Chapter 151
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Chapter 151
It was impossible for Anton to not be surprised by the results. Could he have predicted Everheart projecting people in danger outside the area to make him fail some sort of test? Absolutely. As for that being part of the actual test, he was a bit surprised.
Was that the whole test? Anton asked. To see if I would help those people.
If youre worried about there being more no, its over. However, the test was seeing how you would react to waiting. If people were patient when there was no timeline or instructions not to leave. As for that part, Everheart nodded to himself, It was mostly for you. To see if youre the kind of person you have purported to be. Definitely a pass. Everheart jabbed a finger into Antons sternum. That said, I think unrestrained compassion is an exploitable weakness. Youre not yet strong enough that you can afford to give up opportunities to possibly help others. You have to think about yourself.
So, Anton thought for a moment, When would I be strong enough for that?
Never! Everheart harrumphed. Even if you ascend. Perhaps especially then.
About ascension
Everheart held up a hand, All I will say is that its quite real. And also that most people do kill themselves trying. Anything else, youll have to discover on your own. As they talked, they walked back inside. If this were a real trial, Everheart commented, I might fail your companions for not noticing my excellently placed decoy, or not noticing you sneaking out. But I suppose thats my own fault for not amplifying the effects enough. Fuzz met them at the foot of the stairs, jumping up to lick Anton in the face, and then Velvet.
As they passed by the training area, Anton saw the others in various states. They seemed a bit distracted. Should we get them?
No point. This facility doesnt have a huge pile of treasures or cultivation resources. All it has is knowledge and that can be shared.
Anton saw Catarina turn her head, but it seemed as if she couldnt really make out him or Everheart. Yet she nearly tracked them with her eyes as they moved past. Any reason youre keeping this secret?
I like secrets, Everheart simply commented. He led Anton through long corridors, past various rooms that may actually have once been trials of some sort, and into a small room that had a single bookshelf- half full. Here we are. A bunch of personal notes, including on the topic in question. Improving general cultivations at the lowest level. Though the big secret is to just try. Though thousands of pages of notes will be slightly more helpful than that, I suppose.
Anton looked at the notes, some in stacks of individual papers, others in bound books, and the rest in rolled scrolls, but all carefully organized. He began storing them carefully until he came across one particular scroll. He was unable to hide his surprise.
Everheart stood by his shoulder, grinning. Heres a little secret about me. Sometimes, I lie about things.
After quickly browsing it, Anton was able to understand the gist of it. It was generally useless. For something that empowered those with advanced age, one would think that elders would greatly benefit from it. However, that was simply not the case. It required its user to advance in cultivation while training it to receive the benefits. That was what the explanation said, anyway. As for actually using it Anton would need several days before he could even begin to do so. Everhearts techniques could be tricky, but hed never seen any of the things that took nebulous concepts and matched them against some sort of power.
Not a detailed explanation of the techniques, anyway. Everheart had commented about how hed given up the lake to preserve the papers he now had, and the tomb had been running on the future of every reward people didnt get. It was beyond the sensible standards of how one might use natural energy- creating physical effects that could otherwise exist. This seemed more like wrestling the laws of the universe and twisting them to suit his needs.
-----
The groups path through Ambati had brought them vaguely to the southwest region of the country. That was where the Temitope clan and Tailoga had been. Rainbow Lake and the region surrounding it was more to the north-west, though not particularly close to the border. Elder Tshering was primarily interested in the effects of Ambatis fauna on Graotan. A beast overlord appearing in the southwest was liable to cause some change, but he thought there should be more. Ultimately everything was connected- but more direct routes for the creatures would be back in the northeast of Ambati.
Thus, the group was headed back that way. That had been the general plan anyway, and they were able to stick with it. The only difference was that instead of pondering notes left behind by a crazy man, Anton also had a technique that he had big claims about. And while Everheart was chaotic and often a liar, he was also extremely talented.
The first stage of Fleeting Youth was attuning himself to the concept of age. On the surface that was trivial. He felt the age in his body, even if he knew he had some years left in him because of improving his cultivation. Wrinkled skin, tired bones. Tempered muscles not quite as good as they could really be if he was young.
Cultivating the Ninety-Nine Stars, the next step on his path was furthering the connection of his body and spirit. In a way, that matched what he was trying to comprehend with Fleeting Youth. But while he felt the age in his body, Fleeting Youth also indicated the age in his spirit. Bodies would grow old and break down, but it seemed some of that was connected to the spirit fading. Cultivating strengthened both body and spirit, and thus a cultivator could live longer.
