It was one month before Misi reported back to Velvet with information about void ants and the Chaotic Conglomeration. “Sorry it took so long,” he said. “Some of the information was difficult to find without mentioning names to the librarian.”

“In that case, I believe you were rather quick with your results,” Velvet replied. “You and Juli are known to be curious, so most likely anything you asked about wouldn’t have been notable. How did you find what you were looking for?”

“Library search techniques. We needed them before joining the Scarlet Alliance, since there weren’t any computer databases,” Misi explained. “It is a similar sort of data processing technique as Ten Thousand Scrolls, except you never even see things with your eyes. Instead, you find certain connected words.” He shrugged. “Even in those libraries ‘available to the public’, sects often try to gain an edge by making it difficult for others to find what they are looking for. They can still say they fulfilled certain obligations of making information available to others that way.”

“Interesting. So how are the results?”

“Nothing I would worry about, at least,” Misi commented. “It doesn’t appear that most of the Chaotic Conglomeration actually came into contact with the void ants. They participated in extermination efforts only on planets where they personally came into conflict. There’s only so much I can learn from the information available on a single planet, but I would suppose that they have a healthy fear of void ants, but no long term vendetta.”

“They shouldn’t be too biased against it, then,” Velvet nodded. “I would expect the Spirit Slicing Sect to eventually agree to our terms regardless, but being able to properly spread the influence through agreements with other sects is rather important for this plan to come to fruition.”

Velvet wondered how long she would have to wait for a response. She understood that Runa and Emrik would need some time to consider the situation, and more to convince elders or potentially other sect heads to go along with their plans. The fact that things had to be done in secret would make it more difficult as well.

However, she simply hoped that things would not stretch too much into cultivator time frames. If they waited decades to begin, that was a significant amount of time wasted. The sooner they could add to their options, the sooner they could achieve the necessary growth to withstand the increased pressure from the Exalted Quadrant.

-----

The problem Velvet had left for Catarina and the Scarlet Alliance to solve was more difficult than it appeared. The simplified version could be described as ‘detect a Domination cultivator’, but they could already do that in normal circumstances. Nor was it even as straightforward as ‘create formations that can detect Ratna’s hidden cultivation’.

Creating a solution that solved one problem while not solving a broader problem lingering behind a waste of time and resources. They could begin the project right now, and Catarina could guarantee that their teams would work out a solution that could detect Ratna’s hidden cultivation crossing their borders… probably about the time she left and had the actual ambassador come replace her.

They already had ways to detect Domination cultivators, though that was those who were traveling openly. Those who were hiding themselves with proper techniques were a trickier prospect- especially because it would benefit the Alliance most if they were detected without tipping them off.

So the process really became to detect obvious Domination cultivators openly, and hidden ones in secret. Tuning things to individual cultivators might be possible considering the limited number of Domination cultivators- but that was assuming they hadn’t missed any information.

This led to many long nights trying to solve seemingly simple questions with Engineer Uzun. Among their questions was one they repeated frequently.

“What is an Anchor?”

The answer was manyfold. It was a physical object bound to a Domination cultivator.

“It might not need to be physical, though,” Uzun postulated. “We can’t assume anything simply because the Citadel of Exalted Light is Zaur’s.”

“The ensoulment chambers of the Twin Soul Sect, or something closely tied to them, seemed to have been Sudin’s.”

“Too bad nobody was about to observe that. Then again, I don’t think anyone anticipated that result. Not even you.”

Catarina smiled. “I have great faith in Anton. But no, that was a surprise. Even he doesn’t believe he could consistently replicate the same circumstances. So let’s go over what else we know. What about her?” Catarina didn’t want to say the name while Ratna was even on the same planet, no matter how much she believed in their privacy formations.

“No known anchor. Koronis is rumored to have some sort of beast. Which does somewhat counteract the other part of my definition. Not an object. So far, physical seems likely.”

“And Everheart… systems? Or perhaps the formations within the systems?” Catarina shook her head. “It could be something deceptively simple, or deceptively complicated.” The deception was not in question, of course. It was Everheart they were talking about.

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“We might need to risk someone studying his systems. Vari might be able to accomplish it but… he may be more sensitive to such scrutiny now,” Uzun commented. “And we can’t be certain if the ‘original’ Everheart system or some other is the actual anchor.”

“Maybe none of them,” Catarina suggested. “But then we wouldn’t have a way to find out. So we’ll have to base everything on what Velvet did. A minor flow of devotion, and a connection to something with a greater flow. Detecting that without alerting someone like Ratna… actually, this is a great opportunity to test it, if we can complete the project.”

“More formations work?” Uzun asked.

“I think we might have too many. And if we’re chiefly concerned with Domination cultivators… wouldn’t some sort of technology be optimal? They might not even realize it does anything. Most likely it would require a hybrid, but straining energy flow by weaving in complex detection systems to the borders could cause more harm than good.”

“Our drones could use upgrades as well. Not just in detection, but also transmission speed.”

