point the trio began to pick up their own wounds at an ever increasing rate.

The leader recognized it quickly. “Enough!” he said. “I doubt you can afford to get in trouble with the Harmonious Citadel. Since it will be too much trouble for us to defeat you, we’ll be leaving… and things between us will be done.”

He turned around as if that was the truth of things. He had declared the battle over, so it was. Two swords met in the middle of his spine, Catarina and Timothy moving together to slice into his body. The trio had managed to reclaim all of their weapons, but as he felt the attack coming his sword slowed his attempt to dodge and parry.

“You’re right,” Catarina said. “We can’t afford trouble with the Harmonious Citadel right now.”

Almost half of those who came to Everheart’s Tomb died. That was averaged over the different seasons, but this was one of the most dangerous ones. A few disciples going missing wouldn’t even raise an eyebrow. That was true in the other direction as well.

When the other two Integration cultivators turned to run, they found themselves blocked by a dozen swords. The six weaker individuals were already deceased, and thus the swords were freed up for other purposes. With the odds greatly shifted, Timothy and Catarina finished them off. Both ended the battle with more than trivial injuries, but they had won.

Timothy sighed, “It might be troublesome to use these swords. If anyone knows where they come from, anyway.”

“They skimped on armor, though,” Catarina gestured.

“It’s not much different than yours,” he shrugged. “Light, easy to move in. But you’re right. It’s not good.”

They stuffed everything in storage bags- except for the bodies themselves, which were deconstructed in a formation. It was difficult to completely annihilate the body of a living cultivator, but with so much upper energy around once they were already dead it was simple. The storage bags would be searched through later, after they bound their wounds and began to recover. Somewhere safe, if they could find it.

-----

The most tolerable thing about the swamp was that they could walk on top of the worst parts by supporting themselves with energy. The next best thing is there were hardly any tiny stinging insects to worry about. There were mosquitoes twice the size of what had been at the Clear Lake Sect, but that just made them easy targets. Alva shot down any of them that even vaguely approached. As they were part of a balanced environment, there could only be so many of them in an area.

Alva had expected more water dwelling creatures causing trouble, but they seemed happy to feed on the bodies of various insects that Alva and Vari left strewn about. And whatever else had died recently.

Ants weren’t something that Alva would have considered to be in a swamp, yet they had them. Giant ants. Not like the giant ants back home, the size of a dog or maybe a person. These were closer to… an elephant. That ultimately meant they could only attack a few at a time. They had nothing on void ants. She honestly would have bet on a single void ant against any of them, as long as the void ant wasn’t too young. It wouldn’t have been an interesting fight, as the void ant would have slowly crawled up the larger one and slowly dug its way into the eye and brain, but the larger one couldn’t have done anything.

Big ants had big eyes, and despite all having defenses of ascension energy they were easy to pierce through. And when there were too many, Vari would topple one or two of them. The large creatures found it difficult to flip themselves back over. It only took a second or two, but in a high level combat… that was an important one or two.

“This species sucks,” Alva declared. “I don’t care if they can be this big. It’s just inefficient.”

“I don’t think we should complain about easy opponents,” Vari said. She brushed a line of blood off her cheek. “Besides, they’re not so easy for me.”

“You’re fine. You didn’t even need a barrier.” Alva pat Vari on the shoulder. “We need to talk about your cultivation technique.”

“Why?” Vari asked.

Alva wrestled another strand of energy into the bundle. “I’ve seen some abnormalities,” Alva explained.

“I don’t know,” Vari wrung her hands. “I’m not really supposed to discuss with outsiders.”

“I swear to not tell anyone else anything I learn, without your permission,” Alva said.

“Well, okay.”

That was too easy. Sure, Alva wasn’t trying to trick her, but she should have at least taken longer to agree. “Great. Do you have a copy with you?”

She shook her head, “We’re not allowed to bring them away from the sect. But I have the Holy Harmony Technique memorized.”

“Let’s walk and talk then,” Alva gestured. She wasn’t sure if any part of the giant ants was valuable, but it would be a pain to gather it and no matter what it would take a lot of space. She just wanted to be out of the ‘garden’.

The basics of the Holy Harmony Technique were… normal. It was about gathering energy and using it. The exact stages were different than the Hundred Stars, but it still flowed through Body Tempering, Spirit Building, Essence Collection, and Life Transformation. Except they skipped insight, and the allowable choices of essence was very small. “Nothing else works?” Alva raised an eyebrow. “That’s crazy.”

