Technically speaking, there was no need to try to draw out anyone if Chikeres thod of detecting them was reliable. However, moving from one person to two people potentially randomly encountering soone still wasnt efficient. It might be possible for Enchanter Stasiuk to teach others, but the thod was sowhat obtuse. Nor could it be guaranteed to work for everyone they wanted to find. If their thod was discovered, it would be simple for people to hide their true weapons in a storage bag, or acquire weapons with different origins.
The Ears of the Fox had another reason to not wait. Besides the fact that Chikeres thod hadnt been tested extensively, the sooner they could get information the sooner they could sell it, and there were many people looking to buy. They even had a bit of a personal vendetta, since so of their junior mbers had been attacked as well.
With Chikeres plan to draw people out involving mbers of the Order, it brought other factors into play. While their disciples could technically do whatever they wanted, the Order was also invested in keeping them alive. Beyond that, as a righteous sect they were invested in stopping the attacks as soon as possible even if it werent going to affect their disciples directly. But if it was, they would want to take special precautions.
The problem was figuring out a way to keep them properly safe without scaring off the would-be attackers. More than that, even if they managed to draw out a group, gaining any benefits from the operation was questionable. Killing a few enemy cultivators might be beneficial, but it wasnt necessarily worth the risks. What they needed was concrete information that could be used to unveil more people.
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Authors note: The last ti Elder Matousek showed up I accidentally was referring to her as male. Whoops! I guess thats what happens when soone doesnt show up for a hundred chapters. Should be fixed now.
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Grand Elder Bohdana Matousek hadnt been present at the battle in Black Soul Valley. That hadnt been her choice, but at the behest of the Order as a whole. Even if she would have been able to sway the tide further in their favor, soone had to stay to defend the Order. She couldnt help but think that so of the others would have survived, or Vandale avoided injury, had she been present. But excessive dwelling on the past never benefited anyone. It was important to focus on the task at hand.
Despite the Frostmirror Sects location high in the mountains and the fact that many of their buildings were ford from ice, it was actually a rather pleasant temperature in the areas ant for visitors. With a bit of effort ice could be made not to lt until it was much warr than the standard freezing point, making it easy to build with.
Even though ice was effectively free, the Frostmirror Sect was not cheap. The ready availability of materials allowed them to make walls many tis thicker than most, all bolstered by formations to enhance their durability. They were also intricately designed, with beautiful carvings all along the walls. It was one of the few non-practical things that the Frostmirror Sect allowed. Though perhaps it was practical in a way, to have defining features on the walls to keep every corridor from feeling the sa.
Still freezing the place? the final arrival asked brashly.
Elder Adelina of the Frostmirror Sect- still quite young despite her title and early Life Transformation cultivation- settled her eyes on the last woman. Sarka. Just because Glorious Fla Palace cultivators like to sweat does not make this particular temperature freezing. It is intentionally made to be comfortable for the widest variety of people.
The fact that Glorious Fla Palace and the Frostmirror Sect were working together didnt make them suddenly friends. But Matousek was glad that at least that was as far as the words went. There was one more woman present, a woman from the Ears of the Fox. Robinson. This particular group being all won was simply a coincidence, since n also liked to be in on plotting and planning for combat.
Once they actually got started, there were quite a few ideas thrown around. Elder Sarka was of course more interested in a straightforward attack, but none of the mbers of Glorious Fla Palace were really suited for stealth. Their movents were generally obvious, and thus they were easy to avoid. Grand Elder Matousek didnt actually mind their straightforward nature, but sotis it was unsuitable for a task. In this case, if they were going to put in so much effort they really needed to get sothing out of it. It wouldnt do just to risk the lives of their juniors.
The entire plan was predicated on the probability that there would be another attack if a particular group remained in an area with high visibility for so ti. The Ears of the Fox actually confird the likelihood of sothing happening in regards to Chikere. So people just drew conflict to them, and she seed to be one. Likewise, Anton from the Order also ran into a significant amount of trouble. Probably not as much as Chikere since he was more careful about making enemies of large sects, but hed ended up fighting off one of the attacks despite not being a target.
The Ears of the Fox would be working to subtly spread the right amount of information about their presence, while concealing certain other things. The others would be responsible for supporting as they could. The exact strategy wasnt agreed upon quickly. Even after a few days, there were still many discussions. Though she was one of the oldest herself, Matousek had the feeling that older cultivators seed to lose track of how much ti was reasonable. Every day, there was probably another attack- just because so much ti had passed already didnt an it wasnt worth being expedient.
In between discussions new information ca in. It wasnt exactly relevant to their current situation, but it was important news for everyone nonetheless. Another one of Everhearts tombs had shown up. Normally that would have been news simply worthy of disseminating to junior disciples as a tempering opportunity, but this one caused an itching in the ears of the highest elders. It was supposed to be related to ascension, and even those who werent at the peak of Life Transformation were still interested in that topic.
Perhaps it was so sort of awful joke. It was entirely possible that people would gather together with hopes of learning about ascension, only for there to be nothing available to them except a taunt. Yet nobody seed to believe it would be just that. While Everheart might overstate or understate certain details about the various places hed made, the information he chose to reveal before the opening was never entirely incorrect.
