"Elder Thame, I've brought along a first year disciple who wants to join your War Hall," Elder Ragur responded while gesturing to John at his side. The three of them quickly descended and landed on the ground.
Elder Thame looked over to John with an amused expression. "Oh? A first year disciple actually wants to voluntarily join our War Hall? You've got guts kid, I'll give you that much. But even so, you won't be able to join."
He inspected John closely, and a surprised expression soon appeared on his face.
"Aren't you the kid who came first in this year's entrance exams?" Elder Thame asked. Almost the entire sect had been at the entrance exam ceremony, and he recognized John from that.
"That he is. You should be happy that such a talent wants to willingly join a Hall such as yours. Perhaps you should make an exception for the first year's rule" Elder Ragur replied.
"Hahaha," an amused expression suddenly appeared on Elder Thame's face. "That we should. I don't know why you want to join our War Hall, but we'll be more than happy to let you join."
While there was a rule that first years were not allowed to directly join the War Hall for their own protection, Elder Thame was unwilling to pass up on allowing such a talent to join. John stood there in silence listening to the Elders converse. After some time, Elder Thame turned to John.
"Let's go get you registered with our War Hall. Hopefully it's not too brutal for you. You got quite unlucky with your timing kid." Elder Thame said, causing a weird look to appear on Elder Ragur's face.
"Is…"she" here today?" Elder Ragur asked, his tone somewhat awkward.
"That she is," Elder Thame confirmed.
Elder Ragur looked towards John with an apologetic expression. After a moment of silence, he patted John on the shoulder.
"Good luck. Don't say I didn't warn you," Elder Ragur said to John before turning to Elder Thame.
"Take care of him for now. I will head off now. Have him healthy and back at his home in time for tomorrow's classes," Elder Ragur said to Elder Thame before he quickly flew off.
John stood there in silence, but could obviously tell that something was off. After mentioning "she", Elder Ragur did his best to leave immediately. Not only that, but his look towards John as he left was quite apologetic.
"Uhh, what's going on?" John asked Elder Thame.
"You'll find out soon. Follow me."
The Elder began to walk towards one of the larger castles, and began to explain various things to John.
"This entire area is the War Hall area. That building is the weapons storage building. That building is the formations storage building. That building is the war provisions building…."
The Elder explained the various buildings and their purposes. All of them had castle-like designs, and were hundreds of yards tall and wide. The Elder pointed to the largest castle in the center of the grounds, which was several miles away.
"That's the War Palace, the home of the War Hall leader, the War Deity."
John looked towards the War Palace. It was nearly a thousand yards tall, and just as wide. It was pitch black, with many fires lighting up various spires and windows within the building. A massive metal checkered gate existed at the base of the castle, as if it was a mouth swallowing all those who entered.
Elder Thame led John to one of the mid-sized castles. Its design was similar to the War Palace, but was much less grand. Dozens of cultivators were streaming in and out of the castle, all with cultivations at the Core Formation Realm and above.
Each of them emanated a dense battle aura, making John feel as if his blood was boiling in resonance.
"This is the administrative building. We'll register you for the war hall here," Elder Thame explained.
The two of them entered the front gate, and John found himself standing inside a massive atrium. Many hallways branched out from the atrium, leading to other parts of the castle. Large chandeliers, each lit by blazing fires hung overhead, giving a hearthy and warm feeling to the interior.
There was a lone desk in the middle of the atrium, nearly a dozen yards wide. A lone person sat behind the desk, writing something on a large book.
Elder Thame walked directly towards the desk, and John followed closely behind.
"Elder Yurel, we have a new addition to our War Hall," Elder Thame spoke out to the man behind the desk.
The man looked up towards Elder Thame, and then to John.
"Oh? A first year? Interesting. What is your name?" Elder Yurel asked as he grabbed a book lying on the desk. He opened it, and picked up a pen.
"John Fenix."
Elder Yurel wrote in his book for some time before setting it down. John suddenly felt a divine sense pass over him briefly, and Elder Yurel wrote something down again in his book. John stood there in silence while the Elder carried out his work.
Suddenly, a small badge appeared in the Elder's hand, and he sent his Qi into it. A moment later, the Elder threw the badge over to John, which he caught and began to inspect.
"This is your War Hall identification badge. It contains your identification information, and any instructions or alerts from the War Hall will be sent to you through your badge. You will also directly receive your contribution points to this badge monthly," Elder Yurel explained.
"That's quite handy," John replied with a satisfied expression before putting the badge away.
After putting the badge away, several robes appeared in the air in front of Elder Yurel.
"Here, these robes should fit you" The Elder said as the robes floated over towards John. He grabbed the robes, and could immediately feel the expensive quality of them. They were much more luxurious than the robes provided by his clan, and also quite durable. Clearly they were made from expensive materials.
His fingers traced the blood red lightning bolts embroiders on the robe before he put the robes in his storage ring with a happy look on his face.
'These colors suit me much better.'
"Now you're officially a member of our War Hall," Elder Thame said to John while patting him on the back. "Lets go get you familiar with other things within the War Hal-"
Boom!
A loud boom sounded out directly next to John, and John was completely shocked to see the Peak Meridian Forging Elder Thame launched forward violently. His figure rapidly sailed through the large atrium, and violently collided with the walls on the other side. His figure slid down the wall to the ground below, and lay there unmoving for a while before sluggishly standing up.
John turned his head to the side to see a woman standing directly where the Elder had just been. Her fist was slightly extended, revealing her as the source of the attack that had just sent Elder Thame flying.
"Elder Thame, who said you could register a first year to my War Hall without my permission?" The woman asked in a cold tone.
John's eyes went wide as he recognized the woman standing beside him. Her long blue hair flowed down to her shoulders, and an intense battle aura, unlike anything John had felt before, emanated off her.
'The Vice Sect Leader!'