Truthful Transmigration

There had been hopes that everything would stay peaceful until the end of the decade and another round of tournaments, and for the majority of the region that was true. At least, relative to the normal rate of conflict among cultivators. However, while they had a run of good luck the days of peace were not going to last forever.

The first signs of trouble were missing ships in the Crystal Sea. They simply departed one port and didn’t arrive at the next. One or two missing ships could have been caused by accidents out at sea, and there were more than a few trading back and forth along the southern coast. However, in the span of just a single month the Glass Hills reported five missing ships. Their own investigations soon turned up the sunken remains of one, clearly plundered.

That ruled out beasts, which in turn cast suspicion on the Sky Islands. Though they tended to have little to do with ships, it was suspicious. However, with no proof of their involvement little happened.

When the Wuthering Steppes also reported missing ships further west, the matter became a higher priority. Neither elemental zone had a high focus on naval superiority, but they still relied on ships to trade around the coast into the Shimmering Islands and especially with the Blustering Peaks. That route connected the majority of the air cultivators, with the other options being a much slower land route.

Those continued difficulties led to calling upon the aid of the Shimmering Islands’ water cultivators to investigate, which eventually led to Tirto heading to investigate the situation. Given his status as the head of the Brandle Clan, he also came with an entourage.

They ended up with a small flotilla of three ships. Tirto had intended to leave Verusha behind to manage clan affairs but…

“You’re telling me that there might be pirates on the sea and I don’t get to come along and burn them down?” Verusha had laughed. “No way. I’m going.”

That had then drawn Nitza’s interest, and since she was old enough to make her own choices- and high enough cultivation- Tirto couldn’t really deny her. She was only in the early Soul Expansion Phase, but that wasn’t a trivial level of power.

They sailed south out of the Shimmering Islands, past the Soulrot Bogs which previous covered much of the connection to the Swirling Expanse beyond. In the past, large ships weren’t able to sail through that route, but in the interests of trade the waterways had been expanded. Being able to ship goods from Astrein’s central location to the outer edges of the region via sea generally avoided most of the unknown risks. Aside from the storms of the Shimmering Islands, of course.

But those storms were easily navigated by experienced sailors. With a generally higher level of cultivation among the people, the Shimmering Islands were generally safer in recent days- even if journeys weren’t necessarily peaceful.

One reason such trade routes hadn’t been expanded upon before was that the first and largest stretch of land to the east was the coast of the Deadfields. Unlike Astrein, the area was truly devoid of spiritual energy. However, there were still thriving cultivator settlements beneath the surface where light element reigned supreme. With greater cooperation, a few decent ports had been established along the coast- where there was at least some semblance of spiritual energy.

Tirto noticed that Nitza seemed nervous during the first stretch of their journey. She was constantly looking around, scanning the area with her spiritual energy. “Don’t worry,” he said to his daughter. “We won’t be set upon so easily as the others. None of the lost vessels carried two peak Consolidated Soul Phase cultivators.”

Verusha, being a handful of years younger than Tirto, had been behind in cultivation- especially during their early relationship. But properly cultivating together had allowed her to close the gap to less than a rank. Tirto would undoubtedly break through to the Ascending Soul Phase first unless circumstances lined up for them to advance together, but she wouldn’t be terribly far behind.

Nitza relaxed slightly, but not completely. “I understand father. But aren’t we looking for vessels sunken under the sea?”

“Not this far west,” Tirto said. “Once we reach the southeastern shores we will focus our search, but none of the reported ships could have made it this far in the timeframes they were missing.”

Nitza nodded, but continually checked the ocean around them, including behind their trio of ships. Tirto chalked that up to her relative youth, but he knew this might be a good opportunity for her to get some real experience outside of the Shimmering Islands. They’d done their best to raise her as a competent and responsible individual, but she hadn’t been forced into greater responsibility early.

Tirto was glad for that, as the alternative would have meant he and Verusha were no longer able to handle clan affairs, and they were far too young for that to be an issue. With their cultivation they should be young well past a hundred years old, though depending on circumstances they might pass on leadership sooner or later than that vague date.

-----

As they approached the Crystal Sea, Tirto felt a significant change in the flow of the ocean itself. The balance of elements shifted, which made it more difficult to perceive at a far distance. That would be both a benefit and a detriment for their purposes. If they came across whoever was causing troubles, they should be able to get closer without their strength being noticed. They were hiding their power to look like easier targets, hoping to at least get close enough to other ships to ascertain whether they were friend or foe.

But the more difficult sensing would also make it tougher to sense any downed ships. Even relatively near the coast, it swiftly dropped to over a hundred meters or more. That made things more difficult… but water cultivators hadn’t been called upon for nothing.

