The Order of the Amber Heart was only a short distance away from the Tenebach clan, at least when considering the greater scale of the Stone Conglomerate. Close enough that they could exchange messages through shadowhawks in a few hours, while a trip on foot might take a day if done at a modest pace. If there were some actual emergency, cultivators could make the trip in a few short hours, or faster if they were of high enough rank.

John took the more leisurely approach as he didn’t find any reason to rush. The environment wasn’t as convenient for his cultivation as Astrein, but he was still more than capable of cultivating to some effectiveness in anything but a light-dominant terrain. Earth was one of his earlier totems, though the order in which he adopted the elements didn’t necessarily restrict him now. It had defined his style, though he was always working to increase his flexibility while making the most of what training he had done.

The first to come greet him was not the person he sought, but John would never be upset at her presence.

“Dad!” Ursel rushed towards him and crushed him in a hug. “I didn’t know you were coming.”

John shrugged, as best he could without having proper control over his arms. “If I knew you were here I would have sent a message to you in particular. Most of the time, you’re out and about.”

“As it turns out, useful things don’t just spring up in the middle of sects,” Ursel said, stepping back. She was only a little bit shorter than John now, and while she was a grown woman it wasn’t necessarily guaranteed that she wouldn’t surpass him. Most people would be long finished, but with Ursel there was no way to say.

John reached out and put his hand on Ursel’s forehead, pushing. It was like trying to knock over a pillar with his bare hands. Everything about her felt tempered, from her skin to her bones, blood, and organs. Even her heartbeat was slow, feeling like the movement of tectonic plates.

“What’s that for, huh?” she said, her neck not even bending slightly under his pressure.

“Just checking things. You’ve certainly been making progress.” Her spiritual energy cultivation wasn’t lacking either, already having reached the mid Consolidated Soul Phase.

“Oh yeah? Well, let’s see how you like it,” Ursel said, spreading her palm over John’s face. He just snorted air through his nose. “Hmm. I feel like you’re missing something. Where’s the fire?”

“I haven’t come up with a good method yet,” John admitted. “Well, most of the rest is still imperfect as well.”

“You should at least try Bones of the Earth,” she commented.

“Wasn’t that what you were training with those rhinos?” John asked. “I don’t know if I should focus too much on one element. And it might disrupt my blood purification technique… such as it is.”

“Yeah, well… then make it not do that,” Ursel said. “Bones should definitely be earth element.”

“I disagree,” said another voice, joining in the conversation. Renato grinned at the two of them. “Most people aren’t set up to carry around the extra weight that involves. It limits movement too much, forcing them to expend more spiritual energy.”

“Then just get more muscle!” Ursel waved her arms. “Honestly, it’s simple.”

“How long did you spend hunting snakes to temper your muscles?” Renato asked.

“Only two years!” Ursel said, posing proudly.

“And that’s why it’s impractical for most people. Most people also don’t have a body-related totem,” Renato pointed out.

John nodded. “And one from the sixth layer. Even I don’t even have sixth layer totems yet.”

“You could,” Renato said. “Or at least, one or two.”

“I’m not sure about that,” John said. “Might have thrown myself off balance and failed my advancement.” John did have to admit that, since his totems had been at the fifth layer on his first attempt to reach the Ascending Soul Phase, they were all more than just fifth tier totems. He figured he was somewhere around halfway to the final transformation, though that was tricky to judge until he actually did it.

“Well, I’m ready when you are,” Renato declared.

“Ready for what?” Ursel asked.

“Our battle.”

“Oh, me too!” she said. “I want to fight too!”

John hesitated. Not because he was worried about her getting hurt- she was able to judge dangers for herself and could handle that just fine. He just didn’t know what he would do if he lost somehow. Against anyone else in the Consolidated Soul Phase he wouldn’t have thought they stood a chance… but she might be an exception. “Well, alright,” he finally said. “But it has to come after.”

“Tch. I was hoping to fight both of you at once.”

Renato grinned, “I made your armor, you’d better believe I can break it.”

Ursel crossed her arms. “If you break my Mountain Steel you have to replace it with Continent Steel.”

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

“If I knew how to make it…” Renato shrugged. “But maybe you’d do better making it yourself.”

“Ugh, then I’d have to wait until I reach the Ascending Soul Phase.”

“That’s life,” Renato said. “Besides, I don’t have much left to teach you as an apprentice. I doubt my path to the Ascending Soul Phase will match yours.”

-----

John stood opposite Renato, out in a rocky field. A cave of some sort might have been more appropriate, except there was too much risk of it collapsing during the battle. There might be value in trying something like that at some point just to practice restraining their energy, but that wasn’t the point here.

Currently, John had two wins and two losses. He would really like to achieve a third win, to show that the cycle of elements had some sort of value over focusing on a single element. He knew that the others had spent more time at their current level of power, but John really wanted to produce consistent results against all elements. Then again, all of their strengths were close enough most of the battles could have gone the other way.

