Two old men and one young sat together under the shade and protection of the Grandfather Willow. The outer edges of the Grasping Willow’s territory were still outside the valley where the grand tree made its home, for reasons of safety for the newer cultivators. The core sections of the sect had moved inward after the invasion, since they had to rebuild regardless. When they had first settled in the area, the Grasping Willows simply hadn’t had the proficiency to do the same.

The three were Anton, Varela, and Lev. The oldest among them was Varela, though he was merely a few decades older than Anton. Unfortunately, he had found the limits of his talent long before, and even now was only in early Essence Collection. Anton wished he could provide some advice, but he simply didn’t have anything to offer. Whatever he could provide had been said decades ago. It was unfair, but Varela just wasn’t as suited to cultivation as Anton. Perhaps he would have done better with a different technique, but he had no desire to change even if there was some guarantee of power. The recent improvements and developments had allowed him to advance from mid to late Spirit Building and finally to his current position, but he was teetering at the edge of his lifespan. If he’d reached his current cultivation while young he might have another handful of decades, but as Anton was well aware each step of advancement provide less lifespan when already close to the limit of one’s age.

Despite his limited cultivation, he had experience and wisdom to provide, and as a friend and Lev’s former master was a welcome companion for their discussions. And there were some interesting things being discussed.

“I’m not going to ascend,” Lev declared.

“Why not?” Anton asked. “You have the talent. You’re already more than halfway there, in terms of years. It might take, what, another thirty or forty? Fifty on the far end? You’ll still be relatively young then.”

Lev lifted his arms, letting the wrists dangle as he focused his energy on the rest of the limbs to hold them up. “Because of this. I have only a fraction of my strength away from here.”

“There were some miraculous medicines recovered from the invaders,” Anton said. “There has to be something…”

“It doesn’t matter. I did this to myself, and I’m not going to complain. The Grasping Willows are still young. They need me. If I can pave the way to the top and allow others to ascend, I will be happy. It’s the same with Vandale, isn’t it? He could have ascended, but remained for the sake of your sect.”

“That’s true. Without his example and protection, I doubt we would have made it this far. Certainly not in this state.”

“Exactly,” Lev said. “Even in this time of grand cultivation advancements, the Grasping Willows need me. Otherwise our rise could be unfortunately short. Like a tree greedily sucking all the nutrients around it, only to run out.”

“I’m not ascending either, obviously,” Varela commented. “Though if I had the chance, I’d probably still remain.”

“I also don’t have a choice,” Anton admitted.

“I think… that’s not quite right,” Varela said after some thought. “You did have a choice. You just already made it.”

“It’s not like I could have guaranteed myself reaching Ascension all the way back then.”

“Nobody can guarantee it. But given your talent, you were as close as could be.” Varela smiled, “Think about what could have been if you began cultivating younger.”

“Could have been anything,” Anton replied. “Maybe I would have been terrible. I firmly believe my life experience was important in making me… this.”

“You could have started at fifty though,” Lev said. “Could be ascended by now, with half a century of experiencing a life without cultivation.”

“Not good enough,” Anton said. “Besides, there was no motivation. I had what I needed, friends and family. More efficient work, longer lifespan… perhaps they might have tempted me, but they wouldn’t have driven me. The unfortunate circumstances that eventually came about changed my perspective.”

“Yet you never forgot where you came from,” Varela said. “And you didn’t really deny making the choice.”

“You’re right. But it was easy enough. I’m not the sort who could leave everything behind for power. It’s just… I find myself dissatisfied by my current state. Even if I reach the peak of Life Transformation, I’ll simply have a few decades after that to devote to the sect, or the world. Far more than I could have hoped, but less than I wish I had.”

“But you haven’t given up,” Lev said. “Which is why you are here.”

“Can’t I just come to chat with old friends?” Anton asked.

“Any time,” Lev said. “But you value your time enough that you aren’t here for just that one thing.”

“Fair enough,” Anton admitted. “I just came from studying Paradise. A single entity on par with an army… or several. Though perhaps in a battle he would find himself overwhelmed by numbers, and attacks from different directions. Though I would never want to be involved in that fight unless absolutely necessary.”

“He has more range than you. Quite the feat,” Lev said. “Learn anything good?”

“Not that I can put into words here… though there is one thing of interest. You know Fuzz, of course.” He and Fuzz were saved at the same time, during the same incident with the invasive moss. “Catarina has been using formations to empower him all along… and Paradise has something similar.”

“Human involvement? It’s not… terribly surprising. A beast like Paradise happening through random chance is extremely rare, and even if he was enhanced I’m not surprised there’s only one. Any idea which sect it might have been?”

“I’m not quite sure. That’s for the formation masters to determine.”

“The Grandfather Willow hasn’t been modified,” Lev said. “Not through formations that are still around, anyway. I can demonstrate how the power works.”

“Isn’t that dangerous?” Anton asked.

“The damage is already done,” Lev shook his head, “And I’ve gained the knowledge to connect to the tree without such a hasty grafting. Good for future generations, at least. A nice source of stability, and yet we won’t look like a threat to anyone. Unfortunately that means we’ll be of minimal help in this brewing war. We can send some people to help, but we’re still on the smaller end of sects.”

“That is appreciated. I hope that it is simply a warning of a potential, and calm judgment prevails. But I’d never bet on it.”

