The Fire troops lined up for a coordinated push into the Water nation. For the last hour, since they had connected to the new island, they had been at war. The Lord demanded that they go forth and seize the land, and so they obeyed.

  The lands on both sides were similar, with large canyons channeling the troops along a large number of distinct corridors. That is what had caused the battle to go on for so long, each side knew their tunnels and corridors well. Every time one side managed to enter the other’s territory they were quickly overwhelmed by a seemingly endless supply of troops. Yet the Lords of both sides sent only a small percentage of their forces out to fight, keeping most in reserves, most likely scouting the enemy and only committing when they found a serious weakness to exploit.

  When the Fire Lord saw an opportunity, he signaled them, and the Fire troops charged. They hit a bit of token resistance, but quickly managed to make a push deep into enemy territory. A few minutes later they approached the Water Stronghold. Now they merely needed to gather their forces near it for the final push, and they would be able to assault the fort. Win or Lose, they battle would be glorious.

  When they almost had enough troops to assault the castle, the troops received a message. The Lord had just burned through the war funding and a ceasefire had been called. All troops were to retreat immediately, lest they be trapped here when the Lord undocked from this island.

  And thus the Water nation won the war just before their greatest fort came under siege.

  I opened my eyes and sighed, a look of embarrassment on my face. “What?” I asked myself.

  Liza opened her eyes. “That was...different.” she said.

  “I don’t know what happened.” I said. “That’s never happened before.”

  Liza grabbed my face and kissed me. “It’s fine. I was barely holding myself back too.”

  “Yeah, but I thought I’d at least finish storming the castle. To end the battle like that is just...disappointing.”

  She kissed me again and rolled off of me. “It’s 13:00. How about we go get something to eat, then meditate on what we learned from the battle and refill our qi and go for another round.”

  I sighed and nodded. “Yeah, we can do that.” I climbed out of bed and got dressed. Randy had given me the PDFs of all of the techniques he got in the other world, and when I found the Dual Cultivation Manual, a technique Liza had joked about in the past, I knew I had to try it. After we had both read it we decided to try it the next time we had the same day off from work. While the movie ended anti-climatically, the rest of it had been a masterpiece.

  We ordered a delivery pizza so that we didn’t have to get ready and then started meditating. There was a lot to unpack from the battle.

  ---

  One week Earlier:

  Randy loaded the last of the goods into the SUV and closed the back. Last night, after yet another amazing experience with White Summer Fox, he had left her a spirit stone, even though she said she wouldn’t charge him, and went to a technique shop that was open late. There he had spent his 91 remaining spirit stones on 90 new technique manuals, getting a variety of techniques from basic qi gathering and cultivation techniques to weapon techniques, and a few more utility techniques of each element. Each book had cost him one stone, except for a metal sword technique that he had found and decided to buy to improve his technique. He didn’t bother negotiating, and simply paid for everything and loaded them into one of the seven magic bags he was carrying. He would sort them by element later.

  All of the books at that particular shop were of what the locals called the Orthodox path. These were techniques from paths with a long history such as the five elements, the five derived element which came from them, namely Ice, Life, Plasma, Crystal, and Gold, as well as a few hybrids like Mud and Lava. Then there were the few religious techniques, all of which were derived from a branch of Buddhism. These were the types of techniques that the vast majority of cultivators studied due to their long history and proven track record. Randy had only bought a few books of the derived elements, and only one book on basic Buddhist techniques, to give to Dr. Lee and Dr. Shmidt. Most of the others were too expensive, costing more than one stone each. The next time he came here, however, he would buy more specialized texts.

  After handing the Buddhist text to Dr. Lee and a Stone Spear technique to Dr. Clement, so they had something to read on the drive back, he got in the back seat and pulled out the Metal sword technique he had bought. Thankfully, cultivators rarely got car sick, and if they did there were several Cleansing level techniques for dealing with the symptoms.

