Rather than waiting for an expected invitation, John reached out to Tirto and the Brandle clan to indicate he would be visiting soon. He would have taken the chance to visit Ursel as well, if she had a predictable location- but aside from occasionally returning to the Order of the Amber Heart, there was often little chance of finding her in any specific place.

The stormy seas of the Shivering Islands once more reminded John of Matayal. Everything did, and while sometimes he wished that was not the case… it was also better than forgetting her. That was a thought more terrifying than his own death, that he would someday forget his love. And while he had no reason to believe it might happen, such thoughts still troubled him. Without the love for his wife and children, he felt he might fully slip into the ruthlessness of the world. He was already a step closer than before.

-----

John himself was already quite used to travel through the Shimmering Islands. Most ships were nowhere near as extreme with their passage as the Wavecutter, and that ship simply did not have the room for the disciples of the Six Elements Crossroads, even if there had been a break in the captain’s schedule.

Thus, they were traveling on more conservative ships that skirted the edges of the storms instead of driving straight through. Even then, powerful waves and lightning were a constant companion on their journey. John watched over his disciples, letting them take risks… under his supervision, though they didn’t fully understand the difference he made.

A few were rather foolish with their positioning, and others careless with lightning- but only those who had not been part of the trip to the Blustering Peaks. Those who were toppled overboard or almost fried received a proper lecture on knowing their limits, but John was the one who rescued them from their foolishness.

As for the lightning, he took a small portion into himself, continuing his long term project of changing his body. He could convince himself that some of his movements felt smoother now, but there was nothing concrete yet. Eventually, he was going to have to move onto his spinal cord and brain, if he truly wished to empower his reflexes and reaction time. And he would, once he had a reasonable certainty he wouldn’t screw things up.

-----

When John arrived, Verusha was visibly pregnant. It made sense, of course. If Melanthina and Nik had known for any amount of time before he visited them, with travel times and the like it wasn’t surprising. If timing had been different John might have heard first, but he wasn’t always easy to lock down despite having a sect he had to maintain.

“Greetings, father,” Tirto said. “When you contacted us we were about to address you about… well, I suppose it’s pretty obvious now. Verusha is pregnant.” Verusha’s hair turned pink as she awkwardly covered her stomach. It was only a small bump just yet, but unmistakable for anything else.

“Congratulations,” John said. “The child is healthy, I imagine?”

“We believe so,” Verusha said. “Though too young to be active. And otherwise within… normal expectations.”

“She means not infused with spiritual energy,” Tirto explained.

“Good,” John said. “It’s a pain in the ass to raise kids like that,” he grinned.

Verusha sighed, “I had somewhat hoped for it, however. I wanted his child to be… special.”

“Of course the child will be special,” John said. “Being infused with spiritual energy before birth is something else entirely. The triplets were an extreme rarity. If it was something related to parentage, then you and your sister should have ended up just the same.” That didn’t sound quite right, so John rapidly continued. “Of course, the two of you are still quite special. You simply weren’t infused with spiritual energy in the womb. Which again, might have just been trouble.”

Tirto nodded. “Given the mother, our child will certainly be something great. Hopefully, a fine clan head. Though…”

“You’re not intending to retire young,” John nodded. “No need to push for them to take over. You could easily maintain your position for another half century.” Probably more, given that Tirto would reach the Consolidated Soul Phase soon enough. Luctus, Netanel, and Kusuma had been active until a similar age, but they hadn’t reached such a cultivation level while young.

Had it not been for Matayal’s unfortunate death, Tirto might not even be clan head yet. Instead he had taken over for more than half a decade. The same with Melanthina. Though John had been intending to pass the position onto her relatively soon, he certainly hadn’t intended it to happen the way it did.

-----

Every location in the Brandle clan reminded John of Matayal even more than the rest of the places he visited. The only exception was his bedroom, since he was set up in guest quarters. The best of the guest quarters, of course, but he no longer resided in the master suite.

He wanted to hide from the memories, even though he’d had several chances to experience them, but he pushed through and spent most of his time outside his rooms. Out in the garden, sitting among the flowers. Resting besides their pools and upon the beaches. With the Pualani’s natural protection from the worst of the storms, the island was a tropical paradise. It still rained, of course, but the rain still had some warmth to it most of the time.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

John had already come to terms with how his connections to people affected his restoration to higher levels of cultivation, and there was no doubt in his mind that Matayal was his important connection to his fourth totem. It was water, after all, and they’d advanced to the Consolidated Soul Phase together.

He wasn’t certain if there was some additional realization he would have to make. And it wouldn’t hurt to continue seeking regardless. He had time until his cultivation properly reached the correct rank to advance, and even if he didn’t need to gain any more insights into that prior connection, it could always be useful.

