Though he understood that casualties were inevitable, especially for inexperienced cultivators, John didn’t have to be willing to accept each and every one. Even though none of his favored disciples perished, that didn’t make things more acceptable. If everyone had been stronger, John included, they might have kept their lives.

That didn’t mean John regretted his decision to join Firepine Palace in pushing back these cultivators. He had brought along only those he deemed ready for combat, and they hadn’t faced foes that were unacceptably powerful either. Coming away with his forces unscathed would have been an exception, rather than the norm.

Still, he could learn from this and hopefully do better in the future. And the disciples of the Six Elements Crossroads, of course. They could grow from this.

John consulted with Helen of the Firepine Palace and Presley, the representative of the Golden Tomb Guardians. “What should our next move be? We’ve driven away this group, but there might be more in the area. Alternatively, we can track them down and try to catch them off guard. Though they might notice us pursuing them and set another ambush in a location we’re less equipped to handle.”

“Is there somewhere like that?” Helen asked. “With the variety of disciples you have, it seems we are equipped to handle every situation.”

John shrugged. “There’s only one way to find out. Which is to stumble into such a situation and determine that some training is lacking. And I’d prefer not to find out that way.”

“I do think we should pursue them,” Presley said. His eyes sparkled as he spoke. “They are outside of their territory here, which makes this the best chance to take them down.”

“Except for our wounded,” Helen added. “Those who escaped are in relative health, but we were able to stabilize ours as the victor. They will either slow us down, or we risk their lives sending them back alone.”

“I see,” Presley nodded. “We are also outside of safe territory. Then it would be better to return to a safe zone. There are others to deal with as well.”

John considered following after them, but none of the disciples were stealthy enough to give the task. He could go himself but… then he would be leaving them all behind. He was quite confident in his ability to not get spotted by the enemy- or to escape if he was- but it would be irresponsible to leave this group behind. He could leave his disciples under the care of Deirdre or Charlotte, but neither Helen nor Presley were strong or experienced enough for him to be comfortable.

“Then we will return,” John said. “With a victory, spoils of war, and more importantly some information. These people bear the insignia of the Darkrock Clan in the Muted Crags, which provides another point of information on exactly who is involved.” It seemed a bit of a stretch to assume that all of the Muted Crags would work together. Even during the intrusion of the Sky Islands and the Molten Sea it took concerted effort to get a sizable portion of those around to act.

-----

Just because they were retracing their steps didn’t mean they could be careless. There could be other groups roaming around that might have picked up their trail, intending to drive them away. There wasn’t much danger from local beasts, mainly because of their numbers, but it was possible someone would disturb a venomous snake in some scrub brush.

At least they didn’t have to worry about supplies. They had brought plenty of rations with them, and they were able to sustain their stores of water rather easily. Despite being sandy, the Rolling Dunes still had sufficient water for cultivators to extract from the ground with little effort, if they didn’t come across any pools or occasional streams. Indeed, the majority of the water was underground, since the sandy soil allowed the water to sink easily beneath the surface.

Finding good places to camp took some work. With the lack of taller foliage, hiding themselves from view meant placing their camp in shallow dips in the dunes- enough to conceal them without placing them in a terribly advantageous position. Their night watchers could look over the surrounding dunes without being too obvious.

John’s steps carried him across the sand, yet he left no traces. Instead, with each step he solidified the ground slightly, connecting the grains. It was perhaps a useless exercise given that the majority of their traversal would be obvious, despite the efforts of their earth cultivators to smooth things out. They were still inexperienced, so even if they made the sands perfectly smooth they would either be too perfect, or the lingering spiritual energy would leave a trail of its own.

Darkness wasn’t a problem for John. It hadn’t been since he came to this world, except for a short time when his cultivation had been low, before he’d received Ciaritzal’s blessing. In the three decades since then, he’d spent more time as himself with such abilities than he had spent on Earth. Counting Fortkran’s memories it was even more.

He didn’t see anything except gently rolling dunes, sands shifting slightly where they were not held in place by the roots of various plants. No enemies tonight, either.

Crunching sand drew his attention towards the camp. “You need to sleep,” Presley said.

“The cycle of elements fills me with vigor,” John said. “Besides, who will replace me? You? I imagine a light cultivator might only make us more obvious.”

Presley tapped the side of his head, right next to his eye. John saw something. His eyes almost reflected light like a cat’s- but not quite that. Either way, they were brighter than the surroundings. “I don’t have to create external light. Instead, I can amplify what there already is as it enters my eyes. Much more subtle. It may not be an automatic process like your sight, but it works well enough.”

John nodded. “You can take over this side, then. I’ll get some rest.”

