All out war was never the plan. The best they could expect from such a plan would be more casualties on their part and a bitter rivalry with any allies of the Stormy Sea Sect. The limits of the sect weren’t exactly clear, but even if they could wipe them out it wouldn’t necessarily achieve the intended results.
Four days passed quickly, though frequent use of his abilities for flight made John more conscious of his growth in that area. Obviously the biggest leap had come when he visited the Sky Islands, but he didn’t tend to put so much of his energy into flight during his normal training. Of course, simply hovering in the air was not the only sort of flight he should concern himself with, but slightly increasing his base efficiency was valuable. If he was a little stronger, he might find flight a valuable form of sustained movement in combat, instead of in short bursts. He was limited both by his proficiency in a single element and how much spiritual energy he had of each type.
Watching the path of fleets, John found that the activity in the region was certainly increasing, but he didn’t see a worrying number of ships heading for the ‘neutral’ destination that had been chosen. That said, the enemy wasn’t being casual either, so he needed to bring an equivalently sized force.
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John landed on the island flanked by Consolidated Soul Phase cultivators from the borders of the air regions. Any of his own children would be a bit too powerful, and he didn’t want to give away the limits of their strength just yet. If the Stormy Sea Sect chose to press for battle, he wanted them to be faced with unexpected strength.
As the other ships approached, John felt her. An Ascending Soul Phase cultivator at the thirty-ninth rank. The information they’d gained from those they captured wasn’t so precise. Either they didn’t know or were quite loyal… though many of them had said that their sect head- Duha- could defeat John they hadn’t necessarily believed it. As it was, he thought it unlikely- but that didn’t mean he would be careless with an opponent just a single rank below him. Even if it was the difference between early and mid phase, some individuals were exceptional. It at least showed where they got the guts to act alongside Morana.
Duha brought with her two late Consolidated Soul Phase cultivators to more or less match John’s side. John didn’t sense any other Ascending Soul Phase cultivators among them, though apparently there were a few elders that people had been unsure about.
“Your sect assaulted our allied shores,” John began. Duha wore a stern expression, but she did not reveal too much of her emotions. “We are here to seek repayment for the damages you caused.”
Duha revealed little as they stood in the rubble of a former outpost of her sect. “A bold statement,” she finally said. “But you called us here today for a different reason, did you not? You have some of our disciples.”
“We do,” John agreed. “But an appropriate price must be paid for their return.”
Negotiating the end of things had never really been his intention. He doubted that the Stormy Sea Sect would give up so easily. The conflict had just begun, and no doubt they felt they hadn’t properly been able to display their strength. However, the fact that they were willing to meet was a good start.
Duha also seemed to negotiate in good faith, though John was still wary of what they might do when it came time for the actual exchange. He would prefer if it actually went through successfully, so that diplomatic efforts were feasible in the future. Thus, he was not ruthless in what he asked for. A reasonable price for disciples of a certain caliber. Perhaps he should have captured that commander too… but no, she had made her own decision. As someone in charge, the consequences would likely be too much to endure. Hopefully it was more than just her ego.
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Activity among the Stormy Sea Sect continued to escalate. They were exploring wider areas, with some of their scouts potentially getting close enough to spot the recently dubbed Storm Rock Isle. However, the island itself was currently being concealed by darkness and water cultivators. If the ships were not careful, they would instead feel only more of the sea. None approached the island, so at the current moment it appeared their position had not been discovered. Of course, if they expected the isle there they would eventually notice the discrepancy.
Bringing ships full of hostages required additional forces to keep everything secure, but less than a week later two large fleets were arrayed on either side of one of the former outposts. Duha was a woman of few words. The exchange began with both parties watching over the middle.
One small chest of cultivation resources in exchange for a handful of disciples. Once the contents were verified, it was passed back to John’s fleet, and another exchange occurred. If anything was going to happen, John expected it to be immediately when the exchange ended and the disciples were safe. They were being freed of their suppressive restraints a few at a time, but none of them were stupid enough to fight back while they were being handed over.
They were released in large part because the restraints were expensive. They had brought a significant number, but they couldn’t really maintain much larger groups of captives. Though they didn’t expect to run into that issue in the future.
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John was ready for something to go wrong, but upon receipt of the final disciples, Duha gave a formal nod. Not really one of respect, but at least an acknowledgement of completion. “When next we meet, you shall understand that the Stormy Sea Sect is not so easily cowed.”
“This is not settled from our end, either,” John declared. “You know the current price.”
Unlike with the exchange of disciples, the conflict settlement offer was rather high. After all, if they merely asked for an equivalent amount for their losses, they would appear weak. It would hardly be retribution of any sort if the damage caused was repaid in exactly equal measure.
