There was a great relief to be felt when one managed to pass a long time barrier. Even if the actual duration of time spent recovering his cultivation through Spiritual Collection Phase wasn’t more than a year, a good majority of that time he had just been sitting at the peak. It was the uncertainty that had been the problem, not knowing if he could recover his cultivation or if he was effectively crippled forever. He was fortunate enough to find that the block had been more of a mental one than a matter of his spiritual limits. There was no guarantee of further stages being possible, but he was still filled with confidence. And simply being able to progress was a delight.

Even if the work was slightly subpar, the essence of hoary alyssum refined by Raul was just potent enough in terms of spiritual energy to be a good match for John at his current level. It felt like every other day he was advancing in rank- though that wasn’t actually true. It took about a month for him to progress from the tenth rank to the thirteenth, which placed him properly in the mid Foundation Phase once more. It was a somewhat uninspiring level, but his totems made a significant difference. Even compared to a genius cultivator, they would most likely have a pair of third tier totems, or one of them might be a fourth tier totem. John’s totems were all fifth tier, which put him somewhere around half again as strong as he might have been. And in practice, he could call on over double the power that he’d been able to when he first properly experienced the Foundation Phase.

All of this was before considering the benefits he was reaping from his decades of experience and having a nearly complete cycle of elements. His strengths were many and his weaknesses few, so if he pitied himself for his current state he would seem rather out of touch.

Aside from cultivating, he spent most of his time looking for others in Lunson that he felt had potential. Filimena wasn’t anything amazing- but John wasn’t quite sure that she’d picked the hoary alyssum just because they looked pretty. Often, there was something guiding cultivators that was subconscious. But even if she turned out to be of ordinary talent, he still liked the woman. And he’d rather involve decent people in his plans than… well, people like Alchemist Oden.

It was one thing to think certain tasks were beneath you. In a cultivation world, it was quite possible for that to be true in practice. It was another thing to be rude to potential customers. And to destroy their ingredients. Oden could have been the greatest genius alchemist the world had ever known, but joining up with him would only bring John consternation and trouble in the future. And he likely wasn’t all that he was puffed up to be, given how he was unable to discern the mixed spiritual energy in the flowers. Specialization wasn’t always a negative, but one had to know their limitations.

John had gotten a second batch of extract from Raul, and found it was slightly better refined. But ultimately, two attempts didn’t tell John anything. He could project almost any graph from so little information. Raul might have learned, or gotten unlucky with his refinement the first time, or lucky the second. Though when John caught a glance at his equipment… he was rather surprised he had any success at all. Cracked vials and a grimy furnace could be the result of poor care… or poor resources.

John hadn’t been lucky enough to stumble upon anything else like the Hoary Alyssum, but gatherers with a greater cultivation and thus able to roam further would likely not be spending much time in Astrein. But he’d asked Raul to keep his eye out for any multi-elemental ingredients, just in case.

“Find anything good?” John asked, as he entered the shop once more.

Raul shook his head. “Not yet. But the better suppliers don’t really talk to me, so that doesn’t really mean much.”

“A shame,” John said. “But that’s how things are, sometimes.” With no particular business, John planned to leave. But Raul called out after him.

“Sir. If you would… I’ve been meaning to ask…”

“About what?” John turned back to him.

“Your cultivation. I know it’s not polite to pry but I’m having a hard time telling… what element you cultivate. Among other things.”

“I think that’s fairly easy to answer,” John said. “Didn’t you pick it out when we first met? Everything but light,” John declared. “But I assume you are confused about my cultivation rank as well. And that… shall stay a mystery.”

“Of course, sir,” Raul inclined his head. “But I was hoping you might have… a cultivation method you could share? I don’t mean your personal method, of course. Such a thing… would be far beyond one such as myself. But a simple lower tier method of cultivating multiple elements… or perhaps a compendium of lower tier totems?”

Internally, John sighed. Not because he was disappointed in Raul, but rather the state of things in Astrein. He was aware he had been significantly advantaged by his connection to a clan, but compilations of totems were hardly rare. The Tenebach clan had a good collection of such things even as they were focused on darkness.

“What is your plan?” John asked. “Do you wish to support your flames with an earth element totem?”

Raul nodded. “Yes. Though that would be just the first step. Ultimately I would want to manage a cycle of elements to improve my refinement abilities. Though I don’t know if I could manage the core elements. It seems a bit ambitious to reach for the Consolidated Soul Phase, don’t you think? Perhaps I should find a good air totem, and if I ever make it to the Soul Expansion Phase I can finish things off with a light totem and a minor cycle.”

“You could certainly do that,” John said. “And I’m not going to be so careless as to say that you should reach for the stars. But I will say… cultivating that way will at best result in specialization, and at worst with mediocrity. And I imagine it would dull your current senses which were able to pick out mixed elements quite easily. It closes down a path.”

“I suppose so,” Raul nodded. “But for any of this to matter, I’d have to reach the Foundation Phase anyway…”

“That shouldn’t be too difficult,” John said. “You are young, and already in the late Spiritual Collection Phase. And I do believe you have sufficient time…” John looked around, noting the continued lack of other customers. “Personally, I would recommend striving for an earth totem. Something like Charcoal. It feels like this,” John said, using his earth element to emulate the totem. “But I will admit to being quite biased towards a grander cycle of elements.”

