"Let's go," John said to Kirii as he took out his flying ship, which the two quickly boarded. The ship took to the sky and shot forward, disappearing from the area with haste.
As the ship sped forward, John took out a jade piece he had and inspected it closely, at which point a map appeared in his mind. The jade piece was gifted to him by Caz, and was a very detailed map of most of the Divine Martial Continent, which was very expensive and very hard to come by.
The Divine Martial Continent was absolutely staggering in size, and it was impossible to include all the details contained within. As such, the map detailed the most important locations, particularly the lands controlled by the various factions and races, the most powerful clans and sects, and any natural places of note.
The map was divided into seven sections, each colored slightly different than the other. The sections marked the areas controlled by the different factions and races, with the Barbarians, Faeries, Beasts, and Monster races all controlling a different section of the Divine Martial Continent.
The Faeries controlled the northernmost section of the continent, most of which was perpetually covered in ice and snow. To the south and east the Faeries were the Beasts, which were located on the other side of a continent dividing mountain range. The land occupied by the beast race was mostly forested and wild.
The farthest east reaches of the continent was controlled the Monster Race, which was a deathly area covered mostly in swamps, barren mountains, and dark forests. The south east portion of the continent was controlled by the Barbarian race, which was a large swath of plain-like land, which was mostly flat and also barren.
The southern most part of the continent was controlled by the Forbidden Alliance, which was collectively controlled by the various powers of the Alliance. Next to the Forbidden Alliance was the only neutral land of the Divine Martial Continent, which was occupied by powers such as the Starforge Clan and Astral Empire.
Finally, the land controlled by the Honorable Alliance and all the allied powers bordered the neutral land. They controlled most of the western reaches of the continent. These seven sections were divided relatively equally, and most except for the Faeries and Barbarians spanned from the oceans at the edge of the continent, towards the center, stopping just short of the Divine Source Monastery and the Divine Wall.
John inspected this map for a moment before putting it away.
"With how far the Starforge Clan is from this location, they should take at least an hour to arrive. We'll be long gone by then," John said to Kirii, and then walked over towards one of the rooms within the ship and opened the door. "Oh, and make sure to not touch anything. This ship is set on the fastest route for the Divine Source Monastery!" John instructed Kirii before entering the room and closing the door behind him.
"Aye!" Kirii confirmed, although he was slightly bummed about not being able to fly the ship.
The room John entered was a bedroom, luxurious beyond compare. While Heaven Tribulation cultivators did not need to eat or sleep to survive, John felt fatigue wash over him from the battle, and fell onto the comfortable bed and quickly fell into a deep sleep.
…
Silence returned to the valley in which John had battled, which remained that way for an hour before a flying ship suddenly appeared, in line with John's guess.
Three powerful World Expansion cultivators quickly stepped out of the ship and flew about. They inspected the area closely for some time, their frowns deepening as they found nothing. After a short while, one of the cultivators took out a long range transmission disk, and sent a message through it.
Shortly after, they boarded the ship and left, returning peace and quiet to the valley once more.
…
In a location far away from where John was, there was a majestic and picturesque mountain range. The mountains climbed dozens of miles tall, with snow capped peaks gradually shifting to verdurous forests as the elevation dropped, with waterfalls crashing down, eventually leading to crystal blue rivers meandering through the mountain valleys. A light mist lingered in the valleys, giving the place an ethereal glow.
Within this mountain range were thousands of grand buildings, some located in the valleys, some on the mountainsides, and some resting on the very tips of the tall mountains.
Each of the buildings were more grand and ornate than the last, most which used a regal purple as the primary color, which was the signature color of the Starforge Clan. Powerful formations were visible everywhere, ranging from short and long range transportation formations, barrier formations, and everything in between.
The Starforge Clan seemed to be an immortal paradise, living up to its reputation as one of the most powerful and important clans on the Divine Martial Continent.
"Raaaaahhh!" A roar of anger suddenly erupted, breaking the paradisiacal feeling of the place. The roar had come from one of the regal palaces located on the top of one of the tallest mountains, and had attracted the attention of all the members within the clan grounds.
A man suddenly appeared in the air before the temple, and immediately summoned a massive and grand flying ship. He entered the ship with utmost haste, which sped off immediately.
"That was the Vice-Clan Leader?" one of the Starforge Clan members chimed up.
"I wonder what's got him in such an angered rush?" another nearby member chimed in, as discussions of what had happened quickly spread throughout the clan.
…
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
A formation barrier lit up, stopping a powerful barrage of attacks that blasted against it. While the attacks were stopped, the whole of Alliance City was alerted, as the attacks trembled everything within.
"Whats going on?"
"Is someone trying to attack our Alliance City?"
"No way? Who is powerful enough to do that?"
"Then what's going on exactly?"
Discussions quickly broke out within Alliance City as to what was going on, while a lone figure quickly appeared at the location on the attacks, standing within the safety of the formation barrier surrounding the city. Upon the figures arrival, the attacks ceased, as if they were made to draw forth this particular individual.
"To attack the capital of my Alliance with such disregard. Either you have lost your mind, or you were desperate to get my attention? Which is it, Daoist Starblade?" the Alliance Leader of the Honorable Alliance asked curiously.
"Its Vice-Clan Leader now," the Vice-Clan Leader of the Starforge Clan corrected the Alliance Leader, his expression gloomy and angered.
"Is that so? Then congratulations on your promotion," the Alliance Leader said with a warm smile on his face, ignoring the man's gloomy expression.
"I did not come here to exchange pleasantries," the Vice-Clan Leader replied angrily.
"Then what have you come here for? And in such a brash manner?" the Alliance Head asked.
"I've come here for your Prime Disciple! He's attacked my daughter, and has either captured her, or murdered her! I demand his head in recompense!"