If he were being perfectly fair, Anton could claim to be a genius. Perhaps not one of the highest level ones in the entire cultivation world, but certainly he had the talent. He was more or less on par with others whose cultivation talents he thought highly of, so he had to admit that of himself. Whether or not his age was a factor to consider him better, he wasnt sure. Nor did he think it mattered in the end. What mattered was he hadnt run into a technique that was hard before.
Certainly hed put a lot of effort into practicing Spirit Arrows and everything else hed learned. Piecing together Elder Kseniyas difficult to parse words took great effort, and the time and labor hed put into his training was great. But apparently, all of those techniques had been easy. Because he understood them, and was breaking his brain trying to understand Fleeting Youth. It made formations look easy. The worst part was that Anton felt he had the proper affinity, unlike with formations. Perhaps he was just fooling himself though.
Elder Tshering didnt find it any easier. Though he wasnt the type that would receive the most benefits from it, he had expressed interest and Anton had no qualms about sharing it among members of the Order. It wasnt like he had to rip up the pages and eat them to gain the knowledge. Only two or three of Everhearts techniques were like that and Anton was pretty sure they were made that way out of spite.
I understand being old, Tshering grumbled, I get the actual, tangible effects from that. But transforming that, twisting it around on itself to squeeze out latent potential just isnt working. Id say it requires a Life Transformation cultivator to learn it, but by that point its already too late, isnt it?
Seems so, Anton nodded. He actually found the slight strands of insight Tshering had on the technique- both spoken and gleaned from the Vessel of Insights- extremely helpful. He still felt as if he only had the first step or even just half a step into the long road of learning the technique, but it was something. He wasnt going to give up on it, though. He felt the truth in its power and he could be quite stubborn. Just because he found something actually difficult didnt mean he couldnt do it. If he were to ride with just what was easy, he wouldnt have built up a whole multigenerational farm.
Some of the others asked to look at it, but since they were all quite youthful they really had no connection to the technique and were quite stumped at the outset. Even if Devon was closer to middle aged before he began cultivating, Anton was actually almost able to be considered young among cultivators at his rank. A hundred years for mid Spirit Building wasnt that strange. There were many elders younger than him, though they were elders more related to their duties regarding the sect.
Maybe that was it, Anton pondered. He had likely added ten to thirty years to his lifespan through cultivation. Even with burning some of that he could have decades left. He wasnt planning to rush to employ Candle Wax, but maybe he just wasnt as close to the line as he thought. Though he had to admit that couldnt be the only factor. He would just have to stick to it. He felt the eighteenth star creeping up on him and wondered if that would pull him further from his comprehensions. He wasnt even close to picking out what flaws the technique might have, either. But a few weeks wasnt a fair attempt. Hed have to keep pushing himself, though he figured it was alright to silently curse Everheart for not providing better training guidance. Then again, if he understood correctly Everheart hadnt been able to practice it himself.
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Chapter 151
It was impossible for Anton to not be surprised by the results. Could he have predicted Everheart projecting people in danger outside the area to make him fail some sort of test? Absolutely. As for that being part of the actual test, he was a bit surprised.
Was that the whole test? Anton asked. To see if I would help those people.
If youre worried about there being more no, its over. However, the test was seeing how you would react to waiting. If people were patient when there was no timeline or instructions not to leave. As for that part, Everheart nodded to himself, It was mostly for you. To see if youre the kind of person you have purported to be. Definitely a pass. Everheart jabbed a finger into Antons sternum. That said, I think unrestrained compassion is an exploitable weakness. Youre not yet strong enough that you can afford to give up opportunities to possibly help others. You have to think about yourself.
So, Anton thought for a moment, When would I be strong enough for that?
Never! Everheart harrumphed. Even if you ascend. Perhaps especially then.
About ascension
Everheart held up a hand, All I will say is that its quite real. And also that most people do kill themselves trying. Anything else, youll have to discover on your own. As they talked, they walked back inside. If this were a real trial, Everheart commented, I might fail your companions for not noticing my excellently placed decoy, or not noticing you sneaking out. But I suppose thats my own fault for not amplifying the effects enough. Fuzz met them at the foot of the stairs, jumping up to lick Anton in the face, and then Velvet.
As they passed by the training area, Anton saw the others in various states. They seemed a bit distracted. Should we get them?
