Elder Cultivator

Sifting through information found in the first of the border outposts as well as several beyond that on later missions, it was fairly conclusively determined that none of the targeted systems were Ceretos or their allies. Not leaving from those locations, at least. That still left many other systems that could have groups readying for that particular invasion. Systems they had no contact with nor way to get into contact with. That was not a pleasant thing to think about.

“We haven’t yet run into more trouble that could only be explained by diviners,” Velvet said to a gathering of those from the lower realms on Xankeshan. “But each system we inspect brings with it further danger. I’ll gladly risk my life for a good cause, but I’d prefer not to risk it in a place that can’t even have useful information.”

“Understandable,” Catarina said. “Perhaps we’re going about this from the wrong direction. Though we know that one of these systems should have information of use to us about the forces that might invade our homeworld perhaps that is not what we should be looking for. Instead, we could find the invaders.”

Timothy gave her a look, “I usually understand the things you say, but that one doesn’t make any sense. If we can’t find information, how will we find the people?”

“We already know a likely candidate,” Catarina said simply. “Fajra. And even if she is not going to return, those of her sect likely will. Along with the Twin Soul Sect and others. And if they don’t intend to seek revenge for their losses, we can at least determine that and give some peace of mind.”

“I doubt it,” Hoyt said. “Both the possibility of them not attempting to wipe Ceretos out of the galaxy and that them not planning it would provide peace of mind. That can only be certain after the invasion doesn’t happen. Which it will.”

“... I did not say it was likely,” Catarina shrugged. “But they could, in theory, choose to eat their losses and ignore one particular world in the lower realms.”

“I don’t know if finding information on Fajra will be much easier,” Velvet said. “Though perhaps it might be available without going into Trigold Cluster territory. I guess that’s a reasonable place to start.”

-----

Obtaining information about the internal events of the Trigold cluster was tricky- though not because the information wasn’t available. That was something Velvet discovered with some poking around in the eastern section of the Scarlet Midfields. It was obvious that others would be quite interested in the goings on of their most powerful neighbors, and since the Trigold Cluster didn’t have a complete lockdown on entering or leaving their systems information was bound to circulate.

Two could keep a secret if one was dead. That was the sort of saying that applied, but when it came to a matter of billions of individuals at minimum it was even more true. It was just that information was not freely distributed.

Velvet was nearly certain that the Trigold Cluster as a whole would not have anyone on watch for individuals from the Order. She would place her confidence somewhere above ninety percent- but that was not nearly enough to have her going into enemy territory where alternatives existed. If she were to bet on a one in ten chance of dying or worse she would have better than even odds of death after just ten incidents. That was not the sort of thing that got people to live past a century unless they were extremely lucky. Perhaps that had been the case for Velvet so far- she found it reasonable that she could have died many times- but simply counting on that was the worst idea.

Far easier was trading information for other information, despite potentially inflated prices. She did her best to not let on that she couldn’t get the information some other way. The price might go up if she seemed to need the information, and going to another information broker might not help her.

It was still not a quick process. Perhaps it might have been if they had the technology of Rutera that was rumored to be able to access all information, recalling what was necessary instead of just what a particular individual knew or what an organization had copies of. As it was, Velvet was glad to find that it only took a small handful of years to obtain some useful information. They could not quite determine if Fajra might be participating in the invasion- if she was, she was not yet waiting around the border, though it was decades early for that being required. Even so, they narrowed down their search options somewhat.

-----

Of the various individuals she knew, Vari thought she might be the worst spy. Yet she was also the best suited for the particular place she was infiltrating. With her she carried a spear- an elegant specimen to be certain. She had even learned to use it, and she understood why people would. It just wasn’t what she preferred.

Returning to the Harmonious Citadel’s planets was extremely uncomfortable. Everything she once thought was good and now knew was mostly manipulative tactics irked her. Yet she still fit in as a practitioner of the Holy Harmony Technique. A Life Transformation individual, specifically. Vari absolutely had no plans to display her full abilities in front of many members of the Harmonious Citadel- nor did she intend to enter the same system as any of the saints. That would simply not do. If they even had an inkling that she was siphoning power from them, she would be killed- and if they had proof, it would be either much more quickly or much more slowly.

But as someone who ‘belonged’, people would generally overlook her. She was just another practitioner of the Holy Harmony Technique stuck at the peak of Life Transformation. It was technically possible for them to reach Integration, but much harder than for the Glorious Harmony Technique which fed on individuals such as Vari had once been. All that wasted devotion… Vari hated the thought, even if she’d likely snatched back more than she’d given. She might individually have righted her balance, but that would not be true for the rest.

The Harmonious Citadel did not take the Dark Ring seriously. No, that wasn’t quite right. They were serious about things, but they could not publicly admit how serious the war was getting. Though they couldn’t be said to be on their back foot or losing, they couldn’t take it casually. They also just refused to admit that there even was a war, with the Dark Ring simply being terrorists.