  They left a minute later and set off for the base. Thankfully they didn’t run into any trouble on the way back, and only saw a few demon beasts, so they arrived in the late afternoon. When they got to the base they noticed that it was much busier then before. There were large trucks being loaded with the massive spirit trees that grew in the area and many locals using chainsaws. Some company had brought in a piece of massive tree harvesting equipment and was cutting the logs into ten meter lengths before loading six or seven on the back of a truck, then sending it through the gate. Randy knew spirit wood was expensive on Earth, but hadn’t realized it would be worth sending back.

  There was also a group with eight SUVs but only sixteen people. They had likely found a buyer who wanted to purchase the cars, though with the price of metal as high as it was, Randy wasn’t sure the car would remain intact.

  Many of the locals were working around the area and the houses which had been built outside of town now included several shops. A few of the locals also levitated around during their various jobs, and Randy could tell that several were wearing bracelets from Earth, though he couldn’t tell if they were barrier bracelets or something else.

  When they pulled into the fort their IDs were checked and they were ordered to go to a side area. Because the gate had gotten so busy the military had moved the data recovery to this side and would give everyone a document to prove that they had been cleared to leave. “Recovery” was what they termed the downloading of all data that had been gathered from this world, including the contents of all cell phones and electronic devices and the scanning and processing of all books and Jade slips. They would also have all relics cataloged for future reference. The only data which wouldn’t be collected was the body camera footage, which would be downloaded after they returned to the other side and the cameras were shut off and collected.

  Their vehicles were searched and all goods unloaded. Randy removed his bags and unloaded the 150 or more books he had on him onto a desk. The man working there sighed, then carried them over to where some sort of robotic arm was set up. Once he made sure that all of the books were face up he pushed a button and the robot started grabbing books. It laid them underneath two cameras, one for each page, and started photographing the cover, then flipping the book open, photographing each page, flipping the page, and repeating the process. Once it had finished a book it would set it to the side, flip it so that it was face up, then grab the next book. While each book only took a minute, Randy knew that his library would delay them by several hours.

  Greg’s jade slip was taken by a lieutenant who touched it to his head before handing it back. He would be transcribing all of the information it contained, as they hadn’t yet worked out a way to transfer knowledge directly between the jade and the computer. This transcription would likely take several hours, and Randy was glad that he had purchased books instead of jade slips that contained the texts.

  They went to one of the base’s restaurants and ate, glad they could have Earth food again. While the local food was good, it had grown a bit boring after eating it so many times. They then hung out with some of the other people going through the gate. There was a group of sixteen Chinese people here who had come as part of China’s agreement for passage through. They would be heading west after leaving, while Greg’s group had went east. Many of the recent merchant and scientific groups had started to go that direction due to the fact that there were two major sects in that direction, the Eternal Flame sect, which were obviously Fire cultivators, and the Chartreuse Peacock Sect, an unorthodox sect that practiced illusion techniques. Both sects had opened their doors for trade, and there was great profit to be made there. In fact, the four SUVs which had come through for sell were going to the Eternal Flame sect, as several of their elders had loved the idea of having a metal carriage.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  It was after dark before Greg’s group were given their papers and allowed to leave, all of their goods being returned. Randy had even received a MicroSD card with fully translated PDFs of all of the books he had bought, and Greg had copies of all of the manufacturing plans in the jade slip as well.

  They drove through the gate and were stopped on the other side. This time they parked in the parking lot of the base, then went to the records room. There their cameras were removed and turned off, and all of the data downloaded, a process which took almost an hour. While the footage wouldn’t be edited until tomorrow, as they had so many people going through the gate, the raw footage was loaded onto MicroSD cards and given to the person who wore the camera.

  It was after midnight local time and they all agreed to meet up at noon at a specific restaurant in town to decide what data was worth selling. The rest would be left up to the owners to decide. Greg would be going to each of his buyers for the Jade Slip data starting at 8:00, so they would have some of the information sold already by then.

