Unlike the attack on the Citadel of Exalted Light, where destroying the Citadel would have caused grave injury or death to Zaur Beridze, destroying structures on Gniteria did not serve the same tactical purpose. The Silver Fang wasn’t suddenly torn apart just because some of their buildings had been destroyed and a single elder was dead.

However, the assault was a clear warning to them. They’d chosen to cause trouble with the wrong people, and they were going to suffer the consequences for it. The death of that elder wasn’t going to collapse their sect… but in turn, it also wasn’t a trivial loss. The damage to their morale would also be widespread, likely causing them to be more cautious. Their tactics could keep their raiders safe, but if they had nowhere to return to that could only last so long.

At the same time as the assault on Gniteria, the Scarlet Alliance launched several more attacks on their closest border planets, targeting mainly defensive infrastructure such as the formations used to maintain the barriers. They had no intention to attempt to occupy planets immediately, but they could make them more difficult to defend in the future.

Though the Scarlet Alliance was eager to retaliate, they still preferred to not be drawn into a protracted war. Thus preparations were made for a potential diplomatic resolution- now that they had made a show of strength, they could leverage that for better concessions. Though actually solidifying diplomatic channels would be difficult. They might need to bring a show of force to one of their planets with the intention to hold that position.

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Far away in the lower realms, people were not merely sitting idly. Though they had taken some time to allow people to recover from the invasion, a few decades returned them to proper stability. With certain plans that were being made to connect to the Chaotic Conglomeration more long term, more attention was given to the western region.

For the most part, the Lower Realms Alliance had branched out in an easterly direction- partially because of the Sylanis Cluster being directly in their path, partially because Anton had explored to the east, and finally because they hadn’t encountered as many occupied planets nearby to the west.

The cluster of systems that had once been part of the Numerological Compact but was now simply referred to as the Unified Sector was the largest grouping of people by far, and it was a significant distance away. Ultimately, there had only been so far that the Lower Realms Alliance was willing to stretch itself while preparing for the war. Now, they had an opportunity to cut off the upper realms from access to the lower realms entirely, if they could liberate every occupied system from their influence.

The Lower Realms Alliance was able to tolerate those who did not want to join them. For centuries they remained at peace with the Sylanis Cluster, even after the alliance’s combined power dwarfed the few systems. They would have accepted Ekict’s desire for independence. But they could not abide active threats, especially anyone with a continuing connection to the upper realms.

Filled with a new vigor to further their exploration, many ships were sent out. They were to attempt to peacefully make contact with any locals- and if they could not, to leave while causing minimal harm.

So far, Anton hadn’t heard about any contact, nor had he encountered any occupied systems himself. Though along his current path, he truly didn’t expect it. Anton found himself skirting the border between realms, planning to expand his network of stars. He couldn’t bind every star along the border even in a single flat line- not without using up every remaining star he had and then some. Though he had over a hundred bound stars, even that thin line would be fifty to a hundred more. He was still centuries of cultivation away from that. Plus it took more time to replace the stars in his first hundred than to bind those that came post Assimilation. That time still contributed to his cultivation to some measure, but it had to be carefully considered.

Even though he couldn’t bind every star he wished, Anton was still working on the outlines of a grand constellation. He had something of a loop around the eastern part of the lower realms. Replicating that to the west, he could perhaps bring himself to a state where he could repeat the power of his Realm Shot that killed Sudin. Or at least something sufficiently close.

For that, his intention was to create a matching loop on the other side, ultimately creating something that could be described as a bow-shaped constellation. He could even count his line up towards Akrys as an arrow. Anton wasn’t certain how important the aesthetics of such a constellation would be, though it felt right to him. Either way, if he wanted to replicate the effect anywhere in the vicinity of the Exalted Quadrant he would need stars bound there, and the extremely loose shape had worked before even if he could only use half at a time.

Anton wasn’t being quick with choosing which stars to bind. Instead, he was passing by as many as he possibly could along the way, taking in their features. He had to consider their power and their compatibility with him, and while he would likely only experience results that differed by a few percent in either direction depending on each individual star… if he was efficient and came out five percent stronger than he might have otherwise, that was a significant gain. That sort of margin was often the difference between top cultivators in a certain range of cultivations, and every small amount of power mattered when it was tested many times over centuries.

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There was also a secondary goal for focusing on that path. It would provide security for anyone who wished to travel around through the lower realms from the Scarlet Alliance to the Chaotic Conglomeration. They would have to use the new ships, of course. It wasn’t a current need that Anton was fulfilling, but instead something he anticipated would be useful in the future. Perhaps it would only be necessary to secure one system for border crossing, but that might actually reveal too much information, should the Exalted Quadrant be able to spy across the border.

