Truthful Transmigration

Being the westernmost group undertaking the journey to the Molten Sea, the Shimmering Islands cultivators were the first to depart. Astrein had gathered those from the surrounding areas, and the same was true for the Sunfields beyond and then finally the Breathless Plains.

From there, they turned to the northeast. Soon they found themselves east of the Frozen Heights, a land of rivers known as the Encapsulated Flow. Or more often for the locals, by the name of whatever river they happened to be near which was obviously the greatest and most powerful of them all. Or if it was measurably smaller, special in some other way.

Maintaining a relatively straight path required navigating many of the rivers, though it was a simpler task than navigating the Breathless Plains and the many gorges within. The consequences of a mistake when navigating a river generally amounted to little more than getting wet, as long as they didn’t choose to cross in the rapids or somewhere else foolish.

The reason they preferred a straight path was their precise destination. All of the rivers would eventually reach the Molten Sea as their endpoint, but their intention was to meet with a particular sect that had agreed to host them ahead of time. The Burning Delta was one of the rare points of contact they had with the region, though they were far from allies.

Even so, their particular position had kept them from being swept up in Gesine’s crusade, unlike other sects further south and otherwise generally deeper into the Molten Sea. It was possible the Molten Sea had already forgotten the war, taking it as part of everyday business as cultivators… but Tirto hadn’t. Nor had his father. Since they didn’t wish to provoke a war, they focused on sensible decisions on their own part. Within reason, they would stay away from the riskier areas.

Rivers were nice. That was partially Tirto’s bias as a water cultivator, of course, but he wished he saw grand rivers more often. There was something simple about water sloping downhill, trying to find its way to the lowest area. Quite different from a sea, where the movement was caused by wind and tide.

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Before they saw the Molten Sea, they could see signs on the horizon. The Shimmering of steam and, yes, clouds high in the atmosphere. For all that John had tried to picture it, he always tended to focus more on the fiery aspects- but it was just as much a region of water element. Despite lava being molten earth, the earth element in the area was tertiary at best. It merely supported the fire’s continual presence.

John had kind of expected a violent clashing of elements, but as they approached the border it wasn’t as violent as what he’d pictured. Then again, he shouldn’t have expected that. The Molten Sea was a stable region- unlike the Annihilation Strip. Core elements didn’t annihilate each other, though they often tended to settle into one being dominant over the others.

Focusing his spiritual energy on his eyes, John was able to make out the border. It fairly swiftly transitioned from grass to bare land to lava, but the Molten Sea wasn’t setting the nearby Encapsulated Flow on fire. It wasn’t like the Phoenix Forest where the local plant matter could burn indefinitely- thus it was already burned away or more properly most plants would never take root in the border region.

As for the river clashing with the Molten Sea? That had happened long ago. What remained was an obsidian river bed, covered at first by sediment from above but mainly transitioning to black. The river did constantly steam, heated from beneath and the sides, but near the border it remained short of boiling.

Their path into the Molten Sea was along one of those very rivers. It was safe to walk… for cultivators, and cultivators alone. There was a strip only a few meters wide of solid land, though the ground itself would likely burn leather soles just a step from the river’s edge. Immediately next to the river was slightly cooler in that regard, though dealing with constant steam was required. And occasionally, the river or lava around it broke through the bed to meet the other, causing a brief but violent spurt of steam and toxic ash.

It was truly a path only cultivators would walk, but almost pleasant if one was able to insulate oneself from the temperature. Flowing rivers were always a treat, and the shimmer of lava beneath the crust was intriguing. Though it would be a deadly mistake to take that crust as solid ground anywhere but near a river.

The river did shrink rapidly as they advanced further into the Molten Sea, but it persisted for half a day. At that point, instead of continuing to slowly shrink, it fell down directly into the earth, then occasionally released as a massive geyser. It was near this final point that they encountered their guide, an elder from the Burning Delta.

John wasn’t terribly surprised to find the man to be shaved bald. While a conscious cultivator could control the temperature around them, focusing on that at all hours of the day for decades would grow quite tiring.

“Welcome!” the man said. “Apologies that you had to come this far on your own, but any who could not walk this far would be better away from the Molten Sea. Unlike what you have seen there are a few temperate locations… but it is easy to become entrapped without the aid of those of sufficient cultivation. I am elder Radek of the Burning Delta. I am honored to receive the representatives of many great clans and sects.” He turned around and gestured for them to follow. “From here we will walk along the stable paths. Remember well this route, for merely relying on what you see ahead of you is unreliable. One moment you may have solid ground, the next it may crumble away, leaving you isolated.”

