Truthful Transmigration

Chapter 551 551

Throughout the course of time, John and his company continued to approach various regional powers, with varying results. Sometimes there was peace. A vaguely positive reception was an extreme rarity, because nobody wanted to replace their old conquerors with new. Even if their control was less burdensome, the effects wouldn't be clear for some time. That said, there were a very few areas that seemed to sigh with relief, having been among those most forcibly conquered by the Triptych. The Telenia Floodplains were teeming with rivers, full of life and vibrant spiritual energy, but they barely had the cultivators to show for it.

In many cases, seafaring vessels couldn't navigate river passages either because their draft was too deep or because they were too long to take tighter twists and turns. However, that depended on how far away from the coast one navigated, and of course on the actual river. Even ignoring the special capabilities of cultivators, some rivers were simply exceptionally large- rare was a vessel that wouldn't be able to sail into something akin to the size of the Mississippi. Or any of the other great rivers of Earth. John hadn't seen any of them in person, but once you got to a few hundred meters you could traverse quite a long section of river.

In the current region, they could travel for days even up seemingly random tributaries, bringing themselves within a short distance of all the most notable groups before they had to disembark- if for some reason their ship couldn't simply reach their local docks.

John had to admit that despite his long experience in the Shimmering Islands, even navigating a wide river had different challenges to it. Fortunately, all such challenges could be overcome by a significant application of spiritual energy.

There were tricks to moving against a constant current, but John already learned those at the time he had swum up a waterfall with Matayal. It was where sudden changes hit that a ship was most at risk, quite different from simply running into a massive wave. If necessary, though, John or a number of the others could have lifted the whole ship out of the river- and it wasn't so flimsy that it would fall apart from a few scrapes and bumps.

They did have to avoid the teeth of chewing beasts, though. They could wear down the enchantments eventually, and then they'd have to get actual repairs. That was a more difficult process for properly enchanted materials, if they were beyond what they could recover on their own.

Rukiye was usually left with the job of killing the beasts. She was low enough in cultivation that it was an actual challenge for her in some cases, but she was quite at home in the water so she wasn't at a disadvantage. With her current growth she might soon reach the Soul Expansion Phase in which case few creatures in the Telenia Floodplains could match her… but that wasn't the normal state of things.

John heard rumors from the locals that they had once had great beasts equivalent to the Ascending Soul Phase roaming their rivers. A few were dangerous to the locals, but the rest were treated akin to shared guardians. The Triptych had removed them all indiscriminately when the region resisted their rule, as well as most of their stronger cultivators.

It was likely that the beasts would surge in strength before cultivators could properly match them, but the locals were aware of that and had their own plans. John would just have to trust them, because unless they made official requests for long term aid he had no intention to leave anyone behind. They were quite far from secure territory, regardless of the path of official treaties they had behind them.

Looking back, John decided things could have been going worse. After all, he was perhaps a quarter done with his cut of the globe. It had been well over a year, but the initial phase should take less than a decade, even with some complications.

It wouldn't be likely to result in world peace right away, but it would be the first step. If nothing else, John expected people to bide their time and build their forces before they made their own bids for power. They might expect him to ignore local takeovers… and John had to admit that was a distinct possibility.

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Rukiye spent a lot of time looking over the side of the ship. Then again, there wasn't exactly anywhere else to look. John's teachings didn't come in convenient scrolls- though he happily gave her any technique manuals that she expressed interest in. Plus advice on whether or not it was actually wise to practice them at the moment. She only had so much time and energy to devote to things. She needed to keep up with her main cultivation growth and advanced body tempering. Trying to learn every single technique would be a waste.

Especially since solidified techniques were only necessary below a certain level. John personally preferred the flexibility he had to do anything he could imagine- though achieving that level of flexibility shouldn't be expected of anyone in an early cultivation phase.

"How do you like it here?" John asked. "It's lacking earth, but the waters are pure."

Rukiye turned at the sound of his voice. "That's the weird part. I'm used to waters being dark and murky. Like home, or the deep sea."

John shrugged. "I suppose so. Still, it's nice, isn't it?"

