Many individuals participated in the more mundane competitions and those that involved significant spiritual energy. And John would say that most people still participated in the combat portion of the tournament, though he wasn’t actually certain of this year’s numbers. He could get them if he wanted to, but he didn’t have to manage such things himself so he wasn’t already aware of them. He was just estimating from what he saw.

  Some people were clearly nervous in front of the Empire of Elements. It was true that in recent memory they had been at war- at least as far as cultivators were concerned. Anything less than a century felt recent to some- though most of the older generation had fallen behind in terms of cultivation. When the great wave came, they were generally near their limits. Quite a few had advanced into the Consolidated Soul Phase, but rarely had the older generation reached the Ascending Soul Phase.

  It was reasonable for people to be cautious. However, John would not have arranged for Aldara to visit if he did not believe she truly wished for peace. Both would have much preferred they avoid the conflicts between them to begin with, but that simply didn’t happen. But now that they were here, they could move past it. No doubt there were many members of the continental alliance that had lost people, but that was also true in the Empire of Elements. Not counting the purge, even. Aldara had willingly taken a harder hit to her side to reach peace, even if she didn’t strictly have to. It did have its benefits for her personal influence, though they were minor compared to having reached the Exalted Soul Phase.

  Lower ranking cultivators battled first. They were in smaller arenas, blocked off from each other- though those watching from the stands could see most of them. The tournament was so large that it was impossible for everyone to be visible in the main arena, even with the tournament spanning a month.

  They rapidly cut down numbers to get to the more interesting battles. John liked to pay attention to those fighting above their rank- those who were successful enough in their own category to battle those above them. Even if they didn’t win, there was always something to learn, either for them or for their opponents. And when they did win, it was notable. There wasn’t anything as amazing as the upset battle between Ursel and Abritt, with many ranks and a Phase difference, but John noticed a few young talents. And a couple talents that might become young if their cultivation speed could match their combat prowess.

  It was difficult for an older cultivator to catch up, but not entirely impossible. If it was merely a matter of talent- whatever that was- then there wasn’t really any hope. However, some simply didn’t have the necessary circumstances to grow properly. Others fell behind due to outside reasons. Like the Tenebach clan had once done by lowering the cultivation of their older generations. With Ciaritzal restored to full power- and having advanced beyond his previous peak- that was now unnecessary. The spirit beast alone could sacrifice some of himself, and successive generations would repay him with interest.

  -----

  John had personally thought that the Consolidated Soul Phase portion of the tournament would be more engaging. It wasn’t that the current generation was any worse than the last. No, they should have developed at least as well. From the perspective of most, it would have been perfectly fine.

  But he was now an Exalted Soul Phase cultivator, and the gap allowed him to see far more flaws.

  “It’s hard to believe I was ever that sloppy,” John commented. Obviously, those particular words would be secret. No need to disparage those trying hard below.

  Two Phoenix Forest cultivators battled each other. One a pure fire cultivator, the other the most ‘natural’ for their location of mixed earth and fire. Ultimately, neither route was particularly better or worse. It all mattered what suited the cultivator in question.

  “You were,” Aldara said. “We all were. Though perhaps not quite so much at the same phase.”

  He wondered if she would have proclaimed that bit of humility publicly. Not that it really made a difference to him either way. “Hopefully we can guide people a bit better now.”

  “That would be ideal,” Aldara commented. “After all, we still have enemies. Even if you have dealt with the Windswept sea for the moment, it is unlikely to be the end of things.”

  “It makes me want to wipe them out completely,” John said with more honesty than intended. “But I think I would hate myself if I acted in such a manner.” There were situations where he would do that with individual sects or clans. He had done it. The Windswept Sea was more than that. It was an entire elemental region… and a sizable one at that. Not close to the continent in population, but a decent portion of its area for however that counted.

  Aldara gave the tiniest nod that wouldn’t be noticed by anyone not looking carefully. With their eyes, as their spiritual energy would not reach her even if they were so bold as to try. “I appreciate that you still stand by certain convictions. Even if I would not act in precisely the same manner, I understand the desire.”

  Ascending Soul Phase was better. He could still see flaws, but some of those he would have already been able to pick out when he was in the same phase. He’d also devoted more effort to specifically training his own disciples and addressing his new insights.

  Aldara paid special attention to them. They weren’t the strongest in the tournament, having only just reached the Ascending Soul Phase. However, they still stood out because they practiced the core cycle of elements to near perfection.

  “I have heard your disciples came from… humble origins,” Aldara said.

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  “You can just say I picked them up off the streets,” John shrugged. “It’s true. Though nowadays we take better care of our youths.”

  There were plenty of good reasons for that. Aside from the moral points, the city just functioned better if they raised the standard of living for the lowest among them. Plus, John had the feeling that there were a lot of potential cultivators among them. Even picking out a few every once in a while was worth the cost.

  “It does mean we can’t pick out the ones who manage to cultivate almost entirely on their own,” John said. “But I figure actual intentional selection is probably better than hoping to randomly find others like them.”

  Aldara had some thoughts about that time. “I hadn’t expected you to leave behind the clans. Though… it doesn’t appear they have suffered under their current leadership.”