John knew that if Renato landed a single solid hit against him, he was done for. Obviously his friend would hold back so as to not actually crush him, but the point remained. Meanwhile, he was going to have to find his way through Renato’s heavier armor just to slightly damage him. With the armor being able to absorb much of the damage instead of his spiritual energy, Renato would be a tough fight.

But it wasn’t like John hadn’t fought him before, and he had plans. In turn, Renato would expect something from John as well. Maybe even anticipate John’s new tricks.

“Fight!” Ursel yelled from the sidelines. While she wasn’t the official arbiter- that was what Johannes Dalen was for- the two of them mutually agreed to begin at that moment.

The stone weapons of the Order of the Amber Heart were propelled more by their earth element than their muscle, just as every other element. Even so, that didn’t mean the muscle was worthless. It was an important part, providing consistent power.

The heavy stone club slammed down where John had been standing, creating a crack in the ground. It was not John’s job to fix that later, since this was an earth element sect. That was something he could be happy about, at least.

Speed would be John’s advantage in this battle, but he had to keep in mind one thing. Being overconfident in his speed would instead get him hit, as Renato could change the direction of his swing more quickly than seemed possible. Even the first attack rebounded from the ground, swiping towards him- but John was floating through the air. Not quite flying, simply propelling himself slightly higher with air element. He landed ten meters away, his elements surging.

That distance wasn’t much, just enough to give him some time to set up. Fire was the weakness of earth, and Renato knew that. Even so, he hadn’t properly sparred against John’s fire. Spectral flames flickered throughout the area, ready to catch him on fire. A perfect source of fuel. John just had to catch Renato and-

Renato rushed through the net of invisible flames John had been carefully constructing. Immediately, his spiritual energy was aflame- but it wasn’t as if he would burn to ash in an instant. Renato wound up a wide swing, flinging his weapon when John once again lept out of the way. Astonishingly, he also divested all of the flames in that attack.

John twirled through the air to avoid the projectile, taking advantage of the moment he had to toss some water element focused daggers at Renato. His opponent twisted his body, the attacks deflecting off his armor without harm.

The club, controlled by Renato’s energy, took a return trajectory and while John had some thought to try to stop it, with Renato charging forward he didn’t want to risk getting caught in between. Perhaps if the situation came up again.

Renato’s club returned to him, and he dropped the remaining spiritual energy just before it reached him- causing the remaining ethereal flames to drop away. Too bad, as John was just about to amp them up again.

Moments later, Renato was chasing John around the battlefield, with John constantly dodging around. He occasionally slashed at Renato’s arm when he overextended, attempting to catch him alight once more, but he mostly focused on his movement. Spiritual energy of all sorts flowed through him, sinking into the ground beneath.

John was much more comfortable in the air now, able to control his movements properly. Renato didn’t have many techniques that could reach the sky, but he was ready to take advantage of a normal jumping trajectory. Even someone forcing themselves on a different path would normally tire them enough for him to gain some advantage, but the repeated movements weren’t a problem for John.

Every time John got a spot of flame on Renato, he made it spread over his spiritual energy. Renato obviously didn’t let his energy be burned easily, but the self-sustaining nature meant John wasn’t spending too much effort to keep up the assault.

Once more Renato threw his stone club while John lingered in the air. John flipped over it, finding a new flow to his movements strengthened especially by his recent battles. He landed gently on the ground, gathering earth element. Renato continued towards him, not particularly less threatening without his weapon.

The ground turned into sludge under Renato’s feet, John’s movements to that point having slowly added water element. That didn’t stop him, but it slowed him a step, giving John a moment to reach behind him and catch the incoming club. Renato’s energy was about to run out, and he took over the weapon. It was heavy as he swung it down towards Renato’s head.

Swung in one hand, Renato resisted the hit even as it forced him deeper into the ground. John’s sword came up, cutting at the joints of Renato’s armor in that moment.

Renato didn’t go down easily, lunging forward. John stepped back, revealing that he was not even standing on the ground at all, dropping Renato into a hole as the surface collapsed. Being buried under the earth wouldn’t stop a cultivator like him for more than a second, but John filled the pit with swirling fire and air. As always, the true state of things was hidden by his darkness.

“Alright,” Renato said. “I can see where this is going. I give up.” The ground sprang up beneath him, bringing him to the surface. John pulled away his Ethereal Flames so that Renato didn’t have to waste a layer of energy.

“I was worried you’d last through all of my assaults forever,” John admitted.

“I thought I could withstand your flames,” Renato said. “They seemed much weaker than Steve or Yustina… but that was the ploy, wasn’t it?”

“Well, they are weaker,” John admitted. “But not as much as it seemed.”

“Your aerial movements were impressive.”

“Thank you. I sought out trainers… though I still need more experience.”

“It’s my turn now!” Ursel commented. “I’ll fight either of you!”

“I’ll go first,” John said. He was going to have to take the battle seriously even though he wasn’t too fatigued. Renato saw the direction things were going and gave up earlier than he needed to. However, John knew he shouldn’t underestimate Ursel. The chances of her winning were slim, but they would skyrocket if he was careless.