Chapter 1115
Travel between the upper and lower realms was still limited, though no longer was the primary reason a lack of appropriate vessels. They were able to produce them at a slow but steady rate. However, they limited themselves to a certain level because of other factors. Specifically, the need to keep them secret.
The distance between the lower realms and the Scarlet Alliance was significant, and with the great powers poking their heads into the Scarlet Midfields once more they were making it more difficult to avoid them. More circuitous routes had to be taken to maintain their safety. Losing a few ships wouldn’t matter. It would be inconvenient if the hostile factions could transport their people safely to the lower realms at any point, but it wouldn’t be in significant quantity even if they replicated the technology.
The largest actual risk was them making a connection between the Scarlet Alliance and the lower realms. Because they could certainly organize more than a handful of sects and a single Domination cultivator to act against them, given the repeated humiliations they had suffered.
Of course, the current extent of their secrecy was already in question. The rank and file of the Imbued Fragments had not been aware why they were involved in the attack, but there wasn’t much reason for them to do so except the events in the lower realms. Long term investigations of the combined sect were still underway to reveal their motives.
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Humans were fascinating. Crossed Antennae strongly believed that. In her mind, she lumped in all the people of Akrys into that category. Energy cultivators, for the most part, aside from rarities like Nthanda who still had some energy of her own.
Her royal guard had learned much from cultivators, and Crossed Antennae had picked up a few snippets here and there. But she was uninterested in poisons or of making her jaws cut more sharply than they ought to. Despite what her closest sister seemed to think, void ant queens weren’t meant for battle. It was merely the case that any who lived long enough could grow to suit it.
Despite having no interest in learning anything in particular, Crossed Antennae still paid attention to all the humans around her for purposes other than spying. And she finally understood the passion her Royal Guard had.
It hadn’t come all at once. The first time she’d seen the techniques of the Spirit Slicing Sect, she found them functional but unnecessary. After all, void ants could naturally devour energy- they didn’t need a technique to do anything of the sort. But Runa did far more than simply prevent energy from going point to point. She also negated the connection to energy beyond in a way that void ants only achieved by coincidence.