The Dark Ring had practice avoiding the notice of the Harmonious Citadel. At a basic level that involved simply not being somewhere they would look, scattered across asteroids throughout systems instead of dwelling on major planets. They also had members of other sects that did not publicly support them, who only acted when the objective was sufficient to risk exposure.

They also had the skills to build stealthy ships- it didn’t require asking dubious sources for such knowledge for those from Ceretos to put together a ship. With some design help from the lower realms, they had vessels that wouldn’t be noticed as long as nobody was looking for them in particular. That meant staying out of battles entirely, but if being used for transport or war there were better options- larger or more sturdy vessels rather than sleek spy ships.

Acquiring a standard stealth vessel would have been quick and easy, but getting something better took time. All told it was years of drafts and acquiring materials and construction work. Whether that was particularly slow or surprisingly expedient depended on perspective.

There was yet no rush to learn the details of the Trigold Cluster’s border planets. A handful of decades or more remained before the tides of the world would allow another invasion of the lower realms- though the exact timing seemed inexact, potentially varying by location. Working from limited information could only help so much.

“I don’t like being this slow,” Alva frowned. “There’s so much to search, and then actually doing something about it…”

“Unfortunately,” Velvet said, “Even if we had all the information at our disposal, we couldn’t act immediately. Let’s say we take out an entire planet somehow, everyone who was planning to invade Ceretos already there and conveniently easy to kill. Then they have decades to react, to do something worse.” Velvet shook her head, “It sounds nice to go out in a blaze of glory, but the end result would be everything being gone. Every person and place we ever knew in the lower realms. And no, we can’t count on reincarnation for any of that.”

“I wasn’t going to say that,” Alva folded her arms in front of her. “I know Prospero Vandale is an exception. Besides, grandpa can’t reincarnate- more than anyone else. I can’t say I know how it works but…” she sighed. “By now I both know people can’t live forever and still want them to. I don’t plan to go out in a blaze of glory either, but just waiting… how will we know we’re not too late?”

“We’ll have to figure that out when we get closer. Before that,” Velvet reminded, “We have to be successful on at least one scouting mission. Probably many more, unless they conveniently leave boxes of information floating in orbit above their planets.”

“That would be nice,” Alva said. “Though I suppose they might, in a way. They have to ferry people back and forth, right?”

“Presumably,” Velvet said. “But if they notice ships going missing, that will also tip them off.”

“I suppose that will depend on how many there are.”

-----

The first system, they and their small crew slowly curved their way around planets, using the natural motion of orbit to carry them without using much active energy. They had a pre-planned route to go by all of the major targets, as well as several potential sources to recharge- though they should be able to return without refueling unless something went wrong.

They felt for signs of life, upper energy molded in formation patterns or simply acting abnormally. Of course if they sensed any extremely powerful cultivators that would also be a sign, but they were keeping their distance so as to not be sensed in return. They trusted in the functionality of the ship- the Stellar Wave- but pushing things too far was asking for trouble.

“I’m not sensing anything,” Alva admitted after they circled a number of rings around the first planet- theoretically surveying large swaths of terrain beneath them. The planet had a surface that was nearly molten- in some places it was, while away from the sun it was cooler.

“You have a better range than myself,” Vari said. “I didn’t expect anyone to live here anyway.”

They moved on, more days and weeks spent around a planet with caustic clouds but no signs of life or especially human cultivators.

Alva clicked her tongue, “I hear there’s some stuff that barely uses energy at all, ‘technological’ stuff from Rutera, that could sense immediately if there were any cultivators in a place like this. And my grandfather could probably cover a lot more…”

“It is unreasonable to compare yourself to Anton,” Velvet shook her head. “The man is a sniper without match. And that would include Kseniya.”

“Why didn’t we bring her, anyway?”

“She was occupied with other missions,” Velvet admitted. “Perhaps we should secure her help for our next rounds. Though I would postulate we’ve found nothing because there is nothing.”

“We could at least find nothing faster with someone like her,” Alva said.

“That’s also true with you,” Velvet shrugged. “There is always someone more suited for a task, but sometimes people simply have to undertake what they can accomplish.”

Then there was silence. Not complete, of course. More than that, there were various shifts for the sensing duties and people had to have personal time to train or study or whatever they wished to do. Otherwise they’d go crazy after months of constant activity with nothing really happening.

They moved further out in the system, generally away from the sun catching planets in their orbits as they could. Though the planets themselves changed, there were consistently no signs of cultivators. The largest planets, gas giants, were mainly ignored except for their rocky moons. It was true that cultivators could settle inside such a place, but it wouldn’t be simple to find them unless they were plentiful.

