Chapter 196
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Chapter 196
Notes filled a table in front of Anton. At the moment he was working on transitioning them into a format useful for cultivators, or potential cultivators. These were just the segments covering smithing and weaving, but they were filled with far too many unnecessary details. Grant and Derya had advised him on the salient points for people sharing their professions. Some people might do better with different instruction, but the majority of those who understood their craft would do well with one set of guidance. And Anton didnt want to have a hulking tome that weighed as much as a person. Short pages that allowed people to integrate their work and cultivation together would be sufficient along with the general guidance that would be for all Body Tempering cultivators.
Anton was quite pleased that Vincent was making use of the current iteration of his work. Vincent still didnt spend much time with any individual, but he was good at finding those with cultivation potential. With some extra pages of guidance along with the early portion of the Ninety-Nine Stars, more people with good potential would be able to actually make forward strides in cultivation.
Vincents recruiting efforts were more important now than ever before. Only by bolstering the younger generations numbers could they guarantee that some of them would grow to a high enough cultivation level to replace those lost in the battle at Black Soul Valley. Of course, the chances of a single generation producing five cultivators with the potential to become Grand Elders was fairly low. Even if those around Anton all managed that feat, merely replacing their numbers would be insufficient. If the Order couldnt grow in strength, it would fall behind other cultivation sects- and there was the looming threat of trouble from ascended cultivators. With the details on when and how that could happen so unclear it wasnt possible to plan for it in particular, but having more strong individuals would always be better.
Anton felt like his efforts werent enough. He was fairly certain he could help guide people through Body Tempering and early Spirit Building, but beyond that all of his experience was inadequate. He had recently entered late Spirit Building himself, with the year leading up to the tournament having flown by. Perhaps all his guidance might break down at some point in the future and lead people off the best path to the peak of Ninety-Nine Stars or a hundred stars, though Anton wasnt sure if ascension was actually desirable or not.
Yet for all his misgivings, Anton couldnt do anything else but try. None of the elders had found any major flaws in his insights, and they had approved of his efforts. It was simply that nobody had taken the time to go into such detail about cultivating the Ninety-Nine Stars before, instead counting on the talent of cultivators and guidance received from elders as well as the description of the core cultivation technique.
Anton planned to look into other crafts and professions, empowering different people to be better. Cultivation could simply allow people to have more ability to perform everyday tasks, more stamina, more efficiency. Most people wouldnt cultivate because they thought they couldnt, or they didnt have the time- but if the time spent cultivating was the same as the time spent practicing a trade, who could say they had no time? It would simply take more effort at first, somewhat lowering peoples results. Yet Anton knew people would see that they could achieve more with a small amount of investment in cultivation.
-----
The delegation from the Order heading to the tournament in Facraona was headed by Grand Elders Matousek and Kseniya. It was a reminder of the strength of both old and new cultivators, though Kseniya certainly wasnt new except to a position as a Grand Elder. She was still making advances in her cultivation, though past sixty stars it could take multiple years to make a single advancement. There was a reason Life Transformation experts were never young.
Though he had no personal stake in the outcome of the tournament and couldnt participate, Anton was of course going to be cheering on his friends and family. He also wanted to see what sort of place Facraona was, since simply hearing about it wasnt the same. It was easy to assume they didnt care about the common folk living in their borders who were attacked en masse, only acting after it became a big public uproar but the Order had failed to protect against similar things not long before. While Facraona could have learned from the mistakes in Graotan, they had likely not expected such aggressive tactics. Though their armed response had not made it to the battle in time, they had devoted sufficient effort to make their intent clear. After the battle at Black Soul Valley they had continued to look into those who had been more directly involved in the mass abductions, not content to let those who did the dirty work get away.
She almost missed the arrows coming in from behind her, circling back around. But the tenacity of the Wandering Bush Sect wasnt for nothing. She solidified the energy behind her and negated the attacks while still managing to close the distance to her opponent. Maiara thrust out with her sword at her nearly defenseless opponent, but Alva parried the blow with her bow. Most archers were concerned about damage to their weapon and would avoid colliding weapons at all cost, but it seemed this young woman wasnt afraid.
