Truthful Transmigration

Though the initial purpose of her visit was to form a connection with the Gloom Desolation, Matayal made her own secondary objective after having arrived. She wanted to discover how things ended up the way they were, especially with regards to spiritual energy.

Along the coast, she found that the pressure of darkness was so minimal that the Crystal Sea’s water element was actually dominant. As water was allied with darkness it wasn’t detrimental to the cultivators there except if they were less proficient with sensing their own element. Either way, she did not find that the elemental zone had strong borders. That was usually caused by internal spiritual energy production or outside energy flowing into the area, potentially both. In both areas, the Gloom Desolation was weak.

Instead of a darkness element zone, it felt more like a mixed elemental zone, but missing the other half. Matayal found she was better able to cultivate at arbitrary points of the Stone Conglomerate where she had to convert earth element to darkness.

The Gloom Desolation stretched far to the east before curving around to the north. Their southern coast had the majority of their ports, and Matayal found that the area was in a way their most vibrant.

Further in from the coast, there were many scattered villages and only rare population centers. The local vegetation was mostly comprised of shrubs and weak grasses. The climate and soil were insufficient for much more than that, and the darkness element wasn’t dense enough for spiritual plants to grow despite the poor conditions.

Consulting the local clans and sects, they seemed to believe that the Gloom Desolation had always been that way. Perhaps it had, but Matayal had her doubts. There were legends of higher ranking cultivators and remnants of grand cities of the past. Unfortunately, by the time the end of her journey came she had learned little more. But she swore she would be back- and not because it was necessary for diplomatic progress.

At least that part had gone well. There was much respect given to high ranking cultivators, and while Matayal hadn’t quite reached the Ascending Soul Phase just yet she was not too far off.

-----

For cultivators, forcing a breakthrough was a significant risk. That was even more true when one had a dual cultivation partner. The normal logic was to let the leading partner break through on their own, after which the other partner would catch up at their own pace.

The advice Tirto got from his in-laws was of course completely the opposite. In part opposite of natural wisdom, but also in part opposite of each other. His father-in-law would probably just tell him to jump into a volcano and it would work out. His mother-in-law had a great level of zeal as well, but a bit more sense. Her advice- which he actually asked for- was to wait for both partners to be ready for a breakthrough. She mentioned significant benefits, especially with regards to the Ascending Soul Phase.

Of course, the two of them shared elements, but Tirto wouldn’t be throwing himself into a volcano. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Verusha to do her utmost to keep them alive. She might even succeed at breaking through to the Ascending Soul Phase… but it wouldn’t be much good for him.

Likewise, Tirto wasn’t going to suggest visiting the deep sea or the Great Waterfall or the Frozen Heights. A water element zone wouldn’t be good for Verusha. But they were both nearly ready to advance to the Ascending Soul Phase.

Their initial age gap of five years had been significant when they were first married. But now they had spent nearly four decades together and any gaps in strength due to cultivation time had been erased. If they hadn’t managed that, it would have simply meant their talents were poorly matched. But the two of them made up for the other when one was lagging behind, and their recent battle against an Ascending Soul Phase cultivator had pushed both forward.

In short, they didn’t have to worry about forcing things. The only question was whether they could feasibly break through together, or needed to do so separately.

“What about the Phoenix Forest?” Verusha asked as they were poring over their maps. “Fire supports water, and earth is allied. That should be, uh… decent enough, right?”

Tirto shook his head. “I could make a similar argument for the Viridia Wildlands.”

“Nah, actual water is dominant over fire,” Verusha countered. “That would counteract the benefits from earth, even with our practice.”

The two of them scoured the various maps, finally pulling out a crude but at the same time conveniently colorful map of the greater region. “Ah. There’s actually one that matches perfectly,” Tirto said. “At least, if we only care about element.”

“Seriously? I’ve never heard of a water-fire elemental zone,” Verusha said.

“It’s up north here,” Tirto pointed. “The Boiling Springs.”

Finding a perfectly matched zone for their pairing of elements wasn’t actually that odd. Allied elements would commonly coexist together, but even if it was a slightly rarer combination, non-allied core elements could also exist together. And where there were any two non-allied core elements, every pair had a dominant element paired together with its supporting element. There simply wasn’t another option, and if the balance was right, one would feed into the other to build it up only to a certain point, creating a sustainable elemental zone.

The Phoenix Forest and even the Shimmering Islands were examples of that. In the former, earth supported fire, but the area was adapted such that the plants weren’t completely consumed. Likewise, water supported air in the Shimmering Islands. The storms were great and powerful, but they needed the water- and couldn’t eliminate it.

In that regard, pairings that involved fire were generally the least stable, just like the element itself, as it was easy for it to consume to the point there was nothing left- or to be quashed by water and fade away entirely.

“The Boiling Springs are… fine,” Verusha said. “But they’re kinda… weak, aren’t they? I feel like we could do better just sitting in element gathering chambers or something.”

