John paused for a moment upon hearing this, before he nodded his head at the Elder.
“Lead the way, Elder,” John replied respectfully.
He had been expecting such a thing to occur, as his actions had been too eye-catching. Not only that, but he wanted to see the higher ups as well, to ask about them hiding the truth of him being Asura.
After following the Elder outside, the two of them took to the skies and flew towards the Heavenly Lightning Palace. Flight was normally restricted to Elder’s only, but due to the nature of recent events, exceptions were made.
While flying over the sect, John couldn’t help but gaze down at his new home. The sect was incredibly luxurious, as well as beautiful. Blooming flowers and trees dotted the areas between buildings, while many crystal-blue streams meandered through the sect.
Powerful beasts ridden by Elder’s occasionally past them by in the sky, making both the ground and sky above the sect feel lively. After flying for a short while, John and the Elder arrived before the Heavenly Lightning Palace.
They landed before its entrance and quickly entered inside amongst thousands of other cultivators streaming in and out of the building every hour. The Heavenly Lightning Palace was the busiest part of the sect, and John and the Elder blended in with the sea of other sect members instantly.
As they walked into the Heavenly Lightning Palace, John noticed that not a single person was glancing at him, which he found a bit odd.
‘Surely there must at least be rumors that I’m the Asura, right? I mean I was the only one who took the test on the day, and my aura was clear for everyone to feel. Perhaps they just don’t know what I look like is all, since I am new to the sect.’
John found the situation a bit strange, but did not concern himself with it too much. Whether or not others knew he was the Asura was of no concern to him, as he cultivated for power, not attention and fame.
Contrary to what he expected, the Elder did not lead him to the top of the Heavenly Lightning Palace. Instead, they walked to a tightly guarded set of doors at the other end of the first floor, and entered within.
Behind the first set of doors was another set of large doors which was also guarded by powerful Elders. The guarding Elders nodded their head in greeting to the Elder escorting John, before they opened the doors for them to enter.
The room behind the second set of doors was empty, except for a formation platform in the very center, and an Elder standing next to it with a formation pedestal besides him. The room glowed a brilliant blue color, mostly from the blue formation runes covering the formation platform.
The Elder stepped up onto the platform, and turned to look at John who stood just outside of its perimeter.
“Get on,” the Elder instructed.
John hopped up on the formation, and the Elder on the platform nodded to the one next to the formation pedestal. The Elder at the pedestal placed his hand on top of it, and John suddenly felt himself wrapped up by spatial powers, similar to the other times he was transported through space.
His vision returned to normal instantly, revealing that they had travelled a very short distance. John gazed at his surroundings, and upon turning around spotted the Heavenly Lightning Palace just behind them.
“We’re on the floating landmass behind the Heavenly Lightning Palace?” John asked the Elder.
“That we are,” the Elder replied with a short response as he continued to walk forward. John followed behind the Elder, and they quickly approached the lone palace that existed atop the floating landmass.
Unlike the very thin but tall Heavenly Lightning Palace, the palace atop the landmass was shorter, but much wider. It was almost a mile wide, and was several hundred yards tall. While it was overall smaller than the Heavenly Lightning Palace, the grandeur of it was no less.
In fact, a casual glance from John revealed that the palace before him was much grander than the Heavenly Lightning Palace. Before the palace was a sprawling courtyard and garden, which appeared like an immortal paradise. The garden contained countless water fountains of incredible design, which contained water that was clearly not ordinary.d John could feel his mind and soul become refreshed as he walked through the slight mist created by the fountains.
As they passed by the garden and arrived before the large palace doors, John could clearly tell that the material that made up this palace was extraordinary. The palace was white, blue and gold, with large round spires at the very top.
The front gate to the palace was several dozen yards high, and was guarded by incredibly powerful Elders. Based on their power, John was unsure who would win between them and his master.
The guards noticed their arrival, and used their power to open the massive set of doors to the palace.
“The Sect Leaders are expecting you,” one of the guards said with a slightly awkward expression, as if making the word ‘Leader’ was new to him.
‘Sect Leaders? Plural?’ John mused in slight confusion. As far as he was aware, the Heavenly Lightning Sect only had one true sect leader.
The Elder leading John nodded his head and strode through the doors without missing a beat. John followed closely behind, and quickly entered the palace.
“Incredible!” John couldn’t help but exclaim as he gazed at the interior of the palace.
The ceilings hung high above his head, painted in their entirety with magnificent artworks. Meanwhile, marble white statues, each dozens of yards tall lined the large hallways, adding to its magnificence. They depicted both men and beasts, and were so well carved that they almost seemed lifelike. It was easy to tell that they were carved from incredibly rare materials.
John and the Elder continued down the main hallway, but his gaze shifted occasionally to the side hallways that popped up occasionally.
Those hallways were just as grand, and were filled with people going about their business of keeping the palace clean.
“What is this palace used for?” John asked the Elder before him, although he knew the most likely answer.
“It’s the Sect Leaders palace,” the Elder replied. “His personal abode.”
The two of them continued to walk through the palace for several hundred yards before they finally arrived before a massive set of golden doors. The doors were nearly fifty yards tall, and were made of solid gold. However, John could tell that it was not normal gold, and seemed to be a more durable and expensive material.
The two guards at the massive doors parted the door for John and the Elder, who quickly strode into the room. The room was a large chamber, a hundred yards long and wide. It contained massive pillars jotted about it occasionally, and hundreds of banquet tables filled the interior.
At the very end of the chamber was a large throne, incredibly similar to the design of the Yuan Continent Heavenly Lightning Sect Throne. In fact it appeared to be an exact replica, and John couldn’t help but stare wide eyed at the throne.
However, his stunned expression was not for the throne itself, but the one who sat on top of it. Through his stunned expression, John couldn’t help but call out to the one sitting on the throne.
“Sect Leader Thunderzen?”
