Though he knew that he shouldn't show favoritism towards particular sects, John couldn't help but act in ways that were true to himself. He did at least make sure to stop and visit prominent groups in the Shining Coast on his way to the Lunar Island, but his ultimate destination was set from the beginning.

The sect was the one that balanced best with his starting darkness element, even if they were technically pure light cultivators. John had several times been to visit, taking advantage of their particular circumstances. He was familiar enough with them to arrive in the evening, which is when the early risers would first be active. There were always a few people awake, either guards or guests of various sorts, but John wanted to arrive when he wouldn't cause too much disturbance.

The bay that surrounded the Lunar Tower began to light up as evening fell. Bioluminescent creatures in the relatively shallow water radiated light, after having absorbed the element all day through the clear waters. The curve of the bay reflected the light of the moon and stars as well as the lights rising from the water onto the tower itself. It wasn't the most intense the light got- at noon the inside edge of the tower was practically melting- but they were coming upon the time of the best 'flow'.

The sect head, Szabina, was waiting for them upon the shore as their group arrived on the prepared boats. "Greetings once again." Her eyes briefly lingered on Astrid, then she smiled. "And to you. It is a pleasure to have a visit from a light element Ascending Soul Phase cultivator. Those of us from light element regions must do well to stay in contact."

Astrid nodded. "Though I now reside at the Crossroads, I would welcome a visit at any time. And I can assure you that my former sect would be happy to receive you as a guest."

The Summer Sun Sect had actually been quite welcoming on John's first visit. Most sects at least publicly welcomed visitors, of course, but there were clear differences in the quality of shared information. The Summer Sun Sect couldn't exactly hide their origins with the prominence of the firegrass, but they hadn't been obligated to explain in detail.

Even before Astrid had decided to take her chance with John, they had been quite open. Of course, at that point the continent had been at peace for some years. The entire purpose of his journey had been making contact with groups like that. The Lunar Tower had also been one of the fruits of that journey.

Szabina led them inside, getting people set up with rooms that suited them. This time, John received a room on the inner edge of the tower that he would be sharing with Astrid. It was near the peak of the tower, where some of the most intense light concentrated.

The night was mild as John got used to the reflected light. Refamiliarizing himself with the local atmosphere was quite useful. Astrid also did the same, so that she would best be able to guide him in his advancement. He was gradually incorporating more light element with each rank, and stepping into the late Ascending Soul Phase had plenty of opportunities for things to go wrong even if it wasn't a full phase advancement.

-----

John began his attempt at noon, when the light was most intense. However, he wasn't in any rush. He filtered spiritual energy deep into his dantian, slowly feeding it into himself. Light went into the skies, but it was drawn to darkness. A perfect balance was necessary, both so that he didn't have to actively maintain his state and because the tension would actually help empower the other elements.

Slowly, the ambient light began to fade as noon passed into evening. John continued to work on his flow, the only awareness he had of himself, the spiritual energy around him, and Astrid in front of him. Even though it was a light element region, just like everywhere else there were other elements to be found. Even darkness. He separated those out from the rest, feeding strands of spiritual energy into himself.

He breathed in and out rhythmically. He was in no rush to complete his increase in rank. In fact, he wasn't intending to take anything less than a full day.

The flow at night had light element that was only slightly less potent but far smoother. For a pure light element cultivator this was no issue. The Lunar Tower reveled in the power it provided them. John, however, found that smoothness was actually more difficult to control. The flow was gentle, but it was still like a wide and shallow river. It could not be stopped, but he couldn't afford to let it go where it pleased.

If it eroded away the banks that kept it in the channel, it would be exposed to the darkness within him. If he wasn't ready, it could escalate all at once.

Sufficient preparations had been made that there wasn't any significant chance of peril, but things still had to go one step at a time. At midnight, John was less than half done with his increase in rank. He was slowly increasing the relative quantity of spiritual energy he held from a third of the other elements to just under half.

At dawn, the flow of energy intensified. Perhaps the same quantity of spiritual energy or only slightly more, but in a narrower channel. Light didn't flow quite like water, and it could actually build up in a single point to ever escalating intensities.

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John braced himself for the coming noon. At the peak of intensity, he took his final steps. Astrid's hands clutched his… and he didn't need her. Or at least, he didn't need her to fix any screw ups. He did need her in general. He wouldn't have come this far without Astrid's support day after day- just because she hadn't had to save him from a sudden and intense death this particular day didn't make her any less important.

