Truthful Transmigration

The Sky Islands cut their arrival time close, to the point that John thought they might be a no-show after all. However, he received messages of their arrival on the continent just in time. Perhaps it was simply their intention to show up at the final moment and take the grandest position with their show of strength.

Sects and clans flocked to Lunson, those participating in the tournament and those simply there to observe. The housing was overflowing, as the numbers had outgrown even the highest projections.

Viriato had seen the trend early on, and was leveraging his contacts to make sure that at least the city would have enough food. Shipments came from the Sunfields and the Stone Conglomerate to help supplement what they already had.

Overcrowding could be a problem for a city, and even though it was going to be a relatively short term issue John still granted permission for people to set up camps outside the city. That would not damage the profits of the various businesses seeking the customers, as there was plenty of competition to sleep in a proper room, usually with elemental separation arrays. Nobody wanted to be the people who looked like they couldn’t afford better.

There were a few scuffles as some owners thought to replace those who had already paid with new customers who would pay better, but the Six Elements Crossroads shut that down quickly. If anyone could be paid enough to give up their spot that was one thing, but the sect wouldn’t allow any unruliness.

All of their biggest allies had established their own compounds or were able to stay with the sect itself, so it wasn’t too big of an issue for them. Then there was space set aside for the Sky Islands as something akin to guests of honor. They would be treated with proper respect for their strength… and John hoped to show them that despite what they had, they weren’t on top.

They finally arrived to an overflowing city, the last decades having expanded its size several times over as it became a center of trade and even cultivation, instead of merely a place people happened to pass through.

Cultivators of all elements were present for their arrival. Light cultivators from the Prism Underfields, the Shining Coast, and the Sunfields. Air cultivators mainly hailed from the Breathless Plains, the Wuthering Steppes, Blustering Peaks, Glass HIlls, and the Shimmering Islands. Fire cultivators from the strip that contained the Green Sands, Sunfields, and Phoenix Forest- and stretching all the way up to the Boiling Springs.

Water cultivators came from the Viridia Wildlands, Shimmering Islands, Soulrot Bogs, and the Frozen Heights. Earth cultivators came from the Stone Conglomerate, Glass Hills, Viridia Wildlands, the Phoenix Forest, and even a few from the Rolling Dunes despite their limited population. Darkness cultivators were the rarest, with the Darklands being the main source. However, there were also some that hailed from the Soulrot Bogs, as well as a few from the Gloom Desolation and even the Muted Crags.

All were welcome, as long as they didn’t cause trouble on their journey- or at the tournament. And from what John had heard, that was going better than could have previously been expected for cultivators. There was still friction, but it was impossible for there to not be any conflict with so many people. So far, they had avoided any deaths, and the Sky Islands would see something resembling unity.

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The early parts of the tournament were all of those with the lowest cultivations. There were a great many Spiritual Collection Phase cultivators, but they needed neither large arenas nor much time for each of their individual battles. Thus, their numbers were quickly reduced.

The winners received their own rewards and the opportunity to challenge those of the next Phase. In general, the strongest participants at one Phase could beat a portion of those in the early part of the next Phase, though whether they actually accumulated more victories depended somewhat on luck. After all, their opponents could also be skilled for their own cultivation, and simply had not had sufficient time to grow further.

Nitza and Ereli were both in the peak Foundation Phase, and while the tournament did its best to try to match experience and cultivation there weren’t very many individuals as far advanced in their early twenties. With them at the peak of the Foundation Phase, they had to match their cultivation instead. The differences weren’t so stark as the last tournament where they were practically children, but they still faced off against opponents five or ten years their senior.

John’s granddaughters weren’t the only talented youths, however. The tournament was drawing from all over, so there were plenty to compete against. Ereli’s unique nature gave her a significant advantage, using light and darkness to take out opponents who could hardly be prepared for both at their training level. All of her struggles had paid dividends now that she had control over her own cultivation.

By contrast, Nitza made up for her lack of a unique discipline with enthusiasm. Her fiery temperament came from her mother’s side as she used the Brandle Clan’s water techniques. John was reminded of times long before, when he had just been getting to know Matayal.

John thought that Ereli would be going far, but after a few rounds she ended up fighting against a man from the Shadow Wolf Clan. Quite surprisingly, the young fellow actually defeated her despite her elemental advantage- she was quite competent defending against darkness and could attack with light. However, he defeated her with surprising martial skills, using his war pick with great agility and keeping her locked in close combat where it was difficult for her to safely use her techniques.

After her loss, Ereli looked disappointed… but that was all. She wasn’t the sort to declare vengeance or worry about things long term.

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Nitza managed to continue deeper into the tournament, and was soon facing Soul Expansion Phase cultivators. Though John was confident in her strength, he didn’t expect her to win much. Maybe a match or two further. The difference in a Phase was significant, and each victory theoretically placed her against a stronger opponent.

