A few days later, Tianming looked down and saw a gargantuan sect beneath him. The first thing he noticed were the thousands of spiritual energy springs there. Even the Divine Capital only had ten in total, nine in the Imperial City and one in the dao palace. In other words, the area had lots of intersecting ley lines that clashed and caused these springs to form, filling the skies with spiritual energy clouds.
The whole Archaion Sect was enveloped in a dense spiritual energy fog, with only the tips of the buildings visible from afar. It almost looked like the legendary realm of immortals.
He could even hear the sound of the spiritual energy gushing out from the springs, all of them more intense than the one in the Decimo Dao Palace. At the very center were even more gushing springs that shot up so high that Tianming couldn't help but be impressed.
He had to admit that those who lived in the center of the continent were indeed much more sophisticated than he’d initially thought; he had only seen a small part of the wide world. Based on the number of spiritual energy springs alone, he could see that the Archaion Sect was on a whole different level than where he had come from. It wasn’t surprising for someone who grew up here to be so powerful. If there was a place that was ideal for cultivation, this would be it. Only those who cultivated here would be able to stand tall at the top of the Flameyellow Continent.
Tianming now finally had something to look forward to.
At that moment, the green phoenix with more than seven hundred stars began descending, causing lots of turbulence around them. Fang Qingli respectfully stood in front of Feiling to block it for her while Xuanyuan Yuheng kept his eyes closed as he continued cultivating. Though he was right next to Tianming, the gap between their power couldn't be further away. Tianming could feel that he was indeed a genius, based on the strong willpower he had. He had a rough gauge of the standard of the disciples in the Archaion Sect, based on Xuanyuan Yuheng.
After they passed through the spiritual energy clouds, Tianming finally got a clearer picture of the Archaion Sect. It was three times the size of the Divine Capital, with the buildings further apart. After all, there were no cityfolk here, only disciples and their lifebound beasts. The sect was laid out like a circle formed by two yin-yang 'fish'. It was basically a taiji diagram. One of the two fish was a mountain range while the other was a lake, but the size of the lake was closer to an ocean.
The various buildings of the sect were built on the mountains and above the lake. The ones in the lake were supported by heavenly pattern formations that wouldn’t budge even if lifebound beasts collided against them. The moment he arrived, Tianming heard the cries and roars of countless lifebound beasts of all species, and even saw many of them amidst the mountains, the lake, and the skies, which made for a rather majestic sight. It seemed that the disciples of the Archaion Sect, much like the Grand-Orient Sect, preferred to let their lifebound beasts out and about. Only dense cities would have restrictions on allowing lifebound beasts to come out, so Tianming's lifebound beasts would no doubt have a much easier time here.
The green phoenix was still flying, and Tianming quickly scanned the area to get a feel for the levels there. It was a really tightly guarded place. At the very center was where the spiritual energy was most dense, and the population gradually decreased the closer they were to the center. Apart from that, there were two smaller circles in the taiji diagram, which looked like eyes for the yin-yang fish. They were respectively the mountain-among-seas and sea-among-mountains of the sect.
If Tianming's guess was right, Fang Qingli was probably trying to bring them to the mountain-among-seas. As he thought that, the green phoenix arrived at the lake that was half as large as the dao palace.
"Your Eminence, we’ve arrived at Xuanyuan Lake. Your descendents of the Archaic House of Xuanyuan have prospered here since the time of old," Fang Qingli respectfully introduced as she helped Feiling down. There were two who had ascended to godhood in the history of the Archaion Divine Realm, and both of them were from the Archaic House of Xuanyuan, firmly cementing their position at the top. Feiling kept her cool and didn't speak too much.
"I’ll go first to make the announcements. All the top figures of the sect are awaiting Your Eminence's return at Xuanyuan Shrine," Fang Qingli said.
