After another month Catarina found that the puzzle box only went deeper and deeper. Each step was more difficult, and the members of the Worthy Shore Society studying along with her had found themselves lost long before. Explaining the earlier layers to them was a good way to spend some time not fussing with the core of the puzzle box which had become increasingly difficult… and dangerous. It was entirely possible it was only intended to be opened by those who already knew the method, but because of the nature of formations it could always be picked apart.

It was simply more difficult to do so when formation runes were hidden on the inside surface, as Catarina had to figure out a way to sense them without triggering the outer defenses. But she could do it by sensing the flow. Unfortunately the last week had been a sort of deadlock where she was making no progress at all. That didn’t mean she couldn’t… but she had to focus on something else for a time while she digested what she had learned. Unfortunately, that meant she wouldn’t be able to return to these studies for… an unknown period of time.

It had been more than a week since the Worthy Shore Society declared they had nothing more they were able to share. They were willing to host the group for longer, but cautioned them against staying too long. Everyone was frantically learning what they could, studying or copying available techniques. Catarina even learned a few things about formations from the library, though she knew there was probably more knowledge hidden. It was a shame to leave it in the hands of people who couldn’t use it at the moment… but she had to accept it. For all of her progress, she hadn’t actually given anything tangible to the Worthy Shore Society. They exchanged knowledge for knowledge, and she was invited back… at a later time. Given the general hostile stance of the Exalted Archipelago, that was the best that could be expected.

-----

The Worthy Shore Society guided the group out of the location of their strange island, even going so far as to escort them a day out into the open sea. Nobody came close to disturbing them, but the gesture was still appreciated. They were at the very least pleasant acquaintances.

The general atmosphere on the ships was one of accomplishment, but there was also a bit of trepidation. Learning what they had, it was difficult not to. Freely distributing some of the techniques to people who were almost enemies- and certainly not established allies- meant they thought very little of them. Perhaps there was some generosity involved, but it still showed what they had available to them.

Even if the Worthy Shore Society was friendly enough, it was still uncomfortable that only a certain pact was stopping the Exalted Archipelago in general from retaliating for actual and perceived past wrongs. Even if they weren’t interested in that, cultivators were often looking to expand by taking over other sects’ territories. There were various excuses that were used to justify things to different extents, but power would ultimately be the victor. A coalition of local sects would stand together against most aggressors but if one side was overwhelming in force little could be done.

The journey had absolutely been worth the effort. The knowledge they gained, even if it came with some concerning revelations, was extremely useful. The Exalted Archipelago could be trusted to leave them alone… at least for the moment. And they were strong enough that if they were overcome by the invading forces, nobody else really stood a chance anyway. That meant the Exalted Archipelago could be set aside… for the moment.

On the return journey, promises were made to copy everything that people had gained and distribute them among the various sects and clans. Spreading that information to all of them meant that it would inevitably lose any secrecy, but at least they would be the first ones to be able to study the wealth of knowledge. The gears were already turning in people’s heads for how they might refine their cultivation techniques to improve them.

-----

One by one over the course of the next two years Anton’s companions advanced to Life Transformation. He firmly believed that Timothy, Hoyt, and Velvet would have made the step regardless… but the additional learning helped. Alva was still slightly behind in cultivation, but she was right on Anton’s own heels. He hadn’t quite succeeded yet.

Part of that was making the choice to be cautious in his advancement. He didn’t want to make a mistake and attune himself in a way that would lock him in a path he didn’t want. He spent a large amount of effort with the elders of the Order studying the Ninety-Nine Stars, specifically focused on the Life Transformation aspect of it. Anton mostly deferred to their understanding, but he was part of the process. The refinements they made would smooth the path for themselves and future cultivators of the technique, but nobody could be certain if the completion of it was correct. There were a few of the Grand Elders hovering near peak Life Transformation, but even if they could break through they chose not to try. They did not know if they would be able to affect the invasion after ascending, and the sect could not afford to lose their strength- even if their numbers of Life Transformation experts had nearly returned to their peak, and would likely continue to increase.

At the end of all of it, Anton was certain of the path he would take. It was hardly different than the choice he would have made if he pushed himself, but sometimes that was just the way the world worked.

He stood in the reconstructed observatory, empty except for him. There were other enthusiasts of the nighttime skies in the Order, but that was precisely why nobody else was present. It wasn’t night, but the middle of the day. Anton confirmed his condition. He was fully rested and mentally prepared. Now all he had to do was go through with it.