  “How could they have? We raised them well. At least until the point that I fell apart.”

  His collapse wasn’t really public knowledge. His loss of cultivation was, but nowadays most people said he intentionally reset his cultivation to refamiliarize himself with the growth process. It was possible that Aldara would try to take advantage of some perceived weakness, but John wasn’t weak anymore. He’d overcome. And if she did anything like that, he’d be more disappointed in her than in himself.

  “I traveled the world looking for meaning, and I found many different things. People, mostly. I was angry at myself, but I still loved cultivation. It’s always satisfying. But there were also old memories and food.”

  “Food?” Aldara asked. “I don’t recall you being a gourmand. Did I lose more than I thought?”

  “Hmm. I think you had some of the details, but it really wasn’t like that. I can appreciate all good food, but it was something particular. From my past life.” He hadn’t talked with Matayal all that much about his profession as a burger flipper. Or a burger restaurant manager. It had come up, but there was only so much to say. He also hadn’t had the confidence to cook for her. Not because he couldn’t have made a good burger at the time, but because it just didn’t seem like enough.

  Falling apart had helped him see what was important, and it wasn’t the appearance of being fancy. In short, he was kind of the opposite of a gourmand. Or at least not one of the snobby kind.

  -----

  Ursel was fighting against a man named Venkat. He recalled Venkat from prior tournaments, but not for his combat prowess. He’d been one of the winners of the full spiritual energy ‘shot put’. It was a far cry from the version that relied fully on the body, as he’d created an explosion of steam that propelled the target- but it had worked according to the rules, an impressive result. That made him memorable, but in a limited scenario.

  It was far different to fight. And even more so to fight Ursel. She didn’t give the man a moment to prepare anything, attacking immediately upon the start of the battle. That wasn’t particularly different from her normal, though. She launched herself forward by springing off of an angled pillar of rock. Her brilliant new jade club swung down, its impact force far wider than the weapon itself.

  That could have been it. Usually it would have been. However, Venkat launched himself out of the way, though he took a grazing blow to his shoulder on the way out. That could have been the end, because there was only so much damage that the arena formations would accept before it had to block an attack. Technically, people could survive with an arm cut off- but that wasn’t an acceptable result. There wasn’t much difference between that and a dislocated shoulder as far as the arena blocking attacks went, so it erred on the side of people keeping all their limbs. The same was true when things were manually controlled, as tended to be more the case in higher brackets.

  Ursel tried to immediately follow up, but Venkat kicked out behind him, pushing them apart with a gout of steam. Ursel barely slowed, but that just let him accelerate faster.

  Despite how she looked, Ursel was fast and had great stamina. Running away from her wasn’t a winning move. But Venkat seemed prepared. As he ran along, patches of ice formed- an unusual feature for cultivators from the Boiling Springs. Ursel stomped through them, ignoring their potential threat by simply shattering the ice.

  That worked a handful of times… until she ran into the one with superheated steam built up beneath it. Ursel actually went flying into the sky. John was certain she would have even with her previous slightly heavier armor. He had actually noticed Venkat building up quite a lot of pressure beneath the ground, his movements not actually as frantic as they appeared.

  With Ursel in the air, Venkat used his good arm to strike forward, carrying even more steam in a concentrated burst. Ursel tried to bat it away, but he was ready for that as well. The steam instantly condensed around her club, forming ice. A blob about a meter across formed in an instant, sealing Ursel’s hand to her club.

  Obviously she still swung it at Venkat as she fell towards the ground. But he was prepared, overcoming her hold over the ice and knocking it back towards her body. The club did graze his other hip- once again close to a ‘death blow’ even from brief contact. The man was tough for that to not be the end.

  Venkat didn’t slow down as Ursel was momentarily surrounded by ice. He moved in closer, standing right in front of her. Her wrist flicked to try to smack him with the club even though her arms were locked in unbreakable ice. He didn’t let that deter him, instead focusing on his task, which appeared to be shoving more steam inside the shell of ice, while also reinforcing it.

  After all, unbreakable ice wouldn’t last long against Ursel.

  John was impressed at how well Venkat manipulated temperature and water. A perfect show of fire supporting water. He could have tried pure fire, which would have theoretically been Ursel’s weakness, but his combination worked better.

  Ursel continued to freeze over, enough that she couldn’t move her body. Nor could she manage to do anything with her Roots Cracking Boulders as Venkat allowed the pressure to simply widen his ball of ice, filling in the gaps. Finally, the match was called. It might have been possible for her to come back, but if things progressed any further he also might freeze important parts of her solid.

  Once the formations were active, Venkat stepped back. Without his energy solidifying things, Ursel shattered the ice in an instant. John couldn’t see her face, but he expected it to be a certain kind of determined.

  “You may have won this time, but don’t expect it to work twice.”

  Venkat just grinned, then collapsed onto his butt. “I wasn’t even sure it would work once.” The man was so exhausted he would likely have to drop out of the next round. There was no way he would be recovered to a functional state even in a day. But he looked happy, and John wouldn’t blame him. Ursel was one of the biggest targets to overcome in a fight. He likely trained specifically to overcome her.