Totems were one of the most important aspects of cultivation. That was John’s belief, and he found it held up quite easily. It wasn’t just about the tier of a totem, however. They also needed to fit a cultivator's style, and have synergy with each other.
Inside of John’s dantian, his totems formed a world. A small world, true, a replica lacking in many features. It would never be truly real, as he was responsible for the forms within it. If he wanted to replicate Earth, he would need to at minimum create millions of species of plants and animals. Oh, and fungus, since those were their own thing. But even if he had the knowledge- which he did not- he literally couldn’t have anywhere close to a sufficient amount of time to do so.
He might live a few centuries. In fact, that wasn’t particularly unlikely. If he somehow formed a proper species every day- instead of the mere shadow of fish or the like- at the end of his life he would have made one hundred thousand species, assuming the lifespan he lived three hundred years further. But that was Earth, a world with more limited rules. When spiritual energy came into things, it was easy to find something like six or seven times as many species of things.
The world inside of John was just a replica. A shadow. Something like a trick of the light. And that was perfectly fine with him. It fit quite well. The important thing was for his elements to form a balanced space that he didn’t have to constantly interact with. Instead, it allowed the elements to feed into each other naturally and grow- not entirely without supervision, but with more occasional guidance.
Choosing one more totem was not necessary for six ranks- all of the mid and late Ascending Soul Phase. John found himself at the border of the mid Ascending Soul Phase, but did not know how long it would take to advance. Estimating a total time was even more difficult. It could be as swift as a handful of decades- or he might never reach the peak.
He was just being realistic about that. Abritt and Sitora were both elders in the Sky Islands, a location that seemed to have a history of producing Ascending Soul Phase cultivators. One was a transmigrator, which seemed to imply a certain level of talent. The other was unclear, but Abritt clearly was talented, even if not particularly likable. When he had begun his cultivation journey, he would have expected to be lucky just to reach the Consolidated Soul Phase.
But just because he wasn’t certain if he could make it didn’t mean that plans weren’t appropriate. Cultivators could, it seemed, find or create totems that fit their specific preferences. The caveat being that they had to have a solid image of what they wanted in mind, and the ability to endure the necessary depths of the Sea of Spiritual Totems.
The final totem John needed would be of the light element. If he could manage to attune to one that fit smoothly with the rest of his totems, he would complete a full cycle of elements. He was already aware that a cycle of core elements was a source of significant power, but it was difficult to say exactly how much more a full cycle would bring.
If done poorly… well, John didn’t actually know how someone would actually achieve a poor success in such a thing. Most likely anything below a certain threshold would result in a devastating and deadly failure as light and darkness annihilated each other inside the dantian. And while he’d seen multiple examples of people with both elements surviving, with the involvement of core elements he thought the eventual results would have an even greater magnitude.
Hopefully, in the positive direction. The point being, with few exceptions, a well put together cycle of elements would surpass cultivators of individual elements or natural pairs of elements. That wasn’t an absolute rule, as while casual progression in a single element would be an easier path… no doubt there were ways to amplify single elements beyond what seemed possible. Like Ursel’s path with earth, involving both body and spiritual energy. She clearly wasn’t taking the smoothest route to progression.
So, ultimately, John had come to the understanding that it was the challenges they faced that made a cultivator truly strong, even when all other factors remained the same. It was hardly a revelation, as that theory had been espoused in his early training- both as the previous inhabitant of his body and as his current self. But he didn’t think he was wrong to have sought out a cycle of elements, even though sticking with pure darkness might have been a route where he could have grown just as strong.
But once he’d found the appeal of the cycle of elements, he doubted he could have gone back. He would have always been thinking about what could have been. But here he was, successful, picking out his last totem… perhaps far earlier than he needed to. It still had to fit, though.
Deep in the sixth layer of the Sea of Spiritual Totems, John sought out light. It was the most difficult things had ever been, not just because of the deeper layer but because the darkness inside of him instinctively rejected light, and it rejected him in turn. That wasn’t something that months and years of training with small quantities of light could just overcome.
John found that there were almost limitless totems that appealed to him. The simplest light totem that would fit was… okay, that one was more of a fantasy. But he used a sword as his primary weapon, so a sword of light was totally appropriate, right? It wasn’t just that he wanted to hold a laser sword. But really… it didn’t mesh that well with his other totems. And he could just create a laser sword with a technique, instead of devoting a totem to it.
Next was the sun. That certainly fit in with his other totems, forming the last piece of a world. He was using his Ethereal Flames as a substitute, but as far as spiritual energy was concerned flame wasn’t truly light. And similarly, a star didn’t have to be a burning ball of gas.
