John quickly caught up behind his Master, who reduced her speed to let him fly alongside her. The two of them rapidly sped through the sect, before arriving at the Heavenly Lighting Palace a short while later.
They both landed in the courtyard at the base of the steps leading to the palace entrance, and quickly caught the attention of everyone gathered in the courtyard.
"Look, it's the Vice-Sect Leader...and John!" one of the disciples called out with great excitement.
They had all been part of the same year as John, and at first considered him to be at the same level status wise. However, with the news of him single handedly destroying the Bloodfiend Sect spreading across the land, his status was no longer the same as before.
Almost all of the disciples of the sect considered him to be almost godlike, and looked up to him as the benchmark for what they wanted to achieve.
Many disciples yelled out at John in excitement, with many of the girls yelling the loudest. The Vice-Sect Leader smirked at John as they both heard the excited yells.
"Seems like you've established quite the fanbase for yourself. Why don't you go over and greet your lovers?" she mocked him.
John rolled his eyes at his master and ignored her words as he began walking up the steps towards the Heavenly Lightning Palace. The two of them quickly entered the building, and were greeted by Elders of the sect with utmost respect.
"Vice-Sect Leader...the assembly is already gathered and discussing the Bloodfiend Sects destruction," the Elder instructed as he glanced at John.
Lilian nodded her head as she continued forward, with John following closely behind. They arrived at Thunderzen's chamber at the top of the Heavenly Lightning Palace, which was where the assembly was gathered, and were greeted by dozens of Elders guarding the entrance to the chamber.
They all parted to the side to let John and Lilian enter, as John heard heated discussion between two parties.
"You expect me to believe those rumors?" The voice of a man boomed out loudly. "Only an idiot would believe such a thing."
"Why don't we wait until the one who the rumors speak of arrives, and then we can determine the truth for ourselves," the voice of a woman followed afterwards in direct opposition to the man's opinion.
"I already told you," the voice of Thunderzen entered his ears. "Those rumors are false. I was the one to destroy the Bloodfiend Sect, as you can tell by the lingering aftermath. The blame for its destruction falls solely on me. However, we shouldn't forget the true reason for its destruction, which was a clear violation of the-"
The doors parting caught the eyes of all inside, who stopped speaking as they gazed at the two new arrivals. John felt the gazes of hundreds of people lock onto him as he himself gazed at the gathering before him.
At the back of the chamber, Thunderzen sat atop his throne, while before the throne gathered two distinct groups. John also spotted Elder Ragur standing amongst many of the Heavenly Lightning Sect Elders, who smiled at John as he noticed him.
To the left side of the chamber was a group of a dozen cultivators cladded in white and gold robes, while to the right was a group of roughly a dozen cultivators as well, all wearing black robes.
'They're obviously the Honorable and Forbidden Alliance representatives. Couldn't they be a little less cliche in their colors though?' John mused internally and shook his head slightly.
Both groups were clearly led by a singular person, who stood at the forefront of each group. The one in front of the white robed group was a woman who appeared to be in her forties, who carried herself with grace. The one standing before the black robed group was a middle aged man who also appeared to be in his forties, and had sharp features and a powerful gaze. Just by looking at him, John felt as if his soul was being lit by flames, shocking him slightly.
Clearly, the ones who had been speaking when he had entered the chamber were the two of them. Their power was shrouded to John, revealing that they were most likely in the Dao Transformation realm or above.
In fact, the two at the front of the group gave off a feeling of danger even greater than that of his master, revealing them to be even stronger than her. In fact, their power was closer to Thunderzen's. However, that was not too shocking to John, as they seemed to be much older than his master, who was only around thirty years old and was considered a child compared to the rest of the cultivation world.
Cultivators such as the two of them, who appeared to be in their forties but had cultivations in the Dao Transformation Realm or above could be thousands or tens of thousands of years old.
Standing directly behind both the man and the woman were two youths, one on each side. Behind the woman stood another girl, who appeared to be around sixteen years old. She was quite beautiful, and her features were as soft and supple as water, making John feel relaxed when he stared at her.
On the other side, a boy around the same age stood behind the lead man. Like the man before him, his features were sharp as well, and there was a slightly arrogant glint in the boy's eyes as he stared at John.
John raised his eyebrows as he noticed both of their cultivations.
'Half-Step Heaven Tribulation? Seems like the youths of the Divine Martial Continent truly are far superior in power compared to this continent. Yet again I'll be climbing up from the bottom cultivation wise. Oh well, that can't be helped.'
John followed Lilian who walked towards Thunderzen without missing a step. Her face was calm and relaxed as she strode past the two alliances. The alliances all looked at John, as they could clearly tell that he was the one the rumors were about.
Thunderzen smiled at his daughter as she approached him, before his warm gaze shifted to John.
"Let me take the heat for this one. You don't have to put a target on your back before you even go to the Divine Martial Continent. However, if they do find out the truth, you have nothing to fear. I'll ensure your safety," a sound transmission from Thunderzen directly entered John's mind.
John smiled at Thunderzen as he heard these words, as Thunderzen was clearly trying to shield him. However, being shielded by others would only serve to hinder his progress, and John knew now more than ever that only by walking on the edge of danger constantly would he be able to raise his power to the needed level to reunite with his mother and find out the secrets of his existence.
John stopped before Thunderzen before he turned around and gazed at the two alliances before him. A confident smile appeared on his face as he addressed both of them.
"The rumors are not wrong," he said as he addressed both groups. "I was the one who destroyed the Bloodfiend Sect...and I'd do it again if given the chance."