-----

The Grandfather Willow was much different from Paradise in important ways. All of its power was fully contained within itself, the sprawling branches, roots, and massive trunk. Despite its power, it was still a plant, without intelligence. Recognizing what it should or should not grasp was instinctual, not involving real decision making. To that end, Lev tapping into its power was simpler. The flow of energy followed his prompting with no resistance, though of course it took a certain level of understanding to synchronize with it well enough to accomplish that. It was also lesser, capable of combating an ascension cultivator at the Integration stage and not much more. A determined assault by a larger sect could overcome it, though there would certainly be losses. Yet there was potential there. It could be greater than it already was- though how much exactly was a mystery even to Lev.

The flow of power through it was carefully observed by Anton, and while he found a few ways to improve his own efficiency when controlling many snippets of power at once nothing inspired him to overcome the final prime tempering, nor to what he might do at the peak of Life Transformation. The experience was still valuable, but it was just another point along his path. It might contribute to something great, or it might not.

-----

A hail of arrows came from the sky. Each was targeted precisely to arrive exactly when and where intended, making it nearly impossible for Kseniya to dodge. The individual arrows would not kill her, as they lacked the power, but they could wear her down. And just because it was nearly impossible to dodge didn’t mean Kseniya couldn’t do it. It was just a matter of determining when it was valuable.

Her own hands never stopped moving, firing arrows into the distance towards an unseen opponent. Her legs kept her mobile as she moved around through the arrows, taking the minimum number of hits possible.

Then she tumbled through a veritable wall of arrows, the simultaneous shock of which pierced through her defensive energy and resulted in a number of injuries. The excess energy was minimal, however, and ultimately it was worthwhile. If she had chosen to go anywhere else she would have been an easy target for the following attacks, a wide blade of energy and powerful piercing arrows that narrowly missed her. They had reoriented themselves to her movements, but her predictions had been better.

She would have to watch for them coming up behind, but a couple shots in that direction would either destroy them or send them enough off target that she could safely disregard them. She moved back to shooting at her distant target immediately after, keeping track of a small handful of Spirit Arrows still chasing after her target. She had to admit that the gap between her and her best student had shrunk significantly, but she still had more experience and a small advantage in cultivation. The only way he could overcome her would be through the use of Fleeting Youth, but they had agreed not to bring that into account.

In the end, she pinned him down with a nearly undodgeable flurry of arrows, with Anton barely misidentifying the trajectory of one. He had already taken some hits that slowed him down enough for her to finish him off, though they both avoided causing any serious injuries. It was easy for them to agree on what would have been a deciding blow in a battle, or not.

The two of them returned to the sect, instead of the empty sections of wilderness they had staked out for themselves. Fighting at such a distance was difficult, conversing was simply impossible. Even with communication plates it was inconvenient at best.

“So… what did I do wrong?” Anton asked.

“I’d have to say… next to nothing,” Kseniya shook her head. “Your fighting style has diverged from my own, with your use of many bows. Splitting your focus clearly weakens your individual shots, but ultimately you used them to great effectiveness. Against a single opponent, my style is likely better… but you could take down an army of lesser cultivators in a short time. WIthout my few stars of cultivation advantage, I imagine we’d trade victories back and forth evenly.”

“It’s a shame,” Anton said. “I’ve learned so much from you, but now we’ve covered our relative weaknesses so much any more sparring is barely effective.”

“That’s why cultivators go out into the world seeking enlightenment instead of staying cooped up,” Kseniya said. “And when you overcome that prime tempering roadblock, I imagine you’ll surpass me rather quickly.”

“I appreciate the confidence, but I’m not seeing the path forward. Not the right one, anyway.”

“And that’s how I know you’ll do it. You just have to find the trigger. Battle isn’t it, though. Not something lacking seriousness like this.”

“Somehow, I don’t feel like I’ll achieve anything from a more serious battle either. I engaged in plenty of those during the invasion.”

“Bah, that was just a short catastrophe. Nothing normal about it. Everyone’s heads were so jumbled up, it’s no wonder you weren’t thinking about this at the time. Now, perhaps the matching inclination is something you haven’t yet considered, but I think it would be a different angle on what you already show. That focus on growth…” Kseniay shook her head, “Well, I can’t speak for you and say that maybe you need a student to reach Ascension, but I wouldn’t put something that ridiculous past you either.”

“I don’t think that’s it,” Anton shook his head. “I’m quite glad to see people growing strong, but I’m more interested in the general population’s strength. And given how things have changed now, unless Life Transformation is to become the norm… I don’t think that will do it.” Anton looked around the sect. “You’re staying here to keep this place safe, right?”

“Of course,” Kseniya said. “I’d rather let the younger generation go out and get themselves into trouble. Makes me exhausted. But since neither of us is young, I suppose that role goes to you.”

“Remaining stagnant isn’t going to help me,” Anton admitted. “Or anyone else. Maybe some time at sea will bring some unexpected enlightenment.”

“Or boredom,” Kseniya said. “A couple months patrolling sounds like an awful time. Maybe you’ll get lucky and something will try to eat you.”

Anton smiled. He knew that a few months was barely anything to either of them at this point, though concentrating on one task for too long still became difficult. And the other cultivators would need a break anyway. Anton could go out with consecutive scouting missions, but he thought he would rather stick to one group and get to know them well.