Johns stared at the sprawling sect before him, which was many times larger and more luxurious than the branch sect they belonged to, and comparing the two was like comparing mud to gold.
Similar to the branch sect they belonged to, this main sect was nestled in the valleys between mountains, with buildings also located at the peaks of the mountains. Towering waterfalls crashed down to the earth below, while beautiful streams meandered throughout the sect.
Lush vegetation, blooming with vibrant life thrived everywhere, while profound beasts flew through the sky, each being ridden by a cultivator. The buildings themselves were incredibly large, several times larger than the buildings of the branch sect, and there were over a dozen buildings which were grander and more luxurious than the Heavenly Lightning Palace back in the Yuan Continent.
Spanning hundreds of miles long, an incredibly tall wall circled around the entire sect. The wall was several hundred yards tall and dozens of yards thick. Lightning bolts were carved into the walls in a regular interval, making it looks quite unique.
A translucent dome barrier seemed to shimmer above the walls, indicating that the sect was surrounded by a powerful defensive formation.
In the very center of the sect in the far distance, a landmass roughly a mile wide floated in the sky above the sect. Vegetation hung from the underside of the landmass, while a magnificent palace existed on the top side. Lightning snaked in the sky all around the palace, making it look both beautiful and terrifying at the same time.
The sect sprawled as far as the eye could see, and John was sure he was only seeing a portion of it. The rest was hidden on the other sides of the mountains, only adding to the grandeur of the sect.
"No wonder this is the main sect. Its way better than our sect back home," one of the disciples couldn't help but mutter out loud, before he realized what he said and sheepishly glanced at Lilian.
However, she acted as if she had not heard him, and began to pilot the ship to a certain location on the outskirts of the sect. The ship veered towards a particular mountain which stood alone from the others nearby. An expansive forest surrounded the mountain range, and John quickly spotted a massive clearing in the forest at the base of the mountain.
From his high vantage point, John could barely make out other people gathered in the field, which the ship was heading towards. They appeared smaller than ants at the moment, but there were thousands upon thousands of them. Several flying airships hovered in the sky above the people, which seemed to be divided into several distinct groups.
…
"Late, as usual," a disgruntled voice sounded out amongst a group of five people that stood near each other. They all wore white and blue robes, signifying that they were from the Heavenly Lightning Sect.
The group consisted of three men and two women, which appeared to be between forty and sixty years of age. However, as they were all powerful cultivators, each with cultivations in the Dao Transformation Realm, their ages were indeterminate, as they could be thousands of years old.
The one who had just spoken up was one of the women, who had a look of displeasure on her face. She appeared to be forty years old, and was a bit on the heavier side. Her hair was puffy and round, making her look quite unique.
"This happens every year," one of the men replied, his voice slightly dismissive. He appeared in his fifties, and had a clean-shaven face, short brown hair, and a scar running down the left side of his face. "They do have to travel the farthest distance by far out of all of us, so it's only natural that they run into more delays."
"They should just leave earlier then," one of the other men replied. The man appeared younger, about in his thirties, and was quite handsome. He had long black hair, and a chiseled face. His aura was quite powerful, and didn't lose out to any of the older cultivators in the group. "Thunderzen does this every year. He may be the strongest out of all of us, and also have a special status within the sect, but he should still make an effort to be on time at least," the man continued his small rant.
Several of the people in the group nodded their heads in agreement at the man's words, before their gazes all shifted to the sky in a certain direction.
"Speak of the devil," the woman who had first spoken said as she spotted an airship approaching.
"About time," the younger man replied as he crossed his arms over his chest.
…
John and the rest of the disciples watched as their airship approached the open field which held all the other people within. As they got closer, they could tell that almost all of the people in the field were youths their age, and were divided into five other groups.
"Get out and gather up," Lilian instructed as she opened the main exit to the ship. She hopped out, and was quickly followed by the other disciples.
'These youths must be from the other branch sects,' John mused as he hopped out of the ship. His gaze scanned over the other youths, and he raised his eyebrows slightly.
'Not only are their groups much larger, with roughly a thousand per group versus our hundred, but their cultivations are on average quite a bit higher. We only have a handful of youths who have Meridian Forging cultivations, but there seems to be several dozen youths per group with that level of cultivation. I guess my master wasn't lying when she said our sect lingers behind the others.'
The youths from the other groups all gazed at the newcomers, and John could tell there were mixed expressions amongst them. Most of the looks on the faces of the other youths were those of amusement or mockery, indicating that they were looking down on John's group. At the front of each group stood a single disciple.
Clearly, they were the strongest disciple of each group, and had the status to be able to stand in front of everyone else and draw attention to themselves. Three of them were boys, while the other two were girls. Three of them had cultivations in the Middle Meridian Forging Realm, while one of the boys, as well as the girl who had looked at John curiously, had cultivations at the Late Meridian Forging Realm.
The three boys and one of the girls looked at John and his group as if they were beneath them, while the remaining girl looked at John's group with a curious expression. She had long blonde hair, a pretty face, and piercing blue eyes.
Her eyes scanned his group as if she was searching for something, before her gaze locked onto John. After staring at him for a moment, a slight smile appeared on her face before she looked away.
John rolled his eyes and sighed slightly, as he knew exactly what was going to happen in the near future, as it already had happened to him before.
'These youths are definitely looking down on us. I guess I'll have to beat the shit out of each of them until they get the message that such gazes at me and my fellow disciples are unacceptable.'
