Chapter 788
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Chapter 788
Things had finally settled down enough on the western border that Velvet felt safe beginning her own infiltration efforts. At least, as safe as such a thing could be. Going into a region where everyone was enemies, even if they werent actively at war, was always a risk. Velvet made certain she had some alternatives to capture, just in case.
A long term infiltration mission meant she couldnt simply slip around unnoticed. It was impossible to stay concealed for months or years. But there were better options. She just had to look like she belonged. The success rate of such a thing depended on the particular training of those in the Exalted Quadrant, and of course her own abilities.
Her intended disguise was as a member of the Citadel of Exalted Light. A close fiction would be more effective than a vast difference in her aura. The One Hundred Stars had the potential to make use of light, and her own training had resulted in some proficiency in that area. Of course, she would be missing specific techniques to fit in, but that would only be relevant if she displayed her fighting ability. At that point, it would likely be too late. Even if the Exalted Quadrant didnt work as a coordinated whole at all times, they could at least be incentivized to hunt her down if they thought she was worth it. Like what happened with Chikere though the swordmaster had gotten quite a bit further into their territory without issues than expected. Then again, that could have been a trap.
Ultimately, Velvet found the risks acceptable. She wasnt intending to delve deep into the hearts of sects. It was far too early for such a thing. No, she just wanted to determine the overall movements of the Exalted Quadrant. Especially with relation to the Scarlet Midfields, because while they were certainly enemies how soon they would act on such a thing was a mystery. Were plans already in motion? Would it be decades? Centuries? Or was the damage caused so minor that they barely even registered their existence? The last one seemed unlikely, given theyd killed an Augmentation cultivator and messed up a long term infiltration of the Harmonious Citadel but it was hard to say how many millennia long plots such a juggernaut would have.
She would take her time, traveling via their normal routes on their ships to arouse the least suspicion about someone appearing from nowhere. All she had to do was pass a few border worlds that might be more suspicious. Shed done the same in the Trigold Cluster, and while they certainly didnt operate in the same manner overall humans kept to the same tendencies, and there were various ways to exploit their lapses in attention.
-----
The passage of several springs resulted in the significant expansion of the Lower Plains Coalitions territory. Their numbers more than doubled, not merely because of births but also more individuals joining from surrounding groups. They maintained the same core, with meerkats, warthogs, eagles, and a small number of hippopotamus.
Along with growth in numbers, the strongest individuals among them also reached greater heights that most of them hadnt witnessed. From Antons perspective they were still barely beginning their cultivation journey but they slowly began to step into the Spirit Building stage. Even the best among them seemed a bit slow to advance- but there were various factors at play that might result in that.
First was that the translation of human cultivation techniques to work for them was imperfect. Likewise, the natural energy in the area wasnt lacking, but it was far behind the developed levels of Ceretos and their allies. Finally, they were also basically the first generation of cultivators. While there had been some amount of energy ingested by previous generations of meerkats and the like, active participation in cultivation was basically brand new. Especially for the meerkats, who werent able to out-compete stronger animals to obtain that growth.N0v3lRealm was the platform where this chapter was initially revealed on N0v3l.B1n.
It wasnt much of a surprise to Anton that Three Squeaks had been the first to reach Spirit Building. He was rather partial to his disciple after all. He both consciously and unconsciously spent more time training Three Squeaks, so surpassing Deep Purr wasnt that odd, even with the other meerkat now learning from Ty.
-----
Watching the awkward Agom train with the blade, Chikere often wanted to call out to her. To tell her that was not how she was supposed to do something. But that was not her job. She was not a swordmaster, so what qualifications did she have? Besides, Chidi was taking on that job just fine. The young man- she was still multiple times his age so he was young despite living more than a century- provided different instruction than she might have to the wolf.
When she made a clumsy swing, he would ask, Did that feel right?
Chikere hadnt always been direct in her criticisms. She understood the value of a student realizing mistakes. But Chidis questions were genuine. Agom was unable to replicate human swordsmanship so her feedback on whether something was good or not was important. And getting things wrong was just one step in the process of being right.
