As they moved towards the location with the most preserved bodies apparently available, Anton noticed that the general amount of destruction was increasing. So they were actually approaching the major points of conflict. Walls were cracked open with flows of lava having poured through and solidified many times until the gaps closed. The structure was filled with many puncture holes, cuts, and impact craters.

The path that Elder Vasu took Anton on went around what he sensed had once been a large section of the complex and now was just nothing but dirt and layers of volcanic rock. Only a small number of former pieces of structure remained, bricks and parts of pillars and the like. Based on how strong he knew everything was, he could imagine what had to have happened. Thoughts of Vandale’s final battle came to mind, and the final burst of power.

After circumventing around the area, they came to the first bodies. Anton wasn’t quite sure what he expected. Partial skeletons, perhaps. Instead, there were two main varieties. Some of the area had clearly been dug out, revealing ‘bodies’ of cultivators. However, it wasn’t really a body at all. It was compressed ash that was the burned remnants of what had once been a body. No material remained to identify an individual. These were common, but ultimately just uncomfortable to be around as the dying positions of so many individuals were revealed. A few remained standing somehow, but most were collapsed against the wall or floor, what remained of them anyway.

Then there were the others, nearly statues encased in obsidian and other volcanic material. But as Anton’s energy probed them, he found that the bodies inside were intact. “How are they like this?” he asked Elder Vasu.

“The exact details aren’t clear, but the general idea is that there was some sort of catastrophic eruption that covered all of them. As you can see the walls around here are long gone. The area was dug out, carefully chipped away to reveal individuals.” Vasu shrugged, “Some of those who did so were the artistic sort, which is where you get the smoother, closer shapes instead of the blocks surrounding them.”

Anton continued through the area when something caused him a sudden intake of breath. Natural energy still part of one of the individuals. However, it was simply trapped within the shell of stone around it. The man himself was not alive. But remnants of who they were still remained. “I presume that’s the Chain Harmony Sect’s aura?” It was strong like steel filled with a core of fire. A sect that lived on a volcano would obviously have some sort of connection to fire, even if it wasn’t part of their name.

“That’s right,” Elder Vasu nodded. “They don’t appear to have any allies here other than themselves, but we’ve identified a few enemies. Not all fire type cultivators, either.” Elder Vasu brought him further, circumventing traps by way of walking over destroyed terrain. “See here.”

Another man with a core of natural energy… but also a faint trace of ascension energy. Something about that danced at the edge of Anton’s mind, but he couldn’t quite draw the connection. He surveyed more and more before finally coming to a conclusion. “... Some of the invaders were in Essence Collection. Or even Spirit Building.”

“What do you mean?” Elder Vasu asked.

“This woman here,” Anton gestured. “The ratios don’t make sense for anything later than Essence Collection, based on what I can handle. They might have faded unevenly, but the remnants of equipment I feel agree with me. The quality of this destroyed armor is too low for a Life Transformation cultivator, let alone an Ascension cultivator. And another factor… there are far too many of them. Even if they all matched up with the power of a Life Transformation cultivator, the Chain Harmony Sect couldn’t have that many more Life Transformation cultivators than the great sects of our times. Even if they were much greater- say a factor of five, a full hundred Life Transformation cultivators here… it doesn’t match up with just the bodies we see. And surely there were more invaders that weren’t perfectly preserved.”

“How could it be possible to ascend directly from Essence Collection?” Elder Vasu frowned. “It breaks the fundamental path of cultivation.”

“I agree, but only if you make certain assumptions. For example, I have access to ascension energy through a particular technique. But I wouldn't think all of these would practice something similar. But there’s one thing I know about ascension that it matches up with. The cultivators no longer exist in this world. Likewise, the invaders had to come here from somewhere. A place with ascension energy.”

“Ah. I think I understand. Perhaps these individuals were born in such a world. They would naturally learn to access and control ascension energy.”

“Right,” Anton nodded. “I don’t think anything specifically stops anyone from using it here, either. It’s just that there is no access to it. It doesn’t appear naturally and can only be snatched through unorthodox means. But that still doesn’t explain why they would come here.”

“The same reason anyone acts similarly,” Elder Vasu surmised. “Barring some sort of grudge we have long forgotten here, they are after resources.”

“What could we have that they wouldn’t?” Anton asked.

“That’s quite simple, I think. You already basically answered it. Natural energy. We have no access to ascension energy here, so it is logical to assume that they might not have access to natural energy like we use there. Or at least, it could be limited. Likewise things that grow under the care of natural energy but reject ascension energy.” Elder Vasu was speculating, but growing more confident in his answers. “And if people are born outside of this world, cultivating through the lower ranks might be difficult. Yes that… well, I’m not going to guarantee my answers. But it shouldn’t be entirely off base.”

“Unfortunately, I don’t know if it helps us. Unless we’re willing to subordinate ourselves to them and give up the vast majority of our resources with no struggle. So far, the information has painted them as quite eager to take everything despite suffering losses.” Anton shook his head. “Not that most cultivators would be content with living under their thumb. Except those who are swayed by the thoughts of the Twin Soul Sect, I suppose. But there’s a limit to such people.”

“One would hope,” Elder Vasu nodded. “Though not everyone is eager to fight to survive. Capitulation might breed better results.”

“If offered some sort of reasonable terms, perhaps. But we’re already primed to fight… and they haven’t been shown to have any mercy. Everheart might have forced us into a corner.”

“We would fight anyway,” Vasu commented.

“So would I. Ultimately, I’m glad that many people have no choice. I’m of the mind that there are things worse than death. Especially since I was almost there… the long way.”

“I do recall it being mentioned you began cultivating late in life.” Vasu pondered for a moment. “Given your cultivation growth in the recent years, I suppose I must believe it. You’ve nearly kept pace with Chikere.”

