(MC POV)
Now that I know the monsters were doing well, I decided to just take the chance to fly around the continent to see if there's any other changes to my home while I had been away.
It was already late in the night but the moon was full today so it was a perfect time for a night flight.
Not that it would have mattered if it was pitch black since I would be able to see in the dark anyway.
Mmm… Having a night flight when the rest of the land below is shrouded in darkness and asleep… It kind of feels rather poetic doesn't it?
That reminds me… How long has it been since I've been alone?
Let's not count Iris since she's a constant anyway but aside from her, when was the last time I was truly just by myself with no one else beside me?
I think ever since I picked up my disciples, I've never actually had a moment where I was alone.
If it wasn't my disciples accompanying me, it would be someone else instead.
But now, I was alone again, especially since Xun Guan stayed behind in the Sanctuary to try to ascend to godhood as well.
With Iris also busy with whatever she was doing, her attention was also not always on me either, which was seriously making me curious what exactly they were doing back there.
That's why right now, I was truly alone.
It's not like I hate being with everyone, mind you, it's just the solitary feeling was something that I have forgotten what it felt like since it's been so long since I got this chance.
And to think that all this happened because I decided to take in a few disciples to live an easy life.
The thought brought a wry smile on my face.
With just my own idle thoughts and the sound of the wind accompanying me, I flew across the land while enjoying the solitude.
The night was quiet and there was nothing below me. Yep, everything is just quie--
I flew over a small mountain and had my thoughts interrupted when I saw a really strange sight before me.
Down below was a village that was a distance away from Heaven Sect. There seemed to be some kind of festival going on judging by the cheering and the large bonfire in the centre of the village square.
That was not the weird thing of course, since seeing a village festival isn't that strange.
No, the strange thing that made me lose my train of thought was the ten foot tall statue of me in the centre that the festival seemed to be centred around.
Ok… Having a statue of me in the Sect? I could understand that since everyone there knew me.
But why is there a statue of me all the way out here in this remote village?
If I'm not wrong, this village doesn't engage our Sect in any activities so they shouldn't be that familiar with me right?
Yet over here was a statue of me and it was even decorated for the occasion too.
And just like the one back at the Sect, there was even a small shrine at its feet where the villagers seemed to have placed offerings as well.
I have so many questions…
First of all, how did they even know about me? Ok, that's not right. It might sound a bit narcissistic of me to say that but I'm famous enough that pretty much most people know about me. So I guess the question should be how they were familiar enough with me to have a statue of me erected.
Second of all, why are they even worshipping me? Third of all, who made this statue for them?
Let's face it, there's no way that a village like this would be able to create a statue like this on their own, the resources and expertise needed is definitely not feasible for them.
That means someone else made it and gave it to them…
Don't tell me it's from our Sect? Did they really just create copies of my statue and hand them around to the villages nearby?
Oh no… Don't tell me they also gave them to the towns and cities too?!
Ugh… I'll go and look around later but now I'm curious what kind of festival they are celebrating right now in the village…
I made myself invisible before flying lower to try and see what the villagers were doing.
"Master has blessed us with His return! The world is blessed with his presence once more! Today we celebrate!"
Err… Who the heck is this 'Master'? Maybe it's their teacher? I guess it's their teacher, yeah.
So maybe this statue of me isn't here as an object of worship but more as a protector or something? Maybe this shows that they have ties to Heaven Sect so that bandits and thieves would leave them alone?
Ah, that makes more sense.
With the mystery solved, I flew up into the air again, feeling satisfied with myself.
I was just about to fly off when I noticed there were even more lights coming from bonfires in the distance. In fact, there were quite a number of them.
Going closer to them to investigate, I quickly realised that all of them were villages that were also celebrating the return of a 'Master' and every single one of them had the same statue of me in their village centre as well.
What the heck? The villages nearby really do have statues of me as well?!
But… Hmm… This 'Master' guy must have been some priest or maybe a wandering teacher who went around teaching all these villages the same thing I see.
Perhaps they were related to Heaven Sect in some way so they also convinced the villages to erect this statue of me as a symbol to the Sect?
That's quite interesting… I wonder who this teacher might be? Maybe I can ask Sect Master Qing about it to see if he knows anything related to this?
Changing my course towards the Sect, I flew over the town at the foot of the mountain our Sect was built on and… There's a full blown festival happening down there?
Did that teacher also come here? I guess that would make sense considering they should have come from Heaven Sect so they would have influenced this town too. Though what exactly did they do to influence them like this?
The townspeople were even having some kind of parade too, with several people carrying things that I assumed were offerings and parading down the main street towards the centre of the town.
And just like the villages, there was also a statue of me but just a bit bigger placed in the centre of town, though it was still smaller than the one back in Heaven Sect.
Things have really changed a lot around here huh?
Seriously, what the fuck?
