The first signs he was getting close were remnants of battles, blood and bodies of various beasts. Smaller foxes, a large bear, even some creatures that looked vaguely like rabbits, if not for the size and rows of sharp teeth. At that point, Anton was able to move quickly, tracking the fresh remnants of natural energy- though he did have to concern himself first with the beast he had been following. Though it had only been unintentionally helpful to him, Anton didn’t want to kill the leopard arbitrarily. If it were hunting for food, there were plenty of options available now- strong beasts that would be quite nourishing. If it specifically wanted human… he’d have to deal with it.

Anton circled around the trail, going from some hundred meters behind the giant snow leopard to around in front of it, where he revealed his natural energy, preparing an attack. His first arrow was intentionally lacking effectiveness, but he still struck the beast directly in the chest. Its natural energy and thick hide minimized the damage, leaving only a small patch of blood, but now the creature had to decide. Its initial reaction might be to fight, but Anton had little he could do about that.

The creature took a defensive crouch, suddenly drawn from its focus on the trail it was following. Detecting a new opponent, it buried itself in the ice and snow to the point Anton couldn’t have detected it if he had not already been watching it. It began to slink about, but not towards Anton. Instead, it moved towards the large bear, slowly concealing it and then dragging it off.

Good. It made the right choice. With that settled, Anton had to quickly follow the trail. He was just at the point he thought he could sense active combat- or perhaps he had been just slightly too late. Not having to follow a trail or even a relatively speedy tracker like the great cat, Anton covered the last few kilometers in little time at all.

There, he found an old woman with little protection from the cold- her head was bare, her robes covering her arms, body and legs far too thin to capture heat. Her hands and feet were likewise uncovered, except for ice and frozen blood.

Matija was present as well, dressed much more warmly but clearly not with full intention to dive deep into the cold surrounding her. Despite the difference in clothing, Matija was the one who looked cold, and if not for the actual ice on her arms Anton wouldn’t have imagined the woman- who had to be Janae- was the slightest bit cold.

Around them were only the bodies of beasts, none alive so far as Anton could tell. Though the Life Transformation woman did not seem concerned about the chill compared to the trembling Matija, both were clearly exhausted, and covered in various wounds. It was to the point they didn’t even notice Anton until he approached within a handful of meters, nearly visual range through the swirling icy mists. “Perhaps you didn’t need me at all,” Anton said. “But you do look like you could use some help getting out of here, Matija,” Anton held out his hand. “How about a lift?”

Her eyes had locked on him, momentarily expecting danger from something new, but quickly resolving his familiar presence. Janae likewise reacted quickly, but the shared cultivation method stayed her hand as she gathered the material around them. “Is this the head of your sect, Matija?”

“Well… it’s complicated. He is an ally,” the woman explained as she moved forward cautiously. Anton didn’t waste any time driving away the cold around him, his body alighting in comforting flames which extended around her. It would take more than a moment to counteract the deep set cold in her bones, but a genuine display of his power comforted her.

Anton grasped her hand then lifted into the sky, stopping briefly to look down to Janae. “Are you currently able to fly?”

The old woman lifted her leg, stepping upward onto the swirling icy mist like it was a solid platform. “My movement techniques are still usable. But it requires focus.”

Anton nodded. Exhausted as she was, keeping a watch for enemies while also making use of such a technique was likely difficult. Otherwise, she could have carried Matija away with her already. “Are there airborne beasts here?”

“Cliff divers and ice spirits,” Janae said as she confidently strode upwards, the angle of her movement not indicating any desire to go anywhere specific but out of the mists.

Matija was currently supporting herself with a hand on Anton’s shoulder, hanging there only a small effort compared to resisting the cold. Her grip on his hand was released, leaving him both hands for his bow. Though his movements would still be somewhat limited by carrying her, it was a more effective position than taking his hand.

Soon enough, Janae’s words came true- birds of various sizes and clusters of natural energy that seemed to have little body but ice and snow came towards them in the air. However, as was the case with many flying creatures their structures were weak- even if they were swift Anton’s arrows were more swift, and his energy bows produced plentiful volleys to cover everything that dared approach. But the populations of the mists were not unlimited, nor completely foolish- after a sufficient display of power, the cultivators were left alone. Then they were above the mists, the light of the sun barely filtered by the thin atmosphere. At least it brought some warmth, fleeting as it was.

“How did you find us?” Matija asked.

“I found your ship with the First Peak,” Anton explained. “Their information led me to the Third Peak, and they spoke of Janae and yourself descending into the mists. And I am a hunter though I’ll admit tracking you some days after the fact was not simple.”

“The First Peak…” Matija hesitated.

“One of their Life Transformation cultivators is dead. I captured Liese and another,” Anton said.

After they had reached above the clouds, Anton was quickly able to discern the direction of the Third Peak- though Janae managed to actually set off in that direction before he explained. She was familiar with the local area, while Anton had merely stretched his senses over the distance in between.

Janae strode atop the mists, eventually jumping to a cloud and between them, but she remained silent for most of the journey. Without dealing with the deep snow and the dangers of the beasts below, their speed was greatly improved, though it still took them more than a few hours to approach the Third Peak.

