The time had come. John returned to a particular spot in the northwestern part of Astrein, where there was a simple thermal spring. He had considered many times whether his choice of location was correct or not. Indeed, even if it had been correct on his first attempt, was it not appropriate to change locales now that he already had his totems?
If John was simply going for the best balance of elements, he would most likely go to the hidden valley. It was only a few days from his current location, and something under control of his sect would be quite appropriate. But John decided that he at least needed to come visit the location once more.
Upon seeing it with his eyes, he knew he made the right choice. Memories flooded through him. Memories of pain and loss of control. Memories of his spiritual sea being torn apart outside of his control. That had been his greatest moment of failure, at least under the control of John. Fortkran’s failure had been great as well, but it was an overreach born of arrogance.
But if he didn’t possess the memories, John couldn’t say the incidents were truly different in their fundamentals, and even then he might be fooling himself. He’d still failed to control himself, after all. John did like to think he’d taken better precautions, though. Failing to step into a practically unknown Phase was quite different from a failure to reach the Foundation Phase with proper guidance available.
After seeing the area, John’s thoughts teetered on the edge of whether it was better to stay or not. Ultimately, he came out just on the side of remaining in the same area. The process of breaking and burning parts of his spiritual sea was something he was conscious about now, and having more fire element available would be valuable.
Unlike last time, John didn’t simply carry with him external sources of spiritual energy but also a specially brewed elixir, courtesy of Raul. It had taken time for Raul to develop a proper recipe, but it would be valuable for future cultivators of the Six Elements Crossroads as well. Raul had named it an elixir of Elemental Harmony and it helped to balance the six elements within a cultivator. It didn’t simply provide an infusion of equal amounts, but rather released those that were lacking and absorbed those that were overabundant.
Such an elixir would be valuable for any multi-element cultivator at an awkward stage of cultivation. It would be useful for a cultivator with two core elements breaking through to the Soul Expansion Phase and adding a third element, and just as much for their step into the Consolidated Soul Phase. Likewise, a cultivator that went for an allied cycle of elements with light and darkness would find it a boon when adding their first non-allied element at the Consolidated Soul Phase.
Actually making it practical to use before the Soul Expansion Phase was another matter that would require dropping the price. The Six Elements Crossroads was doing their best to raise the required herbs and other ingredients, but it would take some time before they had enough to use more than rarely. This would be John’s second use, having tested it once to be certain of how it would affect him. He didn’t want any surprises this time.
John settled into the hot spring, finding it quite relaxing. Perhaps he should spend more time on specifically relaxation. He wasn’t the sort who worked himself to the bone at the expense of his own mental health, but perhaps intentionally seeking out opportunities would be valuable. While he did find cultivating quite relaxing most of the time, he thought perhaps he didn’t engage enough with alternatives.
John prepared things around himself, making use of slightly different sources than before. One source of each element, including light. The elixir was the star of the show, however, and John prepared his own internal state as much as possible before drinking it down.
John stoked his spiritual energy, bolstering the cycle of elements within himself to fill his dantian to near bursting. Out of curiosity, John dipped his consciousness into the sea of spiritual totems, but it was difficult… distant. Only the totems he already had bound called out to him, and he quickly withdrew his consciousness. He wouldn’t have attempted to repeat his steps even if it resulted in another spiritual totem, but his soul was in such an odd state he’d needed to feel it out.
Rather than a problem with his totems, then, it was John’s dantian that was lacking- but he’d developed the landscape greatly and was ready for his final push. He let his spiritual energy build up higher and higher, but rather than letting himself be overwhelmed he took control.
The ground beneath the islands inside of him trembled, but John was already prepared for what would happen. Fire was simply the catalyst for his transformation, the last element in a balanced cycle of growth. One by one, the islands he had grown burst apart, but rather than following the rules of the physical world it followed another sort of logic. Each island broke apart into many pieces, but those pieces were each nearly the same size as the islands had been.
Huge hunks of earth sprayed in every direction as the seas boiled, but rather than crashing into each other the seas expanded to provide space for the earth to fall and become new land. The skies stormed, winds swirling and spreading fire from place to place. The trees of darkness burned along with the life in the sea, but John knew that was not the end of things. It was only the beginning.
He’d performed the same task many times now, bit by bit expanding his dantian. Now, he took the final step of explosive growth. The elixir inside of him met the elements outside of him, spiritual energy rushing into fill the emptiness. The seas rose as water element filled them. Islands grew from stones. The seeds of darkness were spread all about, sprouting rapidly from the rush of spiritual energy. Lightning struck between the clouds, earth, and sea.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
In the sky, an ethereal sun provided heat- and light. While the light was still weak, it provided promise for the future
The aches and pains he felt were minor, like that of strenuous exercise. He felt no traces of serious wounds, and his dantian felt stable returning to a state of steady growth. He was momentarily drained from the rush, and the area around him was empty of spiritual energy as well, but John could clearly feel the results.
