Another handful of years had passed, and it was about halfway to the next once a decade tournament. The first one had been the most important for the Six Elements Crossroads to get right, as it had been to legitimize their position, but the second one still needed to go smoothly to prove it wasn’t just a fluke.

More specifically, John wanted to draw in people from further afield. He knew that a fighting tournament could become a place where groups would settle personal grudges between each other instead of necessarily promoting the unity he wanted, but it was better to settle things nonlethally if it could be avoided. As for the times when people had grudges that went beyond that level, sometimes those would still be handled the old way. It was difficult to get people to agree upon and enforce a broadly applicable set of laws, as for the most part groups liked having their own control maximized.

Yet if they came into contact with others whose strength was greater, they would want laws to protect them. They couldn’t have things both ways, so getting people to recognize that was tiresome. But with the looming threat of powerful outside cultivators, John hoped they could continue on their path to establishing a wider power structure that didn’t rely on personal power of clans or sects.

There was no telling when another powerful group would try to force its will upon the region. Indeed, though Sitora of the Sky Islands herself had ultimately been tolerable, they had still forced their way through the Wuthering Steppes and the Darklands to reach their goal rather than attempting to negotiate. John wondered whether he should try to reach out to the Sky Islands. They were further southeast of the Wuthering Steppes, over the Crystal Sea.

Drawing their attention might be problematic if anyone among them chose to cause trouble, but it was difficult to just leave them there without at least speaking about peace treaties or defensive pacts. With his expanding view of the world, they were on the very edge of the region. Meanwhile, the Molten Sea was likely to be both less positively inclined towards being approached and significantly further away with several more elemental zones between the Sunfields and the Molten Sea.

It was best to start with those who could both reasonably be reached and who might actually be open to cooperation. While there might be some grudges with the Sky Islands, if they were going to begin a process of reconciliation they should start sooner rather than later.

But John wasn’t simply going to decide on his own. He had others to consult with, both longtime friends and his growing pool of acquaintances from various groups throughout the region. Simply acting without thought could bring consequences down on others, so he needed to be certain everyone was on the same page… especially the Wuthering Steppes and Glass Hills, who were closest.

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Deep within his dantian, John’s spiritual sea continued its steady growth. He was now at rank thirty-three, the height of the mid Consolidated Soul Phase. Three more ranks to reach the peak of Consolidated Soul and he would finally have an opportunity to properly step into the Ascending Soul Phase. For that, he needed to consult with his fire inspirations. That would be Steve and Yustina, plus Charlotte of the Firepine Palace.

He had continued the process of thoughtfully cycling his internal growth, breaking apart islands in waves of fire only for them to spread and grow. It was a more violent process than he was used to, but that was the addition of the fire element. Ultimately, as long as he kept a proper balance it was quite a valuable process. The ash left behind was fertile, causing his trees of darkness to grow up rapidly.

John was currently maintaining one larger central tree, not quite as grand as it had once been… but combined with its counterparts the overall power of his totem was greater. The process was quite slow, as John still felt that it still only matched a low fifth tier totem, but with both his cultivation base and totems growing steadily his overall power was at its highest. There was no equivocation about it.

Sometimes, he wondered what would have happened if ten or twenty more years had passed before the incidents surrounding the leviathan. Would he have taken the same path he did? Perhaps he would have successfully broken through to the Ascending Soul Phase along with Matayal… or perhaps both of them would have perished together. Then again the change in circumstances might have left John dead during his attempt to advance, leaving her alone instead.

Only the world where they both lived was appealing, and in truth without the motivation of great powers to face off against he couldn’t say that any of those he knew who were reaching the Ascending Soul Phase would have advanced at the same pace. They might have been stronger, directly fighting against the Molten Sea and Sky Islands both… and perhaps that might have led to their downfall.

Pondering alternate futures was something he couldn’t help but do. Fortunately, he could turn those same thought processes to slightly more helpful ideas as he considered where he would go from now on. The eternal search for strength wasn’t something he or any cultivators could just give up on, but with each step his level of responsibility increased as well. Responsibilities could be ignored, but when one had the power to do something and did not, that was still a choice. More and more people would come to rely on him, though he found himself wishing it was just one or a few.

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

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The Entrapping Vortex Sect was one of the most prominent in the Wuthering Steppes, and many of its members had attended the last tournament. Because of their overall power and influence, they were chosen to host a gathering of various others from the Wuthering Steppes.

Though there were dozens in attendance, John knew that aside from the Entrapping Vortex Sect the most important were the Silence Breeze Sect, the Gale Palace, and the Uladh clan.