Raul sighed. “I must confess that I would wish to make the attempt. But I don’t have the guidance of a master, or manuals for techniques or cultivation methods…” he shook his head.

“You believe you could manage it if you had those?”

“I do,” Raul said firmly.

“Then I’ll hold you to that,” John said. “I didn’t bring many manuals with me, so you’ll have to be patient as I extract my own insights.”

“... huh?” Raul tilted his head, not quite able to understand what was happening.

“I’ll take you on as a disciple,” John said more clearly. “You just have to promise to complete a cycle of core elements, at least.”

“I- yes, of course!” Raul said. “I accept. I will. You can count on me. Uh… I’ll do my best.”

John smiled. “We’ll start tomorrow morning.”

“But the shop… isn’t going to have any customers anyway,” Raul sighed. “Of course, Master… Miller?”

The ‘mister Miller was my father’ joke didn’t really exist in this world. “John is fine,” he said.

“Of course, Master John,” Raul bowed. “I look forward to whatever training you wish to provide.”

-----

Raul furrowed his brow, sweat beading down his forehead. John watched as he slowly extracted strands of earth element from the surroundings. Then, as he began to circulate it, it mingled with his earth element and… ignited. It seemed like a fairly efficient way to convert the energy but…

“I doubt I have to tell you this,” John said. “But you shouldn’t ignite it. The purpose is to control it as earth element. It doesn’t have to be much, either. The fact that you can control it will be most important for attuning to your totem. It will be extremely difficult otherwise. Now then, on that topic, your next task is to dive into the sea of spiritual totems and spend as long there as you can. Whichever is the deepest layer you can manage, specifically.”

Refining energy and descending to the sea of spiritual totems were both mentally draining… but in different ways. A time of focused training would be good for Raul. And though he lasted only a few minutes in the sea of spiritual totems, it allowed the spiritual energy in the room to return to its natural state. Which would actually be more difficult for him to extract earth element from, as it was mixed back in with everything else. John had considered renting a room that extracted the earth element, but for Raul in particular he would need to be practiced with separating the elements anyway.

The biggest problem John found was that Raul only had one technique, and that involved burning things. On the other hand, he’d been working from a few scraps of paper that barely constituted a fire element method, so John was actually impressed he’d managed to make it as far as he had. But he had some bad habits to unlearn. That was why the extract was a bit off as well- he didn’t separate the light element, but instead scoured it away. A negligible difference if he had perfect control, but obviously that wasn’t the case yet.

Raul collapsed at the end of the day. As he’d done several times throughout the day, in fact. But to John, that was just a sign that he’d put in proper effort.

“I… am never going to be able to do it… am I?” Raul said.

“And why do you think that?”

“I’m not a genius. And things are supposed to come easily. Not with such a struggle.”

“Preposterous,” John cut him off. “If that was the case, there would only be non-cultivators and Exalted Soul Phase cultivators and nothing in between. Talent and effort are intertwined. I’m not going to lie and say your natural self has no bearing on your success, but nobody grows strong without work. Even those who make it look effortless are just faking for the sake of their public image.”

“Really?” Raul asked.

“Trust me, I’ve met enough of those types. The real test is whether or not people keep working day after day. That said… I know you do have some orders to fulfill. But four days of cultivation and three manning your shop should be sufficient for a week. And we will continue that pace until I am satisfied with your results. Once you are comfortable with earth control, we will focus on improving your cultivation rank. I want you at the peak of the Spiritual Collection Phase within the next few months.” One month would be better… but John couldn’t really say that was appropriate unless he spent more resources on Raul. And he would, but he wanted to see him working hard first.

“Yes, sir!” Raul saluted. “I mean, Master John.”

-----

Unlike Raul, Filimena was old. The fact that she was still in the Spiritual Collection Phase wasn’t a symptom of insufficient duration of training. So John didn’t have great hopes for her future. But he still liked her, and if she was able to advance to the Foundation Phase she could make a better living, if nothing else. The question was what was stopping her.

The answer was surprisingly simple.

“I don’t really have time for training, sir,” Filimena explained. “Most of the time… well, I’m out collecting. Keeping up with rent isn’t that easy, even in a place like this. I don’t cover much ground, and most of the things I sell are low value. I don’t really have any extra money, most months. Except this last one, thanks to your generosity.”

“I will remind you that I was not truly generous,” John said. “I simply paid the value I saw in your goods. But since you have a little more now… I’m certain you could take a few days off.”

“Perhaps. But I wouldn’t want to bet on your continued business at the risk of my limited savings. Begging your pardon, sir, but you could leave at any time.”

“You’re right,” John said. “Though I do intend to remain here for a while. And if you find the motivation… I don’t mind providing some insights into reaching the Foundation Phase.” He had memories of doing it somewhere around two and a half times, now. Depending on how his initial failed attempt and his recent reclamation counted, maybe two times total. “I have quite a bit of knowledge about the water element in particular.”

“How kind of you to offer,” Filimena said in a way that was polite but clearly didn’t sound like she expected him to follow through. So he would just have to spend more time convincing her.