Soon enough Varghese returned home to In’istra. The war still had them on the defensive, until they could gather more information about their enemies. Obviously information on deadly weapons wouldn’t be freely available, but they were currently doing their best to observe the reactions of the Trigold cultivators to an entire system being gone. Even the most ruthless cultivators would be put off by such a thing. No matter which side they were told caused the event, some trepidation could be expected.
Almost casual destruction of allies- whether that was what was intended or not- was bound to make people hesitant. And if they thought the Lower Realms Alliance or Shining Cooperative had been at fault, they would be wondering if it could be done again, just as those who had witnessed it and survived.
On that topic, it was highly improbable that nobody from the Trigold Cluster had escaped the system, even if some group attempted to clean them up. But perhaps those who survived would have gone into hiding, fearing for their own lives.
Though it was considered extremely unlikely they could detonate another star, it was clear they had more than a few dangerous and unexpected methods of assault, and thus any Trigold Cultivators that approached friendly territory were eliminated as quickly as possible, just to be safe.
-----
The war would continue for some time. Anton knew that, but he retained his resolve to not be a major participant. It was quite difficult for him to do so, and if they had destroyed a friendly system instead of one of their own- for whatever reason that came about- Anton most likely would not have kept the same stance. It would have been worth using his last few bound stars to crush important enemy systems… though of course, there was the risk that such stars would be destroyed. It was something Varghese would have to consider as well. But they were not ready to go on the offensive again just yet.
Regardless of whether or not he intended to fight in this particular war, Anton had reasons to continue to grow stronger. Stronger, and more versatile- and mobile. Obviously his combat mobility was not the issue, but it was related to bound stars. He was still in the process of replacing his earlier cultivation stars with actual bonded stars, one at a time. He also taught the technique to Varghese, who after his first success had some insights.
The core of his insight was that even after a single star replaced, Varghese was nearing his current limit for that particular technique. And if Anton considered carefully, he could sense his own limit. With the two of them and some time in meditation, it was easy enough to discern the truth with reasonable confidence. For each star past one hundred, one of the previous stars could be replaced with another bound star. For Anton, that meant he didn’t have a full ninety-nine extra stars, but just short of double was still quite useful.
He could bind a small handful of stars to fit into his later cultivation advancements, but he had room for over thirty others through the much slower process of replacement and attunement. That was a sufficient number to create a solid route throughout the Lower Realms Alliance where he could both travel quickly and fight against any intrusions.
-----
Anton slowly made his way back towards Ceretos, replacing a few stars of his own along the way. He understood that he would be unable to provide assistance as he moved further away, but that would minimize the temptation to act unnecessarily. There were plenty of brave individuals guarding the border worlds, formation masters bolstering their detection abilities. Indeed, the less he participated the more the Shining Cooperative and the Lower Realms Alliance had to work together, sharing information with each other.
That made Anton quite pleased, along with the fact that Kybele was the first of them to reach Assimilation. Well, perhaps that wasn’t quite true. There were a few nearly simultaneous events, as far as cultivators reckoned things. The announcements were months apart, but it was easy for cultivators in isolation to lose small units of time like months. Though proper clocks helped immensely, keeping track of the date for people.
Another one of those who advanced was one of the oldest among them, a formation master known as Ravil from the Righteous Inscription Sect. He was a man who could have ascended long before, if they trusted ascension not to deliver them into enemy hands. There were steps being made to allow some to ascend into the Scarlet Alliance, but most people were more concerned about the worlds of the Shining Cooperative than advancing their cultivation in that particular manner. And Assimilation was often a better option, for those with strong attachments to places and ideas.
-----
Anton found Ceretos to be quite bustling with activity. It always was, of course, but relevantly the activity centered around stronger individuals, where often there were long periods of downtime. Rather than guessing what everything was about, Anton went to find Vincent. He was recognized as he approached the sect, entering through the gates properly instead of trying to pass through the barrier. In the past, he’d been willing to cut corners like that- now, he didn’t want the barriers opened casually, especially if it could be for an imposter. Not that it would be simple to fake being Anton, in particular, but he wanted to be the best example he could.
And Vincent always entered through the front gates, greeting everyone as he passed. Anton still maintained knowledge of every name and face within the multiplanetary sect, but he didn’t know everyone. Vincent took the time to speak to people and learn more about them than was in their files. Anton admired that, because he couldn’t do that for so many no matter how much he enjoyed what socialization he took part in.
“Welcome back, Sect Head,” Vincent greeted him after he reached the peak. “What can I do for you?”
“A good question,” Anton said. “I shall also ask the same of you, in a moment. Things are quite busy around here, I see.”
“Yes. We have a handful of people preparing for Ascension… or Assimilation. Actually, a few wanted to consult you on starbinding. I was preparing some messages to send your way when you mentioned your return.”
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“Perhaps you didn’t think it would take years,” Anton said.
“No, quite the contrary. You didn’t say you would be here expediently. You were clear enough it would take time. For matters more time sensitive, I would have still sent a proper message.” Vincent frowned, “Oh, you should speak to Sect Head Lev as well. He wished to consult you, I believe.”