“Well, there are infinite variations on the essences. One person’s Devotion looks different from any other. Servitude can have many meanings, depending on the individual. Devotion was my choice.”

“Yeah, I see it,” Alva said.

“Thank you,” Vari said.

“That’s not…” she was just thinking now she had a name for it. “Yeah, good job. You’re very devoted to… the saints.”

“As everyone should be! They protect us from the dangers of the world.”

Alva wasn’t going to ask how many of their disciples died every year. For one thing, she doubted the information would be accurate. And it probably wouldn’t help. “And how do you achieve ascension?”

“Ascension? Oh, you mean integration?” Vari nodded. “The same as anyone else, really. With the culmination of the rest of your cultivation, it’s the next stage.”

That didn’t tell her anything, but they could get into the details later. “Yeah… so, when that happens… where do you go?”

“Wherever you want, I suppose.”

“That’s not what I meant. When you wrest apart time and space and bathe yourself in… upper energy… do you get transported to a random location?”

“... What?” Vari tilted her head, very confused. “Don’t people from the lower realms just… ride the tides of the universe? Then you have easy access to upper energy.”

“So you’re saying you don’t do that here?”

“... No? Not that I know of. Maybe those who practice the Glorious Harmony Technique?”

“Is that… different?”

“Of course,” Vari nodded. “Those who are deemed to have the proper talent are allowed to use the Glorious Harmony Technique, becoming true disciples. They often become amazingly powerful.”

Alva made a face. “Let me guess what essences they use. Domination? Overlording…ness? Rulership?”

“Don’t be silly,” Vari shook her head. “Domination is a stage of cultivation. They practice Sovereignty and Glory, among other things.”

“Vari,” Alva gestured the woman closer, “I’m going to tell you a secret.”

“Okay? What is it?” Vari stepped right next to her, leaning in.

“They’re just using you for your Devotion.” Vari didn’t looked shocked. “Your energy. Stolen right from you and delivered to those practicing that other technique.” She still didn’t seem upset. “Did you hear me?”

“Huh? Yeah, I heard you. What was the secret? Oh! Was it that you figured that out without me even telling you? I can tell you’re one of the type who could practice the Glorious Harmony Technique.”

“But- that’s… Argh!” Alva held her head in her hands. “You’re… really in deep, huh?”

“Apparently not enough,” Vari said. “They won’t even let me support them.”

“... This is going to take a lot of work. You wanted to hear about my world, right?”

Vari nodded. “It seems so interesting, the lower realms.”

“Let me tell you about my grandfather,” Alva said. “So he grew up on a farm…”

-----

Hoyt was late. He’d gotten entangled with Dark Ring business. He still wasn’t sure it was a good idea, but they had real support to offer. Alva had been able to get to Everheart’s Tomb, so maybe there was no need to deal with the Harmonious Citadel at all for the moment… but he had the feeling they would continue to grow more problematic if ignored. And there was nothing saying they wouldn’t come after Alva in the future for ‘betrayal’ or ‘heresy’ something. Not that she’d sworn to be loyal to them, but from the information that had gotten to him that was the sort of thing they’d do. More people from Ceretos would likely end up there if they hadn’t already.

So now he was late to Everheart’s Tomb, which also meant he was right on time. Death season was apparently dying down some. The starship that was transporting him was even willing to bring him to a specific point. He couldn’t go directly to the Great Hall, but he could be dropped off nearby… and the starship would even get close to land. Compared to what he got of Alva’s story, it sounded easy.

“Here we are,” said the captain. “We’ve arrived Assside. Everyone off. Regular pickups are scheduled every three months off season, if you need a ride back. Or you can find a lift with someone else.”

Or fly themselves. Though not everyone had that option. Integration cultivators did, though. It wasn’t nice or efficient, but he’d gotten used to moving about in space. Though even moving between a few space rocks to different Dark Ring locations was a slog. Ships were the way to go. At least being out in the void gave him a lot of space to work on techniques without warning about burning… anything.

When he landed, Hoyt realized that the weird word that the captain had said wasn’t just some sort of verbal tic. After making his way towards the steadily appearing building- apparently landing closer was impossible because Everheart wanted people to get the view walking up to the place- Hoyt entered the Great Hall. And there he was met with the backside of a statue the size of a middling mountain.