Even so, Chikeres long training and instincts told her certain moves were incorrect. It was, in a way, like watching the Limitless Edge Sect. Thinking about that was highly uncomfortable. Experienced combatants that acted like amateurs, even to the point of death. And yet that woman had fought in a similar manner. It made her nearly impossible to predict and some of the moves might even have been better. Though they certainly didnt feel like they should have been.
It wasnt simply a matter of style. Chikere studied the styles of every enemy she came across, taking the best of what they had to integrate into her own abilities. That was normal and natural. But what the Limitless Edge did was different. They didnt just have alternate styles, but instead eschewed the very fundamentals of swordsmanship. Perhaps that was what made Chikere feel so wrong about it.
But that also brought to her mind a question. Were the agreed upon fundamentals truly perfect? Certainly, they were widespread throughout the upper and lower realms but ultimately, she had done very little questioning of those same fundamentals. She had seen they worked, and so that had been it.
Still, no matter how much her style should have worked it didnt. She completely failed to defeat the Limitless Edge. She didnt know what there was to learn from their actions that so completely went against her instincts. Maybe that was why she was broken. Or rather, it might have been one of the things that caused her to be broken.
One of the other things had been a lack of cute things holding swords, but that damage was rapidly being repaired. The meerkat. Agom, right in front of her. Even that little warthog had four swords, even thought they might look to uneducated people like they were tusks. Yes, all of those were good things.
As for everything else Chikere didnt know if she could ever wield a sword again, but if she did it would be different somehow. It was just that she failed to comprehend how every time she thought about it.
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Chapter 788
Things had finally settled down enough on the western border that Velvet felt safe beginning her own infiltration efforts. At least, as safe as such a thing could be. Going into a region where everyone was enemies, even if they werent actively at war, was always a risk. Velvet made certain she had some alternatives to capture, just in case.
A long term infiltration mission meant she couldnt simply slip around unnoticed. It was impossible to stay concealed for months or years. But there were better options. She just had to look like she belonged. The success rate of such a thing depended on the particular training of those in the Exalted Quadrant, and of course her own abilities.
Her intended disguise was as a member of the Citadel of Exalted Light. A close fiction would be more effective than a vast difference in her aura. The One Hundred Stars had the potential to make use of light, and her own training had resulted in some proficiency in that area. Of course, she would be missing specific techniques to fit in, but that would only be relevant if she displayed her fighting ability. At that point, it would likely be too late. Even if the Exalted Quadrant didnt work as a coordinated whole at all times, they could at least be incentivized to hunt her down if they thought she was worth it. Like what happened with Chikere though the swordmaster had gotten quite a bit further into their territory without issues than expected. Then again, that could have been a trap.
Ultimately, Velvet found the risks acceptable. She wasnt intending to delve deep into the hearts of sects. It was far too early for such a thing. No, she just wanted to determine the overall movements of the Exalted Quadrant. Especially with relation to the Scarlet Midfields, because while they were certainly enemies how soon they would act on such a thing was a mystery. Were plans already in motion? Would it be decades? Centuries? Or was the damage caused so minor that they barely even registered their existence? The last one seemed unlikely, given theyd killed an Augmentation cultivator and messed up a long term infiltration of the Harmonious Citadel but it was hard to say how many millennia long plots such a juggernaut would have.
She would take her time, traveling via their normal routes on their ships to arouse the least suspicion about someone appearing from nowhere. All she had to do was pass a few border worlds that might be more suspicious. Shed done the same in the Trigold Cluster, and while they certainly didnt operate in the same manner overall humans kept to the same tendencies, and there were various ways to exploit their lapses in attention.
-----
The passage of several springs resulted in the significant expansion of the Lower Plains Coalitions territory. Their numbers more than doubled, not merely because of births but also more individuals joining from surrounding groups. They maintained the same core, with meerkats, warthogs, eagles, and a small number of hippopotamus.
Along with growth in numbers, the strongest individuals among them also reached greater heights that most of them hadnt witnessed. From Antons perspective they were still barely beginning their cultivation journey but they slowly began to step into the Spirit Building stage. Even the best among them seemed a bit slow to advance- but there were various factors at play that might result in that.
