A week after I returned from secluded training, I left my home in the Needlespire Peaks and flew towards the main hall of the Dawn and Dusk Sect. Ellen and Elliot accompanied me. It was a cold winter morning, just after dawn. Snow blanketed the world around us. The wind whistled in our ears and carried the scent of frost.

  The three of us rode atop a flying boat, which I piloted. After extensive practice on my part, and several near crashes, I could finally pilot a flying boat. It was an exhilarating experience, though one was several times more difficult than riding on my flying carpet.

  “Are you sure you don't want me to fly us there, Darian?” Elliot asked, a nervous expression on his face.

  I opened my mouth to answer him. However, I lost control of the flying boat for a moment and it dipped down. I regained control a moment later. This wasn’t the first time this had happened.

  “No,” I said in a stubborn tone, “I need the practice.”

  Elliot turned towards his sister and gave her a pleading look. I’ll admit, his lack of faith in my abilities stung a little. Though, in his defense, my control was a little… Lacking and my speed was half that of Elliot’s. However, I didn’t want to give up.

  “Darian,” Ellen said, a concerned expression on her face. “I understand why you want to pilot the flying boat yourself. However, we are still a fair distance away from the main hall. At this rate, we will be late.”

  I gave her a betrayed look.

  “You too, my beloved?” I asked, my tone aggrieved.

  Ellen gave me an apologetic look.

  “I’m sorry.” She said. “For the sake of practicality, you should let my brother take over.”

  I sighed. She was right. I knew she was right. We left early, since the Needlespire Peaks were far from the Dawn and Dusk Sect’s main hall, but we would still be late at the speed I was going. It was better to let Elliot pilot the boat. He had a higher cultivation base than me, and had more experience with piloting a flying boat. Even knowing all of this, I still didn’t want to let him take over.

  “Think of it like this,” Ellen said in a cajoling tone, “You and I can hold each other while Elliot pilots the flying boat.”

  That convinced me. I let Elliot take over and sat next to Ellen, before taking her in my arms. My brother-in-law heaved a sigh of relief, before speeding us towards the Dawn and Dusk Sect’s main hall. The journey proceeded smoothly after that.

  Ellen and I spent most of it whispering sweet nothings to each other, using telepathy. A part of me wished that Willow had been there too, so I could embrace her as well. However, she headed to Crimson Fiend Peak yesterday to make some last minute preparations for the Rising Heroes Tournament. Rather than make the journey to the Needlespire Peaks, only to return to the sect the next day, she decided to stay at Crimson Fiend Peak instead.

  The past week had been a busy one for those who planned on participating in the Rising Heroes Tournament. They wanted to be at peak physical and mental condition, myself included. The ones facing bottlenecks even attempted to break through to the next realm, all to give themselves a bigger advantage.

  As for me, I sparred with Ellen and Elliot. Thanks to my secluded training and my mother’s guidance, I could fight with either of them on even terms. I couldn’t defeat them, yet, but I could at least hold my ground. This was a far cry from when we first met, or even when I first entered the Foundation Establishment realm, where both of them could suppress me with ease.

  In addition to those participating in the tournament, there were also those coming along to watch. The latter would still benefit, since watching their peers fight could give them insights. A lucky few may even gain enlightenment from the experience.

  There were also several events outside of the tournament that everyone could participate in. Trade meets, auctions, trading cultivation insights with new faces, etc. For some, this was more appealing than the tournament itself. With tens of thousands of cultivators participating, everyone could benefit somehow.

  The snake twins and I arrived at the Dawn and Dusk Sect’s main hall at around mid-morning. Rather, we arrived at the plaza in front of the main hall, the one that resembled a taijitu. Even then, we weren’t the earliest ones to arrive.

  I saw thousands of cultivators there already. They were divided into two groups that formed a two-tiered semi-circle. Those participating in the tournament formed the inner tier, while those coming along to watch formed the outer tier. The former was much smaller than the latter, just a few hundred or so. The disciples were further grouped into their respective halls.

  After seeing all this, not for the first time, I realized just how massive the Dawn and Dusk Sect really was. I knew it in my head, but seeing just how many young elites our sect had hammered it home for me. They were but a small fraction of the sect’s total population. The total number of disciples rivaled the population of an entire mortal kingdom.

