Chapter 261
From between some broken sections of wall to a small apartment to now a modest home, Leo had rapidly moved up in the world. It wasnt filled with expensive furnishings or fancy decorations, but Anton could tell what it was that Leo and Kit valued. The number of rooms were few, but each individual room was spacious andfortable. Properly insted, too. It might not have been necessary for two cultivators, but resisting unpleasant circumstances was quite different than avoiding them.
They also had a cook. Technically it was just the mother of arge family that lived nearby who they paid to make extra for them, but it was one of the things they had wanted.
Neither of us ever really got the hang of it, Kit shook her head. We didnt have any interest in learning either. For the first few months just having a steady supply of food was more than we could dream of. But its hard to deny that eating <em>real</em> food is much more pleasant.
We could afford to eat at nearby taverns now, Leomented. But its unnecessarily expensive. Now that weve pulled ourselves up, saving money so we cant end up back in the gutters is an important goal. Leo shook his head, I know that with our cultivations we could take care of ourselves anyway, but it seems better to be prudent. I know our cultivation wont just disappear, but it still seems unbelievable.
Anton didnt mention the possibility of their cultivation being damaged. At the point that it would actually cause permanent damage it would be more likely that they would die anyway, and it was unnecessarily dreary to bring up such topics. Even for myself, after a decade, I sometimes wonder if this is real. But if my strength ever suddenly abandons me I have my friends and family. Cultivation or not, well take care of each other. Im sure the two of you will be fine. He looked at both of them, We didnt have long to talk about your work during the day. How have things been?
Honestly, Leo said. If problems werent so constant in the sewers, I might be worried about working myself out of a job. Though that wouldnt be <em>too</em> much of a problem, since I could easily find something else to do. Just being able bodied and quick thinking, knowing how to read its great. Some people arent sure about how to react to cultivators, though. Its nice that theyre polite, but Im certain some people only act that way because theyre afraid I could kill them. And I suppose I could, but thats always true of people. Humans are surprisingly fragile.
Yet also durable, Anton countered. The two of you survived through a lot with very little.
Kit moved the conversation onto more pleasant topics. The herbalist business has been expanding. Weve been developing techniques to grow more of the varieties ourselves. Kit smiled, Less going out into the woods. And with the recent boom in cultivators, there are always people who need some of our herbs. I could probably start my own shop, but Im waiting for there to be a little bit more business. I wouldnt want to draw too much away from those Im working with. Theyve treated me well.
What sorts of things are you growing? Anton asked. He very much enjoyed that topic. Farming was something he could be wholly enthusiastic about, though he mostly worked in the area of foods, instead of nts for medicinal purposes or solely used for the energy they contained. The difference was that even the nts he handled that had high amounts of natural energy in them also had significant nutritional value. The density of energy was usually less than herbs had, but that just meant it was more reasonable to maintain a steady diet without throwing off the internal bnce of a cultivator. Too much medicine, or anything really, could lead to trouble.
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True to his word, Anton stayed around to help Leo- and Kit- get their cultivations back on the right track. He had enough standing in the Order to make the choice for the two of them to have ess to the full Ny-Nine Stars, even if they werent official members. He trusted them to be responsible with it, and improving their own cultivations should only help them teaching those who were just learning.
The two of them had taught the basics to several others, to help them with their work. Since they were both new to cultivation they hadnt been perfect, but most of their students had some sess. Anton saw there were a few problems, but instead of directly guiding the Body Tempering cultivators, he tried to teach Leo and Kit how to recognize where people had gone wrong. While it was important to work the body physically and temper it with energy, some of them had pushed too far too fast, to the point they had injured themselves. The simplified technique manual warned of such things, but reading it on a page and recognizing when it was actually happening were different things.
Fortunately, nobody had damaged themselves beyond repair. Some of them just needed a short period of rest, while others would have to carefully bring their body back in line. Either way, Anton avoided direct involvement. Even if he could live forever, he couldnt handle everything himself. Raising up the next generation to be able to follow along was the most important. Even if Leo and Kit were still youths new to cultivating, they had enough talent to reach Spirit Building and any experience at all was still more than the majority of people. While they might not be able to tailor their teaching to different people as well as someone more experienced in the world, they were still improving peoples lives.
Anton truly believed cultivation was a boon to the world. Even if there were no wild beasts to contend with, the ground itself was enough of an opponent that humans would do well to have a boost. Hed seen the effects cultivation had on one persons productivity, and if a single individual could feed more people, then everyone else could achieve more in other areas. People following their passions and drives instead of just doing whatever they had to do to survive was everything Anton wanted.