  ---

  I got up and stretched. I had been in meditation for the last nine hours. I didn’t think that an hour of dual cultivation could take that long to fully understand, but it had been such a new experience that I had learned as much as if I had fought for hours. My qi strength and fire root had also grown from the experience, with the root being just short of High grade and my cultivation jumping several percent closer to peak. The main problem now was qi. I had almost completely depleted my reserves during the duel with Liza, and what was left had gone to improving my cultivation. I suspected I would get another one or two percent closer once I had gathered the qi to grow my dantian as much as the new understanding could grow it, but it would take me a few more hours to gather enough.

  Though not every type of experience could be used to enhance your cultivation in every way, there was a technique in several books, including the dual cultivation guide, for accelerating your cultivation and training in different areas. All one needed to do was focus on the experiences and how they applied to one’s performance, and feed the technique qi, thus getting the body to refine itself to embed those lessons onto the cultivator. This allowed one to get several times the normal improvement from their effort at the expense of qi. In this case, however, I had spent too much qi gaining the experience and used what I regenerated from the vest too inefficiently to assimilate all of the new experience.

  After getting something to eat and using the bathroom I started meditating again. I would be stuck in meditation for most of the night, so it looked like Liza’s promised round two wouldn’t be happening.

  Some time later I was pulled out of my meditation by the sound of my phone buzzing. I opened my eyes and saw that Liza’s was doing the same. It was around 3:30 in the morning. I checked the phone and saw that the city had sent out an alert. Everyone within two kilometers of the gate was being ordered to evacuate the area.

  I quickly got dressed and grabbed all of my stuff. Both my place and Liza’s were inside that radius.

  “Where are we going to go?” asked Liza, a bit of panic in her voice.

  I thought for a few seconds. “Randy lives over in Dewer.” I said, naming a minor city seventeen kilometers away. “Both of us can fly at thirty kph, so we should be able to get there in a little over thirty minutes.”

  “Randy?” she asked, having a harder time thinking due to her tiredness and the stress of the situation. “Oh, yeah, Mil-sim Man. Sure. Call him.”

  She went to pack her things, and I called Randy. He picked up after three rings, yawning as he did so. “Kevin?” he asked. “It’s the middle of the night. What’s so important that you need to call me in the middle of the night?”

  “I just got an alert. The city is evacuating everything within two kilometers of the gate, and both mine and Liza’s place is within that range. Do you mind if we stay with you for a few days while things settle down?” An evacuation could only mean that the base on the other side was under attack, and that they suspected that they would lose. With Lindstrom no doubt getting involved in the flight, as he was still in the city, that meant that the other side had at least one Nascent fighter, probably more.

  “Yeah, man. No problem. I got several extra rooms.”

  That’s when I realized that Dave and Maria would probably be in the same situation. “I just remembered that my roommate was probably in the same situation. Any chance?…”

  “Sure, they can come too.” I heard a woman speaking in the background, but couldn’t tell what she was saying.

  “Cool. We’ll fly over once we’re packed.” I said goodbye and hung up. I then called Dave. He and Maria were already packing. Maria’s place was just inside the evacuation range, too, so I offered to let him stay with Randy, and sent him the address.

  “321 Prescott Drive, Dewer? Got it.” Dave said. I had also sent him Randy’s phone number just in case. “Is this the cousin that taught us that suppression training thing?” Randy had come over a few days ago to teach Liza and me, and Dave and Maria had happened to be there. Dave had an Earth and Fire root and Maria had a Water and Wood root, so they were able to get a lot from the training. I had even given him a copy of the dual cultivation manual, though I didn’t know or care if they’d tried it yet.

  “Yep, that’s the guy. Do you mind grabbing my laptop and some clothes too? I don’t care what. I just didn’t bring any with me to Liza’s.”

  “Yeah, sure thing. I’ll give Maria my backup Flight bracelet and we should be there in an hour or so.”

  “Cool. See you then.” I said, and hung up.

  Liza was having trouble finding a suitcase to put her stuff in, so I pointed at the dresser and shrunk it, sending the whole thing into the magic bag Randy had given me. That used most of the qi I had regenerated since ending my meditation, but it was worth it for the speed. “Anything else you need?” She nodded and went into the bathroom where she tried to figure out what to take. I just grabbed everything from the counter, the medicine cabinet, and the shower, including a half dried towel. “That it?” She nodded, so I went over to the nearest window and climbed out. I was low on qi, but my vest gathered it slightly faster than I would use it by flying, so I shouldn’t run out.

