As expected, the space faring ships of Doruma didn’t differ all that much in design from seafaring vessels. That was the baseline understanding for cultivators, though isolated systems in the lower realms seemed to have their own quirks. The ship belonging to the Hidden System had formations woven directly into its sails, drawing in power as it traveled. There might have been further features, but Anton knew his understanding of formations would always remain behind specialists.

Inside was the usual cramped arrangement of ships, as more weight and size in general took more energy to move and protect. Even the captain’s quarters barely had room for a few chairs around a table. It was far from the most opulent arrangements Anton had seen, even in vessels that were supposed to be practical.

Caradog sat and gestured for Anton to do the same. “Though we kept ourselves cut off, I am quite interested to hear about what is happening in the upper realms. Whatever you can say.”

“What can I say? There is much, and yet so little we actually know. But I will do my best,” Anton nodded. He covered what he knew, especially with relation to the Trigold Cluster and the invasions. The pale haired man obviously approved of Ceretos’ successes.

“Impressive, if rather… bold.”

“We did not consider hiding our whole system. It would have likely been impossible, with Catarina ascending to the upper realms.” Anton considered for a moment. “Speaking of which, do your people ascend?”

“What choice do we have, to continue advancing cultivation?”

Anton grinned slightly, “More than you’d think.” He wasn’t going to begin teaching the man about Assimilation immediately, having known him for less than an hour- but if Caradog and Doruma as a whole were worthy of a certain level of trust, he wouldn’t mind sharing. “Since you have people ascend, perhaps you would be interested in coordinating efforts in the upper realms.” It was possible some might have already signed up with Anton’s allies- he didn’t have a list of every single person and the planets they came from in the lower realms, after all. But perhaps that would be of interest, coordinating between the realms.

-----

After some time getting to know Caradog and the crew, Anton determined them to be at least as trustworthy as he could expect any human to be. Where goals aligned, they could certainly be allies- there were no huge philosophical differences that had to be overcome. The weaker members of the crew were still treated well enough, whereas many cultivators got into the habit of treating them as something lesser. And there was one goal large enough that they could share it for the length of any foreseeable future.

While Doruma might have hidden themselves, that did not necessarily make them cowards who would not fight. Indeed, the only correct choice when faced with the potential of being wiped out was to hide. Surviving and enduring was an admirable success.

The only area Anton found himself disappointed was speed of interstellar travel. But they could hardly be blamed for that, likely having engaged with even their neighboring systems very little. “There are techniques available for quicker travel,” Anton said to Caradog, “Though perhaps they wouldn’t be used enough for the expense.”

“We have indeed have very little opportunity,” the man admitted. “We might be interested in purchasing such knowledge, however.”

Anton didn’t say anything silly like they could have it for free. Perhaps once he knew their world better, but he could learn much from what they were willing to trade- and perhaps they might have unique resources. However, he had given no training or anything but safe information about the upper realms and cultural discussion. It was a shame to waste potential months like that, but he wanted to know their world as a whole first. Caradog had his own insights to meditate on during travel, and they couldn’t exactly do any serious training in the void between stars, without room or a way to replenish much energy.

-----

Anton had feared they would spend an entire year in transit- though a single year wasn’t that much compared to his total life, he still would not consider the time insignificant. However, as they were approaching the six month mark Caradog came to him.

“We are approaching our system now,” he said, “But I realized I left out some details of our system. I spoke of the Wandering Heart Sect, and others… but the system itself I did not describe.”

“You mentioned a number of the planets,” Anton replied.

“Perhaps, but I did leave out some of the most important details. Doruma is somewhat of a unique system with how it is arranged… features we leveraged to empower the concealment formations. Though perhaps it would be better to see it with your own eyes. Come up on deck with me.”

Together, the two of them looked at… nothing. It still appeared to be empty space, which was exactly the point. As they drew closer, however, Anton could just make out the layers beneath. Knowing that something was there certainly helped, and there was something else that drew him in.

Then the veil slowly peeled back, as they crossed the threshold. Revealed in front of Anton was the system’s star. They were extremely close, which was odd because Anton felt the bubble was much larger than it should be. And off center. However, as they passed by the star, Anton was able to pick out more of the system. Focusing on his eyes, he could pick out the most minute details- a necessary feat when the sun was attempting to drown out all other light.

He saw them, minute points overshadowed but slowly more visible as they passed the star, until the ship shadowed them just enough. Five other stars, arranged as if on the faces of a cube. Their relative motion seemed nonexistent, which was very odd indeed. Furthermore, Anton could just pick out the closest planets, orbiting in strange ellipses that never went around any of the stars, but rather between them as if there was one massive star in the center so far out as to be almost. Which there wasn’t. Nor was there a black hole, though that would have certainly explained something.

“Amazing. How do they remain in equilibrium?”

