Truthful Transmigration

The visit to Silver Breeze Gorge was quite productive in all areas, from diplomatic to personal training. John didn’t suddenly feel like he could defeat Abritt, but it was a good step forward towards a potential victory. Presha had a potential he would keep an eye on, and he hoped to influence her to formally join the alliance. Having another Ascending Soul Phase cultivator would be reassuring.

Optimally he wanted to break through to the mid Ascending Soul Phase before the tournament, but practically he felt he would be lucky to grow to the thirty-ninth rank. Nine years seemed like a long time, but John was aware that there were cultivators over a hundred years old who had not even reached the Ascending Soul Phase.

As for why there were so many in their generation with none in recent memory… that was a complicated phenomenon that nobody really had the answers to. It was in some part due to the challenges available, growing stronger with their peers, but something had to spark such change to begin with. John’s personal theory was that there was an unusually high number of transmigrators and reincarnated individuals, but he didn’t actually know that for sure. He hadn’t found records of previous years, since such information wasn’t generally public. It may have just been a coincidence.

Over the next several years, John traveled to various clans and sects, including some further regions he hadn’t previously come to. The intent was to have the next tournament be the biggest one yet… and no matter what happened, he thought that having more ‘continentals’ present would be beneficial. Obviously he hoped someone could defeat Abritt, but if not showing her something like a united region should make her realize a true battle wouldn’t be in her favor.

Certainly, Abritt had been strong but she was still only in the Ascending Soul Phase. Could she defeat any individual cultivator? Probably. But even without having seen her full potential, John was confident that along with three or four of the others he could take her down. Even if Sitora and the other Island Masters fought alongside her, with the inclusion of the guardian beasts he was confident in a victory there. And for those at the Consolidated Soul Phase and below, the continent would vastly outnumber them.

But the point was to not end up in a war. Deterrence was better. Hopefully, the tournament would show sufficient strength that other considerations were unnecessary.

-----

Halfway to the tournament with about five years remaining, John was filled with greater confidence. Deirdre had broken through to the Ascending Soul Phase, and Zacharie was not far off. At the moment, their cultivations and connections to Cuah’arn qualified them to attempt to take over leadership of the Golden Tomb Guardians, but neither were eager to replace Lambert. He had been a fine enough sect head, and had the respect of the elders.

Perhaps a generation before they would have made the attempt regardless, but John had made it clear that being sect head wasn’t necessarily better. They had all the privileges and resources they could need, and for the most part all either of them would do was take over the responsibilities that ate away at their time. If they cared about contributing to the sect, they could still do without being sect head.

John’s own position with the Six Elements Crossroads wasn’t one he had particularly wanted, but he’d felt it was necessary for his goals. He didn’t mind the responsibility so much either, since he’d been the head of the Tenebach clan. He felt things had worked out better there, with Melanthina and Nik at the head. Obviously the transition could have been accomplished more intentionally, but the circumstances surrounding that were in the past and couldn’t be fixed.

-----

Though he spent much time traveling, in the latter half John’s plans were to spend the majority of his time at the Six Elements Crossroads, where people could come to him if they wished to. He almost wished he could do so all the time, but practically it just didn’t work out.

The best thing about remaining in one place was his grandchildren would come visit. Nitza and Ereli were both in the Foundation Phase now. Both of them were growing up into fine young women, and they got along well despite their different personalities.

Nitza was as wild as her style, shifting between moods as quickly as she shifted between phases of water. She was a pure water cultivator, but she had learned how to apply the principles of fire from her mother and grandparents. She rapidly ranged from traditional water based attacks to ice and steam, sometimes together. Her emotions always showed on her face, and she wasn’t timid about expressing herself.

Ereli had maintained the personality that had been forced on her by circumstances. She was still cautious and reserved, though she had a balance in her light and darkness that no longer required her constant vigilance. She didn’t speak as much, but that just left Nitza more room to comment on everything she saw.

“Who do you think will win the tournament? Do you think I can?” Nitza asked.

“Impossible,” Ereli retorted. “The difference in cultivation is too much. An Ascending Soul Phase cultivator could defeat us while taking a nap. No, probably any Consolidated Soul Phase cultivator as well.”

“Okay, fine,” Nitza admitted. “But what about the early brackets? I bet I can go further than you.”

“We will find out,” Ereli inclined her head. “I do not intend to lose.”

“Grandpa!” Nitza turned to John. “Fly with me! No, carry both of us!”

“I believe I will pass on such an opportunity,” Ereli said. “I have more productive uses of my time.”

“Boring! Besides, I get to observe air element and stuff so… it’s training!”

“Are you sure?” John asked. “I can easily take you both. And it won’t be terribly long.”

“Thank you for the offer,” Ereli said. “But I am confident in my response.”

John saw something there. Was she afraid of heights? Well, he wasn’t going to bring it up in front of her cousin regardless of the answer. There could be plenty of reasons why she didn’t want to.

“Let’s go then,” John said. He swept Nitza up in air element. “A tour of the city!”

“Go fast!” she declared.