  She jumped out the window too and I closed it, then we set off for Randy’s house. We got there about forty minutes later and landed. He answered the door and let us in. “Dave and Maria should be here soon.” I said, then noticed a woman that looked slightly older than Randy standing there.

  “Oh, this is Brandy. She’s, um…”

  “Dual Cultivation trainee?” I asked, and he nodded. “Whatever. It’s not like you’re a monk.”

  He showed us to one of the guest rooms and we unpacked. Well, I unpacked for Liza. I hadn’t actually brought anything. After that we went to the kitchen and sat down to talk. Since we had called, Randy had been watching the news. It turns out that three Nascent Soul elders from a sect past the Chartreuse Peacock Sect, named the Azure Cloud Sect, had decided that they couldn’t allow a group of cultivators to show up and disrupt their way of life. They had found out that the US had trained over a hundred locals in the use of their ‘demonic’ cultivation methods, what they were calling ‘No root cultivation’, and the locals had started to question the legitimacy of only those with spiritual roots being able to cultivate. This was a direct threat to the current system, so they had sent their disciples and elders to stop the perceived threat.

  While the troops there had managed to kill most of the low ranking members, the three elders were battling Lindstrom and what Core fighters he had under his command, and were expected to win the battle.

  We sat there discussing the situation until there was a knock on the door. Dave and Maria had arrived, and they were taken to another guest room where they unpacked. I got my clothes and laptop from Dave and unpacked as well, then we told them what was happening. Just as we finished, Brandy got our attention and turned up the volume on her phone. We watched as two people in robes, a man and a woman, stepped through the gate. They took a few steps and the man started to fly, then hit the barrier, at which point they started attacking it.

  The camera caught one of the soldiers saying that it wouldn’t hold out long, then a crack appeared in the barrier. Someone tried to make the cameraman shut off his camera, and there was an explosion which cut the feed.

  ---

  At the Portal:

  The two Nascent Souls elders stepped through the portal. There was some sort of artificial stone under their feet and over one hundred men and women with those ranged relic weapons pointed at them.

  “I’ll handle this.” the male elder said, then flew off the ground only to hit his head on a barrier. “What?” he asked, a bit angry. “They put a barrier around their portal?”

  “Late Fifth realm at best, my love.” the woman said. “We are on the cusp of sixth. It won’t hold us for long.” The man nodded and landed, then the two of them started rapid firing blasts of qi at the barrier, him fire and her water. It only took a few seconds for flaws to start to appear, then a crack formed in the barrier. Knowing that they had broken it, the woman stopped throwing attacks and the man put a large amount of qi into a single attack, throwing it at the barrier. The barrier shattered and the rest of the energy detonated, creating a mushroom cloud that destroyed the building they were standing in.

  A few seconds later the dust started to settle and they flew up to survey the area. They were in the middle of a base of some sort, but it seemed that the area had been evacuated. Only a few hundred soldiers with those weapons remained in the immediate area, and, with a few exceptions, they were the only people within four li.

  Attacks began hitting the two newcomers from the men below, but they were only as strong as someone at the peak of fourth level, so the Elders barely even noticed them. “It appears this nation has quite an impressive city. Is it possible Blood managed to target their capital?” asked the man.

  “Possibly. He always did like to make a grand entrance, and appearing in the wilderness just wouldn’t do.” They both chuckled. They had known him for over three hundred years and, while he hadn’t advanced quite as fast as them due to his insistence on the Demonic path preventing him from finding a dao companion, they had once been the same level, always advancing together through the first few levels. “To think that the man we just killed was the one to kill him. I thought Blood was stronger than that.”

  “Perhaps he had help.” the man said. “I am sensing another six people on this world in the fifth level, though two of them only recently broke through and have barely stabilized their cultivation.” A portal opened a hundred meters away. “And there’s one of them now.” From the portal stepped Colonel Jacob Adams.