The visit to Silver Breeze Gorge was quite productive in all areas, from diplomatic to personal training. John didn't suddenly feel like he could defeat Abritt, but it was a good step forward towards a potential victory. Presha had a potential he would keep an eye on, and he hoped to influence her to formally join the alliance. Having another Ascending Soul Phase cultivator would be reassuring.
Optimally he wanted to break through to the mid Ascending Soul Phase before the tournant, but practically he felt he would be lucky to grow to the thirty-ninth rank. Nine years seed like a long ti, but John was aware that there were cultivators over a hundred years old who had not even reached the Ascending Soul Phase.
As for why there were so many in their generation with none in recent mory… that was a complicated phenonon that nobody really had the answers to. It was in so part due to the challenges available, growing stronger with their peers, but sothing had to spark such change to begin with. John's personal theory was that there was an unusually high number of transmigrators and reincarnated individuals, but he didn't actually know that for sure. He hadn't found records of previous years, since such information wasn't generally public. It may have just been a coincidence.
Over the next several years, John traveled to various clans and sects, including so further regions he hadn't previously co to. The intent was to have the next tournant be the biggest one yet… and no matter what happened, he thought that having more 'continentals' present would be beneficial. Obviously he hoped soone could defeat Abritt, but if not showing her sothing like a united region should make her realize a true battle wouldn't be in her favor.
Certainly, Abritt had been strong but she was still only in the Ascending Soul Phase. Could she defeat any individual cultivator? Probably. But even without having seen her full potential, John was confident that along with three or four of the others he could take her down. Even if Sitora and the other Island Masters fought alongside her, with the inclusion of the guardian beasts he was confident in a victory there. And for those at the Consolidated Soul Phase and below, the continent would vastly outnumber them.
But the point was to not end up in a war. Deterrence was better. Hopefully, the tournant would show sufficient strength that other considerations were unnecessary.
-----
Halfway to the tournant with about five years remaining, John was filled with greater confidence. Deirdre had broken through to the Ascending Soul Phase, and Zacharie was not far off. At the mont, their cultivations and connections to Cuah'arn qualified them to attempt to take over leadership of the Golden Tomb Guardians, but neither were eager to replace Lambert. He had been a fine enough sect head, and had the respect of the elders.
Perhaps a generation before they would have made the attempt regardless, but John had made it clear that being sect head wasn't necessarily better. They had all the privileges and resources they could need, and for the most part all either of them would do was take over the responsibilities that ate away at their ti. If they cared about contributing to the sect, they could still do without being sect head.
John's own position with the Six Elents Crossroads wasn't one he had particularly wanted, but he'd felt it was necessary for his goals. He didn't mind the responsibility so much either, since he'd been the head of the Tenebach clan. He felt things had worked out better there, with lanthina and Nik at the head. Obviously the transition could have been accomplished more intentionally, but the circumstances surrounding that were in the past and couldn't be fixed.
-----
Though he spent much ti traveling, in the latter half John's plans were to spend the majority of his ti at the Six Elents Crossroads, where people could co to him if they wished to. He almost wished he could do so all the ti, but practically it just didn't work out.
The best thing about remaining in one place was his grandchildren would co visit. Nitza and Ereli were both in the Foundation Phase now. Both of them were growing up into fine young won, and they got along well despite their different personalities.
Nitza was as wild as her style, shifting between moods as quickly as she shifted between phases of water. She was a pure water cultivator, but she had learned how to apply the principles of fire from her mother and grandparents. She rapidly ranged from traditional water based attacks to ice and steam, sotis together. Her emotions always showed on her face, and she wasn't timid about expressing herself.
Ereli had maintained the personality that had been forced on her by circumstances. She was still cautious and reserved, though she had a balance in her light and darkness that no longer required her constant vigilance. She didn't speak as much, but that just left Nitza more room to comnt on everything she saw.
"Who do you think will win the tournant? Do you think I can?" Nitza asked.
"Impossible," Ereli retorted. "The difference in cultivation is too much. An Ascending Soul Phase cultivator could defeat us while taking a nap. No, probably any Consolidated Soul Phase cultivator as well."
"Okay, fine," Nitza admitted. "But what about the early brackets? I bet I can go further than you."
"We will find out," Ereli inclined her head. "I do not intend to lose."
"Grandpa!" Nitza turned to John. "Fly with ! No, carry both of us!"
"I believe I will pass on such an opportunity," Ereli said. "I have more productive uses of my ti."
"Boring! Besides, I get to observe air elent and stuff so… it's training!"
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"Are you sure?" John asked. "I can easily take you both. And it won't be terribly long."
"Thank you for the offer," Ereli said. "But I am confident in my response."
John saw sothing there. Was she afraid of heights? Well, he wasn't going to bring it up in front of her cousin regardless of the answer. There could be plenty of reasons why she didn't want to.
"Let's go then," John said. He swept Nitza up in air elent. "A tour of the city!"
"Go fast!" she declared.
