Elder Cultivator-Chapter 1194

A special ward had been put together for those who had battled Shelach. Those who survived the battle, that is. If not for Aconites efforts, quite a few wouldn’t have. Some of those were just barely holding on.

One of those individuals was Durff, though from his face nobody would be able to tell. “We got him! Heh, hah-” his laughter devolved into a coughing fit. His lungs might be among the least damaged organs in his body but they certainly weren’t in good shape.

Aconite growled, “Unnecessary talking should be ceased.”

“You took like,” Durff coughed. “A thousand times more poison than me.”

“I was far more prepared as well,” Aconite said.

The way she limped around threatened to undermine her words, but the fact that she could move at all was testament to her efforts. However, even if she had immunized herself against some selection of Shelach’s poisons, that wasn’t necessarily possible with all of them. Her rapid adaptations could only do so much against those she had no prior knowledge of.

Chidi was doing his best to pretend to be asleep. He wouldn’t have opened his eyes regardless, but his breathing patterns might give him away. Despite being one of the primary targets, he had minimized the injuries he received from Shelach. Unfortunately, he had little energy to fight off some of the poisons. But he’d made it through the initial period of danger. He would have to trust his recovery to the Scarlet Alliance’s doctors.

-----

Celebrations would come for the Scarlet Alliance… but only after the mourning period. The victory had come at great cost, and money was the least of those. The fact that they made it out with both Timothy and Catarina was astounding, though both could use a few decades of recovery at minimum.

It seemed to take forever for messages to come and go from their more distant allies. The news of the assault being over would come barely behind the initial transmissions. In turn, they were receiving news of victories to the southeast and to the west. Two Domination cultivators drawn away- one slain, the other merely distracted. If it had not been for both, the Scarlet Alliance might not have survived.

Other news came more slowly. It was perhaps unsurprising to learn that Everheart took advantage of the situation to cause chaos in the domains of the Great Powers. Nothing so monumental as the deaths of Domination cultivators, except one that was tied to the great battle. The death of Cynbel was an anomaly- not that nobody expected Everheart could kill a fellow Domination cultivator, but simply his manner of death.

According to the local recordings- which were admittedly more focused on the conflicts of the Scarlet Alliance cultivators- Cynbel hadn’t been killed by Everheart. He had simply… exploded. With news from the Exalted Quadrant, they were able to piece something together, though it was difficult to say how accurate it was.

The news said that Everheart himself attacked the Ponderous Turtle Clan and wiped out Cynbel’s anchor. That wasn’t the sort of thing that people could easily confuse- the presence of a Domination cultivator was not something people would misjudge, so it shouldn’t be a projection. But in that case, they had to wonder about the one that had been in battle around Xankeshan. As far as anyone knew, that was the real Everheart as well.

-----

Timothy wasn’t fully recovered when he began the campaign to free the Scarlet Midfields of the remnants of the great powers. This time, there would be no great compact between the two sides. It clearly only held them as long as they were going to ignore each other anyway.

Instead, there would be a declaration. The Scarlet Alliance would not accept any of them anywhere in the Midfields, even those areas that had not been previously under their claim. The first to protest could see how well they stood up against a Domination cultivator. Some people might not believe how many perished, simply because they did not wish to believe. But the only ones who mattered were the remaining Domination cultivators, and they would be the most well equipped to verify the truth.

Technically, the Scarlet Alliance themselves only killed one. However, it was clear that Ratna had acted in their interests. That might have placed her at risk, if the Great Powers were still worthy of being called that. Being allied with a faction that had two publicly known Domination cultivators was sufficient deterrent, though the details hadn’t yet been formalized.

-----

Velvet sat in silence. She had survived the war, but she didn’t know if she should have.

That thought was gently pushed away. It was difficult to get away from old human tendencies, even after cultivating for ages.

People surviving after a battle wasn’t about whether they should or shouldn’t. They just did. Her contributions… weren’t as much as many of those she knew. That was what hurt. Yet she also knew that was going to be the case before everything began.

An assassin wasn’t much good if they couldn’t kill high priority targets. She’d been able to help conceal people on their way to attack the Citadel of Exalted Light and Zaur’s anchor, but there was nothing she could do about fully alert Domination cultivators. The people who could do something about them she could literally count on one hand, with fingers to spare. Even counting Ratna… but certainly not Everheart.

Something told her she should have tried to help with Shelach. Logic told her that she might have diverted one or two attacks before she died.

Ratna had killed a Domination cultivator, and her style wasn’t so far from Velvet. Yet… she had also remained hidden for the majority of the battle. Velvet would be hard pressed to conclude she made more than exactly two attacks during the whole thing. Velvet herself had struck down more foes than that. Lesser opponents, certainly, but no doubt those she saved didn’t find her contributions less relevant to them.

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Velvet knew that she wasn’t going to make big moves, but she still felt things. It didn’t help that many of her best friends were injured. Even that lovable idiot Durff was… not well. At least his tenacity matched his recklessness.

