The Great Hall was a neutral zone in Everheart’s Tomb. That rule was partially enforced by those in attendance, and partially by the Tomb itself. Fighting didn’t cause any trouble from the Tomb unless someone touched the statue of Everheart, but if they did… there were wider ranging consequences. That was why there was an exclusion zone around each foot and the butt of the spear resting on the ground. Everyone kept a hundred meters away from them, which wasn’t too difficult. It wasn’t like anyone would touch it on accident, outside of combat where some people had very wide areas of attack.

The Great Hall itself was a massive empty space, except for the statue. The ceilings were impossibly high, kilometers up, with only occasional massive pillars holding them up. Catarina could easily tell that the pillars were mostly for show, and the formations on them did the bulk of the work. Because it was static, it didn’t require the excessive amounts of energy it might have otherwise, though the world they were on was quite high in the levels of ambient upper energy.

Though Everheart’s Tomb was the size of a smallish planet, the population density of actual cultivators was fairly small by some metrics. Only a few hundred thousand, maybe a million throughout. Still, thousands of individuals crowded near the center of the room to take shelter or do business with those who were. This was a place where people could relatively safely exchange the rewards they had received by surpassing trials. The only risks were potentially being spotted by greedy individuals who might decided to steal instead of buy- though that required following someone out of the safe zone.

The communal enforcement of the rules in this specific place was strong, but outside of the area people traveled in trusted groups, usually with others from their sects or clans. It was rare to see solo cultivators or pairs like Catarina and Timothy. Loners were often seen as easy targets… though sometimes they were instead surprisingly dangerous.

Before they had come in, Catarina and Timothy had a quick conversation about the Harmonious Citadel’s weapons. They might be able to trade them away and get something of similar value, but there was risk of that as well. Some of the others had no specific connection, so they should be safe to use or trade. The two of them couldn’t exactly use fifteen swords, and that didn’t count the various other things they’d taken from storage bags. Their recent battle had been profitable… but with enough danger they would prefer not to engage in similar activities regularly.

Over the course of several days they exchanged for a number of practical upgrades throughout the improvised bazaar that had been set up. They replaced their own weapons with some that didn’t have markings of the Harmonious Citadel, and traded for other pieces of equipment they could use themselves or thought their allies could. Hoyt and Alva should be arriving soon enough, though something about the planet made the communication not work reliably. Catarina wondered about that, but she was more interested in the statue.

“It’s weird,” Catarina said to Timothy.

“Is it?” he raised an eyebrow, “Frankly, it seems that everything else just didn’t properly display the size of Everheart’s ego.”

“Why is it here, though?” Catarina asked, “And not lording over the statues of all of those others elsewhere?”

“He might have another statue there,” Timothy pointed out. “Alva just didn’t mention it. I feel like there’s more, though.”

“There is,” Catarina nodded, but said nothing. Timothy had been with her most of their lives, so he knew she was thinking… and that she was remaining quiet because of what others might hear.

Hoyt was the first to arrive, and it was easy to sense his approach. The three of them shared a single cultivation technique, and there weren’t so many Integration cultivators that they wouldn’t take note of a new one approaching the area. “Finally made it,” he said, looking around. “Alva’s not here yet?”

“She was passing through the Garden, last we heard,” Timothy explained. “Though with the rest of us here, we might go look for her.”

“I don’t think that would be beneficial,” Catarina said. “If anyone can find their way through, it would be her. We might simply pass each other by, and get lost ourselves.”

“Yeah but… alone?”

“She said she had someone with her, I believe.”

There were no immediate responses from Alva, though it was unclear if the messages were getting through at all. Hoyt received updated communication options from Catarina while they waited, using materials she traded for. Then they had to wait for another week.

-----

“For the last time,” Alva said exasperated. “I don’t want the death flower.”

“Golden Rafflesia is a valuable cultivation resource,” Vari explained, “It would be a waste for one such as I to use it.”

“I’m not getting within a kilometer of that foul flower again. If you want to use it to cultivate murder or whatever, that’s your choice.”

“The scent of death it exudes allows meditation upon battle experiences, as well as life and death itself. It is a unique opportunity.”

“Then you should be happy to have it, right?” Alva asked.

“Of course, but it would be more effective in the hands of someone with talent.”

“Life and death really isn’t my specialty. Especially the last part. I’m more of a harmony sort,” Alva shrugged. “Anyway, just keep it. You can sell it if you want, I don’t care.” She used her hand to shield her eyes from the sun, “We’re finally almost there. That freaking huge waste of space.”

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“... The Great Hall?”

“Yeah.”

Their travels through the Gardens had been quite unpleasant, even with Alva leading them away from the most dangerous things. That involved approaching this ‘Golden Rafflesia’, a massive flower that felt like it was rotting her from the inside out every time she smelled it. It wasn’t, though. It just wanted very specific creatures to come to it, while keeping others away. Others being almost everything in the area, and it would have included Alva if there hadn’t been a large group of cultivators in one direction and some sort of worrying relative of a grasping willow in the other.

