Elder Cultivator

Though he had not thoroughly studied the field of ecosystems, Lev was knowledgeable enough to have a question about Klar that most people would probably share. That question was what the beasts in space ate. Obviously each other- but that only worked until they used up all the energy they had. Then they would just be a lump of materials.

That problem could be mitigated by absorbing natural energy from the sun, but their numbers or total mass couldn’t substantially increase without some sort of input of material. Various options had been suggested by Anton and the others studying the system, but it had taken some time to get evidence.

Now it was pretty clear that it came from the planets occasionally building up large concentrations of energy that rose into the sky. And then the spacefaring ones ate things. They might also descend on planets occasionally, but it was one method.

It might be part of the natural cycle of things, and Lev didn’t want to disrupt that. But when they tried to eat him he wasn’t just going to let it happen. Nor the few individuals he knew were people.

Bear Hug had actually grown much stronger compared to when Anton first met them. Lev remembered Anton had described them as vaguely comparable to Essence Collection. While the vagueness was still there, when Bear Hug was motivated their power felt like a fairly strong Essence Collection cultivator.

They even had the time to shout at things, even though ‘speaking’ took energy control. “No! No eating me! I’m not even that tasty!”

For the most part, Bear Hug held back until they determined that whatever was trying to eat them couldn’t speak. Then they tended to impale, crush, or tear apart whatever was causing trouble.

A few things thought that Liberty looked like a good meal. One actually managed to swallow him whole, but the whale-like creature soon found out what Liberty’s roots could do. Instead of a slow years long process, however, it was much quicker. It vomited Liberty out with a significant quantity of blood before flying away as quickly as it could.

Lev was getting used to a lot of different things that had weird joints and body structures. Not all of them were recognizable as something else, especially since they didn’t have to deal with air resistance of any kind. Lots of limbs with sharp tips, usually but not always with durable surfaces so that the enemy didn’t immediately win by attacking their longer appendages.

Lev twisted his vine-like hair, infused with energy, around a great number of creatures. He could crush them or overpower them, but he tried to be efficient about things- thus targeting joints and trying to pull from angles that muscles were weakest. His own body didn’t work that well, so he tried to keep them well away from it.

The pitcher plant was doing great in space. Half of its targets were adapted to low temperatures but wouldn’t expect to actually freeze. Others were warmer and did not do well with sudden temperature changes. Intelligent uses of small amounts of ice seemed to be keeping the unnamed individual safe.

But also a tiny bit of that was Lev. There were so many enemies to keep track of that the pitcher plant couldn’t fight them all, once the planetary natives were counted.

So many things all trying to eat each other. Once the aggression had begun, it hadn’t stopped. Lev wondered what percentage of their group would be dead by the time they reached another planet- and beyond that, how many would be starving?

Maybe he could speed the process. Infusing the bubble with his own energy wouldn’t be too hard. He didn’t want to interfere too much with natural processes, though. And his plant friends wouldn’t die as long as there was air and sunlight. Maybe some water. He might have to cheat a little.

-----

After hearing about the conflict on the Chaotic Conglomeration’s border, Anton knew that this was going to be one of the times of trouble. If it was possible to meaningfully speed up the process of Bounty entering the lower realms, he would. But since he couldn’t, the next best thing to do was maximize his readiness.

In somewhat over five years, the planet had crossed a quarter of the gap between realms. That greatly decreased the strain Anton had when creating sunlight for them, but during that time he’d never fully recovered his energy. The breaks Aniskha could give him just kept him from draining himself dry.

However, now that things were a bit further Anton wanted to try a personal approach for a few reasons. First, the planet was fully free of ascension energy now so he could actually be there. The second was because he didn’t need maximum output as much as he needed consistency and recovery. While he recovered energy somewhat more slowly outside of his systems, it was his maximum power that was most affected. It was worth experimenting.

Also, the planet was at just the right distance for Anton’s presence to make the upper realms nervous without them having any sort of feasible counter. A Domination cultivator might throw themselves towards the lower realms, but if Cynbel hadn’t done it immediately, it was unlikely he’d run all the way back from the Exalted Quadrant.

Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

It would inevitably draw attention towards the lower realms, but Anton had done that just by entering Unity. It wasn’t really his idea to steal the planet, but the shock from that had already happened. It wasn’t like the great powers could actually hate the lower realms more, considering the effort they’d already put in a century and a half before. If they risked a Domination cultivator on the conflict again, Anton was more than ready.

Thus, Anton took a slightly shorter turn being the sun, then Anishka had to take two weeks while Anton made the trip. Interstellar travel was a process that required enough energy on its own that trying to maintain a decent sun was fruitless. It was between planting seasons again, obviously.