Swimming along at the same speed as the ships was not difficult for anyone with proper training. The only issue was maintaining that long term, requiring numerous rotating shifts.

Tirto had trained to function in the deep sea, including adapting to the dark. He would never have a clear of sight as a darkness element cultivator, but he could at least make out the shape of the ocean floor below, and whether there were any disturbances. Such as the wreckage of a large ship.

The third day they were within the expected territory, Nitza actually found a sunken ship. However, when a group dove down to find it they quickly realized it was a much older wreck. Whatever wood had not already rotted away was covered in coral and barnacles. But spotting more than what they were looking for was still a win, as it meant they were covering enough area.

-----

Tirto liked the water. His life would have been pretty miserable if he didn’t, being born with water element cultivation and living in the Shimmering Islands. In his opinion the Crystal Sea was not as good, but at least it was new. There were different varieties of sea life to observe, though he could see why there weren’t many water cultivators established in the area. The element was just a bit thin for proper cultivation.

He swam down to the bottom, watching crabs and other creatures scuttling about on the sand. To them, he should feel like part of the sea. His energy was restrained to cause as little disturbance as possible.

Occasionally, he would spot the shadow of a larger creature off in the distance. Whales were not uncommon in the area, but he thought he spotted something far larger on occasion, further away from shore. His investigations never revealed anything, so he thought perhaps that was his imagination.

-----

They stopped by the first port in the Wuthering Steppes without having found any recent wreckage. The three ships in their flotilla had spread out to cover as much of the seas as they could, but unless the merchants they were looking for had gotten significantly off the mark they should have spotted them. There was little reason to sail far from shore, however, as the seas were safest when land was kept in sight, as long as it was deep enough.

They asked around to see if they could find any further information, but they kept their purpose secret. Far too often in cases of piracy, locals were providing information about shipping schedules. Even if they couldn’t confirm if it was standard piracy or outside cultivators causing trouble, emphasizing their presence in the area wouldn’t benefit them. They didn’t want to scare off anyone.

Tirto had prepared a manifest for their main ship that would hopefully make them a tempting target. There was no guarantee they would draw in who they were looking for, but it was one more route to success beyond simply scouring the ocean floor for sunken ships and trying to find some sort of evidence on who was at fault.

-----

Off to the southeast and far above the ocean were the Sky Islands. Tirto couldn’t help but suspiciously watch them. They even came across one group descending from one of the border islands to a ship below… but they were a regularly known quantity in the area. Without some significant proof, even mentioning suspicion of them could damage the newly formed relationship between them and the continent.

Of course, if there was proof then Tirto would act appropriately. They didn’t need to keep a peaceful facade if it simply meant the continent was attacked without retaliation.

Tirto looked out on the horizon, spotting their other ships just far enough that they could spot the central ship. At such a distance they would have more difficulty aiding in a battle, but they had to cover enough area.

He felt the energy disturbance of Nitza rushing to the surface, and prepared himself for trouble, but she merely threw herself out of the water onto the deck. “I found another one!” she proudly declared.

“Good,” Tirto said. “Let’s check it out. How far?”

“About halfway between us and the furthest ship,” Nitza explained.

Tirto took Verusha’s hand and jumped into the water with her. Even as a fire cultivator she was strong enough to swim and fight easily enough, and she also had techniques to replenish her supply of air. But there was no reason to make things unnecessarily difficult.

A bubble of water formed around the two of them as they swam forward, others trailing behind much like a school of fish. Nitza had returned to the water and was leading the way, though she didn’t exactly swim in a straight line, instead curving back and forth. There was no benefit to such a movement style as far as Tirto was aware… most likely, it was just for fun. She was still fast enough to provide a proper pace that matched with their slower cultivators.

Soon enough, Tirto was able to spot the sunken ship- and it was immediately apparent how much more recent it was. Inspecting it revealed charred wood, indicating much of the ship had been on fire. Unlike the Shimmering Islands which had to constantly deal with lightning strikes, other vessels were often quite vulnerable to fires. However, even with a basic complement of cultivators a mundane fire would not bring down a vessel.

They inspected the ship, finding few remains of any crew except a few who were killed below decks. The only thing they were able to confirm for certain were certain battle scars on the ship, and that it was one of the vessels they were searching for. Like the one that had been found by the locals, this one was looted of everything cultivators would find valuable, except perhaps the vessel itself.

One sample wasn’t enough to tell them what sort of cultivators attacked. Fire wasn’t exactly exclusive, and it could have been brought about by more mundane means- if the crew was busy fighting, they couldn’t just put it out. Tirto would have to compare with what they’d learned about the other ship to see if there were any consistent patterns they could draw from.