John stood there for a moment as he mused about his and Miko's last time together. It was in the ancient city, where they had fought the Three Emperors, met the mysterious girl, and fought the skeletal creature.
They were in the Core Formation Realm at the time, and that time seemed like an eon ago to John based on everything that had happened since. John had always wondered how Miko was doing since that time, and how he was dealing with Celestial Soulrend inhabiting his body. At the time, Miko was unaware of Soulrend's presence.
'Based on his score of nineteen steps, it seems like Miko and Celestial Soulrend have made contact, and Celestial Soulrend has lived up to his word of elevating Miko to incredible heights. I wonder…between the two of us, who is stronger now?'
A smile lingered on John's face as he thought of the last point. The last time they had met, they were roughly the same strength, as Miko's cultivation was slightly higher, while John's battle prowess was slightly higher.
However, Miko now had the full aid of Celestial Soulrend, whose existence was far above anything this planet seemingly held. Celestial Soulrend was of power so great that only his mysterious 'father' could intimidate him, although John didn't know how strong his true father was either.
However, he could tell that both were so strong as to be far above anything he had seen this world of his offer and knew Miko would be able to surge forward in both talent and power at a pace the rest of the geniuses of the world would find impossible to match. However, this was a good thing, as John was always more than happy to have powerful allies he could count on.
John started walking again after realizing he had stopped in the middle of the busy road for quite some time. Other disciples were pushing past him to get to the gathering auditorium, which caused quite a few to look at him with disapproving glances.
He quickly followed the rest of the disciples towards the gathering auditorium, which sprung up into view shortly after. The auditorium was one of the largest buildings within the sect, and dominated the nearby landscape. Only the Heavenly Lightning Palace behind it in the distance overshadowed its presence.
The auditorium was marble white, with blue accents all around. Thousands of tall pillars over a dozen yards wide lined the entire perimeter of the auditorium, giving it a more ancient look than the other buildings in the area.
A long line of disciples constantly streamed into the building each minute. Although the assembly only required inner disciples and above to attend, it did not prohibit outer disciples from entering as well. Most outer disciples opted to join the assembly, as they too were curious as to what was going on.
As such, the gathering auditorium quickly filled up at an incredible pace, and hundreds of thousands of disciples, elders, and other members of the sect quickly found open seats to sit in. After entering the front entrance of the building, John followed the others through the main entrance and lobby and found himself in the auditorium soon after.
The auditorium was incredibly massive, and had over a million seats. At the very front of the auditorium was a large stage, which was currently empty. John's gaze shifted over those already seated, and after a short search, he found who he was looking for. He quickly moved towards Adam, Chase, and Iris, who were seated together.
"John, you finally arrived," Adam called out as he saw John. "I thought you were going to be late at this rate."
"I'm here in time aren't I?" John replied as he took a seat next to the three of them.
The three engaged in idle conversation, discussing what they had all done the last two days while waiting for the assembly to start. Fifteen minutes later, a lone figure walked up on stage, which John and the rest quickly recognized.
The Grand Elder waved his hand for silence, and the gathered disciples all fell silent. All were eager to hear what was so important as to gather almost the entire sect.
"I heard the reports from the Thunder Realm," the Grand Elder said. "This year's trial was the Labyrinth, which is quite unfortunate for all who entered. There are many mysteries to the Thunder Realm, and the Labyrinth is one of them. However, it is known to all that the Labyrinth contains almost no opportunities within, and so I'm assuming most of you left empty handed."
The Grand Elder's words resulted in almost all of the disciples nodding their heads in unison. While some had managed to obtain small rewards and treasures here and there, they were mostly of low value. Most had left empty handed, which resulted in a rather downcast atmosphere after the realms closing.
"The reason you are gathered here today is because of a new opportunity that has arisen…one that dwarfs anything the Thunder Realm could ever offer," the Grand Elder continued.
His words shocked the entire audience of disciples, as the Thunder Realm was the most profound realm under the control of the Heavenly Lightning Sect. Many disciples leaned forward in their seats, eager to hear what the Grand Elder had to say next.
A small smile broke out on the Grand Elder's face as he saw the enthusiasm of the disciples, but his face quickly returned stoic as he counted his message.