They circled around the system to cover all the planets, as they weren’t neatly arranged in a line or spiral going outward from the sun. Ultimately, they found nothing.

“What was our estimated chance of there being something here?” Alva asked.

“Over sixty percent,” Velvet said.

“That seems so… assured. But it’s also really not,” Alva sighed. “I just don’t want to miss anything. But I guess we have to move on.”

“Even if they are excellent with concealment,” Velvet said. “Someone will mess up. We will find them at some point, so even if we miss some opportunities we can’t worry about it.”

-----

Back in the lower realms, after exploring several systems away from the trifold alliance operations further in distance were held back. From the scientific perspective of Rutera there was more than sufficient things to study nearby. The others were also not in any specific need of further contact at the time. In the scope of time they had, anyone further away would be impossible to coordinate with for the invasion. Messages might take several days up to weeks and travel months, and there was no way to be certain that whoever they met would be friendly. So they restrained themselves, content to expand mainly within their own systems, or between them.

None of them were over the losses from the war with the Sylanis Cluster, though all had populations that were rapidly growing as they found room to expand. Even the less hospitable planets had tempting reasons for cultivators to settle upon them, filling out the system like Weos- though instead of billions there might be between thousands and millions on the harsher planets.

Anton could not help but think about the hidden system sometimes, but he avoided any further interaction, keeping the communication device upon him safe and secure. Likewise, he remained rather unadventurous and safe within systems he had Assimilated stars. Not out of fear, but because growing stronger was the most important thing at the moment.

Heat washed over Anton from a star, so close he could nearly reach out and touch it. If he did not have a connection to it and some control over its intensity, its power would simply wash away his energy in a few moments and turn him into something less than ash. That was the magnitude of power of which he only controlled a small part. Even up close, though everything he could do seemed significant to himself, great rivers of flame or nets of fire hundreds of kilometers across and able to entrap a fleet of ships, it was simply not that much to a sun.

The most difficult part, up close, was not resisting the external temperature but the internal pressure. Anton’s connection would make it simple to open himself up to more than he could control. That was something he knew, to a greater extent then he knew his body, the exact curve of every bow he had. A certainty that he would be destroyed- but he didn’t consider it a danger, really. He was in control of that connection, and it was his choice not to let too much through.

Knowing that for certain had taken some time cautiously approaching Ceretos’ star closer and closer. It was an amazing thing, so bright that sight didn’t mean anything. Even facing away, his eyes wouldn’t have been able to comprehend anything.

Anton slowly pulled away, building up speed that would eventually carry him to the far reaches of the system, and beyond. Now, he would be stretching his limits in the other direction. If at all possible Anton would prefer not to fight outside of the optimal range of his power draw. But his enemies wouldn’t necessarily give him that luxury. While the exact details weren’t known, what could be purchased from black markets in the Sylanis Cluster and even the trifold alliance knew that he drew his power from stars. He hadn’t killed everyone who had seen him fight, after all- and from inside the alliance people had gotten a good look. Out of thousands or tens of thousands, there would always be someone willing to sell for a price.

But even if they had exact details, Anton wasn’t going to make it easy to use against him. He could continue to expand his range… and then the weakness would be less pronounced. Anton was certain it would always remain a weakness, but if he was strong around everything he wished to protect, he simply had to not be lured away.

The core of burning fire he had access to grew distant, but he opened himself to it fully, drawing upon the power of Ceretos’ star and very slightly upon the others, all others together less dwarfed by the system he was in.

He did not know that the next threshold for advancing stages was- only that he would not reach it before the invasion. Even so, he would be as strong as possible, along with everyone else he could push to greater heights. It was hoped that Rutera would not be targeted- they had been unknown and all known methods of spying to the Trigold Cluster had been cut off- but nothing could be certain.

There was still the Exalted Archipelago. Even if the Exalted Quadrant was in conflict with the Trigold Cluster, they were still in communication with each other- and thus the Exalted Archipelago in the lower realms. Anton had been assured by those he trusted that the amount of communication between upper and lower realms was quite limited, but that was not as helpful as he might like. On the other hand, the current state of the Exalted Archipelago comprised only allies and those who were willing to work together. Trying to wipe them out because they theoretically could betray them would be unfair, especially since other parts of Ceretos, specifically those friendly with the Order, had much better communication with certain individual in the upper realms.

But it was still so much easier to be suspicious of them, even with nothing yet having gone wrong. Simply acting against those not in his in group was a simple way to become a crazy tyrant. If there really was going to be some sort of betrayal, it would have to be dealt with after the fact. Or if any spies found usable information, they would work with that. Until then, there was nothing to do but be ready for what he knew was coming.