"Its finally arrived!"
"We're finally going to enter the fabled Jade Dragon Empire Realm!"
"Let's go. We don't want to be late."
A flurry of excited cries echoed out throughout the entire disciple district as all the disciples started making their way over to the main courtyard. John and the rest did so as well, and followed as a massive surge of disciples made their way forward.
After a bit of walking, they arrived at the courtyard, which was already packed with tens of thousands of disciples and Elders, and more were arriving by the minute. The disciples all found their respective sects, and grouped together away from the other powers. Before long, nearly a hundred different groups had formed, one of them being the Heavenly Lightning Sect.
John and the rest made their way to their sect, and before long all of the disciples from the sect had gathered. Thunderfist stood before the group, his muscular stature carving an imposing image in the minds of all who looked at him.
John gazed around at the other sects, and noticed that they all ranged from one hundred to four hundred disciples. Clearly the amount of disciples allowed to enter was based on sect strength, and the three hundred disciples allotted to the Heavenly Lightning Sect signified its status within the Alliance as a strong power, but not the strongest.
However, that was only based on the strength of the disciples. John was more than sure that if Thunderfist, Thunderzen, the Grand Elder, that mysterious formations expert, and the Lightning Dragon were factored in, that they would be able to stand tall against almost all the other sects. However, there was no denying that the quality of disciples from the Heavenly Lightning Sect had been lacking as of late, clearly indicated by the Talent Testing Steps scores.
Other than him, the highest score had been twelve, by Rael, Lily, and Lyeon. While twelve was still a score that only a genius could obtain, it still fell short of the prodigious geniuses of the other sects.
'I'm sure if someone like Iris took the test, with her talent, she could score higher than twelve. However, she hasn't taken the test yet. At the same time, Adam and Chase focus on non-combat specialties, so their scores on the tests wouldn't be a true representation of their talent. I suppose that is the one downside to the Talent Testing Steps, as it really only focuses on pure combat talent.'
While deep in thought, Thunderfists voice sounded out.
"Is everyone prepared to enter the realm?" he asked.
"Yes!" a resounding cry echoed from the group, John included. After spending a month with Thunderfist on the flying ship, they knew he expected enthusiastic and determined replies.
"Good, that's what I wanted to hear," Thunderfist boomed out with a head nod. "Just remember, the only ones you can trust within the realm are yourselves and your sect members. While we are all of the same alliance, the hearts of men are fickle, and so do not expect safety just because you're amongst allies," he instructed.
The disciples all nodded their heads in unison once more. John did the same, but at the same time disagreed slightly with Thunderfists words as he glanced over to Lyeon, whose muscular frame stood tall above the other disciples.
'Even within the sect, there are some that cannot be trusted. I guess he can't say that out loud though.'
"Good, since you understand that, the only thing left for you all to do is use your fullest effort to grasp all the opportunities within, and raise the name of your Heavenly Lightning Sect as well!"
Thunderfists words ignited a fire in the hearts of many of the disciples, and John nodded his head at Thunderfists ability to stir the hearts of his disciples. It was something that Thunderzen would most likely not be as good at, due to his calm and gentler nature.
By now, no more disciples were streaming into the courtyard, signifying that all had already gathered. There were just over one hundred groups gathered, with the total number of disciples ranging in the tens of thousands.
These tens of thousands of disciples were the best of the best that the Honorable Alliance had to offer, and the competitive spirit of the disciples were clear for all to see. A heroic and hopeful atmosphere filled the courtyard as the disciples all thought of the potential treasures and glory to come.
Without warning, the courtyard below everyone's feet suddenly lit up. Incredible bright blue formation lines sprung up throughout the entire courtyard, and from above one would be able to see a large circular formation with intricate interior formation runes had formed.
A bright light flashed, and all the disciples and Elders felt their bodies suddenly transported through space. The transportation process lasted a few seconds, indicating that the distance they had traveled was quite far, at least a few thousand miles.
After a few seconds, the bright light of the sun above came into view again as all found themselves standing on solid ground. The disciples all looked around at their new environment, and many couldn't help but open their mouths in awe.
Before them stood a vast stretch of mountains, jutting high into the sky. Several miles directly in front of them was a large valley carved between the mountains, which was several miles wide and nearly ten miles tall. At the base of the valley as well as the stop of the mountain's passage were four large statues, all depicting a dragon.
The statues were a mile tall and looked incredibly realistic, almost as if there were four true dragons present. Even the passing of hundreds of thousands of years hardly diminished their grandeur. The dragons stood before the valley passage, as if guarding the entrance.
In the valley between the mountains, a large formation barrier was easily visible. The formation barrier glowed a jade green color, and its might was awe inspiring as well. It was the strongest formation any of the disciples had ever seen. The formation also stretched overhead as well and covered the entire sky past the mountains, blocking off the entrance from all angles.
Even John with his unique perspective on things couldn't help but be awed at what he saw. While he had seen large palaces before, especially the one in his spatial realm, he had never seen a formation quite as intimidating as this one. It was truly a sight to behold, and such a formation had stood for over a hundred thousand years.. Such was the might of the Jade Dragon Empire.
