"Congratulations on becoming disciples of the Heavenly Lightning Sect,"
A calm yet extremely powerful voice echoed out, causing all eyes to fall on the Sect Leader who had just spoken. His calm face smiled down at those below, and appeared as if he was an ordinary grandpa welcoming his grandchildren home. However, all could tell that despite his aura being constrained, his power was beyond anything they had felt before.
Thunderzen's gaze roamed among all the youths, who were now new members of his sect.
"You have done what most in this land only dream of, and for that you should be proud. From now on, you will be able to call yourselves disciples of the Heavenly Lightning Sect. However, to truly become disciples of the Heavenly Lightning Sect, there is one more test that must be passed," the Sect Leader stated in a calm voice, causing frowns to appear on those in the group.
They had been told that they had passed all the trials and had become disciples, but now the Sect Leader was saying there were more trials to come. Many were unhappy to hear this, but none of them dared voice their discontent to the Sect Leader himself.
Upon hearing the Sect Leader mention the final trial, the eyes of all those in the crowd lit up, and excited discussions broke out. John smiled as well, as he was looking forward to seeing the amazing creature once again.
Roooooaaaaaaar!
A thunderous roar so loud that it nearly shattered the eardrums of many sounded out throughout the Heavenly Lightning Sect. Its roar covered the entire sect, and there wasn't a single person who didn't hear it. The roar sounded out several more times, each more powerful and deafening than the last.
Silence descended over the crowd, and John and all those in the crowd could hear the growing rumbles of wings approaching. A small tempest began to kick up within the courtyard, and before long, everyone felt as if they were in the middle of a windstorm.
The courtyard suddenly grew dim, as if the sun had been blocked out. All the new youths of the sect turned their eyes to the sky to see what was going on, and their eyes all widened in shock. While most of the youths had heard the rumors of such an event taking place, seeing the creature and hearing about the creature were two completely different things.
Boooooom!
The Heavenly Lightning Sect Palace and the massive courtyard in front of it trembled greatly. John and the entire crowd stared up at the Heavenly Lightning Sect Palace, and the figure that had just landed on its roof high above the Sect Leader.
'Despite already seeing it once, I can't help but be awed yet again by this Lightning Dragon,' John mused as he studied the creature closely. It was his second time seeing it, but his awe was no less prevalent than the first time he had seen it. Even now he couldn't tell how strong it was.
'It must be at least as strong as Thunderzen, if not stronger.'
The Dragon lowered its massive head to stare down at the crowd below, and its large eyes locked on the group of youths who stood at the crowd center.
Its power was so overwhelming that none of the youths dared to move a muscle. In fact, all of them were so scared and awed by the majestic creature, that they wouldn't be able to move even if they wanted to. Sweat trickled down all their backs, and some even collapsed to the floor in a nervous mess.
Even the crowd of Heavenly Lightning Sect members were awed at the scene. Despite seeing this occur once every year, it still filled them with wonder.
Suddenly, the power of the dragon flared out, and all the youths felt an incredibly strange, yet overwhelmingly powerful energy invade their bodies, minds and souls.
John stared on at the scene before him, as he knew what the youths were going through.
'This power of the dragon detects any intruding souls hiding within the disciples. Although the Bloodfiend Sect has been eradicated, I guess one can't be too careful.'
The youths initially tried to resist the power, but Thunderzen's instructions to not do so squashed any of such intentions, and all the youths allowed it to thoroughly invade their bodies. After a brief inspection, the dragon's power faded, revealing that there were no invading souls hiding within any of the youths.
'As expected,' John mused.
After the inspection, the dragon opened its mouth, and a large beam of strange lightning suddenly exploded outwards, directly towards the youths below. John watched on as the youths were bathed in the dragon's lightning.
'This special ability of the dragon truly is wondrous. It contains incredible power, not destructive power, but nurturing power. I wonder how it accomplishes such a thing.'
Every lightning attack John knew was only about one thing; destruction. Having such a special ability would be quite nice, but John knew it was most likely a natural inborn ability that only such a creature could possess.
The dragon's lightning continued to purify and cleanse the bodies of the youths, as well as increase their lightning comprehensions and future lightning talent significantly.
The process continued for several minutes, before the dragon closed its mouth and stopped bathing the youths in his lightning breath. It roared once more before it spread its wings and took to the sky. A violent wind tempest was kicked up within the courtyard, and the dragon flew high into the sky before it sped off out of the view of all those in the crowd.
The youths in the center of everyone had stunned looks on their faces as they inspected the changes in their bodies. John smiled as he saw such reactions, as his reaction was the exact same just one year ago.
"You have been bathed in the Vital Lightning Essence Breath of our Heavenly Lightning Dragon. I'm sure each and every one of you has felt their bodies become more aligned with lightning Qi, and your lightning comprehensions grow as well," Thunderzen's voice boomed over the crowd once more.
The youths all nodded their heads eagerly in agreement. They all felt the immediate changes in their body. Such a thing was beyond their wildest expectations, and they were starting to see why the Heavenly Lightning Sect stood at the very top of the continent.
Not only that, but the sect had given rise to a talent such as John, whose name was now famous across the entire continent. Although no one was certain how he accomplished such a thing, everyone knew the Bloodfiend Sect's destruction was directly related to him.
Not only that, but there were stories of him jumping an entire major realm of cultivation and winning, which was even more unbelievable. Even jumping one minor realm was beyond impressive, let alone a major realm which was equivalent to four minor realms in power.
"As was mentioned at the start of the trial, the top youths are to be rewarded for their efforts. Those being specially rewarded are those who placed in the top ten to become Core Disciples, and you will each receive your rewards according to your rank," Thunderzen addressed the youths once more.
John stood to the side as he watched the new disciple ceremony go to its conclusion. The top ten Core Disciples were each given their rankings, establishing the pecking order for the next year of Heavenly Lightning Sect youths.
"That concludes this year's entrance exam ceremony," Thunderzen called out, but a raised hand suddenly caught his attention
The hand being raised was a youthful girl of the new discipleship, whose face was slightly red from embarrassment of drawing attention to her.
"Oh? What is it?" Thunderzen asked with a smile on his face.
The girl's expression turned slightly panicked, but the urging of the disciples nearby her gave her confidence, clearly indicating that she was just speaking for the group of youths.
"When...when will we be able to see big brother John again?"
"Huh?" John couldn't help but exclaim out loud as he heard the question. "When the fuck did I become a big brother to these kids?"
"What? You don't like being their big brother?" a mocking voice behind John sounded out, causing him to turn quickly around in surprise.
"Can you not sneak up on me like that?" John cursed as he saw his master standing behind him with an amused expression on her face. "Even more, how long were you standing behind me?" John couldn't help but ask.
He had not detected her presence at all.
"The entire time," she replied, as if the truth was further mockery.
"Tomorrow there will be a special training session given out by John personally," Thunderzen's voice sounded out once again, causing John cry out in confusion once more.
"Huh? When did I agree to such a thing?" John asked Lilian, who shrugged her shoulders in response.
"It seems as though you're the most talked about topic amongst the youths these days. We figured you could give them a few pointers and raise their morale before you leave for the Divine Martial Continent," Lilian replied with a dry tone.
John stared at his master with an amused expression, but didn't argue against it. Teaching the youths of the sect wouldn't be such a bad thing, and it was one way to repay the sect that had done so much for him already.
"Really?" the girl excitedly replied, while the rest of the youths around her pumped their fists in happiness.
As such, the next day, John found himself standing before all the new youths of the Heavenly Lightning Sect, as their eager and excited gazes all focused on him, waiting to learn from the Yuan Continents foremost genius.