Walking out on the wharfs which were basically just open walkways while trying to stay concealed would be a pointless endeavor, so Velvet was surveying Erygan proper. She would get to the point she actually had to reveal herself and talk to people, but she wanted to get a good asure of what the city was like first.
More cultivators than expected occupied the city. Cultivators tended to gather together in allied sects or other organizations instead of in cities, though of course there were many places that they frequented more often on their travels. Neutral ground where they could trade with each other was quite important, but usually that resulted in a few big trading houses in particular cities or organized companies that facilitated the exchange of goods between different cultivators.
Velvet couldnt detect a large number of anyone from a specific sect or style throughout the city, nor did they seem to particularly congregate in one space, unless one counted out on the wharfs where the smiths were. But smiths alone didnt make a complete population. People had to buy from them, and many of the more transitory sorts certainly did that. But there were also larger numbers of cultivators who seed to have permanent residence within the city.
She eavesdropped on many of their conversations. Most werent of use to her, without a specific reason to spy on individuals and learn about them. She picked out many bits and pieces that told her more, however.
Heading out to the lake again?
Just need a few more insights.
Good luck with that. I prefer to stay away myself.
The idea that the lake was special wasnt a startling revelation, with all those stone wharfs carefully constructed for the smiths and the amount of natural energy flowing out of it. But it didnt just seem to be a place to cultivate in general, but where specific places were sought out. And those places ca with dangers.
Another small group was planning an expedition of so sort. She overheard so snippets that helped put together a larger picture.
... think were ready?
Should be fine eels
... more worried deep waters.
It would make no sense for Spirit Building cultivators to be afraid of water at any depth- and if they were the things living in that water should be the problem. They made it sound like a harsh desert or volcano or sothing inherently dangerous.
Everything made more sense when she got back together with the other two, though it was frustrating to learn she had found little unique information. Hoyt shared what he knew about the lake, and how the smiths used it for their forging. Sothing about the quenching process absorbs the various properties into the materials, or perhaps it is simply the best ti for that, Hoyt explained. I didnt really notice many others who seed as if they were simply planning to cultivate, but perhaps they were in different spots. Its a large lake.
I suspect so, Anton nodded. Theyd be looking for sothing particular. It seems the smiths set up near so local properties they like to use in their equipnt. Tell us more about what you found, though. You said there was a skeleton?
I have the feeling it was so sort of ancient elder of the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars, or perhaps so predecessor? I didnt really get a long chance to make that discernnt. I can only assu the various other areas are similar, with soone dead from long ago. Perhaps even the previous invasion, if Grandmaster Smith Bomir is correct.
Its good to know that others do know about the coming invasion, Anton said. We just happened to stumble upon the west coast which was least inford. Though word doesnt seem to have spread as much as I would like. Perhaps the Twin Soul Sect and others like them have been interfering. They were talking sowhere where nobody should overhear, but Anton made certain to conceal their speech, preventing it from traveling far. There was theoretically a smith at least sympathetic to the Twin Soul Sect nearby, likely very powerful. If they were in Essence Collection they might not be a big issue personally, but it was also likely they had allies.
Ive got a few leads, Hoyt said. Bomir ntioned a few people who were getting wide varieties of custors with very specific sorts of attributes. Thats not inherently problematic, but if the weapon doesnt match their obvious cultivation style, it could have so implications. I didnt check any of them out myself, as Im sort of obvious.
Im a bit wary for myself, Anton replied. Even if our enemies dont have a counter for our searching techniques, which they might, theres always a possibility of them detecting it. We might not even notice if they do, which they could turn into an excuse to attack us or they could simply flee the area. Were the outsiders here, so we have to be cautious.
They should be too, though, Velvet said. Not necessarily all of them, but if this smith ca over from our continent they might only have a few months or years on us. That might be enough for them to be favored over us, but thats only if were involved at all. If soone else just happens to find out about them well, cultivators dont like traitors. I assu the other sects here were zealously wiping them out after that whole thing with Everheart, since he forced so techniques into peoples heads. Mostly for fighting people who had ascended, but so people learned detection techniques, right?
Most of ours ca from the Luminous Ocean Society, Anton replied. But there could have been so. And theres nothing stopping them from developing their own thods. The weakness of the Twin Soul Sect is that their thod has to remain fairly static. Their core cultivation is set, and they can only conceal it through various ans. Our best bet would be empowering the locals to deal with their own problems, though we cant know if that will scare off the Twin Soul Sect when they start making progress. Id like for soone like Swordmaster Rahayu to help us, but people of that power are not always reliable. He indicated wanting to fight them, but that could be ten or twenty years from now. Or just waiting until the ascenders attack without trying to stop anything.
Lets do what we can, then, Hoyt said. Perhaps scoping out these smiths at their forges might be a bit obvious, but they have to co and go from the city, or at least off the wharfs. Not all have the sa sort of constant devotion that leaves them on the lake at all hours of the day. Personally, Id like to try diving into so of the other parts of the lake, to see what sort of weird properties it has. Ill be least suspicious if Im actually doing sothing. But Ill also keep an eye out for the people were looking for. And if I find a few trustworthy people, I can send them to Anton. I assu youll be glad to teach them any of the techniques they need?