Along with his continued growth in the other elements, John did his best to focus on light as much as he could. He found it significantly more difficult than working with fire when he only had his second totem, attuned to earth. He had a certain balance of elements that would be difficult to shift to reach the last step. But reaching the Exalted Soul Phase was a far off goal. He first had to actually reach the Ascending Soul Phase, and there was no guarantee that would happen. He might even get stuck somewhere in the mid Consolidated Soul Phase. He couldn't say for certain.

-----

While he was present at the Brandle clan, John made certain to find opportunities to guide Tirto and Verusha in their cultivation. He had decades of experience with dual cultivation, and higher level insights into the interplay of fire and water. Though they were going easy on their cultivation because of the baby, it was still worthwhile to learn.

Meanwhile, John and the disciples of the Six Elements Crossroads took advantage of the area to train their water and air elements- or train themselves against those elements. He was going to have to arrange a trip to visit the Golden Tomb Guardians and perhaps the Green Sands as well, to cover all the elements. The trip to the Tenebach clan had taken them to the Stone Conglomerate, so that covered earth and darkness.

But of course, only training against one style was incomplete. Eventually, he wanted his disciples to wander as far as the Prism Underfields or to the Glass Hills. He was searching for those who could lead such excursions aside from himself, either from among the young disciples or older individuals who were joining. The Six Elements Crossroads was attracting a good number of those who had been independent cultivators, and John was glad to have them- as long as he could be reasonably certain they would remain loyal. That was the biggest thing that limited their recruitment rates, rather than lacking people actually wanting to join.

-----

Years continued to pass, and the time of the tournament in Lunson approached at what felt like an ever increasing rate. But the flow of time remained the same. It was simply the pressure of needing to succeed.

This would be the first large event the Six Elements Crossroads was involved in since their foundation. Taking over control of the tournament meant it had to be just as good as before- no, it had to be better. He was quite fortunate to have Viriato to help plan the prizes, but that wasn’t enough. They needed it to be bigger than any time before. Prizes would attract some, but people still needed to be reached out to. Sects and clans contacted, or sometimes visited in person.

Then there were problems of infrastructure. In truth, most of Lunson had been barely occupied when John moved in and laid the groundwork for the sect. Much of the land was owned by outsiders, though some of the claims were quite tentative. Rather than claim it for the city or the sect, John instead formalized the majority of the claims. But there wouldn’t be enough space for all of the people anticipated to visit. Nor would there be sufficient food, not without preparations.

The population of the city was actually growing steadily with the development of the Six Elements Crossroads, but it wasn’t fast enough. Thus, they needed to build additional places for people to stay, and arrange for food storage and delivery ahead of time. Those who wished to would still be able to book inns with specific training rooms, but many more buildings being constructed on one side of the sect, which was still just outside of the expanding border of the city.

Stone imported from the Stone Conglomerate made up some of the buildings, while much of the wood was sourced from the Phoenix Forest. John didn’t want the city to burn down, either intentionally or accidentally. And while cheap construction would certainly strain the budget less, it might not last until the next round of tournaments and ultimately be more expensive.

Ultimately he hoped that the sect would be able to recover their expenses, and unless something was terribly wrong they should get at least a solid portion back. Viriato’s projections were from minor losses to significant profits, but nothing was certain. And some of Viriato’s projections relied on later trade deals rather than immediate cash inflow.

Fortunately, the finances of the Six Elements Crossroads were well managed, and the hidden valley was profitable enough to bolster that. During the last few years John allowed somewhat more harvesting than he was otherwise comfortable with, while making sure that the special location indeed stayed balanced and vibrant.

Additional trips risked revealing the location, but ultimately John didn’t expect it to stay secret forever. And if the tournament went well, the prestige of the Six Elements Crossroads would help keep it safe. And the intention was to expand the reach of the sect beyond just the main city. They were sticking to a measured pace, as many sects could collapse from overreaching. Which was why the tournament had to go well.

At least he didn’t have to worry about prominent guests. He was friends with enough of those, other members of the alliance. The Golden Tomb Guardians had an Ascending Soul Phase guardian beast, and the Tenebach clan might not be far behind in that regard. Meanwhile, the Milanovic clan had two actual Ascending Soul Phase cultivators. Many people would attend just to be able to glimpse Lucanus and Yustina.

John just wished he could have stepped back into the Consolidated Soul Phase properly before the tournament came about, but the timing just didn’t work out. With his business he lost some time to cultivate, and his mind wasn’t as clear. He wasn’t in a good state to attempt something so important. Thus, he would wait. After the tournament would be a prime opportunity- and he would actually have free time to travel where he needed to.

Well, as close to free time as a sect head could ever have.