The towers of the Bright Trinity were most certainly made with cultivators in mind. The peak of the greatest among them bent in the winds of the Gale Lowlands so strongly that anyone else would have found themselves tossed off, and there was some risk even for those with experience. Not that just anyone had the opportunity to be there.
Various furnishings were built into the roof of the highest tower, though most of the surface was left bare to allow for more movement. The few tables and chairs were surrounded by a small barrier that would deflect anyone sliding across and keep those inside contained.
It seemed awful for meditation and cultivation, but it was actually brilliant. At first it seemed like it might only be valuable for air cultivators- which to be fair the Bright Trinity did have as one of the solid cores of their power- but it didn’t stop there. Its position was constantly exposed to light, as one might expect from the highest point. Fire element also happily flowed along with its two allies, somewhat guided by the shapes of the various flexible towers.
John thought it was kind of fun to be tossed around. The fact that he wasn’t in any danger helped, of course. His standards had entirely shifted as time went on and he grew more powerful.
It really was excellent for feeling the flow of the wind. John found that the more in tune he was, the less he got tossed around- even if the tower tilted beneath him. The other elements almost pressed him into the roof, holding him in place. As long as he let them, at least.
It was an excellent place to train the three light aligned elements, and thus… John was attempting to do the opposite. Water was present in the air almost anywhere, and while spiritual energy wasn’t always present any time actual water was, the Gale Lowlands were abundant in any type of spiritual energy. John’s practiced ability to discern small quantities was still important, as it was likely half as much or less than Astrein. Earth element was more comfortable around natural earth and not constructed stone, but there was some of that as well. And though darkness didn’t thrive in open environments, it wasn’t entirely absent.
John felt himself taking steps forward with his cultivation. He couldn’t see the end of the vastness that stretched before him, nor could he comprehend something like a higher phase. Maybe it didn’t exist, or perhaps there was a vast gulf that he couldn’t fathom. Either way, he had plenty of distance to stride forward. His cultivation had been steadily improving even after reaching the Exalted Soul Phase. Nothing miraculous, though if he were to compare his absolute growth, the amount of spiritual energy he could practically control grew by the amount a low ranking cultivator possessed on a regular basis. Measuring the exact amount was likely impossible, but John was pleased.
It helped when he had someone to discuss with. Aldara was the best option he’d ever had. A full cycle cultivator that began opposite of him. On purpose, even.
If he was thinking only about his cultivation, John would have tried to draw closer to her. Nothing inside of him would let that happen. Not quickly. Instead, they had pleasant discussions that could benefit them both.
John was explaining some of his troubles with teaching others. “I have found it difficult to elucidate exactly what it is that allowed us to reach the Exalted Soul Phase. Even those of the greatest talent around me are coming up against an enduring bottleneck.”
“Interesting,” Aldara commented. “I have experienced something similar. I must ask, was our battle of value to the observers?”
She should have seen that everyone enjoyed it. Even those who couldn’t really understand treated it like an impressive fireworks display. But Aldara wasn’t talking about entertainment. “I think some people gained insights. I can’t say that it helped those at the peak, though.”
“Unfortunate,” Aldara said. “I would still like to replicate the effects here, though. I think it could be of value.”
For some reason, John hadn’t been expecting that. Even though it was perfectly logical for them to spar, as they were kind of the only peers available. That wasn’t an insult to any of John’s close friends, but they knew they couldn’t beat him now. If they reached the Exalted Soul Phase, he was confident they could hit a decent ratio, but until then it was quite difficult for any of them to threaten him alone.
It was a concerningly large rise in power, but given how hard it was for talented individuals with guidance to advance, John didn’t have to worry about random Exalted Phase cultivators popping up everywhere. There might be some elsewhere in the world, but there wouldn’t be many. He could hope they wouldn’t be hostile… but it would be better to plan. Perhaps a defensive pact would be appropriate, though it wouldn’t be necessary for anything less than the Exalted Soul Phase.
“Another match would be good,” John agreed. “When were you thinking?”
“Five days from now. I’ve given my people some time to gather to observe.”
John raised an eyebrow. “What if I hadn’t agreed?”
Aldara shrugged. “I would have given a demonstration on my own. Most would still consider themselves lucky to be present. Together… anyone who doesn’t appreciate the opportunity isn’t worth considering.”
That sounded arrogant, but John knew it was true. It would be fascinating even to those that weren’t cultivators. People couldn’t go see movies or anything. The two of them were also measurably the strongest.
John wondered how the Empire of Elements would be taking notes. Would they find weaknesses in him? Could they find any that Aldara wouldn’t notice herself?
This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
There was only one way to find out. The continental alliance hadn’t gotten much in that regard, but of course people had been looking at things from that angle. It was only practical. If they didn’t turn out to be enemies, then such observations could make them both stronger. That was the ultimate hope.
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John prepared himself by stretching. Aldara snickered. “What are you even doing?”
“People from Earth do this all the time,” he said, raising his hands above his head, then bending down to touch his toes. “To limber up before a battle.” Well, people didn’t usually ‘battle’ much. But the idea was there.