  The Dawn and Dusk Sect had twelve halls: four Dawn Halls, four Dusk Halls, and four of the so-called neutral halls. When I learned this, I jokingly thought to myself that the sect was more like an alliance or a confederation of smaller sects united under a single banner. However, I learned later on that this wasn’t far from the truth.

  In the beginning, the Dawn and Dusk Sect started with four halls: Celestial Warrior Hall and Five Divine Pillars Hall for the Dawn Halls, and Flame Fiend Hall and Black Heart Hall for the Dusk Halls. The sect expanded as smaller sects, who were either neutral or unorthodox and therefore didn’t belong to either the righteous or the demonic paths, became new halls.

  There were also halls that were offshoots of pre existing ones, such as Crimson Fiend Hall, which was founded by disciples from Flame Fiend Hall. Eventually, the Dawn and Dusk Sect became what it was today. While it was a little chaotic and disjointed, the sect’s size and versatility more than made up for it.

  Elliot piloted the flying boat towards the section set aside for Flame Fiend Hall, which occupied one tip of the semi-circle. Celestial Warrior Hall occupied the other tip. While I was a divine demon, and an honorary disciple of Celestial Warrior Hall, my primary allegiance belonged to Flame Fiend Hall.

  Our arrival attracted a lot of attention. Well, my arrival did. Everyone gazed at me, while ignoring Ellen and Elliot. This annoyed me, but I kept it to myself. To me, Ellen and Elliot were family. However, to everyone else, they were just my servants and therefore beneath notice.

  Most of the elite disciples from Flame Fiend Hall regarded me with curiosity. While some of them had seen me before, the rest hadn’t. In the years since I joined Flame Fiend Hall, I spent most of my time training and cultivating. I didn’t socialize much, with a few exceptions, such as Senior Sister Zenia. This meant that to most of my fellow disciples from Flame Fiend Hall, I was an unknown figure.

  However, a few of them looked at me with contempt, disdain, and envy in their eyes. I made sure to keep watch over these few, just in case they tried to cause me trouble. A few years ago, when I first joined the sect, a group of them planned to attack me. According to Senior Sister Zenia, who found out about their plan and helped me evade them, those idiots thought to make a name for themselves by defeating Hall Master Nova’s son.

  Each hall had three or four elders accompanying their disciples. Most of them did, at least. Flame Fiend Hall, on the other hand, only had two for some reason: Big Sis Sidra and a tall male demon with gray skin, a single horn protruding from his forehead, and fearsome facial features. Like almost every other member of Flame Fiend Hall, he had a brawny physique and showed off that physique by wearing as little clothing as possible.

  The accusations were right. Other than exceptions like my eldest sister, everyone in Flame Fiend Hall was an exhibitionist, regardless of status. Well, I wasn’t in any position to judge, since I was the same.

  I walked over to Big Sis Sidra and gave her a martial salute. Ellen and Elliot followed my lead.

  “Greetings, Vice Hall Master Sidra.” I said.

  “Greetings, Darian.” She said, returning my salute. She then gestured to the gray skinned demon standing next to her. “This is Elder Isadore. I believe you’re familiar with his disciple, Zenia.”

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  Ah, so this was Senior Sister Zenia’s master. I heard a little about him, but I never had the chance to meet with him before. In fact, other than my family members, I hadn’t met any elders of Flame Fiend Hall. I believed this was deliberate on my family’s part. They wanted to protect me from the messiness of sect politics, at least for now.

  “Greetings, Elder Isadore,” I said, smiling and giving him a martial salute, “It is a pleasure to meet you. I’ve heard a bit about you from Senior Sister Zenia.”

  Elder Isadore let out a boisterous laugh.

  “All bad things, I’m sure.” He said, sounding cheerful despite his words. “That girl pretends to be filial and obedient to my face, but then insults me behind my back.”

  My smile stiffened. He was completely right. When she was sober, Senior Sister Zenia praised her master for his strength and skill. However, when she got drunk, she insulted him and called him several names, such as “addle-minded coot”, “overbearing old monster”, and “oblivious bastard.”

  “Oh, don’t worry,” Elder Isadore said when he saw my expression. He patted my shoulder and let out a good natured chuckle, “As my disciple, Zenia should be feisty and unruly. I would be disappointed otherwise.”