Uzun was most likely thinking of Koronis’ approach. If the warnings had come significantly ahead, they might have been able to react properly. Or if they had detected her as Domination- or a half step from it- then they could have had different warnings.

Tied in with their wish to understand Anchors was the potential to use them to advance themselves- or at least someone in the Scarlet Alliance. They still had many questions- did an Anchor need to be made of precious materials? The Citadel of Exalted Light clearly was, and it was durable- but that didn’t mean it was necessary, nor that the durability was not imbued by the process.

They had to compare to Assimilation and other similar paths as well. Quality certainly mattered for Assimilation, but most important was connection. Worldbinding cultivators weren’t inherently weaker than Assimilation, but instead many of them had been connected to planets merely for the sake of strength and an alternative to Ascension, not because that was what fit. An exception had been the necromancers of the Ivory Maw. Because of that, Bala Sykora had been one of the most dangerous foes they encountered during that time.

It was clear that there were significant differences between Assimilation and Domination, not just the timing and cultivation ranks when they were begun. But they needed more information to determine exactly how much. Perhaps they would be fortunate and Koronis would slip up- she was new, after all, and they might be able to witness what changed as she completed her advancement. Or Ratna might give them a few more tidbits. Perhaps they could gently prod ‘Vlasta’ on the topic.

They would likely have to give something up even for scraps of information, but to secure the future of the Scarlet Alliance understanding Domination was critical.

-----

Several populated systems were discovered all at once in the western portion of the lower realms. They were further removed from the vague plane most of their current known occupied systems were on. Scouts had noted their locations, but first contact had been delayed. The Lower Realms Alliance wanted to make a good first impression, and they also had to consider that many of the systems could be under Exalted Quadrant influence- either direct or indirect.

They needed to be prepared to act upon whatever they discovered. With the cycle having passed just a few decades prior, it wouldn’t be possible to protect any of the systems- except that wasn’t quite the case. While it was more prominently seen among the Trigold Cluster, devastating a planet and infiltrating their sects as they regrew was a tactic the upper realms used. Catching them early in that process would be better.

Either way, they wanted to prepare a balanced revelation of force, enough to show strength but not be unnecessarily intimidating. They had no desire to provoke wars unnecessarily, nor to lose any ships because they were too meek.

Of course, there was one approach that was frequently quite successful, but Anton had specifically expressed his opinions that those specialized in diplomacy should be the ones to take care of those matters. It was not that he didn’t care or wouldn’t assist them, but he didn’t want to deny experience to those who would thrive in such scenarios.

-----

Anton was quite pleased to come across a planet teeming with life. He sensed no cultivators, nor beasts of significant power. Instead, it was simply a planet with a balance of life. Many of the lifeforms were familiar to him- be they plants, animals, or more exotic forms. But some were new- at least to him.

Cataloging the life of an entire planet was actually a much larger endeavor than it seemed. He might be able to quickly approximate the total biomass of the planet, but calculating the number and diversity of even one category of related species was a monumental task. Anton had a particular affinity for plants, especially those that were usable as food, but even he wouldn’t dare to say he could casually catalog every minute variety of grains alone on the planet.

His focus was mostly on those things he found to be entirely new. Were they simply complicated inter breeding of plants he would have recognized, or were they unique to the planet- potentially native?

Either way, he had strong feelings of similarity to Akrys. A life-seeded planet. Except this one had not developed such powerful energy, and certainly not enough to promote seemingly normal animals into sapient life.

The purpose of such a place was unknown, which made it most intriguing. Was this a powerful cultivator’s personal garden project? The product of a nearby civilization that had forgotten about it? Perhaps he might find someone just a few systems away, preparing an expedition to observe their work.

It was unlikely that the planet was developed by the upper realms. It was too far from the borders to be convenient, unlike Akrys. Though perhaps it still was, in which case Anton could say it was something of a failed project. Not because it wasn’t a good planet, but because it wasn’t extraordinary enough for cultivators to travel all that way for. At least, not those interested in scouring the planet for resources.

The Lower Realms Alliance doubtless had many individuals who would be glad to come visit, just to see it. Their people were able to appreciate a place for what it was as well as what it could be, without everything being envisioned solely as resource extraction sites.

Not that the Lower Realms Alliance didn’t need many supplies of different sorts. However, they were wise enough to build up the places they had to become something more, instead of taking away until there was nothing left. That was even possible with seemingly non-renewable resources such as stone and metal ores. They did not grow naturally, but cultivators could even replenish stores of precious metals with the right techniques. Matter wouldn’t suddenly appear on its own, but there were plenty of barren planets that could never host life that could easily be repurposed into something more.

Some cultivators might not care, seeing the galaxy as endless. But Anton could already see how such thoughts led them to stagnation, greedy desires to expand into neighboring territory only to run into others with much the same thoughts. Even their own Alliance could devolve into that, if they did not continue under wise leadership. Though Anton didn’t have any true concerns about that, it was important to consider far into the future.