But that disruption was only temporary- there was more than a year until they had to deal with that, and Matousek really hoped their plan wouldnt take more than a few days to formulate. After that, it might take a month or more of hard work to actually make it co to pass, but at least they would be implenting instead of planning.
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There were few concerns in Antons mind about whether he would actually reach Essence Collection. It was normal to spend ti stuck at the border. He had in front of him many fine examples of that. Chikere, for example, had spent around a full year at the peak of Spirit Building before breaking through, and she was one of the few anomalies that tended to cultivate even more quickly than his own group.
Though on that topic Hoyt had broken through to Essence Collection as well. Anton would not have been surprised no matter who made the leap first, but the circumstances had been what surprised him. Hed actually begun to spend ti with his grandfather, Grand Elder Vandale, despite having avoided any interaction for the previous five years. He didnt think they hated each other or anything, but it was still a surprise. A welco one, since Anton was all too aware that family could be taken for granted, even if they wouldnt always be around.
Catarina, Timothy, and Velvet were all at the peak of Spirit Building like himself, though theyd been there for longer. He had no doubts they would make the step soon enough. They had already been speaking with Hoyt about his experiences. Unfortunately, they couldnt just repeat what he did. Hoyt was quite a bit like his grandfather and had just forced his way over the gap. That wasnt impossible for any of the rest, and even Anton had more or less tried the sa to reach Spirit Building, but it wasnt optimal for every cultivator.
Generally, a cultivator could sense for themself if it would be dangerous to push forward. It wasnt cowardice to seek an easier path, but wisdom. Not everyone worked the sa way, and simply filling up with energy and pushing, even if a cultivator avoided injuring themself, would leave so parts of cultivation almost incomplete. Usually it was related to insufficient insight, if Antons information gathering was right. It didnt always have to be about so sort of combat style, and sotis it was more about a ntal hangup of a cultivator. It was possible to ignore such problems, but they could grow just as much as the cultivator themself.
Anton was aware he wasnt perfect, but he couldnt pick out any specific issues about himself. Yet he could only seek out experiences to fill the gaps. Sotis, those experiences were battles.
Im glad Fuzz isnt coming with us, Catarina said. Even if he would be useful. Wolves dont really do well around slly creatures.
Ive never had a problem with a skunk before, Timothy said. Normally I wouldnt go near them, and theyd avoid going near . But a giant, rabid one Timothy shook his head. Sounds awful.
How would sothing like that co into existence? Velvet asked. There wasnt really information on it.
Anton had the answer for that easily enough, Not everything that develops in areas with high amounts of natural energy is nice. Creatures that are already unpleasant like mosquitoes, well, you know what happens with them. Skunks prefer to keep people away, but theres always the chance that they ate sothing tainted. Perhaps another creature, or a plant that developed rotten energy.
That can happen? Chikere inquired. Ive never heard about it.
Well, cultivators dont bother to go looking for things like that, Anton explained. Unless theyre looking for poisons.
Chikere rolled her eyes. Poisons are for people who cant follow through with an attack.
Anton didnt use poisons himself, but for different reasons. When he had been a hunter, he wouldnt want to eat anything poisoned. As a cultivator, the ti and effort to learn about and maintain a stock of poisons that would be relevant to his combats was just too much. He also didnt want to support any of the vendors of such things, since most didnt really care if poisons were used for nefarious ans. Finally, Spirit Arrows werent easily able to carry poison. Hed lately begun to keep a stock of arrows with different properties, but since he would use poison irregularly hed either have to apply it mid-combat or worry about it losing its efficacy.
There, Velvet pointed. Tracks. At the size of the creature they were looking for, everyone could easily spot the tracks- but whether they would recognize them as the target was a matter of practice. The front and rear paws were different on skunks, which made them an interesting target to track. They were currently moving through a wet pine forest, so the ground was plenty soft for a large creature to leave extrely visible prints in.
Not long after, the wind shifted and they recoiled as an extrely foul sll washed over them. It wasnt just the sll, either. Anton felt his energy being eaten away by sothing. It was only a very small amount, like piddling bits of rain washing away at a mountain, but it was also extrely indirect. Not far from that, they spotted a wolf. Or at least sothing that had probably once been a wolf. There were a few claw marks, but it was mangled from much more than that. It almost looked like parts of it had lted and the sll was strongest on it.
Ugh, Chikere comnted. Why is there a weird goop all around it?
Anton approached closer, his nose completely sealed by his energy and his defenses keeping away the lingering remnants of sothing awful. He bent down, looking closely. It seems to be a mixture of liquified fur, dead leaves, and bark. Plus so mud and blood. He stood up. The decay patterns are unnatural, but if Im not wrong this should have been within the last day. We should be able to catch up to it soon. The sooner the better, since it shouldnt be able to spray an endless amount.
Anton really didnt like the idea of getting directly hit by whatever noxious gas had developed from a normal skunks already extrely foul spray. The less it had, the better. They group picked up their pace, while keeping on the alert. They had been doing well not speaking about their actual target in the area.
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