In less than two weeks, Timothy had reached the fourth star, finishing the tempering of his tendons. Anton still had quite a way to go… but it was just time he required. Meanwhile, Timothy had spent a longer time at the third star because of his inefficient technique. He took well to the guidance of Anton, completing the final portion of the tempering without issue. “Thank you for the instruction, team leader Anton.” Timothy and the others no longer tried to call Anton ‘senior’, but he couldn’t refuse ‘team leader’. It at least didn’t make him feel old. He had hoped that they would be willing to be informal, but the large difference in age made them slightly uneasy still.

“What do you plan for the next star?” Anton asked.

“It would be best to refine my meridians but-”

“Then that is what you shall do,” Anton declared. “Why would you not?”

“Well, prime refinements are more difficult. Meridians are the hardest to refine properly, and I’m not sure I have enough experience…” Timothy looked down.

“Don’t worry about it and just ask when you have questions. It may be difficult, but this is an important time in your future. Catarina and Hoyt both had the fortitude to refine their meridians for a prime refinement. With my guidance you can do the same.”

“Didn’t you refine your muscles for the fifth refinement, team leader Anton?”

“I did,” Anton acknowledged, “But that doesn’t mean my meridians didn’t also undergo a prime refinement. I am a bit old, though, so it may not be so obvious with my energy capacity.”

Timothy frowned, “But if muscles were fifth… then meridians were…”

“Second, of course.” Anton understood that was a rarity, but it had worked out well for him. He was still alive, after all. “Now then, here’s what you need to do…” Anton had already finished the refinement of his meridians long before, and with his current additional experience he was quite capable of guiding Timothy’s cultivation. He wasn’t going to magically reach the fifth star in just a couple weeks, but if Anton was able to properly communicate the best techniques, he should be able to properly perform the tempering given time. He had enough determination, at least.

-----

At one hundred years old, Anton felt that time moved extremely rapidly. Then he had become a cultivator, and time seemed to flow even faster still. A month of training at least a few times per week with the team he had put together for The Hunt passed in what felt like an instant. Nobody but Timothy made a breakthrough to a higher cultivation level, but that was expected. The rest of the group had advanced relatively recently, and it wasn’t so easy for Anton to reach the next star in just a month. He felt like he was barely halfway… maybe a bit over or under. Cultivation seemed to slow down quite significantly with each step.

The gathering for The Hunt was quite impressive. Not every disciple was participating, but Anton estimated at least one in five to ten. With how spread out they were over the land owned by the Order, there were rarely so many in one place. The Order had thousands of members around at any specific time, and hundreds were participating in The Hunt. Anton noticed many with badges of elders. At least a dozen. While that wasn’t a huge portion of the order’s total number of elders, it was quite significant. Anton noticed both Elder Vincent and Elder Kseniya. Vincent was greeting many people as they arrived, but Kseniya mostly watched. He wondered if anyone technically knew her, instead of just knowing who she was. He certainly couldn’t consider himself acquainted.

“Anton!” Elder Vincent smiled as they approached. “I’m glad to see you are doing well. Your cultivation has progressed one step further, even.” Elder Vincent turned his smile to the rest of the team. “I didn’t have the pleasure of recruiting the rest of you. I’m Vincent.”

“Elder Vincent,” they all inclined their heads, and Vincent and Anton shared a look. He certainly deserved the respect of the title more than Anton did that of senior, but it did seem rather formal.

“We will be going over all of the updated information soon. The level of your team…” Elder Vincent nodded, “An average of fifth star is quite excellent, considering the time you have cultivated. There will be many opportunities for you to be effective in the outer forest.”

The coordinator for The Hunt was one of the older looking elders, a dark skinned man called Elder Anand. Anton only knew that he was from outside Graotan initially, before finding his position with the Order. “Good day, everyone,” Elder Anand spoke. Even with people scattered all about, his voice carried evenly to everyone. “Despite the fact that we will be dealing with creatures from the forest, do remember that the deep forest is off limits. It is far too dangerous… even for Spirit Building disciples. On that note, we have separated the area into several sections. The inner ring is appropriate for any Spirit Building disciples. The middle ring will mostly suit earlier Spirit Building and those near the peak of Body Tempering. Those below the seventh star are advised to stay in the outer area. Of course, these areas are not absolute. Stronger beasts may move between zones, but the elders will be doing the best to limit how many dangerous ones reach further out. We cannot guarantee that large numbers of beasts won’t travel in a pack, so make sure to remain with your teams for safety. And don’t forget, despite the fact that you will be rewarded per beast slain… this is a cooperative venture. If you see another team in need of assistance, please do so. And don’t refuse help from others. It is better to remain alive than to get a few extra contribution points. Though… we shouldn’t have to remind most of you how to behave.” Elder Anand explained what to look for that would delineate the different sections- different types of trees, the density of energy, landmarks, and the like. Before sending everyone off, each group was given a magic bag.

Anton was surprised they had enough for that- if there were three hundred participants, that meant at least fifty or seventy-five magic bags. That did explain why those disciples that worked with equipment refinement had been looking a bit haggard lately.

A magic bag was theoretically simple to use. It could open widely to store objects far beyond its actual capacity, and in this case it was meant for the corpses of beasts. Among other things it would preserve them for use… and keep the forest from being littered with bodies. While scavengers would enjoy such a feast, it was best to minimize the amount to something reasonable. Besides, scavengers were already too plentiful with so many dangerous beasts growing wild.

Anton wished he had the chance to enter the forest before. He wasn’t terribly worried about entering an unfamiliar forest, especially since he could always find his way back towards the center where the Order kept the main complex, but knowing the particular quirks of a forest was still good. Maybe he would have the chance later after the hunt, when things settled down. For the moment, they moved towards the outer part of the forest.

With experience hunting various creatures, it wasn’t hard to find relatively larger versions of them. Anton barely even had to look to find tracks of a large boar… and he could hear it soon enough. He almost thought it was a normal sized boar but then he realized that the trees it was next to were instead much larger than he thought. The perspective was difficult, but he motioned the group forward as quietly as they could go. Anton was out in front somewhat… but just a few meters ahead. The boar hadn’t noticed them yet, and he pulled on his string, forming a Spirit Arrow as he did so. He aimed lower, towards a front shoulder- and the heart.

Anton hadn’t fired a Spirit Arrow at a living being not protected by the sect’s defensive formations… and he was quite surprised. The arrow flew with power he knew it possessed straight and true into the boar’s heart, half its length in. It left behind a hole in the pig’s side… but the boar was also surprising. Its fat was also about twice as thick due to its size, and though the arrow had certainly punctured the heart it wasn’t cleanly pierced through. And boars were known for being hard to take down.

It spun around towards Anton, charging towards him. Anton fired two more Spirit Arrows, though its movements and thick skin meant they only stuck more or less harmlessly into its shoulder. However, before it made it more than halfway to him… its rapid movements caused it to bleed more quickly out of the hole in its side and it collapsed. Anton nodded. He could kill one alone, but he’d had the drop on it. Theoretically the beasts would also travel in groups, and he might not always spot his quarry first. It wasn’t truly a hunt, but instead an extermination… or a war.