No point. This facility doesnt have a huge pile of treasures or cultivation resources. All it has is knowledge and that can be shared.
Anton saw Catarina turn her head, but it seemed as if she couldnt really make out him or Everheart. Yet she nearly tracked them with her eyes as they moved past. Any reason youre keeping this secret?
I like secrets, Everheart simply commented. He led Anton through long corridors, past various rooms that may actually have once been trials of some sort, and into a small room that had a single bookshelf- half full. Here we are. A bunch of personal notes, including on the topic in question. Improving general cultivations at the lowest level. Though the big secret is to just try. Though thousands of pages of notes will be slightly more helpful than that, I suppose.
Anton looked at the notes, some in stacks of individual papers, others in bound books, and the rest in rolled scrolls, but all carefully organized. He began storing them carefully until he came across one particular scroll. He was unable to hide his surprise.
Everheart stood by his shoulder, grinning. Heres a little secret about me. Sometimes, I lie about things.
After quickly browsing it, Anton was able to understand the gist of it. It was generally useless. For something that empowered those with advanced age, one would think that elders would greatly benefit from it. However, that was simply not the case. It required its user to advance in cultivation while training it to receive the benefits. That was what the explanation said, anyway. As for actually using it Anton would need several days before he could even begin to do so. Everhearts techniques could be tricky, but hed never seen any of the things that took nebulous concepts and matched them against some sort of power.
Not a detailed explanation of the techniques, anyway. Everheart had commented about how hed given up the lake to preserve the papers he now had, and the tomb had been running on the future of every reward people didnt get. It was beyond the sensible standards of how one might use natural energy- creating physical effects that could otherwise exist. This seemed more like wrestling the laws of the universe and twisting them to suit his needs.
-----
The groups path through Ambati had brought them vaguely to the southwest region of the country. That was where the Temitope clan and Tailoga had been. Rainbow Lake and the region surrounding it was more to the north-west, though not particularly close to the border. Elder Tshering was primarily interested in the effects of Ambatis fauna on Graotan. A beast overlord appearing in the southwest was liable to cause some change, but he thought there should be more. Ultimately everything was connected- but more direct routes for the creatures would be back in the northeast of Ambati.
Thus, the group was headed back that way. That had been the general plan anyway, and they were able to stick with it. The only difference was that instead of pondering notes left behind by a crazy man, Anton also had a technique that he had big claims about. And while Everheart was chaotic and often a liar, he was also extremely talented.
The first stage of Fleeting Youth was attuning himself to the concept of age. On the surface that was trivial. He felt the age in his body, even if he knew he had some years left in him because of improving his cultivation. Wrinkled skin, tired bones. Tempered muscles not quite as good as they could really be if he was young.
Cultivating the Ninety-Nine Stars, the next step on his path was furthering the connection of his body and spirit. In a way, that matched what he was trying to comprehend with Fleeting Youth. But while he felt the age in his body, Fleeting Youth also indicated the age in his spirit. Bodies would grow old and break down, but it seemed some of that was connected to the spirit fading. Cultivating strengthened both body and spirit, and thus a cultivator could live longer.
If he were being perfectly fair, Anton could claim to be a genius. Perhaps not one of the highest level ones in the entire cultivation world, but certainly he had the talent. He was more or less on par with others whose cultivation talents he thought highly of, so he had to admit that of himself. Whether or not his age was a factor to consider him better, he wasnt sure. Nor did he think it mattered in the end. What mattered was he hadnt run into a technique that was hard before.
Certainly hed put a lot of effort into practicing Spirit Arrows and everything else hed learned. Piecing together Elder Kseniyas difficult to parse words took great effort, and the time and labor hed put into his training was great. But apparently, all of those techniques had been easy. Because he understood them, and was breaking his brain trying to understand Fleeting Youth. It made formations look easy. The worst part was that Anton felt he had the proper affinity, unlike with formations. Perhaps he was just fooling himself though.
Elder Tshering didnt find it any easier. Though he wasnt the type that would receive the most benefits from it, he had expressed interest and Anton had no qualms about sharing it among members of the Order. It wasnt like he had to rip up the pages and eat them to gain the knowledge. Only two or three of Everhearts techniques were like that and Anton was pretty sure they were made that way out of spite.
I understand being old, Tshering grumbled, I get the actual, tangible effects from that. But transforming that, twisting it around on itself to squeeze out latent potential just isnt working. Id say it requires a Life Transformation cultivator to learn it, but by that point its already too late, isnt it?