But one attack wouldnt be the end of things. Maiara began a series of thrusts and slashes, keeping Alva on the back foot. There was something awkward about her movements, like she wasnt quite used to avoiding attacks- but then again, how much experience could she have at her age? Being in Spirit Building was already somewhat ridiculous at such a young age. Most people werent even beginning cultivation. There were often side effects of cultivating too quickly and too young, but Maiara didnt detect any from the young woman in front of her. Which meant she might have actually held herself back slightly.
She really, really couldnt afford to lose to someone half her age. Fortunately, even as the young woman managed to attack even while under significant pressure from Maiaras rain of blows, she couldnt easily break through Maiaras own defenses. Wandering Bush Sect cultivators were tough, and able to focus their energy on just the important points when defending. But this young woman was also clearly trained in predicting her movements, so she wasnt able to find the usual openings. Even when she got a strike in on Alva, she barely did any better than breaking skin. She just needed a little more. One solid strike and she could win the spar. It didnt have to be a killing blow, and in fact it was rather discouraged in most cases- even if the formation would prevent serious damage. But she needed something decisive.
There was something odd about Alvas stance as they continued to fight. Shed begun with her back up straight, tall and proud like any archer. But as she began moving more and more, she crouched down low, firing her bow from its side and keeping her profile small. She constantly moved her head back and forth as if peeking from behind something, but there was nothing in the way. And even though her defensive movements werent quite as refined as they could be, Maiara couldnt find sufficient flaws to bring her down. Their energy levels were well matched as they continued to whittle away at each other, one quick arrow and thrust of a shortsword at a time.
When a draw was eventually called, Maiara had to admit that shed underestimated her opponent. Even young and clearly not as experienced with movement techniques as other cultivators of her cultivation level might be, her archery was excellent and kept Maiara from attacking as she pleased, even after she closed into melee. Her shots were tricky, and Maiara couldnt help but think how much trouble she would be if she moved a bit faster, or had a line of other cultivators in front of her. Though in the tournament some people would likely try to pull off dirty techniques like specifically targeting her bow, so it was hard to say which of them would be more successful there. Good duel, Maiara held out her hand. We were well matched.
Alva nodded and extended her hand as well. You should see me fight with Fuzz.
Whos Fuzz?
My wolf. Alva seemed to look at someone in the stand. My wolf companion. Hes not really owned by anyone. Probably.
That explained some of her strange movement style, maybe. Though she wondered why Alva seemed unsure about her ownership of the wolf.
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Chapter 196
Notes filled a table in front of Anton. At the moment he was working on transitioning them into a format useful for cultivators, or potential cultivators. These were just the segments covering smithing and weaving, but they were filled with far too many unnecessary details. Grant and Derya had advised him on the salient points for people sharing their professions. Some people might do better with different instruction, but the majority of those who understood their craft would do well with one set of guidance. And Anton didnt want to have a hulking tome that weighed as much as a person. Short pages that allowed people to integrate their work and cultivation together would be sufficient along with the general guidance that would be for all Body Tempering cultivators.
Anton was quite pleased that Vincent was making use of the current iteration of his work. Vincent still didnt spend much time with any individual, but he was good at finding those with cultivation potential. With some extra pages of guidance along with the early portion of the Ninety-Nine Stars, more people with good potential would be able to actually make forward strides in cultivation.
Vincents recruiting efforts were more important now than ever before. Only by bolstering the younger generations numbers could they guarantee that some of them would grow to a high enough cultivation level to replace those lost in the battle at Black Soul Valley. Of course, the chances of a single generation producing five cultivators with the potential to become Grand Elders was fairly low. Even if those around Anton all managed that feat, merely replacing their numbers would be insufficient. If the Order couldnt grow in strength, it would fall behind other cultivation sects- and there was the looming threat of trouble from ascended cultivators. With the details on when and how that could happen so unclear it wasnt possible to plan for it in particular, but having more strong individuals would always be better.
