Peng!
A loud metallic sound rang out as John quickly spun around and punched the flat of the dagger, knocking it to the side before it reached his neck. Sparks flew off the weapon from the collision, and the youth quickly jumped back, putting some distance between himself and John.
Those within the chamber had looks of slight surprise on their face, both at how fast John had reacted, and also the sound his barehanded parry had made. Clearly his body was incredibly strong and durable to be able to make such a noise when colliding against a hard weapon.
They could tell he was an essence cultivator, but his body was also incredibly strong, indicating that he was either a dual cultivator, or had an innate variant body.
John frowned as he looked at the youth before him. While he wanted to kill the boy who stood before him, he couldn't take any brash actions at the moment, or he would make things hard for Thunderzen and the sect.
"You mind explaining what that was for?" John asked coldly.
The youth smiled at John as if nothing had just happened. "I was only testing your power. If you were not even able to block this weak attack from me, then you were clearly lying about destroying the Bloodfiend Sect. If that was the case, then lying to our faces in such a manner is worthy of death."
The youth walked right past John, back towards where his alliance was standing, as if nothing had happened.
"Still, I don't believe what you said was the truth," the youth spoke up once more as he reached his alliance and turned around. "Maybe you've resigned yourself to taking the blame for this event, and are willing to accept a Dao Heart flaw. How can we trust your words so blindly?"
John glanced sideways at the youth before he looked away, as if looking at him was not worth his time.
"Everyone else in the room can clearly see the truth of my words, so why is this dog still barking? Shouldn't you put a muzzle on him already?" John said to the leader of the Forbidden Alliance.
"What did you say?" the youth shouted out in rage as he took a step forward, but was stopped by his master.
The rest of the room broke out into soft laughter, further igniting the rage of the youth. However, his master had forbidden him from taking action, so all he could do was swallow his rage at the moment. Even his master could tell that John's Dao Oath was sincere, and that he was telling the truth.
His disciple speaking up further about it would only serve to make him look incompetent. His disciple had stepped forward because he refused to believe a youth with a weaker cultivation than his own could accomplish a feat such as destroying the Bloodfiend Sect.
However, both Alliance leaders knew there were powerful secrets in the world, and that John had most likely used the aid of a powerful artifact or weapon to accomplish such a thing. Neither of them believed he had the power to do such a thing on his own, and they were partially correct in their assumptions.
"Let's get back to the matter at hand," the Honorable Alliance leader spoke up once more.
"Based on the events described, this boy before us was truly the one to destroy the Bloodfiend Sect, and had done so to stop the Demon Summoning. While normally destroying a sect would lead to further discussion on any potential punishments, the Bloodfiend Sect had brought such a fate upon themselves when they summoned a demon and broke the ancient pact. As such, I believe we can leave this situation as is, and no punishments are necessary."
John glanced at the woman and raised one eyebrow as he heard her words. Clearly she was trying to shield him and the Heavenly Lightning Sect. While it may not be from a place of altruism, and could only be to frustrate the Forbidden Alliance, John still accepted such aid.
The Forbidden Alliance leaders' face darkened, but said nothing to argue against it. It was as the Honorable Alliance leader had revealed. The Bloodfiend Sect had summoned a demon, which was prohibited by the ancient pact between the two alliances. Despite traveling all this way, the man knew his alliance would leave accomplishing nothing.
"Tch," the Forbidden Alliance leader sneered before he turned around and began to leave the chamber. The rest of the alliance understood that the discussions were over, and quickly followed behind him.
The man's disciple looked at John with a cold gaze before he too followed his master, as they all quickly left the chamber. John watched with indifference as the alliance left, before his gaze shifted towards the Honorable Alliance leader who was approaching him.
A warm smile lingered on her face as she stood before John and inspected him closely. John felt like he was being looked at by a hawk, but remained calm as he gazed back at her with indifference. After a moment of silence, the woman's gaze shifted to Thunderzen who sat on his throne behind John.