Stretching might not actually help. And if he wanted to prepare his muscles, he could just do that. Directly, with spiritual energy. But it was fun, and nobody else could see him being a bit silly.
Aldara began contorting herself into strange shapes. John felt compelled to go beyond his previous intentions for his warm up, though flexibility wasn’t something he’d enhanced far beyond the norm. In that regard, he was only a little better than the average cultivator with a trained body. He needed some flexibility to take advantage of his improved reflexes properly, and it also helped absorb impacts. Diamond Defense made his skin durable, and to some extent his bones and the rest beneath, but it didn’t do as much for overworking joints.
After performing proper pre-battle checks, John found he was in good shape and ready to move. The previous battle against Aldara had been more impromptu, because everyone in the arena wanted to see it. Here, they would begin on the highest tower and go up from there, fighting over the city.
The instant they began, spiritual energy flowed like rushing rivers and bolts of lightning. Great swathes of it were carried around and through them, with some segments moving even faster. John pushed spiritual energy through his arms, enhancing his thrown daggers and the slashes of his sword. Likewise, Aldara did the same with her spear and shield.
Each dagger John threw could turn cut a building in half or turn one into a crater of rubble, though he didn’t target anywhere inside the city. The surrounding grasslands… would recover quickly.
Aldara stabbed, her spear forming tilted pillars of light that stretched from the skies above the city to the surroundings beyond.
Whirlwinds flowed around the two, gathering and dispersing the surrounding clouds in moments. The earth trembled lightly merely from the feeling of their spiritual energy.
To John, everything felt so much more natural. He just did what he wanted, and the world responded. He created a cloud of fire, planning to take advantage of some slight flaws he’d seen in the previous battle with Aldara. He suspected she’d already covered the gaps, but he had to try.
The fire was infused with darkness, hiding his movements and his intentions for the rest of it. The trick didn’t work like he’d planned, but he didn’t commit so hard he couldn’t recover. To those watching, it might not look like anything serious at all… but if Aldara had allowed her defenses to thin around her too much he could have taken advantage. For the most part, focusing the majority of spiritual energy towards your opponent made sense.
When they were close, however, it was a mistake to assume their opponent was in a direction. They were more akin to two great overlapping spheres of energy, with constant flows of various elements.
Aldara tried to get John to deflect something with his free hand, and he usually did things like that. However, he wasn’t particularly interested in grabbing her spear when it was covered in spikes- even if he had Diamond Defense. He was certain she could pierce his spiritual energy with a little effort. He used a gust of wind instead, giving up some of his leverage to avoid entrapment.
So she had noticed how often he tended to do that in their previous fight. But if she got careless, he was still going to grab her spear.
Weapons clashed, sometimes directly and sometimes merely via large quantities of spiritual energy stretching out beyond their weapons. John thought their demonstration was probably even more impressive than last time, partially because they were prepared for it.
Then, at the same moment dictated by the flow of energy, they stopped. If they had intentionally tried to communicate anything it would have been even smoother.
John drew back so that his six elements were only his. The damage to the surrounding countryside wasn’t that bad… and though a few attacks had aimed at the city- Aldara was the first so John hadn’t been willing to continue to ignore that attack vector- the defenses had held.
It would have been awful if either of them were trying to destroy things. They were probably too strong. Still, John would rather it be him and her than unknown individuals he couldn’t trust.
“Do you think they’ll learn anything?” John looked down on the city below.
“Some. But not enough. Otherwise, I expect we would have seen something immediately.”
John had to agree. Before their first battle, he hadn’t even been close to ready for the Exalted Soul Phase. Then he’d rapidly reached that point during the battle. He probably would have found it more difficult to not advance to the Exalted Soul Phase, in fact. Once he was ready, that was just what had to be done. Aldara had done it on instinct as well.
That was likely to be a common factor, if anyone managed to reach the threshold. Or maybe something had pushed the two of them well beyond it. But for the moment, they had to trust the instincts of those around them in relation to their own insights.
It would be a shame to lose someone because they rushed them to grow stronger for no good reason. After all, none of them needed a single powerful individual. The Empire of Elements was powerful because of their many cultivators from different areas, and the same was true of the continental alliance. Though having John and Astrid likely advanced their security to another level, the chance a second Exalted Soul Phase cultivator wasn’t worth the risk of many others destabilizing themselves.
Numerically, if half of those who tried succeeded they would be far ahead. Practically, John didn’t want to lose half his friends- and he doubted that the odds would be so far in their favor.
“I’m going to make dumplings,” Aldara declared. “They won’t be as good as the ones you’ve had so far, but I didn’t want to tell the chefs they couldn’t serve any for the duration of your stay.”
“I’ll gladly eat them,” John said. He was trying to remember if Matayal had actually cooked him anything. They both came from clans that had chefs so… it wouldn’t have been frequently. If she had, he clearly hadn’t appreciated it enough to remember. He hoped that meant she hadn’t.
