Elder Cultivator

Though there hadn’t been any real warning, the vault was now open. Or at least, could be opened with no formations stopping anyone. Vargha didn’t seem particularly enthusiastic about trying the door, though Anton could feel no natural energy left to do anything even if the formations happened to be intact. The Great Queen was still next to the door where she had punctured a portion of the formation responsible for energy storage, and Anton scooped her up as he reached for the large door itself.

It was locked, but without anything to stop him from fiddling it didn’t take much work for Anton to shove everything where it needed to go. Yanking the thick door out of the wall would have also worked, but keeping things vaguely intact was best.

Inside the vault’s thick walls was a small room, but it was packed tight with scrolls and manuals. Condensed as they were onto the shelves there were hundreds- no, somewhere around a thousand different techniques or other snippets of information. All valuable enough in some way to be kept in the sealed vaults of the Grand Archives.

Anton began to pick through them before Vargha could reach him, rolling open scrolls and flipping through books that each had their own personal preservation formations- easily recognizable. Some were complex enough that even having practiced the reading and memorization techniques of Ten Thousand Scrolls Anton would need to spend more time or reread some of them. At the moment it just looked like he was taking casual glances, but that wasn’t the case.

As soon as Vargha arrived his eyes locked on something in particular, something Anton presumed he might want merely from the name. Soulflame. “Interested in this one?” Anton asked as he performed a more than casual perusal of the scroll, his eyes tracing from top to bottom over the course of a ten seconds instead of doing so in an instant. He then rolled it back up and tossed it to Vargha, who caught it with surprise. “Not really of interest for me, nor too problematic in the grand scheme of things. Though I’d be careful with it.”

Soulflame was definitely in the category of forbidden techniques. It could be categorized there for harm to the users and because many sects would probably ban it- though only because they were afraid. Along the lines of Candle Wax, it gave a significant boost to one’s power for a short time. That was the sort of things that could decide battles between powerful figures, and thus sects that were insecure in their positions would forbid it. And perhaps Anton should, but it wasn’t something that could be used regularly. Unlike Candle Wax which only burned lifespan- a significant sacrifice nonetheless- Soulflame unsurprisingly damaged the soul. More or less irreparably, ruining more than just cultivation and combat effectiveness but the hope of reincarnation.

Having received what he wanted, Vargha could not help but read through the technique immediately- both out of greed to consume the knowledge and also caution to make sure it was genuine. That gave Anton time to sort through other things and prepare his distribution plan.

“Since the Burning Skull Sect desires such a powerful technique, I will gladly count it against your share,” Anton began his pitch after Vargha finished his perusal of the technique and was satisfied. “These,” Anton gestured to a pile, “Seem generally useful and should be copied. The originals can be distributed between us. Copies can be exchanged at later times. Others we will be taking, those of more use to us than to you.”

As they got into the details, Vargha had some complaints. “This distribution is greatly weighted towards you.”

“Ah, but you get Soulflame. A powerful technique that you have been seeking for some time, I imagine. Our side is not acquiring many terribly powerful techniques.” That wasn’t quite true- especially one in particular- but there were other factors to consider. Like the balance of power. Ceretos had been the one to slay Ashwin and many of their more powerful defenders- Vargha was just taking the opportunity to raid the Grand Archives. Though he possessed some confidence to fight against Anton and Devon- justified or not- the Great Queen was another factor to consider.

Then there was the other thing. He already had what he most desired. He might fight and potentially die to get his hands on Soulflame- but that meant fighting and potentially dying for something else and therefore potentially losing the technique he already possessed was not something he wanted to chance. Furthermore, there was the issue that if the Burning Skull Sect obtained too many good techniques, other sects might choose to band together against them, presumably somewhat more easily than attacking the Grand Archives. Though the defensive side always had the advantage, so as long as he remained modest they would likely be fine. He was still a Worldbinding cultivator, after all, and everyone respected their power. That was why they had such a relatively stable structure up until this particular war.

“We’ll also be taking many of the things from the outer archives,” Anton declared. “The method of distribution won’t need to be hashed out in detail. You can’t bring everything with you, not and leave before anyone else shows up, am I right?” Anton grinned. “Any copies will be exchanged at a later date.” Anton handed over a spare communication device for just such an occasion. “I’m sure you’ll keep in touch.’

Instead of putting the scroll into a storage bag, Vargha was unsubtly clutching it to his chest. “We will,” he agreed. The tension never fully went away- at any point either side could suddenly attack the other to try to claim everything. That was just more difficult now, with things actually being distributed. Holding onto what was in hand and retreating was simple, especially with the promise of additional sects in the mix soon enough. Crew from The Independence were loading things from the outer archives as quickly as they could, paying no mind to the information they were carrying off- the same as the Burning Skull Sect and even the local cultivators who were planning to flee with what they could have. Nobody stopped each other, and the most valuable information from the vault itself had already been distributed to the strong.