Her second match in the next stage of the tournament was a disciple of the Third Peak. The Sky Islands had brought no one lower than the Soul Expansion Phase along with them. With a cultivation at the twentieth rank and an elemental advantage- two air totems and one earth versus Nitza’s two water totems- it seemed like a pretty straightforward result.

However, the arena happened to favor Nitza, with small raised platforms surrounded by water at the same level. Or at least, it seemed to favor her, because the elemental advantage still applied.

Lightning was the favored choice of Nitza’s opponent, and the younger cultivator found it difficult to dodge. Even though she managed it several times, the waters were charged with lightning. A downward gust of wind pushed her into the water as she leapt between platforms.

That was expected to be the end, but the formations didn’t activate and John could feel Nitza swimming towards her opponent. Bolt after bolt struck the water, and while it would normally disperse the control of an air cultivator could weave lightning towards its intended target, taking advantage of the conductivity of the water to be even more devastating.

Yet Nitza held herself together, riding a wave out of the waters below. Lightning coursed through a bubble around her as she stabbed her spear into her opponent’s chest, piercing through the earth element supplementing her armor. The gathered lightning of Nitza’s opponent was drawn along her spear, the woman felled by her own power. Perhaps she had relinquished control, expecting the lightning to disperse naturally… but that still would have required great mastery on Nitza’s part to control it.

Then again, it wasn’t like she would be unfamiliar with lightning. The Brandle clan was water cultivators in a land of storms, and except on Pualani itself lighting was an everyday feature.

Whatever the exact reasons, Nitza won the battle with confidence.

The cultivator was from the Third Peak- now controlled by Venera. John looked to see her reaction, and it was about as flabbergasted as he would have expected. She noticed his gaze and he nodded in acknowledgment. It was unfortunate it had to be one of hers that fell, but he hoped it was a proper show of strength.

Nitza continued on to defeat her next opponent, until finally she faced off against a cultivator at the twenty-second rank in the mid Soul Expansion Phase. That was where an earth cultivator from the Viridia Wildlands finally spelled her defeat… though it was only the expected result. It was just that she hadn’t gotten the expected result for her last few matches.

Even after her defeat, however, Nitza celebrated. After all, she’d gone extremely far in the tournament- and she’d surpassed Ereli’s victories by a significant margin. John could see her bragging to her cousin, who seemed to be relatively unaffected by the results. Then again, there might be more John couldn’t see from his position. She wasn’t emotionless… just in tight control of herself due to the habits of her early life.

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The tournament continued over the course of the first week through the Soul Expansion Phase and into the Consolidated Soul Phase. This was the first tournament where they would actually have an Ascending Soul Phase division, limited though it was.

There weren’t any wild upsets from what John saw. Raul made a decent showing, but he wasn’t primarily a fighter. Viriato managed to defeat a cultivator from the First Peak, which made him feel vindicated, since he hadn’t even been given the opportunity previously. He’d lost to one of Sitora’s disciples on the Second Peak, but most of a decade of training could make a significant difference, bringing him into the late Consolidated Soul Phase.

Melanthina fought against Tirto in that phase, with Tirto coming out solidly on top. However, he was defeated by yet another cultivator from the First Peak, at the peak of the Consolidated Soul Phase.

Only for that man to face off against Ursel and be destroyed in the first moments of the match. It was unquestionable which of his children was strongest, and it was unsurprisingly the one who spent every moment of her life training in some fashion instead of dealing with other responsibilities like running a clan or children of her own.

Ursel was the ultimate victor of the Consolidated Soul Phase division, with her standing at the peak of the Phase herself. Her siblings were only a rank behind, but there were other differences to be had as well.

Not that John loved any of his children more or less for their strength. But he did very much enjoy watching them win.

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The final stretch of the tournament began with Renato fighting against one of the elders of the First Peak. Noemi was one of those who had been at the threshold nine years prior, now having stepped into the Ascending Soul Phase. She wielded a bow, shooting an actual cyclone of arrows that followed Renato wherever he went while she flew about overhead.

For his part, Renato took advantage of the light element arena to make her briefly lose track of him. She likely felt the earth element he was preparing, but she clearly expected a grounding technique rather than him rocketing over a dozen meters straight up through her cyclone of attacks and slamming her into the ground with a single swing of his club.

He landed atop her before she could reorient herself, and her defenses simply couldn’t handle the results. She crumpled, the arena’s formations protecting her from taking any significant actual damage. It wasn’t a loss that could really be debated.

John was feeling pretty good about Renato’s chances, though sadly he hadn’t broken through to the mid Ascending Soul Phase. That would have greatly improved his chances at taking down Abritt. Neither she nor Sitora were placed in the first round of the Ascending Soul Phase tournament, given their greater cultivations.