Halfway to his goal, he had found only a few stars that he felt were noteworthy on their own, with another handful that had planets within their systems that possessed sufficient natural energy to consider settling. That wasn’t a surprise, given that the first systems immediately on the border were not surrounded by other systems full of natural energy. That meant that up to a third of their natural energy filtered out into the gap without use- the rest going to systems further into the lower realms or those around them on the border.

Anton took the time to explore some of the planets, and he found that even those with strong natural energy had no life. Any natural energy they had would be the product of a long period of time absorbing from their stars, ending at a balance of natural energy where they radiated as much as they gave off. Life, meanwhile, captured said natural energy in different ways- allowing the total amount planets had to build up over time if properly managed.

There were a number of terrestrial planets with clear markings. Scars from meteor impacts were part of that, but Anton detected signs of battles long past as well as mining operations. While the ores that could be found on a planet with lesser natural energy weren’t terribly valuable, they were still of some use to those who were earlier in their spacefaring journeys. Anton could only speculate whether the marks had come from natives to the lower realms or the Exalted Quadrant crossing the border, though the lack of permanent structures heavily implied the latter.

Anton was confident in his ability to actively sense occupied systems within ten or fifteen lightyears- usually two or three systems away from his position. He was somewhat disappointed to have not found any yet. He hoped that didn’t mean anything like the dead worlds they had found to the east, but he had the feeling he would come across at least one or two eventually.

Unless the Exalted Quadrant had gathered their ascenders from only a handful of systems, they had to have a presence on many occupied planets. Perhaps they simply weren’t so close to the border. Others would find them, then, or Anton might stumble across them when he expanded the area of his path. But for the moment, he was sufficiently occupied.

Much of his time was spent simply traveling between systems, which gave him a lot of time to think. About himself and his future cultivation, and the state of the known galaxy and the various factions within. His most important thoughts were how he could continue to build up the Lower Realms Alliance- and through them, the Scarlet Alliance in the upper realms. Simple expansion would bolster their numbers, but strength in individuals or strength in numbers were not desirable on their own. They needed to maintain what made everything work. Bonds between people and the environment they dwelled in… as well as with those they lived alongside.

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Prospero Vandale was called upon to be the first attempt a proper diplomatic outreach to the Silver Fang. He was accompanied by a fleet to aid him, of course. He had the necessary experience for the work from his position as the head of the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars as it had been at the time. Then he had served the Scarlet Alliance as a member of the council ever since it was properly established.

His prowess in battle was also necessary for this particular mission. Diplomacy between cultivators sometimes involved violence. There could be proper challenges that both parties agreed to with the intention to decide certain matters… or there could be unprovoked attacks or assassination attempts. Having a weak individual in such a role could mean frequent replacements, unless they had a particularly powerful guard who could fight while keeping them safe.

Prospero understood that was the case with Devon and Aerona in the lower realms, but he was sufficiently inclined towards the social side of things so there was no need to make things more complicated. Though he did have something like a guard in the presence of Hoyt. Proper backup was necessary, especially since the Silver Fang was known to have more than one Augmentation cultivator traveling together sometimes. They believed their chosen planet to have only one, but it was a reasonable precaution and the two worked well together.

For a brief moment Prospero had considered Fuzz and Spikes as well, but while their battle prowess was significant he wasn’t currently intending to provoke the Silver Fang. If they had proper respect for wolves it might go well, but he expected they would simply feel insulted, as if they were being made fun of somehow. Perhaps in the future, however.

The fleet carried Prospero, Hoyt, hundreds of Integration cultivators, and over a thousand Life Transformation cultivators. They might, after all, have to deal with the forces of an enemy planet- though it was unlikely the Silver Fang could gather the majority of their combat forces on the planet together all at once.

As they flew into the system, Prospero kept his aura extended as far as it could go, to catch anyone approaching so he could speak to them before they got within firing range. Or at least, as far as their ships were concerned. The Scarlet Alliance’s fleet had excellent range, and of course Prospero and Hoyt could attack from a great distance. Prospero’s range of influence had been measured in kilometers when he was merely in Life Transformation. Now that he was two stages higher as an Augmentation cultivator, while he couldn’t measure up against Anton he could target almost anywhere within a system. Even better if his target was outside atmosphere so he didn’t have to deal with friction.

Soon enough, Prospero noticed a group approaching. He hoped they didn’t have to kill too many of them before they were willing to stop and listen.