Meanwhile, along with John came Deirdre of the Golden Tomb Guardians as well as Elder Bahadur of the Rising Storm Palace, as well as a number of others from the alliance. There was much to discuss, but even so they did not get directly into the greater discussion. For the first few days people were still arriving, and they were able to mingle together and get to know each other.

In the forty years or so since the first Consolidated Soul Phase cultivator in the region had appeared, many others had followed suit. Now it was rare for any sect of significance to not have at least a single Consolidated Soul Phase cultivator at their top. However, this particular gathering stopped there, lacking the ever so rare Ascending Soul Phase cultivators. Deirdre was less than half a step from that realm, but it was a very difficult step as John could attest.

The current state of the Wuthering Steppes would place them in a troublesome position should the Sky Islands once more turn their sights on the region, as they were the most closely positioned. John’s goal was to balance what was best for them and the region in general, which both included getting their participation in the larger defensive pact… and making certain that they wouldn’t choose to willingly go along with the Sky Island’s intrusions should they set their sights on something deeper inland.

Sitora herself was quite reasonable, but one person with people from a handful of sects was not a fair picture for the whole of the Sky Islands. They could easily set their sights on those below, and as it was rather difficult to reach them given their location they were relatively secure against counterattack.

Relatively, of course, because for them to return to their homes in the sky there had to be methods to reach them. Flying ships were one such avenue, as cultivators flying as individuals or groups was quite difficult, even for air cultivators. That said, those at the Consolidated Soul Phase and above might manage it for a certain distance. It was not an area that had been greatly developed in the region, since most of their people had not been strong enough for it to be relevant.

John supposed he should look into it himself. There were risks when flying, of course, but even in the scenario where he foolishly ran out of air elemental spiritual energy at a great height he would still have a sufficient quantity of spiritual energy to protect himself from a fall. While falls could be deadly to anyone, even unsupported humans in extreme circumstances had survived terminal velocity.

Those circumstances could be replicated with spiritual energy of all sorts if one was prepared. Creating drag, softening the ground, and relaxing the body were all on the table. But John would rather not need to make use of any such techniques. Managing his energy properly would be key.

As an excuse to become more familiar, John approached the head of the Gale Palace. He was an older fellow called Avenir, with long flowing robes and windswept silver hair. John began with some smalltalk, introducing himself properly even though the other man already knew who he was- it always surprised John where he had ended up, and he might never get used to being important.

After some time, he brought up his actual question. “As my cultivation has grown, one thing about the air element has always fascinated me,” John said. “To soar through the air like a bird… more than simply momentary leaps. It came to mind that the Gale Palace is the most likely to have a technique that could accomplish such a task.”

The older man smiled, “That may be true. The Entrapping Vortex Sect is certainly larger and more powerful than us, but their methods of air control are more specific. We do indeed have some methods, but they quickly exhaust the user. They either need more refinement, or it is a task that should only be undertaken by higher rank cultivators.”

“Do you know if such techniques are used by the Sky Islands?”

“One would presume so,” Avenir replied. “However, I also know that they make use of the materials in the Crystal Sea to produce flying ships.”

“Indeed,” John said. “I have heard of them, but… they did not bring such ships with them during their intrusion. Do you know the reason?”

“They are expensive and thus if they can be attacked quite vulnerable.” Avenir shook his head. “I do not know if they require time to replenish the spiritual energy within them, but if so they would be even more vulnerable, immobile on land. Using them within their home islands should be their best use.”

John nodded. Even if Avenir didn’t know, it made sense that they would require fuel of some sort. The most likely candidate would be spiritual energy, and if they used it faster than they could replenish it then it certainly would be risky. It would be nice to have flying ships, though. If they were merely used for transport within friendly territory, it would be easy enough to set up regular locations for them to rest. Airports, since there wasn’t really a more suitable word. They would just be using a different sort of flying vessel.

John wondered if more traditionally shaped airplanes might be valuable. Engines might be a problem, but crafting appropriate wings should be simple enough. Perhaps air cultivators might instead use individual gliders. John certainly remembered seeing that in various media, before he realized that such supernatural things actually existed… if in a different world. If the cultivator themself was the engine then it would save quite a bit of weight… but the flying devices would also be very vulnerable to attack. Once again, not something valuable for war.

Which was exactly why John thought it might be a valuable avenue to explore. Unfortunately, he couldn’t say he was much of an engineer so it might use up more of his time than it was worth to him personally. Perhaps he could find someone else passionate about such things to put in the time.