  I stared at him, unsure how to respond. Elder Isadore was an odd one. Most masters would be incensed if their disciple insulted them behind their backs. Then again, cultivators at his level were all weird in their own ways. Elder Isadore was at the physical refining equivalent of Nascent Soul, meaning he qualified as an old monster. There was a reason why many cultivators at that level were also called eccentrics.

  To avoid landing myself in a sticky situation by inadvertently insulting Elder Isadore, I said my goodbyes and went to stand near the other disciples from Flame Fiend Hall. I kept some distance between me and them, since I didn't know any of them and I wasn’t in the mood to mingle with strangers.

  A few of the other disciples frowned at this. The ones that already disliked me muttered to themselves, calling me arrogant and standoffish. They kept their voices low, but I heard them with my sharpened senses. Rather than react to their words, I decided to ignore them altogether. Ellen and Elliot looked ready to say something, but I dissuaded them with a telepathic message and a shake of my head.

  The other disciples from Flame Fiend Hall maintained neutral expressions, as if they weren’t sure what to make of me yet. I was Hall Master Nova’s son, but I hadn’t yet proven myself. The disciples of Flame Fiend Hall fought each constantly. This benefited their cultivation, due to Flame Fiend Peak’s strange properties, and honed their battle prowess. It also determined one’s status. In Flame Fiend Peak, physical strength mattered the most.

  However, I never participated in any of these battles for a variety of reasons. When I first joined Flame Fiend Hall, I was just at Qi Condensation and was therefore too weak to contend with the others. Afterwards, I spent years focusing on my training and seclusion. When I reached Foundation Establishment, I left the sect almost right away.

  Maybe I should change that, if only to establish my presence. I couldn’t separate myself from sect affairs forever. Besides, I always wanted to pit myself against my peers and see how I measured up.

  Time passed as we waited for the appointed departure time. More and more disciples from the various halls showed up. I looked around. From what I saw, Celestial Warrior Hall and Flame Fiend Hall had the most disciples participating in the Rising Heroes Tournament. This didn’t surprise me, since both halls focused on fighting. Divine Dancer Hall had the least, and Spirit Farmer Hall didn’t have any at all. I’m sure the latter had disciples who qualified, but chose not to participate.

  When I looked over at the disciples from Divine Dancer Hall, I noticed that Clarissa wasn’t among them and felt a pang in my heart. This was something she mentioned to me when we saw each other a few days ago. Clarissa’s parents still lived among Clan Wind Dance. To avoid causing trouble for them, she decided against participating in the Rising Heroes Tournament.

  Clan Wind Dance had ties with the Thousand Blade Sect. My uncle and the other clan elders would be furious if they found out that Clarissa joined a rival sect. Not only that, but Clarissa had a heavenly Wind spirit root. This made her a potential rival of Lucius, my cousin, and therefore a potential threat to my uncle’s power. In fact, the reason why Clarissa’s parents brought her to the Dawn and Dusk Sect in the first place was to hide her from my uncle.

  Thinking about this angered me. The Rising Heroes Tournament was an opportunity for young cultivators to earn honor, prestige, and cultivation resources. However, Clarissa had to give up this opportunity because of my uncle. If Clarissa’s parents left Clan Wind Dance, this wouldn’t be a problem. However, unlike me, Clarissa and her parents still had ties to Clan Wind Dance. It wasn’t easy to abandon one’s home and family.

  I looked away from the disciples of Divine Dancer Hall and continued surveying the plaza. Willow stood among the disciples of Five Divine Pillars Hall. Our eyes met and we smiled at each other. However, unlike me, Willow was socializing with her fellow disciples. I didn’t want to distract her, so I refrained from sending her a telepathic message. Besides, we would meet up with each other during the journey to North King City.

  Harlow stood among the disciples from Rainbow Healer Hall. To my surprise, a fair number of them were participating in the Rising Heroes Tournament. While they were healers, they were also alchemists. In combat, they utilized poisons, trick pills, and a variety of other methods to deal with their opponents. Honestly, the thought of facing one of them in battle scared me a little. Harlow was in the middle of arguing with someone, so I refrained from sending her a telepathic message too.

  As I continued looking over the plaza, my jaw dropped when my eyes fell on a familiar figure standing among the disciples of Restless Grave Hall: Sister Jasmine. When we last met, she was still at peak Qi Condensation. However, she was now at early Foundation Establishment. Her aura was stable too, meaning she had broken through some time ago. It must have happened when I was still in secluded training.

