Previously Tirto had seen how fire supported water by promoting a metamorphosis between states. However, he saw now that they had only scratched the surface of that interaction, even after having advanced through two-thirds of the stages. In some ways, fire might not merely be responsible for the facilitation of transforming water, but for its creation.
In Tirto’s mind, water was the seas of the Shimmering Islands. Or perhaps it was the lakes, rivers, and ponds that formed inland, or the rains that brought water onto the islands. Regardless, to him water had been only a single thing.
Except that wasn’t even true. It was just his narrow thoughts that limited him. If asked, Tirto would say that both water from a river and water from the sea were just water… but the contents of each were significantly different. Ocean water had more salt, among other things. What else did he treat as water? Any liquids containing water itself, that specific compound- including blood.
Yet he’d also seen people control alcohol with water elemental spiritual energy- alcohol that was as little as a single percent ‘water’. He didn’t consider that weird, until he actually thought about it.
Then Tirto experienced people using water element to control lava, and they didn’t think about it. They just did it. They did use a certain amount of fire element as well, but that was perfectly understandable.
Perhaps he had been thinking too much. So he stopped, instead reaching out for Verusha. Together, they reached for lava, finding that it moved smoothly under their combined commands. Perhaps it was a bit denser and more viscous than the water Tirto was used to, but he couldn’t deny it was water. To him, that wasn’t as important as it being a connecting point between fire and water. Perhaps it didn’t mean anything to others, but lava felt more like fire than anything else.
That was important to realize because he wasn’t just a single person. He had never truly considered reaching the Ascending Soul Phase without Verusha. They were here to advance together… and a mutually understood moment was important for that.
After they were finished playing with lava- which was not a short time- Tirto made sure to confirm Verusha’s thoughts aligned with his own. They might have been married for decades now, and as dual cultivation partners their energies were in sync with each other… but that didn’t mean they knew each and every thought that passed through the other’s mind.
“This is the right place,” Tirto said. “I can feel the connection between fire and water.”
Verusha nodded. “Somehow, it feels like an unexpected result- even though we’ve always known about the Molten Sea and their elements. There was always a thought in my mind that fire and earth together must have still been those same elements.”
“Do you think it works in other ways? Fire and water is… air, from a certain perspective.” Tirto shrugged, “Certainly, I wouldn’t expect air cultivators to be unable to control steam. But I don’t know what fire and air would be.”
“Perhaps it works for cross elements only,” Verusha said. “I’ve seen your father use his entrapment techniques by forcing air into loose earth. The result was something much like water. Yet I don’t know if air and water make fire.”
“It may not work in all manners,” Tirto admitted. “However, air and water in stormclouds mix to cause lightning. Lightning is air- but it can also be seen as fire in many cases.” As allied elements, it would be possible that the two were subconsciously used interchangeably. “Though I don’t know of any fire element users who would venture into lightning.”
“You’re just not around enough fire element cultivators,” Verusha said. “I know that the Glass Hills have a small number of dedicated fire cultivators that have spread into the Green Sands.”
Tirto nodded. “Well… we don’t need to understand everything. Just each other, and the overlaps in our elements. Fire supports water. Water dominates fire, but can sometimes be formed by it. And though it’s not a traditional teaching, water is a decent vessel for fire… if you have enough fire, that is. How many times have we surprised cultivators with the heat of steam?”
Verusha grinned. “So many times.”
-----
Failing to take advantage of his father’s understanding of both the connections between elements and the Ascending Soul Phase in particular would be foolish, so Tirto made certain they discussed with him on their recent insights.
“All your thoughts are true,” John agreed. “The only question is how you plan to implement them in your cultivation.”
“We were thinking of perhaps attuning to the same totem,” Tirto said. Obviously they hadn’t just begun to choose their totems in consideration of the other. That had been the case for the majority of their cultivation careers. “Or perhaps finding totems that match each other in some way.”
Verusha looked at her husband for a few moments. “There was one other idea, actually.”
Tirto bit his lip. “Well, yes. But it was rather extreme. It simply came as one of many ideas, and I don’t know if it was well thought out on my part.”
“I think it was a valid consideration,” Verusha said. “Let me ask, do you think people reach the peak of cultivation through timidity and treading the exact same path as all those before them? Certainly not, or we would see Exalted Soul Phase cultivators everywhere!”
John grinned, looking at the two of them. “I’m interested to hear this idea.”
Tirto looked to Verusha for help, but she shook her head. “It was your idea. You should say it.”
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
Tirto sighed. “Fine. I had suggested… that perhaps we should attune to a totem that the other would have chosen for themself. The idea was with our spiritual energy passing through each other, it would be more efficient. But obviously it’s a bit extreme.”
“Why?” John asked.
“Why… what?” Tirto tilted his head. “Why did I think of it?”
“No, you already explained that adequately. Why do you believe it to be extreme?”
“Well,” Tirto began. “We’re not multi-element cultivators. Even when fighting together, Verusha always handles all the fire element and I control the water element. Even attuning to a lower tier totem would be extremely difficult, as we have significantly less experience with the other element.”
