The fewer communications that came to the Six Elements Crossroads and ended up on John’s desk, the better. He’d managed to achieve quite a good success rate so far, which meant when he did see anything he knew it was important or time sensitive or both.

This one came with the aura of comforting cracking flames. It was sealed with the symbol of Firepine Palace, evoking a number of positive memories. As it was still sealed, there was some chance it wasn’t important, but John still looked it over seriously.

“Greetings, John Miller. I regret not being able to congratulate you on the formation of your sect in person, but recent events have filled more and more of my time. You will recall that to the north of the Phoenix Forest are the Rolling Dunes, the particular spirituality of which lends itself to only a small population of cultivators. For us, it has served as a valuable buffer zone against northern regions, but in recent years there have been an increasing number of skirmishes with certain factions from the Muted Crags.

The threat has grown such that I must call upon the aid of allies, and I hope that you would consider yourself among them. We are calling upon the Six Elements Crossroads, the Golden Tomb Guardians, and our local allies to combat the increasing frequency of attacks.

I hope this letter finds you at a time you are able to provide aid to your recent allies.

Sincerely, Charlotte Cardoso of the Firepine Palace.”

Recent? He’d gone to train with the Firepine Palace more than a decade prior. They had participated in the campaign to expel the Molten Sea from Astrein as well. It wasn’t that they weren’t allies, but her words made it seem as if it had only been a short time. Then again… perhaps from her perspective it was quite a short time. It honestly didn’t feel like that long ago for John, with over seventy years of lived experience, and Charlotte should be quite a bit older. Past a hundred, perhaps a hundred and fifty or older depending on when she had made her advancements in cultivation.

She used his current name- his old name- though when they first interacted she had known him as a Tenebach. Cultivators often changed names, though rarely to something so plain as he had. John hadn’t particularly hidden the connection between his new and old selves- especially for those he invited to the founding of the Six Elements Crossroads. The use of John was simply respect for his choices in naming.

The contents of the letter bothered John. Something that Firepine Palace could not handle on its own, or with local allies? Charlotte herself was in the late Consolidated Soul Phase, perhaps even the peak now. That meant this was more than a casual border struggle. And remembering what had happened last time they downplayed threats from afar for too long… John was quite willing to take the matter seriously.

He would need to include the most experienced disciples. Raul was an option as well, because the alchemist might be able to push for the Soul Expansion Phase. Real world experience could be good for them all. Viriato was one of the few in the sect already in the Soul Expansion Phase, but he was best suited to managing things. John would leave him in Luson to keep things secure for whatever duration they had to manage.

When determining which disciples to bring, he had to consider various things. Who would they be fighting, and where? It could be earth cultivators from the Rolling Dunes, but Charlotte had mentioned the Muted Crags. John knew only enough about the area to recall that it was a darkness element region, though of quite a different type from the Darklands or the Soulrot Bogs.

Calling upon the Golden Tomb Guardians made sense, and John was a darkness cultivator along with… pretty much everything else now. He understood how to fight them. He could have also been chosen because he was not terribly far and was likely to respond, and it was most likely a combination of everything.

John didn’t spend long considering if he would go. Just who he would bring. Drawing away a significant portion of their current population meant rearranging many schedules. While the situation didn’t sound urgent, he also didn’t want to delay too much. He also wondered if he should pass along the message to anyone else. The Stone Conglomerate was just on the other side of Astrein, after all, but John supposed he should understand the situation better before calling upon other allies- though it wouldn’t hurt to inform them, at least.

-----

Ultimately, John was prepared to move out after another exchange of letters, two weeks later. It was possible to move cultivators more quickly than that, but managing supplies and other logistics for such a journey was better with prep time. Towns along the main roads in Astrein were growing larger with John’s push for trade, but so far it was only to the extent of the occasional inn popping up where there were large empty stretches of road. Lunson was still the only city over a thousand people besides Pearl Landing.

John had talked with Raul, who had ultimately decided the experience should be worthwhile. Simply remaining in his lab working with materials did allow him to practice his cultivation, but with his fire and earth elements visiting the Phoenix Forest would be a boon. His step into the Soul Expansion Phase would involve securing an air totem, so it wasn’t the perfect opportunity, but he could always go on a future excursion.

Aside from Raul, Ayhan, Lir, Fulton, and Taurai would be some of those going. Fire and earth cultivators for the terrain, darkness cultivators for their opponents. They would of course bring light element cultivators as well, and in the Six Elements Crossroads they could be properly trained to fight against darkness without risking mutual destruction. Viriato would be valuable for that, but he was staying behind. The next most talented in the field of light was Toma, and while his overall cultivation was unimpressive for his age he was actually newer to cultivation.