“It will be over sooner, then.”

“Umm…” Nitza pondered. “I still want to go fast.”

“Then we will,” John grinned.

All the power he gained wouldn’t be of much use if he couldn’t dote on his family a little bit. He did his best not to actually spoil his grandchildren, because it would be better they didn’t come out as arrogant young ladies. But a bit of fun sometimes was quite appropriate.

Flying was heavily restricted in Lunson, but as the sect head he was one of those who could go anywhere. Technically, there were some exceptions. People could reasonably complain if he did something like landing on their roof, not that he would bother. The Six Elements Crossroads had the highest towers and the best views.

With practice and increased power, John was much more confident in his flight. He had contingencies prepared in case for some reason his air element suddenly faltered, though it was likely that Nitza could survive a fall on her own. A Foundation Phase cultivator had to be able to do at least that much. Still, he’d prefer not to risk it.

The actual chances of an issue were pretty much nonexistent, of course, Spiritual energy didn’t just stop working for no reason, and if there were an incoming enemy attack he would sense it from afar. Still, there were always worries.

He rushed around the city, passing by different compounds that housed more permanent delegations from various sects and clans throughout the greater region. The Six Elements Crossroads had plenty of room for guests, but some might prefer greater privacy.

Lunson was flourishing, ever since the removal of the Platinum Tower Society and the establishment of the Six Elements Crossroads. While Lunson had once been one of the few places where cultivators were rare, the growth of the city provided even non-cultivators with a higher standard of living. Furthermore, everyone at least had an opportunity to pick up basic cultivation, with a greater understanding of the local elements.

It might be difficult at first to separate out the element one wanted, but Astrein wasn’t a dead zone like it appeared on the surface.

Nitza clearly reveled in the feeling of flight more than actually seeing the city. John wondered if it would be appropriate for her to train in the air element as well. She was at the point where she needed to commit to whatever choice she made, as when she attuned to her third totem in the Soul Expansion Phase her path would be pretty much set. That was something she should discuss with her family, however. Breaking from the traditions of a clan could be problematic. John was lucky Luctus had supported his crazy plan.

In the distance, John could see the herds of bison. While there were ranches for some, great care went into making sure the native beasts of Astrein kept their homes and weren’t wiped out. It would be a terrible waste to end up in another world and allow ecological devastation to happen.

While cultivators were often quite reckless about such things, convincing those who could actually be reasoned with wasn’t that difficult. It wasn’t like causing problems for future generations and ignoring the consequences was easy, either. Most cultivators would be alive in any such future, and so would have to deal with the issues they themselves caused.

There were certain advancements John found useful to bring from Earth. Refrigeration hadn’t been completely unheard of, and allowed for food to travel further with the cooperation of water cultivators. The local methods of long distance communication had already been sufficient- or at least some of them. It was simply that things like the light communication of the Sunfields had to be expanded. Of course, private long distance communication still mostly went via messenger bird, but those could be much swifter than anything on Earth.

Overall, John thought things were pretty good. But he planned to be around for a long time and would want to see even more improvements, if they could reasonably be accomplished.

-----

Three years before the tournament, Ursel finally returned. Once again, instead of going to the Order of the Amber Heart, she came to John. “Help me make armor,” she said, dumping a storage bag full of materials in front of him.

Anticipating her return, John had taken the time to brush up on smithing and the like. Now he could proudly place himself higher than a novice. Raul would probably still be better, as he had both a core elemental cycle and actual practice imbuing objects. However… John also felt components with elements of darkness and light in Ursel’s bag.

“This will be a tough project,” he said. “We’ll need a light element specialist, as well.”

“So ask that Viriato guy. Or Nik.”

Both were decent cultivators, but they weren’t really crafters.

“Are you sure this is the best approach?” John asked.

“Yeah. Earth element armor is good if I’m going to be augmenting it myself in battle. It can even be nearly unbreakable. But, it’s not. And I’d rather have armor that was properly balanced.” She looked down at the bag. “I don’t actually know which of these things we need, though.”

Thus it was that John helped her sort through things. What Ursel wanted was armor that could stand up for itself, something she didn’t have to worry about supplementing with her own spiritual energy. She also didn’t mind if it didn’t completely absorb attacks, as her body could handle significant force without issues. She wasn’t concerned about weight, either.

“This blacksteel you found might be good,” John admitted. “If we can actually combine it with light element. I think we’ll need layers, based on what I’ve experienced. An inner layer of darkness, the four core elements, then light outside. Speaking of which, these crystals and Cuah’arn’s feathers… aren’t really viable components for armor, I don’t think.”

“I do have some mirror ore,” Ursel said. “It’s a bit too flashy for my tastes, though.”

“Maybe it will be subdued by the influence of darkness,” John said. “I wouldn’t directly try to mix them. Not without a master.”

“I can do all the smithing stuff better now,” Ursel said. “I just need the elemental balance.”

“Viriato, then, once he returns from his most recent excursion. Until then, I’ll do my best to familiarize myself with the various things, and we can go over your process.”