John perked up upon hearing the Sect Leader's response. He leaned slightly forward in his chair, eager to learn about the world at large.
"Let's see. The best way to describe the Divine Martial Continent…I suppose I should start with this world first, Thunderzen mused. "This world is far larger than you could imagine, and contains dozens and dozens of continents similar in size to the Yuan Continent," Thunderzen explained.
John's eyes opened wide in shock upon hearing this. He had thought the Yuan Continent to be quite amazing, but it seemed it was just one of many in this world.
Thunderzen noticed John's shocked reaction, and an amused smile appeared on his face. "Not only are there dozens of these continents, there are also many types of races in this world," Thunderzen continued.
"Many types of races?" John asked curiously.
"Yes," Thunderzen nodded his head in confirmation. "Many, many types of races. Humans are not the only sentient species on this planet, and are definitely not the only race of cultivators either," Thunderzen replied.
Once again, John's face was filled with surprise. He had only known of the human race thus far, and did not know that other races existed in this world.
John wanted to ask about how many there were, and what they looked like, but he reigned in his curiosity and let Thunderzen continue his explanation.
"Anyways, many of these continents are inhabited by a single race when they claim dominion over it. Most of the time, the various races tend to keep to themselves, and prefer not to mingle with the others too much. The only exception to that, is the Divine Martial Continent," Thunderzen explained.
"Oh? And why is that?" John couldn't help but curiously ask.
"Because as the name suggests, it's truly a divine place for cultivation. The Divine Martial Continent has several advantages over the rest of the world. It naturally has the most dense Qi, which speeds up cultivation for all those who live in those lands. Not only that, but it also has the most ancient inheritance opportunities, and is also by far the largest continent on this world. Every few years, a new area or inheritance is discovered, further raising the importance of the land as time goes on. Compared to it, the Yuan Continent is just an insignificant land," Thunderzen continued.
John listened intently, becoming more and more interested as the description went on. After Thunderzen finished, John sat there in silence for some time, gathering his thoughts.
"Sect Leader, if that place is so amazing, then why are you here? And why is our Sect here? Wouldn't it be beneficial to make a sect in the Divine Martial Continent instead?" John couldn't help but ask.
The Sect Leader's power was immense, and John was sure he would be able to do something, even a place as amazing as the Divine Martial Continent.
Thunderzen chuckled lightly before responding. "A good question. A question in which I must follow up with one of my own," Thunderzen replied. "When you think of our Elders, what do you think of their cultivations?"
John was confused by the seemingly unrelated question the Sect Leader had just asked, but he decided to play along regardless.
"The Elder's all appear to be in the Meridian Forging or Heaven Tribulation Realm, which is incredible...However," John paused for a moment, thinking of how to word his next statement. "However, when I truly think about it, their cultivations still seems to be quite low," John replied.
He had not realized it before, but now that he was in the Late Core Formation Realm, John did find it quite curious regarding the Elder's cultivation levels. Most of the Elders were in the Meridian Forging Realm, which was a realm John would reach in the next few months.
John was only sixteen now, having just turned so recently, yet he was about to reach the cultivation levels of the Elders. He was not alone either, as several of the Direct Disciples would reach that realm within the next year as well.
Not only that, but from what John learned of the second and third year disciples, their cultivations were far less impressive compared to their age when compared to the first year class, further confusing John.
"You're absolutely correct," Thunderzen replied. "And there's a good reason for that. The most talented of our disciples, at the end of their first years here, are allowed to become members of the True Heavenly Lightning Sect," Thunderzen continued.
John tilted his head to the side slightly at Thunderzen's statement, but quickly caught on.
"Does that mean, there's a main Heavenly Lightning Sect on the Divine Martial Continent, and this is just a branch sect?" John asked.
Thunderzen smiled once more. "That is correct. This sect of ours is just a branch sect to the main Heavenly Lightning Sect, which exists on the Divine Martial Continent. Every year, the main Sect allows those from the branch sects to travel to it for the annual entrance exams. If you are deemed worthy of the main sect, you are allowed to join it. Otherwise, you are removed back to the branch sect from where you came," Thunderzen explained.
John finally understood the reason for the strange power discrepancies he saw between the first years, the other years, and the Elder's themselves.
"So, when is the next entrance exam for the main sect?" John asked curiously.
"The selection will happen in six months. When the new entrance exams for our branch sect are completed, that is when the journey to the Divine Martial Continent happens," Thunderzen replied.
John nodded his head in understanding, as that made sense. He wanted to ask more about the Divine Martial Continent, but that was something he would find out about eventually. He had more pressing matters to take care of. He decided to take advantage of this time with the Sect Leader to ask about other things.
"Sect Leader, I have two thing's I'd like to ask if you," John chimed up.
"Oh? Ask away," Thunderzen replied with his warm smile ever present on his face.
John cleared his throat before continuing. "In the ancient temple trials, I obtained the battle axe you saw me use against Hunter. However, I do not have a battle axe battle art, which greatly hinders my combat prowess. Do you know where I could obtain a good battle art for it?" John asked.
"Battle Axe Battle Art huh? We have quite a few of those in the sect's martial library, but they are not our forte, and so they are quite mediocre I'm afraid," Thunderzen replied, causing John's mood to slightly sour.
"However," Thunderzen continued, causing John to perk up once more. "There is a place that specializes in heavy weaponry battle arts, and have one of the most profound battle axe battle arts in the land," Thunderzen explained.
"What place is that?" John asked, his voice filled with anticipation.
"The Supreme Battle Sect," Thunderzen replied.
"The Supreme Battle Sect?" John replied, disappointment tingeing his voice. "How am I supposed to obtain a battle art from them?" John grumbled.
"You already have some karma established with them, it would appear. I'm sure something will present itself to you in the near future," Thunderzen replied.
John was slightly disappointed to hear this, but decided to put it aside for now. He was sure the Supreme Battle Sect would inquire into why he had the Supreme Battle Art in the near future, and so he would have to deal with them soon enough. Maybe during that time, an opportunity would arise.
'I'll just learn one of our sect's battle arts in the meantime, and figure out something as I go.'
"And your second question?" Thunderzen asked.
John snapped out of his thoughts and looked back at Thunderzen. "My second question is, where can I obtain a good scythe? My previous weapon broke, and so I am looking for a new one."
"A scythe huh?" Thundzen pondered. "Scythes are quite uncommon, and are harder to make than normal weapons, so they're hard to find, and when you do find one, they're usually lacking in quality," Thunderzen explained. John nodded his head in agreement.
"Our sect has a few scythes, but they're all mediocre at best. You could have one forged by a weapon master, but that will be quite expensive and time consuming, and none of our weapon masters specialize in scythes, so they will still be wanting in quality once created," Thunderzen continued.
John frowned at hearing this, but remained silent as he let Thunderzen continue.
"There is one place that many of its sect members prefer the scythe, and so there are plenty of high quality scythes, as well as proficient weapons masters to make some if you were to request it. Not only that, but it contains the most profound and valuable scythe in the entire Yuan Continent. However, I'm afraid that place is out of your reach," Thunderzen said to John.
"Out of my reach? Why's that?" John asked curiously.
"Because, that place is the Bloodfiend Sect."