Anton began to gather the natural energy around him. The density around the peak was the highest anywhere in the Order, and it could easily fill him up. Now, he was pushing beyond that point, absorbing more than he could hold onto until his meridians and dantian strained, the energy compressed inside him. He looked through the telescope straight at the sun, an action more than sufficient to blind a normal person. A portion of his effort was diverted to fortify his eyes, and they slowly adjusted to pick out something more than just pure intensity of light.

As the sun came into focus in his mind, his energy also extended outside the observatory to feel how the sun’s rays fell upon the world around him. It was light and heat and intensity of energy. The rays even dissolved into the form of ‘pure’ natural energy, though practically every sort of power ultimately ended up there.

The pressure continued to build up inside him. Anton controlled the strands of energy flowing through them, directing them through his body, and especially his dantians and meridians where the flow was greatest. The energy began to be consumed to power a transformation, but he continued to pull in more as quickly as he could, until he was overflowing.

Even though he was aware of what to do, the process was dangerous. His body began to ache as it was nearly torn apart by the power, but he kept pushing forward. Failure would mean, at minimum, a long period of recovery from internal injuries. In the worst case, death. But concerning himself with failure would only hold him back. He simply thought of his goal.

Power. Not for the sake of himself, at least not entirely, but to be used for the sake of those he cared about. The pressure and pain continued to build, but he pushed steadily forward, the fiery heat becoming part of him. Then, all at once the pressure released as if a dam had broken. He had formed the fifty-ninth star. The gushing energy found its way through him with plenty of room to spare, and the aches began to recede until they were a dull throb.

Anton smiled. He had believed he could do it, but that was the case with everyone who made the attempt, unless they were truly suicidal. Many failed, and not all of them got a second chance. He slowly breathed out, feeling scorching heat in his mouth and lungs as the air moved. It hurt. Not a perfect breakthrough, then, but he was quite certain he would recover given time.

-----

“I’m afraid we have to make you an elder,” Kseniya grinned at Anton when she next saw him. “We’ve recently refined the rules, and until such a time as we run into issues it’s simply appropriate to have every Life Transformation cultivator retain the title of elder.”

Anton nodded. With twenty Life Transformation cultivators, including himself, that left seventy-nine places for elders of Essence Collection- or lower. There were only ninety elders, but there were also nine Grand Elders. If there were circumstances that led to them needing more elders they would consider changing the number of elders as it was merely ceremonial, but for the moment Anton would be taking someone else’s title. He didn’t like that but… he had to admit that the title was fitting. And if Catarina called him Elder Anton, he would see how she liked it. Though he was far beyond caring about that little detail, since most of his peers were actually of similar age or older than himself now. Though the upcoming generations were likely to change that average.

Having achieved a long term goal, Anton wondered what he should focus on next. Improving his cultivation would continue, but he had a decade, perhaps two on the long end before the invasion? He wouldn’t even make it to the midpoint of Life Transformation no matter how hard he pushed. As Anton took stock of himself, he realized that he had now spent a quarter of his life cultivating, though it hardly felt like it. Some days were tranquil and slow, but his mind always recalled his younger years and the time he had with Janina as if it had just been a short time before. People were strange like that.

Anton took a single glance into his vessel of insights. The lone insights of Swordmaster Rahayu remained there, tantalizing, but Anton knew better than to touch it at the moment. For all he knew, it might cut him in half. The insights were normally safe, but he wasn’t going to chance it- or waste the insights when he wasn’t fully ready to comprehend it.

What he could do was review everything he had been teaching people and improve whatever was lacking. His own power might improve somewhat in the coming years, but there was just enough time to raise up another batch or two of early Essence Collection cultivators, or at least Spirit Building. A couple decades of widespread cultivation knowledge was getting people used to it, but it could hardly be called universal. They would need everything they could to hold off ascension cultivators.

Some more practice with his anti-ascension techniques would be good too. He understood how important they would be, now that he knew more. Ascension cultivators couldn’t recover their ascension energy- or ‘upper energy’- while present in this world. He didn’t know how easy it was for them to come and leave, but it at least wasn’t simple. Otherwise they wouldn’t be constrained to certain time periods, and half-exhausting one would be pointless as they would simply leave and return.

Perhaps they could leave and come back, but it would at least put them out of commission for a time. Anton had to believe that, or hope that they could just kill anyone without giving them a chance to escape. But that would be difficult, even if he shot arrows after them for a hundred kilometers. At least he would not have to worry about them outrunning his attacks. His light arrows were significantly more powerful now. He might even give Kseniya a run for her money. Actually, sparring with her was a great idea. He wasn’t exactly close in cultivation, but there wasn’t a huge rift between them either.