Some people would inevitably be in positions they didnt want. Anton would hope those people were few and far between. With the abilities provided by cultivation, most people would be able to take care of their survival needs as well as find time to learn whatever they needed to pursue their desires. Antons goals just happened to require more cultivation, as his ambitions had grown far beyond his previous desires of just living happily. He wanted to provide a world where <em>everyone</em> could just live. He couldnt create a world without tragedy, but he could prevent that which was unnecessary.
Even cultivators who misused their abilities to harm others didnt stop cultivation from being a positive force. It became murky, certainly, but the bnce of power between people would always cause humans consternation. If the bnce of power could be slightly less controlled by people born into families with piles of shiny metal, he would be happier. Of course those who were rich were more likely to be able to cultivate well, given their free time and ess to better techniques or teachers, but with cultivation freely avable enough of the masses would surpass those who merely had advantages of wealth.
But Antons dream was far from being realized. Despite how quickly things seemed to be happening, the world wasnt going to suddenly change overnight. But he had the power to bring change to arge number of people, and he was going to follow through to the best of his ability.
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Elder Tshering looked at the ant queen. She had been reluctant to leave behind Anton, but they had been reluctant to let the ants travel around as they pleased. With the time theyd had, themunication between human and ant had improved significantly. The ants had actually developed the ability to write, which confirmed their ability to understandnguage and higher levelmunication.
That intelligence was still the most worrying part of them, yet also the part they couldn''t do without. And determining that they had <em>intention</em> had been an important step to things. Now, he was working closely with Elder Hond to manage the colony inside the Order itself. They had gotten approval from the Grand Elders, and the ants were still being carefully monitored but Tshering at least wasnt particrly worried. At least, not as long as this queen lived.
The ants were ultimately dangerous, but he wasnt sure if they were <em>more</em> dangerous than a proper weapon in the wrong hands. At least hed been able to confirm their actions and intentions were reasonable. Though they were capable of growing rapidly, they showed restraint. They didnt consume every source of food in an area, but instead moderated themselves for the sake of long term survival. In a way they were quite simr to humans. Possibly better than some, because there were many people who cared not if future generations could be sustained and would take everything they could get their hands on.
Since the queen guided the colony, they worked harmoniously to keep the bnce. The original nest had another queen upying it, but it seemed the development of the queens was a slow process. She was less intelligent than the other, and less able tomunicate. But even so, she and her colony were properly respectful of humans.
Tshering saw a line of ants marching along his floor to his table. If the ants were any other kind, he would have done his best to keep them out of his house. However, they provided a useful service. They would find any crumbs on the floor that he failed to clean up, but they avoided raiding therders. The same was true in the fields of crops. They would respect the food as it grew, but if any was left behind in the field after harvest they would eat it, along with food waste from various ces.
It was honestly better than <em>normal</em> ants, because of the part where they wouldnt go anywhere they were unwee. Sure, it would bother most people that they could <em>get</em> anywhere they wanted to- but they were actually quite reasonable neighbors for humans. As long as you knew what you were getting into.
The risk that the ants presented Elder Tshering equated it to having other people living nearby. If there was conflict it could be devastating, but when working together everyone benefited. And that was discounting the ants most unique ability. The ability to resist and devour energy wasnt possessed only by them, but even things like western creeper had their limits to what they could bypass. Specifically, ascension energy. Not that they had many opportunities to test that, since Anton was the only person with a high proficiency in Fleeting Youth and the Order didnt know of any other methods to attain it. But given the circumstances of where they were found, it was believed they would be able to handle even more.
And quite frankly, though it was a bit callous to think it of an intelligent species, Elder Tshering would much prefer that when the time came any invaders would have to expendrge amounts of ascension energy wiping out ants. That way, they wouldnt have that for his fellow humans. And if the ants <em>truly</em> remained unaffected or at least survived an attack well, in that case they would be an assetparable to Life Transformation experts. The Order wouldnt be betting on that, but they were certainly <em>hoping</em>.
Just like the techniques meant tobat ascenders. They certainly worked to disrupt Anton, but everyone who had gone to Everhearts most recent and perhaps <em>final</em> tomb was still mostly taking the fact that they would work at face value. But everyone had to try, because most of the strongest experts had the information burned into their minds in a way they couldnt forget, and the invasion was going to happen anyway. Simply knowing the techniques would make them a target, and that was one of the few things everyone agreed Everheart hadnt lied about or exaggerated.
But why not mention the ants? Maybe he just didnt think anyone would believe something like that unless they saw it themselves. Though in that case, they could have just never been reintroduced to the world. Just like many of the other things. Though Elder Tshering knew Anton had also brought along a particr deer, less remarkable than the ants but still notable. Others must have brought things they were individually interested in back with them. Maybe that was the n- to provide many different options for people so they didnt feel like they were forced into anything. Which, ironically, meant they would be going along with Everhearts ns.
For a guy who had been dead for centuries, Everheart sure did cause a lot of trouble.