In the end, John wasn't largely different. He had a bit more light element, which was actually going to make his daily life more difficult. Without a totem to control it, he had to manually guide it into place. Even if he set it up in a practical orbit, he still had to spend more effort than he would have otherwise. Yet without putting in the effort now, he would never be able to attune to a totem later.

Or he would suddenly find himself drawing in large amounts of light element if he did attune to a totem, and without experience he might completely fail to balance the elements. It was a terrifying thought, though of a future that was highly unlikely. John currently had more experience with light element compared to any other element he'd had without a bound totem. For others, he'd had something between months and a few years of proper training with any given element. Fire had been the latest, but he couldn't say he seriously trained it for even a decade.

Even if it wasn't his sole focus during the last couple of decades, John had still devoted time to light element control for the whole duration. The final element, and then he would reach the Exalted Soul Phase. Of course, he still had several ranks to advance before that time- but he was at least confident at reaching the peak of the Ascending Soul Phase.

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John wasn't the first of his peers to reach the late Ascending Soul Phase. Renato beat him by a number of years. That said, the earth cultivator had an advantage being a reincarnator. John had only a normal lifetime worth of cultivation experience, while Renato had at least some memories from his prior lifetime. A few extra decades of experience that had helped smooth out Renato's future.

Then there was Steve. He was a transmigrator like John. He was just a genius. Perhaps he was lucky to end up in the body of a fire element cultivator, or perhaps he ended up there because he fit the element.

John, Odette, and Steve all suited the elements that Fortkran, Deirdre, and Lucanus had practiced. Was it a coincidence? That was possible. Perhaps they would have swiftly died if they were unsuited, and they would have been among the groups of random cultivators nobody remembered. There could be any number of cultivators that had lived previous lives that simply didn't become notable. It did seem to be the case that they had a higher chance of striking it big, even without prior cultivation experience.

A different point of view might be valuable. Or maybe only those with talent transmigrated- or retained memories when they did. If a soul replaced a half-dead cultivator but came with no new memories, would anyone even know? A strange question to which John never expected to find any answers.

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News came from the east- from the Burning Delta. It was relayed through the messaging system the continent had set up, currently a strange mix of methods that didn't quite live up to John's vision. Even a proper telegram network would be good. Burying wires would be easy enough, but spiritual energy might distort signals. Ultimately, they had to invent all of the intermediate steps to find out.

The message was marked important, but not urgent. That, at least, made John relax slightly. He took a look at what Zdislava, the sect head, had written- though the message wasn't directly penned by her hand.

It described conflict in the Molten Sea. That wasn't really anything new. Even internal conflict happened frequently, but here the scale was larger. And relevantly, not limited to the wide expanse of the Molten Sea.

Instead, it appeared to be an attack by the eastern continent. Northeastern, perhaps. That wasn't that strange, as neighbors often ended up in conflicts. However, what stood out was that it seemed to be a united front from various different elemental regions.

John didn't know how to react. He wasn't terribly fond of the Molten Sea. The Burning Delta hadn't been part of the assault that led to Matayal's death, and there were other sects he had no real opinion on. However, there were those that had come along with Gesine and he had honestly pondered taking them down himself at some point. It was a foolish idea, seeking revenge so long after events. Cultivators could bear long grudges, but if it was possible to put it past them that was what John wanted for people.

He would have gladly responded if they caused another ounce of trouble, though. A single excuse would have doubtless brought up many memories from the Encapsulated Flow, Breathless Plains, and Sunfields. Of course, the Shimmering Islands would have wanted revenge as well. John simply wouldn't have had the fortitude to refuse people revenge he also wanted.

But here, it sounded like karma was coming for them. Still, it was a situation worth keeping eyes on. John also needed to learn more about the eastern continent… and even the affairs of the Molten Sea. To that end, he intended to meet with Sitora… and Yustina. Sitora's rivalry with Gesine no doubt involved knowledge about the Molten Sea. As for Yustina, she had lived on the eastern continent, in the water element country of Aglor. That was where she had reached the Consolidated Soul Phase before she died.

Sitora rarely left the Sky Islands. She was old, even for a cultivator. Somewhere around a century and a half older than John, he thought. Maybe two. Combined with the injuries she sustained during Abritt's betrayal, she wasn't much up for flying ten kilometers down and then back up into the sky. Her subordinates could help her, but the shame might be worse than death. With her strength she could still do it, but it would be easier to ask to visit.

Yustina wouldn't mind going. Maybe they could get the whole club together. It didn't have to be an official meeting, but a strategy meeting might be valuable and there was a lot of overlap with people who would need to hear plans later.

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