"Easy to spot dangers," she commented. "But… the water isn't really pure, is it?" Rukiye asked. "You wouldn't drink it, would you?"

"I could," John said, "But no, it's probably better not to. Too many things live in it… small traces of less pleasant things will remain even with various plants and animals helping purify it. Overall, though, I think this area is pretty close. If you want pure water, you can practice separating it yourself." John held out a hand, pulling up a glob of water. "Bam, one hundred percent pure water."

Rukiye leaned close to it, peering through. "How would I tell?"

"Well, if you see anything else you'll know it's not."

One hundred percent was a bit much. John was good, but he couldn't say he didn't grab a few molecules he didn't intend to. His normal vision of water wasn't pure to begin with. His totems connected to living water with everything in it. Even so, filtering out microbes was easy enough. Once particulate matter got below a certain size John wouldn't be able to do much, though.

Still, John suspected he was close to the highest purity water ever achieved on Earth, which was to say extremely boring but useful. Yet beyond a certain purity it also lost some of the properties commonly associated with water.

"Hmm," Rukiye responded noncommittally. "I have plenty of training to do. Actually, I was hoping I might take a break in the next settlement."

"Sure," John said. "Don't do anything stupid."

Though John hoped she would take some time to interact with children her own age- or at least early cultivation disciples that would generally be a few years older- she rarely did. It was a difficult issue, because John wasn't going to pick up a whole group of youths to try to make Rukiye more well adjusted- partially since it would likely just make things harder for all of them- but she really did need something normal. Whatever that was in a world with cultivators.

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There was a problem with people which was that quite frequently even if they knew what was wise, they wouldn't do it. Certainly, some people tended towards wisdom more often than not, but nobody was inerrant. Young people both were less well informed and had less experience regarding everything, but even so they could frequently explain why what they did was wrong when they did it. Or before. It didn't stop them. Then again, it didn't stop old geezers from blowing up cities either. Some people just decided they knew better.

The point was, Rukiye more or less immediately did something stupid. Maybe it was John's fault. He could have listened to Renato's advice and tried to discourage her from attempting poisons somehow. On the other hand, he really enjoyed seeing her miffed reaction when he ate something and smiled.

She also hadn't broken the rules about harming others… which did sometimes make it quite obvious even without his senses. Rukiye was very careful to make sure nobody else would consume anything poisoned except John. That involved a lot of carefully guarding individual parts of dishes when she made her food available to more than just one or two. Occasionally, she cooked for their whole company- though more often just for a dozen or so people she had come to know the best throughout their time together.

This time, she was buying some poison from shady dealers. There were quite a lot of legitimate uses for poisons in a cultivator's life. While some might call it cowardly to defeat wild beasts with poison, they weren't usually the ones that needed to defend their family or lands. Obviously there were other reasons not to use poison. If hunting you had to have a type that would break down in cooking or some other way to avoid exposure. Certain poisons could have negligible impact on other materials like furs or bone, but others would ruin them.

Shady poison dealers were more for poisons meant for cultivators. John was a cultivator, so that was all normal up to that point. He just wished that Rukiye had realized how much the dealers were hiding their cultivation. Their technique was decent, but they weren't expecting to try to fool him so they had a few flaws that revealed one early Ascending Soul Phase cultivator- wildly outside of the current state of the region. They were water cultivators, but the rivers they frequented should be a thousand kilometers away.

"Boil this one as a tea," said the woman leading the small group. "It has a pleasant aroma, but it will numb the senses. Enough to conceal the taste of this secondary poison, filled with sufficient potency to bring down even the largest forest predator."

Personally, John thought that should have been enough to give things away. Were there local forests? Absolutely. A region with so much water wouldn't be without… but other flora tended to dominate in many places. But of course, Rukiye wasn't focused on those details at the time.

"... how strong?" Rukiye asked. "Would it affect something with a body equivalent to the late Soul Expansion Phase?"

"Hmm," the woman stroked her chin. "It might suffice. Certainly, such a creature would be weakened."

John had some doubts. Not about the potency of the poison, but because dose was particularly important. And nobody even asked about that. Rukiye knew how much she would need- which was only a small amount of any one thing. However, for a particularly fierce forest predator, she might need kilograms to make them feel anything.

