Elder Cultivator

Despite being born and raised in the upper realms, Chidi actually recovered quite quickly with only natural energy to sustain him. That was due at least in part to his original training methods, adapting to ‘lower energy’ before finally incorporating ‘upper energy’ upon reaching Integration.

Unlike many others at equivalent stages of cultivation, he didn’t carry massive stores of energy with him. In fact, upon taking further steps into Negation he had reduced his own personal energy. Even so, his energy control was quite potent, so he filled up his stores rather quickly.

Before facing off against Anton again, it would be better for both of them to spend time on insights. However, both Chidi and other powerful cultivators in the lower realms could have much to learn from personal matchups.

All things told, Chidi vs Anton was a relatively fair matchup. Several of the upcoming matches would not be nearly so balanced, but not because the cultivators were lower in cultivation. It still made some difference, because of experience or what they could do when not limited by Chidi… but with the way his training had gone, more powerful cultivators were the most vulnerable to his style.

Next on the list was another archer with a similar style… or at least a style with the same basis. Because while Nthanda was trained by Anton, their actual abilities as archers had significantly diverged.

Unlike when going up against Anton, Chidi had no expectations of victory or even the potential for victory. But he was still going to do his best.

As he faced off against Nthanda, holding her quivers of physical arrows, Chidi was glad for at least one thing. The number of attacks she could manage to launch at any one time would be limited. He was normally quite capable of dealing with physical threats, but Nthanda’s arrows were a far greater threat than anything Anton carried.

Their battle would take place in a different location, because Nthanda could quite easily destroy an orbital platform. Anton could as well- but he couldn’t do it accidentally. Meanwhile, Nthanda wouldn’t be able to stop the momentum of her arrows if Chidi negated her energy. So they were on a small asteroid.

As the match began, Chidi was still quite excited. He moved instantly, trying to close the distance. Nthanda had no difficulty matching his pace as she moved in any direction while still aiming her bow. Arrows began to fly, half of them crashing into the ground and scattering chunks of rock while the other half flew off into space- someone was responsible for stopping those, so that they wouldn’t be hazards.

The one concession Nthanda made was that she could not alter the trajectory of her arrows after they were in flight. Thus, Chidi was able to barely keep himself out of the line of fire. Or when he could not avoid them, his sword cut them in two. Doing that without being knocked back was a difficult task, as the momentum in each arrow felt like a mountain crashing onto him.

Nthanda’s path was one of advanced body tempering and the rejection of energy, or at least any sustained use of energy. Meanwhile, Chidi was all about negating the energy his opponents used. Similar in concept, but not a matchup that favored him. He couldn’t even reach her. At least, not using any traditional method.

Chidi chased after Nthanda, dodging, deflecting, and slashing his way through arrows launched one after another. She casually moved backwards, her steps carrying her further than Chidi could go. He’d engaged in a small amount of advanced body tempering himself, and he was far above what normal humans could do, but he simply couldn’t match her.

So he disappeared. It was a simple stealth trick making use of the slight variation in terrain features. Chidi expected Nthanda’s senses to be excellent, but the majority of them should be useless on an asteroid. Sight was still a problem, of course, which was why he dealt with that first. He made sure to insulate himself from making any sort of energy fluctuations.

Aside from that, with near vacuum surrounding them, sound and smell wouldn’t travel. Obviously neither would touch… so Chidi began to make his way around the asteroid to try to catch Nthanda off guard.

No doubt she expected he would be doing the same, so he could only pick a direction and rely on his skills, hoping for the best. He was fortunate enough to come up ‘behind’ her as she turned to scan another part of the horizon. His footsteps were light as he approached. His sword intent was kept concealed until the very moment his blade swung.

His blade struck her forearm and stopped. That was a double loss for Chidi, because not only had she detected him in time to react- though he wasn’t surprised her speed was something he couldn’t keep up with- but also because he simply couldn’t damage her.

No, wait. It just took a moment. Chidi’s senses revealed blood dripping down her arm. So there was that at least. “That was pretty serious,” Nthanda said.

“I was aiming for your ribs,” Chidi admitted. “I knew I’d never get through bone.”

“That sword and your skill must be something special,” Nthanda admitted. “To be able to harm my tempered body without the use of energy.”

“Such a minor wound is hardly reassuring, though,” Chidi said. “So what gave me away?”

“Footsteps. I could feel the vibrations through the asteroid the whole way. No matter how minute the movements you made, you’re the only thing here other than myself.”

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“Maybe I should have tried to launch myself into an orbit…” Chidi commented. Though the gravity of the asteroid was so minimal that wasn’t practical at all. Chidi felt the edge of his blade. He hadn’t encountered anything so durable before- and this was a person. One who had specially tempered her body over centuries, but still.

It didn’t matter how good his cutting insights were if she had such a durable body- and most likely a powerful image of herself. His skills simply couldn’t deal with that. But he didn’t mind where his choices had led him.

