Chapter 6486 Melkor's Alternative The Controller Series provided tangible gains and a lot of hope for mech pilots who never managed to break through in the past. Perhaps they lacked talent. Perhaps they were not courageous enough. Perhaps they did not have a greater cause worth sacrificing their lives. Whatever the case, the amount of mech pilots who remained mundane had remained huge ever since their profession came into existence. Part of the reason why expert pilots, ace pilots and god pilots were so revered was because only a fraction of mech pilots succeeded in attaining one or multiple breakthroughs. This thoroughly mythologized the heroes that managed to succeed against all odds, but also left a huge amount of regular mech pilots behind. Many of the latter were not resigned to their own mediocrity, but what else could they do? The only 'reliable' method to force a breakthrough was to throw themselves into repeated life-and-death battles, but that tended to cull everyone but the strongest of their kind. Mech pilots who did not possess the recklessness and overconfidence to proactively seek out near-suicidal challenges had very little alternatives to become extraordinary. However, that was in the past. For the first time since the start of the Age of Dawn, mech pilots truly began to appreciate the new possibilities that this era had to offer. Previous introductions of hyper technology mildly impressed mech pilots, but they just treated it as another technological innovation, much like phasewater. All of the benefits went to the mechs, not necessarily the mech pilots. Systematic cultivation changed everything. More and more mech pilots began to experience the benefits of being able to promote their own self-evolution, all without needing to pay extravagant sums of money! Of course, these mech pilots were still in the honeymoon phase of cultivation. Once they had reached an advanced stage in their beginner cultivation methods, they would inevitably hit a plateau where any subsequent improvements became a lot. harder to attain. This was the moment where they needed to switch to advanced auxiliary qi cultivation methods, which provided greater benefits and additional power. That was when the mech pilots would begin to bleed and suffer. These premium cultivated methods cost a lot of merits or other price to obtain. They were also a lot harder to learn and practice. It was very much possible for mech pilots to waste their investment because they lacked the talent, comprehension or affinity to get started! Even if they managed to attain initial results, it may take decades as well as regular purchases of expensive reagents in order to sustain their progress. The life of these mech pilots would become a struggle, just like other cultivators. Only a minority would be able to overcome the successive challenges and prove their excellence at the top. However, few people outside of the Red Collective were cognizant of this reality. It was fine for red humanity to fall in love with the promise of systematic cultivation. For now, red humanity had yet to grapple with the reality of accessing and practicing the much more demanding advanced cultivation methods. Most mech pilots working for ordinary organizations generally had to rely on earning enough RC merits or war merits in order to access and sustain the practice of the better options available in the Repository. Members of the Larkinson Clan on the other hand had more convenient options available. That was because the Larkinson Clan had earned the designation of a 'sanctioned sect', which made it legal for the Larkinsons to develop and practice their own homebrew cultivation methods. Of course, the Larkinsons still had an obligation to submit their cultivation methods to the Red Collective for curation. No sect was exempt from this rule. This included the Larkinson Clan which was led by the high-and-mighty chief councilor of the Upper Council. Ves had expressed his dissatisfaction at being forced to surrender his homework to the freeloaders over at the Red Collective, but he understood that this was for the good of red humanity. Just as was the case with the MTA and RA, only by sharing and centralizing all professional knowledge would their society be able to develop a specific sector the fullest. The business model of the MTA had proven its effectiveness many times over during the Age of Mechs. It was not shameful for the RC to copy the other superorganization's best practices. Even if the Red Collective's Cultivation Method Department ended up getting copies of every sect's exclusive cultivation methods, it was still fine. Not every cultivation scientist could imitate or reverse engineer the proprietary knowledge and theory of every single sect. In any case, now that more than a week had passed since red humanity had become introduced to the wonders of systematic cultivation, the leaders of the Larkinson Army attended a meeting in order to familiarize themselves with the cultivation solutions developed exclusively for their own clan. Every legion commander transferred over to the Spirit of Bentheim and attended the meeting in person. Avatar Commander Melkor Larkinson looked particularly upbeat at this time. His eyes radiated happiness despite the fact that they were blocked by his oversized visor. "You look a lot better than before, Melkor. What has made you so much more optimistic and much less glum?" Legion Commander Hugin Cinnabar of the Battle Criers asked in a friendly manner. Melkor saw no reason to hide the source of his newfound sense of confidence. "This cultivation business is a lifesaver to me. I... well, you know how I have tried to break through over the years. Even as many other friends and subordinates have broken through to become expert candidates and expert pilots, my willpower is still as ordinary as always. I thought that I would never have a chance to bend reality according to my thoughts. Now that the Red Collective has opened up the Repository, I tried out half a dozen of the free versions of the Controller Series, and I found I can make a lot of progress. Perhaps spending time with all of the design