With every breath he took, Anton felt the energy of the world suffusing his body. It wasn’t so much as when he focused on cultivation, but after his meridians were tempered the process was much more automatic. The energy flowed more easily through him, and he found he was able to apply it outside of himself more effectively as well. It turned out there was a correct choice after all. His subsequent cultivation would go more smoothly. Though the next level was the most important. He would be able to join the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars if he reached the third level of the Body Foundation Stage. If he didn’t… then he just wasn’t good enough.

The constant influx of energy allowed him to speed up the process of burying the villagers of Dungannon even more. It also helped that the spring thaws were beginning, and the ground was less frozen. That also gave him the impetus to work as quickly as he could. He had needed to change several shovels as they wore out, but with more energy providing a defensive layer and sharpness to the shovel, he was able to be more effective and wear out his equipment less. Anton’s knowledge of cultivation was limited, but he was aware that besides cultivation techniques like the one he had, there were methods to make better use of the energy for various uses. At the current moment he felt he had only a basic grasp of how it could be used… but it was still so powerful. Each step he took made him realize how strong those at the next stage must be. Especially if they had a young body to go with it. He didn’t even know what the next stage was called. The scroll he had for the Ninety-Nine Stars only covered Body Foundation. Not that he needed to concern himself with that when he was only at the second level out of ten.

-----

As Anton performed the breathing technique, he could feel not only his lungs pulling in natural energy but the pores in his skin where his meridians reached the outside of his body. It was only a very small force, but quite real. In a way, that made cultivation more complex. He wasn’t sure whether to gather all the energy in his dantian or try to circulate it from wherever it ended up. Some experimentation showed him little noticeable differences, except he could more directly reach the pathways he wanted from the dantian, which connected with meridians stretching to every part of his body. If he didn’t go through the dantian, he still had to take a circuitous route for over half of the energy. He also found it was slightly easier to use energy refined by the stars in his dantian, so that seemed like the best method.

Eventually, all of it would end up in his torso. Anton appreciated the thought of having better eyesight by tempering the organs of his head, and muscles and strong bones were always welcome… but as all of his breathing in energy flowed through his lungs, he felt that was the next logical step. He was also somewhat concerned about his heart. Perhaps it would explode and kill him during this step, but if that was the case he might as well get it over with.

The energy from the world continuously flowed into him, through his lungs and pores into his dantian to be refined into a more usable form by the stars. Then it flowed right back into his lungs, his heart, his liver, stomach… every organ in his torso. He thought to prioritize his lungs and heart, but it seemed wiser to give all of the organs their fair share. That way he wouldn’t overload any of them, and to be honest he thought that having a stronger stomach could be quite useful. He had felt his guts working, and when they weren’t working as well, his life could be quite unpleasant. His heart and lungs kept him alive every second, but the rest played their part as well.

Energy flowed smoothly through him, his newly tempered meridians making the work almost trivial. At the end of two weeks he found himself at a bottleneck once more, but he was able to quickly gather the energy to push through, and though his organs strained and groaned they grew stronger and tougher… before finally releasing the excess energy which he formed into another star inside him according to the cultivation manual. Yes, tempering his meridians second had been the right choice. It was surprising how fast it made cultivation. Now, after just three months, he’d already reached the third level of Ninety-Nine Stars. If he continued at that pace, he might reach Spirit Building in a year… or maybe two or three, since it was implied that the progress would slow down. He supposed the bandits would be cultivating as well, and they would pull away from him if he didn’t keep pushing himself. However, Anton felt he could use the guidance of those with experience so he knew how much was too much. As long as he could make it to the Order, he would be able to join- and he could learn more there. Reaching the Order wasn’t as simple as it sounded, but Anton was much more able to travel across the country for a whole month now compared to at least the previous two or three decades.

-----

Before he set out on his journey, Anton hunted some more animals to make jerky out of. He also did his best to prepare some hides that he hoped to sell on the way so he could buy more supplies. Hunting in unfamiliar territory was much lower on the list of things he wanted to do, since there could easily be magical beasts in unfamiliar forests- or they might be claimed by some local lord or cultivators. Besides, that would slow down his trip.

The Spring air wasn’t quite warm, but it was refreshing. The most refreshing part was leaving behind Dungannon. A cloud of sadness hung over the whole village, inescapable as long as he was there. Concentrating on his cultivation and thoughts of revenge could only do so much to distract him. Now, he could try to enjoy new sights as he traveled along the road, doing his best to ignore the fact that the road was mostly slushy mud mixed with ice and instead focusing on the early flowers growing.

Anton found he was able to do basic cultivation as he walked. At least, he could absorb the energy of the world as he moved, gathering it for use when he stopped for the night. He would camp wherever on the road he found himself when it became dark, cultivating until he felt he’d hit his limit for the night then sleeping until dawn. He would eat and return to the road. That cycle continued for a week before he found any significant obstacle on the road.

-----

Spring rains poured down, not exactly warm but much more welcome than the snow of winter. Anton’s boots squelched in the mud as he walked, but he found that his balance was much more adequate than it had once been. His body was almost returning to a state where he felt young. Of course, he distantly remembered actually being young, but feeling less old was good enough for him.

He occasionally passed people on the road, but had little to say to them. He didn’t know what people thought of an old man like himself, but he had little desire for conversation. He occasionally stopped in towns, but he couldn’t afford the prices of a room at an inn. Food was the most important, and he needed to last a month.

As he passed through a little town he saw a crowd of people gathered around in the rain. That was certainly unusual, but the reason soon became clear. Up ahead was a river that hadn’t been on any map that Anton had ever seen. Then again, it was more of a large stream… and he hadn’t needed maps of the whole of Graotan. It was impossible to tell how large the stream normally was… but at the current moment it was overflowing its banks. The small bridge crossing it was half flooded… and seemed unable to withstand the currents, swaying in a most concerning way.

A bridge flooding out was certainly enough to get a village gathered around with concern, but as he approached Anton noticed more. He saw a young child attempting to cross the bridge- from the far side.

“Jimmy! Be careful!” a worried mother called out from where her feet were just getting flooded by the river.

Anton took stock of the situation. The flooding wasn’t caused by just the gentle rains in the area, but likely runoff from the nearby mountains at the same time. It was unlikely anyone could have anticipated the trouble at the current moment.

Anton approached closer. The bridge was certainly precarious, but it could likely carry the child as he walked across, clutching the railing and trying to keep his feet on the slippery surface. A sudden surge of water, however, immediately changed the situation. Anton heard the bridge crack and snap. While it somehow remained partly attached to the shore, it tilted- flinging the young boy off of the bridge.

His body reacted before his mind could process anything. He was surprised how easy it was to leap into the center of the river- but his surprise was tempered by freezing water in his face and the chaos of a flooding river. He had just missed the boy, grabbing out at him as he hit the water. It took a moment to reorient himself, getting tossed head over heels in the water. He somehow spotted a form further down the river. His arms reached out, pulling on the water as quickly as they could to propel him toward the boy. Anton just managed to reach the struggling young boy and grab an arm when another huge rush of water came over them, surging down the river, pushing both of them under.