Anton felt like his efforts werent enough. He was fairly certain he could help guide people through Body Tempering and early Spirit Building, but beyond that all of his experience was inadequate. He had recently entered late Spirit Building himself, with the year leading up to the tournament having flown by. Perhaps all his guidance might break down at some point in the future and lead people off the best path to the peak of Ninety-Nine Stars or a hundred stars, though Anton wasnt sure if ascension was actually desirable or not.
Yet for all his misgivings, Anton couldnt do anything else but try. None of the elders had found any major flaws in his insights, and they had approved of his efforts. It was simply that nobody had taken the time to go into such detail about cultivating the Ninety-Nine Stars before, instead counting on the talent of cultivators and guidance received from elders as well as the description of the core cultivation technique.
Anton planned to look into other crafts and professions, empowering different people to be better. Cultivation could simply allow people to have more ability to perform everyday tasks, more stamina, more efficiency. Most people wouldnt cultivate because they thought they couldnt, or they didnt have the time- but if the time spent cultivating was the same as the time spent practicing a trade, who could say they had no time? It would simply take more effort at first, somewhat lowering peoples results. Yet Anton knew people would see that they could achieve more with a small amount of investment in cultivation.
-----
The delegation from the Order heading to the tournament in Facraona was headed by Grand Elders Matousek and Kseniya. It was a reminder of the strength of both old and new cultivators, though Kseniya certainly wasnt new except to a position as a Grand Elder. She was still making advances in her cultivation, though past sixty stars it could take multiple years to make a single advancement. There was a reason Life Transformation experts were never young.
Though he had no personal stake in the outcome of the tournament and couldnt participate, Anton was of course going to be cheering on his friends and family. He also wanted to see what sort of place Facraona was, since simply hearing about it wasnt the same. It was easy to assume they didnt care about the common folk living in their borders who were attacked en masse, only acting after it became a big public uproar but the Order had failed to protect against similar things not long before. While Facraona could have learned from the mistakes in Graotan, they had likely not expected such aggressive tactics. Though their armed response had not made it to the battle in time, they had devoted sufficient effort to make their intent clear. After the battle at Black Soul Valley they had continued to look into those who had been more directly involved in the mass abductions, not content to let those who did the dirty work get away.
She almost missed the arrows coming in from behind her, circling back around. But the tenacity of the Wandering Bush Sect wasnt for nothing. She solidified the energy behind her and negated the attacks while still managing to close the distance to her opponent. Maiara thrust out with her sword at her nearly defenseless opponent, but Alva parried the blow with her bow. Most archers were concerned about damage to their weapon and would avoid colliding weapons at all cost, but it seemed this young woman wasnt afraid.
But one attack wouldnt be the end of things. Maiara began a series of thrusts and slashes, keeping Alva on the back foot. There was something awkward about her movements, like she wasnt quite used to avoiding attacks- but then again, how much experience could she have at her age? Being in Spirit Building was already somewhat ridiculous at such a young age. Most people werent even beginning cultivation. There were often side effects of cultivating too quickly and too young, but Maiara didnt detect any from the young woman in front of her. Which meant she might have actually held herself back slightly.
She really, really couldnt afford to lose to someone half her age. Fortunately, even as the young woman managed to attack even while under significant pressure from Maiaras rain of blows, she couldnt easily break through Maiaras own defenses. Wandering Bush Sect cultivators were tough, and able to focus their energy on just the important points when defending. But this young woman was also clearly trained in predicting her movements, so she wasnt able to find the usual openings. Even when she got a strike in on Alva, she barely did any better than breaking skin. She just needed a little more. One solid strike and she could win the spar. It didnt have to be a killing blow, and in fact it was rather discouraged in most cases- even if the formation would prevent serious damage. But she needed something decisive.
