Ascension of the immortal Asura

"Oh, that?" Lilian replied, slightly surprised to hear John bring up such an offbeat topic. "That's because all of them had their Heavenly Dao-Names given to them by the Ancient Heaven-Dao Tablet."

"Ancient Heaven-Dao Tablet? What is that?" John asked, as he had never heard of such a thing before.

"You wouldn't know about it, as it's something that exists in the Divine Martial Continent only," Lilian replied. "It's an ancient artifact that no one really knows how it works, but only that it does. When one reaches the Dao Transformation Realm or above and infuses their Qi and Dao's into the tablet, the tablet gives them their Heavenly Dao Name."

"Heavenly Dao Name?" John asked for clarification, as he had never heard of such a thing, although he could assume what it was based on the name alone.

"Yes. It is essentially the name by which the Heaven's themselves recognize you as. Many cultivators consider this to be their true name once they hear it, and go by that name once they receive it," Lilian explained.

"Have you received your Dao-Name?" John asked, as his master had explained that one needed to have their cultivation in the Dao Transformation Realm or above to receive their Dao-Name, which his master was.

"Not yet," Lilian shook her head in response to John's question. "I broke through to the Dao Transformation Realm in the Yuan Continent, and have not visited the Divine Martial Continent since. I suppose the Ancient Heaven-Dao Tablet is something I can visit at a later date once we get settled in," she replied.

John fell into silence for a moment before he thought of another thing he was curious about.

"Mast...Lilian...how many branch sects does the Heavenly Lightning Sect have? Surely we're not the only one," John asked. It still felt a bit awkward to call her by her real name, but Lilian despised being called Master, as it made her sound older than she really was.

"There are five other branches," Lilian replied quickly.

"Will they be sending a class of disciples to the main sect like we are?" John asked. He was sure they were, but wanted to be certain.

"Naturally," Lilian replied. "The main sect of the Heavenly Lightning Sect is the strongest by far, and also has the most opportunities to raise one's strength. The branch sects are basically required to send their strongest disciples each year to the main sect, and in response, the main sect gives resources and protection to the branch sect each year," she explained.

John nodded his head in understanding, as such an agreement was what he was expecting for the most part. Another burning question popped up into his mind upon hearing that there were six total branch sects.

"And how does our branch stack up against the other branch sects?" John asked.

Lilian glanced sideways at John for a moment before looking forward once more. She remained silent for a moment before finally answering John's question.

"Each year, our sect is usually last, or second to last," Lilian replied, not hiding the truth of things.

Although he was expecting it, John still couldn't help but frown slightly as he heard this.

"That's bad huh? What's the reasoning for our branch being so far below the others? Didn't the Qi from the mysterious energy whirlpool help with cultivation?" John asked.

"The Yuan Continent is a naturally barren place, devoid of natural Qi. The mysterious whirlpool artificially boosted this Qi level, but only to a level that was comparable to the places the other branches exist. Even then, it's still a bit lower."

"It's that bad on the Yuan Continent?" John asked, slightly concerned for the branch sect and his family sect.

"Well, not anymore," Lilian replied, causing John to ask for clarification.

"It's not that bad anymore because of two reasons," Lilian began to explain. "First off, while the mysterious whirlpool of energy faded away, it infused enough Qi into the environment to keep levels high for many, many years. About a thousand years to be exact if our estimates are correct," Lilian explained.

"But won't that just keep things the way they are right now?" John asked.

"No, because of the second thing. The ancient city. The ancient city has many wondrous opportunities to raise one's strength, as I'm sure you're aware, and we have yet to discover everything contained within. With the ancient city serving as a perfect training ground for our new disciples, I'm confident our branch sect will rise in power considerably in the foreseeable future."

John thought about it for a moment, before eventually nodding his head in agreement. What his master had said made sense, as he had personally experienced immense growth within the ancient city. If all the disciples could go through something like that, it would definitely be beneficial to the sect's future power.

Not only that, but the Bloodfiend Sect was gone, eliminating the biggest threat to the talented disciples. While there were other Forbidden Alliance sects on the continent, none were as strong as the Bloodfiend Sect, and so control of the ancient city would fall into the hands of the Heavenly Lightning Sect, the Supreme Battle Sect, and the Divine Soul Sect.

The two of them continued to talk about many things for quite some time while the ship continued to fly forward at incredible speeds, fast approaching the coast of the continent. John saw the incredibly expansive ocean come into view, aweing him with its vastness.

"How far away is the Divine Martial Continent?" John couldn't help but ask.

"Let's just say that crossing the Yuan Continent is just a drop in the bucket for how far our trip across this ocean will be," Lilian replied, giving a sense of scale to the distance between the two landmasses. "If you were to use your own power to fly there, it would take you several years."

"That far?" John exclaimed. "No wonder we're taking a ship."

His gaze scanned the ocean below, but all he saw was an endless expanse of water. Another thought popped into his mind, causing him to fire off yet another question at his master.

"Are there any powerful sea creatures below?" John asked, as he was sure there was a vast variety of mysterious sea creatures he had never before seen.

"There are," Lilian replied. "In fact, there are creatures in this ocean below us that are stronger than me. If we were to run into them, I would be unable to fight back against them."

Her words surprised John, as his master was incredibly strong. In fact, when she activated her Dao of Death rune on her forehead, her power was nearly overwhelming to any form of life. Even still, she claimed that she would be unable to beat some of the creatures that dwelled in the depths of the ocean below them, instilling John with a slight sense of unease.

"If that's the case, then I'm sure you have a contingency, right? Surely you wouldn't send yourself into a deathly situation without a backup plan," John replied.

"Of course, I wouldn't do something so stupid, nore would my father. Do you think my father would allow me to send me to my death?" Lilian asked.

John didn't answer, as his silence was an answer enough. Lilian smiled slightly at his reaction, before her gaze shifted forward once more.

"Why do you think we waited until this moment to leave for the Divine Martial Continent?" she asked. "If we wanted to, we could have left months ago, after the business with the Bloodfiend Sect and your homeland was settled. Why do you think we only left now?"

John thought about it for a moment, but the only thing he could think of was that they waited for the entrance exam to finish before sending off the previous class.

"I'm guessing it has something to do with the entrance exam," John replied, but didn't know how exactly that made sense. His thoughts suddenly shifted to another aspect of the entrance exam, as an idea crept into his mind.

"Could it be...the dragon?" John asked, his voice slightly unsure. It was the only thing he could think of that had enough power to make a difference in this trip, but the dragon had left immediately after the entrance exam ceremony.

Lilian smiled as she heard John's response.

"I suppose you're not as stupid as I thought you were," Lilian replied, causing John to frown at the insult. "You are correct, the answer has to do with the dragon."

"But didn't the dragon leave immediately after the entrance exam? How is it supposed to help us now?"

Roaaar!

As if answering his question, a loud roar boomed out over the ocean, shaking the ship slightly. John looked towards the source of the sound, as he saw the dragon flying off in the distance in the direction the ship was heading.

"There, you have your answer," Lilian replied as she too stared at the dragon.

As if noticing their arrival, the dragon suddenly sped forward much faster than it was flying before. Lilian pushed the ship to fly even faster, as the ship followed behind the dragon as they sped over the ocean at incredible speeds towards the distant Divine Martial Continent.