With her false identity- easily believed as anyone could feel her cultivation was part of them- Vari gathered and passed on information of any sort. Large movements of troops or particularly powerful individuals as well as anything else that stood out. Some individual places were checked for weaknesses, but she could not be seen snooping around too many military outposts. It was unlikely anyone would recognize her, but if actually thought to be snooping it might not matter. Accusations of her being a spy wouldn’t even be wrong.

Though she fed a steady stream of information, Vari wished there was more she could do. She couldn’t help but look at the regular people who lived around her, and the practitioners of the Holy Harmony Technique. Those who did not cultivate would never be more than the bottom of society- but their only practical choice was the Holy Harmony technique, which wasn’t actually going to improve their position. Not like a good cultivation technique should.

Stories of Anton filled her head from the various individuals who knew him. He was responsible for the transformation of a planet. The Harmonious Citadel had more than a few of those, but Vari wondered if she could at least change one. It would have been nice if that was Rouhiri, but she wasn’t going to just throw her life away. A single slip up, taking devotion from the saints while on the same planet would be the end.

So she was instead on Lytis, one of the planets with a larger population but not one that was frequented by saints. Vari didn’t know quite what she intended to do, but a few people learning alternate versions of the Harmonious Citadel’s techniques could spread to more than a few. If only there was a way to keep it from tracing back to her… at least while she was around. How did one go about changing a planet? A continent? Country? Or even a city? She didn’t know.

-----

Though Xankeshan was a planet any faction in the Scarlet Midfields would desire to possess, even if it didn’t have all of the rewards of Everheart’s Tomb just scattered about for the taking, it was not so easily overcome with the large, self-sustaining barrier covering the whole planet. All traffic that moved in and out had to be approved on some level. That meant being part of an approved sect. Or at least appearing to be.

There were going to be spies on Xankeshan, of course. That was inevitable. The information about who was controlling things was likely already available to anyone willing to pay the right price. They might not know that Catarina was literally controlling things with the heart of the formations in her hands, but they would at least place her as one of the key figures.

Some spies would be difficult to root out, and might not be worth the effort. Others were worth the effort… and the difficulty in detecting them had already been overcome some time before. Even so, it wasn’t quite clear how long the old man in the cell in front of them had been on Xankeshan. Nor did they know what sort of information he might have sent back. But when the circumstances were right, he had been caught while more or less minding his own business.

“You should tell us what we need to know,” Hoyt said as the most obviously intimidating member of their group. “Things will be significantly less painful for you that way, if we don’t have to scour your soul.”

Even at war, there were limits to what people should do. Even among the group from Ceretos, there were disagreements on what those limits were. Scouring someone’s soul was rather extreme, and indeed a painful process. However, unlike the version indirectly obtained from Everheart they had developed a slower and likely less effective method- but also less painful and vaguely more ethical.

Yet they might also have been willing to use one of the worse versions on this particular man. The reason he had been discovered was not because he slipped up in any particular way… he was simply a member of the Twin Soul Sect. The fact that he had gotten in at all meant there were some flaws in their security, though perhaps advertising that they could pick out the Twin Soul Sect meant they should continue to keep that information concealed.

“Please, there must be some mistake,” the man said. “I am a devoted member of the Looming Forest.”

The Looming Forest was indeed an ally of Xankeshan, part of the Dark Ring. That was why they had already brought over one of them, specifically one who could pick out members of the Twin Soul Sect. It wouldn’t do for them to have a ‘member’ die without confirming it for themselves.

“If you were, you wouldn’t be here,” Hoyt said. “You’re not a member of the Looming Forest at all. You’re part of the Twin Soul Sect.”

At that, the man’s eyes widened- though nearly imperceptively. Clearly he was trained to conceal it, but they weren’t just guessing so they knew how he should react. “Please,” the man said. “There must be some mistake. You can verify my cultivation technique-”

“We already did,” Hoyt said. “And the secret one hidden underneath, of course.”

Everyone was surprised when the man died- because his energy was fully suppressed by his bindings. Even if he’d attempted to bite his tongue off, they could have stopped his death. But instead of killing himself he skipped straight to the end of the line, his soul leaving his body without the aid of upper energy.

“Dammit,” Catarina said. “I knew we should have told him about the traps first.”

“Sorry,” Hoyt said. “I know we were trying to get him to talk but… I didn’t think he’d be so decisive.”

“It’s fine. His soul won’t get far.” The formations that handled that were courtesy of Everheart and not the previous inhabitants. Catarina shook his head, “It’s just that the soul scouring isn’t as reliable as I would like. Not that I’d be willing to practice the more effective version to a proper level of mastery.”

Everyone agreed on that. And while it was unfortunate that the Trigold Cluster would realize their spy was gone, it was better than him actually getting back to them with information on how. Perhaps in the future they could pick out members of the Twin Soul Sect upon arrival and observe their behavior- though that meant more people who knew the techniques to reveal the Twin Soul Sect, and thus more people who could mention that they existed to the wrong people. If they heard about it and came up with proper counters, it would be very troublesome to keep their ranks clear of traitors, or at least to whatever extent they managed it now.