There was something odd about Alvas stance as they continued to fight. Shed begun with her back up straight, tall and proud like any archer. But as she began moving more and more, she crouched down low, firing her bow from its side and keeping her profile small. She constantly moved her head back and forth as if peeking from behind something, but there was nothing in the way. And even though her defensive movements werent quite as refined as they could be, Maiara couldnt find sufficient flaws to bring her down. Their energy levels were well matched as they continued to whittle away at each other, one quick arrow and thrust of a shortsword at a time.
When a draw was eventually called, Maiara had to admit that shed underestimated her opponent. Even young and clearly not as experienced with movement techniques as other cultivators of her cultivation level might be, her archery was excellent and kept Maiara from attacking as she pleased, even after she closed into melee. Her shots were tricky, and Maiara couldnt help but think how much trouble she would be if she moved a bit faster, or had a line of other cultivators in front of her. Though in the tournament some people would likely try to pull off dirty techniques like specifically targeting her bow, so it was hard to say which of them would be more successful there. Good duel, Maiara held out her hand. We were well matched.
Alva nodded and extended her hand as well. You should see me fight with Fuzz.
Whos Fuzz?
My wolf. Alva seemed to look at someone in the stand. My wolf companion. Hes not really owned by anyone. Probably.
That explained some of her strange movement style, maybe. Though she wondered why Alva seemed unsure about her ownership of the wolf.
Chapter 196Notes filled a table in front of Anton. At the moment he was working on transitioning them into a format useful for cultivators, or potential cultivators. These were just the segments covering smithing and weaving, but they were filled with far too many unnecessary details. Grant and Derya had advised him on the salient points for people sharing their professions. Some people might do better with different instruction, but the majority of those who understood their craft would do well with one set of guidance. And Anton didnt want to have a hulking tome that weighed as much as a person. Short pages that allowed people to integrate their work and cultivation together would be sufficient along with the general guidance that would be for all Body Tempering cultivators.Anton was quite pleased that Vincent was making use of the current iteration of his work. Vincent still didnt spend much time with any individual, but he was good at finding those with cultivation potential. With some extra pages of guidance along with the early portion of the Ninety-Nine Stars, more people with good potential would be able to actually make forward strides in cultivation.Vincents recruiting efforts were more important now than ever before. Only by bolstering the younger generations numbers could they guarantee that some of them would grow to a high enough cultivation level to replace those lost in the battle at Black Soul Valley. Of course, the chances of a single generation producing five cultivators with the potential to become Grand Elders was fairly low. Even if those around Anton all managed that feat, merely replacing their numbers would be insufficient. If the Order couldnt grow in strength, it would fall behind other cultivation sects- and there was the looming threat of trouble from ascended cultivators. With the details on when and how that could happen so unclear it wasnt possible to plan for it in particular, but having more strong individuals would always be better.Anton felt like his efforts werent enough. He was fairly certain he could help guide people through Body Tempering and early Spirit Building, but beyond that all of his experience was inadequate. He had recently entered late Spirit Building himself, with the year leading up to the tournament having flown by. Perhaps all his guidance might break down at some point in the future and lead people off the best path to the peak of Ninety-Nine Stars or a hundred stars, though Anton wasnt sure if ascension was actually desirable or not.Yet for all his misgivings, Anton couldnt do anything else but try. None of the elders had found any major flaws in his insights, and they had approved of his efforts. It was simply that nobody had taken the time to go into such detail about cultivating the Ninety-Nine Stars before, instead counting on the talent of cultivators and guidance received from elders as well as the description of the core cultivation technique.Anton planned to look into other crafts and professions, empowering different people to be better. Cultivation could simply allow people to have more ability to perform everyday tasks, more stamina, more efficiency. Most people wouldnt cultivate because they thought they couldnt, or they didnt have the time- but if the time spent cultivating was the same as the time spent practicing a trade, who could say they had no time? It would simply take more effort at first, somewhat lowering peoples results. Yet Anton knew people would see that they could achieve more with a small amount of investment in cultivation.