While John knew that a bunch of Foundation Phase cultivators wasn’t exactly an exciting addition, it still helped with one of the problems Firepine Palace was facing, which was fighting on multiple fronts. John intended to join up with some other Soul Expansion Phase cultivators from the Phoenix Forest to balance out their forces. Not that his own fighting ability was limited to the Soul Expansion Phase.

-----

All of the disciples were suitably impressed by the Phoenix Forest, a place that burned yet did not turn to ash. Only a small portion was actually aflame at any moment, but many of the disciples of the sect had been born and raised in Astrein, away from purer elements. Of course, the whole of the Phoenix Forest was less impressive than the secret valley, but even the disciples who had been there still found something to marvel at in the new terrain.

John supposed he had frequently missed out on admiring the beauty of the world, thinking of it more in practical aspects. The Phoenix Forest was a place of fire and earth, and he had mainly been there to train. He certainly learned much, especially about how fire could result in life rather than simply destruction. Seeing leaves that shook showers of sparks to the grown and recognizing it as pretty was something he hadn’t done often enough. Of course, he also couldn’t spend all his time amazed at the supernatural, or he would never get anywhere. This was just how the world was- but it was nice to be reminded that it wasn't all fighting and death.

Watching Ayhan and Lir walk along hand in hand, the former absorbing the earth element and letting it feed the latter’s fire was kind of adorable. Also, commendable. While they certainly wouldn’t benefit as much from cultivating in that manner since they had to be moving, it was still useful for them to remain active.

When they arrived at Firepine Palace, they were greeted at the southern entrance by someone John recognized. Lileas, specifically, who was now a late Soul Expansion Phase cultivator. She had participated in the same tournament as the triplets’ first.

“Sect head Miller of the Six Elements Crossroads,” she inclined her head. “Sect head Charlotte is eagerly awaiting your arrival.” The stone gates of the sect were opened- an expensive material to import, but they couldn’t exactly get away with enchanted wood.

There was the same constant ash as before, but while it made breathing slightly unpleasant, it did wonders for the growth of everything in the area. While John couldn’t tell any difference in the older firepines filling the large courtyards, he thought he remembered one or two that had barely been saplings and now stood proud and tall. Tall by the standards of mundane plants, at least, but still insignificant compared to the largest tree in the center of the sect.

His disciples were taken to their accommodations, though John didn’t yet know if they were to be based out of this location or if they would be going elsewhere.

The whole time they were walking, John felt Lileas trying to not seem like she was appraising his cultivation. But she was clearly too curious to fully restrain herself, and not quite able to pick out what she wished with active senses.

“You must be wondering how I have five totems,” John said. “Even though I feel lower rank than yourself.”

“Pardon me,” Lileas said. “I… didn’t mean to intrude.”

John decided to satisfy at least some of her curiosity. “It was either fortune or misfortune, depending upon how you look at it. I attempted to advance to the Ascending Soul Phase, and I wasn’t quite successful.”

“I see. So you attuned to a totem, but dropped to the previous Phase…?” Lileas questioned.

“Not at all,” John said. “I dropped my cultivation all the way down to the Spiritual Collection Phase and have been recovering over the last few years.”

“I’m going to be passed by another…?” she muttered, clearly not intending to be heard.

“Don’t worry about it,” John said. “Considering your current age, you are still ahead of Johannes Dalen. And he was the first in the Stone Conglomerate to reach the Consolidated Soul Phase. You have made clear progress over the last decade, and you shouldn’t forget that.”

“You… know me?”

“You fought against Ursel,” John said. That made her wince. “Oh, don’t be like that. Everyone loses to Ursel. There’s no point in comparing yourself to an anomaly.”

She seemed slightly comforted by that, but she didn’t say much else as they approached the sect head.

“It has been too long,” Charlotte said, the old woman standing beneath the shifting flames of a firepine. “I am pleased to see you again.”

“Indeed,” John said. “Perhaps I should have spent more time in your counsel. A slightly better understanding of fire and life might have been able to change the trajectory of my cultivation.”

Charlotte turned, making no attempt to hide her probing. For his own part, John didn’t bother to hide anything either. “I am uncertain if it would have been better. I don’t think we’re quite ready for Ascending Soul Phase cultivators among us.”

“Perhaps not, but we had better become ready. Quite a few people are at the threshold… you among them, if I am not mistaken.”

Charlotte shook her head. “Despite my cultivation, I don’t believe I shall ever do more than look at that threshold.”

“It is possible,” John said. “But others will not take long. Perhaps a single stimulus might be enough for each.”

“And for you?” Charlotte asked.

“I need more time. More than a few years, and more besides,” John said. “But I don’t believe you brought me here to talk about my cultivation, especially if you have given up on advancement. Tell me more about these conflicts.”