First was that the translation of human cultivation techniques to work for them was imperfect. Likewise, the natural energy in the area wasnt lacking, but it was far behind the developed levels of Ceretos and their allies. Finally, they were also basically the first generation of cultivators. While there had been some amount of energy ingested by previous generations of meerkats and the like, active participation in cultivation was basically brand new. Especially for the meerkats, who werent able to out-compete stronger animals to obtain that growth.N0v3lRealm was the platform where this chapter was initially revealed on N0v3l.B1n.
It wasnt much of a surprise to Anton that Three Squeaks had been the first to reach Spirit Building. He was rather partial to his disciple after all. He both consciously and unconsciously spent more time training Three Squeaks, so surpassing Deep Purr wasnt that odd, even with the other meerkat now learning from Ty.
-----
Watching the awkward Agom train with the blade, Chikere often wanted to call out to her. To tell her that was not how she was supposed to do something. But that was not her job. She was not a swordmaster, so what qualifications did she have? Besides, Chidi was taking on that job just fine. The young man- she was still multiple times his age so he was young despite living more than a century- provided different instruction than she might have to the wolf.
When she made a clumsy swing, he would ask, Did that feel right?
Chikere hadnt always been direct in her criticisms. She understood the value of a student realizing mistakes. But Chidis questions were genuine. Agom was unable to replicate human swordsmanship so her feedback on whether something was good or not was important. And getting things wrong was just one step in the process of being right.
Even so, Chikeres long training and instincts told her certain moves were incorrect. It was, in a way, like watching the Limitless Edge Sect. Thinking about that was highly uncomfortable. Experienced combatants that acted like amateurs, even to the point of death. And yet that woman had fought in a similar manner. It made her nearly impossible to predict and some of the moves might even have been better. Though they certainly didnt feel like they should have been.
It wasnt simply a matter of style. Chikere studied the styles of every enemy she came across, taking the best of what they had to integrate into her own abilities. That was normal and natural. But what the Limitless Edge did was different. They didnt just have alternate styles, but instead eschewed the very fundamentals of swordsmanship. Perhaps that was what made Chikere feel so wrong about it.
But that also brought to her mind a question. Were the agreed upon fundamentals truly perfect? Certainly, they were widespread throughout the upper and lower realms but ultimately, she had done very little questioning of those same fundamentals. She had seen they worked, and so that had been it.
Still, no matter how much her style should have worked it didnt. She completely failed to defeat the Limitless Edge. She didnt know what there was to learn from their actions that so completely went against her instincts. Maybe that was why she was broken. Or rather, it might have been one of the things that caused her to be broken.
One of the other things had been a lack of cute things holding swords, but that damage was rapidly being repaired. The meerkat. Agom, right in front of her. Even that little warthog had four swords, even thought they might look to uneducated people like they were tusks. Yes, all of those were good things.
As for everything else Chikere didnt know if she could ever wield a sword again, but if she did it would be different somehow. It was just that she failed to comprehend how every time she thought about it.
Chapter 788Things had finally settled down enough on the western border that Velvet felt safe beginning her own infiltration efforts. At least, as safe as such a thing could be. Going into a region where everyone was enemies, even if they werent actively at war, was always a risk. Velvet made certain she had some alternatives to capture, just in case.A long term infiltration mission meant she couldnt simply slip around unnoticed. It was impossible to stay concealed for months or years. But there were better options. She just had to look like she belonged. The success rate of such a thing depended on the particular training of those in the Exalted Quadrant, and of course her own abilities. Her intended disguise was as a member of the Citadel of Exalted Light. A close fiction would be more effective than a vast difference in her aura. The One Hundred Stars had the potential to make use of light, and her own training had resulted in some proficiency in that area. Of course, she would be missing specific techniques to fit in, but that would only be relevant if she displayed her fighting ability. At that point, it would likely be too late. Even if the Exalted Quadrant didnt work as a coordinated whole at all times, they could at least be incentivized to hunt her down if they thought she was worth it. Like what happened with Chikere though the swordmaster had gotten quite a bit further into their territory without issues than expected. Then again, that could have been a trap.Ultimately, Velvet found the risks acceptable. She wasnt intending to delve deep into the hearts of sects. It was far too early for such a thing. No, she just wanted to determine the overall movements of