John finished his discussions with his three friends, before he set out to inquire about Lilians location. He had not seen her since entering the sect, as he had been out on his contribution mission, and then entered the Thunder Realm immediately after.
After asking around, one of the Elder's John ran into knew where Lilian was situated. She was located in quite a remote area of the sect, and apparently had an incredibly luxurious palace atop a mountain, with no other buildings in the vicinity at all.
John thanked the Elder for the directions and headed towards Lilians palace.
'I bet she hopes I forgot about the bet,' John mused with a smirk on his face. Getting his master to cough up one hundred and twenty million spirit crystals would sure put a sour look on her face, and it would be the first time John had ever gotten back at his master for all the pain she put him through.
After walking through the sect for quite some time, John found himself in a rather remote part of the sect. The area was mostly filled with lush forests and vegetation, and a tranquil pathway, next to a meandering stream and lined with blooming flowers carved its way up the mountain before him. The massive palace was easily visible from the base of the mountain, as it dominated the landscape.
Even John couldn't help but be impressed by its scale.
'Its at least five times larger than my house…why the hell does a single person need such a large mansion?'
John shook his head at the over-the-top spending and design of the Heavenly Lightning Sect buildings and started his walk up the pathway. He took his time up the pathway, as it was quite a beautiful and relaxing walk, and arrived at the mansion half an hour later.
He stood before a set of massive doors and knocked on the door loudly. Silence met his knocks, and John waited there for quite some time before knocking again.
Bang!
Bang!
His knocks were even more forceful, vibrating the nearby ground and walls of the building, but still he was met with no answer from within.
'Is she even home? Or does she know I'm here and is ignoring me?'
John mused over the question and what to do for a moment, before he set his mind on entering the mansion. He needed that money to buy battle arts, pills, and other things, and did not have much time to obtain those items.
John steeled his mind and braced for the consequences of his actions, as he pressed against the two large doors to enter the mansion. The doors slid open, revealing a luxurious palace within. The walls, floors, and ceilings were covered by beautifully detailed designs, and a large hallway cut through the middle of the palace.
Winding staircases appeared occasionally, leading to higher or lower parts of the palace. John took in the sight before him, and sighed as he didn't even know where to start to look for his master. Spreading one's divine sense out in the home of another was a taboo subject, and John debated about doing it or not when a faint yet familiar feeling washed over him.
'The aura of Death!'
The aura was incredibly faint, but was unmistakably the Dao of Death that Lilian was capable of using. However, he could hardly make out where it was coming from, despite it being such a powerful Dao. It was like it was being shrouded from him, which caused John to not be able to pinpoint where it was coming from.
John stared meaning through the palace, trying to find his way to the source of the aura. Sometimes it would grow fainter, while other times it would become stronger. After quite some time of following the aura, John found himself standing before a closed door. There were intricate formation runes covering the door, as well as the walls next to it.
However, the formation runes were shrouding formations, and not protective formations. John took a deep breath and opened the door. As soon as he did, a thick aura of death washed over John, and he quickly activated his Qi to form a protective barrier against it.
'Just what the hell is she doing down there?'
A long staircase was revealed before him, which descended deep into the mountain below. John flared his power to resist the Qi, closed the door behind him, and started descending deeper down the stairs. Shrouding formation runes lined the entire staircase, making John wonder why they were placed there.
'Are these shrouding runes specifically for my master, or were they here beforehand?'
The aura of death thickened as John continued down the stairs, and even he found it harder and harder to move forward through it. Were it not for his incredibly robust essence Qi, as well as incredibly strong and resilient body, John would not have been able to descend as deep as he had.
After descending down for over a mile, John finally reached the bottom of the long stairwell. A large, expansive chamber came into view, which was lit by numerous lighting formations overhead. The chamber was several hundred yards wide, and ss was visible before, shrouding formations lined the walls of the chamber, as well as defensive formations.
The defensive formations continuously lit up with great power to resist the aura of death filling the large chamber, hinting at its power. In the very center of the room sat Lilian, wrapped in a thick aura of death.
The rune on her forehead, the Dao symbol of death, glowed with incredible might as her face was scrunched in concentration and struggle. Sweat dripped down her scrunched face, and John could clearly tell she was pushing herself in some sort of training.
'I suppose I should leave. I hate to be interrupted during training, so I'll leave her alone until she comes out of training.'
Upon thinking this, John turned to leave, but his eyes widened slightly as he spotted Lilians closed eyes open and focused directly on him. The eyes were incredibly cold, and it was as if just her look could kill. It was not that Lilian was directing such a cold stare at him in particular, but it was instead a stare fueled by the Dao of Death itself.. John felt himself take an instinctual step backwards as his heartbeat increased, as it was like he was being stared at by death itself.