“Everheart is a terrible host,” Alva said. “He should put little rest shacks occasionally, instead of wide open areas of nothing, then overly large buildings full of ostentation and nothing practical.”

“Displaying one’s might is to be expected.”

“You sound almost like you admire Everheart.”

“Should I not? He’s said to be supremely powerful.”

“Didn’t the Harmonious Citadel have conflict with him? He stole a bunch of their statues.”

“No he didn’t. Those were replicas.”

“Sure, right.” Alva shook her head, “Anyway, he’s an asshole.”

“I don’t know how you could know that. I have been with you most of your time in the upper realms, and before that you couldn’t have interacted with him.”

“Right. I’ve never met him, but I certainly got that impression.” And her words were true, in a way.

“Anyway,” Vari said, “I’m sure someone that strong has reasons to act the way they do.”

Maybe, Alva supposed. But that didn’t make him not an asshole. Sensible gardens didn’t have more than one or two things that could kill people, but the whole thing was full of the most dangerous creatures in existence! Probably. Not counting void ants, or Paradise. Or Fuzz, but he was a special exception.

“I sense others with the same cultivation style as yours,” Vari said. “Two men and a woman. I assume these are your companions?”

“That’s right,” Alva said. “I guess I should introduce you.” It still took some time to get close, but the others moved towards her as well. “Hey everyone. This is Vari. She’s following me around for some reason. Vari, this is my cousin Catarina, her husband Timothy, and my friend Hoyt.”

“Greetings, Lady Catarina, Lords Timothy and Hoyt,” Vari inclined her head.

“Is she alright?” Catarina asked.

Alva shrugged, “I don’t know. She’s just like this. Hey, actually…” Alva snatched something. “Tell me you can see this. Please?”

“What is it?” Catarina asked, leaning close. “Some sort of energy strand?”

“Oh good,” Alva breathed a sigh of relief, “I thought I was going crazy. Do you think it’s safe to absorb.”

“I can try,” Catarina said… but her attempts to control it were fruitless. “It doesn’t appear to like me.”

Alva looked at Vari. “Dammit.”

“Do you know what it is?” Catarina asked.

“I don’t know… devotion? Delusion? Could be either,” Alva said. “So, how are things here?”

-----

Things had gone quite well at the peace conference. Nobody had even drawn weapons, let alone been stabbed. So far, everyone was following through with their parts of the arrangement, but there were many years yet to go. At some point, hopefully there would be peace without all of this extra mess. Though it would take work to maintain. It was only a question of how much attention to devote to that aspect, and how much to developing the world.

Anton firmly believed they would need to be stronger for the next invasion. The Trigold cluster likely wouldn’t just let them off with what had already happened. Or maybe they would, in which case being stronger simply allowed them to establish themselves as a factor beyond their single world.

News trickling in from the upper realms was mostly positive. Apparently Everheart only had a single Tomb in the upper realms, but it was massive and deadly. It seemed to serve a different purpose than the ones on their own world. He didn’t have any way to provide relevant input on that discussion, of course. Not from where he was.

Anton knew any attempts to go to the upper realms would be deadly, but he idly considered if he could move to another planet in the lower realms. As if he could take the time away, or give up his responsibilities. And even if he could, he would likely find himself subconsciously feeling responsibility for what else went on atop distant planets. That might not be valid, and would certainly be disruptive. It was better to avoid such thoughts for a while. Maybe a couple centuries, after which point he would be dead or possibly unnecessary. And while at various points he would have hated to be the latter, the longer he lived the more he wouldn’t mind it.

-----

Fire burned inside Anton. As his connection to the sun grew stronger, Anton had empowered the other stars inside him. It was a slow process. Noticing a significant difference within a year was already beyond what could reasonably be expected. He was making some small strides, however. Perhaps it was rude to consider the amount of energy a first star cultivator had insignificant, but it wasn’t unfair. If their stars were equivalent, he would be worth a hundred- but they weren’t. Not by far.

Anton felt he could get wrapped up in an endless cycle of cultivation, withdrawing from the world and focusing only on his own growth. It might be nice to forget about the world, but if he did, he would no longer be himself. So he had to keep himself from drifting off.

Then Anton felt something. It was different from the natural energy he had inside himself, even that of the sun. Its power was… tolerable. The small strand of energy was insignificant compared to his total, but its density was admirable. Anton wasn’t sure what had formed it, though. It wasn’t quite like anything he recognized. The closest might be strands of insight, but this didn’t carry with it thoughts or memories, but pure energy. After carefully observing it to determine if it was tainted with another’s control, Anton couldn’t find anything. It was strange, because though it wasn’t a part of him it felt like perhaps it should be. Or it wanted to be.

He was careful, but he integrated it into his own cultivation. It felt… good? Like he had cultivated for several days instead of just minutes. Perhaps it was some stray bit of energy from some precious material that had formed or passed nearby. He would ask around the sect to see if any of them knew what it was from. He didn’t want to deprive anyone of their own cultivation resources, but if there was more like that, he would be interested to procure such for himself. It might be time for a little adventure.