Whoosh! Whoosh!
Figures dashed all throughout Misty Forest. All 13 leaders were rushing towards the Center Circle of Misty Forest. There were some leaders who were some distance behind but there were also some who were infinitely close.
Misty Forest wasn’t that big of a forest but the mysterious mist inside made one lose their sense of direction and become lost. Without a strong divine sense it would be impossible to tread through it. Luckily, all of the disciples had awakened their divine sense, with the leaders being much stronger than the others. With that, the hundreds of disciples were running through the forest and they were all headed to the same location.
Akata’s team was very close to the Center Circle and with Akata’s newfound strength, along with his team rising in strength and battle tactics it made it extremely easy to move around. Capturing beasts awarded more points and since their team was so strong they no longer had to kill the beasts. That was because they could handle them all now. At least that was while they were in the Inner Ring.
The team was very jubilant at this moment because they felt unmatched, as if nothing could beat them. Even if they had to face another team they would have complete confidence in winning. But if it had to be said that the team was simply happy, then Akata would be jumping with joy right now. Not only did he finally merge all of his cultivation bases, he even gained control over a new power from the fairy soul he absorbed. This power was called aura.
Aura was a formless and undetectable energy that was capable of doing many things that he felt was impossible before. With the power of aura he could actually form wings and fly in the sky. He no longer had to wait until he reached the Second Rank to fly in the air. That wasn’t all that aura could do however.
Since aura was a formless energy, Akata could wield it to transform into anything he saw fit as long as he had the power to fully control it. He could make walls, floors, beasts, chains, anything he could think of. The only downside was that aura wasn’t a unique skill that the fairy possessed, it was an innate gift all fairy’s had. That gift would have to be slowly nurtured to become powerful and wielded greatly.
When Akata tried to study it from the soul of the fairy he found out that any information related to aura was blocked away. This proved two things. One, Akata’s level of comprehension regarding the Outer Element of Souls was insufficient to read everything. And two, a very formidable person set restrictions on the soul of this fairy. Akata felt that even if he were to advance to the Third Rank he wouldn’t be able to break these restrictions.
The fairy soul had granted him access to wielding the aura energy but he had to rely on himself to figure out exactly what it was and how he could use it. So far, he had just been messing with it and found out it can change into different objects.
‘It seems I have to look into what exactly aura is.’ Akata thought to himself while fumbling with a ball of aura. He didn’t have to worry about others noticing the aura as without his permission nobody could sense it.
‘If I remember correctly, the fairy used a skill called Might of Aura that greatly increased the pressure upon everyone. It wasn’t just pressure that weighed down on us but sort of like his dominance was put in place and nobody could go against his word.’ Akata was truly amazed by that skill. It made others submit to the user whether they wanted to or not. What kind of power was that? An insanely useful power in Akata’s eyes.
Swoosh! Akata and his group stopped in front of a mist that seemed to form a boundary. This was the last zone they had to pass and once they did they would officially be in the Center Circle. Without any hesitation the group shot into the mist and advanced rapidly. Other groups were competing with them and so they had to outperform the others.
In less than an hour of time the team passed through the mist and officially stepped into the Center Circle. When they reached the other side, no matter if it was a disciple with the lowest cultivation or even Akata, they all had shock on their faces.
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That was because in front of their eyes wasn’t more forest, it was actually an enormous palace. In front of the palace was a huge stage that was filled with many different runes and magic incantations. The palace was extremely gorgeous as it was made from gold, silver, and jade. Towers were sprung up everywhere shooting into the sky. Gardens and ponds filled the land of the palace and made for a beautiful scene. Even the pathways were constructed from jade stone and made one feel refreshed just upon looking at it.
When every member of Akata’s team had stepped through and looked at the wonder of the Center Circle a voice was transmitted into the minds of everyone.
“Congratulations on making it to the Center Circle. Would the group proceed into the palace for further instruction.” As the voice sounded in the minds of everyone a large door in the front of the palace was opened up.