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Yes, a star would fit. But his totems didn’t have to be direct components of the world. He hadn’t attuned to an island totem- he instead attuned to Compost which filled the seas and formed land. He did have a sea totem- but it was the deep sea, representing more of a feeling of dark oppression that just so happened to be part of water. Atmosphere was pretty direct, just a simple air totem with elements of impurity. But winds and lightning hadn’t really made sense.
In short, he was at a sort of balance between totems that were directly part of the world and those that provided useful abilities while fulfilling the role. And his totems weren’t entirely static, shifting and growing along with him to some extent.
If John wanted a totem of light and darkness, perhaps he needed to look no further than the options he had helped present to Ereli. But no, those were more abstract concepts. His Ethereal Flames were certainly a bit abnormal, but to fit into the concept of dark flames he’d only had a certain range of options. At least, that he could easily conceptualize. That was the important part, that the totem had to become a part of him. So going by what felt right… actually wasn’t that strange.
Light and darkness. Mirrors, in a way. A lightbulb, able to switch on and off? No, he really had no intention to try something like that. Ultraviolet, like he’s suggested for Melanthina. Light that was unseen by normal eyes.
A taiji. Light and darkness balanced within each other. However, that concept was one of Earth, and rather weaker in this world. More importantly, John wasn’t looking to balance just light and darkness. If anything it needed to be more of a rainbow.
Was a rainbow good? Not necessarily a traditional one, as he couldn’t match a totem up to each color. But rainbows representing both light and various elements certainly sparked some interest. As his thoughts continued along similar lines, he eventually came to the prism.
A prism with light passing through it would display a rainbow of different colors. Why that seemed better to John than a totem of a rainbow itself… perhaps it was just a matter of taste. A natural rainbow was basically just the same thing caused by water droplets instead of a crystal. That could be the problem, actually. One was natural, and the other was usually in some parts artificial. At least, the shape of a prism that perfectly separated sunlight into a rainbow wasn’t found commonly. It was more likely to be constructed.
Was that better? John was aware that his internal world was artificial. Would leaning in that direction be advantageous? What would a prism mean to him? Light, splitting into different elements. But while he could imagine the four core elements, darkness was a bit awkward. Was the darkness simply everything not touched by the beam of light? That could work. But that didn’t mean it was the best.
The concept of a prism splitting light into all elements was certainly intriguing, but he could not find a totem that quite fit. Even without forming a connection, a cultivator had an instinctive understanding of what a totem might be like. Spending more time studying a particular one could reveal more detailed information, but once John felt one didn’t fit it seemed pointless to delve deeper. As long as he could string together a pattern of what he felt was missing, he could search for something else.
But he didn’t know quite what it was yet. Then again, that was why he began his search now and not when he had a high enough rank to advance. Trying to build familiarity at such a late point would be like trying to catch up when he really didn’t need to be behind to begin with.
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Light swirled around John. Other elements as well, but those he controlled naturally. Light was still difficult, and he knew it would continue to be. He’d had some success in forming it into a sort of orbital shell. If he balanced the position where its natural inclination to fly away matched that of the pull of darkness inside of him, he could achieve a stable orbit.
For anywhere between a few seconds and an hour, depending on initial configuration and how much upkeep he put into the situation. John also drew light element into his dantian, but he kept it insulated with allied elements. It was also a truly small amount, so even if it came into contact with his darkness the surrounding spiritual energy would contain it without too much damage.
John had determined important differences between actual injuries and more intentional effort within his spiritual sea. When he’d first had his island split forcefully, it had almost killed him. But when he chose to do it again, as he did frequently, he came with only slight pain and little danger.
It was the difference between exercise, straining a muscle to the point it would grow, and overextension of said muscle to the point of injury. Though John’s first attempt to advance to the Ascending Soul Phase was more akin to someone slashing his abs open than doing too many crunches or the like. Not a perfect metaphor… but then again, external damage to his cultivation was possible. It just usually also resulted in death from bodily injuries unless someone was quite intentional about it.
John’s energy circulated inside of him, building higher and higher. But he did not think he would try to break through to the next rank anytime soon. The division between partial Phases in the Ascending Soul Phase followed previously established patterns, getting harder as they went. It wasn’t quite as big of a step as breaking through to the Ascending Soul Phase again to try to reach the mid Phase, but perhaps it would be along the level of seriousness he’d needed for breaking through to the Consolidated Soul Phase.
Plus, he didn’t have any guidance, except for a few short conversations with Sitora. It was new territory for even most of those from the Sky Islands, not just those of the continent. It was best to take things one step at a time.
It would also give him time to think about other body tempering opportunities. He wasn’t sure what he would even do for light, but he was quite pleased with how his various other elemental tweaks to his body were developing. He hadn’t needed toxin resistance much, but if he visited some more exotic locations it might be precisely what he needed. And stronger defenses and improved reactions were always welcome.