Elder Cultivator

Previously, the Scarlet Alliance had been constrained to defensive positions just to survive. Although the core alliance was not currently being threatened they still needed to keep proper defenses available. Timothy and Catarina fulfilled that position. Vandale was still on standby- they might come across a sudden need for him to be mobile, either in the eastern or western territories. Ratna might find herself under greater pressure suddenly, or the Little Alliance might come under assault.

With Chidi already assisting Ratna in Veiled Brilliance territory, that left only one individual free to perform a very important task: launching a counter assault. While one person couldn’t be expected to take on the burden of a proper war, there was a reason Domination cultivators were feared. And the specific details fit extremely well for Zazil.

She had chosen her anchor with that very idea in mind. It could be argued that in some way her anchor made her more vulnerable in assault situations, as she moved it along with her. That might be true, and she would happily debate the merits with anyone who actually reached Domination. It made sense to her, however, so she wouldn’t accept any criticism for anyone short of Domination or some equivalent.

There were plenty of targets, but the main intent was not to draw more people into the war. Thus it was that for the last couple of months Zazil had been on a long trip on a very stealthy ship into the heart of Fearsome Menagerie territory.

Zazil was not foolish enough to think she could defeat Yann in a fight. If she happened to run across his anchor… she might launch one attack from a distance and hope he forgot to protect it. But she wasn’t looking for it. This wasn’t about Yann… except that she intended to damage his base. The Fearsome Menagerie had previously gotten off with just whatever they lost in the war and Yann’s leg.

She didn’t have to be particularly discerning with her targets. Zazil showed up in the first densely populated system that belonged to the Fearsome Menagerie. All she really made sure of was that she targeted territory run by the primary sect, but that was also most of the big and important things so it was pretty easy to pick it out.

Then she chopped up places with her ring blades. If she came across somewhere with particularly effective planetary barriers, she moved on. Otherwise, she smashed through their defensive fortifications and broke open their vaults, snatching all of the most expensive goodies. Then she moved on.

There was a limit to how much she could carry with her even with the largest capacity storage bags. However, she could sort things out later. If there were resources that were lower value, she could just toss them out. It was the epitome of waste, the antithesis of what the Scarlet Alliance generally stood for… but it was also better for their foes to have nothing. Besides, nothing was really destroyed. She dropped it all into stars, which easily absorbed and would recycle the energy. Eventually. If those in the surrounding systems were capable enough with their energy capture methods.

Zazil didn’t engage with foes. If Augmentation cultivators survived her initial assault unscathed, she would leave. Even if they shouted at her, calling her a coward, she didn’t care. Because they absolutely wouldn’t agree to fight her one on one. Why should she fight a whole planet full of people, or every Augmentation cultivator they could stuff into a system?

Great care was taken to never go into somewhere formations might activate. Even the power of a Domination cultivator could be overcome if she was careless. The Fearsome Menagerie wasn’t exactly known as the craftiest sect, but it would be a shame for her counterattack to turn into a victory for them.

Plus, Zazil liked being alive, especially as part of a greater thing like the Scarlet Alliance.

-----

Sometimes, a cultivator had to endure great pain for the sake of their ambitions. That was why Chidi was currently mimicking an empty crate. It was a surprisingly difficult task, and folding himself up to fit inside around his sword had been quite a task.

Technically, he could leave the crate whenever he wanted. Get out, stretch his legs. But Chidi endured as long as possible. That was because he had infiltrated an enemy ship, and he had to remain unnoticed.

Chidi focused all of his energy on maintaining necessary biological functions without taking the time to eat. Fortunately, the crate wasn’t airtight so his breathing was functional enough. As for his body, folded around his blade, he relaxed his muscles and joints so that they weren’t continuously strained during his stay.

According to his estimation, he should have another week. After already having two weeks of travel, that was quite a lot. Or perhaps it was extremely normal for a Trigold Cluster ship going from one system to another a couple steps away. Even if the total distance could have been covered in half the time by Scarlet Alliance ships, they weren’t really the standard in the slice of the upper realms Chidi knew as occupied space.

Chidi was tempted to just let his mind turn off, slip into deep meditation until something significant changed. He was certain he would awake at the far end… but his concealment might slip. Currently he was manipulating energy such that any senses would determine his crate was empty. So far, he’d been scanned only once or twice. He was already placed at a position in the back such that nobody would bother shuffling him around and wondering why an empty crate was particularly heavy. People regularly passed by to refill the kitchen’s stocks, so Chidi couldn’t bet that nobody would idly sense him at any time.

