"Are you sure you want to do this?" Thunderzen asked his adopted daughter Lilian, his face tinged with concern which he tried to hide.
They were in the throne room of the Heavenly Lightning Sect. The throne flickered with lightning, filling the otherwise silent room with soft crackles.
"I am," Lilian nodded firmly, her eyes narrowed and determined. "I have been hiding away for so long, that I nearly forgot the goal I set for myself the day I fled. And that goal can only be achieved through power…and it will be my power that achieves it, no one else's. And I must also raise my strength for the day you have been planning for all these years, as I will not abandon my disciple, and make him fight that battle alone. I will hide no longer."
Thunderzen studied his daughter's face in silence, and sighed deeply as he placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"Then I will not stop you. Let's go!" he said warmly as he strode out of the palace chamber.
Lilian followed closely behind, her narrowed eyes unfocused, as if she were deep in thought, while a glimmer of hatred flickered through her eyes for a brief moment.
…
In another location, a dimly illuminated room revealed a council of seven elders, each seated on a chair in a circular fashion. The circle of elders surrounded two cultivators, each who appeared to be in their twenties. Both wore crimson clothes, the male a robe and the female an alluring and revealing dress, although the insignias on the robes were different, indicating them to be from two different powers.
"The Divine Wall has not opened since before the calamity. I'm sure both of you know the importance of such an occasion. While we do not know what exists within, we cannot allow any opportunities to fall into the hands of our enemies. Now go! Slaughter to your heart's desire, and claim any treasures within for your own!" one of the elders instructed, to which the two in the middle nodded with expectant smiles.
…
Similar scenes played out with many of the foremost powers on the Divine Martial Continent, as the opening of the Divine Wall was a monumental occasion, so rare that none alive had ever experienced it.
The opening of the wall attracted the attention of all on the continent, as both those who planned to enter, as well as those who planned to spectate whatever they could flooded towards the Divine Source Monastery. There was not a soul on the continent who had not heard of the event, and everyone who could afford to travel there did so with utmost haste, refusing to miss the event that would surely be talked about for generations to come.
…
John's flying ship pierced through the air like an arrow, its speed beyond shocking. The ground whizzed by in spectacular fashion, revealing sprawling chasms, towering mountains, verdant forests, barren deserts, sprawling cities, grand sects, and more. The Divine Martial Continent was overwhelmingly massive, filled with more biomes than could possibly be counted.
Powerful beasts watched as the ship sailed by in the air above them, but none dared to attack the ship. Over the years they had come to learn which ships to attack and which ones to avoid, based solely on the quality and aura of the ships. Too many had perished when attacking high quality ships, as those were always occupied by powerful cultivators.
As such, John's ship surged forward unimpeded, something that he was quite satisfied with. He had spent most of the time cultivating and meditating, focusing primarily on raising his cultivation level, and studying the Dao's of Annihilation and Destruction.
He had not managed to push his cultivation to the Dao Transformation Realm yet, but could tell he was getting close to breaking through. As for his Dao's, he had made decent gains there, and managed to push both of the mentioned Daos to the limits of the Dao Adept stage, just short of breaking through to the Dao Expert Stage.
Once he achieved that, he would be able to fuse his Dao's in a variety of ways, so long as he was able to grasp the concepts and profundities behind those fusions.
John's eyes slowly opened as he left his meditative trance, as he could tell he had reached the limits of pushing those Dao's forward for now. He either needed to battle more while using those Dao's to increase his comprehension towards them, or find a heavenly treasure dealing with either Dao to assist him.
"It's not as far as I would have liked, but it will do for now," John mumbled to himself, mostly content with his progress over the past week.
After leaving his meditative trance, John curiously took out the seal he had obtained from the Divine Trial in the ancient city, given to him by the bizarre beast he had encountered in the trial; the one that had a similar aura to the seals being sold by the Divine Source Monastery.
The seal appeared in his hand, and his eyes widened as it suddenly started to tremble and buzz with energy, as if it were being summoned by something. The energy was incredibly profound and unique, almost like a signal flare being lit. He could tell it was drawing him forward, towards the direction he was already heading.
The Divine Source Monastery!
Startled by the sudden and unexpected events, John quickly put away the seal and stored it in his palace realm once more, where it had been all this time.
"What the hell was that?" John mumbled to himself. "It was as if the seal was guiding me towards the Divine Source Monastery. It's never done this before. Is it related to the Divine Wall being opened soon?" John mused, coming to the most likely conclusion.
Whatever the reason, the aura emanating from the seal was far too eye-catching and also unknown, and so he kept it in his spatial realm for safe measure. His eyes closed once more as he sent his divine sense inwards into his spatial realm, appearing before the sinister gate to temper his mind and will, as he had done thousands of times before.
