Truthful Transmigration

Chapter 542 542

Though some days it felt like the entire weight of the continent was carried on John's shoulders, it was never true. Even on the days that the latest deaths were most burdensome, he had many wonderful friends and allies. But he didn't always feel it.

He had a short opportunity for rest as he waited for fleets to cycle out. The people of the continental alliance could defend themselves well enough against the remaining forces, either those who were extraordinarily slow to receive messages or fanatics that still believed in the 'cause' of the Sovereign Primacy even without its leaders. Not that they had much of a cause aside from spreading their dominion to the whole world. They didn't even have consistent morality or social structures.

During a time of rest, John might have simply remained in the core of the Six Elements Crossroads. Perhaps he would go train in the hidden valley with its denser spiritual energy. But he did neither of those things. Sometimes, he just had to go with where his heart led him. In this case, it was visiting old sites of the Triptych's attacks.

A bit morbid, perhaps, but John found it encouraging. He could see the way people were already rebuilding. He started in the Frozen Heights. The attack there honestly hadn't been particularly serious. The total population of the region was in the tens of thousands at best, entirely cultivators. The Triptych hadn't even bothered to delve deeply enough into the territory to find a sect- they just blasted the side out of a mountain.

Some of the mountain had collapsed, but much of it had settled into a bowl. Melted ice and snow quickly refroze into a massive lake filled with a slurry of stone at the bottom. John wasn't sure who, but someone had taken it upon themselves to rebuild the side of the mountain out of ice. Their progress was significant, though John wondered if they intended to replace the collapsed peak or not. He supposed he would see eventually.

Urdcliffe had been more or less annihilated, but the Muted Crags hadn't given up on the remains. A new city was being built in the crater, atop the rubble of the old city- or carved out of it. It was a very human thing to do. The port associated with it was far less functional than before, but large stone docks had been raised out of the water by earth cultivators that came into the region. In other times, the docks would probably be teeming with traders- but at the moment most vessels were styled for war, with about half of them being out to sea on patrols at any moment.

Attacks on the Boiling Springs had cracked apart large portions of their terrain, with the Triptych even causing an eruption that shook most of the region. Now the entire area was closer to one large lake. Individual sects and clans just settled down in more or less the same position as before. The area's spiritual energy seemed to have been dispersed, but it was still present. Just slightly less dense. John saw a few cultivators on boats, drifting around presumably to maximize the area they covered. Resilient.

In the Shining Coast, Lunar Island had the unfortunate position of being both powerful and prominently placed on the outer coast. It took the brunt of the damage in Moonport. Indeed, they had sheltered the rest of the area with the strength of their sect. Their tower was devastated and a majority of their members had perished… but John could already see new construction. Based on the footprint… they were planning to build back bigger. He doubted they would have the resources on their own, but it seemed others in the Shining Coast were contributing to the project.

There had been a number of attacks on the long coastline of the Viridia Wildlands, and the Triptych had even struck inland a few times. The plains had suffered great fires that refused to burn out in the rains, yet now that some time had passed John couldn't actually pick out where most of the attacks had taken place. The rapid growth of the plants quickly replaced anything, though if John truly wanted to find the effects he would look for what happened to human structures.

Several of the larger symbols of the region were still intact, though mainly through virtue of them being further inland. Great Ring City was wholly intact, and the Indestructible Kapok Grove hadn't suffered attacks to their core sect despite having relatively light defenses- their cultivators had been lent out to the rest of the continent.

The Emerging Bamboo Sect had taken a hit, though. It was in the traditional way that the Triptych preferred- a large explosion intended to cause maximum devastation. It was there that the clearest line was revealed. There hadn't really been a battle, and the area where the attack had been launched was entirely scoured of the sect's giant bamboo. Even now, the canes were far smaller than they had been.

All except for one slice of the sect. By coincidence, that included much of the old sect. However, even most of the mighty canes would have fallen. But there was one that stood strong, despite being burnt half through.

John was still going to claim it was his. Either way, it was the one he had fed some spiritual energy on his last visit. It might have made all the difference. It would have been relatively easy to attack around it, if their foes had anticipated its sturdiness. As it was, many people had been able to take shelter on the far side of the attacks- even if they hadn't been counting on that bamboo cane in particular.

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Given a decade, John suspected that the terrain would be difficult to distinguish from before. It would grow back rapidly, the ashes of the old forest serving as fuel for new growth. That was the way of the Viridia Wildlands, though usually fire wasn't part of their local elements.