-----The delegation from the Order heading to the tournament in Facraona was headed by Grand Elders Matousek and Kseniya. It was a reminder of the strength of both old and new cultivators, though Kseniya certainly wasnt new except to a position as a Grand Elder. She was still making advances in her cultivation, though past sixty stars it could take multiple years to make a single advancement. There was a reason Life Transformation experts were never young.Though he had no personal stake in the outcome of the tournament and couldnt participate, Anton was of course going to be cheering on his friends and family. He also wanted to see what sort of place Facraona was, since simply hearing about it wasnt the same. It was easy to assume they didnt care about the common folk living in their borders who were attacked en masse, only acting after it became a big public uproar but the Order had failed to protect against similar things not long before. While Facraona could have learned from the mistakes in Graotan, they had likely not expected such aggressive tactics. Though their armed response had not made it to the battle in time, they had devoted sufficient effort to make their intent clear. After the battle at Black Soul Valley they had continued to look into those who had been more directly involved in the mass abductions, not content to let those who did the dirty work get away.She almost missed the arrows coming in from behind her, circling back around. But the tenacity of the Wandering Bush Sect wasnt for nothing. She solidified the energy behind her and negated the attacks while still managing to close the distance to her opponent. Maiara thrust out with her sword at her nearly defenseless opponent, but Alva parried the blow with her bow. Most archers were concerned about damage to their weapon and would avoid colliding weapons at all cost, but it seemed this young woman wasnt afraid.But one attack wouldnt be the end of things. Maiara began a series of thrusts and slashes, keeping Alva on the back foot. There was something awkward about her movements, like she wasnt quite used to avoiding attacks- but then again, how much experience could she have at her age? Being in Spirit Building was already somewhat ridiculous at such a young age. Most people werent even beginning cultivation. There were often side effects of cultivating too quickly and too young, but Maiara didnt detect any from the young woman in front of her. Which meant she might have actually held herself back slightly.She really, really couldnt afford to lose to someone half her age. Fortunately, even as the young woman managed to attack even while under significant pressure from Maiaras rain of blows, she couldnt easily break through Maiaras own defenses. Wandering Bush Sect cultivators were tough, and able to focus their energy on just the important points when defending. But this young woman was also clearly trained in predicting her movements, so she wasnt able to find the usual openings. Even when she got a strike in on Alva, she barely did any better than breaking skin. She just needed a little more. One solid strike and she could win the spar. It didnt have to be a killing blow, and in fact it was rather discouraged in most cases- even if the formation would prevent serious damage. But she needed something decisive.There was something odd about Alvas stance as they continued to fight. Shed begun with her back up straight, tall and proud like any archer. But as she began moving more and more, she crouched down low, firing her bow from its side and keeping her profile small. She constantly moved her head back and forth as if peeking from behind something, but there was nothing in the way. And even though her defensive movements werent quite as refined as they could be, Maiara couldnt find sufficient flaws to bring her down. Their energy levels were well matched as they continued to whittle away at each other, one quick arrow and thrust of a shortsword at a time. When a draw was eventually called, Maiara had to admit that shed underestimated her opponent. Even young and clearly not as experienced with movement techniques as other cultivators of her cultivation level might be, her archery was excellent and kept Maiara from attacking as she pleased, even after she closed into melee. Her shots were tricky, and Maiara couldnt help but think how much trouble she would be if she moved a bit faster, or had a line of other cultivators in front of her. Though in the tournament some people would likely try to pull off dirty techniques like specifically targeting her bow, so it was hard to say which of them would be more successful there. Good duel, Maiara held out her hand. We were well matched.Alva nodded and extended her hand as well. You should see me fight with Fuzz.Whos Fuzz?My wolf. Alva seemed to look at someone in the stand. My wolf companion. Hes not really owned by anyone. Probably.That explained some of her strange movement style, maybe. Though she wondered why Alva seemed unsure about her ownership of the wolf.