One technique Anton had claimed and not promised a copy of was actually titled ‘Tides of the World: A History.’ Its name was accurate, until the second half where the interesting part came in. A technique to control them… to some extent. At the very least it promised such. Had Ashwin practiced it? Did the Sylanis Cluster keep themselves from invasion through some method, or was their current position a coincidence? Anton would not begrudge them the ability to protect their systems if that turned out to be true at all… but he imagined there could also be dangerous uses for such a thing as well. If any of it even worked, which Anton couldn’t tell through intuition. It was indicated that there had been success, but implicitly trusting authors of such things was foolish.

Anton sensed other powers approaching, but having already cleared out the vault they were basically ready to leave at any time. They just had to fly up the current ships on the ground- dropping everything they couldn’t immediately get on board. That took a few minutes, whereas those who were incoming were quite distant still. Thirty minutes or an hour off, perhaps. Out of courtesy, Anton warned Vargha- though the man would have likely intuited it from their quick departure, the extra seconds or minutes would be helpful to him as well.

Then they were off, on a trajectory carrying them past Okloi’s second sun. If anyone should be so foolish as to follow two Assimilation cultivators and The Independence, they would feel regret. Anton would have noticed if there were so many Worldbinding cultivators closing in. Instead, he sensed just… the Children of Fortune and perhaps one other sect. They were late, though whether that was because the Children of Fortune could not predict this as accurately as events around Roistea was unclear. They didn’t seem to have any of the extras they’d previously been hosting, though Anton remained cautious until they were closer to the sun and he was certain they were not followed.

There was the potential for more destruction and revenge within Okloi, but it seemed that the system would be picking at itself sufficiently that waiting to see what developed was the best option for the moment. Anton also wasn’t particularly fond of the idea of overstaying their welcome and provoking a more organized response.

-----

“Gimme that,” Everheart said, attempting to snatch the book from Anton’s hands. There was a complex series of movement techniques and misdirection as they chased each other around the peaks of the Order.

Ultimately, Anton retained an advantage. He was fairly certain that Everheart was holding back- whether to not aggravate any remaining injuries or to conceal the full extent of his power Anton was unsure, though his personal power had improved since their first clash. He wasn’t confident in winning any sort of actual battle, but his power wasn’t remaining stagnant. He didn’t have the confidence to say he’d an Augmentation cultivator any time soon, though. Perhaps if Everheart hadn’t been able to reintegrate himself with natural energy and was still reliant on ascension energy he had no access to it would be one thing, but the man seemed quite comfortable with his current position.

“I might allow you to see this,” Anton said, holding it away from Everheart, “But I need you to answer some questions. Why did you have void ants on your moon base?” It was a question Anton had pretty reasonable answers to, but they were still speculation.

“Because the upper realms wanted to exterminate them,” Everheart said. “And they’re interesting.” He inclined his head to the Great Queen, who had held her place on Anton’s shoulder the entire duration of their little scuffle. “Your people should thank me.”

Since Everheart learned everything he possibly could, he also knew the void ant’s sign language. The Great Queen responded to him easily. “Our people have some records of history,” she declared. “We are aware of you. Our feelings towards you given that are barely one step above the general populace. Perhaps you should have told us why you uprooted us from our colonies, you asshole?”

Everheart laughed, then performed very disturbing finger movements that were in no way possible for humans to manage, mimicking the void ant’s sign language while speaking at the same time. “Surely saving your species is worth something,” Everheart said.

“Just use your vocal chords,” the Great Queen said of his attempts. “The popping of joints and the creaking sound of bending bones and distorting tendons is distracting. The efficiency your voice allows should be used since you have it. As for our thanks… we already prevented ourselves from tearing you apart on principle. And we will gladly fight with you against invaders coming to Ceretos for your head.”

Everheart laughed again. “I sure hope no one’s coming here for me! I’m just a poor scholar.”

“Your secret is probably still safe,” Anton said. “But if the entire upper realms come after you we might kick you out.”

“Might doesn’t mean definitely, I’ll take it!” Everheart said. “Like that book!”

“I said questions,” Anton emphasized. “I have more.” He’d already memorized the book, of course. Travel between systems was not short. As for Everheart having the information, he wouldn’t be a danger to Ceretos by having it. Anton wasn’t fully sure how much actually worked, but Everheart certainly wouldn’t manipulate things to make it easier for people from the upper realms to reach them. That would make it less useful as a hiding place. Likewise, he had no reason to do so for the others in the trifold alliance, and he usually remained around Ceretos regardless.

The book was going to go to him, of course. Anton wanted to hear his insights. Even so, giving Everheart valuable information without asking for something in return was a bad precedent to set.