-----

Going from the least winnable fight he would ever had- and he’d fought a Domination cultivator- Chidi moved onto a fight that he was probably the second most qualified individual to win in all the realms.

The fight didn’t look like much of anything, and it was mostly for fun. And partially for the sake of his opponent. The instant the match began, legs began to skitter.

Chidi simply pointed his sword at his target, thrusting forward- and pulling his attack so his blade just touched the Great Queen’s forehead. Though she was small and felt like nothing, Chidi could actually use that to track her position far better than before. He’d interfaced with some void ants under Crossed Antennae, and he’d thought about how to handle them. Chops and Snips wouldn’t be able to beat him, and the Great Queen was specialized in a similar thing to himself- and thus she lost based purely on her body.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Chidi did need some help interpreting her exact gestures. “She says you have trained your senses well, and she accepts her first defeat,” Anton said. “She wants to try other things.”

Chidi nodded. He knew the void ant queen could do more than that.

But each and every time, his sword would find her. She couldn’t completely conceal herself, and her speed was limited. There was one circumstance she could obtain more speed, however.

The Great Queen could fly, but not with wings. It was fascinating to observe how she consumed some of the surrounding natural energy to guide her movements, matching the speed of a powerful cultivator- for a single instant.

Chidi twisted slightly, and his blade came between himself and her once more, pressed against her neck. Using Negation on passive energy was a trivial exercise, and so ending her manipulations was just that easy. Air pressure instantly slowed her, allowing him to react to her remaining speed.

But the Great Queen wanted to try again, and Chidi didn’t begrudge her attempts. She wanted to be faster, and conversely he needed to be able to activate Negation in tiny fractions of moments. Cultivators could move at incomprehensible speeds, and if Chidi couldn’t react in time… his body was as vulnerable as any other. Well, he was slightly more tempered than others, but he’d never get close to Nthanda’s level.

The Great Queen moved faster, in strange patterns, and even tried to eat up Chidi’s control over Negation. That almost worked, surprisingly. She tried stealth, but even when there was no ambient energy to disrupt, Chidi could use his own small quantities of energy to flood the area.

The very final move the Great Queen attempted was something that would have gotten most people who thought they knew how void ants worked, but the sudden spear intent that tried to pierce Chidi simply wasn’t high enough quality. Plus, Chidi was the first one to observe void ants making use of anything of the sort. Twisting his body out of the way was easy enough, and he swung his sword, cutting apart the air. The Great Queen was sent gently tumbling away.

“She says she appreciates your time,” Anton translated. “And that you were willing to work with her descendents to create new styles.”

Chidi nodded. “Snips and Chops are perhaps my best disciples, despite not having humanoid anatomy.”

-----

Finding an even match was difficult for Chidi, but he knew that would always be the case. His cultivation method revolved around humbling the strong, but that also meant he could be humbled himself by those on alternate paths.

Knowing his weaknesses was always valuable, though Chidi was surprised one of them was trees. Or tree. A very particular tree with leaves strong enough even he could not cut through them.

Grandfather Willow towered over Chidi. With Negation active, the natural strength of the dangling branches was enough that Chidi couldn’t cut them- at least not all the way through. And without negation active, he had to deal with so much natural energy that he simply couldn’t manage.

Chidi let himself continue dangling upside down, wrapped in one of the branches. He had really thought that they were only able to move because of energy. But no, they had their own mechanisms for movement. He should have realized that most grasping willows weren’t traditionally imbued with significant natural energy.

Technically, this was supposed to be a battle with Lev. But if he couldn’t reach Lev, it didn’t matter. Chidi could insist that they have a match away from the Grandfather Willow, but that wasn’t particularly great either.

Lev was grinning up at him, leaning against the tree. It was both to show how casual things were and… because he had to. If Chidi activated Negation, Lev would simply topple over. If Chidi understood correctly, Lev had exactly one limb with properly functioning nerve connections. So with Negation active, he would be a blind guy with a sword picking on one who couldn’t stand.

“... Why don’t you get someone to regrow your nerves?” Chidi asked, perhaps because he had too much blood in his head.

“Why haven’t you gotten bionic eyes?”

“I’ve never had eyes,” Chidi said. “At this point, they’d just be a distraction.”

“Fair enough,” Lev agreed. “As for me, there’s no point. And it’s a reminder of how I got to where I am. And to my disciples, in case they think that directly connecting to a tree is a good and safe idea, I can remind them it’s not. Their faces when I flop over? Priceless.”

Chidi attempted to replicate the look of shocked horror he was imagining. “Something like this?”

“Sometimes they pass out from the shock. As if Enrichment cultivators can’t show weakness. Or have any weakness.”

“Nobody’s invincible.”

“Not everyone gets that,” Lev shrugged. “You want to try again?”

“As long as you promise not to get mad if I successfully cut through one of these limbs.”

“Every tree needs pruning,” Lev said. “Even this guy.”