"It will be over sooner, then."
"Umm…" Nitza pondered. "I still want to go fast."
"Then we will," John grinned.
All the power he gained wouldn't be of much use if he couldn't dote on his family a little bit. He did his best not to actually spoil his grandchildren, because it would be better they didn't co out as arrogant young ladies. But a bit of fun sotis was quite appropriate.
Flying was heavily restricted in Lunson, but as the sect head he was one of those who could go anywhere. Technically, there were so exceptions. People could reasonably complain if he did sothing like landing on their roof, not that he would bother. The Six Elents Crossroads had the highest towers and the best views.
With practice and increased power, John was much more confident in his flight. He had contingencies prepared in case for so reason his air elent suddenly faltered, though it was likely that Nitza could survive a fall on her own. A Foundation Phase cultivator had to be able to do at least that much. Still, he'd prefer not to risk it.
The actual chances of an issue were pretty much nonexistent, of course, Spiritual energy didn't just stop working for no reason, and if there were an incoming enemy attack he would sense it from afar. Still, there were always worries.
He rushed around the city, passing by different compounds that housed more permanent delegations from various sects and clans throughout the greater region. The Six Elents Crossroads had plenty of room for guests, but so might prefer greater privacy.
Lunson was flourishing, ever since the removal of the Platinum Tower Society and the establishnt of the Six Elents Crossroads. While Lunson had once been one of the few places where cultivators were rare, the growth of the city provided even non-cultivators with a higher standard of living. Furthermore, everyone at least had an opportunity to pick up basic cultivation, with a greater understanding of the local elents.
It might be difficult at first to separate out the elent one wanted, but Astrein wasn't a dead zone like it appeared on the surface.
Nitza clearly reveled in the feeling of flight more than actually seeing the city. John wondered if it would be appropriate for her to train in the air elent as well. She was at the point where she needed to commit to whatever choice she made, as when she attuned to her third totem in the Soul Expansion Phase her path would be pretty much set. That was sothing she should discuss with her family, however. Breaking from the traditions of a clan could be problematic. John was lucky Luctus had supported his crazy plan.
In the distance, John could see the herds of bison. While there were ranches for so, great care went into making sure the native beasts of Astrein kept their hos and weren't wiped out. It would be a terrible waste to end up in another world and allow ecological devastation to happen.
While cultivators were often quite reckless about such things, convincing those who could actually be reasoned with wasn't that difficult. It wasn't like causing problems for future generations and ignoring the consequences was easy, either. Most cultivators would be alive in any such future, and so would have to deal with the issues they themselves caused.
There were certain advancents John found useful to bring from Earth. Refrigeration hadn't been completely unheard of, and allowed for food to travel further with the cooperation of water cultivators. The local thods of long distance communication had already been sufficient- or at least so of them. It was simply that things like the light communication of the Sunfields had to be expanded. Of course, private long distance communication still mostly went via ssenger bird, but those could be much swifter than anything on Earth.
Overall, John thought things were pretty good. But he planned to be around for a long ti and would want to see even more improvents, if they could reasonably be accomplished.
-----
Three years before the tournant, Ursel finally returned. Once again, instead of going to the Order of the Amber Heart, she ca to John. "Help make armor," she said, dumping a storage bag full of materials in front of him.
Anticipating her return, John had taken the ti to brush up on smithing and the like. Now he could proudly place himself higher than a novice. Raul would probably still be better, as he had both a core elental cycle and actual practice imbuing objects. However… John also felt components with elents of darkness and light in Ursel's bag.
"This will be a tough project," he said. "We'll need a light elent specialist, as well."
"So ask that Viriato guy. Or Nik."
Both were decent cultivators, but they weren't really crafters.
"Are you sure this is the best approach?" John asked.
"Yeah. Earth elent armor is good if I'm going to be augnting it myself in battle. It can even be nearly unbreakable. But, it's not. And I'd rather have armor that was properly balanced." She looked down at the bag. "I don't actually know which of these things we need, though."
Thus it was that John helped her sort through things. What Ursel wanted was armor that could stand up for itself, sothing she didn't have to worry about supplenting with her own spiritual energy. She also didn't mind if it didn't completely absorb attacks, as her body could handle significant force without issues. She wasn't concerned about weight, either.
"This blacksteel you found might be good," John admitted. "If we can actually combine it with light elent. I think we'll need layers, based on what I've experienced. An inner layer of darkness, the four core elents, then light outside. Speaking of which, these crystals and Cuah'arn's feathers… aren't really viable components for armor, I don't think."
"I do have so mirror ore," Ursel said. "It's a bit too flashy for my tastes, though."
"Maybe it will be subdued by the influence of darkness," John said. "I wouldn't directly try to mix them. Not without a master."
"I can do all the smithing stuff better now," Ursel said. "I just need the elental balance."
"Viriato, then, once he returns from his most recent excursion. Until then, I'll do my best to familiarize myself with the various things, and we can go over your process."
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