The history of the area and successful sects’ relationship to places of power would serve as a guide for how John managed the Six Elements Crossroads.

First were areas like the Kelp Spire Forest or pretty much the entirety of the Phoenix Forest- large areas with valuable resources that couldn’t feasibly be controlled by a single sect. Groups would tend to carve out their own sections of such a place, except for ones that were inhospitable.

Astrein didn’t quite have anything like those. There were bison, certainly, and other forms of plants and animals and the like that were valuable enough to those who could use multiple elements. Even so, there weren’t others clamoring to take anything. Even the bison were only ever sold to those curious to try something different, and the Six Elements Crossroads offered cheap enough prices that nobody bothered to look for further herds or debate their claim over the ones near Lunson.

Wide scale areas might have focused concentrations of specific elements, but there were even more dense areas, often sealed away. Things like the Crystal Caverns and the Prismatic Chambers. These were more easily defensible if they had limited entrances, and more highly coveted because of that. A sect or clan could dominate one and grow strong from its resources over time… but attempts to monopolize them often went awry.

That was why the Order of the Amber Heart opened up the Crystal Caverns to others, and the same was the case with the Supreme Slate Sect and the Prismatic Chambers. That was the very same thing John wanted to do with the hidden valley- because while it was a font of resources for the burgeoning sect, it could also become a liability if it was known.

Sects in surrounding countries might covet the resources there, even if they could at most use one-third of them. While John had plenty of allies that would come to his aid if there was an open assault, it wouldn’t prevent people trying more secretive methods of stealing what they had. But if there were other avenues available with less risk, people would likely be less foolish about things. And if the resources were potentially available to the wider world, they would also be inclined to stop others from attempting to steal them.

The hidden valley was only so big, however. Not only did that mean it couldn’t accommodate too many people, but also that poor management could easily cause permanent depletion of resources. If people were allowed to go around taking anything they pleased and draining the spiritual energy dry, it would be gone within a few weeks. If that was going to happen, then it would be best for the Six Elements Crossroads to just do it now- but John was more interested in the long term.

They did happen to have big arenas that were just sitting there unused most of the time. In addition to the once a decade tournament that was mainly for bragging rights, they could have more frequent ones specifically to give opportunities to those of lower cultivation. Sects couldn’t complain about free resources for their disciples. John had also thought about increasing the frequency of the larger tournament, but that was more of an eventual idea than something he planned to implement immediately. He didn’t want to shake things up too much in the next few years.

Before they could manage any of that, however, they had to actually be in control of the hidden valley. That meant more than just being the only people who knew about it, but having a more permanent establishment that could watch over it… and to some degree, partake in the bounty within. Thus, it would be a combination of a duty and reward for certain disciples.

John took a deep breath, reveling in the freshness of the air and the mixed spiritual energy. The half-covered valley was a wonderful boon, but John couldn’t help but wonder if there wasn’t something more.

Without being greedy, he thought of the Prismatic Chambers. From what he could tell, they generally fit underneath Astrein, and he was surprised there weren’t any other entrances that had been discovered. Or perhaps they could create one, though that would be somewhat risky. Simply discovering other entrances would be something the Supreme Slate Sect would have to accept, but they might not be so willing if the Six Elements Crossroads formed one themselves.

Then again, it could require tunneling through a vast amount of dirt and stone to reach them, and the sect couldn’t afford that sort of expenditure. Perhaps later when they were better established and could handle the responsibility of something like that it could be considered. Though John also had to consider what another entrance might do to the balance of elements. If he opened up a hole in the Prismatic Chambers and they destabilized, everyone would lose out.

The Six Elements Crossroads was no longer made up of a majority of street urchins- not because there were any less of them, but because more people of all sorts were joining. They weren’t a large sect yet by any means, with most of their few hundred disciples being in the Spiritual Collection Phase with less than a third in the Foundation Phase, but they were a new sect. More experienced disciples weren’t really interested in signing up with them, even if they would have taken them. There were often good reasons people would be expelled from other sects, after all, so they couldn’t carelessly accept just anyone.

-----

John looked down on the valley from a watchtower they had constructed in the center. Instead of watching for outside threats, this one was to monitor the condition of disciples within the valley- and eventually their future guests. They didn’t want anyone to die… but they also didn’t want people carelessly messing up their resources. The valley was not terribly large, so with the benefit of height and a bit of spiritual energy they could look out for all sorts of trouble.

For John, it was also a good place to cultivate, smack dab in the middle of all of the spiritual energy. That would be true for others eventually, but for the moment the disciples only had two elements maximum.