All Velvet wanted to do was go on vacation… forever. But could she? The Scarlet Alliance would need her more than ever. This was a delicate time, where any factions moving against them could cause outmatched damage. They needed to be ready, should something happen. ꞦἈɴöＢĘȘ

-----

Void ants in the lower realms were agitated because the Great Queen was agitated. It was not the sort of thing that would affect most people, even those that interacted with void ants. Anishka heard all about it, though.

“They should have kept his head for display,” the Sergeant explained.

Anishka rolled her eyes. “That’s not even a void ant tradition. And it was entirely impractical. Was participating in the death of a different Domination cultivator not good enough for her?”

“You know her feelings on Anton.”

“We should think of a way to occupy her. How about colony establishment?”

“We don’t need any more,” the Sergeant replied.

“Not here, we don’t,” Anishka admitted. “But the upper realms… this is the best time.”

“It would be a great risk. Should those who remain rally against us, you humans would lose greatly.”

“That is true,” Anishka agreed. “But there are already void ants in the upper realms. I think it would be better to make certain that they have the opportunity to remain.”

“... the lesser queens are doing well,” the Sergeant commented. “But the Great Queen might find it a useful diversion.”

-----

Anton approved. Not that he would ever disapprove of strengthening bonds with allies. The Lower Realms Alliance was already spreading west to some extent. Doing so with intention to join up with the Chaotic Conglomeration- or at least those they were truly allied with- was a plan he could get behind.

It was also one that didn’t need him, except maybe to stand around looking fancy. He wouldn’t mind doing that sometimes, as long as he could sit around wherever he wanted in between.

-----

“I want the see-through ones!” Durff declared.

“Sir, if you please,” said a doctor. “I have not yet finished explaining the benefits and detriments of the different sorts of artificial organs. If you would-”

“Can you make my-” Durff spasmed and coughed, but didn’t lose his momentum, “-my skin see-through as well? I want people to know my guts melted. Though I guess they won’t be able to see it through my armor.” He had to take slow, deep breaths to steady himself.

“The performance of each type will be slightly lower in certain areas,” the woman continued to explain. “There is some level of ability to… mix and match organs. We could create a comprehensive plan for you.”

“You can’t just grow new ones?” Durff asked.

“If it was just one or two…” the doctor frowned. “But with such a significant injury, your body’s core might be distorted. Artificial organs will allow you to recognize the loss.”

Durff frowned for a while. “Can I grow them back myself?”

“Do you practice any regeneration techniques?”

“I underwent some advanced body tempering.”

“That’s one of the issues. Natural organ replacements would be unbalanced. Artificial ones should be able to serve you for the rest of your natural lifespan.”

“... Am I dying?” Durff asked.

The doctor said nothing for a few moments. “I have learned enough not to declare anything with certainty where cultivators are concerned. There are always new developments of techniques and technologies. The only thing I can say with certainty is that if you don’t begin to improve soon… yes, you will likely die.”

“... You’re bad at motivating speeches.”

“That’s why I became a doctor,” the woman said. “I can only provide you an accurate assessment. I can tell you that a positive attitude will help, and direct you to mental training techniques if you need them.”

“I’d rather learn to regenerate my organs than to feel better without them,” Durff said. “Unless you can make upgrades?”

“Over normal organs? Yes. Compared to how you were? Our methods aren’t there yet. It’s not generally necessary. There’s deeper issue, as well,” the woman said. “That’s what stopped me from recommending you try to heal your own organs.”

“The damage to my cultivation,” Durff declared.

“That’s the most difficult to deal with. We don’t know the extent to which this particular sort of damage will restrict you.”

“I can tell you,” Durff said.

“It will be painful.”

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“More than staying like this?” Durff asked. The doctor had no response. “Then I’m going to do it. But if anyone figures out how to grow some miracle fruits, put me on the list.”

“I’ve already considered the ‘miraculous’ medicinal options.”

“Hmm. I heard about a good one that appears after a lot of people die. So once some of those start growing, someone needs to figure out how to make it normally. Then you can put me on the list.”

“... I suppose we can potentially expect appearances of Dubet’s Heart. Though normally those were in places of complete annihilation.”

“Oh! I think that was the name,” Durff agreed. “Say, if I cough up my lungs will that make the replacement surgery easier?”

“... Please rest,” the doctor encouraged him.

-----

Although the Scarlet Alliance had suffered significant damage, their lower realms counterparts were doing well. Their distraction had caused some deaths from various factions, but they had a vast area to draw upon. Furthermore, cultivators weren’t easily suppressed by disaster. It made some of them more eager to Ascend… and all of them would be going to the Scarlet Alliance.

This was their opportunity to outpace the rest of the upper realms. The Exalted Quadrant had nothing to draw upon but their own planets. The Trigold Cluster extended further east beyond the Lower Realms Alliance’s territory… but a significant portion of their influence in the lower realms had been severed. By the time of the next cycle, they might have nothing at all- unless they wished to send their remaining Domination cultivators to die in the lower realms.