The next few days passed by quickly, and the morning sun shone on John's eyes, waking him up from his deep sleep. After getting washed up and ready for the day, he set off towards the center of the sect, the gathering place for today's event.
"I can't believe I've been on the Divine Martial Continent for almost half a year now," John mused out loud as he began talking towards the Heavenly Lightning Palace courtyard.
"Although I've been here for half a year, I really haven't seen much of what's around. I've been to Mystic City and that nearby village, but that's about it. Visiting the Honorable Alliance should be quite eye opening."
Similar thoughts occupied John's mind as he walked through the sect, and some time later he arrived at the center of the sect. A growing noise filled his ears as he rounded the corner, at which point he spotted a large crowd already gathered in the courtyard before the Heavenly Lightning Palace.
The crowd already contained tens of thousands of people, and was growing by the minute as more sect members streamed. The crowd was circling around a smaller group gathered in the very center of the courtyard, which only contained a few hundred people.
The small group consisted of only disciples, and John quickly made his way over to the group, as this was the group that was to leave today for the Honorable Alliance. The sect was able to send over three hundred disciples, and most seemed to have gathered already.
The group itself was broken up into even smaller groups as the class years separated themselves. John quickly spotted three familiar faces and made his way over towards them.
"You're finally here," Iris called out as she noticed John's arrival.
"Always the last to arrive," Adam added.
"I made it here in time, didn't I?" John replied casually. His gaze swept over the rest of the group once again, and couldn't help but spot a small group gathered at the very front, standing separate from the rest.
The group consisted of about a dozen disciples, and each were quite impressive when it came to cultivation level and aura. The group was all in the Heaven Tribulation Realm, and each carried themselves with pride.
At the very front of this group stood two youths, a girl and a boy. The boy had long silver hair and a handsome face, while the girl had long black hair and was quite beautiful. Both were being stared at by the other disciples of the sect, as they had attracted quite the interest from the opposite sexes.
Both appeared to be about nineteen years of age, and both had cultivation at the Middle Heaven Tribulation Realm.
Their aura's were incredible, and John could easily tell that they were the two strongest youths of the crowd. The boy stood alone, his aura like an unsheathed sword waiting to strike. The girl on the other hand had a few friends next to her, and was chatting with them with a smile on her face.
"Are those the other direct disciples?" John asked as he gestured to the group. "The two at the front seem to be attracting quite a few gazes from the other disciples."
Such information would normally be common knowledge, but John had spent almost all his time outside of the sect, or occupied with his master's training sessions. He had not explored the sect much yet, or had time to learn about the other disciples.
"Mhm. The two at the very front are Rael and Lily. They're the two strongest direct disciples of our sect, and both are incredibly attractive, so it's only natural that the other disciples have eyes for them," Iris replied as she glanced sideways at Adam.
Adam quickly averted his gaze away from Lily, as he knew he had been caught out staring at her. He coughed awkwardly and quickly changed the subject.
"So, what do you guys think will be in the Jade Dragon Empire lands? Treasures? Cultivation opportunities? Heavenly artifacts?" Adam asked with great enthusiasm."
"Who knows," John replied. "There's no point in thinking about it now. We'll deal with whatever the realm has to offer when we enter it."
"Besides, with what we saw from you in the Thunder Realm, you can forget about obtaining anything of value," Iris added. "You'll probably just hide in a corner for the entire duration of the realm like last time."
"What did you say?" Adam exclaimed, but his yell was drowned out by the booming voice of another.
"Silence," the voice boomed over the crowd, causing it to fall into a silence. All the eyes in the crowd turned to look towards the Heavenly Lightning Palace, where three figures had appeared at the top of the stairs.
The Grand Elder, Sect Leader Thunderfist, and Sect Leader Thunderzen stared at the group gathered before them. The Grand Elder's gaze swept over the group of disciples, and noted that all of the three hundred disciples had gathered.
He waved his hand, and a flying ship suddenly appeared in the sky above the group, capturing the attention of all. The ship was quite large, at over two hundred yards long and fifty yards wide. It was ornately detailed with blue and gold designs, and glimmered in the morning sun.
It was the most luxurious and grand flying ship John had ever seen, and he couldn't help but be entranced for a moment.
"Today you set off for the Honorable Alliance," the Grand Elder spoke up once more. "You three hundred disciples are the best our sect has to offer, and we are sure you'll make our sect proud in your displays to com-"
"Alright alright that's enough with the formalities. Everyone that's qualified gets on the ship," Sect Leader Thunderfist suddenly spoke up, cutting off the Grand Elder. However, his unique actions didn't seem to phase anyone in the sect, as they were seemingly quite used to such antics from their Sect Leader.
Thunderfist quickly flew into the ship himself, indicating that he would be the one escorting the group to the Honorable Alliance. The group of disciples quickly did as instructed, and entered the flying ship in the sky.
"Good luck," Thunderzen's voice suddenly sounded out in John's mind, causing him to turn to the sect leader for a moment. "And do be sure to remember our agreement," Thunderzen continued as he stared at John.
John nodded his head towards Thunderzen before he turned around and entered the ship with the rest of the disciples. With almost no fan fare at all, the ship suddenly sped off into the distance, leaving the Heavenly Lightning Sect behind.. John watched as the ground rapidly sped by as his journey towards the Honorable Alliance had begun.