His vision focused on Ayhan, the first of the urchins to catch his attention. He was a devoted young lad, and John was glad that Lir had returned his affections. She didn’t have to, despite him choosing his elements for her sake. Between the two of them, they had the four core elements and their bond was strong enough that they were able to cultivate together. As a pair if they were limited to a single location they would perform best in the mixed center of the valley, but they were quite capable of moving around to focus on whatever element suited them the most at the time.

John could see that they were in the earthen section, with Lir fending off any dangerous spirits with her fire while Ayhan worked to reach the last step of his next rank in the mid Foundation Phase.

The other three were around as well, with Barakat barely maintaining his cultivation lead over the others. He had a head start before, but the others shared similar levels of talent and motivation, or surpassed him in one of the areas. Stithulf and Fulton were also among the leading ranks of the disciples, given their seniority.

Soon John hoped for some of the disciples to step into the late Foundation Phase, because he wanted to see how they fared with a third element if they chose to continue that path. The first phase of a cycle was basically like all others, with some time devoted to attuning to another element. The second phase, however, was generally weaker- or at least somewhat unbalanced. The third phase, the Soul Expansion Phase, was either the point where they would complete an allied cycle of elements- not a poor option- or step further along the path to be one short of a four elements cycle.

The third element in such a case would either dominate or support the second, which really made it the most tenuous point as it required fortifying elements in sequence instead of one of a pair supporting the other. The Soul Expansion Phase was already difficult enough for many to surpass… and John hoped that his experience and teachings could help his disciples move past some of the problems. He hadn’t been at too much of a disadvantage, but that was in part because he relied on allies to work with him and the luxury of time to experiment.

John next settled his perception on Taurai, a young woman from the Soulrot Bogs. He didn’t know exactly the circumstances that brought her to the Six Elements Crossroads, but he could imagine any excuse to leave that horrid place would be sufficient. He didn’t even know how non-cultivators would survive there long enough to learn anything. When she’d arrived she was still in the Spiritual Collection Phase. She had felt particularly weak, but it wasn’t as if the Six Elements Crossroads would only accept those who were already strong. What was the point of a sect if they couldn’t train people?

Character and loyalty were the important things, and taking in someone when they had no other options could enhance the latter. Nowadays, Taurai was one of the more promising prospects focusing on the elements of water and darkness that were native to her homeland, such as it was. She was been debating between finishing an allied cycle by including earth or simply focusing on the two elements she already had. Both were options the Six Elements Crossroads would support. They’d accept any path, really, though they might advise their disciples against ones that seemed unsuited for them in particular.

One of the few cultivation paths John truly believed was wrong would be any combination of the three core elements with no intention to complete the cycle. Having two totems of each element in the astronomically unlikely scenario they reached the Exalted Soul Phase would hardly be viable- a single element or most combinations of two would be more practical.

Having seen Viriato’s success with combining light and darkness as his first two elements, John couldn't even say that was incorrect. Just excessively difficult and risky. He would advocate against pairs with light or darkness and one of the opposite core elements, however. Darkness with air or fire, light with water or earth. Perhaps there might be routes where such combinations were viable as the endpoints, but he knew they would be nearly as difficult as strictly combining light and darkness with less payoff.

In the near future, John would be having others take his position in the center of the valley, serving as guardians. But for the moment, the disciples were too vulnerable. He trusted them to watch the outside, but those positions were mainly for practice at the moment. Disciples would rotate between training and guarding with everyone taking an equal number of shifts during their time in the valley. Perhaps later there might be more permanent guard positions, but the current setup would do for the moment.

-----

As it turned out, the local factions were quite happy for John to organize more tournaments in Lunson. After all, many of the inns basically lay empty year round, and while some of the owners simply chose to live in the city during the brief time of the tournament and get all their profits then, they could simply hire management for other times- or stay closed if they thought it wasn’t going to be profitable enough.

John intended to make the latter option unattractive, however. He wanted Lunson to act like a proper city instead of a ghost town people occupied for a few months each decade. It wasn’t quite that bad, but the many empty buildings were bad for the city. They were either a simple waste of space or a draw for criminals who would want to pick the buildings apart for easy money.

As the sect most in charge of keeping the city safe, that meant either ignoring the inactive buildings and having to deal with angry owners who would blame him for their buildings being broken into or spending unavailable resources protecting everything. Though he supposed there was also another option- simply charge taxes on the buildings. It wouldn’t go over well, of course, but it was still more polite than seizing the land to stop it from wasting space.

Viriato was working with John on a nuanced response to the situation. Ultimately, the plan was to be patient and only change policies after the next major tournament, which was still quite a way off. At least the patrols would give the disciples some sense of responsibility, and more importantly remind the city who was in control.