"You have quite a talented disciple here. I'm assuming you'll be sending him to our Divine Martial Continent soon?" she asked.
"Naturally," Thunderzen replied calmly.
"Good," the woman replied before gazing back at John. "The Forbidden Alliance has become more and more unruly as of late. Watching your display today was quite refreshing. I'm sure with you joining us soon on the Divine Martial Continent, you will be quite the headache for the Forbidden Alliance. I look forward to seeing it."
Before waiting for a response, the woman turned around and also began to walk out of the room. The rest of the alliance followed, while the woman's disciple gazed at John for a moment with a look of curious interest before she too followed her master out of the room.
Sigh!
A collective sigh of relief left the mouths of many of the Heavenly Lightning Sects Elders' mouths, as they knew the severity of what had just happened. If the Forbidden Alliance had found that the fault was with the Heavenly Lightning Sect, they would have demanded hard reparations, or even its destruction.
Also, if the Honorable Alliance found fault with the sect as well, they may have severed its ties with the Heavenly Lightning Sect, no longer shielding it from the Forbidden Alliance. Such a fate would be dire for the sect, and many of the Elders felt like they had just come out of a life and death battle.
John turned around to look at Thunderzen, who was smiling at him.
"You did well," Thunderzen voiced his approval. "I take it that with your return, you've settled everything you needed to do in your homeland?"
John nodded his head. "I have. Although I brought some of my clan members with me to establish a branch somewhere nearby." John explained.
"Lilian has already informed me of that," Thunderzen replied. John wondered when she had done such a thing, but didn't bother asking.
"We have already discussed where your clan shall establish its branch. The lands we control are incredibly vast, and there is a patch of land roughly two hundred miles from here that is quite fertile, but unused by us. Your clan can establish its branch there," Thunderzen continued.
A smile lit up on John's face, and he bowed deeply towards the Sect Leader. "Many thanks."
The three of them began to discuss the details of the Fenix Clan's branch establishment, as well as the trip John would soon be taking to the Divine Martial Continent.
…
A group of roughly a thousand people stood in a lush valley filled with vibrant life. Streams meandered through the valley, while towering trees and blooming flowers dotted the landscape.
"It's perfect," Barden said with incredible enthusiasm as he and the rest of the clan looked over the land that the Heavenly Lightning Sect had gifted them.
The Qi in the air was many times denser than back in their homeland, which would greatly speed up the cultivation of anyone here.
John nodded his head in agreement as he surveyed the land, as he was truly content with it. Thunderzen had even given the aid of hundreds of builders, formation experts, and many other professions to help build the branch.
The establishment of the branch started immediately, and progress was swift. Within a month, the branch was mostly completed, and only the more complicated things such as formations crafting were left to be completed.
The new Fenix Clan branch was incredibly grand, and easily dwarfed the scale of the original clan grounds. During the month of construction, John spent his time with his family and friends, as he knew such a thing would not last long.
…
After spending an entire month with his clan, and helping its construction, John returned to the Heavenly Lightning Sect.
As he entered the Sect, he was stopped by Elder Ragur, who John had not talked to in quite some time.
"Elder Ragur, it's been quite some time since we last spoke," John said to the Elder with a smile on his face. "What's the occasion for today's meeting?" He asked, as he could tell that the Elder had a specific reason for finding him out however.
"There's someone here to see you," Elder Ragur replied.
"Someone here to see me?" John asked with slight confusion in his voice. He was expecting no visitors. "Are you sure they're here to see me specifically?" John asked.
"Yes. Follow me, and if you don't recognize the person, we can just kick him out of the sect," Elder Ragur replied.
John nodded his head, and followed Elder Ragur to the Enforcement Hall grounds. They entered one of the buildings, and Elder Ragur took John to a specific room. He entered it, and his face lit up in complete surprise at the one waiting for him.
"Chase!"