“Well…” Anton shrugged, “She’s nearly at the peak of Essence Collection. I’ve fallen a bit behind, but she’s a pretty high bar.”

“Yes. Not everyone can catch the eye of a master about to ascend. Her talent brought her to that point, and that bit of luck pushed her further.” Elder Vasu nodded seriously. “But what’s five or ten years anyway? You don’t seem to doubt you’ll reach Life Transformation. Just the speed.”

“Perhaps I’m just overconfident. My previous experiences between the phases have only been temporary roadblocks. But maybe I was just lucky to have the right inspirations and thoughts at the right time.”

“Maybe,” Elder Vasu shrugged, “But luck is necessary for anyone to get far in cultivation. A bit of bad luck spells the end for even the most talented. And I’m not talking about getting in trouble- because surviving that might really be good luck. Though it might not even be something measurable. Regardless, back to these,” he gestured to the various semi-petrified bodies. “We’ve learned some interesting things here today. Perhaps others can help advance our speculations and refine our understanding of what is true. Until then, the formation is actually an excellent type of training.”

-----

Though Anton did spend several hours of each day somewhat morbidly observing the corpses, he didn’t learn much more. The rest of his time was spent training, or resting.

The formation, despite it probably not being intended for such, was absolutely useful for training. Specifically, Anton found that he could determine exactly how much energy he summoned outside of himself, and in a way he learned whether or not it was excessive for his purposes. It also gave him a good idea of what energy was vulnerable to enemy attacks, as he felt the formation reached the limit of what could be done without some sort of physical intrusion near the dantian. And at that point, you could basically rip someone apart from the inside.

The way it drained energy was certainly aggressive, but it didn’t seem designed to be lethal. Perhaps that was simply the balance it attained regarding how much power it could use, but intent wasn’t always visible from studying a formation. Not to those unspecialized, at least. Even so, Anton carefully studied the formation- taking notes for Catarina to look at if nothing else.

Everyone spent more or less the same amount of time in the formation before retreating. It wasn’t a matter of retaining their energy better, but how far they wanted to push things. Chikere liked to skirt close to the limit, to the point it made Anton uncomfortable.

“What do you think happens if you run out of energy?” Anton asked while they were all on a rest period, gathering energy nearby.

“Dunno. Death, probably,” Chikere shrugged. Her cavalier attitude towards death wasn’t really not taking it seriously, but instead absolute confidence to avoid losing the last drop of her energy by mismanaging her time and distance. It was like how she fought battles, allowing enemy weapons to get uncomfortably close to causing serious injury just so she could be in the optimal location for her own attacks. Anton understood the theory of not dodging more than was absolutely necessary to conserve energy, but in his opinion she often was on the far side of the safe line. But she hadn’t died yet, so whatever her threshold was worked well enough. It wasn’t just good luck.

“Somehow… I don’t feel that,” Agus responded. “The death thing. People can survive without natural energy, and I don’t feel any malice from the formation. I haven’t seen any hidden tricks that would simply kill someone after they ran out either. Perhaps the sect was supposed to fight here with weakened enemies, then finish them off?”

“Maybe,” Anton frowned. “But I don’t see anything that would indicate some exception for members of the Chain Harmony Sect. It seems to absorb every type of energy. Even-” Anton stopped, then gathered a small bead of energy, flicking it into the formation. “Yes. Even ascension energy.” The formation crackled briefly with the small surge of power. “Quite proficiently as well.”

Chikere shrugged. “It would have to, right? To fight the invaders?”

“Yes, but… it requires an entirely different type of formation and a certain knowledge to affect ascension energy in the same way.”

“Like the sarcophagus,” Vasu commented. “Do you think this is meant to destroy bodies? It’s rather out in the open.”

“No. If anything, it’s the opposite. It would preserve them. I’d even bet that it simply drains people of all energy and leaves them otherwise unharmed.”

“Really?” Chikere nodded. “That makes sense. I’m going to test it.”

“Wait-” Anton called after Chikere, but she had already leapt to a standing position and was in the formation. She was sprinting at a speed that rapidly diminished her half-recovered energy stores. He knew he couldn’t stop her, either physically or through words. But he had to try the latter. “I was just speculating!”

“And now I’m speculating too!” With no restraint in how she was moving, Chikere rapidly burned through her energy as she sprinted down the corridor. Then she suddenly slowed. Her legs continued to pump for a few moments before she stepped out of the hallway on the far side. She turned to shout back. “See? It was fine.”

Anton had to admit that even the power of the formation near her had died down, no longer receiving anything. He stood up and cautiously stepped into the formation. He wasn’t going to attempt the same thing as Chikere just yet, but instead wanted to make sure there wasn’t another layer. For example, Everheart had detected his ability to call upon ascension energy. The formation hadn’t reacted to him before, and it didn’t seem to do any differently after he called upon the energy. He considered trying to summon some while he was inside the formation… but dismissed that thought. That could remain an unknown until a formation master said it was reasonable.

Chikere wandered into the room beyond the corridor, and soon enough she wandered back. She could only run at a rate slightly more than a very fit human- her body tempering didn’t continue particularly further than the Ninety-Nine Stars did, ending in Spirit Building. Thus, it seemed almost like a slow and trudging walk despite the way she moved.

“You guys should come see this. It’s pretty neat.”

Disciples from the Million Sword Vault immediately followed her, and Elder Vasu did nothing to stop them. In fact, he only hesitated a few moments before following her. Anton looked at Agus and shrugged, before continuing forward himself. If all that would happen was he was exhausted of energy, it would be no worse than a prolonged battle where he received no injuries. In short, a good one. For his side, at least.