Of course. Teaching is one of the greatest joys in life, Anton grinned. Especially when it otherwise suits my own goals.
-----
The list of notable smiths who had moved into the area recently by cultivator standards was actually quite large. When adding in suspicious factors, it still left a handful which by random chance turned out to be a majority of won. Relevant bodily differences between male and female were greatly overshadowed by cultivation after the completion of Body Tempering, and negligible by Essence Collection- the effects of age were a larger factor by a wide margin.
The man, Aser, was the youngest of the bunch, cultivating as a mber of the Blue Forest Mystery. The mbers of that group and the effects of their style werent the mystery, but instead the mystery was related to the insights they were discovering along the path. In short, it was an incomplete technique- though very few could be said to be truly complete, with soone having reached the end of it and ascension. So people just didnt like to admit it, or did so obliquely.
Next was Reshma of the Insect Shore Swarm. She was not quite so young, though from a sect that was reviled for the bugs they controlled and how they let them devour their enemies. Many cultivators preferred the idea their body would be at least sowhat preserved after their death, even if all of their equipnt was stolen. Nobody wanted to be food.
Liljana was the oldest by far. That experience could make her a dangerous enemy, though her power was also waning because of it. She practiced a strange style called the Chain Fish that none had ever heard of, and it could have easily been a cover.
A bit less ancient than Liljana was a smith known as Brianne. She practiced the Hidden Fla style, which certainly made her quite suited for her job as she required less coal than others- and while coal was cheap, the sorts that high level cultivator smiths needed to achieve the temperatures they worked at was anything but. And having her own flas made the work consistent.
A woman nad Putri was the final one of the bunch. She was a mber of the Ochre Rock Society, who were so of her greatest custors and also suppliers of the various materials she needed.
A worrying issue was that all of them were in Life Transformation. That made them strong in their own right and also ant they would have more powerful allies. While many of the stronger mbers of the Twin Soul Sect had been taken in by Everhearts promise of information about ascension where they were subsequently entrapped, the unknown reach of the sect ant they could have many more mbers at that level of power. It was even possible that two or more of the suspect smiths were part of the Twin Soul Sect. Or none of them, potentially. That would be a fine result, but the mbers of the Order really wanted to root soone out. Each worked through their various thods, hoping they could find sothing, even if they couldnt necessarily act directly on that information.
-----
The offer to instruct people in useful techniques for free was the sort of thing t with great suspicion among cultivators. That had been true around Blackstone Harbor, and it was true in Erygan. But after a month, Anton had a nice few handfuls of students. One of them was a young archer, who he was helping grow in that area along with the actual purpose of the offer which was to teach people Anti-ascension techniques. He wanted to teach them to reveal mbers of the Twin Soul Sect as well, but that was sothing that might get him killed if advertised publicly. He would prefer to have more allies in the area or a specific lead into one of the local sects before he attempted any of that.
Young Agus was a strange fellow, and a mber of the Tomb Seeking Cult. They werent a band of psychopathic murderers or suicidal people like their na might suggest but that didnt an they were entirely sane. In fact, they probably werent because they were dedicated to tracking down everything Everheart left behind and studying it with zealous intensity. That wasnt the sort of thing that Anton considered healthy and normal, even though he used a few of Everhearts techniques himself.
Master, Agus bowed his head to Anton. Is it true what they said, that Everheart lived on the moon?
I dont know about lived there, Anton said. But he certainly set up so impressive facilities there. Did you not go yourself?
Agus shook his head, I was too weak at the ti. I am not even in Essence Collection yet, he pointed out.
Anton wouldnt say that soone at the peak of Spirit Building was weak, but it was relevant that the young man had been cultivating for a similar length of ti to himself. A couple years different maybe, but that was starting to beco less relevant. He wasnt untalented, but his access to useful resources was limited. The Tomb Seeking Cult wasnt exactly the most nurturing to their young disciples.
It was quite impressive, Anton admitted. Though I would also consider it quite wasteful.
How so? Agus asked.
Like usual, it all fell apart at the end. Possibly even the giant forest hed managed to cultivate beneath the surface.
The trials of the end are to weed out those with the talent and will to survive, Agus said matter-of-factly.
Anton didnt have the heart to tell him it was probably so sort of prank or bitter revenge against long dead foes. At least the Tomb Seeking Cult had one thing going for them. After they learned that Everheart had set up traps for the Twin Soul Sect well, theyd apparently grown quite zealous in their search. To the point of sort of neglecting so of their younger mbers, when they really should be teaching them the sa things as Anton. Agus was learning from him sort of as a test, to see if he really knew what he claid. Theyd be quite surprised what Anton really knew about Everheart, though he wasnt sure if he wanted to reveal all of it at any point. Or if he even actually knew what he knew.
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