Tirto nodded. “I suppose so. Astrein wouldn’t be a terrible idea. Even if the Six Elements Crossroads can’t lend us space-”

“Your dad would absolutely open something up for us,” Verusha pointed out.

“You’re right. But I wouldn’t want to cause a disruption,” Tirto said. “Even if he couldn’t for some reason, we could find custom chambers somewhere in Lunson. It would be more familiar than the Boiling Springs, and potentially more potent.”

“Or we could visit the Molten Sea,” Verusha suggested.

Tirto burst out laughing. “Good one. The Molten Sea.” Tirto took a good look at his wife’s face. He knew the mischievous smirk she got sometimes. But… it was absent. “... You’re serious?”

“That place has had Ascending Soul Phase cultivators for generations,” Verusha pointed out. “It’s absolutely a very dense elemental zone. Fire and water element. It’s perfect.”

“Except for the war,” Tirto said, his words curt.

“I was there too, you know. I understand. They killed your mother. Which is exactly why we should steal their spiritual energy!” Her hair flared blue, fluttering about as she spoke.

Tirto thought for a moment. “I doubt it would really make a difference to them.”

“First, it’s the principle of the thing,” Verusha said. “And second, if you don’t break through with enough gusto to make a lasting dent in the local spiritual energy, you’re doing it wrong.”

“This would be a huge undertaking.”

“What do you think the Ascending Soul Phase is, huh? It’s not like the Foundation Phase where you just think about a totem for a bit and pick one you like. It’s-” Verusha stopped herself, not because she didn’t have the passion to continue her speech but because she knew she wouldn’t be heard. Tirto was already focused on how to accomplish the task.

They’d probably have to make a whole big thing of it. Verusha had confidence in herself and her husband, of course, but that didn’t mean she was willing to risk the wrath of a bitter sect or some group wanting to make a name for themselves. A single early Ascending Soul Phase cultivator was one thing, but risking their lives alone or with only a small group in unfamiliar territory would be foolish.

It was possible their mere presence would be rejected, though in general they could expect to be left alone if they didn’t intrude into clan or sect territory. Assuming they looked strong enough, of course.

For all the bitterness that they had for the Molten Sea, it was really just Gesine and those who supported her who came to stir up trouble. There had been members of several different sects they would have to watch out for, but it wasn’t a united effort. That was the concerning part, really, as at the time they could do little to stand up to them- needing the help of an outsider whose intentions were not much better.

-----

Cultivators from the Shimmering Islands were the first to become part of the expedition. Then the Green Sands, because of the connection to Verusha. From there, things began to get out of control with everyone and their father wanting to join up.

Tirto thought that his actual father was a good choice, but Lucanus wasn’t. Their goal wasn’t to march in with an army. Regardless of whether that went in their favor, nobody was ready for that. Things were still unstable with the Sky Islands, and inviting conflict wasn’t a great idea. If they did end up in a war of some sort Verusha would absolutely recruit Lucanus, though.

Ultimately, their goals expanded. They needed to bring enough people to show off their strength without looking like an invading army. They needed to find somewhere they could remain for days or potentially weeks while Tirto and Verusha got used to the surroundings and then attempted to break through. And somewhere in all that, they needed to properly establish contact.

Before they could even reach the Molten Sea, they also had to head through several elemental zones that weren’t associated with either their continental alliance or the Molten Sea. They had some trade interactions that far out, which was more interaction than they’d had with the Gloom Desolation, but beyond that they knew little but details about major groups. More complicated political climates were unclear.

Thus, they had to pick a group size that implied simply traveling, while still potentially bringing along an Ascending Soul Phase cultivator. Or multiple, though there weren’t many groups out that way that were clamoring to show off their newfound strength. The Six Elements Crossroads had become the core pillar of their alliance, but beyond that those most affected by the Molten Sea would be the Sunfield and the Breathless Plains.

So along with representatives of the Brandle and Milanovic clans, there would be a smattering of representative individuals… and three Ascending Soul Phase cultivators. Yonit would have come for such an important event, but they would very much be pushing the threshold of invading force with a fourth Ascending Soul Phase cultivator.

So the final complement would be John, Deirdre, and Presha of Silver Breeze Gorge. With the three of them and the many others from various groups, Tirto felt like the event was less about himself and Verusha… and he didn’t mind that at all.

He’d never been much for acting as the focus of attention. He could handle being clan head, but he preferred to deal with practical matters and more private diplomatic interactions. But when needed, he could act as necessary.

Such an expedition couldn’t suddenly be thrown together. It took months of coordination, and longer than that to actually find time in the schedules of all the important figures. But there was no rush, because even if Tirto and Verusha were confident that they were on the threshold it didn’t hurt to spend more time in training before their next big step. Well, Tirto didn’t feel any rush. Verusha had to borrow some patience from him to last the whole time.