“Younger brother?” Lilian spoke up as she looked at Thunderfist. “I still don’t see the resemblance at all.”
John nodded his head at his master’s words, as Thunderzen and Thunderfist couldn’t not be farther apart in appearance.
“At least you have good eyes,” Thunderfist replied with a hearty voice. “Comparing me to the decrepit corpse behind me would be an insult to me.”
Sitting atop the throne, Thunderzen rolled his eyes at his brother’s words.
“I see thousands of years of sitting on this throne and running this sect of mine has not made you any more mature,” Thunderzen said to his brother, who turned around with a displeased look on his face.
“Maturity is for old corpses who would rather solve problems with their words than their fists. Such a thing is beneath me,” Thunderfist replied aggressively while crossing his arms.
Thunderzen gazed at his brother for a moment before gazing back at John and Lilian.
“You must forgive this brother of mine. He was dropped a few too many times on the head as a child.”
“And I’m glad that it happened,” Thunderfist replied quickly and without any shame. “If I had grown up calm and ‘mature’ like you, I would have killed myself out of boredom.”
A strange expression appeared on both John and Lilian’s face as they heard Thunderfists words, as they never imagined someone as powerful as him could act like this. However, the others in the room, such as the Grand Elder and the mysterious woman remained expressionless, as if they were used to such things.
Thunderzen shook his head at his brother’s words, as a sigh escaped his lips.
“I had forgotten how irritating you can be,” Thunderzen replied, before his gaze shifted towards John and Lilian.
“Anyways, enough about that,” Thunderzen spoke up quickly before his brother could speak up again. “Now that you have met my brother, I will explain everything to the both of you.”
The expression on John’s face turned serious upon hearing this, as he truly wanted to hear the truth of everything that was going on. None of it made sense to him at the moment.
Lilian’s expression remained calm and neutral as she waited for her father to explain, but John could tell that she was eager to learn the truth as well.
Thunderzen fell into silence for a moment, thinking of where to start his story, before he started his explanation.
“Everything that brought us here today started a long, long time ago,” Thunderzen started.
“Many thousands of years ago, my brother and I were part of a group exploring a spatial realm that had been discovered in the middle of the Divine Martial Continent. The realm was seemingly a broken off remnant of the continent by the ancient war that had shattered this world.
During that exploration, I came across an ancient city, and inside the city, and ancient library. I nearly lost my life getting past the powerful formation traps guarding the library, but eventually managed to make my way inside,” Thunderzen explained.
“The library contained a vast trove of ancient knowledge, from formations, battle arts, pill recipes, and even prophecies.”
“Prophecies? Are prophecies actually real?” John asked.
Everyone had heard of prophecies, but very few knew if they actually existed and were true in what they prophesied, or just folklore.
“Yes, prophecies are real,” Thunderzen replied. “In fact, it was a prophecy that led me to you.”
John’s face lit up in surprise upon hearing this, but didn’t ask for elaboration as he knew Thunderzen would explain what he meant.
“While pursuing through the ancient library, other parties who tried to enter caused a formation to trigger, which eradicated the library and the surrounding land. I was just barely able to get away from the explosion with my life intact, and what I was able to bring with me before its destruction was limited.
However…one of the items I was able to bring with me was this,” Thunderzen said as an object suddenly appeared before him in the air.
It was a cylindrical object, like a tube, and was two feet long. The object seemed to be divided into many separate parts, each able to rotate around the perimeter separate from the other parts. Strange symbols were carved into its surface, making it look incredibly exotic.
John gazed at the object, but was unable to make any sense from it. Lilian’s expression turned into one of confusion as well, as she too was unable to make sense of it.
“What do those symbols mean? I have no idea what they say,” John couldn’t help but ask, as they were completely foreign to him.
“I wouldn’t expect you to know how to read this,” Thunderzen said as he allowed the object to float over to John. “Even now I am unable to read its contents.”
John caught the object in his hands, and inspected it closely. He twisted the separate parts, which realigned the strange symbols. However, no matter how he rearranged the parts, he was still unable to make sense of it.
His gaze shifted back towards Thunderzen, confused as to what this was.
“If you couldn’t read this, and still can’t, then how do you know it contains a prophecy?” John asked.
“The reason I cannot read it is because it is written in the language of prophecies,” Thunderzen explained.
“Language of prophecies?” John asked, as he had never heard of such a thing. “Can’t you just learn to read the language?”
“Unfortunately not,” Thunderzen replied while shaking his head slightly. “The language of prophecies is an intuitive language, ever changing based on the stars, the winds of fate, and everything else in this world. The symbols may stay the same, but their meanings change as the world changes. Only those blessed with the innate ability of foresight are able to read the language of prophecies.”
John frowned upon hearing this, as he too did not have this ability. He was just about to ask Thunderzen how he knew what it said, when Thunderzen gestured to one standing at his side.
“I may not have this ability, but another in this room does,” Thunderzen said to John as he gestured towards the Grand Elder. The Grand Elder stood there with a relaxed expression, as if he were a monk of absolute tranquility and peace. His calm gaze focused on John, and John felt once again as if the Grand Elder was seeing right through him.
“Our Heavenly Lightning Sect’s Grand Elder does however have this innate ability, and was the person who helped me decipher this prophecy” Thunderzen explained. “A prophecy regarding you!”