"Come, take a seat," Thunderzen spoke up once more, stirring John from his daze.
John nodded his head and took a seat. The table was several feet across, and Thunderzen sat lazily in his chair while he smiled at John with an inspecting look. John could tell that Sect Leader Thunderzen was closely inspecting him, as if looking for something, but could do nothing to stop it.
He knew his body dantian was undetectable, and so he wasn't worried about anything Thunderzen would find. However, he was curious as to why Thunderzen had looked for him specifically.
'My Clan issue is not worth him talking to me directly like this, so it must be something else.'
John sat there calmly and stared at Sect Leader Thunderzen, but said nothing. He was waiting for Thunderzen to speak first, as he did not want to say anything unneeded for revealing. Thunderzen continued to inspect John for a moment before a slight smile appeared on his face.
"Just like last time, you're completely calm in my presence. Where did you get such nerves?" Thunderzen asked John.
Based on his status as Sect Leader, as well as his overwhelming power, Thunderzen was used to Elder's being cautious and timid before him, let alone disciples. However, both times John had met him face to face, John had been completely calm and collected.
"I've been in many life and death situations before. Compared to those, this is nothing," John replied calmly.
Based on his many life and death battles, his experiences in the pocket realm, and tempering his will nightly in front of the sinister gate, John's will was completely firm. Something like a casual conversation was unable to shake him.
"Regardless of the reason, this is the attitude cultivators should have. I just wish more in our Sect were more firm in their wills," Thunderzen replied with a slight sigh.
The Heavenly Lightning Sect hadn't had a large scale war in many years, and so both the disciples and Elder's were becoming soft. Only the War Hall, who constantly performed life and death activities, maintained their sharp edge.
Once again, John sat there in silence and stared at Thunderzen calmly. He knew the Sect Leader didn't drag him up here for casual conversation, and so he waited in silence patiently until Thunderzen got straight to the point.
Thunderzen immediately picked up on what John was doing, and a small smile once again broke out on his face.
"Alright then, I'll get straight to the point," Thunderzen stated. "When you arrived at our sect, you were found by Elder Ragur just outside the Qi Whirlpool."
John's eyebrows raised slightly as Thunderzen mentioned the whirlpool, but his face remained calm, giving nothing away.
"Whatever the reason you gave Elder Ragur, I know that was a lie. You came from within the whirlpool, and I want to know why and how that came to be," Thunderzen asked John, getting straight to the point.
John remained calm, but his mind began to race for explanations that would sound plausible. However, even after thinking of many possibilities, John was unable to come up with something that would fool Thunderzen.
The Sect Leader was incredibly knowledgeable and wise, and John knew he would be unable to trick him.
'Based on what I know, the pocket realm began to collapse when Celestial Soulrend left the realm to help Miko, so revealing it won't really be an issue anymore.'
However, that was not what gave John pause. He was more concerned about the Sect Leader targeting him once he found out John was in a mysterious pocket realm, and wanted whatever he got inside.
However, John's gains had been Kirii, who was now disguised as a mundane creature, the Undying Vitality Fruit, which was already consumed and sold, and the gifts from Celestial Soulrend, which could not be stolen from him.
After considering all the potential outcomes, John decided to come clean, as he figured it was the safest path. The Heavenly Lightning Sect was now his home as well, and he needed to start treating it as such. They had also decided to help out his clan situation, and so he had no reason to feel ill will towards the Sect or Thunderzen.
Thunderzen sat there patiently, waiting to hear John's explanations. He was wondering if John would tell the truth, or try to cover it up with a lie.
"You're right. I did come from within the whirlpool," John suddenly said, causing Thunderzen to raise his eyebrows.
"Oh? And how did such a thing come to be? You're far too weak to survive within that Qi whirlpool."
"That's because I was never in the storm directly, but only thrown out at its edges," John replied. He didn't want to reveal that he had the protection of Celestial Soulrend, and so he slightly lied about this small fact.
"Thrown out from what?" Thunderzen asked curiously.
John paused for a moment before replying. "A mysterious realm."
"A mysterious realm, huh? And how did you come to be in that mysterious realm? I want to know everything about what happened in that realm." Thunderzen asked.
John once again paused, thinking about his next response carefully. After a moment of hesitation, he decided to reveal the truth. The pocket realm was no more, and so the clan requirement of guarding the secret of the realm did not exist anymore.
John began to explain to Thunderzen about the pocket realm. About how his clan and the other clans entered it, as well as what was inside. However, he left out the Elysian Lightning World trial, as well as his encounter with Celestial Soulrend.
Thunderzen sat there calmly as he listened to John's story. He became quite surprised at what John had revealed, such as finding a Undying Vitality Fruit, a special inheritance for his friend Ryan, as well as his encounters with the Crimson Valley Sect.
"You fought two Qi Condensation youths and three Mist Creation youths at the Mist Creation realm, and managed to kill two and escape with your life intact? Truly impressive," Thunderzen said as he listened to John's story closely.
John included the part with the Crimson Valley Sect and Jason and Dylan, revealing why his clan had an issue with them and the Bloodfiend Sect.
"I suppose it all makes sense now, why the Bloodfiend Sect would pay attention to and aid such a small and insignificant sect such as the Crimson Valley Sect," Thunderzen replied.
"So, after you fell into the chasm, what happened next?" Thunderzen asked.
"I was trapped down there by the Qi Whirlpool, unable to escape. After a week of being down there, the entire pocket realm began to shake, and spatial tears started to appear. I was ejected out of one, and before I knew it, I found myself thrown out of the Qi whirlpool here," John replied.
The matter of Celestial Soulrend, the holy aura, and everything they had discussed was of utmost secrecy, and John didn't dare talk about them. He had learned the lesson regarding Karma, and made sure to treat it with respect. Although he didn't know if revealing them to Thunderzen would invoke Karma, he wasn't about to test his luck.
Thunderzen examined John closely as he explained the last parts of his story. Although Thunderzen could tell that he was hiding something, he didn't press for more information, as his original intent of speaking to John was to find out why the whirlpool was weakening. And now he had.
"Quite a thrilling story," Thunderzen replied with a smile on his face. "I thank you for telling me the truth. If you had decided to lie to me about the mysterious realm, I wouldn't have hesitated to cast you out of the Sect," Thunderzen said, causing a shiver to creep up John's spine.
'It's a good thing I revealed the truth then.'
"Sect Leader, I have to ask, why these questions now? Why not before when you found me?" John asked curiously. The timing was quite peculiar.
"I suppose it won't hurt to say, as everyone will be finding out eventually anyways," Thunderzen replied. "Based on your story, I am relatively certain that in the end, the pocket realm collapsed for whatever reason. The Qi whirlpool our sect is located around is connected to that pocket realm, and with its collapse, the whirlpool will collapse as well."
John was surprised to hear this, but it made sense. With the realm collapsed, the whirlpool, which was linked to the realm to provide a continuous supply of Qi, served no more purpose. As such, it would eventually cease to exist.
"Isn't that a bad thing?" John asked.
Although he didn't know the exact specifics, he knew the whirlpool was important to the sect.
"Who knows, it may be a bad thing, or it may be a blessing. Only time will tell." Thunderzen replied as he stood up.
"In the meantime, I advise you to raise your strength as much as possible in the next few weeks. Because soon, you'll be entering the lands revealed by the Qi Whirlpools disappearance."