Eventually, Janae spoke. “Esteemed elder… were you unable to achieve Ascension?”

“Referring to me as Anton is acceptable. As for Ascension… my actions closed that path. However, I achieved something equally worthwhile.”

He wasn’t sure if his words were fully understood. Her reaction was minimal, not indicating much of her opinion on the subject. Matija was asleep, now dangling under Anton’s arm.

When they arrived back at the Third Peak, Anton was the freshest of the three, but even he felt he had overdone himself with a battle against Life Transformation cultivators and the following events. Flying with another for a long distance would have been trivial in any system he had bound a star, but without the constant influx of energy he found himself weak. Not that it was unexpected. He was still considering just binding to their star now… but doing so without permissions of the natives was something he wished to avoid, and he hoped to avoid further battles.

Once they settled upon the Third Peak, Anton showed Janae the two captives so she could make the decision what to do with them. Her choice was swift, and the results conclusive. With a single hand she drained the heat from each of them, unable to fight back with their shackles. Those she looked at with wonder as Anton retrieved them. The bodies were simply tossed over the edge of the peak, down below.

Instead of resting inside in the heat, Janae remained outside with the majority of what Anton would consider cultivators- there were some inside the peak who were just beginning, aside from Matija’s crew.

Exposure to the cold was a harsh condition to recover in, but it seemed to suit those of the Third Peak. They were clearly pleased to have their Sect Head return, but they did not bother Anton. With no specific guidance, he sat down to recover. Though the local culture seemed to take off their shoes in the snow, Anton didn’t feel up to it for the moment. Instead, he breathed in the power of the sun above, and what natural energy was not frozen around him, slowly recovering. He also reached further, deep through himself to distant stars. The active effort only gave him a tiny portion of the energy he would expect next to any single star, but it was something, and decent practice for further out inside a system.

-----

Matija’s crew made sure she was treated, and she recovered quickly over the course of a few days. She was a cultivator, after all, though she did require some assistance from cultivation medicines. On the other hand, Janae who had fought off several Life Transformation cultivators and then followed after Matija with injuries seemed to have ingested no medicine at all. “Help me speak to her,” Anton requested. “Ask if there is a reason she has not taken medicines for her wounds.” Anton was aware that too much of the wrong thing could set back cultivation, but spending months or potentially years recovering wounds like that would also be a setback.

WIth Matija both being more comfortable with Janae and the help of the translator unit, Matija soon had an answer. “She says that unless it is necessary to survive, the third peak does not use medicine.”

“Why?” Anton asked. “If it is part of their cultivation path, I can understand of course, but I am unfamiliar with them.”

“I don’t know either,” Matija admitted. “Can you tell us?” she asked Janae. They weren’t concealing their conversation from her, but they spoke as was more comfortable for them- and thus more difficult for the woman to understand.

“It is a waste of precious resources,” she explained.

That, Anton could understand. He didn’t exactly see abundant herbs around them. He’d seen some indications of plantlife below, but he didn’t understand any of their properties enough to even think about collecting them- or approaching them. It was hard to say which plants would be dangerous without some reference.

Anton took some time to think about the situation. Mostly, he wanted to determine if some of his potential actions might offend the woman. From what he understood, she had fought- nearly to the death- to defend Matija and her crew because they were guests. A conviction clearly not shared by the First Peak. Finally, Anton just decided to offer. If he caused offense, he was still new and it could be excused. He pulled out a medicinal pill- not the strongest he had, but the one that would have the least side effects. It would help with closing wounds and returning to health for wounds such as Janae’s that were not life threatening- though only because the Life Transformation woman’s power had stretched that definition.

“I would like to thank you for protecting my friend,” Anton said. “A gift, for your conviction.”

Janae looked at the pill- a ball formed mostly of various medicinal powders. She nodded her head, reaching out to take it. Instead of consuming it, she studied it- though not with paranoia or worry, but fascination. “You say you were unable to achieve Ascension. How then do you have access to materials such as this, and those shackles?”

“They are available in our star systems,” Anton said. “They are much more… hospitable than this place.”

“... do any achieve Ascension?” she asked.

“Some,” Anton said. “More than yearly, among our population.”

“How many?” Janae asked.

“A few billion.”

Anton did not think that number was particularly high. The Sylanis Cluster had over a hundred billion among their planets. Rutera was over ten billion on their main planet alone. Weos had similar numbers spread throughout their system. However, Janae looked as if she had heard the numbers incorrectly. After determining that he truly meant thousands of millions, her face could barely hold an expression, her jaw dropping. “We have… many fewer here. Less than a million, I think.” Given the harsh peaks, Anton was not terribly surprised. Janae’s following question was quite intriguing, however. “In a place with such abundant resources… how do you face the adversity required to reach Ascension?”

The question said much about her understanding of the world. Bare hands and feet to face the cold, cultivating against adversity to rise to Ascension. Anton could see the value in such a path… but he was well aware there were many ways. Some were certainly weaker, but pure difficulty did not necessarily make the correct path. Sometimes, a path was simply smoother because it was a well trod path to greater heights of cultivation. There was much he would be able to discuss here… and many questions he would like to have answered. Like whether or not the other peaks were likely to be more like the first or third peaks.