The door itself was truly grand. It stood ten meters tall and was made from a special material that looked like wood but wasn’t wood. Looked like metal yet wasn’t metal. Carvings of different creatures could be seen on the door such as dragons, phoenixes, turtles, and more.
After walking up to and admiring the door for a bit of time the group finally managed to will themselves inside. But they were even more dumbfounded upon entering. Inside of the palace there seemed to be a whole world. Not only was there a sky inside of the palace, there were actually many buildings that were grand and imposing. Upon those buildings were actually banners. They were the banners of the Red Cloud Sect. Clearly this place was made for disciples and Elders of the Red Cloud Sect.
A light suddenly shot out and bore into the foreheads of every single person there. Instantly a map of the area was imprinted into the minds of every single person.
“Akata meet at the Red Cloud Palace Hall to receive your score and evaluation. Everyone else head to the Red Cloud Gathering Hall until further notice.” The voice sounded out again. After looking at each other briefly, Akata and his team parted ways. With the map in their minds, they knew exactly where they were going.
Akata was amazed as he walked throughout the inside of the palace. He saw many spectacular buildings that were hundreds of feet tall. What also made him surprised was that the place wasn’t deserted. There were magic constructs everywhere that tended to the daily duties of this place. The constructs posed as shopkeepers, maintenance workers, practice dummies… all types of different constructs were everywhere and operated independently.
This place was called Red Cloud Palace. It was really huge as well. Just with the map in his mind Akata confirmed that this place was as big as a city. Yet it all fit inside of that one palace in the Center Circle. It actually took Akata an hour of time to walk to Red Cloud Palace Hall.
The building was completely golden in color and stood a few hundred feet in the air. Not only was it tall, it actually floated in the air! The building itself was hundreds of feet tall but it floated more than a thousand feet off the ground. Originally, Akata wanted to fly to the building with his new aura powers but found out that all his power was restricted. He could only shake his head and use the teleportation pad to go inside of the building.
Once inside, Akata saw three other figures there. One of them was Huihe Ji while another one was Peizhi Xiuying. Clearly those two had arrived first. But what surprised Akata was that Huihe Ji had actually arrived before him. It must be remembered that Huihe Ji didn’t have a group to rely on and that he was by himself. This meant he used his own strength to battle beasts and make a path for himself to arrive here. That was truly admirable in Akata’s eyes.
He walked up and stood alongside Huihe Ji and Peizhi Xiuying as he looked at the throne that was in front of him. Sitting in the throne, there was a beautiful female dressed in white robes. It was naturally Sect Leader Fu.
She looked calmly at the three young disciples below her and examined them closely. After a few minutes of silence she stood up and walked to a door that was nearby. “Follow me.”
Without turning her head to make sure they were following she strode through the doorway and into the room that it lead to. Akata and the others could only look puzzled for a second before following behind. They passed through the door and found that they stepped into a normal looking room. It had chairs and a table and even refreshments were there.
“Take a seat. I have something to discuss with you three.” Sect Leader Fu sat in a chair and picked up a cup of tea to start drinking.
The three didn’t dare to be slow and immediately sat down. They, however, didn’t choose to drink tea so casually in front of the Sect Leader.
After sipping for a while Sect Leader Fu finally put her cup down and glanced at the three people. She put on a slight smile. “No need to be so tense. What I’m about to share with just the three of you not even some Elder’s know about. This must be kept a secret and if you wish to live then I advise you to do so.” Although she had a smile on her face, her words were terrifying.
She continued on. “You all live in a small city in a small world filled with small people. There are countless marvels out there and by staying here you are restricting your growth. I have worked meticulously to shape everyone of my disciples to set a very strong foundation for the future. If even the weakest disciple I raised was put into the Heavenly Sovereign Empire they could become the overlord of that region given a few years. I purposely slowed down all of your cultivation progress to build this foundation up and from now on I will no longer hold it back. Otherwise, with the resources I have, it wouldn’t be impossible to raise an army of immortals.”
Sect Leader Fu spoke calmly and indifferently about this matter but to Akata, Peizhi Xiuying, and even Huihe Ji, this news was shocking to an extravagant degree!