John had expected that the Elder had shown up for this issue, but still waited with bated breath at hearing the answer. If the Heavenly Lightning Sect chose not to assist his clan, then they were most likely doomed.
The serious expression of Elder Ragur's face soon gave way to a relaxed smile.
"Don't worry, the Sect Leader decided to help you."
John's bated breath breathed out in a relief.
"We have a Heaven Tribulation Elder, Elder Mable, in the area already. She has already made contact with your clan before, and so she is familiar with them somewhat. We have sent a sound transmission to her that she is to remain in the area for the foreseeable future and act as a guardian for your clan. Should the Crimson Valley Sect or Bloodfiend Sect decide to make a move, she will take action and thwart any such attempts."
Hearing that the Sect was stationing a Heaven Tribulation Elder as a protector surprised John. Despite the Heavenly Lightning Sect having many Heaven Tribulation Elders, each one was considered a considerable asset to the sect. Stationing one to act as a guardian was a very open display of their immense support for John.
Otherwise, if they did not care about John or his talent, they would have just left his clan to their own fate.
"You should thank yourself for such an action from the Sect," Elder Ragur continued. "If you had not displayed your immense talent, the sect would not have placed such importance on your matters."
John felt the biggest weight fall from his shoulders. It was the only issue he had that he could not resolve himself right now, and it concerned his entire clan. Having a Heaven Tribulation Elder assist them was basically a guarantee of their safety.
At the same time, John felt increased pressure on himself now. The sect showed such support due to his potential, but he needed to keep showing them that their support was worth it. However, he wasn't worried about such a thing, as he had complete confidence in himself and his talent.
After a moment, John thought of something and spoke up to the Elder once more.
"Elder, our clan has an extremely close ally, the Varis Clan. I know I'm asking a lot, but is there any way we can help them as well?" John asked.
He knew the answer was most likely no, but he had to ask anyways.
"Varis Clan? Why does that name sound familiar?" Elder Ragur mused out loud.
"You recognize it?" John asked curiously. His homeland was extremely far away, and most in the Holy Lands did not know the names of the powers there.
Elder Ragur continued to think about it for a short while before his eyes lit up in realization.
"Ah yes, that's why the name sounded so familiar. Don't worry, the Varis Clan is safe and sound. You shouldn't worry yourself with their safety," Elder Ragur confirmed
John looked at the Elder with a confused look. "How are they safe?"
Elder Ragur smirked slightly. "It's not for me to say, as the parties involved have asked for this to stay low-key for now, but all I can say is that the Varis Clan is in safe hands, and that you do not need to worry about them."
John was unsure of why Elder Ragur was certain of the Varis Clan's safety, but since the Elder had guaranteed it, he had no reason to not believe it. Elder Ragur had no reason to lie to him.
'Maybe they've somehow found a powerful benefactor like myself. I guess time will tell.'
John's thoughts trailed to Miko. 'I wonder how he's doing. He should have Celestial Soulrend's soul within his own, so I'm sure he's making even more progress than I am.'
When John had been forced out of the pocket realm, Celestial Soulrend had confirmed that he was going to make Miko his successor. Although John didn't know exactly how powerful a Celestial was, he was sure it was higher than anything else he had seen in his life, besides the holy entity.
'Whatever the reason for their safety, now that I know both my clan and the Varis Clan is safe, I can rest easy and fully focus on myself.'
The two of them began to talk about various things, such as John's cultivation and his time so far in the sect. After a while of talking, Elder Ragur suddenly changed the tone of the discussion.
"Now that we've settled your matters, I need to let you know that I won't be around for the next few years most likely."
John was stirred out of his thoughts as he looked towards Elder Ragur.
"You're going to be gone for a year? Why?" John couldn't help but ask.
Elder Ragur had become his biggest supporter in the Sect. Without him, John was unsure how far he would have gotten on his own.