spirits has given me a head start in this. Or maybe it is because I have a companion spirit who can practice a separate qi cultivation method. I am already dreaming about combinations." Multiple legion commanders looked at Melkor with interest. It was not a secret that the trueblood Larkinson had been desperate to surpass the extraordinary threshold, but nothing worked over the years. If qi cultivation could give Melkor the satisfaction of becoming a powerful mech pilot, then that was a cause to be celebrated. An extraordinary life of staring death in the face and developing an uncompromising attitude was not for every mech pilot. Even if Melkor understood in his heart that mastering qi cultivation would never make him as powerful as a high-ranking mech pilot at the same level, he had already reached the point of letting go of his fruitless obsession. Sentinel Commander Sorril Larkinson smiled in encouragement. Sorrel was at trueblood officer who previously served as the aide of Casella Ingvar. Although he was not a mech pilot and nowhere near as good at leadership as the current Saint Commander, the Living Sentinels did not necessarily need a bold leader. "I am happy for you, Melkor. Our Larkinson Clan has more advantages than others. We have easier access to companion spirits, and I am sure that our design spirits can lend a hand as well. I even heard that the new exclusive cultivation methods are closely intertwined with some of our design spirits such as Ylvaine and the Superior Mother" "Watch what you are saying. The Superior Mother is not a 'design spirit. She is a Supreme, and the mother of our patriarch. She is also the Oblivion Empress, who has worked together with the valiant Evolution Witch to bridge the gap between the galaxies. There is nothing a Supreme cannot do in this universe!" Penitent Commander Valerie Chancy looked a little younger and more vibrant since the last time the legion commanders met. She had clearly made a few attainments in cultivation herself to be able to turn back the clock to this extent. Though she had tempered her religious fervor the longer she remained a part of the Larkinson Clan, she still made outbursts like this from time to time. Nobody was crazy enough to argue with her about matters relating to her faith. "When will Ketis arrive?" Vandal Commander Abis Firelight asked as he crossed his arms. "She is late. That is usually never the case. She has always made sure to be punctual." Swordmaiden Commander Sendra Larkinson-Wodin raised her hand. "I think she is about to arrive. Can you feel it? One of our Saints is accompanying our swordmaster." It was easy to distinguish the identity of the Saint as she approached the conference room. The domain of every ace pilot was unique, and the one belonging to Casella Ingvar made every Larkinson feel as if she could always lead them to victory no matter the circumstances on the battlefield, As two more women simultaneously stepped inside the secure compartment, the swordmaster accompanied by her trusty floating greatsword still managed to maintain a strong presence while walking alongside the Saint Commander. The legion commanders simultaneously rose to their feet in respect to Saint Casella Ingvar. The most powerful woman in the chamber did not feel the need to issue a verbal response. Instead, she remained silent and took one of the distant side seats, signaling that she did not intend to take the lead in this meeting. That honor was reserved for Ketis Larkinson, who received the patriarch's trust and appointment. The Journeyman and swordmaster confidently strode to the head of the table but declined to take a seat. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚 Instead, her back remained ramrod straight as she opened the meeting right away. "Good morning. All of you know why you are here. The T Institute finally obtained the certifications for all of the so-called cont certified cultivation methods that our clan has submitted to the Cultivation Method Department of the Red Collective. Just because Ves is in charge of 149 senators doesn't mean he gets to call all of the shots. We have to follow the new rules just like everyone else. Luckily enough, the delay has been rather small. Now that we have obtained the RC's seal of approval, we can prepare to offer and teach our own exclusive cultivation methods to our clan. The most important and relevant of them are the methods that are tailored for every mech legion of the Larkinson Army" The legion commanders all perked up. This was what they had been looking forward to for months. They worked together with their patriarch and the T Institute to develop the cultivation methods that would do much to strengthen the unique identities of their own military units. Ketis knew how important this was for everyone. "Ves is apparently quite good at this, and the scientists over at the T Institute are not bad either. The Red Collective has not rejected any of our proposed methods, which means that you can trust their craftsmanship." That provided a lot of relief to everyone. It was not that they distrusted the works of their own patriarch, but it was always better to obtain independent verification whenever he developed a radically new invention. "For now, our focus rests on the auxiliary qi cultivation methods that are especially targeted towards our mech pilots. As far as I have been told, their benefits are the highest for standard mech pilots and expert candidates. If a practitioner is able to advance to an expert pilot one day, then much of the gains will get subsumed by his or her willpower. There is little point for the demigod to practice the auxiliary qi cultivation method any further as developing your resonance strength will partially yield the same gains and more. This does not include companion spirits, which can still retain their own independent cultivation. In short, the word 'auxiliary' is there for good reasons. It is a complementary activity, not an objective in itself. If you truly want to go down further in the road of qi cultivation, then I advise you to practice one of the more dedicated options. Do you understand?"