the Exalted Quadrant. Especially with relation to the Scarlet Midfields, because while they were certainly enemies how soon they would act on such a thing was a mystery. Were plans already in motion? Would it be decades? Centuries? Or was the damage caused so minor that they barely even registered their existence? The last one seemed unlikely, given theyd killed an Augmentation cultivator and messed up a long term infiltration of the Harmonious Citadel but it was hard to say how many millennia long plots such a juggernaut would have.She would take her time, traveling via their normal routes on their ships to arouse the least suspicion about someone appearing from nowhere. All she had to do was pass a few border worlds that might be more suspicious. Shed done the same in the Trigold Cluster, and while they certainly didnt operate in the same manner overall humans kept to the same tendencies, and there were various ways to exploit their lapses in attention.-----The passage of several springs resulted in the significant expansion of the Lower Plains Coalitions territory. Their numbers more than doubled, not merely because of births but also more individuals joining from surrounding groups. They maintained the same core, with meerkats, warthogs, eagles, and a small number of hippopotamus. Along with growth in numbers, the strongest individuals among them also reached greater heights that most of them hadnt witnessed. From Antons perspective they were still barely beginning their cultivation journey but they slowly began to step into the Spirit Building stage. Even the best among them seemed a bit slow to advance- but there were various factors at play that might result in that. First was that the translation of human cultivation techniques to work for them was imperfect. Likewise, the natural energy in the area wasnt lacking, but it was far behind the developed levels of Ceretos and their allies. Finally, they were also basically the first generation of cultivators. While there had been some amount of energy ingested by previous generations of meerkats and the like, active participation in cultivation was basically brand new. Especially for the meerkats, who werent able to out-compete stronger animals to obtain that growth.N0v3lRealm was the platform where this chapter was initially revealed on N0v3l.B1n.It wasnt much of a surprise to Anton that Three Squeaks had been the first to reach Spirit Building. He was rather partial to his disciple after all. He both consciously and unconsciously spent more time training Three Squeaks, so surpassing Deep Purr wasnt that odd, even with the other meerkat now learning from Ty. -----Watching the awkward Agom train with the blade, Chikere often wanted to call out to her. To tell her that was not how she was supposed to do something. But that was not her job. She was not a swordmaster, so what qualifications did she have? Besides, Chidi was taking on that job just fine. The young man- she was still multiple times his age so he was young despite living more than a century- provided different instruction than she might have to the wolf. When she made a clumsy swing, he would ask, Did that feel right?Chikere hadnt always been direct in her criticisms. She understood the value of a student realizing mistakes. But Chidis questions were genuine. Agom was unable to replicate human swordsmanship so her feedback on whether something was good or not was important. And getting things wrong was just one step in the process of being right.Even so, Chikeres long training and instincts told her certain moves were incorrect. It was, in a way, like watching the Limitless Edge Sect. Thinking about that was highly uncomfortable. Experienced combatants that acted like amateurs, even to the point of death. And yet that woman had fought in a similar manner. It made her nearly impossible to predict and some of the moves might even have been better. Though they certainly didnt feel like they should have been.It wasnt simply a matter of style. Chikere studied the styles of every enemy she came across, taking the best of what they had to integrate into her own abilities. That was normal and natural. But what the Limitless Edge did was different. They didnt just have alternate styles, but instead eschewed the very fundamentals of swordsmanship. Perhaps that was what made Chikere feel so wrong about it. But that also brought to her mind a question. Were the agreed upon fundamentals truly perfect? Certainly, they were widespread throughout the upper and lower realms but ultimately, she had done very little questioning of those same fundamentals. She had seen they worked, and so that had been it. Still, no matter how much her style should have worked it didnt. She completely failed to defeat the Limitless Edge. She didnt know what there was to learn from their actions that so completely went against her instincts. Maybe that was why she was broken. Or rather, it might have been one of the things that caused her to be broken. One of the other things had been a lack of cute things holding swords, but that damage was rapidly being repaired. The meerkat. Agom, right in front of her. Even that little warthog had four swords, even thought they might look to uneducated people like they were tusks. Yes, all of those were good things. As for everything else Chikere didnt know if she could ever wield a sword again, but if she did it would be different somehow. It was just that she failed to comprehend how every time she thought about it.
