736: Council of Elders

Council of Elders

Wide eyes stared the screen of light, locked onto John's name and the score next to it. Luth Chaster, the number one genius of the Honorable Alliance before John had received seven thousand Jade Marks, and yet somehow John had managed to completely overshadow that with over one hundred thousand Jade Marks.2

Even John's eyes widened slightly as he saw that score, as he had no idea it had been that high.

'When I left the Dao Transformation Realm trial my score was around twelve thousand marks, and yet I finished with over one hundred thousand…I guess the three dragon temples I entered gave incredible amounts of Jade Marks, but I was too distracted to even notice at the time…'

It was the only thing John could think of that made sense, and when thinking about it, the scores received for completing those draconic inheritances made sense. Just reaching the first two temples half way up the stairs was almost impossible for anyone else, and completely inheriting the dragon blood, dragon bones, and Dragon-God Shift was another thing entirely.

The youths and Elders shifted their gazes from the distant list of youths to John, who continued to defy all logic and reasoning. Even the Honorable Alliance Head gazed closely at John with curious interest, realizing that they had a true gem on their hands.

An idea suddenly popped into the Alliance Head's mind, but he chose not to ask it with so many around. 

"It seems as though this realm entrance has brought surprise after surprise," the Alliance Head spoke out once more, his gaze sweeping from John to the rest of the youths. He inspected them for a short while before he nodded his head in approval.

"The losses due to the enemy's schemes were devastating, but I can tell a transformation has occurred in many of you; a transformation of willpower and talent. Many of you have improved to levels you most likely thought impossible before entering the realm, and despite the grievous losses, this realm opening has been a monumental success for the future strength of our Alliance, of which many of you will become pillars that support it," the elderly Alliance Head continued, his words causing pride to well up in those who had survived the perilous dangers from before.

The man paused for a moment and gazed at the Jade Dragon Empire realm entrance, and waved his hand towards outwards which flared with Qi for a short moment. The powerful formation that had been built by the Honorable Alliance began to fade away, closing the entrance of the Jade Dragon Empire Realm for good.

It had been five thousand years since its previous opening, and it would most likely stay closed for a similar length of time going forward due to the immense cost of opening it. The youths felt various emotions as they watched the realm be sealed off once again, as memories of what had occurred flooded back into their minds. Even John couldn't help but feel a bit emotional, as the memories of the dangers he had faced and people he had met came back to him.

"With the Jade Dragon Realm finally closed, this great step in your lives has come to an end. We will now return to Alliance City," the Alliance Head said as his power flared for a short moment, which activated the powerful formation beneath their feet. The formation lit up with strong spatial power which wrapped around all those standing within his domain, and after a short delay, everyone vanished from sight as the formation carried them away.

…

In a room deep within the main building of the Honorable Alliance stood John, surrounded by a dozen powerful Elder's who inspected him quietly. After the youths had returned to Alliance City, the Alliance Head said more words and gave some instructions to the youths, before letting them venture free within the city once more.

The Alliance Head had then requested John join him for a quick trip, which led them into the Council chambers of the Honorable Alliance. The Council chambers consisted of twelve of the most important and powerful Elders of the Alliance, of which the Alliance Head was one. 

As they had arrived, the other eleven Elders were already waiting, seated on their throne-like seats facing inwards in a circle. The other Elders nodded their heads in respect towards the Alliance Head as he had arrived, but did nothing more, indicating a bit of the power structure to John. While the Alliance Head was most likely the most respected leader of the group, he was not the sole decision maker when it came to the Honorable Alliance, which was instead the role of the council to decide on important decisions.

"I had doubts regarding the intel we had just received," one of the Elders spoke up as she eyed John up and down; a middle aged woman with long brown hair and mature yet alluring face. She wore an elegant and tight fitting purple robe, which only served to further accentuate her alluring charm, "but it appears as though there is some credibility to it after all. This boy is rather remarkable."

"And also arrogant," another Elder scoffed, clearly displeased with John already. The Elder was a man who appeared to be in his sixties, with a bushy gray beard and a bald head. John gazed at the Elder with a curious expression, as he didn't know why he was already antagonistic with him, as he had never met this Elder before.

"Stop pouting just because he defied your son's instructions," the alluring woman chastised the Elder, who shot her an angry glare. 

'His son's instructions? Ah, so that Elder who tried to stop me from before is this man's son. No wonder he's so…upset,' John mused internally.

"We're not here to argue or fight," the Alliance Head spoke out, his voice calm and genial. The two other Elders held their words they were about to say, and let the respected Alliance Head speak. "We're here to learn the truth about what happened, and about this child," he continued as he smiled at John.

"Come now, entertain this old man with the story of what happened inside the realm," he said to John.

"Luth already explained everything clearly," John replied calmly, "I have nothing more to add."

"Impudence," the angry Elder from before chimed up, but held his tongue again as the Alliance Head raised his hand for silence. The bald-headed Elder leaned back on his throne-like chair, staring at John with displeasure.

"In that case, I won't press for more details," the Alliance Head replied. "Instead, I have just one question. Do you wish to become the Prime Disciple of our Honorable Alliance?" he asked.

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