Elder Cultivator-Chapter 1249

That meant it was difficult to respond to events unless they were predicted far ahead of time. They had scouts, of course, and the route had been planned to minimize time in problematic regions, but not all of the trouble could be timed.

Much of Ratna’s time lately had been moving back and forth, making appearances randomly so that nobody could be quite certain where she was. But the threat of her presence was still diminished greatly during this time. Enough that certain groups found it low enough risk to make a move.

Furthermore, someone had been poking at the territory of the Distant Shadow Sect- also hers, located somewhat more easterly. Another handful of systems distant, and something she couldn’t ignore.

“I’m going to have to leave you here to handle things on your own,” she informed Prospero. “For a longer period than normal, I believe.”

He nodded. “People have pretty well settled on mass tactics. It doesn’t seem worthwhile to me, but I suppose those groups that assign little value to their members are most likely to be our enemies. Anyone willing to stand up to a Domination cultivator has a lot of guts.”

“Right? I suppose I didn’t make it obvious enough last time. This time when I hunt down those who fled with my materials, I’ll make it more clear I’m responsible for their deaths.” She sighed. “Thank you for your aid. This would be difficult to manage on my own, even without the… increased value. Not that I’m upset about that, obviously.”

“I must admit,” Prospero said. “The lower realms having some predictability to the assaults is a great boon. Now if only we in the upper realms here can break out of these cycles…”

“You’ve certainly caused great disruptions,” Ratna said. “I’m impressed.”

“I believe you’re part of that,” Prospero pointed out. “At least one fell by your own hand.”

“Hmm. But I never would have gotten into that situation if not for the peculiar ways of the Scarlet Alliance.”

“You adapted fairly quickly to those peculiar ways, though. You merely needed an opportunity.”

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With most of the eyes on their eastern border focused on Second Gift and the Guardians, the Scarlet Alliance had a unique opportunity. The next one might not appear until the shift in the Tides, a few centuries distant, and they were quite likely to be fully occupied at the time.

Thus, Catarina was leading one of the teams to establish the first territory-wide series of spatial distortion barriers. Unlike the vaguely spherical one they had established previously, this one would be more complex, carrying people to different locations depending on numerous factors, some of which could be actively manipulated by the Alliance. They didn’t currently have a black hole to dump people into, but they could still spread out possible assaults, if they wanted to.

Like the test systems, the new spatial distortion barriers would be more square shaped- placed together in cubes to be space filling. There would be some exceptions, but keeping things as simple as possible was best for such a wide ranging project. During this time, they were going to create only a single slice, a small fraction of their territory, but it would cover many of the most densely occupied systems and be a viable proof of concept.

If they intended to control all of the midfields, they needed to truly control the area, not just scatter cultivators about and tell them to watch over an area. They needed to be able to provide support, and the barriers would be able to reduce travel time significantly, skipping over entire sections of space. There were limits to everything, but Catarina hoped to one day be able to force a connection between the far east and far west. The great powers could have direct access to each other, and the fallout of their battles would be entirely contained to their own territories.

Of course, that was presuming they didn’t instead choose to forcefully invade Alliance territory. A spatial distortion wasn’t impassable with sufficient power or expertise. But that was a matter for diplomatic manipulation to manage. The great powers already hated each other plenty, they just needed to minimize their grudges with the Alliance. Sadly, they’d likely never be fully forgotten- not with the deaths of Domination cultivators at their hands. But if they could circumvent one or two large conflicts, they could establish a far better position.

Even if the current plan didn’t reach its full potential, it would be a valuable learning experience. Knowledge could be applied later in many different ways. Furthermore, it should increase the efficiency of trading within their territory- without forcing most of it to pass through Xankeshan. Their homeworld would still be at the center of things, merely geographically. And of course, as developed as it was it wasn’t going to suddenly fade from prominence.

Ultimately, though this was a significant change, it was rather conservative compared to Catarina’s imagination. She had to consider what would happen in the immediate aftermath of the changes, and not just from a technical perspective. The chances of creating a spatial collapse were nil, though their structures and materials for the formations might break down if there was feedback.

In some ways, Catarina’s intentions were to make the Scarlet Alliance’s territory smaller. It was merely that the space they intended to cut out was the empty space, or at least some significant portion of it. Depending on how close they were willing to cut things, they could easily cut down relative distances to a third. Or a tenth. Or a single percent. Or one part in a thousand- but the last one was getting awfully close to intruding inside systems, and gravitational anomalies would make things far more complex.

Catarina had continued to expand the Alliance’s collection of solar platforms. Teleportation was a viable method of travel for some, but it was mainly relegated to emergencies. It also only worked for individuals- people, and not ships. It was just far too inefficient. There were always people working on improvements from various angles though. Pure formations, pure tech, and hybrid forms were all taken seriously, though pure tech was rarely the best option unless it was the only option.

Like transitioning back and forth between the realms. Not with teleportation, though. Just ships. For now. Perhaps forever, for security purposes. Then again, forever was a long time. The Scarlet Alliance would have to survive the next few centuries for that to matter.

Layer by layer, block by block, Catarina helped establish the new boundaries of systems. Though they were on a tight schedule, they couldn’t afford to really rush. Either way, this was a project they had been planning for over a century, and implementing just this small part would take decades. Even with the distraction of Second Gift it wouldn’t go completely unknown. It just had to be minimized for long enough to achieve a stable form.

Catarina watched panels slide into place, forming part of a formation ‘pillar’ that would maintain a relative position in space. Power was a problem, and they hadn’t yet solved it entirely, but this would be a good test of the true costs. They might be able to improve the efficiency.

It would be so much easier if they could just infuse it with Domination energy. Catarina by herself, or even including Timothy, couldn’t hope to power a network that stretched over the whole of the Scarlet Midfields… but this one slice, perhaps. The only problem with that… well, there were many problems, actually.

Domination energy required intentional control. Directing it with formations only worked for Caterina herself. At the very least, it was different enough to be similarly removed from upper energy as upper was from lower- and thus a different foundation for the fundamental pieces. It was a puzzle she had been working on bit by bit. If only she could consult with Everheart… but she wasn’t willing to pay whatever the price would be. Regardless of what it was, it would include risk to the Alliance.

Catarina watched the workers putting everything together. Nothing could be fully activated until the entire formation was in place. That would be a carefully timed project to minimize any sort of energy ripples. That also meant most of the people involved wouldn’t be around to see it happen. They would need to record it. One part from a learning angle, the other more theatrical.

Even if she was one of the leaders on the project, Catarina couldn’t do everything herself. That was simply arrogant. She might gain a bit of extra devotion and thus power by taking all the credit… but some amount of resentment would build up. Unlike certain individuals, active resentment wasn’t part of her core cultivation.

Plus, it wasn’t nice. That was a thing powerful people tended to forget, which was basic human decency. Catarina was glad she’d come from a humble background. Even if she’d been quite fortunate early on, she’d still experienced the world starting from the lower end. That was one thing the members of the Scarlet Alliance might miss out on… but human interaction was not one of them. Nobody was encouraged to sit isolated for centuries, presuming everything would be the same afterwards. Everyone was connected. And soon, they might be a bit more connected.