Seems so, Anton nodded. He actually found the slight strands of insight Tshering had on the technique- both spoken and gleaned from the Vessel of Insights- extremely helpful. He still felt as if he only had the first step or even just half a step into the long road of learning the technique, but it was something. He wasnt going to give up on it, though. He felt the truth in its power and he could be quite stubborn. Just because he found something actually difficult didnt mean he couldnt do it. If he were to ride with just what was easy, he wouldnt have built up a whole multigenerational farm.
Some of the others asked to look at it, but since they were all quite youthful they really had no connection to the technique and were quite stumped at the outset. Even if Devon was closer to middle aged before he began cultivating, Anton was actually almost able to be considered young among cultivators at his rank. A hundred years for mid Spirit Building wasnt that strange. There were many elders younger than him, though they were elders more related to their duties regarding the sect.
Maybe that was it, Anton pondered. He had likely added ten to thirty years to his lifespan through cultivation. Even with burning some of that he could have decades left. He wasnt planning to rush to employ Candle Wax, but maybe he just wasnt as close to the line as he thought. Though he had to admit that couldnt be the only factor. He would just have to stick to it. He felt the eighteenth star creeping up on him and wondered if that would pull him further from his comprehensions. He wasnt even close to picking out what flaws the technique might have, either. But a few weeks wasnt a fair attempt. Hed have to keep pushing himself, though he figured it was alright to silently curse Everheart for not providing better training guidance. Then again, if he understood correctly Everheart hadnt been able to practice it himself.
Chapter 151It was impossible for Anton to not be surprised by the results. Could he have predicted Everheart projecting people in danger outside the area to make him fail some sort of test? Absolutely. As for that being part of the actual test, he was a bit surprised.Was that the whole test? Anton asked. To see if I would help those people.If youre worried about there being more no, its over. However, the test was seeing how you would react to waiting. If people were patient when there was no timeline or instructions not to leave. As for that part, Everheart nodded to himself, It was mostly for you. To see if youre the kind of person you have purported to be. Definitely a pass. Everheart jabbed a finger into Antons sternum. That said, I think unrestrained compassion is an exploitable weakness. Youre not yet strong enough that you can afford to give up opportunities to possibly help others. You have to think about yourself.So, Anton thought for a moment, When would I be strong enough for that?Never! Everheart harrumphed. Even if you ascend. Perhaps especially then.About ascensionEverheart held up a hand, All I will say is that its quite real. And also that most people do kill themselves trying. Anything else, youll have to discover on your own. As they talked, they walked back inside. If this were a real trial, Everheart commented, I might fail your companions for not noticing my excellently placed decoy, or not noticing you sneaking out. But I suppose thats my own fault for not amplifying the effects enough. Fuzz met them at the foot of the stairs, jumping up to lick Anton in the face, and then Velvet.As they passed by the training area, Anton saw the others in various states. They seemed a bit distracted. Should we get them?No point. This facility doesnt have a huge pile of treasures or cultivation resources. All it has is knowledge and that can be shared. Anton saw Catarina turn her head, but it seemed as if she couldnt really make out him or Everheart. Yet she nearly tracked them with her eyes as they moved past. Any reason youre keeping this secret?I like secrets, Everheart simply commented. He led Anton through long corridors, past various rooms that may actually have once been trials of some sort, and into a small room that had a single bookshelf- half full. Here we are. A bunch of personal notes, including on the topic in question. Improving general cultivations at the lowest level. Though the big secret is to just try. Though thousands of pages of notes will be slightly more helpful than that, I suppose.Anton looked at the notes, some in stacks of individual papers, others in bound books, and the rest in rolled scrolls, but all carefully organized. He began storing them carefully until he came across one particular scroll. He was unable to hide his surprise.Everheart stood by his shoulder, grinning. Heres a little secret about me. Sometimes, I lie about things.After quickly browsing it, Anton was able to understand the gist of it. It was generally useless. For something that empowered those with advanced age, one would think that elders would greatly benefit from it. However, that was simply not the case. It required its user to advance in cultivation while training it to receive the benefits. That was what the explanation said, anyway. As for actually using it Anton would need several days before he could even begin to do so. Everhearts techniques could be tricky, but hed never seen any of the things that took nebulous concepts and matched them against some sort of power. Not a detailed explanation of the techniques, anyway. Everheart had commented about how hed given up the lake to preserve the papers he now had, and the tomb had been running on