“We don’t fully know,” Doruma admitted. “You can… sense them?”

“I can see them,” Anton said. “Though I do have some ability to pick out stars in particular.”

They had to pass through most of the system to reach their destination- the planets orbited close to the extreme limits of the concealment formation, approximately as far from the center as the stars.

“With differing orbits like that, how do your planets not crash into each other?”

“Good luck,” Doruma said, “Though that was more due to the formation. They synched up with each other in a way that they do not intersect at the wrong time, ever since their formation. Though there is evidence that perhaps a few did, consuming each other. It is quite stable now, however.”

A fascinating place. The stars were closer together than he would have expected as well. As they passed through the center, Anton couldn’t help but think about how strong he would be if he bound all the stars. But as tempting as it was to just try it would also be rude- and potentially risky. Binding Okloi’s two stars had gone well, but this was a great step from there.

Their destination planet of Itholla was the home of the Wandering Heart Sect, and it also happened to be a gas giant. With moons orbiting the gas giant, the entire balance of orbits had to be extremely complicated. And perhaps not completely natural. Anton couldn’t think of any way for the stars themselves to remain in their relative positions. A truly amazing place to visit, even if nothing else came from it.

The moon they headed towards had its own atmosphere, if thin. As they approached, Anton appraised it with his senses. It had life living wild away from the cultivators, plants and animals and all the sorts of things that didn’t fit into either category. Yet they were sparse, leaving the whole thing feeling somewhat barren. And that was where there was anything except craters or other scars on the surface.

As for the population… the density of humans was not terribly high. However, he could sense buried under what seemed to be hills the remains of other sects and cities. Ruins. “Is it like this everywhere?”

“More or less,” Caradog shook his head. “From what I understand, we were quite prosperous even with the invasions. Many and varied natural resources to support our populations spread throughout our planets. But the last time we were even more so. Stronger, enough to resist… but that led still to a great destruction. In some regard, it is possible more of us died than would have had we simply let them kill and loot as they pleased. However, we kept our cultivation techniques and traditions intact, along with enough who could teach the next generation.”

“I imagine much effort was also focused on establishing the formation.” Anton added.

“Yes. It took most of that cycle, in fact, leaving us with just two centuries since then.”

To Anton’s eyes, it didn’t look like fourteen hundred years of growth- counting their surviving cycle. They truly must have been on the edge. But also… they seemed to be missing several critical components. Things they might not have considered all that important.

“Do you want to increase your population?” Anton asked.

“We certainly don’t dislike the idea,” Caradog replied, “But growth is slow.”

“Are the ecosystems of other worlds similar?” Anton questioned. “What sort of crops do you grow?”

“For… medicinal pills?”

Anton nodded. So they were missing what he thought. All sorts of mundane and perhaps slightly better than mundane things to fill in the lower levels. Things that could fill bellies, and once things had developed properly, also fill dantians with natural energy.

“I’m sure I mentioned how we developed Ceretos. I am willing to offer my expertise… for quite reasonable prices.” Anton honestly just wanted to see everything overflowing with natural energy, but just giving everything away for free wouldn’t necessarily sit well with Caradog. Anton wasn’t here for charity purposes, but rather they met as potential allies. And even if that went nowhere, Anton could at least make people’s standard of living greater.

-----

Everheart looked at himself, and the other one of himself, and the other other one of himself. He had already learned his lesson about leaving projections around for centuries. However, after setting up basic formations to distribute the necessary energy, he could have many temporary projections. That was all they were ever meant to be to begin with, but he’d grown lazy and made them perpetual. He wouldn’t ever do that to himself again, for fear of his own retribution.

He’d picked out a nice little system to the north. Close to the border with the core region- a place that even those in the upper realms did not travel. There was little chance of anyone stumbling across his operation regardless, but best to be certain.

This time, instead of limiting himself to a single moon or planet, he thought he might truly cover the whole system. That seemed more appropriate. Of course, that would take an immense amount of resources. He’d gotten a reasonable jump start from Ceretos’ sects, but he’d need more. The Harmonious Citadel would be on the list, obviously, but now that he was recovered he could pay visits to the Trigold Cluster and Exalted Quadrant as well. They had huge piles of resources they were squandering, might as well take them into good hands.

He might need more projections, though. And maybe a century or two. But that wasn’t too much of a concern. A year or two scuttling about wouldn’t be enough for the projections to diverge horribly, and while remaking all of them every time would be a pain, it would be even a worse pain if any of them got stupid ideas. And unfortunately, he couldn't prevent them from knowing about the successes without potentially screwing up and leaving them missing some of his genius.

He’d also need a lot of energy. Maybe he could disassemble a star or something. This sort of work wasn’t going to be cheap. Or fast, because he couldn’t make infinite projections. He might even hire some people to help out.

What a weird thought. Working with others? He’d hold off on such drastic measures until he knew he needed it.