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John watched as two fleets clashed. He watched for two reasons, though perhaps he could have been there. First was that he was still responsible for watching over the whole region with his flight. Second was that he couldn’t guarantee he would have been with the fleets that got into clashes. They had some points of interest they wished to assault, but their fleets couldn’t always reach the enemy shores without running into battle now.
It was unfortunate that their casualties would likely be higher, but the end goal was that the total amount on the continent’s side would be lesser, by giving the Stormy Sea Sect a chance to prepare themselves so they could feel properly defeated. It was a risk that would never be entirely clear as to its success, but so far it had been relatively successful.
Even if John wasn’t with a particular fleet, since he was holding his position on Storm Rock Isle it freed up Ursel, Tirto, and Verusha. The latter two operated as a pair, as they were far stronger in that manner, while Ursel was treated more like a weapon. If they could get her to enemy fortifications, she could crumble them. And their cultivators, but it was a larger blow to their morale to have their buildings toppled. Any local cultivator could just kill people.
Flight was far too useful to neglect. John would be emphasizing the ability in the Six Elements Crossroads, though most likely only Consolidated Soul Phase cultivators could pull it off properly. Fortunately, they were beginning to have more people with a proper foundation. The earliest disciples were just on the threshold of a cycle of core elements, and John wouldn’t even be surprised if a few crossed over it while he was gone. He had already given his personal guidance as much as he felt appropriate.
On the horizon- his horizon, so well over a hundred kilometers out- John spotted fleets gathering to the south and east. That was where the Stormy Sea Sect’s presence was stronger. Meanwhile, there had been some successes on the western end of the island chain. John watched closely, trying to determine the enemy’s intention. If they wanted one large naval battle, he actually wanted to avoid that- simply because going along with their intentions without a good reason to do so would be to the continent’s disadvantage.
He would watch for a bit longer… though he also needed to rest. After all, he would likely be participating in battles himself soon enough.
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Ursel didn’t love fighting people at sea. She liked fighting people and water didn’t bother her, but it wasn’t her favorite thing to do. If possible she would have preferred to fight giant monsters. Or a cultivator like Abritt… though battles of that sort could get old very quickly. Humans were tricky, so they could be a decent challenge… but there was nothing quite like hitting something gigantic as hard as she could.
She hadn’t considered attacking the ground itself. Obviously she’d broken walls and stuff, but toppling island cliffs? Hadn’t been on the list. Mostly because they wanted all of their own cliffs to remain in place, and also because there weren’t any wars happening in the Shimmering Islands. Conflict on the continent was relatively mild, but there were plenty of beasts to battle if one knew where to look. And Ursel did. She just had to go wherever people said not to.
But smacking islands was fun too. Ursel walked along the bottom of the sea. It was difficult to swim, though not impossible. More importantly, however, she had access to earth on the bottom. She didn’t care if her enemy was also in their natural environment as long as she herself was comfortable.
The Stormy Sea Sect were only moderately good divers. Fine for water cultivators, but they wouldn’t get to a leviathan’s preferred depth. Then again, why should they get good at that? Everything around them was a few hundred meters at most. This particular island stuck up from its rocky foundation and Ursel reached its base with a couple dozen meters of water above her head, but that was the limit.
Obviously they knew people were coming. They probably even knew where she was. They just didn’t expect it to be a problem yet. After all, what was she going to do from all the way down here?
Ursel was glad for all the time spent training with her brother. Water resistance was a pain when you were trying to take a big swing. But if you knew what you were doing you could pretty much ignore that.
The stone in front of her trembled as she struck it. She could have taken a big chunk out of it, but she wasn’t going for anything so mundane. Immediately, she swung again and again. Each attack resonated with the one before it.
And then there were hundreds of people jumping into the sea after her, once they realized she wasn’t going to try to climb up their walls. But Ursel didn’t have to deal with nearly that many. There were so many angry lightning cultivators from the Glass Hills in the fleets above, and many others capable of causing great trouble for the enemy cultivators.
The first cultivator to reach her shot downward like water tension didn’t affect him at all, falling like a rock- with a trident in hand. Water element wreathed around him, Ursel pulled back her stone club and waited. The impact drove her half a meter into the sand, but the cultivator didn’t pierce her armor. In fact, the sand absorbed everything quite nicely for Ursel.
Her club swung forward, crashing the cultivator into the cliff. It wasn’t as good as hitting directly, but at least it served multiple purposes. The guy had absorbed much of the first impact, but when Ursel swung again to directly crush him… he darted off towards the other dozen or so who had made it close. That wasn’t too much to deal with. Ursel wasn’t an Ascending Soul Phase cultivator for nothing. But maybe she could just drop the cliffs on them? Her allies up above should know better than to get in the way of potential falling debris.