  Sister Jasmine stood right next to another familiar figure: Hall Master Bonefire. This suggested that the two had a close relationship, or at least an unordinary one. The other disciples from Restless Grave Hall eyed Sister Jasmine with a mixture of suspicion, envy, and awe. She ignored them all and wore a cold and disdainful expression on her face.

  ‘Congratulations on reaching Foundation Establishment, Sister Jasmine.’ I said, sending her a telepathic message.

  Sister Jasmine maintained her cold expression. However, when she responded with a telepathic message of her own, feelings of joy and excitement accompanied it.

  ‘Thank you, Brother Darian!’ She said. ‘Thanks to the Foundation Breakthrough Pill that you gave me, as well as Master’s guidance, I reached Foundation Establishment without issue.’

  ‘Master?’ I asked.

  My eyes flickered to Hall Master Bonefire. He must have sensed my gaze, because he returned it with his own. Despite lacking a face, I received the impression of a raised eyebrow from him. A part of me noticed that I still couldn’t read his aura, even though we were no longer in the cave that suppressed my spirit sense. This suggested that he was at Domain Creation.

  ‘Hall Master Bonefire took me in as his personal disciple.’ Sister Jasmine said, confirming my suspicions. ‘One of Restless Grave Hall’s most profound cultivation techniques, the Profound Yin Incarnation technique has strict requirements. When I first met Master, he realized that I fit those requirements perfectly so he offered to take me in as his disciple. I accepted.’

  When I heard this, I felt a sliver of worry. A part of me wondered if Hall Master Bonefire had any nefarious plans for Sister Jasmine. A cultivation technique that she just so happened to be the perfect fit for? I found this suspicious. What if this Profound Yin Incarnation technique was a trap of some kind? I didn’t trust that skeleton. When I last saw him, he said that he wouldn’t take Sister Jasmine as his disciple. His sudden change of mind filled me with unease.

  ‘I don’t know what you’re thinking, young man,’ Hall Master Bonefire said, sending me a telepathic message. He sounded grumpy, ‘But I can tell it's something negative about me.’

  I blanched. It appeared that Hall Master Bonefire found it easy to read my expressions as well. Damn it! Why was I such an open book?

  ‘I don’t know what you mean, Hall Master Bonefire,’ I sent back to him, ‘I am simply conversing with Sister Jasmine.’

  Hall Master Bonefire sent me a telepathic snort.

  ‘If you’re worried about your friend, don’t be.’ He said. ‘Regardless of what anyone says about me, I take care of my own.’

  His words did little to reassure me. However, before I could respond, a wave of pressure washed over the plaza. Most of the people here looked around and wondered what was going on, myself included. Several grew worried. However, the elders and a few of the more powerful disciples remained unperturbed. Their calm attitudes kept everyone from panicking.

  The air above the plaza rippled, before space itself tore apart and a rift appeared. I stared up at it, entranced. While I had seen the entrances to a few hidden realms at this point, I had never seen anything like this before.

  A massive flying ship emerged from the rift, casting a shadow over the entire plaza. It was white accented by gold, giving it a glorious and majestic appearance. The sheer size of it took my breath away. It looked large enough to house thousands, if not tens of thousands, of people. Branch Head Xavier’s flying barge looked like a child’s toy in comparison.

  How could something this large fly in the air? It shouldn’t have been possible, yet here it was. However, despite its size, the flying ship looked sleek and slender. Its shape reminded me of a spear’s tip.

  It was clear that this ship was a powerful magic treasure. However, I couldn’t tell how powerful. I was too weak. This suggested that it was at least a Domain Creation magic treasure, maybe even higher.

  ‘The Dawnfire,’ Big Sis Sidra said, speaking in my mind, ‘One of our Dawn and Dusk Sect’s sacred treasures.’

  Entranced by the Dawnfire’s appearance, I just nodded in response. I wasn’t the only one either. All of the other disciples stared at the massive flying ship with expressions of awe and wonder on their faces. No one said a word. Silence reigned over the plaza.

  After the Dawnfire fully emerged, the rift behind it closed and disappeared, as if it never existed in the first place. Soon after, a figure emerged from the Dawnfire and flew down, landing in the middle of the plaza.

  It was Sect Leader Twinheart.

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  This chapter was edited by Radriel7