"I'm sure most of you are aware by now of the new Talent Testing Steps development," the Grand Elder continued. "First, there was "Asura" who reached twenty steps, and a mysterious "Soul-Sage" reached nineteen steps as well a week ago, although the origins of the Soul-Sage was shrouded in a similar manner to 'Asura'."
The mention of 'Asura' and 'Soul-Sage' sent the crowd into a frenzied discussion, but the Grand Elder waved his hand, calling for silence. Meanwhile, John raised an eyebrow in surprise at this news, as he assumed Miko would have been tested within the honorable alliance, but that didn't seem to be the case.
'The only other testing steps that would make sense…is the Talent Steps controlled by the Faerie Race, which specialize in soul power. Could Miko truly be there? Or was I perhaps wrong about who the Soul-Sage is?' John mused internally.
"As if taunted by the performance of 'Asura' and the 'Soul-Sage,' many new names have started popping up on the Talent Testing Tablet, all with incredibly impressive scores. It seems as though the other powers were keeping their most talented youths a secret, but have changed their mind with the recent developments," the Grand Elder explained.
He took a short pause to allow those in the crowd to process what they had heard, before he continued speaking once more.
"In fact, the "Asuros,' who had achieved sixteen steps, took the trial again, and has moved up to the seventeenth step. There have been a handful of other names who have reached the fifteenth and sixteenth step, which has sent the continent into a frenzy. Igris, from the Beast Tribe, achieved sixteen steps. Amber Bloodrose, from the Forbidden Alliance, achieved sixteen steps. Vazul Plagoth, from the Monster Race, achieved sixteen steps…I can go on but I'm sure you all get the picture," the Grand Elder explained, stunning the crowd silent. Such scores were thought impossible just a few years ago, and were now being achieved by the handful.
"It seems as though this new generation of youths has exceeded the previous generations by leaps and bounds, although the exact reasons for this are still unclear to us. These developments have sent the Honorable Alliance scrambling, as none of the top five names belong to them. In fact, they have realized that amongst the names on the list, they are currently in last place," the Grand Elder continued, his words stunning the crowd once more. The Honorable Alliance, which was made up of hundreds of sects and a main headquarters, was the only thing ensuring the safety of those within the alliance.
While the strengths of the many alliances and races were even at the moment, a disparity in the new generation would destabilize things in the future, which could lead to catastrophic consequences for the Honorable Alliance. Everyone in the crowd was able to figure this out quickly, and so a deafening silence fell over the crowd.
Only John and the Grand Elder remained calm, as both of them knew that this wasn't entirely true. However, the Honorable Alliance did not know of John's identity as 'Asura,' and so their actions were only logical.
"With all this in mind, the Honorable Alliance, which includes our sect as well, has agreed that special measures need to be taken in order to ensure the future survival of our alliance," the Grand Elder continued, drawing the disciples' attention to him once again.
"There is a land…a quasi-realm, which is guarded in perpetuity by the Honorable Alliance. This quasi-realm was discovered over a hundred thousand years ago, and has been under the protection of the Honorable Alliance ever since," the Grand Elder said. "This quasi-realm was a training and opportunity realm to raise talents and strengths of the youths of an empire from before the calamity…the Jade Dragon Empire."
The mention of the Jade Dragon Empire sent the disciples into a frenzy, as the name of that empire was legendary. It was the strongest power from before the calamity, which was ruled by one of the strongest cultivators to ever exist in the world. The Grand Elder once again called for silence, which took a moment longer to die down this time as the news had been completely shocking.
"This realm belonging to the Jade Dragon Empire is under the control of the Honorable Alliance, but since the Honorable Alliance is not the true owners of the realm, getting in is incredibly difficult and expensive," the Grand Elder continued once more. "The cost of opening the entrance to this realm is so great, that the realm has only been opened twice in the history of the Honorable Alliance, both at times where the existence of the Alliance was in question…"
The Grand Elder fell silent again for a moment, and the disciples in the auditorium started to put two and two together very quickly. An atmosphere of anxious anticipation washed over the crowd as they all held their breaths, waiting to hear the confirmation from the Grand Elder.
"As such…with the rising threat of the other alliances and races looming, and after much discussion, the Honorable Alliance has decided that it is time to open this realm for the youths of the Alliance once again."