John withdrew his consciousness back to his body, feeling the spiritual energy flow through him. He felt slightly different, and it took a moment to figure out how. Looking around, his vision was clearer than he expected for the time of day. With the Tenebach Clan’s blessing, his eyes could see in the dark, but normally he felt somewhat off during the day. That awkwardness had lessened, and John felt like that wasn’t the only part of him that had grown.
It was only his judgment, but his skin felt a bit tougher, his lungs stronger, his flow of blood swifter. Perhaps they were small steps, but he felt like developing them further would be possible. It wasn’t something he had experienced before during an advancement. Was it something unique about the Ascending Soul Phase? No, John didn’t think so. Instead, it was likely due to his attention on his body as he climbed back through the Phases. A nice benefit, even if in most cases none of them would make a difference between victory and defeat.
John wondered if he should have already begun a fire element body tempering method, but he supposed it would also make sense to develop it now that he was in a proper state rather than a broken advancement with only his totem.
Despite everything he’d achieved- his greater body tempering and the growth of his totems- John would have much preferred his advancement had proceeded properly the first time. Instead here he was a decade and a half later, having just stepped into the thirty-seventh rank. He was only a rank or two behind his peers… but that was more significant than it might seem.
In the end, John could only celebrate that he’d survived before and not permanently crippled himself. It was a weight lifted off of his shoulders, as he had never been quite sure until this very moment. He had a great many insights for how to help future cultivators avoid the same pitfalls.
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When John returned to the Six Elements Crossroads, the entire sect was waiting for him. Viriato and Raul stood at the fore. “Congratulations on your advancement!” they called out as he approached. A moment later, the rest of the sect echoed the words.
John wasn’t quite sure he liked this, but since he was sect head he couldn’t exactly deny it either. He let his energy loose, where it washed over the surroundings. He tried not to get a big head, but ignoring eager disciples wouldn’t be great either.
With a gesture, John had the two follow him. They were his highest elders, so it wasn’t odd if he had personal instructions for them. However, he didn’t say anything in front of the crowds, waiting until they were properly in private. “What would you have done if I didn’t come back, or had failed?”
Viriato smiled. “The person we know isn’t the sort where we had to worry about either of those. We both met you after your accident, I’m sure you remember.”
Raul agreed. “Your return would certainly be glorious, and if you had not returned… I would have simply chosen to believe you moved on to something else.”
“I appreciate your faith in me,” John said. “But it’s not that easy to reach the Ascending Soul Phase.”
Viriato nodded. “We are both aware, having caught glimpses of the next Phase ourselves. However, knowing the company you keep it seemed inevitable. None of your associates failed to advance.”
“Except me specifically,” John pointed out.
“You wouldn’t fail twice,” Raul said. “We could see the confidence.”
John didn’t feel the need to spend more of his time convincing his elders not to believe in him, so he let things drop there. “Aside from the exception of Lucanus and Yustina, no group yet has two Ascending Soul Phase cultivators. So it’s hard to say we’re exactly consistent. We might simply be the lucky ones. There have been a few before us who used extreme methods to break through, but outside of that there were more failures… and then those from afar.”
“I remember the Molten Sea,” Viriato nodded. “It was around then I got stuck at the Foundation Phase, realizing my foolishness.”
“I think stumbling into the hardest pair of elements doesn’t quite deserve to be called foolishness,” John shrugged. “What do you think of my granddaughter’s state, by the way?”
“I wish I could say I was an expert, but I’m not,” Viriato replied. “Her first totem might be the most difficult, as she needs to maintain balance. Or perhaps every step will be hard for her going forward. I don’t believe she would be suited for following my sort of path, as her innate light and darkness change things somewhat.”
John shook his head. “We have little information on what happens to infused children who try to pursue a different path. None of the triplets even really considered it. I’ve heard about other infused children being born in the past decades, but the information is so sparse. Most of what people know is due to the triplets.”
It wasn’t John’s responsibility to figure things out for his grandchild, but he would also feel negligent if he didn’t at least try to help. He felt partially responsible for encouraging the relationship between Nik and Melanthina, and though he would do it again he would have preferred a life without troubles for them. As if such a thing was even possible. No, rather than a life without trouble the best one could do was be able to manage said trouble. Even living as a hermit had its own trials and tribulations.