John nodded slowly. “I see. And you see reaching the Ascending Soul Phase as easy?”
“What? No, that’s not what I meant at all,” Tirto protested. “I know how difficult it will be, so wouldn’t it be inappropriate to further increase that difficulty? Conversely, we should be looking for the smoothest path.”
His father nodded. “Like a river flowing down a mountain.”
“Exactly,” Tirto said.
“Good. Just take a look at the rivers around here,” he gestured broadly.
Tirto very well knew about the rivers, having just finished a tour of the surrounding area during the day. They were anything but calm and peaceful.
“So…” Tirto said hesitantly. “Do you think that’s the correct route for us?”
John shrugged. “How should I know? However, one thing I can say for certain is… if your wife thinks you have a good idea, you should make sure not to set it to the side too easily.”
“... That makes sense.”
-----
A main part of the reason that Tirto and Verusha came to the Molten Sea was not necessarily to gain new insights, but instead to find a useful location to attempt their advancement. A location with naturally dense water and fire element would greatly boost their chances of success, along with what resources they brought along with them.
The Ascending Soul Phase was important enough that they couldn’t afford not to bring with them as much spirit water and spirit fire as they could pack, and in the highest qualities.
Rather than attempting to explore the area on their own- not that they even could as they would need a ship- the pair simply consulted Zdislava for her expertise.
“You need an area with the highest density of spiritual energy, but also as balanced as possible,” she said, thinking through the words as she spoke them. “The answers I can provide for you would vary depending on how much risk you are willing to accept.”
“Perhaps we should begin with the safest,” Verusha suggested. “We can judge whether it would seem to be potent enough for our needs.”
“You will find a wide variety,” Zdislava explained. “The simplest location would be one of the great confluences nearby. Where two large rivers meet in the delta, fire element is also stirred up. The process is rather violent, but there are relatively safe patches nearby even the most sizable confluence. We passed by some previously. But for your purposes, even the best of those might be insufficient for your needs. You likely need something more powerful- and thus more volatile.”
“I can’t deny that,” Tirto admitted. “What else might you suggest?”
“The mouth of a geyser,” Zdislava said simply. “The spiritual energy builds to a crescendo, with fire and water elements that I think would suit the two of you. It can be rather disruptive, but the power is likely worth it. This is what I would suggest.”
Verusha nodded slowly. “And… what if we wished to go beyond that?”
“I can’t say I would actually recommend any of this,” Zdislava clarified. “But diving into the sea itself you can find much greater density of spiritual energy. But the dangers are too many to count. You could be incinerated or crushed by the pressure, if you could even navigate it. It’s rather infeasible even with the pair of you at the peak of the Consolidated Soul Phase.”
“That does sound a bit too far,” Verusha said. “But what about inside a geyser? We could at least avoid the crushing weight of earth. And the two of us are more than capable of handling water pressure.”
“I will admit to having little experience there,” the old woman explained. “Caution has kept me away. It seems of similar danger to simply diving into the sea itself, except focused into individual moments. At the surface the water of the geysers has had time to reduce in heat and pressure, but below… well, I would say it is beyond the limits I would push myself to. Then again, you can see my own cultivation is not any higher than yours, despite my age.”
“Thank you for your suggestions,” Tirto said. “We will take some time to consider the options.”
-----
Verusha had dunked herself up to her neck in lava- and then she had yanked Tirto in after her. They didn’t naturally sink below the surface, but once they were in deep they didn’t float to the surface rapidly. She was giggling, but Tirto was pursing his lips.
“It’s not much good for swimming,” he said. That was an understatement, as he could barely move his limbs- and that was with the application of spiritual energy to support himself. In truth, it was actually easier to control the lava to move him. But the heat was the greater issue- at least at their current level. Tirto knew that Verusha had only pulled him in to see him sweat- sweat which immediately turned to steam. Meanwhile, she was far better at regulating the heat around her.
Verusha considered something briefly, before gingerly sticking out her tongue and touching the surface of the lava. She flapped her hand as if she had merely touched particularly hot soup. “I think more than the pressure or heat, we’d have another problem,” Verusha said.
“And that problem?” Tirto asked.
“Breathing. There’s no way I’m letting lava inside me. And all your special breath techniques revolve around extracting air from water. That doesn’t work if there isn’t any.”
“There are… pockets of water,” Tirto said, searching with his spiritual energy through the lava. However, he couldn’t reach very far before his energy decayed. “But I don’t see this being effective.” He slowly raised himself up, letting the lava slide off him as it pushed beneath him. Together, Verusha did the same as they walked to the shore, making certain to dislodge all of the remaining lava.
Though the two of them were almost casual about their dunk in lava, in truth even as peak Consolidated Soul Phase cultivators they wouldn’t last long in such oppressive circumstances. They might be able to walk along the surface all day, but half or fully submerged they likely had less than an hour- and that was with their full effort focused on survival.
But they hadn’t expected this to be the optimal method. It was simply the easiest to test, as it merely involved going a few steps beyond the sect grounds. They would calculate their other options once they took a short break.