Flying over a large forest on the back of an eagle was a unique experience I never thought I would have.
Comparing it to the last time, there was some form of barrier that blocked out the wind while somehow reducing the air resistance or something like that.
It is not like I did not notice it the last time, but it was far stronger this time around. This allowed me to not only stand but also for us to travel far faster than last time.
I do not even know why the Elder did not do this, as it was far more convenient.
Eventually, the forest gave way to grassy plains, and as the hours passed, we even flew over a high desert before reentering the plains. As we were flying, the sun made its way across the sky and started its descent. By this time, we were beginning to fly over another forest when I spotted something in the distance.
Far ahead of us was a range of snow-capped mountains looking like the spine of some massive creature that was buried under the earth.
While we were far away from the mountains, according to what I was seeing, it did not take us long to reach them.
This showed how fast we were flying and how big the world was, as it had taken us hours to cross the plains before.
However, upon reaching the mountains, the eagle massively slowed down rapidly and would have thrown me off, if it was not for Lou Xia catching me and the bird of prey beneath our feet angling up so that we both ended up laying flat on its back.
This led to a dive towards the ground, making me want to open my parachute.
Luckily, or in my case, unluckily, the dive ended far sooner than anticipated as we transitioned to a glide that stopped on the ground in front of a building that looked like the Parthenon on the outside. It was here that my companion jumped down and turned back to look at me as if asking when I would follow.
Seeing no reason to refuse her after coming all this way, I jumped off as well.
With my feet now on the ground, she started walking toward the building before stopping and looking back at me.
I quickly got the message and followed her as she started walking again. We walked up to the building, passing by the pillars, as I was greeted by a large set of wooden doors that lay cracked open, even though the gap between them was enough for two people to walk side by side.
If the doors were open all the way, six to eight people could walk side by side.
Marveling at the structure, I was eventually brought out of my reverie by my companion, who walked through the doors and started to leave me behind.
Running to catch up, I am led through a hallway into a grand chamber with raised seats on either side and a throne on the far end, all facing the center of the room we are now walking through.
Some of the seats are filled with people wearing the same colored robes as the Elder, who is still unconscious outside, and there is also a white-haired, young-looking man sitting on the throne.
When we reached the center, Lou Xia bowed and said, "Sect Master and Elders, I am here to report on the mission that I have just completed."
Off to the side, an older man with a stern expression questioned her, saying, "Why are you reporting this and not Elder Xie?"
Before Lou Xia can answer, however, the man on the throne spoke up, saying. "Because he offended someone he should not have."
That response made me somewhat confused, as Raina said it was something different, but before I could ask about that, Lou Xia hurriedly clarified, "It was actually due to some unknown anomalous energy that only targets those with innate yang Qi that is the reason he is currently incapacitated."
Hearing this, the Elder stood up and was about to shout something when the man on the throne spoke up again. "Oh, yes, you're right. I just checked, and that is exactly what it is." At this, the Elder sat back down on his chair as the man on the throne continued the questioning, asking, "Now that this is settled. Tell me, disciple, what did you find, and why did you bring this unknown woman with you?"
"Reporting to Sect Master. After leaving the Sect, we..." Explaining the story and what happened, Lou Xia detailed everything that happened, including all the information about the system and its security measures.
When that was brought up, everyone in the hall looked at me, clearly having some thought about what they should do with this information.
It was only when Lou Xia brought up that the Elder brought me to join the Sect that everyone stopped looking at me.
She then got to the situation that occurred at the village, and I was extremely embarrassed. Not only did she see what Raina did to me, but she was also telling everyone here.
All the elders seemed to be shocked as well, which made me even more embarrassed.
After she finished her retelling of events, the hall went quiet for a few minutes before I heard a female elder whom I could not pick out say, "Well, if this girl is to join the Sect, we need to see if she is capable first."
As she said this, the hall went so silent that I could even hear a ringing in my ears, like someone had just turned on noise cancelation.
Finally saving my ears, the man on the throne spoke again, saying, "First thing to get out of the way here is that she will enter the Sect whether she is qualified or not."
Before he could even continue, the woman interrupted him and asked, nearly shouting, "And why should she get that privilege? I don't care who it is; they should all be subjected to the same testing and rejected if you don't meet the standard."
At this, the man on the throne said something, but I could not hear it. The woman must have heard what he said as I saw one of the shorter female Elders's face go white. The man on the throne then continued to speak, saying, "The second thing is that your idea is not without merit as she should be tested to see what it is that she is capable of and how she would be trained."
After the man said this, there was a chorus of agreement from everyone else.
The man on the throne then waved at someone in the stands.
Getting up and stepping down from there was an older-looking man in a purple robe with gold trim. Despite his white hair, he had a straight back and used a walking stick, though it seemed more of an accessory than a necessity.
Now, standing in front of me, he placed down a table with a foggy glass ball from his storage device in the middle of the room and gestured for me to walk over to it.
Doing as he asked, he then instructed me, "Place your hand on the glass ball and circulate your Qi through it for the test to begin."
At this, I got a little awkward and scuffed my boot on the floor, prompting him to ask what was wrong.
I then said, turning my head not to look at anyone as I responded "I can't use Qi yet as I haven't started cultivating. After all, I have only been here in this world for a little over a week."
The old man looked confused at my words for a second before nodding and placing something next to the glass ball.
It looked like a crystal in a metal claw stand connected to some wires that the old man placed on either side of the glass ball.
Motioning to the glass ball once more, he said, "There now, all you have to do is place your hand on the ball, and it will do the rest."
Following his instructions, I placed my hand on the glass ball, and nothing happened for a while. I soon heard someone laugh off to the side before it was cut off as the world went almost pitch black.
The only thing that I could see was my body and the table with the glass ball in front of me.
Then, a pillar of fire shot into the air, followed by a massive tree growing next to it. That was only the beginning, however. As soon as a pillar of water rose into the air, followed by a pillar of stone a second later, and finally, there was a tornado.
Each of these was positioned around me like they were at the points of a star that was beneath my feet.
My guess was only proven true by lines of the elements extending from their respective pillars and forming a circle with a star in the center.
As this continued, the floor became covered in a layer of ice with what appeared to be a yin-yang symbol beneath my feet and the stars overlapping it. Then, the infinite black became filled with stars, and a stopwatch appeared floating in front of me, slowly ticking.
I thought this was the end as nothing happened for almost a minute after that, only to be proven wrong as I watched everything start rotating.
At this point, I felt like I was at the center of some galaxy.
However, This illusion was shattered as everything started to close in on me, and I saw that some of what I thought were stars were actually galaxies themselves, seemingly attempting to declare me as the center of the universe.