Silence filled the air as all those in the crowd stared at the place where the boy had been. The Vice Sect Leader had dealt with him mercilessly, killing him without a chance of explaining himself. Not only that, but the dealing with Allfiend had been a spectacle itself, and the powers revealed by both Allfiend and ThunderZen had been completely awe-inspiring and overwhelming.
The whole ordeal had been completely unexpected, but John was starting to see why he had not been allowed to join the sect before.
'This must be their way of dealing with any potential spies entering the sect. It makes sense why they wouldn't allow me to directly join before.''
From the stories he had read, John knew dragons were prideful creatures, and he was certain that even such a thing as what it did today was already the limit. There was most likely no way the dragon would agree to inspect a lone person trying to enter the sect, as such a thing would be beneath its notice.
Sect Leader ThunderZen sighed, before his figure suddenly vanished and reappeared at the top of the palace steps where he had originally been. The Vice Sect Leader stood at his side with an expressionless face, as if nothing had happened at all.
His face once again regained its warm smile as he stared down at the confused youths below.
"Unfortunately, this year we had a spy in our midst. There are other powers in this land which seek to infiltrate our Heavenly Lightning Sect and learn its secrets from within. However, they have always been, and will always be, unsuccessful.
Now that we've gotten that out of the way, we can continue. You have all proven your loyalty to the Heavenly Lightning Sect, and as such, have passed the final trial. You are all officially disciples of the Heavenly Lightning Sect. Congratulations!"
A thunderous applause broke out amongst the crowd watching, congratulating and welcoming the newest members of the sect. Although he was usually calm, John felt a wave of emotions wash over him as he listened to the cheering crowd.
He clenched his fists as his mind drifted to his Clan once more. Entering the Heavenly Lightning Sect made it so that he was one step closer to helping his Clan get through their crisis.
The crowd continued to cheer for some time, and all the youths gathered in the courtyard had large smiles on their faces. Some hugged each other, happy and relieved that they had become disciples of the Sect.
Adam stood there with a proud expression on his face and laughed loudly, as if he was the one the crowd was cheering for.
"You still have the issue with your Core Discipleship qualifications," John reminded, causing Adam's smiling face to scrunch up immediately.
"You don't really think they'll take it away from me, do you?" Adam asked in a concerned tone.
John shrugged his shoulders in response, as he truly had no idea what was going to happen.
After some time of cheering, the Sect Leader waved his hand, and silence descended over the area once more.
"You all come from different backgrounds, and specialize in different powers. However, those powers and talents are useless now. The Heavenly Lightning Sect is a lightning based sect, and you will begin to study lightning based techniques. To assist you with that... I will give you your first reward for joining our Sect."
John listened closely to the Sect Leaders words, and became quite curious about the reward mentioned.
'It should be something amazing, if he's talking about it specifically like this.'
John's thoughts began to wander, thinking of what the reward could be. The other youths in the crowd all did the same, dreaming of wonderful treasures, amazing weapons, profound battle arts and more. Given that the Heavenly Lightning Sect was one of the Four Great Sects, everyone figured that the reward would be beyond their imagining.
Roaaar!
The Dragon on the palace roof, which had been silent for quite some time, roared loudly once more. Its roar caused the very grounds of the sect to tremble, and it immediately roused all the youths out of their thoughts. John turned his head upwards to look at the dragon, and his eyes widened as he felt the power of the dragon begin to rise.
Lightning began to crackle on its body as it stared at the youths below.
A panicked look appeared on Adam's face as he hurriedly scurried behind John.
"It isn't about to attack us...right?" Adam asked, his voice filled with fear.
John was unable to respond as well, as he felt the overwhelming power of the dragon lock down on him and the other youths in the group. The dragon suddenly opened its mouth, and a large beam of strange lightning suddenly exploded outwards, directly towards the youths below.