the future of every reward people didnt get. It was beyond the sensible standards of how one might use natural energy- creating physical effects that could otherwise exist. This seemed more like wrestling the laws of the universe and twisting them to suit his needs. -----The groups path through Ambati had brought them vaguely to the southwest region of the country. That was where the Temitope clan and Tailoga had been. Rainbow Lake and the region surrounding it was more to the north-west, though not particularly close to the border. Elder Tshering was primarily interested in the effects of Ambatis fauna on Graotan. A beast overlord appearing in the southwest was liable to cause some change, but he thought there should be more. Ultimately everything was connected- but more direct routes for the creatures would be back in the northeast of Ambati.Thus, the group was headed back that way. That had been the general plan anyway, and they were able to stick with it. The only difference was that instead of pondering notes left behind by a crazy man, Anton also had a technique that he had big claims about. And while Everheart was chaotic and often a liar, he was also extremely talented.The first stage of Fleeting Youth was attuning himself to the concept of age. On the surface that was trivial. He felt the age in his body, even if he knew he had some years left in him because of improving his cultivation. Wrinkled skin, tired bones. Tempered muscles not quite as good as they could really be if he was young.Cultivating the Ninety-Nine Stars, the next step on his path was furthering the connection of his body and spirit. In a way, that matched what he was trying to comprehend with Fleeting Youth. But while he felt the age in his body, Fleeting Youth also indicated the age in his spirit. Bodies would grow old and break down, but it seemed some of that was connected to the spirit fading. Cultivating strengthened both body and spirit, and thus a cultivator could live longer. If he were being perfectly fair, Anton could claim to be a genius. Perhaps not one of the highest level ones in the entire cultivation world, but certainly he had the talent. He was more or less on par with others whose cultivation talents he thought highly of, so he had to admit that of himself. Whether or not his age was a factor to consider him better, he wasnt sure. Nor did he think it mattered in the end. What mattered was he hadnt run into a technique that was hard before.Certainly hed put a lot of effort into practicing Spirit Arrows and everything else hed learned. Piecing together Elder Kseniyas difficult to parse words took great effort, and the time and labor hed put into his training was great. But apparently, all of those techniques had been easy. Because he understood them, and was breaking his brain trying to understand Fleeting Youth. It made formations look easy. The worst part was that Anton felt he had the proper affinity, unlike with formations. Perhaps he was just fooling himself though.Elder Tshering didnt find it any easier. Though he wasnt the type that would receive the most benefits from it, he had expressed interest and Anton had no qualms about sharing it among members of the Order. It wasnt like he had to rip up the pages and eat them to gain the knowledge. Only two or three of Everhearts techniques were like that and Anton was pretty sure they were made that way out of spite. I understand being old, Tshering grumbled, I get the actual, tangible effects from that. But transforming that, twisting it around on itself to squeeze out latent potential just isnt working. Id say it requires a Life Transformation cultivator to learn it, but by that point its already too late, isnt it?Seems so, Anton nodded. He actually found the slight strands of insight Tshering had on the technique- both spoken and gleaned from the Vessel of Insights- extremely helpful. He still felt as if he only had the first step or even just half a step into the long road of learning the technique, but it was something. He wasnt going to give up on it, though. He felt the truth in its power and he could be quite stubborn. Just because he found something actually difficult didnt mean he couldnt do it. If he were to ride with just what was easy, he wouldnt have built up a whole multigenerational farm.Some of the others asked to look at it, but since they were all quite youthful they really had no connection to the technique and were quite stumped at the outset. Even if Devon was closer to middle aged before he began cultivating, Anton was actually almost able to be considered young among cultivators at his rank. A hundred years for mid Spirit Building wasnt that strange. There were many elders younger than him, though they were elders more related to their duties regarding the sect.Maybe that was it, Anton pondered. He had likely added ten to thirty years to his lifespan through cultivation. Even with burning some of that he could have decades left. He wasnt planning to rush to employ Candle Wax, but maybe he just wasnt as close to the line as he thought. Though he had to admit that couldnt be the only factor. He would just have to stick to it. He felt the eighteenth star creeping up on him and wondered if that would pull him further from his comprehensions. He wasnt even close to picking out what flaws the technique might have, either. But a few weeks wasnt a fair attempt. Hed have to keep pushing himself, though he figured it was alright to silently curse Everheart for not providing better training guidance. Then again, if he understood correctly Everheart hadnt been able to practice it himself.