"I see." Feiling nodded and waved for her to lead the way. Xuanyuan Yuheng and Tianming followed behind. Tianming looked and saw a grand, sparkling hall adorned with many carvings of dragons all over. The deep engravings of the name plaque of the building seemed to contain so much of their willpower that it almost hurt Tianming's eyes to stare at it.
"Wait outside the hall," Fang Qingli said, knowing that Tianming wasn't aware of the rules, then entered with Feiling. Xuanyuan Yuheng also followed.
Feiling would have to face the strongest people of the Archaion Sect. Tianming was a little nervous about whether she would be able to take it. Not even he could be sure that he would be able to pull off the act perfectly, but all he could do was listen and wait outside.
The moment they entered the hall, a really loud and resounding greeting could be heard. "All hail Her Eminence! We, the descendants, celebrate Her Eminence's glorious return!"
Everyone within the hall knelt and kowtowed. They were really passionate. If Feiling screwed up, it would be over for them. Now, Tianming knew that the most important thing was to maintain Feiling's identity and not reveal it to anyone. He could even feel Xuanyuan Lake itself shaking from the vibrations. Even Xuanyuan Yuheng and the lifebound beasts around them knelt.
The stakes were much higher than before. He hadn't been aware of how truly important the second ascendant was to the Archaion Sect.
"With Her Eminence's return, the first divine realm shall rise back to prominence and dominate the Flameyellow Continent once more!" It was so loud that Tianming's eardrums almost shattered. Now he was seriously getting worried about Feiling.
He knelt at the entrance and tried to sneak a glance inside, only to see her seated in a black and gold dragon throne. Fang Qingli was kneeling in front of her, awaiting orders. No other person dared to look straight at her. Feiling nervously bit her lip and gripped her fists tight as she looked at all the elites with powerful auras. Each of them seemed like a titan that could easily crush someone like her.
"Rise," she said, trying her best to speak with slow dignity. "Even though I’ve returned, I’ll need to re-cultivate for ten years to be able to ascend once more to godhood. Before that happens, keep everything operating as normal and don't make a big deal of this. I don’t have time to show myself. Understood?"
Tianming's eyes brightened when he heard that. She was pretty witty. As expected, Fang Qingli immediately nodded and said, "We understand, Your Eminence. That is a pressing matter and we won't do anything that would interrupt Your Eminence's cultivation. I’ve already arranged for Soulburn Hall to be cleaned for Your Eminence to cultivate in. Godservant Hall is just right next door with a hundred and fifty servants waiting at Your Eminence’s beck and call.
"Very well," Feiling said with a nod.
"Your Eminence, please allow me to introduce the three sect masters."
"Go ahead." Feiling was getting more and more into her role.
The three sect masters were no doubt among the most powerful figures in the entire Archaion Sect, having an even higher status than Fang Qingli. Tianming saw three people with their backs facing him and heads lowered.
"Your Eminence, this is Fang Taiqing, the sect master of the Heaven Branch from the Sterling House of Fang," Fang Qingli said as she pointed to a green-robed man.
"I see."
"This is Xuanyuan Dao, the sect master of the Earth Branch from the Archaic House of Xuanyuan," she said as she pointed to a white-robed man.
"Noted."
"And this is the sect master of the Human Branch, Jian Wuyi from the Draconis House of Jian," she said as she pointed to a blue-robed man.
"Understood."
"As for the other administrators and the three tribulation elders, I won't be introducing them one by one. Whenever Your Eminence needs anything, please summon me. I’ll always be waiting at Godservant Hall to relay Your Eminence's words to the three sect masters. They are the three main pillars of the Archaion Sect and are incredibly trustworthy."
"Very well," Feiling said.
"Does Your Eminence have any other plans for now?"
"No. You may all excuse yourselves. I intend to begin focusing on cultivating."
"Understood!" everyone answered. "We’ll excuse ourselves, Your Eminence."
They backed off out of the entrance without turning their backs.
"Sect Master Jian, please stay," Fang Qingli said.