The Shimmering Islands had been attacked numerous times. If their defenses had been broken through, much of the interior of the continent would have opened up to the Sovereign Primacy. But they stood strong. Hundreds of ships lined the bottom of the sea floor, turning into something resembling a barrier reef winding back and forth near the entrance to the wider sea.

John heard rumors that some forces had tried to infiltrate the continent through the Soulrot Bog, but it was only rumors. Nobody there could confirm anyone showed up- not that they had much population to begin with. John would have been surprised if they numbered a thousand. Regardless, if anyone had tried to pass through it appeared that they didn't make it. John thought that it was fairly manageable, but if he hadn't been with a guide the insects might have gotten to him even though spiritual energy defenses.

The Deadfields… had suffered attacks on the few ports they had. They were really only valuable as stopover locations. The Prism Underfields did trade with others through those ports, but they hadn't even merited attacks by the Triptych. A bit of work would pull things together.

The Sky Islands were safe. Attacking them without specially trained forces would be a logistical nightmare, and the Triptych couldn't reach them from the sea. Most likely they would have blown up an island or two just to make an impression, if they had continued to remain active. John would argue that it was different from what he did to a single island because of a particularized grudge. Either way, with sufficient effort they were replaceable now.

The Wuthering Steppes had been shielded from greater damages due to the Sky Islands presence, though there probably wasn't a single stretch of coastline that hadn't suffered some threat from the Sovereign Primacy. Many attacks had come from the Windswept Sea, with the sects there having grudges against the continent. Though at least in this generation, the Windswept Sea had been the first aggressors.

The Glass Hills… honestly, any damage to their land was difficult to discern. John heard that a huge area had been blasted to smithereens. Now, he couldn't tell it apart from any other section of land with how much lightning had struck the area afterwards, reshaping the land according to the normal effects of the region. Perhaps the glass beneath layers of sand was a bit more uniform?

The Gloom previously wouldn't have been a strong enough region to defend against the quantity of attacks that hit it, even with the aid of neighboring regions. However, ever since the light and earth elements had been unsealed the area was much stronger. Even if it was somewhat more difficult for dark cultivators to train, the quality of their training was superior and the total availability of spiritual energy was much greater.

Their various ports had been the target of many attacks, but they hadn't simply accepted defeat. The Triptych had caused significant damage to a few locations, but they had still needed to retreat shortly afterwards.

So much destruction. But the Triptych couldn't cause any more damage. They were dead and gone. Though John knew that wasn't necessarily a permanent thing, he wasn't worried about someone beginning to cultivate over a century behind him when he was already in the highest rank the planet had ever seen.

Especially not since he was certain he was making progress. If he were to fight the Triptych again now, as they were before? He wasn't willing to say it would be easy, but if Aldara had growth even close to resembling his they wouldn't have had to make so many sacrifices.

If he'd had his current strength earlier, the war wouldn't have lasted as long. It wouldn't still be going on. But of course, changing the past was something not even the strongest cultivators could do.

Even if they could, somehow, John was sure that people would simply screw it up. Nobody should have that much power. John was certain that nobody deserved the power and responsibility of an Exalted Soul Phase cultivator. Probably not even a Phase or two below that. It was just too much. And it was far worse when that power was misused.

But, John already had this power. And perhaps it was an excuse, but he really couldn't just let wicked people do as they pleased when he could do something about it. And regardless of what else they were, the Triptych had been a problem. They united most of the world… but not through ideals or diplomacy. Instead, they used mostly force. John was going to have to use some of that to settle things, but he very much wanted to lean towards diplomacy where possible.

Everything he said and did had the threat of a powerful cultivator behind it, and he couldn't avoid that, but at least he could try.

As for uniting the planet… he wasn't sure if that was what he actually wanted to do or if it was right. Neither he nor Aldara needed to rule the planet, and it would be… really terrible with the current level of communication. Communication… that was what was needed. From what John remembered of Earth, all of the attempts to create worldwide political connections had been less successful than hoped- often lacking in true power- but that didn't mean it wasn't worth the attempt.

Could John do better? Not on his own. But if he could get everyone sensible he knew on board, and the ones they knew, surely they could manage something. That was better than sending fleets and armies to devastate their foes.

Though knowing people, there was still going to be a lot of conflict along the way. And a vaguely peaceful resolution was going to take a long time to pull off correctly. But… what else was John going to be doing with his time anyway? He just needed to make sure others agreed his path made sense.