Sect Leader's Rise to the top!

All eyes were now on Kai which made him slightly uncomfortable. He Thanked Hou Zhou and Song Wei then supported himself while looking back into Elder Chen's eyes while inspecting him.

[Human] [2034 Qi] [D- Rank]

'Seems he's gotten slightly stronger since I last saw him...but his growth isn't by much...', Kai knew that what he was doing could be considered rude, but he needed to gauge their strength just in case a fight broke out. If things did go wrong, he would just blame it on not being able to control his newfound power and apologize.

The old man felt Kai's Qi fluctuations and knew that he was being sized up, but did not say anything. He in turn was sizing Kai up, but to his surprise, he couldn't sense any spiritual root from the young man. If it were not for the faint Qi fluctuations coming off of him, he would have assumed that Kai was just a regular mortal.

"This is not the best place to speak, let us return to the sect. I'm sure the leader would also want to speak to you...", The array master spoke in a deliberate tone, leaving no room for argument.

Elder Chen nodded his head while gesturing for Kai to follow him. "Congratulations on entering the true world of cultivation young one. Your talents are indeed... remarkable to be able to break through at such a young age. Mighty I know your name?", The old man spoke while walking back to the massive bird-like creature.

Kai decided to go with them for now seeing as they didn't seem hostile. There was no point in antagonizing them at this point. 

"My name is Kai...", Kai said while following the elder. 

"Kai...hmm, this name sounds familiar...", He said while stroking his beard. As he walked, the giant bird landed right in front of him and presented its massive wing for them to climb up.

Kai was mesmerized by the beast and used [Qi-Detection] on it while walking up its wing.

[Frost-Crane] [Grade-3] [1529 Qi]

Kai was impressed. The Twin Lions Sect was using a [Grade-3] beast as a mode of transportation. The strongest transport beasts that Kai had seen in Huang City were all [Grade-2], and none of those could fly, so seeing this was a surprise to Kai.

Wu Xianhai also climbed up the bird's wing and stood right behind the array master on the creature's head, while Kai and Elder Chen stood on its back. When the four of them were on, the bird flapped its wings and started to hover over the plateau, causing another gust of wind to blow over those still on the ground.

"You four are to report to the Hall Guardian who will be here soon. Be sure to relay each person's contributions accurately as they will be awarded accordingly!", the old man yelled as the bird flew away. The four Twin Lions Sect disciples bowed their heads in unison and sighed in relief once the bird was out of view.

"What a horrible assignment this was. Next time I'm just going to do cleanup duty for contribution points...", Complained the female disciple. The other three simply dismissed her as if her complaining was nothing out of the ordinary. 

Back on the bird, Kai was looking over the horizon in awe. He made a mental note to get a flying creature so that he could also traverse the skies.

The bird flew into the clouds and over the mountain range. Kai wondered just how far they were going, but after a few seconds, Wu Xianhai spoke in a happy tone.

"Finally, I've returned..."

Kai looked down and was shocked by the spectacular sight. Hidden within the mountain range was a massive valley where hundreds of magnificent buildings were standing proudly.

Separating the buildings were pristine jade-green roads that snaked all around the massive compound. Kai looked around and was amazed by the sheer number of people. The open training grounds alone had hundreds of disciples being instructed in different types of martial arts. 

Some disciples were going about doing chores such as cleaning or carrying water. The bird flew over the valley and headed to a closed-off mountain. The jade road loading up this mountain turned into stairs that snaked up the mountain face. This mountain was the tallest of all the surrounding peaks and was also dotted with various buildings at certain intervals.

The bird did not fly up the mountain but instead landed in a large, closed-off courtyard right at the foot of the mountain.

"Welcome to the inner court of the Twin Lions Sect", the old man said to Kai with a friendly smile on his face. He put his hands behind his back and calmly walked off the bird. Wu Xianhai and the Array Master also followed them off.

Once everyone was off, the bird cawed loudly then took off again, disappearing back into the clouds.

Kai looked around curiously. The Twin Lions Sect didn't seem to have any ill intentions at the moment, so Kai decided to be wary. However, after a while, Kai realized that he could take this as an opportunity to see what a sect needed to operate as research for when he started his own.

Once Kai started thinking like this, he looked at everything curiously.

"I will report to the Sect Leader. Miss Wu, I'm sure you must be exhausted after that ordeal. Please feel free to retire back to your quarters. I will have someone escort Mr. Kai to the meeting hall.", The old man spoke in a worried tone that sounded overly done to Kai.

"Thank you Elder Chen...but I feel fine. I would like to show Kai around myself..."

"I see, you've always been a tenacious person so I am not surprised that you have already bounced back. Well then, if you will excuse me...", The old man said. As he spoke, he employed some sort of movement technique that made him vanish.

Once the old man had left, the Array Master turned to Wu Xianhai with a warm smile and patted her shoulder. "Welcome back child, I'm glad you are safe".

"Thank you, Grandmother..."

Kai was listening in while pretending to be enamored by a nearby statue. When he discovered that she was Wu Xianhai's grandmother, Kai subconsciously raised his eyebrows and stole a glance at them.

'Does that mean she's the sect leader's wife?...', Kai was trying to piece together this family puzzle when Wu Xianhai suddenly appeared behind him.

"Ehem...Would you like to see the place?. or would you prefer to keep staring at that statue?", Wu Xianhai asked with an odd sense of respect, despite the sarcastic question.

"Why did you guys bring me here?", Kai asked while turning towards her curiously. He had some ideas but would prefer to hear it straight from the horse's mouth.

Wu Xianhai sighed and gestured for Kai to walk with her. "I honestly don't know. Under normal circumstances, you should have been led to the outer court where a suitable reward would have been presented to you, however seeing as you're a Foundation Establishment Expert, things have changed quite a bit..."

Kai nodded his head but did not respond. When Wu Xianhai noticed his silence, she continued to speak.

"I suspect that they will likely offer you an honorary position within the sect..."

Kai didn't like the sound of that but took a deep breath, not wanting to let the worry show on his face. Since it had come to this, Kai would wait and see what kind of benefits he could gain from this. He had already gotten quite a bit from the pocket dimension, but he wouldn't say no to more.

"But before any of that, let's get you fixed up...". The old woman standing behind Wu Xianhai said while looking at Kai's shriveled-up arm. Kai could still move it around which was a testament to his resilience, but the muscle and bone were all severely damaged.

Kai was escorted into one of the nearby buildings. The place smelled heavily of medicine despite the door being sealed. 

"Through there is the pool of vitality. Only those who have contributed greatly to the sect are allowed to enter. This is the least we can do for what you have done...", The old woman spoke with a soft, grateful voice.

Kai was thankful and gave the old woman a nod. He walked into the room, and quickly noticed that it was covered will all types of talismans. In the middle of the room was a large green pool that smelled of all types of medicinal herbs and ointments.

"You can stay in the pool for as long as you'd like. The medicinal effect will only work once so take advantage of it as much as you can. Who knows, it could even be beneficial to your cultivation", the old woman spoke from outside the room.

Kai analyzed the pool with [Qi-Detection] and almost dropped to the floor when he saw what it was.

[Troll-Blood Restoration Tonic] [2273 Qi] [Grade-3]

"Troll blood?... Kai whispered to himself in shock, but then another idea popped into his mind.

'I wonder if they'd be mad if I turned it all into a manual....'