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Rather than being strenuous, however, it was boring. It was a good thing he’d lived long enough to overcome boredom, because otherwise he might do something foolish. But if he was to end up on the frontlines of the war hiding among the Twin Soul Sect, this was how he meant to do it. He’d already sent ahead the stealth ship that had brought him into Twin Soul Sect territory, because they might have been noticed following the vessel. Though it would have been far more comfortable for him in there, it was better not to give any signs.

The reason for the convoluted method instead of just dropping himself back on a friendly world was simple- wherever they were moving should be the next target. Though it could be calculated some time in advance, there was still merit in being on one of the enemy ships. Especially for Chidi who was… not fast. At least, not by cultivator standards.

As it turned out, there were negative consequences to be had when reducing your overall cultivation. Chidi couldn’t just swap sides of a planet whenever he wanted. It was better to start in the right general area.

Of course, if the ship he was on got attacked by local emplacements he might run into some trouble, so there were plans for that. Specifically chopping his way out. Otherwise, he would wait… and hope that Sudin showed up. It wasn’t as much of a gamble as it sounded like, because he showed up to many new assaults, at least briefly. Most likely, it had something to do with the soul transfer thing.

Chidi had spent quite some time meditating on that, followed by observing disciples using spectral energy in various ways. He believed he was ready to go against Sudin now. Actually, the differences seen with spectral energy weren't that stark… and Sudin would primarily use Domination energy, which Chidi would have handled just fine. But he was glad that he had rectified some of his potential mistakes before they really mattered.

If asked if he was afraid of fighting a Domination cultivator head on, with less support than against Shelach, Chidi would have denied it. Fear wasn’t something he held onto. Did he believe he could die? Absolutely. He thought the odds were in his favor. Most likely, Sudin would think the same. Both would be wrong in ways they didn’t understand until long after things were over. It would be strange for them to both survive.

Chidi pictured the battle over and over in his mind, while keeping his energy steady. The most important part was achieving negation. Either Chidi alone or if he was able to contact them in time Chidi with the aid of a mundane sniper team would then kill him. That was the goal.

But was it the right one?

Death and killing weren’t anathema to Chidi. He just wanted to make sure it was properly final. Without energy flow, Sudin couldn’t perform any techniques to save his soul… but he might not need to. Killing him wasn’t the important part. Stopping his rebirth was, or he would no doubt learn from his mistakes. Perhaps he would bide his time and cause havoc in a future generation.

So the critical point was actually what happened to his soul. What would Chidi do with it?

He would cut it, obviously. That was what he did.

-----

Once upon a time, Velvet had been part of the Western Mirage Sect. On paper, at least. That was how she’d ended up on worlds where they fought with the Chaotic Conglomeration, ultimately coming into contact with Runa and her father. She’d also pretended to be from different branches as she traveled around the Exalted Quadrant, to explain her abilities if she had to use them.

They would probably be angry if they knew she had done that. They would probably be livid to find that she was still doing that. This time, with more specific intent. She had determined that they were one of the most likely sects to cause trouble for the Little Alliance in the near future, even though they had their border skirmish to worry about. The problem was, the border was too tame. So Velvet was going to fix that.

Killing innocents to stir up a war between two enemies was perhaps not morally upright, but Velvet didn’t really have to worry about that. After all, how many innocents were still left among their cultivators?

For the sake of sparking conflict, however, Velvet focused only on those sects which had previously taken hostile action against the Little Alliance. Others might get dragged into things, but the sects remaining had happily supported everything, including attacks on former comrades just because they were trying to set up a new life.

Things were stable in the Little Alliance for the moment, despite the conflicts passing by into the lower realms. Velvet wanted to maintain that stability, so she would happily drive conflict towards those that weren’t part of her people.

First a member of the Western Mirage Sect disappeared. Then someone from the Unrelenting Thorn died to his weapon. Then a few more. Then people on other planets, or in different systems. Each time, Velvet left no traces except those she chose. Lingering sensations from enchantments that would be difficult to trace, but could only come to a single conclusion.

Of course, there was one piece of information that was missing, which was a true aura of a Western Mirage Sect cultivator, but Velvet couldn’t perfectly replicate that. Still, people would see what they wanted to see. Besides, Velvet also picked up a few weapons from the Chaotic Conglomeration.

It was a bit much to leave someone impaled on the harpoon of a Relenting Thorn cultivator, but Velvet didn’t want to be too subtle, and they weren’t either. It was unfortunate for that poor cultivator, as they clearly died in the battle with their foe, charred to ash. Of course, Velvet took care to make sure that her varied assaults weren’t completely implausible. Strikes were constantly going back and forth, so she picked out appropriate evidence and picked a target based on the local cultivators. And if she didn’t have anything, she moved on. It was too obvious to steal a weapon in the same system she used it. People might catch on.

Hopefully, stirring conflict there would keep things away from her people for a while longer.