Anton nodded. “I will go there as well. You can inform everyone I intend to be in the system for some time, and am available as needed.”
-----
Grandfather Willow waved to Anton as he approached. Unlike many sects, the Grasping Willows didn’t rely on formations as one of their primary defenses- they would restrict the tree too much. It was more than just a reactive plant in its current state, able to actively move against foes even without conscious effort from Lev.
“Anton,” Lev smiled as they saw each other. “Good to have you back.”
“I try to drop in as frequently as is reasonable,” Anton said. “Though I should be able to cut down on travel times soon enough.”
“That’s great,” Lev said. “Actually, I was considering a plan that would make me more mobile myself. Though I don’t think it will ever reach the same level as you.”
“Really?” Anton raised an eyebrow. “I don’t know if Grandfather Willow can spread his branches much further without taking over surrounding territory.”
“It’s true,” Lev said. “Though he can reach a bit higher, before he strains for air. But actually, this is a project I began some time ago. You see, I took clippings of Grandfather to various planets.”
“I was aware you had other branches,” Anton said. “But I thought the willows planted were of the plain variety.”
“Actually, there wasn’t much difference,” Lev admitted. “Grandfather Willow took nearly half a millennium to reach a proper size. So the special plantings are only just starting to appear exceptional. The point is for me to bind to them as well… though hopefully without losing my particular strengths here.”
“I would leave that judgment up to you. However, I can certainly see others planted in this system at least providing further mobility.”
“That is what I hope for. But they’re far too weak at the moment. Which is why I would like to request your assistance. You have some control over the sunlight here in this system. If you could concentrate it on a few of them… without taking away from everything else, of course.”
“It’s possible,” Anton admitted. “Most of the sunlight released is going to miss all of our planets. But creating streams of condensed power longer term would be a bit… difficult to maintain.”
“I thought so,” Lev said. “So we have prepared some formations to try to assist. And I’ve been talking to your sect.”
“Ah yes. We might have some more Assimilation cultivators on a similar path to myself,” Anton nodded. “They could focus on a single place easily enough.”
“We’d want your permission, of course. And your guidance on whether it’s a terrible idea,” Lev added. “Because I might be missing some disastrous result.”
“If you’re still willing to wait a century or two, doubling or tripling the available sunlight for a giant tree isn’t too difficult. Perpetual daylight might not even be impossible. However, even though we are friends I think we would need an exchange of services between our sects.”
“Obviously,” Lev said. “This is a large project. And I wouldn’t want others to complain that we received some sort of handout.”
“They wouldn’t possibly,” Anton waved his hand. “At least not when they believe you to be within earshot.”
Lev chuckled. “There are quite a few people who believe things about how far my senses go, and I’ve not yet had any reason to inform them otherwise. Nothing truly problematic, of course. But people have their own ambitions and desire their own growth. So about those dangers…”
“As long as you don’t ask for too much, I can’t foresee many issues. The area might be hot, but the prominence of other trees will help mitigate that. Oh, and you’ll need to secure more water of course. Perhaps some exceptional airflow, though some of that will happen naturally with convection currents. But on a small scale of just a few thousand square meters on a few planets, there shouldn’t be a disruption to the system’s light as a whole. And outside of the system, the missing power would be just a negligible blip.”
“The plan is to expand to Weos and Rutera as well. Perhaps the Sylanis systems.”
“You’ll have to convince people,” Anton said. “But I think it is a good idea… once people have proper control. It may take a decade or two for those beyond myself to be able to provide a steady change in the flow of sunlight. We absolutely don’t want to disrupt the rest of the planet.”
Lev shook his head. “Certainly not. I’d prefer to have them see us as valuable neighbors. I expect Rutera will want to log the growth of the tree, but that might actually suit us just as well. Obviously I wasn’t there for the birth of the Grandfather Willow.”
“Neither was I,” Anton pointed out.
“Are you sure?” Lev raised an eyebrow.
“I’m not that old, brat!” Anton laughed. In fact, currently Anton was barely over a quarter older than Lev. It was the difference between somewhere around four hundred years old versus three hundred and twenty- rounding to nearest decades, of course. It was just that Lev had attained his cultivation while young, and Anton had done so while old. He still maintained his aged looks, though not quite so wrinkly and spotted as he had been for a few decades. He might be able to force himself to look younger, but he’d gotten over such vanity before he became a cultivator, if he even had any.
“Well, we have a plan,” Anton said. “Let me know how arrangements go on your end. I’ll help along my people. Then I’ll hopefully be getting back to binding new stars along the route to Akrys.”
“Are you ever going to bind Akrys itself?” Lev asked.
“I would like to, yes. But at this point I’m still waiting for a unified planet… and by the time that happens, I might as well see if someone else can do it first. Three Squeaks deserves that chance. And perhaps it’s better if the system is fully under the locals’ control.”
“It’s not as if you don’t have great sway there,” Lev said. “Even if you won’t force anyone to do anything, you have many friends.”
Anton shrugged. “That’s not so bad. And I heard they’re doing quite well finding ways to improve their own planet, after our boost. It should certainly turn into something unique.”