Anton could feel the flow of devotion from the planet before he even got close. Bounty’s devotion wasn’t actually the highest of anywhere- Ceretos had a much higher population of stronger people with a greater history with him- but it was notable. Anton intended to give them just as much as they gave him. Maybe a bit more, since they’d pay it back with future growth. It was the best way of things.

“I’m finally here!” Anton said. He wanted to shout it to the whole planet, but he just found Devon instead. “So, have you just been sitting here on Paradise this whole time?”

Devon grinned. “I figured I could use a vacation.”

In truth, once the planet was ‘up to speed’, Devon could have left it behind until it needed to be slowed on the other end. However, there were quite a few individuals who strongly aligned with the ideology of the Shattered Chains. Even if they weren’t freed from actual slavery, it was a sort of liberation.

Anton was glad people saw things positively. “Aerona is very good at what she does,” Anton said. He was aware she was listening, of course. “Chaos would have been the natural result here. Can you imagine looking up and seeing Paradise?”

“It’s a bit of a shock,” Devon admitted. “And I know him.”

Anton nodded seriously. “Alright. I need to go meet the disciples down there. Vincent would be disappointed in me if I didn’t.” He wanted to, as well. There weren’t so many that it was infeasible to spend a few minutes with them. “Oh, before I go. Aerona, make sure nobody gets any weird ideas about me. Like thinking I’m a god.”

She shook her head in the distance, transmitting her words back to him. “It is far too late for that. Once some of their own members reach Assimilation I think they will get over it, however. They’re still in a period of shock.”

Anton sighed. “Well, alright then.” He stroked his chin. “Maybe I’ll just leave my presence up here.”

He probably wouldn’t fool anyone particularly strong by trying to make his energy feel like it was somewhere it was not- especially hundreds of kilometers or more distant- but with sufficient energy suppression he might manage. As long as he could properly talk with people.

-----

“You’ll add ten or fifteen percent to your yield,” Anton explained to someone as he gave some personalized advice for their farm. They had the guidance of the Alliance, of course, but that was generalized. Even if other specialists came by they focused on the larger farms. But as far as Anton knew, nobody in the lower realms had been farming for longer than him. There were probably a few herb specialists from the same approximate generation, but no high ranking cultivators who had primarily been farming for food before then. The limits of lifespan would have gotten to the best of them before cultivation became a worldwide practice..

“Thank you sir,” said a youthful woman. “That will allow us to choose only the best.”

“I could help a bit more,” Anton said. “But it would be only small gains for a whole lot of busywork. Though if you happen to enjoy singing to your plants all day, it’s not a bad option.” Singing wasn’t even close to the next best thing, just one he thought was a bit humorous while still being technically viable if done correctly.

After that, Anton sought out some disciples of the One Hundred Stars. Interestingly, most of them weren’t that focused on improving their cultivations for their own sake. They’d instead been inspired by Anton acting as the sun, and had wanted to contribute to that. Since they were quite far from when they could safely bind to a star- even if there was one nearby- they had to learn the properties somewhere. He’d be able to demonstrate that personally for the first time, but before that he planned to do it on a smaller scale.

He was styling himself as a visiting elder from the Order. Technically, he’d said ‘an old man from the Order of One Hundred Stars’ which wasn’t untrue at all. The Alliance had sent some experts to help people- they didn’t just throw cultivation manuals at them and hope it worked out- so Anton was far from the first.

Anton immediately recognized their cultivation was different. Usually, the Order of One Hundred Stars didn’t specialize early. In the early stages, they tended to focus on pure natural energy without specific properties instead of fire or light. These people were very into sunlight, and while Anton could say he was far beyond any of them with his replication that didn’t mean there was nothing to learn. After all, he hadn’t really experienced it at a low level.

So there were a few good details he could learn from them… and some corrections he could make. Small ones, but on the long path of cultivation being pointed slightly in the wrong direction early on could end up significantly off path. The main issue Anton found was that the sunlight they were attempting to produce had the properties of having already been filtered by the atmosphere. At a short distance, directly shining onto a plant, it didn’t matter. But when joining a worldwide chorus of cultivators, it would be less than it should be.

Of course, natural sunlight wasn’t perfect. Maheg’s sunlight had been fully natural when it wiped out the life on the local planet- but far too powerful. Nor was all sunlight even the same. Two stars of the same type could be significantly different, let alone those of different sizes and life stages.

Still, it was better that people have the correct baseline so they could intentionally make modifications from there. Anton explained these things to them so they would understand the reasons for his corrections.

Then it came time for him to be the sun for a while. It was both easier and harder, as expected. Ultimately, he found being physically present to be quite valuable for gaining feedback from the planet below, so he didn’t have to stretch himself over long distances. His limited power was offset by his efficiency- not that he was particularly weak at any point since he’d reached Unity, even away from bound stars.