In fact, he had started to see Elder Ragur as an uncle of sorts. Although John was not reliant on the Elder, he still enjoyed seeing him around.
"I've been at the peak of Meridian Forging for many years, and I finally feel myself at the cusp of breaking through. However, I still need a final boost to truly break through that barrier and ascend to the Heaven Tribulation Realm," Elder Ragur replied.
He paused for a moment, collecting his thoughts, before he continued.
"While I could naturally reach the Heaven Tribulation Realm eventually, that would take many more years, and as you know, each year for cultivation is precious. The sooner I can break though, the greater the chance I have of advancing further in the future."
John nodded his head in agreement. Every year was precious in the cultivation world, as breaking through earlier in life would result in a stronger foundation and a higher peak potential. While Elder Ragur could potentially break through on his own eventually, he had no idea when that would happen. It could be two years or twenty, and that was too much of a gamble to take. He needed to seize the opportunity now.
"My next step is to purchase a Heaven Ascending Pill. Unfortunately, the price of purchasing this pill and pushing through to the Heaven Tribulation Realm is quite immense. Not only that, but the pill's nature is quite unstable, and so it must be prepared and consumed on the same day. As such, I will need to hire the services of one of the sect's Pill Emperors, which is incredibly costly as well.
While I have a significant sum of money to my name, I need to gather quite a bit more to afford this pill. As such, I'll be spending the next few years out of the sect focusing on money acquisition," Elder Ragur explained.
While the sect did provide Elder Ragur with a fixed payment as an Elder, getting required spirit crystals would take a decade with only his fixed salary. As such, he decided to focus on completing various tasks for the sect, which also paid out large sums once completed. The two streams of income would help him raise the needed capital much quicker.
John nodded his head in understanding, as everything Elder Ragur said made sense. A pill as impressive as the Heaven Ascending Pill, which nearly guaranteed ascending through to the Heaven Tribulation Realm from the Meridian Forging Realm would surely be incredibly expensive.
A small smile broke out on John's face.
'I didn't think I would be employing his services this soon. I'm sure he'll be more than happy to see me again.'
Elder Ragur noticed John's smirk, but was confused as to why he was smirking. He figured John would be slightly sad to see him leave, not happy.
"Elder, how much does the pill cost?" John asked.
"Two hundred thousand spirit crystals," Elder Ragur confirmed. "On top of that, the pill is quite a hard one for Pill Emperors to make, so the cost of employing their services is around one hundred thousand spirit crystals, bringing the total to three hundred thousand spirit crystals."
While Elder Ragur had sizable wealth as a Meridian Forging Elder, he was still around a hundred thousand spirit crystals shy of the three hundred thousand required. Not only that, but he would need additional crystals for living expenses, and so he could not blow his entire savings on the pill.
'Seems like I can repay Elder Ragur for all he's done for me even sooner than I expected. Not only that, but having a Heaven Tribulation Elder as a direct supporter would be incredibly beneficial.'
Although Elder Ragur had status in the sect due to his Peak Meridian Forging cultivation, it still paled in comparison to the status Heaven Tribulation Elders had. There were several thousand Meridian Forging Elders, while there were only around one hundred Heaven Tribulation Elders in the entire sect, which showed not only how hard it was to break through, but how much more elevated the status of Heaven Tribulation Elder's were.
One example of this was that Heaven Tribulation Elder's could have direct disciples, while Meridian Forging Elders could not.
Heaven Tribulation Elder's also received more resources from the sect, and were allowed into areas exclusive to those at the Heaven Tribulation Realm, such as the Forbidden Archives.
John began to chuckle slightly, causing the Elder to be even more confused. His confusion soon turned to surprise at John's next actions and words.
A small mountain of spirit crystals suddenly appeared in front of Elder Ragur, to the tune of two hundred thousand spirit crystals. Elder Ragur's eyes nearly popped out of his head at the sudden sight, which was completely out of his expectations.
"Elder, you don't need to worry about the Pill. Leave everything to me."