John's expression remained neutral upon hearing this from Thunderzen as he did not care if the world knew who he was or not.
"With this in mind, going forward I must regretfully forbid you from using that unique ability of yours," Thunderzen continued, causing John's neutral expression to turn into a frown.
While Thunderzen did not specify which ability he was speaking of, both him and John knew he was mentioning using his Asura Transformation Art. It was the only battle art he used that had any sort of connection to the word Asura.
"May I ask why?" John asked while keeping his voice calm.
"That ability of yours is unfortunately far too eye-catching, and exudes a thick malevolence and sinisterness from it. Those who felt its aura without seeing you would assume it was coming from a Demon or something worse," Thunderzen replied. "While I'm not sure how you have such an ability, it's not unlikely that at least one person puts two and two together, and realizes you could be the Asura. That is too much risk to take at this point, and as such you must not use this ability around others."
John's frown persisted on his face as he heard Thunderzen's explanation, but didn't argue against it as he knew it made sense. The incredible powerboost he got from his Asura Transformation Art was beyond what was thought possible in the cultivation world, and the nature of the power would instantly attract guesses as to his identity.
John's gaze shifted to his master for a moment, who shrugged in response at what her father had said. Clearly even she didn't have an argument against what he was saying. John sighed, before he gazed back at Thunderzen.
"You said I cannot use it around others," John replied. "Does that mean I can use it when no one is around to see me use it?" John asked.
Thunderzen nodded his head in immediate approval at John's words. "As long as you know absolutely no one can see you use it, you have my permission to use it."
"And what about if by using it, I can eliminate all those who see me use it?" John asked a follow up question, raising the eyebrows of Thunderzen.
His question was clear; If I can eliminate all witnesses, can I use the ability to do so?
Thunderzen fell into a short silence before he nodded his head in agreement to John's words.
"You may, as long as you are one hundred percent confident that you can eliminate any and all witnesses. You must remember, I am doing this not only for your safety, but the safety of your friends and family. Your secret being revealed to the world will be far too dangerous for those around you."
"I understand," John replied calmly, as what Thunderzen was saying was the truth.
'This won't be a massive problem then,' John mused internally. 'At worst, I just need to lure an enemy to a desolated area before killing them, if they truly are strong enough to force me to use my Asura Transformation.'
"I will give you one exception though," Thunderzen followed up after a moment of silence. "If your life's on the line and that ability of yours is the only way to survive, you may use it. However, doing so may have consequences far greater than even I can handle. Understood?"
"Understood," John nodded his head in confirmation.
The room fell into silence once more before John's mind shifted to another topic related to his talent testing steps performance.
"Sect Leader Thunderzen, when I reached the twentieth step, the light beam clearly originated from the steps and shot outwards to the others. Those in the sect would have noticed this, and could easily surmise that Asura was from this sect. How…"
"How have we dealt with that?" Thunderzen replied with a smile, impressed that John had thought of that trouble already.
"Yes," John replied.
"We made everyone forget," Thunderzen replied, his words causing John to frown in confusion.
"What do you mean? How could everyone forget just like that?" John asked for clarification.
Thunderzen glanced at the woman to his side who had been standing there in silence the entire time. Her expression had been relaxed and neutral through all the discussions that had taken place thus far, as if nothing could surprise her.
"That would be thanks to our very own Formations Grandmaster, Grandmaster Mirage Dream," Thunderzen introduced the woman.
The woman nodded her head towards John in greeting for the first time who nodded his head slightly more as a sign of respect.
"Then how did…Grandmaster Mirage Dream manage such a thing?" John asked, as this concerned himself directly.
"For her, such a thing was quite simple," Thunderzen explained. "Right after you reached the twentieth step, we summoned an all sect meeting, where everyone who was in the sect was required to attend. During that time, Grandmaster Mirage Dream worked on a formation, one targeted at the mind and soul of those within. At the same time, one of our Pill Experts created soul-waning pills, which temporarily lower the soul defense of all those that consume it. Through this combination of formations and pills, we were able to erase the last hour of memories of all those who had seen your performance, and replaced them with false memories," Thunderzen explained.
John's eyes widened upon hearing this, as he had never heard of such a thing before. He didn't even know if replacing memories was possible.
"You can do such a thing?" John asked, his voice tinged with surprise.
"We can, although only because all the members of our sect, the Elders included, trust us, and willingly consumed the pills we gave them. Without such a thing happening, we would not have been able to achieve the desired effects," Thunderzen replied.
John fell into silence one more upon hearing this, as that truly did take care of the biggest source of trouble. If sect members leaked the truth, it would be easy for enemy powers to narrow in on him. However, that source of trouble had been dealt with.
After thinking over such things, John decided to change the subject, as he had several important matters to handle before he ascended to the Heaven Tribulation Realm in the near future. Getting answers from Thunderzen right now would be the easiest solution for his problems.
"Sect Leader Thunderzen, I agree to your terms, and will follow them as I can," John replied. "However, after my tribulation in the Bloodfiend Sect, and also what happened recently on the talent testing steps, I have realized I'm not as strong as I need to be. Especially my body constitution and Lightning Attribute Body. I can feel that if I undertake my Heaven Tribulation with my Lightning Attribute body as is, I will most likely die. With that in mind, are there any heavenly lightning treasures the sect can bestow upon me to upgrade my lightning body?" John asked, getting straight to the point.
"Your lightning attribute body is the highest grade I have ever seen, and cannot be improved by most treasures we have," Thunderzen replied after a moment of contemplation, and a small smile appeared on his face. "However, there is a reason for the branch sects showing up at this time. The annual Thunder-Realm opening is about to commence, and within it may just be the type of heavenly treasure you are looking for."