John was glad he had a fire totem now, because while the previous stretch had been hotter than the Green Sands, everything became even hotter. Cultivators combined their efforts to keep themselves cool, directing the heat away from their path. John saw Tirto was standing particularly close to Verusha, taking advantage of her abilities.

Having anticipated the situation, they only had cultivators strong enough to sustain protection against the heat. Spiritual Collection or Foundation Phase cultivators could likely keep up the effort for a few hours, but marching all day with no reprieve was beyond their abilities. It wasn’t like they could rest in the shade during the greatest heat in the middle of the day. There was neither shade to be found nor would there be the cool of night.

It also was very much not a desert. Even away from the river they left behind, the air was humid. John curiously sought around, especially under their path and the lava on either side. He found pockets of water and even underground ‘rivers’. Perhaps the pits he saw before fed other areas beneath the Molten Sea, otherwise the water near the surface should have been forced out long before.

Just before they reached their destination, it began to rain. This was where John was also quite glad to be a water cultivator- because the water was not cooling. In fact, it was barely short of boiling once more, having only briefly condensed into clouds above them. In addition to shielding himself and those directly around from the rain itself, John also kept away the invisible steam that came in return.

At least Tirto had an opportunity to pay back Verusha for her work throughout the day. Not that they would be keeping track of such things, but John knew that every bit of closeness they had would be critical if they still intended to break through together. The Molten Sea was looking more and more like the perfect location for them.

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“Behold,” Elder Radek declared. “The Burning Delta.” Ahead was a sect that had little in the way of permanent structures, instead displaying large tents made from some material John didn’t immediately recognize. The tents were set up on the largest sections of solid ground they had seen since entering the region, likely owing that to the spidering tendrils of something approaching an actual river delta.

Except instead of feeding into a normal sea, this was simply the area where the water finished evaporating at the end of its journey, with these branches not having found their way underground.

Surrounding the sect, instead of a wall, were a series of barrier markers- and they also made a formation of sorts that kept the worst of the heat out. The temperature dropped to an unpleasant but survivable level.

In the rear of the sect- at least based on their angle of approach- John spotted a series of docks. That was what they had to be, given the ships. Rather than the larger sort he was used to, they were relatively smaller and skinny. They had visible sails and a place for oars as well. The material of the hulls seemed to be some sort of visibly unremarkable stone- and it was glowing red hot. But as it didn’t melt, it seemed to be sufficient. As for how they would be propelled by winds through viscous lava, John had to assume that cultivators were required- though the region certainly wasn’t lacking in powerful winds due to the huge gradients in temperature.

Upon approaching the tents, John could see that they were made of some sort of scaled material- perhaps some sort of local lizard’s hide? Rather than entering any of them, they were brought to the center of the sect where there was actually some sort of groundcover growing- an odd plant with plump leaves. John and the others followed Elder Radek, who strode over the plant without a second thought.

It took John a moment to realize what it resembled. Eventually, he settled on ice plants- which had very little to do with actual ice, but instead were a coastal plant named that way because… well, John didn’t know and hadn’t had access to the internet in a full lifetime. Ice plant was the English name anyway- in this world they were often called blade plants. This particular variety was reddish and laid more flat than others, but it was otherwise similar.

“Sect Head Zdislava,” Elder Radek introduced, “Our guests have arrived.”

A wrinkled old woman stood there, though her age didn’t bring her low. She stood tall and proud, her cultivation at the peak of the Consolidated Soul Phase. She was outclassed by the three Ascending Soul Phase cultivators among the group, but did not appear intimidated.

“Welcome,” she said, her voice strong. “Welcome to our home. The Burning Delta is happy to receive visitors for an exchange of insights.” She turned to John in particular as she said that. “We cultivate two elements here, as we must. But I must confess I found tales of your cultivation quite unbelievable. Even now, seeing it with my own eyes, it almost seems like it must be a trick.” Her senses scanned other members of the Six Elements Crossroads. “Yet replicating such a trick more than once would be far more unbelievable. I hear you come from a Spiritual Energy desert.”

John shook his head. “That is not quite the case. Astrein simply carries an even mix of all the elements. The quantity of each is below what might be expected, but the sum total is quite significant, if one knows how to access it.”

“I see. It is quite a long way, so our information is somewhat incomplete.” She then turned to Deirdre and Presha. “I see your company covers the entire spectrum of elements. Though that is perhaps less unique than having most of them within a single individual. Our sect itself does not possess the grandest sights… but we can show you to the local wonders on the morrow. First, you must rest from your journey.”