Unless the poison was that extreme. Certainly, there were a few that existed. John didn't believe he was familiar with what was on offer, though he was keeping his observation mostly passive at the moment, to avoid tipping off the woman. It would be troublesome if she tried to move against Rukiye.

"I'll need a few doses," Rukiye commented. The next flaw was when negotiating for her price. She had some money to spend on her own desires- John provided all necessary cultivation resources, but sometimes she wanted something extra or things for relaxation. Materials for food didn't cost anything relevant by cultivator standards, but she did buy poisons. This one was too cheap, if it was supposed to kill him.

Then again, if it was supposed to kill him, then they were lying about the potency- or mistaken about his capabilities. Similarly, they probably didn't care about the price.

The deal concluded with Rukiye walking away with two small leather pouches. One full of dried leaves, another a powder.

John kept track of the situation for a few days before Rukiye finally decided to try something with her new acquisitions.

"... Is that too much?" she muttered as she measured out some of the 'tea leaves'. "I don't want to…" she trailed off, leaving John to speculate at the rest. Then she looked stubbornly at the food she had just finished preparing. "Does tea make sense with this? Master always says that the drink doesn't matter, but it feels like he has something in mind…"

Rukiye had just created some version of a cheeseburger. Obviously the locals didn't have perfectly sized buns, but she was able to improvise. It wasn't about being exact, anyway, it was about the spirit of the project. It might be closer to a hot ground meat sandwich with cheese than the real deal, but the world didn't have perfect access to ingredients everywhere so it would have to do.

Despite her efforts, Rukiye would never figure out the perfect drink to pair with a cheeseburger. John didn't plan to invent soda. He didn't need to be responsible for such a health hazard. His desire for sodas was only nostalgia at this point anyway.

Rukiye carefully lifted one bun- the cheese had already begun to melt and was sticking. She tried to measure powder with her other hand, but the tiny measuring spoon she was using caught on the edge of the pouch. That… wasn't something that would happen. Cultivators could be clumsy, but focused cultivators?

She was lucky John was watching, because some of the powder drifted towards her- small invisible particles. No, John could barely detect them with his spiritual energy. He wouldn't have noticed them at all if he hadn't been familiar with similar things. He couldn't tell if this was actually a similar poison to what he had encountered before, but at least some properties stuck.

John was in the ship's kitchens within the second. He tried to blow away the powder directly with spiritual energy, but it reacted strangely. In a snap decision, he simply grabbed Rukiye around the waist and dashed out of the room, shutting the door behind him as he tried to cushion the pouch falling to the floor.

"Wha…" Rukiye tilted her head. "Oh, master John. I was just… cooking…"

Then she twitched, muscles spasming up her arm and her jaw clenching. Her eyes were full of panic, but she couldn't speak.

"Everyone!" John called. "Disembark vessel immediately!"

Rukiye didn't get a choice about him inspecting her hand and arm, though she was more than a little bit 'numb'. No, the boil on the 'tea leaves' had barely started and she was close enough to being fully incapacitated.

As John dunked Rukiye into the river just to wash away any particles he could, he tried to figure out what was happening in her arm and on the ship. He decided that flash-freezing the galley would have to do. That was the best way to contain it, and he really filled the room floor-to-ceiling with ice, pumping in pure-ish river water to make sure there was a permanent material.

Most likely… he hadn't been the only target. Or rather, perhaps the assassins believed the best way to take him out was to bring down the entire ship with him. They wouldn't be wrong. Whatever they had… the potency had been far understated. Perhaps a combined reaction of the two poisons, but either one might have been sufficient. If he'd been in the room as Rukiye was preparing, breathing in just a little, would he be thinking clearly now?

He did have advanced body tempering, but that could only go so far. Rukiye only inhaled a tiny bit of steam, and barely had a few grains of the second poison touch her skin. Yet currently, her body couldn't move and her spiritual energy wasn't doing much to fight back. Which was why John was trying to figure out how to respond for her. So much seemed to be happening at once, but it had only been a few seconds.