The last part was basically a lie. It was true that it matched John’s intentions, but he also knew he would by lying awake. Responsibility over others made things like that sometimes. And here they were, somewhere unsafe- and not in their best state. He had fewer worries on their way out, because everyone was healthy… and they hadn’t experienced casualties yet. He knew it would happen, but it was easier to ignore as a mere future event.

He might not actually sleep, but meditating properly in a relaxed position with his eyes closed was restful. Five elements working together in harmony… and tiny fragments of a sixth being woven into the greater whole, a little bit at a time. Controlling light was difficult, as not only was it the antithesis of darkness, the core of his cultivation, but also the last piece of the puzzle.

One would assume fitting the last piece in with only one place for it to go would be simple, but life wasn’t a simple two dimensional puzzle. It was much more complex, and rather than being a single piece it was more like filling in the last sixth of a puzzle, except the pieces were magnetic. Everything he did pushed or pulled on other pieces. He’d achieved a fairly stable balance as things were, but maybe the configuration wasn’t even correct for adding light. He’d barely managed fire, and nearly died for the effort. He was still recovering from that.

Eventually the morning light came, and ironically enough brought an end to his efforts to control the light. Even that much was more than he was comfortable controlling for a long time.

-----

Returning all the way into the Phoenix Forest and the Firepine Palace’s sect grounds would have been a long and impractical journey. Instead, they had a camp within the borders of the Rolling Dunes where they could coordinate actions. It was unfortunate that there weren’t many ways to communicate from a distance, but that was the way the world was. Many countries were gaining infrastructure that would allow for rapid long distance communication, the techniques originated by the Sunfields, but that wasn’t the case with the Rolling Dunes. Even if they had it, the communications might not be secure enough to use during a war.

Upon returning, John found the fortifications rather… lacking. Or should he say nonexistent. While he was usually for leaving natural environments as they were, this place was of little use defensively. In fact, the only thing it had going for it was the quantity of cultivators present.

After entering the camp, he found Deirdre had returned ahead of him. Charlotte, meanwhile, was out on a patrol. She was expected back in a few days, and so John could wait to consult her while letting people rest and recover from wounds. Some might need to remain behind longer term, depending on how their healing went in the next few days.

“How did your patrol go?” John asked Deirdre.

She shrugged. “It was simple enough. We ran into an enemy group, but without any Consolidated Soul Phase cultivators they weren’t much of a threat.”

“Same thing for us,” John said. “Thanks for the disciples, by the way. We really needed more people with decent cultivations.”

“For founding a new sect, I’m fairly impressed with your progress already. Speaking of which, how are you personally?”

“Much more confident,” John said. “As you can see my cultivation is recovering well.”

“Only if I’m actively looking. Otherwise you feel… lacking?” Deirdre frowned. “I’m not quite certain that is the right word to use, but you don’t exactly feel weak but more like you’re not there at all. Or if you are, you’re missing something. I would assume that it’s the light element, but I usually don’t feel the absence of just one element.”

John nodded. “I suppose that makes sense. Speaking of which, I’d like your help with personal training. I know it’s quite a while before I have to bond to a light totem, but I’d rather get used to working with the element as soon as possible. Might as well start when I’m like this. It might even be necessary, since if I was stronger I might quash the light element if I tried to draw it in.”

“Oh? The teachers I sent to the Crossroads not good enough for you?” Deirdre grinned.

“You know you’re better. And while they’re quite capable of teaching new cultivators, they couldn’t really help me with my particular issues. I’m quite certain starting from a blank slate I could control light just fine. But I have some difficulties like this.”

Deirdre nodded. “I get it. I’ll gladly provide some time for you. And maybe I’ll even learn something myself, since I’ve mainly been training with those who have my same perspective. Both the Combining Luster Sect, when we get them up to us, and Cuah’arn herself, are also pure light cultivators. So no matter how valuable they are to our growth, there’s a limit to the sorts of things they can help with.”

“Well, if I have any insights I’ll let you know. But right now I’m mainly working on not exploding myself. I have consulted with Viriato who was one of the most reckless cultivators I know- went straight for light and darkness. I think… he might be a genius who doesn’t really care about cultivation all that much. I’d say it was a shame, but he’s quite good at managing business ventures so it’s not like he’s doing nothing. I’d rather have him than a dozen others who can only fight.”

“Interesting. Do you think you’ll be up for training while we’re here?”

“Absolutely,” John said. “Obviously we can’t do too much, since we have to stay ready for action, but it would be a great time to test things in a practical setting. What’s the best way to disrupt a darkness cultivator with just a tiny amount of light?”

“You don’t already know?” Deidre raised an eyebrow. “Or are you just trying to get me to give up all of my secrets?”

“Yes,” John said, answering both questions at once in the most unhelpful manner.